With two weeks remaining in the regular season, many of you are in dogfights for your league championships. The rest are eyeing the golf clubs and looking forward to playoff pools. There's not much we can do for the latter group, but the former is looking for any tips to finish off rivals and hoist league trophies.
This week's cheat sheet will give you some go-to players to help fill voids in your categories. Remember, with the season winding down, there is a substantive statistical downtick from players on teams in the upper parts of the league. Teams like Washington, Florida and Dallas look to rest their best performers for the start of the playoffs. Look to fill spots with performers on teams in playoff hunts; they'll do better for you in clutch games.
Quick bonus note: Team schedule analysis
There are a number of teams playing four games this week, but none are better positioned than Anaheim, Detroit and Washington. The Ducks play the absolute best possible combo of Edmonton (Monday), Calgary (Wednesday) and Vancouver (Thursday) during the week -- Dallas wraps up the foursome Sunday. Grab as many Anaheim players as you can on the wire. Detroit's combo of a back-to-back with Buffalo (Monday) and Montreal (Tuesday) is production gold, followed by Minnesota (Friday) and Toronto (Saturday). Finally, as the strongest team in the league, it's already an easy recommendation to pick Washington players, but their schedule of Columbus (Monday), Philadelphia (Wednesday) and a back-to-back Colorado (Friday) and Arizona (Saturday) is ripe for points in bunches. Because of these beneficial schedules, a number of my recommendations will come from these teams.
Goals
Devante Smith-Pelly W, NJ: Goals are often hard to come by on the wire, especially this time of year, but it seems Smith-Pelly is giving Fantasy GMs precisely what they're looking for when they need it most. With an ownership rate of 20 percent, he's widely available, and has hit the back of the net eight times in the last month and six times in his last 10 games. Importantly, his goals have been spaced apart and consistent -- with reasonable secondary statistics. His past 10 games have included largely positive plus-minus games (with the exception of a minus-four stinker), and three assists. He's missing power-play production and PIM, but you can't ask for everything on the wire.
Jamie McGinn W, ANH: If you're looking for someone to take advantage of the schedule this week, McGinn gives you a great chance to do so in the goal category. At 11 percent ownership, he's also widely available, and on a nice hot streak. In the last two weeks, he's lit the lamp five times -- scoring in four of six games, in addition to playing on the power play. Of these goals, three came on the power play, adding a coveted category to his potential. Goals on the wire are very difficult to predict, but my gut tells me McGinn will continue to have solid production for this week.
Assists
Paul Stastny C, STL: While St. Louis only plays three games this week, there are few players with low ownership numbers who can provide the type of production that Stastny has and can. In his past 10 games, he has three goals and 10 assists, a plus-9 rating, four PIM and two power-play points. That type of performance doesn't align with his 26 percent ownership -- or at least, it won't for long. If you need someone for assists this week, you won't find a better candidate -- and one who can help across the board as well.
Sean Couturier C, PHI: He has been mentioned in this cheat sheet for weeks now, because he's the best single-category candidate for this area. He's only six percent owned, but that's probably because outside of this one specialization, he's next to useless. In his past 10 games, he has eight assists, a plus-1, six PIM and three power-play points. Refrain from adding him until Saturday, when he has back-to-back games; if you can, add Stastny before him, but if this is the pivotal category, there's likely no better option.
Plus/Minus
Andrew Cogliano C/W, ANH: Dual eligibility is nice. The schedule is extremely nice. His past 10 games, where he has two goals and five assists, along with a plus-8 and a pair of PIM, are just the cherry on top. If you're playing the odds, Cogliano looks to be the best bet for a high plus-minus this week. If he's not going to produce big points -- which I'm bearish on -- his solid defensive play looks to be reliable enough to look to him for help in this category if you need it.
Ryan Ellis D, NSH: Since the beginning of 2016, Ellis has only played eight games where he finished with a minus rating, compared to 16 with a plus. If you consider that four of those minus games came during a team slump in the first week of January, it makes the rest of his play all the more impressive. He and fellow Predator Mattias Ekholm are plus-minus machines following a sound defense-first system in the Music City. Nashville plays four games this week, and Ellis is owned in less than a third of leagues. He's a solid second option to Cogliano for this category.
Penalty Minutes
Tom Wilson W, WAS: There's nobody better in this category this week, and he fits every criterion well. He's 10 percent owned, meaning he's free in just about every league, he's over a minute per game in the box for March, and 148 PIM in total for the year, and he's a plus-four with 21 points this season. He's playing four games this week with a beneficial schedule, and he's on the best team in the league. I'm not even going to put an alternative for this category: go get Tom Wilson and thank me when you win this category.
Power play points
Jared Spurgeon D, MIN: There's nobody hotter than Spurgeon on the wire for PPP, so you'd be best to grab him if you're in need. He's owned in 19 percent of leagues, and has five PPP in the past month -- which is good -- but four of which have come in the past 14 days -- which is great. The Wild are in a battle for the last wild card in the West and are looking to distance themselves from the Avalanche, who are only five points back with a game in hand. Spurgeon likely won't slow down while a playoff spot is on the line.
Nazem Kadri C, TOR: The Leafs have looked decidedly not-awful over the last two weeks, as new callups have given the roster a much younger and faster look. One of the key recipients of this new blood has been Kadri, who has three power-play points in the last two weeks. There's zero pressure on the Buds, yet, they continue to try to win. Kadri is front and center on the power play, and might be your best bet for a first-unit guy on the wire. It's unclear if he'll continue to be productive, but your options are limited.
Goaltending: Probable starting backups
Philipp Grubauer G, WSH: Likely start Saturday vs. Arizona. This is quite possibly the easiest case in the world to make: he's the backup goalie for the best team in the league, with a .924 SV% and a 2.19 GAA, playing against one of the weaker teams in the league. No brainer; wait to find out if he'll play Friday (vs. Colorado) or Saturday (vs. Arizona) and add him for an easy win, and a potential shutout.
Jimmy Howard G, DET: Likely start Monday vs. Buffalo -- Detroit is in a must-win situation, fighting to continue its record playoff streak, and Howard is likely to start to rest Petr Mrazek. Howard's numbers this year are pretty bad -- 2.84 GAA and .907 SV% -- but Detroit needs to win to stay in the race, and Buffalo is still a fairly bad team. There's a high likelihood of a win here.
James Reimer G, SJS: Likely start on Tuesday vs. Vancouver - Vancouver looks like it's waived the white flag on the season, and San Jose smells blood. Reimer likely will start, looking to bury the worst team in the league.