Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey Podcast

Nate and Blake dig into ten of the most surprising statistics from last season—and what each one could mean for fantasy hockey in 2026-27. Can the historically dominant Edmonton and Dallas power plays maintain their success? Is Colorado’s man advantage destined for a major bounceback? How did Pittsburgh go from projected lottery team to one of the NHL’s highest-scoring offences, and was any of it...

Kevin Woodley from NHL.com and InGoal Magazine joins Apples & Ginos to break down one of the most difficult positions to project in fantasy hockey: goalies. In this episode, we dig into the chaotic NHL goalie market, including major offseason moves, new team fits, and what happened to some of fantasy’s biggest goalie names last season. Kevin shares his perspective on Connor Hellebuyck, Linus U...

The 2026 NHL offseason has been absolute chaos, and Blake and Evan are here to sift through the rubble. In this episode, we break down the fantasy hockey fallout from a wild stretch of offer sheets, signings, extensions, and trades — including Leo Carlsson’s massive offer sheet with the Flyers, John Carlson to Tampa Bay, Frederik Andersen to Edmonton, Bobrovsky to Toronto, Boone Jenner to Washingt...

In this episode Nate is joined by Victor Nuño of Dobber Prospects, McKeen's Hockey, and the Fantasy Hockey Life podcast to discuss the 2026 NHL Draft. They discuss all things from draft-day surprises to late-round sleepers to goalie drafting strategy, and Victor highlights his favourites above consensus. Victor Nuño on X: https://x.com/VictorNuno12 Fantasy Hockey Life Podcast: https://www.spre...

In this episode, Nate and Blake break down the fantasy hockey impact of the latest NHL trades and signings. We look past the real-world hockey headlines to tell you exactly how these moves affect player values, line combinations, and power-play time. Whether you need to make a trade in your league or adjust your draft strategy, we have you covered with the ultimate winners and losers of these bloc...

Byron Bader of HockeyProspecting.com returns to the show to break down his updated 2026 NHL Draft rankings, his latest model changes, and the prospects fantasy hockey managers need to know. We discuss NHL equivalency, how Byron’s model evaluates offensive upside, and why players like Carson Carels, Chase Reid, Caleb Malhotra, Tynan Lawrence, Viggo Bjorck, Keaton Verhoeff, Daxon Rudolph and Ryan Li...

The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs may have changed the fantasy hockey outlook for a handful of players heading into next season. In this episode, Blake looks at the playoff performers who separated themselves from the pack — and what their postseason runs could mean for 2026-27 fantasy hockey drafts. Mitch Marner went nuclear in Vegas and may still be undervalued because of old playoff narratives. Bre...

Nate breaks down all of the most fantasy-relevant offseason moves so far, including the monster Darren Raddysh sign-and-trade to Toronto, and the shocking hire of Ryan Craig in Las Vegas. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:36 - Raddysh to Leafs 08:36 - Colton to Predators 10:01 - Woll to Flyers; Andrae to Leafs 12:45 - Karlsson & Terry injuries 14:03 - In-season coaching changes: Bowness & DeBoe...

Contract years can create some interesting fantasy hockey opportunities — but not every player chasing a new deal is automatically a breakout candidate. In this episode, we look at eight contract-year players who should be on fantasy managers’ radar heading into 2026-27. We break down the upside, risk, team context, role questions, and fantasy value for Bowen Byram, Nico Hischier, Jimmy Snuggerud,...

It's the offseason, and every dynasty and keeper fantasy manager is looking to improve their team heading into 2026-27. A key way to improve is to identify potential trade targets who may be undervalued by their current managers. In this episode of the Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey Podcast, Nate identifies a group of players who are very likely to improve their dynasty stock in 2026-27 and...

Blake and Nate fire up the fantasy hockey trade machine for one of the more chaotic offseason episodes yet. In this one, we each bring four made-up NHL trades that could completely shake up the fantasy hockey landscape. Some are realistic, some are unhinged, and some would probably cause a full fanbase meltdown — but every deal comes back to the same question: who wins and who loses for fantasy? W...

It's the offseason, and every dynasty and keeper fantasy manager is looking to improve their team heading into 2026-27. One of the best ways to accomplish that is to figure out which players might command a trade price that they never will again. In this episode of the Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey Podcast, Nate identifies a group of players who may have put their best work on record in 20...

Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff joins Blake to break down the early names to know for the 2026 NHL Draft . We dig into standout performances from the Men’s World Championship, including Viggo Bjorck, Ivar Stenberg, Alberts Smits, and Tomas Galvas , before looking ahead to the NHL Combine in Buffalo and how much that process can shift draft stock. Then we get into the top of the draft, potential team...

Some players don’t completely disappear — they just fall out of the fantasy hockey conversation. In this episode, Blake and Nate dig into a group of forgotten players who could still matter for fantasy in 2026-27. We look at what happened last season, why the hype faded, whether the underlying profile still gives us hope, and what fantasy managers should do with these names heading into next year’...

The Olympic break came and went… and then these five players took off. In this episode, Blake digs into five players who broke out offensively after the Olympic break and asks the fantasy question that actually matters: can we trust it next season? We’re comparing each player’s pre- and post-break production, then looking under the hood to figure out what changed. Was it more ice time? Better line...

Corey Sznajder of All Three Zones is back on Apples & Ginos to help us look past the boxscore and better understand the process behind fantasy hockey production. In this episode, Blake talks with Corey about the microstats that can help us identify real breakouts, future production, and potential fool’s gold. We dig into zone entries with chances, shot assists, chance assists, transition play,...

We already reviewed our own Apples & Ginos projections — now we’re zooming out and looking at the players most of the fantasy hockey industry missed on this season. In this episode, Ryan and Blake dig into 8 of the biggest over- and under-projected players from preseason rankings and projections across the analyst world. We look at which stats surprised us, why the projections missed, and what...

Nate dives deep into the #ZeroG draft strategy and how it performed in the 2025-26 fantasy season. #ZeroG Definition: 0:48 Nate's 2025-26 ZeroG Teams: 3:10 Historical Analysis: 6:28 Season-Long Goalie Results: 10:15 Quarter-Season Split Analysis: 14:13 Skater ADP Comparison: 20:22 Goalie Performance in Fantasy Playoffs: 23:36 Frequently Asked Questions: 25:38 Early Predictions for 2026-27 Zero...

We’re back for Mock Draft 2.0 … and yes, it’s still way too early. In this episode of Apples & Ginos, Blake and Evan run it back with their second “Way Too Early” fantasy hockey mock draft of the offseason —this time dialing in on categories league strategy through the first 4 rounds . After getting a first crack at it, the approach starts to shift: 🧱 When to prioritize category coverage vs e...

Did we actually beat the industry? 👀 In this episode of Apples & Ginos Fantasy Hockey Podcast , Blake and Nate put their 2025–26 NHL player projections to the test against some of the top minds in the space — including Dobber Hockey, Dom Luszczyszyn, Scott Cullen, and Steve Laidlaw. We go category by category — goals, assists, points, power play production, shots, and the peripherals — to see...

It’s never too early… right? In this episode of Apples & Ginos, Blake and Nate dive into a WAY too early fantasy hockey mock draft for the 2026-27 season, building out 12 different teams through the first 4 rounds . We go pick-by-pick breaking down: Early first-round strategy Surprising picks and potential reaches How roster builds take shape right out of the gate Players already rising (or fa...

Everyone loves calling sleepers before the season… but not everyone comes back to check how they actually did. So today, we are. In this episode of Apples & Ginos , Blake revisits the official preseason sleeper picks and breaks down what really happened — the hits, the misses, and the ones that looked good under the hood but didn’t quite get there. We dig into players like Josh Norris, Trevor...

Nate breaks down all five of his leagues this season, analyzing the good, the bad, and the ugly across the board. His lessons learned can help you improve your strategy going into next season! Summary of Leagues: 1:56 We Call Ourselves Experts Keeper League: 2:14 $100 Buy-In Bangers Cats League: 10:14 Fantasy Puck Content Creators League: 18:29 KKUPFL Tier 1: 28:22 APL Tier 1: 34:15 Final Takeaway...

In this episode of Apples & Ginos, Blake looks back at 3 of his fantasy hockey leagues to break down what actually happened this season. From draft decisions to waiver wire moves, trades, and playoff strategy — we go through what worked, what didn’t, and the key moments that shaped each team’s outcome. If you’re looking to improve your process and avoid costly mistakes next season, this is an...

Join Evan, Brian, and Ryan as they run the last episode of Trade Talks for the season! Last minute streams for this upcoming fantasy hockey final week, diving into their own fantasy hockey seasons, and going over 8 takeaways from the 25-26 season. Thank you to all of our listeners this year, you are all the real MVPs!!