Top 10 players who benefited from draft weekend trades
Tom Collins
2015-06-29
Ten players who benefited the most from trades on draft weekend
This past weekend was one of the most exciting weekends in recent draft history, and it had nothing to do with the draft.
NHL general managers made some major moves shaking up the core of their teams. From June 25 to 28, there were 24 trades, with 31 players and 44 drafts picks changing hands.
Despite just starting his third full season, Soderberg will begin the season as a 30-year-old. Soderberg, who has averaged 46 points in each of his two seasons, will get to play in a faster up-tempo system in Colorado than in Boston. Instead of playing with Loui Eriksson and Chris Kelly, he has the opportunity to play with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. He’ll be trusted more, and given more of an offensive role in Colorado.
4. Eddie Lack
Lack must be getting tired of playing backup. He was backup to Roberto Luongo in Vancouver, and when Lou was dealt, it looked like the starting job was all Lack’s until the Canucks signed Ryan Miller. Now Lack gets dealt to Carolina, where he will be backup to Cam Ward. Well, at least at first. Ward is an unrestricted free agent next summer, and the Canes are rebuilding. It may take awhile, but Lack will eventually be the top guy in Carolina.
3. Milan Lucic
While most of the Bruins struggled last season, nowhere was it more apparent than with Lucic. He scored just 18 goals, 44 points and 81 pims (his second lowest amount of the last five seasons). His shots, shooting percentage and power play goals were all also his second-lowest of the last five years. But Lucic is built for the Western conference, and should be a good fit for the Los Angeles Kings. The left winger should be on the top line in L.A., playing regularly with Anze Kopitar (I expect Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson to stay together as That 70s Line to at least start the season). Playing regularly with Anze Kopitar, Lucic should get back to 60 points. And in the rougher Western conference, he should get back to 100 pims.
2. Cam Talbot
Talbot goes from the being the backup on one of the best defensively-minded teams in the league to potentially being the starter on one of the worst. While his numbers may suffer from what he had as a Ranger, things are looking positive. All he has to do is be decent, and it will seem like a big improvement in Oiler-land. He’ll get the opportunity to be the number one guy, and anytime a goalie goes from backup to number one, that signals a potential huge boost to his fantasy numbers.
1. Robin Lehner
Some poolies have soured on Lehner the last few years, but the newest Buffalo Sabre always felt like he should be a number one guy in the league. And now he’ll get a chance to prove it. And the thing is, he’ll do better than many are expecting. The Sabres majorly upgraded their team this weekend, and going into next season, there will be new faces in the lineup, such as Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Jamie McGinn, David Legwand and Evander Kane. All this bodes very well for Lehner. Better quality offence up front will mean more goals, which will give him more of an opportunity for wins than any Sabre goalie had last season.
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