We are officially on the eve of every die-hard hockey fan's unofficial holiday, the NHL trade deadline! While we are still a way away from the 3 p.m. ET deadline on Monday, some of the big names that have been rumored for a while finally got traded last night. These moves may be huge for the teams involved, but they also have huge ramifications in fantasy hockey, and that's what I would like to look at this week. So with further ado, let's take a look at the players who were traded and those who may be affected as a result.

Panthers Acquire Chiarot and Giroux

The Panthers made a pair of acquisitions this week to really reinforce the fact that they are all in as a Cup contender this season. They were already a very solid team, and going out and getting a player up front plus a player on the blueline makes them even more scary. Let's start with the Ben Chiarot trade, since it was the first move to be made.

The only real player of consequence here is Chiarot himself as the Panthers gave up a prospect and a couple of picks to secure the gritty defender. Chiarot is set to join the Panthers early next week and he might be getting a bigger role than previously anticipated depending on how bad the injury to Aaron Ekblad ends up being. For now, though, I'd slot Chiarot in as a middle-pair defenseman who probably will see time on the penalty kill. I doubt he gets a whiff of either power-play unit, but he is a great source of hits and blocks. Playing on a contender should help bring out the best in him. I think he could bump down Gustav Forsling or maybe even Radko Gudas to the bottom pair, so if you own either of those guys, you could see a slight down tick in minutes and deployment, so keep an eye out for that.

Moving on to the big trade made last night. The Flyers send over the heart and soul of their franchise, the aging Claude Giroux and in exchange the Panthers deal Owen Tippett and draft picks. Giroux spent all 15 seasons of his career in Philadelphia, but clearly it was time for a changing of the guard in the City of Brotherly Love. The Flyers will look to rebuild or "retool" depending on how you want to look at it. Tippett is just barely 23 years of age and should have a chance to play a more prominent role in Philly. 

Meanwhile in Florida, it's looking like Giroux will land on a line with Aleksander Barkov. It makes sense for them not to mess up any of the good juju they have going with Jonathan Huberdeau this season, but there are a few things to keep in mind here. First off, if Giroux does indeed pair up with Barkov on a line together, who is playing center? Either way, the two will cannibalize each other's faceoff production, so if you are in a league that tracks faceoffs, this is something to keep in mind. Both players are pretty high-end faceoff guys so it'll be interesting to see which way they go, but I imagine Giroux goes to the wing. 

Additionally, with the arrival of Giroux, others will be taking a hit in ice time. It's really hard to say who will be hit the hardest out of the Panthers' top forwards. I'd keep an eye on Anthony Duclair and Sam Reinhart to see if they get moved down the pecking order a bit, but until we see a few games played, it's anyone's guess. It'd be hard to imagine Giroux not also being on the team's top power-play unit also, so they are definitely big fantasy implications here. While I get wanting to bring in an impact player like Giroux, I also personally feel like this move is a little overkill. The Panthers are already the league's highest scoring team, so to seek out more offense at the risk of upsetting team chemistry seems like a bit of an unnecessary risk to me. Though I guess Giroux does come with a load of playoff experience.

Bruins Acquire Hampus Lindholm From Anaheim

Last year the Bruins made a huge splash by acquiring Taylor Hall at the deadline. This year they are back at it, but this time they are beefing up their blueline. The trade sees the Bruins picking up Kodie Curran and Hampus Lindholm in exchange for Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore and a package of picks. Lindholm was probably the best defenseman who had been rumored to be on the trading block heading into Monday. The 28-year-old is in the final year of his contract making him purely a rental for the Bruins. Vaakanainen is a decent piece going back to the Ducks as he is still just 23 and was a former first-round pick back in 2017.

Lindholm should slot right into the Bruins' top pair alongside Charlie McAvoy. The left-shot defenseman has shown flashes throughout his career of being a pretty capable offensive defenseman, but fantasy-wise he never really broke out into a big-time player. He can still be an effective all-around player though that can provide a little bit of everything. He is good for about one hit and block per game and maybe if he can crack Boston's power play, he could see an uptick in his offensive stats to boot. However, with that being said, I don't think he will take Charlie McAvoy's spot on the first unit, so expect him to debut on the team's second power-play unit.

On the flipside of things, this is bad news for the likes of Matt Grzelcyk. He will definitely be getting some reduced minutes as a result of this trade, so anyone who may have had him in hits leagues or deeper leagues may see a reduction in what little value he had. It should be interesting to see if the Bruins decide to pursue a contract extension to Lindholm. They already have committed long-term to McAvoy, so I can't see them awarding a massive payday to Lindholm as well. Lindholm will probably be looking to cash in on one last decent payday before his career starts to decline, so we'll have to see how that plays out.

That's it for this week, but I hope you all enjoy the trade deadline tomorrow. It seems a bit tamer than past years, but maybe we will get a few juicy trades to fawn over. If you own any of the aforementioned Panthers forwards, do your due diligence and really keep an eye on how that situation plays out, because either way somebody is going to lose time, especially when Anton Lundell gets back in the lineup as well. Until next week, best of luck in your leagues everyone, cheers!