I'm not going to lie, after two trades during the All-Star week, I thought we'd have a flurry of activity throughout February before the usual deadline-day rush March 8. There's still plenty of time for this to get interesting, but trade season has been a little quiet so far.
The league is waiting for some dominoes to fall, but that still means one move must happen before the rest start flowing. It probably won't be Jake Guentzel (upper body), as his injury could knock off a little of his value if the Penguins decide to move him. Other teams that should be obvious sellers just haven't ramped it up yet -- I find the Senators' inactivity a little surprising. The Ducks have had a lot of injuries to cycle through, which has likely kept them out of the market so far.
The general consensus is that the Flames are the most interesting team involved. They've got a lot of things contenders could want. Namely, two true top-four defensemen and a true starting goalie. Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev will command noticeable returns. Hanifin's skill-set is obviously more fantasy-friendly, though it's tough to see him getting much power-play time with a contender. Tanev is the hard-nosed, defense-first stalwart that generally seems to create overpayments at the deadline. That's good news for Calgary, and it won't hurt if he can help a team win the Stanley Cup.
In terms of a Jacob Markstrom deal, I'm less sold that he should move. He's got two seasons left after this one at a $6 million cap hit, and I doubt the Flames would want to retain salary just to get a deal done. He also has a no-move clause, so he'll be picking his destination. Those two factors dramatically inhibit the type of return the Flames could get. I also don't like the organization's depth in net in a post-Markstrom era. A full season of Dan Vladar with Dustin Wolf still learning the ropes isn't all that encouraging. It's a little bit of armchair general managing, but holding Markstrom and finding somewhere else for Vladar so that Wolf can truly settle in as the backup makes sense to me as a good long-term strategy, especially for a team that is reluctant to ever truly enter a full rebuild. Markstrom and Wolf, at least in their ideal forms, would be a solid duo in 2024-25, as they should take a little pressure off of each other.
In the end, the deadline will be busy. Fantasy trades should also be ramping up, but it's important to remember that you don't have to go for a home run. Adding solid depth in spots of need can work just as well as trying to remake your whole roster in a couple of big deals. I've got a deal in the works where I'm getting Mathew Barzal and Charlie Coyle for Filip Forsberg. It's nothing too special, but I get two players playing well on contending teams in exchange for one, which allows me to raise the floor of that roster.
If you want to go the waiver-wire route, that's always an option. Juraj Slafkovsky headlines the offerings there, though probably not for much longer. The second-year winger is on an eight-game point streak with six goals and six assists in that span. It doesn't take long to figure out why he's found a groove -- playing with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield will have that effect. Slafkovsky should be on everyone's radar as the first overall pick from 2022, and it looks like his game has taken a step up.
I've been all over the Stars' roster this season. It's been a very productive field, with three viable scoring lines and a strong pair of defensemen, as well as a high-end goalie and a solid backup. I'm once again encouraging fantasy managers to look at Mason Marchment, who enters this week on a nine-game point streak consisting of four goals and nine assists. He's in a second-line role, he plays with an edge and there's been few better gigs than working alongside Matt Duchene in recent weeks. Marchment can be streaky, but he's only had two really bad stretches this season, neither longer than five outings.
Ondrej Palat shouldn't be a stranger to anyone in fantasy hockey. He missed most of January with a lower-body injury, but he's been good since his return, racking up eight points over his last nine games. His 22 points in 44 games overall won't stand out all that much, and he's toned down the physicality since joining the Devils at the start of last season. That said, he's getting top-six minutes alongside a red-hot Nico Hischier and still gets some power-play time.
If you can skate, you might have a chance to be a defenseman for the Maple Leafs soon. Until then, Timothy Liljegren is the best option for your fantasy team. He's earned five assists over his last two games, and he'll still be on the first power-play unit for the first two games of this week until Morgan Rielly's suspension is over. Liljegren is not the best skater, but he can block shots and put up passable scoring totals. Consider him a temporary fix if you're not satisfied with your current crop of blueliners.
Jake McCabe is also a Toronto defenseman to watch. He is not a points guy -- you're looking at copious hits and blocked shots if you're planning on adding him, though he was able to add a goal and an assist in Saturday's 9-2 drubbing of the Ducks. McCabe has had no fewer than three hits in any of the last 12 games, racking up 48 of them and 29 blocks in that span. His appeal will be in deeper formats given his playing style.
One more from the Maple Leafs -- I hear hat tricks are in for that team. I'm not sold on Bobby McMann yet, but I'm willing to give Matthew Knies a look. Knies had a rough January, but he's bounced back with five points over his last five games. When he's on, he gets top-line usage, and that means riding alongside the premier headwear collector, Auston Matthews. Someone has to feed Matthews, and Knies can be that guy.
I've watched a few Rangers games this season, and one name that tends to pop out aside from the team's stars is Will Cuylle. He's got 18 points and 173 hits through 55 contests this season. The rookie winger has seen minimal power-play time, but he has four points over six outings in February. Blake Wheeler (lower body) is done for the regular season, and while Jimmy Vesey is getting the first look on the top line and Kaapo Kakko should be in the mix, Cuylle could probably handle a larger role. Get him now if you need the sandpaper, but keep an eye on him -- he could end up in a better spot in the lineup eventually.
In the due diligence department, Viktor Arvidsson is the guy to look at. He has two assists over three games since he made his season debut following back surgery. Arvidsson has immediately reclaimed a second-line role alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore, players he's had success with in the past. As nice as it would be to see Pierre-Luc Dubois find more offense and stability, Arvidsson getting a top-six job makes him a player to target, especially for a balanced offense.
The goaltending segment this week is less about players that need to be added and more about tricky situations. The Red Wings have one of those, with Ville Husso (lower body) exiting his first start in nearly two months with a new injury that has him week-to-week. Alex Lyon has been a solution in fantasy, but he's just 5-4-1 over his last 10 outings, with a 3.16 GAA and an .896 save percentage in that span. You all remember his magic with the Panthers last year -- and also how quickly it faded out in the playoffs. James Reimer is the other option in Detroit, and his shutout Saturday against the Flames could help him earn a little more attention in the short term.
The Hurricanes also have a tough one right now. Pyotr Kochetkov, by all measures, is likely the team's goalie of the future. He's also been good lately, going 3-2-0 with nine goals allowed over five games in February. Spencer Martin has just two games with the team over a month of time, but he's won both of them -- against the Bruins and the Golden Knights, no less -- and that deserves a mention. The Hurricanes won't get many saves for their goalies due to their smothering defense, but that helps a lot with preventing goals against and earning wins. Frederik Andersen (illness) and Antti Raanta (lower body) are also in the mix once healthy, but neither of their returns appear imminent. Kochetkov and Martin are both fine options for DFS, though the former is the only one getting enough playing time to help in season-long formats.
One of the important things to remember with all trade-related talk is fit. You can like a player in one team situation and dislike where he ends up. Teams that acquire players tend to displace someone on their own roster, whether that means sending them down to the AHL, losing a power-play role or dropping a spot on the depth chart. That creates opportunity on selling teams, but often the minor-league replacements won't be as good as the guys they're replacing.
In fantasy, fit is just as important. If you've already got five or six really good centers, it won't do you as much good to trade for another one as it would to leverage that depth into a high-end winger or goalie. If a proposed trade doesn't fit what my team needs, I'll reject or counter it, even if it is statistically a sensible deal.
Now's the time to make deals and be aggressive with moves ahead of a final push to the end of the fantasy regular season. Good luck this week, and hopefully there will be some trades to analyze at the top of next week's column.
