With week one in the books, we're on to week two of the buy/sell series – you can find part 1 here. For the uninitiated, this multi-week feature will cover each NHL team, analyzing one player to buy and one to sell. These recommendations will be based on their performance versus cap hit. That means in non-cap leagues, some of these suggestions may not be as relevant, but that doesn't mean the analysis isn't relevant. Generally, these players will either be riding new contracts into the season or be expected to have a large shift in value, for one reason or another. We went alphabetically last year, so this time we're going for the reverse.

Let's get back to it with Vancouver, Toronto, Tampa Bay, and St. Louis.

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Vancouver Canucks

Buy: Adam Gaudette

Current Cap Hit: $950,000

Gaudette is still 100 games away from hitting his breakout threshold, yet he was already pacing for 46 points last season. After starting out on hot while on the wing last season, Gaudette then took a small step back when being shifted to centre. From that point, he steadily increased his pace every successive quarter while playing centre, and did so with Antoine Roussell as his most common line mate. This coming season there is a wing spot in the top-six open for Gaudette, and if he gets that offensive opportunity then watch out. At minimum though he can be a 40-point centre earning less than $1 million.

Sell: Bo Horvat

Current Cap Hit: $5,500,000

I love Bo Horvat as much as the next guy (maybe even more) but what he did to raise his stock in the playoffs won't be repeatable over the course of a full regular season. He won't be a point-per-game guy, instead he regularly paces for 60 points and as a result his name value is surpassing his fantasy value. Sell him for someone with a higher upside, that doesn't also have to take on all of the toughest defensive responsibilities. Let your league know he's available and there will be opportunities to move him and improve your team.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Buy: Mikko Lehtonen / Morgan Rielly

Current Cap Hit: $925,000 / $5,000,000

One of these two defencemen is going to be running the top Leafs power play, and we all know how talented their top forwards are. Morgan Rielly is the incumbent and had two straight years of 20-plus powerplay points (PPPs) before falling off last year in an injury and pandemic shortened season. However, even if he played every game Rielly was only on pace for 12 PPPs last season, in part due to the presence of a more offensively inclined blueliner in Tyson Barrie.

Mikko Lehtonen has been tearing up the KHL to the tune of eight goals and 17 points in 17 games. He seems to be in great shape to make the opening day lineup for the Leafs after being released from his KHL loan, and with his offensive skillset he may get a spin on the top powerplay unit. Working in his favour is a booming shot that Rielly doesn't have which would add a new weapon to a sometimes stagnant powerplay. Between them there are probably 35-40 PPPs to share, however the odds are that one of them will get the lion's share. The safe money is on Rielly, but if you're a gambler, or just in need of cheaper defencemen, you could do much worse than tossing your lot in with Lehtonen.

Sell: Rasmus Sandin

Current Cap Hit: $894,167

Hear me out on this, as I don't advise moving Sandin in many cases, however there are some situations where it warrants seeing what you can get in return for him. The perception around Sandin is that his path to the NHL should be linear as he has the talent to thrive at both ends of the ice. Working against him is that the Leafs have at least seven other NHL defencemen, and Sandin may benefit from dominating at the AHL level for a full year. As a result, if you're hanging on to him expecting him to be able to fill out your defence core at an ELC price, then maybe you should look into moving him for someone a couple years older but with similar upside. There are Leaf and prospect hoarders in every league, and you should be able to take advantage of that by throwing Sandin on the block and seeing who bites.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Buy: Erik Cernak

Current Cap Hit: RFA

Projected Cap Hit: $2,418,057

With more than his fair share just taken by Mikhail Sergachev and his new deal, that means there is even less for Erik Cernak. The rugged middle-pairing defenceman is not appreciated enough for his offensive potential, but he is already known as one of the better multi-category options. He has paced for over 75 PIMs, 200 hits, and 100 blocks in each of the last two seasons. Cernak's new contract may scare some owners into possibly selling low, but for the next few years his new deal should be an absolute bargain.

Sell: Andrei Vasilevskiy

Current Cap Hit: $9,500,000

There are a few factors working against Vasilevskiy here. First, the Lightning still need to unload a few players from their championship roster in order to be cap compliant. Next year's team will still be excellent, but they won't have the same level of depth they had this past season. Secondly, the Stanley Cup hangover is especially real for goalies (Jordan Binnington, Braden Holtby, and Matt Murray all struggling after their most recent cup wins). The third issue is volume. At some point the heavy workload is going to catch up with Vasilevskiy, and it will either result in him playing less games or getting injured. The Lightning don't have reliable goalie depth in their system, and if you lean on something hard enough and for long enough, it is bound to show some wear and tear. He's still going to be excellent to own, but maybe try for a more economic option and upgrade a skater while you're at it.

St. Louis Blues

Buy: Robert Thomas

Current Cap Hit: $894,166

The top prospect shine has worn off, and he is now a full-time NHLer, however, Thomas hasn't yet hit the 50-point mark in a season. His value isn't exactly low, but he is perhaps a bit less difficult to acquire at this point in time. This may also be the last real chance you have to get in on him. Thomas is going to be an excellent producer on offence, as he is one of the highest IQ players I have seen. With one year left on his entry level deal, and Vladimir Tarasenko's offensive minutes open for most of the season, Thomas may be set to break out even before hitting his 200 game threshold (he currently sits at 136).

Sell: Ryan O'Reilly

Current Cap Hit: $7,500,000

Like Bo Horvat that we covered last week, O'Reilly is a two-way centre whose game goes up a few notches in the postseason. Just like Horvat, O'Reilly is going to be overvalued in cap leagues heading into the new season. His career high is 77 points, and that is the only time he has paced for more than 70. He's not in a position to be challenging career highs, and his shooting volume fell off a cliff last year, closer to his pre-St Louis days. Expecting more than 70 points would be extremely optimistic, and for someone that doesn't provide much in the way of peripherals other than FOWs (which he rakes in), the AAV cost is a bit high.

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All statistics are all pulled from FrozenTools, and all contract info from Capfriendly. Follow me on Twitter @alexdmaclean.

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