SMC 3-7-2016 Counting down the weeks!  No worries, we have plenty of coffee to keep us going! Some of you are already into your fantasy league playoffs and I wish you all well.  And then there are those that are battling in their points-only league & rotisserie leagues.  Good luck as well. The Florida Panthers have been on a little bit of a fade but having so much young talent on the squad, the long haul of an NHL season takes its toll. The other Florida team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, are starting to bring it as Stamkos and Johnson are heating up the score sheets of late.  Oh, and Ryan Callahan as well.  Time to get those Bolts in your lineup. You just kinda knew that trading away Andrew Ladd would give Mark Scheifele all the opportunity to show what an NHL stud he can be, and he’s proving it.  A hattie on Saturday night.  Niiiiice! Another team heating up is the San Jose Sharks with the Two Joes, Thornton & Pavelski, along with Brent Burns are carrying the offensive load of late. Another duo that’s been scorching of late are the Nashville Predators Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg. I have been waiting for Smith to display this kind of talent for almost 2 years.  He can help some fantasy team in need of offense. On Defense, the Capitals Matt Niskanen looks like he is heating up for the playoffs with 2 goals and an assist in past 5 games.  He is shooting more with 9 SOG in that same time frame. The Buffalo Sabres are playing tough but they still need a few years together I think. Pittsburgh lost to Calgary in what was definitely a trap game after games against the Rangers and Capitals. Sidney Crosby had both goals in the 4-2 loss to the Flames.  Crosby is on fire of late with 7 points in past 4 games. Pekka Rinne is rounding into top form and the Predators are red hot going 7-0-3 in past ten. It was definitely a Battle In LA yesterday with the Ducks prevailing 3-2.  A lot of fights 7 minutes into the game and then it settled into old-fashioned hockey the rest of the way. Drew Doughty with a PP goal continues to show why he is Norris-worthy. Evgeny Kuznetsov with 7 SOG and nothing to show for it.  He’s good, so grab him early next year.  Ovechkin had 5, if you were curious. Toronto is really going young the rest of the way.  Except for the law firm of Hunwick & Laich, lol. Steve Mason comes back strong with a 6-0 blanking of the Columbus Blue Jackets, showing his old team what they are missing. Radko Gudas had 2 goals and 2 assists giving him 2 goals and 2 ...

If you didn't happen to catch the latest UNDER THE RAYDAR piece on Tuesday, you may have missed the part about Sean Couturier starting to heat up. Against the Devils, all the young Flyer did was score an early goal and add an assist In the 4-1 Philadelphia win over New Jersey.  It was all Couturier in the first period and then the Flyers sealed the deal with 2 late goals in the third period with Claude Giroux and Mark Streit getting assists on both goals. We all know Giroux and Streit are must-starts, and it looks like Couturier is inching his way into that category as well..... Chicago Blackhawk G Scott Darling is quickly becoming Chicago's darling as he won for the second straight filling in for the injured Corey Crawford. Darling was able to withstand a late-charging Boston Bruin team and turned aside 32 SOG for the 2-2 win in Boston....Jonathan Toews left the game with an apparent upper-body injury when he was checked hard into the end boards. We will keep you posted as we learn more about the extent of Toews' injury.... If you haven't noticed, the Buffalo Sabres have won 5 of their last 7 games as Jhonas Enroth has picked up his game of late, this time with a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames. Enroth is 7-2-0 in last 9 starts, so if you are need for goaltending help, grab Enroth as he has remained hot for a surging Sabres team....Matt Moulson had 2 goals including the game-winner giving him just 6 goals to go along with 8 assists on the season. Moulson has seen better days since he was traded away from Long Island....Tyler Ennis, with 3 assists, has always shown flashes of offensive brilliance but has never been able to offer that consistently for fantasy purposes. If there is any Sabre player you would pick up for fantasy, Ennis would be the guy... The Columbus Blue Jackets continue their resurgence in the Eastern Conference with a 3-2 OT victory over the Washington Capitals. Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 39 SOG for his, and the team's, fifth straight win. We had mentioned in the December 2ndBETWEEN THE PIPES article that the time to ‘buy-low" on Bobrovsky was coming to a close and with this win, that window of opportunity has been shut. Perhaps it's not too late to pick up some of the more talented skaters on the team as I'm sure they will start to get hot knowing they have a red-hot Bobber backing them up.... So how does a team usually respond to their coach getting fired? The Ottawa Senators fell victim the Los Angeles Kings 5-3 as the post-Paul ...

