The NHL Trade Deadline started a little slow but really caught steam as the deadline approached. The trade deadline essentially turned into a two-day event with 20 trades on Wednesday and 10 trades on Tuesday. Those numbers mean a lot of players found new homes and likely had their fantasy hockey impact altered for the rest of the season.
With so many trades, there are necessarily a lot of guys who won’t have much impact for the rest of the season. Here are 10 significant names who ended up with new teams today that will have a change in their fantasy outlook for the rest of the season.
Goalie
Tim Thomas – Traded to Dallas from Florida
Thomas had a passable season for most of the year especially considering who he was playing for. He had fallen on hard times recently with just a .893 save percentage in his last seven games.
In Dallas, the Stars already have a starter in Kari Lehtonen. He’s a good goaltender but has had injury issues in the past. Without an injury though, or Lehtonen falling on his face, Thomas’ value has been relegated to waiver wire status in most leagues.
Jaroslav Halak – Traded to Washington from Buffalo
Halak has now found his third team in a week, going from St. Louis to Buffalo to Washington since Friday. He’s been seen as an inconsistent goalie, but he also has a .931 even strength save percentage since 2011. That’s pretty good.
Braden Holtby hasn’t been able to save the Caps often enough this year so a move in goal seemed inevitable. His value certainly takes a hit coming from St. Louis, but Halak is still a top-24 goalie for the rest of the season.
Defensemen
Raphael Diaz – Traded to New York Rangers from Vancouver
Another player who has found his third team this year, Diaz has been brought in to bring a little more offensive punch from the blue line. Aside from Ryan McDonagh, there’s not really another go-to offensive defenseman in New York and Diaz can bring that dimension.
The best way to think of Diaz in fantasy is a right-handed Michael Del Zotto; he will get the opportunity on the power play, it’s just a matter if he runs with it. Unless it’s a desperation depth move, he’s no more than a bench defenseman in 16-team leagues for now.
Andrej Meszaros – Traded to Boston from Philadelphia
A once highly-thought of defenseman, injuries have slowed Meszaros down and he’s never fully materialized to his potential. He does add much-needed defensive depth and he does have 17 points in 38 games this year. He takes more shots than lower-tier defensemen and his ability to move the puck to the forwards should translate well in Boston.
Meszaros’s ice time will be the one concern here. With Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara already locks on the power play, the only player to supplant is Dougie Hamilton. The problem is Hamilton has played pretty well this year. Until he gets regular power play time, he’s a good plus/minus option with limited points upside.
Forwards
Martin St. Louis – Traded from Tampa Bay to New York Rangers
After demanding a trade, and demanding one to New York, Martin St. Louis got his wish: the Rangers traded their captain in Ryan Callahan for the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner.
As I write this, the dividends of this trade for the Rangers are evident as Brad Richards and St. Louis are playing like it’s 2003. Whether they can sustain it night in and night out is another question. I don’t see much change in St. Louis’s value considering he’s been without Steven Stamkos since the middle of November.
Ryan Callahan – Traded from New York to Tampa Bay
Callahan was seemingly on his way out the door once his demand of a $7 million contract came out. Callahan is a good first liner, but not worth near that money in the strict sense of value.
Where Callahan slots will determine his value. I think his value goes up regardless because Callahan had been averaging his lowest minutes per game since 2008-2009. Tampa Bay doesn’t have the forward depth that the Rangers do, so Callahan’s peripherals – shots, blocked shots, hits – should all go up. If he ends up with Steven Stamkos as his center, then it goes up even more so. Callahan fantasy owners should be getting High School Drunk with the prospect of going from New York’s second or third line to Steven Stamkos’ winger.
Ales Hemsky – Traded from Edmonton to Ottawa
After years of speculation that he’d be traded, Ales Hemsky finally made his way out of Edmonton and will be playing out of Canada’s capital city for the rest of the year.
I would assume that Hemsky slots in alongside of Jason Spezza. Despite what might be said about him, Hemsky is a good possession player with deft puck skills and good vision. If he and Spezza can develop quick chemistry, Hemsky could go from waiver wire fodder to a top-75 forward for the rest of the season. If there’s a spare bench spot not doing anything, Hemsky would make a solid speculative add right now.
Marian Gaborik – Traded from Columbus to Los Angeles
With Gaborik becoming a free agent and Columbus doing well without him this year, the injury-prone Gaborik is now heading to the coast to play for the Kings.
A lot of things have gone wrong for Gaborik this year, namely playing just over 20 games due to two separate injuries. The curious thing is that Gaborik still leads the Blue Jackets in 5-on-5 points/60 minutes. If he stays on the ice, he can still be an elite player in this league. An uptick in minutes all around should be in order and he stands a very good chance of being a top-50 forward the rest of the season if he finds his scoring groove.
Thomas Vanek – Traded from New York Islanders to Montreal
Once Vanek rejected a contract that paid him $7 million a season from the Islanders, he was probably as good as gone by the trade deadline. It was academic once John Tavares was injured.
Vanek is still a high-end player in this league. Despite playing 13 games with Buffalo, he’s still managed 21 goals this year and his 53 points are ahead of names like Anze Kopitar and Eric Staal. There’s no telling how he’ll mesh in Montreal, though, so I would assume not much change in his value from what it’s been all year.
Matt Moulson – Traded from Buffalo to Minnesota
Moulson has 17 goals this year and has still managed 29 points in 44 games with the offensively-challenged Buffalo Sabres. He’s pretty much the same player he’s always been.
The Wild are stocking up for a playoff run and Moulson would slot on the wing of either of the top two lines. Everything should see an uptick for Moulson so much like Callahan owners, anyone with Matt Moulson on their team should have a big smile. There is no reason to think Moulson isn’t a top 50 forward for the rest of the year.
