For those that didn’t see part one of my recap of the trade deadline, you can read it here. I’m going to get right into Part Two below. And away, we go!
Arizona acquires the right to Jack McBain from Minnesota for a second round pick. All indications were that McBain wasn’t going to sign in Minnesota so the Wild tried to get something for his rights. I assume Arizona will do him the favor of burning a year off his ELC for him to sign. There’s some upside here long term, but nothing for now.
Pittsburgh acquires Nathan Beaulieu from Winnipeg for a conditional 7th. Depth add for Pitt, nothing more.
Arizona acquires Bryan Little and Nathan Smith from Winnipeg for a 4th round pick. Arizona ate Little’s contract and gave up a fourth to trade for Smith. Smith is a former third round pick who has been excellent in college this season. There could be something long term, although it’s not a guarantee. Good for Arizona to take the chance though.
Washington acquires Marcus Johansson from Seattle for Daniel Sprong, a fourth and a sixth. Johnasson will be a bottom end streamer in Washington with upside to be a middling one. Sprong appears to be a throw in here. I wish he would play 18 minutes on a team for a stretch because his shot rate is so good on a per-minute basis. I doubt it happens though.
Minnesota acquires Marc-Andre Fleury from Chicago for a conditional second. The big goaltending move, MAF moves to a contender in Minnesota. He was already an auto hold. Cam Talbot takes a massive hit. Despite the shutout on Monday, he’s only a streamer now. In Chicago, Kevin Lankinen should get most of the starts, and I have little interest.
Minnesota acquires Jacob Middleton from San Jose for Kaapo Kahkonen and a fifth. Kahkonen has had a rough year, but I get San Jose taking the chance on him. He should get some games, but I have him closer to desperation now than anything. There’s upside though. Middleton has taken huge strides to be great defensively this season, but that does nothing fantasy wise.
Rangers acquire Justin Braun from Philly for a third. Defensive defenseman depth.
Edmonton acquires Brett Kulak from Montreal for William Lagesson, a conditional second and a seventh. Kulak is a third pair guy while Lagesson is also fantasy irrelevant.
St. Louis acquires Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski from Detroit for Oskar Sundqvist, Jake Walman and a second round pick. I don’t really get this for St. Louis with where Leddy is in his career. Witkowski is less useful. Sundqvist has had some decent run in the past, but he’s a bottom end streamer at best. Walman hasn’t shown much to this point in his career.
Colorado acquires Artturi Lehkonen from Montreal for Justin Barron and a second round pick. Lehkonen is a great add for Colorado’s Cup chances. I assume he slots into the third line, but perhaps he goes onto the second line? That will determine whether he’s a middling streamer or an elite one. Barron has quite a bit of talent for dynasties, but for now, he’s not an option.
Washington acquires Johan Larsson from Arizona for a third round pick. He’ll be on the fourth line which leaves him as a bottom end streamer at best.
Winnipeg acquires Zach Sanford from Ottawa for a fifth round pick. Sanford should be a bottom end streamer and that’s it.
Colorado acquires Andrew Cogliano from San Jose for a fifth rounder. Cogliano is a fourth liner at this point in his career. No fantasy value.
The Rangers acquire Andrew Copp from Winnipeg for three draft picks, including a conditional 1st/2nd. Copp is a great add for the Rangers. What line he plays on is a question. If he plays second line with Panarin and Strome, he could end up a hold, and at the least, he’d be an elite streamer. If he goes on the third line, he’s probably a solid streamer. We have to take a wait and see approach. I don’t see anyone greatly benefiting in Winnipeg. If anyone does, it’s Evgeny Svechnikov, but I doubt it.
Rangers acquire Tyler Motte from Vancouver for a fourth. Strong fourth liner, but doesn’t matter for fantasy.
Edmonton acquires Derick Brassard from Philly for a fourth. I have a hard time thinking Brassard amounts to anything in Edmonton. Morgan Frost should stay up now, but he’s only a bottom end streamer.
Pittsburgh acquires Rickard Rakell from Anaheim for Zach Aston-Reese, Dominik Simon, Calle Clang, and a second. I said yesterday that I wasn’t sure Rakell would get a fantasy boost, but he definitely did. He should slide onto Malkin’s line. That makes him an elite streamer who is arguably a hold. I’m fine with making a spec add. Simon seems to be a AAA player who has little value. ZAR is hard to gauge. I want to see what line he goes on before making a judgment. Clang is a goalie prospect who is still quite a bit away.
Carolina acquires Max Domi from Columbus in a three way trade that is quite complicated but involves a bunch of players who might not play in the NHL. Domi has been much better over the last month or so. It depends what line he slots on, but I expect Domi to go in the bottom six which makes him a middling streamer. There’s upside from there though.
The rest of the trades were minor except Evgenii Dadonov to Anaheim, which is held up at the moment because of a dispute over his no-trade list. I can’t really comment until I know if he’s going to Anaheim or not. I assume he isn’t, but we’ll wait and see.
That’s all for now guys. I’m going to have a big rundown of the last few days coming on Friday. I’d like to thank everyone who commented on my Friday post about things you want to see or change going forward. If you have any input, please share below or in that post. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
