Carl Soderberg’s New Fantasy Value

MD

2015-06-26

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Colorado has signed Carl Soderberg, but his fantasy value will take a hit.

I wrote about it in some length in this morning's ramblings. More specifically, I wrote about why Ryan O'Reilly was a good, not great player, and why Colorado trading for the rights to Carl Soderberg probably meant the end of O'Reilly's tenure in Colorado.

If it wasn't obvious before, it is now, as Soderberg has signed a five year contract with Colorado, with the average annual value carrying a $4.75M cap hit. From General Fanager, it's an eclectic mix around Soderberg, as there are names like Stephen Weiss, Sam Gagner, and Bryan Little in his range. Soderberg will be playing his Age 30 season next year.

This is important for fantasy because Soderberg had relevance in Boston (for both season-long and in daily fantasy). He averaged 46 points over the last two seasons, and a plus-7 rating. Those aren't eye-popping by any stretch, but serviceable at the end of the bench in smaller leagues. Going to Colorado, yeesh.

Playing on a Boston team behind two elite (or near-elite) centres, Soderberg was getting some good minutes with good line mates (sort of). He still was only on the ice for about the same rate of shot attempts as guys like Antoine Vermette and Jordan Staal. When thinking about fantasy relevant forwards, those aren't exciting names.

Factoring in the wingers he'll get, Soderberg's fantasy relevance is lost. He could dip below 40 points and with that terrible defensive team around him, a minus player. I don't think this trade and sign has helped Soderberg's fantasy value at all, and in fact, probably hurt it.

Keep it locked to Dobber Hockey today, as there will be analysis and coverage of all the trades, signings (probably fewer of those), and the Draft.