Week In Review

With almost the hockey world shuttered for the foreseeable future, a big chunk of the top stories of the week revolved around cancellations and postponements.

KHL Shuts Down: One league that was hoping to quickly resume their postseason was the KHL.  Even in the aftermath of two teams withdrawing from the second round of the playoffs, the original plan was to take a week off to make changes to the six-team field and then get back underway.  Instead, they’ve changed their mind and cancelled the remainder of the playoffs while announcing they won’t aware the Gagarin Cup.  Now, their focus shifts to starting next season on time which is a different approach to the NHL who has basically acknowledged that the start of 2020-21 will be delayed if play resumes in the coming weeks and months.

Two Colorado Players Test Positive: Until this week, the only team with a known positive test for COVID-19 was Ottawa.  That changed when Colorado announced that an unnamed player had tested positive but had since recovered.  They then revealed over the weekend that a second unnamed player has tested positive and is in self-isolation.  That brings the number of confirmed positive tests of NHL players to four.

CHL Cancellations: Although the CHL had cancelled their regular seasons already (with leagues having different plans regarding how to handle the variance in games played), their hope was to get the playoffs underway at a later date.  That’s no longer the case as the league has cancelled the postseason as well as the annual Memorial Cup, a tournament involving the winners of each league plus the host team.  It will be the first time in the 101-year history of the Memorial Cup that it won’t be awarded.  There was one other notable development from junior hockey during the week as the WHL granted 14-year-old forward Connor Bedard exceptional player status, allowing him to enter the league next season, one year earlier than he normally would have been able to.  It’s the first time in WHL history that they’ve given someone this designation.  Bedard will be eligible for the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Zegras Turns Pro: After Kings prospect Alex Turcotte decided to forego the final three years of his college eligibility, Ducks prospect Trevor Zegras, another top-ten pick from last June, did the same.  The center had a strong freshman campaign at Boston University, picking up 36 points in 33 games while also leading the World Juniors in assists with nine in five games for Team USA.  Zegras will try to push for a spot on Anaheim’s roster next season but may need some time at the minor league level as well.

More Postponements: With there being no immediate end in sight to the pandemic, the NHL unsurprisingly has started to postpone some of their upcoming events.  The Draft Lottery was slated to be held early next month at the conclusion of the regular season but with their plan being to resume the season later on, that being delayed was inevitable.  The same could be said for the NHL Awards as those are dependent on the regular season which may not finish for a while and they too were postponed.  Not surprisingly, the draft has also been put on hold with the results of the regular season and playoffs shaping the order of selection so obviously, the draft can’t be held until everything is finished.  There’s a good chance that the event will be a slimmed-down version whenever it is held.

While there was no hockey being played this past week, there were still some newsworthy events over the past seven days which are highlighted in our key stories.

Roster Freeze: Although players can sign contracts for next season, free agents can’t sign deals for the 2019-20 campaign.  That’s because the NHL has put a roster freeze in place, one that will presumably be in place until games are closer to resuming if things get to that point.  A total of 16 players were assigned to the minors including Anaheim’s Kiefer Sherwood who was the only one to clear waivers.  Winnipeg was the only team to recall a player as Mark Letestu was brought back from his conditioning stint with AHL Manitoba without ever actually getting into a game.

Testing Positive: It was only a matter of time before an NHL player tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and that has come to fruition as the Senators announced that one of their players has the virus but did not identify who had it.  As it turns out, they had a second player test positive over the weekend.  Prior to the shutdown, Ottawa was on the road in California, one of the states that have been hardest by the pandemic.  In their second announcement, it was noted that six other members of the organization (not necessarily players) were also exhibiting symptoms and that they were waiting for testing results.

Thornton Hoping To Play Next Season: After he wasn’t dealt at the trade deadline, Sharks center Joe Thornton expressed some disappointment that he wouldn’t be able to get another shot at a Stanley Cup title.  Perhaps with that in mind, he indicated that his intention is to continue playing into next season which would be his 23rd in the league.  The 41-year-old has seen his production taper off considerably this year with seven goals and 31 points in 71 games, numbers that are well below his career averages.  He has shown a willingness to take cheaper deals lately and is making $2MM this season but he may have to take another pay cut to get a look next year with San Jose or another team.

