We’re only about two weeks away from the NHL Trade Deadline. I’ve always been an avid follower of the rumors but I have to admit this year that my hype is way down. Covid-19 quarantines, a flat cap, and parity around the league may put a big damper on what teams are able to do to improve their rosters. That doesn’t stop your fantasy hockey team from making trades! There’ll always be movement regardless of how tough the circumstances are. Can we take advantage of buying low on players who will find themselves with more opportunity or in better situations? Read on to see who I’m looking at as potential trade targets in real life and in your fantasy hockey pools.
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3 Fantasy Hockey Trade Targets to Buy Low
When you’re looking for potential trade targets to buy low on around the NHL trade deadline, you want to be plugged into lists such as the trade bait column that TSN’s Frank Seravalli produces. You’ll want to get a glimpse of names that could ascend to a contender’s top line or just receiving a change of scenery. I’ve already covered Taylor Hall in a previous article. Hall is the best option to buy low on in hopes of a contender using him in a top six role. Let’s deep dive at some less obvious names to buy low on.
Mikael Granlund – Nashville Predators
It feels like it’s been a while since we last saw Granlund as a productive forward. Granlund had two straight seasons above 65 points in Minnesota and was on his way to another decent season before Minnesota dealt him to Nashville in 2019 for Kevin Fiala. In Nashville, his point production has plummeted – he only has 48 points in 109 regular-season games there. Considering Nashville can be a black hole for offense at times, I feel strongly he can rebound on another NHL team. There are a lot of rumors cooking around that he may be a target for Toronto. If Granlund can find his way to the Leafs and end up playing with talented players like Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, or John Tavares, he’ll be a very popular waiver wire addition instantly. If you’re in a deep league, you might be able to get him in a trade now for absolutely nothing. Even if it’s not Toronto, he should benefit from a more offensive structure somewhere else.
Jake DeBrusk – Boston Bruins
It really felt like we were on the cusp of a Jake DeBrusk breakout season after a 27 goal campaign in 2018-19. Since then, DeBrusk only has 42 points for Boston in 86 regular-season games. That’s still not bad, but only seven of those points are this year. Jake then saw himself added to the Covid protocol list. It’s been a rough season for him. If the Bruins move on from him, he could really benefit from a change of scenery. He loves shooting the puck and might just need a real pass-happy new centre for him to go on a tear. He’s also only 24, so an uptick in production could last you well in dynasty leagues.
Rickard Rakell – Anaheim Ducks
I’m not convinced that Bob Murray trades him away. Murray is somewhat of a prideful man who has real trouble selling off his assets as rentals or for futures. Trading his leading scorer does raise an eyebrow for fantasy purposes. Rakell only has 6 goals in 34 games but has fired 105 shots at the net. For comparison, he leads the team in this category by 40 shots over Jakob Silfverberg. He’s only shooting 5.7% and part of that is because of Anaheim’s lack of offensive talent to find him in better positions to score. It’s not the entire puzzle with Rakell, who is inconsistent, but if he found a new home in someone’s top six, he may find himself go on a heater to end the season. It’s a decent buy low option for your fantasy team.
3 Fantasy Hockey Trade Targets to Sell High
When you’re looking to deal with players who also may get traded at the deadline, you want to get rid of players who may lose their opportunity to produce or lose a spot on a great line. A guy who comes to mind for this is Vladislav Namestnikov in 2018. Namestnikov went from playing on Tampa Bay’s top line to struggling on the Rangers.
Mattias Ekholm – Nashville Predators
Due to injuries to Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi, Nashville has been running Ekholm at extremely high minutes. In his last ten games, he’s played at least 24 minutes in at least seven of them. He’s seen bonus PP time as a result of that as well. He’ll still get minutes in key situations on other teams, but it’s hard to see him with powerplay time for a contender. Philadelphia, for example, is a rumored team to be interested but he won’t supplant Ivan Provorov. Winnipeg might be interested but Neal Pionk and Josh Morrissey can already handle powerplay minutes. It may help you to sell high on him before he finds his opportunities lessened a bit.
Jonathan Quick – Los Angeles Kings
It’s still going to be hard for GM Rob Blake to deal Quick out. He has two years left at a $5.8 million cap hit, in a flat cap world. There have been some rumors lately though of teams inquiring. At best, you’d be hoping for a platoon situation where he is the 1B on a good team. I doubt he’s getting a big-time starting role. It’s all too messy for me to want any involvement here. If he stays, Cal Petersen is stealing his starting role anyways.
Conor Garland – Arizona Coyotes
I love Conor Garland as a player, and I hope I’m absolutely wrong about this one. However, Garland started out real hot but now only has three points in his last nine games. In Arizona, they give him lots of opportunities to score. This includes top powerplay time and a top-line role. If they deal Garland in order to grab a haul of futures, he might play more of a depth role on a contender such as Boston. In that case, I’d be selling higher on him depending on the offers you get. In keeper leagues, I’d be less inclined to move on from him as I do think he’s a special enough talent to produce in many situations.
Are you buying into Brennan’s Fantasy Hockey Trade Targets? For more help in building for that playoff push, check out Brandon Altomonte’s Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire!
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