The term “March Madness” doesn’t have to apply to just basketball. Your fantasy team might be in a tight battle. Your pool standings might be swinging wildly from one day to the next. I am in one hockey pool where I went from 12th place to 5th place in two weeks – and I was behind 11th place by 20 points! When your fantasy hockey league becomes a battle, you’ll need to swing for the fences to improve your team as much as you can. Let’s see what kind of blockbuster targets are out there for you to buy low on.
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3 Fantasy Hockey Trade Targets to Buy Low
The three players I want to focus on have a high pedigree but are at their lowest values. They’re All-Star players who are certainly not producing up to the standards they’ve set. Let’s look into some strong buy-low candidates:
Patrik Laine – Columbus Blue Jackets
This is the first time this season I’ve listed a player I originally had as a “sell high” candidate in this part of the article. At the time, I argued you should trade Laine because John Tortorella may not mesh with his game. That was an understatement. Laine has only two points in his last 10 games. I still believe in his talent as a goal-scorer and you won’t see Laine shoot only 5% for long stretches of his career. With many looking at him with a sour taste in their mouth, this is the time to strike on a player who could heat up big in the second half of the season. A contract is coming for Laine – he won’t be cold forever.
Carter Hart – Philadelphia Flyers
We have to remember that Carter Hart is only 22 years old. He’s still a stud for the future and Philadelphia needs him to find his game in order to be cup-worthy this season. Posting a .880 save percentage and a 3.70 GAA is absolutely ugly. He might be the worst goalie in fantasy hockey right now. At the same time, you’ll never get Hart for cheaper in a trade. Some owners are even dropping him. Hart’s last two seasons saw him post a .917 and .914 save percentage respectively. Hart’s numbers are also much better at home in his career and the Flyers have a four-game stretch coming at home followed by back-to-back versus the tire fire Buffalo Sabres. If Hart is going to turn around his season, it’s now or soon. You might be able to get on the bandwagon for extremely cheap.
Jordan Binnington – St. Louis Blues
This potential pickup is in a similar vein to Hart. Binnington has a nice track record of numbers than his .904 save percentage and 2.82 GAA. Binnington finally signed a long-term deal with the Blues that should ease the pressure going forward a bit that he may have been facing as a pending free agent. St. Louis has also been saddled with injuries of late. Robert Thomas and Jaden Schwartz are expected back soon, which will give the team a much-needed boost at both ends of the ice. With that in mind, I think Binnington may be an astute goalie acquisition for a hot streak when you need it the most in the fantasy playoffs.
3 Fantasy Hockey Trade Targets to Sell High
I had to dig deeper to find these potential sell-high candidates who you can upgrade on after hot starts. It’s hard to make these moves, I understand. It’s not that these players you’re trading aren’t good – but maybe we can use them to upgrade to keep you riding hot into the fantasy hockey playoffs.
Alex Tuch – Vegas Golden Knights
The 24-year-old was on a heater, scoring eight goals in a seven-game stretch. Part of that was due to the opportunity to play with Mark Stone. Part of that was because Tuch is a fast, big power forward that is a mismatch for anyone else on the ice. Recently, Tuch only has 1 point in his last 5 games and also has a tendency to battle injury issues so far in his career. In fact, he’s day-to-day right now with a minor injury. If a manager hasn’t caught up yet to his slow down, it’s possible you can cash out on Tuch for a higher valued player. Considering his shooting percentage is still around 23%, there may be more inconsistency ahead.
Kaapo Kahkonen – Minnesota Wild
The former AHL goalie of the year is a revelation. In his last 10 starts, he’s 9-1 with a 1.60 GAA and a .942 save percentage. That’s insane! I’m not sure how long he can keep it up. The problem with Kahkonen is he’ll have to timeshare with Cam Talbot for the foreseeable future. The other issue may be the status of Matt Dumba, who was injured in the loss versus Colorado. A loss on the blueline of that magnitude would hurt Minnesota a lot, based on Dumba’s recent great play. I like Kahkonen and think he’ll be a good goalie in this league for a while, but it’s possible a bit of a crash is coming. He might be a useful trade chip for a big upgrade if your goaltending can afford a move.
Ondrej Palat – Tampa Bay Lightning
I don’t mind at all if you choose to hold onto Palat. He’s playing on Tampa Bay’s top powerplay unit and gets nice minutes on Tampa Bay’s top line with Brayden Point. With 27 points in 29 games, Palat has a career-high 0.93 points-per-game. I list Palat here because he does have a history of injuries, and his shooting clip is around 17%, a much higher rate than Palat usually produces. If you want to avoid the potential of an injury during a crucial stretch for fantasy, or just don’t believe he’ll keep up this scoring rate, it might be worth it to dangle him around. The good news? He produced like this on a big line in the playoffs too and he stayed relatively healthy last season.
For more help with your roster check out Brandon Altomonte’s Week 9 Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire!
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