Mike Hoffman LW, Ottawa: Let's begin with a true "dark-horse" pick that has lit up opposing goalies lately with six goals in the last five games. I am high on this kid given that he has displayed big-time offensive talent in the juniors, but the question remains whether it could translate full-time in the NHL. So far so good for the 24-year old, who is starting to earn more minutes because of his recent production. It's hard to predict whether Hoffman will permanently jump into the Senator's top-six, but ask yourself who is his biggest competition- Clarke MacArthur? I would keep an eye on this guy. Jori Lehtera C, St Louis: I repeat: Pick him up ASAP! The 27 year old was an unknown commodity before his recent hot streak upon his NHL arrival. What was known is that he had exhibited huge chemistry in KHL with Vladimir Tarasenko, so the duo have continued where they have left off. Don't wait much longer, as the window of opportunity is almost shut. Nick Foligno W, Columbus:- Here is a perfect example of riding the "hot hand" while a player is streaky but being prepared to release him when the scoring comes to halt. The winger is tearing it up for a struggling Columbus squad, collecting 9 goals and 18 points in 15 games. However, before you consider him a long term savior, take note that his career high is 49 pts and 18 goals. Tread with caution but enjoy the immediate rewards. Jared Spurgeon D, Minnesota: The talented d-man is back after missing 5 games due to injury, responding immediately with a goal against Buffalo. With 7 points in 10 games, the youngster is emerging offensively at the right time for a depleted Minny squad. He gave fantasy owners a taste last season with 26 pts in 67 games but he is now ready to put up career numbers in 14-15. Jake Muzzin D, Los Angeles: If there was ever a time to use Muzzin, it's definitely now with Alec Martinez and Slave Voynov out of the immediate picture. The overload of offensive defensemen in LA makes it difficult to gauge future performance, but Muzzin is the clear no 2 after Drew Doughty for the near future. His 5 points in last 4 games is a good sign for the normally streaky defender. Don't think this pace will last very long, but he should be an adequate lower end starting option while getting a boost in quality minutes.

After an exciting set of Conference championship battles, fantasy owners in playoff pools need to determine who to add to their final rosters. With two defensive teams with suprisingly strong offensive showings ready to face off, tough decisions need to be made.Do you stock up your fantasy line-up with Kings or Rangers? I am not completely sure of who the sure-fire picks are, but I am willing to make a few key observations: 1. Four of the top five leading NHL playoff scorers hail from the Kings(Kopitar, Carter, Gaborik, and Williams), averaging nearly 21 pts. On the contrary, the leading point-getters from the Rangers are tied for 15th place with 13 pts.apiece (St. Louis, Stepan, and McDonagh). The Kings have been getting it done on the offensive end but will now be facing arguably the hottest goalie on the planet in Lundqvist. Can you expect them to average 4 goals-per-game in the Championship round like they did against the high-octane Blackhawks? I say not, as both teams will play it closer to the vest. In addition, the Kings could be a bit fatigue to start the series as they just became the first team in NHL history to advance to the Cup Finals after winning three Game 7's. 2. Usually, defensemen are not the way to go but both teams have blue-chippers that need to be starting. For New York, Ryan McDonagh busted out of his post-season slump by collecting 10 points in the Montreal series, second most ever by a Ranger's blueliner in the playoff. While it's reasonable to expect a dropoff after this explosion, the rising star looks to be in the middle of much of the "Blueshirts" offensive production. On the LA side, how can you not love Drew Doughty? He collected 7 points in the seven game 'classic' against Chicago, giving him 16 pts. in the playoffs. After a 37-point regular season, the 24-year old always seems to save his best offense for the games that count. 3. If you are scraping the "bottom of the barrel" and reaching for wild-card picks, look no further than some of the usually reliable King veterans, such as Dustin Brown and Mike Richards. These type of players seem to excel in the most pivotal moments, so it's no surprise that Brown has posted 6 points in the last 4 games despite just 12 points in 21 overall playoff contests. Playing on the top line with Kopitar, the captain is beginning to surge, so fantasy owners need to take notice. Richards has not fared as well, but he is due to bust out so you can do alot worse than this perenially strong ...

After an exciting set of Conference championship battles, fantasy owners in playoff pools need to determine who to add to their final rosters. With two defensive teams with suprisingly strong offensive showings ready to face off, tough decisions need to be made.Do you stock up your fantasy line-up with Kings or Rangers? I am not completely sure of who the sure-fire picks are, but I am willing to make a few key observations: 1. Four of the top five leading NHL playoff scorers hail from the Kings(Kopitar, Carter, Gaborik, and Williams), averaging nearly 21 pts. On the contrary, the leading point-getters from the Rangers are tied for 15th place with 13 pts.apiece (St. Louis, Stepan, and McDonagh). The Kings have been getting it done on the offensive end but will now be facing arguably the hottest goalie on the planet in Lundqvist. Can you expect them to average 4 goals-per-game in the Championship round like they did against the high-octane Blackhawks? I say not, as both teams will play it closer to the vest. In addition, the Kings could be a bit fatigue to start the series as they just became the first team in NHL history to advance to the Cup Finals after winning three Game 7's. 2. Usually, defensemen are not the way to go but both teams have blue-chippers that need to be starting. For New York, Ryan McDonagh busted out of his post-season slump by collecting 10 points in the Montreal series, second most ever by a Ranger's blueliner in the playoff. While it's reasonable to expect a dropoff after this explosion, the rising star looks to be in the middle of much of the "Blueshirts" offensive production. On the LA side, how can you not love Drew Doughty? He collected 7 points in the seven game 'classic' against Chicago, giving him 16 pts. in the playoffs. After a 37-point regular season, the 24-year old always seems to save his best offense for the games that count. 3. If you are scraping the "bottom of the barrel" and reaching for wild-card picks, look no further than some of the usually reliable King veterans, such as Dustin Brown and Mike Richards. The those type of players seem to excel in the most pivotal moments, so it's no surprise that Brown has posted 6 points in the last 4 games despite just 12 points in 21 overall playoff contests. Playing on the top line with Kopitar, the captain is beginning to surge, so fantasy owners need to take notice. Richards has not fared as well, but he is due to bust out so you can do alot worse than this perenially ...

That's why they play the games! The San Jose Sharks imploded after taking a 3-0 series lead.  I wonder if they will shake things up out there? The Chicago Blackhawks look determined to make it back to the big dance in June, don't they? If you're like me, you forgot that the Montreal Canadiens were still in the playoffs. They have had 10 days off since sweeping the Lightning out.  It's almost like starting the season all over again. It's not odd that the NY Rangers ousted the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games. It's just odd that they beat the Flyers in all the odd games.  Odd. The Flyers have to be ecstatic that it looks like they have a franchise goalie after a long hiatus. I'm sure that deep down inside very one of us, there was a glimmer of hope that the Columbus Blue Jackets would have beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round 1. Except for Penguins' fans of course. Congratulations to Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche on a successful season even though they didn't advance. They will be tough to play against for a long while. Matt Niskanen is having some season, eh? He is tied for the playoff lead in points for a defenseman with Paul Martin.  I know Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty will have something to say about the two Pens atop the point charts. Nathan MacKinnon is to be feared. This is why Martin St. Louis was acquired at the trade deadline. Forget his regular season drought with the Rangers.  It's playoff time. I betcha Tampa Bay wishes they had Marty back now. Montreal is still in this, right? I'm always afraid when the Boston Bruins get a few extra days to rest up. I think I will root for a NY-Montreal Conference Finals matchup. Just like old times. Battle of Los Angeles starts this weekend with LA going against Anaheim. Perhaps I'll watch the movie first to get an idea of how explosive this series can be. What are the St. Louis Blues going to do now? Is Ryan Miller not the answer? Was the Miller the answer?  Will they move some pieces around? Congratulations to "Iron Mike" Keenan who won the KHL Gagarin Cup with the Metallurg Magnitogorsk becoming the first coach to win both the Stanley Cup and the Gagarin Cup. He will now be known as "Behind the Iron Curtain Mike" Keenan. Rask and Price, Kopitar and Toews, Niskanen and Keith. Tops at their positions for the playoffs so far. Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Anton Stralman and Marc Staal had done an amazing job shutting down Claude Giroux. The Rangers won the series without Rick Nash potting a ...

