Stars looking for top 6 winger, Canes going hard after 2nd line Center, and Ducks to start moving defensemen plus waiver and injury news.

Here is my latest blog post as today I give my opinion on some recent Waiver news and injury updates, a couple of signings in Nashville and Toronto, and I also discuss a few recent trade rumours involving the Stars search for a top 6 Center, the Ducks selling off defensemen, and Carolina’s hunt for a 2nd line Center. 

Stars looking for top 6 forward to play Seguin.

The Stars are a team who is seriously looking at adding before the deadline as they are in a really good spot in the Central and seem to be keen on adding a big top six forward to their team to possibly play with Tyler Seguin. Now for Dallas they seem to be in on a couple of big name forwards to try and help their middle six out as they have one of the best lines in hockey leading their offense with Pavelski, Hintz and Robertson as that line is a extremely dominant line, and while young players Dellandrea and Johnston have played extremely well on the 3rd line with Benn who is having one of his better seasons in recent memory the Stars really haven’t been able to find a consistent winger for Seguin on line two.

Now earlier in the year they did have Johnston and Dellandrea play at some points with Seguin but they wound up playing on line 3, and they have tried at some points putting guys like Blumel, Glendening, Gurianov as well as Faksa on Line Two but those guys are all more bottom six forwards at this points in time so I don’t think it is surprising that they want a 2nd line forward, and they have used Marchment on one of Seguin’s wings for most of the season this year, as they signed him to a 4 year contract in the offseason and while he hasn’t been as productive as last year, he has still had a good season getting 9 goals and 24 points in 56 games, and I think he has played really well on Seguin’s wing, so with Marchment on one side of Seguin, the Stars would like to find a player who can be a great compliment player to Seguin on his other wing. 

Now it seems like they could have a few options to look for if they want a 2nd line winger. Now I think they may have had some interest in Tarasenko given how good of a goal scorer he is but he has now been moved to the Rangers so he is off the table. Now the two best wingers who will probably be available over the next two weeks are Kane and Meier, as well as possibly Bertuzzi. Now we know Kane hasn’t made a decision on whether he would be willing to waive his trade clause to allow the Hawks to move him but there is a strong likelihood that he does wind up waiving, and with NYI, NYR and Toronto now out of the running and Kane’s list of possible destinations dwindling it seems like Dallas could be a strong player for Kane, I think it would definitely take a big return but he would definitely be one target, Meier also seems to be on the move before the deadline as the Sharks are looking for quite a haul for the forward and while the Stars haven’t been mentioned as much as Toronto, New Jersey or Carolina, I think it is possible they are a under the radar team, but given the Rangers and Leafs found the price to high and looked for forward help elsewhere, I’m not sure if the Stars would want to give the Sharks their asking price for Meier, and as for Bertuzzi it is looking less likely like he will be traded right now then it did a week ago as the Red Wings have had a good and are in a playoff spot points % wise, so it is definitely less likely that he is moved, but if the Wings lose their next couple games and fall further in the standings and they are possibly willing to trade him then I think the Stars would definitely be interested, and if they miss out on these 3 players, I think they could go after maybe a lower end forward such as JVR, Boeser, Athanasiou, Labanc, Barbashev or Duclair, but it definitely looks like the Stars will add to their forward group before the trade deadline, they don’t have a 1RD pick for this years draft and I don’t think they are really interested in moving top prospects like Stankoven, Johnston, Harley, Kyrou or Bichsel, but if the right trade were to come around I think they would be willing to move Blumel, Stranges, Grushnikov or maybe even Bourque, but definitely expect the Stars to add to their middle six before March 3rd. 

Carolina going hard after a 2nd line Center.

Next with the Hurricanes as we know Carolina offseason acquisition Pacioretty who was supposed to help their offense is now going to be out for the rest of the season, and with their new found cap space they are looking to add to their top six, but it seems like they will be going very hard after a top 6 Center. 

