The Los Angeles Kings have won the Stanley Cup in six games...here are a few videos from tonight....

Have a great night and now the off-season begins!

Now here we are........please note this obviously could be the last game of the season tonight. If not, the scene shifts back to New Jersey on Wednesday for a Game 7.

It is Monday already and time for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils. When you have an eight seed up against a six seed, one has to say that this is just highly unlikely and yet it happened. A sign of the casual fan invading this type of series would be what happened on ESPN SportsNation with 49 of 50 states picking Los Angeles to win the silver chalice when all is said and done in the next couple weeks or less. Polls are often very inaccurate and reflect public sentiment as opposed to talent. This is why we take it to the next level with simulations. Clearly New Jersey found a way to do it again as Bryce Salvador pinballed a puck off Slava Voynov to give the Devils a 2-1 win and an improbable chance of extending this series to a potential Game 7.

The Los Angeles Kings are 10-1 in these playoffs on the road. Everyone knows the history that they are on the doorsteps of. However, something does seem different here. Whether this translates into something different of the expected remains to be seen. However, New Jersey did find something Wednesday Night and again Saturday Night that may put more of a scare into LA than any other team has. Think about it, New Jersey has played LA pretty even in this series except for the second half of Game 3. At home, New Jersey did lose Game 1 and Game 2 in overtime but they did have plenty of chances. Will Game 5's ending rub off on Game 6? Los Angeles has not been quite as dominant at home. That is the biggest question!

The Kings now stand one game from winning the Stanley Cup and honestly there seems to really be nothing that can stop them other than maybe themselves. Most of the sims seemed to point to this not being a formality anymore but let's look at tonight's X Factors.

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FANTASY X Factors:

Kings fourth line

The fourth line has found a way to do things in this series that no one really expected them to but they were quite neutalized in Games 4 and 5. Some will say it was the pressure of closing a team out but New Jersey definitely played different and it was noticeable to Los Angeles. Can Jordan Nolan, Derek King, and company find a way to get the mojo back? It does set the rest of the wheels in motion and this line was key in establishing early advantages in Game 1 and 2. They have to be more of a difference maker tonight. Add in the fact that Dustin Brown may be hurt and the fourth line may see a little more in the way of ice time. They have to hit like they did in Game 5 but it has to result in a goal this time or else.

Zach Parise, W, New Jersey Devils

Parise is still the X Factor for New Jersey because he has to keep playing. If Brown is not 100%, that spells hope for Parise and his fantasy owners obviously. For Devils fans, Parise will be able to skate a bit more freely and get in those high scoring chance areas. Yes, the forward is still missing opportunities at an alarming rate. However, as we saw in Game 5, all it takes is one conversion to make people forget (especially on the man advantage).

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SCHEDULE TIME:

Well this is absolute win territory for the New Jersey Devils again. New Jersey still has nothing to lose while Los Angeles clearly has to be feeling the pressure. After all, they have not won the Holy Grail in their 45 year existence. There iis something to be said about "seeds of doubt" and now New Jersey's best players are starting to make timely appearances. Los Angeles has to close it out tonight. It is more of a must win for them honestly. LA does not want to see this go seven.

Intangibles will play a big role in Game 6 and the extra day's rest will likely be mentioned enough times to make anyone sick of it.

Anyway here is our sim for tonight......

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NHL 12 Sim -- Kings @ Devils Game 6

What are we going to do?  Simply, we are going to run the NHL 12 sims for Game 6. The Kings and Devils are fairly even in theory. It is all the intangibles that will play out throughout the rest of this series that will ultimately determine it. It is time.

It comes down to the Battle Of The Coasts, this simulation just had to come as these always have fantasy purposes along with fun prognostication. We played a total of seven games and this is what we came up with for our prediction. Again keep in mind, this may not happen obviously. Simply the rivalry deserves the utmost of respect in how the sims are run. Here were our results.

