Players changing teams is a constant in the league, but the reasons why they change teams can vary. Sometimes it's just a UFA signing elsewhere, sometimes a player requests a trade, sometimes the team is stripping itself for parts, and sometimes a player just needs a fresh start somewhere else. Regardless, players change teams and their fortunes can change very wildly.

With a bunch of cancellations on Monday night, it's a good chance to catch up with some significant fantasy players who've changed teams over the last few years, and how that's helped (or hurt) them, and what that can tell us about their future.

Robby Fabbri

At the time, the trade of Robby Fabbri for Jacob de la Rose seemed odd. Fabbri already won a Stanley Cup with the Blues and had looked good playing down the lineup. He had injuries and underperformance, but those things happen to every player, especially young ones. He looked like a talented winger, while de la Rose had 28 points in his first 179 career games. It was weird then, and it's still weird now.

Anyway, Fabbri has averaged 40 points per 82 games since arriving in Detroit and has been a fixture of their second line this year. That's not bad production for a team that has been lacking stars for large chunks of his tenure. How has he performed, besides the points?

Looking at his play-making and shot metrics is something to look at here. I will be using Corey Sznajder's data (Patreon here) for this, discussing things like zone entries, shot assists (passes leading to shots), shot rates, high-danger passes, and the like. How has he done since getting to Detroit? Well, it's a mixed bag.

Back in 2019-20, Fabbri did poorly by most shot and play-making metrics except zone entries with control where he was in the 93^rd percentile. That is outstanding, clearly, and would help his teammates create shots, but we need more than that for a well-rounded offensive threat, so we'd like to see progression in the shortened 2021 season. The good news is there was progression; he was above-average by both shots per 60 minutes and shot assists, whereas he was in the 12^th and 36^th percentiles, respectively, the year before. The team was also quite bad, and Dylan Larkin was the only other forward they had to be above-average in both areas. So while we'd like to see even better rates from Fabbri, the fact he did nearly as well as Larkin in those categories would speak to a large improvement. However, it came at the expense of his zone entries with control, which were among the worst on the team. He went from elite in that area to genuinely poor, while improving elsewhere. Signs of a young player starting to put it all together? Well, that brings us to this year. While his shot rate has fallen a bit from last year, it's only a bit below average, and his shot assists are well above average:

We have one year of one specific skill being elite, then a year with that skill getting worse with others improving. This year, he has nearly repeated those shot/shot assist rates and, this is key, his zone-entry rate is over 65% against a league average of 52.5%. So, he's starting to build back the zone entries, a key piece of transition offence enabling him and his line mates to create a passing play off the rush, and he's also shooting nearly a league-average rate with shot assists roughly 20% higher than league average. It really does seem as he's starting to put together all the parts of his offensive profile.

There is still work for him to do, especially on the defensive end. But the team around him is improving and it really does seem he's getting close to achieving his final form as the talented top-6 winger we all envisioned him to be.

Dylan Strome

The Dylan Strome/Nick Schmaltz trade was an interesting one at the time. Personally, I've long been a fan of Schmaltz's offensive prowess. He is a good playmaker who can help wingers score more than they should, and that's an important feature for any player on that Arizona roster. He has played to a 50-point/82-game pace over the last three years in the Desert, on likely the worst offensive roster in the league, skating 16 minutes a night. He's underrated, in my opinion.

Going to Chicago was Strome, a guy with very uneven performance with the Blackhawks. He had 17 goals and 51 points in 58 games immediately following the trade, and looked to be making good on the third overall slotting from the 2015 Draft. Since then, though, he has 24 goals and 65 points in 123 games, pacing for between 40-45 points, skating 15:25 a night. It may not really be his fault; there have been few players who've looked good on that team over the last few years. He was acquired to produce, though, and not being able to out-produce Schmaltz over the last three seasons given where Schmaltz ended up is an indictment of Strome's under-performance.

The thing is, there has been a lot of good signs here. He was inside the 80^th percentile in shot assists and zone entries in 2019-20. He was well above average by zone entries in 2021, and by shot assists as well. Those have fallen off this year, though, even as his zone entries stay constant. Is it the coaching? Is it teammates? The problem here is that he's a good playmaker, but isn't good defensively and doesn't shoot. A one-dimensional player isn't hard to defend.

