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Dustin Byfuglien

Snapshots: Keane, Byfuglien, Bruins

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The London Knights must have felt a little thin on defense with Evan Bouchard and Adam Boqvist off playing in the World Junior Championship. The powerhouse OHL organization has added another top option to their blue line, trading for Joey Keane from the Barrie Colts. Keane himself was almost suiting up for Team USA at the tournament, but was one of the final cuts just before Christmas.

After going undrafted in his first year of eligibility, Keane was snapped up in the third round by the New York Rangers in June after putting up a solid season with Barrie. His 44 points in 62 games were impressive, but it’s Keane’s legitimate shutdown ability that intrigued most scouts. While he’s not the biggest or strongest, the Illinois native is a force in his own end with his exceptional reads, and will only strengthen what is already a dominant London blue line. The opportunity he’ll get to compete in the OHL playoffs will only help his development as he tries to jump to the professional ranks down the road.

  • While the Department of Player Safety is looking more closely at a David Backes hit, they’ve already handed out punishment for a different incident last night. Dustin Byfuglien has been fined $2,500 for slashing Johnny Gaudreau in last night’s Winnipeg-Calgary game. When Gaudreau beat Byfuglien at the Calgary blue line and had a clear path for an empty-net goal to seal the win, the Jets defenseman spun and delivered a forceful slash. While he won’t serve any suspension for it, the incident will be taken into account in any future supplementary discipline. Gaudreau practiced today for Calgary.
  • It seems the Boston Bruins can’t possibly have everyone healthy at the same time. After activating Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Jake Debrusk yesterday, the team has placed Charlie McAvoy on injured reserve today in order to get under the 23-man roster limit. McAvoy’s injury is only expected to keep him out a few days, but will definitely keep him out of tomorrow’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Whether he’ll be ready for Tuesday’s Winter Classic at Notre Dame is still undetermined.

Snapshots: Guentzel, Byfuglien, Kulikov, Murphy

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Penguins winger Jake Guentzel was open to beginning discussions regarding a contract extension back in the offseason, notes Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required).  However, GM Jim Rutherford indicated at the time that his preference was to negotiate a new deal next summer.  While that may have been disappointing at the time for Guentzel, it’s fair to suggest that this worked out quite well for him.  The 24-year-old has 22 points through 26 games so far this season which puts him on pace for 69, a number that would vastly surpass his previous career best of 48.  Although he’s still on his entry-level deal, Guentzel is eligible for salary arbitration next summer so he is well-positioned to land a substantial raise on his current $734K cap hit and almost assuredly more than if he signed an extension last summer.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The Jets could have a key defenseman back in their lineup on Friday. Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe notes that there’s a good chance Dustin Byfuglien will return after missing the last four games with a concussion.  That would be a big boost to their back end as he leads all Winnipeg blueliners in scoring (17 points) while leading the team in playing time per game (24:24).  Meanwhile, fellow rearguard Dmitry Kulikov could also return from his upper-body injury that he sustained early last month.  His initial timeline for recovery was mid-December so he certainly appears to be ahead of schedule.
  • Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy took contact in practice for the first time this week and could return as soon as Sunday, reports Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times. The veteran has missed the entire season since undergoing back surgery in September and while he hasn’t been a big point producer in the past, he’ll give them some extra depth on their back end and likely slot into a third pairing role.  Chicago is currently carrying the maximum 23 players allowable on their roster so they will have to make a move over the next couple of days if they want him to play this weekend.

J.D. Greenway Commits To The University Of Maine

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The University of Maine received great news today in the form of a commitment from a top prospect. J.D. Greenway, brother to Minnesota Wild forward Jordan Greenway and a 2016 third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is set to join the Black Bears. Greenway’s current team, the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, announced that the big defenseman has decided to return to school next season.

