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.

Note: With COVID news coming out of the blue, this article could be stale by Friday evening. It's important as always to pay attention to twitter and the site (especially the Ramblings) to keep abreast of all fantasy-relevant changes. The schedule portion of this article will continue as always, but be prepared to react quickly if games get postponed. All stats updated through Wednesday, Mar. 11^th

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

Alex Killorn, W, Tampa Bay Lightning (Available in 67 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Last season, Killorn put up a strong 26G-23A line in 68 games playing mostly third-line minutes on a deep Tampa Bay roster, but 13 of those 49 points came on the power play – an advantage of playing on a top unit that includes Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Killorn gets to keep that role this season, but now gets the added bonus of playing his 5v5 minutes with Stamkos.

On the year, Killorn has picked up 6G-9A so far on 11.1 percent shooting, and is playing 18:39 per game – a minute and a half more than his career average and 40 seconds more than last year when he hit his career-highs. With his strong performance to date combined with the Lightning's fantastic schedule (see below), Killorn is a great replacement for any injuries or lightly-scheduled players.

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

Mats Zuccarello, W, Minnesota Wild (Available in 64 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Injuries meant a delayed start to the year for Zuccarello this season, and expectations were very low after a 37-point performance last year – his first in Minnesota. Zuccarello is still a player that put up 59- and 61-point seasons as a New York Ranger though, and up to this point on the Wild hadn't been put in a great position to succeed offensively – finishing the year on the fourth line and averaging less than 16 minutes per game.

This year, Zuccarello is playing around 30 seconds more per game – hitting that number or higher in four of his past five – and is playing primary minutes at 5v5 alongside the young dynamo, Kirill Kaprizov. The rotating center hasn't been ideal fit yet, flipping between Victor Rask and Nick Bjugstad, but Zuccarello has persevered to the tune of 4G-10A in only 13 games. Zuccarello isn't even shooting outside the norm by a wild degree, as he shot 15.6 percent last year and is at 16 percent this year. Importantly, Zuccarello is also playing top power play, which he didn't do a lot of last year. He's a great addition in points-only leagues.

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

Patrik Laine, W, Columbus Blue Jackets (Owned in 94 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Getting ahead of this: Laine's a great player, he'll produce, this isn't an argument to drop or trade Laine – but it's important to lower expectations over the next couple weeks. With Columbus' putrid schedule (see below) combined with Laine's form of late, production will be at a standstill.

Laine's gone pointless in his past seven games and his ice time has bounced all over the place, seeing as low as 15:26 and as high as 22:25 in those games. Laine's shooting volume has remained at his elite level – 19 shots in seven games (2.7/game) – but Laine's gone from being centered by Jack Roslovic (as when he first got to Columbus) to currently being centered by defensive specialist Riley Nash. Playing under John Tortorella means ice time and linemates can vary wildly, and combined with all other factors, people that rostered Laine should be very concerned. If possible, drop a depth piece and bench Laine.

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

Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils (Owned in 49 percent of Yahoo! Leagues) – Technically this is cheating as Hughes is below the 50 percent cutoff, but halfway through the season ownership levels fairly close to where it should be, and Hughes should be a lot lower-owned than in 49 percent given his production so far and the team he plays on.

Hughes jumped out to a great start this year with seven points in his first five games (3G-4A, 1.4pts/game) and topped 21 minutes in two of those games, but in the next 17 games he's only added two goals and four assists (0.35pts/game) to that tally. While Hughes' true talent level is probably somewhere in between those two numbers, he was actually worse in his rookie season at 0.34pts/game, so there's much more reason to believe he'll disappoint the rest of the way. Hughes is playing more minutes than last year – especially without Nico Hischier in the lineup – but playing on a Devils team that struggles to put the puck in the net and playing with inconsistent line mates every night makes Hughes a sell.

Hughes doesn't provide much in the way of peripherals – zero PIM on the year, not a volume shooter, doesn't hit or block – and given the slow production to this point, can easily take a hike. In dynasty leagues hang on to Hughes (unless he can be sold off of a contending team for immediate help) but in one-year leagues and even shallow keeper leagues he's not worth hanging on to. Bad-luck for those Hughes believers.

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

This period runs from March 12^h to March 24^th

Edmonton – The Oilers have the best possible schedule given they play eight games this period – one more than would be allowed in a regular season – and play against Canadian teams, which is just the best combination for fantasy. The toughest matchup Edmonton will have over those eight games is against the Canadiens (twice), but the remaining games come against Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary (twice) and Winnipeg (twice).

Colorado – After getting Nathan MacKinnon back this week, the Avalanche are basically at full strength – although missing Cale Makar hurts – and with seven games this period, have a strong schedule. Colorado will play home games against Los Angeles twice, Ducks once and Wild twice as well as two games in Arizona.

Tampa Bay – The best team in the league (in points percentage) has a strong schedule upcoming and with their recent line changes, have three lines that can realistically score; while that can hurt top-tier players in fantasy by dividing up the points, it makes for more viable options in deeper leagues. Tampa will play home games against Nashville twice, Chicago twice and Florida once, as well as two road games in Dallas for a total of seven games this period.

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

Toronto – In a condensed season, it's nonsensical that a team would only play four games in a 12-day period – especially a team that hasn't been impacted by COVID – but that's exactly what the Maple Leafs get this period. Toronto plays two home games against the Flames as well as one game against the Jets at home, and one road game in Ottawa; even more nonsensical is that Toronto plays two back-to-backs out of their four games, with one of the Calgary games and the Ottawa game coming on the back end.

Columbus – There was a brief period after acquiring Patrik Laine where Columbus scored at a great rate, but after putting up five against the Blackhawks in February (their last high-scoring game), Columbus has only scored 11 times in seven games – which includes putting up four against the Red Wings which is basically a free square. The Blue Jackets play five games this period, against Dallas twice and against Carolina three times, both strong defensive teams.

Washington – Bad-luck for Washington this period, as the Capitals play only five games during this stretch which includes two back-to-backs – one home/road and the other home/home – which includes tough games against the Flyers and Islanders. The positive for the Caps is their remaining games come against the Sabres (once) and Rangers (twice), but when so many other teams have six-or-more games, Washington can be ignored.