There have been a lot of NHL players swapping jerseys during the past few days, but it hasn't been big news in fantasy. A vast majority of the wheeling and dealing done of late will have zero fantasy impact on either side of the trade. Most leagues don't go deep enough to pull in third-line wingers and bottom-pairing defensemen.
I'm sure we will see some deals between now and Monday that are impactful for fantasy. Chris Kreider moving would be enormous - both for his new team and the Rangers. Talented wingers landing in places with a scoring-line opening are also always of interest. Defensemen are less appealing when dealt, as there are few power-play quarterback opportunities that are simply unfilled jobs at any given time. More interesting is the void left when an offensive defenseman leaves a team.
But we'll save the analysis for Monday's trade deadline, rather than heap the speculation of who might be traded on top of the speculation of how they'll fare in new digs.
Who's fantasy value changed the most in the flurry of recent trades?
In order:
Tyler Toffoli, W, Vancouver Canucks: From struggling to find a reason to score on the Kings second line, to a gift-wrapped role alongside Elias Pettersson for the remainder of the season. Brock Boeser's unfortunate injury was dealt with by the Canucks almost the same way a fantasy manager would - they grabbed Toffoli and plugged him into the lineup. We'd encourage you to do the same in fantasy. It will actually be difficult to top this as the biggest trade of the deadline week for fantasy.
Gabriel Vilardi, C, Los Angeles Kings: Called up following he trade of Toffoli, Vilardi is getting his first crack at the NHL a year late. Back issues wiped out his 2018-19, but he's a top prospect and looks like a scoring-line mainstay. He certainly did on Thursday, anyway, scoring a goal and assist in his NHL debut to help the Kings win. Martin Frk played on Vilardi's line and the two were teammates for most of this season in the AHL. We may get a small taste of the Kings future as this season plays out.
Alec Martinez, D, Vegas Golden Knights: While Martinez's departure doesn't leave a fantasy vacuum on the Kings side, he does have some upside playing with the Golden Knights. When things were still going well for the Kings, Martinez was a frequent contributor in fantasy. But even if we do accuse him of being a fair-weather fantasy asset, the forecast is a sunny one in Vegas. Across the 2015-16 and 2016-17 season, Martinez hit peaks of 10 goals, 30 assists, 39 points, plus-16 and 15 power-play points. Although that package didn't come in one campaign, it shows what he can do as a top-four defender on a solid team.
Denis Malgin, W, Toronto Maple Leafs: From the bottom six of the Panthers to the top six of the Leafs, Malgin found himself looking at John Tavares and William Nylander as linemates on Thursday. Even with Andreas Johansson out for the season now, I'm still not sure Malgin gets a longer look in this key spot. It could just be a "get the new guy some prime ice time" deployment, which wouldn't be the first time we've seen it. Then again, Malgin was buried on a very solid Panthers forward group, so he hasn't really had any opportunity to shine. He's only 23 years old and managed to stay at a point-per-game pace in his limited AHL experience.
Julien Gauthier, W, New York Rangers: I'm paying attention only in keeper formats, but the trade to the Rangers is giving Gauthier some run in the NHL. He's scored goals with aplomb at every level and it seems the Rangers are keen to see if that continues with the big club. The ice time won't make him relevant for now, but if the Rangers do clean house at the deadline, I'm paying a lot more attention to him.
Fantasy Forecaster: Feb. 24 to March 1
An even 50 games to be played next week. The Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks each get four contests. The Arizona Coyotes are limited to just two.
The Vegas Golden Knights have all three of their games on the lighter-scheduled days next week. Meaning if you have some Knights on your roster you can maximize games played in head-to-head leagues. Yes, I would go so far as to roster the aforementioned Martinez for the coming week in H2H, and I'd add Paul Stastny, too.
The Coyotes two games are against the Panthers and Sabres, so negative points for fewer games, but positive points for facing hapless defenses. It's almost a wash, so if you've been stuck using Coyotes in your lineup, don't stop because of the schedule. (Though, you should stop because they aren't helping you.)
For those new to the forecaster chart, here are some explanations: "O" (offense), which is on the left for each game, and "D" (defense), on the right, matchup ratings are based upon a scale from 1 (poor matchup) to 10 (excellent matchup) and are calculated using a formula that evaluates the team's season-to-date statistics, their performance in home/road games depending on where the game is to be played, as well as their opponents' numbers in those categories. The "Ratings" column lists the cumulative rating from 1 to 10 of that week's offensive ("O") and defensive ("D") matchups.
In the notes below, the focus every week will be mainly on players that are available for potential use. Ownership below 50 percent of ESPN leagues is a good generalized cutoff. I'll try to also include players below 10 percent ownership whenever possible to cater to deeper formats.
Team notes
Minnesota Wild: Elevated to head coach this past week, Dean Evason has left the lines alone for now. Wednesday's game against the Canucks was interesting in that the trio of Mats Zuccarello, Luke Kunin and Alex Galchenyuk was the best one on the ice for the Wild. They were the only Wild line to finish positive in the shot attempts category and accounted for two of the goals, plus the shootout winner. It's a solid line on paper, and at risk of sounding like a Galchenyuk truther more so than I already have this season (I assure you I'm not), I think there could be something here going forward. I'll certainly be monitoring the line for the coming week, in which the Wild have a four-game week bolstered by a game against the Red Wings.
New Jersey Devils: The Devils have managed to achieve schedule nirvana for next week. There are only five teams lower in the standings than New Jersey, and the Devils visit four of them (Red Wings, Sharks, Kings, Ducks). Mackenzie Blackwood has looked pretty darn solid of late and absolutely deserves some consideration for this schedule. I'm less keen on the offense, especially with more trade disruption possible before Monday. If the team does go full sell mode, it's the youngsters like Jack Hughes and Nick Merkley who could get a chance at the back end of my roster.
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Pens get three-quarters of the Devils blissful schedule, facing the Kings, Ducks and Sharks. It's too late to add Jason Zucker, but the power play is also getting into gear and Patric Hornqvist is along for the ride there (three power-play points in four games).
Quick hits
Even with Brayden Point sidelined, Blake Coleman didn't sniff top-six time or a power-play look with the Lightning. You know what they say, "You may be a star with the Devils, but your just another guy with the Lightning." Maybe I made that up...
With both Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen sidelined, the Colorado Avalanche will have to let Andre Burakovsky continue to play a top-line role. Get him in your lineup.
The same is true of Pavel Francouz, due to Philipp Grubauer's injury. The schedule for the Avs isn't so bad next week and Francouz will get at least two of the games (maybe all three).
It would be cool if Evan Bouchard got a chance to run the Oilers power play while Oscar Klefbom is out, but I don't think we'll be so lucky. If you do see Bouchard on the point for the man advantage, he deserves immediate attention. He is the future there.