There was an interesting trade over the weekend as Tampa Bay moved defenceman Ryan McDonagh to Nashville in exchange for defenceman Philippe Myers and forward Grant Mismash. Our own Ian Gooding had his take on the trade here.

The reason it interests me, beyond the obvious fantasy implications, is that when writing about this team a week ago, I mused if we wouldn't see a defenceman moved to free up cap space, rather than a forward. My mistake was thinking it would be one of the younger guys who will need a new contract soon like Mikhail Sergachev or Erik Cernak. It never really occurred to me that there would be a trade market for McDonagh, who turned 33 last month and has four years left on his deal at $6.75M a season. Certainly not one where Tampa also wouldn't have to send out futures to alleviate the cap pressure. There certainly are examples of blue liners being very good past the age of 33, like Mark Giordano or Alex Edler. Though there are certainly examples of the opposite, being just a year removed from the monster Ryan Suter buyout and Keith Yandle looking as if his career might be over. It is a huge gamble for Nashville to take.

It is a bit confounding because they're just a year removed from shipping out Ryan Ellis, a younger and better defenceman signed for less per year (Ellis's health this season aside). I took that as the team being ready to turn things over and rebuild for the future, anticipating it may even lead to Filip Forsberg being dealt at the trade deadline. They, uh, apparently have reversed course because they got obliterated in a first-round sweep at the hands of the Avalanche? Juuse Saros was injured, sure, but he wasn't going to make the difference between losing to the Avs or making a deep run, and neither will McDonagh.

In the fantasy game, I am not sure how much this helps Sergachev back in Tampa. As it was, he skated nearly the same per game at 5-on-5 (17:41) as Victor Hedman did (17:58). Unless they alter their approach to rear guards like Colorado and Dallas did at times – use the top-4 heavily and the bottom pair rarely – I don't know how many minutes there are for Sergachev to pick up. Sergachev was already running the second PP unit and will not be supplanting Hedman on the top unit just yet. Maybe he picks up a bit of time on the penalty kill, but all that might do is add a little in the peripheral columns. All told, it's not a guarantee he sees a significant bump in TOI. We also have the rest of the offseason for them to potentially bring someone else in to help with the d-corps.

It does mean bad things for either of Dante Fabbro or Alexandre Carrier, as Ian mentioned in his piece. Both are right-hand shots, while all of McDonagh, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekholm are left-hand shots. One of those lefties is assuredly going to be on their off-side in Nashville's top-4, pushing one of Fabbro or Carrier to the bottom pair. My guess is that it's Carrier who eventually wins out and stays in the top-4, but it's going to nuke the fantasy value of one of them.

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The 2022 Draft is just around the corner so now is the time to grab your Dobber Fantasy Hockey Prospects Report. The Dobber Prospects team, along with the Big Guy himself, profiled over 500 players, what their upside could be in the NHL, and a whole lot more. Get a head start on not only the prospects already in the league, but ones on their way.

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With the Draft right around the corner, now would be the time for me to offer some thoughts on the upcoming 2022 class.

First things are first: I am not a prospect evaluator, I am not a scout, and I am not a skills coach. I'm a fantasy hockey analyst. I don't spend hundreds of hours every year going through tape of games from the second-tier Russian league. I don't watch a dozen CHL games every week, and I don't watch college hockey every weekend. Keeping up with the NHL is enough work as it is. For that reason, I rely on others – people I trust – for their opinions on players and that formulate my own. I do have a few draft rules, generally speaking.

1. If a player falls because he's too small, that's a guy to focus on. Cole Caufield, Alex DeBrincat, and Brayden Point are all various examples of guys who fell in their draft with the biggest reason (pun intended) being their size. I made that mistake back in 2014-15 with Johnny Gaudreau, thinking it would take him a couple years to acclimate to the NHL. It is not 1987, and skilled players can flourish whether they're 5'9" or 6'3".
2. If a player falls because of off-ice issues, that's a guy to focus on. I will make the distinction between a player like Logan Mailloux, and someone like Arthur Kaliyev. The former was in literal legal trouble, the latter had concerns bandied about with regards to his drive to improve/succeed. Kaliyev was highly touted for his skill but fell to the second round. He became a full-time NHLer two years later and is maybe a year away from a consistent top-6 role on a playoff team. Those are guys to look for, not ones that may wind up in court.
3. Players playing in lower leagues doesn't really bother me as much as it used to. What matters isn't that a guy can dominate a lower league, rather it's how they dominate them. If a power forward hit a growth spurt at 16 and can bulldoze guys in lower-calibre leagues, that's one thing. If a defenceman can control the game at both ends of the ice with smooth skating and crisp playmaking/transition, it doesn't really matter the level for me. Those are skills that can translate as he moves up competition. That applies to both North American and European skaters.