Devils-Kings Game 6
1st Period
No scoring
2nd Period
LAK - Jordan Nolan (2:35, Doughty)
3rd Period
NJD - Zach Parise (1:33, Kovalchuk and Greene)
LAK - Slava Voynov (9:34, Williams and Kopitar)

Team Stats:
Shots
LAK- 26, NJD- 23
Power Plays
LAK- 0/3, NJD- 0/2

Final: Kings 2  Devils 1
3 Stars:
1. Jonathan Quick 2. Slava Voynov 3. Martin Brodeur

The game is just hours away and if it approaches anything like the sims, it will be an awfully good one. We literally had some more consensus on this one so who knows what that will ultimately mean. Can New Jersey play its style or will Los Angeles impose more of its will? Also will New Jersey keep on hitting? That physical aspect is paying dividends and me the sims seemed to dictate more of the same tonight. Let's see what happens and again thanks for reading.

For the oh by the way.....the sims did deviate in Game 6 as they were pretty well split down the middle with two goal spreads and one goal spreads (three each). Oddly enough the one deviation had New Jersey winning by at least three. That sounds odd but not really. The Fantasy Conn Smythe will be Jonathan Quick and that is not a surprise. Give him credit, he has played outstanding but Quick did show a little vulnerability in Games 4 and Game 5. New Jersey has had their chances so will they even the series tonight? Needless to say, stay tuned!

The Devils are still alive amazingly after a 2-1 win in Game 5 over the Kings. Here are a few videos....

Have a great night everyone!

Now here we are........please note this obviously could be the last game of the season tonight. If not, the scene shifts back to Los Angeles on Monday.

It is Saturday already and time for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils. When you have an eight seed up against a six seed, one has to say that this is just highly unlikely and yet it happened. A sign of the casual fan invading this type of series would be what happened on ESPN SportsNation with 49 of 50 states picking Los Angeles to win the silver chalice when all is said and done in the next couple weeks or less. Polls are often very inaccurate and reflect public sentiment as opposed to talent. This is why we take it to the next level with simulations. Clearly New Jersey had something when Jonathan Quick looked behind him on a relatively innocent Zach Parise shot. Game 4 would change minutes later as the Devils went on to score three times in the third period on the way to a 3-1 win.

The Los Angeles Kings are 10-0 in these playoffs on the road. Everyone knows the history that they are on the doorsteps of. However, something does seem different here. Whether this translates into something different of the expected remains to be seen. However, New Jersey did find something Wednesday Night that may put more of a scare into LA than any other team has. Think about it, New Jersey has played LA pretty even in this series except for the second half of Game 3. At home, New Jersey did lose Game 1 and Game 2 in overtime but they did have plenty of chances. Will Game 4 rub off on Game 5? That is the biggest question!

The Kings now stand one game from winning the Stanley Cup and honestly there seems to really be nothing that can stop them other than maybe themselves. Most of the sims seemed to point to this being a formality of sorts but let's look at tonight's X Factors.

=============================================

FANTASY X Factors:

Kings fourth line

The fourth line has found a way to do things in this series that no one really expected them to but they were quite neutalized in Game 4 for the first time all series. Some will say it was the pressure of closing a team out but New Jersey definitely played different and it was noticeable to Los Angeles. Can Jordan Nolan, Derek King, and company find a way to get the mojo back? It does set the rest of the wheels in motion and this line was key in establishing early advantages in Game 1 and 2. They have to be more of a difference maker tonight.

Zach Parise, W, New Jersey Devils

At some point Parise has to get going period! In the previous three rounds, Parise has done barely anything of note early on before coming alive. Parise has done little other than pile up his shot total a bit in this series and seemingly prevents goals for New Jersey as opposed to scoring them. The frustration level has boiled over and its not a secret that LA figured out a way to play Parise. Hit him early and often and eventually he will succumb. Whether that is fair or not does not matter as the physical game of Parise has vanished into the LA night. Even in Game 4, Parise again was more or less nonexistent in the sense of real difference making. Is he hurt? Has he been very inconsistent? The answer is likely yes more to the second than the first. It is time for the Captain to lead....

