This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
There was an incredible number of trades in a 24-hour period for the Wednesday before the trade deadline. It was a weird day with a lot of fantasy implications.
Cut to: Gary Bettman furiously typing a memo for NHL GMs. "Dear GMs, the trade deadline is NEXT WEEK. If you keep this up, TSN Tradecentre will be nothing but Bob McKenzie playing 'Never Have I Ever' with Scott Cullen, which isn't bad, but, you know, I promised people fireworks! If a Jan Hejda trade is the marquee move, I'm going to look out of touch, which I'm definitely not. By the way, have you seen my enhanced stats site? It's great."
It was a busy day, so let's take a look at the fantasy impact of some of these moves.
Daniel Winnik might not be in for that "Penguins Bump" that you see when top six wingers get traded to the Penguins to play with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. David Perron and Patric Hornqvist both experienced that bump this season, but Winnik is a center.
He was taking second line center duties in Toronto, but he'll be moving down to the third line in Pittsburgh. It's not a bad gig, but he might see a slight reduction in minutes. He'll get a fair amount of penalty kill time (which tends to have little value in fantasy) and he'll probably be playing with less talented teammates on the ice. While there wasn't a ton of production happening in Toronto, his most common linemates over the last ten games were a combination of Nazem Kadri, Richard Panik, and Joffrey Lupul, according to Left Wing Lock. In Pittsburgh, the bottom six wingers include Brandon Sutter, Beau Bennett, Craig Adams, and Steve Downie. There's more talent overall in Pittsburgh, but Winnik isn't going to be playing with the best the team has to offer.
As a hockey move, I love the addition of Winnik to the Penguins. The move works toward solving the Penguins' recent struggles on the penalty kill and adds a great possession center to their bottom six. As far as fantasy, I think it lowers Winnik's value, which wasn't incredibly high as things stood in Toronto.
Jiri Tlusty moved from Carolina to Winnipeg on Wednesday, which might be something of a lateral move for the winger in terms of fantasy impact. Tlsuty is having a decent year with 13 goals and 10 assists through 52 games. He's spent most of his time on Carolina's anemic offense playing on a line with Eric Staal and Jordan Staal. Those are better linemates than he's going to see in Winnipeg. However, with the lack of ability to control play and create offense in Carolina, it might be a wash playing on the second line of a better team in Winnipeg.
He could potentially slot into Mark Scheifele's line with Drew Stafford, replacing Dustin Byfuglien and allowing him to drop back onto defense. That move might make the most sense since the Jets are likely to be without Mathieu Perreault for close to, if not all of, the rest of the season. (That also allows the team to move Mark Stuart back to the the bottom six on a more permanent basis, pending that Blake Wheeler's stint on IR is short.)
In a move announced late on Tuesday night, Sean Bergenheim is moving from the Florida Panthers to the Minnesota Wild as well. Bergenheim is a very capable player who is a bit of an enigma for fantasy. He posts incredible possession numbers, but has always been is used in a somewhat limited role. In Minnesota, he's likely to slot into the third line, which has been quite strong lately. He'll provide a nice boost to the team's ability to suppress shots and control play.
What's interesting about Bergenheim is that his totals aren't all that impressive, but the skill seems to be there. Since the 2010-11 season he's average 1.5 points per 60 minutes of play (P/60) at even strength. Over that time frame that puts him in the neighborhood of Jordan Staal, Daniel Alfredsson, Ilya Kovalchuk, Cody Eakin, Dustin Brown, Ryan Kesler, and Antoine Vermette. If he finds his niche in Minnesota it's possible that we could see an increase in points per game from Bergenheim. I don't know that I'm making a speculative pickup right now, but with how hot Minnesota has been I'm putting Bergenheim on my watch list.
One final note on big fantasy news from Wednesday. Patrick Kane was injured on Tuesday night and the team announced on Wednesday that Kane has undergone surgery to repair a broken left clavicle, which will keep him out of the lineup for 12 weeks. That's a huge blow for owners (and the Blackhawks). Kane was having an outstanding season and he's done for the year. Take him off your roster and start digging through the wire.
