Fantasy Impact: Blues Acquire Nikita Soshnikov

steve laidlaw

2018-02-15

 

Fantasy Impact: The St. Louis Blues acquire depth winger Nikita Soshnikov from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2019.

 

The Blues get: a depth winger to play on their third or fourth line, with enough offense to pinch hit on a scoring line.

 

The Maple Leafs get: A small amount of draft capital, but more importantly it resolves their roster log jam, which allows them to keep Kasperi Kapanen with the main club. It also brings them down to 49 contracts (they were previously at the 50-contract limit), which gives them some flexibility to add in future trades.

 

Fantasy Players Impacted: Soshnikov probably won’t have much impact for fantasy owners. Last season he was a fourth-line checker who put up nine points and 70 SOG in 56 games while skating 11 minutes per game. Odds are he is headed for that sort of production in St. Louis. He does offer modest upside as a provider of hits, especially if his minutes crank up closer to the 14-minute mark, but that would be on the high end. The 24-year-old forward did flash some scoring upside with 17 points in 19 AHL games this season so if injuries mount we could see him thrust into a scoring role.

As it stands Soshnikov will be competing with wingers like Ivan Barbashev, Scottie Upshall, and enforcer Chris Thorburn for regular minutes on the third or fourth line. Also impacted here is winger Zach Sanford who was a key piece in the Kevin Shattenkirk trade, but has been out all season with injury. He was just sent to the minors on a conditioning stint. If Sanford can get healthy, he could be the best option of the aforementioned wingers. Rookie winger Tage Thompson is in the mix as well, even after being demoted yesterday.

The Blues are nowhere close to the contract limit and have been rumoured to be in the mix to add a scoring winger. Soshnikov probably isn’t that big acquisition. If they aim bigger everyone on the above list could get bumped down a peg.

In Toronto, Kapanen’s spot on the fourth line is now safe and the removal of Soshnikov means no one needs to be demoted, which will keep Josh Leivo off the trade block and in the press box.

 

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

Kasperi Kapanen

Nikita Soshnikov

📢 advertisement:

 

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

Tage Thompson

Zach Sanford

Chris Thorburn

Josh Leivo

Scottie Upshall

 Ivan Barbashev

 

*

Thanks for reading! You can follow me @SteveLaidlaw.

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 20 - 19:03 CBJ vs FLA
Mar 20 - 19:03 OTT vs COL
Mar 20 - 19:03 WSH vs PHI
Mar 20 - 19:03 NYR vs TOR
Mar 20 - 19:03 N.J vs CGY
Mar 20 - 19:03 NYI vs MTL
Mar 20 - 19:03 STL vs VAN
Mar 20 - 20:03 NSH vs ANA
Mar 20 - 20:03 DAL vs T.B
Mar 20 - 20:03 CHI vs L.A
Mar 20 - 21:03 UTA vs BUF
Mar 20 - 21:03 EDM vs WPG
Mar 20 - 22:03 VGK vs BOS
Mar 20 - 22:03 S.J vs CAR

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
BRANDON CARLO TOR
LANE HUTSON MTL
LEO CARLSSON ANA
ARTYOM LEVSHUNOV CHI
RYAN HARTMAN MIN

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
JAKE OETTINGER DAL
PHILIPP GRUBAUER SEA
JOSEPH WOLL TOR
MACKENZIE BLACKWOOD COL
KAREL VEJMELKA UTA

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency SEA Players
13.3 JADEN SCHWARTZ KAAPO KAKKO MATTY BENIERS
10.7 EELI TOLVANEN CHANDLER STEPHENSON JORDAN EBERLE
6.3 SHANE WRIGHT JADEN SCHWARTZ JORDAN EBERLE

DobberHockey Podcasts

Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – Three Cs Becoming Three Os

Elan and Shams are here to update you on the recent injury news headlined by Draisaitl and the potential light at the end of the tunnel for Shea Theodore’s return. They close out the show discussing hot Blues, cold Defencemen and Shams trying to convince Elan about some potential streaky players to add.

Keeping Karlsson: Hellllooooooo, Nyman

On this edition of the Keeping Karlsson Fantasy Hockey Podcast mega-show, Elan and Brian are highlighting the teams with the best and worst fantasy playoff schedules, and the players that are worth adding, holding or dropping as you get to the most crucial moments of your fantasy season.

Fantasy Hockey Life: Trade Deadline Prospect Movers

The trade deadline is past us…were any of the prospects traded fantasy-relevant? Victor and Jesse hit them all to get Victor’s analysis. Covered are:  Shane LaChance, Patrick Giles, Kyle Aucoin, Herman Traff, Brendan Brisson, Justin Brazeau, Marat Khusnutdinov, Calum Ritchie, William Dufour, Nikita Grebenkin, William Zellers, Aku Raty, Chase Stillman, Max Graham, Tristen Robins, Zack […]

Keeping Karlsson Short Shift – Potential Playoff Gems

Jeremy and Shams are here to keep you updated with the recent injury news, including a couple of players who may be out for the remainder of the fantasy season. For the remainder of the show, they cover a group of lesser known players that can help you out in your first week of the fantasy playoffs and possibly more.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: