Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery.
Both Elias Lindholm and Andrei Kuzmenko had impressive debuts with their new teams this week. Lindholm notched a pair of goals on the man advantage, looking right at home on a very impressive Vancouver Canucks power play. Meanwhile, Kuzmenko scored a power-play goal of his own and played more minutes than he had in nearly a month.
Kuzmenko in particular caught my eye. He had a lot more jump and was immediately placed on the Calgary Flames' top line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich. I think he’ll be given a lot more freedom in Calgary and won’t see his minutes cut and become a scratch after a mistake or two. It’s a fresh start for someone who desperately needed it.
There’s a good argument in making Kuzmenko a waiver add for the rest of the season. He’s available in almost half of leagues and scored 39 goals and 74 points only a year ago. Yes, that came with an inflated shooting percentage, but it’s realistic that even with some regression, Kuzmenko could still be a 25-30 goal player. There isn’t an abundance of players with that upside sitting on waivers at this time of year.
Kuzmenko is a risk worth taking.
Let’s get to your questions:
That top line did look really good, but I don’t think the addition of Kuzmenko will be a huge boost to Huberdeau overall. That doesn’t mean Huberdeau can’t continue to play well like he’s done over the past month, though at the end of the day Kuzmenko really isn’t an upgrade over Lindholm. They have different skill sets, so maybe Kuzmenko as more of a finisher can benefit Huberdeau’s game in that way.
Boone Jenner is worth adding to your roster no matter what team he plays for. Jenner is one of the more versatile forward options in multi-cat leagues, given his blend of decent offence and solid numbers in the hits column. Sometimes, though, a trade to a better team isn’t always ideal for a player’s fantasy production. Jenner is playing on the top line in Columbus, but would likely slot lower in the lineup on a contender and power play time could be more scarce. I think Jenner is fine to roster for the time being, however, because he could help you even without a trade.
This is such a tough call because they all appear to be great young prospects. If I had to pick one right now, with an emphasis on right now, I’d probably leave Yaroslav Askarov out. The main reason being I think his path to significant playing time is the toughest as long as Juuse Saros is there. Plus, the Nashville Predators could be headed for a bit of a re-tool/rebuild, making it a challenging situation for a few years. That said, if Saros were to be dealt that would change my answer, but right now I’d say Askarov.
If it’s a one-year league I think you can move on from Devon Levi. It was always more likely than not that he was going to spend a bunch of time in the AHL this year and with the Buffalo Sabres having another inconsistent season, Levi’s value even while with the team isn’t great. Once he and the team put it all together Levi will be a good option but that’s just unlikely to happen in 2023-24.
Samuel Ersson is a No. 1 by default right now, but I wouldn’t say he’s a true No. 1. Ersson really struggled before the break and it’s important to remember he’s only played 39 NHL games. I also think the Philadelphia Flyers could be a sneaky team that’s in the goalie market. As long as they remain in a playoff spot or in the race, it’s tough to just bank on Ersson to carry them at this point. As a short-term option, Ersson should play quite a bit, but I’d temper my expectations.
I agree with your assessment here. Troy Terry isn’t the best for all-around coverage, but his offensive production should be far better than the other two. Eeli Tolvanen is great for filling categories, so I’d put him ahead of Gus Nyquist, who appears to be slowing down a bit offensively.
I think you could consider that. It sounds like Joseph Woll is only a couple of weeks away, so realistically Martin Jones probably won’t get that many starts as long as Ilya Samsonov can keep it together. Plus, Jones had really started to come back down to earth. Sam Montembeault has been solid all year for the most start and the Montreal Canadiens don’t have that tough of a schedule coming up. Games against St. Louis, Anaheim, and Washington should all be decent matchups for Montembeault.
If it’s a deep league where there aren’t a lot of goalies available on waivers, I think I would keep Logan Thompson. Bruce Cassidy is notorious for rotating his goalies, so I think Thompson should still get decent playing time. Sure, could Adin Hill start getting more of a share of the starts? Absolutely, but I don’t see Hill playing like 70 per cent of the games. I usually value a goalie like Thompson, someone on a strong team with a greater chance at quality starts, a little more than someone that’s going to play more.
If you have enough coverage from the rest of your roster in the peripheral categories, I’d definitely grab Lucas Raymond. He’s been consistent lately and is on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat. It’s hard to get better deployment than that. As far as Barrett Hayton and Viktor Arvidsson go, I’d probably take a wait-and-see approach. I’d lean towards Arvidsson if you’re making a move, though, for his shot volume.
I’d go with Artturi Lehkonen out of that group. The upside of playing in the Colorado Avalanche top six and potentially No. 1 power play is too good to pass up. He also got a bump up to the top line on Thursday. Plus, I don’t really trust Nik Ehlers’ deployment under Rick Bowness and Gabriel Vilardi has had a tough time staying healthy.
I’m always in favour of rostering less goalies, but I’d base it on your league categories and how important netminders are in your format. You could probably survive with just Connor Hellebuyck and Sergei Bobrovsky and be fine, and use a trade return for Adin Hill to bolster other areas of your roster. Of course, should Hellebuyck or Bobrovsky happen to go down with an injury it could be an issue. You just have to weigh the risk/reward for your league and where you are in the standings.
It’s Martin Necas for me. He has the highest upside of the three in my opinion and there is some uncertainty around the other two. Chandler Stephenson could lose a lot of value when Jack Eichel returns and the same goes for Ross Colton if Lehkonen or even Zach Parise cuts into his power play time.
As far as scenarios for the remainder of the season, the main one I’d recommend watching are players getting a bump in value after being traded before the deadline. Maybe someone like Marc-Andre Fleury moves to Los Angeles or New Jersey and it really helps him. If you see a player on waivers that is rumoured to be dealt around the deadline that may help their value, it’s not a bad strategy to add them if it isn’t costing you anything to see what happens.
I think I’d lean towards David Rittich because he’ll probably play more. Justus Annunen will get some games, but I expect the Avs to still rely on Alexandar Georgiev. Warren Foegele should be fine as long as he’s in the Oilers' top six. That winger spot on line two is going to be really valuable and Foegele has proven he is capable of putting up points with that deployment. If he’s bumped down then he’s probably not worth holding.
I’m going to say Huberdeau. Similar to my answer above, while I don’t think Kuzmenko is an upgrade on Lindholm, he does have the finishing ability that could help someone like Huberdeau who likes to pass the puck. Huberdeau also has the most talent of the three and appears to be finally finding some consistency in his game. I’d go with him for the rest of the season.
Alright I’ll rank them least droppable to most droppable. Pavel Buchnevich, Nick Paul, Lucas Raymond, Andrei Kuzmenko and Gabriel Vilardi is how I’d order them. I think Buchnevich has the most value out of the bunch and as long as Paul is on the Tampa Bay Lightning top power play, I’m keeping him. Vilardi’s injury concerns are why I’d make him first to go.
I’m always of the mind that whoever gets the best player wins the trade, but that’s a pretty good offer. Jack Hughes could be a top-five fantasy pick for the foreseeable future when healthy, though it would be tough to pass up this haul. I think I’d take it.
You’d have to get someone pretty substantial in return. I’d say at least a point-per-game player on a really strong team or a couple of very good/high draft picks if you’re in rebuilding mode. Jack Eichel is one of the top centres in the game and will be hard to replace.
It’s JT Miller, Roope Hintz and Jake Guentzel for me. I wrestled with the Guentzel pick a bit just in case he gets traded and lands in a less-than-ideal spot. Playing with Sidney Crosby is a great spot for him and it could hurt his value if he’s moved. If that happens then I’d probably go with Alex DeBrincat. He should be a steady scorer and Detroit is on the rise.
