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NHL Fantasy Hockey: Overrating NHL trades; waiver wire-worthy Canucks

NHL Fantasy Hockey: Overrating NHL trades; waiver wire-worthy Canucks

Dobber launched his fantasy hockey website DobberHockey back in 2005 and has been Puck Daddy's resident fantasy hockey 'expert' since 2009.

The trade deadline offers double the fun for fantasy owners. And I'm not referring to watching the talking heads on TV analyze the trade of a fourth liner all morning on Monday before allocating five minutes on each trade when things actually start moving after lunch. No, if you're a fantasy owner then not only do you get the (post-lunch) excitement of some players that we own being moved to a new environment, but you also feel the rush of trade deadlines in our fantasy leagues.

And while you'll get no argument from me that the events are fun, is the end result really any different? Take last year's crop of players who were moved…

Dobber Hockey
Dobber Hockey

Here I grabbed the 12 most significant skaters in fantasy hockey who were dealt. Yes, this is just one year and yes this isn't a full list of players who were traded (leaving out players of lesser interest such as Tuomo Ruutu, David Rundblad, Raphael Diaz, etc). But I'm just making a pretty obvious point (and not teaching a statistics class). A third of these key players improved on their new team in terms of production and a quarter of them did so with any kind of significance. It's not enough to draw any kind of rigid conclusion without looking at the other key deals of the salary cap era, and we all know that I'm too lazy to do that, but it makes enough of a point that you should tone down your expectations.

Studs...

These fellas are wielding a hot stick. Take that into consideration when you go after them in trade talks...

Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings (6-6-4-10, plus-3, 7 Hits, 26 SOG, 2 PPPts) - The Magic Man is coming off a pro-rated 65-point season. Before this little run, his pace for this year wasn't a whole lot better. Because he's 36 years old, I'll admit that I had written off his days of finishing up with a point per game. Today he has 49 points in 48 games. The magic continues.

Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings (6-4-5-9, plus-3, 7 Hits, 27 SOG, 1 PPPts) - Carter was mired in a horrible slump back in November/December that saw him tally just eight points in 23 contests. Otherwise he's had 36 in 35 on the campaign.

Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (16-4-12-16, plus-9, 4 PIM, 36 SOG, 5 PPPts) - I thought Shea Weber was supposed to be helping Josi's offense? So far it's been the other way around.

Duds...

Somebody wake these guys up – their fantasy owners are counting on them...

Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins (11-2-4-4, even, 4 PIM, 38 Hits, 18 SOG, 0 PPPts) - Lucic is sitting on a five-year low for handshake line threats points-per-game average and these days he's not even giving you help with PIM. Leagues that count Hits are at least getting something out of this guy.

Jaromir Jagr, New Jersey Devils (8-0-0-0, even, 13 PIM, 13 SOG, 0 PPPts) - I love that Jagr had such a huge year last season. One last hurrah to show us the man, the legend. But that's it now, when it comes to fantasy hockey.

Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks (9-0-0-0, minus-3, 10 PIM, 20 SOG, 0 PPPts) - The Kesler vs. Nick Bonino race that I was so interested in back in October has turned into a bit of a dud when it comes to fantasy hockey. Last game, Kesler found himself with new linemates in Jakob Silfverberg and Jiri Sekac so maybe that will get him going.

The Wire...

Mostly short-term grabs here, but as always some potential steals...

Marc Staal, New York Rangers (8-1-5-6, plus-3, 15 Hits, 16 BLKS, 12 SOG) - This is easily Staal's most fantasy-worthy eight-game run in the last five years, just when it seemed injuries had taken a permanent toll on his offense. But when you're paired up with that star sniper Kevin Klein, how can you go wrong?

Erik Condra, Ottawa Senators (5-2-4-6, plus-4, 2 PIM, 7 SOG, 5 BLKS) - I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking that we'd seen the last of this guy on any "must grab" waiver-wire list, but Condra has been clicking with youngsters Curtis Lazar and J-G Pageau.

Adam Larsson, New Jersey Devils (4-0-5-5, plus-5, 2 PIM, 7 SOG, 6 BLKS) - In 22 games since the calendar flipped to 2015, Larsson has 13 points. Just as important - he hasn't been scratched. The 22-year-old may finally have arrived.

Artem Anisimov, Columbus Blue Jackets (3-1-2-3, plus-2, 2 Hits, 11 SOG, 0 PPPts) - For all intents and purposes, Anisimov's "training camp" is just finishing up and his season is just starting. He missed much of the first half with torn triceps. He's seeing a ton of power-play time now and is lining up with Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson.

Jannik Hansen, Vancouver Canucks (7-1-6-7, plus-1, 2 PIM, 18 SOG) - The 28-year-old Dane will never be 'lights out', but he does tend to go on these cute little runs that make us pick him up and then drop him a week later. Here is your week to do that.

Zack Kassian, Vancouver Canucks (10-7-3-10, plus-6, 9 PIM, 19 Hits, 14 SOG) - You can add a healthy scratch to the recent stat line. Kassian is flying on a line with the Sedin twins, but it wasn't enough to prevent getting scratched on February 19. That was his ninth healthy scratch of the season, so it's pretty important that he keeps up his current torrid pace.

Eddie Lack, Vancouver Canucks (1-0-0, 67 saves on 68 shots) - Surprisingly, Eddie Lack is only owned in 39% of leagues. You know what that means? It means 61% of leagues have owners who fell out of the race and quit, causing the entire league to disband.

For more fantasy hockey tips, take a gander at DobberHockey. And while you’re at it, follow Dobber’s fantasy hockey musings on Twitter

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