Fantasy Hockey: Ducks Acquire Jacob Trouba From Rangers

Fantasy Hockey: Ducks Acquire Jacob Trouba From Rangers

Jacob Trouba got exiled by the Rangers in the morning and by the end of the afternoon, he’s been since traded to the Anaheim Ducks. Now that Trouba finally has a new landing spot, let’s discuss everything that it means from a fantasy hockey perspective.

Trouba, 30, was dumped by the Rangers for financial reasons. He’s clearly not an $8 million per year player, which was the biggest reason why New York made the move. The metrics don’t always tell an accurate story of the player but in this instance, it’s hard to ignore. Trouba’s best trait is laying out big hits. Not for his offensive prowess on the blue line.

The new Ducks defenseman has six points in 24 games this season prior to the trade. Every fantasy league is different but Trouba really has no value unless your league hands out major points for the hit category. Trouba has 39 hits this year after notching 191 the year prior. He also will cash in on his fair share of blocked shots.

In most fantasy leagues, Trouba has been pretty worthless. As I’m writing this, Trouba is owned in over 91% of ESPN leagues, which is just insane for a player who doesn’t produce any offensive point totals.

This is the bottom line. If you’re smart, you already knew to not draft Trouba before the season. The Cheese list never fails.

If you already drafted Trouba, all hope might not be lost. He might block more shots with increased ice time in Anaheim. This is a Ducks team that plays defense a hell of a lot more than offense so those block totals theoretically should increase.

I can’t imagine the Ducks are going to hand over PP duties but maybe they will. My bet on that front is Olen Zellweger continues to run with the job. That young gun is a STAR. Pavel Mintyukov is very much in that equation too once he comes back healthy.

The problem with the Ducks is their entire team really isn’t worth owning in fantasy outside of Troy Terry. Anaheim ranks 29th in the NHL in goals per game. For Trouba to have great fantasy value, he needs to sneak his way into extra assists. For a team that doesn’t score, it’s hard to see that happening.

Long story short; if you’re a Trouba fantasy owner, you may as well cut the guy. The good news is next year maybe you can read the Cheese list and avoid problems like these altogether!

Subscribe to Vendetta’s Twitch

Check out Vendetta Fantasy Contests

Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube

Click here for more Fantasy Hockey content