Hobey Baker Finalists: The list of Hobey Baker candidates has been dropped from 78 midseason nominees to a group of ten finalists, headlined by Vegas prospect Jack Dugan who led the NCAA in scoring.  There are three players in that group that haven’t been drafted or signed by an NHL team – centers Jason Cotton and Jordan Kawaguchi plus goaltender Dryden McKay.  This group of ten players will be whittled down to three by a selection committee plus a fan vote with voting set to end on March 29th.

World Championship Cancelled: It was a move that had been expected for quite some time but has now been made official – the IIHF has cancelled the 2020 Men’s World Hockey Championship.  The tournament was slated to run in Switzerland in May but given all of the uncertainty and travel restrictions with the current pandemic, it was unrealistic to think that it could have been played as scheduled.  The 2021 event is slated to take place in Belarus and Latvia.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

This past week was a rather unique one not only in hockey but the entire sporting landscape.  Naturally, those events dominate the headlines of the past seven days.

Season Suspended: Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first.  As a result of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the NHL has put the season on pause for the time being.  Players have been told to self-quarantine for a six-day period and it’s expected that things will be re-assessed at that time in a week or so to determine next steps depending on what other government decrees come into play between now and then.  Unlike the NBA which has committed to a 30-day shutdown at a minimum, the NHL hasn’t put any firm timelines in place.  The remaining schedule will likely be determined based on when they’re able to get everything back up and running while there is still some potential that games will be played in empty arenas even when play resumes.  In the interim, the players will still be paid their salaries at the regular intervals (though there will probably have to be some escrow adjustments) while some teams have made arrangements to pay their game day staff during this stoppage.

Other Leagues Follow Suit: Not surprisingly, other leagues have followed suit.  The AHL and CHL have opted to do like the NHL for the time being and temporarily suspend their seasons, allowing for the possibility to return down the road.  While the AHL still has a little more than a month left on their regular season schedule, the CHL playoffs were just about to get underway.  Other leagues have decided to cancel the rest of the season/playoffs outright, including the ECHL, SHL, and NCAA.  The latter, in particular, will have an interesting effect on the transaction front in the weeks to come as the college free agent market can pick up at any time instead of teams having to wait for college squads to be eliminated from the postseason.

Simek Extension: Sharks defenseman Radek Simek officially signed his four-year, $9MM extension.  The 27-year-old got a late start to his NHL career as he only debuted with San Jose last season but he has become an important part of their back end.  Injuries have limited him to just 48 games this season where he has nine points while logging over 17 minutes a night.  Given his overall lack of NHL experience, the deal does carry some risk but clearly, San Jose is also banking on Simek taking another step or two forward in his development as well.  The Sharks now have $28.75MM committed to their top four defensemen through the 2023-24 campaign so it’s likely that they will be rounding out that group with players on entry-level deals or low-cost veterans to give them more room to spend elsewhere.

Wisconsin Departures: A pair of top NHL prospects decided to forego the rest of their NCAA eligibility at Wisconsin.  First, the Kings inked 2019 first-rounder (fifth overall) Alex Turcotte to a three-year, entry-level deal that begins in the 2020-21 season.  The center had 26 points in 29 games in his freshman year with the Badgers and was slated to join AHL Ontario before the season was suspended.  Meanwhile, the Rangers agreed to terms on a deal with blueliner K’Andre Miller on an entry-level pact as well.  Miller, the 22nd pick in 2018, saw his offensive numbers dip a bit in his sophomore campaign but he still posted a respectable 18 points in 36 contests.  While Turcotte isn’t quite NHL ready yet, Miller could contend for a spot on New York’s back end as soon as next season.

Lemieux Suspended: The NHL has decided to suspend Rangers winger Brendan Lemieux for his hit on Colorado winger Joonas Donskoi back on Wednesday.  However, the number of games he will miss has not yet been determined and will be dependent on what the schedule situation turns out to be.  This will be Lemieux’s second suspension of his young career after receiving a two-game ban back in November of 2018 for an illegal hit to the head.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

While the time for trades has come and gone, there were still quite a few newsworthy stories from around the NHL which are highlighted in the key stories of the week.  (Among the top non-NHL stories was the cancellation of the Women’s World Hockey Championships.)

Metropolitan Injuries: Carolina has been hit hard by injuries on the back end this season.  Already without Dougie Hamilton, they will now be missing Brett Pesce for the rest of the year as he is out four to six months after undergoing shoulder surgery.  To make matters worse, Sami Vatanen, one of their deadline acquisitions, suffered a setback in his recovery and is out indefinitely.  The injuries weren’t just limited to the Hurricanes though as Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson was also ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery that carries a recovery timeline of four to six months.  The speculative trade candidate will become a restricted free agent this summer.

Cap Projections: One of the annual traditions at the GM meetings is a rough projection of next year’s salary cap.  It always tends to be on the optimistic side and this time is no exception.  NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the projected range is from $84MM to $88.2MM with the number requiring negotiation with the NHLPA when it comes to their inflator that they can exercise.  Even at the low end, that represents a $2.5MM increase but it probably isn’t realistic to expect much more than that as the higher the Upper Limit is, the more escrow that will be withheld.  In recent years, the NHLPA has used less than the maximum inflator (5%) to try to help curtail that and this will likely be the case again this offseason.

Julien To Stick Around: With the Canadiens set to miss the playoffs for the third straight season and fourth time in five years, some were wondering if Montreal would be making a coaching change.  GM Marc Bergevin quickly put an end to that speculation, announcing that head coach Claude Julien will return for the 2020-21 season.  Julien is in his fourth season with the team (his second stint with the Canadiens overall) and the results have been relatively mediocre overall with Montreal posting a .525 points percentage in that span.  However, he has done enough to earn the continued confidence of Bergevin who will be looking to tweak his roster this summer to help try to get them back into the playoff discussion.

Offside Changes Ahead? The offside rule has come under fire since the institution of the ability to challenge for it on goals.  The current rule is that a players’ skate must be on the line to be deemed onside.  That may soon be changing.  At the GM meetings, they voted to amend the rule to make it that the skate can simply be over the plane of the line to be onside.  That would simplify the review process and would eliminate quite a few of the offside challenges overall.  There are still two more hurdles to clear before it becomes official though as it still has to get through the Competition Committee and be ratified by the Board of Governors in the offseason.

Richard Passes Away: Hall of Fame winger Henri Richard passed away at the age of 84 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s.  He spent his entire 20-year career with Montreal, playing in a franchise record 1,258 games.  His 1,046 points are the third most in team history behind only Guy Lafleur and the late Jean Beliveau.  On top of that, he won an NHL record 11 Stanley Cup titles as a player, a record that is almost assuredly going to stand the test of time.  In 2017, the ‘Pocket Rocket’ was named to the NHL’s All-Time Top 100 players and was one of the most revered players in the history of the Canadiens.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The past week saw plenty of trades with one of the busier trade deadlines in recent memory.  A full recap of the activity can be found here while the biggest moves also warrant a mention in the top stories of the week.

Hurricanes Add Several Key Pieces: While Carolina opted to not make a move to add a goalie despite the injuries to Petr Mrazek and James Reimer, they were quite active on deadline day.  First, they picked up center Vincent Trocheck from Florida for center Erik Haula, forward Lucas Wallmark, and a pair of prospects.  Then, they added to their blueline with a pair of deals, acquiring Sami Vatanen from New Jersey for a conditional fourth rounder and prospect Janne Kuokkanen plus Brady Skjei from the Rangers for a first-round pick (the lesser of Carolina’s or Toronto’s).  Vatanen is still injured which lowered his market while Skjei has already stepped into a big role, logging more than 21 minutes a night over his first three games.

Kreider Stays In New York: Part of the reason that Skjei was moved to Carolina was a looming cap crunch for the Rangers.  A big part of that was the announcement that winger Chris Kreider had signed a seven-year contract extension that carries a $6.5MM AAV.  Talks didn’t progress much over the weekend but a last ditch effort proved to be enough to keep the power forward in the fold.  He was on pace for a career year offensively but that is no longer the case as he suffered a fractured foot early in their game on Friday.  He’s now out indefinitely.  (That wasn’t the only bad news on the injury front for them either as goalie Igor Shesterkin is out with a rib fracture that was sustained in a car crash.)

The Parise Non-Trade: With over 30 trades on deadline day, it’s hard to believe that one of the biggest stories from the deadline was a trade that didn’t happen but that’s indeed the case.  Zach Parise’s tenure with Minnesota has been underwhelming when it’s compared to the 12-year, $98MM deal that’s now outlawed in the CBA.  Injuries have been an issue and he hasn’t been a top scorer when he was in the lineup.  Nonetheless, there was progress in a trade that would have seen him join the Islanders in a deal that would have seen winger Andrew Ladd head to the Wild.  It got to the point that both veterans waived their trade protection to make a deal happen but in the end, it fell through.  It will be interesting to see if the deal gets revisited this summer when there’s less pressure in terms of time to get a deal done while the financial picture (including salary cap recapture) is a little easier to work with.

