Fantasy Impact: The Blackhawks have acquired Andrew Ladd from the Jets in exchange for Marko Dano and a first round pick.

The Blackhawks get: A veteran power winger with a defensive conscience and some scoring skills with several 50-60-point seasons under his belt in recent years. Ladd is also quite familiar with the Blackhawks having won a Cup with this group at the start of their run back in 2010. The Jets also get depth defenseman Jay Harrison and AHL winger Matt Fraser but this deal is really all about Ladd.

The Jets get: An intriguing wing prospect with some power and scoring touch in his game as well. On top of Dano the Jets acquire the Blackhawks’ 2016 first round pick, likely to be a late one, and another conditional pick that will convey if the Blackhawks win the Cup.

Fantasy Players Impacted: This probably helps Dano first and foremost as he should get a shot at NHL minutes with the Jets turning into full sellers. Ladd had already started to slip down the depth chart with Nikolaj Ehlers taking up a spot on the top line alongside Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler but Ladd was still a frequent presence on the top power-play unit. A spot opens up with Ladd gone and it will almost certainly go to Ehlers although Drew Stafford looms. Meanwhile, expect Scheifele to replace the injured Bryan Little in another spot on the top power-play unit. That unit will look like:

Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler-Mathieu Perreault–Dustin Byfuglien

Big chance for a couple of youngsters. Look for Dano to slot in as a second or third line winger and maybe get some power-play time with the second unit but the big thing is just getting him to make the leap from the AHL to the NHL. The 21-year-old has scored 48 points in 83 AHL games. You’d like to see a bit more scoring at that level but what makes his game great for fantasy is his physical play and potential to be a multi-category producer who can also chip in with some scoring so don’t expect a top line player.

As for Ladd, there are a couple of possibilities for him both of which have been speculated about but he will almost certainly be used in more of a shutdown capacity with the Blackhawks than as a top scoring winger. On a team with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin there just isn’t much room for too many other scoring wingers. Take a look at Ladd’s usage the last time he was with the Blackhawks:

That’s a lot of third line duties with John Madden and you could certainly see him resume those duties on the third line with Marcus Kruger whenever the Blackhawks’ shutdown defenseman returns. A third line of Kruger, Andrew Desjardins and Ladd could certainly put some opponents in a bind. Of course, Ladd hadn’t quite realized his offensive potential during his time with the Blackhawks. It wasn’t until he moved on to the Thrashers that he really emerged as a top line scoring threat, which opens up our other possibility.

We may instead see Ladd used with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa who have been used as an elite shutdown line with Kruger out with an injury. Ladd with those two defensive studs would also lock teams up and has enough offensive punch to wreck you at the other end.

Ladd went through quite the slump this season, which may have been enough to scare the Jets off of an extension as it shows signs of age. Perhaps motivated by all the trade chatter or simply refreshed by the time off, Ladd has been on fire since the All-Star break with seven goals in 10 games. He could very well replace Andrew Shaw on the Toews line and also grab Shaw’s top unit power-play time as well.

That last bit would require Ladd to be a net-front presence, something he is probably capable of but hasn’t necessarily done in the past. Would the Blackhawks dare to mess with their fierce power play that is clicking at 22.6% good for second in the league in efficiency? This may not go down.

Look for Ladd to get some turns with Toews and Shaw while Hossa misses some time due to injury and then he’ll likely alternate on that top line with Shaw as Joel Quenneville is known for mucking about with his lines. As for the power play, Ladd may get a look but it is more likely that Shaw hangs onto his role as the net-front presence so not all is lost for Shaw’s fantasy value.

Ultimately, Ladd’s upside with the Blackhawks is lower than it was with the Jets because the prime opportunities just aren’t there. Of course, it is entirely possible he stays hot even while playing in a smaller role.

Notice we haven’t mentioned Teuvo Teravainen yet? He could easily find himself turned into a black ace and at the very least will be relegated to the fourth line once the Blackhawks are up to full strength. He may still get a turn with Toews but adding more wing depth does not help his cause.

Players this helps, in order:

Marko Dano

Nikolaj Ehlers

Jonathan Toews

Marian Hossa

Marcus Kruger

Players this hurts, in order:

Andrew Shaw

Teuvo Teravainen

Andrew Ladd

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Steve Laidlaw is the Managing Editor of Dobberhockey. Follow him @SteveLaidlaw.