Fantasy Impact: The Canadiens acquire Ben Scrivens from the Oilers in exchange for Zack Kassian.

The Canadiens get: A third goalie option who is better than Dustin Tokarski.

The Oilers get: A once promising power forward whose substance abuse issues derailed his career. Kassian is out of treatment and seemingly ready for a fresh start.

Fantasy Players Impacted: With the Canadiens slumping, having lost six in a row they needed to do something. Mike Condon is a good backup but like any backup, he gets stretched when forced to start. Tokarski simply wasn’t offering relief for Condon so he has been sent to the AHL. Scrivens will take over and should split starts with Condon going forward.

Scrivens might even grab a larger share. He was miserable in Edmonton last season and really hasn’t been better while skating with the Oilers’ AHL affiliate. It is hard to see how he is a solution but remember that Scrivens played well behind a strong possession team in Los Angeles and could do so again.

Brendan Gallagher should be back soon and that will help the Canadiens get back to their winning ways even if Carey Price won’t be back any time soon. This acquisition is indicative that the disturbing reports of a lack of progress with Price’s injury are true. We might see a Condon/Scrivens pairing longer than you might think.

Kassian goes to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate where he will need to rediscover his zest for the game and really start to develop. There will be no free passes. He’ll have to earn his way back to the NHL.

That said, there is real potential here. Kassian turns 25 soon but we’ve seen enough late breakouts, especially from power forwards that you can envision Kassian turning into something. With the Oilers forward depth it will be tough for him to crack the roster but if he does eventually build chemistry with some of the Oilers’ top forwards the product could be huge. Remember, Kassian was once considered the next Milan Lucic.

Players this helps, in order:

Ben Scrivens

Zack Kassian

Mike Condon

Players this hurts, in order:

📢 advertisement:

Dustin Tokarski

Carey Price (because of the confirmation of injury woes)

*

Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.