Nazem Kadri Would Consider A Trade From Calgary

In yesterday’s rendition of Insider Trading on TSN, the crew, particularly Darren Dreger, discussed Nazem Kadri‘s future with the Calgary Flames. According to Dreger, Kadri is more than happy playing out the rest of his contract with the Flames, but would welcome the idea of being traded to a contender if the opportunity presented itself.

Kadri’s name has been floated as a potential trade candidate since last summer. Despite having four years left on a $7MM salary, the 35-year-old former Stanley Cup champion saw his full no-movement clause turn into a 13-team no-trade list this season. Theoretically, the Flames have 18 teams they could trade Kadri to without his approval, but they may be treating him the same way the Nashville Predators are treating veteran center Ryan O’Reilly.

Although he’s been the first-line center for Calgary this season, Kadri is better used as a second-line middleman on a true contender. Much like he did with the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, Kadri played a significant role in Colorado’s quest for the Stanley Cup, scoring seven goals and 15 points in 16 games, his last time in the postseason.

Outside of a relatively tepid output during his first year in Alberta, Kadri has been one of the team’s top performers since. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, Kadri has registered 72 goals and 174 points in 208 games, averaging 19:04 of ice time per game.

Furthermore, his underlying metrics haven’t declined as he enters the twilight years of his career. He’s remained consistently solid in the faceoff dot, and has continued to average north of a 50.0% CorsiFor% at even strength despite playing on a mostly non-competitive team in Calgary.

Fortunately for Kadri, there are a few competitive teams that could use his services this season and beyond. Although being a “true contender” is a relatively subjective term, for the sake of argument, we’ll choose from the top-5 teams in the league standings at the time of writing.

A return to Colorado doesn’t make much sense given the lack of cap space and contributions from Brock Nelson this season, and the same holds for the Dallas Stars and Roope Hintz. Still, of the three remaining teams from the group, Kadri would make sense for all of them.

The Minnesota Wild don’t have too much center depth, especially after moving Marco Rossi to the Vancouver Canucks. Although Logan Stankoven has played relatively well down the middle for the Carolina Hurricanes this year, he may be best suited to play on Kadri’s wing if he were to be traded to Raleigh. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have been one of the most outspoken landing spots for nearly every second-line center on the market.

Given the current demand for a second-line center, the Flames should be able to recoup a haul for Kadri if they decide to move him this season. Still, unlike other potential options, Kadri’s price tag is unlikely to drop even if Calgary doesn’t move him by March. He’s signed through the 2028-29 season, so the Flames aren’t under a time crunch by any means.

Flyers Place Jamie Drysdale On Injured Reserve, Recall Adam Ginning

8:00 p.m.: Philadelphia has quickly replaced the void left by Drysdale on the active roster. According to a public announcement, the Flyers have recalled Adam Ginning from AHL Lehigh Valley. He’s gone scoreless in five games for the Flyers this season, averaging 15:20 of ice time per night.


2:26 p.m.: The Flyers placed defenseman Jamie Drysdale on injured reserve today, per Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. With six healthy defensemen still on the active roster and a two-game homestand upcoming, there’s no immediate need to fill his roster spot.

Drysdale has already sat out one game after getting rocked by Ducks winger Ross Johnston on Tuesday night. Johnston was ejected for the hit but wasn’t given any further discipline. While Drysdale is still officially day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, the move rules him out of Philadelphia’s next two games. He’ll be eligible to return on Jan. 14 against the Sabres.

The sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft is having his best all-around season. He’s battled through a lengthy list of injuries throughout his development to overcome some defensive warts in his game. His 3-15–18 scoring line in 41 appearances isn’t the offensive ceiling expected from him, but he’s averaging over 21 minutes per night for the Flyers while posting good possession numbers as their right-shot second-pairing anchor with either Emil Andrae or Nick Seeler on his left flank.

On track to finish the season with a plus rating for the first time in his six-year career, he’s been splitting top power-play quarterback duties with Cameron York. A long-term absence could be tough to swallow for the Flyers, who haven’t gotten a ton of offensive output from their blue line. They also haven’t seen good two-way numbers from Rasmus Ristolainen, next up on the right-shot depth chart behind Drysdale, since his return from injury last month.

