Although it was a quiet week on the trade front, there was still a fair bit of big news around the league over the past week.
Fisher Unretires: Mike Fisher’s retirement didn’t even last one year. The long-time center announced that he will be returning to play for Nashville. No contract has been finalized yet as the 37-year-old will have to get back into playing shape first. It will have to be signed before the trade deadline in order for him to be eligible to play in the postseason. While Fisher likely won’t bring much to the table offensively considering how long he has been off, he should slot in their bottom six up front while potentially giving them the flexibility to shift Nick Bonino to the wing.
Trouba Out Long-Term: Injuries haven’t been kind to Winnipeg this season as Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien, Mathieu Perreault, and Steve Mason (among others) have all missed a sizable amount of games. Defenseman Jacob Trouba was the next to be added to that list as he will miss the next six-to-eight weeks with an ankle injury. While his production has been lower than expected this year, he has still played an important role for the Jets while ranking second among skaters in ice time. As he’ll be out past the trade deadline, there’s a possibility that Winnipeg may look to add another defender in the weeks to come.
Jagr To Kladno: After clearing waivers, the Flames assigned veteran winger to HC Kladno in the Czech Republic. In doing so, the 45-year-old remains on Calgary’s books and the team will retain the ability to recall him if they so desire instead of running him through unconditional waivers to give him his outright release. In the meantime, veteran Czech center Petr Nedved came out of retirement to face Jagr in his first game back. Jagr’s first game back home was certainly a productive one as he recorded three assists while playing more than 20 minutes in ice time.
No Tavares Trade: Islanders captain John Tavares hasn’t put pen to paper on a contract extension which led to some speculation that the team could trade him before the deadline to avoid the risk of potentially losing him for nothing in the summer. GM Garth Snow put an end to all that by stating that Tavares will not be dealt no matter what before the deadline. With the Isles in a close battle for a Wild Card spot, it seems more likely at this point that they will try to add a player or two to help their chances of getting into the playoffs while hoping to strengthen their pitch to keep Tavares in the fold beyond this season.
Canucks Prefer To Keep Gudbranson: While Vancouver defenseman Erik Gudbranson has been viewed as one of the more prominent rental defensemen that will be dealt before the trade deadline, GM Jim Benning acknowledged that their preference is to sign him to a contract extension. Gudbranson has been limited to just 33 games this season due to injuries and has been used in a more limited role than usual; his 17:39 average ice time is his lowest since his rookie season. If they aren’t able to agree on a new deal before the 26th, the 26-year-old will still likely find himself in another uniform by the end of the month.
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