Frozen Fantasy: 31 Wish Lists

It's that time of the year. More than 160 countries celebrate Christmas. That's a lot of wish lists.

We can all have hope.

Here's my take on what Santa could bring to each of the 31 NHL teams. Some are pipe dreams. But some would look really, really nice.

One wish per team. OK, a few need a couple to get by.

Anaheim – A team to support John Gibson, one of the NHL's best.

Arizona – Taylor Hall.

Boston – A second-line right winger. Even Ilya Kovalchuk is better than anything they have now.

Buffalo – More Jack Eichel. More Linus Ullmark. More Ralph Krueger. Wow.

Carolina – Justin Williams. They have a hole in the top six and Mr. Consistency could fit the bill.

Calgary – $550 million. That new arena can't come soon enough.

Chicago – Peter DeBoer.  

Columbus – Goals. Their 79 are barely ahead of Detroit (74) and New Jersey (77).

Colorado – Five trophies. Hart (Nathan MacKinnon). Calder, Norris and Lady Byng (Cale Makar). Lord Stanley.

Dallas – Peter DeBoer. Joe Pavelski needs him. Badly.

Detroit – A win. If not that, then an overtime loss. And Peter DeBoer.

Edmonton – Taylor Hall.

Florida – A Sergei Bobrovsky resurrection. Was he ever really among the league's elite?

Los Angeles – 82 home games. They're worse than Detroit on the road.

Minnesota – CTRL-ALT-DELETE. #reset #blowitup

Montreal – New wheels for Carey Price's game. Wow.

New Jersey – A new goalie coach. Before MacKenzie Blackwood gets destroyed. Rollie the Goalie Melanson must go.

Nashville – New Winter Classic uniforms. There's still time.

New York Islanders – A new batch of sticks for Anders Lee. Sticks with goals in them.

New York Rangers – A get-out-of-cap-hell-FREE card that let's them ditch King Henrik Lundqvist and his $8.5 million hit.

Ottawa – Perspective. Jean-Gabriel Pageau is a pending UFA. They need to pay him to be a great third-line pivot, not a team-leading goal scorer.

Philadelphia – A cure for Ewing's sarcoma. Life really is more important than hockey.

Pittsburgh – A lot fewer lower-body injuries. Sidney Crosby. Nick Bjugstad. Justin Schultz. Brian Dumoulin. Patric Hornqvist. And a new doghouse for Alex Galchenyuk.

San Jose – A new goalie. Please? How else does a team with Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic allow so many goals?

St. Louis – A hometown discount to re-sign Alex Pietrangelo.

Tampa Bay – A new special assistant assigned to count skate guards. Their game feels a little like Tomas Tatar's the day he joined Detroit.

Toronto – A backup goalie. A defenseman who can play defense. And a big freaking horseshoe – are they out of it already?

Vancouver – More from the best Hughes brother. Just saying.

Vegas – A storybook ending. It's possible.

Washington – Respect. John Carlson is getting high praise, but we don't exalt their team brilliance because it's just so … normal.

Winnipeg – More Gorilla glue. It keeps that blue line together, but they need a lot more.

Now let's take a look at who caught my eye this week.

Brett Connolly, LW/RW, Florida (19 percent Yahoo! owned) – Connolly's hands have never been doubted – the guy was considered among the best snipers of his draft class. But he's struggled with injuries since junior. And the "fit" was never perfect, no matter where he went. Until last year. Connolly looked awfully good in Washington and he's taken it up several notches this season. He has eight goals in his last 13 games and is on pace for at least 35. And close to 60 points. Yes, Connolly's shooting percentage is high. But he's riding on the second line. There's no way that production should be available in more than 80 percent of leagues.