Golden Knights Recall Carl Lindbom; Carter Hart Injured

According to a team announcement, the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled netminder Carl Lindbom from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. The transaction is undeniably in connection to Carter Hart‘s injury (video link) from yesterday’s contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Golden Knights don’t immediately need to place Hart on injured reserve given they had an open roster spot. Still, they may be headed in that direction regardless.

During the play in question, after being scored on by Columbus captain Boone Jenner early in the first period, Hart exited for the remainder of the contest. He was unable to make it down the tunnel on his own power, instead being helped by teammates and staff. There have been no additional updates to Hart’s status, though they may come tomorrow morning after practice.

Before the injury, Hart had a relatively shaky start with his new team. Throughout his first six starts with the Golden Knights, Hart managed a 3-1-2 record with a .903 SV%. Unfortunately, he’s fallen off the rails since then, earning an .825 SV% over his last six starts on 114 shots.

Meanwhile, Lindbom returns to Vegas for his second stint of the year. Over his first recall in late-October, Lindbom picked up one win in seven starts with a .870 SV% and 3.14 GAA. He’s understandably been much better with AHL Henderson this year, managing a 6-3-4 record in 12 games with a .926 SV% and 2.08 GAA.

Capitals Activate Aliaksei Protas

The Capitals have activated winger Aliaksei Protas from injured reserve, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News. He’ll be back in the lineup tonight against the Blackhawks. Winger Tom Wilson took his spot on IR to open a roster space, but he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Sunday.

Protas missed Washington’s last three games, sustaining a lower-body injury against the Senators on New Year’s Day. Now that he’s back, he’ll be looking to pick up where he left off. He’s on a five-game point streak, during which he has four goals and five assists for nine points.

The 6’6″ Belarusian hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down following last season’s 30-goal, 66-point breakout. His 16-15–31 scoring line through 41 appearances this year makes for a slightly decreased overall point pace, but he’s scoring goals at the same rate. He’s also doing so in a more sustainable manner, compensating for a 3.1% dip in shooting percentage by averaging 16% more shots on goal per game than he did in 2024-25.

He continues to be one of the Caps’ most feared possession threats at even strength, too. His +21 rating is second on the team behind Jakob Chychrun, and his 55.8 CF% is inferior only to Wilson’s.

That’s a big boost for a Washington team that’s dropped three out of its last four, now out of the playoff picture for the time being. Their strong advanced numbers and +14 goal differential suggest they should get back into position sooner rather than later, though, especially with key bodies in Protas and Wilson returning in short order.

Wilson, who left the lineup one game after Protas did with a lower-body issue, could get his feet back on the ice in Nashville this weekend. The newly tabbed Olympian is enjoying a career year at age 31, leading the Caps in scoring with 22 goals and 42 points in 41 games. His 22.7% shooting rate is nearly 10 points above his career average and won’t hold up, but the added offense is greatly appreciated in addition to his trademark hard-nosed play, leading Washington with 110 hits.

Sharks Reassign Patrick Giles

Jan. 9: Giles was returned to the AHL today, the team announced. He was scratched for both games of his call-up on Tuesday and Wednesday. The move indicates one of the Sharks’ IR-bound defenders – Klingberg, Vincent Desharnais, and Shakir Mukhamadullin – could be returning to action tomorrow.


Jan. 5: The Sharks recalled center Patrick Giles from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda on Monday, per a team announcement. To open a roster spot, the Sharks placed defenseman John Klingberg on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 31.

It’s the second recall of the season for Giles, who last appeared on the roster in November. The 26-year-old, who was acquired from the Panthers in last year’s Vítek Vaněček trade, has 20 games of NHL experience, including three on his previous recall this season.

The Chevy Chase, Maryland, native will provide the Sharks with an extra forward for Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jackets. While they now have 14 forwards on the active roster, Adam Gaudette has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury – although Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports he could be an option to return to the lineup against Columbus.

The 6’5″, 218-lb Giles grades out as a fine fourth-line pivot for a few games at a time, but shouldn’t be relied upon more than that. His possession numbers weren’t inspiring in more extended action with Florida last season, and he has a team-worst -10 rating with nine points in 28 games for the Barracuda.