Now the second line Center position has been a soft spot for the Hurricanes this season as after last year they planned to have Jesper Kotkaniemi (who they offer-sheeted a couple seasons ago) take the 2nd line Center role after Trocheck departed via free agency last offseason, but Kotkaniemi didn’t do to well in the position and with Necas (who can play Center) really thriving on the wing, the Hurricanes wound up using Paul Stastny as their 2nd line Center for a majority of the season which isn’t ideal for them and they have used Kotkaniemi as the line two Center recently as he has been playing better, but I still think they will like to add a top 2 Center before the deadline.

Now they have been heavily linked to Meier in the past couple days and they have also been linked to Kane a bit and Tarasenko before he was dealt, but I am not sure Kane would waive his NMC to go to Carolina and I think the price for Timo Meier would be to steep for Carolina, plus both player are in the final year of their deals and may be rentals and given the fact Carolina doesn’t usually do rentals, so it makes sense that these guys wouldn’t be the player the Canes go after (even though the Meier situation is complicated with him being a RFA). Now I have seen them be linked to a few Center’s including Toews, O’Reilly (before he was moved to Toronto), Monahan, and Domi and I think the Canes would have the assets to get one of these players and I also think all would be a stellar upgrades to the Canes Center position but once again, all are UFA’s, and that’s not to say they won’t do it but given the fact they haven’t been overly aggressive in acquiring rentals at the deadline over the past few seasons, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if they went after some player with term. Now some players with term I have seen them be linked to over the past few weeks are Hayes with Philly, Pageau with NYI, and Miller with Vancouver. Now for Hayes it seems like his time in Philly is coming to a end and there is a very high chance he is either moved or bought out in the offseason, but given the great season he is having this year (17 goals and 47 points in 55 games) I think there would at least be some moderate interest in him, but I don’t exactly know what the Flyers would want and I don’t think Philly would really want his entire $7.1 Million dollar contract for the next 3 seasons so I am not too sure if Philly would retain anything, with Pageau, Friedman said on one of his blogs after the Horvat trade that the Isles may need to move a Center and said he wouldn’t be too surprised if Carolina had interest in Pageau, but with the Isles being in the midst of a playoff race I am not too sure they would want to subtract from their roster, and lastly with Miller, I am not convinced that the Canucks would really be wanting to move Miller given the signed him to that major extension and I also don’t see why the Hurricanes would want that long term high money deal so given the fact that the Canes would probably need to pay a high price to get him, I don’t think that is the right for right now, and there are some other intriguing options in my opinion, as I think Couture of the Sharks, Dvorak of the Canadiens, and Granlund of the Preds could all be upgrades at the Center position for Carolina and even though I am not sure any are moved, if one or two are on the block I think Carolina could have some serious interest, so it will be interesting to see what they do but expect a top 6 Center traded to Carolina before the deadline. 

Gary A Vasquez USA Today sports

Ducks to start moving out some defensemen.

And finally here with the Anaheim Ducks as they are full on sellers this season and it seems very likely that they are about to start selling off pieces as they have a lot of defensemen on expiring deals and it sounds like they may start moving some of them in the very near future. 

Now the Ducks are for sure going to be sellers at the trade deadline and they are really going to try and move as many players as they can before the deadline as they want to get as much draft capital and prospects as they can before the deadline, and there seems to be some serious interest in a handful of their defensemen. 

Starting with Klingberg, he signed a 1 year deal in the offseason with the Ducks after not getting a contract that he wanted and bet on himself to play well this year, get moved at the deadline and sign a long term contract with a team in the offseason, but he hasn’t really produced at such a high level this year. After breaking 30 points in 8 consecutive seasons and coming off a outstanding 47 point showing last year, Klingberg only has 7 goals and 20 points in 47 games this season and I think there is still a chance that he breaks the 30 point barrier again this year but he hasn’t played well this season when he has been healthy, so while the Ducks have said a couple times that they would like a 1RD pick for Klingberg, I personally think that maybe a 2RD pick and prospect will be more attainable for Anaheim, so I would keep a eye on Klingberg especially for a team who needs a top 4 defensemen with offensive upside. 

