Saturday Daily Puck: Trade Winds Hit Windy City

Saturday Daily Puck: Trade Winds Hit Windy City

This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.

Another day, another Blackhawks trade.

Hold that.

Another day, another two Blackhawks trades.

The first trade of the day saw the Blackhawks bringing in Christian Ehrhoff from the Kings in exchange for their own aging defenseman, Rob Scuderi. There's the possibility that Ehrhoff becomes an interesting fantasy play, but he's not worth moving on right now.

Both he and Scuderi have been playing most recently in the AHL and that's a good indication that you'll want to see how their used with their new teams and whether or not that usage works.

The more interesting swap came later Friday evening when Chicago sent a second round draft pick in 2018 and Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens for Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise.

Following Thursday's Andrew Ladd trade, this rounds out Chicago's offense into an impressive group. It was already impressive, but adding Ladd, Fleischmann and Weise in two days while only subtracting Danault and Marko Dano is a pretty huge improvement (at least for this year).

The Chicago roster is deep enough that neither Fleischmann or Weise are likely to crack the top six, so their value isn't likely to skyrocket. But they should be motivated to win a Cup and to earn their next contract.

They're worth keeping an eye on.

The other two players who will be impacted by this move are Jiri Sekac and Teuvo Teravainen.

Sekac was waived Friday. That, coupled with two days of trades, means he's probably done. If he gets assigned to the AHL, we may have seen him in Blackhawks sweater for the final time.

Teravainen could see an impact, because it's possible that his linemates will go from Danault and Andrew Desjardins to Fleischmann and Weise, which will be an upgrade. If he can make it work and take over the center position, it could be a nice boost for him. There's no guarantee as to how the lines shake out, but that is one possibility that could have an impact on the fantasy value of existing Blackhawks.

Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid

Coyotes (Louis Domingue) at Flyers (Steve Mason), 1:00 PM
Jets (Michael Hutchinson) at Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury), 3:00 PM
Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at Blue Jackets (Joonas Korpisalo), 3:00 PM
Blues (Jake Allen) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 3:00 PM
Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist) at Stars (Antti Niemi), 4:00 PM
Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier) at Canadiens (Ben Scrivens), 7:00 PM
Red Wings (Petr Mrazek) at Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov), 8:00 PM
Senators (Craig Anderson) at Flames (Jonas Hiller), 10:00 PM
Sabres (Chad Johnson) at Kings (Jonathan Quick), 11:00 PM

Injury News For Teams Playing Saturday

Arizona Coyotes
Boyd Gordon, C (upper body) - is about a week away from rejoining the team
Mike Smith, G (lower body) - is traveling with the team
Joe Vitale, C (concussion) - will not play again this season
Anders Lindback, G (Achilles) - is unlikely to play again this season

Philadelphia Flyers
Jordan Weal, C (upper body) - remains on IR
Claude Giroux, C (upper body) - was held out of Thursday's game and remains questionable for Saturday
Jakub Voracek, LW (lower body) - has been ruled out of Saturday's game
Michael Del Zotto, D (wrist) - isn't expected to play again this season

Winnipeg Jets
Mark Stuart, D (upper body) - will miss some time
Bryan Little, C (compression fracture of vertebrae) - will not play again this season

Pittsburgh Penguins
Ben Lovejoy, D (upper body) - is expected to be out long-term
Eric Fehr, RW(lower body) - remains on Ir
Beau Bennett, RW (upper body) - is out long-term
Tom Kuhnhackl, RW (lower body) - is a game-time decision for Saturday

Florida Panthers
Willie Mitchell, D (undisclosed) - missed Thursday's game
Dave Bolland, C (lower body) - remains out
Brandon Pirri, C (ankle) - is on injured reserve
Quinton Howden, LW (upper body) - will miss another week
Jonathan Huberdeau, LW (upper body) - is unlikely to play

Columbus Blue Jackets
Sergei Bobrovsky, G (groin) - is without a timetable for return
Jack Johnson, D (upper body) - is out indefinitely
David Clarkson, RW (upper body) - was taken of IR Thursday, but was scratched
Jared Boll, RW (throat) - remains questionable

St. Louis Blues
Brian Elliott, G (lower body) - will miss weeks
Alex Pietrangelo, D (knee) - could return Saturday or Sunday
Jori Lehtera, C (upper body) - was injured Thursday
Ryan Reaves, RW (suspension) - continues to serve a three-game suspension
Alexander Steen, LW (upper body) - remains on IR
Steve Ott, C (hamstring) - is out

