Fantasy Impact: The St. Louis Blues traded forward Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets for prospect Erik Foley, a 2018 first-round pick plus a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick (which they get only if they don’t sign Foley before late summer of 2019.
The Blues get: a scoring forward with top-six upside. Read our scouting report on Erik Foley here. He currently sits 274 on my Top Fantasy Prospect Forwards list. Foley has 34 points in 32 games for Providence (NCAA).
The Jets get: a third-line center who is a tweener in that he can also be a second-line center. Given Bryan Little’s reduced offensive role with the team this year, the two of them are about equal in terms of skill though I’d still hand Little the edge in terms of offensive upside. This is real solid depth on an already deep team.
Fantasy Players Impacted: Things open up in the middle for Patrik Berglund. The ice time will go to Berglund, Alex Steen and Vladimir Sobotka. But I like the potential here for Berglund to see a slight bump in production going forward. Assuming he stays a Blue here on Deadline Day. Stastny has been Vladimir Tarasenko’s primary linemate this year and Tarasenko is having a disappointing year. A shakeup like this, in my opinion, can only help Tarasenko. And of course Brayden Schenn stands a better chance of having Tarasenko back on his line. If that happens, expect early-season production from him.
For Winnipeg, while I believe Stastny will slot in on the third line behind Little, it still hurts Little’s PP time. It helps improve the outlook for third-line production though, meaning Mathieu Perreault and Jack Roslovic/Joel Armia enjoy a better centerman. Although Little played last game between those two, so perhaps Stastny slots with Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine. If that is the case, all three of those guys will spike.
Fantasy Players this helps, in order:
1. Stastny
2. Perreault
3. Tarasenko
4. Berglund
5. Schenn
Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:
1. Little
2. Andrew Copp