All fantasy owners need help in the short term AND the long term. The Looking Ahead feature identifies one player to plug into lineups in the short term, a second to invest in for the long term, a third to bench for the coming week, and a fourth who will struggle to meet expectations for some time. All players discussed are selected based on their upcoming schedule. Stats in this article updated through February 16th

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

Ryan Spooner, C, New York Rangers (Available in 92 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Going with a hot hand, Ryan Spooner has already had a huge impact since getting traded to New York as a second-line winger, putting up five assists (one on the PP), five blocked shots, and three SOG in only two games. Spooner does lose some power play time going from the point on a potent Bruins first unit to the second unit of the Rangers, but at even strength in a small sample the Kevin Hayes/Spooner duo have put up a great scoring chance and high-danger scoring chance rate.

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

Brady Skjei, D, New York Rangers (Available in 85 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – With Ryan McDonagh getting injured and subsequently traded to Tampa Bay, there’s a lot of ice time available to the Rangers’ leftovers in John Gilmour, Tony DeAngelo, Neal Pionk, and the one I’m highlighting, Brady Skjei. In his past five games, Skjei has captained the top power-play for the Rags while seeing over 23 minutes per game on average, and has picked up two assists with six shots on goal. In leagues that track peripherals, all that extra ice time has been a boon to Skjei’s value, as he’s picked up an 18 combined hits and blocks.

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

Jake Muzzin D, Los Angeles Kings (Owned in 80 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Since Dion Phaneuf has made his way to the Kings, Muzzin’s value has taken a bigger-than-expected hit, losing power play time to Phaneuf on the first unit, and even-strength ice time has taken a dip as well. From February 15^th, Muzzin has played 15, 14, 9, 18, 16, 16, 16 and 10 minutes at even strength – less than Phaneuf in every game – and has put up only one assist in that time. He’s still a strong asset for hits and blocks, about three combined per game, but he’s a droppable asset in points-only leagues and can be sat for the foreseeable future in peripheral leagues.

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

Danton Heinen, LW, Boston Bruins (Owned in 18 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – For players in deeper one-year leagues or shallow keepers, it’s time to give up on Heinen. After getting healthy scratched for BRIAN GIONTA – which should say something about what the team thinks of Heinen’s value at the moment – Heinen has only topped 15 minutes three times in his past ten games, with one assist. Beyond losing his spot to Gionta, when Heinen does get back in the lineup he’ll still be relegated to PP2 and short minutes in a third- or fourth-line role, and one not nearly effective as the Backes-Riley Nash line he was on before Patrice Bergeron went down.

Love ‘Em (These squads are sure to pay dividends in the coming days)

Arizona – IF there are any Coyotes fantasy-relevant players left on your roster at this point in the season – and there should be in deeper leagues – now is the time to use them. The Coyotes have six games upcoming in this stretch with only one back-to-back (at Colorado then home to Vancouver), but more importantly is the fact that they get to play Vancouver. Not only do they play the Canucks at home, but the Coyotes also face them in this stretch in Vancouver, on top of games against Ottawa and Edmonton who also struggle defensively. Their full schedule is home vs. OTT, at EDM, VAN, COL, home vs. VAN, and home vs. LAK.

Minnesota – The Wild have been HOT recently thanks to the play of the Staal-Zucker-Granlund line (twenty-six points in their first three games together!), and have a very appealing schedule: they see the Red Wings, Canucks and Oilers as highlights, but also get games against Colorado (twice) and Carolina where they can use Mikko Koivu to neutralize opponents while Staal and company run roughshod over their opponents’ depth lines. Lots to love from the Wild these days.

Ottawa – Senators fans can be elated that Erik Karlsson is still around, and fantasy owners can be elated about the Sens’ upcoming schedule; although they’ll have some back-to-backs and have five road games in this period, the seven games Ottawa gets is the most by far. Ottawa’s power play has scored a goal in each of their last three games and gets some bad PK teams in Arizona (13^th), Vegas (15^th), and Calgary (16^th but putrid lately). They also play Dallas, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay to round out their schedule.

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

Toronto – Between the 2^nd and the 14^th, the Maple Leafs only have four games, and are still missing Auston Matthews. Although their opponents can be sneakily bad – Washington, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, as well as a game at home against Dallas – this schedule makes it hard to use any Toronto players. The small bit of good news is for Freddie Andersen owners, who can roll him out with no back-to-backs scheduled.

St. Louis – Finally winning a game after losing seven in a row and trading away their 1A/1B centre, the Blues also only have four games during this slate, and even worse is the fact that they’re all road games. The Blues head to Dallas, get four days off, and then swing through California to face Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Tough stretch against good teams for a team that’s struggling to score.

New York Islanders – The Isle have five games upcoming, but four of the five come on the road – Pittsburgh and Western Canada – and their first road game comes on a home/road back-to-back as NYI faces Montreal tonight. The Islanders have been neutered of late, scoring more than three goals only once in their past ten games (albeit they scored seven that game), and have been particularly bad on the road.