Ramblings: Blues, Rangers, Oilers March On (Apr 23)

Ian Gooding

2017-04-23

Blues, Rangers, Oilers march on; Wild, Canadiens, Sharks done for the year

We now have both Western Conference second-round series ready to roll. The Blues will face the Predators, while the Ducks will face the Oilers.

Magnus Paajarvi was the overtime hero for the Blues, scoring at 9:42 of overtime to power the Blues past the Wild four games to one. That means that the teams that finished third, fourth, and fifth overall in the standings have all been eliminated from the playoffs. (Chicago, Columbus, and Minnesota, if you need to look that one up.) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: in today’s salary cap era with competition as tight as ever, picking series winners can be a guessing game.

Paul Stastny returned to the Blues’ lineup after missing 14 games with a foot injury, scoring what was at the time an insurance goal for the Blues. Over the regular season he scored 40 points in 66 games, which would have put him on pace for 50 points if fully healthy. That might not be of much consequence as he has averaged only 65 games the past two seasons and has missed at least eight games in each of his three seasons in St. Lou. Yes, he’s a certified Band-Aid Boy.

In spite of allowing three goals in Game 5, Jake Allen allowed only eight goals in the five-game series. I referenced his post-Ken Hitchcock numbers in an earlier Ramblings. You’ll want to keep him on your radar for next season’s drafts, as he could be undervalued.

With their season on the line, the Wild poured it on in the final two periods, combining for 26 shots over those two periods alone. All of the Wild’s goal scorers – Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, and Jason Zucker – broke through for their first goal of the series. In spite of the offensive push in Game 5, Mikael Granlund, Eric Staal, and Nino Niederreiter – the Wild’s top three goal scorers during the regular season – were all held without a goal during this series. So if you picked the Wild over the Blackhawks as your Central Division team, you weren’t a whole lot better off.

Niederreiter arguably should have received a goal during the third period, but it was disallowed because of goaltender interference. But if a defender pushes the player into the goalie, should that really be goaltender interference? You decide.

Zucker picked the right time to end his slump, scoring the game-tying goal in the third period. In spite of attaining the first 40-point season of his career, Zucker sputtered during March with an 11-game goalless drought to end the month. A look at his splits shows that 17 of his 22 goals were scored during the middle two quarters of the season. So you’re probably better off not drafting him next season, but adding him to your team only when he’s on a run.

Staal was taken to the hospital with a head injury after crashing into the boards during the second period of Game 5. Here is the play, where he no doubt hits his head hard. Hope he is okay.

The Martin Hanzal gamble did not pay off for the Wild, and now he is set to become a UFA. Other than Hanzal’s potential departure, the Wild’s roster shouldn’t change a whole lot during the offseason. They took a big step this season and should be one of the favorites to win the Central Division in 2017-18.

*

So far in these playoffs, I have been very wrong about the Nashville Predators. I have also been wrong about Henrik Lundqvist, who has been better in the playoffs (1.70 GAA, .947 SV%) than in the regular season (2.74 GAA, .910 SV%). I thought the Rangers/Canadiens series would come down to goaltending, and that Carey Price would be better than Lundqvist, referencing my Lundqvist ownership for much of the season.

If King Henrik’s stellar goaltending can carry forward to the next round (and perhaps beyond), it will be interesting to see if his playoff performance will affect his draft position next season. Pete Jensen of NHL.com currently has Lundqvist ranked at 95 among all players in single-season formats, while Dobber has Lundqvist as his 17th-ranked keeper goalie. I’m thinking that Lundqvist could move up slightly with a strong playoff, but remember that the regular season is a larger body of work.

It’s difficult to win a playoff series without scoring at least one power-play goal. The Rangers finally made that happen in Game 6, as Mats Zuccarello scored one of his two goals on the man advantage.

*

For what it’s worth, Price posted a .933 save percentage and 1.47 goals-against average in this series. But numerous Habs’ scorers couldn’t find the back of the net in this series, including Alex Galchenyuk, Phillip Danault, Andrei Markov, and Max Pacioretty.

Could a rough playoff series against the Rangers drop Pacioretty’s fantasy value? Seems unlikely, since he reached 30 goals and 60 points for the fourth consecutive season before his late-season slide. But this series was clearly one he’d like to forget.
 


Dating back to the regular season, Patches had not scored a goal in ten games, and he was held to just one assist in the six-game series. Pacioretty even took out his frustrations in a first-period fight with Jimmy Vesey.

