Over the course of a year, Tony DeAngelo has gone from unwanted to indispensable. Last February, the New York Rangers waived him after an altercation with goalie Aleksandar Georgiev.
Today, the Carolina Hurricanes said it would be hard to play without DeAngelo because he will be sidelined for at least a month.
"It's going to affect us a lot," forward Vincent Trocheck said. "He's a great hockey player. Huge for our power play, and 5-on-5. Pretty much in all aspects of our game, he's been really good for us and he brings another component to our team that has kind of taken us to the next step offensively.”
DeAngelo has 41 points in 40 games and leads Carolina with a +19 plus-minus. He has made the very best out of his second chance. He is so vital to the ‘Canes they probably have to at least discuss whether to make a trade to replace him, especially if they think a month could end up being four to six weeks.
2. If the Winnipeg Jets see them out of the playoff hunt before the NHL trade deadline, Paul Stastny could be a valuable player for a contender.
3. Count on considerable trade interest in New York Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck. He is second in the NHL with 189 hits in 46 games.
4. Eleven NHL teams have a team save percentage of .900 or less and the Edmonton Oilers (.897) are the only ones currently sitting in a playoff spot.
5. The World Junior Championships are scheduled to be in Russia next year. We can assume there will be further discussion about that location.
6. It only seems right that the Vancouver Canucks, now with an ex-Pittsburgh Penguins management team of Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin, should make a deal to bring Kasperi Kapanen to Vancouver.
7. As much as the Bruins would love to land a name defenseman, they really need some goals. They rank 19th in goals per game (2.88). That is last among teams that are sitting in a playoff spot today.
8. Philly Hockey Now weighed in on what the Flyers might get for Claude Giroux and came up with a first-round pick and two prospects.
9. The Bruins promoted Jake DeBrusk to the top line. Makes sense. If you want the highest value for a player you want to trade, put him with players who will make him look good.
10. Among teams likely to qualify for the playoffs, the Nashville Predators are the top hitting team with 1,409. They are second behind the Ottawa Senators. The Boston Bruins (1,355) are fourth and the Pittsburgh Penguins (1,333) are fifth. The Rangers (1,318) are sixth, followed by the Lightning (1,298) and Panthers (1,283).
11. In addition to everything else he does, defenseman Moritz Seider, 20, is the only rookie among the NHL shot-blocking leaders. He is 15th with 100 block shots.
12. While nobody was looking, the Columbus Blue Jackets went 8-2 to pull within nine points of Boston for the final wildcard spot.
13. No NHLer is hotter than Patrik Laine? He scored 12 goals and registered six assists in his past nine games.
14. It’s very true that Blackhawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will control his destiny through his no-movement clause, but his options will be limited because most contenders are happy with their goaltender. Fleury’s choices are limited to Edmonton, Washington, maybe Minnesota or Boston. But the last two are mostly speculation.
15. Some fans remember that the 1974-75 expansion Washington Capitals (8-67-5) set the NHL record for the worst record. But few know Caps defenseman Bill Mikkelson recorded the worst plus-minus in league history that season. He was -82 playing 59 games. During Mikkelson’s career, he was -147 in 147 games. He’s 73 today.
16. Hall of Famer Larry Robinson owns the NHL’s career plus-minus record of +722. Playing for those exceptional Montreal teams certainly helped. Bobby Orr was +587 in case you were wondering.
17. We hear several teams are intrigued about acquiring Zdeno Chara to play in their third pairing. At 44, he is not the player he once was. But he is still big, intimidating, and smart.
18. The Nashville Predators have been around for 23 seasons and goalie Pekka Rinne (2005-21) is unquestionably the franchise’s most popular player. That’s why it will be emotional tonight for both the player and fans when his number is retired.
19. Feels like goalie Alexandar Georgiev, a first and a second-round pick would be a good start to the New York Rangers acquiring defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes. That's close to what the Coyotes are asking.
20. The Stars are only a point out of the playoffs. That has to be disappointing for all of the GMs around the NHL who covet Joe Pavelski.
21. Phil Kessel’s $6.8 million salary cap makes him difficult to move, even if the Coyotes retain half of his salary.
22. An NHL team executive told me he expects trade talk to start to pick considerably next week when there are three weeks left until the trade deadline
23. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta said the Capitals forward wish list includes Winnipeg’s Andrew Copp, Seattle’s Calle Jarnkrok, and Montreal’s Artturi Lehkonen.
24. If you believe little things matter more in the postseason, take note that the Colorado Avalanche, Washington Capitals, and Florida Panthers are among the NHL’s worst faceoff teams.
25. On today’s date, Feb. 24, 54 years ago, New York Rangers star Rod Gilbert set an NHL record with 16 shots on goal. He ended up with four goals in a 6-1 win against Montreal. Gilbert died last August. His record stood until March 21, 1991, when Boston’s Raymond Bourque had 19 shots. Marian Hossa is third on the list with 16. Bobby Orr’s and Phil Esposito’s high was 15 shots on goal. Alex Ovechkin has had 15 twice.
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