Happy Tuesday y'all! I hope the team you follow made the trades you wanted them to make at the trade deadline. We almost had a full snooze fest of an event, but luckily everyone's phones must have started working at 11:50am and we started to see the influx of moves. With all of the change in scenery, many players will find themselves on new lines for the rest of the season. This will add value to some guys, decrease in others, and possibly give new opportunities to skaters we are not as familiar with.

Calgary Flames

When the Flames traded Mackenzie Weegar to the Utah Mammoth for Olli Maatta and a haul of futures, they paved the road for Zayne Parekh to play a ton in the final 20 games of the regular season. We might run into some learning curves along the way, but he should have the green light to use his offensive instincts and create chances. The recently turned 20-year-old is the team's top powerplay quarterback and that unit will run through him.

Another Flame to keep an eye on down the stretch if you are in deeper formats is Ryan Strome. Acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, Strome is a veteran presence who will help the young guys mature, but he still has some game left and it looks like Calgary will give him minutes to possibly showcase him for next year's trade deadline. In his first game with the new club, he registered a goal and an assist, working with Martin Pospisil and Connor Zary, while also receiving time on the first extra man unit.

UPDATE: He had another assist last night, so he is up to three points in two games.

Colorado Avalanche

Nazem Kadri was brought in to be the third line center, but with a few injuries on the wing, he found himself lined up with Nathan MacKinnon in his Avs re-debut. We don't expect this to be a thing for the rest of the season, but when he does move down to the 3C spot, he will see very favorable matchups that might be better than playing with MacKinnon (just kidding, that's a prime spot to be).

New York Rangers

The Rangers stood their ground when it came to a couple of their trades as they held on to some of their veterans. Some would say that stinks for a few of their young players, but the coaching staff finally had the brilliant idea of not burying some of these guys and gave them opportunity. Gabe Perreault is only 1% owned in Yahoo leagues but he has been playing on the top line and first powerplay unit and as a result has posted three goals and five points in his last four games. The Blueshirts have a very favorable schedule the week of the 23rd (first week of playoffs in the leagues I am in) so he is a guy who could win you a week if he keeps getting this deployment.

Alexis Lafreniere is also taking advantage of more ice time ever since Artemi Panarin was being held out and eventually dealt. In the 10 games without the Russian winger, Lafreniere has registered 10 points and averaged over 18 minutes per game. What a crazy idea to put your skilled players in positions to succeed and what do you know, they produce!

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We have a pretty light schedule this week, with only two games on Wednesday and two more on Friday. Only four teams have multiple games on our light nights, and those squads are the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and St. Louis Blues.

The Blues were a major player during Friday's events, for the players they did AND did not move. Robert Thomas was kept by St. Louis because a team did not reach their price, and rightfully so. The young players for the Blues will be happy to hear that. Jimmy Snuggerud has been a beneficiary of these moves as he was placed on the top line with Thomas and has taken advantage of his recent promotion. In his last eight games, Snuggerud has three goals, eight points, 15 shots and 11 hits.

Another player who is starting to hit his strider is Dylan Holloway. He is the other winger that is deployed on the top line and the ex-Oiler looks like he is finally healthy. The 24-year-old has been battling injuries all season and has not looked like the 2024-25 version of himself until this Olympic break. He has five points, nine shots, and four hits in his last three games and he is a player who contributes all across the board.

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I have a couple of trade deadlines this week so if your league is in the same boat and you have a question/opinion on someone, hit me up on Twitter @LAM1926. Have a great week everyone!