Next with Shattenkirk as i don’t think he will get as much of a return as Klingberg will but i definitely believe some teams will have interest in the defensemen. Now Shattenkirk has been a good 3rd pair defensemen for the Ducks ever since signing with them a few years ago and with the Drysdale injury he has even got some looks in the Ducks top 4 and after a amazing year least season for Anaheim, he has come back down to watch a little bit (only having 15 points in 49 games played), but I think as a veteran 3rd pair defensemen who could be used nicely on a contending teams 3rd pair, someone would definitely give the Ducks something of interest, as I think the Ducks could get a 3rd round pick and prospect for Shattenkirk if he winds up being dealt, so it definitely looks like it is only a matter of time before Shattenkirk is dealt by Anaheim. 

And finally with a couple vets, as Kulikov and Beaulieu also seem to be pieces the Ducks are keen to move on from and could have new homes very soon. Now I think Kulikov definitely has more interest then Beaulieu as he has come up in a lot of trade speculation over the past week, and I think a lot of teams would like to acquire him as he is a cheap D-Men who plays really well on the third line but has done a fantastic job for Anaheim wherever they have put him as due to injuries he even got some top 4 minutes and looked good. He played last year with Minnesota and was dealt for future considerations in the offseason due to cap reasons to Anaheim and has not done as well as last year but has still done well on a bad Ducks team, putting up 2 goals and 12 points in 56 games and I think the Ducks could get a 3rd or 4th round pick for Kulikov before the deadline, so he will be a interesting name to watch, while I think Beaulieu wouldn’t fetch much of a return but I think would draw interest as a depth defensemen, as Beaulieu hasn’t played more then 50 games in a year since the 17-18 season with Buffalo and hasn’t broken the double digit mark for points since the 18-19 season with Buffalo/Winnipeg, so over the past few years he has been more of a 7th defensemen and he has again this year, putting up 4 assists in 27 games and I think for a contender looking depth on the backend, they might be willing to pay a 5th round pick for him, which isn’t much but it would add to Anaheim’s draft capital. So I feel these four defensemen all stand a good chance of getting dealt in the near future and I don’t think anyone has a future in Anaheim, so keep an eye on the Ducks over the next couple days as they gear up to start selling off some defensemen. 

Here is the Injuries from FEB 5th to FEB  7th. 

New Jersey

John Marino: has recovered from his UBI and was activated off of IR and has returned to game action. 

Philadelphia 

Wade Allison: has recovered from his LBI and has returned to game action. 

Anaheim

Derek Grant: has recovered from his UBI that kept him out for over 2 months and was activated off of IR and has returned to game action. 

Calgary 

Chris Tanev: has recovered from his undisclosed injury and was activated off of IR and returned to game action.

San Jose  

Nico Sturm: has recovered from his undisclosed injury and returned to game action.

Winnipeg 

Chaz Lucius: has suffered a shoulder injury and will miss the rest of the season due to the injury. 

Here is what has happened with the waiver wire from JAN 23rd to FEB 3rd.

Players who Cleared Waivers

Colorado 

Anton Blidh LW,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

St.Louis 

Matthew Peca LW,C (2 years left $.763 Thousand dollars)

Tampa Bay 

Rudolf Balcers LW,RW (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

Players who cleared unconditional waivers 

Florida 

Anton Levtchi LW (1 year left $.843 Thousand dollars)

Detroit

Jussi Olkinuora G (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars)

Player claimed off of waivers 

Lane Pederson C (1 year left $.750 Thousand dollars) was placed on waivers by the Canucks and claimed by the Blue Jackets.