The #Blackhawks have also placed forward Patrick Kane on long-term injured reserve. http://t.co/ighf1ar1GV
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 25, 2015Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Vancouver Canucks (Eddie Lack) at Buffalo Sabres (Michal Neuvirth), 7:00 PM
Arizona Coyotes (Mike Smith) at New York Rangers (Cam Talbot), 7:00 PM
Montreal Canadiens (Carey Price) at Columbus Blue Jackets (Curtis McElhinney), 7:00 PM
Philadelphia Flyers (Rob Zepp) at Toronto Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier), 7:30 PM
Chicago Blackhawks (Corey Crawford) at Florida Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 7:30 PM
St. Louis Blues (Brian Elliott) at Winnipeg Jets (Michael Hutchinson), 8:00 PM
Minnesota Wild (Devan Dubnyk) at Nashville Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:30 PM
Ottawa Senators (Andrew Hammond) at Los Angeles Kings (Jonathan Quick), 10:30 PM
Detroit Red Wings (Jimmy Howard) at San Jose Sharks (Antti Niemi), 10:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday
Vancouver Canucks
Brad Richardson, C - (ankle) resumed skating back in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Kevin Bieksa, D - (hand) remains out.
Alex Burrows, RW - (lower body) is expected to miss Thursday's game.
Chris Tanev, D - (upper body) resumed skating on Wednesday.
Frank Corrado, D - (upper body) remains out.
Alexander Edler, D - (upper body) resumed skating on Wednesday.
Ryan Miller, G - (knee) will miss 4-6 weeks.
Buffalo Sabres
Cody McCormick, C - (blood clots) is done for the season.
Josh Gorges, D - (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Sunday.
Patrick Kaleta, RW - (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Sunday.
Tyler Ennis, C - (lower body) is questionable.
Tyson Strachan, D - (illness) is questionable.
Evander Kane, LW - (shoulder) is done for the season.
Zemgus Girgensons, C - (ankle) may be done for the season.
Mike Weber, D - (upper body) will miss at least two weeks.
Arizona Coyotes
Zbynek Michalek, D - (upper body) won't play Thursday.
Martin Hanzal, C - (back) is out for the season.
Mikkel Boedker, LW - (ruptured spleen) is without a timetable for a return.
New York Rangers
Jesper Fast, RW - (knee) skated in a non-contact jersey Sunday.
Henrik Lundqvist, G - (neck) remains out.
Rick Nash, LW - (neck) is questionable.
Montreal Canadiens
Sergei Gonchar, D - (upper body) won't play Thursday.
P.A. Parenteau, RW - (concussion) won't play Thursday.
Alexei Emelin, D - E(shoulder) was placed on injured reserve over the weekend.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Boone Jenner, LW - (back) isn't expected back within the next week.
Dalton Prout, D - (upper body) was a participant in Wednesday's optional skate.
Ryan Murray, D - (ankle) is on IR.
Nathan Horton, RW - (back) is out for the season.
Jack Skille, RW - (shoulder) is out for the season.
Jeremy Morin, LW - (upper body) has resumed light skating work this week.
Kevin Connauton, D - (foot) is questionable for Thursday.
Sergei Bobrovsky, G - (groin) appeared to be a full participant at Wednesday's practice, but won't play Thursday.
Philadelphia Flyers
Kimmo Timonen, D - (leg) indicated that the earliest he will play is Saturday against the Rangers.
Ray Emery, G - (lower body) won't play Thursday.
Steve Mason, G - (knee) is expected to be activated from injured reserve prior to Thursday's game.
Shayne Gostisbehere, D - (knee) is on track to play either near the end of February or in early March.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Dion Phaneuf, D - (hand) is on track to return from injured reserve for Thursday's game.
Trevor Smith, C - (lower body) won't play Thursday.
Chicago Blackhawks
Johnny Oduya, D - (upper body) will miss a couple of weeks.
Patrick Kane, RW - (clavicle) will miss the next 12 weeks.
Trevor van Riemsdyk, D - (knee) was assigned to AHL Rockford on Wednesday.
Florida Panthers
Brandon Pirri, C - (upper body) was placed on injured reserve Saturday.
Willie Mitchell, D - (upper body) remains out.
Dave Bolland, C - (upper body) is considered day-to-day.
St. Louis Blues
Kevin Shattenkirk, D - S(abdomen) has resumed skating after undergoing abdominal surgery three weeks ago.
Winnipeg Jets
Mathieu Perreault, C - (lower body) is out indefinitely.
Matt Halischuk, RW - (lower body) should return in early March.
Grant Clitsome, D - (upper body) remains out.
Ben Chiarot, D - (hand) will miss about six weeks.
Blake Wheeler, RW - (knee) was placed on injured reserve Wednesday.
Minnesota Wild
Jason Zucker, LW - (clavicle) will miss the rest of the season.
