Now that the second round is officially underway, I figured it's time to start thinking and talking about the players that advanced past the first round who carry value going into next season. The first round of the playoffs was incredibly exciting with many series going to game seven, including some overtime games along the way. The playoffs are always some of the more intense times of the NHL year and with the way some of the matchups are going currently, I think we are due for one of the more exciting playoffs in recent memory.

With that being said, it's time to start discussing some of the players who made it to the second round, who could help provide some good value going into next season.

With the NHL regular season ending, Fantrax doesn't have the roster percentages showing currently so I will be omitting them for the foreseeable future! The positions listed for each player come from the official website of the NHL. With the contract years, I will be listing any UFA/RFA as just that and specifying what type of FA they are. Anybody who has a contract guaranteed for next season, I will be listing the number of years left that as if we have started next season. Sam Reinhart for example has three years remaining as of this moment, the remainder of this season, and then two more after this one. Cap information from Cap Friendly.

#1) Andrew Mangiapane – LW – Calgary Flames
Contract: $2.425M – RFA this summer
Roster Percentages: 82.7% ESPN, 59% Yahoo

With Mangiapane set to become a RFA this summer and having set a career high in goals, assists, and points, expect a raise for the 26-year-old this summer. Calgary has shuffled their lines throughout the year, but often Mangiapane has found most of his ice-time coming from being on the second line. During the playoffs so far, he has been a staple to that second line, left wing role, while receiving valuable second power play unit time. Having scored 35 goals on the year, he wound up finishing fourth among Calgary players in that category. With Calgary having the expectations of making the playoffs again next year, expect a player like Mangiapane to player a similar role next year for the team. After having a breakout season, I don't really foresee Calgary moving on from him if they don't have to. Even if he somehow found a new home, I would still expect to see him carry value going into next season due to the contract he'll receive. I don't expect a pay-raise high enough to put him into a category where his production doesn't match the dollars behind him. He managed to put up close to 40 goals, while averaging less than 16 minutes of ice time. If he can become your fantasy team's depth scoring winger, I would consider that to be a positive.

#2) Tony DeAngelo – D – Carolina Hurricanes
Contract: $1M – RFA this summer
Roster Percentages: 76.7% ESPN, 82% Yahoo

Let's ignore all the off-ice issues for a minute and let's just look at the stats that DeAngelo can provide. In 64 games in the NHL this year, as a member of the blue line in Carolina he had 51 points, across a full season that translate to a 64-point pace which is an unreal number of points to earn at the position. Normally players are considered elite offensively on the back end when they post 50+. While DeAngelo doesn't really provide much in the ways of hitting and blocking, across a full season those numbers would extrapolate to not being much lower than a hit and block per game which isn't bad when you can insulate your team with specialists who do that. Finding guys who can produce at his rate at that position do not come along often. While he is an RFA, like Mangiapane I wouldn't expect DeAngelo to go anywhere. He will see a big TOI raise given the way he has stepped into the main offensive role for that d-core with the departure of Dougie Hamilton. He's still an elite point producer in a position where it's hard to find elite scorers, and there really isn't anyone on the Hurricane's roster who can do what he does. In the 2019-20 and the 2021-22 seasons, he posted over 50 points while having 64 and 68 games played respectively.

#3) Sam Reinhart – C – Florida Panthers
Contract: $6.5M – 2 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 97.8% ESPN, 92 % Yahoo

