Fantasy Hockey Trade Breakdowns: Evander Kane, JJ Peterka and More

Several trades have gone down since my last article, leading up to the NHL draft this weekend.

Let's break these these five trades, which include a couple blockbusters.

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Canucks, Oilers Trade

To the Vancouver Canucks: Evander Kane

To the Edmonton Oilers: Fourth-round draft pick (2025)

While Kane didn't play during the regular season, he was certainly an impact player during the postseason, making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Kane will obviously bring a big physical presence to the Canucks who at this point are trying to improve enough to make the postseason. Kane did get himself into penalty trouble during the finals, but is a sizable force who will help propel the small speedy skilled squad to the next step.

A fourth round pick is a decent return, and in my opinion is a fair value for both clubs.

Kane had six goals, and six assists as a forward in 21 games played in the postseason. He did also lead the team with 44 penalty minutes, and essentially neutralized himself out of the finals. Food for thought here, however this will not be an issue should your fantasy league count penalty minutes.

Mammoth, Sabres Trade

To the Utah Mammoth: JJ Peterka

To the Buffalo Sabres: Josh Doan, Michael Kesselring

Fun fact: this franchise is no longer the Utah Hockey Club, but have officially changed their name to the Mammoth!

This is a great pickup for the Mammoth. The Sabres danced around the rumours of moving Peterka and when pressed would not answer the question regarding his being on the trade block or not.  Luckily for Utah, they were able to pick him up for a relatively low cost all things considered.

A bit of a baffling move for the Sabres, but if they were not confident that Peterka was going to become a restricted free agent and unable to sign him, it makes a bit more sense. The team certainly did not get better in talent or depth wise with this move.

The Mammoth were also able to sign Peterka upon completion of the trade to a five-year, $7.7M AAV contract, so long term this looks like a great deal. A young player with elite scoring on a bad team, the future only looks bright for Peterka, and the Mammoth.

Peterka had 27 goals, 41 assists, and 18 powerplay points as a forward in 77 games played. He also had 173 shots on goal, 30 hits, and 16 blocked shots.

Doan had seven goals, 12 assists, and four powerplay points as a forward in 51 games played. He also had 88 shots on goal, 45 hits, and 14 blocked shots.

Kesselring had seven goals, 22 assists, and three powerplay points as a defenseman in 82 games played. He also had 150 shots on goal, 86 hits, and 67 blocked shots.

Wild, Kraken Trade

To the Minnesota Wild: Fourth-round draft pick (2025)

To the Seattle Kraken: Frederick Gaudreau

A decent veteran pickup for the Kraken here. They will have some help down the middle, and if your fantasy league is both deep, and counts faceoffs won; Gaudreau may be a streamer to keep an eye on. He led the Wild in faceoffs won last year, and was the definition of a steady reliable bottom six forward.

A bit of a high price for a likely fourth liner, the reliability and veteran presence must have been with the extra to make this deal go through for Seattle.

Gaudreau had 18 goals, 19 assists, and five powerplay points as a forward in 82 games played. He also had 110 shots on goal, 47 hits, and 61 blocked shots.

Panthers, Blue Jackets Trade

To the Florida Panthers: Daniil Tarasov

To the Columbus Blue Jackets: Fifth-round draft pick (2025)

While on the surface this may not make sense, jump forward to the draft where the Blue Jackets drafted goaltender Pyotr Andreyanov in the first round with the 20th pick, and this doesn't look so random.

Tarasov is poised to be backing up the back-to-back Stanley Cup winning 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky. Should Tarasov play well, given the empty coffers in the blue paint in the Panthers' organization, he could set him up for a starter role in the coming years.

A fifth-round pick for this player is a bit of a steal for the Panthers, but it will depend if he can continue his decent trajectory.

Tarasov had seven wins in 19 starts as a goaltender with an .881 save percentage, a 3.51 goals against average, and one shutout.

Keep in mind he was playing for the Blue Jackets, who although outperformed expectations, did struggle at the blueline and let a lot of quality shots on their netminders this year.

Blue Jackets, Wild Trade

To the Columbus Blue Jackets: Brendan Gaunce

To the Minnesota Wild: Cameron Butler

Another nothing burger trade from a fantasy league outlook. Both players seem to be very depth or AHL mainstays, and have an opportunity for a fresh start with a new organization.

Gaunce had one assist, four penalty minutes, and had a +/- of -4 as a forward in only 12 games played. He also had 11 shots on goal, 18 hits, and seven blocked shots.

Butler, on the other hand, did not play in the NHL, and spent his season in the AHL where he had only three points as a forward in 37 games played.