Hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of Lining Up! I am your host, Eli Feldman.

Although it feels like there's infinite attention on every NHL trade deadline, the anticipation of the 2024-2025 edition – with several gamebreakers on the trade block – was truly extraordinary. And I think we can all agree, last Friday didn't disappoint one bit. Overall, NHL clubs executed a whopping 24 trades involving 47 players last Friday prior to the 3 PM ET trade deadline, the highest totals since 2021-2022.

While various real-world implications make the trade deadline an anxious time for many NHL players, deadline day is pure cotton candy for fantasy hockey managers. Thanks to a simple change of scenery, fringe players barely hanging onto roster spots suddenly achieve must-start status, while players once regarded as indispensable find themselves destined for the waiver wire in the blink of a bruised eye. Also, since the NHL trade deadline generally falls after the trade deadline in most fantasy leagues, deadline day represents the final opportunity to make meaningful roster changes before the stretch-run of the fantasy hockey season.

Against this backdrop, let's look at a few players whose stocks are on the rise following the 2024-2025 NHL trade deadline.

Josh Norris

For fantasy hockey purposes, there are a few notable things about Josh Norris: (1) he's a proven sniper, having netted 35 goals three seasons ago; (2) he's Band-Aid Boy Certified, having missed over 100 regular season games over the past two seasons alone; and (3) he's been known to rock a dirty 'stache at times (the third thing may be only tangentially relevant for fantasy hockey purposes).

Despite ongoing concerns over his ability to stay healthy, Norris' natural aptitude for finding the back of the net, paired with his willingness to throw the body and block shots at above-average rates, makes him an intriguing (albeit, risky) multi-cat fantasy option each year.

Norris benefited from favourable deployment during his final season in Ottawa, averaging over 18 minutes of ice time per night while playing most of his even-strength minutes with Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson and carving out a role on the Sens' top power-play unit. Thankfully too, Norris has remained relatively healthy this season, missing only eight of 53 games with his former team before departing for Buffalo last Friday.

Now with the Sabres, Josh Norris has hit the ground running during his first two games, thanks in large part to continued favourable deployment. At even strength, Norris has assumed 1C duties for the Sabres, sandwiched between JJ Peterka and superstar Tage Thompson, currently featured on Dobber's Hot Players List. Norris is also playing on Buffalo's top powerplay unit.

Last evening, Norris registered his first point with his new team in a home win against McJesus and Co., the lone assist on Thompson's second goal of the game. If Norris' first apple with his new squad is a sign of things to come, it may be worth plucking him off your waiver wire before it's too late.  

Oliver Bjorkstrand

Two days before last Friday's deadline, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde were acquired by the Tampa Bay Lightning from the Seattle Kraken as part of a three-team trade involving the Detroit Red Wings. In reflecting on the Lightning's decision to go all-in yet again by trading for the former Kraken forwards, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois explained that "the calculation [was] that trying and failing will yield less regret than failing to try." Talk about a headline-worthy quote.

A former Columbus Blue Jackets third-round pick in 2013, Bjorkstrand racked up 375 points (167 goals, 208 assists) in 606 regular-season games for the Kraken and the Blue Jackets during his 10-year NHL career. Regarded as a shoot-first player, Bjorkstrand is a four-time 20-goal scorer who flirted with the 30-goal milestone as a member of the Blue Jackets in 2021-2022. But despite his goalscoring prowess, Bjorkstrand struggled to produce with the Kraken this season, recording just 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in hist most recent 31 games before heading southeast.  

Following his acquisition by Tampa Bay, it remained unclear as to where Bjorkstrand would slot into the Lightning's lineup. In his first game with his new team last Thursday night, Bjorkstrand skated on Tampa's third line alongside Yanni Gourde and Gage Goncalves, and manned one of the flanks on Tampa's second powerplay unit. Although Bjorkstrand was worthy of a speculative add upon his arrival in Tampa Bay, his initial deployment was underwhelming.

But that's since changed.

