Welcome back to the number one Lining Up column. This week will examine players who are both on recent hot streaks due to favourable situations and who have strong playoff schedules. With the home stretch coming it is time to start considering who might be an asset for you in your playoff run. It could also be time to start shopping some players and using strength of schedule as your pitch in order to maximize the return.

Let's dive in.

Kicking off this week we take a look at Pettersson who has performed below expectations so far this season and last. Pettersson is currently sitting with 17 goals and 38 points in 55 games for a pace of only 57 points on the season, not the promise he was showing in his first two seasons when he was at near point-per-game paces. He is also shooting slightly less this year with only two shots per game which is down from the near two and a half shots he put up in the past two seasons.

Recently however, Pettersson has been showing signs of life with eleven points in his last six games. Perhaps this is him finally overcoming any nagging injury woes that have been plaguing his production. Regardless, all of his advanced stats indicate he is well within norms and do not scream that a regression is coming. If anything this looks like a proper return to form. VAN also plays predominantly weaker teams during their playoff schedule, including playing ARI twice during the first two weeks. At 90% rostered in Yahoo leagues he is unlikely to be a free agent in your league but consider buying the Pettersson from earlier this season with the promise of reaping greater rewards down the stretch.

Yegor Sharangovich

Sharangovich has found himself in an extremely prosperous situation Lining Up with Dawson Mercer and N.J star Jack Hughes. This line has recently been performing well with four GF and two against in the past three games and Sharangovich has been tagging along for the ride. On the season he has been performing about as expected with only 26 points in 46 games. Recently though, he is on a great hot streak with eleven points in his last seven games and little sign of slowing down. His secondary assist rate is high but he is continuing to score goals with four in his last four games.

N.J has a solid playoff run with 13 games over the final three weeks including some juicy matchups. In the second week alone they play ARI and SEA although admittedly sandwiching a game against COL. So long as Sharangovich can maintain this favourable deployment, consider rotating him into your lineup as he is still only 21% rostered in Yahoo leagues.

Frederick Gaudreau

Another player finding himself on a favourable line is Gaudreau. He has been centering Kevin Fiala and Matt Boldy while the pair have been on an absolute tear since Boldy last returned to the show. The trio have combined for eleven GF and only six against while Gaudreau has been tagging along for nearly 30% of his overall playing time. With exposure such as this it is no wonder that he has quietly produced nine points in his last ten games.

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With this deployment and the MIN playoff schedule, he could be a sneaky option to consider adding in deeper leagues as he is only 3% rostered. MIN is tied for most games played during the final three weeks. What is more significant than the number of games is that MIN plays predominantly weaker competition, the final week in particular sees them play MTL, VAN, SEA and ARI. Much like Sharangovich, as long as Gaudreau continues to line up beside Fiala and Boldy it could be worth the gamble as they would be poised to feast during fantasy playoffs.

Jaccob Slavin

As a quick hit to round out this week's column, the injury to Tony DeAngelo put Slavin in an enticing opportunity as he has completely usurped the quarterback role for the CAR power play. He is being totally unchallenged in this role, averaging 76% and totalling nearly 10 minutes of PPTOI over the last three games. On the season Slavin has performed well without this time, pacing for 48 points and contributing in the peripherals with two shots and nearly two blocks per game. Now that he has the increased role, expect the numbers to receive a bump accordingly and at 64% rostered in Yahoo leagues do not hesitate to scoop him up as CAR still has three more games to play this week.

Joel Farabee

On another note, Farabee returned to the PHI lineup and immediately slotted onto the top line with Claude Giroux and Cam Atkinson. He also joined the top power-play unit, seeing over two minutes of time there and just over 20 minutes of ice time total on the night. Farabee was able to collect an assist so keep an eye on this deployment. Regardless of where PHI is as a team, they play three games this week and four the next. Any player with a heavier schedule and receiving top line and top power-play deployment is worth consideration for short term gains.

Stay safe.