As most of you know, it's the opening day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and while my colleagues have given you some great fantasy hockey prospects for the stretch run over the past few days, I'm going to pile on that theme as well. With the home stretch in mind, here are some nifty free-agent pickup options, presented bracket-style.

Chris Osgood has been a pretty big bust for most of this season, having been consistently outplayed by co-starter Ty Conklin. Note that I used the past tense in that last sentence, because the past three starts for the Detroit Red Wings have all gone to Osgood, and he has won all three, giving up just four total goals in the process. Where was this ability earlier in the season? There's no explanation for that, but through five March starts, Osgood is 4-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. In college hoops terms, consider Osgood a preseason powerhouse that struggled during the season but is a dangerous No. 6 seed in the tournament. The pedigree of production is there, along with the goal support of the league's top offense, he just had to relearn how to dominate, and it would appear Wings coach Mike Babcock will be giving him every chance to do so as the regular season winds down. Since Osgood was a preseason favorite, he wasn't dropped in too many leagues, but yours might be one of those in which he was.

Meanwhile, if you have kept Osgood on your bench, it's time to enjoy the spoils of that patience. For those of you with Conklin on your roster, retain him, but understand that Babcock seems to be leaning on Osgood as his steady No. 1 'tender heading into the playoff run, even though he didn't formally announce it, and Conklin's usefulness might have run its course.

Our next player is a No. 12 seed. Every year, it seems, at least one of the No. 12 seeds knocks off a solid No. 5 seed in the first round, seemingly sneaking up on the competition. The player in question shouldn't be sneaking up on anyone who reads our fantasy coverage here at ESPN, but he's still owned in an underwhelming portion of ESPN fantasy leagues. This player is David Backes, and in eight March games, he has added 10 points to his season total, giving him 24 goals and 20 assists. The other reason why some of us around here love him so much is his mean streak, and he has kept that up as well, with 12 penalty minutes -- all on minor penalties, mind you -- over that same eight-game stretch. He even has been a plus-2 for a team that has been minus-4 overall this month. Everyone loves picking the 12-seed as a first-round "upset special," and Backes has proved worthy thus far in March.

Our last entry is of the No. 15-seed variety. Everyone loves rooting for the No. 15 David against the No. 2 Goliath, and on four occasions since the tournament expanded to its current format, David has won. There is a "David" out on Long Island, although he goes by the name of Frans Nielsen, and he's worth a look if you're the type of fantasy owner who has guts to take a big chance on a little guy. Having traded away Bill Guerin and suffering through one of the worst "injury bugs" in the league recently, the New York Islanders have been able to offer younger and more developmental players a chance to play for the big team earlier than expected. Nielsen has been playing for the Islanders all season, but lately he has been promoted to the top line to play alongside Kyle Okposo and Jeff Tambellini. In the process, he has seen his ice time bumped up to more than 17 minutes per game, and nearly one-third of that time has been with the power-play unit. Although the Isles' power play is in the bottom third of the league in conversion percentage this season, over the past four games they have been converting around 20 percent of their power-play chances, and two of those conversions have come off the stick of Nielsen. As mentioned before, Nielsen is quite a long shot since he has not proved to be much of a scorer at any level. But he has averaged a point per game over the past four contests for the Islanders, and as roto categories go, power-play goals can definitely be up for grabs in the final weeks of the season. For those who love the underdog, he might be worth a look, especially if you are in a tight race in power-play points.

Enjoy the first two rounds of the tournament this weekend, and remember that there are some Cinderellas in the fantasy hockey world as well, if you're willing to dig deep enough.

Ice chips

The Devils lost to the Canes on Wednesday, but it certainly wasn't because New Jersey lacked effort. Firing an astounding 43 shots on Cam Ward, the Devils were able to convert only twice, and Ward grabbed an impressive victory on the strength of four goals for the Canes. Anton Babchuk led the charge with two power-play tallies, and the massive former first-round draft pick is a nice pickup right now, having taken the point on the Hurricanes' dangerous top power-play unit. Babchuk will not help you in penalty minute, and could actually hurt your average-ice-time value, but he has great potential to score by playing on that unit, so make the move if that's where you need help. … Predators right winger Joel Ward has scored in bursts this season, as would be expected of any first-year NHLer. With two goals against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, that's four points in two games, which has vaulted him up the standings on the Player Rater. But with his streakiness (read: inconsistency) sure to remain a factor, don't bother with him. … Antoine Vermette continued his torrid pace since being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring his fourth goal in six games since being dispatched from the Ottawa Senators. The Jackets are in the thick of the playoff race, so Vermette and his teammates will continue to play hard for the duration of the season. Owned in just more than 11 percent of ESPN leagues, the 26-year-old could be a nice addition to any fantasy roster.