Fantasy NHL Trade Impact: Ryan Hartman Heads to Nashville

Fantasy NHL Trade Impact: Ryan Hartman Heads to Nashville

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!

Corey Crawford began to have injury issues late in 2017, the mid-point of this season. With Crawford out, the Blackhawks suffered to find their identity, and since the start of the calendar year, Chicago’s season has effectively fallen off of a cliff. So given the Blackhawks current placement, they likely weren’t making the playoffs this season.

Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators stumbled out of the gate to start this season, after losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals last season. But with solid goaltending and great defense, along with top scoring wingers, the Predators have climbed their way back into the Stanley Cup argument.

The Predators top two center-man currently are Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris. While both skaters have been solid performers, and allowed the wing-men around them to flourish, they haven’t been dominating. With news of Mike Fisher coming out of retirement, and now Ryan Hartman joining the Preds, it’s likely they’re still trying to build their center pipeline within their top four lines of the organization.

Meanwhile, with the Hawks season effectively over, they now get a first round and four round draft pick from the Predators for this year’s 2018 NHL draft. Victor Ejdsell is also a top defensive prospect from Sweden. While they’re giving up the promise and current experience from Hartman and a fifth round draft pick, the Blackhawks are re-loading on young talent with this move.

Immediate Fantasy NHL Impact:

For the Predators and Ryan Hartman, we love this trade for fantasy NHL purposes. Hartman will likely start on the fourth line with the Preds, but could grow into a third-line center-man. Or, the Preds could move Ryan to one of the wing spots with Nick Bonino at center. Regardless, he gives the Predators young talent on the bottom two lines which are currently aging. Hartman has eight goals and 17 assists in 57 games this year. His goal and assists per game likely tick up a bit with this trade.

Meanwhile, from the Blackhawks fantasy NHL perspective, we’re worried about the production from their top two lines. Patrick Kane will always find ways to score, he’s too talented, but with only Artem Anisimov really giving Kane help, the second line production from the Hawks should be faded for the remainder of the season.

Also, the Hawks are trying out Tommy Wingels at the right wing spot on their top line. While this improves Wingels fantasy NHL value, especially for DFS, it’s not great for Brandon Saad or Jonathan Toews. So, while we see an uptick in Hartman’s fantasy value for DFS and season-long play, we expect the Blackhawks to take a step back in fantasy production this season, as an outcome of this trade.

Next: FanDuel NHL Picks February 26

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