The fantasy hockey world got turned on its head a little last week with the Matt Duchene trade. Colorado got picks and prospects including Samuel Girard. However, Ottawa acquired Duchene and Nashville welcomed Kyle Turris. Turris immediate signed a six year, $36 million extension with the Predators.
It is hard to believe that this trade happened a week ago. The idea was to take a look after some time has passed then try to project ahead a bit. This is never an easy process but let’s take a closer look.
Matt Duchene Fantasy Hockey Impacts:
There was an awkwardness as Ottawa played a weekend series in Sweden against Colorado. The first two games saw Duchene average a little over 16 minutes. He had no points and was a -3. The forward was a big reason why Ottawa’s fourth goal was scored.
Frozen Pool shows us that Ottawa wants to make Duchene a focal point on the power play whenever possible. He saw around 60% of all possible man advantage time on Saturday and delivered eight shots in all. Even strength time was mixed. However, his time on the power play with Mike Hoffman was significant. Currently, he has a correlation with Hoffman and Alex Burrows during even strength as well.
The good news is that Ottawa has some time off between now and their next game. Having five days between games will help Duchene get some much-needed practice time with his new teammates.
Consider that Duchene had ten points in 13 full games with the Avalanche. He was headed towards a season that was closer to his 62 point career average. Last season was such an aberration.
Looking Ahead:
Playing with Hoffman is going to be a huge boost. Players like Gabriel Landeskog and even Sven Andrighetto are nice but Ottawa just has more talent. Also, having Erik Karlsson on the power play is a huge upgrade over anything Colorado has to offer.
Hoffman loves to shoot the puck but Duchene can fire it as well. Both have an ability to race up the ice and set each other up for opportunities. If the forward maintains his shot rate, and 55% offensive zone starts, he could easily add around 50 points in Ottawa to his season totals. His projection will be 60-65 points for the year with around 180 shots on net.
Kyle Turris Fantasy Hockey Impacts:
The center had some VISA issues, so his first game was on Saturday against Pittsburgh. He recorded a goal, assist, and played 21:38. Turris played against Sidney Crosby for a good portion of the time.
Keep in mind, that the center had a week off. He did get in some good practice time though. Unlike Duchene, Turris has had a little bad luck shot percentage-wise in the early going at 5 on 5. However, he does have 11 points in 12 games. His power play production will be something to monitor in Nashville as may see a little less time.
The key is that Turris will center a line with Filip Forsberg in the early going. Forsberg and Turris showed an early chemistry in game number one. He did play some time with Kevin Fiala and Colton Sissons. Even Craig Smith had a chance to play with Turris.
Nashville next plays on Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals. Expect Turris to log a heavy load of ice time against the Alex Ovechkin line for the most part. Do not expect his offensive zone rate to be over 60% for long.
Looking Ahead:
Turris has regular season fantasy impacts which are considerable. His five-year average is right at 55 points a season. Will Turris finish around 20 power play points a year in Nashville? If he can, his projections may go up to the 60 point plateau for the season.
That is the going thought even in a “second” line kind of role for the Predators. He could still play right near 20 minutes a night with all the shorthanded time and some moderate power play time. Turris gives Nashville depth they never had at center and could end up with 55-60 plus points for the Predators.