Fantasy Impact: The Los Angeles Kings have dealt prospect center Andrei Loktionov to the New Jersey Devils for a fifth-round draft pick, per the LA Times

The Kings get: a rather late draft pick. Clearly this was a favor to Loktionov so he gets a chance to fulfill his NHL dream.

The Devils get: a promising, potential second-line center who has been buried in a deep system despite being fairly close to NHL-ready for the past year. Loktionov has been tried on the wing, but just isn't as effective. He has just 22 points in 37 AHL games this season, but seemed to hit a wall in January and wasn't invited to the Kings training camp.

Fantasy Players Impacted: If the Devils bring up Loktionov, as well they should, then it would be at the expense of both Stephen Gionta and Jacob Josefson. We have been waiting for Josefsson to take the next step for a couple of years now, but injuries cropped up at the worst moments, stunting his development. He has one point in nine games this year, posting a minus-5. The move could push Josefson to the AHL and Gionta to the fourth line, where he is better suited. Stefan Matteau and/or Bobby Butler could also be demoted.

With the top two lines set in stone for the Devils, it is unlikely that Loktionov warrants fantasy consideration this season, barring a key injury to that top six. But with Patrik Elias, David Clarkson and Dainius Zubrus all slated to become unrestricted free agents in the summer, the opportunity could be a good one for Loktionov next year. For more on Loktionov, take a look at his fantasy profile from DobberProspects.

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Loktionov

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

1. Josefson

2. Butler

3. Mattias Tedenby - even though they are different positions, it's still another body ahead of him

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buck0198 said:

	Keeper League Where does Tedenby stand? Is he worth keeping in a keeper league even if I have to stash him on my pro bench since he has played his max games for my farm team? I am not going to be competitive this season....
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February 07, 2013
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