Coffee in the Crease: Trade deadline implications to consider

Welcome back everyone! If you live in the States like me you probably agree that today should be a national holiday being the day after the Super Bowl, but I got to thinking, what would the NHL equivalent be? What’s the day we all wish we could make a holiday that centers around the NHL?

The day after the Cup final comes to mind but that date can float depending on how long the series goes so that’s out. Winter Classic is a no because that’s usually New Year’s Day which is already a holiday. All-Star lands on a weekend, so that’s out. But what about opening night? Hear me out NHL, we load that slate up so there’s say 12 games or so and have them run all day from noon to the west coast games and throw it on say the third Friday in October. Who says no to this idea? And this isn’t just here in America, oh no, we’re making sure all seven Canadian clubs are in action as well. I think if we put this out there I can see Coffee in the Crease making its way all the way to the top of government and the NHL to change policy as we know it and make the Opening Day (presented by fill in the blank) a North American holiday.

Trade deadliners

Last season we saw Marc-Andre Fleury get dealt from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Minnesota Wild in a deal that had some pretty significant fantasy ramifications. Fleury split time in Minnesota while in Chicago two more goaltenders became useful additions to fantasy clubs and lower rostered options in DFS. Some seasons sure, the goaltending landscape might not get shaken up a decent amount but wanted to point to the fact that there’s a good chance that we see some changes come this deadline.

I don’t think that it be out of the realm of possibility that say Karel Vejmelka gets moved or maybe even a club calls for Thomas Griess, just as examples of course but I could see the Seattle Kraken looking to add goaltending help or maybe even a fringe club that just wants some insurance behind a proven starter. It’s speculation of course but the point being that it will be very important in the coming days to monitor your fantasy goaltenders on your roster as well as those you may be considering adding. If anything really significant were to happen we’ll be sure to get put something up here on the site to help and we’ll be sure to cover all goaltending moves that take place but for now it’s going to be important to keep a close eye on your roster. Now, if you have say Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy as your two goaltenders I don’t think you have much to worry about and congratulations for probably being near the top of your league right now. This is more for the folks who may be rostering mid-tier goaltenders or are adding netminders as the season rolls along.

Cam Talbot’s injury

Cam Talbot has found himself back on the injured reserve leaving starting goaltending duties to…Mads Sogaard, probably. Why not Anton Forsberg you ask? Well, he is also hurt with injuries to both MCL’s, and I would suspect it will only be a matter of time until we learn that he is out for the remainder of the season. For Talbot he is at least skating and should return in a couple weeks’ time, but this is a tough blow to an Ottawa Senators club that needs a strong presence in net.

For fantasy I would avoid adding Sogaard for now, as there are too many unknowns with him and I’m not sure it’s worth adding a goaltender that might not see much starting time if things begin to go south. If he puts together a strong few starts, then that’s a different story altogether but for now I would avoid rostering. For DFS the situation is slightly different as he’s likely going to be extremely cheap on most slates and should pair easy with any Senators stack you decide to roster.

Goalies to target this week

Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights (Rostered in 21% of ESPN leagues, 51% Fantrax, 45% Yahoo) 19 starts, 12 wins, 1 OTL, 2.25 GA/G, .911 Sv%, 0 SO

With Logan Thompson still listed as Out with a lower-body injury, I think turning to Adin Hill here makes sense. There is one slight problem and that’s that Vegas only plays twice this week, and you’ll have to wait until Thursday to use Hill on your roster when the Knights take on the San Jose Sharks at home. Still, I wouldn’t sleep on this addition long. Vegas is one of those clubs that people like to roster in fantasy and DFS and the longer Thompson is out the more lucrative it will be to add Hill.

Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild (Rostered in 53% of ESPN leagues, 57% Fantrax, 47% Yahoo) 20 starts, 12 wins, 1 OTL, 2.25 GA/G, .923 Sv%, 1 SO

I was hoping that in writing this that Filip Gustavsson would be named the starter for tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers, and I think we willed it into existence? All jokes aside Gustavsson has been good this season and he is coming off a solid start against the New Jersey Devils in which he earned a win. I like him here this week in fantasy and DFS as the Wild will be on home ice against the Panthers tonight, Colorado on Wednesday, Dallas on Friday, and if it gets that far, Nashville on Sunday. All of those opposing clubs should provide plenty of volume but what I also like is how Minnesota sends out their shutdown line at home. Gustavsson should get plenty of support in front of the net which is going to help tremendously.

For continued fantasy news and notes throughout the season, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz