I know Brennan mentioned Jamie Benn yesterday, but I also wanted to touch on him as someone that has been a huge piece of helping one of my teams into the fantasy finals this week, with his scoring revival of seven goals across a six-game scoring streak from mid- to late-March. 

Last year's 76-point-pace is something he won't repeat again, as the underlying numbers were completely unsustainable, but since Benn began playing with Logan Stankoven and Wyatt Johnston, he has put up 18 points in his last 12 games, showing that there is still a lot left in the tank despite him turning 35 this summer.

If he sticks with those two young wingers next year, then another 60-point pace is certainly realistic, though if you can sell him high this summer it might be best to get out one year early than one year late.

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Connor Bedard followed up his third nomination as Rookie of the Month with one assist against the Islanders. He's three points behind a point-per-game pace. Connor McDavid for example scored 48 points in his 45-games of his rookie season, and then jumped up to 100 points in his 82-game sophomore season. It might be a bit much to expect 100 points from Bedard next year with his supporting cast, but 90 seems like a reasonable line to draw depending on how the support staff in Chicago is overhauled in the summer.

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Ryan Hartman missed the first of three games last night due to his latest suspension. He's droppable in the meantime if you need the games, but he does still play once this week, as Minnesota's fourth game in six days comes on Sunday. If you can stash him on your IR or elsewhere, then it's an extra add for the final day. He has seven points, 32 PIMs, and 30 shots in his last nine contests.

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Buffalo really threw a wrench into Washington's playoff odds, winning a decisive 6-2 game, getting three point efforts from J.J. Peterka, Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch. The two points from Zach Benson were also his first in nine games. The rookie is a very skilled and heady offensive player, but the inconsistencies are to be expected considering he was only drafted last summer. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won for the sixth time in his last ten starts, where he has ranged from a shutout to eight goals against. Overall though, he has looked like a young goalie that could be part of the playoff answer for Buffalo in the coming years.

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There are a whole whack of further goalie notes I wanted to make, so I'll put them all in here:

Calgary had been alternating goalie starts since Dustin Wolf was called up and Jacob Markstrom returned, but with Markstrom's start last night the run is broken. It could just be a flip to the rotation to give Markstrom the tougher EDM game later this week with Wolf then playing against the Sharks early next week. 

How is New Jersey splitting the rest of the season? With two back-to-backs it's likely we see Kaapo Kahkonen get two starts, however the Devils just lost what was likely the last regulation loss that they could afford in their outside run for the playoffs, so it's very possible that Jake Allen sees three of the four games this week depending on his workload within each game (he only faced 20 shots in last night's loss). If New Jersey does lose any more games this week, then it’s likely that we see closer to a 50/50 split the rest of the way, meaning Kahkonen's workload could return close to his San Jose levels from earlier this season.

The Colorado Avalanche appear to be leaning towards Justus Annunen a little more lately, and it's possibly because they don't have as much to play for at the moment. There is some level of home ice "advantage" still to be wrapped up, but with the standings as close as they are at the top and at the bottom, winning a few extra games at the end of the year doesn't guarantee a lesser opponent. What does help more for playoffs, is having a rested and healthy starter, as well as a backup that is fresh coming into crunch time.

Not that there's a controversy in LA, as Cam Talbot has regained the starter's role and David Rittich is getting his regular starts as the backup, but I did find it interesting that in Rittich's four March games, he either put up a shutout (twice) or let in four goals (twice). Meanwhile, Talbot went the whole month with only one shutout, but no games with more than three goals against (in 10 appearances). Make of that what you will.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ilya Samsonov has rebounded well after his mid-season fall. He hasn't been perfect, allowing at least three goals more often than not over the last six weeks, but often it has still been good enough to get a win, with an 11-2-1 record over that same time period.

Arturs Silovs was a big swing piece in a lot of matchups on Sunday with his surprise start, and could get today's game on the second-half of a back to back. Vancouver's Head Coach Rick Tocchet had mentioned resting Casey DeSmith once the Nucks had clinched a playoff spot, and at the first opportunity, they rest their de-facto starter. Thatcher Demko is still expected to be in the net for game one of the playoffs though.

With Elvis Merzlikins out with a short-term injury, Daniil Tarasov may be your best bet on the wire if you're looking for save volume. He has 111 combined over his last three games. It's also possible he plays on both Saturday and Sunday instead of giving third-stringer Jet Greaves a game.

