J.T. Miller's words on the Wednesday video chat about the Canucks not being ready spoke volumes, with the league making the right call as a result. Because the Canucks still need more time to prepare for a return to play, the Canucks/Oilers game for today (Friday) has been cancelled. There are also rumblings that the Canucks/Leafs game on Saturday will be rescheduled to Sunday, as the Maple Leafs are also currently scheduled to face the Canucks on Monday.

Yes, you might be losing another game or two from your fantasy schedule, but you're probably used to that by now. Player health is what's most critical here, and nowhere has that been more apparent than with the situation in Vancouver. As a Canucks fan, I just hope all their players are healthy enough for next season, whether they're playing in Vancouver or elsewhere. Games lost doesn't matter to me as a fan, although the league has demonstrated that they see it differently from a bottom-line perspective.

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Auston Matthews was out of the Leafs lineup on Thursday with another left hand/wrist injury that isn't expected to be long term. Here were the Leafs forward lines without the NHL's leading goal scorer.

Even-strength:

JOHN TAVARES – ALEX GALCHENYUK – MITCHELL MARNER

ZACH HYMAN – ALEXANDER KERFOOT – ILYA MIKHEYEV

JOE THORNTON – WAYNE SIMMONDS – PIERRE ENGVALL

JASON SPEZZA – ADAM BROOKS – NICHOLAS ROBERTSON

Power play:

JOHN TAVARES – ZACH HYMAN – ALEX GALCHENYUK – MITCHELL MARNER

JASON SPEZZA – JOE THORNTON – WAYNE SIMMONDS – NICHOLAS ROBERTSON

Without both Matthews and William Nylander, this was a first-unit power play that included both Zach Hyman and Alex Galchenyuk. They could probably use those guys back, as this is not a power-play that is producing at the moment.

#Leafs Power Play – Last 17 games

Goals: 1
Opportunities: 42
Ice Time: 74:33
Shots on Goal: 58
Shot Attempts: 113

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 16, 2021

Even the most optimistic Leafs fans should have known that Jack Campbell's win streak wouldn't last forever. Campbell was pulled on Thursday after allowing three goals on 10 shots in the first period. Newly acquired David Rittich took over, allowing just one goal on 17 shots. Campbell has now lost his last two starts, while he has posted Really Bad Starts in two of his last three games.

Related to that, it's worth mentioning that Frederik Andersen returned to the ice on Thursday and will reportedly travel on the Leafs' upcoming road trip. I don't think the Leafs will necessarily rush him back with both Campbell and Big Save Dave now in the fold, but it's a situation worth monitoring. This could easily be a hot hand situation, not just for the rest of the regular season but also into the playoffs.

In the Winnipeg win, Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor each scored two goals. As he has been for much of the season, Ehlers is on fire right now. He has five goals over his last five games, as well as a six-game point streak. In spite of a 10-game goal drought before that, Ehlers has now reached 20 goals for the fifth consecutive season. Connor has also hit the 20-goal mark for four consecutive seasons.

With a goal and two assists on Thursday, Mark Scheifele has a six-game point streak as well as 15 points over his last 13 games. Between all the scoring and the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck, the Jets aren't going to be an easy matchup for any team facing them in the North Division playoffs.

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Tuukka Rask returned to the Bruins lineup for his first full start in over a month. It was a successful one, as he made 22 saves in a 4-1 win over the Islanders. To make way for Rask, Dan Vladar has been sent to the AHL, with Jeremy Swayman continuing to backup while Jaroslav Halak is on COVID protocol. The Bruins may appear to be going all in with the recent Taylor Hall trade, but they've still got some work to do to secure that fourth and final playoff spot in the East. Assuming Rask remains healthy, he should receive plenty of starts down the stretch.

The Craig Smith hot streak continues. With a goal on Thursday, Smith now has goals in four of his past five games, along with a six-game point streak in which he has racked up nine points. Also, over his last 10 games, Smith has 14 points. He's received time on the top line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, but now he's on a decent second line with newly acquired Hall and David Krejci. I added him in one league when the Bruins had five games last week, and I've got no reason to drop him now.

Brad Marchand scored a pair of goals for the Bruins. That gives him eight consecutive seasons of reaching the 20-goal mark.

David Pastrnak snapped an unusual (at least for him) four-game point drought with a two-assist game. However, he has been held without a goal in his last six games.

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This next section is devoted strictly for recently traded players who scored with their new teams. It may not be a complete list, but the names are notable.  

In his second game as a Bruin, Taylor Hall scored his first goal as a Bruin. That's just his third goal of the season. He's taken three shots and has been a plus player in both games. Say what you will about Hall, but he had reportedly expressed interest in playing for the Bruins. If you've been trying to prod him into doing something this season, then that should account for something.

Anders Bjork, who was part of the return for Hall, scored a goal and added an assist in his second game as a Sabre, which turned out to be a win over Washington. He now has points in back-to-back games with Buffalo. Bjork has been put on a line with Dylan Cozens, who now has a three-game point streak and is averaging three shots over that span. With Jack Eichel gone for the season, Cozens could be in line for increased icetime as the Sabres play out the string.

The Capitals may have overpaid for Anthony Mantha (or maybe Steve Yzerman works the same magic as a GM that he did as a player). Yet so far, the trade has paid instant dividends for the Capitals. Mantha scored his second goal in as many games with the Capitals. He played on a line with Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, which given Dylan Larkin's season sounds like an upgrade.

Related to that, Jakub Vrana scored a goal in his first game with the Red Wings. We assumed he would be in for a very significant increase in icetime with his new team, and that was true to some degree (16:57). The Red Wings received only one power play all game, and he was on for the majority of it. We'll need to see further samples on how he will be used, but Thursday's game was about a 2:30 increase from his average icetime in Washington. Before you get too excited, the downside is that his potential linemates aren't as strong as the ones he had with the Capitals.

Trade Deadline Tracker – Fantasy Hockey Style

Nikita Gusev did not score in his Panthers debut, but he received the honor of starting on the Aleksander Barkov line with Mason Marchment. Gusev also received a go on the first-unit power play. He will need to make good on that opportunity quickly, otherwise his time in the NHL may come to an end after this season. If you're thinking about adding him to your team, do so as an audition – the same way that the Panthers are likely viewing him.

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Igor Shesterkin is performing like the goalie we thought he could be. In stopping all 16 Devils shots he faced on Thursday, Shesterkin has now posted back-to-back shutouts. Since the beginning of March, the rookie goalie has posted an 8-2-2 record with a 2.08 GAA, .933 SV%, and 10 quality starts. Interestingly enough, those two shutouts were the first two of his career. Needless to say, he's helping H2H fantasy owners win their goalie categories for the week.

Another strong game for Artemi Panarin, who scored two goals and added an assist with a plus-4. Since March 30, Panarin is scoring at nearly a two-point-per-game pace (17 points in 9 games). That should put him at the top of the Hot list on Frozen Tools.

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Denis Gurianov broke his six-game pointless drought in a big way on Thursday. Gurianov scored two goals with an assist and a plus-3 in the Stars' 4-1 win over Columbus. Gurianov's shooting percentage (8.1%) is just over half of what it was last season, when he scored 20 goals in 64 games. The low goal total is in spite of a slightly increased SOG/GP total over last season. An increase of three minutes per game is helping with that shot total, but a regression on the shooting percentage and perhaps the goal total shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

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With a goal on Thursday, Andrei Svechnikov broke a seven-game goalless slump. Svechnikov also chipped in an assist in the Hurricanes' 4-1 win over Nashville.

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Troy Stecher scored a pair of goals in the Red Wings' 4-1 win over Chicago. That gives him four points over his last four games. I wouldn't run to pick him up in fantasy leagues, but he's one player I enjoyed watching during his time in Vancouver for the effort that he shows as an undersized (5-10, 186 lb.) defenseman.

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The Top 100 Roto Rankings are now posted, if you are looking for single-season, rest-of-season rankings. Feel free to leave feedback to be considered for the May rankings.

Yes, I know Roman Josi is an omission. He completely slipped my mind. I will be adding a separate Injured section to future rankings to account for injured stars, as it is very easy to overlook players who return from injury. At the time of Josi's injury, it was unclear how long he'd be out, so I decided to remove him. Oftentimes I will remove a player from the rankings if the injury appears to be more than a day-to-day thing. Barring another injury or a major slump, look for Josi in the May rankings. In case you're wondering why I just don't add him in and quickly republish, I'll need some time to determine where exactly to put him relative to other players.

After the rankings were posted, Steven Stamkos was placed on long-term injured reserve. So you can probably ignore his placement in there. I kept him in not knowing how long the injury would last. He would be out until May 2, a date that is before the end of the regular season. Hang onto him if you can, but drop if you have no extra IR spots and your fantasy team is in week-to-week mode.

So yeah, the rankings might already be outdated, just like that iPhone you just bought six months ago. But like that iPhone, they still might be useful anyway.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding