Waivers are likely to start getting interesting again as we see teams trying to get creative with cap space and roster space. One of the bigger names to hit the wire recently was Shayne Gostisbehere yesterday. If he gets claimed, he could be thrust into a larger role, but if not then the Flyers may finally pay up to move him elsewhere. Either way, I think his time in Philadelphia is ending soon. If/when that happens, Erik Gustafsson may be able to carve out a role again, but the betting money should just be on Ivan Provorov taking over at both ends of the ice. 

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Hearing #mnwild are closing in on signing Boston College sophomore Matt Boldy to entry-level contract, effective immediately

925K per, roughly 600K in A bonuses Years 2 & 3

Will burn first year and report to Iowa.

🚨Updated tracker: $1/month promo🚨 https://t.co/SrWRyl6AG2

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 31, 2021

If he's not owned in your keeper league, there's a very real chance that he should be. 

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Brad Marchand got off of the Covid list in time for today's game with a false positive, while Adam Gaudette found his name on it due to a positive test. Tough break for Gaudette as he was slated to play on the top line last night. Hopefully for him, the Canucks, and the schedule in the Canadian division, it's a false positive like Marchand's was. 

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Roger Goodell says the NFL expects to have full stadiums in the fall. "All of our fans at all of our stadiums."

— Judy Battista (@judybattista) March 30, 2021

The NHL is likely hoping for the same in the fall, and with the vaccine rollout South of the border, it may be possible. However, that may be an optimistic timeline for North of the border. The NHL is going to need butts back in seats if the cap is going to rise again anytime soon. In the meantime, we stay safe, get our vaccines, and try our best to manage around flat caps in our salary leagues.

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P.K. Subban picked up the lone assist on Miles Wood's opening goal in the game, halting his pointless streak at six games. Jack Hughes also entered the game scoreless in six games, but was unable to hit the scoresheet.

The Bruins managed a big comeback on the back of three point nights from Craig Smtih, David Krejci. Krejci especially is on a hot streak with eight points in his last four games. On top of that, the Bruins still have six games remaining this year against the Sabres. Possibly the best team in the East, and they get to go up against an ECHL level defence for a quarter of their remaining games. 

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I had this typed out after seeing the lines from the first period between the Capitals and the Rangers: "Kaapo Kakko started in left-wing slot with Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, which is a great spot for youngster. Alexis Lafreniere hasn't taken advantage of it, so maybe Kakko can." Then in the third period the Rangers gave Kakko about the easiest tap in goal of his life, but it was assisted by Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin. The Panarin line is an even better spot for Kakko who is looking more comfortable out there, and saw more ice time than early-season sensation Colin Blackwell last night. Whoever Kakko’s linemates end up being, as long as he is playing in the top-six then he has the opportunity to break out. He's still 100 games away from his breakout threshold though. 

That assist for Panarin was the first of three points for him. He is up to 32 points in 24 games this season, and that 1.33 points-per-game mark is third highest in the league right now.  Without the Canadian Division next year, is it a realistic possibility that he outscores Leon Draisaitl in 2021-22 to finish as the runner-up in the scoring race? We all know who is finishing first…

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Montreal came out with the petal to the metal, scoring two goals and winning a fight in the first five minutes of the game, and coasted the rest of the way to a 4-0 win. If this keeps up, not only is the offence going to be tough to handle, but both goaltenders will be picking up a lot of wins down the stretch run. Price picked up a relatively easy 17 save shutout, and looking ahead Montreal plays 24 games in 41 days, so if you need some volume, they're worth stacking. 

Adam Larsson had a monster peripherals game, putting up seven hits and six blocks. His assist on Monday night was only his eighth of the season, so the points are few and far between, but he's extremely valuable in category leagues that count multiple peripheral stats. 

It's possible we see a Connor McDavid suspension for this play: 

Well, that's some garbage from McDavid. pic.twitter.com/ra5RYasRU5

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) March 30, 2021

He's not a repeat offender though, and with the high bar that the DoPS has for handing out suspensions to begin with, it likely won't be more than a game or two if it happens at all. 

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Victor Hedman took an awkward tumble into the boards in the first period and limped off the ice. He returned not too long after though, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. Now for the bad news, Jan Rutta left the game and did not return. For a team already missing two of their top four, they can't really afford to be missing more defencemen. Luke Schenn, Cal Foote, and even Andreas Borgman may be in line for some increased deployment. 

The Lightning lost the game 3-1 (though one goal was on an empty net), and although it's tough to put it squarely on the shoulders of backup goalie Curtis McElhinney, I still believe that the Lightning will upgrade their backup goalie position, both to rest Andrei Vasilevskiy down the stretch and as injury insurance for a long playoff run. They will have to bid against the Colorado Avalanche who are likely also in the market for a backup goalie, so it won't come cheap. 

Mikko Lehtonen made his debut for the Blue Jackets, and played a little over 16 minutes with two shots, two hits, and a block. Columbus didn't draw a single powerplay though, so it remains to be seen whether he will get any time with either of the man advantage units; he's not lacking for talent, just opportunity. 

