Matt and Blake discuss Elias Pettersson's future with the Canucks, and whether club management needs to push for a resolution before the March 8 trade deadline. Talks are supposed to restart this week, we go through Canucks' planning without Pettersson or fellow RFA Filip Hronek secured long-term. Other topics include: team MVP, whether the Wild might be ripe for trade picking, candidates to land Trevor Zegras, Jacob Markstrom trade talk, and the Seahawks coaching search.

Rink Wide: Vancouver host Jeff Paterson stops by to discuss Pettersson, Hronek, Andrei Kuzmenko's road trip, the Ian Cole-Nikita Zadorov pairing, Ilya Mikheyev and the scoring outage of that line, the club's fatigue level and team MVP.

Plus, we go To The People and hear from listeners on a variety of Canucks topics. Does the Presidents' Trophy matter and should they go for it this season? Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

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Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel is considered week-to-week after undergoing successful surgery to address his lower-body injury, the team announced Tuesday.

More to come.

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Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois wants to put an end to any chatter about the notion that he'd deal away his longtime franchise cornerstone.

"The one thing I would say just to get it out there because I know as we get closer to the deadline, it's a popular and interesting and frequent topic: 'Who's going to get traded? Who won't get traded?'" BriseBois said Tuesday, according to team reporter Chris Krenn.

"Steven Stamkos isn't getting traded. You can all write that ... so we can put that one to bed if anyone was speculating on that," the GM continued. "That's not going to change between now and the deadline under any circumstances."

BriseBois said they'll sit down after the season to evaluate where both the team and Stamkos are and try to "make all the parts work together." The GM noted that the fact that Stamkos has been the face of the Lightning franchise for so long "obviously factors" into the decision.

Stamkos is a pending unrestricted free agent who was eligible to sign an extension as of July 1, 2023. Tampa Bay isn't as much of a lock to make the 2023-24 postseason as it has been in recent years; the Bolts occupy fifth place in the Atlantic Division in points percentage through 44 games.

Stamkos has captained the perennially competitive squad since 2013-14 and has been the sole holder of the "C" since 2014-15. The veteran forward, who'll turn 34 on Feb. 7, has played all 16 of his NHL seasons with Tampa Bay and is the club's all-time leader in games played, goals, and points while ranking second in assists.

The two-time "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner and one-time Hart runner-up helped the Bolts win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 (though he was injured for all but one postseason game during the first one) and was a part of four Cup Final appearances (2015 and 2022 being the others). Tampa drafted him first overall in 2008.

He's still producing at an impressive clip, having notched a point per game over 41 contests - including 18 goals - while averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time.

The Lightning have about $65 million committed to players' cap hits next season with only depth players left to sign after Stamkos. His current deal carries an average annual value of $8.5 million, per CapFriendly.

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The Winnipeg Jets will have sniper Kyle Connor back in their lineup when they take on the New York Islanders on Tuesday, head coach Rick Bowness announced, according to NHL.com's Mitchell Clinton.

Connor missed Winnipeg's last 16 games after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome on Dec. 10. The star was initially expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, so his return comes slightly ahead of schedule.

The Jets went 12-2-2 without Connor, a remarkable run that featured an eight-game win streak and 14-game point streak, both of which set new franchise records. Nikolaj Ehlers paced Winnipeg with 17 points over those 16 Connor-less contests, while Gabe Vilardi led the way with nine goals.

Here's how Winnipeg looked at Tuesday's morning skate. Vilardi was absent due to illness but is expected to play against the Islanders.

Connor, 27, was also a full participant in Monday's practice.

In a corresponding move, the Jets placed forward Mark Scheifele on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 12. He's been out since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 11 but is eligible to return Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.

Despite Connor's absence, he still leads the Jets with 17 goals - including five game-winners - in 26 contests and ranks fifth with 28 points. He's paced the team in goals in three of the last four seasons.

Winnipeg currently sits on top of the Central Division with a 28-10-4 record and tops the NHL in points percentage (.714).

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The Chicago Blackhawks inked forward Jason Dickinson to a two-year contract extension with a $4.25-million cap hit, the club announced Tuesday.

Dickinson was a pending unrestricted free agent. The 28-year-old ranks third on the team with 21 points in 43 games this season. His career-high 14 goals trail only Connor Bedard by one.

The Ontario-born center plays on both sides of special teams for Chicago, suiting on the second power-play unit and first penalty-killing group.

Dickinson is in his second campaign with the Blackhawks, who acquired him in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks in October 2022. He's in the final season of a three-year pact he signed with his former club in the summer of 2021. It carries a cap hit of $2.65 million, according to CapFriendly.

He spent his first six campaigns with the Dallas Stars, who drafted him 29th overall in 2013.

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Move over, Patrick Roy.

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury picked up career victory No. 552 on Monday against the New York Islanders, passing Roy for sole possession of second place on the NHL's all-time wins list.

Fleury accomplished the feat in epic fashion, stopping all 21 shots he faced in the 5-0 victory to record his 74th career shutout - two back of Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito for a share of 10th on the all-time list.

Fleury is unquestionably destined for the Hall of Fame. He's won three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, 2017) and one Vezina Trophy (2021) in his illustrious 20-year NHL career.

The 39-year-old has yet to decide on his playing future beyond this season. He entered Monday with a career-worst .893 save percentage.

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All good things must come to an end, and both the road trip and winning streak are over for the Canucks. Matt and Blake get into the final effort of the odyssey, in Columbus, as they finish 5-1-1 over the 7 games. The Canucks are in 1st overall and have the guys talking about another Presidents’ Trophy again?! You think that’s crazy, how about reaction to Bruce Boudreau’s claim of Quinn Hughes as a centre?

John Shannon stops by and gives his thoughts on the Canucks success, and how it’s led to an unprecedented 5 Canucks at the All-Star Game. Plus, when will the first deals of the season be made in the NHL? All the Canucks coverage you can handle, plus a review of the weekend that was in the NFL playoffs. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

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