We’re through the holiday break and into Week 13 of the fantasy hockey season. We’re well over halfway through the fantasy hockey campaign, meaning it’s time to really bear down and look at the trade block to enhance our rosters for a stretch run toward the postseason.
Here are some names worth buying and selling at this point in the season.
NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 13 Buy/Sell Advice
Buy
It’s criminal that Martin Necas is rostered in less than 80% of ESPN leagues given the cross-category production he’s delivered this season.
All Necas has done is rack up a cool 17 goals and 37 points across 38 contests with 135 shots on goal, or 3.55 shots per game. Necas is also a plus-eight on a dynamite Carolina Hurricanes club while he hasn’t been a write-off in hits (24) or penalty minutes (20). He’s notched 12 power-play points on the season to punctuate his ability to deliver across the board.
The Hurricanes’ forward lines are rarely set in stone, but skating with Andrei Svechnikov at five-on-five and on Carolina’s top power-play unit doesn’t hurt. You could do a lot better than Paul Stastny down the middle but head coach Rod Brind’Amour prefers to spread his wealth up front.
The return of Max Pacioretty could re-arrange the forward group once again, but it really doesn’t matter. Necas was very likely a waiver wire add by someone in your league earlier in the season and he’s still not getting the love he deserves in the fantasy community.
Whoever has him likely values his excellent cross-category contributions, but the optics of sub-80% ownership could aid your ability to snatch him up in a trade.
Another player that should sport a superior rostership than we’re seeing at the moment is Vegas blueliner Shea Theodore who sits at under 85% at ESPN.
The massive season we’re witnessing from Alex Pietrangelo has seemingly taken some of the shine off of Theodore. A blueliner who collected 14 goals and 52 points across 78 games last season, Theodore has notched four goals and 22 points in 29 games this season, one that’s been hampered by injuries.
However, Theodore is still getting plenty of pucks on goal with 74 shots in that time and is a plus-14 on a quality Vegas team. He doesn’t hit much with just 11 of those on the season, but if your league counts blocks he’s delivered nicely with 41 blocked shots on the campaign.
One reason why he’s seeing diminished rostership is due to his lack of power-play production with just five man-advantage points on the season. Pietrangelo has supplanted Theodore for the lone D-man spot on the top unit which is not helping the latter’s cause.
However, let’s do some easy math:
- 52 points in 78 games last season = 0.67 points/game
- 22 points in 29 games this season = 0.76 points/game
That’s right, he’s quietly increasing his production this season despite less ice time and second-unit power-play duties. His 2.55 shots per game this season is right in line with his 2.63 mark from last season and his plus-14 rating is superior to his plus-six mark from a season ago.
The drop-off has been exaggerated, making Theodore a nice buy-low target for the stretch run.
Sell
He’s been included in this piece earlier in the season as a sell option, but it bears repeating: get this guy off your roster.
We’re only 36 games into his Calgary Flames tenure, but Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm have simply not clicked on the Flames’ top line and the numbers are clear evidence of that. Huberdeau has just seven goals and 25 points in 36 games on the heels of a monster 30-goal, 115-point season across 80 games a season ago.
Huberdeau was always going to be hard-pressed to repeat that production including his NHL-best 85 assists, but there’s a monumental separation between Lindholm and Aleksander Barkov, all due to respect to the former. Not only are Huberdeau’s points way down but he’s also averaging just 1.67 shots per game compared to 2.78 shots per contest last season.
His 34 hits and 20 penalty minutes are solid, as is his plus-four rating. However, we don’t roster Huberdeau for decent peripherals, but rather elite point and assist expectations. I mean, even with seven goals on his 60 shots his 11.7% shooting rate remains in line with his 12.5% career mark. He’s simply scoring and shooting a lot less than he has in previous seasons.
You hate to sell low on this guy as things pretty much cannot get worse. Still, he’s 98.7% owned based on reputation. I just don’t see him approaching his numbers with the Panthers as the chemistry in Calgary just isn’t there.
Huberdeau’s former teammate in Florida, Sam Reinhart’s rostership is way overvalued relative to his production.
Despite averaging 19:29 of ice time per game, Reinhart has tallied just 26 points in 39 games on the season. We can swallow such production if he were above average in some peripherals stats but that just isn’t the case with this player.
Reinhart has just six penalty minutes and is a minus-four on the season. His 104 shots are solid, as are his 10 power-play points, but it’s not what I’d label elite production. His 21 hits in 39 contests leave plenty to be desired.
Reinhart is getting first-unit power-play reps but doesn’t have a ton to show for it. For comparison, Matthew Tkachuk has 16 power-play points and Barkov has 13 despite skating in seven fewer games than Reinhart. He’s out there with these guys but not producing anywhere close to them with the man advantage.
Aside from a healthy 2.89 shots per game, Reinhart is doing just about nothing for any fantasy manager. Nonetheless, he still sits with 86.7% rostership at ESPN, making him a trade package candidate for someone who could actually contribute to your roster.
View daily consensus odds from all major sportsbooks for the NHL at BettingPros 
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