Grab Alexei Ponikarovsky Now

Ray Shero and the Pittsburgh Penguins seem to buy every year, creating a new fantasy star in the process.  Last year we saw Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin gain immediate value by flanking one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.  This year Alexei Ponikarovsky reeps the benefits of playing with one of the two.

Interestingly enough the Penguins now hold the only two Ukrainian NHL players in Ponikarovsky and Ruslan Fedotenko.  Perhaps both of them line up with Malkin and Crosby gains another winger like Colby Armstrong or Ray Whitney.   Likely one of Kunitz and Guerin lose their fantasy value as one forward needs to move out of the top six.

At this point all bets are off but the Penguins hold the third least cap space at this point, so they may be done completely.

In Toronto, Viktor Stalberg looks to be the immediate beneficiary of the trade as he will likely play with Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak.  As the Leafs forward corps gets thinner expect less and less from the team as they prepare for next season.  Lee Stempniak may also move before 3 PM today making their offensive punch even less scary.  Look for Luca Caputi to get every chance to make the team with either an extended look this year or in camp next preseason.