Playoff Western Leaders

Goals – 13 – Joe Pavelski – Dallas

Assists – 20 – Miro Heiskanen – Dallas

Points – 26 – Miro Heiskanen – Dallas

PPP – 10 – Elias Pettersson – Vancouver

Shots on Goal – 80 – Shea Theodore – Vegas

PIM – 46 – Antoine Roussel – Vancouver

Best plus/minus – plus 13 – Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado

Worst plus/minus – minus 11 – Esa Lindell – Dallas

Hits – 115 – Jamie Oleksiak – Dallas

Blocked shots – 67 – Esa Lindell – Dallas, Alexander Edler – Vancouver

Best FO% (min 200 draws) – 62.7% – Ryan O'Reilly – St. Louis

Worst FO% (min 200 draws) – 42.9% – William Karlsson – Vegas

Giveaways – 58 – Miro Heiskanen – Dallas

Takeaways – 21 – Esa Lindell – Dallas

Drawn Penalties – 13 – Elias Pettersson – Vancouver, Troy Stecher

Draisaitl Hat Tricks – 1 – Connor McDavid – Edmonton, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Edmonton, Mikko Rantanen – Colorado, Cale Makar – Colorado, Corey Perry – Dallas, J.T. Miller – Vancouver, Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado

Goalie wins – 14 – Anton Khudobin – Dallas

Save percentage (min 10 starts) – 92.4 – Cam Talbot – Calgary

Quality starts – 11 – Anton Khudobin – Dallas, Jacob Markstrom – Vancouver

There have been several surprises-both good and bad in the inaugural (and hopefully last) bubble playoffs in the NHL. 

We are mostly going to focus on players, but as for teams, the Dallas Stars are the biggest surprise for me as I had picked them to lose in each round until the Finals (of course I picked them in the Finals and there is still hope). The other surprises were Vancouver winning against St. Louis then taking Vegas to seven games and Colorado not being able to get by Dallas. 

The Good:

Miro Heiskanen – Dallas – As good as Heiskanen has been in his first two seasons, I'm not sure many of us would have foreseen him at a point per game pace after 26 playoff games. He's averaged 0.45 pts/g over his first two regular seasons and posted 0.51 pts/g this season. His play is starting to level off a little in the Finals, as fatigue and stiff competition kick in, but he is still impressive. Dallas scoring at an unprecedented pace hasn't hurt his production.

Shea Theodore – Vegas – With 19 points in 20 games, Theodore had people talking about future Norris trophies in his future. Along with the rest of Vegas, his play fell off a little against Dallas and the offence dried up. With 80 shots on goal he still leads the NHL playoffs, having being knocked out well over a week ago. The number of elite defencemen in the Western Conference is impressive.

John Klingberg – Dallas – Klingberg was beginning to show signs of offensive decline with only 32 points in 58 regular-season games and seeing his PP time cut from prior years. He has managed to restore a few fantasy owner’s faith with 21 points in 25 playoff games, but there is still concern moving forward as Heiskanen eats up more of the offence opportunities in Dallas.

J.T. Miller – Vancouver – Some people did not doubt how well Miller would play in the playoffs, I was not one of them as he had three career goals in his 61 career playoff games before this season. He not only proved me wrong but he provided more than just points to his game and was impressive in most areas of his game. 

Sam Bennett – Calgary – He was the catalyst for the Flames in their first two series as he led the team in goals with five, shots on goal with 32 and hits with 54. Calgary fans only hope he can sustain that next season over 82 games after very limited production during the regular season.

Elias Pettersson – Vancouver – I honestly didn't know what to expect from Pettersson in his first playoff experience and once again he exceeded my expectations. He came out and put up points with 18 in 17 games, won board battles, survived the increased physical elements of the game by drawing penalties and played well defensively. He continues to impress.

Andre Burakovsky – Colorado – With 17 points in 15 games, Burakovsky reaped the benefits of playing in the top six and seeing time on the second power-play unit. He found his game this season with 45 points in 58 games and continues to progress in the playoffs. He is a restricted free agent so it will be interesting to see what kind of contract he signs with Colorado moving forward. 

