This week, the Jets pulled off a miracle comeback to advance to the second round; Dallas anticipates having both Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen back in the second round; and Carolina rewarded goalie Frederik Andersen with a new one-year deal, taking a potential UFA off the market. Other Fantasy hockey stories we’re tracking include…

Eetu Luostarinen Goes Wild

The Florida Panthers have been inconsistent with their regular season results over the last half decade or so, but one thing that has been a constant over the last couple of years is has been how good they are at shifting into playoff mode come April. To wit, they went to the Finals in 2022-23 before winning it all last season.

This season, while Florida took a step back in the regular season (failing to reach 100 points after posting 110 in 2023-24), as usual they are rocking it in the playoff. In dispatching Tampa Bay in five games in the first round, the Panthers led all teams in shots against, an impressive feat considering the weapons the Lightning has.

How do the Cats succeed come playoff time? It’s getting contributions from the unexpected that really helps. Consider what the generally overlooked Eetu Luostarinen did against Tampa Bay. His offensive game has regressed in the last couple of years, so no one was surprised when he went scoreless over the first three games of the series.

An assist in Game Four was a nice little bonus, but in the clincher, Luostarinen exploded for a goal and three helpers. WTF?

He actually had a solid start to the season, posting six points in 11 games in October, but his production slowly declined over the remainder of the schedule, making a game like this an even bigger shock. Luostarinen has some nice linemates in Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand, but his role is capped as a third line winger who can throw his weight around from time to time (see video below).

Back in 2021-22, we commented on Luostarinen’s breakout, which was even more pronounced the following season, but since then it’s been downhill as in 2024-25 – despite a slightly hitter shooting percentage — he posted his lowest point total (25) since 2020-21.

For the past two seasons, any value he’s provided has been on the defensive end, and even that hasn’t been as good as his expected defensive value (xDef of 4.2 vs. actual Def of 2.5). A good sized winger, Luostarinen has never duplicated the promise he showed in 2022-23 as a solid two-way player and is now in decline, but for one night last week, he was the man.

Mikko Rantanen Haunts His Ex

In the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season, the Dallas Stars were meh, plodding along with a .536 winning percentage, but have built themselves into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender since, improving to .598, .659 and .689 over the next three seasons.

And yes, the Stars dropped to .646 in 2024-25 (in no small part thanks to a seven-game skid to end the regular season), yet here they are again in the elite eight, after disposing of archrival Colorado in an exciting seven-game first round series.

While Dallas, as alluded to above, was missing its top goal scorer and best defenseman against the Avalanche, it was Colorado’s former top line star that stepped up after a sluggish start to the series.

Yes, former Avalanche Mikko Rantanen – traded twice this season – came back to haunt his old friends. After managing one measly assist over the first four games of the series, he exploded for five goals and six assists over the final three, including a hat trick in the third period of Game Seven.

Wow. Small wonder Rantanen has shot to +1200 to win the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP as per FanDuel.

He was not the same player after Colorado traded him, but at least he was better in Dallas than he was as a Hurricane (six points in 13 games for Carolina before 18 in 20 for the Stars). All told, this was a disappointing campaign for Rantanen and his Fantasy owners as he failed to reach even 90 points after back-to-back campaigns over 100.

However, having several fellow Finns (Roope Hintz, Mikael Granlund, Esa Lindell and Heiskanen) as teammates seems to have really helped him feel more comfortable in Dallas.

Trading for Rantanen was a rare misstep for Carolina, and one that just caused a lot of unnecessary drama, but for Dallas, the move has worked out just fine, thank you every much.

Waiver Wire Pick of the Week

Vladislav Namestnikov, C, Winnipeg Jets (ESPN: 3.8 per cent; CBS: 10 per cent): Mark Schiefele’s injury allowed Namestnikov to skate on the Jets’ top line in Game Seven and he managed a goal, giving him two tallies and two helpers over the last three games. We pimped Namestnikov a year and a half ago and it was a solid pick as he enjoyed his best month of the season, slumped in February and then played well down the stretch. All told, last season was among the best efforts of his career, and he built slightly on that production this season while seeing an increase in ice time. Namestnikov can also provide a boost in hits for your Fantasy team, and as long as he’s seeing time in the top six, he deserves your consideration.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

Lynyrd Skynyrd hailed from Jacksonville, Florida in the early 1960s. Their 1989 compilation album Skynyrd’s Innyrds: Their Greatest Hits featured tracks from 1973 to 1977, including “Don’t Ask Me No Questions,” originally the lead single from their second album, Second Helping.