Fantasy Hockey: Trade Deadline Outlook
With Bo Horvat being shipped to the Islanders earlier this week, the trade deadline will shake up the value of certain players.
Horvat is potentially being in a better situation right now as he is slated to be the top center for the Islanders and have Mat Barzal as his right winger per CapFriendly.
Tyler Bertuzzi is another option to be traded before the deadline as Detroit is not going to make the playoffs and could look to move on from him.
Two teams who could be fits for Bertuzzi are the Dallas Stars and the Calgary Flames.
If he goes to Calgary he will probably slot in on the top line with Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli and become an immediate scoring threat.
Dallas would be an interesting place for Bertuzzi to land as he would probably be a middle six winger but he may potentially move over to right wing.
In either situation his value would be boosted.
Timo Meier is another winger likely to be moved at the deadline even though he is a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
The two teams with the most probable chance of getting Meier are the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils.
If Meier ends up going to the Devils then he would either play with Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes so either way, his amazing season will most likely get even better.
If Carolina acquires Meier, he would most likely take Seth Jarvis’ spot on the top line and push Jarvis down to the third line because Martin Necas is playing too well right now to be dropped down.
The most ideal team for Timo Meier to land on is the Devils but even in the event he remains with the Sharks, he is still a very valuable player.
On the defensive side, Vladislav Gavrikov will most certainly be moved by the trade deadline and two teams who could potentially be interested are the Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Gavrikov would slot in to the third defensive pair for Vegas and still be able to generate points as his partner would be Nicholas Hague and on the forward side of things Vegas has a lot of depth.
If Pittsburgh traded for Gavrikov, he would probably slot in on the second line of defense with Jeff Petry or Marcus Petterson.
Gavrikov might not be the typical flashy point scoring defenseman but he does have a lot of value in blocked shots and may have some offense added to his game after a trade.
Thatcher Demko has a true fifty percent chance to be traded as Vancouver tries to retool its roster on the fly as they have so far by trading Bo Horvat and firing head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Of the playoff teams, the Minnesota Wild could make some sense as Marc-Andre Fleury is nearing the end of his career and Minnesota could use a younger goaltender.
The Kings major weakness has been their goaltending and it may not make sense to trade Demko to a division rival but it could still happen and give the Kings a solid option in net.
James Morrison is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jpm6920@psu.edu.
