April 12, 2015
Ian Gooding
2015-04-12
Pick up the 10th annual DobberHockey Playoff Draft List here – just $8.99 and comes with Dobber’s personal list, but a customizable spreadsheet for you to set your own teams and run your own list with a click of a button
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There's lots to talk about, so where do we start? Maybe chronological order works, at least to start.
Congratulations to the Ottawa Senators for what was a miraculous recovery to their season and a well-earned playoff berth. Two months ago, this team was pretty much left for dead, 14 points behind in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But then began the Andrew Hammond story, which we all know by now. Now the Senators face the Montreal Canadiens in an all-Canadian first round, a series which I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Sens win.
Sens’ super rookie Mark Stone has established himself as a must-own in fantasy leagues, scoring two more goals today. In fact, Stone – not Johnny Gaudreau or Filip Forsberg – is your rookie scoring winner. Stone and Gaudreau are tied with 64 points, but Stone has more goals (26 to 24). How hot has Stone been? He's scored points in nine consecutive games and seven goals over his last six games.
Needless to say, it's going to cost you a pretty penny to obtain his services for your fantasy team next season. But it's safe to assume now that he's the real deal. You can weigh in with your thoughts on Stone in the extensive thread Mark Stone – a star in the making on the Dobber Forum.
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With the Senators nudging in, a recent playoff regular was going to be left in the cold. That team turned out to be the Boston Bruins, who were eliminated thanks to the Penguins' 2-0 win over the Sabres. I mean, if the Penguins couldn't defeat the Sabres in a must-win, then they really wouldn't deserve to make the playoffs. But they did, and now the Bruins are on the outside looking in.
So what went wrong for the Bruins? Zdeno Chara got old and injured, while the Bruins have faced a heap of cap trouble this past season to the point that they've been handcuffed when trying to make trades. But that's what you get when your team has been successful the past few years. It should be a long offseason for the Bruins; one that could commence with Claude Julien and/or Peter Chiarelli losing their jobs and we here at Dobber analyzing the fantasy impact.
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As for the Penguins, they will be in tough against the Rangers. The news about Kris Letang missing the remainder of the playoffs obviously isn't good. If you want to learn more about how his concussion has been affecting/will affect the Penguins going forward, you'll want to check out my Fantasy Take from earlier this weekend.
In that article, I mentioned Ian Cole as a beneficiary of Letang's injury. He didn't score a point on Saturday, but he logged an exhausting 27 minutes in that game as the Pens healthy scratched Derrick Pouliot and dressed only five defensemen again. Rob Scuderi, Paul Martin, and Ben Lovejoy each played a minimum of 24 minutes. I really wonder if the Pens deploy this strategy again in the playoffs. But keep in mind that it earned Marc-Andre Fleury a shutout.
Brandon Sutter scored both Penguins' goals in that game. Did you know that he reached 20 goals this season? I haven't paid much attention to him fantasy-wise. Since he's a center who only recorded 12 assists all season, I think I'm justified in that.
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So now we have some playoff matchups. In case you don't know yet, I'll save you the trouble of looking them up.
Eastern Conference
New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings
Western Conference
Anaheim Ducks vs. Winnipeg Jets
Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames
St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators vs. Chicago Blackhawks
And yes, those are five Canadian teams in the playoffs. As a Canadian myself, I don't necessarily cheer for a team in the playoffs because they are based in my country of residence, but it will be nice to see at least two Canadian teams guaranteed to make it to the second round. It would be a reach to suggest a Canadian team could take the Cup this year, but don't be surprised if one of the Canucks, Flames, Jets, Senators, or Canadiens goes on a good long run. It's been that kind of season – one that should result in a very wide-open competition. One that makes your playoff pools even trickier this season.
I won't take the time to predict a winner on each series (yet), but you can make your predictions in the Hockey Hockey Hockey Hockey subject area (gee, I wonder what people discuss in there) in the Forums. And of course, if you're prepping for a playoff pool, the Dobber 2015 Interactive Playoff Draft List is a must-own. The great part about it is that it's flexible: It allows you to run different scenarios based on who you believe will win. That's the first time I've ever seen a draft guide with this feature. Pretty cool.
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In what was perhaps the closest scoring race in recent memory, Jamie Benn is your 2014-15 Art Ross Trophy winner. Benn ended up one point ahead of John Tavares thanks to a late push that was nothing short of incredible. Over his past three games, Benn scored ten points (5g-5a), capped off by a four-point night on Saturday against Nashville. Watch him record his hat trick on an empty-net goal, then record the assist that would be the point he needed to secure the Art Ross.