At the start of the season, we didn't really know what to make of Yegor Sharangovich. A fifth-round pick in 2018, he didn't seem to be on the radar for Devils prospects ready to take the next step. Not only did he break through to the Devils' roster, but he is now also fourth in rookie scoring with 26 points. That includes goals in back-to-back games, including two first-period power-play goals against the Flyers. Sharangovich is also second on the Devils with 14 goals. I'd like him to have a bit more power-play time before I'd recommend adding him in most leagues, but he's at least proven to be more than an early season flash-in-the-pan.

Any hopes that you have of Carter Hart returning this season have been dashed, as he will miss the rest of the regular season with an MCL strain. Hart has been one of the biggest busts in fantasy hockey, finishing the season with a 9-11-5 record, a 3.67 GAA, and a .877 SV%, so the path to stardom won't be a straight line. He will probably fall in single-season draft rankings next season, while his long-term keeper owners will hope for better. Remember that he's only 22, which is young especially for a goalie, so it's best not to make any long-term judgements based on this season alone.

Brian Elliott and Alex Lyon should split the goaltending duties the rest of the way for the Flyers, who entered Thursday's play with a league-worst team 3.53 GAA. Elliott and Lyon are both risky plays given the Flyers' defensive woes.

Kevin Hayes is always peak frustration.

First 16 games: 16 points
Next 33 games: 11 points

He'll be 29 in a week and has 5 more years at 7.143M https://t.co/snf3B9WuPa

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) April 29, 2021

To add to this, Kevin Hayes hasn't scored a goal in 15 games. Widely considered to be an East Division favorite, the Flyers have fallen short of expectations in many different ways. With Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Devils, the Flyers have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.

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If you're trying to get an early start on planning your playoff pool, the brackets started to take more shape on Thursday. In a game where they faced each other, both Pittsburgh and Washington clinched a playoff spot. The Penguins took this three-pointer with a 5-4 win, with Jake Guentzel scoring the overtime winner.

Evgeni Malkin was believed to be closing in on a Thursday return, but he was held out of the lineup for one more game. He seems like a strong bet to return on Saturday.

Not only were the Capitals missing Alex Ovechkin for the third consecutive game, but John Carlson also missed this game with a lower-body injury after being considered a game-time decision. Justin Schultz picked up the first-unit power-play minutes, totalling two assists (one on the power play). Carlson owners should consider adding Schultz (24% rostered in Yahoo leagues) in case Carlson is out Saturday as well.

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Chris Kreider was also a game-time decision that did not play. (Lucky me, I have both Carlson and Kreider on one of my teams.) That meant that Pavel Buchnevich moved up to the Rangers' first-unit power play on Thursday. With a 0.88 PTS/GP pace, Buchnevich is definitely due for more power-play time. Only eight of his 44 points have been with the man advantage. Who he unseats for PP1 minutes is another debate, as the Rangers are rolling offensively and there are no obvious names that Buchnevich could replace.

Unfortunately, no Ranger could solve Semyon Varlamov on Thursday. Varlamov stopped 25 shots to pick up his league-leading sixth shutout of the season. Three of those shutouts have been against the Rangers. In five games against the Blueshirts, Varlamov has an impeccable 0.81 GAA and .971 SV%. I found that out by going to Varlamov's Frozen Tools profile and under Info/Analysis, selecting the opponent and clicking the green Go! button. Below is an illustration of the new feature.

ICYMI – Addition to our #fantasyhockey player/goalie profile pages:

Go to Info/Analysis tab and click GO! under Player/Goalie vs Opponent to see 2020-21 stats vs selected opponent. Default option is next opponent.

Mike Smith #LetsGoOilers vs #gojetsgo 👇https://t.co/eJp8gemkaf pic.twitter.com/BTcNuzaoYe

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) April 28, 2021

Oh right – Varlamov faces the Rangers on Saturday, so you'll want him in your lineup if he's starting again.

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Andrei Vasilevskiy also picked up a shutout on Thursday, and he trails Varlamov by just one shutout over the season. Vasilevskiy will likely finish as the league leader in wins, as his 30 wins are five ahead of Philipp Grubauer (who may return on Friday) and eight wins ahead of Marc-Andre Fleury and Tristan Jarry.

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Buffalo might be well out of the playoff race, but that doesn't mean they should be ignored completely for fantasy purposes. With a goal on Thursday, Casey Mittelstadt has nine goals and 14 points in his last 17 games. Sam Reinhart, who was Buffalo's other goal scorer on Thursday, has scored goals in four consecutive games (six goals over that span). Reinhart took seven shots on Thursday, giving him 20 shots over those four games. Both Mittelstadt and Reinhart need to be starting in all fantasy leagues at the moment – especially Reinhart.