The key to success in your fantasy playoff pools is selecting players from teams primed for long runs in the postseason. If you look at my top-ten fantasy list below and accompanying sleepers, you will have an idea of which teams that I believe will challenge for the Stanley Cup in 2014. Plenty of Bruins and Kings, that's for sure. TOP TEN Zdeno Chara, Boston Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Duncan Keith, ChicagoRyan McDonagh, New York RangersTorey Krug, BostonKris Letang, PittsburghBrent Seabrook, ChicagoSlava Voynov, Los AngelesEric Johnson, ColoradoAlex Pietrangelo, St. LouisNotes: Despite missing the last four regular-season games due to injury, King's defenseman Drew Doughty should be available for Game 1 against San Jose on Thursday. An elite playoff fantasy stud and a must-own option if you figure the King's to make a long-term splash in the postseason. If that's the case, Doughty should be coveted as arguably the top defensive fantasy option for this year's Stanley Cup dance... The juggernaut Boston Bruins are also primed for a lengthy ride, meaning that "Big Z" is a top-three pick. Zdeno Chara epitomizes the definition of a big-game performer, making him one of the premium selections out there.. Last season's playoff sensation Torey Krug followed up with an impressive 43-point campaign and added a "shot in the arm" for a previously ailing Bruin power-play. Look for their special teams to remain hot in the playoffs, and Krug to make his mark once again with steady offensive production... Kris Letang remains the premier fantasy wildcard of this year's playoffs. If he is indeed fully back from his horrific stroke incident, he is one of the few blueliners that could contend for the overall scoring title. Enough said.. If you are a fervent believer that the New York Rangers are going to make some noise beyond the first round, you need to consider Ryan McDonagh. The rising defenseman established career highs in goals (14) and points (43), but missed time late in the season due to a shoulder injury. Well, by all accounts, he is back to 100% and that means he needs to be high on your draft lists... Blue's d-man Alex Pietrangelo missed Sunday's game due to an undisclosed injury, but he should be ready to lace up the skates for Thursday's opener against Chicago. The ultra-talented rearguard should get plenty of fantasy consideration, given he had a fabulous season with his second 50+-point effort of his career and plays for a St. Louis squad that is on the "...

Doughty has been battling an upper-body injury, no word if he has re-aggravated the injury or if this is just rest related.

Doughty missed Saturday's game with an upper-body injury, but could be back in the lineup on Wednesday. He is listed as day-to-day, and he could be held out on Wednesday to rest prior to the post-season.

Loui Eriksson, RW Boston (Owned in 47.5% of ESPN leagues) His 4-assist performance playing in place of Jarome Iginla on the Bruin's top line should serve notice that he is arguably the most valuable waiver-wire grab of the final week. The B's have nothing to play for, meaning the older veterans such as Iginla and Zdeno Chara will be receiving much needed rest. I suggest all "Iggy" owners pick up Eriksson for good measure and monitor the situation closely until you need to set your starting rosters. The talented forward was a proven NHL scorer for Dallas and he did receive top-line minutes prior to Iginla's arrival, so his insertion should do little to hurt their scoring chemistry. Carl Soderberg, C Boston (Owned in 28.2% of ESPN leagues) The 28-year old rookie has been quite productive on the Bruin's third line, scoring 18 points in the last 21 games. If Coach Claude Julien decides to rest any key forwards, Soderberg will be in the mix for top-six forward minutes, including an expanded role on the power-play. He is well worth a flier and could pay off in a big way. Travis Zajac, C New Jersey  (Owned in 60.9 % of ESPN leagues) With 6 points in his last 4 games, the underrated pivot has elevated his offensive production just in time to get the Devils back in the thick of the playoff race. With Patrik Elias and Adam Henrique out of the lineup, Zajac should continue to lead the offense along with the ageless Jaromir Jagr and push toward playing some meaningful games beyond mid-April. He is well worth a flier with the postseason on the line for the suddenly streaking Devils. Alec Martinez, D Los Angeles ( Owned in 49.9% of ESPN leagues) Speaking of falling under the radar, all the 26-year old defenseman has done is post 15 points in the last 18 games, which represents upper-tier fantasy production in any format. With Drew Doughty injured and the Kings exercising caution with the eye to the playoffs, Martinez should see expanded minutes over the last week, including on the top power-play unit. I can't vouch for his fantasy value beyond this season, but for now he is "money". Ilya Bryzgalov, G Minnesota ( Owned in 28.4% of ESPN leagues) Since being traded to the Minnesota Wild, Bryzgalov has been elite between the pipes with a 5-0-3 record, a 1.87 GAA and a .920 SP. Coming off his 4-0 blanking of Pittsburgh and Darcy Kuemper still ailing, there is a decent chance that the enigmatic goalie will play all four games for this defensive juggernaut during ...