Nashville Predators
Shea Weber, D (lower body) - did not play Thursday
Gabriel Bourque, LW (upper body) - has been recalled from his conditioning stint
Eric Nystrom, LW (foot) - is on IR

New York Rangers
Rick Nash, LW (knee) - will miss at least another week
Jesper Fast, RW (broken nose) - suffered the injury during Friday's practice, but is expected to play Saturday

Dallas Stars
Patrick Eaves, RW (illness) - did not play Thursday
Travis Moen, LW (lower body) - is questionable

Toronto Maple Leafs
Joffrey Lupul, LW (abdomen) - will miss the rest of the season
Milan Michalek, LW (finger) - took in his first full practice yesterday
Matt Hunwick, D (undisclosed) - is questionable
Stephane Robidas, D (knee) - has no timeline for return
James van Riemsdyk, LW (foot) - will miss the rest of the season
Tyler Bozak, C (head) - skated Tuesday, but hasn't been activated from IR

Montreal Canadiens
David Desharnais, C (foot) - is on IR
Nathan Beaulieu, D (lower body) - will miss 2-3 weeks
Brian Flynn, C (lower body) - remains out
Daniel Carr, LW (knee) - isn't likely to be back soon
Jeff Petry, D (hernia) - won't play again this season
Tom Gilbert, D (knee) - is also done for the season
Carey Price, G (leg) - skated in equipment Friday for the first time since injury

Detroit Red Wings
Johan Franzen, RW (concussion) - remains out
Jonathan Ericsson, D (lower body) - may play Saturday
Drew Miller, LW (ACL) - is done for the season
Darren Helm, LW (illness) - is day-to-day

Colorado Avalanche
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) - remains out
Ben Street, C (chest) - remains sidelined
Reto Berra, G (ankle) - is in the AHL on a conditioning stint
Brad Stuart, D (back) - is on IR

Ottawa Senators
Chris Phillips, D (back) - isn't making progress toward a return
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) - is traveling with the team, but isn't expected to play on the road trip

Calgary Flames
Dennis Wideman, D (suspension) - is still serving out a 20-game suspension
Kris Russell, D (lower body) - did not play Thursday
Ladislav Smid, D (upper body) - is on IR
Karri Ramo, G (ACL) - is done for the season

Buffalo Sabres
Cody Franson, D (neck) - didn't play Friday against San Jose
Tyler Ennis, LW (upper body) - isn't expected back soon
Ryan O'Reilly, C (lower body) - is on the shelf for a few weeks

Los Angeles Kings
Matt Greene, D (shoulder) - is out for the season
Jordan Nolan, RW (undisclosed) - is out
Marian Gaborik, RW (knee) - is out long-term

Hot
Steven Stamkos, C, TBL — Ever since GM Steve Yzerman said that Tampa would not be dealing Stamkos, he's gone on a run. He's posted a goal in each of his last five games for a total of seven points and a plus-4 rating in those matches. He's just three goals from another 30-goal season and he doesn't look like he's about to stop any time soon.

Jason Pominville, RW, MIN — He's not just playing well, it's a wild turn around since the Wild got Mike Yeo fire. In Yeo's last 19 games as coach, Pominville scored just one goal and one assist. In seven games under interim coach John Torchetti, Pominville has three goals and five assists. He's also a plus-5 with an average of 2.3 shots per game.

Cold
Lee Stempniak, RW, NJD — Stempniak was a great depth add early in the season, getting some good minutes, power play usage and plenty of responsibility. Now he's mired in a slump that makes him difficult to trust. He has just a single point in his last eight games and quality teammates have been hard to find on a roster that has continually had players getting injured.

Recommended Pickup
Ryan Callahan, RW, TBL — At large, I think Callahan's fantasy value is grossly overrated. However, he's put together a great string of games and it's worth paying attention to. Despite being on pace for his worst point production in eight seasons, he's put up points in three straight and has three goals and five assists over his last six games. He's averaged over two shots per game in that stretch and put up a plus-6 rating. Things are clicking. Part of that is that Stamkos is on fire, but when Stamkos is at his best, rostering his linemates isn't a bad idea.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dustin Nelson
Dustin is a former RotoWire contributor. He is a writer based out of NYC. His fantasy team is full of loafers.
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