GM Marc Bergevin is receiving much of the blame for the Habs’ first-round playoff exit, as he chose to add size and toughness instead of scoring at the trade deadline. There’s also the P.K. Subban/Shea Weber trade, which was second-guessed by many. Bergevin is no doubt on the hot seat now, as the Habs have slowed after strong starts for two seasons running. If he remains, then one clear objective will be to find a true number one center for the Habs either through the draft or via trade. It will also be interesting to see what the Habs do with UFA-to-be Alexander Radulov, who turned out to be the gamble that paid off.

📢 advertisement:

*

This sums up this season’s playoff pools rather well (so far):
 


Or the guy (or gal) who picked random squares in the box pool.

*

Was Cam Talbot a Vezina Trophy finalist snub? The playoffs don’t count in the voting, but he was close to recording his third shutout of the first round in Game 6. His regular-season stats provide a strong argument by themselves, as he tied for the league lead in wins (42) and was the only goalie to play 70 games this season. Pete Jensen of NHL.com currently has Talbot ranked at 28 among all players in single-season formats, while Dobber has Talbot as his 3rd-ranked keeper goalie. You knew how big Dobber was on Talbot entering the season. Needless to say, I could be sold on Talbot as a top-5 goalie right now.

Oscar Klefbom did not play in the third period. Since Klefbom is their top-scoring blueliner and top power-play QB, this could be a concern if he is unavailable for the next round.

It’s easy to laud the accomplishments of Connor McDavid and now Leon Draisaitl, but let’s make a note of the secondary scoring in Edmonton.

Mark Letestu scored a power-play goal in Game 5. It may seem strange that Letestu receives first-unit power-play time, but he is their top faceoff guy. As strong as the Oilers’ offense is, the Oilers were dead last in faceoff percentage during the regular season with a 47 percent success rate.

David Desharnais recorded two points in Game 5, including the overtime winner. Those secondary scorers may not mean much now, but if you’re in a playoff pool that allows adds and drops, you’ll want to be on top of grabbing a secondary scorer that goes three or four rounds deep.

*

Joonas Donskoi replaced Timo Meier in the Sharks’ lineup for Game 6. Neil has more on Meier, the Sharks’ third-ranked prospect at Dobber Prospects, in Saturday’s Ramblings.

Unlike the other two eliminated teams, you can’t say the Sharks suffered from a lack of scoring in their six-game series. After all, they did score a touchdown on the Oilers in Game 4. But looking away from the stats and toward the TV, this series mirrored the Chicago/Nashville series, where the veteran team simply couldn’t keep up with the younger, faster team. Two seasons from now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chicago and San Jose are missing the playoffs entirely, which would put them in the same boat as former Western Conference powers that have aged quickly such as Vancouver and Los Angeles and Detroit.  

*

Finally, maybe you heard, but Ilya Kovalchuk is reportedly interested in returning to the NHL, according to Elliotte Friedman.
 


*

For more fantasy hockey information, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

4 Comments

  1. larrylintz 2017-04-23 at 07:39

    I don’t think the goalie interference rule applies if a guy is pushed into goalie by goalie’s teammate. But in this case it’s clear to me there was contact — not huge, but not immaterial — prior to the cross-check.

    I was about to suggest that Habs might be able to lure Kovalchuk to join Radulov and Markov to form a new Red Army unit, but of course if they have that of money to spend they need to focus on a big centre. A shame they didn’t go for Eric Staal last year, he could have put them over the top. Staal would have been motivated as well playing vs Rangers, given he was mediocre with them last year and would therefore have had something to prove.

    • Striker 2017-04-23 at 10:13

      I fully agree. That was my interpretation as well. Minor but in the blue paint.

  2. Striker 2017-04-23 at 10:11

    I have avoided Zucker for last 2 years. He is always being offered up in trade in my points only H2H leagues & LW carries a premium over C’s due to supply. The reason is we award points for PPG’s, SHG’s & OTG’s. Zucker just barely makes the top 6 in TOI/GP for forwards & when it comes to power play time he see’s none. His 0:14 PP TOI/GP ranks him 13th for regulars 17th overall. His 21 goals & 46 even strength points are impressive, he had 1 PPG.

    His 21 even strength goals put him in the top 30 tied with the likes of Carter & Pavelski. His 46 even strength points in the top 25 tied with the likes of Pastrnak, Schwartz, Forsberg & Tavares! Why can’t this player earn PP time what else does he need to do to warrant deployment on 1 of Minnesota’s 2 power play units? He finished 4th in goals for & 6th in points for Minnesota.

