Fantasy Impact: Pontus Aberg to Minnesota
Cam Robinson
2019-01-17
Firstly, my apologies for the late publication. With the rash of deals going down in the last 24 hours, expect a few of these breakdowns to come in succession.
Wednesday afternoon saw the Anaheim Ducks begin their trading frenzy. They moved winger, Pontus Aberg to Minnesota in exchange for minor leaguer, Justin Kloos. After going pointless in seven straight, Aberg had fallen out of favour with head coach, Randy Carlyle. The result was living in the press box for the better part of two weeks leading up to the trade.
Despite that missed time, the 25-year-old was still tied for second on the team in goals with 11. In Kloos, the Ducks receive a 25-year-old, former Minnesota Mr. Hockey winner, NCAA standout, and a player currently clicking near a point-per-game in the American League. He has just one NHL game to his resume.
Fantasy Impact for Anaheim
The Ducks rid themselves of a rostered player for a minor leaguer. On paper, this doesn’t help matters as the team looks to end a 12-game winless spell. Before being a healthy scratch for four straight games, Aberg’s most common linemate was Ryan Getzlaf. The two had hooked up at even-strength for long stretches and Aberg even saw some turns on the top power-play unit.
This now opens up a spot on the left-side for Jakob Silfverberg to rejoin the top line. However, Silfverberg left Tuesday night’s contest and was placed on the IR on Wednesday. Newly acquired, Devin Shore took his spot for the remainder of that contest.
In an attempt to help alleviate their weakness on the wings, the Ducks recalled prospects, Max Jones and Troy Terry right after the trade. The latter of which may have been the best player in the AHL before the recall.
Fantasy Impact for Minnesota
The Wild acquire a speedy, goal-scoring winger who has shown capable of playing up the lineup and producing tangible results. The cost being a minor league player on his last season of waiver ineligibility has to be viewed as a success.
Wild GM, Paul Fenton was a part of the group that selected Aberg in the second round back in 2012 when he was the AGM in Nashville. So, you know he’s familiar with the player. Aberg has slotted in on the team’s third line ahead of Thursday’s tilt versus, you guessed it, the Anaheim Ducks. He’s flanking Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise. Aberg also practiced on the left point on the Wild’s top power-play unit.
Needless to say, this would represent a massive upgrade in deployment from the days of the healthy scratch.
We’ll need to see how things shake out over the course of the next few games and weeks, but if Aberg remains on the top unit, that means Coyle's role on the man-advantage decreases. Regardless though, when Matt Dumba returns, he should step back into that spot on the top unit.
Jordan Greenway and Luke Kunin may see their tenuous grip on power play opportunities in jeopardy as well.
Who this helps (In order)
Who this hurts (In order)
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