As for Klingberg, San Jose’s top power play quarterback sustained a lower-body injury against the Wild on New Year’s Eve that caused him to sit out Saturday’s loss to the Lightning. He’s been ruled out of the Sharks’ upcoming back-to-back but will be eligible to return this weekend against the Stars, per Max Miller of Sharks Hockey Digest.

His absence means more opportunities for youngsters Sam Dickinson and Vincent Iorio while veteran Nick Leddy gets some added reps as well, despite serving as a healthy scratch for most of the campaign. Klingberg’s nine goals and 16 points in 31 games have him on pace for his best offensive showing since departing Dallas in free agency in 2022.

Hurricanes Reassign Joel Nystrom

The Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Joel Nystrom to AHL Chicago. While there’s no corresponding transaction yet, the open roster spot could indicate that top shutdown man Jaccob Slavin will come off injured reserve on Saturday before their clash with the Kraken.

Nystrom is having an impressive enough rookie season to warrant a four-year, $4.9MM extension from the Canes last month. His waiver-exempt status means he’s still a logical candidate to get ferried between the NHL and AHL when roster space is needed, but he’ll be a full-timer from the drop on Carolina’s roster starting in 2026-27.

This might be the second time in a month that Nystrom’s roster spot is sacrificed for Slavin returning from IR. The latter initially attempted to return from his lower-body injury on Dec. 14 but sustained an upper-body issue three games later that put him back on the inactive list. Nystrom was sent down then, too, to make room for his activation, but was immediately recalled again when Slavin got re-injured.

Averaging 15:37 per game across 33 contests, the 23-year-old Nystrom has eight assists with a +4 rating. That’s already far more than anyone expected out of the right-shot Swede, who was a seventh-round pick in 2021. He’s posted spectacular possession numbers, including a 62.0 xGF% and 60.0 CF%, while bouncing up and down the lineup.

Nonetheless, the 5’11” puck-mover has yet to score a goal since arriving in North America at the end of last season. In nine career AHL contests, he’s got two assists with a +3 rating. That comes after Nystrom led his Swedish Hockey League team, Färjestad BK, in scoring from the blue line with 27 points in 51 games last year.

Slavin has been absent from Carolina’s lineup for all but five games this season. His limited workload in his brief return to the lineup means he’s only averaged 17:24 of ice time per game after starting his career with a 10-year streak of 20 or higher. Regarded as one of the league’s best defensive defensemen for the last decade, the missed time means he’s likely to go without earning a Norris Trophy vote since his rookie year.

Maple Leafs Reassign Jacob Quillan, Expected To Activate William Nylander

The Maple Leafs announced they’ve sent center Jacob Quillan to AHL Toronto. They’re left with an open roster spot, which is expected to go to William Nylander as he comes off injured reserve ahead of his anticipated return to the lineup tomorrow against the Canucks.

Quillan, 23, had been up since Dec. 30 but only got into one game. He entered the lineup that night against the Devils, recording a +1 rating in 7:01 of ice time, before heading to the press box for four straight.

The undrafted free agent signing out of Quinnipiac has been one of Toronto’s best minor-leaguers this season, though. Despite getting just three NHL games across his two call-ups, he’s just shy of the AHL team lead in points per game with 0.88 after recording five goals and 18 assists through 26 contests to date.

Toronto increasingly relying on the 6’0″ Nova Scotia native as a call-up option indicates he has a decent chance of plucking a roster spot for a larger portion of next season, particularly if he settles for a reasonable extension or re-signs at a low cost. His entry-level deal is up following this season, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration should he choose to test restricted free agency.

Nylander, should he get back into action tomorrow, will return after missing the last six games with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Senators on Dec. 27. The Leafs’ top winger had scored three goals and two assists in his final two appearances before exiting the lineup, momentum he’ll hope to keep up as Toronto continues to gain ground in the East playoff race. They’re now six games above .500, their highest points percentage since winning their season opener, and are one point back of the Sabres for the final playoff spot after going 6-2-2 in their last 10. Their chances of making the postseason are up to 23.8%, per MoneyPuck.

