Frozen Fantasy: Trade Targets

Have trade offers started to increase in the last few days? My guess is yes – I have people knocking on my door in a big keeper league.

"Are you a buyer or a seller?"

I won a big keeper league last year by liquidating prospects for studs. I'm a big believer in being all-in, no matter if I'm buying or selling.

Go all-in. Or don't go at all.

I used to think that I could adequately bolster my lineup for the current season while retaining young assets for the next season. And the one after that. Wrong. Straddle the fence and a slip can kill.

Or worse – bruise the boys.

Going all-in is frightening. I won that league last year, but I'm just outside the top-six this year. And only six teams go into the postseason. Would I change anything? No way, no how. Not a freaking chance.

So, I'm selling. And using my all-in approach, my objective is to get the highest value asset I can…so I can use him next year in a trade for a stud. And another run for a title.

No emotion. This is all transactional.

It's the same thing with buying. You can buy to fill holes. Or you can buy to seriously upgrade. Or you can buy to completely overwhelm your opponent. I prefer the latter approach – it actually satisfies the other two.

All-in. Go big. So with that in mind, here are a few high-level, slightly underperforming targets that I think will deliver more from now to the end of the season than they did to this point. Sure, I'll also go for the standard superstars – who wouldn't want a Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Backstrom or a Patrick Kane on their squad? But they might just cost a bit too much.

So, can you afford to get a guy? Maybe, maybe not. The bigger question is tougher – can you afford not to get a guy if he might end up with your closest competitor?

Now let's take a look at who I'd target as a buyer.

Jaroslav Halak, G, New York Islanders (88 percent Yahoo! owned): Halak is an All-Star – granted, he's there as an injury replacement, but he was still selected over a couple dozen other guys. He already has 25 wins (that's just two from tying his career best) and his 2.41 GAA is as steady as they come. And he has a great team in front of him. But you knew all that. You might have even known that he's particularly effective at home. Try 14-3 in 17 starts. Now go take a look at the Isles' schedule between Mar. 10 and Apr. 5. Yep, they play eight of 11 games in that four-week span at home. That's a pretty nice perk to your squad, especially if you're in playoffs in that span. Plan and analyze now, and reap the benefits in the future. I'd snap him up if I needed a goalie. You don't want him on your nearest competitor's roster. At least I wouldn't.

Erik Karlsson, D, Ottawa (100 percent Yahoo! owned): He'll be tough to pry out of someone, but it would be worth it if you can get your claws into him. His 33 points in 46 games put him just sixth in blue line scoring, but his pace is a long way from his potential. But move quickly – he has put up 10 points in his last 11 games and he has the talent to continue at that rate. Go ahead and plant seeds of doubt about his health in his owner's thoughts. Tell them he's never been the same since that Achilles injury. Tell them you read it online that some guys never get full function back after that kind of injury. Tell them…hell, whatever it takes to get him.

Milan Lucic, LW, Boston (84 percent Yahoo! owned): Lucic had a miserable first half, due in part to the absence of his pivot, David Krejci. And a lot of his owners are more than a little miffed. But the Bruins seem to be getting their crap together, Krejci is back and Lucic is picking up his pace (seven points in his last eight games vs. 17 in his first 38). Lucic won't hit 60 points, but he'll score at that rate. And deliver PIM, too.

Nathan MacKinnon, RW/C, Colorado (91 percent Yahoo! owned): His owners are frustrated; so is he. But I'm targeting him. His shooting percentage will soon rebound. And linemate Jarome Iginla is a second-half stud, so that means points for the whole line. Including MacKinnon.

Jake Muzzin, D, Los Angeles (51 percent Yahoo! owned): Muzzin is two points from matching his career high and he's done it in 35 fewer games. Sure, he has benefited from Slava Voynov's stupidity. But the breakout feels real. Hey – don't be surprised if he and Drew Doughty deliver the same number of points from now until season's end. And he'll be a much cheaper "get" than Doughts. He's worth the pursuit.

Patrick Sharp, LW/C, Chicago (97 percent Yahoo! owned): Sharp has been hurt this season and his absolute totals are relatively low. But they're also artificially low – his shooting percentage is a little over half his career average (6.6 percent vs 11.5). A correction is coming. He won't score 30 goals, but he'll score at that pace. Better that he do it on your team than someone else's.

Eric Staal, C/LW, Carolina (89 percent Yahoo! owned): Neither Staal nor the Canes are getting any bounces this season. None. I just don't think that's going to continue, though. In fact, I think things are already turning around. He has 10 points, including eight goals, in his last 12 games – that's a stark difference from 18 (and just seven goals) in his first 29. Just don't expect the same kind of PIM production as he's delivered before. He hasn't become Lady Byng, but he has taken a nail file to the edge on his game.

Jacob Trouba, D, Winnipeg (41 percent Yahoo! owned): Jump on him right now while his owner is still concerned about his return from injury. Seriously. His advanced metrics point to a big second half and he's the Jets' best defender, other than Dustin Byfuglien, of course. And look out if they put both those guys on the PP…

Thomas Vanek, LW/RW (73 percent Yahoo! owned): The goals are coming. Honest. Vanek arrived in Minny and somehow morphed into a guy who doesn't shoot the puck. Couple that with a putrid shooting percentage and you have a stud sniper with nine goals in 46 games. Spit. But he has started to fire the puck more – he has 19 shots in his last four games – and sooner or later, that's going to yield goals. And a decent number of them. His owners will be frustrated. Take him off their hands. Remember – you don't inherit his past. You only gain his future.

Nail Yakupov, RW, Edmonton (29 percent Yahoo! owned): Hear me out. I know those Fail for Nail chants have morphed into Nail's a Fail. But things really can't get much worse, can they? I see signs of life in his game; he just hasn't gotten the bounces (yet). And remember – he potted a remarkable 11 goals in April of his rookie year. Yes, 11. His owner will likely move him at a discount. And be happy to do so. He's a risk/reward guy, but that reward could be pretty sweet.

Back to buying.

You've heard me talk about asset management before. I firmly believe that the path to a league title involves assets, not emotions. Sure, I'd love to still have Nikita Kucherov and Tomas Tatar on my squad this year. I'll bet I'd be in the top-six if I had both of them.

But I wouldn't have won the league last year. Not a chance. So it was a sacrifice well made. And my name will be on the Ring of Honor until the league dissolves.

At the end of the day, you'll have to decide – are you in a little or in all the way? But how different is it than, say, the approach the Toronto Maple Leafs employ in their mediocrity? They don't go all in. But they also don't slip down far enough to get an injection of young talent, either.

I'd rather win one year and be out of the running the next than be in the top-six in the league for four straight years and never, ever win.

Go for it. What have you really got to lose?

Until next week.