It is the week of the trade deadline in the NHL and that has a lot of fantasy implications. Players finding new destinations obviously bring new values. There is one player contained in this piece who has potentially gone from the waiver wire abyss to fantasy relevance, and expecting more in the next couple of days is prudent.
Here are some players to add for the next seven days, or for the rest of the season. At the end of the piece there will be goalie streams for the upcoming head to head week.
Antoine Vermette (Chicago – Centre) ESPN: 27.3 per cent; Yahoo: 26 per cent
Perhaps the biggest news of Saturday night was Antoine Vermette being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks. Until the team has a practice, it’s necessary to exercise a bit of caution here: which line Vermette slots in has a big effect on value. One of the biggest concerns for Vermette all year had been plus-minus, but that concern is gone. There’s also this: Vermette is 1 of just 37 forwards with at least 10 goals, 20 assists, and 30 penalty minutes.
Mikael Granlund (Minnesota – Centre) ESPN: 11.5 per cent; Yahoo: 11 per cent
The seemingly ever-changing Wild lines had their latest incarnation see Mikael Granlund centre Zach Parise and Jason Pominville. Needless to say, that’s a really good spot to be. In their first game together – from the War On Ice game logs – they saw a lot of offensive zone starts. That number went down considerably in their second game together. I would assume this trio will be used less defensively than the Mikko Koivu line moving forward, making Granlund a good add in points-only leagues.
This week, Minnesota has four games, two against Carolina and Colorado. Granlund costs just two of four points, making him a good play.
Kyle Palmieri (Anaheim – Right Wing) ESPN: 12 per cent; Yahoo: 6 per cent
Anaheim’s top line third wheel has been a revolving door this year. Of late, that spot with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry has gone to Kyle Palmieri.
Over the last three years, the Ducks score more than 1.5 goals more per 60 minutes at five-on-five with Palmieri/Getzlaf on the ice than Palmieri without Getzlaf. On top of that, Palmieri is getting top power play minutes as well.
Dmitrij Jaskin (St. Louis – Right Wing) ESPN: 2.8 per cent; 1 per cent Yahoo
This would be an addition for a flyer in dynasty leagues. He won’t have a lot of value for the rest of this season.
Jaskin has 10 goals in 35 games this year, not a bad start to his rookie season. Consider this, though:
· Vladimir Tarasenko had eight goals in 38 games in his rookie season as a 21-year-old. He also led all Blues forwards in relative puck possession.
· As a 21-year-old forward, Jaskin leads all Blues forwards in relative puck possession this year.
There are additional caveats here. Both players played fairly sheltered minutes, meaning they avoided top competition and hard zone starts. Also, Paul Stastny has helped Jaskin’s numbers. With that said, Jaskin has done fairly well away from Stastny, and that gives hope that he’s not being carried by a very good centre.
I’m not saying Jaskin will be Tarasenko – his shot release is absurd – but Jaskin could be a very nice diamond in the rough moving forward.
Marcus Johansson (Washington – Left Wing) ESPN: 18.8 per cent ESPN; 17 per cent Yahoo
This is a temporary add. Marcus Johansson was put on the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom. Usually, that duo isn’t overly reliable for five-on-five offence, but of Washington’s three games this week, two are against Columbus and Buffalo.
Jiri Tlusty (Winnipeg – Left Wing) ESPN: 7 per cent; Yahoo: 5 per cent
Winnipeg has only two games this week, so this is more of a wait-and-see approach. For now, Tlusty is on the second line with Mark Scheifele. If he can last the week there, I would grab him on the weekend.
Matt Irwin (San Jose – Defence) ESPN: 0.6 per cent; Yahoo: 1 per cent
Irwin is starting to get second unit power play minutes for San Jose. On top of that, Irwin is top-20 among NHL defencemen in points per minute. Hopefully, Irwin can start racking the power play points.
Goalie Streams
Niklas Svedberg (Boston) – Boston has a three-game-in-four-day stretch later this week that includes Calgary and Philadelphia.
Carter Hutton (Nashville) – Nashville starts the week with back-to-back games on the road against the Rangers and Devils.
Alex Stalock (San Jose) – The Sharks start the week with a back-to-back against Montreal and in Vancouver.
Some stats courtesy of Hockey Reference, Hockey Analysis, and War On Ice
