Week In Review

The playoffs are almost upon us but there was still some notable news around the hockey world which is recapped in our top stories.

Going Independent: It has been nearly 30 years since an AHL team has been completely independent but that will change next season as the Chicago Wolves notified their parent team in Carolina that they will not renew their affiliation agreement and instead will be an unaffiliated squad.  GM Wendell Young indicated that it’s time for them to “follow their own philosophy” over following developmental instructions from the Hurricanes.  Carolina will now have to work to find a place for their prospects next season, either through a split affiliation or by loaning a handful of players out to multiple organizations.  Meanwhile, the Wolves could still look to add some NHL-affiliated players on loan agreements to help fill out their roster but those loans would come with the understanding that Chicago will have full control of their playing time.

Fantilli Wins Hobey Baker: Friday was a good day for Michigan center Adam Fantilli.  After taking home NCAA Rookie of the Year earlier in the day, the draft-eligible forward won the Hobey Baker Award, given to the best player in college hockey.  The 18-year-old led the NCAA in scoring this season with 30 goals and 35 assists in 36 games to make him the third Wolverine to take home the award.  Fantilli is the consensus second-overall pick in the upcoming draft and after a freshman year like that, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be given the opportunity for an encore performance or if he’ll be playing in the pros in 2023-24.

Not Calling It A Career Yet: Long-time winger Zach Parise has been going year-to-year when it comes to his playing future since being bought out by Minnesota in 2021.  However, the veteran knows that he isn’t ready to hang up his skates yet, revealing that he intends to play a 19th NHL season in 2023-24.  The 38-year-old has had a decent season with the Islanders, chipping in with 21 goals in 80 games, giving them a decent return on a $1.5MM contract (half base salary, half bonuses).  With how he has performed and Parise’s history with GM Lou Lamoriello dating back to their time in New Jersey, it’s hard to imagine that the two sides won’t be able to work out another one-year agreement but if it doesn’t happen, he should be able to generate some interest elsewhere.

Colorado Injuries: This is hardly an ideal time for injuries, especially for teams with eyes on a long playoff run.  That’s the case for the Avalanche who now find themselves without defenseman Cale Makar and forward Darren Helm who are both out indefinitely with lower-body injuries.  Makar, Colorado’s top defender, is logging a career-high 26:23 per night which leads the NHL while chipping in with 66 points in 60 games.  Any sort of extended absence for him would certainly hurt them heading into the first round while making it more difficult to lock down the top seed in the Central.  Helm, meanwhile, has missed most of the season with injury trouble and has been limited to just 11 appearances so far.

Key Activations: It wasn’t all negative news on the injury front across the league as a pair of Eastern Conference contenders welcomed key players back.  The Maple Leafs activated center Ryan O’Reilly from LTIR after missing a little over a month with a hand injury.  Toronto added him well before the deadline to give him time to get acclimated down the stretch but instead, they’ll be using the final few games to determine his best spot for the playoffs.  Meanwhile, the Bruins welcomed back winger Taylor Hall after the veteran missed over a month with a lower-body injury.  Hall has been a capable secondary scorer this season with 36 points in 59 games and will make an already deep lineup even deeper heading into the playoffs.

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The month of March has come to an end and, as usual, college signings were plentiful throughout the NHL.  Some of those moves are included in our key stories.

Avs Sign Three: One team that was particularly active on the college free agent front was Colorado.  They made a trio of moves, signing winger Jason Polin to a one-year deal, defenseman Sam Malinski to a two-year contract, and center Ondrej Pavel to a two-year pact.  Polin was the leading goal-getter in the NCAA this season, scoring 30 goals in 39 games with Western Michigan which drew him considerable interest on the open market.  Malinski also had interest from multiple teams after a four-year stint at Cornell where he finished strong with 26 points in 34 contests.  Meanwhile, Pavel had a bit of a down year at Minnesota State University, seeing his production dip to just 15 points after putting up 22 in his sophomore year.  The Avalanche have moved several draft picks and these signings are a chance to replenish their prospect pool.

Livingstone To Nashville: This year’s college free agent class isn’t the strongest but one player that stood out was defenseman Jake Livingstone.  He received interest from numerous teams and ultimately chose to sign with Nashville who allowed him to burn his one-year, entry-level contract this season, paving the way for him to potentially play down the stretch.  The 23-year-old had a standout campaign with Minnesota State, picking up 35 points in 39 games, putting him tied for third among NCAA blueliners in scoring.  Because it’s a one-year deal that was signed late in the season, Livingstone is actually carrying a cap hit of over $2MM down the stretch for the Predators.  He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer and won’t be capped by the entry-level system at that time.

Four For Chytil: Rangers center Filip Chytil has had a breakout season and was rewarded for his efforts as the team signed him to a four-year contract extension that carries a cap hit of $4.4375MM.  The deal, which begins next season, does not carry any sort of trade protection and gives New York an extra two years of team control.  Chytil entered this season having put up two straight 22-point seasons after two straight 23-point campaigns.  However, his output has nearly doubled in 2022-23 as he entered play Sunday with 22 goals and 21 assists in 68 games despite still averaging less than 14 minutes a night.  If this is the beginning of Chytil being able to take on a bigger role offensively, this deal could become a team-friendly contract fairly quickly.

Hobey Baker Finalists: Still with college hockey, the three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award were revealed.  They are Michigan center Adam Fantilli (draft-eligible), Minnesota winger Matthew Knies (Maple Leafs), and Minnesota center Logan Cooley (Coyotes).  Fantilli leads all NCAA scorers this season with 64 points in just 35 games in his freshman year and is widely expected to go second overall at the draft in June.  Knies, meanwhile, had a strong sophomore campaign with 41 points in 38 games and there’s a strong likelihood that he’ll be foregoing the rest of his college eligibility to turn pro with Toronto once the Frozen Four comes to an end next week.  As for Cooley, the third-overall pick last year is second in scoring this season with 57 points in 37 games in what has been a dominant freshman year.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him sign with Arizona before too long as well.

Knyzhov Rewarded: It has been a tough couple of years for Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov.  He missed all of last season with a groin injury, then suffered a torn Achilles while training for this season.  However, he was able to return to San Jose’s lineup last month and has gotten into nine games so far.  He was rewarded for his efforts to get back with a two-year extension that begins next season and carries a $1.25MM AAV.  It’s a move that carries a bit of risk for San Jose given Knyzhov’s history but he was a regular on their back end back in 2020-21 and if he can once again lock down a full-time spot, he should be able to live up to the deal.

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The final full week of March has come to an end.  With most transactions being on hold until the offseason, the injury situation around the league dominates the key stories.

Pettersson To LTIR: The Penguins will be without one of their top four defensemen for the stretch run with Marcus Pettersson being placed on LTIR with a lower-body injury.  It has been a bit of a resurgent season for the 26-year-old as he has upped his playing time by nearly five minutes per night while improving on his point total; his 24 points are one behind his career high.  His absence certainly hurts Pittsburgh as they look to hold onto a Wild Card spot.  However, the placement also alleviates their salary cap situation, putting them in a spot where they will be able to afford some recalls over the final few weeks without having to worry about having to play short a player while waiting for approval for a cap-exempt recall.

Carlson Returns: On the opposite side of the injury front, the Capitals welcomed back defenseman John Carlson.  Washington’s top blueliner missed more than three months with an upper-body injury that Carlson himself later confirmed was a small skull fracture above his right ear and a severed temporal artery.  While this isn’t going to help lead Washington to the postseason, it’s certainly a positive sign that he’s able to return.  Carlson definitely came back in style, picking up two points in his first game back.

Bednar Signs Extension: Jared Bednar won’t be leaving Colorado’s bench anytime soon after the team signed him to a three-year contract extension.  That deal won’t kick in until 2024-25 as the bench boss already had another year on his deal after this one.  He earned himself quite a raise as CapFriendly notes that Bednar’s salary will jump from $2.25MM per season on this contract to $4.75MM on the new one.  The raise and extra job security are certainly well-deserved.  He helped lead the Avs to the Stanley Cup last season and the team has compiled a 282-191-52 record over seven seasons under his tutelage, good for a .587 points percentage.  Bednar is second in franchise history in games coached (behind Michel Bergeron going back to their Quebec days) but will take over the all-time record early in the first year of this new contract.

College Signings: As NCAA teams are being eliminated, there has been an uptick in college prospects signing.  The bulk of those have been players signing with their own teams but a few teams have turned to the free agent market.  The Blue Jackets signed center Hunter McKown out of Colorado College and he has already made his NHL debut, getting into a pair of games while picking up an assist.  Meanwhile, the Jets added forward Parker Ford out of Providence College while the Canucks agreed to terms with center Max Sasson.  Their contracts will begin next season, allowing them to report to the minors for the rest of 2022-23.

More Injuries: There were quite a few other injuries of note around the league this week.  Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort will miss the rest of the regular season due a lower-body injury.  He won’t require surgery.  Boston could now transfer him to LTIR to open up some cap flexibility for recalls down the stretch.  Meanwhile, the Senators will be missing defenseman Jakub Chychrun for a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury of his own which will make their late playoff push a little harder.  Up front, Canadiens winger Josh Anderson is out for the season with a high ankle sprain while the Blue Jackets won’t have Patrik Laine for two-to-four weeks because of a triceps strain.  Columbus had been testing Laine down the middle before the injury.

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With now less than a month remaining until the playoffs, the stretch run is upon us.  Unfortunately for some teams, they’ll be playing that stretch without a key player as some important injuries highlight our key stories.

Levi Turns Pro: The Sabres made it known that they wanted prospect Devon Levi to forego his remaining college eligibility and turn pro.  They got their wish as they inked the goaltender to a three-year, entry-level deal that begins this season.  Levi was immediately added to Buffalo’s roster.  The 21-year-old, who was also named a top-ten finalist for the Hobey Baker Award this week, was a seventh-round pick (212th overall) back in 2020 and was part of the trade that sent Sam Reinhart to Florida.  Levi’s contract is quite impressive for someone picked that late as he received the maximum signing bonus and guaranteed salary for each season while getting four ‘A’ bonuses in his deal in 2023-24 and 2024-25 as well.

Two For Binnington: Goalie suspensions don’t typically happen very often but that’s what happened to Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington who received a two-game ban for roughing/unsportsmanlike conduct against Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman.  Hartman made light contact with Binnington after scoring and that sent the netminder off as he went after Hartman with his blocker before attempting to fight Wild netminder Marc-Andre Fleury.  It’s the first suspension of Binnington’s career.  With him out of the lineup, St. Louis called up prospect Joel Hofer to take his place with the youngster making two starts, winning both of them.

Svechnikov Out For The Season: The Hurricanes have been one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference all year long but they were dealt a serious blow when it was revealed that winger Andrei Svechnikov is out for the season due to a knee injury (torn ACL) that requires surgery.  He becomes the second key winger that is done for the year, joining veteran Max Pacioretty.  Svechnikov was on pace to meet his career highs offensively set last season that saw him pick up 30 goals and 69 points while his physical style of play certainly fits the higher intensity that the playoffs provide.  As expected, Carolina has placed him on LTIR, giving them ample cap space to fit in any extra recalls from the minors between now and the end of the season.

End Of The Road For Toews? Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has been dealing with both long-COVID symptoms as well as Chronic Immune Response Syndrome which has kept him out of the lineup since late January last season while also sidelining him for the entire 2020-21 campaign.  As his contract is set to expire this summer, a report has surfaced suggesting that the veteran is considering retirement.  Toews has spent his entire 15-year career with the Blackhawks, placing sixth in team history in goals (371), eighth in assists (509), and sixth in points (880) and while it’s still possible that he might be able to return late in the year, it could be the end of the line for the 34-year-old.

More Injuries: Artturi Lehkonen’s return to Montreal was a mixed bag.  He picked up three points against his former team but the Avalanche winger also suffered a broken finger in the game, one that will keep him out for the next four to six weeks.  The 27-year-old has already set career highs across the board offensively with 20 goals and 29 assists in 62 games but the Avs will be missing him for most of the stretch run as they battle for position in the Central.  Meanwhile, Canadiens center Christian Dvorak is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery.  His numbers took a small step back this season as the 27-year-old posted 10 goals and 18 assists in 64 games.  Dvorak is expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp.

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The stretch run is upon us as many teams continue to battle for a playoff position.  However, some notable injuries will make that task a little tougher with those absences being among the key stories of the week.

Kaprizov Out For A While: Minnesota is in a close battle with Dallas for the top spot in the Central Division with Colorado being in striking distance as well.  However, it will be considerably tougher for them to lock down first place now as star winger Kirill Kaprizov will miss the next three to four weeks with a lower-body injury.  No playoff team has fewer goals scored than the Wild and not having their leading scorer in Kaprizov certainly won’t help things.  The 25-year-old has 39 goals and 35 assists so far this season, meaning he has collected a point on nearly 40% of Minnesota’s tallies.

Fletcher Fired: The Flyers have shaken up their front office, dismissing GM Chuck Fletcher after a little more than four years at the helm.  Fletcher tried several times to add quality veterans to Philadelphia’s lineup but the results were mixed.  Kevin Hayes has been a nice contributor although he’s on an above-market contract while the additions of Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen haven’t gone as planned while Cam Atkinson, another veteran, has missed all of this season due to injury like Ellis.  The end result is that the Flyers have continued to spin their wheels as they only made the playoffs once in Fletcher’s tenure.  Daniel Briere has taken over as interim GM while the team will now split Fletcher’s old role into two, a GM and a president.

O’Reilly To LTIR: Ryan O’Reilly was off to a good start with the Maple Leafs but after sustaining a broken finger, that strong debut is now on hold.  The 32-year-old had five points in eight games with his new team while winning over 67% of his faceoffs, fitting in nicely on their second line.  Toronto has placed him on LTIR, giving them the cap flexibility to bring up a couple of forwards for the time being.  The good news for the Maple Leafs is that he’s expected to be out for four weeks (just past the minimum threshold for LTIR) which suggests he’ll be able to return to the lineup with a few games left in the regular season, allowing him to work off any rust before the playoffs get underway next month.

Three More Years: Trevor van Riemsdyk has gone from being a depth defender at the beginning of his tenure with Washington to an every-game reliable veteran.  After the team elected not to move him at the trade deadline, they worked out a three-year, $9MM contract extension that will keep him with the Capitals through the 2025-26 campaign.  The 31-year-old has played in all 67 games this season, recording a career-high in points with 21 while logging over 19 minutes a night.  It will be quite the raise for van Riemsdyk as the $3MM AAV of this new contract is richer than what he has made over his last three seasons with the Caps combined.

More Injuries: Ottawa’s push for the playoffs just got considerably more difficult as goaltender Cam Talbot will miss three weeks with an oblique strain.  The veteran has a .905 SV% in 32 games in his first season with the Senators and was going to be counted on heavily down the stretch with Anton Forsberg out for the season.  Instead, rookies Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese will try to keep the Sens in the race.  Meanwhile, one of Pittsburgh’s trade deadline additions will be out for a while as Nick Bonino suffered a lacerated kidney earlier in the week but fortunately has been released from the hospital.  The center came over in a three-way trade to shore up their depth down the middle but was injured in his third game since the swap.

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The trade deadline isn’t until Friday but the activity around the league has picked up in a big way over the past few days with many of the key stories of the week coming on the trade front.

Meier To New Jersey: The Devils have added a significant piece for this season and beyond, acquiring winger Timo Meier from the Sharks as part of a nine-player trade that also included four draft picks.  The highlight of the return to San Jose is prospect defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (a 2020 first-round pick), New Jersey’s 2023 first-round pick, and a conditional 2024 second-rounder that becomes a first if New Jersey makes the Eastern Conference Final in 2023 or 2024.  Meier is a power forward in his prime, a legitimate top-line winger that will remain under team control this summer as a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility.  However, he’ll be owed a qualifying offer of $10MM if they can’t reach a long-term agreement beforehand.  He’ll be a big addition to what has become quite the arms race in the Eastern Conference while San Jose picks up some pieces for the future.

Injury News: The Islanders are in a battle for a Wild Card spot in the East but that task is going to be harder now with New York losing Mathew Barzal on a week-to-week basis due to a lower-body injury.  While they expect him back before the end of the regular season, losing their second-leading scorer for an extended stretch at this time of year is certainly going to hurt.  Meanwhile, the Predators will be without Ryan Johansen for the rest of the season after he underwent surgery to repair a leg injury.  Officially, the timeline for recovery is 12 months but with Nashville selling, they won’t be needing him in the playoffs.  Lastly, the Golden Knights transferred winger Mark Stone to LTIR, allowing them to spend up to an additional $9.5MM in cap space, some of which was used to acquire Ivan Barbashev from St. Louis.  The captain is out indefinitely due to another back injury.

Bruins Make A Splash: The Bruins opted to make their big splash early, acquiring defenseman Dmitry Orlov and winger Garnet Hathaway from Washington.  In return, Boston sent the Capitals a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 third-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder, and Craig Smith while getting 50% of Orlov’s contract retained.  The Bruins also flipped a 2023 fifth-rounder to Minnesota to get them to retain an additional 25% on Orlov’s deal.  Orlov is a pending unrestricted free agent but is undoubtedly a big acquisition for their back end as a veteran that can log big minutes and play in all situations while Hathaway gives them some extra grit in their bottom six.  The Caps, meanwhile, get some future assets although they seem unlikely to go through a full-scale rebuild.  Speculatively, some of those picks could be in play for a non-rental player at some point.

Trotz Back To Nashville: Barry Trotz is on his way back to the Predators, just not in the role you might have been thinking.  Instead of going back behind the bench, he instead will be taking over as their new general manager effective July 1st as long-time GM David Poile is stepping into an advisory role.  Trotz has been a head coach for 23 years and is third all-time in wins but opted not to coach this season to spend time with his family.  This will be his first foray into management.  Meanwhile, Poile has been the only GM the franchise has ever known, taking over the team back in 1997 before they even began play in the league.  While one franchise icon is leaving, another will be returning with Trotz having coached in Nashville before for 15 seasons.

Niederreiter To Winnipeg: The Jets made a move to shore up their forward group, acquiring Nino Niederreiter from Nashville in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick.  The 30-year-old has been a consistent secondary scorer for most of his career and that is the case again this season as he has 18 goals in 56 games so far.  He’ll help fill the vacancy created by Cole Perfetti who is out for at least eight weeks due to an upper-body injury.  While a lot of deals at this time of year are for rentals, this isn’t the case here as Winnipeg will have Niederreiter under contract through next season at a $4MM AAV.  Meanwhile, the Predators appear to be selling and pick up a useful draft pick for the future.

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With the trade deadline now less than two weeks away, activity is starting to pick up across the NHL with a pair of signings and a trade headlining the key stories of the week.

Maatta Re-Signs: Olli Maatta opted to take a one-year deal with Detroit last summer in the hopes of rebuilding some value after some tough showing with Chicago and Los Angeles.  That proved to be a wise move as he agreed to a two-year, $6MM extension with the Red Wings that runs through the 2024-25 campaign.  The 28-year-old has been a dependable depth defender for Detroit this season, logging more than 18 minutes a night and his extension will allow some of their prospects to spend a bit more time developing at AHL Grand Rapids.

Gavrikov Sits: Perhaps inspired by Arizona’s decision to sit Jakob Chychrun for trade-related reasons last weekend (a move hasn’t happened yet), Columbus has decided to follow suit with blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov.  The 27-year-old is expected to be one of the top rental blueliners on the move but the Blue Jackets have set a high asking price at a first-round pick, a third-rounder, and a fourth-round selection although they may have a taker pending another move being made first.  Gavrikov had a breakout year last season with 33 points in 80 games but while his playing time hasn’t gone down in 2022-23, his production has as he has just three goals and seven assists in 52 games so far.  At this point, it’s not believed that the rearguard will be discussing an extension with any of his trade suitors.

Maple Leafs Make A Splash: The Maple Leafs decided to do their deadline shopping early as they acquired centers Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from St. Louis in a three-team swap.   St. Louis, who retained 50% of O’Reilly’s $7.5MM AAV, receives Toronto’s 2023 first-round pick, Ottawa’s 2023 third-round pick, and Toronto’s 2024 second-round pick along with prospect Mikhail Abramov and veteran Adam Gaudette.  Minnesota retained an additional 25%, receiving a 2025 fourth-round pick for their troubles along with prospect Josh Pillar.  The swap certainly bolsters Toronto’s depth down the middle which is particularly important with the Maple Leafs lined up with Tampa Bay and Boston as their potential first two opponents.  It is, however, a bit of a high price tag when you consider that O’Reilly had just 19 points in 40 games prior to the swap, well below his norms.  Both O’Reilly and Acciari are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer but Toronto is certainly going all-in while St. Louis now has three first-round picks at their disposal as they look to rebuild.

Staying In Los Angeles: The Kings have locked up a young blueliner for the long haul as they’ve inked Mikey Anderson to an eight-year, $33MM contract extension that will go through the 2030-31 campaign.  The 23-year-old is logging nearly 22 minutes per game this season and while he doesn’t put up a ton of points (his 13 this season is already a career high), he plays an important role on the penalty kill and there’s still certainly time for him to improve.  As long as Anderson stays in the top four for Los Angeles, this contract should age well.

Toews Out Indefinitely: There were set to be questions about Jonathan Toews and if he’d agree to be traded by the deadline with Chicago firmly in a rebuild.  However, he revealed that he is still dealing with symptoms of Long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and, after consulting with team doctors, he has elected to take a step back and focus on getting healthy.  He isn’t necessarily out for the season but the decision has now been made that he will not be traded in the coming days.  Toews has spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Blackhawks.

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The All-Star break is behind us, and it’s officially trade season. With so much going on, you might have missed out on some of the top stories this week.

Buffalo Locks Up Cozens: The week started out with a bang when a seven-year, $49.7MM contract extension was announced for Dylan Cozens. The Buffalo Sabres are making a strong commitment to their young core, handing out long-term deals for Cozens, Mattias Samuelsson, and Tage Thompson over the last few months.

Pretty nice early birthday present for the young center, who turned 22 on Thursday and has 44 points in 50 games so far this season.

Hughes Gets Hurt: New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes is listed out week-to-week with an upper-body suffered just after the break. While there isn’t anyone challenging Connor McDavid for the league scoring title, Hughes was right in that next tier of players, with 35 goals and 67 points in 50 games.

You could certainly notice his absence yesterday against the Minnesota Wild, but so far, the Devils have been able to step up and continue grabbing points in the standings.

New York, New York: The biggest news of the week came on Thursday when the New York Rangers landed Vladimir Tarasenko and Nikko Mikkola from the St. Louis Blues. With plenty of debate over whether the Blues got enough for the six-time 30-goal scorer, it will hopefully start moving the trade deadline dominoes.

It paid off right away for New York, as Tarasenko scored the opening goal in his first game as a Ranger (on a feed from long-time friend Artemi Panarin, no less). One interesting thing to watch is how the team uses Tarasenko down the stretch. He’s played fewer than 14 minutes in each of his appearances so far.

Press Box For Jakob: This weekend, the Arizona Coyotes have decided to pull Jakob Chychrun off the lineup card, scratching him for “trade-related reasons.” It appears as though he has played his last game for the organization and will finally be dealt after months (and months) of speculation.

Chychrun has been very public with his desire to join a contender and has played well through 36 games so far. The Coyotes have maintained through the entire process that they would wait for a high price to be matched, and it appears that is close to happening.

Oilers Chasing A Shark: Reports emerged yesterday that the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers have discussed an Erik Karlsson trade, though it would be a complicated deal to pull off midseason. With the way McDavid is playing this season, the Oilers might end up pushing all of their chips to the middle at the deadline to give him the best chance they can. Karlsson has been outstanding offensively and is on pace to be the first 100-point defenseman in decades.

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The calendar has flipped to February and there was an uptick in activity around the NHL even with the All-Star break with those moves being highlighted in our key stories of the week.

Capitals Extend Two: It has taken Dylan Strome a while to find some stability but he has it now as the center inked a five-year, $25MM extension with Washington.  Strome was non-tendered by Chicago last summer and opted for a one-year, $3.5MM pact with the Caps, a move that has certainly worked out well for both sides.  The 25-year-old has 36 points in 51 games so far and will be a part of Washington’s plans down the middle for the foreseeable future.  Meanwhile, after having to take a two-way deal with the Capitals earlier in the season, Sonny Milano has earned a better second contract with them, agreeing to a three-year extension that carries a $1.9MM AAV.  Since being recalled in early November, the 26-year-old has been a good secondary producer, picking up 22 points in 40 games.

NHL Comeback: It has been a while since defenseman Nikita Tryamkin has played in the NHL – 2016-17 to be exact – but it’s possible that he’ll be back soon.  His agent indicated that the 28-year-old has declined an extension from Yekaterinburg of the KHL and that his focus is returning to play in the NHL next season.  In the past, his name has come up but as a restricted free agent, his options were either signing with Vancouver or hoping for a trade.  Now, Tryamkin is an unrestricted free agent in North America, giving him more options.  The 6’8 blueliner has 10 points in 57 KHL games this season and had 11 in 79 contests with the Canucks over parts of two seasons.

New Home For Horvat: One of the big trade dominoes fell as the Islanders acquired center Bo Horvat from Vancouver in exchange for winger Anthony Beauvillier, prospect center Aatu Raty, and a 2023 protected first-rounder (that becomes an unprotected 2024 pick if it’s not conveyed this year).  Vancouver also retained 25% of Horvat’s $5.5MM AAV, basically making the cap implications this season a wash.  The pending UFA is in the middle of a career year with 31 goals and 23 assists in 49 games but wasn’t able to come to terms on an extension with the Canucks.  While he hasn’t suited up for his new team yet, he quickly signed up for the long haul, agreeing to an eight-year, $68MM extension, ensuring their new one-two punch down the middle that also includes Mathew Barzal will be in place for years to come.  Meanwhile, the Canucks pick up a middle-six winger in Beauvillier, arguably New York’s top prospect in Raty, and a first-rounder as they look to kick-start a rebuild.

Key Injuries: Mark Stone has been a key player when healthy for the Golden Knights but staying in the lineup has proved to be challenging.  The veteran has now undergone back surgery with no timetable for his return.  It’s the second year in a row that the 30-year-old has had back surgery.  Despite missing eight games, Stone is second on the team in scoring and his absence will make it tougher for Vegas as they battle for top spot in the Pacific.  He’s eligible to be placed on LTIR which could open up $9.5MM in space for the Golden Knights but only if they know that he won’t be back for the rest of the year.  It’s too early for them to make that determination now.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets ruled out winger Gustav Nyquist for the remainder of the regular season due to a shoulder injury.  However, it’s expected that he will be able to return for the playoffs.  That won’t be happening in Columbus – they’re dead last in the East – but it does open up a window for them to still be able to trade him as long as it’s to a team with enough cap or LTIR room to accommodate his $5.5MM AAV.  The market will be weaker than what it would have been had he been healthy but Columbus should still be able to pick up a conditional pick.

Hull Dies: Hall of Fame winger Bobby Hull passed away at the age of 84.  He led the NHL in scoring three times with Chicago (including getting the Hart Trophy in 1965) and scored over 600 goals with them in 15 years.  Hull then jumped ship to the WHA where he spent seven more years in Winnipeg, scoring another 300 goals including a 77-goal campaign in 1974-75.  He was the first hockey player to receive a contract worth a million dollars, inking a ten-year contract worth $1.5MM per season.  Hull briefly returned to the NHL when the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979 and hung up his skates at the age of 41.

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The final full week of January has come to an end with quite a bit of big news across the NHL.  We’ll recap those in our key stories.

Done For The Year…Again: When the shoulder injury to Senators center Josh Norris was initially diagnosed, he was ruled out for the season.  However, after getting a second opinion, they opted for rehab and he was able to return to the lineup last week.  Unfortunately, the injury returned in just his third game back and Norris has once again been ruled as done for the year.  This time, the designation will stick as he will be undergoing surgery.  Suffice it to say, the first season of his eight-year, $63.6MM contract didn’t go as planned as his season ends with just two goals and an assist in a total of eight games played.

Trade Candidate Injured: Going back to last season, there has been an expectation that the Coyotes would move defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere by this trade deadline.  Interested teams have likely seen the last of him in the desert as the 29-year-old suffered an upper-body injury that will keep him out four-to-six weeks.  On the long end of the timeline, he might not be ready by March 3rd (but should be soon after).  The pending unrestricted free agent is having another nice season offensively with nine goals and 20 assists in 48 games and assuming Arizona is willing to retain the maximum 50% on his contract, he’d be a nice addition for several playoff-bound squads at a prorated $2.25MM AAV.

Bridge For Kuzmenko: Generally speaking, a player entering the UFA market at 27 isn’t looking for a short-term bridge contract.  But Canucks winger Andrei Kuzmenko isn’t a typical UFA as he’s in the midst of his first NHL season so his preference was to not sign a long-term agreement.  In the end, he got his wish as the two sides agreed to a two-year, $11MM extension that will kick in next season and contains a 12-team no-trade clause.  It has been a successful first season in North America for Kuzmenko as he has 22 goals and 21 assists in 48 games, good for fifth on the team in scoring.  The agreement keeps him with Vancouver for at least a little while longer while giving him a shot at testing the open market in 2025 when he’ll be more established at the top level.

More Injuries: Still with Vancouver, Ilya Mikheyev’s first season with them has come to an end as he will undergo season-ending knee surgery to fix an ACL injury.  The winger actually suffered the injury back in the preseason but only missed a handful of games as he was able to play through it.  Mikheyev’s year comes to an end with 13 goals and 15 assists in 46 games.  Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs will be without their top center for at least three weeks as Auston Matthews is out with a knee sprain that will also keep him out of the upcoming All-Star Game.  While his numbers are down this season, Matthews still has 25 goals and 28 assists in 47 games, his fifth straight year of averaging over a point per game.

Sharks-Avalanche Trade: The Sharks and Avalanche made a four-player swap with Colorado acquiring blueliner Ryan Merkley and winger Matt Nieto in exchange for winger Martin Kaut and defenseman/winger Jacob MacDonald.  Merkley and Kaut are 2018 first-round picks that haven’t panned out with their original clubs and will look to rebuild their value elsewhere.  MacDonald is a depth defender on a cheap two-way deal for a couple of seasons which holds some value for San Jose who doesn’t have a lot of cap flexibility while Nieto gives Colorado some reliable depth scoring and a player who is already familiar with playing there having previously spent parts of four seasons with the Avs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.