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With Aaron Ekblad out for the season, we got our first look at the new look defensive pairings. The Panthers actually went with seven defencemen, and initially may be trying to fill the hole with a committee approach. Yandle saw seven minutes of powerplay time though while no other defenceman saw more than two. Mackenzie Weegar may see a bit of a bump in production as well, but it won't likely be a sizeable bump with the man advantage. Alex Wennberg and Frank Vatrano are the new forwards on the top unit.

Up front, Anthony Duclair left the game with a feared shoulder injury, and did not return for the third period. Already missing Aleksander Barkov (back at some point during the home stand) and Patrick Hornqvist, the Panthers are getting very thin. Aleksei Heponiemi may get into his fourth game of the season tomorrow. 

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Vincent Trocheck returned to the Hurricanes' lineup and recorded an even-strength assist and six shots, but he only saw second unit PP time which will mean that he won't match the value he was providing earlier in the year.

GOAL: Strome. New Dad Goal! 1-0.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) March 31, 2021

In case you didn't know, Dylan Strome is now a dad. He has used up his new dad powers to score in his first game back, and now will end up losing sleep and possibly tailing off for the rest of the calendar year with Dobber's 'new-dad-slump theory'. Now might be the best time to sell him in any league format. 

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Filip Forsberg remained out of the lineup for the third consecutive game, and we should have seen that coming. As predictable as clockwork at this point, Forsberg misses a few games, streaks at a point-per-game for a period, and finishes on a full-season 60-point-pace. I had thought that this might be the season he could push for 55+ points in 56 games, but I have been fooled for the last time. Forsberg is exactly what we think he is here. 

If you want to make a bet on a team that could make a late playoff push like the rise the Predators have seen recently, then put some money on the Kings. They play five games each against the bottom-dwelling Ducks and the Coyotes who are missing both of their top goalies. They also have three games against the Sharks who are below them in the standings as well. The Coyotes and Blues are the two teams the Kings are chasing, and both are currently having goaltending issues, meanwhile the Kings seem content to roll out either half of their duo.  

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I was perusing the current AHL scoring leaders, and also went back over the last two years to see if there was anything worth noting. Lots of the names in the AHL are players that will get a cup of coffee in the NHL, but won't be given real opportunities to shine in the NHL. However, sometimes players give you a hint that they're ready to take the next step like a trio of Ottawa Senators forwards showed last year. Josh Norris and Drake Batherson both put up over a point per game with Belleville, and Alex Formenton wasn't far behind as the third member of that trio. 

Looking at the names from previous seasons that do end up making the jump, a lot of them are AHL rookies, who get a year of seasoning in the NHL before making the NHL at least in a part time capacity. There are a few rookies that caught my eye, and this year there's an even bigger crop to choose from because some junior players we able to make their AHL debuts while the leagues wait for a possible start up (that's an issue for another day). 

Riley Damiani (C) – Stars

The leading rookie scorer in the AHL is doing most of his damage at even strength, which bodes well for a possible jump to the big leagues in the near future. The Stars only have four forwards signed past the summer of 2022, and that fall should be the latest we can expect Damiani to be given a full-time role. He seems adaptable enough to manage in a depth role, but with only three scoreless games out of 15 thus far in the AHL, he wouldn't look out of place in a scoring role either. 

Jack Dugan (LW) – Golden Knights

Dugan has been on the fantasy radar for a while, and scoring a point-per-game in the AHL should surprise no one. The Vegas Golden Knights have no room for Dugan at the moment though, and even less when you consider that Peyton Krebs is likely to beat him out for the nest open spot in the top nine. He would be a tasty piece for Vegas to dangle at the deadline for immediate help, or during the Seattle expansion draft to take advantage of a team with too many players to protect. He would be an excellent fit in Florida, Minnesota, or Nashville, and all three of those teams have keeper issues stemming from too many defencemen worth protecting. With Alec Martinez a free agent at the end of the year, that's likely what the Golden Knights need most. Don't sleep on him just because of the roadblocks. 

The group of LA Kings

The Kings own four of the top nine rookies in the AHL, and they are all forwards. Arthur Kaliyev, Quinton Byfield, Akil Thomas, and Samuel Fagemo are all putting up exceptional point totals, but Kaliyev looks like he's the most ready to produce in the NHL. He is the most filled out, and also the only one of the aforementioned group with a positive plus-minus

Nicolas Beaudin (D) – Blackhawks

Beaudin has the highest points per game average of all AHL rookies; not just defencemen, but forwards too. He has been yo-yoed up and down between the AHL and the NHL all season, so he doesn't have the same number of games as some of the others, but his offensive upside has been on full display in his nine AHL games to this point. Adam Boqvist may have the top powerplay unit locked down for the foreseeable future, but there's room for two productive defencemen in Chicago. 

Zayde Wisdom (C) – Flyers

His DobberProspects profile says most of what you need to know about Wisdom: "A meat and potatoes winger who has shown the ability to play with high skilled players. He won't drive a line but he can be a future multi-cat star chipping in all over the stat sheet." However, it seems like in a small sample size so far at the AHL level, Wisdom has upped his game to the point of being able to help carry his own line. His seven goals are tied for second on the team, and he looks like a must-own in PIMs leagues with 27 through 16 games. Only four other AHLers this year have more than ten points and 25 PIMs (Wisdom being the only rookie). 

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Find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean, and stay safe!