With the amount of high-profile names that have seemingly been involved in some sort of trade discussions across the NHL this season, it would be only appropriate to discuss a little bit about some of the top guys that could end up having a new home in a little over a month once the NHL trade deadline is upon us.

Some players once they get traded at the deadline go on to help their new team win the Stanley Cup, while others struggle to get fully adjusted in the time between the deadline and the start of the playoffs. So, while it's nice to see some of these fan favorites get a chance to win the Stanley Cup, sometimes it just doesn't work out. Could be due to chemistry, not being given the same role that they once had, the player may not fit the coaching scheme fully, and other reasons as well.

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*None of these players have been officially traded as of yet, these are the ones that are believed to be on the move come the NHL trade deadline, and there is a reality where some do not end up being traded.*

#1) Marc-André Fleury– G – Chicago Blackhawks

Contract: $7M – 1 Year remaining (expires this summer)
Roster Percentages: 79.3% ESPN, 92% Yahoo, 89% Fantrax

Fleury is one of the all-time greats, a multi-time cup champion, has 508 career wins (3^rd all time, only behind Martin Brodeur, and Patrick Roy), has played in over 900 NHL games (regular season). This man has seen it all, with Chicago having their struggles and being about 18 points out of 3^rd place in their division, they seem as out of playoff contention as anybody around them. While there is still time left on the season, Chicago would need the teams above them to start flatlining while they go on a tremendous run. Expect Fleury to get traded by the deadline. "To where?" you may ask, it only makes sense for him to get traded to a team that is struggling between the pipes. I don't see a reality where a guy with the passion and the fire that Fleury brings to the ice, along with the ability that he possesses, wanting to go to a team where he would end up being the backup. While Chicago have had their struggles on the ice this season, Fleury's individual stats aren't horrid, they're not great but they're not abysmal. With a 2.88 GAA, a 0.910 SV%, a record of 16-18-3, he isn't doing amazing, but he isn't horrible. If the team around him was a bit better, expect those numbers to be improved slightly. With a M-NTC (modified no-trade clause), he does have some control as to where he will end up going, so expect him to go somewhere that he feels will benefit him as well give him a shot to rebound for the back half of the season.

#2) John Klingberg – D – Dallas Stars

Contract: $4.25M – 1 Year remaining (expires this summer)
Roster Percentages: 69.3% ESPN, 68% Yahoo, 88% Fantrax

Since entering the league in the 2014-15 season Klingberg has been one of the more prominent point-producing defenders in the NHL, with 518 games played across his 8-year career, he has amassed a total of 353 career points (66 goals, 287 assists). This current season he has 40 games played, with 1 goal and 25 assists for 26 points (0.65 points per game, across an 82-game season that would be 53 points which would be his 3^rd highest in his career). Klingberg is currently battling in Dallas with Miro Heiskanen for the prime deployment, and that may not interest Klingberg going forward especially where he is a UFA this summer. With a cheap contract of $4.25M, expect a lot of teams to be able to afford to take him on, especially if they are struggling on the power player. Across his career he has a total of 123 assists on the powerplay (42.9% of his total career assists have come on the powerplay), any team needing a power-play quarterback should be calling Dallas and inquiring about Klingberg sooner rather than later. Going into the back-half of the season, this is a player that people should be trying to acquire in their leagues if they are struggling to produce in the offensive categories. Klingberg isn't the most reliable in the hits column, but in blocks he usually averages around one block per game (41 blocks in 40 games currently). He may only have one goal on the season so far, but his shooting percentage is far lower than his career average (1.5% this season, and 6.3% as a career average). Expect there to be more goals in the later stages of the year, especially if he goes to a team where he is the main offensive threat on the blue-line.


#3) Jakob Chychrun – D – Arizona Coyotes

Contract: $4.6M – 3 Years remaining
Roster Percentages: 72.5% ESPN, 54% Yahoo, 78% Fantrax

At this point, I would imagine there could be a lot of the Arizona Coyotes getting moved at the NHL trade deadline, none are nearly as interesting as Jakob Chychrun. At the young age of 23, Chychrun is already coveted as one of the league's most impressive two-way defenders. While his offensive numbers this season are down in comparison to last year (11 points in 37 games played, 2 goals and 9 assists this season. 41 points in 56 games last season, 18 goals and 23 assists last season), he is still being given a heavy workload in Arizona. At this point in the season, he is averaging 23:53 minutes of TOI a night (2:04 minutes on the powerplay, and 1:59 minutes on the penalty kill). He comes at a very controllable cap-hit for any fantasy manager and with good term. He provides in a lot of areas that fantasy managers are looking to address. Has a sky-high average TOI (22^nd in the NHL), 54 blocks and 40 hits (1.46 and 1.08 per game respectively), average PIMs with 38 on the year, and for a guy with 2 goals on the year, he isn't afraid to shoot the puck. With 116 shots on the season, that is good for an average of 3.14 per game, and across a full 82 game season that would have him have 257 shots on goal (last season he was pacing this total as well). Something to note is that while like Klingberg, Chychrun's shooting percentage is well below his career average this season (1.7% this season, career average of 6.4%). While he may not load the stat sheet offensively this season, he is providing in a lot of other areas that can help win your matchups. If he does in fact get traded to a better team, expect those offensive numbers to start to climb and for him to be considered an elite defender in your league's format.

#4) Claude Giroux – C/LW – Philadelphia Flyers

Contract: $8.275M – 1 Year remaining (expires this summer)
Roster Percentages: 87% ESPN, 75% Yahoo, 91% Fantrax

The writing has been on the wall for some time that Claude Giroux will probably not finish his career with the Philadelphia Flyers, as their captain for the last 9 years he has been the best player on that roster spanning across that time. With 988 games played (all for Philadelphia), he has 895 points (289 goals and 606 assists). With a career like that, he is surely going to go for top dollar to the highest bidding team to help jump-start a Philadelphia re-tool. Whatever team Giroux goes to will immediately have their odds at winning the Stanley Cup improved, he can play up and down the lineup, has played all three forward positions during his career, is a catalyst on the powerplay, and plays on the penalty kill as well. With 37 points in 45 games this year (16 goals and 21 assists), he is still having a solid season while the rest of the Flyers roster continues to struggle in just about every way possible. He is known as a playmaker, but he has a good shot as well and isn't afraid to use it. With 120 shots in 45 games this season, he is averaging 2.67 shots per game. If that number stays the course for the rest of the season, that would have him at 218 shots in an 82-game season (218 would be the most shots that he has had in the last 3 seasons). While he doesn't block or hit much (less than 1 per game), you are adding him for his offensive ability, TOI (19:06 per night, 3:07 on the powerplay), and his ability to win faceoffs. With a faceoff win percentage of 60.8% (447 won and 288 lost, 765 total faceoffs taken), he currently sits third in the NHL in that category. He has made the players around him better his entire career, whatever team that he may end up going to is only going to benefit from that type of player.

While none of these players have been officially traded yet, there is a lot of speculation that they will end up in a new home after the trade deadline as concluded on March 21^st. There is going to be plenty of players moved on and around the deadline, these are just the ones that I feel will benefit fantasy managers going forward.

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