During the third period of Tampa's game against the Bruins on Saturday afternoon, Head Coach John Cooper placed Bjorkstrand on a line with known NHLers Jake Guentzel and Braden Point and elevated the right-shot winger to Tampa's formidable top powerplay unit (in a position formerly occupied with incredible success by Steven Stamkos). Despite Tampa's loss, the Bjorkstrand-Point-Guentzel trio dominated Buffalo at even strength, generating a whopping 10 chances for and only yielding one chance against in over 5 minutes played together. 

Unfortunately for Bjorkstand and his fantasy owners, Coach Cooper elected to reunite Nikita Kucherov with Point and Guentzel during yesterday's practice, knocking Bjorkstrand down a line to the right of Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli:

Lines today:
Guentzel-Point-Kucherov
Hagel-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand
Gourde-Paul-Goncalves
Chaffee-Glendening-Girgensons

Hedman-Moser
McDonagh-Cernak
Lilleberg-Raddysh/Perbix#GoBolts #TBLightning

📢 advertisement:

— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) March 10, 2025

But despite the demotion at even strength, Bjorkstrand stuck with the big guns on PP1 during Monday's practice:

Power play units

Hedman-Kucherov-Point-Guentzel-Bjorkstrand

Raddysh-Hagel-Gourde-Paul-Cirelli

— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) March 10, 2025

Even if Bjorkstrand doesn't stick with Guentzel and Point down the stretch, he's a must-own player so long as he continues to man the right flank on Tampa's top powerplay unit. At only 18% owned on Yahoo as of Tuesday evening, Bjorkstrand may be the sniper you need to catch lightning in a bottle.

Andrei Kuzmenko

While the Kings find themselves comfortably in a playoff spot, incredibly, the team hasn't quite sorted out its first forward line all year. Entering play on Tuesday evening, a grand total of nine players have taken a turn playing alongside future Hall-of-Famer Anze Kopitar and All-Star Adrian Kempe on LA's top forward line: Alex Turcotte, Trevor Moore, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, Alex Laferriere, Trevor Lewis, Tanner Jeannot, and most recently, Andrei Kuzmenko.

After signing with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2022 off season, Kuzmenko took the NHL by storm as a 27-year-old rookie, potting 38 goals in 81 games during his first campaign. Despite nearly hitting the 40-goal mark, concerns over Kuzmenko's footspeed, coupled with his unsustainable 26.8% shooting percentage as a rookie, pointed to a future regression.

Fast forward to today, Kuzmenko already has four different NHL jerseys hanging on his basement wall (VAN, CGY, PHI, LA).

Although Kuzmenko has bounced around as an NHLer, his latest opportunity to rediscover his game is perhaps his best one yet. During Kuzmenko's first two games with his new club, Head Coach Jim Hiller has entrusted the Kings' deadline acquisition with even strength minutes alongside Kopitar and Kempe and net-front duties on the top power-play unit. While Kuzmenko hasn't yet recorded a point with his new team, the winger has clicked with Kopi and Juice, as the trio has generated three even-strength goals and 32 chances for in two games thus far.

Given Kuzmenko's exceptional deployment scenario and nearly-forty-goal pedigree, it's only a matter of time before the points start piling up. Still available in nearly 90% of Yahoo leagues, Andrei Kuzmenko could help you rule your fantasy league this season.

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Here are some other notable powerplay deployment developments making headlines over the past week:

• Casey Mittelstadt is playing on Boston's top powerplay unit following his deadline acquisition from Colorado;
• Logan Stankoven is playing on Carolina's top power-play unit following his deadline acquisition from Dallas;
• Valeri Nichushkin and deadline-acquisition Brock Nelson have replaced Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin on Colorado's top powerplay unit;
• Mikko Rantanen is playing on Dallas' top powerplay unit following his deadline acquisition from Carolina;
• Seth Jones is quarterbacking Florida's top powerplay unit for the balance of the regular season following Aaron Ekblad's 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program;
• Nick Blankenberg is quarterbacking Nashville's top powerplay unit while Roman Josi is out with an upper-body injury;
• Deadline acquisition Dylan Cozens has replaced Josh Norris on Ottawa's top powerplay unit; and
• Filip Hronek is quarterbacking Vancouver's top powerplay unit while Quinn Hughes is out with an undisclosed injury.

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That's all for this week! Stay tuned for the next edition of Lining Up next Tuesday, March 18. Until then, have a great week and best of luck to all!