Filip Zadina is about to get his first taste of NHL action.
The Detroit Red Wings have recalled the 19-year-old winger from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, the team announced Saturday.
Zadina posted 15 goals and 31 points in 45 games with the Griffins this season.
The Red Wings selected him sixth overall in last June's draft after he racked up 44 goals and 82 points in 57 contests with the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads in 2017-18.
The 20-year-old was pulled less than 11 minutes into each of his last two starts. He allowed three goals on nine shots in both appearances.
Veteran netminder Brian Elliott will be the starter for Saturday's outdoor game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Lincoln Financial Field, Flyers head coach Scott Gordon said Friday.
Hart has arguably been the biggest reason for Philadelphia's resurgence of late, providing the team with much-needed stability in the crease since being called up in December.
Despite his recent struggles, he has a 13-8-1 record and a .917 save percentage through 22 games.
Lovejoy, a pending unrestricted free agent, was in his third season with the Devils. He carries a cap hit of about $2.67 million, according to CapFriendly.
The 35-year-old ranks second in the NHL in shorthanded ice time per game and has chipped in seven points in 51 contests this season.
As of Saturday morning, the club's top prospect was not available in a trade for a rental, according to the New York Post's Larry Brooks.
Tolvanen has long been considered Nashville's most promising blue-chip talent, although he's struggled to a degree this season, managing nine goals and 19 points in 38 AHL games.
The Predators are among several teams interested in New York Rangers winger Mats Zuccarello but won't move Tolvanen unless it's Zuccarello's teammate Chris Kreider coming back, adds Brooks.
A prime rental candidate, Zuccarello is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $4.5-million cap hit, according to CapFriendly.
Kreider, on the other hand, is signed through next season at a cap hit of $4.625 million.
After weeks of buildup, the NHL's trade market is officially in motion; center Matt Duchene changed dressing rooms ahead of Friday's tilt between the Senators and Blue Jackets in Ottawa.
TO COLUMBUS
TO OTTAWA
Matt Duchene (F)
Vitali Abramov (F)
Julius Bergman (D)
Jonathan Davidsson (F)
1st-round pick (2019)
1st-round pick (2020 - conditional)
(Ottawa receives 2020 first-rounder only if Duchene re-signs with Columbus)
Let's unpack the blockbuster.
Columbus Blue Jackets
We now know general manager Jarmo Kekalainen's intentions.
By bringing in Duchene, a bonafide top-six pivot who's having a career year offensively, Kekalainen sent a message to the hockey world. Columbus, for the first time in its lackluster, 18-year history, is acting like a true, knock-the-door-down deadline buyer.
Jarmo Kekäläinen (Getty Images)
The cost of doing business is somewhere between negligible and steep for the Blue Jackets. You have to pay for premium rentals like Duchene, and that's what Kekalainen did after sending a first-round pick (possibly two) and a pair of decent prospects to Canada's capital. The payoff could be large, with the potential short- and long-term benefits - winning the franchise's first playoff series and then re-signing Duchene to an extension - fairly attainable.
Acting like a contender and being a contender are two different things, mind you. Seeing as the Jackets aren't in a playoff spot as of Friday afternoon (one point back of the Carolina Hurricanes with two games in hand), there's no question the spotlight will shine brighter on the small-market organization as Monday's trade deadline nears.
If the Jackets happen to miss the postseason and are unable to re-sign Duchene, this deal is a misfire. But, as the saying goes, you have to shoot your shot. And, considering the club's sad history, this is a shot worth taking - one must reward a loyal fan base at some point, right?
Of course, the Duchene acquisition won't have the same shine if the Artemi Panarin drama ends with the Russian star draped in different colors following the deadline. Shortly after the Duchene trade, Kekalainen told The Athletic "nothing has changed" in the club's approach to the Panarin situation, which means he'll still pull the trigger in a trade for the pending unrestricted free agent, but only if the offer is substantial. "It would have to be a deal that we can't refuse," he said.
Nevertheless, Duchene is a significant boost for a team in need of a game-breaker. Prior to the deal, Panarin, winger Cam Atkinson, and center Pierre-Luc Dubois were the only dangerous forwards in a Blue Jackets uniform. Adding a fourth weapon shifts the whole dynamic of Columbus' attack, especially since he's a veteran center.
Dubois and Duchene should form an impressive one-two punch down the middle. Already a 27-goal man in his 10th NHL season, Duchene is on pace for career highs in goals (39) and points (84) in just 72 projected games. The 20-year-old Dubois, meanwhile, is enjoying a breakout sophomore campaign, tallying 22 goals and 29 assists.
The club's other centers - Boone Jenner, Alex Wennberg, and Riley Nash - now slot in at a more appropriate part of the depth chart. The Duchene addition also takes a little heat off support guys like Josh Anderson, Nick Foligno, and Oliver Bjorkstrand. All of a sudden, the Jackets' top nine looks fine.
This year, the Jackets evidently have an opportunity to seize the moment. On Friday, Kekalainen managed to take a step forward without jeopardizing their future in a major way. The question now is, are they done?
GRADE: A-
Ottawa Senators
There are two ways to look at this trade from a Senators perspective.
The uglier, big-picture view surrounds the franchise altering its outlook. Over the past 15 months, Ottawa drastically shifted from a contending to a rebuilding mindset, and as a result, the timeline to compete for a playoff spot, let alone a championship, is further down the road than it should be.
In late 2017, GM Pierre Dorion snagged Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-team trade to pursue a Stanley Cup. The package leaving Ottawa that day: goalie Andrew Hammond, forward Kyle Turris, prospect Shane Bowers, and two picks in the 2019 NHL Draft, one in the first round and another in the third. The first-rounder could ultimately turn into franchise cornerstones Jack Hughes or Kappo Kakko.
Pierre Dorion (Getty Images)
If you happen to win the Cup, sure, that’s a trade you can live with. Banners fly forever, etc. In the current context of the Sens, though, the organization was not only delusional to think they were 2017-18 Cup contenders, but also unstable after ditching their blueprint to contend not long after the Duchene pickup.
Remember, the overachieving 2016-17 Sens squad that made it to the Eastern Conference Final had some big-time NHL contributors, including Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Turris, and Derick Brassard. Aside from Stone, who may be gone in the coming days, all of them have been moved to new teams.
The haul back for these players has been underwhelming, to say the least. Even though there have been several draft picks involved - some of which haven’t been used and others that are conditional - it’s safe to say Dorion didn't fleece anybody. Aside from goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson, you can't point to a single piece that could be categorized as a sure thing.
Vitaly Abramov (Getty Images)
Now, the second way to view the Duchene-to-Columbus trade is by looking at it in a vacuum.
Given negotiations between the Senators and Duchene’s camp had dried up and the 28-year-old was set to test the open market following this season, Dorion fared OK. Two prospects, a first-rounder, and potentially an additional first-rounder is a solid package for a pending unrestricted free agent of Duchene’s quality.
The prospects could be of higher caliber, but Abramov, 20, and Davidsson, 21, both project to make the NHL at some point, with the former having a higher ceiling as a 5-foot-9 skilled winger. The guaranteed pick, Columbus’ 2019 first-rounder, should be around the 15-20 range, seeing as the Blue Jackets will likely squeak into the playoffs.
It’s not an ideal return, but the Sens have done worse.
What else does Dorion have up his sleeve? Pending UFAs Stone and Ryan Dzingel, both believed to be on their way out of Ottawa, sat for the second straight game on Friday. The teardown is just beginning.
GRADE: B-
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
After trading for Matt Duchene on Friday, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said he'll need a king's ransom if he's going to consider trading pending unrestricted free agent Artemi Panarin.
"I don't think this affects that at all," Kekalainen said, according to Tom Reed of The Athletic. "We said right from the start and I think we've stayed consistent with what we've said about Panarin. We're not going to trade Panarin just for draft picks. We're going to keep our eyes and ears open on what the marketplace looks like. That's what we have said right from the start. But it would have to be a deal that we can't refuse. It would have to make sense now and in the future. That's the best answer I can give you."
Panarin was the biggest name in the rental market before the Blue Jackets flipped the script and became buyers.
Now, even though Columbus has another marquee pending UFA on its books in Duchene, the Blue Jackets appear all-in to make a playoff push before a critical offseason.
Entering Friday's action, Columbus sits two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third spot in the Metropolitan Division with two games in hand.
McDavid committed the hit in the first period of Thursday's overtime victory and was assessed a two-minute penalty.
The 22-year-old had never previously been suspended in his NHL career. McDavid will miss matchups with the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators before becoming eligible to return for a marquee showdown versus his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 27.
Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson released the following statement in the aftermath of the suspension announcement:
(2/2) "We strongly disagree with the decision & it is difficult to accept for our team & most important our fans at this critical point in our season. We will unequivocally support Connor as he explores his options."
McDavid recorded two points in the contest - including the overtime winner - to bring his total to 85 in 58 games this season. Along with being forced to sit, the center will forfeit just over $134,000 in salary, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.
