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Richards picked up an assist on Thursday night which extended his point-scoring streak to five game. Richards has had a bit of a slow 2012-13 season when he posted just 23 points in the first 40 contests of the season, but has woken up during the last five games recording nine points along with 13 shots on goal. His past playoff production could be something to really keep any eye out for as he has posted 77 points in 83 post-season contests (0.93 points per game) and seems to be a real “playoff warrior”. Definitely keep him in mind for playoff pools as the Rangers make their push to the Stanley Cup in the post-season.

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Karlsson missed over two months with his Achilles injury but returned with a bang as he assisted in both of the Sens goals in their win over the Caps on Thursday night. Karlsson is a big part of Sens’ offense and this is a great news to see him back and playing before the post-season starts. The Sens struggled through 2012-13 without Karlsson and still managed to make the playoffs, so getting a “top end” producer like him back in the lineup is certainly a big boost. Ottawa could be a great “sleeper” team for the post-season to consider in playoff pools.

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Schenn has registered 179 hits along with 100 blocked shots which ranks fourth and 15th respectively in the league in those departments. He’s also averaging 21:49 per contest, which shows that he’s playing a large role on the Flyers’ blue-line. They have been decimated by injuries this season, as they’ve lost a ton of man games from their defenseman. Hopefully 2013-14 will bring better luck in terms of injuries to the team which will allow them to develop some consistency in their lineup. One drawback with Schenn is that he’s not a real “offensive” blue-liner, as he doesn’t receive much power play ice-time (just 21 seconds per game) for the Flyers, so his point production will always be limited due to a lack of “high end” offensive ice-time. If you’re looking for major contribution on the peripheral front, definitely keep Schenn on the radar for next campaign.

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Burns has recorded four points along with 25 shots on goal in eight contests during the last two weeks. He’s spending a lot of his even strength shifts alongside Joe Thornton and T.J. Galiardi which seems to be really paying off for Burns owners. He does get shifted back on the blue-line for the second power play unit, but the big damage that really occurs is when he plays a big front of the net presence and annoying opposition goalies. I don’t know if this is going to be a permanent fixture for Burns, but it seems to be working so far, so look for the Sharks to continue to go to the well until it dries up.

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Stone has seen a boost in responsibility during the last two weeks as he’s been garnering a 34.9 percent share of the Coyotes’ power play opportunities during this span. He’ll be stuck behind Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the Phoenix depth charts, but if he can manage to somehow move up, Stone could have plenty of potential fantasy value next season. During his final two years of junior hockey he recorded 61 and 65 points which both ranked fourth in their respective seasons among defensive scoring in the WHL. Stone has plenty of offensive upside, and if he can manage to garner the ice-time/responsibility, he could really do some damage in fantasy leagues.

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Handzus has recorded six points along with nine shots on goal in 10 contests since joining Chicago at the trade deadline. He picked up three assists in Wednesday night’s win over the Oilers and one of the reasons behind his boost in offensive output was due to the fact that he spent 54 percent of his shifts alongside Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp. That probably won’t be a permanent fixture for Handzus, but it might change if he can continue to gel and provide enough evidence for coach Joel Quenneville to continue to trial him in that slot. Handzus is an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, so a strong playoff performance could go a long way in helping him garner a lucrative contract for the future.

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Yakupov recorded his 12th goal of the season, but it was the 68.3 percent share of the Oilers’ power play opportunities that was the eye-catching stat of the night. It was a stark contrast to the 43.1 percent of opportunities that he “normally” receives. He’s was a bit handcuffed in 2012-13, but next season could be his real coming out party if he can manage this type of opportunity in Edmonton. Most rookies experience a “sophomore” slump during their second NHL season, but Yakupov could be one of the exceptions to the rule. Definitely keep him in mind for 2013-14.

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The Kings are 1-3-3 while averaging just 1.88 goals per game during their last seven road contests. This could have huge playoff implications if they don’t own home ice advantage heading into the post-season as LA owns a 18-4-1 record at home, but just a 8-12-4 record on the road. They also have a goal differential of plus-28 at home but a rating of minus-12 on the road. There could be a huge difference in playoff implications on whether the Kings finish fourth or fifth in the Western Conference. LA and San Jose will both have a lot to play for as they face off against each other on Saturday night to possibly determine who gets home ice advantage in the first round.

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DeKeyser garnered 1:45 on the power play on Wednesday night, which represented 44.7 percent of Detroit’s power play opportunities in the 3-1 win over the Kings. He also recorded two shots on goal along with two blocked shots along with one hit. The Red Wings only have Niklas Kronwall, Kyle Quincey, Jonathan Ericsson and Carlo Colaiacovo signed, so there’s a couple of open roster spots available for DeKeyser to compete for in 2013-14. If DeKeyser has a great playoffs, he could essentially walk into a top-four role for the Red Wings next campaign.

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Toronto is just 1-3 during the last four contests while averaging just 2.5 goals per game. The downside is that some of the teams that they’ve faced off against are playoff bound teams (Washington, NY Islanders and Ottawa) and if this is a sign of things to come, they could be in trouble during the post-season. One bright side is that their power play has been firing recording three goals from 12 opportunities in that span, so that’s definitely a plus. The Leafs have two more games remaining to the 2012-13 regular season, so hopefully they can work out the kinks prior to the “second season” beginning.

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