This article is part of our Neutral Zone Wrap series.
Welcome to the most magical time of the year. The chase for hockey's Holy Grail is on and every team believes it can go all the way (yes, even you, Ottawa!). If you thought the final few weeks were exciting, then get ready for the next two months.
Playoff pools have become just as popular as their regular-season counterparts since they don't require as much evaluation and are, therefore, by definition, more fun.
So how do they work?
Most setups allow players to pick a set number of NHLers to see who can earn the most points based on predetermined categories. The rest are carried out as drafts similar to the standard procedure. Unsure who to take? Don't panic. Below, you'll find four player tiers and an explanation for each.
The majority of your players should come from the four teams you believe will make it to the Conference Finals. Top-level skaters from the other clubs will fill the remainder of your roster, unless you have a hunch a someone else will make a significant impact.
Your job is to analyze each position and see what's available. It's also important to check the latest news and injury updates. You don't want to fall behind immediately from a lack of trying.
If you don't see someone, then it's either because they're injured, inconsistent or indefinite (i.e. fall in between categories). However, a lot of these missing examples are still worthy selections; it ultimately depends on your team preference and risk tolerance.
Welcome to the most magical time of the year. The chase for hockey's Holy Grail is on and every team believes it can go all the way (yes, even you, Ottawa!). If you thought the final few weeks were exciting, then get ready for the next two months.
Playoff pools have become just as popular as their regular-season counterparts since they don't require as much evaluation and are, therefore, by definition, more fun.
So how do they work?
Most setups allow players to pick a set number of NHLers to see who can earn the most points based on predetermined categories. The rest are carried out as drafts similar to the standard procedure. Unsure who to take? Don't panic. Below, you'll find four player tiers and an explanation for each.
The majority of your players should come from the four teams you believe will make it to the Conference Finals. Top-level skaters from the other clubs will fill the remainder of your roster, unless you have a hunch a someone else will make a significant impact.
Your job is to analyze each position and see what's available. It's also important to check the latest news and injury updates. You don't want to fall behind immediately from a lack of trying.
If you don't see someone, then it's either because they're injured, inconsistent or indefinite (i.e. fall in between categories). However, a lot of these missing examples are still worthy selections; it ultimately depends on your team preference and risk tolerance.
(NOTE: Players listed alphabetically. Goaltenders not included.)
The Best of the Best
Solid, consistent, dependable. Just don't expect all to stick around past the first round:
David Backes, F, St. Louis
Nicklas Backstrom, F, Washington
Derick Brassard, F, NY Rangers
Dustin Byfuglien, D, Winnipeg
John Carlson, D, Washington
Sidney Crosby, F, Pittsburgh
Pavel Datsyuk, F, Detroit
Alexander Edler, D, Vancouver
Filip Forsberg, F, Nashville
Cam Fowler, D, Anaheim
Ryan Getzlaf, F, Anaheim
Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay
Patric Hornqvist, F, Pitsburgh
Marian Hossa, F, Chicago
Jiri Hudler, F, Calgary
Tyler Johnson, F, Tampa Bay
Roman Josi, D, Nashville
Erik Karlsson, D, Ottawa
Duncan Keith, D, Chicago
Niklas Kronwall, D, Detroit
Evgeni Malkin, F, Pittsburgh
Andrei Markov, D, Montreal
Ryan McDonagh, D, NY Rangers
Rick Nash, F, NY Rangers
Kyle Okposo, F, NY Islanders
T.J. Oshie, F, St. Louis
Alexander Ovechkin, F, Washington
Zach Parise, F, Minnesota
Corey Perry, F, Anaheim
Alex Pietrangelo, D, St. Louis
Tomas Plekanec, F, Montreal
Jason Pominville, F, Minnesota
Daniel Sedin, F, Vancouver
Henrik Sedin, F, Vancouver
Kevin Shattenkirk, D, St. Louis
Steven Stamkos, F, Tampa Bay
Alexander Steen, F, St. Louis
Derek Stepan, F, NY Rangers
Martin St. Louis, F, NY Rangers
P.K. Subban, D, Montreal
Vladimir Tarasenko, F, St. Louis
John Tavares, F, NY Islanders
Jonathan Toews, F, Chicago
Sami Vatanen, D, Anaheim
Shea Weber, D, Nashville
Keith Yandle, D, NY Rangers
Henrik Zetterberg, F, Detroit
The Rest of the Best
