Since all 16 playoff teams have been decided with the playoffs set to start on Monday, you can now officially start preparing for your playoff pool. As is the case every year, you can grab the Interactive Playoff Draft List to help you plan your team. Set your own bracket to organize, or use Dobber's picks. Head over to the Dobber Sports store to purchase yours or to find out more!
If you would like to set up a simple playoff pool with some friends or work colleagues, the free box pools might be for you.
Also, look for the writers to weigh in on their Stanley Cup and first-round picks shortly. If you'd like some tips on picking teams and players, I encourage you to read Mike's playoff breakdown in yesterday's Ramblings.
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Questions abound for the Vegas Golden Knights after they failed to meet expectations this season. Is there really a rift between Robin Lehner and Peter DeBoer? The fact that Vegas has three more seasons invested in Lehner could spell the end of DeBoer. Is it all on the coach? Hardly, as there were a ton of injuries, with Lehner perhaps the most notable. No one on this team has played every game this season, while Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, and Alec Martinez have all played fewer than half of the team's games.
Logan Thompson has played about as well as could have been asked in this situation, including back-to-back quality starts in back-to-back games this week (both losses). Unless there's an offseason move, he could be back in the AHL next season because of both Lehner and Laurent Brossoit, who has one year remaining on his contract. I still like him as a potential keeper, although you might have to be patient because of his status on the contract pecking order.
Since his return from a back injury, Stone has just one point in his last eight games. Not that he's the fastest skater around, but from what I'd seen in Wednesday's game, Stone appears to be laboring like he's still not 100 percent. I'd keep an eye on his injury status over the summer, as this was a problem that lingered all season and could be a projection trajectory issue if left unresolved.
Eichel has just one point in his last six games, although that came after a six-game point streak. It's too early to say Vegas shouldn't have made this trade, but players like Conor Garland, Joel Eriksson Ek, Sam Bennett, and the retiring Ryan Getzlaf have a similar point-per-game pace to Eichel (0.67 PTS/GP) this season. Eichel could fall in next season's fantasy drafts, which could make him a terrific bargain as an elite upside player with a clean slate.
Jonathan Marchessault has been held without a point over his last four games.
All in all, I could see the Golden Knights returning to the playoffs next season, whether you like them there or not. (If you don't, let me remind you that the playoffs are spicier and more must-watch when there are villains.) In the meantime, what we've learned about the Golden Knights is that the whole is now less than the sum of its parts, when the opposite was true during their historic first season.
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Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Claude Giroux, Mackenzie Weegar, Gustav Forsling, and Sergei Bobrovsky did not play for the Panthers on Thursday. It's not known whether they will be in the lineup today (Friday). Huberdeau was seven points behind Connor McDavid prior to Thursday's games, so it appears that he has conceded the Art Ross Trophy to the Oiler.
With these top scorers out of Florida's lineup, Carter Verhaeghe was the Panthers scoring star on Thursday. Verhaeghe scored two goals, which were his first goals in nearly three weeks. Maxim Mamin and Eetu Luostarinen assisted on both of Verhaeghe's goals. I wonder if some of the secondary scorers like Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Anthony Duclair will be rested on Friday. Because of their win and Colorado's shootout loss, the Panthers have now secured the President's Trophy and home-ice advantage through the playoffs. Friday's game in Montreal doesn't have any meaning in the regular-season standings.
Spencer Knight picked up a 27-save shutout against the Senators. The shutout was the second of both Knight's season and career.
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More load management scratches for playoff-bound teams: Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner will both miss Friday's game. Matthews is the likely winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy with 60 goals and also finishes with his first 100-point season. Marner finishes with just outside of 100 points (97 points), although he was on a 110-point pace over a full season.
With the Avalanche secure as the top Western Conference seed, Cale Makar is also not expected to play on Friday. Roman Josi might be the scoring leader among defensemen, but Makar will finish with some staggering numbers: 28 G, 86 PTS, +48. Wow.
In any one season, I don't think I remember this many players healthy scratched right before the playoffs. Although it is entirely possible to work around this if your fantasy season is not yet complete (the Friday schedule has a ton of games), this less-than-ideal scenario is enough reason to finish your fantasy season a week early if possible. This practice has been taking place for years in fantasy football leagues, although all of my fantasy hockey leagues are still set to play until the final day. If your league's season has already been completed, consider yourself ahead of the curve.
Before you panic about losing a bunch more players as healthy scratches on Friday, keep in mind that all four Eastern Conference playoff matches are still yet to be determined. Another positive sign if you're hoping for returning players: Anze Kopitar and other Kings that were scratched on Wednesday were back in the lineup on Thursday, with Trevor Moore, Phillip Danault, and Viktor Arvidsson taking a rest. So not straining players by playing them on back-to-back nights might be part of the plan.
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Dustin Brown has announced that he will retire after this season's playoffs. Brown was the Kings' captain for their two Stanley Cups, and he has spent his entire 18-year career in Los Angeles where he has played over 1,300 games. Brown's contract was already set to expire after the season. The Kings have managed to rebuild their way back to the playoffs while retaining all of Brown, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and Jonathan Quick from their championship seasons.
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Linus Ullmark recorded a 37-save shutout of his former team (the Sabres), which turned out to be his first shutout since 2019. I'm going to assume that the contract situation wins out and he's the Game 1 playoff starter over Jeremy Swayman.
Patrice Bergeron's 400th career goal also happened to be his hat trick goal. The Bruins captain has been on fire recently, scoring five goals and nine points with a plus-8 and 15 SOG over his last three games. That game was Boston's final regular-season game, so I wonder whether the Bruins will ice a regular roster for tonight's game in Toronto. Having said that, they still have something to play for, as they could force a playoff matchup with the Leafs (uh oh, Toronto) if they can tie or pass Tampa Bay in the standings on the final day.
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Oliver Bjorkstrand can be hot and cold – we know that. Yet after an 11-game point drought, Bjorkstrand has goals in three consecutive games and six points over his last three games. The non-playoff teams might be the ones to target for waiver-wire players, which is what I did for Bjorkstrand in my roto league for Friday. His plus/minus (-33) has been an issue this season if your league counts that stat, but the good news is that he's a plus-3 over his last three games.
Just when you thought Nikita Kucherov was no longer elite, he has now scored goals in eight consecutive games. Over those eight games, Kucherov has 21 points. I'd say he's ready for the playoffs.
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With two assists on Thursday, Noah Dobson has reached 50 points for the first time in his career. Dobson has solidified his spot on the Isles' first-unit power play, leading the team with 22 power-play points. He's also now in the top 10 in the PPP category for defensemen.
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The Carolina Hurricanes would not only like to remind you that Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta have won the Jennings Trophy for the lowest goals-against of any tandem (202 GA), but also that many folks thought that moving away from their previous goaltending tandem was a bad idea.
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Johnny Gaudreau scored his career-high 40th goal of the season, making him the third Flame to reach that number. His 92 even-strength points is far and away the league lead in that category, as no other player has more than 80 EVP. In fact, that's the highest even-strength point total since Jaromir Jagr in 1996. That's the kind of season he has had. There's going to be a big contract waiting for him this summer. The question is, will he sign on the dotted line with the Flames or with another team?
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Brock Boeser hasn't had his finest season. But at least he's finishing the season on a high note, scoring two goals on Thursday, including the overtime winner. Boeser has four goals and four assists over his last six games. It will be interesting to see how the Canucks handle his $7.5 million qualifying offer, which could go a number of different ways that may or may not mean he is back in Vancouver next season.
By the way, this 1990s jersey matchup was glorious.
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Some stellar saves:
And, well, David Rittich:
At least Rittich was able to hang onto a 5-4 shootout win over Colorado. I'm guessing not many took a chance and started Rittich in this game against the high-powered Avalanche.
Need a goalie for Friday? Try Connor Ingram, who is confirmed to face the Coyotes in a later game tonight. Ingram is just 1% rostered on Yahoo and 13% rostered on Fantrax. Unfortunately for the Predators, it looks like they'll be entering the playoffs with the Rittich/Ingram tandem. Juuse Saros has a high-ankle sprain, which is expected to sideline him for multiple weeks. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Preds turn to Ingram at some point during the first round. Ingram was a workhorse goalie in the AHL, starting 54 games for Milwaukee (Dobber Prospects profile).
Looking for more confirmed goalie choices on the final major day of the season? Head over to Goalie Post. And good luck if you're in a race to the finish!
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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.
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