Fantasy NHL Trade Impact: Pat Maroon to the Devils

Fantasy NHL Trade Impact: Pat Maroon to the Devils

Welcome to an action packed NHL Trade Deadline as we should continue to see a flurry of activity leading up to the 3PM EST deadline on Monday, February 26. We have already seen a handful of trades heading into today and we will break down the fantasy hockey impact of each of those deals as they break throughout the day, for Fantasy NHL!

We touched on the Grabner trade from the Rangers to the Devils earlier today. It’s clear the Devils are aware of their playoff potential, as they approach the last month and half of the season, but also are aware of their need to add more talent around ice-beast Taylor Hall.

Also obvious are the struggles the Oilers have right now in all facets of the hockey game. The Oilers have some of the best talent in hockey with Connor McDavid leading the team. But like they did with Taylor Hall last season, they’re still making moves to add draft picks, and more players to their list of prospects.

Given the Oilers have one of the worst records in the NHL right now, the move wasn’t surprising. However, given that Ryan Hartman was traded earlier in the day to the Nashville Predators for what included a first round pick, a third rounder a year from now seems like a steal for the Devils. Ultimately, it appears the Devils made a great trade, but the Oilers likely should’ve held onto their 29-year-old winger for a better play.

Immediate Fantasy NHL Impact:

As we mentioned after the Grabner trade, we expected Michael to work his way into the top six. That is more debatable now, with Patrick Maroon entering the Devils line fray. Maroon only has 14 goals this season, but also has 16 assists and is a more balanced NHL player than Grabner, who’s heavily focused on goal scoring.

Maroon is also playing with Taylor Hall again, after a one-year hiatus between the two. Last season, Hall and Maroon were playing on the same Oilers team together. So it’s possible Patrick make his way into the top six, and we could even see the Devils playing Maroon with Hall, at the very least on the power play line.

With a +5 line on a terrible Oilers defensive team, Patrick is a much-needed steady veteran hand for the Devils. The addition of an aggressive goal-scoring Grabner and a balanced playing Maroon boosts the Devils scoring chances, and everyone on the top two lines, and on the power play lines gets better because of this trade.

If you can, go after a once cheap Patrick Maroon, and consider playing him in DFS plays right away. Also, monitor Grabner’s line movement, it’s possible he could now stay below the top six and may not be as valuable for fantasy NHL season-long and DFS as we had originally determined.

Next: FanDuel NHL Picks and Plays for February 26

Stay tuned for the breakdowns of the rest of the NHL trade deadline deals and for all of your DFS needs!