Frozen Fantasy: Push For a Title

It's that time – the final push for a title. What a season it's been.

Great and weird, all in one.

I like this year's divisional format – seeing so many North games spoils me. But I feel like I've missed a lot, too. Like games in every other division.

That's why this year's award season is so hard to predict. How do you pick players that haven't played head-to-head?

How good is good? And how East-coast biased will this year's awards be?

These are my award picks (for now). And yes, there's an East-coast vision. Better to admit it right up front.

Hart – Connor McDavid. Enjoy every game this guy plays. Even Wayne Gretzky is impressed.

Rocket Richard – Auston Matthews. Easy, but his sniping is special. Like Alex Ovechkin special. Enjoy every game he plays, too.

Vezina – Andrei Vasilevskiy. Head, shoulders and torso above. Just look at that division and who he faces every night.

Norris – Victor Hedman. Sure, he's come back to the pack, but he's still the best on both sides of the puck.

Jack Adams – Rod Brind'Amour. It's a toss up between him and Joel Quenneville. Gut call. Then watch him walk to the Kraken next season.

Calder – Kirill Kaprizov. Forget the Jason Robertson fans - Kaprizov is an exciting player and future stud.

Selke – Aleksander Barkov. I wish Jordan Staal would get this – he's had a Patrice Bergeron-like year. But Barkov plays the hardest minutes and his two-way game is supreme.

Lady Byng – Jaccob Slavin. He'd be a Norris guy for me if they gave it to the best defender, not just a scorer. Be bold and give Slavin the Byng – the dude has just one minor penalty in 51 games! One penalty!

Now let's take a look at who caught my eye this week. 

Points Plus

Anthony Beauvillier, LW, NY Islanders (28 percent Yahoo!) – Beauvillier is still on fire. In his last nine, he's put up 11 points and that includes seven goals. He's only been held off the score sheet twice in that span. Beauvillier is pouring it on at the perfect time for anyone pushing for a title. He only has two games left, so grab him and then switch him for someone else after May 10.

Nils Hoglander, LW/RW, Vancouver (11 percent Yahoo!) – Hoglander's on a three-game, four-point streak with 10 SOG heading into the weekend. His season hasn't been the highlight we'd hoped for, but the talent is there. And the Canucks have at least four games left and maybe more – they need to make up games because of COVID-19.

Chandler Stephenson, LW/C, Vegas (41 percent Yahoo!) –Heading into Friday's game, Stephenson had five consecutive games with double-digit FOW (60 overall). Plus he was riding a three-game point streak heading into that same contest. Bonus! I'm snagging him for FOW alone – Stephenson delivered more than Ryan O'Reilly over the past seven days and he was the fifth most productive guy there in the entire league. Drop the puck. Quick. Vegas has three games left starting Saturday.

Nick Suzuki, RW/C, Montreal (62 percent Yahoo!) – Suzuki hit the blue-and-white wall Thursday night, snapping a seven-game, 11-point streak (seven assists). The Leafs are impressive, so it's not a surprise. Still, it's clear he's heating up at the right time. Over his last eight, Suzuki also has 47 faceoff wins, 23 shot and 11 hits. Fantasy managers are picking him up fast – you should, too. He has three games left.

Hits

Josh Archibald, LW/RW, Edmonton (7 percent Yahoo!) – Archibald plays a hard-nosed game with 177 hits in 48 games. So with three games left, he could hammer home 10 or maybe a couple more every night. That's gold. He might even pitch in some bonus points – Archibald has five of his 13 point in his last five games. I don't know what's gotten into him, but I'm taking it.

Blocks

Mario Ferraro, D, San Jose (14 percent Yahoo!) – San Jose is brutal. But they have three games left and if Ferraro throws down like he did this week, he could catapult your blocked shots category on his own. Since the start of May, he has 14 in three games, including an eight ball. Ferraro may well deliver more overall value than a scoring defender that picks up two even-strength assists in the same span. Go for the category boost.

Goalie

Jeremy Swayman, G, Boston (37 percent Yahoo!) – This is a dice roll. The Bruins have been using a three-headed goalie rotation and have three games left. Swayman has impressed, especially with an SO last game out and just four goals allowed in his last five (two SO). He should get one of those games. It's clear he deserves it.

Cal Petersen, G, Los Angeles (23 percent Yahoo!) – The Kings are in tough, but they have four games left starting Saturday. Jonathan Quick is hurt, so the crease belongs to Petersen. It all depends on what you need – he might not win, but he's going to see a lot of pucks. That may help your save percentage in weekly formats. If you count total saves, Petersen will pile them up. He will likely play three of the last four unless Troy Grosenick suddenly channels his inner Grant Fuhr.

Back to awards.

I've been thinking of my fave Jonathan Toews lately. He made a video appearance in March to commemorate Patrick Kane's 1,000th game. His illness is a mystery, but he did look thinner than before. There's so much speculation. Toews just needs to heal.

I hope he makes it back to win another award, even if it's the Bill Masterton to start. Then I hope he's back in the Selke running and maybe a Conn Smythe (again).

Conn Smythe. I'm not sure I'm prepared to go out on limb for that one this season.

Great and weird, like I said earlier. Isn't hockey the best game, period?

Until next season.