The Ottawa Senators honoured Eugene Melnyk prior to last night's game after Melnyk passed away on Monday. It was a nice tribute to their long-time owner, and his time in Ottawa will certainly never be forgotten.

Ian Mendes put a lot of feeling and insight together to look back on Melnyk's complicated legacy. You can find the article here.

Rest in peace.

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The NHL salary cap was confirmed to be increasing for next season, going up by $1M to $82.5 million. Not that the number seems to be a hard cap anymore with all the LTIR circumventing that goes on nowadays, but it is good to see that the league is back on track and moving in the right direction.

With these things I always take a moment to try and consider what it could mean for my cap leagues, and at this point it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, however there will be small implications nonetheless. If you cap rises with the NHL cap, then your players with more term on the contract start to become more valuable again as the years progress with the cap rising and their cap hit staying stagnant. Additionally, free agents this year might be able to cash in a little better than last year as the cap is now on its way up again and there isn't the threat of it staying stagnant for three or four more years.

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It sounds like Nathan MacKinnon may be out for some time, as Jared Bednar said his concern level was "high" when asked about MacKinnon's injury. Hopefully by the time today's Injury Ward comes out Brennan DeSouza has dug up some more info for you there.

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On the better side of the injury news, Kevin Labanc appears to be on the verge of returning:

Kevin Labanc said he could be in the lineup as soon as Saturday against Dallas if he gets the all clear from the doctor who performed the surgery. Said it feels good, should feel better as he plays more and Brent Burns has already, uh, tested it out with some contact at practice.

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) March 29, 2022

He hasn't been hugely fantasy relevant since his 56-point campaign in 2018-19, but there is lots of room up front for the Sharks right now, and after seeing his ice time drop drastically at the start of the year, we could see Labanc rebound a little with some better deployment. The key to his scoring is power play success, so keep an eye on that. He put up 18 points with the man advantage in 18-19, but only has 11 in the three seasons (nearly 150 games) since.

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Keeping with the injuries, the Leafs lost Petr Mrazek to what looks like another groin strain. He has missed 23 games already this year with two separate groin strains, so this is not a good pattern to see. Mrazek was finally starting to play well, having posted wins in his previous two starts, only allowing two goals against in each.

Justin Holl and Ilya Lyubushkin also left the game for what is being listed as precautionary reasons. That doesn't tell us much, but we may see how the Leafs' defence depth looks over the next few games.

For the positive news, it sounds like Jack Campbell is nearly ready to return to action. The Leafs need early-season Campbell to show up, and with having been able to rest as he recouped from his injury, hopefully the Leafs and Campbell's fantasy owners do get a refreshed goaltender for the stretch run.

Also from the Leafs game last night, Brad Marchand was ejected again, and with his history that means we have to wonder about another suspension. This is tough timing for those of you who own him in fantasy leagues, but that is the risk with owning players like him and Tom Wilson. On a related note, Taylor Hall sucker punched Lyubushkin, so it's possible that we see multiple suspensions to the Bruins stemming from last night's game.

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Joel Farabee is now about 40 games away from his breakout threshold, and is really seeming to find his footing of late with 10 points in his last nine games, and doing it all without being one of the top weapons on the power play for the Flyers. He has also been racking up the peripherals in that stretch, but the real key is that he is looking great as a centre. He has been playing there for the last eight games, and though he does have some work to do on his faceoff skills, Farabee is seeing the ice and managing the puck well as a middle-man. Something to keep in mind for next season, especially if he keeps his positional eligibility on the wing.

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It somehow never really clicked for me that Tage Thompson is six-foot-seven(!), but he's really making himself impossible to miss this year with his 51 points in 63 games. As a larger player Thompson's breakout threshold would be expected to be closer to the 400-game mark, but he has only barely passed 200 NHL games and seems to have found a few more gears to his game. The added ice time and prime deployment is huge, as is playing with some of Buffalo's more skilled players. None of his underlying numbers are particularly out of line either, so there is some hope that his current numbers are sustainable, and that there may even be another level or two for him to reach over the next few years as he approaches and passes game 400.

Another player that I have had my eye on this season as he inches closer to his own 400-game breakout threshold is Lawson Crouse, who currently sits 54 games back of the mark. Unfortunately, he may sit at that number until the fall, as it sounds like he has a broken bone in his hand and may get shut down for the year. The 24-year-old is finally above a 40-point pace, and he is also up over two shots per game for the first time in his career. However, his peripherals did slip a little as a result of being used more as an offensive winger. His hits per game are down below three for the first time since 2017-18, which is why most owners roster him in the first place. It does look to all be coming together for Crouse, and with a better supporting cast coming through the pipeline, he's not someone to forget about in drafts for next season. 

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Ottawa finally recalled Michael Del Zotto last week, and he is now up to three points in four games, and seven in seven dating back to mid-November. With Chabot out he is the one to watch, not Erik Brannstrom. As a bonus, he picks up a lot of peripherals, so make sure he's not still available, because he could be a sneaky add that helps turn the tide for your team down the stretch.

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The Rangers got a great fit with Frank Vatrano at the deadline, paying a late fourth rounder for him. He now has five goals in his last five games after seeing to need his first two games to adjust to the new surroundings. Check your waiver wires, because he's still available in the majority of fantasy leagues. Vatrano won't keep this pace up, but 12 goals in 15 games to close out the year is certainly doable.

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We're getting the hockey world cup again in 2024, but there's no U24 team or Team Rest-of-Europe, and that's the right thing to do. In no other sport is a world cup taken less seriously, and the NHL has the chance to set things right with this one. Team North America and Europe were fun for the initial dry-run of the event, but I am feeling a bit robbed of the best-on-best tournaments of late, so this tournament had better be taken seriously.

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Find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments.

Cheers!