Fantasy Impact: Chicago Offloads Duncan Keith to Edmonton for Caleb Jones

Dobber

2021-07-13

The Edmonton Oilers acquired veteran defenseman Duncan Keith and prospect Tim Soderlund from the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Caleb Jones and a third-round draft pick.

The Oilers get: One of the best defensemen in the NHL. If it was still 2014. But it's – checks calendar – 2021. Keith has been on the decline for several years in virtually every metric you can dream up. In Tim Soderlund you get a skilled, diminutive forward who has yet to find any real rhythm in North America. Read up on Soderlund here.

The Blackhawks get: a prospect defenseman with some promise. Caleb Jones, when given the opportunity and given careful minutes, can develop into a second-pairing defenseman. He is the brother of Columbus star Seth Jones. But really what the Blackhawks get is much-needed cap relief, and as a bonus they get down to 40 contracts. As a further bonus they get that sweet draft pick.

Fantasy Players Impacted: Keith's ice time was 23:25 last year and there is much emphasis on this when you hear from Edmonton brass. But it was 24:16 in the first quarter and down to 22:14 in the last quarter – with power-play minutes making up 3:15 of that. He won't get nearly that many with Edmonton. He'll kill penalties and play 20 minutes per game, likely alongside Adam Larsson. This probably won't hinder or help any Edmonton rearguards, although this probably means they can't afford to re-sign Tyson Barrie. They have Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom and Ethan Bear for the power play, plus prospect Evan Bouchard is ready to make the jump.

Still, there will be tons of pressure on the coaching staff to make the GM look good with this trade. And being on the ice with Connor McDavid can only help a veteran defenseman put up points. So Keith will get ice time early on – perhaps too much, to start.

The Blackhawks have a ton of young defensemen on the cusp. Adam Boqvist (right-handed shot, or "RD") is now ready to be the full-time guy, while Wyatt Kalynuk (LD) showed huge promise and is ready to take that step. Nicolas Beaudin (LD) and Ian Mitchell (RD) are both on the cusp. Adding left-shooting Caleb Jones to the mix is going to make things interesting. This may impact Kalynuk. As a fellow left-shot, Kalynuk had nine points in 21 games last year with the big club, including a run of seven points in nine. But another left-shot defenseman to compete wouldn’t help his chances.

Soderlund is a throw-away contract that sweetened the deal for Chicago. Now they can sign yet another undrafted European gem that they always seem to dig up.

📢 advertisement:

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

  1. Wyatt Kalynuk

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

  1. Duncan Keith

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Jan 23 - 19:01 DET vs MTL
Jan 23 - 19:01 NYR vs PHI
Jan 23 - 19:01 CAR vs CBJ
Jan 23 - 19:01 BOS vs OTT
Jan 23 - 20:01 MIN vs UTA
Jan 23 - 20:01 STL vs VGK
Jan 23 - 21:01 CGY vs BUF
Jan 23 - 21:01 EDM vs VAN
Jan 23 - 22:01 ANA vs PIT
Jan 23 - 22:01 SEA vs WSH
Jan 23 - 22:01 S.J vs NSH

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
LANE HUTSON MTL
PAVEL DOROFEYEV VGK
JIRI KULICH BUF
ADAM FANTILLI CBJ
KAAPO KAKKO SEA

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
SPENCER KNIGHT FLA
JACOB MARKSTROM N.J
JUUSE SAROS NSH
DARCY KUEMPER L.A
DUSTIN WOLF CGY

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency COL Players
28.6 MIKKO RANTANEN NATHAN MACKINNON JONATHAN DROUIN
19.5 LOGAN O'CONNOR JOEL KIVIRANTA PARKER KELLY
19.4 CASEY MITTELSTADT ARTTURI LEHKONEN ROSS COLTON

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Western Conference Buys and Sells

Victor and Jesse make the rounds of the Western Conference with an argument on opne buy and one sell for each team. We talk Jackson LaCombe, Mason McTavish, Martin Pospisil, Nazem Kadri, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matthew Savoie, Drew Doughty, Kevin Fiala, William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau, Shane Wright, Chandler Stephenson, Tom Willander, Jake DeBrusk, Victor Olofsson, Noah […]

Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – The Wilkes-Jarry Penguins

Elizabeth and Lewis are back to take listeners through a host of power play changes that are giving managers the opportunity to get exposure to great players off the waiver wire, including Philly, Jersey, and Tampa talk. They also cover Jarry’s AHL demotion, Cooley’s ascension to the top-line and powerplay, and injuries to Tavares and Hintz. The duo wrap up with some hot and cold streak deep dives, including discussion of the Red Wings crazy powerplay success in the last ten games, whether Erik Gustafsson is rosterable or an overperforming illusion, Fantilli’s continued success, Merilainen as Hamburglar 2.0, and whether Schenn’s success and Neighbours’ lack thereof are likely to continue.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: