Radim Vrbata - In 77 games, he scored 35 goals (8 above his prior career high), tallied 27 assists and put up a +24 (17 above his prior career high). His 62 points helped lead Phoenix to the postseason. Where did this come from? Well, it’s not like he was a dud. He averaged 45.5 points over his last two years with Phoenix, and in ’07-’08 (his first go around with the coyotes), he scored 56 points. Phoenix has a good team, which will help elevate a good player to a really good I wish I drafted him late player. Considering he will only be 31 next season, I would look to draft him in the mid rounds. Even if he falls back a little, 45 points isn’t going to break your team, and the chance for upside is worth it.

James Neal - This guy has always had potential, but he’s been banged around like a free whore in Singapore. Despite that, I don’t think anyone thought a healthy Neal would produce 40 goals and 41 assists, but there you go. It helps being on the same line as Sidney Crosby. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that this 81 point season was part of his evolution as a player. Nevertheless, I’m not willing to bet your unborn baby that he reaches 80 points again, but I would double down fetus that he makes 70 points on that high octane Pittsburgh team.

Joffrey Lupul - Many, many years ago, this was a guy who could give you 20 goals and 25 assists. Injuries took the wind out of his sails, and he was just afloat on a sea of disappointment. Well, ’11-’12 rolled around, and for a sort of full season of 66 games, Lupul scored 25 goals with 42 assists. Has Joffrey finally ascended to the throne? Well, the man is still under 30 and showed potential early in his career, but on that team I’m not expecting him to reach 67 points again. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him reach 53 points, but what do I know? I can’t even make a smooth Game of Thrones reference.

Marian Gaborik (2/14/82) – Easily the best player to be born the same year as Blade Runner, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, Conan The Barbarian, First Blood…oh, wait, this isn’t a movie blog (although share your favorite 1982 movie in comments, if you want). Anyway, easily the best player born in 1982, he’s averaged a 0.9 points per game average over his 11 season career. He has 324 career goals and should easily reach the 500 mark. He also sports a solid +92, a nice bonus for fantasy value.

Scott Hartnell (6/18/82) – Although he hasn’t learned how to stop skating without slaming into the boards, he has learned how to score. This past season, he earned 67 points, including 37 goals, both far and away career highs. He has also tallied greater than 125 PIM since ’07-’08, and has a pretty respectable +59 over his career. He will definitely be targeted in fantasy drafts next season and likely won’t make it past the 5th round.

Jason Pominville (11/30/82) – Pommy hit the NHL rather late, earning regular ice time at the age of 23. He peaked at age 25 with 80 points, and has since been on the decline. This past season, he turned it all around, getting 73 points (his highest since ’07-’08), of which 30 of those were goals (highest since ’06-’07). That’s a 21 point gain from the year prior (although, to be a little fair, he played in 9 fewer games).

Michael Cammalleri (6/8/1982) – And with Michael, we start to see a sharp decline in my fellow birthyear-mates. He hasn’t played a full season since ’08-’09, which, not coincidentally, is the last time he scored over 50 points. In fact, that year, he scored 82, 19 of which came on the power play. After going to Montreal, he tallied 50 points in 65 games and 47 points in 67 games. Between Montreal and Calgary last season, he only collected 41 points in 66 games, with a disappointing -10 and 3 power play points. The change of scenery didn’t help, and next year could mark the first season under 40 points since an abbreviated ’03-’04 season. The Red Wings may throw calamari on the ice, but no one outside of deep leagues should put Cammalleri on the ice in ’12-’13.

Tomas Plekanec (10/31/82) – This Halloween baby is perhaps the last of the respectable players born thirty years ago. His career year was ’09-’10, wherein he scored 70 points in 82 games. Last season, he only got 52 points in 81 games. He also had an abysmal -15 on the year. If there’s one thing going for him, it’s his erratic ability to score. The season before his 70 point highlight, he earned 39 points in 80 games. Who knows, maybe he scored 65 points next season. I wouldn’t count on it, but miracles on ice have been known to happen from time to time.

Yakupov has played two seasons with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League. In his first season, he played 65 games and tallied 49 goals, 52 assists, 71 penalty minutes and a -2 rating. A year later, he played in only 42 games but scored 31 goals with 38 assists, increasing his points per game ever so slightly (from 1.55 to 1.64). He also raised his rating to +15, although obviously that’s more of a team dependent stat than the others. In the Western Conference Quarterfinals, he played 6 games and scored 2 goals with 3 assists. His team lost, but clearly it was not because of Yakupov’s failings (unless you expected him to get 7 goals and 10 assists, in which case you are just too demanding).

When the NHL Entry Draft occurs at the end of June in Pittsburgh, it would surprise everyone from Altoona to Moscow if the Edmonton Oilers didn’t use their #1 pick on Yakupov. He would be best served on the same line as Smyth (Hall?) and Nugent-Hopkins, but who knows how Tom Renney will decide to work him into the team (although a line of three #1 picks would be amazing). The fact is, Yapukov is an elite talent, and even on a lesser line surrounded by lesser players, he will still be a major source for points. I don’t think it will take him long to find his sea legs (partlybecause he plays on ice, not water), and I would go so far as to rank him in the top ten for next year’s draft. Arguable? Fine, but I think there is no debate he will be a top 20 player. In a keeper league where he’s still available, I would go after him harder than if you were Pepe Le Pew and Yakupov just got a stripe of white paint down his back.

Some prior #1 picks: Kovalchuk, Nash, Ovechkin, Crosby, Kane, Stamkos, Tavares. Don’t be shy on draft day.

2012-2013 (conservative) predictions: 37 goals, 41 assists, 63 PIM, -3 (because he plays for Edmonton, after all).

12:19 a.m. - Of the 8 match-ups last round, 6 of the game 3 winners went on to win the series. When I was talking to myself earlier today yesterday, I was saying that after Game 7, Game 3 is the most important game in a playoff series. My internal voice then asked me what about Game 6, and then we fought and I woke up without pants on.

12:16 a.m. - “Are there any nutrition secrets during a long overtime?” Hmm, I’m surprised Brad Richards ended the interview after that question.

12:15 a.m.  - It was only a matter of time before one squeaked in. There were 95 shots on goal.

12:14 a.m. - Gaborik with his first goal since game one of the last round, finishes with the game winner and an assist from, like, three hours ago. Rangers win!

12:12 a.m. - The puck had enough and left the game.

12:11 a.m. - Just intense. Lundvist makes another nice save, bodies are flying everywhere…

12:09 a.m. - Almost, not quite.

12:07 a.m. - Ovechkin eats like a raccoon.

12:04 a.m. - The Rangers have had a ton of opportunities. Only one goal.

12:02 a.m. - NHL arenas play the best music. Nice to hear Washington play Living After Midnight.

12:01 a.m. - Lundqvist with a glove save. 7th OT is on the horizon.

12:00 a.m. - Oh, good, tomorrow is now today here on the East Coast.

11:57 p.m. - I am so on edge, I haven’t even been able to drink since the 3rd period. What a grab by Holtby!

11:55 p.m.  - Apparently Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur had a gay pregnancy and it resulted in Holtby.

11:52 p.m. - Penalty on the Caps. This would probably mean something if the Rangers were any good at capitalizing on power play opportunities.

11:50 p.m. - NBC gives a shout out to Chinatown.

11:47 p.m. - Both teams took less shots in the 2nd OT. Credit defense and tired bodies. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game ends within the first 5 minutes. All it takes is one mistake, and after 5 periods of hockey, worn down players make mistakes. This mind boggling analysis is brought to you by my high anxiety.

11:43 p.m. - So, 22 year old Braden Holtby played just 7 games in the regular season, but stopped 177 of 192 for a .922 SV% and a 2.49 GAA. His numbers with the Hershey Bears were comparable, I suppose, and he showed skill last year in limited time with the Caps, but he still came as a surprise to me. He is probably the MVP of the playoffs for Washington thus far.

11:39 p.m. - They have been showing the weirdest commercials during this game, including a smoker who looks like a burn victim speaking with a robot’s voice and a farmland dating service.

11:35 p.m. - Through five periods, Lundqvist has stopped 43 of 44 shots, Holtby 42 of 43.

11:32 p.m. - 16.7 seconds left in double OT. Are you kidding me? This game is insane.

Anderson was serviceable this year with 33 wins, a 2.79 GAA, and a .913 SV%. DC ranked him 26th for goalies, and he finished ranked 32nd by Yahoo!’s metric, whatever that is. This postseason, however, he has stopped 167 of 179 shots for a .933 SV%, which would have ranked him third for the season for goalies with more than 20 starts. He has really elevated himself to an elite status in April, but I wouldn’t buy high on him next season. His stats this year fall in line with his career norms, and at best he’s a third goalie on your fantasy team.

