It’s time to turn on the jets for those on the playoff bubble in their respective fantasy hockey leagues!
The New Year is in full stride, and fantasy playoffs will be here before we know it. In that regard, let’s take a look at some names that are worth buying and selling to get those rosters into tip-top shape!
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NHL Fantasy Hockey Week 15 Buy/Sell Advice
Buy
Talk about someone not getting the love he deserves in fantasy. Somehow, in some way, the Flyers’ Travis Konecny is rostered in less than 90% of ESPN leagues despite putting forth an extraordinary fantasy season.
Konecny has tallied 24 goals and as many assists for 48 points across 39 games on the campaign. Konecny has fired 127 shots on goal in that time. The physical winger has also racked up a quality 53 penalty minutes on the campaign, along with 13 power-play points on his resume. It’s nothing to write home about, but he’s managed to stay at just minus-three on a Flyers club that owns a -18 goal differential on the season. If your league is a “special teams points” league, it’s worth noting he’s notched three short-handed goals and six short-handed points on the campaign, bringing him up to 19 special-teams points on the year.
Certainly, this type of production warrants rostership well into the 90s. There’s a wealth of bodies sitting on rosters with superior rostership and far inferior production. For what it’s worth, he’s also averaging over a hit per game on the campaign.
At over 20 minutes of ice time per game in all situations, Konecny has been the brightest light on a Flyers team that’s largely sat in the dark this season. His sub-90% rostership could help you nab a dynamite player for a lesser cost, given the optics of rostership.
Barrie was likely available on waivers for at least a portion of your fantasy season, but that doesn’t mean he’s not worth involving in a trade.
Again, we have an undervalued player in this scenario. Barrie is seeing sub-80% rostership at ESPN despite skating along perhaps the best two players in the world on the league’s best power play.
Barrie has notched five goals and 32 points in 46 games on the season, with 21 of those points coming via the man advantage. He’s averaging a hair shy of two shots per game on the season and a little short of a hit per contest. Still, I would not expect the points to dry up as long as he’s skating alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the Oilers’ top power-play unit, a group that’s leading the league at 30.7% for the season.
For transparency, I added Ryan Nugent-Hopkins early in the season for this exact reason. Nugent-Hopkins sits with 21 goals and 53 points in 45 games, with seven goals and 27 points on the power play. Anyone who skates on this top Oilers PP group deserves strong fantasy consideration, if not automatic rostership.
Barrie’s production has dried up a bit in recent years since his days with the Colorado Avalanche. He’s not the goal-scoring threat he once was, but he will continue to rack up significant helpers and power-play points so long as he’s the lone blueliner on that PP unit.
It’s certainly worth seeing if you can include Barrie in a deal, as he’s not getting the love he deserves from the fantasy community.
Sell
Like in the stock market, selling low isn’t the best long-term strategy but cutting losses also isn’t the worst thing in the world. In fantasy hockey, however, name value can go a long way, and perhaps it’s enough to capitalize on a deal in shedding Patrik Laine.
Laine just has very little to work with in Columbus. Johnny Gaudreau is averaging nearly a point per game for the Jackets, but he’s a more dynamic player than Laine, who is a pure goal-scorer. Laine needs distributors down the middle in the form of play-making centers, something the Jackets are completely devoid of.
Laine has dealt with injuries, but he’s notched just 12 goals and 22 points in 29 contests. The goal-scoring pace isn’t so bad, but he’s not providing much in terms of assists (10), plus/minus (minus-seven), penalty minutes (12), and power-play points (4).
Of course, Laine is skating on an anemic offense that sits 30th overall and dead last on the power play. Zach Werenski‘s absence isn’t helping the man advantage, but there’s nothing to do with this Jackets offense this season.
That said, a player like Konecny is in a very similar situation on a bad Flyers offense and power play, yet he’s excellent at extremely similar ownership to Laine.
Perhaps Laine’s reputation can help you extract some value in a trade for the former 40-goal man.
I’ll duck under the tomatoes being thrown at me here before I get started.
Yes, Quinn Hughes is an elite NHL defenseman at the age of 23. He’s averaging one point shy of a point-per-game this season with 38 points in 39 games. However, the assist and power-play points columns are the lone areas where Hughes is excelling. Let’s take a look at his ranks among defensemen in some key fantasy departments.
- Goals: 3 (T-70th)
- Assists: 35 (T-4th)
- Power Play Points: 18 (T-5th)
- Plus/Minus: +6 (T-65th)
- Shots: 74 (T-46th)
- Penalty Minutes: 12 (T-160th)
- Hits: 10 (T-242nd)
- Blocks: 39 (T-163rd)
Sure, it’s not as cut and dry as just laying out his rankings. However, it’s clear Hughes excels in strictly two categories and seriously lags in others. He’s far more valuable to the Canbucks than he is to your fantasy roster.
Nonetheless, Hughes sports 91.6% rostership at ESPN. There are owners out there who would love a defenseman sporting 38 points in 39 games without paying much attention to the peripheral categories. My suggestion is you attempt to take advantage of said owners and grab additional value in a deal sending Hughes packing.
View daily consensus odds from all major sportsbooks for the NHL at BettingPros
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