We're at the American Thanksgiving mark of the season and I think this is a good benchmark of who's who and who is for real in the NHL. It's also a good point to look forward at who we'll likely see come playoffs. Last season on this date your division leaders were Florida, Carolina, Minnesota, and Calgary. All four of those clubs made playoffs and three of them won their divisions (Colorado won the Central over Minnesota). This season your division leaders as of right now are Boston, New Jersey, Dallas, and Vegas. It's something to watch for moving forward, but always like to use this week as a good gauge so to speak. With that, let's dive in!

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

Rasmus Sandin, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (Rostered in 2% of ESPN leagues, 36% Fantrax, 12% Yahoo) – You guys know the drill by now, someone goes down, we add the replacement. Although usually these spots are a short-term fix, this is an advantageous spot here for this week's Immediate Fix.

Morgan Rielly was put onto LTIR Tuesday afternoon which does hurt this Toronto blueline and power play, but it does give us an advantage in fantasy to pick up a lower rostered option in his absence, and for that we turn to Rasmus Sandin. Sandin is a player I've always really liked, probably 10% because of what he brings to the table, and 90% because he has been a cheap Leafs D man to throw onto Toronto powerplay stacks in DFS. Now though, he may see a permanent roll this season not only on the Leafs top D pair, but as power play quarterback as well and that's a great spot to be in. Right now Toronto is 5^th in goals for on the man advantage, which is maybe a slower start than we anticipated but once that unit gets going Sandin could be in a great spot to benefit from whatever offense comes his way.

For now it looks like Toronto is going to use Sandin in the roles that we listed, but just keep an eye on if the Leafs pivot and go to Mark Giordano in the top power play roll, or possibly even Justin Holl. I think if you have space on your roster to make a move, see how Sandin works with the Leafs top skaters for the time being. If he sticks on top pair, top powerplay unit, you may have just claimed the winning lotto ticket.

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

Dylan Cozens, C, Buffalo Sabres (Rostered in 6% of ESPN leagues, 52% Fantrax, 11% Yahoo) – I'm excited about this addition, Cozens is a player that I've watched all season and I think could be in a good spot to really benefit your fantasy and DFS lineups here moving forward.

First off, Cozens advanced numbers were great to start the season and that was primarily with him playing along Buffalo's third line because for whatever reason Buffalo thought that throwing Casey Middlestadt at second-line centre was a good idea. Now it looks like Cozens has taken second-line centre responsibilities as well as centering the top power play unit for Buffalo which comes with more ice time and more opportunities to help generate offense.

With four points in his last four games, Cozens has been playing well as of late and part of that may have to do with the line he's been playing on. Buffalo rotates their forwards quite a bit but recently Cozens has had Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka there with him which is a big step up from either of those two paired with Vinnie Hinostroza. For fantasy right now he's not highly rostered along all sites and can make a great depth player to any roster and in DFS he presents a unique spot on most nights out. Buffalo's top line of Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch is almost always over rostered and when that happens on a team in a good spot, sometimes dropping down to the second line helps make a lineup unique, plus often times significantly cheaper. I think for both fantasy and DFS, Cozens is a player to watch.

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

Lucas Raymond, RW, Detroit Red Wings (Rostered in 60% of ESPN leagues, 89% of Fantrax, 58% Yahoo) – Hand up everyone, I thought Detroit's second line would be better, and that includes Lucas Raymond. He's an odd-man out with some value right now and could be a player worth moving if he's currently on your roster.  

Earlier this season I wrote up Andrew Copp as a Building Block and with good reason, his numbers last year were solid, and I thought playing up on a good Detroit line would only benefit him coming off last season with Winnipeg and NY Rangers. The problem, well both Copp and Raymond have not been great together through the first couple months of the season and I'm not sure if the addition of Tyler Bertuzzi returning to the lineup turns things around for them with only an 18 minutes sample to work off of.

Copp has also dropped out of his spot on the Wings top power play unit being replaced by Oskar Sundqvist so he is also an odd-man in that regard. Right now, if you went to roster anyone on the Detroit second line they are all fully correlated on the second power play but that is a big dropoff from the time on ice between both units, with Detroit's top unit seeing close to nine minutes in their last three games played, to only around three for the second group. If you have Raymond on your roster, he's a young player that could certainly be involved in a trade of some sort.

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

TJ Oshie, C/RW, Washington Capitals (Rostered in 33% of ESPN leagues, 46% Fantrax, 28% Yahoo) – This may be the first ever preemptive Anchor? If you had Oshie on a watchlist you should have received the notification of some sort that, "A player on your watchlist has become available" or received some sort of news that Oshie has returned to the Caps lineup as of Wednesday. Don't fall for it everyone, Band-Aid Boy Certified is there for a reason.

I think the best ability is availability and Oshie does not, and has not, provided that over the past few seasons. When he plays, he's great and is usually slotted along the Caps second line and top power play on a club that changes their lineups seemingly game-to-game, but the questions of whether or not he will or will not go on a given night are difficult to track, especially those in multiple leagues.

The roster numbers are low right now but just off name recognition alone I can see them raising here in the near future. The only way I will make this add is if he strings together a couple good weeks and if I have the IR space available for when we predictable receive news that he missed morning skate and is questionable. Again, I like Oshie and the Caps really can't afford any more injuries but for now he's a stay away.

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

This period runs through November 25^th to December 7^th

NY Rangers – The Rangers played one of the most entertaining third periods of hockey I've watched all season on Tuesday night on the road in LA, and they are a Love 'Em here moving forward. They will play this very weird Ottawa squad twice next week followed by a game vs Chicago.

Vancouver – Vancouver is starting to level out a bit following their slow start, 4-5-1 last 10 isn't great by any stretch but there's reason for optimism looking ahead. Vancouver will play two weekend games and them home for three games next week vs Washington, Florida, and Arizona. This is a good opportunity for the Canucks to climb back into things in the Pacific.

Los Angeles – LA will see Seattle, Arizona, and Carolina all at home next week which grades out well as a Love 'Em. This is mostly because they'll see Arizona here, they have become a punching bag on the weekly best bets.

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

Boston – The B's only have two games next week which is an issue for a much higher rostered club and one that is almost always popular to play in DFS. They'll also be tested here playing Tampa Bay, who they played last week, and Colorado.

Chicago – The Hawks have a back-to-back on the road vs both New York's which never grades out great for us. It's also the Hawks with their top line getting ran over defensively, they are a stay away next week.

Arizona – Last week the Yotes played one game, this upcoming week they'll play just twice. I know nobody is running out to roster much Arizona but at least they have gotten good goaltending from Karl Vejmelka.