Fantasy Take: Wild Acquire Ryan Reaves
Alexander MacLean
2022-11-23
The Minnesota Wild have added some grit to their bottom six in a trade with the New York Rangers:
What the Rangers Get:
A lineup spot for a healthy forward core, and some extra cap space to potentially use at the deadline.
What the Wild Get:
A fourth-liner who can hit plenty and hit hard, and will add some grit to a lineup that usually has lots, but has been missing it lately with injuries to Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno.
The Wild have had a rotating cast of injuries and scratches up front all season, so adding another body after having lost Tyson Jost on waivers shouldn't be too surprising. With Marco Rossi already being the healthy scratch before the Reaves deal though, he may be firmly out of the lineup now, and sent to the AHL for the remainder of the season (barring a concurrent set of injuries).
Any time a team trades for a fourth-liner like Reaves, it's a positive for their fantasy value, because you know they are going to do everything they can to try and find the right fit for the player, which usually includes a bit more ice time, and often an opportunity or two a little bit further up the lineup.
Players this helps:
Ryan Reaves (especially in the short term)
Players this hurts: