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OLDTIMERS WILL remember the term ‘Bonus Babies’ was once used to describe young baseball players who received huge signing bonuses for their first pro contracts. Eventually, you’d have had to call everybody a bonus baby, so the term went out of fashion, just like Cooperalls.
We’re reinventing the term and bringing it back. Because we have the power to do that. Cooperalls? Not so much.
Our definition, however, has nothing to do with money. Our bonus babies are players who can provide fantasy managers an unexpected, well, bonus. Not that they will do so, just that they could. These are players who, if certain circumstances change or otherwise fall into place, could score much more than currently anticipated and who, therefore, deserve more than the regular consideration in your fantasy drafts.
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Maybe a trade or injury elevates them unexpectedly up the depth chart. Maybe the recently fired coach didn’t like them for some reason. Maybe it’s a free-agency year and they know they’ve got to improve their stats. Maybe they’re starting fresh with a new team. The possibilities are endless.
Of course, we’re keeping it within the realms of reality. We’re not going to consider a player way down the Oilers’ depth chart a bonus baby just because GM Stan Bowman could trade Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid and open up a bunch of power-play time in Edmonton.
Speaking of McDavid, it was once the case that you could find your bonus babies simply by seeing who was playing on a line with a superstar. Wayne Gretzky did it for Dave Semenko and Mike Krushelnyski. It hasn’t quite worked out the same way with McDavid and Draisaitl’s linemates – save for Zach Hyman – and even that was only really the case for one year. Times change.
To that end, here are some potential bonus babies for the 2025-26 fantasy season.
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OLEN ZELLWEGER – ANA
Though undersized, especially for a blueliner, Zellweger has a ton of offensive ability. With new coach Joel Quenneville on board, there will be changes to what was the NHL’s worst power play in 2024-25. That could leave Zellweger – not Jackson LaCombe – as the top-unit PP defenseman. Zellweger had just 20 points in his first full season last year, but that’s just a start. There’s plenty more to come.
TREVOR ZEGRAS – PHI
Zegras floundered in Anaheim the past two seasons, partly due to injuries, but his situation changes completely with the trade to Philadelphia. He should immediately play on the top line and first power-play unit, which should give him the chance to get his burgeoning career back on track.
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IVAN BARBASHEV – VEG
Barbashev could be the bonus baby of the year. He’s coming off a 51-point campaign – not bad for a secondary scorer. The thing is, 48 of those points were at even strength. What if he earns more power-play time this year? It’s not out of the realm of possibilities. After all, he has gotten some power-play time in the past, but he just hasn’t been used as a top-unit PP guy in Vegas yet. As an added bonus, he could well find himself playing 5-on-5 minutes with Mitch Marner, whose very job is to help other players score. That all bodes very well.
FILIP HRONEK – VAN
Hronek is a talented offensive defenseman who just so happens to be stuck playing behind one of the NHL’s elite offensive blueliners in Quinn Hughes. A trade would be a massive boon to Hronek’s production.
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JOEL HOFER – STL
Among NHL backups from last season, Hofer is the most qualified to be a No. 1 goalie. To get there, Hofer would need a trade. Whether that trade saw Hofer shipped out from St. Louis or the Blues’ current No. 1, Jordan Binnington, being the one to go is immaterial. Either way, Hofer would be getting more ice.
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JACK QUINN & ZACH BENSON – BUF
It will be either a Jack attack or a Zach attack in Buffalo. The Sabres need someone to fill the hole created in the lineup by the JJ Peterka trade. The right winger gave the Sabres 68 points last season, and Quinn and Benson are the players most likely to step up and fill the void.
(ERIC HARTLINE-IMAGN IMAGES)
Hofer is 25 with excellent credentials and stuckbehind Binnington. One trade would make him a starter.
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NICK LARDIS – CHI
Look, Lardis is not even expected to play in the NHL this year, but he scored 71 freakin’ goals last year with the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs. And then he scored 11 more in seven playoff games. What if the 2023 third-round pick makes the team right out of training camp? Then we have ourselves a bonus baby.
NICK ROBERTSON – TOR
He’s never hit his stride with the Maple Leafs, and he believes a change of scenery would do it for him. Maybe he’s right. The potential is there.
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JET GREAVES – CLB
Greaves is a veteran of this realm, albeit not at the NHL level. After playing with the Cambridge Hawks U-16 AAA team, he hoped to jump to the OHL. But he had to play a year of Jr. B before earning an OHL deal with the Barrie Colts, who’d drafted him the previous April. After each of his two years with the Colts, Greaves hoped to be taken in the NHL draft, but he was passed up in both instances. Eventually, Greaves earned an NHL contract after a strong 2021-22 split between the ECHL and AHL. And after a great 2024-25 season with AHL Cleveland, he was called up by the Blue Jackets and carried them down the stretch, almost helping them to the playoffs. Now, he’s in a position to play his first full NHL season – and defy expectations again.
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ZEEV BUIUM – MIN
Could he be the next Lane Hutson? Buium signed with Minnesota after a great couple of seasons with the University of Denver. He didn’t get into a regular-season contest with the Wild but got in four playoff games. Hutson had 49 points at Boston University before signing with Montreal, playing a few games and then exploding this past season. Buium had 48 points at the University of Denver. Similar situations.
RYAN LEONARD – WSH
After wrapping up his season with Boston College, the 2023 draft’s eighth-overall pick struggled to produce with the Capitals. Leonard notched one goal and one assist in 17 combined regular-season and playoff games. Not exactly encouraging for fantasy players. But, make no mistake, he’s a scorer, and he’s going to score in the NHL. This year, he could play on the first, second, third or fourth line in Washington – or on the first line for AHL Hershey. He’s a wild card.
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MATEJ BLUMEL – BOS
Three years in the Dallas Stars organization provided him with just 13 NHL games, but his situation has changed. After leading the AHL in goals last season with 39, he signed as a free agent with Boston. He’s not pencilled into the Bruins’ starting lineup or even at the top of the injury-replacement list, but maybe, just maybe, he gets a chance at some point and makes good with the Bruins.
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JOHN GIBSON – DET
His situation changed during the summer. After slipping into mediocrity and then a backup role in Anaheim, the former elite No. 1 goalie got a reset after a trade to Detroit. At 32, Gibson is still young for a goalie, and he can revitalize his career.
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JESPERI KOTKANIEMI – CAR
Do you believe in miracles? If so, there’s hope.
BOWEN BYRAM – BUF
There were constant trade rumors surrounding Byram prior to him signing with the Sabres, but it was just a two-year deal, so maybe he still gets moved. Players who leave Buffalo have gone on to considerable success elsewhere. Sam Reinhart is an obvious recent example, but there’s also Jack Eichel, Brandon Montour and Ryan O’Reilly among others.