1. Andersson Trade Talk: An NHL executive tells Hockeybuzz that his team is interested in Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson but not at the current price.
Andersson will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and reports say the Flames want the equivalent of two first-round picks. This executive says he is unwilling to give up that much for a rental. Andersson is playing effectively for 23 to 26 minutes per game for the Calgary Flames
But the team executive thinks that one of the top contenders will be willing to pay that price because Andersson could put the finishing touch on a championship defense. The Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings are among teams believed to interested in Andersson.
2.Change Needed?: Respected hockey journalist Helene Elliott has called for Los Angeles Kings coach Jim Hiller to be fired.
“In truth,” Elliott wrote, “It’s long past the point where the Kings should have parted ways with coach Jim Hiller. They shouldn’t have brought him back this season, after his repeated poor decision-making under pressure became a contributing factor to their playoff loss to Edmonton, but new general manager Ken Holland apparently was too dazzled by the team’s 105-point performance in the regular season to see the truth.”
Elliott, winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award for her career, is among the few writers covering the Kings. You can find her work here:
3. Extra Motivation: Pittsburgh Penguins forward Anthony Mantha has a bonus clause that pays him $250,000 for every 10 games that he plays. When he played Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings, it was his 40th game.
That’ means he has earned $1 million in bonus money to go with his $2.5 million in base salary. Mantha who might be having the best season of his career. He has 14 goals, plus 14 assists.
Mantha has spent some time as a healthy scratch during his career. Maybe this bonus clause is extra motivation to make sure he earns his spot in the lineup for every game.
4.Malkin Update: Injured Evgeni Malkin skated in Pittsburgh’s practice Friday (wearing a noncontact jersey. However, he didn’t accompany the team to Detroit for Saturday’s game.
5.Bedard Impact: We can talk about the NHL's Next Man Up philosophy about injuries, but the Chicago Blackhawks are 3-6-1 since Connor Bedard went out with injury. Some players, on some teams, are irreplaceable. But the Blackhawks are adjusting, earning five points in their last three games.
6.Bill's Plan: USA GM Bill Guerin has said consistently that he was building a team, not assembling a group of All-Star scorers. He proved his commitment to that thinking with his decision to leave Jason Robertson off the team. He’s USA’s top point producer this season and No. 2 goal scorer. Proven scorers Alex DeBrincat and Cole Caufield didn’t make the team either, plus offensive defenseman Lane Hutson who is the league’s No. 2 scoring defenseman. A review of America’s top 16 NHL point producers, eight are on the team and eight are not.
7. 'Wow' Factor: Slovakia center Tomas Chrenko certainly did not surprise NHL scouts at the World Junior Championships. He is ranked in the bottom third of the first round on most draft lists. Elite Prospects has him 29th on its consolidated list. But it’s fair to say the respect for his dynamic abilities has grown based on his performance in Minnesota. He has the “wow” factor that moves draft candidates up a few spots. In five games, he had five goals and three assists for eight points.
8.Joining the Race: Another factor in the growing belief that the Nashville Predators won’t move Ryan O’Reilly is their better-than-expected status in the Western Conference playoff race. Some GMs will tell you that it defies logic to sacrifice long-term gain just to qualify for the playoffs if you don’t believe you would be competitive in the postseason. But you can bet the Predators don’t feel that way. With their history, they don’t take it for granted that fans will stay with them through a lengthy absence from the playoffs. The Nashville fan base likes being part of the NHL postseason.
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