The Oilers getting swept out of the playoffs early Tuesday morning was not something that most of us projected. Edmonton outplayed Winnipeg, and the Jets barely led at all in the last three games. It could have gone either way, and I really hope this is the real kick in the pants that Edmonton management needs to re-look at their goaltending this summer. There are a lot of workable options, and they even have a few internal competitors like Stuart Skinner and Ilya Konovalov who should get a look in training camp. Mike Smith (UFA) and Mikko Koskinen (one year remaining) are not the answer. Ideally Koskinen could be dumped or bought out to make room for some real competition in the crease moving forward.

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Sticking with Edmonton for another minute, they don't need to re-sign Tyson Barrie, and even though my projections have him under a $5 million AAV on his next contract, they have internal options to promote and fill that void, and can use the free-agency budget elsewhere. The rest of the contract projections I'll look to publish in next week's Ramblings. In the meantime, if you want to know about a specific player or two, drop a comment or find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean.

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Last Edmonton note, stop trying to create a debate that Connor McDavid isn't the best player in the league. I would trade Mackinnon and be happy to add something worthwhile to land McDavid. He’s head and shoulders above anyone else.

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The AHL all-star team was released yesterday, and there were a few familiar names on it.

Say hello to the 2020-21 AHL All-Rookie Team.

G – @Thommy_31
D – @calenaddison
D – @GildonMax
F – @rileydamiani
F – @con91mcmichael
F – @philtomasino26https://t.co/UGMAmnUgew | #AHLAwards pic.twitter.com/Yy8y5NF9hT

— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) May 25, 2021

Recent first round draft picks Connor McMichael and Philip Tomasino weren't surprising to see on the list, nor was first round talent Calen Addison. I also talked about Riley Damiani's performance a couple months back in the ramblings, and he's a deserving inclusion as well. The other two names are a little less well known in fantasy circles at this point, so let's get you up to speed.

Max Gildon was selected in the third round back in 2017, and his development has been a slow burn since then. The six-foot-three rearguard has both size, and offensive instincts to jump onto your fantasy radar. He is the best prospect defenceman in the Panthers' system, though it might take a Keith Yandle trade for him to see real offensive minutes with the big club. He's next in line and with some solid AHL play this season, Gildon has shown that he could step onto an NHL roster whenever they need him. Florida's approach to the expansion draft could also greatly affect Glidon's value over the next few of years.

The other name on the list is Logan Thompson. Thompson is an undrafted 24-year-old who was signed out of the ECHL in 2020. He won a WHL championship in 2016, and even stopped a few shots in a relief appearance for the Golden Knights this season. Overall, his success in the last year at the AHL level has really shown that he could be the next piece of the goaltending puzzle in Vegas once Marc-Andre Fleury's contract expires in the summer of 2022. He actually led the league in Sv%, and it wasn't very close. He posted a .943% mark in 23 games, while the next best was the aforementioned Stuart Skinner with a save percentage of .932%. He may need another year or so of seasoning, but, he has some excellent upside without the wait time issue that is usually a fantasy owner's biggest problem with prospect goaltenders.

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Last night I got to watch both of my favourite teams (the Leafs and the Predators) as the only two playoff games on for the evening – great night for channel flipping. It actually turned out though that two of the players I noticed most were on Montreal and Carolina (though Alex Galchenyuk sticking it to his former team with three points was fun too). Cole Caufield was the first, and he is going to be a key name in the goal scoring race very soon. Between McDavid, Caufield, and Auston Matthews, the Canadian teams have a few of the Rocket Richard favourites moving forward.

The other player that really stood out was Steven Lorentz for the Hurricanes. He only put up eight points in 45 games this season, but he wasn't expected to see nearly that many games this year. He was put into the lineup as an injury replacement, and his effort level coupled with some good hockey smarts meant that he was never taken out – and being noticeable for hustle relative to the rest of the Hurricanes is exceptionally noteworthy. He's not likely someone that's on your fantasy radar outside of the deepest of leagues, but he looks like he could thrive as a Zach Hyman kind of glue guy in the top-six with two scorers if he ever gets that opportunity.

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Martin Necas scored two goals for the Hurricanes last night with the second one being an incredible individual effort for the wrap around.

THIS ONE COUNTS! 🚨

Marty Necas comes through in the clutch for the @Canes! #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/atJMK6tLg0

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 26, 2021

He also put up an extremely quiet 41 points in 53 regular season games. The sophomore looks explosive every time he touches the puck, and was especially productive when he was on the top power play unit while Vincent Trochek was out of the lineup for part of the season. He's someone I'm going to be targeting in redrafts next year, and he may only get drafted with the 65 point guys, but I think he has 75+ in him as soon as this fall.

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Montreal is on their last legs now after losing to the Maple Leafs, and there are a lot of fantasy questions that we won't be able to answer until next season is underway. Key among them is the centre and defence positions, with Phillip Danault a UFA and the duo of Jeff Petry & Shea Weber another year older, do we see the young guns like Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Alexander Romanov start to take over?

Meanwhile, Nashville has stuck around in this series longer than expected, and it's largely due to the play of Juuse Saros. How valuable is he next year in Nashville with Pekka Rinne retiring? Well as a workhorse goalie option who may see 30+ shots per night and still put up incredible ratios, he's going to pass the Semyon Varlamovs and Philipp Grubauers who rely on excellent teams in front of them to reduce the number of goals against. He may not quite be at the level of Andrei Vasilevskiy, but I'm curious where he gets drafted next year. He could be worth it as a top-five goalie off the board.

If you do invest in him though, make sure to note that he often starts slow, so don't cut bait even if the early season results aren't favourable.

I discussed some of this a bit more in depth with former Rambler Steve Laidlaw, on his podcast here:

New Podcast episode announcing the 2021 Fantasy Hockey All Stars with @alexdmaclean! Check it out!

Apple https://t.co/vZAtTwIuDq

Spotify https://t.co/oDtzPSZzT3

— Steve Laidlaw (@SteveLaidlaw) May 4, 2021

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I published the latest set of the cap league skater rankings yesterday, and the cap league goalie rankings are up this morning – they might even be out by the time you're reading this, but if not then be sure to check back in!

In the meantime, I wanted to touch on a few bargain names in the rankings.

#33 Jordan Kyrou doesn't seem to be getting as much love as many other players of the same talent level. Maybe it's because at 35^th overall you don't get the same treatment as first rounders? Or maybe, since his growth has been so steady in the last few years that he's flying too far under the radar? I think both of those are realistic issues, but it also has to do with how deep the Blues have been for the last number of years. The next wave is coming along, and between Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin, Nikita Alexandrov, and Kyrou, the Blues are in good hands.

#55 K'Andre Miller is the next in a long line of high-octane prospects coming through the Rangers' pipeline. The last guy up was Adam Fox, and he's now at number one on the cap list. However, Fox is extremely good at both ends of the ice, and may cede some offensive minutes to Miller. Miller actually averaged 21minutes of ice time per game, seeing his minutes rise as the season went on. However, his underlying numbers aren't quite as solid as Fox's, and that could lead to things slanting in Miller's favour. It will really depend on how the new coach wants to use them, but Miller could fit in extremely well as a big shot presence on a powerplay with excellent passers like Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, and Pavel Buchnevich.

#63 Mike Reilly is ranked only three spots below Morgan Rielly from the Maple Leafs, and depending on how free agency shakes out for the former, there may be a cheaper option for some similar value at the draft table or in trade discussions this offseason. Reilly is projected for a $2.5 million cap hit, and for someone who can run a powerplay and has also shown he deserves a regular spot in the top-four, that is a very reasonable price. He scored a point every other game last season between Boston and Ottawa, and his pace was unsurprisingly a little better with the former. If he re-signs in Boston (which should make sense for both the player and the team) then he could reprise the plum deployment with their excellent top powerplay unit.

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If you want a longer fantasy hockey read, then circle back for Rick Roos’ massive fantasy mailbag, dropping mid-morning. In the meantime, stay safe!