Every year there seems to be a few breakout stars in the postseason that we hope can continue the magic going into the next season. Sometimes circumstances change, they will fade, or they just shine brightest under the most pressure. Here are a few players that have found a groove in the playoffs thus far.

Anaheim Ducks

You wouldn't expect a 40-goal scorer to be on this list, but Cutter Gauthier was moved up to the top line with Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry for Game 2 even though Gauthier was primarily playing with Ryan Poehling and Jeffrey Viel for the second half of the season. Maybe the coaching staff was trying to spread out the offense during the regular season, but come crunch time they elected to put three of their young bucks together. If we get this lineup during the regular season, the former fifth overall draft pick could hold second/third round value in drafts for next season. 

One player we said to fade for playoff pools was Beckett Senecke. He is a very creative and gifted player, but he has a lot of rookie turnovers during the regular season. So far in this playoff series, the coaches have him insulated with Mikael Granlund and Alex Killorn and you can see he is making simple, smart plays with the puck. We love to see that in fantasy because he is learning the game and come next season, he'll have that long leash to play and build off those offensive instincts 

Los Angeles Kings

With the Kings being swept over the weekend, we have officially seen Anze Kopitar's career come to an end. This will leave a big hole in L.A.'s lineup as they don't have anyone in the pipeline to fill those skates. A once top-rated prospect pool, management dealt some prospects that did end up finding success, and have kept those that did not live up to the hype.

With the major Kopitar hole in the lineup, will Quinton Byfield finally take that next step to become "the guy"? Byfield finished on a line with Artemi Panarin and Trevor Moore, which will probably be their top offensive threat going into 2026-27.

Another branch of this Kopitar tree is Adrian Kempe. The Swedish winger had major success with Kopitar and his new eight-year, $85 million dollar contract kicks in next season. He has four 30-goal seasons in his last five campaigns, so will he be able to keep up his goal scoring as he enters his 30s without his longtime running mate? We will see. He has the contract secured, but with so many variables in that organization, he is a guy to sell high on this offseason.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers were focused on selling at the trade deadline and only had a 3% chance of a playoff berth in February. They infused young players like Porter Martone, Alex Bump, and Denver Barkey into their lineup and these kids are gaining tons of experience for next year. Currently, Denver Barkey is playing on the top line with Owen Tippett and Trevor Zegras, and he scored his first playoff goal in Game 4. Martone has two goals and three points through his first five games and was an absolute spark plug for the Flyers to build a 3-0 series lead. Bump drew into the lineup for Game 5 and scored a goal in his playoff debut.

Zegras is due a new contract (although he is a restricted free agent) so how much he gets may affect the rest of the lineup. Matvei Michkov was a healthy scratch in Game 5; he is another big piece to their future (or recouping assets future) if the coaching staff can't figure out a role for him in the lineup and he ultimately asks for a trade in the offseason.

It will be interesting to see what way this organization goes after some playoff experience under their belt and a full campaign of their young bucks.

Keep enjoying the playoffs and I hope we get an ultimate five overtime thriller sometime this week. Have a great one!