Well, we've made it everyone, the last week of fantasy hockey (for the majority of leagues out there). This Looking Ahead is all about the fantasy owner whose matchup is down to the wire in a win and get in situation, the owner who has a first-round bye, and those just looking to best set themselves up for a playoff run. We're going to target players in great spots and use ice time and the schedule to our advantage here, let's dive in!  

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

Robert Thomas, C/RW, St.Louis Blues (Available in 50% of ESPN leagues, 74% Fantrax, 49% Yahoo) – So we're looking at you here, the fantasy player who needs a good weekend to get into playoffs. That means we're looking for a club that plays at least twice between Friday and Sunday, and if we can get four games next week that's a bonus if you make it in. Going through all the clubs and players that can really make a positive impact I think Thomas is in the best position.

For Thomas he does carry a higher roster percentage over on Fantrax and as far as ESPN and Yahoo leagues are concerned it's a coin flip. My guess is for leagues with 10 or fewer members he’s likely available for pickup, those in leagues with more than ten or larger rosters possibly not. In the event you can add Thomas though this is a move that I think will help boost your club and be able to grab some much-needed points.

The Blues play twice more this week, both tonight vs Minnesota and tomorrow vs the Wild, both of which are home games for St.Louis. They also have four games next week so being able to roster Thomas will benefit next week as well to help fill out a roster. As much as clubs have been lowering time on ice for or just evening out the ice time across all lines, Thomas's ice time has gone up from his average of 18:51 on the season to 19:03 the past week. This is very encouraging as there are a lot of great players and lines in hockey right now that are skating around the 15–17-minute mark.

I honestly really like Thomas as a playmaker as well, he reminds me of Brayden Point in that aspect. Thomas has 12 points in his last seven games played on a St.Louis second line that has been playing extremely well, centering Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko. This line has been broken up and brought back together a few times this season but if were me I'd keep it together, and that's off both numbers and eye test. Although Thomas is only correlated with Buchnevich on the power play St.Louis typically splits up their units somewhat evenly and have been known throughout the season to mix up their forward groupings for each unit. If you can make a claim and add Thomas here in the short term, I think this is a great spot to help your club here on the last weekend of the season.

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

Jake DeBrusk, LW/RW, Boston Bruins (Available in 10% of ESPN leagues, 31% Fantrax, 27% Yahoo) – Wasn't Jake DeBrusk supposed to get traded around the deadline? Oh well, no deal was made and he's skating on the B's top line and that's very good for us here. For the Building Block I'm looking at you, the guy or gal who killed it during the regular season and now can sit back and relax on a bye week for the first round of fantasy playoffs. Coming back, we're looking for a player on a club that will play four games two weeks from now and as they say, "Will have something to play for" so that ice times don't become an issue or the possibility of a player resting. It might sound crazy, but digging deep Boston is that club, and DeBrusk is that player.  

I'll open the blinds a little bit here into what my morning looks like, coffee and check the standings, that's the daily routine before logging onto work/scrolling through my fantasy leagues too much. Although the maybe seven out of the eight Eastern Conference clubs have been set playoff wise since the All-Star break (seriously, go back and look) the standings have shifted a little bit and this morning I was taken back a bit to see Boston out of the top Wild Card spot and into third in the Atlantic.

Right now, at 93 points the B's are in Playoffs and my guess here is that they are going to let the chips fall where they may as far as who they'll see in round one. With that though Boston will still play four games, and even with lower ice time Boston's top line can still get on the score sheet in the time given.

If you have the bye week and are looking to add someone who will really help fill out a roster I think DeBrusk is a perfect option here. Eight points in six games which is great and he's playing on Boston's top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. There aren't too many better spots as far as who your line mates are. The ice time is a little lower but as far as his season average goes it's up from around 14:30 to 16 minutes, and part of that has to do with DeBrusk not seeing time on Boston's top power play unit. Boston has still been playing teams tough, and not giving up much space on defense. I like DeBrusk as an addition for a deep playoff run.

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

Brock Boeser, RW, Vancouver Canucks (Rostered in 66% of ESPN leagues, 82% of Fantrax, 63% Yahoo) – Alright so this is a tough one here. Boeser does still have short-term value, at least, we hope so. Going into fantasy playoffs health is key, we can get over a player on IL but not knowing when a player may return could impact roster construction when there's no room for error.

