The Minnesota Wild are on a tear right now, or at least heading into Wednesday night's action. After going 1-4-1 right out of the All-Star break, the team is 15-1-4 in their last 20 games and are a threat to win the division. That is largely without Kirill Kaprizov, though he should be back for playoffs. We would be remiss for not remembering about Gustav Nyquist, who was acquired at the deadline and about whom we got an update:

Projecting the #mnwild playoff lineup: Who's out when Kirill Kaprizov, Gustav Nyquist return?

From ⁦@RussoHockey⁩ + me https://t.co/HKr0wg1NFX

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) March 29, 2023

I just wanted to link the article, but Nyquist is travelling and practicing with the team in hopes for a pre-playoff return. There isn't much fantasy relevance for the regular season but it could impact playoff pools.

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A quick update on young Bruins forward Jakob Lauko:

Lauko looks OK, full participant but not his usual zip. Wouldn't expect him to play tomorrow but we'll see

— Matt Porter (@mattyports) March 29, 2023

It looked like Lauko got dinged up against Carolina over the weekend but he seems to be fine and could return soon (if they need him). It will be interesting to see if he can earn a playoff roster spot, but it's doubtful with how deep this team is and Taylor Hall in the offing.

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Troy Terry has been injured of late for Anaheim, and the team provided an update on his status:

Troy Terry will not travel with the team on the road trip. He and his wife, Dani, are expecting their first child to be born early, and he will remain home with her.

Terry is expected be available for all remaining home practices and games. pic.twitter.com/TbL52qzsYI

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) March 29, 2023

That means Terry is out for the rest of this week. Those that get to the final of their H2H league might get some use out of him the week after as the Ducks have just three games, but two of them on very light Wednesday and Sunday slates. Just keep him in mind for the finals if need be.

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The Rangers locked up one of their future pieces:

Rangers sign Chytil to four year extension at AAV of $4.375M. Outstanding.

— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) March 29, 2023

Chytil is having a great year with 22 goals and 42 points, both career marks, and the vast majority of that done at even strength. Hopefully he can gain a permanent PP1 role next season but that seems like a longshot without an injury.

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We had just a few games in the NHL last night and with only a couple weeks left in the campaign, the research-type articles are winding down until the offseason. I thought it'd be fun to take a little retrospective on the season and look at some predictions. Namely, we're going to go through my personal preseason picks from our 2022-23 Dobber Panel where the editors and writers select division winners, award winners, and so on (we don't know award winners, clearly, but we do have a good idea of whether we could be right or wrong). It is a good opportunity to discuss a wide swath of players and teams while keeping myself accountable, to an extent. If we need to discuss stats, they will come from our Frozen Tools or Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise indicated.

Let's start with the awards, or at least the ones we have a good idea about. My predicted winner will be listed next to the trophy.

Hart Trophy – Auston Matthews

Not only is Matthews not going to win, the question is just how far down the balloting he'll finish. Even if he completes the year on a hot streak, what does 40 goals and 85 points get him? He will surely finish behind Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, and Erik Karlsson, and that doesn't even get into the goalies (or more borderline cases for runner-up like Jason Robertson, Jack Hughes, Nathan MacKinnon, and others). Injuries and under-performance kept Matthews from an elite season, something I'm sure fantasy players reading this know extremely well. He is a perennial threat to be the league's MVP, but it certainly won't happen this year for the four-time 40-goal scorer.  

Art Ross Trophy – Connor McDavid

Every single Dobber writer except one had McDavid winning the Art Ross, so this doesn't exactly get a pat on the back. If only we had selected him for all the top categories. He has a 27-point cushion with seven games left to play, so it's safe to say this one is wrapped up.

Rocket Richard Trophy – Auston Matthews

Lol.

Norris Trophy – Aaron Ekblad

This one never really had a chance. Ekblad only played a handful of games before his first injury kept him out for a month and that put him well behind the field, especially with Karlsson and Rasmus Dahlin doing what they did to start the season. Regardless, things have not been going well for Ekblad as he went into Wednesday night's game against Toronto with just 12 points in his last 30 games, having lost his top PP role. He probably won't even get a late Norris vote, let alone contend for the top spot. It has been a tough year for him, and with both Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling having a year left on their respective deals, it's fair to wonder what 2023-24 looks like for Ekblad in the fantasy game because he’s not exactly a peripheral monster.