Kreider is a little more intriguing. The Rangers took him in the first round (19th pick) of the 2009 NHL entry draft, and he played with Boston College through this year. This season in Beantown, the college junior scored 45 points (23 goals, 22 assists) in 44 games. He also tallied 66 PIM and a +9 rating. In 2011, he played for the U.S. team in the Ice Hockey World Championships, chock full of grizzled NHL playmakers and veterans, and scored 2 goals in 7 games. Do you draft him in the top ten rounds next season? No, of course not. Do you try to get milk out of his udder? Wrong Kreider. However, he is definitely worth a late round flyer, because if he plays for 2012-2013, he can give you 40 points.

Mark Streit – D (NYI):  Here’s another “meh” pick from me.  There was some good, some bad, some toast, some butter….mmmmmmm….. sorry I like to have breakfast food late at night…  Back to Streit:  On the positive side, he had 40 Assists.  On the flip side of positive, which I think is un-positive.  Or is it non-positive?  Either way along with those 40 Assists Streit had a measely 7 Goals and was an abysmal -27.  If his +/- were a temperature, it would be the coldest day in America this year.  It got so bad that the Islanders installed an up-to-the-minute chart above the scoreboard showing Streit’s +/- versus the National debt…

Dan Boyle – D (SJ):  ”Meh” pick #3 (I’ve spoken to Grey about making “Mr. Meh” the official mascot of Razzball. Just take off the hat and the uniform and Voila!)…   And yeah Dan Boyle had a decent year but much like most of his teammates, the decline is in full effect.

James Wisniewski - D (Cls):  “Wizzy wizzy wizzy, can’t you see?  You’re more injury proned than Sidney Crosby…”  And there is my rapping debut.  I will now retire…

Mike Richards – C (LA):  I live very close to Los Angeles, so believe me I’m fully aware of Richards’ season.  He is so unpopular right now if he ran against Kim Kardashian for Mayor of Glendale he’d lose in a landslide…

Jeff Skinner - C/RW (Car):  I’d like to think that after his awful season (and a real step back from his ROY season) Jeff Skinner will be fawned over as a bounce-back or “sleeper” next pre-season.  I say hogwash.  He’s just not that good.  And he hasn’t been properly motivated.  If I were running the Hurricane’s I’d fire the head coach and hire  this guy.

Roberto Luongo – G (Van):  So what can I say?  Sometimes you just have to just pull a huge name out and imagine a scenario where he doesn’t perform….   Maybe I was confused back in September and thought playoff stats counted this year…

Danny Briere – C/LW (Phi):  Actually if I had Briere in the same post as Luongo then I knew playoff stats didn’t count…  The real question now though?  Can Briere’s post-season awesomeness overcome the Penguin title wave bearing down on Philadelphia?  I say no.  Penguins win 4-3.  You heard it here 101st!

Steve Ott – C/LW (Dal):  I initially didn’t want to talk about Ott (I thought he was in line for a career year), but all things considered Ott deserves to be on this prestigious list.  156PIM’s was good for 6th in the NHL and tack on the 11 Goals, 28 Assists, +5, and 8PPP”s and you have a productive fantasy contributor… I just hope Steve-O doesn’t hurt himself doing some ridiculous stunt in the offseason…

David Clarkson – RW (NJ):  Career Goals prior to this season: 52 in 300 Games…  Goals this year: 30 in 80 Games.  So what do I mean by that you ask?  “David Clarkson has seen the light!  The New Jersey Devils nurtured him for 5 season’s and now he is bearing fruit!”  Yeah sure, that works.  I know I don’t say this often, but that was some quality analysis VTB…

Milan Lucic – LW (Bos):  If I were a Bawstin native I’m sure this guy would’ve had top billing, but thankfully I’ve only spent 7 days of my 30 years of existence in bean-town.  And believe me I love the City, but every sports fan in Boston thinks they are Gawd’s gift to fandom.  Well from my experience I can tell you that outside of Boston Sports, they know very little.  Go to a Red Sox game and ask Sully who the Shortstop for the  Rockies is and he’ll start talking about how the Red Sox haven’t had a Shortstop since NOMAAAR left a decade ago.  Bring up Wayne Gretzky and you get a puzzled look followed by a dissertation on Bobby Orr’s greatness… But then again, maybe that’s what makes Bawstin sports fans so great.  They are to the sports world what the Tea Party is to the political world…

