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Fantasy Hockey Buy/Sell: Week 21 2020

Fantasy Hockey Buy/Sell: Week 21 2020

It’s that time of year, ladies and gentlemen. Tomorrow marks the day of the official fantasy trade deadline, so if you are as excited as me, you know it’s time to make any and all moves now. Just like an NHL team, you are going to be evaluating your season, your team, and hopefully your possible placement in a playoff run.

We all know it’s a short turnaround from the fantasy trade deadline into the start of the playoffs, which can have its benefits. One is that teams on the far outside are likely to dump players for less, and that includes redraft, keeper, and dynasty leagues. Heading into the playoffs looking for depth on your bench is always one of the best options, and another is looking for players that may have one or two extra games over the competition — or another player you may be comparing. This leads to more point potential.

One of the other things I like to attach myself to are the teams as a whole that are trending upwards, for example, the top two teams in the Atlantic Division, the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston is 9-1-0 in their last ten games. Tampa Bay is 12-1-0 in their last 13 games. A trend in the NHL shows teams the heat up towards the end of the year fair better heading into the playoffs, win close games, and in turn produce fantasy points for us. So, who can we go after in this trade deadline edition?

Check out today’s Breakaway NHL contest from FanDuel partner-arrow

Buy

Tyler Toffoli (LW, RW – VAN)
We have a trade leading to an immediate increase in the player’s value. In all fairness, Toffoli was having a decent year on a terrible team, and the Kings selling him only cements the continued attempt at a rebuild. He had 34 points on the season so far, and he was pretty even across the board with 18 goals and 16 assists. He had only seven power play points, but now on a surging Canucks team, he may be able to double that by years end. In Toffoli’s last ten games he has seven points and is averaging in the high teens for ice time. A player like this may be one of the missing links that helps Vancouver into the playoffs. Here’s the icing on the cake: he is only owned in about 18% of Yahoo leagues as of now.

Blake Coleman (LW, RW – TB)
As we all could have expected, the New Jersey Devils are already selling off pieces to try and gain any edge they can for next year after what can only be called a train wreck of a season. Ok, they are only four games under .500 at this time, but a -42 goal differential and a 6-17-5 away record has certainly shown management what they need to know. Coleman has 31 points this season and is averaging just over 17 minutes of ice time. 21 goals scored is a great stat, and getting sent to a team tied in goals scored just vaults his stock even more. Coleman is also someone you may be able to get for cheap, seeing as he only has four points in his last ten games, but take that as a good thing and add more depth to the bench. He is only owned in about 64% of leagues.

Jason Zucker (LW, RW – PIT)
I have always enjoyed watching Zucker play. He is a silent but effective player that doesn’t get the recognition he should. Only owned in 58% of leagues, Zucker has 32 points, 29 of those with the Wild and three points in just three games with the Penguins. Having an upgrade in talent around him, and from the looks of it, a possible boost in ice time, should both have a positive impact on his numbers. The Penguins are putting together a decent season, and if Zucker seizes his opportunity, he may come closer to his career-high than people seem to think.

Sell

Alex Galchenyuk (C, LW – MIN)
He’s a player that most people won’t have to worry about due to his low ownership percentage, but he needs to be mentioned mainly for my dynasty friends. Galchenyuk is close to turning in his worst performance since his rookie year. The problem is he played a total of 48 games and had 27 points in his rookie year. As of now, he has 17 points in 48 games this year. If you have him in redraft, dump him, if you own him in dynasty, sell him for parts — or picks. Being shifted from a top offensive team to a middle of the pack offensive team does not look promising for him. He will most likely see an increase in ice time, but with a lesser talented team and an extremely tough division, I can’t see any value or production now or in the future.

Mackenzie Blackwood (G – NJ)
Hear me out, since this is purely a situational sell because I find myself in said situation, and will hopefully be accepting a trade while writing this. Many people had no idea bout Blackwood at the beginning of the year, but if you were paying attention to the waiver wire and nabbed him at some point early on, then I am sure you have at least three goalies and are most likely going to be entering the playoffs. In a redraft league, why not sell high on the stats everyone happens to see from Blackwood at this time, add a crazy amount of depth to your team, and maybe even get a mid-level goalie in return to continue on with three goalies. Let’s be logical, the Devils are going to be doing a bit more selling, which will likely lead the team to be less than good down the end of the year stretch. This can, and will affect Blackwood’s win totals. I know he has won five games in a row, and you as an owner should have started him in every one of those games, seeing as they were against some of the worst teams in hockey (Minus Philadelphia). Heading into the end of February and all of March that will not be the case. If you have him in dynasty, do not sell him.

Happy deadline, and as always hockey fans, have fun.

Check out today’s Breakaway NHL contest from FanDuel partner-arrow

 Mat Vilcek is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Mat, check out his archive and follow him @Mat1Thockey.

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