Greenway’s development has come with its fair share of twists and turns thus far. The 20-year-old grew into his 6’4″ frame early on and gained the reputation of a being a hulking defender with composure and checking ability beyond his years, along with an offensive touch. In two seasons with the U.S. National Development Program, Greenway was a constant presence both on the ice and the score sheet. He joined the University of Wisconsin Badgers in 2016-17 with high expectations, but had a difficult time transitioning his game to the college level. While he received the benefit of the doubt as a highly-recruited freshman, he didn’t enjoy that same benefit in year two when his problems persisted and he lost ice time and trust of the coaching staff. Greenway made the decision to leave school and re-evaluate his plans this season, which has proved wise so far. In 17 games with Dubuque, Greenway leads all defensemen in points, power play production, and shots, looking comfortable as an offensive asset again.

As a result, Greenway’s stock was back on the rise among college programs and UMaine is the lucky winner. This is a major addition for the Black Bears, who get Greenway for two seasons beginning next year. The team currently rosters only three other NHL draft picks – starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman (BOS, 4th rd. ’17) and forwards Chase Pearson (DET, 5th rd. ’15) and Patrick Shea (FLA, 7th rd. ’15) – and have not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2012. With all three of these players and last year’s top scorer, Mitchell Fossier, expected to return next season, as well as the additions of Greenway and the likes of Brad Morrissey and Brady Gaudette, Maine could take a big step forward in 2019-20.

The Maple Leafs will be also happy to see Greenway back in the college ranks improving his game, as the young defenseman brings a Dustin Byfuglien-type style that the team would love to one day see flourish on their blue line. Oftentimes issues with a college program are too quickly labeled as a shortcoming of the player, but in the case of Greenway, he is certainly still considered a solid NHL prospect who should outperform his Wisconsin production once he arrives in Orono next year.

Central Notes: Makar, Dunn, Morrissey, Vesalainen

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The Colorado Avalanche may be focused on the present, but their future looks bright as well. Not only do the Avalanche have the Ottawa Senators first-round pick this season, which could be a lottery pick despite the team’s success early on this year, the team likes what it sees from Cale Makar, the fourth-overall pick in 2017.

The 19-year-old, who is in his sophomore year at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, has been dominating so far in the early games of the season. UMass reports that Makar leads the NCAA already in points/game with 2.33 as he has three goals and seven points in three games. Makar, who had a good season last year, had just 21 points in 34 games last season, putting him way ahead of where he was a year ago. There continue to be rumors that he’ll sign with the Avalanche after this collegiate season.

  • The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) answers questions in a mailbag session and points out that the St. Louis Blues intend to put more responsibilities on the shoulders of second-year defenseman Vince Dunn, who has struggled getting minutes early in the season and has been scratched twice. However, Rutherford writes that the Blues believe he’s been one of their most effective defenders and is likely to receive top-four minutes from now on. Evidently, Dunn suffered through back issues over the summer and wasn’t able to get into top shape before the season started. Now that he’s almost back to the shape he was in last year, Dunn is likely to see an uptick in minutes. He’s already expected to be paired on the top defensive line with Alex Pietrangelo.
  • In a notebook, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (subscription required) writes that Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey is developing nicely after being drafted as an offensive-only defenseman back in 2013. Since then, he’s developed into an excellent shutdown defender and with Jacob Trouba, combine as the team’s shutdown defensive line against other team’s top players. However, when veteran defenseman Dustin Byfuglien went down with an injury last week, Morrissey was given his job on the No. 1 powerplay and still maintains that job despite Byfuglien’s return. Byfuglien has moved to the No. 2 power play role.
  • With the Winnipeg Jets sending 2017 first-round pick Kristian Vesalainen down to Manitoba of the AHL Friday, Moose head coach Pascal Vincent said that the goal is to give the 19-year-old lots of minutes, especially on the power play to get him more ready to eventually return to Winnpeg. “…we want to put him in a position to be successful so he is going to play a lot of minutes and on the power play and I think for his development that’s the right thing,” Vincent said (via Dave Minuk of illegalcurve.com).

Central Notes: Byfuglien, Suter, MacKinnon, Eriksson Ek

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The Winnipeg Jets open up a six-game homestand, but will be without one of their best players as defenseman Dustin Byfuglien will sit out Sunday due to an upper-body injury he sustained in practice Saturday, according to the Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe.

He is listed as day-to-day, according to head coach Paul Maurice. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound blueliner will be a major loss as the team hosts the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes, who have been impressive in the first week and a half of the season. The team will turn to Dmitry Kulikov to make his season debut in place of Byfuglien and will likely be paired with Ben Chiarot on the bottom pairing.

“It’s been a lot of hard work over the summer and I knew at some point I was going to get in the lineup,” said Kulikov, who dealt with off-season back surgery. “It’s exciting for me. I just want to get out there and play some games.”

  • Much praise has been given towards the recent play of Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, which has been impressive in the last few games, according to Pioneer Press’ Dane Mizutani. That’s key after the veteran defenseman is returning from a broken right ankle late last season. His numbers have improved in the four games he’s played so far this season as his ATOI has increased in each game that he’s played so far as he played 28:21 in Saturday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. He also has posted a goal and three assists in his last two games.
  • Nathan MacKinnon has started his season off on a positive note as he has already tallied six goals in his first five games, yet the Colorado Avalanche center indicates that he can do even better. “I think I can dominate more than I am,” said MacKinnon, the reigning Hart Trophy runner-up. MacKinnon currently is tied for third place in goal scoring behind Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Boston’s David Pastrnak.
  • Sarah McLellan of the StarTribune reports the injured center Joel Eriksson Ek was skating this morning. He was reportedly expected to miss a week after suffering a lower-body injury. There is no update on his status, however, and the team is still considering recalling a player from the Iowa Wild of the AHL with a back-to-back games approaching. While he hasn’t posted any points yet in three games, many have been impressed by the play of the 21-year-old center.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Winnipeg Jets

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Winnipeg Jets

Current Cap Hit: $74,274,122 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Patrik Laine (one year, $925K)
F Kyle Connor (one year, $925K)
F Kristian Vesalainen (three years, $925K)
F Jack Roslovic (two years, $894K)
F Brendan Lemieux (one year, $839K)
D Sami Niku (two years, $775K)

Potential Bonuses:

Laine: $2.65MM
Connor: $850K
Roslovic: $213K
Lemieux: $200K
Niku: $183K

Total: $4.1MM

The Jets were hit hard when many of their entry-level deals expired a year ago and next year won’t be too much different as the team, which is now starting to feel the strain of the salary cap, will have to find a way to hand over a lot of money to Laine, who could receive a long-term deal at an extremely high price. Of course, the 20-year-old is worth that money. The winger scored 36 goals in his rookie campaign and topped that with a 44-goal season last year. If he can reach numbers even close to that, he could be one of the highest players in the league in a year.

Connor should also cost the team a good deal of money as the 21-year-old winger posted 31 goals in his first full NHL season last year and looks to be heading in a similar direction and could also get himself a contract in the $5MM+ range in one season. The team gets another year for Roslovic, who is currently playing in the bottom-six, but don’t be surprised if the 21-year-old center might eventually move into the top-six at some point in the season.

It’s still too early to know where Vesalainen stands, but the highly-touted prospect will get time immediately in a bottom-six role and develop his skills. With three years on his entry-level deal, the team hopes it can get some cheap scoring options from him for a few years.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

D Jacob Trouba ($5.5MM, RFA)
D Tyler Myers ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Ben Chiarot ($1.4MM, UFA)
F Brandon Tanev ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Andrew Copp ($1MM, RFA)
D Joseph Morrow ($1MM, RFA)
F Nic Petan ($874K, RFA)
F Marko Dano ($800K, RFA)
G Laurent Brossoit ($650K, RFA)

While the team is deep in forwards, their defense has many long-term questions surrounding them. Two of those players have contracts that will expire at the end of the season. Trouba is the most interesting. Despite holding out several years ago and showing little interest in Winnipeg, it looked like things were improving after Winnipeg enjoyed an impressive season last year that took them to the Western Conference Finals. However, another difficult negotiations that failed to bring in a long-term deal and the team may be forced to move on from Trouba sooner than later. He can be an unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 season.

Myers is also a candidate for the team to move on from as the veteran is on the final year of a seven-year, $38.5MM deal. While Myers is still a very productive player, the long term deals the team has already signed off on as well as potential deals with Laine and Connor could make him a cap casualty as well. The team has Niku, among others, sitting in the AHL waiting for a spot to open and some could open up at the end of the year.

Two Years Remaining

D Dmitry Kulikov ($4.33MM, UFA)
D Josh Morrissey ($3.15MM, RFA)

The team made a couple of free agent signings last offseason, including bringing in goalie Steve Mason and signing Kulikov. Mason has already been traded away after a disappointing season, while Kulikov has had trouble fitting in as well, even being held out of several playoff games last year. The 27-year-old is barely holding onto his spot as a third-line defender and could find himself fighting for time eventually if he can’t improve his game.

Morrissey is a different story. The partner to Trouba has been a solid defender and has continued to improve his game and will still be a restricted free agent in a few years, giving the team another opportunity to lock him up long-term.

Three Years Remaining

D Dustin Byfuglien ($7.6MM, UFA)
F Mathieu Perreault ($4.13MM, UFA)
F Adam Lowry ($2.92MM, UFA)

Byfuglien is locked up long-term and in many ways is the face of the franchise, who produces both physicality and offense for the team. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound blueliner did just provide eight goals last year, one of the lowest totals of his career, but the 33-year-old still managed to produce 45 points. The team needs the veteran to continue his dominant play for a few years more if the team intends to continue a long-term Western Conference run.

The team also needs Perreault to continue playing solid hockey as one of their best bottom-six forwards. The 30-year-old posted 17 goals last year, one goal shy of his career-high. The 25-year-old Lowry is another player who the team needs to step up for the franchise. He posted 15 goals in 2016-17, but managed to score just eight goals last year in 45 games. However, his passing game showed quite a bit of improvement.

Four Or More Years Remaining

G Connor Hellebuyck ($6.19MM through 2023-24)
F Mark Scheifele ($6.13MM through 2023-24)
F Nikolaj Ehlers ($6MM through 2024-25)
F Blake Wheeler ($5.6MM in 2018-19; $8.25MM through 2023-24)
F Bryan Little ($5.29MM through 2023-24)

The franchise has quite a few blue-chip players already locked up long-term with the most important position, goaltending, looking to be in good shape after the team signed Hellebuyck to a six-year, $37MM deal. The 25-year-old posted an impressive breakout season that saw him post a 2.37 GAA and a .924 save percentage and should be a major positive for the team over the next six years.

The team signed Wheeler, their captain, to a long-term extension this offseason. He will finish out his previous deal at $5.6MM, but will start on a four-year extension at $8.25MM. Wheeler posted 20 goals for the fifth-straight season, but also saw his points total surge as the 32-year-old put up a career-high 91 points last year, way better than his previous career-high of 78 points.

Ehlers signed a seven-year extension at this time last season and the 22-year-old posted a career-high 29 goals last season playing on the other side of Laine and producing one of the team’s most dangerous lines. The team also has Little working as a second-line center, although many believe that he’d be better off with a bottom-six role down the road, which would make him an expensive long-term cost at $5.29MM.

Buyouts

F Mark Stuart ($583K in 2018-19)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Scheifele
Worst Value: Kulikov

(Excluding entry-level contracts)

Looking Ahead

The Winnipeg Jets have done an incredible job so far drafting and developing high-end talent and so far have done an excellent job keeping them in the fold for what the team hopes to be a solid five year run for a Stanley Cup. The team has already locked up many of their top players and while they still have a few more to go, they look well on their way to doing that. The only real question is how general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff handles his defense as he has a pair of major decisions to make within the next year when it comes to dealing with Trouba and Myers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Central Notes: Crawford, Morrow, Greenway, Granlund, Zadorov

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The Chicago Blackhawks are hoping that goaltender Corey Crawford returns to action sooner than later after admitting that he’s been dealing with concussion issues when he went down last season. Still experiencing difficulties with concussions, head coach Joel Quenneville said the goal is to have the veteran goaltender out on the ice during practice as long as he can manage it, according to the Chicago Sun-Times Mark Lazerus.

