On a busy day of deals around the league---still ten days away from the official NHL trading deadline---the Boston Bruins swung a pair of trades that had the most significance for fantasy hockey owners.
In the day's biggest swap, the Bruins acquired veteran defenseman Tomas Kaberle from the Maple Leafs in exchange for former first-round pick Joe Colborne, a 2011 first rounder, and a conditional second round pick.
Earlier the Bruins created salary cap space for Kaberle by trading forward Blake Wheeler and defenseman Mark Stuart to Atlanta for forward Rich Peverley and former first-rounder Boris Valabik, a defenseman.
Of all the players involved in the two deals, really only Kaberle is of major interest to fantasy hockey owners, though Wheeler and Peverley do rate on a secondary level. Colborne, a hulking 6-foot-6 forward who is playing in the minors, and Stuart, a stay-at-home defenseman with little fantasy hockey value, are of no concern to fantasy hockey owners. The rugged Valabik, who is currently playing in the minor leagues, would only be of value if the Bruins called him up and used him in the role of enforcer, thereby producing important penalty minutes for fantasy hockey owners. That call up is not expected, however.
Kaberle:
The long-running soap opera of "Is Tomas Kaberle Going To Waive His No-Trade Clause and Finally Be Traded" is finally over in Toronto. The question now is: how does this affect his fantasy hockey value? The answer, quite simply, is likely not all that much. Kaberle had 38 points in 58 games this year, on par with his 49 points in 82 games last season, and not far off his average career numbers, serving as Toronto's power play point man and top-pair defenseman. He will benefit from playing on a better, more-skilled, higher-scoring team in Boston---and likely pairing with Zdeno Chara at the point on the power play---so there could be a small uptick in his production. But do not expect a sudden surge offensively from the 32 year-old Kaberle. The bigger difference---albeit a negative one---might be for fantasy hockey owners who have Leafs players like Phil Kessel or Mikhail Grabovski---who must try and continue to produce as the club is gutted around them.
Wheeler and Peverley:
These two players get grouped together because they are similar secondary or third-option forwards from a fantasy hockey perspective. The hope from fantasy hockey owners, as well as management in Atlanta and Boston, respectively, is that a change of scenery will spark both Wheeler and Peverley. Both players are former collegiate stars who have had spotty NHL resumes. Wheeler has not been able to live up to his rookie campaign of two years ago (21-24-45, +36), while Peverley's numbers have never matched his output from last season (22-33-55, 7 power play goals, 2 shorthanded goals), either before or since. This year Wheeler is just 11-16-27 in 58 games, and Peverley is 14-20-34 with 6 power play goals in 59 games. Fantasy owners should keep an eye on both---especially Peverley who provides more special teams upside and will be playing on the better team---but not rush to secure either just yet.
Send along your fantasy hockey questions or comments to Jim at jimcerny@gmail.com.