Steve Downie – LW/RW (Col):  It was the Summer of 2010.  I was courting Steve Downie pretty aggressively despite the restraining orders.  The 22 year old was coming off a 22 Goal, 24 Assist, 11Power Play Point, 208 Penalty Minute season.  Then the next season happened.  And then this season happened.  And now all I know is that sh*t happens and I’m down on Downie…

Nick Foligno – LW (Ott):  Our first new entrant onto this list came out of nowhere with 124 Penalty Minutes and 47 Points.  At first glance I’m not buying it, and at 2nd glance it looks like someone spray-painted “fluke” over his Wikipedia page…

Wayne Simmonds – RW (Phi):  Simmonds, Sealy, Serta, Spring Air, Stern’s & Foster, Chatham & Wells, and Miralux mattresses!  All at discounted prices!  We’ll beat anyone’s advertised price or your matress is ……………..

P.K. Subban – D (Mon):  The lone Defenseman on the list is none other than Potential Knockout Subban.  He had a down year offensively according to some, but you have to remember he won’t turn 23 for another month.  That monster season is still ahead of him and if you listen to me he’ll be on your team next year and the year after…. and the year after that… and the year after that…. and the year after….. okay you get the point.

Anthony Stewart – RW (Car):  Wow and here I thought Cogliano was the really big terd in this punch bowl…  Jeez.  20 Points in 77 Games?  64 Shots on Goal?  Not to be a dick about it, but that’s less than a shot per game.  You could freeze a stick in an upright position 15 feet from the net and get more Shots than that.

T.J. Galiardi – LW (SJ):  Wait this guy is on the Sharks now?  When the he-double-hockey-sticks did that happen?

Michael Frolik - C/RW (Chi):  Man this list is getting worse with each name.  I feel like (eyebrows raised) frolik-ing in some traffic right now. 

Dustin Penner - LW/RW (LA):  “I could’ve had this tiny-joint in my LW rankings but I’m just not a huge fan.  In fact I bet most of you saw the name and went HUH?  Penner is a badass!!!   Well he’s not, just look at the stats.  HOWEVA, he did have 32G, 31A, 17PPP’s and 200+ shots 2 years ago for the Oil.  HOWEVA II (the return of HOWEVA) after his trade to the Kings last year he disappeared.  I think the 30 Goal guy is still lurking somewhere, but I have a funny feeling that was a career year.”   Pretty strange blurb there.  I basically threw out every reason why Penner sucks, and then said ‘F*CK IT!  DRAFT HIM ANYWAY!’   I’m starting to realize having the ability to instantly go back and see what you wrote is more curse than blessing…

Derek Stepan – C (NYR):  So technically I could’ve labeled Stepan a successful sleeper pick (17G/34A/+14/169SOG) but I won’t.  21 Goals last year and only 17 this year just doesn’t scream ‘success’.  10  more Assists are nice, but with players who are this far down your roster Goals are the key.  I’m not sure how I’ll feel about Stepan in a few months, but it’s important to remember he’s still just 21 years old.

Kevin Shattenkirk – D (StL):  For you loyal readers (hi Mom!), you know I’ve been extremely critical of Shattenkirk this season.  But that’s just because I love him and have high expectations for his career!  Oh no wait, that’s what my Mom says about me…  The season ending line however is just too good to be critical: 9G/34A/+20/18PPP’s/60PIM’s/178SOG.  Forgive me Shatty, I know now what you’ve done…

Tomas Fleischmann – LW/RW (Fla):  Ding ding ding!  The true winner of my Sleeper lottery emerges!  Flash went batshit crazy this year and exceeded even my lofty expectations.  Any time you can get this kind of production (27G/34A/22PPP’s/217SOG) from a guy you either A) drafted in the last round or B) plucked off the waiver wire it’s gonna be a good season  (wait I have Fleischmann in both leagues and my teams still sucked…  QUIET REALITY!  You’re ruining my best sleeper pick of 2011-2012!).. Now just don’t be surprised when he falls off the preverbial cliff next year…

And there you have it.  Not a completely terrible list but not something I wanna put on my resume either… Enjoy the weekend playoff games and don’t forget to follow Puck Daddy’s instructions for viewing Saturday’s playoff extravaganza! 

