Fantasy Impact: The Nashville Predators acquire PA Parenteau from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a sixth-round pick.

The Predators get: A decent depth scorer who can pitch in on any line and also contribute to a power play. The Predators don’t have room for Parenteau on their top line or their top PP unit but there may be room on the second line and second PP unit because of the struggles of Colin Wilson and Craig Smith.

Check out the Predators’ lines from their most recent game:

#1           27.1%    JARNKROK,CALLE – NEAL,JAMES – WILSON,COLIN

#2           23.8%    ARVIDSSON,VIKTOR – FORSBERG,FILIP – JOHANSEN,RYAN

#3           12.6%    FIALA,KEVIN – FISHER,MIKE – SMITH,CRAIG

#4           10.7%    FIDDLER,VERNON – WATSON,AUSTIN – ZOLNIERCZYK,HARRISON

Wilson has started to play productively alongside Calle Jarnkrok and the Preds would be unlikely to mess around with that chemistry. Wilson has scored four goals and six points in the past seven games. He has also flashed good play on the second PP unit. This is good timing for Wilson and for Nashville.

Smith, on the other hand, has scored no goals and just one assist in 14 games since the All-Star break. Parenteau should bump Smith to the fourth line, which would squash Smith’s already negligible fantasy value.

Parenteau will receive a bump leaving the league’s third-lowest scoring team. He can still contribute in a depth role having put up a decent 1.61 points/60 at 5-on-5 despite the Devils’ low-scoring environment. He’d need an injury to vault himself into fantasy-relevance in most leagues but in deeper settings Parenteau becomes intriguing.

The Devils get: A late pick, which amounts to a lottery ticket but they got Parenteau for free off of waivers so this is found money. You want as many picks as possible to hope you strike gold. Parenteau had been pushed down their depth chart due to the emergence of speedy rookie Miles Wood anyhow. Getting anything for Parenteau is a win. Toronto got nothing for him last season even when he was contributing at a higher level.

Moving Parenteau opens space for Stefan Noesen, Devante Smith-Pely and Joseph Blandisi to move further up the lineup.

Players this helps, in order:

Miles Wood

PA Parenteau

Players this hurts, in order:

Craig Smith

(Potentially but unlikely) Colin Wilson

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