The National Hockey League's trading deadline in rapidly approaching, as we are exactly two weeks away from the big day. The deadline will pass at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 27 and some big names are likely to be on the move. We'll analyze some of the bigger deals once the deadline has passed and have all of the Fantasy analysis.

There have been a few big trades to date, which means a tremendous increase or decrease overnight for certain players. Fantasy owners are scrambling around to get their hands on guys who have gone from pretenders to contenders, as has been evidenced this week.

Last week, we were recommending 'sell' on Boston's Brad Stuart. He had been doing very little, as the Bruins have been dead in the water. His abysmal plus/minus rating has been killing Fantasy owners all season and he was simply not getting it done. However, this past week he and Wayne Primeau were dealt to the Calgary Flames for Andrew Ference and Chuck Kobasew. While the two newest Bruins should be avoided, especially Kobasew due to his still healing fractured elbow, the same cannot be said for Stuart.

Stuart is suddenly in demand, as he is skating with Robyn Regehr as his defensive partner. That means he will log plenty of ice time in Calgary and will see a lot of action on the power play, too. More importantly, expect his plus/minus rating to start turning around. The defenseman is now suddenly worth using again in all Fantasy formats.

Another player who has seen an increase in Fantasy value is Ladislav Nagy. He was a tremendous talent in Phoenix, but only the most dedicated hockey fan and Fantasy owner probably knew his name. Now, he is about to see his popularity skyrocket. In terms of Fantasy, look for his plus/minus to turn around. Nagy will likely see time on one of the top two scoring lines, so if you parted with the oft-injured forward earlier this season, move to re-acquire him immediately. He has seen his overall ownership drop 14 percent since the opening week.

Two former teammates are worthy of acquiring. Toronto's Alexei Ponikarovsky and Florida's Gary Roberts have been getting it together and are quickly moving up the charts in CBS SportsLine Fantasy leagues. Ponikarovsky has managed three goals and six points over the past five games, as he has been solid with Nik Antropov and Mats Sundin on the top scoring line. Roberts, meanwhile, is back from a hip injury and is playing with top linemate Olli Jokinen again.

Keep in mind that the Ottawa Senators have reportedly been interested in Roberts' services and that might actually hurt his Fantasy value. He would most likely not skate on the top scoring line with the Sens, but again, it is just a rumor.

We have also been a big fan of Carolina's Frantisek Kaberle, who recently returned after missing 55 games after shoulder surgery. He scored the game-winning goal in his first game back against Montreal on Feb. 6 and has a plus-1 in three games. More importantly, Kaberle logged 4:52 of power play time in Saturday's game at Minnesota, which was nearly two minutes more than the team's other six defensemen combined. If you have been holding off on Kaberle, grab him immediately for the stretch run.

Lastly, if you are looking for a goaltender, head to the waiver wire and grab Brent Johnson. While he is not someone to build your Fantasy team around, he can provide some goaltender depth in weekly leagues when your other options might be banged up or they have difficult matchups in a scoring period. He will be a nice short-term fix with Olaf Kolzig out of action for three weeks due to a knee injury. Kolzig is not worth hanging onto in most weekly leagues, as you can likely grab him back in a week or two if you need a replacement.

Just drop it…

On the flip side, there are a handful of players who are just not getting it done. After pounding in two goals against his former team, the Los Angeles Kings, Craig Conroy is back to his struggling ways. Again, that was against the Kings, the worst team in the Western Conference. Anyway, Conroy has managed just one assist over his past four games and is fitting in with the struggling Flames quite well. They have managed 2.25 goals per game over the past four. He is still worth a spot in larger Fantasy leagues, but those two goals are the only ones he has managed in the past 19 games dating back to Dec. 29, when oddly enough he played Calgary.

Another team which has struggled lately are the San Jose Sharks. Milan Michalek had been contributing points by the bucket to start the season, but are you aware that he has only one multi-point game dating back to Nov. 15? That goal and assist came on Dec. 11 against the Coyotes and it has been one or none ever since. Michalek's teammate Matt Carle has also been experiencing the sophomore jinx this season, going scoreless in eight straight games. He was banished to Worcester of the AHL to jump-start his game in early January and it wouldn't be shocking to see a repeat re-assignment at this point.

Carolina's Mike Commodore has seen his responsibilities dwindle following the return of Kaberle from injury. He had managed two goals and 11 points through the first 19 games, but he has posted just two goals and eight points over the past 39 games. At least he has been durable, but he is only worth hanging onto in the largest of Fantasy formats that heavily reward penalty minutes.

Mailbag

Anthony Skepple, Edmonton, AB, Canada: I have Cristobal Huet and Rick DiPietro as my goaltenders, but Huet has not been playing well as of late. The only player it makes sense to drop would be Petr Sykora. Is it worth it to drop Sykora to pick up Niklas Backstrom?

D.E.D.: Anthony, that's tough, as Huet seems to have lost the No. 1 job, albeit temporarily. Backstrom can really only help you out for another week or two, as Manny Fernandez (knee) has recently started skating again. The Wild are not in a big rush to get Fernandez back, as Backstrom has won five of his past six starts. If you can afford the depth at forward, I’d probably drop Sykora. Perhaps try and deal him and another player for a goaltender first, though.

You can e-mail your Fantasy Hockey questions to DMFantasyPucks@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Fantasy Hockey in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.