Five teams for three playoff spots. One division on the line. There’s still some things on the line over the last three nights of the season, so today, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of teams that will be going hard to finish the season, and what teams will take their feet off the gas before the playoffs start. Let’s get to it!
Montreal did the seemingly impossible on Monday, blowing a 2-0 lead against the Blackhawks, eventually losing in a shootout. The good news for them is they only need one point against Carolina on Wednesday to clinch, and Carolina has nothing to play for. Additionally, Columbus has to win both of their remaining games in regulation as well. I have a few takeaways from Monday’s game. One, Ivan Demidov stole the show in the first period, scoring a goal and an assist. I covered him extensively last week here. Two, for a team with very few bright spots this season, Frank Nazar looks like the real deal for Montreal. He was torching Hutson regularly, and few players have done that in the second half of the season. Nazar will be a very good late round target next season. Lastly, Sam Rinzel stood out on a regular basis. The former first round pick picked up his fourth assist in eight games, playing almost 27 minutes in this one. He’s also averaging 2.5 shots per game in the small sample size, but we could see a fantasy impact as soon as next year.
Columbus draw the Flyers on Tuesday, and as I said, they have to win in regulation. We could see them pull the goalie in a tie game at the end.  Jet Greaves has stepped between the pipes and randomly caught fire. If you need to stream a goalie, he’s your man.
The Maple Leafs need one point to clinch the division, or a Tampa Bay loss. Florida is locked into the third spot in the divison now, so don’t expect many of their guys to play tonight. Toronto will go to Buffalo, who has lost three in a row after a great stretch. Both teams play again on Thursday, making it likely that guys are rested on both sides.
There are only two games that can mean something on Thursday. The first is Columbus if they win on Tuesday and Montreal loses on Wednesday, both in regulation. The other is Calgary going against Los Angeles. We know after Monday’s bloodbath that the Kings won’t be playing for anything. For Calgary to have a chance on Thursday they need:
a) to win on Tuesday against Vegas
b) the Wild to lose in regulation OR c) the Blues to not win in regulation
We are going to see absolutely insane minutes from Kaprizov, JEEK, and Boldy tomorrow against the Ducks. We’re also going to see the debut of Zeev Buium, the highly touted prospect. Don’t be surprised if we see a Demidov-like debut from Buium. He has super high upside potential for fantasy.
The Blues play Utah, who will be on a back to back.  Robert Thomas has been one of the best players in the league over the last 4-6 weeks, and I’d expect him to get a huge workload as well. The Flames game starts an hour after the other two, so hopefully we get some drama.
We now have four playoff matchups locked in, with the two and three seeds in each division clinched. Florida will go to Tampa in the Battle of Florida, the Hurricanes will host the Devils in what has to be the most boring matchup in the first round given the New Jersey injuries, the Kings play the Oilers for the fourth straight year, while the Avalanche will travel to Dallas in a rematch from last season. I would argue that the two best teams in the league are Dallas and Colorado and they’re forced to play each other round one. I’d also say the two best teams in the East are in Florida and they’re playing in round one. Great playoff format, thanks a lot Bettman!
I haven’t finalized my picks yet, but my leans are for the Lightning to end Florida’s quest for back to back, the Hurricanes to win fairly comfortably, the Avalanche to pull off the mini upset with the turn of Landeskog, and for the Kings to finally break through against the Oilers. Ekholm being out for the series is a big concern for me.
Wednesday will almost surely be the last game for Brock Boeser in a Canucks uniform after nine seasons. This season has been a disappointment for almost everyone in Vancouver, but Boeser is only one year removed from a 40 goal season. Yes, he has his warts, but for a team that needs some offensive punch, he would be a great get. I’m interested to see where he ends up as it will change his fantasy value quite significantly.
The playoffs will start on Saturday, but we have no idea who will be playing yet. I would be shocked if Colorado and Dallas don’t play considering Colorado is already done with their season and the Stars finish on Wednesday, but you never know with the NHL. If people want be to set up a bracket challenge for Razzballers, let me know in the comments section and I will do that.
That’s all for now guy. I have a few more posts to come before I call it a year. I will go back and look at my bold predictions to see what I got right and what I got wrong. I will also look at ten players that I was right about this season, and ten players that I was wrong about this season, and try to determine what I can learn from those rankings to help me in the future. If there’s anything else you want me to cover, I am more than willing. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Best of luck down the home stretch, thanks for reading, take care!
Was a good run but nobody can survive what Oettinger and Shesterkin have done in April. Happy I made it this far. Watching these two (and Juuse) is too painful. On another note, this collapse by Dallas is incredible. losing to bad teams and giving up an avg of 3 goals in the 3rd is just bad. No Miro Heiskanen no playoff success.
At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter to Dallas, they’re going to finish 6-10 points behind Winnipeg, it’s just a matter of getting as healthy as possible. It is brutal for them that they have to play Colorado right away though
You think Dallas can turn it around and make it a series? Oettinger put the final nail in my coffin last night. I needed a win and save % higher than .856 and he couldnt do it.
Oh yeah, I think it’s a toss up if Heiskanen comes back by halfway through the series. Fully healthy, I think Dallas is the best team in the league, it just sucks for them they have to play my second best team in the first round without their most important player.
Now that you’ve seen Rantanen in his new home for a while, do you seem him as more of of 70 pnt guy going forward over the 100+ monster he was on the Avs?
I would definitely go higher than 70… I would be more in the point per game range with upside from there