DFS Thursday: Cats Can Crush Carolina; Bobrovsky Proving His Worth

Brad Hayward

2023-05-18

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. 

📢 advertisement:

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 DraisaitlErik 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. 

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Jun 04 - 20:06 EDM vs FLA

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
GRACYN SAWCHYN FLA
JJ PETERKA BUF
MATEJ BLUMEL DAL
MARCO ROSSI MIN
MAVRIK BOURQUE DAL

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
MICHAEL HRABAL UTA
JUUSE SAROS NSH
THATCHER DEMKO VAN
LINUS ULLMARK OTT
FILIP GUSTAVSSON MIN

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency CBJ Players
27.0 JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK KENT JOHNSON ADAM FANTILLI
21.6 SEAN MONAHAN KIRILL MARCHENKO BOONE JENNER
20.5 DMITRI VORONKOV COLE SILLINGER MATHIEU OLIVIER

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Pittsburgh Penguins with Josh Yohe

Josh Yohe is here to report on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jesse and Victor interview Josh about returning pros Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Tommy Novak, Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Erik Karlsson, Matt Grzelcyk, Kris Letang, Owen Pickering, Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Seattle Kraken with RJ Eskanos

RJ Eskanos of Emerald City Hockey is here to report on the Seattle Kraken. Jesse and Victor interview RJ about returning pros Jared McCann, Chandler Stephenson, Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Kaapo Kakko, Shane Wright, Matty Beniers, Andre Burakovsky, Eeli Tolvanen, Jani Nyman, Vince Dunn, Brandon Montour, Ryker Evans, Joey Daccord, and Philipp Grubauer. In Cat’s […]

Keeping Karlsson: KK Leagues Report – 2025 Champs!

Derrick talks to the big winners of the various Keeping Karlsson leagues from this past season. He’s first joined by the new KKUPFL Ultimate Champion Ian and the reigning fast-track winner Alec. Then Derrick is joined by the year 1 KK Dynasty League champions Ian (different Ian), Saqib, and Brett, aka the “Good ol’ Ottawa Boys”.

Fantasy Hockey Life: Anaheim Ducks with Derek Lee

Derek Lee of the Hockey News is here to report on the Anaheim Ducks. Jesse and Victor interview him about returning pros Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, Frank Vatrano, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Sam Colangelo, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, Lukas Dostal, and John Gibson. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Fluto Shinzawa Boston Bruins Preview

Fluto Shinzawa of the New York Times joins the show to break down the Boston Bruins. Jesse and Victor ask him about David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, Matthew Poitras, Fraser Minten, Charlie McAvoy, Mason Lohrei, Hampus Lindholm, Jeremy Swayman, and Joonas Korpisalo. Cat’s instincts covers prospect goalies Brandon Bussi and […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: