The NHL trade deadline has passed and teams have made the necessary moves they feel can lead them into the playoffs — or, if they’re on the other end of the totem pole, can help them build for the future. Fantasy owners should be doing the exact same thing as they head down the home stretch. Most trade deadlines for fantasy hockey leagues are around March 10th and the playoffs should start in the next 4-6 weeks. Waiver wire transactions are crucial as you are either fighting for a playoff spot, a first-round bye or just looking to solidify your roster.

Now is the time to be searching the wire for the players that can do the little things that lead you to a league championship. Most of the significant scorers in the league worth owning should be long gone, so now is the time to shore up team needs such as penalty minutes, plus/minus and other stats that will win you some games here and there. Some leagues count hits, faceoffs and shorthanded points, so you should know what your settings are. Read more »

The wait is over. After being sidelined the past 10 games with concussion-like symptoms, talented Dallas Stars playmaker Brad Richards is set to make his return Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames.

As the Stars get their long-awaited boost, so too can fantasy owners with their rosters. Inserted back into your lineup will be 24 goals, 39 assists, 63 points and 215 shots through just 56 games. Although Richards has missed as much time as he has, he is still the 19th-ranked fantasy player, which only speaks to the center’s effectiveness throughout the 2010-11 campaign.

While recovery is hard to measure when it comes to concussions, durability hasn’t been an issue with the elite center. In his 10 years in the League, Richards has played in at least 80 games seven times. Moreover, during his absence, Richards’ ownership dipped from 99 to 94 percent among Yahoo! Fantasy owners.

Over in the Eastern Conference, gifted New York Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik has returned to the ice after also missing time with concussion-like symptoms. After leaving the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 20, Gaborik returned Sunday afternoon against the same team and looked ready for the final stretch of the season. Read more »

The common wisdom with any team going into the playoffs is that you don’t want to peak too early. Many factors can contribute into this: injury, chemistry, strength of schedule and just plan luck. If players were robots (or at least cyborgs, like the Terminator), then the mental aspect of momentum wouldn’t come into play — have a bad game, shake it off and treat the next game as brand new.

However, we’re dealing with real people here with varying degrees of mental toughness. Team history and personal history (and personal demons) can creep into one’s psyche, causing doubt. We’ve seen it all too many times — when a player or team’s confidence drops, everything falls apart, but one good break and that belief comes back. The legs pump harder, the shots seem crisper, the timing gets better. Read more »

While superstar Sidney Crosby might finally be inching closer to a return to the ice, Penguins General Manager Ray Shero stated Crosby will not return during the regular season and his availability for the playoffs is still uncertain.

The Penguins center, who had been regularly skating on his own of late, has officially been cleared by doctors to skate with his teammates and will join the squad for their trip to Florida.

If you were one of the many fantasy owners holding out hope for the return of one of the most elite players in the League, Shero confirmed that it won’t happen during the regular season. “I have no expectations of him coming back in the regular season,” Shero said. “I don’t believe that’s going to happen.”

Crosby hasn’t played in a game since Jan. 5 because of a concussion, but has been working out on his own and skating since March 14. Despite missing nearly half the season, Sid the Kid is still 20th in the NHL in scoring with 66 points in just 41 contests.