The star Swede has been immensely productive this season, and his offense is one of the biggest reasons they’re still squarely in the race. Despite the missed time, his 27 assists and 41 points in 33 games still lead the team.

Ottawa’s Contention Window Could Be Short

The Senators have struggled to start the year, despite high hopes and promises that this would be the year they finally made some noise. However, some three months into the season, the only noise out of Ottawa is the collective sighs as the team’s inconsistency drives its most loyal supporters up the wall.

The Sens have a relatively young team, and with youth comes growing pains. But this group has been together for quite a while now, and it’s fair to wonder if this is who they are: a talented group of individual players who, together, form a flawed team with a window to win that grows smaller by the day.

When the Senators began tearing apart their core in 2018, it was clear that dark days lay ahead, but in the background, there was always hope for a brighter future, and for good reason. Many of the teams that tore down their roster to the studs rebuilt their systems and competed for Stanley Cups.

Whenever fans discussed the bottom-out rebuild, they would bring up the Penguins, Blackhawks, Kings and Lightning, and the collective 10 Stanley Cups those four teams won over 12 years. However, tearing down the roster was never a guarantee of success.

For every Chicago or Pittsburgh, you had a Buffalo or Edmonton. Teams that had bottomed out, but never built anything worth talking about. And now, with the Senators nearing the halfway point of the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, it’s fair to start asking whether they are more Buffalo than Chicago.

Ottawa is still framed as a team on the rise. They are young, talented, and one would think poised to break through once the pieces fall into place.

But aren’t the pieces already in place? You would think so, given the players they’ve brought in over the past five years, such as Jakob Chychrun and Alex DeBrincat, two men who were brought in for a season or two and shuffled out quickly. Ottawa likely pounced too early when they brought in those players, sensing they were closer to winning than they actually were, and exposing some of the problematic elements of a rebuild that are often forgotten.

The Senators have a ton of talent in their core. There is no doubting that.

Just because a core is talented doesn’t mean there is synchronicity. Ottawa has some pieces nearing their prime, while others have long passed it, and some are just learning what it takes to be a full-time NHLer and are being asked to do too much. Talent isn’t really the issue in Ottawa; timing is.

In fairness to the Senators, they did most of what a rebuilding team is supposed to do. They hit on their top picks (Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle), had some big trade wins by shipping out veterans (Erik Karlsson), and signed their top stars to very reasonable contracts (Jake Sanderson, Stützle, Tkachuk). But once those players are signed, it becomes much more challenging to layer the roster with inexpensive depth, and that is generally done through drafting, which the Senators have struggled with outside the first round. This has begun to rear its head.

There has long been a mentality among Senators fans that the team would figure out who to surround their stars with later on, but the time to figure it out is now, and they don’t look like they have the solutions. The trouble with a competitive window in the case of the Senators is that when you make big bets and lose, the window to win doesn’t get delayed or kicked down the road; it shrinks. The Senators could be in the midst of finding that out.

The Senators’ stars have been out of the development stage for a few years now, and one has to wonder how long their star players will remain patient. They were supposed to be past the learning years and into the progression years, and while last year felt like a step in the right direction, this year feels like two steps back, with little help on the way in the form of prospects or significant additions.

Ottawa’s farm system ranks bottom-10 in the league (23rd on Elite Prospects, 25th on Daily Faceoff), and they are without a first-round pick this year. They have a healthy stash of draft picks outside of that, but don’t have a ton of cap room to make major splashes.

Speaking of the salary cap, Ottawa has $23MM available next summer with eight players to sign (per PuckPedia). Assuming defensive prospect Carter Yakemchuk makes the jump to the NHL, that leaves Ottawa with around $22MM and seven players to sign to NHL deals.

That’s not a bad number by any stretch, but realistically, they will be looking to sign a top-four right-handed defenseman, a top-six winger, a backup goaltender, and a few bottom-six forwards. It’s not a daunting task, but it doesn’t leave much wiggle room, and you have to wonder whether their roster will be much better next year.

