Get ready for your season with theScore's fantasy hockey draft kit.

The following players likely won't be fantasy relevant during the 2020-21 season, but they could become incredibly valuable in keeper leagues down the road.

Most of these phenoms will need to be designated as not active (NA), so be sure to check your league's settings before drafting any of them.

Marco Rossi, C, Wild

It seems unlikely that Rossi, the ninth overall pick during the 2020 draft, makes the Wild this season. However, he's worth stashing with your NA spot.

When he does eventually debut in the NHL, there's a coveted first-line center job waiting for him. The Wild's system sorely lacks high-impact pivots, and Rossi could immediately be fantasy relevant while playing between the likes of Kevin Fiala and Kirill Kaprizov in a year or two.

Rasmus Sandin, D, Maple Leafs

After playing 28 NHL games last year, it may come as a surprise that Sandin will be hard-pressed to crack Toronto's lineup this season, but that's the truth. There are at least seven Maple Leafs defensemen ahead of the young Swede on the depth chart, so it'll likely take some injuries (or COVID-19 cases) for him to get into the lineup.

However, the Maple Leafs could easily lose Travis Dermott or Justin Holl in the expansion draft next year, and Mikko Lehtonen and Zach Bogosian might depart as unrestricted free agents. That would likely open the door for Sandin, who would be valuable in fantasy as part of Toronto's high-flying offense. Sandin produced an impressive 15 points in 21 AHL games as a 19-year-old last season.

Jamie Drysdale, D, Ducks

Defensemen tend to take longer to develop, so it may be a couple more years until Drysdale is a full-time NHLer. However, he could quickly become a fantasy producer upon his arrival.

Unlike Drysdale's world-juniors defense partner Bowen Byram (who was also considered for this list, but will probably make the NHL this year), the Ducks prospect has an opportunity to be his team's power-play quarterback of the future. Kevin Shattenkirk will likely fill that void for now, but the job should be Drysdale's once he emerges. That gives him a higher fantasy upside than Byram, who's behind Cale Makar in Colorado.

Jake Oettinger, G, Stars

Ben Bishop is likely out until March, so Oettinger is projected to begin the season as Anton Khudobin's backup and thus won't be eligible to be designated as NA. But he should start regularly, and Dallas' defensive system is fantasy-friendly for goaltenders. The 22-year-old was a first-round pick in 2017, and he posted strong AHL numbers last season, recording a 2.57 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in 38 games.

Oettinger is undoubtedly Dallas' goalie of the future. But even though Bishop and Khudobin are both 34 years old, they're signed for three more seasons each. Unless one of them is traded or selected in the expansion draft, it may take some time before Oettinger ascends the depth chart. Patience could pay off, though.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, G, Sabres

Luukkonen lost some of his prospect shine after a rough AHL rookie season last year when he posted an .874 save percentage and a 3.15 goals-against average over 10 games. However, that happened coming off hip surgery. The 2017 second-rounder performed better overseas in Finland this season, registering a 2.64 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 12 contests.

The 6-foot-4 Finn is intriguing for fantasy purposes because of his relatively easy road to the NHL. Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton are both on one-year deals with Buffalo, and the latter is unlikely to return next season. Ullmark has looked promising at times, but he's by no means locked in as the team's No. 1 goalie moving forward. If Luukkonen bounces back with a productive campaign in the AHL, he could contend for an NHL job as early as next season.

Josh Wegman has been theScore's resident fantasy hockey expert since 2015. Find him on Twitter @JoshWegman_.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets signed forward Oliver Bjorkstrand to a five-year contract extension that carries an average annual value of $5.4 million, the team announced Wednesday.

With one season remaining on his current contract, the 25-year-old is now signed through the 2025-26 season.

"Oliver is a gifted player that has shown steady improvement throughout career to this point and we couldn't be happier that he will be a Blue Jacket for a very long time," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said." "He is a dangerous offensive player, and we believe he will be an even more impactful player for us as he continues to develop and mature in this league."

Bjorkstrand led the Blue Jackets with 21 goals last season despite missing 21 games due to injury and added 15 assists. Since being selected in the third round by the Blue Jackets in 2013, he's appeared in 246 games and has totaled 65 goals and 68 assists.

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The NHL's landscape looks slightly different this season as clubs have been temporarily realigned into new divisions to restrict travel amid the pandemic.

With so much parity in today's game, the balance of talent remains rather consistent across the four groups, but some will inevitably be tougher than others.

After evaluating each division's talent pool, we've ranked them from weakest to strongest.

4. West

The West may be headlined by a trio of elite Stanley Cup contenders, but there's a pretty steep drop off after that.