Boeser is being evaluated for an arm injury and did not play in the Canucks previous two road games vs Vegas on Wednesday and Arizona on Thursday. The next chance for his return would be tomorrow at home vs San Jose and that's something to really keep an eye on if you currently have Boeser on your roster. The Canucks have listed him as DTD which good because that could potentially mean that his injury isn't serious and that he won't miss much time, but not so good because a player that's DTD can't go on IL to be able to pick up a player in Boeser's absence from the lineup.

I think if you currently have Boeser on your roster here's to go about navigating this. If it turns out he's in the lineup tomorrow, great. No need to panic just plug and play. If he's not though you have some options here. Vancouver is at a disadvantage most of the time for adding/dropping players and that's because of where they're located. Any east coast club is likely going to lock before Vancouver which means we sometimes don't get roster news until two or so hours after lock. If the news comes out that Boeser will miss tomorrow's game before lock and Vancouver lists him as "Out", you can still throw that player on IL and be able to pick up a player if your league allows it. In the event he's listed out past roster lock, then I would make sure to still add him to your IL if you have a spot, and then go ahead and claim a player for the following day as all player transactions passed a Friday lock will take effect on Saturday.

I get it, it's a lot of checking your phone or scrolling up and down Twitter for news but I think if you're a club trying to get into your league's playoffs or improve your seeding it's worth it to stay current on any news, even if that news comes as late as warmups.

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

Nazem Kadri, C, Colorado Avalanche (Rostered in 83% of ESPN leagues, 92% of Fantrax, 85% Yahoo) – If you're looking at those roster numbers for Kadri, odds are they are going to be even lower than what's displayed above. On Fantrax and Yahoo those numbers have gone down 8% and ESPN as much as 12% on Thursday and they'll likely dive even more. If Kadri is on your fantasy team he may already be on your league's waivers, and if not well, we'll get there. 

What we know now is that Kadri has an upper body injury, and the timetable is "some time". Not exactly what we want to hear for fantasy purposes and Avs head coach Jared Bednar has already come out and said that he's confident the Avs centre will be back for the playoffs. Just reading into this a little bit here, this to me means he's on the shelf for the rest of the regular season. With the injuries Colorado already has and as important as Kadri is to that club, I cannot see him being rushed back into action as Colorado has already clinched a playoff spot.  

Maybe there's a chance where the Avs want to get Kadri into some game action before playoffs if he's healthy enough to do so, but even then, I'd assume that would not be until the last week of the regular season which doesn't help us in fantasy all that much. If you're in a keeper league here, there's not much to do but put Kadri on IL and find a player to replace him, for those who are not you can either throw Kadri on IL if you have a spot, or outright drop him to add a player. Sometimes I think dropping a player with Kadri's skill is risky because of the threat that someone else will add him to their club but in this case, I think we see Kadri on the bench for the remainder of the regular season and fantasy playoffs.

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

This period runs from April 8^th to April 20^th

Nashville – A nice long homestand is just what the doctor ordered for the Preds to be a Love Em. They'll see tougher opponents this weekend with Florida and Pittsburgh, but then welcome San Jose, Edmonton, and Chicago next week.

Toronto – A higher rostered club in fantasy that has a busy schedule upcoming will always be a Love Em in my eyes. The Leafs start a three game homestand on Saturday vs Montreal and will play four games next week. I like the Leafs here coming up.     

Tampa Bay – Tampa has dropped three in a row, but I like them here coming up. From April 10^th through the 16^th they'll welcome Buffalo, Anaheim, and Winnipeg to Amalie Arena. That's two non-playoff clubs and one, maybe playoff club.  

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

Vancouver – So technically no, the Canucks are not eliminated from making the playoffs yet, but the math is not in their favor. They only play twice next week which I'm sure will bring a lot of scoreboard watching. Lack of games for this club means a stay away for me.

Edmonton – I've had a lot of fun watching Edmonton the past week or so which is something I don't think I've said since they stacked a line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They have a tough stretch here coming up with games against Colorado, Minnesota, and Nashville. That stretch doesn't particularly grade out well, the Oilers are a Leave Em this week.

Pittsburgh – I believe in this team maybe more than most, but they have one of the lowest scores later in the next week with only Boston and the Isles from the 14^th-20^th.  For now they'll be a stay away.