We finally have a "normal" week of games which is perfect for planning out the fantasy week ahead. If your league is like mine the middle of the standings are only separated by a win or two, let's try and get some distance on the pack here as we move towards playoffs.

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

Anthony Cirelli, C/LW, Tampa Bay Lightning (Rostered in 10% of ESPN leagues, 32% Fantrax, 18% Yahoo) – Cirelli was a player that I've had my eye on in fantasy to bounce back from a slower start to the season and now that time may finally be upon us.

Cirelli hit a patch in the season during December where he had three points in 14 games and honestly just didn't look like himself out on the ice. I kept him on my watch list though as a player to add because we all know what type of player he is and playing on the top six of this Tampa roster can only lead to good things. I think now is finally the time to cash in if you've saved your Cirelli ticket, he has six points in his last four games and is playing on Tampa's most productive line as of late alongside Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos.   

The reason for the Immediate Fix and not a Building Block here is that I want to make sure we can catch some lightning in a bottle (no pun intended) and focus on the short term here and where that could potentially take us. One big positive here as well is that Tampa is one of the clubs that is in action four times next week with a nice home game against Anaheim on Tuesday. We'll call it a palate cleanser for the week.

Cirelli isn't seeing as much time on the power play as we'd typically like, but I can see this Tampa club mixing things up here and there as their playoff matchup is basically set. This is the same club that had Corey Perry up on the top power-play unit as recent as earlier this week so it wouldn't surprise me to see Cirelli see more time on the ice on the man advantage. If you need help filling out a roster in the near future, I think Cirelli is a great choice and for DFS it's definitely a way to get unique full stacking a non-correlated Tampa Bay second line.

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

Ondrej Palat, D, New Jersey Devils (Rostered in 56% of ESPN leagues, 52% Fantrax, 41% Yahoo) – Palat is actually a player I drafted fairly high in my main fantasy league, and we had four or five wonderful games together and then a lower-body injury forced him out of the lineup until early January. Like Bowen Byram last week, this is an addition that I wouldn't sleep on for long.

Palat made his return to the Devils lineup on January 5^, and I was glad to see as someone who stashed him on IR that he was skating on the Devils top line and second power play, but I began to worry a little bit shortly following his return. His points production wasn't where we'd want to see it and eye test he looked off with Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt and I began to think that New Jersey would replace him on the top line. All this made me think there was still a chance he was nursing an injury or merrily just have trouble returning to game speed. As recently as this past week though, Palat has been great for a Devils club that is exceptional at putting pucks on net.

Palat has six points in four games and 11 points in his past 12, all while adding excellent peripherals to his game which only boosts his fantasy value. He was a player I liked to roster in Tampa just for that reason, even if his name didn't appear on the scoresheet, he was someone that could provide something on a night-to-night basis. I get it right now with adding to a player to your fantasy roster this late in the season, sometimes it can be difficult to make a change, but this is an add that I think could work for those in need to fill a roster spot due to an injury or those with larger benches available to you.

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

Jakob Chychrun, D, Arizona Coyotes (Rostered in 87% of ESPN leagues, 94% of Fantrax, 75% Yahoo) – Just when I thought we've hit all the reasons why a player is an Odd-Man out, be it roster changes, coach's decisions, returns from injury, we now have a new situation. Is this what we're doing now? Sitting players two weeks out from the trade deadline? I guess it makes some sense to protect a player that is likely to be traded from getting hurt, but for fantasy this presents some challenges.

I got a text over the weekend from a friend that Arizona was scratching Chychrun before their matchup against St. Louis. Gasp! Could the trade we all knew was coming finally happen, and which club is the dance partner? It was speculation, but different Los Angeles trades were thrown out there and now lone behold, here we are almost a week later and Chychrun is still out of the lineup. Not only that, but let's say Arizona sits him up until the deadline on March 3 (which is likely), that's eight games that he will miss.

I don't watch a ton of Arizona because, well it's Arizona, but when I do catch a game here or there, there's times where I think that Chychrun is a decent piece that could help a club's depth and then there's times where he seemingly singly handedly is keeping them from losing and I'd give up firsts this season and next to have a player with that sort of impact. Regardless, there's a roadmap here where he sits eight games and doesn't get moved at all. It's unlikely but not inconceivable.

If you're one of those rostering him, I would look for a replacement not just for the eight games he'll miss, but tack on another two or so following that. In the event he's dealt somewhere it's unlikely he suits up right away. Maybe Chychrun doesn't have short-term value right now, but he will have fantasy value down the road, especially if he is traded to a contender.

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

Matty Beniers, C, Seattle Kraken (Rostered in 79% of ESPN leagues, 87% Fantrax, 39% Yahoo) – It’s always tough to call out first-year players as an Anchor but I think given Beniers’ roster numbers and production it might be time to highlight his play.

Typically, I don't roster rookies in fantasy. It's harder to play a full 82 with travel, keeping on weight, and just the overall speed of the game. Since I've been playing, I can only think of two rookies that I've rostered: Artemi Panarin and Elias Pettersson. Sure, Beniers played ten games last season and I like him as a player but the recent slowdown in offensive production has been somewhat staggering. He has no points in his last ten games and I think is generally a small piece of the Seattle puzzle that has slowed down since their historically good road trip back in January.

It’s tough to tell if or when there will be an offensive turnaround for Beniers. I think we can assume he’ll likely keep a top line or top six role but beyond that is difficult. If you're in a dynasty league it’s a no brainer that he remains on your roster, but for everyone in standard leagues I think it depends on what your waiver looks like if moving off of Beniers makes sense. If the waiver looks bleak, he might be worth keeping for another week or two.

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

This period runs through February 17 to March 1

Tampa Bay – Tampa had a tough two-game road trip out west, not so much in the standings but had a shootout win against Colorado followed by a close game against the Coyotes on a back-to-back. They'll have some rest early next week before welcoming in the Ducks, a great start to the week for a club that will be in action four times.  

Calgary – Hanging onto a playoff spot in the West, the Flames are a Love 'Em with games against the Flyers and Coyotes on the schedule for next week.

New Jersey – The Devils season has flip-flopped from starting the year with outstanding offensive production and subpar goaltending to not lower offensive numbers but great starts in net. The Devils are a Love 'Em as a higher rostered club that will be in action on Saturday and Sunday this weekend followed by three homes games next week.

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

Florida – On one hand, Florida does see the Ducks and Sabres at home, but on the other that is the only action they'll see all week. It's a tough spot in the season to be chasing down a playoff spot with a light schedule, for now the Panthers are a Leave 'Em.

Dallas – One of the best power plays in the league will have to wait out a week, the Stars only play twice next week making them a Leave 'Em for me.

Colorado – Like the other two clubs on this list, we won't see much Colorado in the coming days with a very light schedule upcoming. It seems like every time this club needs a stretch of days to get healthy the schedule works in their favor, but for fantasy they'll be a Leave 'Em for the time being.

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