FF Hockey League Trade 10/27/2009

Xtreme Machine acquires Ryan Getzlaf and Nikolai Khabibulin:
Before the Dany Heatley trade, I had Ryan Getzlaf ranked in my top 5 forwards.  Seeing him get off to a slow start was just what I needed to make a "Buy Low" offer.  Getzlaf got off to a slow start last year as well, but caught on fire the rest of the way and with the improved offense in Anaheim, I'm expecting a 100 point season.  Along with Getzlaf, I get a replacement for Backstrom, Nikolai Khabibulin.  Edmonton has a lousy defense and Khabby will see a lot of rubber, but that can end up being a good thing in fantasy if he stops most of them.  The Oilers have a much better offense than Minnesota, so he'll get plenty of goal support and that should translate into more wins.

Mark Bell's Sponsor acquires Andy McDonald and Niklas Backstrom:  
Andy McDonald is a first line center for the St Louis Blues.  He has a nice shot, great play making skills and a pretty good linemates.  He won't rack up a ton of PIM and playing for the Blues, his plus/minus will be down, but he really excels on the powerplay and takes a lot of shots.  Last year, Backstrom was one of the best goalies in fantasy hockey.  However, this year the Wild have changed their system and have moved away from a defensive style to more of an up-tempo one.  As a result, the Wild are giving up more scoring chances than Backstrom is used to seeing, but so far he's been up to the task.

Trade Analysis:
On my team's goaltending depth chart, Craig Anderson moved ahead of Niklas Backstrom with his strong play, so I didn't really see a reason to keep him around and I knew I could get a nice return for a goalie like Backstrom.  So originally I offered Backstrom for Ryan Getzlaf straight up.  MBS countered with this trade.  I really didn't like trading away Andy McDonald, but I figured, I would rather have Getzlaf than McDonald and I was already set on trading Backstrom.  In some ways I feel like I overpaid for Getzalf, but in other ways, I feel like I upgraded my team by trading away depth for a guy I would've drafted in the first round had I picked late in the draft.  Right now, I have Crosby, Heatley and Getzlaf and in my opinion, all three are first rounders.  The addition of Nikolai Khabibulin was just a bonus.  If Khabibulin has a solid season, that may tip the scales of this trade in my favor.

For MBS, this gives him two solid options at goaltending and a forward that when at his best, posts number very similar to Getzlaf's.  If the Wild can start scoring some goals for Backstrom, he will once again be one of the top fantasy goalies in the game.  As for McDonald, I think as long as he stays healthy, he'll have a 25-30 goal season with 50-60 assists easily.

Now I'll turn it over to the Fantasy Factor jury.  I know the Moe Masher's (my brother) thinks it was a "rip off" in my favor as he's stated in the league forum.  What do you guys think? 

Posted Oct 27 2009, 07:00 AM by Nick Fruscello
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Comments

KevinZuk wrote re: FF Hockey League Trade 10/27/2009
on Tue, Oct 27 2009 9:49 AM

I think this was the standard "1 and 4 for 2 and 3" trade.

Nick clearly got the best (read: All-World) player here, but he also got the worst player in the deal in Khabibulin. The bottom line here was that Nick traded from depth to acquire talent. He had 4 good goalies and now he has 3 and a fringe guy. And don't underestimate McDonald. He's a really good player in his own right, but I sometimes feel that the Blues play a very team-oriented game that doesn't feature anyone in particular on their top 2 forward lines. Tkachuck, Kariya, Boyes, Oshie and Backes also need to get their shots. McDonald is good and Backstrom fills a need (and he was a top 5 goalie last year), so clearly Mark Bell's Sponsor got what he wanted out of the trade. If I had to pick a winner, though, it would be Nick, by the smallest margin, but only because he got the best player in the deal.

Nick Fruscello wrote re: FF Hockey League Trade 10/27/2009
on Wed, Oct 28 2009 11:08 AM

Good analysis, Kevin.

Madman wrote re: FF Hockey League Trade 10/27/2009
on Fri, Oct 30 2009 10:39 AM

you got to be kidding me.. did you just see the last minny game.. backstrom 4 goals to nashville.. come on.. I understand they are all good players.. but the situation is completely different for them.. Getzalf is on a horrible ducks team which will need to out score teams to stay in the game and he is a slow starter.. Mcdonald will not get as much ice time as getzalf.. Bulin will continue to get wins on a competive team rather than backstrom on a horrible minny team. Nick stole that one with using his jedi mind tricks on less informed players.. boo urns