    Pominville is a goner, he will be bought out before the expansion draft, his contract & NMC need to be jettisoned, no team is in a worse position for the expansion draft than Minnesota. Minnesota will move at least 1 of Brodin or Scandella before the expansion draft if not potentially both.

    Assuming only 1 is traded. Suter, Spurgeon, Dumba & which ever 1 isn’t moved will only leave room for 4 forwards to be protected. Parise & Koivu have NMC’s, that leaves room for 2 of Granlund, Neiderreiter, Coyle or Zucker! Perhaps Minny trades 2 Dman to allow them to protect 7 forwards or they strike a deal with Vegas not to take some of these assets.

    If I’m McPhee & I’m confronted with having Scandella, Zucker or Coyle available assuming Granlund & Neiderreiter are the other to protectors, the compensaition to pass on any of these 3 players is a 1st minimum, frankly more as anyone of these 3 players are worth more than a 1st round pick especially considering Minnesota picks late.

    All that said I don’t care if Zucker is in Minnesota or else where next year I’m drafting this player in the 60 point range with upside. Having just turned 25 & played 247 regular season games this player is ready to pop. All he needs is some power play time & he adds 10 to 15 points in a walk. If anyone gives this player the ice time he has earned he could hit 65 with the potential if all falls perfectly 70 is possible. He just needs 1st line ice time & pp time to do so. Give him 2nd both at even strength & on the PP 60’s a calk walk next season.

  3. Striker 2017-04-23 at 10:44

    5 for 6 so far in my bracket pool. Had SJ to beat Edm. Have Was & Bos in the other 2 yet to be decided. Had little no time to prepare due to a new job opportunity, wasn’t aware Krug & Carlo wouldn’t play or would have selected Ottawa. I played 2 variations in the west in my box pools with StL & Anh making the cup in the west, did the same in the east with Pit & Was simply entered 4 teams. In my 2 draft leagues a whole hodgepodge weighted to StL & Anh in the west.

    In my 2 draft leagues, as I drafted 15 out of 17 in 1 & 12 out of 15 in the other the east was a graveyard when I selected so very few Caps or Penguins but lots of NYR’s with a sprinkling of caps & penguins ended up weighted more to the West. In these formats I lean to taking the best player available after the 1st 6 rounds unless my teams are still on the board. The 17 player league is 15 players deep, 10 F, 3 D & 2 players of your choice. The 15 team league 12 F, 5D & a G. I got Lundqvist 12th. Goalies were selected immediately with a few minor exceptions. By the time I selected 9 goalies were gone & only Lundqvist was left from what I perceived to be the final 4. In these formats I took Was, NYR, StL & Anh. Was over Pit was a coin toss for me but more people leaned to Pit so I leaned to Was. You play the hand your dealt in these formats.

    Lundqvist ranked 6th in both my fantasy leagues last season. Baring a serious injury no way he doesn’t make the top 10 in both those leagues next season.

    To all you Tor & Edm fans out there. Well done. A great time to be Oilers & Leafs fans. As much as I have Was to beat Tor would love to see Tor come back & advance. A ton of fun watching both these teams play.

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 28 - 19:03 OTT vs CHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 TOR vs WSH
Mar 28 - 19:03 MTL vs PHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 PIT vs CBJ
Mar 28 - 19:03 FLA vs NYI
Mar 28 - 19:03 CAR vs DET
Mar 28 - 20:03 MIN vs S.J
Mar 28 - 20:03 STL vs CGY
Mar 28 - 20:03 WPG vs VGK
Mar 28 - 21:03 EDM vs L.A
Mar 28 - 21:03 COL vs NYR
Mar 28 - 22:03 SEA vs ANA
Mar 28 - 22:03 VAN vs DAL
Mar 28 - 22:03 ARI vs NSH

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
TAGE THOMPSON BUF
JJ PETERKA BUF
ANTHONY DUCLAIR T.B
JORDAN GREENWAY BUF
JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY MTL

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
ALEKSEI KOLOSOV PHI
JOONAS KORPISALO OTT
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN BUF
KAREL VEJMELKA ARI
JUSTUS ANNUNEN COL

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency CGY Players
171.7 JONATHAN HUBERDEAU BLAKE COLEMAN MIKAEL BACKLUND
117.4 KEVIN ROONEY A.J. GREER MATT CORONATO
92.9 MARTIN POSPISIL ANDREI KUZMENKO NAZEM KADRI

DobberHockey Podcasts

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: