The regular season was an incredibly wild ride this year, between the number of large-scale injuries that a lot of players faced, the first 82 game season since the COVID-19 pandemic made its appearance, and the super-star production that we got to witness from a wide range of players across the league. A lot of players took a step when it came to producing on the scoresheet this season and a lot of them, I would classify as being repeat performers next season. If some of the secondary players on the playoff teams can carry their momentum over from the regular season, some teams are going to go on a nice deep run towards the Stanley Cup.

This week's article of 'Capped' is going to be aimed at those who are currently doing playoff pools, along with those of you who are looking to get an early start on next season. I'm going to be covering some of the secondary players, or the more underrated and the lesser-known players to the casual fans. These are some of the players that I think are poised to produce in the first round of the playoffs, along with those that I believe have the potential to produce at a similar level next season.

* With the NHL regular season having concluded, Fantrax doesn't seem to be showing the roster percentages for the players so for the time being I will be omitting Fantrax's roster percentages *

#1) David Perron – LW – St. Louis Blues
Contract: $4M – 1 Year remaining (UFA this summer)
Roster Percentages: 82.5% ESPN, 77% Yahoo

While the St. Louis Blues may have limped their way into the playoffs with two losses to end their regular season, David Perron managed to end the season on a positive note by having eight points in the last 10 games (4 goals, 4 assists). Currently slotted as their second right-winger, Perron sits on the right side of that line with Ryan O'Reilly in the middle and Brandon Saad on the opposing wing, along with being on the second powerplay unit. No matter where David Perron slots into on that roster he is worth rostering. Between the 2017-18 playoffs and the 2019-20 playoffs, Perron has amassed a total of 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 50 games, which is good for a scoring rate of 0.68 points per game. During the 2019-20 playoffs, he was a point per game through the nine games that he got to play. While Perron may be a free agent this summer, the rest of the main weapons on St. Louis still have at least another season on their contracts. I don't believe there is a chance St. Louis lets Perron go this summer, they don't have many free agents, but they also don't have a whole lot of cap space. With Perron obviously needing a raise this summer, the Blues are going to need to find a way to trim some fat to allow the roster to have Perron on it.

#2) Andrew Copp – C – New York Rangers
Contract: $3.64M – 1 Year remaining (UFA this summer)
Roster Percentages: 72.5% ESPN, 49% Yahoo

The Rangers are currently playing a Pittsburgh team that has its goalies banged up, while the game on Monday night went into triple overtime, I don't believe that level of goaltending duel is sustainable on the side of the Penguins. Copp currently is slotted on the second line alongside of Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome, and ever since becoming a member of the New York Rangers at this season's trade deadline. He has been producing at over a point a game, with a 1.125 points-per-game (18 points, 8 goals, 10 assists, in 16 games) while averaging less ice time than what he was seeing on the Winnipeg Jets (19:48 on the Jets, 17:01 on the Rangers). His overall scoring production has shot up at a dramatic rate, I'm not so sure I would expect that level of production to carry over into next year, but he is worth taking a chance on if the Rangers re-sign him. Which I think is a good possibility given his production across a lot of areas, having the ability to play anywhere in the lineup, and his ability to play with the elite players at a strong level.

#3) Teuvo Teravainen– LW – Carolina Hurricanes
Contract: $5.4M – 3 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 85.6% ESPN, 78% Yahoo

When it came time for Teravainen to get drafted to the NHL, he was labelled as a creative playmaker with an excellent release on his shot. It's safe to say that Teravainen has been impressive when the play is being driven by the Hurricanes, with 65 points in 77 games he was averaging 0.844 points per game and with that is his third best season when looking at it from a points per game perspective. To end the regular season, Teravainen managed to record seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in the last 10 games. This is a player that has term left to his contract and the entirety of Carolina just seems to be getting better and better. While being drafted as a player that has a high compete level, a creative style in being able to play with the puck in ways that others simply couldn't, he has turned into a jack-of-all trades player. Manning the second line, being a current fixture on the top powerplay unit, and being one of the more important penalty killers for the Hurriance's has Teravainen as one of their most important players. The team's goal is to win the Stanley Cup and it will remain that way for as long as he is rostered there. You don't get better by moving on from a player like Teravainen.

#4) Devon Toews – D – Colorado Avalanche
Contract: $4.1M – 3 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 94.3% ESPN, 82% Yahoo

This season, Toews produced at a rate that I'm sure a lot of people were shocked about; this was a hard season to predict for him. Between the 2019-20 and the 2020-21 seasons, Toews played a total of 121 games (68 with the Islanders and 53 with the Avalanche) and registered 59 points. If he wished to tie those 59 points next season, he would need to get 2 points in his next 55 regular season games, safe to say Toews has grown at an exponential rate. Something to note is that while he does play on the top pairing with Cale Makar, he only had 12 power play points this season which is a total of 21% of his points came from the man advantage. What is truly mind-blowing about his scoring metrics this season is that he plays a total of 25:22 on average each night, with 47.3% of his zone starts coming in the opposing team's zone, 11:55 of his time comes from starting in the offensive zone along with a small average of 1:43 on the powerplay. While I don't think its fair to assume that Devon Toews is going to average 0.864 points per game next season, I wouldn't be surprised if he hit 60 points in 2022-23. Colorado has so much talent across their entire lineup, making it so there is usually some sort of passing option available.

#5) Michael Bunting – LW – Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: $950K – 2 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 22.7% ESPN, 47% Yahoo

As a rookie it can be challenging to get on the scoresheet, it wasn't that way for Bunting this season as he led all rookies in points this year with 63. He is in my top three for the Calder (best rookie) this year along with Moritz Seider and Trevor Zegras. It shouldn't be a surprise that now that he has returned from injury, he is being slotted back on that top line with Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner. It was one of the best lines the entire season. While he may be benefitting a little bit from the talent that he is surrounded by, just remember that he also has been able to keep up with the superstars and help create the room for them to as dynamic as they have been so far. Sheldon Keefe is probably planning on keeping Bunting with the likes of Matthews and Marner for the foreseeable future, as he should. While Bunting doesn't have playoff experience himself, the Leafs went and traded for a player like Mark Giordano who can help provide a level-head to the younger kids who have little to no experience in this environment.

Now that the playoffs have officially begun, I know where my nights shall be spent after work. It was a great regular season, and while I never like when it ends at first. I then begin to think about how truly spectacular playoff hockey is and I forget all about the regular season. With that being said, I recommend going and reading the 'Experts Panel: 2021-22 Playoff Round 1 Predictions' article that Ian Gooding (@Ian_Gooding) produced. There you can get to sort of see what some of the Dobber writers think about the first round and how well some teams stack up against each other.

If you want to have any questions answered or interact with me, please feel free to interact with me on the forums or in the comments of the articles, or on Twitter @JamieMolloy_DH.