Jared Spurgeon, D - (face) will not travel to Nashville for Thursday's game.
Keith Ballard, D - (concussion) is likely done for the season.
Ryan Carter, C - (shoulder) won't be back soon.
Matt Cooke, LW - (hernia) will miss another few weeks.
Nashville Predators
Anton Volchenkov, D - (lower body) joined the team for Wednesday's practice.
Ryan Ellis, D - (lower body) took part in Wednesday's practice.
Ottawa Senators
Chris Phillips, D - (general soreness) remains on IR.
Chris Neil, RW - (hand) is out.
Craig Anderson, G - (hand) isn't close to returning.
Clarke MacArthur, LW - (concussion) is out.
Zack Smith, C - (wrist) was a participant in Tuesday's practice.
Jared Cowen, D - (suspension) is still serving a suspension.
Robin Lehner, G - (concussion) is out.
Los Angeles Kings
Alec Martinez, D - (concussion) won't play Thursday.
Slava Voynov, D - (suspension) remains out while he deals with charges of domestic violence.
Tanner Pearson, LW - (leg) is likely out for the season.
Detroit Red Wings
Henrik Zetterberg, LW - (head) continues to experience concussion-like symptoms.
Kyle Quincey, D - (ankle) has been cleared to practice.
Johan Franzen, RW - (concussion) doesn't have a timetable to return.
San Jose Sharks
Tye McGinn, LW - (undisclosed) remains on IR.
Daniil Tarasov, RW - (unspecified injury) is on IR.
Raffi Torres, LW - (knee) may not play this season.
Mike Brown, RW - (leg) has yet to receive clearance to skate.
Hot
Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT -- There was a point this season when we were talking about Malkin's low production, but like all elite players, there will be streaks. He's on a different kind of streak right now, posting three goals and five assists over the course of a four-game point streak. He's also averaged 3.5 shots per game over that stretch. Malkin will play like Malkin, but he's really hitting the points hard right now, climbing his way up the league leaderboard in a hurry, with his 37 assists on the season ranking 10th in the league.
Jordan Eberle, RW, EDM -- Eberle hasn't hit Malkin levels, but it's worth noting that he's putting up solid numbers on a weak team. He has six assists over the last five games -- coming in three two-assist bursts. Stretch it out and over the last nine games he has ten assists. Unfortunately there hasn't been a goal in that time, but he's averaging just under two shots per game in that stretch and is due for a goal soon with a career shooting percentage of 13.6%.
Cold
Jhonas Enroth, G, DAL -- It's not easy to be a goaltender in Dallas. Even though he gets flak for being on the small side, I'm a fan of Enroth and I like that Dallas went after him, but it hasn't proven to be an easy time for him in Dallas so far. He's started the last two games for the Stars and dropped both decisions, allowing six third period goals to the Wild in the first start. So far in Dallas, he's 0-3 through four games played with a .867 Sv% and a 3.75 GAA. It's emblematic of the ongoing issues in Dallas. The last time a goaltender whose first name isn't Kari won a game for the Stars was on March 11, 2014 when Tim Thomas backstopped them to a win over the Blues. That will have to change soon though, especially if Enroth starts in the Stars next game with Lehtonen questionable after an undisclosed injury.
Antoine Roussel, LW, DAL -- Yeah, another Star. They're frustrating to watch right now, even if Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn are tearing it up. How frustrating? Tyler Seguinbroke his iPad watching them play. If you're rostering Roussel, you're league probably scores penalty minutes. He's a great addition in that kind of league because there aren't many players who put up his ridiculous number of penalty minutes and are still capable of scoring (maybe Steve Downie is the other player who can?). However, the points have dried up on Roussel. He's still getting the penalty minutes, but he's without a point in 15 games and he's a minus-9 over that stretch. He's also only taken more than one shot in a game once during that period. Roussel can be a great depth addition in some formats and leagues, but with a slump this long, I might be looking at options on the wire.
Recommended Pickup
Andrej Sekera, D, LAK -- There was one more trade on Wednesday. The Carolina Hurricanes moved defenseman Andrej Sekera to the Los Angeles Kings. Sekera is owned in many leagues, but his production has been slow after posting 44 points last season. That's in no small part due to playing on the offensively anemic Carolina Hurricanes. The Kings aren't posting the most goals in the league, but he's going to be playing with better teammates, on a more defensively sound team, and a team that's capable of scoring more. Don't expect Sekera to have an explosion of production, but it'd be surprising if his numbers don't improve almost immediately.
