It's no surprise that Nazem Kadri is the big winner of the trade deadline. The surprise is how big of a winner that he is. Kadri has played on the wing with MacKinnon and Necas instead of centering his own line, and it doesn't get better than that. Kadri had a goalon two shots on Thursday in the win over the Kraken. His 19:26 in a blowout win is the lowest TOI he's played so far. There's a real chance that Kadri will be a top 50 player for the rest of the season if he stays in this spot, despite being available in 15% of leagues. I assume your league's trade deadline has passed, but if it hasn't and you're making a push, Kadri is a top target.
As a Buffalo fan, I experienced plenty of pain in my sports fandom. For the first time this millennium, the Sabres and Bills are doing well at the same time, and while it might only last a few more days (I feel good about the Bills Saturday though!), I'm certainly going to enjoy it while it lasts. I'm a hockey fan first, having gone to games 3, 4, 5 (in Philly), and 6 the last time that the Sabres were in the playoffs. I was in college and wasn't even able to buy a beer at the games! Here we are, almost fifteen years later, and the Sabres are finally looking like a real time. Their best forward led the charge the last two days. Tage Thompson dished two assists and added two shots in the 5-2 win over the Flyers on Wednesday. He followed it up with one of the games of the season on Thursday, scoring a hat trick with two assists in the 5-3 win over the Canadiens. Tage is up to 25 goals and 24 assists in 46 games with a 3.5 shots per game pace. He's now tied for fifth in the league in goals, and second in even strength goals behind MacKinnon. This is after leading the league in even strength goals last season. Now, if only the Sabres power play can ever sustasin some success, and Tage could push for a Rocket Richard. As is, we're looking at a premier goal scorer and a top 20 fantasy forward, which makes him a top 25 player. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
I'm going to change things up today, as I've already done a big playoff schedule breakdown for everyone and will continue to answer all specific questions you have for those still in contention. Today, I'm going to focus on three different players who signed in the last week and stepped right into the NHL from college. All three are on teams in the playoff picture giving them some meaningful games right away. I'll talk about all three players, how they project long term, and who I would prioritize for those of you in keeper leagues. Let's get to it!
