Overall Outlook

To put it plainly, a ton has happened in the last few months causing widespread roster upheaval in the NHL. But, that’s life in a league with a pretty low salary cap. Much like the documentation of a monumental cataclysm on Earth, there’s plenty of talk about what happened during the event. The end results are often far more intriguing – the creation of mountains, rivers or canyons, etc. Thus, we must talk about how all these moves and additions will impact the respective teams and their fantasy implications.

It is interesting that while both conferences experienced change, most of the noteworthy Free Agents decided to sign somewhere in the East. The obvious can be stated: similar to this past season, it’s going to be a bloody race to the finish.

However, in fantasy hockey, all teams offer intrigue because, unlike some other sports where the effort comes into question and stars frequently rest, hockey players are simply built differently. Especially in the West, unsuspecting teams have a chance. Every. Single. Night. With that being said, let’s get into the Western Conference. This thread will focus on the fantasy implications of new additions.

Some bullet points:

– With starting goalie John Gibson set to be traded, Anaheim is still very much in the rebuilding stage.
– They drafted a pro-ready center in C Leo Carlsson out of the SHL, signed a 3-year entry-level contract
– FWs Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry need to take strides defensively, SHOULD take strides offensively
– FW Frank Vatrano creates tons of shots (231 last year), and should get more minutes
– D Jamie Drysdale returns from missing the entire last season due to injury. He should handle a top pairing spot and PP time.