Two of the more important trades on deadline day saw a couple of big power forwards on the move to playoff-bound teams.
First, the Los Angeles Kings made arguably the biggest splash on trade deadline day by acquiring Dustin Penner from the Edmonton Oilers for prospect Colten Teubert, a first-round pick in 2011 and a conditional second-round pick in 2012. Penner, who is already owned in 75 percent of Yahoo! Fantasy Leagues, should definitely see an increase in fantasy production as he moves from a team at the bottom of the standings to one of the League's hottest squads.
The 6'4" right wing had 21 goals, 18 assists a minus-12 rating, 45 penalty minutes, 8 power play points and 137 shots on goal in 62 games with Edmonton this season, putting him on pace for 27 goals and 50 points this campaign -- not the most gaudy numbers. However, the burly forward put together a career season in 2009-10 that should not be dismissed -- he tallied 32 goals and 63 points, as well as a plus-6 rating while playing for a young Oilers group.
Penner joins the Kings as a certain top-six forward with talented new teammates Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Justin Williams and Ryan Smyth. You can expect his plus/minus to improve drastically and he should finish the season with 5-10 more goals and 10-15 more points in his final 20 games -- grab him if he's available.
Back on the east coast, the Capitals scooped up Devils center Jason Arnott right before the deadline ended in exchange for depth forward David Steckel and a 2012 second-round draft choice. Arnott isn't as important in the fantasy world as Penner is, but he could turn out to get a bit of a boost as we approach the stretch run.
The veteran center goes from a defensive-minded player in New Jersey to Washington as a second-line center with plenty of talent around him. While the Caps' top line is fairly solidified with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble, the second line will certainly see a change -- expect Arnott to center the ultra-talented Alexander Semin and other newcomer Marco Sturm. Brooks Laich could also find some time on the second line, but Arnott is definitely expected to jump into the important role as the team's second middle man.
Arnott, owned in just 16 percent of Yahoo! Leagues, had 13 goals, 11 assists, a minus-9 rating, 32 penalty minutes, 5 power play points and 139 shots on goal in 62 games for the Devils. Again, Arnott isn't a player at the level of someone even like Penner, but he could be a nice bench center if you're in deeper fantasy leagues.
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