Welcome back everyone! It's the first full week of fantasy hockey and it feels so good to be back into the swing of things. We've also made it to Friday…sit back tonight and enjoy…Ducks/Avalanche? Sure, why not!

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

Ross Colton, LW, Avalanche (Rostered in 11% of ESPN leagues, 26% Fantrax, 13% Yahoo) – And speaking of the Avalanche! Can I interest any of you in a little Colton action?  

If you go back in time here on Looking Ahead, I've probably had Colton in here as an Immediate Fix at one point or another because either he was on a line with Nathan MacKinnon, or maybe something along the lines of how he had been shooting as of late. Now, we're targeting him in part schedule, and part how he's being deployed right now for the Avs. Colorado is one of the teams that will play twice before the week ends which puts them in a good spot for fantasy, but also because given just how many injuries the Avalanche have on their roster right now, Colton is going to play close to (or above) 20 minutes a night.

Colorado was a wild card coming into the season with the injuries and player situations that they had overlapping from last year, so much so I stayed away in our points pool. Believe me passing up on the Avalanche isn't easy. At some point there's just not enough spots to fill which puts Colton in a good position here. Right now he's on a line with Casey Mittelstadt, but following the Avalanche loss to Boston, Miles Wood became a game time decision. If he’s not able to go, now all of a sudden you have Colton on the top line with MacKinnon and some combination of Mikko Rantanen/Logan O'Connor. That (I would assume), would also come with time on the power play as well. For fantasy if you need a player in a close matchup, I think Colton could make some sense here. The Avs avoid the loaded Saturday slate so you'll have a skater on the smaller Friday/Sunday slates. For DFS, he'll make for a good (and likely popular) spend down option.

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

Yegor Chinakhov, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets (Rostered in 45% of ESPN leagues, 44% Fantrax, 12% Yahoo) – This may be the first time I've written about a Columbus player here, but I've caught a good bit of their games and Chinakhov caught my eye the other night. Not saying to run out and add him right now for fantasy, but let's start the conversation.

Chinakhov has a point so far in all three Columbus games and is skating on the Jackets top line and top power play and at least over on ESPN, the word is starting to spread as he's gone up 10.7% in rostership so far this week. I can't say that this was a player I was targeting coming in, but every year there's always that one player that makes a sizeable step forward. Again, not saying to go out right now and get hm on your roster, but let's just see what happens here in the next couple weeks. I could see his line fluctuating here and there if the Jackets decide to give Kent Johnson a shot on the top line, or in the very distant future if Boone Jenner is able to return, which would in a perfect world be around March 1. Impress your friends by telling them you have a Columbus Blue Jacket on your roster!

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

Ilya Sorokin, G, New York Islanders (Rostered in 90% of ESPN leagues, 94% Fantrax, 97% Yahoo) – Is Sorokin an odd man out to start the season? Because I kind of think Sorokin is an odd man out to start the season. At least, in the very early going.

Islanders first game of the season against…who did they play? This is bad because I watched this game, I feel like it was Utah but there's no way to know for sure. Either way, in that game the Islanders went with Semyon Varlamov. Second game out, same story (minus the maybe Utah part), Varlamov in net. Don't get me wrong, I really like Varlamov, but Sorokin is 90% or above rostered on fantasy.

In Sorokin's first and only start of the season he was good, allowing two goals on 32 SOG with a .941 SV% and earning the win along the way. I'm not at all concerned with what Sorokin can help bring to your fantasy squad, I just worry a little bit if this is going to be a shared crease this season.

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

Alexandar Georgiev, G, Colorado Avalanche (Rostered in 87% of ESPN leagues, 99%, Fantrax, 94% Yahoo) – I had my Anchor ready to go all week…but then watched the Boston/Colorado game. Georgiev, I'm so sorry.    

The goals allowed the last four games go as such…four, five, three, four. That's good for a .826 SV% and 5.28 goals against average. At some point, does Bednar turn to Justus Annunen full time? It seems unlikely, but I don't think we can rule it out completely. This situation right now reminds me of Thatcher Demko two seasons ago but if memory serves, following that season we were told he was battling an injury. I'm not suspecting anything like that here as far as injuries are concerned, but out of the gate the play has been dreadful for fantasy.

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

This period runs through October 18 – October 28

Tampa Bay – There's fantasy players all up and down Tampa's lineup, and with four games next week I have to love them for the time being.  

Toronto – Everything I said up top about the Lightning, ditto for the Leafs. Heavy fantasy roster numbers, four games, heck their sweaters even look sort of similar.  

Philadelphia – I don't think Philadelphia has ever been a love em but I welcome them! They'll have a home-and-home against the Caps that I'm not crazy about for points pools or DFS, but for fantasy more exposure means more points.

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

Columbus – Columbus might be outmatched in a majority of their games but upcoming they'll have three games, with a date against the Leafs sandwiched right in the middle. Can't say I'm stoked to run out and play Columbus in the short term, but more past this stretch they'll come back around to a team that we love.   

Buffalo – Watching Buffalo night-to-night is a roller coaster ride. I watched their games versus Florida and I think every type of goal you can score they did. Crash the net, beautiful pass to a one-timer on the power play, snipe from the blue line, re-direct that goes off of two skaters, the rafters, and maybe a post, and that's just one game. As fun as they are to watch, they'll be a stay away for now.

Florida – If you play fantasy hockey, and since you're reading this I'm sure you do, you love the Panthers for just how many fantasy players they have on roster. Bad news if you have any Florida on your roster, good news going against them.

Relative Schedule Value Best Bets: Oct 11 – Oct 25
Rank Team Rating
1 Colorado 8.79
2 Winnipeg 8.54
3 Toronto 8.16
4 San Jose 7.91
5 Tampa Bay 7.90

Relative Schedule Value Worst Bets: Oct 11 – Oct 25
28 Edmonton 4.49
29 Vancouver 4.37
30 Columbus 4.20
31 Buffalo 4.17
32 Montreal 3.60

Relative Schedule Value Best Bets: Oct 21 – Oct 28
Rank Team Rating
1 Philadelphia 8.81
2 New Jersey 8.40
3 Tampa Bay 8.21
4 Toronto 7.98
5 Detroit 7.71

Relative Schedule Value Worst Bets: Oct 21 – Oct 28
28 Florida 5.52
29 Minnesota 5.51
30 Vancouver 4.49
31 Buffalo 4.10
32 Columbus 3.91

*For continued fantasy news and notes, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz.