Spencer Carbery has been named the winner of the 2024-25 Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach. Carbery unexpectedly led the Capitals to the best record in the Eastern Conference (51-22-9) following a season where they barely qualified for the postseason.

One could argue that Carbery was aided by the offseason acquisitions of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, and Logan Thompson, among others. However, all of these players improved under Carbery – particularly Dubois, who improved from a mediocre 40 points in his only season with Los Angeles to a much better 66 points. Carbery was also effective in implementing younger players Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas into top-6 roles. This is something that could bode well for Ryan Leonard next season. (For more on Leonard, see this week's The Journey.)

Carbery was also able to guide his team through the Alex Ovechkin goal record hoopla. Carbery allowed Ovechkin do his thing, which was bring the offense. I can find two instances where credit can be given to the coach in Ovechkin scoring 44 goals in just 65 games:

1. Ovechkin was normally left on the ice for nearly an entire power play, leading the league in playing in 97.5% of his available power-play minutes. Nikita Kucherov was the next highest at 82.4%.
2. Ovechkin also led the league with 80% offensive zone starts (minimum 2 GP). After linemate Dylan Strome (77.6%), the next-highest league total was Cole Perfetti at 72.4%.

If Ovechkin scores goals, he should be placed into situations where he scores goals.  

All in all, Carbery seems like an effective head coach. Hopefully he is not affected with the "kiss of death" that many NHL coaches receive after winning the Jack Adams.

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The NHL Scouting Combine took place on Saturday. Although the physical and psychological testing can be telling about a player's potential ability at the highest level of hockey, the results sometimes have to be taken with a grain of salt. Remember when a big deal was made about Sam Bennett's inability to complete a single pullup? Look where he is now.

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Here are the top Frozen Tools Searches from the past week.

(1/2) This week's top #fantasyhockey profile pages:

1) Marco Rossi https://t.co/3tlyzhPZG8
2) Jason Robertson https://t.co/VuImgsBQdv
3) Jj Peterka https://t.co/5js3RF0EQ3
4) Aleksander Barkov https://t.co/E62yHX6r4s
5) Sam Bennett https://t.co/bXJzAV2CQ2

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) June 5, 2025

(2/2) This week's top #fantasyhockey profile pages:

6) Connor Mcdavid https://t.co/asihWsqH2k
7) Sam Reinhart https://t.co/1MwIAf99Jm
8) Mitch Marner https://t.co/eHQuh1TdTE
9) Zach Hyman https://t.co/vT2r1SDMwu
10) Connor Bedard https://t.co/B0oV9LI4Oz

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) June 5, 2025

I'll discuss why a few of them might be newsworthy.

JJ Peterka

Peterka is coming off a career high 68 points, which should make him close to a becoming a universally-rostered player in fantasy. In addition, the 23-year-old winger has back-to-back 25-goal, 50-point seasons. So why is he rumored to be on the trade block? There are a number of reasons.

Peterka is an RFA this offseason, and there could be a disconnect between what he and his agent believe he is worth versus how the Sabres value him. A player of his caliber could command as much as $8 million with the rising salary cap, and the Sabres have some money to play around with this offseason ($23 million in projected cap space). However, the Sabres also have to leave some money for Ryan McLeod, Jack Quinn, Bowen Byram, and Devon Levi, among others. They are also a team filled with younger small-to-medium-sized forwards. With no playoff games in 14 seasons, the Sabres could have an appetite to change things up, even if that means parting with a talented player or two.

According to the Buy/Sell Meter on Frozen Tools, Peterka also had a bit of luck on his side in 2024-25. His 15.6 SH%, 14.2 5-on-5 SH%, and 2.9 PTS/60 were all slightly higher than expected. On top of that, Peterka is not particularly strong defensively with a 3.00 xGA/60, which was the highest on the Sabres among players who played at least 10 games. That might give the Sabres pause in extending him to the contract that he might be seeking.

Before projecting Peterka's value for next season, wait to find out whether the Sabres re-sign him or he is part of a move to shake up the core. A potential Bowen Byram trade is also worth watching for, as Buffalo has a surplus of left-shot defensemen in Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Byram.

Jason Robertson

The 109-point 2022-23 season was the outlier. We can safely say that because Robertson has reached 79, 80, and 80 points in the other three of his past four seasons. Robertson may not hold elite fantasy value, but he is at least showing solid consistent value.

Robertson's name has also surfaced in recent trade rumors, and the reason may be simple. Remember that the Stars have signed Mikko Rantanen to an eight-year contract with a cap hit of $12 million, which means that the Stars have razor-thin cap space (just under $5 million) to avoid icing a top-heavy roster next season. Robertson has one season left on his contract at $7.75 million while becoming a UFA in two seasons, so retaining him might be a tall order.

Dallas might be thinking that a lack of playoff production is a reason to move Robertson. A career 1.05 PTS/GP regular-season scorer, Robertson's playoff average dips to 0.79 PTS/GP. Robertson missed the first round of the playoffs with a knee injury, and he was slow at getting back on track with just two points in his first eight playoff games. However, he scored four goals in his last three games in the Western Conference Final.

I'm not sure moving a player of Robertson's caliber is the right decision for a Dallas team looking to take the next step unless they receive similar ability in return. In what could be a busy offseason, Robertson could be worth keeping an eye on.

Zach Hyman

Hyman's wrist injury has ended his season, so we can effectively close the book on him for 2024-25 stats. In fact, we don't know for sure whether Hyman will be ready for training camp, as he dislocated his wrist and tore some ligaments in it.

Hyman wasn't likely going to score 50 goals again as he had in 2023-24. Yet an awful start of no points in his first seven games and just three goals in his first 20 games sunk his season if you paid full sticker price (Yahoo ADP 22.6). He salvaged enough to score 24 goals over his last 53 games, which was a 37-goal pace over an 82-game season. Hyman hasn't necessarily forgotten to score goals, and that top Oilers power play will always provide its players with a decent floor.

Once Hyman recovers from the injury, he has an opportunity to rebound. His 1.9 PTS/60 and 29.4 Sec Asst% were lower than expected, while his 17 assists overall were extremely low. Overall, he has the opportunity to provide sneaky value to fantasy teams if he can fall far enough in drafts, potentially as an early-season IR stash if he's not ready to start the season.

As for the here and now, the Oilers have to try to win the Stanley Cup without Hyman's services. Corey Perry has been elevated to Hyman's spot on the top power play, giving him more opportunity to add to his four power-play goals this postseason. If Hyman misses the start of next season, that player could be different depending on whether UFA-to-be Perry is back with the Oilers next season.

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Don’t forget about the 19^th annual Fantasy Prospects Report! Pick up yours at Dobber Sports today so that you can get ahead of your offseason keeper league decisions.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social