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SCHEDULE TIME:

Well this is absolute win territory for the New Jersey Devils. This actually may be a must win for LA also. Why? Los Angeles may feel a little pressure if they cannot close out New Jersey tonight and New Jersey is very adept at playing away from the Prudential Canter or at home like tonight. They always have been. New Jersey is clearly ready for Game 5 and has nothing to lose while Los Angeles clearly has to be feeling the pressure. After all, they have not won the Holy Grail in their 45 year existence.

Intangibles will play a big role in Game 5 and the extra day's rest will likely be mentioned enough times to make anyone sick of it.

Anyway here is our sim for tonight......

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NHL 12 Sim -- Kings @ Devils Game 5

What are we going to do?  Simply, we are going to run the NHL 12 sims for Game 5. The Kings and Devils are fairly even in theory. It is all the intangibles that will play out throughout the rest of this series that will ultimately determine it. It is time.

It comes down to the Battle Of The Coasts, this simulation just had to come as these always have fantasy purposes along with fun prognostication. We played a total of seven games and this is what we came up with for our prediction. Again keep in mind, this may not happen obviously. Simply the rivalry deserves the utmost of respect in how the sims are run. Here were our results.

Devils-Kings Game 5
1st Period
No scoring
2nd Period
LAK - Jeff Carter (2:55, Richards)
3rd Period
NJD - Adam Henrique (4:42, Ponikarovsky and Salvador)
LAK - Anze Kopitar (12:33, Doughty)

Team Stats:
Shots
LAK- 27, NJD- 26
Power Plays
LAK- 0/3, NJD- 0/4

Final: Kings 2  Devils 1
3 Stars:
1. Jonathan Quick 2. Anze Kopitar 3. Martin Brodeur

The game is just hours away and if it approaches anything like the sims, it will be an awfully good one. We literally had some more consensus on this one so who knows what that will ultimately mean. Can New Jersey play its style or will Los Angeles impose more of its will? Time will tell but the sims seemed to dictate more of the same tonight. Let's see what happens and again thanks for reading.

For the oh by the way.....the sims did deviate in Game 5 as they were pretty well split down the middle with two goal spreads and one goal spreads (three each). Oddly enough the one deviation had New Jersey winning by at least three. That sounds odd but not really. The Fantasy Conn Smythe will be Jonathan Quick and that is not a surprise. Give him credit, he has played outstanding but Quick did show a little vulnerability in Game 4 and New Jersey has had their chances so will they buck the sim trend tonight? Needless to say, stay tuned!

So the Colorado Avalanche signed David Jones to a 4 year, 16 million dollar deal and that drew some debate. Let's take a slightly closer look.

It is strange to look at guys at this juncture of their careers. At 27, that is the unsaid prime age of players in the NHL or where they bloom even more. There will not be a really advanced look at this but a simple nuts and bolts view. After all, why go too deep into something like this anyway in June? Its all about the prime at this point but those fantasy implications are very valid.

First of all, let us take a look at the baseline (Mr. Jones and his numbers). Here we go......

Career Stats

So in the interest of fairness, we projected the 2009-10 season as if David Jones played 75 games. In that case, he would have had a 30 goal season and a little over 50 points. The numbers have slightly declined a bit as he would have had almost 100 hits had he stayed healthy and not tore his ACL. One can see the potential in Jones and if Matt Duchene gets his head on straight and over his injuries, then Jones is going to be a lethal power forward in Colorado for years to come. The makeup of a blossoming player is there at least.

The question is does he merit a $4 million a year salary and the answer is on the open market, he does, given the current CBA and projected cap. With the right linemates, Jones has shown clear ability to be a 30-20 guy at the very least, maybe even a 30-30. He just has to shoot the puck more. His goal should be 180-200 shots on net this season.

Next, we decided to take a look at Drew Stafford of the Buffalo Sabres. The Buffalo winger is 215 pounds and has started to play a more physical game in the last year. However his production did tail off a bit despite a 20 goal, 50 point campaign. We will expound on that one in a moment. The bottom line is Stafford has that potential much like Jones but has produced a little more consistently at this juncture. Both have about the same surrounding talent to an extent, so it will be interesting to see how Stafford starts to combine the elements of his game. If he continues to play with Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, he may be able to.