If Strome wants to take another step, he has to start shoot more. Consistently being under two shots per game means minimal fantasy value and his real-world value even takes a big hit. If he doesn't add that aspect to his game soon, well, it's a wonder if he'll take a big step forward.  

Anthony Duclair

It feels like Duclair has been in the league forever, but he's only 26 years old. The fun thing about this section is that he moved in the offseason, so we have a year of micro-stats with him in Ottawa, then two years with him in Florida, and can see the changes he's made.

For 2019-20, his final year in Ottawa, we have to remember he had a great year. He had 23 goals in 66 games and was named to the All-Star team. Here is something I'm not sure people realized: it wasn't luck, he was playing great hockey. His shot rate was in the 95^th percentile of the league (in this tracked sample of 140 minutes) with zone entries inside the 85^th percentile of the league. He wasn't a great playmaker, but he hasn't been. He can use his speed and skill to get through the neutral zone and generate off the rush. He was second on the team in that regard, behind Brady Tkachuk, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

Something changed in 2021, his first year with Florida: he added shot assists to his profile. He was well-above average in this regard, something he wasn't the year before, and something that had disappeared from his offensive profile. He was still shooting a lot, and had a higher controlled zone entry percentage than Artemi Panarin in New York.

This year, the shot rate is down from his last couple years, but his shot-assist rate is sky-high. In fact, something that was a weakness two years ago is now a strength, as he's second on the Panthers in this regard, trailing only Jonathan Huberdeau. He also has the highest zone entry percentage of any Florida forward. Higher than Huberdeau, Barkov, or Bennett. He is truly a remarkable offensive player.

Like Carter Verhaege, it's hard to see Duclair ever getting top-line PP minutes without some injuries. All the same, Duclair has very much carved himself into a well-rounded offensive player, a threat whether he has the puck or doesn't.

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The Habs finally have a lineup that is starting to resemble something approaching NHL-quality:

Combinaisons à l'entraînement du #CH

Hoffman-Suzuki-Lehkonen
Drouin-Dvorak-Armia
Dauphin-Poehling-Caufield
Paquette-Vejdemo-Dea
Anderson (sans contact, pas dans les trios)

Chiarot-Savard
Niku-Wideman
Kulak-Schueneman

Allen 
Montembeault@RDSca

— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) January 10, 2022

They obviously still have a lot of injuries, and this doesn't make them a playoff darkhorse. Their season is all about draft positioning for the team and players to play for the future.

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Buffalo prospect Jack Quinn was at practice for the team:

The Sabres have assigned Jack Quinn to the taxi squad.

— Heather Engel (@engelheather) January 10, 2022

The COVID problems across the NHL suck on many levels, not the least of which is health, but one small silver lining is constantly seeing top prospects promoted every now and then.

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Both Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie returned on Monday night for Washington.

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Charlie McAvoy was back at practice on Monday for Boston.

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An update for some of the Canucks in protocols:

Boudreau said Boeser, Pettersson, Dickinson all practised Monday in Florida after exiting COVID-19 protocol. #Canucks

— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) January 10, 2022

The Canucks play Tuesday night in Florida so perhaps they are getting some reinforcements back just in the nick of time.

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Boston laid a beatdown on Washington to the tune of 7-3 on Monday night. While the Caps did seem to have control of the first 30 minutes or so, they couldn't stay out of the box. That lack of discipline helped lead them from a 2-0 lead to a 6-2 deficit in about 15 minutes of gametime. They traded a pair of goals after that.

Both Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak had two goals and an assist in this game, with both having five shots as well. For Pastrnak, that makes five goals in four games for him, and maybe that shooting luck is starting to turn around. Matt Grzelcyk had five points here, with a goal and four assists, including two on the man advantage. That is certainly one way to assert yourself before Charlie McAvoy returns.

Conor Sheary had two goals for the Caps in the loss, giving him 10 goals on the year. A nice season for him so far.