Week In Review

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.

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There was plenty of big news around the NHL over the past seven days including a big contract extension and a coaching change.  Those are among the news that’s highlighted in our key stories.

Tocchet To Vancouver: After weeks, if not months of speculation, the long-expected coaching change in Vancouver happened with Rick Tocchet being hired to take the place of Bruce Boudreau.  In addition, the Canucks hired long-time NHL blueliners Adam Foote (assistant coach) and Sergei Gonchar (development coach) while letting assistant Trent Cull go.  This is the third head coaching role for Tocchet whose teams with Tampa Bay and Arizona played to a .475 points percentage over parts of six seasons.  As for Boudreau, Vancouver played to a .549 points percentage over 103 games but the team had been struggling considerably this season and are 14 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

More Canucks Changes? At a press conference early in the week, Canucks president Jim Rutherford indicated that “major surgery” on the roster will be needed for next season.  Pending UFA center Bo Horvat appears likely to move in the coming weeks but clearly, he has more than that in mind.  Moving pricey contracts is harder than ever so Vancouver’s management group will have their work cut out for them to do the shakeup that they’re seeking.  One player that they’re hoping won’t be a part of those changes is rookie winger Andrei Kuzmenko as Rutherford stated that extension talks with the pending unrestricted free agent are underway.  Kuzmenko has 41 points in 45 games this season and will be adding quite a few million per year to the $925K he’s getting on his entry-level deal over the coming months.

Seven For Boldy: With Minnesota’s cap situation getting even tighter next season as buyout costs for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter get higher, there was an expectation that they might have to do a bridge deal for young winger Matt Boldy.  That wasn’t the case, however, as they inked the 21-year-old to a seven-year, $49MM extension that begins next season and runs through 2029-30.  Boldy is in just his second NHL season but has been productive in his limited action with 29 goals and 42 assists in 92 career contests.  Minnesota is banking on Boldy taking another step forward offensively and if he does, this could wind up being a bargain fairly quickly.  They now have over $74MM in commitments to just 14 players for next season which won’t give GM Bill Guerin much flexibility with which to round out their roster.

Kane Returns: As the Oilers look to hold onto a playoff spot in the tight Western Conference, they welcomed back a key player as Evander Kane was activated off LTIR.  Kane landed on there early in the season after having his wrist sliced by a skate and while he wound up being out for two months, he still returned well ahead of schedule.  Kane has 13 points in 17 games so far this season and is already back on the top line alongside Connor McDavid.  To create the cap space needed to activate Kane, Edmonton placed winger Kailer Yamamoto and defenseman Ryan Murray on LTIR.  Yamamoto is expected to be out for a few weeks which buys them a little time but, barring further injuries, they will need to make some cap-clearing demotions once the winger returns.

Key Injuries: Unfortunately, Max Pacioretty’s return for the Hurricanes was short-lived.  After working his way back from a torn Achilles that he sustained in the offseason, he suffered the same injury in just his fifth game of the year and will be out for the season.  It’s hardly an ideal situation for the veteran as he’s eligible for free agency this summer while Carolina was certainly hoping to get more from a key offseason acquisition although they’ll be able to spend up to his $7MM AAV on a replacement.  Meanwhile, the Canadiens have shut down winger Cole Caufield due to a shoulder injury that will require surgery in the coming days.  The 22-year-old had 26 goals in 46 games this season, his final one before being eligible for restricted free agency in July.

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While we’re still a little while away from the trade market picking up, there was still quite a bit of notable news around the hockey world which is recapped here in our key stories.

Pearson Done For The Year: Canucks winger Tanner Pearson was supposed to be back by now after suffering a hand injury in early November.  Instead of returning, however, he’s now out for the season after undergoing another surgery.  On top of that, there are now investigations by both the team and the NHLPA over how Vancouver handled the situation following reports that multiple other surgeries will be needed that now has Pearson’s availability for next season in question.  His season comes to a premature end with just 14 games played and he will now sit on LTIR through the end of the campaign.  Pearson has one year remaining on his contract with a $3.25MM AAV and it’s worth noting that injured players can’t be bought out.

Ekman-Larsson Scratched: Pearson’s situation wasn’t the only notable item out of Vancouver.  On top of more speculation about an eventual coaching change, the Canucks decided to scratch their key offseason acquisition from 2021 in Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  The blueliner has struggled offensively this season and has just a single goal in 41 games while his defensive play has also lagged as well.  Originally acquired from Arizona in a move that was designed to help the Canucks win in the short term, Ekman-Larsson hasn’t been able to help accomplish that objective while he is signed through 2026-27 with a $7.26MM AAV on Vancouver’s books (Arizona is covering another $990K per year).

