Injuries and Fantasy Hockey

Part III: Damaged Goods - Trading and Injuries

November 14, 2000

Injuries are a part of Fantasy Hockey...but they don't have to be the end of your season. In part three of our series on Injuries and Fantasy Hockey we will look at trading. Often you will need to make a trade to compensate for an injured player. But just as often you'll see a "bargain" out there in the form of a player who's on the Injured Reserve list. We'll talk about both scenarios and give you some sure-fire tips to help you build a better team. 

First off we'll take a look at what you should do when a player you own gets injured. First off - don't panic (at least not yet). Find out how serious the injury is - check out Puckjunkie's M.A.S.H. Unit for help. After getting a read on the extent of the injury figure out what that player was doing for you. If it was Peter Forsberg that's pretty easy to figure out - EVERYTHING! But a player like Dallas Drake or Calle Johansson may be more difficult. "Why bother?" I can hear people asking. It's simple. Would you sell your house to fix the roof? You need to figure out how much you'll have to spend (in players, draft picks, cash, Slurpee's, etc.) to fill the gap. Many times, if you have a reserve list, you can plug the hole quite easily. Other times it may be more difficult. Once you figure out how big the hole is in your lineup and establish that you need to make a trade to fill it, you'll need to figure out who has what you need. If it's a last place (or lower half anyway) team they're often looking to rebuild and would take draft picks and/or prospects. However, if the player you want is on a top team, this could be more difficult. You will need to look at their holes and figure if you can help fill them.

So the next step is to match up what you have with what your trading partner may want. Where are your strengths? Where are their weaknesses? Maybe you can afford to give up the guy who just got injured (we'll talk about their value a little later on) if they'll take him. The one thing you'll always have to remember is that other teams in your league know about your injury. They will try and get their pound of flesh out of you. Be careful. Don't give up too much unless you're going to get a guy who can win it all for you. If that happens the last step is easy - make the deal!

So let's review what to do in case of injury (and now we're not talking about "Stop, drop, and roll"). Figure out:

• How bad is the injury?

• What categories did you lose and what will you need?

• What can you give up?

• Who has what you need?

• What will you offer?

So what happens if you're on the other side? What happens if you find yourself in a keeper league building for next year. Is it a good idea to pick up some injured guys? The short answer is an unqualified maybe. Sorry, you asked for a short answer. If you're looking for a longer answer then we guess we could give you a "sometimes yes, sometimes no." Here's what we mean. Before you can go around throwing away good players that are either too expensive, too old, or in the last year of their contract for the NHL's walking wounded you need to do a little thinking (yes, we know it hurts, but you'll thank us in the end). Like we did above we'll run through some really quick steps.

First figure out who's injured - again have a look at Puckjunkie's M.A.S.H. Unit - and how long they will be out for. If you're going to get best value you have to look for players that are going to be gone longer than 6 weeks because their loss will have the greatest impact on their owners. Always make sure that they aren't going to be "chronic" injuries - no point in getting stuck with a guy who'll spend more time on crutches than on the ice. After you've decided which players you would want figure out who's got them in your league. What you will quickly find is that only a select few are on the top teams - the process of elimination has been done for you. Next, figure out the weaknesses of the teams that hold your prized, yet slightly damaged, players. The only way you can get a guy to give up a promising young player, even an injured one, is top make sure you bring something to trade. So now you've got to figure out who you can part with. If you're not making a run for the Cup (a.k.a., the cheap bowling trophy that we all are proud to display on our mantle) then this decision will be easier. An imaginary line gets drawn down the middle of your team - usually at about age 28. Anyone older than that generally becomes expendable (we say generally because there are always exceptions - tossing out cheap superstar you picked up probably isn't going to help your rebuilding - so always make exceptions). One area that there should be no exceptions on a rebuilding team is players in the final year of their contract. They are of no value  to you (regardless of age) and should be the first fodder you offer up.  

Ok, so you now know what to offer, but you will always be tested when trying to squeeze out a promising, yet injured, young player. Owners will always try and get just one more player - the infamous "clincher". So before you enter the trading arena do one more thing - using your league rules figure out a tentative list of players that you would like to start next season with (generally called your cutdown list). This will give you an idea of how far you can go in a trade without cutting into your "core". You'll have a little wiggle room here because obviously the player(s) you're trying to get are going to have to fit on this list (otherwise you wouldn't be making the deal, right?). Now get busy. 

Again, a really quick summary of trading for the injured guys. Always ask:

• Who's injured? - you're looking for the long-term injuries (avoid the "chronics")

• Who owns them?

• What are their weaknesses?

• What can you part with? (make a list - including your tentative "cutdown" roster)

Before we go we thought we'd leave you with some great "injury" trades that we've witnessed over the years:

98/99 Season - Team A trades an injured Glenn Murray to Team B for the revitalized but still aging pair of Phil Housley and Wendel Clark.

Analysis: With Murray out with a severe shoulder injury Team B in a rebuilding phase sees an opportunity to move an aging d-man for a guy who had 29 goals in 97/98. Who won? Housley ended the season with an amazing 54 points while Clark's hot start didn't last all year. Murray disappointed in the rest of 98/99 but came back with a strong 99/00 campaign. Only problem? Housley had a great  99/00 year as well. 

Analysis: Aucoin's injury couldn't have come at a worse time. Fresh off a surprising 24 goal 98/99 Aucoin owners thought they were finally going to reap the benefits - wrong! Still his long term value was still quite high. Team B, in a serious rebuilding mode, trades away Brett Hull who was in the final year of contract. Who won? Aucoin didn't produce much during the rest of 99/00 and has been plagued by groin troubles again in 00/01. Dumont benefited from a late season trade to Buffalo and seems to be playing well this year. Hull had the worst scoring year of his career with only 24 goals. Only problem? Aucoin's recurring groin problems. 

Part IV: Free Agency, Re-drafts and Some Words of Advice