Again, let's take a look at those fun three year averages.

Career Stats

So if you are wondering, Drew Stafford has one shorthanded point in the last three years. The only concern we have is how much of a fluke the 2010-11 season actually was. There are some misnomers to note. For one, Stafford's hit counter nearly doubled (granted he played 18 more games). He did have a 30 assist season despite struggling throughout most of the first half. He was a 20-30 guy who easily has 30-30 potential. After all he scored 30+ the year before. His power play production should see a bit of a bump next year as Buffalo relies on him more. Stafford has all the tools to be a force but has to apply them more like he did two seasons ago and less like last season.

More or less, Stafford has earned his $4 million a year but has more work to do to be considered for that next line err raise. The guy has to crack the 60 point plateau because at times his two way game does leave some to be desired. Stafford in some ways has Patrick Sharp like offensive capabilities but just has to package the whole game together. Can he do it? Time will tell.

Then there is Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks. Here is a guy who has had two 60+ point seasons in a row and yet even some have admitted he has more room to grow as an offensive threat. The fact that he can play Wing and Center definitely do help. Pavelski has been pretty darn good in the playoffs aside from this season's clunker. Hey it happens once in awhile, right? Right! Some will say Logan Couture has kind of passed him but not so fast. Pavelski has too much talent and can play in all phases where Couture does not have that all mastered quite yet.

The regular season numbers kind of regressed back to the bell so to speak but a 30-30 year is still a 30-30 year. At any rate, here is that shiny three year average.

Career Stats

Basically Pavelski is right around a 60-65 point guy to be honest. He missed some time the previous two years before playing in all 82 this year. The fact that he is not afraid to shoot the puck is very encouraging but at times his shot selection is a little suspect. Sure one cannot have it both ways, but Pavelski has the talent to have an accuracy rate of 13-15% or at least 12-13. Also with the eventual exit of Patrick Marleau. That will mean even more time on the top power play unit and more opportunities. He could even see a bump up to 12-15 power play goals.

Gradually the Sharks will transition to a core of Couture and Pavelski. That will be a good thing for San Jose as the old guard just could not get the job done fantasy wise last year. With a new infusion, the skies look more teal in San Jose. Expect another 30-30 season and a higher shot total with at least ten goals. Pavelski also has improved defensively and pundits have noticed. Fantasy owners have too. The man is on his way.

Lastly we come to a guy who is poised to break back out next year and that would be Travis Zajac. The problem with Zajac was he missed 67 games this season due to an Achilles injury. People forget the he rushed back a bit especially by his playoff performance, which has been very good. The six points in 15 games this year is really just a token considering the playoffs. Overall Zajac suffered through last year like most of the Devils did. The two years before that Zajac had 60+ point seasons.

That is why we added the extra year to be honest in this average because really this was a lost year for Zajac. Here is his story as another 27 year old to look out for. 

Career Stats

The numbers do understandably go down but the 13 playoff points and two game winners have to be noted in the body of work. This was a player who a few years back had 67 points and a +22 with over 200 shots on goal. That type of talent is still clearly in Zajac, who may not have Zach Parise next season but then again, he did seem to click with Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique at times. Now next year is a contract year but with an emerging power forward and a near 90 point talent flanked by his side, Zajac is going to be fine with or without his North Dakota teammate. He is going to get paid and is an underrated cog in the Devils plans going ahead.

He should also be a valuable asset for your fantasy team for years to come as unlike the three previous forwards, he has that talent to play all three phases better than any of them. Zajac will be a 55-60 point player next year at least with 20+ power play points. Zajac will go later in drafts because people will look at this year. Keep an eye out.

This simple guide of 27 year olds does not include a few but just wanted to use a fantasy cross reference here of guys that are around a $4 million cap hit. Good luck this fantasy season and hopefully you make all the right choices.