As Carolina looks to stay in the hunt for the top spot in the Central, they are starting to make their list of who to consider adding before next month’s trade deadline. Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer reports that one player that garnered consideration was former Kings defenseman Slava Voynov. The 31-year-old last played in the NHL in 2014 after being arrested on domestic violence charges that he pled no contest to. Voynov has played in the KHL since then and has looked to return to the NHL in the past but GM Don Waddell indicated that while the blueliner was considered, the Hurricanes won’t be signing him.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Everyone knows the Red Wings will be selling between now and the April 12th trade deadline and Bobby Ryan is certainly in that group. He told MLive’s Ansar Khan that he knows that he will likely be on the move by then and that it’s the first time in his career that he’s approaching the deadline with that feeling. Ryan’s first season in Detroit hasn’t been overly productive but he has still managed seven goals and seven assists in 31 games. With just a $1MM cap hit and salary, he’s certainly affordable for cap-strapped teams and while he won’t yield much of a return, Detroit would be wise to pick up any future asset they can get for him.
- Blue Jackets defenseman Mikko Lehtonen has finally been able to join the team after clearing up his immigration issue, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). Columbus acquired the 27-year-old from Toronto just over two weeks ago in exchange for goaltender Veini Vehvilainen and he should give them some extra depth should they decide to sell by next month’s trade deadline. After being off for this long, however, he will probably need a few days of practice time before he’s ready to suit up.