Welcome back to Lining Up. With a little skill and luck hopefully you have either wrapped up your championship or are set to battle it out over the final stretch. For those participating in Yahoo leagues, this final week will cover nearly two calendar weeks from today until the last day of the season on April 29th. This week will cover a few hot lines on teams with favourable schedules over this period of time. Nothing is off the table when it comes to the championship; if you are in a one-year league or limited keeper nearly everyone is expendable. Fortune favours the prepared.

Let's dive in.

Drake Batherson – Tim Stutzle

Ottawa is one of a dozen teams with seven games over this final period of hockey and they actually will play three more times between tonight and Saturday. If you need to be strategic about your final roster moves of the season, you could add an Ottawa player for their next three games before swapping him out for someone else with a denser schedule over the remaining period. For example Vegas and Edmonton play four games from Sunday the 24th to Friday the 29th. Regardless, if you can add an Ottawa player for the whole week, they play Vancouver, Columbus, Montreal, New Jersey and Philadelphia in five of their last six games. All great matchups especially when considering that eliminated teams are likely to give untested players time in the NHL.

The point is, Ottawa has a great schedule and that makes Batherson and Stutzle extremely enticing right now. Batherson in particular has been on an incredible run this season, currently sitting at 40 points in 39 games, he has surpassed his previous points per game totals by over 50%. The advanced metrics indicate some slightly higher than expected numbers with a PDO of 1041 and a PTS/60 of 3.3, however it is worth noting that Batherson is seeing a career high in average TOI at 18:42 which is more than two minutes above his previous highest average. In addition he is also shooting at an increased rate with the greater allotment of TOI with two and a half shots on goal this year compared to only two shots on goal last year. He also likes to chip in with some peripheral coverage, currently pacing at two hits and nearly a PIM per game as well. Possibly due to his recent lengthy injury which has limited him to 39 games or because other owners were eliminated from playoffs by the time he returned, Batherson is currently rostered in only 55% of Yahoo leagues which is criminally low for a point per game player with this kind of peripheral coverage. Scoop him up immediately if he is still available for championship run.

If Batherson cannot be added, look into Stutzle who is owned 2% less than Batherson in Yahoo leagues despite having a lesser point pace and peripheral coverage. He is on a great hot streak at the moment with 15 points in his last 11 games. Stutzle has been lining up beside Batherson lately which is likely to continue producing great results for him as his final quarter of the season so far has been his strongest by far. He posted only 20 points in his first 35 games but over the last 37 games, has had 32 points. If either player is available or both if you can afford the roster space to stack each of them, remember that Ottawa has a great schedule.

Jonathan Marchessault – Jack Eichel – Mattias Janmark

Over the last three games, Marchessaut and Janmark have found themselves lining up beside recent superstar acquisition Jack Eichel. With the return of Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, this frees up an Eichel line to do some great damage to teams who are either out of the playoffs or snoozing on cruise control with a berth locked in. Eichel and Marchessault in particular have been on recent hot streaks even though they might not be available at 89% and 87% respectively rostered in Yahoo leagues but it is worth mentioning that Marchessault has 15 points in his past 10 games. Going back over the last 32 games he has posted 33 points and is currently on his best 82-game point pace since the debut season of the Golden Knights. No doubt he has picked up the slack when Pacioretty and Stone missed time due to injury but his reward has been time alongside Eichel. If he is not available in your league, it may be worth making note of this deployment to see if it continues to next year.

The potential pick here if you are in deeper leagues is the third member of the line Janmark, who has four points in his last four games. With this level of exposure, he could be worth gambling on if you are in need.

Vegas has had a not-so-great schedule for the first few rounds of fantasy hockey playoffs with three games last week (all on busy nights) and only two games the week prior. Over the next 10 or so days, they play six times including last night and have great off night games on both Wednesday nights during the final playoff week. Perhaps impatient or desperate owners dropped Vegas players and so availability might be higher than expected. Check out your waiver wire and consider scooping them up.

Next week will wrap up the season by examining some surprise producers on the top even strength lines. Stay safe.