Playoffs are upon us my fantasy hockey friends! This is the best time of the season and what we've all worked for up to this point. If you're in a round one battle, we're going to help make some moves to help you advance on. Got they bye week? Sit back for now and I'll make sure to set you up for success next week. Didn't make the cut and are in your league's consolation bracket? Well…I mean, some leagues use that to determine next season's draft order. Think of this as a chance to draft Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid next season. Let's dive in!  

The Immediate Fix (Grab this guy and use him for the next several days)

Jack Roslovic, C/RW, Columbus Blue Jackets (Rostered in 48% of ESPN leagues, 30% Fantrax, 6% Yahoo) – The Columbus Blue Jackets may just be the most .500 club that we have in the league right now, but there's things to like here in the immediate future. The Jackets have just what we're looking for in a close matchup, they'll play twice more this week and have a top line that's in a good spot to help grab you some points.

Last week I highlighted Blues C/RW Robert Thomas and in the event he's still available, 10/10 would still recommend but if not, Jack Roslovic presents a fantastic lower-rostered value. In his past five games played he has five goals and one assist and is playing on a very high-event Columbus first line with Gustav Nyquist and Patrik Laine. They're high event because of the defense (or lack thereof) but this is fantasy, we don't care about the defense we just need the offense, and lately Roslovic on the Jackets top line has been playing great.

What's also appealing here is that Columbus will play twice more this week with matchups versus Los Angeles and Anaheim, both on the road. Sure, the LA matchup might be a bit tough as Roslovic and the Columbus top line will either see the Los Angeles first or second line which are good both defensively, but I think there's still opportunity here as this is an LA club that has given up an average of 3.9 goals a game in their last ten games while going 4-5-1 in that span. As for the matchup versus Anaheim, I don't think the Sonny Milano – Isac Lundestrom – Zach Aston-Reese line is anything I'd be worried about going into.

Roslovic isn't correlated with his wingers on the Jackets top power-play unit, but this is a grouping that does split time and move pieces of their power play around, so it wouldn't surprise me if he found himself on the top unit. If playing on the man advantage is something that worries you, I get it because every player addition now has to be under a microscope, so to ease that they will be going up against two clubs in LA and Anaheim who have been on the lower end of time on ice shorthanded the past month. If trends are our friends, Roslovic might just be the lightning in a bottle offense to help carry your club to into the next round.

The Building Block (Buy now, sit back and enjoy the production)

Ivan Barbashev, C/LW/RW, St. Louis Blues (Rostered in 31% of ESPN leagues, 62% Fantrax, 42% Yahoo) – In looking for a Building Block this week I wanted to target a player that will still see two games worth of action this week and four the following to help your club in the playoffs. All paths lead me to St. Louis and Barbashev.   

I went back and forth on Barbashev this season, but I think for what we need him for the next couple weeks he's an advantageous addition. Barbashev has nine points in his last ten games playing mostly on St.Louis third line with Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou, but he's floated around the Blues lineup a fair bit. Even though he’s currently slated on a depth line, St. Louis has been evening out their ice time for a week now, so ice time shouldn't be an issue.

Even though St. Louis has all but clinched the third spot in the Central Division there's incentive to try and catch Minnesota who they're currently tied with. Yes, home ice is great, but I don't think any club wants to start a playoff series in Minnesota, where the Wild have been fantastic on home ice this season going 26-7-2 at home, but 20-14-4 away from St. Paul. This is just all the more reason for the Blues to keep rolling their lines and splitting time between each power play unit which benefits Barbashev here down the stretch. On a club that ranks third in the NHL the past month in goals for, I think Barbashev helps fill out your roster with the added bonus of potential offense.

The Odd Man Out (His short-term value is cause for concern)

Mark Scheifele, C, Winnipeg Jets (Rostered in 96% of ESPN leagues, 98% of Fantrax, 92% Yahoo) – Not sure what the biggest news was in Winnipeg was these past few days? It's a toss-up between the major April snowstorm and the injuries to the club's top line. For Scheifele, we have some answers as to length of time he may miss, but the severity of his injury is still in question.

Scheifele left last Sunday's game versus the Sens with an apparent upper body injury and did not suit up the following day versus Montreal. With the weather delaying Wednesday's contest versus Seattle, we were unsure on any injury news until today where it was revealed the Scheifele will not travel with the club for their upcoming four-game road trip. That's bad news for a higher-rostered fantasy player on a club trying to make a late season push towards the postseason.

The earliest we could see Scheifele back in action would be next Saturday at home versus Colorado, and that's if all things go smoothly in his recovery. For now, the Jets have listed him as out, so at least there's room to work as far as the possibility of coming back this season and ability to stash him in IR for the time being. Looking at the standings, there's a chance (no matter how slim) that the Jets can still make a push for the postseason, so maybe Scheifele forces his way back into the lineup to help contribute? Pay close attention to the Injury Ward and any updates as the Jets play out this upcoming week on any status report that we can get, Scheifele is either a player you'll need to move off of quick or a possible late addition if your fantasy team reaches championship week.

The Anchors (They’ll do nothing but disappoint even over the long haul)

Cam Atkinson, C, Philadelphia Flyers (Rostered in 72% of ESPN leagues, 74% of Fantrax, 47% Yahoo) – The folks over on Fantrax have already jumped ship, if you still have Atkinson on your roster it may be time to do the same. 

Atkinson left Tuesday's game versus the Caps with an apparent lower-body injury that also kept him out of Wednesday's contest versus the Rangers. Regardless of the severity of the injury, Atkinson had no points in seven games before going down with an injury, so the offensive production hasn't been there to help much for fantasy. The Atkinson injury is one more to a long list of Flyers who are out of the lineup for a club that is limping to the finish line.

Love ‘Em (These squads are sure to pay dividends in the coming days)
This period runs from April 15 to April 27

Minnesota – Ultra love for the Wild here going forward, as they grade out fantastic through most of the upcoming period of days. Next week they'll have favorable matchups on the road in Montreal before coming home to face Vancouver and Seattle.

New Jersey – The Devils have a busy schedule upcoming combined with a short homestand to end the season. It's a nice way to finish off the season to add any mix of New Jersey for fantasy and DFS.

San Jose – Okay so for fantasy or DFS, there's realistically only a handful of viable plays on this club, but for the club as a whole it's a favorable stretch upcoming. Out of the clubs that will play six games in nine days upcoming, they will get to see Dallas, Minnesota, Columbus, St. Louis, Chicago, and Vegas.

Leave ‘Em (These squads will leave fantasy owners sorely disappointed in the short term)

Pittsburgh – Looking back this has been a strange schedule for the Pens this season. We can get into the NHL scheduling as a whole at a later time and place, but for the Pens it was both them and Tampa that were either five games in eight nights or two in eight. The Pens will hit an upcoming stretch will they will just see the Bruins at home and on the road, and while that could be a fun playoffs preview, it doesn't help much for fantasy upcoming.

Edmonton – The Oilers have had a tougher schedule the past week or so, but they'll soon hit a stretch where the club just isn't in action as much. For playoff fantasy owners looking for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to help tally points, it's a tough stretch with the club out of action.

Buffalo – The Sabres are the only club in the NHL that plays only two games next week and one of the clubs that will play three the following. Two games this weekend versus Philadelphia is a great matchup for any club, but following that there's not much to see on the schedule.