Dobber Hockey Experts Panel – 2016 Playoffs (Round One)
steve laidlaw
2016-04-11
The Dobber Hockey experts weigh in with their playoff picks.
One of the most important factors in building a good playoff pool squad is in filling out a quality bracket. Having a feel for which teams will go far will help dictate your strategy heading to the draft table. Obviously, you want to avoid picking players off of teams eliminated in the opening round.
Over the past six seasons the Dobber Hockey Experts’ Panel is 61-29 for picking playoff series outcomes. Of course, we also picked a Blues-Rangers Stanley Cup final last year, so we aren’t perfect but on a series to series basis we are doing a successful job. Here are our picks for this season:
Eastern Conference:
Expert |
WAS v PHI |
PIT v NYR |
FLA v NYI |
TBL vs DET |
Dobber |
WAS in 4 |
PIT in 5 |
NYI in 5 |
TBL in 7 |
Laidlaw |
WAS in 5 |
PIT in 5 |
FLA in 4 |
DET in 6 |
Gooding |
WAS in 6 |
PIT in 7 |
FLA in 5 |
TBL in 7 |
Daoust |
WAS in 6 |
PIT in 6 |
NYI in 7 |
DET in 6 |
Campkin |
PHI in 7 |
PIT in 6 |
NYI in 6 |
TBL in 4 |
Collins |
PHI in 7 |
PIT in 5 |
FLA in 6 |
TBL in 7 |
Coretti |
WAS in 5 |
NYR in 6 |
FLA in 7 |
TBL in 5 |
Da Costa |
WAS in 5 |
PIT in 5 |
FLA in 6 |
DET in 5 |
LeBlanc |
WAS in 6 |
PIT in 5 |
FLA in 6 |
TBL in 5 |
McMillan |
WAS in 5 |
PIT in 6 |
NYI in 6 |
TBL in 4 |
Robinson |
WAS in 6 |
PIT in 7 |
FLA in 5 |
DET in 6 |
Roos |
WAS in 5 |
PIT in 5 |
FLA in 4 |
DET in 6 |
Schmidt |
WAS in 5 |
PIT in 7 |
FLA in 5 |
DET in 7 |
Consensus |
WAS in 6 |
PIT in 6 |
FLA in 6 |
TBL in 7 |
The Consensus was heavy for Washington, Pittsburgh and Florida but the Tampa Bay-Detroit series is a real toss up.
Western Conference:
Expert |
ANA v NAS |
LAK v SJS |
DAL v MIN |
STL v CHI |
Dobber |
ANA in 6 |
SJS in 5 |
DAL in 7 |
STL in 6 |
Laidlaw |
ANA in 6 |
SJS in 6 |
DAL in 6 |
STL in 7 |
Gooding |
ANA in 6 |
LAK in 7 |
DAL in 5 |
CHI in 6 |
Daoust |
ANA in 6 |
LAK in 7 |
DAL in 6 |
STL in 7 |
Campkin |
ANA in 6 |
LAK in 5 |
MIN in 7 |
STL in 7 |
Collins |
ANA in 5 |
SJS in 7 |
DAL in 5 |
CHI in 6 |
Coretti |
ANA in 5 |
SJS in 6 |
MIN in 7 |
STL in 7 |
Da Costa |
ANA in 6 |
LAK in 7 |
DAL in 5 |
CHI in 7 |
LeBlanc |
ANA in 6 |
LAK in 7 |
DAL in 5 |
STL in 7 |
McMillan |
ANA in 5 |
SJS in 6 |
DAL in 7 |
STL in 7 |
Robinson |
ANA in 6 |
SJS in 7 |
DAL in 5 |
STL in 7 |
Roos |
ANA in 6 |
SJS in 7 |
MIN in 6 |
STL in 7 |
Schmidt |
ANA in 6 |
LAK in 7 |
DAL in 5 |
STL in 7 |
Consensus |
ANA in 6 |
SJS in 7 |
DAL in 6 |
STL in 7 |
Literally no one stuck their neck out for Nashville. While most favoured Dallas and St. Louis, no one expects the Blues to handle the Blackhawks in a short series. The battle of California was heavily split with the Sharks having a narrow edge from the panel.
