Hard at work on the Fantasy Prospects Report, which will come out the afternoon of June 14. It is the 16^th edition and has been an invaluable resource for keeper and dynasty leaguers. You can pre-order it here.

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The way the defending Stanley Cup Champions are manhandling the President's Trophy winners, you have to have more respect for the Maple Leafs. The Leafs actually outplayed Tampa in 18 out of 22 periods and probably deserved the series. But the Lightning found a way – and that's what Champs do. I think that most, if not all, teams need to have that lesson taught to them before they can reach the pinnacle. Tampa learned it. Remember:

2016-17 Did not make the playoffs

2017-18 Lost in semi-finals

2018-19 Swept in first round

Then they won their two Cups. It's a process. Always has been. How come people don't know this? I see on my Twitter feed Florida fans insisting that the Panthers "tear it all down", or that "Huberdeau and Barkov are obviously not the answer". Sorry – no. They need a couple of years of lessons first. I should have considered that before making them my Cup pick. Leaf fans were saying (and still are saying) the same thing. Tear it all down. When, if that post they hit was an inch to the right they eliminate the Cup Champs? When, if the ref was in a different mood and didn't call off the Tavares goal due to interference, they eliminate the Cup Champs? I have the attitude that if you lose a series and a single play or call could have made that entire series a win – then you're probably on the right track.

What if Tampa "tore it all down" because "Stamkos and Kucherov were obviously not the answer" back in 2019?

What if Detroit "tore it all down" because "Yzerman and Fedorov were obviously not the answer" back in 1994 after losing in the second round? Or in 1995 after getting swept in the Final? Or in 1996 after getting eliminated in the semi-finals.

I hate to say it Florida fans, but the Panthers could lose this series, they could get knocked out next year in the first round, knocked out in 2024 in the third round – and then win the Cup in 2025! But there's no easy answer or magic dust you can sprinkle on your team. When you build a team this strong – you commit to that for four or five years. You give it four or five chances. There's only one Cup, yet four or five deserving teams. Same advice to Toronto fans. Same advice for Rangers' fans.

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Couldn't have said this better, so I'll leave this here.

Playoff hockey: TOR gets 1 more goal (or TB scores 1 fewer) Vasilevskiy would have been eliminated with a sub .900 sv%.

TB survives, gives their HHOF bound goalie a shot to snuff out the best offense we've seen in years.

Line between playoff hero and goat is Harry Styles fine.

— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) May 22, 2022

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Corey Perry had 39 points in his last 66 regular season games and has six in 10 playoff games. That's 24 goals and 45 points in 76 games for the 37-year-old.

Nick Paul, who has been a late-bloomer in terms of development, has (obviously) come into his own with Tampa Bay. They picked him up at the right time, as the age of 27 is pretty common time for a big forward to come into his own. And Paul is big at 6-3, 224 pounds. In the playoffs, his ice time has ticked upwards, averaging over 20 minutes per game in the Florida series (17:33 Sunday) and is lining up with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. He has 20 points in 31 games since joining Tampa Bay, a 53-point pace. A UFA this summer, currently making $1.35M AAV – he's probably pushing his value up over $3.5M. If he signs somewhere for that kind of money (or more), he may actually be put in a position where he can reach that kind of production.

Kucherov, by the way, had himself a four-point game. He has seven points in this series now.

The Panthers may be down 3-0 in the series, but Sergei Bobrovsky has posted back-to-back Quality Starts and has a 0.919 SV% in the last two games.

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Further to what I was saying above, I'm pretty sure the Rangers are going to win a Cup soon. I doubt it's this year, or next. But in two years? Three? Six? Absolutely within six. As long as they don't cave to fan pressure if they lose early these next couple of years and stay the course. The pieces are all there. Igor Shesterkin is destined to have a Cup. And Sunday he put on a clinic, stopping 43 of 44 shots faced. He'll need to do that every game if the Rangers are going to win a Cup this year. He won't. He's young and relatively new to the league. But this is a must-have experience before taking the next step.

Lots of talk about Kreider missing the empty net, but I love the Zibanejad pass that set him up. Rather than turn and clear it, he made the heads-up play to do the quick cross pass: pic.twitter.com/M91ztF6knl

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) May 22, 2022

It was Zibanejad's first two points of the series. He ended the Pittsburgh series with seven points in two games. Carolina doesn't want this guy waking up.

Of note, the Rangers broke up the Kid Line, putting each "Kid" on a different line:

Time	%	EV – FORWARDS	GF	GA	+/-	SF	SA	SF%	CF	CA	CF%
7:52	15.5	COPP – VATRANO – KAKKO	0	0	0	3	7	30.0	6	10	37.5
6:56	13.7	ZIBANEJAD – KREIDER – CHYTIL	1	1	0	10	5	66.7	17	8	68.0
6:44	13.3	REAVES – MOTTE – ROONEY	0	0	0	4	8	33.3	4	15	21.1
6:31	12.8	STROME – PANARIN – LAFRENIERE	0	0	0	2	3	40.0	3	3	50.0
4:15	8.4	STROME – COPP – PANARIN	0	0	0	2	2	50.0	4	6	40.0

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Max Domi has seen his ice time dwindle, ever since his three-point performance that helped eliminate Boston. Since then: 10:57, 8:22 and then 9:37 on Sunday. No PP time. He becomes a UFA this summer and I would be surprised if he gets $3M. This is a guy who is three years removed from a 72-point season and is supposedly in his prime.

Speaking of ice time, Tony DeAngelo led Carolina with over 24 minutes on Sunday. So whatever controversy his signing last summer caused, it's all but forgotten now. He's starting to become more outspoken in interviews now too. Remember when he first started, he pretty much kept quiet or said as little as possible? No more. He's getting comfortable again, and I actually don't think that's a good thing as far as career decisions go.

Of note – Frederik Andersen is on the road trip with the Hurricanes. Antti Raanta has been playing very well though, so there is no rush. But something to keep in mind.

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The Battle of Alberta once again didn't disappoint. I'm sure you all know – or noticed in the box scores – that Evander Kane picked up a natural hat trick within an eight-minute span in the second period. And that Leon Draisaitl assisted on all four goals and Connor McDavid assisted on three of them. But the blood is starting to boil now:

Milan Lucic got five and a game. The refs also made Mike Smith go to the dark room for concussion protocol, so Mikko Koskinen made a brief appearance.

I know Tyler Toffoli has a Cup and played well for the Habs last year, but he has just four points in 10 games (minus-7) with the Flames. And in his career he has just 43 points in 86 playoff games.

Zach Hyman led both teams with seven SOG on Sunday, and in fact he has 23 shots on goal in his last four games. He lined up with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi on Sunday. Hyman's career playoff production is exactly the same as Toffoli's (0.5 points-per-game average): 21 points in 42 games. Yet if they were teammates, Toffoli would be drafted way before Hyman in playoff pools. Hyman has six goals and eight points so far in the postseason.

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With Jordan Binnington out for a while, Charlie Lindgren has been recalled and will be the backup for the Blues.

With Sam Girard out for (ouch) the next six weeks with a broken sternum, you can expect Bowen Byram to get a huge bump in ice time. Saturday after Girard left the game, Byram saw a bit of PK duty and it's only a matter of time before he gets a bit on the power play. Byram has six SOG over the last two games.

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The Maple Leafs signed veteran Mark Giordano to a two-year extension. The crazy thing? It's for $800k – almost the league minimum. Amazing value for a 38-year-old former captain who is still in amazing shape. After landing in Toronto, his possession numbers and xG stats were excellent and he had 14 points in 27 games, which means he's still a 40-point player. Their bottom pairing just got much, much better for next year. To me, you roll with:

Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie

Jake Muzzin – Rasmus Sandin

Mark Giordano – Timothy Liljegren

Justin Holl can either be the No.7, bought out, or buried in the minors. I think Sandin and Liljegren take another step forward. Both players improved as the season went on, particularly Liljegren who had a very good second half.

Assuming the Leafs sign Liljegren and Sandin for less than a combined $3.5M (which would take some fancy footwork, believe me), the team will have about $3.5M to sign five forwards and a goalie.

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See you next Monday.