The Canadiens were believed to have been offered a mid-second-round pick back at the draft for center Jake Evans, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. He adds that the Capitals may have been the team making the offer. Evans is in the middle of what is likely to be a career year as he has 11 goals and 14 assists in 50 games while being the league leader for shorthanded ice time by a forward. A pending unrestricted free agent, Evans has a very affordable $1.7MM cap charge this season and could plausibly double that on the open market this summer. Montreal will have to decide if it’s worth accepting what’s likely to be a similar offer by the March 7th trade deadline or trying to sign him to a contract extension in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Flyers announced that goaltender Samuel Ersson has officially been added to Sweden’s entry for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. He’ll take the place of injured netminder Jacob Markstrom. Ersson has a 2.77 GAA and a .893 SV% in 27 appearances this season while picking up 15 of Philadelphia’s 23 wins. As things stand, he’s likely to serve as Sweden’s third-string option for the tournament.
- It appears that Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be out until after the 4 Nations Face-Off, relays Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has yet to play in 2025 due to a lower-body injury. It looked like he was close to returning earlier this month but ultimately suffered a setback, changing his designation to week-to-week. When available, Nichushkin has done well, tallying 11 goals and six assists in 21 games but Colorado won’t have him in the lineup for a while yet.
- The Utah Hockey Club announced that they are no longer pursuing some of their preferred team names following the trademark issues that were revealed last week. The team will now run another voting campaign with only three names on the ballot – their current moniker, Mammoth, and Wasatch. This round of voting will occur in-arena during Utah’s next four home games, beginning with tonight’s.
- Bruins GM Don Sweeney confirmed to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe that they are in discussions about bringing back long-time blueliner Zdeno Chara in an advisory role. Chara spent 14 years with Boston, playing over 1,000 games with the franchise while winning the Norris Trophy back in 2009. Sweeney added that the role, the specifics of which are still being discussed, would likely have him working with both the players and the coaching staff.
Nichushkin is toxic!
Utah Stingers, I have said it from the beginning.
Regarding UHC, Wasatch is good, Mammoth is not. A lacrosse team is using Mammoth. UHC is still good, too, One of our crew here suggested “Black Diamonds”, which I like, as well. And, we should give credit to @Wilf for “Stingers”, since Beehive State & Stingers are a natural connection. But, you just can’t do anything with Dugway (Proving Ground). And, by coincidence, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT take any of Joe Brand’s suggestions, as he just mentioned on Pens’ radio seconds ago.
Amazing to me that Utah has painted themselves into this tiny boring and/or insipid little corner.
Can’t believe I have to hope they pick Mammoth.
Seems like they want to use their Yeti logo and will probably pick one of the other two, though.
Utah Wasatch Club.
The Utah Wasatch seems like the best choice among the 3 options. They seem set on the whole Yeti thing for whatever reason. Glad “Yeti” couldn’t be used as I wasn’t a fan of the name at all.
I will say if “Stingers” was an option (it should be) that would be a much valid choice as I like the sound of the Utah Stingers as they could have a cool Bee logo too.
Months ago, the owner said that their fans overwhelmingly picked one team name from the 2nd round of public voting, but didn’t say which one. Based on their behavior, it sure looks like it was Yeti, so the team went all in on that option.
Utah Cannibals
Salt Lake Stealers is perfect for this Coyotes fan.
Certainly “Utah HC” is bush league. Like with the PWHL, I have NO patience for “Oooohhh, we can’t POSSIBLY get a logo, uniform and a team name given months to decide!!!” You kidding me? I bet there were a hundred fan artists who had ready-to-go concepts before the end of business that day.