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About the only bright spot for the Canucks on Thursday was Kole Lind making his NHL debut. A former early second-round pick, Lind scored five goals and eight points in eight AHL games, along with 44 points in 61 games in the A last season. The Canucks' chances of making the playoffs are remote, so they don't have much to lose in giving Lind at least a cup of coffee. Lind finished the game without a point, but took two shots in 17 minutes of icetime. For more on Lind, see his Dobber Prospects Profile.

Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, Nick Foligno, and Jack Campbell were all held out on Thursday for maintenance purposes (aka load management). Now that several teams have clinched or are close to clinching, expect to see this more and more. This could disrupt the fantasy championship plans of many owners, so the key here is to be on your toes. Just like with COVID-list additions and team shutdowns.    

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Ryan Miller has announced that he will retire at the end of the season. He's had an accomplished career, which includes a Vezina Trophy, the Hobey Baker Award, and taking Team USA to the gold medal game at the 2010 Olympics. He is also the all-time wins leader among American goalies. The 40-year-old Miller hasn't played since late March, but expect him to receive at least one more finale start as the Ducks play out the string with six more games.

Miller was also a fierce competitor and outstanding teammate. This moment stands out for me during Miller's three seasons with the Canucks. Matt Martin outweighs Miller by a good 50 pounds, yet Miller has no problem jumping in to help his teammate, goalie equipment and all.  (No, this isn’t a highlight from Thursday night, since these very two teams played while wearing these exact jerseys… remember, fans in the stands!)

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To follow up on Alex's rambling on Brady Tkachuk yesterday, here's another example of why Brady Tkachuk is so valuable in multicategory leagues.

#GoSensGo Brady Tkachuk has an NHL-high 9 games with 5+ shots & 5+ hits this season. The next closest player is #CofRed Matthew Tkachuk with 4. pic.twitter.com/KBircLrxwr

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 29, 2021

The younger Tkachuk is not a point-per-game scorer or even in the top 50 of scoring, but these are incredibly strong peripherals. Having said that, his value in pure points leagues will be much lower than it is in multicategory leagues, especially bangers leagues. But that gap could shrink as he becomes older and the Sens move up the standings.  

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Since Chris Driedger is dealing with a lower-body injury, Spencer Knight started his second game for the Panthers. In the span of just over a week, Knight has already picked up three wins, one of which was in relief in a come-from-behind win over Nashville on Tuesday. This is much earlier than we expected to see the recently-turned-20-year-old Knight because of the presence of Driedger and Sergei Bobrovsky. It will be interesting to see where Knight ends up next season, since Driedger is a UFA and could be a starter/1A elsewhere. Assuming that happens, will the Panthers prefer Knight play behind Bobrovsky in Florida, or would it be better for him to build up some minutes in the AHL? Either way, he's off to a strong NHL start (1.67 GAA, .943 SV%).

Another game, another point for Sam Bennett – this time the overtime winner over Chicago. He now has a four-game point streak where he has recorded six points. Over that span, Bennett has amassed 22 shots, including eight shots on Thursday. Since debuting with the Panthers nearly two weeks ago, Bennett has 11 points (5 G, 6 A) with a plus-11, 21 PIM, 26 hits, and 32 SOG in eight games. He's absolutely stuffing categories in roto leagues. Compare that to 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 38 games with the Flames, and you'll see that he's nearly equaled his Calgary production in Florida in far fewer games. Whatever was going on in Calgary, Bennett just wasn’t feeling it. We’ll have to see how he produces over the long haul, but chalk this up to “change of scenery needed” so far.

Fantasy Impact: Panthers Acquire Sam Bennett

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Just before Thursday's game Vladimir Tarasenko was announced as being out with a lower-body injury, giving fantasy owners another injury to worry about. That meant Mike Hoffman was given a go on the first-unit power play. You might not want anything to do with Hoffman in St. Louis especially with Tarasenko back. However, Hoffman entered Thursday's game with 11 points – including seven goals – in his last seven games, which occurred after the Blues healthy scratched him while they tried (unsuccessfully) to trade him. Unfortunately, Hoffman could not register any points on Thursday and just one shot on goal.

Ryan O'Reilly provided the Blues with the necessary offense on Thursday, scoring two goals including the overtime winner. O'Reilly now has five goals and eight points over his last four games – all St. Louis wins as they attempt to solidify the fourth and final playoff spot in the West.

In a losing cause, Kevin Fiala scored a goal and added two assists. Fiala has contributed four goals and five assists over his last six games. It's been a tale of two halves for Fiala.

	GP	G	A	PTS	PPP
1st half	22	8	3	11	2
2nd half	23	10	14	24	11

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Elias Lindholm has scored a lot of goals lately. With another two goals on Thursday, Lindholm now has eight goals over his last nine games. Often ignored when it comes to the discussion of who Calgary's core players are (Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan), Lindholm leads the Flames with 43 points. He's also benefitted from the move onto Gaudreau's line. The move also seems to have helped Gaudreau, who has scored 11 points in his last nine games, including an assist on one of Lindholm's goals on Thursday.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding