While he has a sizable contract, there has been some chatter about Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf being dealt before the trade deadline, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The 32-year-old veteran is in his third season with Ottawa and while he plays an important role on their back end, he hasn’t been living up to his $7MM cap hit and has actually seen his average ice time dip by 2:30 a night to 20:32, the lowest of his career. With three years left on his deal beyond this one, Ottawa would almost certainly have to retain some salary or take a high-priced player back in any trade. Phaneuf has a 12-team list that he can be traded to.
More news regarding blueliners around the league:
- Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller skated at practice for the first time since undergoing surgery to fix a broken clavicle, notes Chris Ryan of NJ Advance Media. While he will still need several more practices before getting the green light to return, it appears he will be returning well ahead of schedule; originally, he was pegged to be out until sometime around the middle of February. Prior to being injured, Mueller was playing a regular role on New Jersey’s third pairing but there’s no guarantee he’ll return in that spot with seven other blueliners already on the roster.
- So much for being ready to play after the bye week. Although that was the original intention for Stars rearguard Marc Methot, the team announced that he has undergone a non-surgical procedure that will keep him out of the lineup for the next two weeks. Methot’s first season in Dallas has been a rough one as he has played just once since November 6th where he first suffered his knee injury. He returned to play one game and then was scratched with soreness for the next one. That’s not what they were hoping for when they acquired him from Vegas after the Expansion Draft to shore up their top-four.