Four For Zacha: The Bruins have a long list of pending unrestricted free agents for next summer including several core players.  That list has shrunk by one as the team announced that they’ve signed Pavel Zacha to a four-year contract extension that begins next season and contains partial trade protection in each year.  The deal will carry a $4.75MM AAV, a nice raise for the 25-year-old who is on a $3.5MM deal for 2022-23.  This is Zacha’s first year in Boston where he has fit in well, collecting 25 points in 42 games and is just four assists shy of matching his career high.  While he has mostly played on the wing this season, Zacha is a natural center so keeping him around will give Boston a bit of certainty down the middle with both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci also having their contracts set to expire this summer.

More Injuries: Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy last season but things haven’t gone as well for the Panthers this year as they find themselves five points out of a playoff spot entering Sunday’s action.  They’ll now try to close that gap without their promising young goaltender as the team placed Spencer Knight on IR with an undisclosed injury.  Knight has taken some playing time away from veteran Sergei Bobrovsky and has a save percentage that is ten points higher than Bobrovsky so missing Knight will certainly make their battle a little tougher.  Meanwhile, not long after returning to Montreal’s lineup from a lower-body injury, winger Brendan Gallagher will now miss at least six weeks with a lower-body issue.  The 30-year-old has just four goals and five assists in 25 games this season, hardly the return the Canadiens were hoping for on a $6.5MM cap hit that runs through the 2026-27 campaign.

Midterm Rankings: The 2023 draft class is being hyped as one of the stronger ones in recent memory and the midterm rankings from NHL Central Scouting have been released.  Unsurprisingly, center Connor Bedard leads the way for North American skaters with middlemen Adam Fantilli and Will Smith behind him.  On the European skater side, there is a new number one as center Leo Carlsson is in the top spot with winger Matvei Michkov second and defender Axel Sandin Pellikka third.  Between the pipes, Carson Bjarnason and Alexander Hellnemo are the top-rated goalies in North America and Europe respectively.

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The first full week of 2023 is in the books.  It featured a successful Winter Classic (plus an announcement on who gets the next one) plus some notable news on the injury front – both good and bad.  Those injuries are among the news highlighted in our key stories.

Back To Junior: With the World Juniors ending, a pair of Canadian-born players won’t be returning to their NHL teams.  Seattle assigned center Shane Wright to Kingston of the OHL while Los Angeles did the same with defenseman Brandt Clarke.  Wright, the fourth-overall pick last summer, played in just eight NHL games and will have a chance to play a big role in the second half of the season although it won’t be with the Frontenacs who are expected to move him shortly.  As for Clarke, the 2021 first-rounder played in nine NHL contests this season, the last of which came more than two months ago so he’ll now have an opportunity to play consistent heavy minutes for a while with the Colts.  Neither player played enough to burn the first season of their entry-level contracts.

Key Returns: A pair of Metropolitan Division teams welcomed back some key veterans.  First, Carolina finally got to use one of their key acquisitions as they activated winger Max Pacioretty from LTIR.  Acquired in a salary cap dump from Vegas last summer, the 34-year-old is a consistent scoring threat and already has a pair of goals for the Hurricanes in two games.  Meanwhile, Washington was able to bring back two key veterans in center Nicklas Backstrom and winger Tom Wilson.  Backstrom underwent hip resurfacing surgery and is now only the second NHL player to play after that procedure while Wilson is back from knee surgery.  Both players have been top-six fixtures for the Capitals so their offense will get a big boost once they’re up to full speed.

Ekholm Available? Nashville currently is out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference with the team struggling to score.  Accordingly, some are wondering if they might become sellers.  To that end, they are believed to be considering moving defenseman Mattias Ekholm.  The 32-year-old has been a key cog on the back end for the Predators for the better part of a decade and is in the first season of a four-year contract that carries a $6.25MM AAV.  That’s a high price tag for a lot of contenders to afford so it wouldn’t be the typical trade we see in-season that often involves a player for a draft pick but rather a swap that would see a player or two going the other way to help match money.  Such a swap might be better for Nashville to make in the summer but it appears they’ll at least look into the possibility of doing something sooner than that.

Key Injuries: It wasn’t all good news on the injury front.  St. Louis’ quest to make the playoffs just got a lot harder with Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko landing on injured reserve for extended stints.  O’Reilly has a broken foot that will keep him out for at least six weeks while Tarasenko is dealing with a hand injury that will keep him out for a minimum of a month.  Both players are pending unrestricted free agents and if the Blues can’t hang around the postseason race in their absence, they’ll become strong trade candidates upon their return.  Meanwhile, Jake DeBrusk’s strong performance in the Winter Classic which saw him score both goals in the third to get Boston the win will be his last for a while as the Bruins have placed him on LTIR with hand and lower-body injuries.  The good news is that he shouldn’t miss much more than the minimum 10 games/24 days but missing a key secondary piece for a month will hurt.

Vrana Clears Waivers: There was a bit of a surprise when Detroit opted to place winger Jakub Vrana on waivers.  His contract, one that carries a $5.25MM AAV, made it likely that he’d clear which he did but it’s still an unexpected situation.  Vrana has missed most of the season while being in the Player Assistance Program but was expected to be an important part of Detroit’s core this season.  Now, he’ll stick around with AHL Grand Rapids for the time being where he has an assist in six games.  The Red Wings will eat a $4.125MM cap charge while he’s with the Griffins.

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The week following the holiday break is typically a quiet one and this was no exception, aside from a key veteran signing a contract extension.  It’s among the news highlighted in our key stories.

Crawford To Switzerland: One veteran coach is off the free agent market as Marc Crawford has been hired by Zurich in Switzerland on a three-year contract.  If you’re thinking you’ve seen this headline before, it’s actually the second time that Crawford has coached this franchise as he had a four-year stint with the club beginning in 2012-13.  Crawford was last behind an NHL bench last season with Chicago but hadn’t caught on anywhere this season.  Meanwhile, the outgoing coach in Zurich is also of some note as it’s Rikard Gronborg.  The 54-year-old has received NHL interest in the past and now that he’s a free agent, teams could come calling again.

Wounded Coyote: One of the early bright spots for the Coyotes has been rookie winger Matias Maccelli.  Entering the holiday break, he sat second in the league for points by a first-year player despite largely flying under the radar.  Unfortunately for him and Arizona, the 22-year-old will miss the next six weeks with a lower-body injury.  Maccelli played in 23 games last season and had just six points but had three goals and 19 assists in 30 games prior to the injury which was sustained in their final game before the break against Los Angeles.

Staying In Dallas: Veteran center Joe Pavelski had a very productive 2021-22 campaign, earning himself a one-year extension.  He’s off to a similarly productive first half this season and he has once again earned a one-year extension, this time signing it on the first day he was eligible to.  The 38-year-old will receive $3.5MM in base salary plus $2MM in achievable bonuses (maxed at 20 games played) along with a no-move clause.  The deal is similarly structured to the one he’s on this season, giving Dallas some flexibility as bonuses can be rolled over and charged against the cap the following year.  Pavelski has 200 points over his first 243 games with Dallas, giving them some steady and reliable production at the top of their lineup.

Good News/Bad News For Avs: It has been a rough year injury-wise for the Cup champs as Colorado has been missing several key players all season long.  They did get one of those players back this weekend when center Nathan MacKinnon was activated off IR after missing the previous 11 games with an upper-body injury.  The 27-year-old has 34 points in 24 games this season (a pace of 116 over a full 82-game schedule) and will give the Avalanche a second top scoring threat at the top of their lineup.  However, it wasn’t all good news on the injury front as winger Valeri Nichushkin has re-injured his surgically repaired ankle with no timetable for his return.  He has been a point-per-game player when he has played this season so his absence will once again be felt.

Hanging Them Up: Veteran winger Devante Smith-Pelly has decided to call it a career, announcing his retirement at the age of 30.  He played in parts of eight NHL seasons with Anaheim, Montreal, New Jersey, and Washington, recording 101 points and 799 hits in 395 games, a pretty good career for the 2010 second-round pick.  Smith-Pelly last saw NHL action in the 2018-19 campaign but had caught on with AHL teams since then, spending the second half of last season with Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval.

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While it was a fairly light week on the NHL calendar thanks to the holiday break, we saw Alex Ovechkin move into second all-time in goals.  We also saw some notable news off the ice which is recapped in our key stories.

Skinner Signs: Things haven’t gone quite as planned for the Oilers this season in goal with Jack Campbell struggling considerably in his first year with the team.  However, Stuart Skinner has impressed and is starting to on a bigger share of the workload.  Edmonton rewarded the youngster for his efforts thus far with a three-year extension that carries a cap hit of $2.6MM AAV and begins next season.  Skinner has just 35 career NHL appearances under his belt (21 of which have come this year) so the deal carries some risk but if he winds up playing even a platoon role moving forward, the Oilers should do well with this contract.  Notably, this deal will take the 24-year-old to UFA eligibility in 2026.

Gurianov Steps Away: The Stars will be without winger Denis Gurianov for at least a little while as he has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team for family reasons.  No further information from the team was provided.  The 25-year-old has had a bit of a tough start to his season with just two goals and three assists in 25 games so far.  He’s currently on a one-year, $2.9MM contract and will be owed that as a qualifying offer by the team next summer to retain his RFA rights.

Four For Zub: The Senators have locked up another core player for the next little while as they reached a four-year, $18.4MM deal with defenseman Artem Zub.  It’s a nice increase for the 27-year-old who will go from a $2.5MM AAV this season to a $4.6MM cap charge in 2023-24.  He also receives a ten-team no-trade clause with the contract.  Zub, who’s currently out with a facial injury, is logging over 22 minutes a night on the back end for Ottawa this season while averaging just shy of four hits per contest.  While his offensive numbers don’t jump out, he’s second in minutes behind Thomas Chabot and has quickly become a key part of their defense corps as he’s just in his third NHL season.

Deadline Deals: While it’s still quite a while before the trade deadline, there was a soft deadline with the holiday roster freeze.  The end result was a pair of small trades being made.  Toronto and Colorado changed up their forward depth as the Maple Leafs sent winger Denis Malgin to the Avs for winger Dryden Hunt.  The other move was also a depth swap in a rare three-team deal with Anaheim adding defenseman Michael Del Zotto, Detroit receiving forward Danny O’Regan, and Florida receiving forward Givani Smith; Smith was recalled following the swap and got into one game before the break.

Injury News: Cam Atkinson’s day-to-day injury at the beginning of training camp never healed as expected and now the Flyers will be without the winger for the rest of the season after he underwent neck surgery.  He joins Ryan Ellis as key veterans that won’t wind up suiting up for Philadelphia this season.  Meanwhile, Luke Kunin’s year has also come to an end after the Sharks winger underwent ACL surgery.  The expected recovery timetable is six to eight months so the 25-year-old, who had 13 points in 31 games prior to the injury, should be ready for training camp in the fall.  Lastly, the Blue Jackets, who have been hit hard by injuries all season long, will be without center Boone Jenner for a month after he had surgery to repair a fractured thumb.  Jenner leads Columbus in goals so far this season and is their top player at the faceoff dot, winning nearly 56% of his draws.

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With the roster freeze almost upon us, there wasn’t a flurry of trade activity.  However, there was still some notable news around the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.

Not So Fast: A little while ago, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman floated the possibility that the players’ escrow debt could be paid off this season, permitting a more sizable jump in the Upper Limit next season.  He walked that back a bit at the Board of Governors meetings, suggesting that their current projections have the projected escrow debt around $70MM at the end of the season.  If that’s the case, the salary cap would only go up by $1MM once again for 2023-24.  While there has been speculation that the NHLPA might be interested in trying to negotiate something that would allow for a smoother increase and also raise the ceiling next season by a higher amount but Bettman didn’t want to comment on that scenario.

Formenton To Switzerland: Now that he’s unable to play in the NHL this season after failing to come to terms on a contract with Ottawa before the December 1st deadline, Alex Formenton has found a place to play as he has signed with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss NLA.  The deal runs through the end of the current season and gives the team the right to “reevaluate their contractual relationship” if new elements come to life in the ongoing investigation into an alleged sexual assault back in 2018 involving members of Canada’s World Junior team, of which he was a part of.  Formenton will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Five For Moore: Trevor Moore has come a long way in his four seasons with the Kings, going from being a depth player when he was acquired from Toronto to an important part of their top six.  The California native was rewarded for his efforts with a five-year, $21MM contract extension that will begin next season.  The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause for the 2023-24 campaign but no trade restrictions after that.  The 27-year-old had a career year last season with 17 goals and 31 assists in 81 games and Moore is producing at a similar pace so far this season with 18 points in 34 contests so far.  Los Angeles now has a little over $68MM in commitments for next season, per CapFriendly.

Tolvanen To Seattle: There was some surprise when Nashville placed winger Eeli Tolvanen on waivers as just a few years ago, he was viewed as a key part of their future plans.  There was further surprise when he slid all the way to Seattle who claimed him off the wire.  The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by the Predators back in 2017 and impressed in his first consistent stint of NHL action in 2020-21, collecting 22 points in 40 games.  That helped him earn a three-year, $4.35MM contract, one that is currently in its second year.  The $1.45MM cap hit for the rest of this season and next likely scared a lot of teams away but now Seattle will get an opportunity to see if he can live up to his potential with them.

Vrana Rejoins Red Wings: Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana has now entered the follow-up phase of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, allowing him to rejoin the team.  He first went into the program back in mid-October after playing in just two games.  There’s a good chance that Vrana won’t play this coming week as he’ll need some time to get back into playing condition but after the holiday break, Detroit should have one of their top wingers back in their lineup.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.