Fantasy Spin: Yandle gets tremendous value boost

Keith Yandle's fantasy owners likely are jumping for joy after learning the defenseman was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the New York Rangers on Sunday.

In September, Yandle was selected on average with the 59th pick in Yahoo fantasy drafts and he was the seventh defenseman off the board. Yandle currently ranks 101st among all players, 14th among defensemen. Heading to New York could result in Yandle finishing closer to what his fantasy owners were expecting at the start of the season.

When looking at Yandle's stat line, the first thing that jumps out is his minus-32 rating, which is last in the NHL. But he has 41 points in 63 games, which ranks 10th among defensemen. And he has 26 power-play points, most among defensemen and tied for fourth among all players. Yandle also has 185 shots on goal, sixth among defensemen. Those point and shot totals make you forget about that rating just a little bit, right?

But now you must consider that Yandle played for the Coyotes, who are 30th in the League goals-allowed per game at 3.32 and 29th in goals per game at 2.13. The minus-32 rating isn't surprising, and the 41 points despite the Coyotes' struggles to score goals actually is quite impressive.

And now think about the fantasy boost Yandle will get by going from Arizona to New York. The Rangers are fourth in the NHL with 2.41 goals-against per game and second at 3.10 goals per game. And they are 11th on the power play at 18.8 percent.

Yandle is moving into a fantastic situation where he will be expected to quarterback the Rangers' top power play, a unit that features Rick Nash (58 points in 60 games), Derek Stepan (43 points in 47 games) and Derick Brassard (48 points in 59 games) up front. Yandle was never surrounded by the kind of talent with the Coyotes that he'll have with the Rangers, which means only good things for him.

Let's take a look at Yandle's production in the past three seasons:

* 2012-13: 10 goals, 20 assists, plus-4, 54 penalty minutes, 10 power-play points, 130 shots on goal

Yandle's 30 points during the shortened season ranked fifth among all defensemen and he finished the season as the No. 2 fantasy defensemen.

*2013-14: 8 goals, 45 assists, minus-23, 63 penalty minutes, 31 power-play points, 241 shots on goal

Yandle's 53 points were tied for sixth by all defensemen; his 31 power-play points were tied for the most defensemen; and his 241 shots on goal were fourth at his position. He finished the season as the No. 6 fantasy defensemen.

*2014-15: 4 goals, 37 assists, minus-32, 32 penalty minutes, 26 power-play points, 185 shots on goal

Yandle's 41 points are 10th among all defensemen and his 26 power-play points are the most at his position. He's 14th among defensemen in Yahoo leagues this season.

Yandle has been an elite fantasy defenseman for the past three seasons, and at 28 years old he has plenty to offer. Now with the Rangers, you should expect him to produce at the level of a top-five fantasy defensemen for the rest of this season.