Cup Final:
Expert |
Cup Final |
Cup Winner |
Conn Smythe |
Top Scorer |
Dobber |
ANA v WAS |
Washington |
Ovechkin |
Ovechkin |
Laidlaw |
ANA v WAS |
Washington |
Ovechkin |
Kuznetsov |
Gooding |
LAK v WAS |
Los Angeles |
Doughty |
Ovechkin |
Daoust |
LAK v PIT |
Los Angeles |
Doughty |
Crosby |
Campkin |
LAK v PIT |
Pittsburgh |
Crosby |
Crosby |
Collins |
ANA v PHI |
Anaheim |
Mason |
Giroux |
Coretti |
STL v NYR |
NY Rangers |
Lundqvist |
Brassard |
Da Costa |
CHI v WAS |
Chicago |
Kane |
Kane |
LeBlanc |
ANA v WAS |
Washington |
Kuznetsov |
Kuznetsov |
McMillan |
ANA v WAS |
Anaheim |
Getzlaf |
Getzlaf |
Robinson |
ANA v WAS |
Washington |
Holtby |
Kuznetsov |
Roos |
SJS v PIT |
San Jose |
Thornton |
Pavelski |
Schmidt |
ANA v WAS |
Anaheim |
Getzlaf |
Ovechkin |
Consensus |
ANA v WAS |
Washington |
N/A |
Ovechkin |
A Ducks-Capitals final is heavily favoured though there was love for nine different finalists. The only thing for certain is no one likes the Atlantic Division.
Top Scorers:
Expert |
Second Scorer |
Third Scorer |
Fourth Scorer |
Fifth Scorer |
Dobber |
Backstrom |
Getzlaf |
Kuznetsov |
Kesler |
Laidlaw |
Ovechkin |
Getzlaf |
Crosby |
Perry |
Gooding |
Backstrom |
Kopitar |
Kuznetsov |
Kane |
Daoust |
Letang |
Kopitar |
Kessel |
Carter |
Campkin |
Malkin |
Letang |
Kopitar |
Doughty |
Collins |
B. Schenn |
Getzlaf |
Perry |
Vatanen |
Coretti |
Tarasenko |
Stepan |
Stastny |
Getzlaf |
Da Costa |
Kuznetsov |
Panarin |
Ovechkin |
Backstrom |
LeBlanc |
Perry |
Backstrom |
Kopitar |
Tarasenko |
McMillan |
Backstrom |
Silfverberg |
Crosby |
Kessel |
Robinson |
Ovechkin |
Getzlaf |
Backstrom |
Benn |
Roos |
Crosby |
Thornton |
Letang |
Barkov |
Schmidt |
Getzlaf |
Backstrom |
Kuznetsov |
Perry |
Consensus |
Getzlaf |
Kuznetsov |
Backstrom |
Perry |
With a Ducks-Capitals final favoured, naturally the panel leaned towards players off those teams.
Best of luck in all of your playoff drafts and if you haven’t yet, pick up the Dobber Hockey Interactive Playoff Draft List.
4 Comments
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You guys are still on boudreau and ovechkin? Caps lose in the 1st round behind Ed Snider driven Flyers team.
Kings over Panthers
Liking these predictions! I just loaded up on Caps, Kings, and Panthers last night in my playoff draft so I hope that works out! Bring on the playoffs!!
Consensus of a number of experts almost always looks like the favorites.
I’ll head another route and say that fenwick close is the best predictor of playoff success, so I’ll use only this metric and guess that the first round winners will be PHI, PIT, FLA, TB, LA, ANA, STL and DAL. I will also use the same metric to say that we’ll be seeing a PIT/LA final. Picking against Chicago and in favor of an injured TB team is scary, but I’ll go with the numbers in this instance.