Tampa Bay

Victor Hedman – Hedman's career numbers in both the regular season and playoffs are somewhat misleading because his totals were mediocre for many years before reaching his current level as one of the best defensemen in the NHL. His injury-plagued campaign could set his value low in playoff drafts composed of many casual fans given that he is far down the Lightning scoring leaderboard. He is not even leading Lightning defensemen in points this year!

Anton Stralman – That honor belongs to Stralman who leads the Bolts with 38 points. As we saw a few weeks ago, Stralman took advantage of many injuries on the Lightning blueline to post an unexpected breakout campaign. With Hedman due soon and both Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn expected back in the coming weeks, Stralman's opportunity may not be as golden should the team make it into the deep rounds barring further injuries of significance.

Steven Stamkos – While Stamkos has emerged as an elite NHL forward, he has yet to put together a postseason run that matches some of his gaudy numbers. He is still very young and still has plenty of time to grow into a dominant playoff performer. Just keep his history in mind when making your pick at your playoff pool draft.

Ryan Callahan – Callahan is a popular NHL player due to his grit and work ethic, in addition to his contributions in various fantasy formats. Unfortunately, his strong play over the years has never translated into a strong postseason run no doubt in part due to his style of play wearing him down over the course of the season. He remains a talented producer and could always breakout with a strong playoff performance but be aware that there is major risk if you draft Callahan.

Washington

Mike Green – For all of the flak that Green takes for his inconsistent play over the years, he remains an effective offensive contributor even in the playoffs. His career mark of 0.58 points per game is very strong for a defenseman. The fact that he is not popular in fantasy land could leave him sitting on the board in the later rounds of your playoff pool.

In keeper leagues things are very muddy for Green at the moment. Set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, it is far from a given that he returns to Washington. If he hits the open market he will be hard-pressed to find a better environment to boost his offensive numbers than his current home.

John Carlson – Like Hedman, Carlson's career numbers are skewed by development years that fell short of his current level of play. The fact is that Carlson has emerged as a premier NHL defenseman, posting a career-high 53 points despite not getting prime power play minutes. The lack of opportunities with the man advantage could make it difficult to translate his production into the postseason but he should still be a factor.

One has to wonder if Carlson has another gear should he manage to get top power play minutes. This opportunity could present itself this fall should Green depart as a free agent. A strong playoff performance by Carlson could make Green expendable in the eyes of management and greatly increase Carlson's keeper value.

Nicklas Backstrom – A career point-per-game player, Backstrom has not been nearly as effective in postseason play. Most notably, his lack of production since the start of the 2011 playoffs where Backstrom has a total of just 13 points in 29 games has made him a multi-year bust in playoff pools. This should rank him well behind other players of similar regular season production.

Joel Ward – Ward has developed a reputation of strong postseason play over the years. Taking out his incredible run with Nashville in 2011 (13 points in 12 games), he only has 13 points in 27 playoff contests. Still, the fact that he has been able to log solid minutes constantly this year should help make Ward an attractive later-round pick, even in smaller playoff pools.

Brooks Laich – Consider Laich a dark horse in deeper playoff pools as this season has mostly been one to forget. Despite a lack of production, Laich is still getting third-line minutes and has had some excellent playoff campaigns in the past.

Marcus Johansson – Johansson has developed into a consistent point producer capable of hitting the mid-40s with ease. On the other hand, his postseason performances have not been nearly as good. Should history repeat itself he could be buried down the depth chart in favor of some of the Capitals' responsible depth guys. This could in turn make him a decent buy-low option for deeper leagues this summer if people overreact to another round playoff outing.

Troy Brouwer – Brouwer has become an effective power forward that has earned a spot in most fantasy leagues. However, his postseason production has been extremely disappointing to say the least with just 16 points in 64 games with Chicago and Washington. Given that Brouwer's career numbers in the regular season tend to fall in the range of 0.5 points per game, there is very little reward for the risk that comes with drafting him. It would be best to avoid him outside of deep playoff leagues.