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If you're either firmly in a playoff spot or cemented at the bottom of the standings of your fantasy hockey keeper league, it's time to seek out some value for next year. Excellent trade targets are owners who are desperately in win-now mode and focused solely on the 2016-17 season. Give them a piece to help with their goals this season, in order to acquire a much better player for the years to come.
Here are five targets who will almost certainly see their value grow next season:
D Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers
Gostisbehere has gone from putting up 46 points in just 64 games last season to being a semi-regular healthy scratch for the Flyers in 2016-17. After a plus-8 rating in his shortened NHL stint last year, he is minus-19 this season. He is shooting more often than he did as a rookie, but his shooting percentage has collapsed from 11.2 to just 3.5 percent. His average time on ice has dropped by 15 seconds.
Owners desperate to make the playoffs or win this season will be getting frustrated with Gostisbehere's occasional and unpredictable scratches. Give them a steady provider with guaranteed ice time in exchange for a defender who'll spend the next few seasons playing behind C Claude Giroux, and RWs Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds.
LW Max Domi, Arizona Coyotes
Injuries caused Domi to miss most of December and all of January, but he has returned for both of his team's first two games of February. He has played just 28 games, scoring five goals and totaling 16 points. His shooting percentage had dropped last season, but he is shooting slightly more often.
Though it's status quo for the Coyotes, they are again expected to be big sellers at the trade deadline. C Martin Hanzal and RW Radim Vrbata are highly expected to leave town, opening up more ice time for Domi for the remainder of this season. He's the best of the Coyotes' young forward corps which includes Ws Anthony Duclair and Lawson Crouse. Grab him before his upcoming breakout season.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images)
C Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Larkin was 2015-16's breakout star until the late season emergence and surge of Gostisbehere. Like his counterpart, his 2016-17 season has been a shell of the predecessor. He has stayed healthy, playing 51 games, but he has totaled just 12 goals and a paltry seven assists. His ice time has dropped nearly 30 seconds per game from his rookie average. He's shooting similarly often and converting at a near-equal rate.
His linemates have been highly variable this season, spending similar portions with Gustav Nyquist, Frans Nielsen, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Tatar and Thomas Vanek at 5v5, per Corsica.Hockey. These combos have sub-50% Corsi For ratings. Last season he played exclusively on the wing with LW Justin Abdelkader and C Henrik Zetterberg. While they still had a negative CF%, they averaged more scoring chances per 60 minutes than any of this year's trios.
LW/RW Andre Burakovsky, Washington Capitals
Burakovsky has played most of his 5v5 minutes with Capitals C Lars Eller and RW Brett Connolly this season. He has been limited to just 65 minutes with LW Alex Ovechkin at 5v5, spending similar amounts of time with Cs Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov. As it is, he's having a fine season with 11 goals and 29 points through 51 games played.
Burakovsky's role stands to grow dramatically next season, as RWs Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie are both set to become unrestricted free agents. The Capitals have plenty of young talent on the wings, and they should be expected to let one or both depart this summer. This will assure Burakovsky of significant minutes in a top-six role, playing beside either Backstrom or Kuznetsov at 5v5.
(Photo courtesy Action Images)
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
Josi entered 2016-17 off a 61-point season and a third consecutive year scoring at least 13 goals. His career progression was still on the upward swing as a 26-year-old, and he was expected to reach new career highs playing primarily with new defense partner P.K. Subban.
While Subban's extended injury absence has capped some of the production, it's Josi's own 3.8 shooting percentage seriously capping any upside. He is taking 2.98 SOG per game, the highest game average of his career, but he is converting at nearly half his career rate. Though his offensive production has tailed off this season, he'll be an anchor on the Predators' blue line for a long time.
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