As a member of the Florida Panthers, Reinhart has managed to find a way to hit career highs in goals, and assists, as well as powerplay points. Going from a team like the Buffalo Sabres to the Florida Panthers certainly helps increase your value. Reinhart has mainly seen time on the third line when it comes to even strength play, but he is an integral member of that top powerplay unit in Florida. Even with Claude Giroux being added to the mix, Reinhart is still seeing prime power play minutes alongside of some elite company in Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, and Claude Giroux. Reinhart has finished over the point-per-game mark for the first time in his career and while I'm unsure he can produce like that again next season, I wouldn't expect him to fall off and become irrelevant. I believe Reinhart is still very much capable of being at minimum a 65-point player in the NHL. His point-per-game pace has never been higher, and it has shattered his previous career high which was 65 points in a full 82 game season back in the 2018-19 season. This season his points-per-game pace through 82 games was 86 points, a full 21 points over his previous best. As he has been on the third line, he has been spending much of the season with Anton Lundell, who was a rookie this year and still produced well. Expect Lundell to take a step next year in terms of his production, and hopefully the two can continue their chemistry going into next season. If Reinhart can produce to a similar rate next year, while only costing a respectable $6.5M, I think he is a perfect candidate to look at rostering next season. Lots of players put up his kind of numbers and make closer to $9M.

#4) Mikhail Sergachev – D – Tampa Bay Lightning
Contract: $4.8M – 1 Year remaining (RFA next summer)
Roster Percentages: 89.0% ESPN, 80% Yahoo

While Sergachev may not be the Tampa Bay Lightning's number one defender, he is certainly trusted in a lot of various situations as if he were their number one guy. His average TOI has gone up every season since being a member of the Lightning. As the core of the team gets older, a player like Sergachev is due to be relied upon more and more in all aspects of the game. Tampa Bay has their core locked up in Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, Hedman, McDonagh, but with that Hedman and McDonagh are 31 and 32 years ol respectively. At some point the Lightning may be looking at the idea of trying to balance the trio by having their workload look a bit more balanced to help their longevity. While Sergachev has never eclipsed the 40-point mark since his rookie season in 2017-18, his underlying numbers have gotten better, things such as his shooting volume has increased (just under 2 shots per game this year), his hits were a career high this year, and same with his number of blocks. There is a lot to like about the fantasy value that Sergachev carries given the players he plays around, and the individual numbers that he can provide. For a player who makes less than $5M per season who can produce around 40 points, gets over 100 hits and blocks, and plays a high volume of minutes. I don't think he is a bad candidate to bank on going into next season.

#5) Jordan Kyrou – C – St. Louis Blues
Contract: $2.8M – 1 Year remaining (RFA next summer)
Roster Percentages: 74.2% ESPN, 79% Yahoo

The Blues are a bit of an odd team when it comes to their overall structure with reference to their forward group. They have a bunch of guys who can play top line minutes, but they're slotted on the second and third lines, but that is because they have incredible depth up front. Within their top-9 up front, only one is set to become a FA this summer and that is David Perron, so there may not be a clear window for Kyrou to move up in the lineup. But even while bouncing around in different roles for the Blues this season, he still managed to put up a career high of 75 points in 74 games. While his ice time average for this season is less than 17 minutes total, he averaged close to two minutes of power play time each game. When it comes to Kyrou, it was always a matter of when he will breakout as opposed to if he will break out. We finally saw that potential come to life this season. St. Louis has a very strong supporting cast around each of their main scorers, so I wouldn't be too worried about Kyrou and how they plan on building the forward core going into next season. He's a player who can use his speed well and create opportunities for those around him, while being able to capitalize on a chance created by a teammate. Realistically, his ice time should go up next season given that he over doubled his former career high. I expect the Blues to give Kyrou every opportunity to be one of their top options again next season. If he can produce even remotely close to what he did this year while making less than $3M, I would consider him a must have player as the value he brings for the overall dollar amount is just too much to pass on.

With the first round concluding and the second round being underway, there are fewer hockey games to watch, but the stakes continue to grow more and more as time goes on. The games carry more weight now than what they did last week for these teams. With that, I highly recommend going and reading the 'Experts Panel: 2021-22 Playoff Round 2 Predictions' that Ian Gooding (@Ian_Gooding) produced. While my Stanley Cup predictions (Toronto Maple Leafs) went out the window last week, its still worth seeing who the Dobber Hockey panel thinks is going to advance to the next round!
 
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