It’s hard to believe we’re already heading into the third week of the National Hockey League regular season. The first two weeks of the fantasy season have been a little shocking, as some guys expected to be scoring machines have gotten off to a slow start, while some players have surprised early on.
If you used a draft pick on any of the slow-start players, don’t hit the panic button. Stay the course and give it some time — at least four periods. However, if you can scoop up a stud off of a foolish fantasy manager who is impulsive and cannot wait, take advantage.
In addition, if you have some surprise players, you can either ride it out and hope it continues, or sell high and cash out.
Let’s look at Week 3’s hockey trade advice.
NHL Fantasy Hockey Trade Advice (Week 3)
Buy
In the 2022-23 season, Matty Beniers burst onto the scene with 24 goals and 57 points with a +14 rating across 80 games, while managing four power-play goals and 10 points on the man advantage. He tailed off a little last season, slipping to 15 points and 37 points with a -11 rating. However, he did have six goals and 13 points on the power play. Which Beniers are we going to get in 2024-25?
Well, the jury is still out on the 21-year-old Massachusetts native. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft still has plenty of time to get much, much better. He has managed just a single assist with a +1 rating with zero goals across seven games.
Beniers showed out last season with 10 goals and 25 points on the road in 38 games – 0.66 points per contest away from home. He has 0.71 points per game in 41 road contests in 2022-23, too. Why is that important? Seattle has a five-game road trip coming up. It’s time to move now and grab Beniers before he breaks out. It’s coming. He is too talented to scuffle at this rate.
The 39-year-old rearguard has stumbled out of the chute with zero points, four shots on goal and a -2 rating. He is averaging 21:22 of ice time, which is right on par with last season.
Burns did take a backslide in 2023-24, posting 10 goals and 43 points after an 18-goal, 61-point campaign in 2022-23. However, he had a +19 rating for the second straight season and four power-play goals in each of his first two seasons in Raleigh.
Burns might never get back to that 60-point plateau and the sand is starting to run out of the hourglass on his career. However, it’s reasonable to believe he’ll once again be in the neighborhood of 45-50 points. If you’re able to make a low-risk trade to get Burns onto your fantasy team, costing you perhaps a player you picked in the middle to late rounds, or one you scooped off the waiver wire, race to your computer or phone and make that trade immediately. We know what we’re getting with Burns. When he gets hot, he picks up points in bunches.
Sell
It’s been an amazing start for Stefan Noesen, whom the Devils scooped up in free agency from the Carolina Hurricanes. He has managed three goals and nine points with a -1 rating through nine games. While it’s a small sample size, that’s a point per game about 10-11% of the way through the regular season.
Noesen is also getting work on the New Jersey man advantage, going for a goal and an assist. He sees plenty of ice time because of his reasonable work in the faceoff circle. He has won six of his 11 faceoffs, good for a 54.5% success rate at the dot. If you’re in a fantasy league that has an advanced scoring system and rewards faceoff work, that’s great. But, with a point-per-game clip, Noesen has plenty of fantasy value in standard formats, too.
Noesen’s trade value may never be higher, although it’s unlikely other fantasy managers are going to jump at the chance. He doesn’t have a giant name, so you’ll likely have to stress his offensive numbers and drill them into the head of your trade target team. He has picked up at least one point in six of his nine games and has a pair of multi-point performances. Last time out, he lit the lamp on the play against Tampa Bay. Noesen recorded a career-best 14 goals and 37 points last season. Right now, he is on pace for 82 points, so there is going to be a drop-off and a lengthy scoreless skid right around the corner. Get in front of this and sell Noesen while his trade value is at its pinnacle.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have gotten off to a surprising start. Thanks to young players like Kirill Marchenko, Yegor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, etc. It was a terrible offseason due to the tragic Johnny Gaudreau situation. The Jackets have rallied around each other and Marchenko is leading the way.
The 24-year-old Russian, like Noesen above, is a player who isn’t exactly on the tip of the tongue of casual fans. This is a tricky trade target. If you’re in a standard league, by all means, part ways with Marchenko, who is leading the team with eight points in six games, while posting a power-play assist and a +6 rating. While the Blue Jackets are expected to be near the bottom of the standings, Noesen’s plus-minus rating is certain to take a beating. As such, his fantasy value is as high as it will be this season.
That said, if you’re in a dynasty format, you definitely want to hang onto Marchenko and also acquire Chinakhov. That’s the future of the Blue Jackets. Marchenko, a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, had 23 goals with 42 points in 2023, including nine power-play goals. However, in his first 137 NHL games across two seasons, he had a -28 rating. That’s the rub. And, if you’re in a league that rewards penalty minutes, he is generally well-behaved, not chipping in on that statistical category, either.