With that in mind, here are a few players that I'm intrigued by as we're heading into the 2022 Draft. For my sources, this is who I use:

• Our Dobber Prospects report, which was linked above. It really is a great resource on hundreds of skaters and goalies and it's where I go when I need to quickly reference something.
• Scott Wheeler over at The Athletic not only profiles and ranks the top prospects but he's also transparent about his process. That kind of honesty in a profession that prides itself on being a black box is nice to have.
• The same goes for Corey Pronman at The Athletic and his rankings.  
• I still follow along with former Dobber writer Cam Robinson on Twitter for his musings on various players. He's open with how he views certain players and is usually bouncing ideas with some other very smart people.
• Byron Bader's Hockey Prospecting site is a good subscription for anyone looking for statistical comps of prospects, rather than just talking about skills or game footage.

Between all those sources, I like to think I get a pretty good outlook on the top prospects in the draft, going a few rounds deep, anyway. Let's talk about some of these guys.

Juraj Slafkovsky

As the resident Habs fan, a lot of the chatter over the last month has been whether Shane Wright is still the consensus number-1, or whether Juraj Slafkovsky has taken his spot. At the least, it seems like there's a genuine school of thought that the Slovakian winger may have pushed Wright down the board a spot. It seems like there's a genuine push for him to go first overall.

As the resident Habs fan, here are my concerns. Standing 6'4" and weighing anywhere from 215-225 lbs, Slafkovsky is already as big as he's going to get. I mean, maybe he adds a couple inches or 10 pounds, but he's already completely filled out his frame. When I see a player like that, I wonder: are they already a finished product? The problem with that is if he's close to a finished product, then there's not a lot of room to improve over the next five years. Not that he won't improve – players generally do after the age of 18 regardless of size – but how much better can he get relative to his competition if he's already 6'4", 225? And would he be as good as he is right now if he was 5'11", 190 lbs?  

This isn't meant to diminish him as a player, but the point of the draft is to have a superstar in five years, not a roster player immediately. He clearly has a lot of skill with that size, but I just wonder if he's being considered as the top pick just because he's 6'4". It's not something I'm a fan of, generally.

Brad Lambert

This guy fits in under my second rule about players dropping in the draft for off-ice problems. Just a couple years ago, it seemed prospect people were wondering if it would be Wright or Lambert going first overall. Now, we might not see Lambert going in the top-10 picks. It has certainly been a fall in how people view his future.

A big knock on him is that, according to some sources I've read, he's not one to give his all every game. Yes, that's something that NHL coaches will not stand for, but it's also the exact same counter-point that was brought up in regards to Kaliyev. My thought on this is as such: when a player has the potential to make tens of millions of dollars in their 20s, they'll be a bit more motivated than when they're a superstar 16-year-old.

Lambert's production has certainly not been where we want to see it the last couple years playing in Finland, but all the scouts seem to agree he still has the speed and skill that got everyone excited a couple years ago. That's a player I would bet on after the first half-dozen or so players are off the board.

Lane Hutson

A small defenceman, you say? Sign me up.

Standing 5'8", Hutson would technically be the smallest defenceman in the NHL were he to play in 2022-23. With that said, all of Jared Spurgeon, Torey Krug, and Matt Grzelcyk are 5'9", and one inch does not make a difference. He does need to put on some weight but he has years to build his frame; he won't step into the NHL at 18 years old. This would be a project similar to Spurgeon, taking a few years to get to the NHL, likely including a full AHL season.

But all the reports I've read from him is some mixture of 'best puck skills for a defenceman in this draft,' 'sees the ice as well as anyone in the draft, at any position,' and 'would be a high first-round pick if he were 5-6 inches taller'.

I am very interested to see where he lands. He might not get picked on the first night, and if he does, it'll be towards the end of the first round. General managers might be getting smarter because 10 years ago, this is a guy who would go in the sixth or seventh round. When it comes to draftees, I like to bet on skill, and Hutson is at the top of my list for this reason.

Noah Östlund

One wrinkle here is, as pointed out by Wheeler in that draft piece linked, Östlund has two years left on his Swedish league contract. He could get out of the second year if his team isn't promoted from tier-2, which means he might only be gone for a year. Even if it's two, it doesn't really matter. Lots of players need a couple years to get to the NHL, if not more.

When I look at this Swedish centre, I see pivot that is good in transition with good defensive skills. That, alone, makes him worth noticing. The fact that he could drop because he may not be able to get to the NHL for a couple years should have teams with a bevy of second-round picks that need a centre (looking at you, Arizona and Seattle) leering in his direction.