Nashville Predators – Since they won yesterday and I wrote about these guys so eloquently (word of the day) on Monday I will just remind you of what I said:  “Outside of Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber, this team doesn’t have alot to offer to us fantasy geeks.  But if these guys can get past Detroit I like their chances of winning the Western Conference.  And right now, they’re a 22:1 underdog to win the Stanley Cup.  I can see it now:  Barry Trotz’s awkard post-game speech; Gary Bettmann awarding the championship to a team he knows just got him the worst TV ratings in 25 years; the completely unknown Owner; and of course Fisher-Wood taking it to a whole ‘nother level…”  I’m excited just thinking about it!  Go Preds!!!

Jonathan Quick – G (LA):  Another great game for Quick which leads me to my question of the night:  Is J-Quick’s underrated-ness a product of the fact that he’s an American born Goalie?  I used to think it’s just East Coast Bias, but now I’m starting to wonder if it’s a much more sinister plot led by Canadian Nationalists… or something…

Dustin Penner – LW (LA):  He did WHAT?  No way…  If Penner is anything, other than a LOAF, it’s a great example of playoff hockey.  Hero’s often come from the bowels of a team’s roster, and if there was ever any player who came from bowels it’s Dustin Penner…

Jarome Iginla – RW (Cgy):  This one really hurts cuz when I originally put together my rankings I had brotha Jarome down around number 20, then I dug a little deeper into his 2010-2011 season and liked what I saw so much I moved him all the way up to #10.  So what did I get for going out on a limb with a 34 year old who was just a year removed from his worst season ever?   Well lets just say the limb snapped, much like they’re prone to do with eldery gentleman…

Martin St. Louis – RW (TB):  Speaking of elderly gentleman, heeeeeere’s Marty!  Now I’m sure if you drafted St. Louis 7th overall (which is where I had him ranked) it wouldn’t have been impossible to still have a good team.  He did put up 74 points afterall.  But the real problem was the complete and almost biblical drop in Power Play Points.  He went from averaging 39PPP’s each of the last 2 seasons to 16 this year!   SIXTEEN!  The last time he had fewer, Bob Probert and Stu Grimson were still around concussing…… ERRRRRR….. fighting each other.  The real surprising part about St. Louis’ disappointing season is that Stamkos had his best season ever.  If I’d had known that before doing last year’s rankings Marty probably would’ve cracked the Top 5.  So technically it could have been worse right?  RIGHT???

Ryan Getzlaf – C (Ana):  In all honesty Getzlaf probably deserves top billing on this post (I had him ranked #13), but he helped bring my team a Stanley Cup so what can I say?  I’m a sucker for hardware.  What I won’t be a sucker for is ranking Getz anywhere near the Top 25-30 ever again, let alone the top 13!  In fact this season was so bad I don’t even wanna yuck up this post with the numbers, go look them up for yourself if you wanna see just how truly god-awful Ryan Getzlaf was in 2011-2012.

Ryan Kesler – C (Van):  I oscillated (word of the day!) back and forth with Kesler.  He missed the first 5 games of the season with an injury and I personally believe he never fully recovered from it.  HOWEVA, when you rank a guy 14th overall and he goes 22G/27A/+11/19PPP’s/56PIM/222SOG, something was off in you’re calculations.  Or mine.  You know what I mean…

Keith Yandle – D (Phx):  Okay it’s official I will never trust another Defenseman ever again.  I stuck my neck out and ranked Yandle as my Top Defenseman (23rd overall) and he proceeded to slash my throat with his stick.  It was a solid season, but when I recommend taking him ahead of the holy trinity of Weber-Lidstrom-Chara, “solid” just doesn’t cut it.  And I’m just gonna leave it at that before I beat myself up too much…  “He plays for the Coyotes!  Don’t  you remember Mike Green and Drew Doughty from 2 years ago!”   NO!  STOP!!!

Alexander Semin – LW/RW (Wsh):  Man I’ve sure got some doozies (or dookies?) in my Top 30 don’t I?  Semin was supposed to be a Goal scoring specialist who couldn’t stay healthy, but instead he played in 77 games and scored just 21 Goals. I feel the same way a porn-star must feel after having sex with a regular dude:  What a disappointing load…

Jimmy Howard – G (Det):  “What is the great Jimmy Howard doing on this list?  He had a Vezina caliber season for the Mighty Red Wings!”  Yes I know he had a good season VTB and that’s exactly why he’s on this list.  I had him as one of my “busts” in the preseason.  Damn you J-HO!  Damn you!!!

So that does it.  What did we learn from all this?  It’s pretty simple:  Never trust Defenseman, Russians, concussion victims or the elderly when drafting for Fantasy Hockey…