For the next couple of weeks, I plan on doing an episodic series that will involve me breaking down a few players per week that could be valuable additions for your fantasy playoffs. This is probably the most tense time of the year when it comes to calculating who you should target on the waiver wire and who to avoid. In articles past I have had tables showing current season production and past season production, that will be changing for this little mini series as I'll only be showing the current stats for the player. Along with what team they face on what days and the opponent's goals against average for the season. The bios for each player will be a little shorter than normal as I am going to try and fit a couple of extra names into each week's article, along with the honorable mentions list.

This article is going to be for the upcoming week, so from March 20^th, up until March 26^th.

#1) Evan Rodrigues – C – Colorado Avalanche
Contract: $2M – UFA this upcoming summer
Roster Percentages: Fantrax – 40%, ESPN – 9.5%

Let me start by saying that Rodrigues on his own isn't that impressive, but when you take into account that recently the Avalanche have shifted him onto the first line alongside of MacKinnon and Rantanen and has been there for the last three or so games. His time on ice has increased to the point where he is averaging over 16 minutes per night.

Rodrigues has been a solid bottom-six skater, but he also can keep up with faster players when given the opportunity. For $2-million in salary, he provides good value as he is playing with two players who are top five at their respective positions. He isn't going to drive the play himself, but he will be able to benefit from playing alongside of those highlight reel players. For a player who isn't generally known as a scorer, he has taken 162 shots through 55 games this season (2.95 per contest). If he is being fed the puck by those players, maybe he can pot the occasional goal down the stretch.

He is here for a couple of reasons, one being his deployment, and the other being that the Avalanche have a very favorable schedule this upcoming week. All three teams that they play are allowing more than 3.2 goals per game. Rodrigues has been slotted in on the top powerplay unit, while I don't envision that lasting for the rest of time, I would bank on that staying true for a little bit longer.

If you're looking for a depth scoring piece to add through waivers, Rodrigues may be your best bet. He's on pace for over 40 points this year, to acquire that for $2-million is pretty good value, this is purely a rental given his contract status, he may go play somewhere less favorable for all we know.

#2) Erik Haula – LW – New Jersey Devils
Contract: $2.375M – UFA this upcoming summer
Roster Percentages: Fantrax – 27%, ESPN – 4.3%

While Erik Haula may be on the third line, that may not stay that way forever as the Devils may still be trying to tinker with their line combinations before the playoffs begin. Haula has a history of being able to play up and down the lineup, either as a center or as a winger. Haula makes shy of $2.5-million per season, his future is up in the air as he doesn't have a contract extension in place currently and could relocate to another NHL team after the season concludes.

Haula may not provide a lot in the way of goals, but for a player who is labelled as a playmaker, he sure does shoot a lot more than you would expect (averaging two shots per game). While this isn't translating to goals being scored, it still shows that he isn't giving up, with his playstyle and his average time on ice, to have two shots per game is impressive in my mind. He is a regular on the secondary powerplay unit with opportunities to play on the first unit if there is an injury. Haula often finds himself playing on the penalty kill, averaging 1:54 of shorthanded time each game. While you can never bank on someone getting a shorthanded point, if you're category league tracks that you may have a hidden gem on your hands.

There are a lot of things that Haula does right when it comes to fantasy. He offers valuable peripheral category coverage while being labelled as a depth puck distributor for whatever team he is on. The main one that I am looking at is the faceoff percentage. Anything above 50% is usually considered good, anything around 55% is considered to be elite. Some players have their faceoff percentages jacked up due to only taking a couple per game. Haula on the other hand has taken close to 900 faceoffs this season.

If you're looking at retaining Haula, I would wait and see what team he goes to first, while he won't make a lot in terms of cap dollars, he may go to a less advantageous situation where he isn't surrounded by the same quality of teammates that he currently has around him.

#3) Rasmus Sandin – D – Washington Capitals
Contract: $1.4M – 2 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: Fantrax – 71%, ESPN – 23.6%

While the sample size of Sandin in Washington is small, the 23 year old is making the most of the role that he has been vaulted into. With John Carlson having not played an NHL game since right before Christmas of 2022, Sandin was acquired by the Capitals and he has been slotted into that top pairing role.

In six games with Washington, he has nine points (one being a goal), something that wouldn't have happened if he were still in Toronto due to the competition around him and the way that they deploy their defenders. Throughout his run with the Capitals, Sandin has averaged less than 23 minutes once. His average time on ice for the season is a little deceiving considering he went from being a third pairing defensemen to a top pairing player.

Rasmus Sandin is a bit of a special player in my eyes, he has offensive upside, he can play big minutes and not look too out of place, for a young player who has less than 150 total NHL games under his belt he isn't afraid to throw the body around as he is averaging over two hits per game and ever so slightly more than a block per game. While he may not shoot much, he does offer value in a lot of other ways, one being his extremely cheap contract. This is a player that can be rostered for two seasons with this cap hit, he may be a hidden gem for next year as well.

Something to keep note of is that while John Carlson hasn't played an NHL game since December 23^rd, he has returned to skating with the team in a non-contact jersey (as of the time of writing this). With that said he could return to the game action in the couple of weeks in order to get a couple of games before the season ends.

Honorable Mentions: Dillon Dube (CGY – 4 Games), Scott Laughton (PHI – 3 Games), Brayden McNabb (VGK – 3 Games), Trevor Moore (LAK – 3 Games), Casey Mittelstadt (BUF – 3 Games), Eetu Luostarinen (FLA – 4 Games), Marcus Pettersson (PIT – 4 Games), Nick Jensen (WSH – 3 Games), Jani Hakanpaa (DAL – 3 Games), Johnathan Quick (VGK – 3 Games), Joonas Korpisalo (LAK – 3 Games), Antii Raanta (CAR – 3 Games).

If you're looking to discuss anything hockey with me, check out my Twitter account (@JamieMolloy_DH), as well as on the articles themselves!