After dealing with a concussion last month, Hurricanes center Elias Lindholm has returned to the lineup with more confidence and is playing his best stretch of the season, writes Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer. In 12 games since his return, he has recorded 12 points (1-11-12) while playing on Carolina’s top line alongside Jordan Staal and rookie Sebastian Aho.
However, if the Hurricanes are going to make a push for a Wild Card position (they sit just five points out of the final spot), they’ll need more goal production from Lindholm. His goal output dropped from 17 to 11 last season and he has just five through 42 games this year. While the team is having success when he collects an assist (they’re 13-2-0 when he does), they were undoubtedly expecting more production from the former fifth overall pick when they gave him a two year bridge deal with a $2.7MM cap hit back in the summer.
Other notes from the Metropolitan:
- In a reader chat, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that forward Eric Fehr could be someone that the Penguins look at moving at the trade deadline. He’s under contract for next season with a cap hit of $2MM but is also a potential candidate to be exposed for the upcoming expansion draft. Given that Pittsburgh is fairly tight to the cap, Fehr could also be someone who’s added to a deal to offset some salary coming back considering the team is likely to look to make an addition or two by March 1st.
- Rangers blueliner Dan Girardi isn’t expected to play in tonight’s game against Colorado due to some ankle swelling that occurred from blocking a shot on Tuesday, reports Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News. Although he didn’t skate yesterday, he’s hopeful to get back on skates shortly, potentially as soon as today so he shouldn’t be out for too long. The 32 year old is hardly a stranger to blocking shots as his 132 leads the team and ranks fifth in the league. Adam Clendening is expected to play while Girardi is on the shelf.