The next set of producers. Maybe not the flashiest but will fulfill most of your secondary needs:
Matt Beleskey, F, Anaheim
Jay Bouwmeester, D, St. Louis
Troy Brouwer, F, Washington
Alexandre Burrows, F, Vancouver
Ryan Callahan, F, Tampa Bay
David Desharnais, F, Montreal
Valtteri Filppula, F, Tampa Bay
Alex Galchenyuk, F, Montreal
Brendan Gallagher, F, Montreal
Johnny Gaudreau, F, Calgary
Dan Girardi, D, NY Rangers
Mikael Granlund, F, Minnesota
Mike Green, D, Washington
Kevin Hayes, F, NY Rangers
Marcus Johansson, F, Washington
Ryan Kesler, F, Anaheim
Chris Kreider, F, NY Rangers
Nikita Kucherov, F, Tampa Bay
Andrew Ladd, F, Winnipeg
Nick Leddy, D, NY Islanders
Anders Lee, F, NY Islanders
Jori Lehtera, F, St. Louis
Paul Martin, D, Pittsburgh
Sean Monahan, F, Calgary
James Neal, F, Nashville
Brock Nelson, F, NY Islanders
Nino Niederreiter, F, Minnesota
Gustav Nyquist, F, Detroit
T.J. Oshie, F, St. Louis
Ondrej Palat, F, Tampa Bay
David Perron, F, Pittsburgh
Mike Ribeiro, F, Nashville
Kris Russell, D, Calgary
Bobby Ryan, F, Ottawa
Brandon Saad, F, Chicago
Mark Scheifele, F, Winnipeg
Jaden Schwartz, F, St. Louis
Brent Seabrook, D, Chicago
Patrick Sharp, F, Chicago
Jakob Silfverberg, F, Anaheim
Paul Stastny, F, St. Louis
Mark Stone, F, Ottawa
Anton Stralman, D, Tampa Bay
Ryan Strome, F, NY Islanders
Ryan Suter, D, Minnesota
Tomas Tatar, F, Detroit
Kyle Turris, F, Ottawa
Thomas Vanek, F, Minnesota
Kris Versteeg, F, Chicago
Radim Vrbata, F, Vancouver
Blake Wheeler, F, Winnipeg
Dennis Wideman, D, Calgary
Colin Wilson, F, Nashville
James Wisniewski, D, Anaheim
Marek Zidlicky, D, Detroit
Mats Zuccarello, F, NY Rangers
The Not-So Blessed
No need to get desperate with these guys, as there are so many better options. In other words: avoid, avoid, avoid:
Mikael Backlund, F, Calgary
Josh Bailey, F, NY Islanders
Dan Boyle, D, NY Rangers
Michael Frolik, F, Winnipeg
Chris Kunitz, F, Pittsburgh
Matt Niskanen, D, Washington
P.A. Parenteau, F, Montreal
Chris Stewart, F, Minnesota
Antoine Vermette, F, Chicago
Stephen Weiss, F, Detroit
Dressed for Success
Who will continue the long line of surprise performers who break out this time of year and steal the headlines?:
Dmitrij Jaskin, F, St. Louis
Tomas Jurco, F, Detroit
Nikolay Kulemin, F, NY Islanders
Patrick Maroon, F, Anaheim
Cedric Paquette, F, Tampa Bay
Mike Santorelli, F, Nashville
Devante Smith-Pelly, F, Montreal
Brandon Sutter, F, Pittsburgh
Yannick Weber, D, Vancouver
Patrick Wiercioch, D, Ottawa
Series Predictions
• Starting in the East ... even though Pittsburgh (W2) has two of the world's best players, the N.Y. Rangers (M1) are far more complete and should make it through easily ... two of the league's best snipers face off when Washington (M2) take on N.Y. Islanders (M3) but the difference is between the pipes, where Braden Holtby trumps Jaroslav Halak ... the Hamburglar has been the story for Ottawa (W1), but Sens fans will be asking where's the beef when Montreal (A1) shuts them down ... Tampa Bay (A2) may hold a 3-1 advantage over Detroit (A3) this season, but the Wings' veteran experience and young talent will carry them to the second round.
• Going West ... Anaheim (P1) faces a dangerous Winnipeg (W2) side, but the Ducks possess too many weapons for the Jets to withstand ... Vancouver (P2) versus Calgary (P3) is perhaps the most evenly matched series, yet the Flames own the greater stability on the back end ... no one really wants to face Minnesota (W1), but St. Louis (C1) will banish its opponents back into the Wild ... People have waited for Nashville (C2) to crash all year, and Chicago (C3) will do the honors by applying its recent success -- and possibly the return of a leading scorer -- to prevail.
• The Rangers continue their domination of the Caps right into the Conference Final ... despite losing all four to Montreal, the Wings can generate more goals when they count ... Anaheim should roll over Calgary with its extensive depth ... after several disappointments, the Blues will finally get their revenge on the Blackhawks.
• And for the Final, it'll be Broadway against the Gateway. New York fell just short last summer and will be hungry to go one step further. St. Louis returns to the biggest stage for the first time since 1970. Both ranked in the top five in goals scored and against, but only one can roll out three top lines and a pretty solid fourth along with a blueline that can perform any required task. Lord Stanley's prize has never called Missouri home, but it's about time it did ... St. Louis in six
Who do you like? Let us know in the comments.