Analysis: over this time frame we had a couple contract terminations, a player getting picked up, and some players getting through waivers, and while I am not overly shocked by any of them, I did think there were a few players who could’ve been taken in the waiver wire. Now to start with the Panthers and Red Wings have terminated the contract of Levtchi and  and Olkinuora respectively, after both players wound up clearing unconditional waivers. Now for Levtchi, he hadn’t had any pro experience prior to this season, as he had been playing over in Liiga over the past few seasons and signed a one year deal with Florida as a undrafted forward. Now Levtchi had pretty good seasons in a row before signing with Florida, putting up 152 points in 163 games over those three seasons, including putting up 26 goals and 61 points in 55 games last year, so he was coming off a stellar season and was able to get a NHL deal, now he did get into 2 NHL games putting up no points this year with Florida and in the AHL had 17 points in 35 games and did alright in what was his first pro season, but I guess the Panthers and Levtchi agreed that terminating the contract was the best move so that’s the path they took and put him on unconditional waivers. So given he was placed on unconditional waivers I am not surprised he cleared and going to North America just didn’t work out for him, so Levtchi will go back overseas to hopefully get back to playing well. As for Olkinuora he signed as a undrafted player all the way back in 2013 with the Winnipeg Jets, ne played 3 pro seasons, splitting time between the ECHL and AHL but then would go over seas and for the last 6 seasons he spilt time with both Liiga and the KHL and after some good seasons in the KHL the last couple years he was able to earn a 1 year contract with the Red Wings. Now he got into 15 AHL games for Gramd Rapids and only put up a .868 SV% and a 3.75 GAA and wasn’t really putting up great numbers, and after Nedeljkovic was sent to the minors he wasn’t getting much playing time so the team and Olkinuora agreed that contract termination was the way to go and decided to place him on unconditional waivers. Now I don’t think it is surprising he cleared given players on unconditional waivers don’t usually get claimed and he is getting up there in age as he is 32 years old and I don’t think any teams were ever going to claim him, so now he goes back overseas and hopefully he can find his game that he had over the past few seasons. 

Next was the one player who wound up being claimed over this stretch of waiver news, as the Canucks lost Lane Pederson to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now Pederson has bounced around over the past year, as Pederson signed with Arizona a few seasons ago as a undrafted free agent, and had a couple good seasons in the AHL and finally got a chance to play in the NHL in the shortened season, as he would get into 15 games with Arizona and put up his first career NHL goal and had 3 points and looked like he could be a good bottom six forward for Arizona, but after the shortened season Arizona traded him for a 4RD pick to San Jose, and he spent the entire season last year with the Sharks, and got into 29 games and put up 2 assists for San Jose, but since last year he has moved 3 times now, as in the offseason he was dealt to Carolina as part of the Burns trade, and Pederson started in the AHL and got into 4 games o before he was dealt to Vancouver as part of the Ethan Bear trade, and he played in 18 games with Abbotsford in the AHL getting 24 points, and was called up by Vancouver and had 1 goal and 2 assists in 11 games before he was claimed on waivers by Columbus. Now I still think in the right situation, Pederson can be a productive 4th line forward at the NHL level as he showed with Vancouver, and maybe he can do well in Columbus, so far he hasn’t gotten into any NHL action with Columbus and has been a healthy scratch, but with Columbus being a very injured team, I am not completely surprised that he wound up being claimed off of waivers and I fully expect him to get back into game action soon, but I definitely think Pederson has a good shot at being a consistent NHL forward, and maybe he can do it with the Jackets.

