Eastern Notes: Hedman, Eichel, Simmonds

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, despite missing five games with a lower-body injury, remains one of the top candidates for the Norris Trophy this year, but could find himself quickly falling out of the race if he continues to miss games. Originally slated to miss between three to six weeks, Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith tweets that Hedman is already back skating and his return is more likely to be near the three-week mark as opposed to six weeks. He’s been out since Jan. 11th.

Hedman, who is the defensive backbone to the Tampa Bay Lightning, would be a welcome return for a team that despite having the top record in the league, but was struggling recently having lost five of seven games before winning their last three straight. He has six goals and 27 assists in 44 games this year with a plus/minus rating of +24.

Hedman, who had to miss the all-star game due to the injury, will still be at the game, according to Smith. He will be the assistant to the equipment manager for the Atlantic Division team. TSN’s Frank Seravalli tweets that Hedman has experience in that role as his father Olle worked as an equipment manager for MoDo in Sweden for 23 years.

• Buffalo Sabres Jack Eichel finds himself at the all-star game on a rare high-note as the struggling franchise has won three games in a row, in fact, in quite a dominating fashion. The team topped Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver by a combined score of 11-1. Those three wins comes off a humiliating 7-1 blowout loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 20. The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that Eichel believes that loss is what motivated the team to turn it around. “Obviously you get embarrassed at home and you’ve got to look in the mirror,” Eichel said Saturday at All-Star Media Day in the Tampa Grand Hyatt. “Nobody wants to be a part of that, 7-1 at home. It’s embarrassing. It’s good we were able to come back this week, play a few good hockey games and we want to keep that going.” Eichel has been a key part to the three-game streak with two goals and three assists.
• Regarding questions about whether the Philadelphia Flyers should trade winger Wayne Simmonds, The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor writes in a mailbag article that despite the improved play of several players including Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and Nolan Patrick, the team would be less likely to trade the veteran winger. First off, Simmonds is a power forward that none of the others would be able to replace. And secondly, the improvements of those three players only suggests the Flyers are much closer to competing for a Stanley Cup in the next few years, so extending Simmonds might make more sense. The 29-year-old has 16 goals and 29 points this year and would provide excellent offense for the next few years. His contract, which comes up after the 2018-19 season, would put him at 31 when a new contract would kick in. If the team were to re-sign him, the Flyers would need to be sure they could compete for a Stanley Cup in those first few years of that contract, according to O’Connor.