Chris Pudsey starts his team by team look at who should be bought and sold in salary cap leagues. 

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How about those Toronto Blue Jays? It’s been fun watching them and their run towards the playoffs this summer. In case you didn’t know, as I type this, we are roughly 41 days away from the start of the 2015/16 NHL season as well. Now there’s something else to really get excited about!

It’s time to shake off the summer cobwebs, rub your eyes and start focusing on your fantasy roster for the upcoming NHL season. The hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer are winding down and it’s time to hit those rosters hard. 

I thought I would take a look over the next few weeks at every NHL team’s roster and see who I think you should focus on, for good or bad reasons with salary being the focus of course. This is a Capped column after all. I am going to go over the NHL rosters and pick out one player you should either by looking to buy, if you don’t own them, or sell, if you do own them. I will do the teams alphabetically for ease of reading and no confusion or bias.

Anaheim Ducks

Buy:  Patrick Maroon – LW, $2.0M cap hit, three years remaining

This guy is flying under everyone’s radar right now and if you act quickly, he shouldn’t cost much. The exit of Matt Beleskey opens up a top six spot and the guy who is going to take advantage of that opportunity will be Patrick Maroon. From what I’ve been reading, there’s a good chance he starts the year on the top line alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The 26-year-old already had a cup of coffee on the top line near the end of last year and he didn’t look out of place. He creates space for the big guns to do what they do best.

Worst case scenario, he ends up on the second line with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg but I don’t think that’s his place.

If Getzlaf and Perry can make Beleskey a star, they could have the same effect on Maroon. He’s a buy for me, especially at $2M per season.

Sell:  Carl Hagelin – LW, $4.0M cap hit, four years remaining

*note: last year’s stats are with the New York Rangers

Hagelin tied his career high for goals scored in a season (17) last year and considering he was playing in a third line role, that’s not bad. So why does he land on my sell list? It really boils down to value for the dollar for me. I think Hagelin could very well end up producing at a bit higher rate in Anaheim compared to his time in New York, but at $4M per season, I think it’s too rich for what he brings. Sure, the guy has speed to burn but he also has a tendency to disappear for games on end.  I see him as Michael Grabner 2.0. That’s not a compliment, in case you need more information there.

The Rangers saw him as a third line skater who uses his speed to kill penalties. I think the Ducks soon find that out for themselves as well.  Let someone else drool over his potential to play on the top lines. I think he slides down the line up to his old spot on the third line in Anaheim as well.

Arizona Coyotes

Buy:  Tobias Rieder – LW/RW, $853,333 (ELC) one year remaining

Rieder established himself last year as a legit NHL player. Although his offensive numbers don’t look overly impressive at first glance, they don’t tell the whole story of his season. He was tied with Shane Doan for the second most shots on goal for the Coyotes (189) but his shooting percentage of 6.9%. The opportunity is certainly there, he just needs to finish his chances, and he should see a nice uptick in production. 

The fact that there are a good group of young forwards coming up to help a skilled player like Rieder will only help him going forward. This is a kid you want to get a hold of early on.

Sell:  Boyd Gordon – C, $3.0M, one year remaining

*note – last year’s stats are with the Edmonton Oilers

Boyd Gordon was shipped back to Arizona by the Oilers back at the end of June. Chances are, unless your league uses faceoff wins, Gordon may not even be a factor in your league. If your league DOES use FOW, then Gordon has value. At least, he used to have value.

Gordon’s main asset was winning draws, and in Edmonton that was his main purpose and he won lots of draws. Unfortunately in Arizona, he now has to share the faceoff dot with one of the league leaders in faceoff wins, Antoine Vermette. 

Hopefully the guys in your league simply look at last year’s stats for information when comparing deals. Don’t delay in shopping him and sell his FOW as a good thing and hope for the best.

Boston Bruins

Buy:  Ryan Spooner – C, $950,000, two years remaining

With Carl Soderberg moving on to greener pastures in Colorado, the third line center role now opens up and ready to finally grasp it is Ryan Spooner. He put up decent numbers last year in a limited role and is ready to prove he is a full time player. 

Obviously he won’t push David Krejci or Patrice Bergeron out for a top six role, but he should thrive in a third line role. His biggest asset is his speed and has no issues putting the puck in the net. If Soderberg can thrive in a third line role, there’s no reason Spooner can’t step up and do something similar.

Sell: Loui Eriksson – RW, $4.25M, one year remaining

It was nice to see Loui finally play the better part of a full season last year after injury issues the year before. This should help you move him.

Loui is in the final year of his current deal and the 29-year-old is going to be looking for a big payday as a UFA at seasons end. The days of Loui hitting 70+ points are long behind him and although he’s still good for 45-50 points most year, the dollar amount he’s about to ask for won’t be worth the fantasy output you get back.

Move him now before others clue in to his pending contract status and let someone else deal with his raise.

Buffalo Sabres

Buy:  Jamie McGinn – LW/RW, $2.95M, one year remaining

McGinn came to Buffalo as a secondary piece in the Ryan O’Reilly trade. He missed the majority of last season after undergoing back surgery but should be fine by the start of training camp.

McGinn is a guy who has the ability to score and bang bodies around. He scored 19 goals with Colorado two seasons ago, so the ability is there. McGinn will probably start the year in a bottom six role, but considering his only real competition on the right side is Brian Gionta and Tyler Ennis, there’s a good chance he could move up the line-up and could also see power play time on the second unit.

McGinn could surprise a lot of people this year and could end up being quite valuable in most fantasy circles.

Sell:  Zemgus Girgensons – C, $894,167 (ELC), one year remaining

Once a top six forward, he is now looking at staring in a third line role, playing behind O’Reilly and Jack Eichel down the middle. He is limited offensively anyway, and now with fewer opportunities, he will be even worse on the score sheet. 

Not that long ago, Girgensons was considered an untouchable by Sabres management. He could very well still be considered that in Buffalo, but in fantasy circles, you are going to want to move this kid now while he still has decent fantasy value. The fact he’s on the last year of his ELC and will be looking for a decent raise lowers his value even more. Move him now before you have a hard time doing so.

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So there are my first five teams and some guys to consider buying and selling, depending on your situation. Thanks to capfriendly.com for the salary information and Dobber’s Frozen Pool for the stats. Stay tuned next week as we take on Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado and Columbus.

As always, feel free to leave a comment and follow me on Twitter @chrispudsey.