Now that the Holiday Fantasy Gift Picks articles are behind us; it is time to focus our attention on the New Year. Therefore, Lew's Clues will be offering a series of New Year's Resolutions for NHL Fantasy Owners.

Repeat after me:

I, [your name here],  resolve to do the following in 2016 to be a better Fantasy Owner as per Eric Lewandowski; writing under the pen "Lew's Clues" for Rotowire.com.

Resolution #1 - "Lose Weight"

It just wouldn't be right if we did not begin with the most popular resolution of them all...the resolution to lose weight. No, you don't need to hit the gym or drink those green smoothies or whatever that putrid looking algae slime is that people are drinking like it will cure them of all ailments. However, you do need to work on getting rid of the muffin tops on your roster.

How? Here are some dieting tips for those who need to make changes for strong strides in 2016.

Drop the deadweight. You know --the players you have been faithfully coddling on your bench. If your caterpillar has not turned into a butterfly yet; be a winner and make the tough choices. Let go of the extra pounds in favor of players who are sweating their skates off and producing. Do your homework, your research, your analytics. Or let Lew's Clues make some suggestions that are absolutely tough love. To make it easy on your stomach; we will start with just two suggestions that should bolster your outlook for the rest of the 2016 Fantasy Hockey Season. 

First, if you have Zdeno Chara on your active roster - bench him.

Hey, nobody said New Year's Resolutions were easy but let's face the facts. Yes, the tall Bruins defenseman is a first-line face of the franchise player. True -- but Chara continues to underwhelm with 24 points in 42 games thus far this season. Even though Chara scraps for assists and the rare goal; "Z" is reliably unreliable and stringing together a few games with one point does not alleviate the pain of multiple stretches with goose eggs in the point column. Out with the old and in with the new. Trade in Chara's 38 years of experience for an up and coming defenseman in the likes of John Klingberg.

Let's take a quick look at why Klingberg is better for your Fantasy waistline. The young Dallas Star defenseman has hit the back of the back of the net "only" six times -- the same amount as Chara --but Klingberg has 32 assists. That's right thirty-two! Twelve of which have come on the power play. These numbers have put the 23-year-old rising Star on their first-line D-pairing in only his second year of play in the NHL. So put down the 38-year-old Zdeno doughnut and pick up a Klingberg smoothie. I promise the upside of this green machine tastes better than a green vegetable smoothie. The extra fantasy points given to defensemen for an assist will be well worth it.

Here is your second, "Eat This Not That." Play Evgeny Kuznetsov and bench John Tavares.

Wait! Don't stop reading...There is a reason this resolution is also the most difficult of them all. It's not easy! Benching Tavares is crazy right? Not really if you have the means to acquire the likes of a 23-year-old center like Kuznetsov versus John Tavares; a superstar who is struggling to maintain his quota. It always helps to have players on teams that are winning like Kuznetsov is with Capitals versus a team that is having an off year to say the least like the Islanders are having which is definitely affecting Tavares' numbers. You need to face that fact and take a risk; bench Tavares until the tides change on the Island and reach for new shiny stars in the nation's capital with the upside of a Evgeny Kuznetsov.

While a lot of attention for the Capitals rightfully goes to Alex Ovechkin; Kuznetsov has been quietly putting up numbers in "Ove's" shadow. What kind of numbers? Oh, only a mere 44 points in 45 games this season comprised of a healthy for you 15 goals and 29 assists and a plus/minus rating of positive 23 my friend. Tavares? Negative six plus/minus for the year, 15 goals and 16 assists giving Johnny boy 31 points so far this season. Like Chara, Tavares' mini-streaks of points do not effectively counter the heavy effects of multiple stretches of zero point production. We are not putting Tavares on waivers any time soon but sitting the bench is aptly justified.

Kuznetsov - like Klingberg - is not a hidden secret in any league where at least one fantasy owner is not asleep at the wheel and paying attention. Therefore, unlike the Holiday Gift Picks series, these Lew's Clues "K and K" suggested player picks are examples of who to pry off of your bench and put it in place of "dead-wait" players that you have started week after week on the fear that you will miss out when the likes of Crosby or Tavares put up a hat-trick and your fantasy buddies will ridicule you for not having them in your lineup. The risk is worth the reward. Until those star players and others like them get back on their horse - it may be time to try some new flavor of fantasy players who will provide a steady diet of points in the meantime.

Stay tuned for more New Year's Resolutions from Lew's Clues!