Welcome back to Looking Ahead, the weekly column where we gander at the next 10-ish days of NHL play to see how often each team is playing, who they're playing, and which fantasy options can help out. It is also important to know which players to avoid, so we'll be looking at some of those as well.

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

Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton Oilers (Available in 41% of ESPN leagues, 81% Fantrax, 44% Yahoo) – Earlier this season Evan Bouchard saw time on Edmonton's top defensive pairing and ran their top power play unit and for the time being, this looks to be where he'll be slotted again.

I really think that Bouchard is Edmonton's best defender, and his offense isn't too shabby either following a two-goal game this past Saturday, along with 15 shots on goal in his past five games played. What really interests us here though is that in the Oilers last game Bouchard finally (praise be) was brought back onto Edmonton's top pair along with Darnell Nurse and is quarterbacking Edmonton's top power play unit. Unless your name is Tyson Barrie, this is very good news.

Edmonton's offense hasn't exactly been firing on full cylinders with 25 goals for in their past ten games at 5v5 and 4 goals for on the man advantage, putting them at 25^th and 31^st in those two categories, but for Bouchard this is an excellent chance to help contribute. Regardless of their record, Bouchard is going to see significant time with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins which only adds to his fantasy and DFS value. While Barrie is day-to-day, Bouchard makes for a fantastic short-term addition to your fantasy lineup.

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

Brock Nelson, C, New York Islanders (Available in 68% of ESPN leagues, 52% Fantrax, 16% Yahoo) – Yes, fantasy hockey is largely about having the best players on your team and finding value in spots that others in your league may overlook. However, I also think that it's not talked about enough how you can use the schedule in your advantage, and that's just what we have here with Nelson.

By the time you're reading this the Isles will have played 36 games this season, which puts them dead last in games played thus far. They've battled COVID issues along with having a very light schedule to start the season, now though their schedule will begin to tilt the opposite way. What makes Nelson so enticing is that he plays around 18 minutes a game slated on the Islanders second even strength and power play units. He also has six points in his last five games and currently has the highest shooting percentage of his career at 21.7%.

The Islanders are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games played, and I really feel as though the more consistency they'll have in their schedule, the more their play is going to improve. Nelson has been a 50-point scorer in the league, and I think rostering him moving forward will only be a benefit to your roster.

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

Evan Rodrigues, C/RW, Pittsburgh Penguins (Owned in 80% of ESPN leagues, 80% of Fantrax, 35% Yahoo) – Early this season I wrote up Rodrigues as an Immediate Fix and boy, did we have a nice run with him. What's changed making him an odd man out now? In short, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust have returned to the lineup, changing Rodrigues' role on this club.

I felt while Rodrigues was playing along Sidney Crosby that he should see permanent time along Pittsburgh's top line, but I also understand that there is real chemistry that Crosby has with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. For Rodrigues this means that he is now playing on Pittsburgh's third line with Jeff Carter and Brock McGinn, which yes, not the worst third line in the league but what hurts most here for fantasy is his loss of ice time which leads to less offensive production. Since moving to the third line his average time on ice has dropped from 17:29 to 15:43, including a game where he saw10 minutes vs Ottawa last Thursday vs Ottawa. He's still shooting a fair amount with 15 shots on goal in his past five games, but being the trigger man on a third line might not be a valuable piece to your roster moving forward.

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

Jordan Binnington, G, St.Louis Blues (Owned in 78% of ESPN leagues, 94% of Fantrax, 80% Yahoo) – Lots to unpack here as Binnington hasn't exactly been playing well as of late but that's not why he's in the principal's office on the Anchor list. What's important to remember here is that last March when Binnington signed his six-year, $36-million dollar deal with the Blues it also included a no trade clause for the first three years of the deal, and that could come into play with where he stands right now on the depth chart.

Binnington's last time out he got absolutely shelled for seven goals on 35 shots, and prior to that he let in six goals on 40 shots. The issue here isn't this wasn't a day or so in between starts, this was nine days in between. For a starting goalie that saw regular time in net, sitting for a week absolutely raised an eyebrow for fantasy owners.

Right now, Ville Husso is seeing the majority of time in net, and I'd even argue he's a better goaltender than Binnington at this point. Now, whether or not the Blues are running Husso out to potentially find a trade partner or they truly believe that right now Husso gives them the best chance to win remains a mystery. What isn't a mystery though is that Binnington is a higher owned goalie across all platforms and is just not seeing starts like he was to open the season. It's hard to roster goalies in fantasy, either it's coaches not informing us who will be named the starter on a given night or just lack of goalies that see regular time, Binnignton was one of the few that you could for the most part count on being named the starting goalie for St.Louis and putting up decent fantasy production. I think moving forward how to play this if you're a Binningon owner (I stand with all of you), if you can, roster both Binnington and Husso and keep your eye on news before lock and play it that way. I also think any trade possibility in fantasy is an option to try and get someone who will see more constant starts, or for a position of need on your club. This is a complicated one, keep close tabs on the Ramblings and Goalie Post for any updates to follow.

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

This period runs from January 28^th to February 9^th

Boston – The B's are kind of always a Love 'Em aren't they? You feel great when you have Boston players going for you and horrified when it's Boston players you're going up against.  They'll be on the road upcoming vs Arizona and Dallas, and then come home vs the Kraken.

Calgary – Calgary's offense has been great lately, in the past two weeks alone they have the highest Corsi for percentage in the league and will get favorable matchups against Vancouver, Dallas, and Arizona.

NY Islanders – The Isles are still in the midst of a nice homestand that still has Seattle and Ottawa left on the schedule. New York has sent their second and third lines out against top competition at home, giving the Barzal line nothing but depth matchups. Not to mentionthey have the fewest goals against in the league since the calendar flipped to 2022. I like the Isles chances to gain some ground back upcoming

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

Nashville – Nashville hasn't been as…we'll go Preds-like the past ten games, but they'll have a very light schedule upcoming to regroup.

New Jersey – The Devils next three goes at Carolina and then a home and home vs the Leafs. For a club that's rotated out two AHL goalies the past week and in desperate need of points to stay in somewhat of contention, this is a tough upcoming stretch of games.

Washington – The Caps just don't have much on their schedule before the break begins, they're starting to get healthy again, but poor goaltending has bogged them down as of late. They'll be a stay away for the time being.