The DobberHockey writers have made their picks for the Stanley Cup Final. You can check them out here.

My personal pick was Edmonton in 6. This was a really difficult pick for me to make. Florida is a nasty team that will give the Oilers everything they can handle, and they're favored for good reason. I also haven't been as high on the Oilers as others, thinking that they have some noticeable flaws (which are still there, but haven't been as apparent lately). The switch flipped for them partway through the Vancouver series, when they started to push back physically against the Canucks and really dictate the play. That seemed to build their confidence and they were able to ride that through the Dallas series.

In terms of number of games, I don't think it will go 7. Stanley Cup Finals are usually wars of attrition, so whoever wins could do so quickly. That's not meant as disrespect to the other team. That's just a team running out of gas with injuries piling up.

Connor McDavid is also going to win a Stanley Cup. I can't say for sure it will be this season, and I can't even say with complete certainty that it will be with Edmonton. He's the best player in the NHL, and all the players you could say that about (Howe, Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovechkin, etc.) have all found a way to win it at least once. The Oilers of the McDavid era have never looked better, and this could finally be their year. (As much as it pains me as a Canucks fan to say that.)

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The Prospects Guide is now available for download! Get yours at the Dobber Sports Store. It's a must-read if you have prospects on your keeper team, or just want to get a head start on who's coming. I haven't had a chance to read it all, but it's always on my desktop if I need to refer to it either in my writing or for one of my fantasy teams.

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— Dobber (@DobberHockey) June 1, 2024

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Some quick news items from Thursday:

The Kings have signed forward Akil Thomas to a two-year, $1.55 million contract. Thomas played in seven games for Los Angeles last season, scoring three goals and adding an assist. He will attempt to crack the Kings' lineup on a full-time basis in training camp.

Jamie Drysdale underwent surgery for a "significant" injury in April, but he is expected to be ready for training camp. The type of injury Drysdale had was not revealed. Either way, Drysdale's recent injury history is concerning, as he has played in just 42 total games over the past two seasons. If he can stay healthy, Drysdale could have some value next season if he is able to quarterback the Flyers' top power play.

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Last week I listed my personal best picks from my various fantasy teams. These could have been players that I drafted, won in auction, or added on the waiver wire. Now it's time to fess up and list the players that I thought were my worst picks.

Listing these players here doesn't necessarily mean they have horrible seasons, although that certainly was the case for at least one player on this list. It's also about where the player was picked and who else was on the board at the time. Building a winning fantasy hockey roster involves determining relative worth compared to other players. At the end of the season, these players did not stack up to their relative worth before the season.

To be included on the list, these players had to be on my roster for at least half the season. In other words, this is not about players who were quick adds that weren't on my roster long enough to do any significant damage.

Jason Robertson

In the end, Robertson was a high pick that didn't turn out as badly as someone like Tage Thompson or even Tim Stutzle. Yet early in the season, I was already regretting passing up Jack Hughes for Robertson. In the end, Robertson ended up with more points than Hughes, but Hughes also missed 20 games. At 10^th overall, Robertson didn't seem like the wrong pick at the time, but I could have received more bang for my buck with someone like Brady Tkachuk or Cale Makar, who were both picked shortly after. To put it another way, we're in an era where we need a first-round pick (12-team format) to be a 100-point player, and Robertson simply wasn't in 2023-24.

Robertson played a full 82 games both this season and last, so at this time he seems like a low injury risk. One concerning stat beneath the decreased goal total is his shots per game, which fell by a full shot from last season (3.8 SOG/GP) to this season (2.8 SOG/GP). Digging even deeper, Robertson also had a higher secondary assist percentage (54.9%) compared to 2022-23 (38.1%). Add it all up and another 100-point season doesn't seem likely in the foreseeable future. If Robertson can continue to avoid the IR, 90 points seems like a more realistic target.

Timo Meier

There's also a caveat to this one. Meier was one of my top players in the final quarter of the season, as he scored 15 goals and totalled 24 points in just 21 games. During that span, he also averaged over three shots per game and picked up 10 power-play points. You can justify those kinds of numbers from a third-round pick in a 14-team league (I picked him 31^st overall).

The problem was that Meier didn't meet the standards of a 35-40 ADP in Yahoo for the rest of the season. Over the first three quarters, Meier totalled 13 goals, 28 points, and seven power-play points in 48 games, averaging under three shots per game. There was rumor that he was battling an injury, and he happened to miss the last two weeks of November while slumping badly for nearly three weeks after his return. I would certainly not hesitate to draft Meier again in the future, but a third-round pick is too much of a reach. If he can return to averaging over four shots per game with over 100 hits again, he will be a very valuable player in multicat leagues.

Tyson Barrie

I knew before the season that it simply wasn't possible for Barrie to replicate his strong run of power-play-concentrated point totals from his Edmonton days in Nashville. Moving from a top-unit power play with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to a second unit with Luke Evangelista, Tommy Novak, and Colton Sissons will do that. Yet it was even worse than I expected. Andrew Brunette decided to deploy a more defensive-oriented everyday system left Barrie with a lengthy run in the press box. Despite promises to find a new home by the deadline, Barrie and his power-play talents remained in exile for the rest of the season.

In case you’re wondering why I simply didn’t drop Barrie, I had signed him to a two-year contract before the season. It was possible to drop him, but it would have been expensive. Plus I am very interested to find out where Barrie lands this offseason, as it most definitely won't be back in Nashville. The best-case scenario is something like Shayne Gostisbehere in Detroit or Arizona, which were both teams in which he was able to reach 50 points and +50% of available power-play minutes. Yet it could be another part-time situation similar to Tony DeAngelo or Erik Gustafsson (in seasons prior to this one). Because Barrie struggles defensively to the point in which staying in the lineup every game isn't a certainty, he remains a high risk/high reward option. Expect him to receive a one-year contract somewhere during the summer.

Vitek Vanecek

I've saved the very worst for last. Vanecek was easily the most regrettable pick I made all season. Considering where his value is today, I'm surprised that I picked him in the sixth round (82^nd overall, 14-team league). It wasn't that much of a reach either, considering that his ADP was 80-86 in Yahoo leagues. The trouble was that New Jersey's season never got off the ground, and Vanecek was providing negative GSAA (goals-saved above average) over the first half.

I eventually dropped Vanecek for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen at midseason, which turned out to be the right move for my team. I wrote about Vanecek in a recent Zero G analysis, which you can read more about here. As for Vanecek, he was traded to the Sharks at the deadline, but he did not play a single game for them because of a lower-body injury. That injury may have ultimately affected his performance this season. The Sharks will be in another season of rebuild in 2024-25, which means Vanecek won't have a whole lot of short-term value going forward.

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