NHL Trade Tips: Goaltending Change in Colorado

There were a couple of trades in the NHL this past week and one could have big implications in your fantasy pool, as the Colorado Avalanche, who are struggling to keep the puck out of the net, picked up Scott Wedgewood to possibly be their No. 1 goaltender.

Here are some players that you could deal for and trade elsewhere.

TRADE FOR

Scott Wedgewood, G, Avalanche (56 percent rostered)

The Avalanche dealt 24-year-old Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick in 2025 for Wedgewood. The 32-year-old Wedgewood is expected to battle Alexandar Georgiev for the top job in Colorado. Georgiev had lost his previous two games, giving up seven goals on 54 shots and was 7-7-0 with a 3.31 GAA and an awful .875 save percentage heading into Tuesday's game. Georgiev got the start in Buffalo on Tuesday, and is skating on thin ice as he gave up four goals on eight shots before being pulled at the 12:37 mark of the opening period. Wedgewood came on in relief and stopped all 22 shots while Colorado scored five straight goals for the win. That should open the door for Wedgewood, who was 1-2-1 in limited action behind Juuse Saros with Nashville. Wedgewood has never been the No. 1 goaltender during his seven-year NHL career, but he did make 32 appearances with Dallas last season, going 16-7-5 with a 2.85 GAA and an .899 save percentage. 

Example of a completed deal from the Yahoo Trade Market: Wedgewood for Thomas Chabot.

MacKenzie Weegar, D, Flames (98 percent rostered)

Weegar has eight assists in 12 games heading into action Tuesday. The offensively talented Weegar was outstanding last season, hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career while adding 32 assists. This season he has three goals and 12 assists in 25 games, including six points on the power play, where he is seeing 2:50 minutes, almost a minute more than his previous career-best last season. Rasmus Andersson got off to a great start for the Flames with four goals and 10 points in his first eight games, but has only a goal and four points in his last 17 games as Weegar has taken over as their top blueliner offensively.

Example of a completed deal from the Yahoo Trade Market: Weegar and a seventh-round pick for Rasmus Sandin and a second-round pick.

Igor Shesterkin, G, Rangers (100 percent rostered)

Shesterkin is a prime example of buying low. After a great start to the season in which he went 4-0-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .932 save percentage, Shesterkin has gone 4-9-0 with a 3.49 GAA and a .900 save percentage. The Rangers have lost six of their last seven games, and if they are able to turn it around without firing Peter Laviolette, it should be done because of Shesterkin. If the Rangers do fire Laviolette, look for the team to improve around Shesterkin, making him a good buy candidate.

Example of a completed deal from the Yahoo Trade Market: Shesterkin for Jordan Binnington.

TRADE AWAY

Jake DeBrusk, W, Canucks (56 percent rostered)

DeBrusk is white-hot of late with seven goals and nine points in his last five games, including a huge night Sunday in which he had the hat trick as well as an assist. DeBrusk leads Vancouver with 10 goals, and his 19 points in 23 games, place him fourth on the Canucks. DeBrusk has been a stud on the road with 15 points but has only four at home, where the Canucks will play their next six games after Tuesday's tilt in Minnesota. DeBrusk is scoring at a .83 points-per-game pace this season, while his career average heading into 2024-25, was only .57 points per game. Trade him while he's hot, if you can.

Example of a completed deal from the Yahoo Trade Market: DeBrusk and Zach Hyman for Matthew Tkachuk.

Brandon Montour, D, Kraken (97 percent rostered)

Montour had seven goals and six assists in 19 games during the absence of fellow defenseman Vince Dunn. Dunn returned to the lineup Nov. 30 from an upper-body injury and is expected to take away some of Montour's value as the duo will share the point on the first power-play unit. Montour had one outstanding offensive season with Florida, scoring 16 goals and adding 57 assists in 80 regular-season games in 2022-23. He has averaged less than .5 points per game in every other season and should move down to the second power play, should the Kraken decide to split up Dunn and Montour.

Example of a completed deal from the Yahoo Trade Market: Montour for Jake Oettinger.

Mason Marchment, W, Stars (22 percent rostered)

Marchment is another player who is white-hot right now. The 29-year-old has eight goals and 16 points in his last 11 appearances, including a huge five-point night in Pittsburgh on Nov. 11. Marchment has 10 goals and 24 points in 23 games this season. It should be hard for Marchment to keep up this pace as he has had one good season in the NHL offensively, tallying 18 goals and 47 points in 54 games with Florida back in the 2021-22 season. While he had a nice season last year with 22 goals and 53 points in 81 regular-season games, Marchment is a good second-line winger who could easily be dealt for a better player at this time.

Example of a completed deal from the Yahoo Trade Market: Marchment for Mika Zibanejad.