After Alex Nedeljkovic got four straight starts, Tristan Jarry was finally supposed to be back in goal on Monday, only to be pulled at the last minute as a result of an illness. Nedeljkovic has fared very well over his five-game run, with three wins and 12 goals against across the five games. As the record doesn't matter much for the Penguins at the moment, Ned could continue to see more than his usual volume across the last three weeks of the season.

Jarry, who is tied for the league lead in shutouts, is a goalie I am going to be interested in acquiring this offseason. The Penguins are going to reset, and look to be competitive again next year, meaning the value should be there to get him at a discount before he puts up a similar first half to this year: 12-12-4 record with a 2.5 GAA, a .916 sv%, and six shutouts.

Ivan Fedotov made his NHL debut in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders, coming on in relief of Samuel Ersson who allowed two goals on six shots to begin the game. Fedotov looked strong, stopping 19 of 21 shots. As he gets more comfortable with the speed and style of the game, he is only going to look better. For the rest of this season and early next year, we may see closer to a split for the two goalies, but I do expect Fedotov to begin stealing the crease before mid-November.

After two straight games for Filip Gustavsson, Marc-Andre Fleury drew back into the lineup last night, in what appears to now be a win-and-you're in rotation as the Wild cling to their last slim threads of a playoff hope. Both goalies had very good months in March, but Fleury has had two bad starts lately. If he is roughed up again then he may see his volume drop.

Many fantasy GMs thought they were being smart streaming Anthony Stolarz last night against the lowly Habs, who then jumped out and scored five goals against him – including two from Nick Suzuki. He passed his previous career high of 26 goals two weeks ago, and now has 32 and counting – with eight games to go.

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Tomas Hertl is out of the red no contact jersey, and into a regular white one for Vegas today.

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) April 2, 2024

Thomas Hertl looks to be making progress towards a return, and with Mark Stone on LTIR there should be room to activate him before the end of the regular season, whenever he is healthy.

Looking at the current state of the Vegas lines, Hertl should slot in somewhere in the middle-six, which would kick out one of Michael Amadio or Paul Cotter, and potentially from the lineup altogether. It would be a boon to whichever of William Karlsson or Chandler Stephenson gets him as their linemate, and maybe more likely the latter as the second line (Karlsson's) has been playing well lately so there's less reason to break it up.

If you want to see the fantasy take from the time of the trade, you can find it here.

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🚨 #LetsGoOilers Connor McDavid has had another brilliant season in a brilliant career. It's the finest playmaking performance in decades.

📉 But at "only" 29 goals (projected to 33 for the year), he's curiously facing the biggest drop of the cap era & potentially of all-time. pic.twitter.com/LheeBuurj1

— Paul Pidutti (@AdjustedHockey) April 2, 2024

Connor McDavid is the top fantasy player in the league right now, there's no denying that. However, his goal drop does leave us with an interesting question for next year, whether McDavid's record 100-assist season and record drop in goals is something that is a sign of what's to come, or whether either or both will return to previous norms.

McDavid's goal rate is currently the lowest it has been since his sophomore season, and his shooting percentage is also the lowest it has been since that season. The shot rate has also receded a bit, back to the low-threes, where he hovered for a few years before kicking in up a notch each of the last couple seasons.

Otherwise, there aren't any red flags in the underlying metrics. McDavid's teammates have scored on a slightly higher percentage of shots this year than the previous two, and his linemates have been extremely consistent from last year to present day. Last year's record-breaking power play hasn't clicked at quite the same rate this year, which has accounted for some of it.

On another aside, McDavid's hit numbers of 1.5 per game are also excellent, and if he can keep up anywhere near that level, will entrench him even further as the top fantasy asset.

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Nikolai Kovalenko was on the ice ahead of Colorado's practice today, skating with Valeri Nichushkin and Gabe Landeskog. He could be an interesting option over this last stretch of games, and might be worth a stream as a bit of a production wildcard if you're in a pinch.

Your first image of Nikolai Kovalenko in an #Avs uniform wearing number 51 on his helmet #Avs #GoAvsGo @TheRinkColorado pic.twitter.com/fhfgjamaT2

— Brennan Vogt (@brennan_vogt) April 2, 2024

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See you next Wednesday. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter/X here, or BlueSky here if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments.