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Friday was one of the most eventful trade deadlines in my lifetime.  It had plenty of quantity, and an unparalleled amount of quality moved.  I'm going to note all of the trades that happened that carry any fantasy relevance, even for the deepest of leagues.  Some of them will be irrelevant even in the deepest of leagues, but there will also be blockbusters to discuss.  I will be going in the order that they happened, not in order of magnitude.  And with that, let's get to it! Florida Panthers acquire Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for Patrick Giles. Vanecek is the new backup in Florida with Knight in Chicago.  He's starting on Saturday night and becomes a viable streamer every time he starts.  Giles is AHL depth for San Jose.
The trade deadline is this Friday, but we saw a couple trades on Saturday, one of which carries some big fantasy ramifications.  The Panthers made their annual big swing, acquiring Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Spencer Knight and a first round pick, almost certainly in 2026.  Even with Chicago retaining salary, Jones will cost the Panthers seven million a year for the next five years.  Long time Razzballers know that I have never been a fan of Jones in real life compared to his reputation.  I wouldn't want to commit to him for the next five years for free, let alone giving up a first round pick and Knight.  That said, it will certainly help him stepping onto the defending Cup champions.  So what can we expect for fantasy?
We were early on the Igor Shesterkin bandwagon when we found out in 2019 that he was going to come over to the Rangers that season.  His numbers were insane in Russia and none of it looked fluky.  He's been fantastic ever since, carrying flawed Rangers teams to elite levels.  This season, he finally had a rough patch, although it was largely influenced by the play in front of him.  The Rangers are bouncing back, and Igor is at the forefront.  Shesterkin saved 33 of 34 shots in the 6-1 win over the Flyers, after having shutouts in his previous two starts.  His save percentage has crossed the .915 mark now, and he's third in the league in GSAA.  Hellebuyck has done enough to say that he's the top goalie in the world right now, but I'm still taking Igor second, and wouldn't be surprised to see that flip at any point soon.  Given that the Rangers are in the thick of a playoff race, expect massive volume and Shesterkin to be a top five goalie the rest of the way in a worst case scenario.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Tuesday was a rare day in the NHL where every team plays  Thankfully, they stagger all of the game times, marketing it as "Frozen Frenzy."  Arguably the marquee matchup of the night was Tampa Bay at New Jersey, and it certainly was the craziest game.  The Lightning fell behind 2-1 before scoring five goals within ten minutes in the second period.  In that stretch, Brandon Hagel had a natural hat trick, finishing the game with an assist as well.  And yet, that still hasn't put him on the first power play unit .  Regardless, Hagel is off to a fantastic start.  I wasn't as far ahead of ADP on him as Guenther, but I was very bullish on Hagel.  I'm not sure he'll get to the 90 points I attempted to wish into existence with my bold predictions post, but it's in play if he gets that top power play time eventually.  Come on Cooper, do it already!  Let's take a look at what else happened in the one Monday game and Tuesday night.
The Avalanche are currently missing four top six quality wingers in Nichushkin, Landeskog, Lehkonen, and Drouin.  With Rantanen being the only one left, opportunity has appeared for other guys, and one has grabbed the bull by the horns.  Ross Colton moved onto the top line and top power play unit three games ago, and it couldn't be going any better.  Colton scored two goals on five shots playing almost 22 minutes on Friday.  Then, he scored two more goals on four shots on Sunday night.  That brings Colton to six in six games with over four shots per game since he moved onto the top line.  Is it going to last?  Almost certainly not.  Should he be owned in all leagues right now?  Without any doubt.  Who knows, maybe he keeps his spot all season and the Avs load up their middle six.  Again, it's unlikely, but for as long as Colton keeps this role, he could easily be a top 50 player.  Look at what Big Val has done in the past.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The season is underway with my beloved Sabres getting dominated twice by the Devils.  I'm going to start by talking about what was notable in those two games below, before looking at the games over the next two nights.  There's eight games in total between Tuesday and Wednesday, with some intriguing matchups and some possible early answers to some major questions, so I want to say what I'll be watching for from a fantasy hockey perspective.  Let's get to it!
We keep things moving in these parts with the rest of my forward rankings.  I am going to put these guys into tiers with comments on players that I think are worth discussion.  For example, I'm not going to talk about Scheifele because at this point, we know he's going to be right around a point per game with his goals coming down to how effective the Winnipeg PP is.  For the Top 40, you can read that here.  Let's get to it!
As a change of pace from my usual daily notes, I'm going to focus on one player on each NHL team whose value has changed recently, or could as the trade deadline approaches.  Let's get to it! In his last four games, Mason McTavish has four goals and three assists.  His line has dominated despite Anaheim's overall struggles.  McTavish is still available in over 50% of leagues, and if anything, his minutes should increase down the stretch once Henrique is moved out.  I have confidence in McTavish becoming a top 50 player sooner than later, potentially next season.  For now, I would definitely own him if your league doesn't have plus-minus.  If it does, he's on the fringe.
Hello everyone. Welcome to the seventh edition of JOT This Down! Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in volume six. I appreciate it.  Keep the questions, comments, and concerns coming. I’ll be here all week to answer any and everything you may have.