Two players with seemingly worn out welcomes in their respective franchises were traded for each other on Thursday afternoon. The long-rumoured Jordan Eberle trade occurred, with the Edmonton right winger being shipped to the New York Islanders in exchange for centre/winger Ryan Strome. The deal is a straight swap.

Eberle has two years left on his contract with an average annual value of $6 million. Strome has one year left with an AAV of $2.5 million, and will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this deal.

A couple days ago in my Ramblings, I posted a tweet from Mark Spector that the impending Eberle trade would be more of a salary dump than anything. Being able to save $3.5 million in cap space seems to be paving the way for the following:

you can think of the deal as eberle for strome and kris russell's shiny new contract

— Manny (@MannyElk) June 22, 2017

It’s been popular so far this offseason that Kris Russell would be returning to the Oilers, and now they have room to fit in his new contract. Take that for what you will.

Fantasy Impact

Eberle

I already wrote about Eberle’s struggles in a recent Ramblings, so there’s no sense re-hashing those now. It boils down to this, production-wise: drop in shooting percentage, drop in ice time. His assists per minute at five-on five in 2016-17 (1.01) was nearly identical to his rate from 2013-16 (1.04). He shot more per 60 minutes (8.30) than he did in the previous three years (6.83). Instead of shooting 12.7 percent like he did from 2013-16, however, he shot 9 percent. That led to a career-low in goals per minute, a problem in raw production exacerbated by a career-low in minutes per game. He was also largely left off the heavily-used top power-play unit, which meant he failed to crack 20 power-play points for the first time in any season in which he played at least 70 games.

The 27-year-old right winger is now in Brooklyn, presumably to play alongside John Tavares. This should cause an immediate, and perhaps large, jump in ice time; Tavares played at least 20 minutes a game for the sixth straight season. If Eberle is joined at his hip, aside from the penalty kill, it seems probably he jumps over 18 minutes a game again.

Like the Oilers, the Islanders also used a top power-play unit that ate most of the ice time. Eberle should be a feature there as well, which is more good news for his fantasy value.

I get it. Fantasy owners are skittish because they were burned by Eberle when he was supposed to be Connor McDavid’s line mate. Most players, however proven, tend to have a bad season once in a while. It’s easy to forget that over the five seasons from 2011-2016, on a per game basis, Eberle produced more points than guys like Logan Couture, Matt Duchene, and Brad Marchand. A return to career percentages, with a bump in ice time in a featured role alongside a world-class centre, should mean a return to form himself. Brush off 2016-17 when heading to fantasy drafts in September.

This probably affects Josh Bailey the most from the Islanders side of things. He had been used as a winger for Tavares over the years when Kyle Okposo was absent, particularly after he was allowed to walk in free agency and those two formed a line with Anders Lee. This acquisition likely pushes him to the second line, and off the top power-play unit. Unless the coaching staff sticks Eberle on the second line – which I can’t imagine they do, at least initially – this trade kills Bailey’s fantasy value.

Strome

I am higher on Strome than most, but he clearly ran out of favour with the Islanders franchise, what with being sent to the AHL and all. He will be given a second lease on his career in Edmonton.

It will be curious to see how he is used on this roster. Playing alongside McDavid would obviously be the choice for fantasy owners, but they have options now. This trade likely means that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stays in the fold, which gives them their second-line centre behind McDavid. That would also mean Leon Draisaitl stays on the top line. The long-term view may be that the young German star is a centre for this team, but in the short-term he is likely McDavid’s winger.

That doesn’t leave a lot of room for Strome’s waning fantasy value. If he’s not on the top line, and on the top power-play unit, there won’t be a lot of minutes with the high-end forwards for him to produce off of. An improvement on last year’s 30 points is certainly possible, but hoping for more than 40 at this point is misguided. We will just have to wait and see how they construct their lines in a few months’ time.