Hal Gill to Nashville
Jeff Angus
2012-02-17
Fantasy Impact: Montreal traded veteran defenseman Hall Gill and a 5th round draft pick to Nashville in exchange for prospect forward Blake Geoffrion, minor league winger Robert Slaney, and a 2nd round draft pick.
The Predators get: a proven playoff performer who will help steady the second pairing (likely with Kevin Klein). Gill has no fantasy value himself, but he will boost Pekka Rinne's value, and he should help Klein's offensive numbers out, too. He's very solid on the PK as well, which should free up Weber and Suter a bit from some of those tough minutes.
Nashville’s home PK is 25th in the league – Gill will help shore up this weakness immensely.
The Canadiens get: the grandson of a former great ('Boom Boom' Geoffrion), a good draft pick, and some AHL help. Geoffrion needed a fresh start, as he was getting passed over on the depth chart by similar players in Nashville. Gill is a free agent this summer and wasn't likely to re-sign in Montreal. This is nice work by Pierre Gauthier (you don't hear that every day) to get great value for an impending free agent.
Fantasy players impacted: a fresh start will do Geoffrion good. He has top six upside, but will likely develop into a solid two-way third line winger. Gill will likely bump one of Roman Josi or Ryan Ellis out of the starting six, which hurts their short term values. Josi and Ellis have both been solid, and conversely Nashville could put Gill with Josi and have Ellis play with Klein or Bouillon. Lots of options in Nashville.
Geoffrion is 24 years old and has struggled to produce in the AHL this season – the Habs will want to give him a look at the NHL level before the season ends to see what they have with him.
Players this helps:
1. Ellis/Josi/Klein (whichever one plays with Gill)
2. Geoffrion
3. Rinne
Players this hurts:
1. Ellis/Josi (whichever loses a roster spot)
2. Carey Price