Every Thursday during the season, NHL.com's Evan Sporer will provide you with in-depth analysis of goaltenders. From updated weekly top-30 rankings to trending players and more, Sporer will be your go-to guy for advice on fantasy goalies all season long.

John Gibson was always the future when it came to the Anaheim Ducks' crease. The only question was, when would the future arrive?

Gibson burst onto the scene last season, a highly touted second-round pick (No. 39) from the 2011 NHL Draft who won two gold medals playing for United States junior teams in international competitions.

The rookie did not disappoint, winning his first start via an 18-save shutout against the Vancouver Canucks, and then winning his first postseason start -- another shutout -- against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.

Going into this season, Anaheim had a good problem on its goalie depth chart. Gibson and Frederik Andersen each figured to compete for minutes, only an injury in November kept Gibson out for an extended period, then landed him in the American Hockey League with Andersen playing so well.

Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey correspondent Brian Metzer will provide you with in-depth defensemen analysis. From updated weekly top 60 rankings to trending players and more, Metzer will be your go-to guy for fantasy blue line advice all season long.

The Detroit Red Wings had been in the market for a right-handed shooting defenseman dating back to last season. It was a hot topic as the team was breaking down and cleaning their lockers out after being eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"Right-shot defensemen are at a premium in the League, and I mean ones that can play on the point on the power play and get points," general manager Ken Holland told Ansar Khan of MLive.com at the time.

Every Tuesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen will provide you with in-depth forward analysis. From updated weekly top 100 rankings to trending players and more, Jensen will be your go-to guy for fantasy forward advice all season long.

Once upon a time this season, Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg was the clear front-runner for the Calder Trophy. But his ongoing slump and a late push by "Johnny Hockey" will make for an interesting race to the finish.

Not only has Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau found his way back into the rookie-of-the-year race during Forsberg's dry spell, but the Boston College product is also on pace to reach rarefied air among first-year players of recent seasons.

Every Monday, NHL.com contributor Matt Sitkoff identifies waiver-wire pickups, roster trends, schedule notes and a prospect to watch in fantasy hockey.

The fantasy world now knows all about Ottawa Senators goalie Andrew Hammond, who is the fifth goaltender in NHL history to earn a point in each of his first 11 career starts. But the players around him that have helped him on that streak also have fantasy value.

With a little more than four weeks remaining in the regular season and fantasy hockey leagues, it's time to take a look at some players that need to be owned in far more leagues for the stretch run. These players could be the difference in winning or losing your league, so add them now before you regret it during the offseason.

Anders Lee, C/LW, New York Islanders – available in 47 percent of Yahoo leagues

In the past 30 days in Yahoo leagues, only Lee's teammate John Tavares, and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals have been more valuable fantasy forwards. During that time Lee has seven goals, nine assists, a plus-11 rating, 12 penalty minutes, three power-play points and 53 shots on goal. Lee spent a lot of that productive ice time on a line with Tavares, but was reunited on the "Kid line" with Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson on Tuesday, where he found success earlier in the season. Lee is playing the best hockey of his young career and his 23 goals rank second among NHL rookies (behind Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman, who has 24).

Every Thursday during the season, NHL.com's Evan Sporer will provide you with in-depth analysis of goaltenders. From updated weekly top 30 rankings to trending players and more, Sporer will be your go-to guy for advice on fantasy goalies all season long.

What's made the appeal and allure of goaltenders like the New York Rangers' Cam Talbot and the Ottawa Senators' Andrew Hammond so high this season is the element of here and now.

Goaltending can be broken down into a series of events over the course of a season. We try to select players in fantasy hockey, to the best of our ability, based on prior results and how consistent goalies have been in the past; at what chances we think they have of duplicated high levels of productivity.

Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey correspondent Brian Metzer will provide you with in-depth defensemen analysis. From updated weekly top 60 rankings to trending players and more, Metzer will be your go-to guy for fantasy blue line advice all season long.

The Calgary Flames are in the middle of a rebuild, but that didn't stop them from becoming one of the best stories of the season. Their situation dimmed a bit when the face of that success, Mark Giordano, was lost for the remainder of the season after surgery to have a biceps injury repaired, but they aren't done yet, managing a 3-1-1 record without their captain.

Every Tuesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen will provide you with in-depth forward analysis. From updated weekly top 100 rankings to trending players and more, Jensen will be your go-to guy for fantasy forward advice all season long.

Catching lightning in a bottle at the right time is the name of the game for fantasy waiver-wire pickups. Sometimes value spikes come as a result of strong linemates; other times they come because of injuries.

Last season, Gustav Nyquist of the Detroit Red Wings transformed from a readily available forward to a goal-scoring phenom after the Olympic break with Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk sidelined.

Every Monday NHL.com contributor Matt Sitkoff identifies waiver wire pickups, roster trends, schedule notes and a prospect to watch in fantasy hockey.

There is about a month left in the NHL season, meaning the fantasy playoffs are coming up fast in head-to-head leagues.

The Nashville Predators have hit a rough patch, so fantasy owners should be aware of potential buy-low candidates. They have lost six straight games; during that streak captain Shea Weber has one goal and a minus-9 rating. Rookie Filip Forsberg has one assist in his past six games and James Neal and Seth Jones (24 percent owned in Yahoo) each have been held without a point during the losing streak. Colin Wilson (38 percent) is also mired in a deep slump.

Having Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) or Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) on your roster will always help in your pursuit of a fantasy hockey championship. But having unlikely players emerge as fantasy superstars during the season is what will likely make or break your roster.

Being able to draft a guy in the seventh round or later that ends up providing first- or second-round value is what I'm referring to. Finding a diamond in the rough. And often times they aren't your household names, so despite their hidden success they still go un-talked about or aren't given the credit they deserve. But make no mistake, these are the players that prove to be the difference makers in fantasy leagues.

Here are five players that have turned out to be elite fantasy commodities this season that way too many people have never heard of or don't know enough about (one for each position).