With the news that defenceman Noah Dobson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the New York Islanders were short their best puck-moving defenceman and a power-play quarterback. The team is a ways out of the playoff race, but a sustained hot streak could get them within striking distance, so they decided to bolster their blue line by signing defenceman Tony DeAngelo:

Let's break down what this means for the team.

When DeAngelo was at his best in the NHL, whether with the New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, or Philadelphia Flyers, he was an offensive defenceman who could move the puck well and get his team's attack going. He had a five-year stretch from 2018-2023 where he managed 177 points across 269 regular season games, or 54 points every 82 games. That was while averaging 21 power-play points every 82 games, so 40% of his production came on the man advantage.

It will be up to DeAngelo to get the Islanders power play going. As of Friday afternoon, they are last in the NHL by power-play goals per game, last in the NHL by power-play percentage, and last in the NHL by power-play goals per minute. This team was middle-of-the-road in 2023-24 with mostly the same group of players, so there is potential for a rebound here with DeAngelo at the helm. If he can give them a boost, it would help all the fantasy value of all their top names.

There does need to be caution, though. By some metrics (like Evolving Hockey's expected goals for/against measurements), he is the worst defensive defenceman to get at least 5000 minutes in the NHL since 2007. Across his three most recent NHL seasons, his expected goals against impact was in the neighbourhood of players like John Klingberg and Adam Boqvist. By goals against at 5-on-5 relative to his teammates in that three-year span, he was in the 11^th percentile of defencemen. He is very poor in his own end, so the Islanders will be careful how (and how much) they use him. He is destined for the top power-play unit, but it seems very unlikely he plays 20 minutes a night. If the power play doesn't turn around, or not in a big way, and he's not getting much ice time, well, the fantasy value is meagre in most leagues.

DeAngelo does have fantasy upside if all goes well. If the power play improves, if he can limit the damage defensively, and if he can help their forwards generate offence through the neutral zone, he can have a regular role that is meaningful in fantasy. There are a lot of 'if' statements here, so fantasy managers need to be careful about dropping useful players for a lottery ticket.