The best playoffs of them all, the battle for The Stanley Cup, starts Wednesday! Personally, I can't contain my excitement as this year has some amazing first round matchups, mostly because the NHL system is broken and doesn't seed teams properly. That's a rant for another time. For today, I'm going to take a quick look at all 8 matchups and give my predictions for all of the series. As a reminder, join the Razzball Bracket Challenge here. Let's get going!
Hey guys! With the regular season over, we can crown the champion of the 2015-16 Razzball Commenter Leagues. As I mentioned in the March RCL update here , Lord of the Rinks has been in the front of the pack for quite some time now. He ended up running away with RCL 2, accruing an incredible 100 of a possible 108 points to become this year's RCL Champ! Congrats to him for a great season. Here's a look at the top finishers in each of the leagues:
Hey guys! Sadly, the regular season is over now meaning your fantasy hockey leagues that you've been battling in for the past 6 months have come to an end. Hopefully you guys came out on top! Since there are no playoff games until Wednesday, I'm going to have a bigger writeup for tomorrow plus an RCL recap and a playoff preview. Today is just about setting up something to keep people talking throughout the playoffs with a little friendly competition.
Weekend Preview: The Final Countdown
April 8, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 6 Commentsby: Viz
The end of the NHL regular season, and therefore the normal fantasy season, is upon us. Insert all of the sad face emojis here. Once the regular season is finished, I will set up a bracket challenge for all of us Razzballers on nhl.com so be sure to be on the lookout for that next Monday. But for now, more important things, winning your championship! I'm going to put some basic guidelines for what I'd be looking to do with your team the last few days to position yourself as best as possible. Let's get right to it!
Thursday Preview and Streamers
April 7, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Streamers | 12 Commentsby: Viz
Hey guys. Thanks for all the well wishes; I'm starting to get over this sickness. For those of you who are still battling for the last four days of the regular season, I'm going to do a preview of tonight along with some streamers. It's a massive 13 game slate so you might not have the need to stream unless you own a bunch of Sabres, Blue Jackets, Wild or Oilers but with some injury piling up around the league, it's good to have some options. I'm going to give you my top 5 options for tonight next, then add in a quick preview of all of the games since you'll more than likely have to bench some of your players. Here we go!
Kane Gets To The Century Mark
April 4, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 15 Commentsby: Viz
After his remarkable first half, it looked like Patrick Kane reaching 100 points was a formality. Then he struggled mightily in the second half, enough to the point where he needed 6 points in the last 5 games to get there. Kane got there with time to spare in style, scoring a goal and an assist with five shots on Friday and followed it up with three goals and an assist with four shots on Sunday. He's the overwhelming favorite for the Hart Trophy now and now has an outside shot of the Richard Trophy. As for where he's ranked for next season, I will probably have Kane ranked #3 or #4 overall. Despite the amazing year, Kane is more of the second half player where he was closer to a point per game than the first half monster. Here's what I saw over the weekend:
Special Agent James, I Mean Jeff Carter, FBI
April 1, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 9 Commentsby: Viz
For the second time in a week, Jeff Carter had a monster game. On Thursday, Carter had two goals and an assist with 3 shots in the 3-0 win over the Flames. After this game, Carter passed the 60 point plateau while being +17 and over 3 shots per game on the season. The penalty minutes keep him from the truly elite but Carter will still be firmly in the top 100 going into next season. Keep rolling him for the last 10 days of this season. Here's what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
Regression Finds Kadri
March 30, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes, Streamers | 10 Commentsby: Viz
I've been talking about Nazem Kadri's shooting percentage for the entire season. To be blunt, it's not possible for a forward to be shooting 5% for an entire season; regression will always find you for better or worse. He finally saw a big boost on Tuesday scoring his third career hat trick on four shots in the 5-2 win over the Panthers. There aren't many guys who have an excellent shot rate and supply great penalty minutes but Kadri is one of them. I love players like these to fill out the middle or bottom of my roster and I'm sure I'll be higher on Kadri than most next season. Add in the young talent Toronto is adding around him and wouldn't shock me if Kadri approached 30 goals next season. Here's what else I saw around the league on Tuesday night:
Monahan Making Moves
March 29, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 7 Commentsby: Viz
It's been very up and down this year for Sean Monahan but as we approach the end of the year, his numbers are exactly in line with last season. After scoring a goal and adding two assists on Monday night against the Coyotes, Monahan is sitting at 27+32 with 184 shots on goal after 31+31 and 191 last season. With six games left, it looks like he will slightly best last season's big breakout. The 21 year old isn't going to end up a top 20 player, that's not his offensive ceiling and he doesn't contribute in penalty minutes (16 this year is a career high) but he should be around 50th overall in drafts next year since there's a good chance he can get to 70 points with some progression. Here's what else I saw around the league on Monday night:
Elliott and Allen Piling Up The Shutouts
March 28, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 14 Commentsby: Viz
It's been quite a while since we've seen a shutout streak like the Blues are on. On Friday, Brian Elliott had one of the easiest shutouts of the season making 15 saves in the 4-0 win over the Canucks. The next day, Jake Allen recorded the fourth consecutive Blues shutout, stopping all 32 Capitals shots in the 4-0 win. Both have been outstanding this season and should be started every game the rest of the way. Get them in your lineup every time they start; the Blues will be highly motivated down the stretch to get home ice throughout the Western Conference Playoffs. Here's what else I saw around the league this weekend:
3×3 Parise
March 25, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 4 Commentsby: Viz
On Thursday, for the third time this season, Zach Parise scored his third hat trick of the season, adding an assist and six shots in the 6-2 win over the Flames. While he's a step behind his usual pace, 22+25 in 64 games is nothing to sneeze at, especially with elite shots. However, I'll probably be staying away from him next year given where I suspect his ADP will be. He plays a heavy game, he turns 32 in the summer and is starting to miss chunks of the season more regularly. That's not to say I don't like his game but his days of a top 50 player, for me, are over. Here's what I saw around the league the last two nights:
Dubnyk Puts Wild In Playoff Spot (For Now)
March 23, 2016 | 2015-2016 Fantasy Hockey, Fantasy Hockey Daily Notes | 13 Commentsby: Viz
Coming off an ugly loss to the Predators, it was a near certainty that the Kings would come out firing on Tuesday night. They certainly did but it wasn't enough because of Devan Dubnyk. Dubnyk had arguably his best start of the season stopping 38 of 39 shots, including a few massive point blank saves, in the 2-1 win over the Kings. After laying a huge egg against the Devils, Dubnyk has had three excellent starts in a row with this one being the best. The win puts the Wild one point ahead of the Avs for the last playoff spot in a battle that should come down to the wire. This is perfect for Dubnyk owners because he should start at least 7 of the Wild's final 8 games, if not all of them. Keep him in your lineup every time he starts. Here's what else I saw around the league on a busy Tuesday night:
