Week In Review

With the trade deadline now less than a month away, activity has started to pick up around the NHL.  Several notable swaps highlight the top stories of the week.

Muzzin To Toronto: Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas had indicated earlier in the season that his preference would be to avoid the rental market.  He stayed true to his word, acquiring defenseman Jake Muzzin from the Kings in exchange for Toronto’s 2019 first-round pick, defense prospect Sean Durzi, and winger prospect Carl Grundstrom.  Muzzin is signed through next season at a very reasonable $4MM cap hit, giving the Leafs a defensive upgrade beyond the stretch run.  Meanwhile, this likely is only the beginning of what will likely be an intriguing fire sale in Los Angeles as they sit dead last in the West and will be entering a rebuilding process.

Panthers Acquire Brassard: Center Derick Brassard had been part of trade speculation for quite some time and Pittsburgh pulled the trigger on moving him, sending the pending UFA to Florida along with center Riley Sheahan (also a pending UFA) and three 2019 draft picks (a second rounder and two fourth rounders), for center/winger Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann.  The Panthers add some payroll flexibility for next season as it’s believed that they plan to be aggressive in free agency this summer.  It’s certainly possible that one or both of their acquisitions could be flipped in the coming weeks.  Meanwhile, the Penguins shake up their depth and add some longer-term stability down the middle.  Bjugstad has two more years remaining on his contract with a $4.1MM cap hit so he’ll be a longer-term commitment for the Penguins but if he can get back to his form of the last few years, he’ll be a nice addition.

Panarin Won’t Discuss An Extension: Following a meeting with his agent, it was revealed that Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin will not discuss a contract extension with the team this season.  That places Columbus in a tough situation as the pending UFA would certainly garner plenty of interest on the trade market but moving him would significantly impact their playoff chances as they are in a tight battle for positioning in the Metropolitan Division.  It appears that GM Jarmo Kekalainen is open to the idea of moving him, stating that the team is willing to make a “hard decision” when it comes to the 27-year-old.  Panarin leads the Blue Jackets in scoring this season with 20 goals and 39 assists in 49 games.

Watson Suspended Indefinitely: Predators winger Austin Watson has been suspended indefinitely after he was placed in Stage Two of the league’s Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program.  He also missed the first 18 games of the campaign due to a domestic violence arrest in the offseason but had played an important role for Nashville since returning to the lineup.  With there being no timetable for Watson’s return, it’s likely that GM David Poile will have to turn to the trade market to bring in some extra depth on the wing over the next few weeks.

Oleksiak Goes Back To Dallas: Last season, the Stars moved defenseman Jamie Oleksiak to Pittsburgh in exchange for a 2019 fourth-round pick.  The teams ultimately reversed that swap this past week as the 26-year-old rejoined Dallas with the Penguins getting the draft pick they dealt to them back in return.  (That pick was then flipped to Florida in the Brassard trade.)  Oleksiak was needed with Dallas announcing that veteran blueliner Marc Methot will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery.  He has already been transferred to LTIR.

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While the activity on the trade front still hasn’t really picked up yet, there were plenty of headlines across the league.  Here are the top stories from the past seven days.

Koskinen Extension: The Oilers made an interesting gamble when they brought over Mikko Koskinen from the KHL for this season and gave him a $2.5MM deal despite having just four NHL games under his belt.  Evidently, the team likes what they’ve seen from him thus far as they signed him to a three-year, $13.5MM contract extension, cementing his status as Edmonton’s number one netminder in the process.  Koskinen has a respectable .910 save percentage on the season but has struggled considerably lately with just a .877 mark over the past month.  The move also likely increases the chances that Cam Talbot is dealt before the trade deadline.

Chiarelli Fired: It turns out that the Koskinen extension was Peter Chiarelli’s last piece of business as GM of the Oilers as shortly after that deal was announced, he was fired by the team.  Many of his moves in recent years haven’t panned out from giving Milan Lucic a seven-year contract to trading a first and second round pick for Griffin Reinhart (the first rounder became Mathew Barzal), to dealing Jordan Eberle in a trade tree that ultimately yielded Ryan Spooner (who cleared waivers this week).  However, the worst one may have been moving reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson in a highly-criticized one-for-one swap.  Keith Gretzky will take over on an interim basis and if Edmonton’s press conference to announce the move is any indication, the idea of them going all in to make the playoffs now does not appear to be likely.

Teravainen Extension: The Hurricanes locked up one of their top forwards, inking Teuvo Teravainen to a five-year, $27MM extension.  The contract also contains a ten-team no-trade clause in the final two years.  He was slated to become a restricted free agent with salary arbitration eligibility this coming summer.  Teravainen has done quite well in Carolina after being the incentive for them to take on Bryan Bickell’s contract three years ago and has emerged as a legitimate top-line forward.  After putting up an impressive 64 points last season, the 24-year-old is on pace to beat that mark this year.  If he can even come close to being a 60-point player with regularity, this deal has a chance to be a steal for the Hurricanes.

Kase Out For The Year: To say this season has been rough on the injury front for Anaheim would be a significant understatement.  They’ve lost the most man games due to injuries this season and that number will get even higher with the announcement that Ondrej Kase will undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum next week, one that carries a recovery time of five-to-six months which means his season is over.  The 23-year-old already missed 18 games earlier in the season with a concussion but despite that, he still sits second on the Ducks in goals with 11 in just 30 games.  Anaheim has been a tailspin for the past month and this news certainly won’t help their fortunes.

Hurricanes Open To Moving A Top-Four Defenseman: Adding help to the back end is something many contenders are looking to do but it’s rare that a player like that is available.  Carolina has a surplus of quality defenders and they are willing to move one of them.  It’s believed that Jaccob Slavin is the only one that is completely off the table which leaves one of Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, or Dougie Hamilton as the ones that are likely in play.  Toronto is a team that’s known to be looking for blueline help and they’ve been keeping tabs on them in recent weeks.

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With the trade deadline now just over a month away, activity has started to pick up around the league.  A pair of trades of note are highlighted in the top stories of the week.

Cogliano For Shore: The week kicked off with an interesting trade as the struggling Ducks dealt winger Andrew Cogliano to Dallas in exchange for forward Devin Shore.  Cogliano had been with Anaheim since 2011 but got off to a very slow start offensively this season.  With two years at $3.25MM remaining on his contract, Dallas is banking that a change of scenery will get him back to the 30-point player he usually is.  Shore is on pace to hover around the 30-point mark once again and gives Anaheim some extra flexibility both on and off the ice.  The 24-year-old can play center in a pinch while his cap hit is $950K lower than Cogliano’s (and one year shorter), giving them some extra wiggle room on the salary cap.  Anaheim made three other small trades throughout the week to tweak the depth players on their roster.

Beaulieu Asks For A Trade: While the Sabres as a team have fared better this season, the same can’t be said for defenseman Nathan Beaulieu.  He has been a frequent healthy scratch so far and played a limited role when he has been in the lineup.  Now, he’s looking for a change of scenery and has asked for a trade.  The 26-year-old is in the final year of his contract that carries a $2.4MM cap hit and a $2.5MM qualifying offer this summer, something that he’s not likely to receive from Buffalo.  Given Beaulieu’s limited role, it’s unlikely that there will be a significant trade market for him but teams looking for some mobility on their third pairing may be interested.

Niederreiter For Rask: The Hurricanes and Wild decided to shake up their respective rosters as Minnesota dealt winger Nino Niederreiter to Carolina in exchange for center Victor Rask.  Both players are in the midst of tough seasons but Niederreiter has a recent track record of being a quality secondary scorer while Rask has been a capable player down the middle over his first four seasons before having a particularly rough first half of this season including missing time when he sliced his hand in a kitchen accident just before the preseason.  Both players are signed long-term; Niederreiter carries a $5.25MM cap hit through 2021-22 while Rask is under contract at $4MM a year through 2021-22.  There was no salary retention in the swap.

No 2020 World Cup: While talks between the NHL and the NHLPA continued past the soft deadline of December in an effort to stage a 2020 World Cup, they eventually agreed that it was not a feasible option.  Both sides stated that they are committed to a long-term international calendar but it remains to be seen if that will include a return to the Olympics and when the next World Cup will be held.  It’s also unknown if this will signal an end to the CBA talks that were also ongoing at the same time.

Oilers Searching For Forward Help: With Edmonton looking to get back into the playoff picture, they’ve put on a “full-court press” to try to find a forward upgrade.  The Oilers have received strong contributions from their top three forwards in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins but have had very limited secondary scoring which has held them back.  The report indicates that the team may be willing to part with their first-round pick, a goaltender, and a young player which suggests that they’re looking for an impact performer and not just some extra depth to help them lock down at least a Wild Card position.

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The volume of trade activity started to pick up late in the week but the most notable move was a swap of depth defenders between Tampa Bay and Chicago.  Accordingly, the top stories of the past week aren’t trade-related.

Schmaltz Out For The Year: Arizona has had nothing but brutal luck when it comes to injuries in 2018-19 and that trend continued with the announcement that center Nick Schmaltz is out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.  He was acquired from Chicago in late November and had fared well with his new team, picking up 14 points in 17 games before the injury.  Schmaltz, a pending restricted free agent, joins goalie Antti Raanta, center Christian Dvorak, and defenseman Jason Demers as core players that are already out for the year which will make it tough for them to close the four-point gap on the final playoff spot in the West.

DeSmith Extension: It’s clear that goaltender Casey DeSmith likes it in Pittsburgh.  Through the first half of the season, he has posted some impressive numbers and was shaping up to be one of the more intriguing goalies to hit the open market in July.  However, he has decided to stick around, inking a three-year, $3.75MM extension to remain with the Penguins, a deal that appears to be well below market value already.  The deal means that Pittsburgh will have just $5MM allocated to their goalie tandem for next season, a price that’s below what most number one netminders alone are being paid.

Nash Retires: Winger Rick Nash was one of the top players available in free agency last summer (he was rated sixth on our top-50 list) but opted to hold off on signing as he was still dealing with concussion symptoms.  While some teams were holding out hope that he’d sign later this season, Nash has instead called it a career as after consulting with his doctors, the risk of further injury to his brain was far too significant to continue playing.  The top pick back in 2002 was a top goal scorer in the prime of his career and winds up his playing days with 437 goals and 368 assists in 1,060 regular season games between the Blue Jackets, Rangers, and Bruins.  He also was a prominent player on the international stage, suiting up in three Olympics with Canada as well as four World Championships where he ranks third all-time among Canadians in goals with 23 in just 34 games.

Bobrovsky Incident: To say it hasn’t been the smoothest of seasons between the Blue Jackets and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky would be putting it lightly.  Things continued in that direction when the team announced that the netminder would sit out Thursday’s game due to an incident in which he failed to meet the expectations and values of the teams’ culture.  Bobrovsky is a pending unrestricted free agent and projects to be the top goalie available this summer but this incident has led some to speculate that he could be a trade candidate in the coming weeks as well but he would have to waive his no-move clause for any move to happen.

Hurricanes, Ferland Far Apart In Contract Talks: Winger Micheal Ferland is off to a strong start in his first season with the Hurricanes and is on pace for career highs across the board offensively.  The timing of this is perfect for him as he’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.  There have been early contract talks but so far, the two sides aren’t anywhere close to a deal.  His cap hit is just $1.75MM this season which is affordable for any contending team making him a prime candidate to be dealt if they can’t find common ground in the coming weeks.

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The first week of 2019 was a relatively quiet one around the league but there were still a few newsworthy moments which are highlighted in the top stories of the week.

Stone, Senators To Start Contract Talks Later This Month: The Senators have a pair of prominent unrestricted free agents that they need to find out if they can re-sign.  Talks started with Matt Duchene earlier in the season and now that January 1st has passed, they can do the same with Mark Stone.  The two sides are slated to begin talks within the next two weeks which doesn’t leave a lot of time to get something done between now and the trade deadline.  If a deal can’t be reached, the winger will undoubtedly be a highly sought after player from contending teams that have the cap flexibility to bring Stone and his $7.35MM cap hit onto their payroll.

Extension For Hynes: Although the Devils have taken a step back from their surprising postseason appearance last year, the team is prepared to stay on their current course, signing head coach John Hynes to a multi-year contract extension.  While the team didn’t disclose the terms, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that it’s a two-year deal.  He’s in his fourth year behind the bench in New Jersey and his current deal was set to expire at the end of the season.  Hynes has a career points percentage of .507 but the Devils have been slowly building up their roster and have considerable flexibility moving forward so the thought is that brighter days will soon be ahead.

Nilsson To Ottawa: With Craig Anderson out with a concussion, the Senators turned to the trade market for some help, acquiring Anders Nilsson along with Darren Archibald from Vancouver in exchange for Mike McKenna, Tom Pyatt, and a 2019 sixth-round pick.  Nilsson is expected to be the starter until Anderson returns while the Canucks did the deal to give top prospect Thatcher Demko a spot with the big club and took on Pyatt’s $1.1MM deal to offset some money.  Demko’s promotion meant that McKenna was supposed to be ticketed for the AHL to give Vancouver some extra depth but that didn’t work out as planned as the Flyers claimed the 35-year-old journeyman off of waivers.

Ovechkin To Skip ASG: Citing a need for additional rest to prepare for the second half of the season, Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin has decided to take a pass on playing in the All-Star Game despite being voted in as one of the captains.  As a result, he will have to miss the final game before the break or face a mandatory one-game suspension in the first contest after the break.  Meanwhile, the majority of the rosters were named later in the week as well as the coaches for the event which takes place on January 26th.

Oilers Shopping Spooner: It has not been a good season for Oilers forward Ryan Spooner.  After a poor start with the Rangers, he was moved to Edmonton in a swap of players in need of a change of scenery.  However, things haven’t gone any better for him there as he has just three points in 20 games while averaging a career-low 10:00 per night since the trade.  Accordingly, he is once again on the trade block although they may have some difficulties moving him because of his contract.  While New York is paying 22.5% of his contract, Spooner still has a $3.1MM cap hit through next season and while he’s only a year removed from a 41-point season, his lack of production this year will greatly limit the number of teams interested in him.

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This past week was a fairly quiet one around the hockey world with the NHL being shut down for three days.  However, there were some notable events around the league over the past few days which are highlighted in our top stories of the week.

Oilers Add Defense: With Oscar Klefbom, Kris Russell, and Andrej Sekera all injured, Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli decided to shake up his back end with a pair of trades.  First, he acquired Alex Petrovic from Florida in exchange for Chris Wideman and a 2019 third-round pick.  He’s only a couple of years removed from being an important part of Florida’s blueline but has been more of a depth player since then.  After that, the Oilers picked up Brandon Manning and the rights to Robin Norell from Chicago in exchange for Drake Caggiula and Jason Garrison.  Manning had indicated earlier that he’d be open to a move and he got his wish with this trade.  Manning ($2.25MM) and Caggiula ($1.5MM) both have one year left on their contracts so the Oilers are adding a bit of salary beyond this season which is notable given their limited flexibility.

Key Defensemen Injuries: A pair of Central Division teams were dealt tough blows on the injury front.  Wild defenseman Mathew Dumba will miss at least the next three months after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured right pectoralis muscle.  While there’s still a chance he could return in the final week or two of the season, it’s still a huge loss for Minnesota as he is one of their top rearguards while sitting second in the league for goals by a blueliner.  Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien will miss at least a month with a left leg injury.  Early indications are that he could be out longer but there won’t be an update until closer to the All-Star break.  The veteran was quietly off to his highest point per game average of his career while averaging 24:30 per night.

Guentzel Extension: The Penguins have locked up one of their forwards for the long haul, signing Jake Guentzel to a five-year, $30MM extension.  The 24-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract but is averaging close to a point-per-game this season in a breakout year.  The deal will make him the fourth-highest paid forward in Pittsburgh behind Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel.  That’s quite a salary level to get to for a player who hadn’t established himself in the league just two years ago.  However, if he continues to produce at his current pace, the contract has the potential to be a bargain for the Penguins before too long.

Dallas CEO Sounds Off: The Stars have not had consistent performances from star forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn and team CEO Jim Lites decided to send a very public message to voice his displeasure.  What’s notable about this particular expletive-filled rant is that it wasn’t a spur of the moment event but rather a planned one as he had called in some team reporters in to make that statement.  The NHLPA released a statement on Sunday condemning Lites’ comments, calling them “reckless and insulting”.  It’s certainly going to be worth watching to see if this helps Seguin and Benn reach a higher level or if this could be an issue that gets bigger down the road.

Ottawa Injuries: This season has not been kind to the Senators when it comes to injuries and things just got a whole lot worse over the past seven days.  Goalie Craig Anderson was diagnosed with a concussion and with Mike Condon in the minors (and injured), they’re now rolling with a tandem of AHL veteran Mike McKenna and youngster Marcus Hogberg, who made his NHL debut on Saturday.  Meanwhile, the team will also be without top blueliner Thomas Chabot for roughly three weeks due to an upper-body injury.  The 21-year-old is tied for second in the NHL in points by a defenseman and leaves a gaping hole on an Ottawa back end that isn’t particularly deep.  The Senators are currently last in the Atlantic Division and these injuries won’t make it any easier to get out of there.

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While the roster freeze came into effect with little fanfare, there was still quite a bit of significant news around the league.  Here are the top stories from the past seven days.

Hakstol Fired In Philadelphia: Less than 24 hours after the Flyers issued a statement saying that Dave Hakstol was their head coach, the team had a change of heart and fired their bench boss.  Scott Gordon, their AHL head coach, was named as Hakstol’s replacement on an interim basis with the expectation that he will be in the role for the remainder of the season.  While there were multiple reports suggesting Joel Quenneville was going to be their hire, it appears they’ll be making a decision on whether or not that will indeed be the case in the offseason.

Flyers Seeking Goaltending Help: With his first move as GM now done, Chuck Fletcher has turned his focus to the trade market and is looking for help between the pipes.  Goaltending has been a concern for Philadelphia all season long with Brian Elliott injured, Michal Neuvirth battling injury issues of his own for most of the season (and struggling when healthy) while youngster Anthony Stolarz is on IR as well.  The team recalled top prospect Carter Hart and has given him his first NHL action but considering that this is his first professional season, he needs more development time at the AHL level.

Concussion For Crawford: Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford missed most of last year and the beginning of this season with a concussion.  Unfortunately for him and the team, he has sustained another one and is out indefinitely.  While there’s no word about the severity yet, head coach Jeremy Colliton indicated that the organization is “concerned” about this new concussion and given how long he was out with the last one, it’s safe to assume that they will be erring on the side of caution and won’t be rushing him back into the lineup.  Cam Ward will take over as the starter for the time being while youngster Collin Delia has been brought up from the minors.

Berglund’s Contract Terminated: Patrik Berglund’s time in Buffalo has come to an end.  After being suspended indefinitely last weekend, the Sabres placed him on unconditional waivers, paving the way for them to terminate his contract which they did on Thursday.  This appears to be a mutual agreement compared to the method that Tampa Bay used to terminate Jake Dotchin’s deal back in training camp.  As a result, Berglund is walking away from a little over $12.5MM in salary over the remaining term of his contract which ran through the 2021-22 season.  Buffalo is not on the hook for any further salary cap commitments to him which gives them considerably more flexibility moving forward.

Ottawa’s Arena Deal Is Off: While it appeared like Ottawa’s deal was heading off the rails when team owner Eugene Melnyk sued arena partner John Ruddy, it’s officially off the table now.  Just one day after Ruddy filed a countersuit, the National Capital Commission has opted to terminate the preferred proponent term sheet and begin a new process for the redevelopment of the LeBreton Flats in the downtown core.  The Senators have been seeking a new home closer to the downtown core but instead, it appears they’ll remain in Kanata for the foreseeable future.

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With the holiday roster freeze fast approaching, trade speculation has started to pick up around the league.  Those notes dominate our top stories of the week.

Asking Price For Howard: Goaltending has been a question mark for several teams currently holding down a playoff spot so they will likely be looking to the rental market for potential upgrades.  Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard is in that group but Detroit has placed a high asking price on his services with a package that includes a first-round pick.  The 34-year-old is in the midst of a nice bounce-back season, posting a 2.69 GAA with a .922 SV% through 23 games.  Howard’s cap hit is just shy of $5.3MM which may be difficult for some contending teams to take on so if the Red Wings opt to move him, they will likely have to retain some salary.

Sabres Unlikely To Pursue Rentals: While Buffalo is off to a better start than many expected, GM Jason Botterill doesn’t appear to be inclined to deviate from his long-term plan.  While they are open to adding players that can help them in their push for the postseason, they only appear to be interested in ones that are signed (or are under team control) beyond this season and aren’t interested in getting into the rental market.  Buffalo could have as many as three first-round picks in June so it’s possible that they could dangle one of those to pick up someone who can help them for a while.

Berglund Suspended Indefinitely: The Sabres were also involved in the strangest story of the week.  Although he was listed as missing two games due to an illness, the team announced that they have suspended center Patrik Berglund indefinitely for failing to report to the team.  The veteran has struggled so far this season, posting just two goals and two assists in 23 games while logging a career-low 13:03 per night of ice time.  He has also been used almost exclusively in a checking role as he has an offensive zone start percentage of just 20.2%.  For perspective, his lowest oSZ% heading into the season was 41.2% back with the Blues in 2015-16.  Berglund is signed through 2021-22 with a cap hit of $3.85MM which will be difficult for the Sabres to move if they wind up having to go in that direction.

Bortuzzo Extension: The Blues have locked up one of their depth defensemen, inking Robert Bortuzzo to a three-year, $4.125MM contract.  With the deal, the 29-year-old gets a small raise on his current $1.15MM AAV.  Bortuzzo has been a consistent physical presence on the back end in St. Louis since they acquired him back at the trade deadline in the 2014-15 season from Pittsburgh and gives them some security on their back end with three other players earmarked for unrestricted free agency next summer.

Coyle Being Shopped: Wild forward Charlie Coyle is no stranger to the rumor mill and he’s back there once again, following a report that says he’s being dangled in trade talks.  He has underachieved so far this season with just five goals in 32 games despite logging nearly 17 minutes a night in ice time.  The fact he can play both center and the right wing will help his trade value, as is his $3.2MM cap hit through next season.  Coyle is just 26 and there will undoubtedly be teams interested in acquiring him despite his slow start.

The week of American Thanksgiving is often viewed as the time where teams make to start changes.  This year was no exception as a pair of teams made coaching moves which highlight the top stories of the week.

Blues Fire Yeo: The Blues made several big changes to their forwards over the summer in the hopes that doing so would vault them back into contention after just missing the playoffs last season.  Instead, they got off to a slow start to their season and a coaching change was made with Mike Yeo being let go with assistant Craig Berube taking over on an interim basis.  GM Doug Armstrong indicated that a full coaching search is now underway so there’s no guarantee that Berube (who will be considered in the search) will be in place for the rest of the season.

Ducks Staying Put: While there hasn’t been any speculation that the Ducks could one day be on the move, any thought of that can be put aside for a long time.  Anaheim City Council approved a 25-year extension to their current arena deal with the team (that’s in place through 2023) meaning that the team has its home set through 2048.  There are five additional five-year extension options in the agreement as well.

Asking Price For Skinner: Sabres winger Jeff Skinner is off to a torrid start to his season, his first with Buffalo after they acquired him from Carolina over the offseason.  He has 18 goals through his first 24 games which certainly will help his case in free agency next summer.  With that in mind, his reported asking price to forego testing the open market is between $9MM and $9.5MM per season, a significant raise on his current $5.725MM AAV.  Talks between Skinner’s representation and the team are scheduled to start sometime next month.

