Fantasy Impact: Coyotes Acquire Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta

Dobber

2017-06-23

 

The Arizona Coyotes acquired center Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta from the New York Rangers for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and a 2017 first-round pick.

 

The Coyotes get: Their No.1 center and a new No.1 goaltender. I think Coyotes' fans will find that Raanta is a better goaltender than Mike Smith – especially with new acquisition Nicklas Hjalmarsson helping out defensively. And now they have a No.1 center (ideally he's more of a No.2, but we'll see) in Stepan. With a healthy Max Domi and the arrival of wunderkind Clayton Keller, this will be a completely different Arizona team.

 

The Rangers get: A talented puck-moving defenseman with a lot of upside, but also with a chip on his shoulder. The first-round pick is seventh overall, which is a very high pick and it should allow the Rangers to easily replace Stepan with a future scoring-line center (they would just have to wait two or three years for said centerman to become NHL-ready). They also shed Stepan's $6.5 million cap hit, which is huge – don't underrate that aspect of this deal. It's huge.

 

Fantasy Players Impacted: While it may seem at first blush that Stepan will suffer a downgrade in linemates, if you look closer you will see that this is going to turn out to be quite an upgrade. He is the No.1 center in Arizona now and he will have his choice of linemates. Potentially that could be Clayton Keller and Max Domi, and though they lack experience they certainly do not lack in upside. Stepan has been stuck in that mid-50s range for point totals, but if he can stay healthy you may see him finally reach 60. I'm bullish on him with his new team, even if that team only had one 40-point player last season (Radim Vrbata had 55). The Coyotes' wingers will benefit from having Stepan there instead of hoping that Christian Dvorak can take the next step, or Alex Burmistrov could build on the promise he showed over 26 games with them. This move may hurt Dvorak for a season or two (as in – perhaps five to 10 fewer points each year), but in the long run bringing him along slower. This acquisition should also ensure that Dylan Strome plays in the AHL this season rather than try to rush him into the NHL.

With DeAngelo gone, it frees up power-play time for Jakob Chychrun. It also opens up a spot for prospect Kyle Wood, who is a promising 21-year-old defenseman worth keeping an eye on. He had 43 points in 68 games for Texas in his rookie AHL season last year.

Raanta's value just skyrocketed. Not that he's going to get 35 wins with Arizona. But he could get 30 and just the fact that he's now a No.1 goalie vaults his fantasy value. Do not underrate this goaltender – remember when Mike Smith first arrived in Phoenix? You could see a similar impact here.

In New York, Kevin Hayes just got bumped up to second-line center. He disappeared off the face of the earth midway through last season, but if he can produce the way he did in the first half (43 points in 51 games…followed by just six in 25) he will surprise many fantasy owners. The arrival of DeAngelo could kill Brady Skjei's promise. The Rangers rolled four forwards and a defenseman on the power play. Ryan McDonagh was usually that guy, while Skjei and Adam Clendening saw secondary time. Now DeAngelo will eat into McDonagh's time (a little) and Skjei's time (possibly a lot), and he would eliminate Clendening's PP time altogether. Just a word of caution on Skjei, and to a lesser extent McDonagh. Remember McDonagh's offensive dropoff during the two years they had Dan Boyle? You may see something similar here. As for DeAngelo himself, having McDonagh ahead of him in PP ice time is a far, far easier obstacle to overcome than having Oliver Ekman-Larsson ahead of him. Give him a bump.

 

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Raanta

2. Stepan

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3. Hayes

4. DeAngelo

5. Key Arizona wingers, such as Domi and Keller

 

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order

1. Skjei

2. McDonagh

3. Burmistrov

4. Dvorak (short-term)

 

Our members are having a spirited discussion about this trade right now – check it out here and give your two cents!

 

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