Welcome back in, everyone! Well, we've made it. It is the playoffs and the time of the year where you'll be checking fantasy on your iPhone, Opening Day on your MacBook, and March Madness on your work computer. This coming off an afternoon with the Boston University/Ohio State game on…I can't believe I'm expected to work in these conditions. The grind is very real right now, my friends. Lucky for us, MLBTV has crashed here in the United States so if that doesn't get resolved, it's all puck all night!

Before we go into Looking Ahead, I want to wish everyone in playoffs best of luck. May the PDO be forever in your favor! For me, I made it into playoffs in my league as the fifth seed. Even getting to that point has felt like being dropped into the middle of the ocean and somehow, someway, made it to shore. Those who fought through countless injuries will understand that analogy. Probably.

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

Pius Suter, C/LW, Vancouver Canucks (Rostered in 5% of ESPN leagues, 23% Fantrax, 15% Yahoo) – Chicago Blackhawks great Pius Suter is your Immediate Fix this week. Yes, you read that right. I was between Suter and a couple other skaters but ultimately landed on Suter in the end for a couple pretty good reasons moving forward.   

Suter is the definition of an Immediate Fix. For now, he's in a fantastic spot with Elias Pettersson out and will play on both the smaller Friday and Sunday slates to end the week. What tilted the scale for me as well is his eligibility at two positions to go with the extended ice time he'll be seeing on the Canucks top line. In the past week alone, his ice time skyrocketed from just over 16 minutes a game to north of 20. This comes with centering the Canucks top power play, along with the top line duties next to Brock Boeser and the ultimate hot and cold fantasy player, Jake DeBrusk. Fantasy playoffs are often won by the most random players out there, Pius Suter fits this to a tee.

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

Nick Schmaltz, C/RW, Utah Hockey Club (Rostered in 35% of ESPN leagues, 71% Fantrax, 35% Yahoo) – Nick Schmaltz is your Building Block of the week on a club that has slowly become my NHL Centre Ice go-to watch at night. Part of the reason for this is because I roster Karel Vejmelka and Mikhail Sergachev, but that does not take away that the Utah color analysts are excellent.

I completely stayed away from Schmaltz throughout most of this season, regardless of who his wingers were. The reason is simple, he just was not shooting the puck. No shots, no goals. Schmaltz went – and I was staggered by this stat – 23 games to open the season without a goal. For Schmaltz now though, both himself and this Utah top line and power play have been very good for fantasy and DFS, with Schmaltz recording seven points in his last seven games. The schedule for Utah is favorable to round out the week as well. Utah will be in Florida and although that's a difficult matchup, this is a Panthers club that gets show the door to the penalty box often. Following that tilt, they will be on the road against Chicago, which I don't see foresee being much of an issue. I want to also make a quick note that his position eligibility is dependent on which fantasy platform your league plays on as it varies from each prominent fantasy site.

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

Dustin Wolf, G, Calgary Flames (Rostered in 66% of ESPN leagues, 90% Fantrax, 77% Yahoo) – Dustin Wolf may be holding a Calder Trophy come this summer, but for now he's an Odd-Man Out…time to once again hop onto the goaltending carousel everybody.       

Wolf hit a stretch where he started four consecutive games for Calgary from March 8^th to March 17^th, and in three of those games gave up three goals or more earning a loss in each. Since then, he's shared the net with Dan Vladar which is brutal for those rostering him in fantasy. I'd argue for the Flames as well, but hey, I'm not the coach. If you have Wolf on your roster, I would be keeping extremely close attention to the start probability going into the weekend and next week. If Calgary is going to split netminder duties now, then it's going to be important to be notified as early as you can be as to who will be starting each game. Calgary will be on Mountain time until April 1^st so if your league locks at first puck drop, just be aware that there may not be confirmation on some of those slates, unless Calgary takes morning/optional skate.

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

Josh Norris, C, Buffalo Sabres (Rostered in 44% of ESPN leagues, 67%, Fantrax, 25% Yahoo) – I almost wrote Ottawa Senators at the top…did this trade make no sense to anyone else? Either way, Josh Norris is our Anchor for the week.   

I actually rostered Norris for a time back in November/early December when for whatever reason, he was centering the Senators top line. Now, he's listed as "Out" or "DTD". If he is just listed as Out, that's fine, throw him on IR and go about your day building out your lineup. The issue is that he does plan to return to the Sabres prior to season's end which means that he'll likely carry that DTD designation moving forward. What that means for fantasy if he is DTD on an IR slot, is that you won't be able to add a player to your roster without first activating Norris. This is trouble when it comes to adding and dropping players, and I can say for those on ESPN, that the Out or DTD designations can flip very quickly even without confirmation from an organization. Norris may very well be a great fit on the Buffalo top line next season, but for now, he could sink a fantasy playoff run and not play a minute of hockey until fantasy playoffs have come to an end.

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

This period runs through March28^th – April 3^rd

Colorado Avalanche – I mean, don't we always kind of love the Avalanche? Colorado has a very soft schedule next week with games upcoming against Chicago and Columbus in the middle of next week.

Washington Capitals – This could be the week where the Capitals stamp their spot for playoff seeding as well as an Alex Ovechkin goal record? We're taking guesses on which game he gets it and a few people in my league have guessed next Sunday against the Islanders.

Carolina Hurricanes – The Canes will have decent rest before games in Detroit or Boston, both are great matchups for this club.  

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

Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs will only be in action twice next week – perfect timing for fantasy playoffs – so they're a Leave 'Em for now.  

New Jersey Devils – The Devils may have fallen from grace a bit over the past couple weeks, but they still have higher roster numbers for fantasy. With only two games on the schedule next week though, they're in a tough spot for setting a roster.  

New York Islanders – Sure, they'll be on home ice next week but it's a gauntlet of opponents welcoming Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Washington.  

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