Coaching Change In Edmonton: With the Oilers starting to struggle once again, a change was made behind the bench.  The fact that they relieved Todd McLellan of his duties wasn’t necessarily too surprising but the fact that Ken Hitchcock has taken over caught many by surprise.  Hitchcock had stepped aside at the end of last season in Dallas to move into a consulting role for the team and at that time, no one really anticipated that the 66-year-old would be looking to step behind the bench again.  He’ll try to insert some more structure into Edmonton’s style of play as they look to get back into the playoff hunt but chances are that this will be a short-term hire.

Oilers Acquire Wideman: The Oilers have added some defensive depth, acquiring defenseman Chris Wideman from Ottawa in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick (previously acquired from St. Louis for Jakub Jerabek).  The 28-year-old will give Edmonton some mobility from the back end, an area that GM Peter Chiarelli acknowledged recently that he needed to address.  Wideman was deemed expendable by the Sens with players like Maxime Lajoie and Christian Jaros stepping into regular roles.  Speaking of the Senators, this wasn’t the only time they were in the headlines as their proposed arena project has taken a turn for the worse.

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As we quickly approach the one-quarter mark of the season, activity around the league has started to pick up.  A pair of trades highlight our top stories of the week.

Penguins, Kings Swap Wingers: Fresh off a three-year contract extension, Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford made a trade, dealing Carl Hagelin to Los Angeles in exchange for Tanner Pearson.  Pearson has averaged 40 points per year over the last three seasons but was off to a disastrous start this season with just a single assist in 17 games leading up to the trade.  He has two years left on his contract with a $3.75MM cap hit and the Penguins are clearly banking on him turning it around.  Meanwhile, Hagelin has also been quiet offensively with just three points in 17 games before the deal but as an expiring contract, the Kings will get some much-needed salary cap flexibility for next season.  He carries a $4MM cap hit this season and Pittsburgh will pay $250K to make the deal cap-neutral for 2018-19.

Wilson Suspension Reduced: Tom Wilson’s final appeal to independent arbitrator Shyam Das proved to be a successful one as his 20-game suspension for a hit on Blues center Oskar Sundqvist was reduced to 14 games.  While he had already sat for 16 games by the time the announcement was made, it enabled Wilson to recover nearly $400K in forfeited salary.  Meanwhile, he has made an immediate impact since returning to the lineup, collecting a goal and two assists while averaging over 19 minutes per night in his first three games back.

Chychrun Extension: The Coyotes have locked up another part of their long-term core, inking defenseman Jakob Chychrun to a six-year, $26.7MM contract extension.  When healthy, the 20-year-old has been a dependable player on Arizona’s back end since they drafted him 16th overall in 2016.  They timed the announcement to be on the same day that he made his season debut after coming back from knee surgery.  However, he sustained an upper-body injury in that game and as a result, he finds himself back on injured reserve.  It’s safe to say that the Coyotes will be hoping that Chychrun will be able to stay in the lineup a lot more often when this new deal kicks in for the 2019-20 season.

Concussion Lawsuit Settled: The league announced that they have reached a tentative settlement with nearly 150 former players in the lawsuit filed over the NHL’s treatment of players with concussions.  Notably, the league does not formally acknowledge any liability and the total of the settlement will approach $19MM, working out to roughly $22K per player.  Each player has 75 days to decide whether or not to opt into the settlement and the league has the option to terminate the agreement if they so desire if any players back out.  (Daniel Carcillo has already stated his intention to do so.)

Rangers, Oilers Swap: Ryan Strome and Ryan Spooner have both gotten off to rough starts this season with just a goal and an assist apiece.  The Rangers and Oilers decided to give those players a change of scenery as New York sent Spooner and cash to Edmonton.  Spooner is just one year removed from tallying 41 points in just 59 games and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is familiar with him from his days in Boston.  Meanwhile, Strome returns to the Metropolitan Division where he had some success with the Islanders including a 50-point season in 2014-15.  Spooner has a $4MM cap hit while Strome checks in at $3.1MM; the Rangers will cover $900K each year to make it cap-neutral.  Both players are signed through next season.

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