Welcome back in! Welp. I don't know about you guys, but my fantasy season came to an end last week. The guys took it pretty hard, but I didn't address the group in the room after Sunday's slate came to an end. These guys are professionals, after all.

Kidding aside, I'm in the third-place matchup now and still grinding it out because come Friday next week, fantasy hockey will be done with. The eight-month obsession comes to a close and all that remains is us sitting on the couch watching round one of the playoffs, checking your fantasy app out of habit. If you're still playing for a ring right now, I'm going to do everything to help get you to the finish line. If you're out of it, I can still make recommendations to next season. The fantasy hockey season comes to an "end"…but then does it really?

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

Andrei Kuzmenko, LW, Los Angeles Kings (Rostered in 9% of ESPN leagues, 45% Fantrax, 23% Yahoo) – I looked at clubs playing three games next week to help secure a fantasy matchup, with those clubs being Detroit and Los Angeles. I can't say that there is a ton of Red Wings players who are likely on your waivers I'd be interested in rostering, but Los Angeles gives us a decent option in Andrei Kuzmenko.

Kuzmenko is playing along the top line at even strength and top power play unit, and the numbers have not disappointed with 14 points in his last 11 games. I don't get to catch a ton of Kings games living central time and being exhausted by…I'll go with 8:00  p.m. on most nights, but from what Los Angeles I can catch, I've been impressed with their top line and both power play units. Granted, the last Kings game I watched was two Sunday's ago against San Jose, but Kuzmenko did look comfortable skating with Anze Kopitar or Quinton Byfield at center, and Adrian Kempe on his opposite wing. Just from a schedule standpoint, Kuzmenko makes for a great addition to close out the season.

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

Matvei Michkov, LW, Philadelphia Flyers (Rostered in 55% of ESPN leagues, 91% Fantrax, 50% Yahoo) – This goes out to the person who's been eliminated from playoffs and is in a league where they're allowed to bring over three to five keepers. Take a good look up and down your roster. There's probably a couple "no-doubters" for players to keep, maybe a goaltender to avoid having to draft that position, but if Matvei Michkov is available, why not add him and carry him over to next season?

Michkov may have had an up and down season, but let's be honest with ourselves here, it’s not like he was in an A+ situation for a young player. Even when Michkov was up around 20 minutes and top power play, the Flyers would at times revert back to him on a depth line with no power play correlation, or healthy scratch him. It was frustrating, and with a new coaching staff coming in Philadelphia, along with finishing his rookie season strong, things can only be looking up. I'm all for buying high on Michov, or even if there's another prospect in your player pool that you have high sights on, go for it. Missing playoffs or being eliminated from contention is rotten, but if there's one silver lining for those that have partial keepers, you may be able to walk away with some value in this situation.

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

Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche (Rostered in 100% of ESPN leagues, 100% Fantrax, 100% Yahoo) – Nathan MacKinnon, the same one that may win the Hart this season, is your Odd Man Out, but there's a good reason why. More at 11.        

MacKinnon has skated obscene minutes this season, it's like looking at Thomas Chabot's ice time in 2018 or 2019, but this is for one of the premier forwards in this league. The guy deserves a break, and he may have earned it via schedule, as the Avalanche are the only club in the NHL that do not have a game on the schedule next week. Now, if this was a team sweating it out for a playoff spot that didn't control their own destiny, that would be unfortunate. Lucky for the Avs, they don't need so much to worry about that and can take this time to rest up for what could be a long playoff run ahead. If you're rostering MacKinnon, he has value the way a classic car does in a garage with a tarp over it. Are you going to drive that 1970 Plymouth Duster that you drove out to South Bend, Indiana to purchase around town? Probably not. Sell it. Are you going to be seeing Nathan MacKinnon in a game again this season? Probably not. Drop him. The value has passed.

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

Sam Bennett, C, Florida Panthers (Rostered in 77% of ESPN leagues, 87%, Fantrax, 53% Yahoo) – I could have probably put a few Panthers as our Anchors but we'll go with Sam Bennett because he's on my fantasy team and all season long I've had to correct the spelling on "Verhaeghe".     

Sam Bennett may be Band-Aid Boy Certified but he was there when we needed him this season. He goes along with any number of players who are going to sit out the rest of the regular season. If you have a player on your roster with that "O" next to their name, just know that at this time of the season it doesn't mean "Out", it means "Out for the rest of the regular season, sorry fam, good luck in fantasy playoffs".

—

With this being the last Looking Ahead for the season, I'd just like to thank all my readers this year for coming in and hanging out with me through these articles! Have a healthy and safe offseason, and best of luck to you if whoever you root for is about to begin their quest for the Cup next week.

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