babchuk

Fantasy Impact: The Calgary Flames have traded defenseman Ian White and reserve forward Brett Sutter to Carolina for defenseman Anton Babchuk and industrious forward Tom Kostopolous.

The Flames get: some offensive skill on the blue line. That’s not a knock against White, who could be a 45-point player some day. But Babchuk has a higher ceiling. He was stuck behind Joni Pitkanen, Joe Corvo and Jamie McBain on the PP depth chart. The team also gets rid of a someone who may be a short-term distraction in Sutter, who is having legal problems at the moment (but at the same time, they keep him close to family – moving from a Sutter coach to a Sutter teammate). In Kostopolous, they add a hardworking forward for the fourth line who will add more spunk and more offense to the fourth line than either of Stefan Meyer or Craig Conroy.

The Hurricanes get: a more complete defenseman in White (although we haven’t seen it this year given his minus-10). Sutter will play in the minors, so the team cleared space for recent acquisition Troy Bodie and impressive call-up Jonathan Matsumoto. They added just over a half a million in salary.

Fantasy Players Impacted: White’s value takes a hit, but at No. 4 on the PP depth chart is where he is better suited. He had his chance. Babchuk, on the other hand, could potentially be a high-scoring rearguard now. This could also give the Calgary power play a significant boost, which would have a ripple effect throughout the team’s forward units.

Fantasy players this helps, in order:

1. Babchuk

2. Iginla/Bourque/Stajan/Tanguay

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Fantasy players this hurts, in order:

1. White

2. Jay Bouwmeester