GM Junya Kato has surprisingly shipped out fan favorite, David Pastrnak, to the New York Rangers along with rental Mikko Koivu and Ron Hainsey.  "I received back multiple pieces that I feel can help us go in the direction that we would like to go,"  Kato says about incoming assets Sean Couturier and Ryan Ellis.  After a fairly disappointing start, Kato decided to move on to improve the situation for the future.  When asked about the rest of the year, Kato stated, "We expect to still make the playoffs with the core that we have and hopefully we can still upset some teams when we get there.  I will always look into moves for the betterment of the team."  The core is still one of the best, so expect the team to seriously contend for many years to come.  Kato has seriously upgraded the core of the defense with Ellis and seems to be looking for more.  The Pastrnak move looks as though it won't be a downgrade next year, but we will have to keep an eye on the future years to see if trading away an elite scoring winger was a big mistake.

Let's see who we expect to see for a while...

Studs

Mark Scheifele C - Stud top line center that is on everyone's radar if he were to be shopped.

2018 stats: 15g, 23a, 1.00ppg

Sean Couturier C - Great 2-way center who is finally putting up points that the Flyers were hoping for.

2018 stats: 23g, 19a, 1.00ppg, 80shtoi

Patrick Kane RW - One of the most dynamic wingers to play the game.  Had a slow start, but is starting to pick it up and just had a 5 point game.

2018 stats: 18g, 27a, 1.05ppg

Ryan O'Reilly C/LW - This defensive forward is always in the Selke conversation.  If he were to be traded to a decent team, he could possibly win it.  Ryno is having a slow year, but starting to heat up.  Defense and faceoffs are never in question with this stalwart.

2018 stats: 11g, 18a, .69 ppg, 62shtoi

Alex Pietrangelo D - This #1 dman plays in every sitution and is top 10 TOI. Started out NHL year smoking hot and has slowed a bit.

2018 stats: 7g, 23a, .71 ppg, 105shtoi

Jared Spurgeon D - One of the more underrated defensemen in the game.  I know everyone is saying he is no stud, but his play says otherwise.  Spurgeon came back from injury and Dumba was still demoted to 2nd pairing even though he was playing incredibly well.  Shows what the coach thinks.

2018 stats: 5g, 17a, .63ppg, 115shtoi

Ryan Ellis D - Awesome defensive defenseman who plays with Roman Josi.  Gets overshadowed by him, but has shown that he can put up .5ppg and play a ton of minutes, espacially on PK.  NHL-wise was out half the year and will take a hit in the DU department, but the BRHL Stars are deep enough where that will be managed.

2018 stats: (4 games) 1g, 1a, .5ppg, 4shtoi

Zach Werenski D - Werenski took the NHL by storm last year putting up gaudy numbers for a rookie. Going through a sophmore slump right now, but he will be back to norm, question is just when.

2018 stats: 11g, 9a, .5ppg

Role Players

Jean-Gabriel Pageau C - 2018 stats: 6g, 9a, .36ppg, 92shtoi

Colton Sceviour LW/RW -2018 stats: 6g, 5a, .31ppg, 87shtoi

JGP and Sceviour are always overlooked, but they are always near the top of the DF rating for a forwards.  They both contribute just enough to get average forward stats.

Scott Mayfield D- 2018 stats: 2g, 8a, .31ppg, 60shtoi

Mayfield is a huge body that has been given a huge role on the PK for the Islanders.  He just signed a very managable contract for years to come and should be rated highly defensively.

Coming Soon

Andre Burakovsky LW/RW - Burakovsky has been a pretty frustrating guy that has a ton of potential, but not the confidence of the coaching staff.  He has been a healthy scratch several times because of this.  Every once in a while he shows flashes of brilliance, but is unable to maintain that level...for now.  Has been hurt the past couple years and playing with Ellers and Connolly may not help.

2018 stats: 3g, 5a, .38ppg

Bryan Rust LW/RW - I honestly didn't know where to put this guy.  He needs to be mentioned, but he also could be left off.  He was killing it at the beginning of the season, disappeared and then has been on IR since.  Rust has been playing with the top 6 for a while, but could lose that spot with some of the young guns coming up the ranks.  (If I die unexpectedly, tell the new GM not to trade him to Eric.)

2018 stats:4g, 14a, .47ppg, 62shtoi

Kasperi Kapanen LW/RW - This situation is frustrating due to the depth on the NHL Leafs roster.  Kapanen has received some time with the big club, but never enough time to really get a groove going.  This guy will score goals on the NHL level, but the question has always been when.

2018 stats: (6 games) 2g, 0a, .33ppg

Nikita Scherbak LW - Scherbak has been lighting it up with the AHL club, Laval, all year.  He has a line 6g-16a-22pts in 18 games.  He is top 5 in points per game, but has not been able to get a long look with the terrible Habs.  Scherbak has a lot of doubters (Bryce), but we should be able to get a longer look in the near future.

2018 stats: (2 games) 0g, 0a, 0ppg

Igor Schestyorkin G - Only goalie that the Stars have that is worth mentioning.  Igor is still dong very well in the KHL with a .929sv%, 1.86gaa.  We will see if that translate to the NHL when he comes over in 2019-20.