NHL Fantasy Hockey Trade Advice (Week 21)While the trade deadline has come and gone in most fantasy leagues, we’ll continue to deliver fantasy hockey trade advice for those leagues that do not impose a trade deadline.
Let’s take a look at some names worth buying and selling as we near the fantasy hockey postseason!
Check out today's One-Timer contest from FanDuel 
NHL Fantasy Hockey Trade Advice (Week 21)
Buy
Let’s swing for the fences and see what it takes to acquire Zach Hyman as he enjoys a career year in the 2022-23 campaign.
Hyman has notched 29 goals and 72 points in 65 games this season while he’s put a hefty 236 shots on goal as well. The veteran winger has also added 61 hits, 22 power-play points, and a plus-12 rating while seeing time alongside Connor McDavid on the Oilers’ top line. Anytime you can land a player skating next to 97, whether it be on a part or full-time basis, you pull the trigger.
He’s already blown past career highs across the board. Hyman’s previous bests of 27 goals and 54 points came in his first season with the Oilers last year, as did his 213 shots on goal. He’s simply been on another level this season, while his 12.3% shooting rate is interestingly identical to his career mark across eight NHL seasons.
He’s the type of addition that can put a contending fantasy hockey team over the top.
Jared McCann is rostered in less than 60% of ESPN leagues, so there’s a chance he’s actually on your waiver wire. However, he’s a sneaky-good trade target as he, too, is in the midst of the best season of his NHL career.
With 33 goals in 62 games, McCann has not only shattered his career-best of 27 goals set last season but is on pace for a 44-goal season. The 26-year-old has 19 helpers on the season for 52 points across those 62 games.
Now, with 33 goals on 147 shots, McCann boasts a sky-high 22.4% shooting rate that is nearly double his 12.2% career mark. Goal-scoring regression is a near-certainty, but whether that happens this season remains up in the air. Nonetheless, this is a player entering the prime of his NHL career and has taken the forward steps you like to see out of young players. He’s an excellent dynasty league trade target as a result.
He doesn’t exactly do a ton in the peripheral departments with 47 hits, 14 power-play points, and 25 penalty minutes, but he does sport a healthy plus-11 rating for an improved Kraken club. McCann posted an ugly minus-26 rating a season ago.
He’s certainly on fire at the moment with six goals and nine points over his last five games, as he has been one of the better goal-scorers in the NHL this season.
Sell
Matt Duchene is having a solid enough season after a career year last season, but his prospects don’t look great moving forward.
The veteran pivot has tallied 19 goals and 51 points in 61 games and has managed to post a palatable plus-three rating on a Predators team that sports a minus-five goal differential this season.
However, the Predators are a team on the decline as they appear to be a re-tool candidate following the trades of players such as Mattias Ekholm and Tanner Jeannot. With Filip Forsberg on injured reserve, Duchene is currently skating with Cody Glqss and John Leanard on the Predators’ top line. Ryan Johansen is also out of the lineup, but Duchene’s current linemates leave plenty to be desired.
There’s also the fact he doesn’t bring much to the table outside of a quality amount of points. He’s averaging just 2.38 shots per game with 24 hits, 13 power-play points, and 28 penalty minutes on the season. Not horrible production, but certainly nothing to write home about.
I’m well past the fact Duchene posted a career-high 43 goals and 86 points last season. Keep in mind that was the only season of his career in which he eclipsed a point per game.
Duchene won’t likely net you much on his own but could be a solid piece of a trade package for an asset that can be a difference-maker in the postseason.
Like the Lightning as a team, it hasn’t been the best season for blueliner Victor Hedman who has failed to deliver the elite cross-category production we’re used to seeing from him.
Hedman has notched six goals and 42 points in 60 games this season. He also owns a quality plus-10 rating while he averages more than a hit per game. At the same time, the big Swede has notched just 12 power-play points with 26 penalty minutes and 2.4 shots per game.
For context, Hedman tallied 20 goals, 85 points, 93 hits, a plus-26 rating, and 38 power-play points last season. He’s lost his spot on the top power-play unit to Mikhail Sergachev at times this season, and the production has cratered as a result.
Outside of his 36 assists on the season, he’s simply not offering much value. He’s either reached or was on pace to reach double-digit goals in each of his last nine seasons, posting at least 16 goals in three of his last six campaigns. Hedman is delivering increased value in leagues that reward blocks, as he’s registered 109 of those on the season, but he’s clearly in the midst of a down season.
He’s injured at the moment but also rostered in more than 99% of ESPN leagues. The name value is enormous, and while there’s a solid chance he bounces back next season, Hedman isn’t doing enough to get a contending team over the hump.
He could bring back an excellent return, however, as a player whose name value exceeds his fantasy hockey value this season.
3 min read