“Good progress. Comparable over the last week and a half that when he’s on the ice, he’s better and he’s stronger and he’s feeling better. It’s all encouraging.”

The team desperately hopes that Crawford, upon return, will return to his elite form. He posted a 2.27 GAA and an impressive .929 save percentage in 28 games before going down. While it is unknown how much longer Crawford will be out, the Blackhawks are preparing to use Cam Ward as their primary starter if they have to.

  • With the loss of Toby Enstrom, who opted to leave the NHL after 11 years with the Winnipeg Jets, the Jets have an opening for a defenseman and that candidate is likely to be Joseph Morrow, according to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. Morrow, who the team acquired at the trade deadline a year ago. The blueliner didn’t get a lot of playing time when he arrived in Winnipeg as his ATOI dropped from 17:47 in Montreal to 14:30 with the Jets. However, he now has a chance to crack a spot in the top four as he did fare well in limited time next to Dustin Byfuglien. “Yeah, that’s a dream to play with Big Buff and be able to match that guy’s personality,” Morrow said. “I got to play with him a bit last year and we were pretty successful together.”
  • The Minnesota Wild and head coach Bruce Boudreau have added a couple wrinkles into the early stages of camp as rookie Jordan Greenway has been playing the center position, while Mikael Granlund has been quarterbacking the first-unit power play, according to Mike Russo of The Athletic (subscription required). Greenway, normally a winger, was used at center during his junior year at Boston University by David Quinn. Boudreau wanted to keep him there as he led a line along with Joel Eriksson Ek and Charlie Coyle, which was a big success in their first scrimmage. Granlund also showed that he could handle the pressure of running a power play on the left wall and looked impressive in that role. “I thought the best testament was all the other forwards want to play the right half wall the way he was feeding them up there,” Boudreau said. “He can make that play. He can even put the behind-the-back pass to Suts. Granny has probably been our most skilled player. I don’t think I’m dissing anybody by saying that. When he’s got the puck, he’s pretty special.”
  • Unlike last year when Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov came into camp overweight and out of shape, this year, the bruising 23-year-old did just the opposite, according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. He’s come into camp in good shape and has changed his diet to accommodate his conditioning. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound blueliner started in Jared Bednar’s doghouse for the early part of the season due to his conditioning, but slowly worked his way back into the rotation before finally settling in next to veteran Tyson Barrie and that hasn’t changed so far in training camp. Now, with the team much happier with his development, he has a chance to develop into a solid NHL defenseman.

Central Notes: Trouba, Crawford, Wild

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The Winnipeg Jets have proven to be a place where winning and success is starting to take fruition. Over the last couple of years, the team hasn’t had much trouble signing their key free agents, whether it’s Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers or Connor Hellebuyck.

That’s why its troubling to see the Jets and defenseman Jacob Trouba going to arbitration, the first player to take the Jets to arbitration in their history. This will be the second time the two sides have gone against each other in contract negotiations with the first encounter being quite heated and made it clear that Trouba didn’t want to be in Winnipeg. Considering that only one case in out of 55 last year went to arbitration, this just is another bad sign, according to Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free-Press.

No matter what happens, the damage will have been done as arbitration only increases animosity between teams. With still lingering effects to the 15-game holdout between Trouba and the Jets, this will only worsen the problem. Wiecek suggests the team has two years to fix the problem and should start looking for a trade partner as soon as possible, because no matter how much he claims he loves it in Winnipeg, it looks more and more like he’ll bolt the first chance he reaches unrestricted free agency. Trading him as soon as possible will only bring home the best returns, which would be another solid defenseman.

