Making preseason predictions is foolish enough in a normal year, so trying to make sense out of what may take place over the next few months in the NHL is completely uncharted foolishness.  So let's get started.

TEAMS ON THE MOVE

No point in dwelling on the obvious ends of the spectrum.  Yes, the Penguins, Rangers, Blues, etc. will be the teams to beat again this year, while the Jackets, Flames, Jets, etc. struggle to stay relevant.  What's truly interesting is the teams that could make some serious movement (for better or worse) in the upcoming shortened season.  For whatever reason,  as I look up and down the lineups of each team in the standings from last season, a few squads jump out as teams to watch.

GOING UP:

Buffalo Sabres - After reshuffling the deck in the summer of 2011, the Sabres had a hard time coming together in the early months of last season.  By mid season, they were a formidable squad that made a near historic run, before just missing the playoffs.  It's been a long spell since, so it's tough to assume that they'll just keep it rolling, but if there's one non-playoff team heading in the right direction, it's the Sabres.  If Miller stays solid, this team could challenge for tops in the East and should win their division.

Carolina Hurricanes- The Canes tried to remake their image last July with the addition of Jordan Staal and Alex Semin.  The key to this team will be Cam Ward and the defense.  It's a tough bunch to predict, but the Canes could easily emerge first from a horribly weak division.

Edmonton Oilers - The streak of drafting first overall has certainly come to end.  The same should be said for the playoff drought. Expect the youngsters to put up goals in droves and even win some games in the process this time around.

GOING DOWN:

Detroit Redwings - After two decades of NHL dominance, the Motor City reign of terror is has come to an end.  Lidstrom is gone and it's finally time to start over for the Wings.  They've toyed with missing the postseason the last two years.  They won't bother teasing this time around.  Crash and burn.

New Jersey Devils - Ironically, the two teams that met in the finals the last time we went down this 48 game road are my picks for biggest losers coming out of this one.  With Parise gone, Kovalchuk not wanting to come back, ownership troubles, and a one-two punch in net that's older than your mom, it's tough to find encouraging signs for the Devils.  No chance this team makes the playoffs.

FINAL STANDINGS (by points)

Starting in the East:

1. Pittsburgh *

2. New York Rangers

3. Buffalo Sabres *

4. Boston Bruins

5. Carolina Hurricanes *

6. Philadelphia Flyers

7. Toronto Maple Leafs

8. Tampa Bay Lightning

--------------------------

9. Washington Capitals

10. Florida Panthers

11. Ottawa Senators

12. Montreal Canadiens

13. New York Islanders

14. Winnepeg Jets

15. New Jersey Devils

Yes, once again, it looks like the "winner" from the Southeast Division will unjustly claim 3rd seed, while the 2nd best team in the East gets bumped down to fourth.  This time, the Rangers will get the shaft, instead of the Penguins.  The Leafs will end their playoff absence, while the Caps will be on the outside this time around. 

Now, on to the West:

1. St. Louis Blues *

2. LA Kings *

3. Nashville Predators

4. Edmonton Oilers *

5. Vancouver Canucks

6. Chicago Blackhawks

7. Phoenix Coyotes

8. San Jose Sharks

--------------------------

9. Dallas Stars

10. Detroit Redwings

11. Minnesota Wild

12. Colorado Avalanche

13. Anaheim Ducks

14. Calgary Flames

15. Columbus Blue Jackets

A few notes from the West.  Yes, it will be tight as always, but it's not because the West is so much better than the East.  It's because there are so many mediocre teams that you can pull them out of a hat once you get past 5th place.  The Ducks always start slow, so they'll run out of time before the annual playoff push this year.  I'm not drinking the Wild koolaid based on one big day of UFA signings.  Ultimately, it's going to come down to goaltending to decide the winners and losers here.

THE HARDWARE

MVP / Art Ross

Crosby.  End. Of. Discussion.

Rocket Richard

Despite a handful of worthy competitors, Stamkos will be holding on to this one for a few years.

Norris

Shea Weber will claim his first of many this year.  Expect some votes for Letang and Karlsson.

Vezina

The committee always seems to be a year behind in naming the winner here.  Jonathan Quick gets his due in 2013.

Presidents Trophy

The Blues will be so good defensively, they'll win this with a week to go in the season.

Stanley Cup

Last year, I predicted a California / Pennsylvania matchup in this space.  I was right on one end. 

My vague, cloudy crystal ball shows me the winner this time will emerge from either PA or NY state and will take on a team from the Central Division.  {pause while I crumble up papers.  Place them in the hat…}… and the gutsy prediction is:

The Buffalo Sabres will claim their first Cup over the St. Louis Blues.

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Now that two rounds are complete and we're off and running with the Conference Finals, it seems an opportune time to start mapping out the early favorites for this season's Conn Smythe Trophy winner.  This year may be one of the most challenging to predict in the early going.   Many of the best individual performers so far have already been eliminated, while many of the top stars on the remaining teams haven't been dominating the scoresheet.

Before we parade out our favorites, let's pay homage to those who did their part in the early rounds, but were forced home prematurely:

• Joel Ward (NAS) -- 7 goals in 12 games for the unheralded Predators forward
• Teemu Selanne (ANA) -- goal a game in the Round 1 loss.  Don't blame him.
• Pavel Datsyuk (DET) -- this guy just seems to get better all the time.  15 points in 11 games.
• Claude Giroux (PHI) -- add him to your shortlist for early draft picks next season.  11 assists in 11 games.
• James van Riemsdyk (PHI) -- ready for primetime next season after posting 7 goals and 27 hits for the Flyers
• Carey Price (MON) -- looked every bit as good as Halak from last season.  Needed more scoring help to move on.

And now, here the top picks going forward, based on the play through the first two rounds:

1. Dwayne Roloson (G-TB)

I feel like I have to put Roloson first at this point, just to get it off my conscience.  I didn't believe he could ever get the Lightning this far, and I still have a hard time believing he can keep this run going.  However, the results speak for themselves.  Roloson has been the single biggest factor in the first and second round victories for the Lightning, doing his best Halak impersonation over Pittsburgh and Washington.  For Tampa to get past Boston, he's going to have to keep it rolling, and if they do advance, it will have to be largely on Roloson's shoulders.  Of the team's remaining, Tampa is the only one without a reliable #2 option to turn to if he stumbles.  So far, he's earned the role of favorite for the Trophy.

2. Ryan Kesler (VAN)

Heading into the Conference finals, you hardly heard talk of the Sedin twins, largely because Kesler has overshadowed them.  The Sharks have to focus all their top talent at containing their "2nd line" center.  Kesler leads the NHL in playoff scoring to this point, and his contributions go well beyond those 16 points.  He's been money on faceoffs, has racked up 45 hits and 14 blocked shots, and continues to shutdown whatever line he comes up against. 

3. Martin St. Louis (TB)

If you put any stock in plus-minus (which I absolutely do not), you might have a problem listing him in the top 3; however, St. Louis has clearly led the charge on offense for the Lightning this post-season.  He leads Tampa with 14 points in 12 games, picking up where he left off in the regular season.  While young sniper Stamkos continues to be MIA with just 6 points, the veteran hasn't missed a beat and is deserving trophy consideration at this point.

4. Joe Thornton (SJ)

So far so good, as Thornton attempts to shed the monkey from his back.  Even if the Sharks fall flat to the Canucks in Round 3, it's hard to imagine the blame falling to the captain this time.  He's been a physical force, is shutting down some of the best forwards in the game, and even has been spotted shooting the puck a few times.  2 of his 3 playoff goals are game winners.

5. Tim Thomas (G-BOS)

Boston has gotten this far with an amazing balance of scoring up front, adequate play from their defense, and more than anything, outstanding goaltending from Tim Thomas (putting aside 2 minutes of game 1 on Saturday).  His .932 save percentage is second only to Roloson's .941, as is his 2.19 GAA, among the remaining #1 goalies.  Without a doubt, if the Bruins are to overcome Tampa's powerplay and advance to the finals, Thomas will have to continue to be their Conn Smythe candidate of choice.

6. Dominic Moore (TB)

As a Penguin fan in round 1, it wasn't Stamkos, St.Louis, or Lecavalier that scared me with the Lightning.  It was the vastly underrated Dominic Moore that kept me up at night.  While he'll never be at the top of the scoring leaders and he ultimately won't get much serious consideration for this Trophy, nobody does more with the ice time he gets than Moore.  Picking up where he left off last spring with Montreal, Moore continues to provide the timeliest of goals and assists to break the backs of his opponents, while playing a key shutdown role on the other end of the rink.  His back-to-back behind the goal wizardry passes to Bergenheim in round 1 nicely spotlight what this guy brings to the Bolts.  If you're looking for a darkhorse candidate, go with Moore.

And here are a few others who still have time to step it up in Rounds 3 and 4 and enter the conversation:

• Roberto Luongo (G-VAN) -- Despite the earlier controversy over whether he should even be playing in net, Luongo proved his worth against Nashville and is the only goalie with 2 shutouts to this point.
• Vincent Lecavalier (TB) -- He's quietly earning the respect this spring that seemed to wane away in the past 5 years.  Point-per-game pace so far.
• Dan Boyle (SJ) -- token defenseman option.  Boyle leads at this position with 12 points in 14 games, to go with his 23 blocked shots.
• Antti Niemi (G-SJ) -- Would have to steal a few games against Vancouver to merit consideration, but any goalie who makes the finals has been considered.
• Sean Bergenheim (TB) -- Continues to surprise with big time goals (leads the league to this point), despite limited playing time.  Adding a couple assists to those totals might help things here.

