20 Fantasy Thoughts: Flames' Monahan could thrive with old pal Toffoli

Believe it or not, the NHL trade deadline is now just 29 short days away.

Last Monday, Montreal and Calgary kicked off the festivities with the Tyler Toffoli deal; one of many moves to come over the next month.

As per usual, there will be tons of fantasy fallout from all the wheeling and dealing, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, here’s a top-10 list of fantasy relevant players who could be on the move between now and March 21:

1. J.T. Miller – Vancouver Canucks – C/LW
2. Marc-Andre Fleury – Chicago Blackhawks – G
3. Brock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks – RW
4. Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers – C/LW
5. John Klingberg – Dallas Stars – D
6. Andrew Copp – Winnipeg Jets – C/LW/RW
7. Jakob Chychrun – Arizona Coyotes – D
8. Jeff Petry – Montreal Canadiens – D
9. Mark Giordano – Seattle Kraken – D
10. Phil Kessel – Arizona Coyotes – RW

Fingers crossed for a crazy deadline.

Here are 20 fantasy thoughts.

1. Take a wait and see approach with new Flame Toffoli. Through three games, he’s scored one goal averaging less than 13 minutes a night, a far cry from the 19-plus he was getting with the Canadiens. Most notably, the sniper hasn’t been playing on the power play. Of course, that could change on a whim, and it’s tough to question anything Calgary’s doing right now. The Flames have won nine straight games.

2. Put Sean Monahan, who played on a line with Toffoli in junior with the Ottawa 67’s, on your watch list. He has two points in three outings out of the gates. Maybe this gets him going?

3. I’m cringing as I write this because I know it’s going to blow up in my face but maybe it’s time to start trusting Edmonton’s goaltending again. They’re 5-0 under new coach Jay Woodcroft. Mike Smith started three of those, Stuart Skinner and Mikko Koskinen split the other two.

And then I wonder why I have trust issues.

4. As long as he stays in the top six, Ryan McLeod should be considered a cheeky streamer option. The 22-year-old was elevated up the lineup due to the Jesse Puljujarvi injury. Let’s see if he can make the most of this big-time opportunity.

5. Attention bargain hunters: Tyson Barrie should be a name of interest to you. The 30-year-old, who has three helpers so far under Woodcroft, is a prime candidate to receive a boost in fantasy stock moving forward. The blueliner had fallen out of favour with Dave Tippett.

6. It’s officially buy-time on Jets captain Blake Wheeler. The veteran forward has tallied 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in his past five outings. Act swiftly.

7. Capitalize on the Chandler Stephenson buy-low window. The two-way forward, who’s now pointless in seven straight contests, was moved up to Vegas’ top line on Friday night following a one-game trial on line No. 3. Something tells me playing with Max Pacioretty and Jack Eichel will spell the end of Stephenson’s cold streak sooner rather than later.

8. Some Vladimir Tarasenko injury replacement options: Alex Tuch, Clayton Keller, Martin Necas and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

By the way, the Blues are saying it’s nothing major, so that’s good news.

9. Scoop up Adrian Kempe. The Kings winger has four goals in the past two games and 17 points in his past 18 outings. The Swede’s an RFA this summer; you know what that means!

10. Grab Tage Thompson immediately. The tri-eligible Sabres forward has five goals and four assists in his past seven outings. Since Jan. 1, he has 17 points in 14 games. I rest my case.

11. Speaking of which, I’m about to go all Kanye if Buffalo’s top line doesn’t start getting the love and praise it deserves. Playing predominantly together over the past 10 games, the Jeff Skinner, Thompson and Tuch trio has combined for 36 points (12 apiece). Take note.

12. Cole Caufield status update: four goals in four games under new Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. Currently hovering around 30 per cent ownership, the rookie sniper is still readily available in most standard leagues. Monitor closely.

13. The in-house replacement in Carolina for the banged-up Vincent Trocheck is Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Externally, Jeff Carter, Robert Thomas, Phillip Danault and Anton Lundell are four other quality centre eligible options worth rostering.

14. File this one under deep sleeper. Keep an eye out for Washington’s Joe Snively. The undrafted 26-year-old has four goals and seven points in his first nine NHL games this season. Snively’s been skating on the second line with Nick Backstrom and Tom Wilson. Value!

15. Take a flier on Flyer Scott Laughton, who could emerge as an attractive deadline piece for contenders. Quietly, the 27-year-old has been providing multi-category coverage over the past 10 games (4 G, 5 A, 9 P, 11 PIM, 1 PPP, 1 GWG).

16. You can go ahead and drop Jordan Binnington. Indisputably, the 28-year-old has lost his starting job to Ville Husso, who’s now made four straight starts for the Blues (and counting). Save for maybe October, Binnington’s had a dreadful season. He’s surrendered 24 goals in his past five appearances. Let’s see if he can re-find his game again during this reset period.

17. Contemplate moving John Gibson. Coming out of the All-Star break, the 28-year-old has surrendered 19 goals in four appearances for the struggling Ducks. Furthermore, it looks like Anaheim could be trending towards becoming deadline sellers. Get ahead of it.

18. If you’re pressed for goalie starts, scoop up Laurent Brossoit. Robin Lehner remains day-to-day with an upper body issue for the Golden Knights.

19. With Thomas Chabot sidelined, Erik Brannstrom has been quarterbacking the first power-play unit for the Sens.

Outside of Ottawa, Jaccob Slavin, Jared Spurgeon, Rasmus Andersson and Jeff Petry could lend you a hand in the interim.

20. The upcoming week (Feb. 21-27) in the NHL is tentatively slated to feature 48 games.

Monday: 5 Games
Tuesday: 6 Games
Wednesday: 5 Games
Thursday: 8 Games
Friday: 6 Games
Saturday: 10 Games
Sunday: 8 Games

In total, there are seven four-game teams: COL, CBJ, NYI, SJS, SEA, TOR, WPG.

Of those squads, I like these two the most for schedule manipulation purposes:

Colorado Avalanche: Mon (@BOS), Wed (@DET), Fri (WPG), Sat (@VGK)
Waiver Looks: Valeri Nichushkin, Alex Newhook, J.T. Compher
SN Fantasy: COL Goalies 4, Nazem Kadri 3
Winnipeg Jets: Mon (@CGY), Wed (@DAL), Fri (@COL), Sun (@ARI)
Waiver Looks: Paul Stastny, Josh Morrissey, Evgeny Svechnikov
SN Fantasy: WPG Goalies 3, Blake Wheeler 2

Conversely, steer clear of making depth adds from these seven teams: CHI, DET, NJD, OTT, TBL, VGK, WSH). Each will play just twice.

[relatedlinks]