Most of the time, people like to sort teams into buyers and sellers as they approach fantasy trade deadlines.

However, that’s not really fair. Even for those who aren’t contending, you should still consider yourself a buyer. Instead of buying players who can help you win a championship this season, you’re buying players who can help you in the future. 

The next few weeks leading up to your league’s trade deadline can go a long way to helping your rebuild. You should be looking to deal overachieving players for younger players. 

Below are 10 young players you should be looking to trade for if you are out of contention. These are players who are struggling, injured, or a combination of both. 

Ideally, you’re looking to acquire these players from teams who are competing, as other rebuilding teams won’t be looking to move these players. 

A few quick ground rules for the column: 

• A young player is anyone under the age of 25. 
• We’re looking for players that can be acquired for semi-cheap and won’t be helpful to any team fighting for the playoffs. This means that even though Jack Hughes is under the age of 25, you won’t be able to get him for cheap, and the competing teams won’t be looking to trade him. 
• Cheap is also a relative term. Some of the players on this list will cost a bit, but not as much as a year ago, and not as much as potentially in the offseason or next year when they are healthy and more productive.
• These have to be players that are playing in the NHL or played the majority of this season in the NHL. There won’t be any top prospects playing in the minor leagues or overseas, so no Logan Stankoven, Lane Hutson, Will Smith, etc. 

10. Zach Benson           

Only four players from the 2023 draft have played an NHL game. You won’t be able to acquire the other three (Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli) for cheap, but Benson might have struggled enough that a fantasy general manager is willing to trade him. Benson made the Sabres out of training camp but hasn’t been producing. He has 15 points in 43 games, and only one in his last 16. The Sabres kept him in the NHL because they thought it would help his development more than sending him back to the WHL for another season. However, he’s better off on your rebuilding fantasy squad than a team vying for a championship. 

9. Filip Chytil

While much of the focus over the last few years has been on Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere, Chytil has slowly moved up the lineup. He played just 10 games this season before an upper-body injury cost him the rest of the campaign, but those 10 games might go a long way to showing us what to expect in the future. He was playing with Artemi Panarin at even strength and had six assists, including one with the man advantage. He was averaging 2.2 shots per night, and his almost 16 minutes of ice time was the highest of his career. 

8. Dawson Mercer

Of everyone on this list, Mercer might be having the most disappointing season. Most didn’t have such high expectations, while others can cite injuries as part of their excuse for why they've struggled. But Mercer hasn’t missed a game this season, has seen an increase in ice time and is getting regular reps on the second power-play unit. However, his production has taken a massive step back. He’s on pace for 39 points, which would be the lowest of his three-year career. He’s averaging 1.7 shots per game, also the lowest of his career. He’s a minus-14, but doesn’t hit, get PIMs or block shots. If you trade for him, you hope this year was just a blip in his progression. 

7. Gabriel Vilardi

You may not be able to get the Jets forward for as cheap as others on this list. It all depends on how cognizant the other fantasy general manager is. Vilardi might be flying under the radar a little bit for some fantasy general managers as he only has 23 points. However, he’s played only 32 games, which equates to a 59-point pace. He’s already a plus-15 and averaging 2.4 shots per game, the highest of his career. He’s also averaging almost 17 minutes of ice time per night and is on the top power-play unit. 

6. Jamie Drysdale

It hasn’t been the smoothest of transitions for Drysdale after the trade to Philly. In 14 games with his new team, he has two goals, four points, a minus-eight, 20 shots, two power-play points, 10 hits and 15 blocked shots. Two of those points came in his first two games with the Flyers. However, how much can we really expect when a 21-year-old is uprooted from Anaheim to Philadelphia in a surprise trade? New home, new coach, new system, new city, different time zone. It can’t be easy for a young player. He does still project to be a number-one defenseman, it just may take a bit longer to get there. 

5. Jack Quinn

Quinn may be off the radar in a lot of fantasy leagues, but he’s going to get better each season. Last year, he had 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games while averaging just under 14 minutes a night on the third line. This year, he has played in only 17 games due to injury, but has five goals and 12 points. That’s a 58-point pace. He’s also averaging 2.2 shots and a hit per contest. He is getting slightly more power-play time and averaging two more minutes of ice time per night than a year ago. He’s also being used to kill penalties, which shows trust from the coaching staff. Quinn was a 50-goal scorer in junior and then had 61 points in 45 AHL games. He can create offense, he just needs to stay healthy long enough to show it. 

4. Philipp Kurashev

It’s been a bit of a weird season for Kurashev, as injuries have kept him away from his potential long-term linemate. Kurashev missed the first couple of weeks of the season. Then Connor Bedard was out for a while. The two of them have only played together for 34 games, but in those games, Kurashev has 25 points, which equates to a 60-point pace. Without Bedard, Kurashev has six points in 14 games. He also has seven points in his last five games, so the window to buy low is starting to close. 

3. Kirby Dach

You know there has to be a fantasy general manager who is super frustrated with Dach’s injuries. He played in only 18 games in 2020-21, then missed 24 contests last year. This season, he managed four periods of NHL play before landing back on the IR. If you’re a competitive team, this is not helping. If you are rebuilding, you try to get Dach, a former third-overall draft pick. He had a 54-point pace in his first season with Montreal, and had two points in two games this year before the injury. He’s projected to be the team’s number two center and on the top power-play unit. He’s a high-risk, high-reward trade option. 

2. Marco Rossi

Rossi isn’t getting the respect he deserves. On Sunday, he was rostered in just 6% of Yahoo pools and 51% of Fantrax leagues. That's probably because he was taken off Kirill Kaprizov's line, but Rossi is still getting top-six minutes. However, you’re not worried about whether he bounces back this year; it’s what he can do for you next season and beyond. He will have a spot lined up in the top-six for years to come, and should also get a promotion to the top power-play unit as well. He dominated the OHL and AHL, and it will just be a matter of time before he does the same in the NHL. 

1. Trevor Zegras

Whatever you may have believed about Zegras last summer shouldn’t have changed much this season. After back-to-back seasons of 61 and 65 points, injuries have limited Zegras to just 20 games and seven points. That’s an 82-game pace of 29 points. Not ideal. However, he is potentially the Ducks’ best offensive player, does have two 20-plus goal seasons and can average about 2.5 shots per game. He can also contribute with the man advantage. He’s at exactly 200-man games played, which means next year should be his breakthrough season. Besides, you should judge the player based on his first 180 games, not the small sample size of 20 games this year.