Welcome back! Whether you're relaxing on the couch watching the snowfall as it is in most areas, or still at work hoping Outlook doesn't glow orange (I stand with you), there's always fantasy hockey. Before we dive in though as the schedule person, I want to quickly comment on the ESPN article from Sunday that in a nutshell said that the NHL is considering an 84-game schedule. That would mean adding two "neutral site" games for each club, and because it's the NHL, adding more "rivalry games". First and foremost, any changes to the schedule must be approved by the NHLPA and adding games to the regular season goes against the current CBA and would again need the approval from the players.

Look all I'll say is this, I don't understand why the NHL is so fixated on rivalry games. We got a season's worth of this in 2020 and it got old real fast for everyone. What they should try and focus on here if they're going to make changes is to avoid having these lopsided slates like we've seen, with say 12 games one day, two the next, followed by a 15-gamer. Sure, during the season you got your breaks built in which is fine and lighter slates on Sundays to avoid the NFL, that all makes sense. But what the NHL schedulers need to understand is simple – more eyes, on more games, on more days.

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

Charlie Lindgren, G, Washington Capitals (Rostered in 13% of ESPN leagues, 45% Fantrax, 46% Yahoo) – Despite me originally writing "Washington Senators" instead of the Washington Capitals at the top remains a mystery. What's not a mystery though is that this Caps club has been playing well of late going 7-2-1 in their last ten with a large part of that success being the play of Charlie Lindgren in net.

Following starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper's absence with an upper-body injury, Lindgren has taken the reigns and played wonderfully.  He's won seven of his last nine starts in net and has looked locked in for a Caps team that has been playing much better as of late. Lindgren is an Immediate Fix though because both himself and Kuemper have been practicing together, which indicates that Kuemper can't be that far away from returning.

I think even with Kuemper on the verge of returning fulltime for Washington, Lindgren may see more starts here in the near future given how well he's played. We'll continue on with the goaltending landscape with our Building Block but navigating goalies this season has been rough on most fantasy owners to say the very least. Any spot start or confirmation that we receive is worth its weight in gold and rostering a goaltender where you don't have to worry about being the "first goalie off" is a relief, Lindgren might just help here in the short term.

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

Pheonix Copley, G, Los Angeles Kings (Rostered in 3% of ESPN leagues, 25% Fantrax, 22% Yahoo) – Unlike Lindgren who is in a situation where starts may become less frequent, I think there's a real argument to be made here that the Kings will look to Copley more often than they do Jonathan Quick.

When Cal Petersen was put on waivers around three weeks ago the lone Kings fan in my life swore that Petersen's play never really took off because he hardly saw enough starts over Quick. While that might be the case, Quick's play continued to be sub-par and in came Copley.

Rough first start, or rather rough first 3^rd period vs the Sabres in Copley's opening start allowing six goals in that contest, but since then Copley has been brilliant. He has five wins, and five quality starts in his past six games played. Just in the past week alone he has three wins, a .941 save percentage and 1.58 goals against average. I think there's a roadmap here where the Kings are getting away from starting Quick, he hasn't started a game since December 11^th and in his previous three starts he has allowed 15 goals combined. I'm not sure for fantasy if this is necessarily a "give it a month" or "wait and see" play, getting in on the ground floor of Copley starts now may payoff in the coming weeks.

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

Kevin Hayes, C, Philadelphia Flyers (Rostered in 44% of ESPN leagues, 63% of Fantrax, 30% Yahoo) – For the first time ever we may have an Odd-Man out situation between a player and…his own coach? Nothing surprises me out of Philadelphia anymore.

Two games ago for the Flyers, head coach John Tortorella healthy scratched Keven Hayes, this comes following the prior game where Hayes was benched in the third period for taking a "bad" penalty. Now if it were me, I would have a hard time sitting my leading goal scorer on a club that has the fifth-worst goal differential in hockey, but hey, I'm not the coach. Following the game Hayes was benched he did play, but only for 14 minutes. I think this is a little alarming here given Haye's roster numbers across each fantasy platform and I wonder if him getting scratched once will lead to it happening more times in the future.

Hayes has predominantly played top line center along with a juggled mix of wings, but there is something to be said about the line that has taken over top line duties. The top line as it stands now is comprised of James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippet and that line has been good together with 18 points in their last five games. I do wonder if Hayes reclaims his role on the top six or if this is the new norm for him in Philly? Regardless he still holds value for what he can bring on a bad Philly club but only if he is put in the right spots to do so.

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

Tanner Jeannot, D, Nashville Predators (Rostered in 55% of ESPN leagues, 56% Fantrax, 33% Yahoo) –  Last night I'm watching the Hawks lose their 7^th game in a row or something along those lines, and somewhere in the second period Tanner Jeannot takes a very obvious and very bad high sticking penalty. I check his numbers, contract, and then fantasy roster numbers and I was surprised at how high they were, which leads him to this week's Anchor.

I was a big Jeannot fan last season and admittedly he was on my watchlist of players to start the season. His ice time was a little low but was skating along Nashville's second line and was even getting some time on the second power play, which is a big upgrade for him fantasy-wise as last season he didn't see much time there. This season the question is simple, what happened?

Jeannot was a player that had 50 points well within reach a year ago and, although he fell short of that number, he still had a very productive season with 24 goals and 17 assists. This season it's a much different story. So far three goals and three assists in 31 games, he will be very lucky if he ends up at even 15 points when it's all said and done. If you're just rostering him for his peripherals that's fine and still very much part of his game but if you're looking for something more than a block bot, then Jeannot might not be worth rostering.

Love ‘Em (These squads are sure to pay dividends in the coming days)
This period runs through December 23^rd to January 4^th

Tampa Bay – The Bolts have gone 7-3 in their last ten and will have a lighter schedule next week hosting Montreal and Arizona.

Calgary – The Flames have played better as of late, and their power plays has also started to improve slightly. The Flames are 6^th in SF% over the past month and will see both Seattle and Vancouver next week.

St. Louis – Nothing on the assumptions page really stuck out but the Blues play Chicago at home next week. At this point it's almost a guaranteed two points.

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

NY Rangers – A Florida road trip is on the horizon for the Rangers and that never seems to grade out particularly well. Along with a game at home vs the Caps, the Rangers have a tougher schedule coming out of the Christmas break.

New Jersey – The Devils have really started to slide back a bit since their win streak in November, going 3-5-2 in their last ten games. Their expected goals for percentage is still good for 5^th best in the league in the past month and it will have to remain high as the Devils have games coming up against Boston.

Montreal – Like the Rangers, the Habs have a Florida road trip upcoming. Unlike the Rangers though, this is a club that has the 3^rd lowest high danger chances for in the last month. They're a Leave Em for me.

*Would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season.

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