  • Mark Lazerus of The Chicago Sun-Times writes that the Chicago Blackhawks will know more about the status of goaltender Corey Crawford in the coming weeks. The veteran goaltender, who missed a large portion of the season last year, is expected to start skating soon and so far looks to be on track to returning this season. “I ran into him [Monday] and talked to him for a while,” general manager Stan Bowman said on Tuesday. “Things are looking good. He said he hasn’t done a whole lot of on-ice stuff yet, but a few of our guys were just starting to skate today, as well. I think they’ll get ramped up over the next six weeks and get more on-ice preparation. I know he’s been training off-ice. Hopefully, things are good.”
  • The Minnesota Wild announced their new affiliation with the Allen Americans as their new ECHL franchise for the 2018-19 season. The team, based in Allen, Texas, has been a successful franchise over its nine years of existence, making the playoffs nine straight years including five years in the CHL and another four in the ECHL. They won the President’s Cup in 2013 and 2014, while winning the Kelly Cup in 2015 and 2016. The Wild used their Rapid City Rush last year as their ECHL affiliate.

Dmitry Kulikov Out Eight Weeks Following Back Surgery

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When Dmitry Kulikov was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury last week, it seemed completely innocuous. Now, it appears to be anything but and potentially season-altering for the Winnipeg Jets. Sportsnet’s Sean Reynolds reports that Kulikov is undergoing back surgery and will be out about eight weeks. For perspective, that would be a return around May 12th, most likely the conference finals round. This is likely season-ending surgery for Kulikov and Winnipeg hopes it won’t contribute to a premature end to their 2017-18 run as well.

For those trying to think of when Kulikov could have suffered such a major injury, you would have to go all the way back to the 2016-17 preseason. Then a newly-acquired Buffalo Sabre, Kulikov suffered a back injury before the season even began and dealt with repercussions all year. Kulikov missed 35 games due to injury last year, at least 22 of which were officially credited to his back, and landed on injured reserve twice. Now, Reynolds adds, the lingering issue has returned to plague him again. In his first season of a three-year deal with the Jets, one has to wonder what the future looks like for Kulikov as this back problem continues to stick around.

Until this point, Kulikov has been relatively healthy for Winnipeg, skating in 62 games thus far. Kulikov has fit in nicely for the Jets, far exceeding his performance in Buffalo last season. His numbers may not jump off the page, offensively or defensively, but as a third-pair pair blue liner he has done everything asked of him, including playing a solid game in his own zone and possessing the puck safely. While his absence may not hurt as much as the loss of a Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfuglien, or Tyler Myers would for the rest of the year, it will certainly be felt. Especially with Toby Enstrom already on the shelf as well, the Jets are hurting for the strong defensive depth they began the year with. More pressure will certainly fall on the likes of Tucker Poolman and Joe Morrow for the remainder of the year, as Winnipeg looks to keep injuries from slowing down an incredible campaign.

Snapshots: Vancouver, Tallon, Fines

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The Vancouver Canucks extended their general manager Jim Benning today, rewarding the work he’s done to start a rebuild around a new core of young players. Speaking with media at the press conference (via Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130), Benning reiterated that he’s been working the phones to try and make his team better and will use free agency to “add players who will help support the young players.”

Heading into the trade deadline, the Canucks have a few expiring contracts to auction off in Thomas Vanek and Erik Gudbranson, while big decisions will still have to be made over the future of Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The twins are pending free agents and will turn 38 before next season, but could still be brought back to provide that support to Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and the rest of the young Vancouver players. “Picks and prospects are going to be like gold” says Benning when asked about the trade deadline, an exciting prospect for fans hoping for no quick fixes.

  • Speaking of GMs trying to fix a struggling franchise, Dale Tallon of the Florida Panthers said on Sportsnet radio yesterday that he’ll only look for long-term benefits at the trade deadline and avoid “kneejerk reactions.” The Panthers have played better of late, but still find themselves well out of the race in the Atlantic Division. Though a wildcard spot is still definitely within reach, it doesn’t sound like Florida is willing to spend at the deadline to try and get over that hump.
  • The NHL handed out several fines today, issuing maximum penalties to Madison Bowey, Dustin Byfuglien and Deryk Engelland for separate incidents. The three players will face harsher penalties in the future, and draw a watchful eye from the Department of Player Safety.

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