And make no mistake, the years are about to matter a whole lot more to the players on the roster and the team. Drake Batherson has one year remaining on his deal after this one, as does defenseman Artem Zub, while the likes of Tkachuk and defenseman Thomas Chabot have two.

Batherson has been a massive bargain on his current deal, carrying a cap hit of just $4.975MM on a six-year deal and delivering 60-plus points per season. Batherson is also consistently in the lineup, having dressed for 82 games in each of the previous three seasons. His defensive play, on the other hand, is not something to write home about, but that can be said for many goal-scoring wingers in the NHL.

Batherson has given Ottawa a ton of value over the life of his current contract, and like it or not, he’s going to want to claw a lot of that back on his next deal, which figures to be a seven-year deal and will probably top teammate Shane Pinto’s $7.5MM deal. Does Ottawa want to pay Batherson $8MM or more annually? Hard to say, but they can’t get that deal wrong, and what kind of message would it send to trade him right before the Tkachuk negotiations start?

Speaking of Tkachuk, he is the heart of the team and one heck of a competitor. You have to believe that if Ottawa can’t show forward progress in the next 18 months, he won’t be in a hurry to sign a long-term deal with the Senators when he is eligible to do so in July 2027.

Tkachuk negotiated in a very tactical and aggressive way during the last round of contract talks, and you have to believe he won’t be an easy player to lock up long-term if real results aren’t shown. Tkachuk is being paid handsomely at the moment, carrying an AAV north of $8.2MM. Steve Warne of The Hockey News has reported previously that his father, Keith Tkachuk, doesn’t believe he will leave Ottawa, but losing does a lot, as does winning, and Ottawa’s results will have a lot of say in what Tkachuk does.

The Senators have no choice but to win often and soon. They can ill afford to let the years go by without success. Windows to win don’t usually slam shut; they close quietly when contracts age poorly, teams fail to develop players, and depth erodes. It happened to those aforementioned Stanley Cup champions, in Chicago’s case, much earlier than expected and in Pittsburgh’s case, much later. It will happen to Ottawa at some point, and the question is whether they will win before it does. Much of that will be determined over the next 18 months.

Photo by Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Blackhawks Activate Connor Bedard, Recall Kevin Korchinski, Drew Commesso

1:43 p.m.: The Blackhawks announced they’ve activated Bedard from injured reserve. They also recalled defenseman Kevin Korchinski and goaltender Drew Commesso from AHL Rockford to account for their game-time decisions tonight. Korchinski, the seventh overall pick in 2022, would be making his season debut if he draws into the lineup. He hasn’t exactly been lighting up the AHL, but has 19 points and a -12 rating in 32 showings for Rockford. Commesso, on the other hand, has been a strong starter with a .909 SV% and 2.72 GAA in 19 games.


12:00 p.m.: The Chicago Blackhawks will have their lineup star back from injury when they host the Washington Capitals on Friday night. Connor Bedard confirmed that he will return to the lineup after missing the last 12 games due to a shoulder injury to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Bedard skated on the top power-play unit at Friday morning’s practice.

Bedard was injured in the final second of Chicago’s Dec. 12th loss to the St. Louis Blues. He was on a scoring tear before his injury, with five goals and 11 points in his last seven games. Those marks brought Bedard up to 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games on the season.  That ranked the Blackhawks youngster third in points and fourth in goals in the NHL.

Naturally, Chicago hit a skid once Bedard fell out of the lineup. Their average goals per game fell from 2.9 to 2.1 over their remaining eight games in December, leading to a 1-6-1 record to end 2025. Surprisingly, the young roster snapped out of that struggle in the New Year. Chicago is currently riding a four-game win streak, capped off by a 7-3 win over the Blues on Wednesday. That win was spurred by young forwards Oliver Moore, Nick Lardis, Landon Slaggert, and Ryan Greene.

With that quartet now clicking down the lineup, Chicago will be in a perfect position to add their top scorer back to the lineup. Bedard spent most of his time next to Greene and Andre Burakovsky prior to his injury. That line outscored opponents 13-to-6 at even-strength, the most of only four Blackhawks lines with a positive goal-differential. The chances that Bedard returns to that line on Friday could be slim, though, as Greene has taken on the second-line center role with Frank Nazar also injured.

