Ok now comes the epic conclusion to the three part offseason fantasy hockey overview for fresh faces to teams.
Part one concerned Rookies and can be read here (http://www.faketeams.com/2016/7/23/12263094/fantasy-hockey-offseason-edition-part-i-rookies)
Part two covered free agents (http://www.faketeams.com/2016/8/3/12371938/fantasy-hockey-offseason-edition-part-ii)
The third and final part to this trilogy will cover offseason trades that occurred and how this could affect both the individual player and some of the teams as well. Below is a chart which is mostly made up of trades which included a player who scored at least 20 points last season but also covers a few others that I think are important for the 2016-2017 Fantasy Season.
Derick Brassard -Once a Blue Jackets, he was part of the Marian Gaborik trade which sent him to play along teammate Rick Nash in New York. He played there for the last 4 years scoring 174 points over 254 games or about .68points per game which averages out to a 56 point season. He's not an all-star but it's a very respectable point total - it would put him as a top 50 player each year. So now he moves to Ottawa where is he poised to play on the second line alongside Zach Smith (36points across 81 games last year) and goal scoring Bobby Ryan (at least 20 goals in 6 of his last 8 seasons). The Senators and Rangers scored the exact same number of goals last season with the Senators giving up 30 more. Expect more of the same from Brassard but it will be more streaky - he will score 10 points one week than 2 the next, also expect his plus minus to take a hit.
Mika Zibanejad -"Here is the opposite side of the aforementioned trade with Mika going to the Rangers. He will center the second line alongside Jesper Fast and Rick Nash. I'm not as optimistic on Mika for a few reasons. 1. I think Oscar could battle his way onto the second line if Mika has trouble succeeding alongside Rick Nash. Mika has good goal scoring capability but so does Rick and Nash has a boom or bust mentality with line mates where it either thrives or collapses. Throw in speedy young Jesper to the mix and there is a lot of uncertainty and chemistry issues possible across some talented players. I think he scores 43 points this year.
P.K. Subban - I will preface this with the following, I was among those who was vehemently against P.K. for his bragadocious behavior on the ice but when you look at the many off ice charitable actions he's taken, it's hard not to become a fan. He saw a steady rise from high 30's in points to 60 in 2014-2015 before decreasing last year across 15 fewer games played. I'm very bullish on his 2016-2017 campaign. 1. Nashville has consistently outscored Montreal for three straight years with the parity growing each year. 2. Playing time, not that he was starved in Montreal but he will be given EVERY opportunity to succeed and gets to play alongside emerging defender Roman Josi who will provide added assists both power play and even strength 3. Hunger, he will be eager to prove Montreal afool for trading him. 4. Cold start - despite missing 15 games he could have come close to 60 points if not for a very cold start to last year. I'm boldly claiming it here - 70 points for PK this year.
Shea Weber - 3 years removed from Ryan Suter going to the Minnesota Wild - the Nashville Predators traded off Shea to recreated a dynamic duo with Roman Josi and P.K. Subban. Not to scoff at Shea's capabilities, he's a defender who has scored at least 30 points for the last 10 years. He's scored over 40 for 4 of those 10 years and is among the best shots and power play defenders in the game. With all of that said - he's going to a team that scored 9 fewer power play goals last year, generally scores less, sees teams play harder and more teancious in front of this raucous crowd. He will be 32 when he enters the season, not old but not the young player he once was, playing alongside a lesser defensive partner with Nathan Beaulieu. I think he only scores 42 points this year, which is still respectable but is a decline from his 51 last year
Taylor Hall - Word on the street is that Edmonton felt like he did not play at his best during critical games. Edmonton lost 16 games by one goal last season, 2nd most in the NHL (behind Minnesota Wild if you are curious) - New Jersey Devils were 5th with 12 one goal games. Edmonton won 14 games by one goal which was 27th, New Jersey won 22 which was 5th. You will see this trend continue as Edmonton wins 9 games by 2goals vs. New Jersey wining 6 games by 2 goals. Taylor is going to the team that scored the fewest goals in the league last year and moving into scenarios where a team wins many of it's games by one goal. He will be playing alongside Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri who are more known for their two way play and less on scoring then previous line mates of Jordan Eberle, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins etc.. I'm not saying the 24 year old goes dry this season but I wouldn't put much weight beyond a 60 point season.
Adam Larsson - I'll make this one brief, he's only topped 20 points once in his 5 year career, he's moving to Edmonton to play alongside Oscar Kelfbom where he's not currently positioned to play on EITHER power play units. Nothing to see here, move along.
Andrew Shaw - After 5 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Andrew Shaw is hoping to take his Stanley Cup talents to a city that is on the brink of going through it's 2nd straight decade without a Stanley Cup despite winning on in every decade in the 1900's. He has never been the largest point producer, instead finding ways to help the team with gritty two way play and intangibles. We should expect much the same in his new home as he is poised to sit on the third line currently alongside David Desharnais and Artturi Lehkonen. I would not anticipate him seeing over 35 points this year, move along.
Lars Eller - After 6 years with the Canadiens, he will see a stark contrast heading up the third line in a robust offensively talented Washington Capitals team. Lars will see upside, albeit limited, he will see a boost in production in the nations capital where he could potentially score 35-40 points. Nothing fancy, but in deeper leagues very late he could be considered for a late flier.
Keith Yandle - Coming off a 47 point season with the Rangers, Yandle will now go to the southern most team to provide an added boost to their defense to complement their young group of forwards. I think the talent around him should keep him around similar numbers and enable him to score around 50 points this season. He's more likely to sit in the 45 point area but if they can keep the momentum they built last season he'll be lucrative in another warm tempered market.
Alex Goligoski - Coming off three straight seasons above 35 points, he will now be in Arizona on the second pairing alongside Zbynek Michalek in a defensively talented Phoenix team. Unfortunately that's the problem, he will sit back in a talent rich defensive corps which hurts top playing time. Look for him to fall into the low 30's in points due to this.
Frederik Anderson - Working his way up to the #1 Ducks goalie wasn't easy but he did it. Over the last 2 years he has posted a very respectable .916 Sv%, 2.34GAA winning 58% of the time in what was last year, an offensively anemic team. So that's the good news? Here is the bad news, he now moves to the basement team with unrealistically high expectations and an equally anemic offense. Furthermore he doesn't have much help in terms of all-star defense in front of him. Mike Babock is not known as the most defensively strong coach, over the last 3 years his teams finish average to below average defensively. Frederik is used to a challenge, but this might be a bit much, expect a regression in his numbers (.912 Sv%; 2.5 GAA and winning about 43% of the time).
Brian Elliot - Brian set a name for himself as the go to goalie for the Blues over the last 5 years. Let me rephrase, he's the "share the load" but go to goalie for the Blues. Now he finds himself with a young and talent rich Calgary team (not that the Blues weren't talent rich). Three years ago, Calgary was 27th in goals against. Then they were 14th, then back down to 30th. The thing is, the average shots on goal has stayed among the best ten in the league, they do an excellent job of limiting chances through blocking shots and eliminating open spaces, but they need a goalie who can come through behind all of that. Jonas Hiller did this in 2014-2015 season but Karri Ramo was not up to the task when Jonas got hurt last year. Brian hasn't seen a lion share of starts so that will be difficult but if he can stay healthy, he can thrive in this system. Next year, he can be looking at a .925sv %, 2.12GAA winning about 57-58% of his starts (starting 50 games with 29 wins).