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Devils Looking To Add A Center

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Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic sat down with New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald to discuss what the team is looking to do before the NHL Trade Deadline. Fitzgerald mentioned that he has an open mind at this point, but that the pro scouting department has identified the center position as an area of need. The news isn’t all that surprising, given that the Devils were linked to Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans just a week ago.

Fitzgerald has been looking at potential trade options and has reportedly already started calling teams to see who might be available. Centers are always in demand, and as Fitzgerald points out in the interview, you can never have enough of them. The Devils could certainly use some depth scoring in their forward group as it remains one of their few weaknesses, and if they can’t acquire a center, they may need to settle for a winger.

LeBrun points out that possible targets include Ryan O’Reilly, Yanni Gourde, and Scott Laughton. Gourde would be a rental as his contract expires at the end of the season, while O’Reilly has two years remaining on his deal at a cap hit of $4.5MM, and Laughton has one year left on his deal. Fitzgerald said he was open to acquiring either a rental or a player with term and would look at both options in his hunt for a center.

The Devils have made many changes over the last year, addressing their goaltending and defense last summer while tinkering with other parts of their roster. They are certainly one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference and could very well put themselves over the top in the next few weeks if they can address their depth scoring and add the center they desire.

Multiple Teams Calling The Blackhawks About Seth Jones

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Teams are reportedly calling the Chicago Blackhawks to check on the availability of veteran defenseman Seth Jones (as per TSN’s Darren Dreger). Dreger revealed the information on today’s segment of Insider Trading and noted that the Blackhawks aren’t proactively shopping the 30-year-old.

Facilitating a trade of that magnitude would not be easy given that Jones carries a $9.5MM cap hit for an additional four seasons after this one. Jones also carries a full no-movement clause as part of his contract, meaning that he would have full control of where he goes which would further complicate an already difficult move.

Chicago’s trade to acquire Jones was a bit of a headscratcher when it was made back in July 2021. The Blackhawks were mired in mediocrity at the time and gave up a package that included defenseman Adam Boqvist, the 12th and 44th overall picks in 2021, and a 2022 first-round pick that eventually turned into the sixth overall pick. Chicago then handed Jones an ill-advised eight-year, $76MM contract extension right before setting out on a full rebuild.

Jones’s offensive numbers have been okay since joining the Blackhawks, as he has posted 28 goals and 106 assists in 245 games. However, his defensive work has left a lot to be desired as he’s posted a -103 plus/minus rating in four seasons, which is among the worst in the NHL during that time. Jones’s net clearing ability and rush defense continue to be a major issue that hasn’t improved over time, with no better example than in a 5-2 loss to Calgary earlier this week.

Jones isn’t likely to be traded given all the hurdles that would need to be cleared to make a move, but right-handed defensemen are always at a premium and Jones eats up a ton of ice time, having averaged 25:19 per game since he joined the Blackhawks (third in NHL behind Drew Doughty and Cale Makar). At the end of the day, the decision will be up to Jones as he holds the no-movement clause and can decide his own destination should he want to leave Chicago.

Jets May Not Prioritize Acquiring A Second Line Center

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The Winnipeg Jets may not prioritize a center at the NHL Trade Deadline if team captain Adam Lowry can continue his strong play at the position (as per Darren Dreger of TSN). Winnipeg has needed a second-line pivot for multiple seasons in a row now and was certainly prioritizing it before Lowry slid into the role out of necessity when Vladislav Namestnikov went down with a lower-body injury.

Now, Lowry’s sample size at the position is tiny at this point, having moved up for the previous two games. However, the early returns are terrific as Lowry, Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iafallo trio have been difficult to play against and have been offensive threats anytime they’ve been deployed as a unit. Lowry has a single assist in the two games since the move, but his overall play has benefitted both Ehlers and Iafallo.

It’s hard to envision Lowry becoming an offensive center at the age of 31, but his offensive game has been trending upward over the past few seasons. The St. Louis, Missouri native has enjoyed the two finest offensive seasons in the previous two years and appears poised to shatter his career high of 36 points this season.

It looks like Lowry and company will be allowed to see if they can put a stretch of play together that convinces Jets management to shift their hunt from a second-line center to perhaps the best overall forward that they can acquire. Or perhaps a third-line center to replace Lowry.

Winnipeg is in the conversation for the President’s Trophy and will likely be as aggressive as they were at last year’s Trade Deadline when they brought in center Sean Monahan from Montreal as well as Tyler Toffoli from New Jersey. The Jets have an aging core and with Ehlers contract status, they may only have one shot with a team as good as this one.

