The fantasy hockey season is in full force. That means we need to dive into another edition of FantasyPros’ fantasy hockey trade advice.
Remember, we don’t just highlight the home-run hitters in these pieces. Often, we will include players whose fantasy hockey value is on the rise. For some, these players may be on your waiver wire in deep leagues. For others, they are worth a low-cost addition via the trade block.
Let’s dive in and see who we should buy or sell as we look toward the present and future in both dynasty and redraft leagues.
NHL Fantasy Hockey Trade Advice
Buy
Some star players come cheaper than others on the trade market and that is the case with Blues winger Jordan Kyrou.
He remains rostered in more than 94% of ESPN leagues but the production has been a little light to begin the season. Through six games, Kyrou has just one goal and three points. However, he has also fired 20 shots on goal, good for a solid 2.86 shots per game, which equates to 234 shots per season.
In short, expect these numbers to rise. After all, the 25-year-old notched 37 goals and a whopping 272 shots on goal last season, a 10-goal, 84-shot increase from his previous season, albeit while skating in five more games. This season, however, he’s averaging 19:21 in ice time per game, a notable increase from his 18:00 average ice time from last season.
There is zero doubt that Kyrou is the Blues’ top offensive weapon. Center Robert Thomas isn’t stealing any shots on goal from the Sarna Sting product but he will distribute the puck to the club’s top goal-scorer. While the price is moderate, consider throwing an offer for Kyou before it’s too late.
This is a guy who every fantasy manager should covet.
At just 5-foot-10 and 175 lbs, Konecy is not a big dude but he plays like one. He has already amassed 16 penalty minutes on the season after collecting 77 minutes in penalties in each of the last two seasons. He did so last season in just 60 games while also collecting a career-high 31 goals and matching a previous career-high with 61 points. Keep in mind these totals came on a very poor Flyers team while he averaged 20:07 of ice time a season ago.
Through seven games this time around, the London, Ontario native has notched six goals and nine points on 23 shots. His current 26.1% shooting rate won’t last much longer but we still have a quality, cross-category contributor in the feisty winger.
He is a redraft and dynasty league darling, so let’s see what we can do to get Konecny on our fantasy hockey rosters sooner rather than later.
Sell
If he’s not scoring, Johnny Hockey isn’t doing much for your fantasy roster.
Through seven games, that’s been the case. The former Flames star has notched just four assists in seven games this season. He has paired his lack of production with two penalty minutes, a plus-one rating, and zero hits. That’s…. less than ideal.
Hey, it’s not as if he can’t produce on this Blue Jackets team. He notched 21 goals and 74 points last season. However, assists were just about the only category where he ranked above average. Okay, his 24 power-play points were solid but he was also a minus-33 and logged 22 penalty minutes with a hefty five (!!!) hits in the entire season.
He is a solid, yet very unspectacular fantasy asset. He is far more important to the Blue Jackets than he is to your fantasy roster. He is down to 85.2% rostered in ESPN leagues but he can still be used to extract value in a trade while the name value still holds.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a massive Saros fan. However, even I can see he will be in for a trying season between the pipes for the Predators.
He will log plenty of starts, to be sure. He led the league in appearances in each of the last two seasons. He also faced the most shots in the league last season. While we can admire the stamina, these aren’t all good things.
Saros sits with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage through seven games to begin the season. He also leads the league with four losses and has just 0.74 goals saved above average, as per Hockey Reference. The Predators will are currently seventh out of eight Central Division clubs at the moment, which is about where many projections had them ranked.
Wins are going to be tough to come by. Nashville signaled a re-tool by letting go of veterans Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene while Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, and even Saros could be next. Feel free to explore a deal for a quality 28-year-old netminder with plenty of solid options available on the waiver wire on a streaming basis.
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