We're down to four teams, and the Conference Finals begin tonight. Please raise your hands if you had these four squads predicted when the playoffs began, because none of the DobberHockey writers did – and you likely missed out, but now it's truly time to take hold and ride the excitement.

Is there a clear favorite? Carolina and Vegas each won their divisions in the regular season, but with Andrei Svechnikov out, and Teuvo Teravainen having not played in a month, would you truly lay down money against those giant-killers from south Florida? And in the West, which goaltender does Vegas ride?  Adin Hill seems likely to start, but not necessarily finish this series.  

For DFS in the first game, I'll play the upset. A combination of snipers and grinders have carried the Panthers to this point, and I'll go with Sam Reinhart (Captain, $11,400), Carter Verhaeghe ($8400), and Anthony Duclair ($5200) up front, Brandon Montour ($8800) running the power play, and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10,200) in net. Hart Trophy nominee Matthew Tkachuk has been the key to Florida's engine, most valuably creating havoc in front of the net. Bobrovsky has been the Cats' best player thus far and held the high-powered Maple Leafs to just two scores in each of those five second-round contests.  Just in four weeks of success, he's proven his worth for every one of those $10,000,000 years.

For the offense, they'll have to break Carolina's home-ice dominance, but their frenzied forechecking is the proper game plan. Turnovers, drawing penalties, and odd-man attacks. Not to mention Duclair's speed is unmatched by the Canes' blue line. 

DraftKings does require an entry from the loyal opposition, and I chose Shayne Gostisbehere ($6000), whose bombs from the point rival his more famous mate, Brent Burns, but more affordably. 

One last subject. As the regular season ended, I had a conversation about the Ted Lindsay award. The Hart trophy, we remembered, represents the "player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." I have no argument with the three nominees being Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, and Matthew Tkachuk. But the Ted Lindsay honors the "most outstanding player," and our conclusion was that McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were the top two. Draisaitl, 128 points, 62 power-play points, top-ten in faceoffs won, and no, he's not just McDavid's shadow. His 11 game-winning goals?  Same as his more-feted teammate, and second only to my third choice, Pastrnak. Final thought?  Of the 50 highest-paid players in the NHL, the player who had the lowest cost-per-point scored? Leon Draisaitl.  Erik Karlsson had a terrific year, but which would you choose as the most skilled, the most outstanding?  Draisaitl deserves the recognition, and not to be overlooked due to his teammate. My two cents.