The Avalanche, Blues, and Golden Knights will likely jockey for the top three seeds while the other five teams - who each finished among the bottom 11 clubs in the NHL last season - will look to seize a playoff opportunity that may not have existed without the realignment.

Hockey has seen brighter days in California. The 2019-20 campaign marked just the second time - and first since 1995-96 - that the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks all missed the postseason. Neither of the three will be much of a threat this year, either, and the increased number of late-season matchups between the clubs will make the draft lottery picture all the more interesting.

The Wild enter the campaign with one of the league's slimmest depth charts at center ice, and the Coyotes fell backward into the playoffs last season even with Taylor Hall on the roster. When it comes to competitive balance, it doesn't get any more lopsided than the West.

3. Central

The Central is led by last year's Stanley Cup finalists in the Lightning and Stars, with the budding Hurricanes hoping its young talented cast can take another leap this season. Six of the eight clubs finished in the top half of the league in 2019-20, and five of them advanced to the Round of 16 in the playoffs.

The Blue Jackets, Panthers, and Predators are clubs with relatively high floors but questionable ceilings. Nashville has a ton of talent and vastly outplayed Arizona in its best-of-five series last summer despite losing in four games. It'll be interesting to see how the club responds with a fresh start. Florida and Columbus made some key lineup changes over the offseason and will be competitive on most nights.

Detroit will continue its rebuild and are likely to finish at the bottom again. Other than that, however, the division is pretty open. If the Blackhawks were entering the season healthy, we could've seen any four of the top seven clubs clinching a playoff berth.

North

The Canadian division will be an absolute treat for fans across the country, and every game will be worth tuning into. Outside of the rebuilding Senators, who will be much harder to play against this season, the division is completely up for grabs.

The other six clubs have high expectations for the season ahead. Though neither team is a heavy Stanley Cup favorite, all can author deep postseason runs and perhaps even capture a championship. The Maple Leafs and Canadiens are improved on paper. The Flames and Jets have a ton of potential. The Canucks and Oilers look to continue to build off of promising 2019-20 campaigns.

There's no shortage of star power in the division. The group includes some of the best under-25 talents in the league, including Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Nick Suzuki, Thomas Chabot, and the Tkachuk brothers, to name a few.

The North is full of parity and the most difficult to call. However, the fact it's the only realigned group with seven teams slightly increases each club's odds of a playoff berth, so it can't claim the top spot.

East

The East is absolutely stacked. It's home to five of the NHL's top 11 teams from a season ago, and one of those clubs is guaranteed to miss the next playoffs.

The Bruins may take a slight step back after losing Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara this summer, but their championship window isn't shut just yet. The Capitals, Penguins, and Islanders have established themselves as perennial contenders. The Flyers finally appear to have found their identity with netminder Carter Hart providing the long-missing ingredient between the pipes.

Both the Sabres and Rangers added franchise-altering pieces in Hall and Alexis Lafreniere, respectively, and each team must be taken seriously. The clubs have two of the most dangerous top-six forward units in the league, and although depth and defense remain a question mark, Buffalo and New York are capable of knocking off any opponent on any given night.

New Jersey appears to be at least another year away from being back in the playoff picture, but the team made noteworthy improvements toward the end of 2019-20 and won't roll over for any opponent this season.

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Team USA defeated Canada 2-0 to capture its fifth gold medal at the World Junior Championship and first since 2017.

More to come.

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The Seattle Kraken hired Jason Botterill to be an assistant general manager to GM Ron Francis and Norm Maciver as director of player personnel, the organization announced Tuesday.

Botterill was the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres for the past three years before being fired in June. The team didn't make the postseason during his tenure. However, Botterill was previously an extremely successful assistant GM for 10 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping to oversee three Stanley Cups.

"Jason brings a great deal of experience and has worked with some of the best in the business," Francis said. Botterill previously worked alongside the likes of Jim Rutherford, Cliff Fletcher, and Ray Shero.

Botterill will work alongside Rick Olczyk, who was already hired as an assistant general manager, as the organization prepares for the expansion draft on July 21.

"Everyone in hockey is extremely excited about what's happening in Seattle, and I am thrilled for this unique opportunity," Botterill said. "I'm looking forward to working with the diverse and talented group that Ron has assembled."

Maciver spent the last 14 seasons working with the Chicago Blackhawks, during which the club also won three Stanley Cups. He played in 500 NHL games as a defenseman and was a teammate of Francis' for three seasons.

"Norm ... brings a lot of experience and knowledge," Francis said. "I know him from our playing days and am pleased to reunite with him. He will do a fantastic job as we build out our team."

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