Muzzin Extension: It had long been speculated that the Maple Leafs and defenseman Jake Muzzin were making progress on a contract extension.  That indeed was the case as shortly after the trade deadline passed, he signed a four-year deal worth an average of $5.625MM per season.  The veteran has been a stabilizing force on Toronto’s back end after being acquired a little ahead of the 2019 trade deadline from Los Angeles.  However, the positivity around that was short-lived as he too was injured.  He broke his hand in the first game after the deadline and will be out for a month.

Pageau To The Islanders: It was a soft trade market for impact centers with Jean-Gabriel Pageau representing the best option available.  That worked to Ottawa’s benefit as he was shipped to the Islanders for 2020 first and second-round picks as well as a conditional 2022 third rounder.  The Sens and Pageau’s camp had been talking about an extension but couldn’t come to an agreement.  That wasn’t the case with New York as just hours after the trade was announced, he inked a six-year, $30MM extension.  (And unlike Kreider and Muzzin, he wasn’t felled by an injury shortly thereafter and instead scored in two of his first three games.)

Stamkos Injured: All of the deadline day activity warrants having an extra key story for the week.  Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, it involves them as center Steven Stamkos is set to undergo core muscle surgery.  The expected timeline for his recovery is six-to-eight weeks which rules him out for the remainder of the regular season at a minimum and likely most, if not all of the first round as well.  That’s a tough blow for the Lightning who were swept in a shocking upset in the first round a year ago and will now have to deal without one of their top scorers to start the postseason.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The week before the trade deadline is usually full of newsworthy events.  This past week was no exception although a lot of the news didn’t pertain to the trade market.

Bogosian Hits The Market, Then Joins Tampa: After making it through waivers unclaimed, defenseman Zach Bogosian refused to report to AHL Rochester, Buffalo’s affiliate.  He was promptly suspended without pay but instead of leaving it at that, the Sabres then placed him on unconditional waivers and after he went unclaimed, they terminated his contract without any lingering cap charges or money owed.  He wasn’t a free agent for long, however, as he has already reached an agreement with Tampa Bay on a one-year deal worth a pro-rated $1.3MM.  By going this route over reporting to the AHL, Bogosian is leaving quite a bit of money on the table but gets the chance to play for a playoff contender.

Martinez To Vegas: Tuesday and Wednesday represented a run on defensemen trades but only one of those involved a blueliner that’s signed through next season.  That player was Alec Martinez who the Kings traded to the Golden Knights in exchange for a pair of second-round picks.  While Martinez missed 18 games earlier this season due to a wrist laceration, he is still a capable defensive defender that should be able to come in and help stabilize the back end for Vegas while they maintain their track record of not adding rental players.  (Those that were added on expiring deals had extension agreements in place at the time they were acquired.)

Canucks Add Toffoli, Lose Boeser: The Canucks made an early splash on the trade front, acquiring Tyler Toffoli from the Kings in exchange for winger Tim Schaller, prospect Tyler Madden, a 2020 second-round pick, and a conditional 2022 fourth-rounder that’s contingent on Toffoli re-signing with Vancouver.  On the surface, it looked like a strong attack was getting even stronger but it was revealed soon after that winger Brock Boeser will miss the next eight weeks due to a rib injury, one that won’t acquire surgery.  Toffoli will serve as a capable replacement for Boeser to help try to keep Vancouver in the mix while in Madden, the Kings add a prospect that has vastly outperformed his draft status and is one of the top scorers in the NCAA this season.

Bruins Get Kase: The Bruins had been shopping for a right winger for a while.  They had also been shopping David Backes for a while.  Those two elements came together as Boston picked up Ondrej Kase from the Ducks in exchange for Backes, their 2020 first-round pick, and defense prospect Axel Andersson.  Boston also is retaining 25% of Backes’ $6MM AAV.  Kase has shown flashes of being a quality offensive threat in the past but has also battled bouts of inconsistency and injuries.  He’s signed through next season at a team-friendly $2.6MM AAV and will be a restricted free agent after that which means he could be around for a while which makes it easier to part with the first-rounder.  Meanwhile, the Ducks utilized their cap space to add an extra first-round selection plus a decent prospect while they should have a use for Backes who is signed through next season.

Bjorkstrand Out For A While: Despite losing several top players and a ridiculously long list of injuries to key players, the Blue Jackets are right in the thick of the playoff race in the ultra-tight Metropolitan Division.  That battle just got a lot harder when they announced that winger Oliver Bjorkstrand will miss the next eight-to-ten weeks due to a sprained and fractured ankle.  The 24-year-old is their leading goal-getter this season with 21 which is particularly notable considering that they’re in the bottom five in the league in goals scored.  That could force GM Jarmo Kekalainen to try to make at least a small move to try to replace some of that offense over the next few hours.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Activity on the trade front hasn’t reached its peak just yet as the trade deadline is still a couple of weeks away.  However, there was still one swap of note which is among the top stories of the past seven days.

Giordano Injured: The Flames are among the teams in the hotly-contested battle for positioning in the Pacific Division but their postseason hopes have taken a hit with the announcement that defenseman Mark Giordano is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.  The injury isn’t as bad as initially feared but it’s still a significant loss.  The reigning Norris Trophy winner leads all Calgary blueliners in points with 27 while logging nearly 24 minutes a night, also a team high.  T.J. Brodie had been a speculative trade chip in recent weeks but this injury likely takes him off the market for now.

Oilers, Nurse Nearing Extension: After getting Zack Kassian signed late last month, the Oilers shifted their focus towards signing defenseman Darnell Nurse to a contract extension and are on the verge of getting a two-year deal done.   The 25-year-old is playing out the final season of his bridge contract and was slated to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in July.  While a long-term pact would have been preferable, Edmonton’s salary cap situation would have made that tricky as they already had more than $62MM in commitments to just 12 players for 2020-21.  A couple of years down the road, some of their other deals will be off the books which will give them the flexibility to get a longer deal done at that time.

Maple Leafs-Kings Swap: Given Michael Hutchinson’s struggles this season and the recent neck injury to Frederik Andersen, Toronto needed to make a move to address their goaltending situation.  They did just that, acquiring goalie Jack Campbell along with winger Kyle Clifford from Los Angeles in exchange for winger Trevor Moore plus a pair of third-round picks.  The Kings are retaining half of Clifford’s $1.6MM AAV while one of the third-rounders could become a second-round selection if Clifford re-signs in Toronto or the Maple Leafs make the playoffs with Campbell winning six or more regular season games.  Campbell very quietly posted a .928 SV% last season which earned him a two-year extension (with a $1.65MM AAV) that kicks in next season.  With Toronto’s salary cap situation, it will be interesting to see if they can afford to spend that on a backup in 2020-21.

Another Surgery For Seabrook: It has been a rough season for Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.  He struggled considerably early on before being shut down due to injury.  Since then, he underwent shoulder surgery in December and left hip surgery in January.  He now has gone under the knife once again, this time having surgery on his right hip with an expected recovery time of five-to-six months.  If everything goes well, he should be cleared to play next season.  The 34-year-old still has four seasons left on his contract after this one with a pricey $6.875MM cap hit.

Latest On Byfuglien: Last week, it looked like Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien wasn’t going to play this season which gave the Jets at least a bit more certainty to work with as the deadline approaches.  However, it appears that the two sides are headed for a mutual contract termination which would end his time with Winnipeg altogether.  If and when it’s finalized, Byfuglien will be able to become an unrestricted free agent and assuming he’ll be healthy for next season, he’ll certainly become one of the top blueliners available on the open market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

The calendar has now flipped to February so activity around the league should really pick up in the next little while.  In the meantime, here’s a look back at the top stories from the past seven days.

Kassian Extension: This had been in the works for the better part of the last month but the Oilers and winger Zack Kassian put pen to paper on a four-year contract extension.  The deal sees him land a notable raise as his AAV will go from $1.95MM this season to $3.2MM but for that, he doesn’t receive any form of trade protection.  Kassian has been quite productive for Edmonton this season and is almost up to his career highs in goals and points already while being a decent complementary player alongside Connor McDavid.  If he can maintain similar production over the life of the deal, the Oilers should get reasonable value out of it.

Backes Won’t Play In Providence: After clearing waivers nearly two weeks ago, the Bruins assigned winger David Backes to their AHL affiliate in Providence.  However, the two sides have mutually agreed that he should not report there even though he is fully healthy.  The veteran still has another year left on his contract with a $6MM cap hit so while Boston is working to find a suitable trade for him, that may be a bit challenging unless they’re absorbing some of the contract, sending another asset with Backes in the deal, or both.  As he was sent to the minors, the Bruins continue to get the $1.075MM in cap relief and the team is still paying the 35-year-old during this time.

