Fantasy hockey team needs as the NHL trade deadline approaches

Sean Allen, Special to ESPN.comFeb 20, 2024, 12:30 PM ET

CloseSean Allen is a fantasy analyst for ESPN.com. He was the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hockey Writer of the Year. You can tweet him @seanard.

The NHL trade deadline is two and a half weeks away. There are usually strong fantasy implications that flow from the annual exchange and flow of players. Some years it’s more and some its less.

Like last season with the earlier trade of Bo Horvat by the Vancouver Canucks, one of the most impactful names to move has already found a new home, with the Canucks’ deal for Elias Lindholm. Lindholm has had some big games and some quiet ones through his first eight games with the Canucks, but thanks to the magnitude of those big games, it’s been a fantasy gain. He has 2.28 fantasy points per game with Vancouver so far, compared with 1.74 FPPG at the time of the deal.

The same can be said for the early returns of Sean Monahan with the Winnipeg Jets, another center moved as the next domino to fall following the Lindholm deal. With the Montreal Canadiens, Monahan’s overall FPPG hovered at 1.66, but through six games with the Jets he’s at 2.12 FPPG.

Both players’ sum totals on the season were on the lower fringes of roster-worthy for fantasy before the deals, and both have been roster locks (in the admittedly small sample size) since.

But just how acquirable a fantasy asset remains can be a big part of the equation.

Editor’s Picks

1 Related

Make sure to check the fantasy trade deadline that your league has set up. The calendar date of the deadline has been creeping back in recent years. It means some leagues may have a fantasy trade deadline that precedes the NHL deadline, locking you into the roster you have before the flurry of last-minute deals.

(If your league has adopted such a setting, by the way, you should ask to have it revisited by your commissioner during the offseason. Trade deadline day is one of the highlights of the NHL season, and the potential to…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/fantasy/hockey/story/_/id/39527270/fantasy-hockey-nhl-trade-deadline-team-needs-players-available

Author : Sean Allen

Publish date : 2024-02-20 17:34:03

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.