Christian Dvorak, LW/C, Arizona (16 percent Yahoo! owned) – Dvorak is an on-again, off-again waiver grab – he's been picked up (and dropped) twice in the Yahoo! Friends and Family League. But under his unsexy sweater, there lives a guy on pace for his first 50-point season. And he's available in more than four-of-five leagues. Dvorak is just two points out of top spot on the 'Yotes behind Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller, and has nine points (two goals, seven helpers) in his last 10 games. Sure, there aren't a lot of extras to Dvorak's game – he's not giving you much on the power play or in hits/blocked shots/SOG. But he can help at the dot if your league counts that stat.

Robby Fabbri, LW/RW, Detroit (11 percent Yahoo! owned) – Fabbri can be of service if you can tolerate that plus-minus. He drained three goals and set up two more in his last four games. Four of those points have come on the power play. Cripes – he's even added six hits. But Fabbri accumulates minus ratings by the wheelbarrow. He's minus-15 overall and minus-7 in his last nine games. But that scoring – oh, it's awfully special given the shallow pool of offense available on the wire. The Wings suck, but Fabbri can help … that is, if you can pair him up with a high-plus guy.

Johan Larsson, C, Buffalo (1 percent Yahoo! owned) – Angry Larry is enjoying the best stretch of his career. He comes by his nickname honestly – he's tenacious and a real pain to play against. Larsson started this season strong, but lines were shuffled and his offense dried up. But he was recently reunited with Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons, and that reignited the magic. Larsson has delivered eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last seven games. We might just be seeing the upside that made him a tantalizing fantasy prospect.

Milan Lucic, LW, Calgary (5 percent Yahoo! owned) – Lucic's story is sad – in a couple short years, he went from being a dominant, multi-category stud to something between an afterthought and a laughing stock. But since the start of December, Lucic has three goals and an assist in six games. And two of those goals came with the man advantage. I can't see him keeping it up. But confidence can do a lot for a man. Worst case, I got to include a former stud in my picks. I never thought that would happen again.

Matt Roy, D, Los Angeles (1 percent Yahoo! owned) – Roy is a defense-first blue liner who plays hard, smart and clean, so why is he here? The guy is seriously underrated. Roy has enough two-way skill to push the puck up the ice quickly and accurately. And he owns a heavy shot. Roy had his three-game, four-point scoring streak snapped Saturday, but he could grow into a quiet, 40-point player in his prime. He's already earning 19-20 minutes of ice a game as a top-four defender. There's a little Marc-Edouard Vlasic in Roy. Just saying.

Derek Ryan, C, Calgary (1 percent Yahoo! owned) – Ryan is a temporary add to your roster – he's a 40-point guy playing the deepest position in the league. But even third-line centers get a look when they put up six points in a four-game stretch. That streak was snapped Thursday night against the Leafs. But Ryan seems to have taken his game up a level in the post Bill Peters era. And there's deep-league value here if the Flames stay hot.

Robert Thomas, RW/C, St. Louis (2 percent Yahoo! owned) – Thomas's trio of helpers Saturday night leapt off the page. This guy is supremely talented, but his game hadn't really taken a jump. But then he helped orchestrate a four-goal comeback against the Hawks. It was actually his fourth-straight game with at least one point. Yes, Thomas' ice time is limited, but this streak plus his innate talent could easily push him higher. And that makes him valuable in deep formats.

Linus Ullmark, G, Buffalo (29 percent Yahoo! owned) – Ullmark is on a roll and I'm putting money on this being for real. So much so that I went after him in a trade. Ullmark has become the Sabres' top guy in the blue paint and is currently riding a four-game winning streak. He's actually 6-1 in his last six starts – he beat the Leafs, Devils, Oilers, Blues, Preds and Isles. Of course, nothing is guaranteed – Ullmark started strong last year only to fall apart. But he seems stronger and more confident this time around. If so – with that team in front of him – Ullmark could be a steal in both single-year and dynasty formats.

Back to wishes.

I wish for the Leafs to make the playoffs because it's not a lock at this point. Having them in the postseason is good for everyone.

Most of all, I wish for a full recovery for Oskar Lindblom. Ewing's sarcoma is a rare cancer, but beatable if caught early enough.

I pray that's the case.

Until next week.