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For all of your that play head to head leagues, I hope that you took down your title over the weekend!  For those of you in roto leagues, you are still playing out the rest of the week.  This post will be short for that reason, but I want to bring a few things to your attention that could help you in your push to the finish line.  As a reminder, over the rest of this week, I will do a post on what went right and wrong with my rankings this season, how my bold predictions went, and then setting up a Bracket Challenge once the bracket is set.  After that, my posts will be infrequent during the summer as the fantasy hockey season comes to an end.  Let’s get to it!

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Connor Hellebuyck hasn’t been as good as in the past, but he’s capable of stealing playoff series for the Jets.  He’ll probably have to do that this year, especially if Ehlers isn’t back.  He had a peak performance on Wednesday with a 32 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Flames.  Even with Hellebuyck being below expectation, he’s still been a bottom end #1 goalie.  That’s why we take him as a top 5 goalie: safety.  As I have preached for years, goalies are voodoo, but Hellebuyck is one of the only exceptions.  Here’s what else happened the last two nights:

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With almost the entire league in action on Monday, we were hoping for some entertaining hockey.  We got that and then some.  We had the Sabres come back from 2-0 down with an ECHL goalie who hasn’t played any game in over a year to beat the Islanders.  Colorado came back from two down in the third twice to beat the Sharks.  Montreal scored in the last minute of the game before winning in OT against the Leafs.  The Wild were down 2 with 10 minutes, then tied the game with the goalie pulled and won in regulation against Vegas.  Even for teams that didn’t finish them off, the Stars came back from two down in the third to get a point.  Also, Columbus came back from 3-0 down in the third to tie it and lose in overtime.  Nights like Monday are a reminder of why hockey is incredible during the regular season.  Let’s take a look at what happened in each game on Monday night:

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We’ve reached what the NHL planned on being the last week of the regular season.  Due to COVID, the season goes into next week, but depending on your league format, this could be the end of your season.  I assume for most of you in head to head leagues, your season ends on Saturday, while those of you in roto leagues it goes through the new end of the season next week, but either way, it’s time to make your final move.  At this point, most of the hard work is done, but everything around the margins matter.  I won’t be talking about what guys are holds or not at this point because everything is about your current situation.  If you have to cut a star player because he’s going to miss a game, do it, because volume is what counts.  In this post, I’m going to break down the schedule for this week and what we’re looking to do as far as streamers go.  If you have specific questions, please ask them in the comments section so I can help you out.  Let’s get to it!

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It’s not the first time this season, but Jonathan Huberdeau had five points in Tuesday’s 7-4 win over the Predators, scoring twice and adding three assists.  I know I’m a broken record with Huberdeau, but there’s no superstar that gets less recognition than Huberdeau does.  Thankfully, the Panthers clinched a playoff berth with the victory so he’ll get back on the big stage.  He’s playing a 95 point pace again and should be around 25th overall going into next season in standard leagues.  If your league doesn’t include shots, he’ll be even higher.  It took longer than anticipated, but Huberdeau has proven to be worth the third overall pick from 10 years ago and then some.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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With only a couple weeks left in the season, it’s time to lock down and make that final push.  In this post, I’m going to highlight some notable things around the NHL and their fantasy impact, along with looking at the schedule for the week ahead and what we can do with that.  Let’s get to it!

Alex Nedeljkovic is only three games away from becoming a restricted free agent instead of an unrestricted free agent.  It’s easier for Carolina to do with Petr Mrazek banged up (he could play if necessary, but Carolina won’t push him), so expect Nedeljkovic to start at least three times down the stretch.  He’s still available in almost 70% of leagues which I do not understand.  I would add him immediately if he’s available.

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While he’s not getting the attention that he received in Vegas’ inaugural season, Jonathan Marchessault has quietly had a terrific campaign.  His best game came on Wednesday, where Marchessault had two goals, two assists, and five shots leading Vegas to a 5-2 victory over the Sharks.  This let Vegas become the first team to clinch the playoffs this season, something that has been a formality for months already.  Marchessault now had 13 goals and 22 assists in 46 games, along with a +12 rating, 37 PIM, and 147 shots.  In other words, he’s a plus across the board with elite PIM and a strong shot rate.  At 30 years old, Marchessault has shown no signs of slowing down.  He’s getting easier matchups now which is helping him thrive on the second line.  He looks every bit of a top 100 player going forward, with the upside of being top 50 if he has some shooting luck in a season like he did in his one season in Florida.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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We’re down to the last few weeks of the season, and whether you play in a roto league or H2H league, it’s time to be aggressive with your moves.  The 150th best player could easily be better than the 50th over a small sample. so we want to be getting volume from our players.  This is especially true in net where variance swamps everything.  Carey Price suffered a concussion on Monday and is ruled out for at least a week, if not more.  Jake Allen has fallen off a bit lately, but his overall numbers are still quite strong.  He’s available in over 80% of leagues which doesn’t make any sense.  If you need any goaltending help, go get him now.  With Montreal having a back to back with Calgary on the weekend, the expectation is that Cayden Primeau starts one of the games.  He’s been solid in Laval this season so if you’re in a deep league, I’m fine with streaming Primeau given Calgary’s struggles.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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As President of the “Mark Stone Fan Club” going back to 2014, it’s great to see him playing at an all-world level.  Stone had two assists with two shots on Friday before adding a goal and an assist with three shots on Sunday, both against the Ducks.  That is four consecutive multi-point games for Stone, who […]

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Prince Igor Shesterkin had one of the easiest games of his life on Thursday, recording a 16 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Devils.  The debate I have is where he should be ranked in dynasties.  Vasilevskiy is clearly #1 still, but could be Igor be #2 overall?  With Hart having a brutal season, there aren’t many other candidates.  Hellebuyck definitely deserves discussion, but it appears that Shesterkin has played his way into being a top 3 dynasty goalie.  The Rangers are coming on strong right now, and it should only get better going forward as their young players develop.  Amazingly, the Rangers could have another incredible run in net after King Henrik dominated for almost 15 years.  Let’s take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:

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The Washington Capitals have received plenty of criticism for their blockbuster trade on Monday.  If things go like they did on Tuesday, I’m sure they’ll have no complaints.  Anthony Mantha scored a goal and added an assist with six shots in the 6-1 win over the Capitals.  If it wasn’t for a spectacular Elliott save, Mantha would have had a three point game right off the rip.  I wrote in the trade deadline blog that I would have added Mantha right away after the trade for the upside.  If you were slow to pull the trigger, odds are somebody else in your league already grabbed him, but go check.  He’s still available in about 25% of leagues and he needs to be owned everywhere, especially with Washington playing the Sabres tonight.  Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:

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