As the NHL and fantasy hockey trade deadlines approach, two teams that you want to focus on are the Penguins and the Oilers. They have each played only 56 games as of today, and have some top offensive talent to look into as you try to get ahead in your league's arms race. Whether it's defencemen, power play points, hits, shots, or a goalie that you need, these two teams are where I'm looking in my H2H leagues as I try to gain an edge that can carry me through the win-or-go-home weeks. Edmonton's players should be especially prized, as they have the best overall schedule through the last four weeks of the season, when championships are won.

In one of my Roto pools, I'm also heavily looking at Evander Kane. His hits would make a huge difference as I try to chase down a podium finish there (currently sitting in fifth). Knowing what your team needs, and not just chasing whatever the best name is, makes a huge difference too.

For those like me needing Hits, then one other name to look at is Tanner Jeannot. He has missed a lot of time lately, but was back on the ice this morning and could make his return sooner rather than later. He was posting 3.9 Hits per game before his injury.

On the flip side of the games played ledger, the Lightning, Stars, and Canucks have played 61 games each as of last night, so you're leaving a few games on the table by trading for those players now. Not that you can't or shouldn't in the right situation, but something to keep in mind during negotiations.

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Arizona without Clayton Keller is one where you look at the lineup and any of the top-three lines could be called the top-line and I wouldn't bat an eye. All four lines put up a CF% over 55% last night though, it was Samuel Montembeault that made the difference with his 36 saves on 38 shots in the win. Despite the shot barrage, Arizona is going to have some troubles creating consistent offence without Keller in the lineup. The rising tide lifting all boats is a common phrase in sports, but in this case it will likely be the opposite, with Keller's absence signifying a receding tide.

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The shine has worn off on the Elias Lindholm addition after going pointless in his last three, and they are cycling him down to the third line now, playing with Arshdeep Bains and Conor Garland. That would be good for the Canucks to get three full lines rolling, but it's not the greatest for Lindholm's fantasy value.

It hasn't affected J.T. Miller though, who had nine points in his last four games prior to last night's game in Pittsburgh.

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🚨 JACK EICHEL IS SKATING 🚨 #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/k2Cw8QSnKB

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) February 27, 2024

Jack Eichel is back on the ice, and while he's still wearing a red no-contact jersey, it's a good sign that he will be returning to game action soon. With Eichel returning soon, his most common linemate Ivan Barbashev is likely to benefit as well. Barbashev tends to revert to a 40-point-pace most of the time, but he does put up 60-point stretches sometimes – most notably last year's playoffs. He could very well start another streak with 20 games to go.

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Travis Sanheim has scored in back to back games, and as an owner of his in a cap league where I am approaching the deadline without a championship hope, I have had some inquiries on him. He's a tough player to pin down exactly what to expect with, and I know Cliffy covered him yesterday, but I just wanted to put in my two cents on what to expect moving forward. The 27-year-old isn't buoyed by any kind of high underlying metrics, so I think this season's jump is just him developing as a player which has lined up with the team around him finally scoring more. He was way too hot at the start of the year, but then went ice cold for a while too. He seems to have settled into the middle-ground now with a 50-point-pace.

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The New Jersey Devils are running Nico Daws into the ground, with him taking all the goalie volume right now. Young players often hit a production wall in their first season, having to adjust to the constant pace of the season, and it is acutely more noticeable in younger goalies. Daws is likely especially susceptible to being overworked, as he is coming off of a hip-surgery recovery, so this volume for him doesn't feel like something that is going to last much longer. He played well enough against San Jose last night, but the fall-off is coming.

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Anton Forsberg strung together a few solid outings last week, and seemed to be set to run with a larger share of the starter's workload. Then on Monday night he allowed six goals on 20 shots… and showed the Sens that they're right back where they started the season: a playoff team on paper, but with too many goalie issues to make it a reality. Last night, Joonas Korpisalo got the second night of the back-to-back, in what should have been the easier start against Nashville. He let in a couple early goals, and failed to get any momentum turned back his way for starting the gig. Unsurprisingly, that contract is aging like warm milk.

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Lucas Raymond's up to 24 points his last 24 games

— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) February 28, 2024

As someone who doesn't own Lucas Raymond in any leagues (or even many Red Wings at all for that matter), this caught me by surprise. Raymond just passed his breakout threshold 15 games ago, and him taking that next step to being a point-per-game player would line up well with his progression and his pedigree. He added another point last night to bring the overall total to 25 points in 24 games.

On a less fantasy-relevant note, I noticed that Jesper Boqvist is also about 15 games past his breakout threshold, and has six points in his last six games. He won't keep that pace up, but he could be a 30- to 40-point-player for the stretch run. Maybe worth a flier in deeper leagues to try and milk the rest of a hot streak.

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I was looking back at the pre-season Experts Panel picks, and while I want to dis-regard most of my awards picks, I did want to mention a couple of team picks. As the division winners, I had Toronto, New Jersey, Dallas, and Edmonton. I have historically been much better at projecting the West than the East, for whatever reason. Dallas and Edmonton (after their coaching change) have been exactly what we pictured they could be, and look to be very difficult outs in the playoffs. I'm flip-flopping on which makes the most sense as a cup pick at this time, but it's tough to go against Edmonton and their top-end players.

Over in the East there have been a lot of surprises, and even the teams at the top of the conference don't seem much more likely to make a run to the finals than the wildcard teams do. If you're looking for an underdog pick to bet on, I think this is going to be the place. Be it Florida, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, or Detroit, any of them could string together 12-15 playoff wins and it wouldn't feel like an absolute miracle.

I do think at this point though that the Rangers (and whatever additions they likely make before the trade deadline) seem like the best bet. For now, I'm going to revise my Cup pick to the Oilers over the Rangers. Though if Logan Stankoven keeps scoring, it may be easier to flip it to Dallas again.

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On Seeler, sounds like the initial contract ask wasn't received overly well from Philly's side. Talks ongoing, I believe, but sounds like #LetsGoFlyers want him in the $2.5M-$3M AAV range, and Seeler's camp is looking for a fair bit more over multi-years.

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) February 27, 2024

I find these notes about the Flyers' defence interesting, because Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale are also already missing significant games, which means after the deadline the Flyers could be down to Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Egor Zamula, and Marc Staal as a top-four. They do have some AHL depth to call on in Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning, but in a playoff race it's tough to imagine them wanting to go that route.

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Sources: At least one team, believed to be #njdevils, has shown real interest in Juuse Saros last few weeks. But #preds say they're intent on keeping Saros so long as they're in the playoffs.

What does the mean for the goalie market?

Full eval: https://t.co/AeDLDncaOW pic.twitter.com/f2SBeKRt0h

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 27, 2024

Looking at another trade deadline situation, I can't help but think as a Preds fan that this would be a missed opportunity to get a massive haul for Juuse Saros. Yaroslav Askarov is the goalie of the future here, and a trade has to come either now or in the offseason to maximize the return. The team may be the in playoff hunt, but they are not necessarily worse off with Askarov in net and a larger package in return for Saros, especially if there was a higher-end young forward coming back like a Dawson Mercer or Martin Necas that could help lengthen the Predators' forward group. Maybe that's just me talking with my fantasy hockey glasses on.

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See you next Wednesday. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter/X here, or BlueSky here if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments.