Fantasy Take: Vegas Trades for Hertl While Other Playoff Teams Add a 19th Depth Forward
Michael Clifford
2024-03-08
In his second season after signing a long-term extension with San Jose, it came out that Tomas Hertl was looking to be moved elsewhere. It sure seemed as if it would be a trade that could happen in the summer, especially with Hertl's recent injury, but Vegas did not want to wait and went out to get their second-line centre:
The recent update on Hertl was that he had yet to start skating from his knee surgery but that he was ahead of schedule. When, exactly, he'll be back remains to be seen.
What Vegas Gets
When he's at his best, Hertl is a power forward centre that can put up 30 goals and 70 points. He is 30 years old, and how much tread is left on the tire is a fair question, but he is the prototypical 200-foot forward who is good offensively and helps out defensively. He is a player that doesn't excel in any single area, but is very good in a lot of them, and that's important to being able to impact his team's chances of winning when the goals aren't going in.
Jack Eichel is Vegas's top centre and they still have William Karlsson, so it remains to be seen whether Hertl will be the second-line centre or third-line centre. There is also the potential of Karlsson just moving to the wing like Chandler Stephenson has at times and running Eichel/Hertl as the top two centres.
All this makes it hard to figure out how everyone will slot in when the lineup is healthy. All of Eichel, Hertl, Jonathan Marchessault, and Mark Stone will remain in the top-6. But there is Karlsson, Stephenson, and Ivan Barbashev fighting for two top-6, left wing roles. One of them is going to lose out, and it could very well be Stephenson, who is not having a very good season.
There is also the question of the power play. It may not be a huge issue for the regular season, though, as Stone is not near a return and Hertl really isn't, either. If Hertl returns before the end of the regular campaign, he could take Karlsson's power play role, but that is weeks down the road.
This seems to be a good trade for Vegas but with Hertl not even skating yet post-surgery, it seems unlikely to have much regular season fantasy impact. If he does come back, it will be with a week or two remaining in the regular season, and decisions can be made from there.
There isn't much impact for San Jose, either. Hertl has been out of the lineup for nearly six weeks now and, again, may not have returned in the regular season. It does secure top roles the rest of the way for William Eklund, which is nice, and gives a better chance of Thomas Bordeleau staying in a meaningful NHL role.
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