With playoff pools slowly starting to form, Dobber's 2022 Interactive Playoff Draft List is now ready! It's fully customizable – or just go with Dobber's picks! You can set the teams you think will reach the final and sort your draft list based on Dobber's analysis and formula, or just go with his own personal list. It's up to you! Download it here.

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Robin Lehner will reportedly undergo season-ending surgery to repair a lower-body injury, although Peter DeBoer has denied that report. Lehner has had a rough season with 23 wins, a 2.83 GAA, .907 SV%, and a negative GSAA (goals saved above average). Lehner was drafted on average at 19.5 in Yahoo drafts, so even without the injury he's been one of the biggest busts in fantasy leagues this season. This is a classic example of why choosing a goalie early in a fantasy draft is risky (another shoutout to the Zero G strategy).

Even if DeBoer is correct and Lehner starts Vegas's next game on Sunday, I'll probably be hanging on to Logan Thompson for the rest of the season. The Golden Knights play only four more games this season. If Lehner is in fact done for the season, Thompson should start at least three of those four games, as there are back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On a side note, no Vegas player has played all of his team's games this season. In comparison, division rival Calgary has had nine players play every game. It's easy to jump on the Golden Knights for their ruthless pursuit of every available superstar at the expense of players that have helped make them successful so early in their history. However, injuries have a lot to do with why they will probably miss the playoffs, barring the unexpected.

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Although the Blue Jackets scored just once on Friday, Jack Roslovic continued his late-season run. Roslovic scored his 20th goal of the season, giving him eight goals over his last six games. He's under 20% rostered in Yahoo leagues, so I was able to add him in my roto league yesterday. As an added bonus, Roslovic blocked three shots, which is a high number for a forward.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 33 of 34 shots in the Senators' 2-1 shootout win. He has now won two games in a row, which were his first wins since mid-November.

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Playing in their second game of back-to-back nights didn't slow the Minnesota Wild. Not only did Kevin Fiala extend his point streak to nine games, he also picked up five assists, a franchise record for one game. Over his past nine games, Fiala has a staggering 21 points, including nine goals. If you're going to ask me whether you should start Fiala or another player right now, I'm probably going to say Fiala.

Fiala is once again turning up the heat in the second half, scoring 53 points over his last 40 games compared to 29 points over his first 38 games. Last season the split was also very pronounced with 29 points over the last 28 games after just 11 points over the first 22 games. By my recollection, that's the third consecutive season he's basically been a second-half player. This is what he's becoming known for. Over the past two seasons, Fiala has scored at a 0.67 PTS/GP pace during the first half, then accelerated to a 1.2 PTS/GP pace during the second half. Don't drop or trade him during the first half if he's not meeting your expectations.

If you're wondering how the Wild have become a better team the past couple seasons, the number one reason has to be the addition of Kirill Kaprizov. In his second season, Kaprizov has reached the 100-point mark, becoming the seventh player this season to do so. Kaprizov scored his 45^th goal of the season and added three assists. Although the Wild have only four games left, Kaprizov has an outside shot at 50 goals if he can go on a late-season goal-scoring run.

Joel Eriksson Ek broke a seven-game point drought by scoring two goals and adding an assist in their 6-3 win over Seattle.

Five games, five points for Matty Beniers in his short NHL career. Beniers has recorded a point in each of his five games, including a goal on Friday. In this brief stint, Beniers seems to be establishing himself as the top player to pick from the Kraken in next season's drafts. Also, a friendly reminder that Seattle is the only team to play four games next week – a week that might have huge implications in your league.

Over his past four games, Jared McCann has six points (1 G, 5 A), including two assists on Friday. McCann has been in my lineup this week because of Seattle's off-night schedule (Monday/Wednesday/Friday), and he'll probably stay in next week because of the four-game schedule.  

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Evander Kane's hat trick turned out to be the difference for the Oilers in their 6-3 win over Colorado, a win that officially clinched their playoff spot. Kane also filled the statsheet with a plus-3, six shots, and three hits. Since Kane arrived in Edmonton at the end of January, he has already scored 20 goals and been a near point-per-game performer (35 PTS in 39 GP). That in spite of playing in less than half of his team's power-play minutes. Kane has now scored at least 20 goals in each of his last seven seasons.

Mike Smith has now reeled off eight consecutive wins and seven consecutive quality starts. I benched him this week because I was leery about this particular matchup, but it turned out to be fine if I simply needed the win.

Injury alert for the Oilers: Darnell Nurse left this game due to a lower-body injury.

Valeri Nichushkin has made the most of his icetime with Nathan MacKinnon. Nichushkin scored a pair of goals on five shots, extending his point streak to seven games. He has scored 10 points (5 G, 5 A) over that span.

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With scoring exploding to amounts that haven't been seen in years, a 2-0 game really stands out (with the second goal an empty-netter). Vitek Vanecek stopped all 19 Coyotes shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout of the season. Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov have split the goaltending down the middle, but Vanecek has posted the superior numbers. Maybe he's the Capitals' goalie in Game 1 of the playoffs.

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Here's a quick primer of the schedule for the weekend:

A total of 14 teams play on both Saturday and Sunday. Those teams are Anaheim, Boston, Carolina, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Jose, Tampa Bay, and Toronto. If you are in a head-to-head league and you're searching for waiver-wire picks, consider targeting players from those teams.

No teams are off both Saturday and Sunday, so you'll receive at least a game out of any player on your roster this weekend, provided they are not injured.

A total of 10 teams are off on Sunday. Those teams are Arizona, Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Seattle, and Vancouver. If you are looking for players to drop to fill your roster on Sunday, consider players from those teams. Everyone else is playing on Sunday.

If you are leaving no stone unturned in your quest for a championship, which includes taking advantage of the schedule, refer to the following:

Schedule Planner on Frozen Tools

Looking Ahead by Andrew Santillo

I also noticed last weekend that questions tended to focus on which player(s) to start and which player(s) to bench as opposed to who to pick up from the waiver wire. The Frozen Tools Compare Players feature may help you out. For matchups, use the Player vs Opponent and the Goalie vs Opponent feature. If you still don't know who to pick, just flip a coin. This is a game played on ice with a black rubber projectile with players bumping into each other all the time, so you know that dumb luck will be involved.

Another tip: If you're really undecided between two players, pick the one with the earlier start time. If that player is a last-minute scratch, then you at least have a replacement ready. However, if you pick the player with the later start time and they're scratched, your earlier-start player has already played. The chances of this happening are very low, but teams might be more willing to exercise a load management strategy at this time of year when already focused on the playoffs or playing out the string. Maybe not so much today, but more so on the final day or two of the season. But related to today, weekend start times can be all over the place.

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Another hockey legend left us on Friday with Guy Lafleur passing away at the age of 70. Few hockey stars captured the kind of emotional connection that Lafleur had with fans. You could easily picture him skating down the ice with his long-flowing hair, ready to score a goal for a Canadiens team that dominated the 1970s.

The entire Montreal Canadiens organization is mourning the loss of legendary Hall-of-Famer and Canadiens Ambassador Guy Lafleur, who passed away at the age of 70.

Rest in peace, Guy. 🕊️❤️https://t.co/vEqp39p0KL

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 22, 2022

Lafleur's time predates that of the Dobber Hockey website, but the fourth-year theory for projecting when a player's breakout occurs can be traced all the way back to Lafleur. The story making the rounds is that Lafleur emerged as the star we know when he decided to ditch the helmet after his first three seasons. However, his breakout from simply good to elite happened right on time in Season 4 – the 1974-75 season.

	GP	G	A	PTS
1971-72	73	29	35	64
1972-73	69	28	27	55
1973-74	73	21	35	56
1974-75	70	53	66	119

Lafleur's 53 goals and 119 points in 1974-75 was his first of six consecutive 50-goal seasons and 100-point seasons. During those six seasons, the Habs won four Stanley Cups.

If you're not old enough to remember Lafleur during his prime years with the Habs, perhaps you can recall his unretirement in the late 1980s with the New York Rangers and then the rival Quebec Nordiques. It seemed strange seeing Lafleur in a blue jersey instead of the iconic Canadiens bleu, blanc et rouge, but at least it gave us a look at a hockey superstar for those who missed it the first time.

Adieu, Guy. RIP.

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.