Canucks Trade Thomas Vanek to the Blue Jackets
Ian Gooding
2018-02-26
Fantasy Impact: The Vancouver Canucks have traded left wing Thomas Vanek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for center Tyler Motte and left wing Jussi Jokinen.
The Blue Jackets get: A winger that will help with their power play, which has struggled to a second-worst 14.6% efficiency (only Edmonton’s is worse). Vanek is tied for third on the Canucks with 14 power-play points. He’s not known as a playoff performer or a John Tortorella-type player, but he fulfills a specific need.
The Canucks get: Two more forwards (Jokinen and Motte) who along with Brendan Leipsic will compete for icetime for the rest of the season, the latter two for jobs beyond that. Jim Benning must have been enamored with Motte, as he was willing to take on Jokinen’s expiring contract to make this deal. The Canucks could be adding forwards in anticipation of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin not returning next season.
Fantasy players impacted:
Vanek’s power-play total listed above is higher than anyone on the Blue Jackets, so it’s not a stretch to assume that he’ll be deployed on the first-unit power play. He seemed to flip-flop between the first and second units in Van City. Artemi Panarin should be safe, and Pierre-Luc Dubois has produced in his time there, so Vanek could bump either Cam Atkinson or Alexander Wennberg off the first unit. Although both have missed time due to injury, both have just three power-play points each all season. Vanek could also compete with Nick Foligno for even-strength minutes, and his acquisition also pushes Sonny Milano further away from meaningful minutes.
Vanek wasn’t glued to any particular line during his time in Vancouver, so his departure may not make a significant fantasy ripple. The move could perhaps solidify that Nikolai Goldobin will stay on the NHL club and receive power-play minutes for the rest of the season. As well, it’s worth mentioning that Jake Virtanen received 1:50 of power-play time on Sunday, a game in which Vanek was scratched in anticipation of a trade. Other than that, maybe Loui Eriksson is used in more of a scoring role the rest of the way.
Fantasy players this helps, in order:
Goldobin
Virtanen
Vanek
Eriksson
Fantasy players this hurts, in order:
Atkinson
Wennberg
Milano
Foligno
Fantasy owners are already weighing in – give your take here!
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