Hertl Out For The Year: To say that things have not gone well for San Jose this season would be a big understatement.  Any slim hopes of them turning things around took another hit when it was announced that center Tomas Hertl had sustained a torn ACL and MCL and is out for the season.  Surgery has not yet taken place.  The 26-year-old was tied for second in team scoring with winger Logan Couture prior to the injury.  As it turns out, Hertl happened to be Couture’s replacement at the All-Star Game.  San Jose is now 11 points out of a playoff spot with just 29 games left to play and between that and being down their top two forwards, expect them to start selling over the next few weeks.

Pettersson Extension: Last offseason, the Penguins were hoping to get defenseman Marcus Pettersson signed to a long-term deal but salary cap constraints forced them to settle for a one-year deal for his qualifying offer.  They then cleared out some money for next season when they dealt Erik Gudbranson to Anaheim and they’ve turned around and given it to Pettersson as they signed him to a five-year extension with a cap hit of just over $4.025MM.  The deal also contains an eight-team no-trade clause in the final two seasons.  Pettersson has been a stabilizing part of Pittsburgh’s back end since they acquired him early last season and he’s averaging a career-high 19:26 so far this season in 51 games.

Byfuglien Unlikely To Play This Season: While the suspension without pay grievance is still heading for arbitration, there appears to be some news on the Dustin Byfuglien front in Winnipeg.  He has yet to resume skating following his ankle surgery and as it stands, he’s now not likely to play this season.  This will give Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff some much-needed certainty heading into the trade deadline as he looks to bolster a defense corps that lost several key players over the summer and has dealt with several injuries this year.  Now, even if the suspension without pay is overturned, Winnipeg will now be able to turn around and say that he was eligible for LTIR, effectively allowing them to go over by the cap by his $7.6MM cap hit to make any additions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

With many teams having this week off as their bye heading into the All-Star Game, it was a relatively quiet week around the NHL.  However, there were still a few notable headlines which are highlighted in the top stories of the week.

Vote Of Confidence For Wilson: This season has not been a good one for San Jose.  After making it to the Western Conference Final in 2019, they were able to keep the core intact including getting defenseman Erik Karlsson locked up long-term.  Things were looking up, or so it seemed.  This season has been the complete opposite with many veterans struggling and a coaching change that hasn’t changed much.  Despite that, GM Doug Wilson received a vote of confidence from owner Hasso Plattner which suggests that he will be given the opportunity to turn things around.  Previous reports have suggested that Wilson, who has been with the team since 1997 (GM since 2003) after finishing his career as a player there, was inclined to keep the core intact but their continued struggles could ultimately change that.

Florida To Host The 2021 All-Star Game: After St. Louis hosted the All-Star festivities this week, the event will be heading back to the East as Florida will host the event next season.  There have been frequent format changes over the years and it appears that this will the case for this event as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suggesting that there could be a return of an international component.  This comes on the heels of him reiterating his desire to not shut down in 2022 to allow NHL players to participate in the Olympics.

Zajac Won’t Waive: Devils center Travis Zajac has been with New Jersey since they made him a first-round pick (20th overall) back in 2004.  With the team struggling once again this season, at least one team made a serious overture about acquiring him with some speculation that the Islanders, a Metropolitan Division rival, was the team that was going after him.  However, his agent Kurt Overhardt indicated that Zajac is not willing to waive his no-trade clause at this time while adding that they will revisit the situation after the season which suggests that he won’t be on the move in the next month.  The 34-year-old still has one year left on his eight-year contract after this one with a $5.75MM cap hit.

Lowry Out For A While: The Jets have dealt with injury issues all season long and will now be missing a key player for at least a month as Adam Lowry is out with an upper-body injury.  Among their full-time centers, Lowry is Winnipeg’s best player at the faceoff dot while his 132 hits leads the team.  Winnipeg is currently tied for ninth in the Western Conference and are now down five players off their roster plus the uncertain situation surrounding suspended defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.

Andersson Assigned: The Lias Andersson situation has been a strange one over the last month.  After abruptly leaving AHL Hartford and demanding a trade, the Rangers suspended him without pay and he returned to his native Sweden but he wasn’t able to play.  That now has changed as the team has officially loaned him to HV71 of the SHL.  While it’s certainly a benefit from a development perspective, it’s also an important one on the trade front as interested teams will be able to keep tabs on his progress before deciding whether or not to make a move.  If the Rangers do decide to trade the 21-year-old, he’ll be one of the more intriguing prospects to change organizations over the next month.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.