With the madness of the NHL Trade Deadline just over a week away, most leagues are likely gearing up for their own deadline as well. Some leagues have it on the exact day as the NHL, while others push it back so it is closer to your playoffs. Whatever the case may base, it's going to be the last chance you have to make some moves with the opposing managers in your league.

The biggest thing for me with any fantasy deadline acquisition is not necessarily who the player is, but how often are they playing during my playoffs. If my team is looking at a 4^th place finish and I want to acquire Daniel Sedin for the stretch run, it's pretty damn worthwhile knowing that Vancouver only plays twice during what will be my first round (Mar 12-18).  This is the exact kind of thing you need to be planning for when making any kind of deadline deal or acquisition.

Luckily for you, I have put together a small chart listing how many games teams are playing during the fantasy playoffs and weeks leading up to them. Now I know some leagues start a week early so as to avoid counting stats during the last week of the season. With that in mind I've added the March 5 to 11 and 12 to 18 as well so you can also see how often they play during the last week of your season.

There are a few Looking Ahead quick hits down below.

NOTE: This is for the Monday to Sunday weekly schedule

A tough decision can be made easier with these charts showing you the best five and worst five schedules for upcoming seven-day periods. Some of you used them last year but for the benefit of new readers here is a refresher. The number next to the team indicates the ‘multiplier’ to use on a player’s point-per-game pace to give you an idea how many points to expect for that week.

• The Ducks are still in the race going 3-0-1 in their first four of a eight game road trip. NJ, Florida, Tampa and Carolina up next
• Boston plays their next five at Win, Min, StL, Buf, Ott
• Carolina only plays one in their next seven on the road, but follows it with 10 of 12 away from home
• Losers of nine straight, Chicago ends their eight game road trip with games at MSG and in Columbus on Saturday
• The Wings still play six of their next eight at the Joe, but face Nashville, San Jose, @Chicago and Vancouver in their next four in a row.
• Not helping their "Fail For Nail" campaign, Edmonton also play six of eight at home, where they're 15-8-4
• San Jose play their next seven on the road where they're averaging only 2.4 goals per game
• The Blues play seven of ten on the road (10-12-3) and have a gruelling seven game road trip coming up in March
• Winnipeg, after Thursday's game, play eight straight at home (16-9-2)