Chicago will need to spread their depth after forwards Nick Foligno and Ilya Mikheyev, goaltender Arvid Soderblom, and head coach Jeff Blashill all missed Friday’s morning skate. The team isn’t yet sure which of those four will be available for Friday night’s game, per Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio. The four seem to have fallen victim to a flu bug making its way through the Blackhawks locker room right now. The injury-ridden Blackhawks have two extra forwards – Sam Lafferty and Landon Slaggert – but had to call upon famous emergency backup goaltender Scott Foster to backup at practice. They would be eligible for an emergency recall should they need to fill an additional spot.

Should Blashill need to sit on the side, Chicago would likely ask Anders Sorensen to fill the head coach spot. Sorensen coached the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs from 2022 to 2025, then earned a promotion to an interim head coach role partway through last season. He remains with Chicago as an assistant coach this year.

Lightning, Darren Raddysh To Wait On Extension Talks

While Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh is in the midst of the best season of his hockey career, he’ll likely need to wait just a little bit longer before he can cash in on his success.

Lightning GM Julien BriseBois told the media yesterday, including the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina, that the club and Raddysh’s representatives would wait to engage in negotiations over a potential contract extension until the end of the season.

BriseBois stated his belief that Raddysh’s play has earned the blueliner a “game-changing contract,” but felt that waiting until the end of the season would allow the club to enter negotiations with a more complete sense of how to evaluate the defenseman’s appropriate contract value.

In a season where the Lightning have dealt with a rash of injuries to their blueline, Raddysh has emerged as a key difference-maker. The 29-year-old went undrafted out of the OHL’s Erie Otters but garnered significant league interest as a free agent at the end of his junior career. He originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks and would go on to spend over a half-decade in the AHL before he earned his first NHL call-up.

Raddysh earned four NHL games for the Lightning in 2021-22, but his real breakout came in 2022-23, when he scored 51 points in 50 games for the Syracuse Crunch.

He got into 17 NHL games that year, which paved the way for him to earn a full-time role in Tampa the following year. Raddysh scored 33 points in 82 games in his first season as a full-time NHLer, 37 points in 73 games last season, and now has 12 goals and 36 points in 36 games this season.

For as much as he’s clearly developed in his late twenties, few likely expected Raddysh to sit top-five in league scoring by a defenseman halfway through an NHL season. He’s scoring at a higher clip this season than star names such as Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin, Moritz Seider, and Miro Heiskanen, to name just a few.

Playing defense is about more than just scoring, of course, and that’s why it’s important to note that Raddysh is also playing a key all-situations role for Tampa. He’s their No. 2 defenseman by average ice time per game (21:35) and beyond just getting top power play time, he also plays a role on the penalty kill.

He’s providing Tampa with an immense amount of surplus value on his current $975K cap hit, and as BriseBois said, has clearly lined himself up for a significant contract.

Of course, it’s fair to question whether a team interested in Raddysh will be able to expect Raddysh to put up the kind of point-per-game production he’s managed halfway through this season. But even if his true talent level isn’t quite as high as where he’s ranked right now, the fact is he’s still a right-shot blueliner who managed solid scoring rates in each of the last two seasons prior to this one.

Long gone is the flat cap environment where the vast majority of NHL clubs were tightening their purse strings and showing restraint on the free agent market. With each passing extension that gets signed, the upcoming free agent class thins even further, increasing Raddysh’s earnings potential as one of the top pending UFA blueliners.

For as much as the Bolts might want to see more games before committing significant funds to Raddysh, Raddysh may also want to wait as long as possible before committing to a contract extension in Tampa, as he very well could receive the most lucrative possible offer within the bidding wars of unrestricted free agency.

In any case, both Raddysh and the Lightning have more pressing objectives than the finances of next season; most importantly, it’s returning to the top of the game’s competitive pecking order and winning a third Stanley Cup under head coach Jon Cooper. If Raddysh can manage to string together a few more months of this kind of production, and find a way to translate his scoring to the high-intensity setting of the Stanley Cup playoffs, he could further heighten his chances of landing a life-altering contract this upcoming summer.

Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images