The 2024-25 fantasy hockey season continues to steam on, rounding the corner and heading for the holidays. As has been the case in previous weeks, we’ll highlight two buy-low targets you need to work to acquire this week, as well as two players you can trade at their fantasy pinnacle.
NHL Fantasy Hockey Trade Advice (Week 10)
Buy
It’s been a season of struggles for Rasmus Andersson. He opened the month of December with a power-play goal in a 3-0 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but he has since gone scoreless in seven games while posting a dismal -10 rating. So, buy? Really? Well, yes.
The 28-year-old Swedish rearguard tailed off last season with 30 assists and 39 points. Before that, he had consecutive seasons with 49+ points. He isn’t going to score a ton of goals, but Andersson will post a ton of points, particularly on the power play. He is a player you’ll want to scoop up immediately in a trade or off of the waiver wire if he is available.
His plus/minus rating has been abysmal lately, but if you’re in a fantasy pool that does not penalize plus/minus, get on Andersson immediately.
When the Rangers traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks two weeks ago, Chris Kreider’s name was bandied about as another big name who could be out the door. The Rangers shipped Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken this week, so perhaps that is what is bugging Kreider. He is amid a six-game scoreless skid, posting a -3 rating with two penalty minutes and 17 shots on goal (SOG) in the skid.
What reason would you possibly want to get in on that? Well, Kreider can scoop up points in bunches and his price tag is at an all-time low. If he stays with the Blueshirts or is moved to another organization, he is inevitably going to going to pop. This is a guy who has two 75-point seasons in his past three NHL campaigns. Kreider has 10 goals and 11 points this season and is on pace for just 29 points. You know that’s not going to last. Get on him immediately before the price rises substantially.
Sell
Rickard Rakell is absolutely on fire right now, posting back-to-back multi-point games heading into the weekend, while going for five goals and 10 points in the past six games with a +2 rating. He has two power-play goals and three points on the man advantage in the red-hot span, too.
Rakell is currently on pace for 36 goals with 63 points. That’s not terribly out of the ordinary for him, as he had a 60-point season in the 2022-23 campaign while going for 34 goals and a career-high 69 points back in 2017-18 with the Anaheim Ducks. That’s the rub, though. He has had two amazing NHL campaigns, but more often than not, he has tumbled into the range of 35-45 points.
Rakell has managed 15 goals through 34 games this season, putting him on pace for a career-high in goals. It is probably possible still, but he is 31 and on the back nine of his career. The best course of action is to flip him for a player with more upside down the stretch.
We had Teuvo “Turbo” Teravainen as a buy candidate back in the November 8th installment of this column, when he had just four goals and eight points through the first 15 games. It took a while for Turbo to get the engine revved up, but he has been a steady producer since around American Thanksgiving, going for three goals and 10 assists across the past 14 games, nearly a point-per-game pace.
Teravainen has picked up the pace lately with a power-play goal and seven assists with a +7 rating in a three-game point streak with at least two points in each. The time to knock someone’s socks off with a trade offer involving Teravainen is now. That’s been the thing with him throughout his career. A lot of players run hot and cold in their careers, but he takes it to the extreme.