Denis Gurianov – Dallas – Gurianov had an impressive rookie season with 20 goals in 64 games but has elevated his play even more in the playoffs with nine goals and eight assists in 26 games, which is about a 28 goal pace. The 12th overall pick in 2015 was in danger of being labelled a bust before this season and has silenced most of his critics as he looks like the real deal. 

Joe Pavelski – Dallas – I did pick him as one of my dark horse playoff picks, but even then I didn't think he would be leading the NHL in playoff goals, after 26 games. The five-month break helped players like Pavelski rest up and still be fresh this late in the playoffs as he is averaging over 18 minutes per game. His shooting percentage is currently at 22 these playoffs compared to just over 11 during the regular season. What is hard to believe, is that 13 goals are not even his career-best in the post-season as he had 14 in 2015-16 with San Jose. 

Anton Khudobin – Dallas – A 34-year old career backup has emerged as this year's goalie of the playoffs (other than Thatcher Demko's three unbelievable games). Khudobin couldn't have asked any more of himself entering into unrestricted free agency. He had an excellent regular season with 16 wins in 30 games, a 93.0 save percentage and a career-high 63.3 percent quality starts. He has played in 24 of the 26 playoff games, winning 14 of them, while posting a respectable 91.7 save percentage and 45.8 quality start percentage. He should be able to land a two or three-year contract in the off-season notwithstanding how the series ends up. 

The Bad:

Conor Garland – Arizona – Garland was a little bit of a disappointment with the Coyotes in his first playoffs. After posting 22 goals and 39 points in 68 games, I was expecting more than a goal and an assist in eight games. He was battling an injury but seemed overmatched at times. 

Dylan Strome – Chicago – Strome had been fairly consistent and productive to over 0.66 pts/g during the regular season, but struggled in the playoffs with only three points in nine games, while only generating 10 shots on goal. The troubling fact is that he was replaced on the power play by Kirby Dach and going forward, it might be difficult for him to get that spot back. He might have peaked in Chicago already. 

Tyson Jost – Colorado – Jost has shown very little improvement in his three full seasons and he was taken out of the lineup in the playoffs as he only dressed for 12 of the 15 games that Colorado played. He only managed one goal in those 12 games and players like Jost need to provide offence or their role is suspect. I'm curious as to what the Avalanche are going to do with him moving forward. 

Tyler Seguin – Dallas – Even though the Stars are in the finals, Seguin has not been as big a contributor as his contract dictates. He has two goals and 11 assists in 25 games and is 7th in team scoring and tied for 10th in goals with four others. I had included him before game four of the Finals and in the two games since has five assists. The Stars need him at this production level if they have any chance to come back and win the series in seven games. 

Kailer Yamamoto – Edmonton – His 26 points in 27 games in the regular season was a little too much too soon. Not that he won't get back to a point per game pace, he just might be a few years away from being there consistently. To be fair, he didn't get much of an opportunity in the bubble and it was only four games. 

Alex Galchenyuk – Minnesota – He seems to be a shell of what he was even two years ago and watching him in the four games against Vancouver, I wouldn't have known he was in the lineup if I hadn't read his name on the roster sheet beforehand. Galchenyuk needs to be in the top six for any offensive success, but it is a vicious cycle for many players that lack defensive responsibility in staying there. He's a lesson that not all players that score 30 goals at the age of 22, go on to great things. 

Justin Faulk – St. Louis – I hate to gang up on Faulk as it is not his fault that he signed such a great contract with the Blues but I'm just continually baffled by the fact that St. Louis would elect to have Faulk over Pietrangelo when it comes right down to it. He had one goal in nine playoff games and looked very ordinary on the back end to me. 

Adam Gaudette – Vancouver – I was hoping that Gaudette would ride the wave of his 33 points in 59 regular-season games and provide some offence but he didn't. He struggled to stay in the lineup and when he did dress, was overmatched and didn't generate much offence. It is a little concerning for his prospects moving forward but hopefully, he gets stronger in the next few seasons. He's spent his whole career proving people wrong. 

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