And lastly here with the three players that wound up clearing waivers, and I will begin with Blidh in Colorado. Now Blidh signed a league minimum deal with Colorado in the offseason after being let go by Boston who he played part of six seasons for at the NHL level. Now Blidh was a 6RD pick in 2013 for Boston and he hasn’t gotten into too many NHL games so far in his career as he has been a pretty good AHL player, especially over the past few seasons, and he didn’t produce much with Boston, as in those 6 seasons he played since getting his first career NHL game, he had only played in 70 NHL games with Boston getting 4 goals and 12 points with Boston, but he did have his best season last year, getting into 32 games and getting 2 goals and 9 points, and the Avs signed him to be a depth player for them, but due to injuries he was called up and got into 14 games with Colorado but didn’t have a point before he needed to go on waivers again. So given the fact he is a valuable 14th forward I did think there might have been a slight chance that a injury riddled team may consider claiming him, but I am not too surprised that he did indeed clear, so hopefully he can continue to play well in the AHL and get another call up opportunity later in the season. Next with Dryden Hunt who I thought for sure was going to get claimed after the Maple Leafs placed him on waivers. Now Hunt is a good 4th line forward and while he didn’t show that in the early part of his career with Florida, he definitely started to do well at the NHL level with Arizona and then had his best season to date last year with the Rangers when he played very close to a full season and he got into 76 games last year with NYR and put up a career high 6 goals and 17 points in those games and looked like he would be a good bottom six forward for NYR again this year but with the offseason changes he fell down the depth charts and only got into 3 games with the Rangers, scoring a goal before he was placed on waivers, where the Avalanche claimed him and due to their injured team they used Hunt in their bottom six and he got into 25 games and put up a goal before the Avs dealt him to Toronto for Malgin, and he got into 9 games with the Maple Leafs and put up a goal before being placed on waivers, now I definitely thought given how he bounced around earlier in the year that a team lacking a bit of depth might try to claim Hunt, but he hasn’t had a good year only getting 3 goals in 37 games with the 3 teams combined, and even though I was surprised he cleared waivers, I can see why he did, so he will go to play with the Marlies (has 6 points in ten games so far) and will try to boost his value so he can get another NHL opportunity later in the year. And finally with Peca who I am not surprised wound up clearing waivers. Now Peca is a veteran who has been a depth forward for some seasons now in the NHL as he has spent time with Tampa, Montreal and Ottawa over the past few seasons and did great in the AHL but had some pretty good NHL seasons too, having 78 games played with those 3 teams in the NHL and put up 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points, now last year he signed a 2 year deal with St.Louis and got into 5 NHL games getting a assist but had a fantastic AHL year putting up 60 points in 68 games, and looked to be another good AHL forward this year, but was injured during training camp and placed on season opening IR and then he was recently activated off of SOIR and sent to the minors, so given he is more of a AHL forward and was coming off of a lengthy injury, I don’t think it is too surprising he wound up clearing, so now he is in the AHL where he has 15 points in 12 games and should continue to do well and if the Blues keep on moving some players out he could be called up to the NHL. 

Here is a list of all the NHL signings that have happened between Feb 3rd and Feb 9th. 

Atlantic 

Right Defensemen Conor Timmins has signed a 2 year contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs that will carry a AAV of $1.1 Million dollars and the deal is 1 way. Now Timmins has not been able to stay healthy since being drafted back in 2017 with Colorado. Now Timmins playing career has been riddled with injuries up to this point as he missed the entire 18-19 season due to his injury, and although he did play the next 3 seasons in the NHL, injuries followed him over those seasons too, as he only got into 39 games over those three seasons (2 with Colorado, 1 with Arizona after the Kuemper trade) and it didn’t look good that he would ever be healthy enough to keep a NHL role nailed down and after more injury trouble this year the Yotes wound up moving him to the Maple Leafs where he has definitely found his game, as he scored his first career NHL goal and has 12 points in 18 games with Toronto this year and looks like a good 3rd pair defensemen, so I think this signing is good, with Holl probably not back with Toronto after this season, I think it is very plausible that Timmins winds up playing consistent 3rd pair minutes next year and on that Contract with the way he has put up points with Toronto this year, this could be a really underrated contract for Toronto, as I believe if Timmins can stay healthy, he is a solid 3rd pair defensemen who could play on the 2nd pair, so good move by both sides, as Timmins was not only able to get a contract, but also gets a very likely chance at playing consistent NHL minutes, and for Toronto they get a young offensive defensemen at a cheap cost who can help the Maple Leafs blueline not only this year but also for years to come. 

Central 

Left Winger Cole Smith has signed a 1 year contract extension with the Nashville Predators that will carry a AAV of $.775 Thousand dollars and the deal is 1 way. Now Smith has actually been a decent bottom six player for the Predators for the past few seasons, as he had been mostly a AHL forward until two seasons ago in the shortened year when he played his first NHL game, and that opportunity would carry into last year, as he got into 8 games last year at the NHL level after having a stellar 41 points in 59 AHL games last year and didn’t record a NHL point, but this year he has only played in the NHL and put up 2 goals (including his first NHL goal) and 11 points in 44 games this year and has been a valuable 4th line piece for Nashville this season. Now this is a low risk situation for the Predators as the contract is very low value and only for one year and if Smith can continue to produce the way he has this season so far, this could be a great extension by the Predators, so I feel that this deal will help both sides as the Predators now have a cheap and productive bottom six forward for next year, and Smith will probably remain in the NHL given how he has played this season and I think, if he continues to produce, this contract will be a steal for Nashville.