While we wait for the NHL's trade deadline action to heat up, there's another date you should have your eye on. Your own fantasy league likely has a trade deadline too. Some are already gone, but most should still permit trades at least into this week.
If you've been actively negotiating at all, now's the time to get serious and buckle down. If you're selling off players, make it clear who's available and what you want in return. There's usually plenty of time to make deals happen, but that angle is gone when the deadline is on the horizon. The week leading up to your league's deadline is time to talk the talk and walk the walk. No frivolous offers, no countering over the tiny details. Make the deal or let your fellow manager dance with someone else.
This isn't to say that you have to make a deal. If you're happy with your team, save for some waiver-wire churn, stand pat. Wheeling and dealing is not a prerequisite for winning fantasy titles -- it can help, but a bad deal can also torpedo a good season's worth of work to craft a winning roster. Trading should be win-win, but injuries happen that can make early-season deals look lopsided in the end. It's less of a worry for redraft leagues, but if you're in a keeper or dynasty format, you may not want to sell the farm for the injury-prone star that you think you can get at a discount.
There was one NHL trade over the last week, with Emil Bemstrom going to the Penguins in exchange for Alexander Nylander and a pick. This is a nothing burger for fantasy. Bemstrom was barely sticking in the Blue Jackets' lineup and started his Penguins career in a third-line role, though he also scored a power-play goal Sunday. Even with Jake Guentzel (upper body) likely out until after the trade deadline and a candidate to be dealt, Bemstrom's not seeing top-six minutes. Nylander was with the Penguins' minor-league affiliate before the trade but was immediately called up. He made his Blue Jackets debut Sunday in a bottom-six role to little reaction either way. A 26-point campaign in 2019-20 was Nylander's only real success in the NHL so far, and he's aged out of prospect status at 25 years old. Neither player is likely to make enough of an impact unless they are gifted top-six minutes -- they're unlikely to earn such a role on their own.
Turning to the waiver wire, I'm ready to believe in Bobby McMann. Seven goals and 10 points over seven games is enough proof for me, even if I don't love how limited his ice time is -- he's averaging just 12:38 per game over that stretch. The Maple Leafs are more than just the Core Four, and McMann is providing valuable scoring depth that can no longer be ignored by even the biggest skeptics. He's also averaging two hits per game to add a little grit to your roster.
It's amazing what a handful of multi-point outings can do for a player. Gabriel Vilardi went 17 games without one, then racked up four over five outings. He has eight power-play points among his five goals and five assists during the sudden surge. The Jets have had plenty of scoring depth, but Vilardi being on the first line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor is a good gig. Vilardi can be streaky, as we've seen, but he's the kind of scorer I want to keep in a bench spot at the very least.
The Kraken may be spinning in circles, but Jordan Eberle has not been part of the problem. He has four goals and an assist over his last four games, and taking it back to the start of January, he has nine goals and 18 points over 20 contests. He struggled early in the season, but he's been able to turn things around while riding the wave of Jared McCann's torrid scoring pace. It's no guarantee Eberle is still in Seattle in a couple of weeks, but he'll have a top-line role as long as he's rolling in the deep.
Mattias Ekholm has been everything a fantasy manager could want if they need defensive depth in a 12-plus-teams format. He's got 24 points, 102 hits, 67 blocked shots and a plus-20 rating over 54 appearances, and he even crops up on the second power-play unit at times. Ekholm has five helpers over his last five contests, so it's worth mentioning his recent play, but he's also just a steady veteran. The Oilers still have their flaws -- Ekholm helps to obscure a lot of them with solid defense and complementary offense.
A good fantasy manager should always have a finger on the pulse of high-scoring teams. Keeping track of who's on the wings of the league's top centers is a great way to get in early on the types of supporting players that can help you win. Which makes Artturi Lehkonen's recent run -- away from the Avalanche's top line, though still involved on the power play -- all the more surprising. He has five goals and three assists over his last six contests despite spending much of that time on the second line. You can't blame head coach Jared Bednar for trying to spread out the offense, which often leads to Jonathan Drouin on the top line instead of Lehkonen. Either way, Lehkonen's done enough on his own to be on your fantasy squad.