Vezina Trophy – Ilya Sorokin

This is going to be contentious. It does appear as if Linus Ullmark is the favourite for Goaltender Of The Year honours, and he is having a marvelous season. However, out of 28 goalies with at least 2000 minutes played this season, Sorokin is fifth in high-danger shots against per 60 minutes (9.7) while Ullmark is 20^th at 8.4 thanks to the Boston Bruins being a much better defensive team. Another example of this: Ullmark's average shot distance on a shot against is 37.3 feet, which is by far the furthest distance in the league (Vitek Vanecek was closest to him at 36.2 feet). Comparatively, Sorokin was just under 34 feet in average shot distance faced, worse than goalies in San Jose and Philadelphia. Boston's latest game had a top line of Marchand-Bergeron-DeBrusk, with a 50-goal scorer on the second line Comparatively, New York's latest game had Hudson Fasching and Zach Parise on the top line. Sorokin has put up 50% more Goals Saved Above Expected at 5-on-5 (per Evolving Hockey) than Ullmark has. Those are my arguments, and I know it's a losing argument overall, but I really wish voters took team quality more into context. It really is incredibly important to a goaltender.

Calder Trophy – Matty Beniers

It seems like it's a wrap for Beniers at this point. He is second in rookie goals (20), first in points by seven (50), second in TOI among forwards, and is being relied upon for a significant role on a playoff team. All those factors are going to get him the Rookie Of The Year, and it will have been well-deserved. Per tracking data kept by Corey Sznajder, Beniers has roughly 9.0 scoring chance contributions per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (individual scoring chances plus assists on teammate scoring chances). It is the same number as names like Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, a bit behind Leon Draisaitl (9.1) and a bit ahead of Elias Pettersson (8.8). He has more growth to do before really reaching the heights of some of those players, but the team itself needs to change a bit as well. No forward is skating over 19 minutes a night for Seattle, and just 2/18 forwards currently with at least 82 points have skated under 19 minutes a night: Jason Robertson and Tage Thompson. They're on elite scoring lines with heavy PP1 minutes, something Beniers doesn't have (and may not have for a couple seasons). He will be very good in the fantasy game, just don't expect 90-point seasons right away.

It seems I nailed two of the awards, have a reasonable chance on a third, and flat-out whiffed on three of them. The two awards I nailed were the favourites, so it feels a lot like congratulating yourself just for cooking supper. Well, that's the last time I rely on the Atlantic Division.

How about some individual fantasy performances?

Player To Rebound – Viktor Arvidsson

Let's be honest here: this was looking bad until the All-Star Game. Arvidsson had just 13 goals in his first 48 games, a 22-goal pace over a full 82-game campaign. Since the ASG, he has 11 goals and 19 points in 21 games, pushing his season to 24 goals and 53 points in 69 games. That is a four-year high in goals, a five-year high in points, and the team has eight games left. Arvidsson also has 21 power-play points, by far a career-best. He has been one of the top performers in the head-to-head fantasy playoffs, which is what fantasy hockey is all about. This guy had maybe 2-3 good weeks the entire year, then has a great two-week stretch in the playoffs. You have to love this game, right?

Player To Disappoint – Patrice Bergeron

I have discussed this before, but I was down on Boston before the season, which was easily my worst prediction. All the same, Bergeron has not been a good fantasy option overall. He has seen a four-year low in shots per game, a six-year-low in points per game, his second-lowest goals/game of the last six years, and 22% fewer power-play points than 2021-22. He has been a good option in leagues with plus/minus, but not otherwise. This is a guy concerned with getting another Stanley Cup, not posting 35-goal and 75-point seasons.

It seems we went 2/2 on the rebound/disappoint, which we'll absolutely take.

How about the divisions?

Pacific Winner – Los Angeles Kings

This is going to come down to the wire. At time of writing, Vegas, Los Angeles, and Edmonton are all within three points of each other with 7-8 games left. It is also fair to wonder where the Kings would be if their goaltending had been anywhere near acceptable to start the year: second-worst save percentage through Christmas. That has climbed to 22^nd between Christmas and now, and the Kings have a top-5 points percentage in that span. This is a dangerous team headed to the playoffs, and have a shot at home ice through to the Cup Final.

Central Winner – Colorado Avalanche

Like Los Angeles, this should come down to the wire, though it's hard to imagine Colorado not running away with the division if they're anything approaching healthy this season. Going into Wednesday, by my count, they had 167 games lost between Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Bowen Byram, Cale Makar, Valeri Nichushkin, and Artturi Lehkonen. That would be enough to sink most teams. This is a special core group.

Metro Winner – Carolina Hurricanes

New Jersey is three points behind Carolina for the division title but the Devils have just eight games left, and the Hurricanes nine. Barring a collapse, the Hurricanes should win the division, though with their injured wingers, how far they get in the postseason is very much open for debate.

Atlantic Winner – Toronto Maple Leafs

Lol.

My preseason Cup Final picks were Carolina and Edmonton, which could happen, but would need a couple sizable upsets, it seems. We'll see if my opinion changes for the playoff prediction panel.

Alright, how did my preseason picks do? Let us know in the comments.