The Most Reliable Man in Fantasy Hockey Is Just Getting Started.
There are players you trust in fantasy hockey. And then there is Wyatt Johnston…a different category entirely, reserved for the rare breed of player who has never given you a reason to doubt him and shows no signs of starting now.
Four NHL seasons. Four seasons of increased goals, assists, and points. Four seasons of 82 games played without missing a single one. At 23 years old, Johnston has already built one of the most consistent and ascending production profiles of any forward in the league, and the 2026-27 season — his fifth with Dallas, his first on an expanded 84-game schedule — sets up as the year he steps fully into the elite tier of NHL fantasy forwards.
Let us look at what the progression actually says, because the numbers tell the story.
In his rookie year of 2022-23, Johnston posted 24 goals and 17 assists for 41 points — a strong foundation for a first-year player on a contending team. Year two brought 32 goals, 33 assists, and 65 points. Year three delivered 33 goals, 38 assists, and 71 points — new career highs across the board for the third consecutive season, including a dominant second half that saw him post 27 goals and 51 points in just 49 games after the holiday break, ranking fifth in the NHL in goals over that stretch. And then 2025-26 arrived and Johnston took the biggest leap yet — 45 goals, 41 assists, and 86 points in 82 games, finishing tied for fourth in the NHL in goals, 18th in points, and establishing himself as the undisputed first-line centre and offensive engine of one of the deepest teams in the Western Conference.
Four seasons. Goals: 24, 32, 33, 45. Assists: 17, 33, 38, 41. Points: 41, 65, 71, 86. The line goes one direction….up!
The durability angle deserves its own moment of appreciation. In a league where injuries are an unavoidable reality of a long and physical season, Johnston has played every single game of his NHL career. Four seasons. 328 games. Not once has he appeared on an injury report that kept him out of a lineup. For fantasy managers who have been burned by high-end forwards missing weeks at a time, Johnston represents something almost impossibly valuable… elite production with essentially zero injury risk based on everything his career has shown.
The 2026-27 context makes the projection even more compelling. Dallas finished 50-20-12 last season — second in the Central Division — with an offence featuring Johnston, Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen, and Miro Heiskanen driving production from every position. Robertson led the team with 94 points. Rantanen brought physicality and secondary scoring. Heiskanen and Thomas Harley run one of the best blue lines in the conference. Johnston operates at the centre of an offensive machine that is built to score and built to win.
A projection of 47 goals and 47 assists for 94 points across 84 games is the natural next step in a progression that has been as linear and relentless as Johnston himself. He has earned more than that projection every year he has been in the league relative to expectations, and there is no credible evidence that year five will be any different. The 84-game schedule adds two additional opportunities to pad every statistical category, and a player who averages over a point per game needs very little help doing the rest.
Draft him in the first round. Build your roster around him. Sleep well at night knowing he will be in the lineup on opening night…and every night after that.
Statistics sourced from NHL.com, Hockey Reference, ESPN, Dallas Stars official website, and StatMuse, July 2026.
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