The season of "trade related" healthy-scratches in upon us.

Dave Hakstol was asked this morning about Alexander Wennberg's absence from today's morning skate in Calgary:

"Trade-related issues and will not be available tonight." #SeaKraken

— Alison (@AlisonL) March 4, 2024

If you have any players that are close to the rumour mill, be ready for them to sit out the next day or two, at least until the Friday deadline is passed. If you're looking ahead to goalie starts, don't expect any of Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, John Gibson, or other possibly traded goalies to start.

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Anthony Mantha was already traded, and should in in the Vegas lineup soon. He will likely slot in on the second line, taking that opportunity away from Michael Amadio and Paul Cotter. With the possibility for even more usage in Vegas, Mantha should be able to at least keep up this season's 50-point scoring pace. This kind of opportunity to pad his playoff numbers should also help the cap hit rise on his next contract.

Mantha made a great target for Vegas, as he wasn't viewed as the big fish so the acquisition cost was reasonable, but his impacts on the game have been excellent this season, and he should provide near equal, if not more positive impact than some of the top names available at the deadline.

Another name that fits that billing is Anthony Duclair. He could really make an underrated impact on a playoff team, and he's trying to will his way out of San Jose by scoring again last night, bringing him up to four goals and five points in his last four games. He won't be expensive either.

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The New York Rangers have five games next calendar week, with two back-to-backs on the bookends of the week plus a Thursday game in the middle. That means Jonathan Quick should get two starts, and players like Will Cuylle and Braden Schneider are more rosterable and more relevant. Take a look at which Rangers are available next week for you.

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Moritz Seider was recently traded in one of my cap leagues, and part of the reason was how scary his upcoming contract is. Owen Power is someone that Buffalo hopes turns into Seider in the next year or two, and he has already signed a $8.35 million AAV contract. That probably sets the minimum bar for Seider, assuming he is looking long-term. The high-water mark could be Power's Buffalo teammate in Rasmus Dahlin, who signed an eight-year deal with an $11 million AAV.

From the management side, Steve Yzerman's history with the Lightning indicates that he likes to go long-term (five or more years) with his "core" players. That hasn't always been the case yet in Detroit, signing Alex DeBrincat and Michael Rasmussen to more mid-term deals, but the expectation should be that a long-term deal would be the way to go with Seider.

Yzerman's history with long-term extensions is varied:

The Good: Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, J.T. Miller.

The Bad: Ondrej Palat, Ryan McDonagh, Tyler Johnson.

What this tells me, is that Yzerman extending the second-line level players didn't go all that well, but the top-line players were all bargains relatively quickly. I would expect the same with Seider here, possibly looking at an AAV in the $9 million range. It will be expensive, but he should be worth it. He's again pacing above 0.5 points per game, is a peripherals monster, and has so much room to grow.

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Max Comtois has likely been off your fantasy radar for a while now, and while he doesn't need to be put back on it right away, he's approaching that level, and maybe we see him work his way back to a one-way contract for next season. He has signed a two-way contract with the Carolina Hurricanes (who don't have an AHL affiliate) so for now he will continue with the Chicago Wolves, where he has 28 points and a minus-17 rating through 45 games.

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There are a few worthwhile notes from Travis Green's first game as Head Coach (after the firing of Lindy Ruff). First off, with Akira Schmid getting the first start, that's an indication that we may see more of him than we do of Nico Daws the rest of the way – until Vitek Vanecek is back in the lineup or a trade is made. He didn't really put a stranglehold on the starting job though, letting in four goals on 24 shots in an underwhelming loss against the Panthers last night. It's not any of the goalies' fault at this point though. The coaching change has come too late to make the difference on the season.

Matthew Tkachuk had assists on three of those goals last night, bringing him to 48 points in his last 28 games. Buying low on the superstars after Thanksgiving is how you win leagues. Tkachuk is going to be making a big difference for a lot of owners this year.

Back to New Jersey with Green's coaching decisions, he has Simon Nemec as a healthy scratch, and Alex Holtz playing on the fourth line with Tomas Nosek and new acquisition Kurtis MacDermid. Zero shots in 10 minutes for the rookie winger. It's more of the same for him it seems. Between him and Arthur Kaliyev, I'm not sure who needs the change of scenery more.

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David Savard isn't a lock to be traded again on deadline day, but he helped boost his return value last night with a goal on two shots, and a dominant possession showing, with him and Arbur Xhekaj putting up a CF% over 70. Jonathan Kovacevic, one of the Habs' other right-shots, would be the main beneficiary of a trade. He started off the season with heavy minutes, but has been getting scratched almost as often as not lately.

Here was the highlight reel goal from Savard, for those who missed it:

David Savard's stanchion goal will go down as one of the craziest of the season, no doubt#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/zmWRJy4MsC

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 6, 2024

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A bit of a good news and bad news situation on the injury front in San Jose. Tomas Hertl is ahead of schedule at this point, but Logan Couture is still not skating and has no updates on his timeline for a possible return. Hertl may be able to help some fantasy teams before the end of the season.

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The previous three games for the Islanders, they scored a combined 13 goals, and beat the Stars, Bruins, and Red Wings. Nosmall feat, and the recent run is pulling them ever closer to a playoff berth. The recent mini-run has coincided with Brock Nelson being moved up as the left-wing on line one with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. That's likely going to stick as the line is producing and the team is winning. It means the middle-six loses some overall fantasy value too, and the scoring ends up being heavily concentrated between that top trio.

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I traded for Filip Gustavsson in one league recently, as I don't have a ton left to play for in that league, so it's a move with two eyes on the 2024-25 season and beyond. His numbers prior to arriving in the NHL were excellent, and prior to this season, his overall impacts were solid, including a fantastic 2022-23 season where he won 22 of 39 appearances, with a GAA of 2.10 and a .931 sv%. This year has been tough, with the team in front of him missing multiple regulars on defence, and some inconsistencies creeping into his game. At only 25 years old though, and with a bit more time before Jesper Wallstedt is ready for a full-time role, it's as good of a gamble as any that he rebounds to be a plus-value goalie next year.

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On that note, about sorting out goalies, this was a very interesting thread, and very relevant to hockey in a lot of ways. I know it only discusses fantasy baseball and fantasy football (which I'm sure a lot of you are also familiar with), but it does bring a lot of points that are transferrable to hockey as well. Click on the link and read the whole thread if you have time.

1 Last week, FFB Twitter got into its annual tizzy about ZeroRB.

I have some thoughts about it that I've never articulated on this platform, mostly bc I'm too lazy.

You may agree or disagree, idc. But hopefully it gives you some things to think about.

Thread:

— Sammy Reid (@SammyReidFI) August 31, 2018

What transfers best to hockey, is how we manage the position scarcity at goalie, and how the RB and SP positions in other sports give us a lot of the same headaches. There have been strategies dubbed ZeroRB, ZeroSP, and ZeroG that have greatly gained popularity over the last few years. None of them are new, but they have been taken to an extreme recently.

When it comes to fantasy hockey goalies, I will often wait until after pick 100 to get a goalie, and I can still find an Ilya Samsonov, Jacob Markstrom, or Tristan Jarry there to be my number one guy. It's not foolproof, but it means I can milk the more guaranteed value for my first few draft picks on skaters, who are more consistent season to season.

However, when the value is there, picking up an Ilya Sorokin, a Jake Oettinger, or an Igor Shesterkin at the beginning of the draft, you have to consider just how elite these players are, and the difference that they can make for your team compared to the next set of tiers. Especially with the rise in timeshares, the top-tier goalies are as valuable as ever, but if you miss out on them, /then/ it's worth waiting to draft one.

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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.