Just over a week ago, Tyler Bertuzzi couldn't buy a goal. From Dec. 29 to Feb. 15, he had seven assists and a minus-5 rating over 19 contests, going empty on 30 shots in that span. The floodgates cracked a bit Feb. 17 when he scored in a blowout win over the Ducks, and the waves crashed down on his birthday when he netted a hat trick in Colorado on Saturday. Bertuzzi is not a player I have a lot of patience for -- he always seems to come up a tier short of where I want him to play. He's at 26 points in 56 contests this season, but I can't forget his 16-point surge over the last 21 games of last season. He's not going to get sparked by a trade this time around, but I wouldn't be surprised if the goals starting coming a little easier now that he's snapped his drought.
I'm still fully on board the Brock Faber hype train, but I've got my eye on another Wild blueliner, Jonas Brodin, this week. Brodin's February includes four goals and an assist over eight games, and he's added 19 shots on goal and 19 blocked shots. He's always a bit of a fringe fantasy option, but he could push for a career high in blocks while settling in between 25-30 points by the end of the season. The lack of power-play time is a concern, as usual, but I like Brodin's veteran savvy, especially with the Wild's offense clicking pretty well across the board.
The Wild's scoring surge has also made Ryan Hartman a viable forward option again. He's picked up six assists over his last 13 games, with five of those helpers coming in the last seven contests. During the goal drought, he has 26 shots on net and 15 hits. I think he's due, and I like that he's playing alongside solid playmakers in Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Johansson. Hartman could also get a look on the top line again if the Wild shuffle things up, which would move him into a player to go get instead of one to just keep an eye on in shallower formats.
For those in deep leagues, Martin Pospisil is a good grit target. He's scored in back-to-back games and has four points, 46 hits and 31 PIM over nine contests in February after missing time right before the All-Star break. Pospisil's usage is that of a bottom-six forward, but the Flames could have a lot of roster churn over the next two weeks, and any forward that goes out likely leads to the rookie getting a little more time. As it is, he's seeing his even-strength minutes with the red-hot Nazem Kadri.
Anton Forsberg looks to be getting a chance to be the No. 1 in Ottawa. Four straight wins will do that, although it's too late to save the Senators' season. Forsberg has started four of the last seven games, including two in a row, allowing just nine goals on 109 shots in February, good for a .917 save percentage. This is a team that has the offense to be strong and a defense with enough talent to play better than they have so far. Joonas Korpisalo has done nothing to keep the net, so Forsberg getting a shot is the next logical step.
Joey Daccord's run was a positive one that kept the Kraken's season from going off the rails, but he's starting to slip. Philipp Grubauer has given up four goals on 66 shots since returning from a lower-body injury. Daccord's been too good to just lose all of his playing time, but a timeshare might be the right balance to strike in the Kraken's crease. In that case, Grubauer's a goalie to grab for fantasy depth, especially if he can stay in a good rhythm.
I'm also looking at Charlie Lindgren this week. The Capitals have not played well this season, but Lindgren has been a bright spot. He's 3-1-1 with a .922 save percentage over his last five games, and he's got the edge over Darcy Kuemper for playing time in February. I won't go after Lindgren if I need wins, but he's stolen a few games this season. As usual, I'm chasing the playing time in goal, and Lindgren is a strong addition if he can play 60 percent of the games the rest of the way.
The important factor for this week is speed. Deadlines bring urgency -- believe me, I'm familiar with taking it a little too easy on Sundays and then having to rush to get this column written. That's a self-imposed deadline, and it brings the pressure. Some people thrive under pressure, but with fantasy sports, not everyone's working on the same timeline.
Most of the time I advocate for leaving a trade offer on the table for at least 24 hours. People are busy, life gets in the way, whatever. This is the time of the year where that goes out the window. If you're fielding multiple offers on the same player or trying to bring in similar players with the same assets, take the deal with the person you can make headway with. If you have to pull an offer back after a couple of hours, so be it.
If you're not trading, you'll still want to be quick to the waiver wire. In head-to-head leagues, the playoffs are right around the corner. It's time to jump on success over small samples again and make the urgent moves to elevate your team. I'll help you identify some of those players that can make a difference next week.