Latest On Mason Marchment And Tyler Seguin

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Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment is expected to be out for at least a few more weeks (as per Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports). Marchment needed surgery after he took a puck in the face in a game against the Minnesota Wild on December 27th. The 29-year-old continues to skate in Texas as he looks to return to the lineup, but his timeline will ultimately come down to his breathing as he will need to wear a cage when he comes back.

Marchment needed surgical intervention due to the fractures in his nose and facial area and there was a delay in even having surgery because of the swelling in the area.

Marchment was having a solid season prior to the injury, posting 12 goals and 15 assists in 33 games and was a fixture in the top six. The Stars initially used Evgenii Dadonov in Marchment’s absence but have moved on to Jamie Benn, who has filled in admirably in the top six, posting four goals and an assist in his last six games.

Shapiro also reported that Dallas forward Tyler Seguin could still be another five or six months before he recovers from hip surgery. The 32-year-old had surgery a little over a month ago to repair a left-side femoral acetabular impingement as well as the hip labrum. Seguin had tried to manage the injury before surgery and was even playing some of the best hockey of his career to start the season. But the wear and tear eventually made the injury unbearable, which forced Seguin to shut down and have surgery. Seguin had nine goals and 11 assists in 19 games, as well as a plus-14 rating.

Penguins Expected To Be Sellers At Trade Deadline

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic believes that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be sellers regardless of their position in the standings. Yohe wrote about the unusual position the Penguins find themselves in heading into the second half of the NHL season. Pittsburgh has fought its way back into the Wild Card conversation in the Eastern Conference, and despite being largely made up of veteran players, general manager Kyle Dubas has his eye on the future and intends to sell.

Yohe says that his league sources predict the Penguins will make multiple moves to jettison veterans and that “no one is safe” on Pittsburgh, except for the players holding full no-trade protection (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to name a few). Marcus Pettersson is certainly a name Pittsburgh will move on from given his contractual status, but one name that could also go is forward Rickard Rakell. The 31-year-old is having a nice bounce-back season with 22 goals in 45 games. However, Yohe pours cold water on that notion, saying that Pittsburgh is likely to hold onto him for this year unless they receive a big offer.

While all signs point to Pittsburgh packing it in for the season and missing the playoffs for a third straight year, Yohe believes that the Penguins may see the trading of veteran players as an opportunity to call up some of their prospects who are NHL-ready, most notably goaltender Joel Blomqvist who is arguably the best netminder in the Penguins entire organization and their best chance at steady goaltending. Tristan Jarry has struggled for well over a calendar year and doesn’t look like an NHL goaltender at the moment, and Alex Nedeljkovic has been wildly inconsistent this season after putting together a nice campaign a year ago.

While the Penguins would love to move on from some of their pricier veterans, they will be in tough to do so as Jarry has three years left on his contract after this season with an AAV of $5.375MM, and defenseman Ryan Graves has four years on his deal at $4.5MM. Those deals were two of the first contracts Dubas handed out in Pittsburgh, and they’ve aged like milk. In previous years, those types of contracts would have been untradeable, but with the cap rising next season, it’s not out of the question that the Penguins could move on from those players in the next six months.

Oilers Recall Noah Philp

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The Edmonton Oilers have recalled forward Noah Philp from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield (as per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic). The 26-year-old will be an option for Edmonton heading into tomorrow night’s game against Minnesota and could get an extended look before the NHL Trade Deadline if he is a good fit in their bottom six forward group.

The Oilers dressed just 11 forwards last night and have a real issue with depth at the center position which should give Philp an opportunity to center the fourth line before Edmonton pulls the trigger on a move. Derek Ryan has struggled as of late and has been a healthy scratch on multiple occasions. The Oilers likely see their center depth as a concern that they will need to address before March 7th.

Philp nearly made the Oilers out of training camp but was sent to Bakersfield where he has had a strong first half of the season, registering nine goals and eight assists in 28 games. He did get a three-game audition with the Oilers in late October/early November and filled in admirably as Connor McDavid was out of the lineup with an ankle injury. Philp saw limited minutes, averaging just 10:44 of ice time per game during that mini-run. However, he did pick up an assist and appeared to grow more comfortable and assertive as the games went on. It’s hard to make much out of 31 minutes of NHL action, but Philp’s size, speed, and his defensive work certainly make for an intriguing option in Edmonton’s bottom six.

Philp’s story is certainly a feel-good one. The Canmore, Alberta native played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League before spending two seasons with the University of Alberta. He then was able to catch on with Bakersfield as an undrafted free agent in 2022. After a successful first AHL season, Philp went on a hiatus from professional hockey last season before signing a one-year two-way contract with Edmonton last summer.

Avalanche Activate Ivan Ivan, Assign Him To AHL

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The Colorado Avalanche announced that they’ve activated forward Ivan Ivan off the injured reserve and are assigning him to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The 22-year-old was a nice story for the Avalanche earlier in the season, making it to the NHL in his second professional season and filling in as a replacement while Colorado was dealing with significant injuries.

Ivan was undrafted out of the QMJHL after spending three seasons with the Cape Breton Eagles and was able to turn a productive final season into an AHL contract with Colorado back in August 2023. He spent his first professional season with the Eagles, posting 12 goals and 19 assists in 67 games.

The Avalanche saw enough of the Ostrava, Czech Republic native to reward him with a two-year ELC last March, and it didn’t take long for him to see NHL action. He made his NHL debut on October 9th against the Vegas Golden Knights and picked up his first NHL point a few days later with an assist against Columbus. Overall, Ivan dressed in 37 games, picking up five goals and three assists.

Ivan could return to the NHL at some point this season if the Avalanche run into further injury issues, however, at this point in the season Colorado has been getting healthier, although they do still have some concerns with several injured forwards.

Sharks Don’t Intend To Demote Will Smith

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The San Jose Sharks have no intention to demote former fourth overall pick Will Smith to the American Hockey League despite the slow start to his rookie season (as per Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News). Smith joined his teammates today as they boarded a charter flight to Detroit to kick off a five-game road trip against the Red Wings.

It’s been a tale of three wildly different seasons for the 19-year-old after he started the year with no points in his first eight games, then he turned the corner and posted 11 points over a run of 14 games, but then he slumped again, adding just three points in his last 15 games. Smith’s up-and-down offensive contributions have followed a very similar pattern to San Jose’s win/loss record. The Sharks were winless in their first nine games, then went on to win 10 of their next 19 contests before slumping to a 3-13-1 record in their last 17 games.

While the fate of an entire team can’t be attributed to a single rookie, the correlation is stunning. Smith’s bumpy rookie season is not uncommon for highly touted rookies, and every team uses different tactics to assist the player. San Jose has used “development days” throughout the first half of the year as a means of managing Smith’s workload so he has time to work on improving his game. The Sharks also have Smith living with Sharks legend Patrick Marleau, which should also aid in his development.

Smith is in the unenvious position of trying to become a two-way professional hockey player on a team that is likely to be at the bottom of the NHL standings at the end of this season. Another difficult transition for Smith has been in board battles where the 6’0” 181lb forward has had to engage in battles with NHL forwards who outweigh him by a considerable amount.

Valeri Nichushkin Suffers Setback, Landeskog Not Dealing With Swelling

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Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin’s timeline to return might be getting pushed back as he was forced to slow down his progress after skating a couple of times (as per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post). The 29-year-old has already missed six games with a lower-body injury and seems likely to be placed on the injured reserve in the not-too-distant future. Nichushkin reportedly has quite a way to go before he can get back in the lineup which is bad news for an Avalanche team that has dealt with a litany of injury issues this season.

The former 10th overall pick has been effective when available this season, posting 11 goals and six assists in 21 games while averaging 19:38 of ice time per game. However, his game has shown signs of rust, particularly when it comes to protecting the puck. Nichushkin has turned the puck over at an alarming rate this year, something that was uncharacteristic in previous seasons.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar denied a previous report on Gabriel Landeskog that said the injured forward couldn’t skate on back-to-back days due to swelling (as per Aarif Dean of Colorado Hockey Now). Bednar was asked by the media if there was any truth to previous reports of the swelling and answered with a simple “no.” He didn’t give any additional details about the 32-year-old’s recovery as he tries to get back into game action for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in June 2022.

Aaron Ekblad And Jonah Gadjovich Won’t Travel On Road Trip

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Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Jonah Gadjovich will miss at least the next two games as neither player is travelling with the team on their road trip this week (as per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now).

The Panthers have a back-to-back in Philadelphia and New Jersey and will have to make do without Ekblad who has been having a solid bounce-back season and is dealing with an undisclosed injury. He did not play yesterday in an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, and although it hasn’t been confirmed when he was hurt, it seems likely that it occurred when he blocked a shot against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout win on January 3rd. Ekblad played regularly for the remainder of the game, but missed their next game on January 6th, and then was back in the lineup a few days later to take on Utah.

The injury doesn’t appear to be a long-term concern for Ekblad, but it does seem like a lingering issue that the Panthers would like to allow Ekblad to heal from. The 2014 first-overall pick has two goals and 18 assists in 41 games this season and has seen his ice time increase dramatically from last year as he is averaging 23:32 per game.

Gadjovich has played sparingly in 18 games this season, averaging just 7:50 of ice time per game. The Whitby, Ontario native has already missed the Panthers’ last nine games and will be reevaluated when the team returns home on Thursday. The 26-year-old has a single goal this season and is a -1 plus/minus with 56 hits.

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