This doesn’t appear to be the year to stash players.
Max Pacioretty and Josh Norris recently returned, only to be lost for the season after re-injuring their achilles and shoulders, respectively. Pacioretty specifically looked great and was exactly what the Carolina Hurricanes needed from a goal-scoring perspective, so his loss probably hurts the most. You might remember something similar happened with Tuukka Rask last season. Many stashed him, only to watch Rask return for a few games and then retire.
Some people are still banking on Gabriel Landeskog to help them in the fantasy playoffs, but it sounds like a return in March is a best-case scenario. The Colorado Avalanche surely won’t rush their captain back after seeing what happened to Pacioretty and Norris.
Stashing players remains a high-risk, high-reward endeavor.
Time for your questions:
The Calgary Flames were heavily praised for salvaging their roster after losing Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk last summer, but sometimes too much change isn’t good for fantasy. Jonathan Huberdeau hasn’t acclimated to his new team all that well and he’s on pace for about half as many points as he put up last year. Meanwhile, Jacob Markstrom has been inconsistent and is losing starts to Dan Vladar.
I don’t see a magical turnaround for either at this point, as the Flames rank just 18th in goals for per game and I don’t think they can capture lightning in a bottle the way they did last year with Gaudreau, Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm to improve on that greatly. Plus, Vladar is playing well enough and winning regularly to prevent Markstrom from completely grabbing the net back. I would see if anyone will buy low on either.
If you aren’t having any issues hitting your minimum goalie-start requirements, I’d stick with Pavel Francouz. He’ll give you fewer starts than Ville Husso, but they will be more quality. Francouz has a .925 save percentage and three wins since returning from injury, on an Avalanche team that, despite a tough loss Thursday, appears to be surging.
Tyler Bertuzzi is certainly having a tough time staying healthy. After Friday, the Detroit Red Wings don’t play again until Feb. 7, so if you’re in a roster squeeze or need games before then, Bertuzzi might be a convenient drop. That said, if your roster is in good shape and you’re comfortably in a playoff spot, there’s no reason to drop him. There’s still plenty of upside with Bertuzzi. Let your circumstances dictate your decision with this one.
It’s a tough call. Nicklas Backstrom has a great pedigree, so it’s hard to give up on him, but he’s in a difficult spot this season. He’s coming off a very significant injury and, as mentioned earlier, others who have recently returned to action have struggled to avoid further injuries. Backstrom’s offensive production has been minimal since he came back to the Capitals and he’s not widely rostered, so I don’t think he’s a must-hold considering there are better options likely out there.
I don’t really see a threat to take his spot on the Capitals' top power-play unit as long as John Carlson is out, so I’d probably hang onto Erik Gustafsson for at least a little bit longer. Gustafsson has still been averaging well over two shots per game in January and has chipped in with a few non-power-play points as well. I’m not saying he’s undroppable if you think there’s someone better out there, I just doubt there’s anyone on waivers with more upside.
What’s going on with Demko? Is he coming back soon? Strong comeback or season to forget in his case?
He was travelling with the Vancouver Canucks earlier in the month and the original timeline for Thatcher Demko’s injury had him returning in January, so he can’t be too far off. I actually like Demko as an option when he returns, as most teams take advantage of a new coach bump for a strong surge of play. Plus, new coach Rick Tocchet’s structure should be more goalie-friendly than Bruce Boudreau’s was.
Most of the goalies available are likely on bad teams and don’t have the talent level that Demko does. Keep in mind, the Canucks weren’t very good last season either, and Demko still managed a .915 save percentage and a winning record. There’s still probably going to be some difficult games in the future for Demko and the Canucks (see Wednesday’s outing versus Seattle), but I think he probably has the highest ceiling of anyone who's sitting on wires.
I hope I’m wrong here for the sake of a more exciting trade deadline, but I just don’t foresee a lot of goalie movement. Any team out of the playoff race won’t want to acquire anyone decent who is going to put them in a worse position to get Connor Bedard, and there simply aren’t many contending teams that need a goalie.
Maybe the Los Angeles Kings if Pheonix Copley can’t keep it together, perhaps the Seattle Kraken if Martin Jones can’t improve his numbers, and there might be a darkhorse team like the Pittsburgh Penguins that has some uncertainty in the crease due to injuries. But even those teams aren’t locks to make a deal and there’s really no one else looking for someone between the pipes.
There’s also not that many goalies available. It sounds like the asking prices for Sam Montembeault and Karel Vejmelka are very high, and their respective teams don’t want to move them. It also seems like a long shot that the Carolina Hurricanes will trade Antti Raanta with Frederik Andersen’s latest injury. Someone who's been forgotten about, such as James Reimer or Laurent Brossoit, could be on the move, but I don’t think anyone is really worth stashing. I’d just be ready to pounce on the waiver wire in case there’s a deal we don’t see coming.
From a fantasy perspective, it’s the New York Islanders. Coach Lane Lambert hasn’t brought a more explosive offence to the table after taking over from Barry Trotz and strong starts from Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson have faded away. The Isles have scored more than two goals only twice in their past 14 games.
If it’s strictly a points league, I’d say Rem Pitlick. He won’t give you the points or shots on goal like Josh Anderson will. I know Pitlick has had a couple of multi-point games lately, but I don’t think he’ll be able to sustain that production. He’s not a major contributor offensively.
I think this answer depends on what the Edmonton Oilers do at the deadline. It sounds like they are targeting a defenceman of some sort and if it’s a player with term or someone they can re-sign that’s significant, that won’t be ideal for Philip Broberg’s value. The way the Oilers blueline is constructed would certainly give someone like Broberg an opportunity to vault past an Evan Bouchard or Tyson Barrie, but this summer their defence corps could change drastically. It’s probably best to wait on making an investment on Broberg until the summer.
Martin Necas had a pretty strong game Wednesday night for the Hurricanes, reminding everyone what he’s capable of. He’s been great this season and I definitely wouldn’t drop him just because he had a bit of a quiet stretch. With Pacioretty out for the year, Necas figures to get plenty of ice time and featured opportunities on the top power play.
I’d drop T.J. Oshie out of this group. Oshie is a fine player but he’s had trouble avoiding injuries in recent years and is often in and out of the lineup. Kirby Dach would be a safer option and likely be in your starting roster more often.
I think both the goaltending situations in Edmonton and Calgary are a bit complicated and they could go in a number of different directions. That said, I think you’re fine with both Dan Vladar and Stuart Skinner as your goalies. They’ll give you enough starts and, even if they’re not officially No. 1s, I think they’ve played well enough this season to continue being fantasy relevant for the remainder of the year. I don’t see Jacob Markstrom or Jack Campbell doing enough at this point to make Skinner and Vladar backups once again.
I’d keep Demko out of this group for a lot of the reasons I outlined above, and he’s also a fair bit younger than Andersen and Markstrom. Not to mention Markstrom could be in danger of losing his job to Vladar and Andersen is a big injury risk. Demko is the most talented and has the highest upside.
If you’re in a one-year league and can get some assets for Carlson, I would. It sounds like he’s going to be out for a while and it may be too late for him to help your team after he returns. Getting a player or two you can use in the immediate future to help you secure a playoff spot or finish at the top of your league is a better strategy.
Out of this group, I’m keeping Trevor Zegras, Patrik Laine and Chris Kreider. I’d see what you can get for anyone else, and Andrei Kuzmenko and Landeskog should fetch you the biggest returns. There’s nothing wrong with keeping Landeskog instead of one of the others, but as you said, he has some injury concerns at the moment and I’d bet someone would still be interested enough to give you something good back.
The reason I’d keep Zegras is he’s just starting to blossom into a star and what if the Anaheim Ducks land Bedard? That would be huge for Zegras’ value.
I think you’d be giving up too much in this deal. Even though Roman Josi is the better player and you’re getting an upgrade on picks, Charlie McAvoy still has a ton of value and you’d have to give up Nazem Kadri as well. If you really want to make the trade, I’d suggest asking for a higher draft pick back or including someone with less value than Kadri.
It’s too bold of a move for me. There’s no guarantee Landeskog will even be ready in time for the fantasy playoffs and Roope Hintz is a solid player who can help you right now. It would be a shame to have Landeskog sitting on your IR in the playoffs while Hintz is piling up the points. Unless your team is extremely packed and you can afford to gamble on losing Hintz, I’d stand pat.
What to make of Vladimir Tarasenko? 5 shots in his return. Will a change of scenery boost his stock?
Landing on a stronger team would certainly help him. Vladimir Tarasenko has the talent to produce in any situation, but joining a contender and playing with new linemates could rejuvenate him. Don’t forget, he’s also in a contract year and will surely be motivated to have a strong finish to the season.
I’m with you. I wouldn’t trade Sam Reinhart for David Krejci. It’s not an outlandish deal by any means, but Reinhart is just starting to find his footing and that recently put together Florida Panthers top line is really clicking. Also, while Reinhart and Krejci might have similar point production, the Panthers forward should perform far better in the power-play points and shot categories.
Next week’s matchup is tricky because it spans multiple weeks. The Oilers play four games in the second week, which includes a back-to-back, so there’s a possibility Skinner and Campbell would each get two games. Given that you have Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and you also mentioned you’re rostering Jones, I’m not sure there’s any move to be made here. Both of those goalies are winning, and with the Kraken playing four times as well, you should be able to get enough starts. You have to be careful not to put yourself in a worse spot long-term by making a significant roster move to chase points in next week’s All-Star break matchup.
If you have the roster space, I’d take a chance on Bowen Byram when he gets healthy. He has the highest ceiling of the three and the Avs figure to make a nice run in the second half.
As far as the goalie situation goes, I still think Montembeault will play a fair bit even with Jake Allen back. Montreal seems pretty invested in him. You could also see if Raanta or Pyotr Kochetkov are available if Andersen’s injury is significant.
