The Dallas Stars had their year-end press conference on Saturday. As expected, Pete DeBoer's replacement of Jake Oettinger in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final was brought up. Both DeBoer and Oettinger said all the right things about their relationship, but another comment that DeBoer made was interesting.

DeBoer revealed that the team discussed starting Casey DeSmith in Game 4, as Oettinger was dealing with an upper respiratory issue. DeSmith, who replaced Oettinger in Game 5, saw his only other playoff action in Game 4 of the first-round series with Colorado. The comment is interesting to me because it raises the question of whether unquestioned No. 1 goalies should receive a game or two off at some point during the playoffs. Teams seems to be managing goaltender workload more carefully during the regular season nowadays, as no goalie played 65 games this season and only five goalies reached 60 games. The Oilers might be better off in the long run by replacing Stuart Skinner with Calvin Pickard for a six-game run during the first and second rounds, as Skinner is at the top of his game right now.

Roope Hintz revealed that the slash he received from Darnell Nurse caused a fracture in his foot. That should quiet the people who thought that the slash was "no big deal" or a "hockey play." Hintz did not play in Game 3 against Edmonton, but he returned for Games 4 and 5. I'm assuming Hintz should have enough time to heal and be ready for training camp.

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The 19^th annual Fantasy Prospects Report will be available later today! Pick up yours at Dobber Sports so that you can get ahead with your offseason keeper league decisions.

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With the Stanley Cup Final still a few days away, this is a good time to take stock of playoff scoring and what it could mean in fantasy leagues next season. As I scanned the list of playoff scorers, I didn't see many huge outliers or unexpected playoff heroes as has been the case in some past playoff seasons. At the same time, I don't expect playoff performances to have a major effect on fantasy values next season. Still, it might be worth it to have a look anyway.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Since his outlier 104-point season in 2022-23, Nugent-Hopkins has seen his production plummet to 67 points in 2023-24 and just 49 points in 2024-25. However, he has come up big for the Oilers in the playoffs, as he is currently fourth in playoff scoring with 18 points in 16 games, including nine points in his last five games. Nugent-Hopkins doesn't receive the attention that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl receive, so any peaks and valleys in his game don't seem to be discussed as often. Between what he has shown in the playoffs and a low secondary assist percentage (24.1%), the Nuge seems like a solid bet to rebound to some degree in 2025-26.

Eetu Luostarinen

Although he is without a point over his last four games, Luostarinen has taken his offensive game to another level during the playoffs. Luostarinen entered the playoffs with just one 30+ point season, yet he has accumulated 13 points in 17 playoff games while mainly playing on a line with Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell. That speaks to Florida's depth, particularly in the playoffs where they have added Marchand likely as a rental with Sam Bennett's status uncertain for next season. Don't bank on a massive breakout scoring-wise next season, but perhaps Luostarinen deserves more attention in bangers leagues (183 hits in 2024-25).

Evan Rodrigues

Another Florida player holding a hot stick during the playoffs, Rodrigues has 11 points in 15 playoff games, including eight points in his last six games. Rodrigues has been a mainstay in the top 6 both during the regular season and the playoffs, even receiving a bit of time on the top power play when Sam Reinhart was out of the lineup during the Conference Final. Rodrigues has ranged between 30 and 45 points during the past four seasons, and I'm not sure there's any reason to think that the 31-year-old's 2025-26 point projection will be much different from that.  

Thomas Harley

The question of whether Harley or Miro Heiskanen is on the top power play next season wasn't really answered during the playoffs. When Heiskanen returned from injury, Heiskanen averaged 50.7% of the Stars' available power-play minutes, while Harley averaged 52.1%. Regardless, Harley was strong in the playoffs, registering 14 points in 18 games, including eight power-play points. Heiskanen registered three power-play points in his eight playoff games, but he only recorded seven power-play points in 50 regular-season games. Harley had 15 PPP in 78 games, although his power-play minutes climbed once Heiskanen was out of the lineup. Harley is the better power-play option, but I'm not sure which way the Stars will go next season.

Stuart Skinner

Skinner's struggles to start the playoffs are in the rear-view mirror. With four wins and three quality starts over his last four games, Skinner was clearly the better goalie over Jake Oettinger in the Western Conference Final. Be careful not to overrate Skinner, though, as he can go through some extreme hot and cold stretches to get to some average numbers. If the Oilers win Stanley Cup, he will receive a longer rope than goalies of his relative value if he underperforms. It's important to rank him based on his regular season body of work more than an outstanding run of playoff games.

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Look for the Dobber writers to make their Stanley Cup picks shortly. They also made Stanley Cup Final picks here and here. The reason I'm showing you is that I actually picked the Oilers and Panthers to meet again in the Stanley Cup Final before the season! I didn't stick with that pick before the playoffs, though, opting for Colorado and Tampa Bay instead. We know how those picks turned out. Maybe this is like multiple choice, where the belief is that your first choice is most likely to be the right choice.

After last season's playoffs, I told anyone who would listen that Connor McDavid will win a Stanley Cup sometime in his career, because all of the generational players do. Will there be a more ideal time for him to win it than this season? Both the Oilers and Panthers have established themselves as the best team in each conference during this season's playoffs. Yet I wonder if this is the series where the Panthers finally run out of gas after three consecutive trips to the final, plus some intense 4 Nations games from players like Matthew Tkachuk. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a war of attrition, which is why I think the better games are in the earlier rounds.

Before I share the writer's picks, here's mine: Edmonton in 5. I grew up an Oiler hater from having to watch them win a lot during my childhood, so I won't take that much pride if I'm right. Let's see if the writers agree with me.

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