Since the Free Agent Frenzy has died down, it's been slow on the news front in the NHL; however, fantasy hockey season will be upon us very shortly.   So, I wanted to give a quick update on what to expect from Landshark Hockey in the coming weeks and months.

First off, we'll be releasing a brand new feature in September.  It's a complete Mock Draft module.  To help you prepare for your own fantasy draft, there is nothing better than practice.  I'm only aware of 1 other site that has such a feature, and I think ours will have some unique benefits.  For example, you can draft any time you wish (you don't have to schedule and hope other guys show up).  The Draft will randomly assign draft tendencies to your opponents, which you can override and configure as you wish.  More to come on this in the next couple weeks.  We're looking for Beta Testers who would like to give it an early spin.  If you're interested, email me at chewy@landsharkhockey.com.

We're in the process of putting together our fantasy hockey draft rankings right now, which should be available towards the end of August.  We'll be rating the top 100+ forwards, 50+ defensemen, and 40+ goalies, along with commentary to help you prepare your lists.  Blog posts and articles should start coming out in a couple weeks to help you start to formulate your lists. 

Speaking of which, we've recently enhanced our Draft Guru functionality to better help you prepare your own draft lists.  We've upgraded the drag and drop capabilities to help it run faster.  More features will be added in the next couple weeks there as well.

Fantasy Hockey Drafts will be here soon.  Check back in a couple weeks and we'll be there to help you dominate once again.

In terms of excitement and surprise, Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs did not disappoint.  It also presented us with a mixed bag of candidates for this year's Conn Smythe Trophy.  Most of the early favorites have been eliminated, paving the road for some unlikely heroes as we look ahead to Round 3.

1. Jaroslav Halak

If Halak can keep this level of play up through another two rounds, we can end the discussion here.  He has put in a performance for the ages in toppling two of the most feared offensive forces in the world.  He enters round 3 with a .933 save percentage.  With every game that goes by, he makes Carey Price look more and more like trade bait this summer.

2. Michael Cammalleri

Despite Halak's brilliance, he hasn't done it alone.  Cammalleri managed to outshine the likes of Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin in round 1, then do the same to Crosby and Malkin in round 2.  He should have the offensive stage all to himself in Round 3 to build on his league leading 12 goals.  He needs just 7 more to tie the all time goal scoring record in the playoffs.  The way he's rolling now, he may get there this round.

3. Jonathan Toews

Toews has been everything for the Blackhawks this postseason.  From killing penalties to winning faceoffs, he has been a dominant force.  A glimpse at the scoring leaders shows his name on top, with 20 points in 12 games.  The Chicago captain has definitely turned his game up a notch in the playoffs so far.

4. Joe Pavelski

The one thing holding Pavelski back so far is the lack of games to pad his stats.  He has a whopping 9 goals in 11 games, but has played 3 fewer contests than Cammalleri.  That shouldn't be a factor in round 3, as he should expect this series to go the limit against the Hawks.  He'll be facing a tough challenge, going up against the Chicago defense, but he's exceeded expectations in every game so far.

5. Mike Richards

Richards has taken control of the Flyers destiny, leading them back from a 3-0 deficit to potentially make history in Round 2.  He leads the Flyers with 16 points in 11 games.  Should they pull off the comeback, Richards will gain his spot among the legends.

6. Antti Niemi

If the Blackhawks make it past the high-scoring Sharks, you will most likely see his name climb up the list of candidates pretty quickly.  He's been solid in his rookie playoff run so far, posting a 2.57 GAA and .909 save percentage to complement his 2 shutouts. 

7. Evgeni Nabokov

Yes, he's turned in a couple of stinkers, but on the whole, Nabokov has given San Jose the goaltending they've needed to get through two tough rounds.  His 2.43 GAA is among the league leaders, and nearly matches Halak in that category.

8. Chris Pronger

You can't discount the role that Pronger has played in leading this Flyer team to one of the most memorable comebacks of all time.  In addition to playing to hard-hitting shutdown role against the opponents' top lines, he has managed to put up 4 goals and 11 points in 11 games so far.  Tonight's outcome may depend on Pronger's peformance.

9. Joe Thornton

He's one step closer to get those dang monkeys off his back.  For the Sharks to advance to the finals, they'll need Thornton to control the game and put up some numbers.  If he does so, expect him to be near the top of this list after round 3.

10. Brian Gionta

If Cammalleri ever starts to slow down, it's no mystery who Montreal will turn to in order to carry the load offensively.  He potted 6 goals against the Penguins and has 12 points in 14 games.

Note the obvious omission of any Bruins on this list: Should Boston pull out game 7, you can slide Tuukka Rask onto the radar.  Other than Rask, it's been a pretty well-balanced effort by Boston, with no single skater standing out above the rest.