Jack Johnson is reportedly seeking a trade, but there are a number of reasons why that wouldn't be a smart move for the Columbus Blue Jackets or any potential trade partners.
From the rest of the league's point of view, the veteran defenseman is a pending unrestricted free agent, so there's a good chance he'd merely be a rental player if another team were to acquire him before the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
More importantly, though, Johnson's game and role have both diminished significantly this season.
He's averaging a career-low 19:24 in ice time for Columbus in 2017-18, having never finished below 20 minutes per contest in any of his previous 11 NHL campaigns. He has seven points in 46 games, and his 0.15 points per game mark his lowest offensive output since his rookie season 10 years ago.
Johnson also has an even-strength Corsi For mark of only 46.3 so far this season and has never hit 50 percent to drive possession over a full year in his career.
Another issue is the money. Johnson's cap hit is $4.36 million this season, according to CapFriendly, and even if the Blue Jackets retain a portion of that, other clubs aren't likely to be clamoring to take on that kind of hit for a third-pairing blue-liner whose game is declining.
From the Blue Jackets' perspective, it wouldn't be ideal to move him, either.
Despite his diminished skills and pending free-agent status, Johnson is Columbus' second-oldest player, and the Blue Jackets are the youngest team in the NHL, according to NHLNumbers.
While getting something for him at this point might be beneficial, it wouldn't make much sense for the Blue Jackets, who will undoubtedly be buyers ahead of the deadline, to deal away their most experienced player in advance of a playoff run.
Johnson's reported motives - wanting a bigger role and looking to set the table for his unrestricted free agency in the summer amid his well-documented financial troubles - are somewhat understandable, but his value has arguably hit rock bottom at the moment.
He's not unhappy in Columbus or with his teammates, according to the report, so perhaps the situation can be smoothed over from within. That would clearly be the best outcome, as it's evident a trade would be a mistake for all teams involved.
Johnson's reduced role was cited as a reason for the request, as was his desire to better position himself for free agency in the summer, but it's not that he's unhappy in Columbus or with his teammates, according to the report.
The request was reportedly made weeks ago. Neither Johnson nor Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen would comment when contacted by The Athletic on Friday.
The 31-year-old, who's one of Columbus' alternate captains, is a pending unrestricted free agent who has plummeted on the team's depth chart this season.
He ranks fourth among the club's blue-liners in average ice time, but is now playing on the third pairing with Scott Harrington.
Johnson has spent parts of seven seasons with the Blue Jackets after playing parts of six with the Los Angeles Kings.
Here is the men's hockey roster Canada will be icing at the 2018 Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, as revealed by Hockey Canada on Thursday:
Forwards
Rene Bourque
Gilbert Brule
Andrew Ebbett
Quinton Howden
Chris Kelly
Rob Klinkhammer
Brandon Kozun
Maxim Lapierre
Eric O'Dell
Mason Raymond
Derek Roy
Christian Thomas
Linden Vey
Wojtek Wolski
Defensemen
Stefan Elliott
Chay Genoway
Cody Goloubef
Marc-Andre Gragnani
Chris Lee
Maxim Noreau
Mat Robinson
Karl Stollery
Goaltenders
Justin Peters
Kevin Poulin
Ben Scrivens
Former Vancouver Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins will serve as Canada's head coach for the tournament, and his team is made up of players from seven different leagues across North America and Europe.
Former NHL goaltender and executive Sean Burke is Canada's general manager.
Here are the complete rosters for the 2018 NHL All-Star Game tournament, the league's annual star-studded three-on-three event that will take place on Jan. 28 in Tampa Bay:
It was a familiar sight in yet another Montreal Canadiens defeat: The offense was virtually non-existent.
Timo Meier scored twice and backup goaltender Aaron Dell made 30 saves to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Montreal nearly kept pace with the Sharks in the shots-on-goal department, losing that battle 33-31, but Andrew Shaw's second-period marker was all the Canadiens had to show for it.
Shaw's goal was only the fourth by the Canadiens during their five-game losing skid.
It won't get any easier for Montreal. Next up is a date with the high-flying Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
There are a few faces you'll recognize on the United States' Olympic squad, but most of the players named to the initial American roster Monday are relative unknowns.
Thanks to the NHL's withdrawl from the 2018 Games, the U.S. team headed to Pyeongchang will be comprised of players from the AHL, NCAA, KHL, and other European leagues.
Here's a rundown of who these guys are:
Mark Arcobello
The journeyman forward played parts of four NHL seasons with five different teams, becoming only the third player in league history to suit up for four separate squads in the same season when he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Arizona Coyotes in 2014-15.
He's in the midst of his second straight productive campaign with Bern in Switzerland's National League.
Chad Billins
This 28-year-old defenseman plays for Linkopings in the Swedish Hockey League and spent last season with the AHL's Utica Comets. He's played in Europe for four of the last five years and his NHL experience amounts to a mere 10 games with the Calgary Flames back in 2013-14.
Jonathon Blum
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
You may recognize this blue-liner's name, considering he played parts of five seasons in the NHL with the Predators and Minnesota Wild, and also because the Predators drafted him 23rd overall in 2007. He's spent the last three seasons with the KHL's Admiral Vladivostok.
Will Borgen
This 21-year-old defenseman is in his third campaign at St. Cloud State and was a fourth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2015.
Chris Bourque
Ray Bourque's son was a second-round choice of the Washington Capitals back in 2004, but the winger hasn't been able to stick in the NHL for more than 20 games in any of his four campaigns. He's been in the AHL for the last four years.
Bobby Butler
This 30-year-old winger has played for the Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Predators, and Florida Panthers, but he hasn't seen NHL action since 2013-14 and has spent this fall and winter with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals after a couple of years overseas.
Ryan Donato
Donato is a legitimate NHL prospect, and he's been lighting up the college ranks with 12 goals and 20 points in 12 games for Harvard this season. The Boston Bruins second-rounder is the son of former Bruins forward Ted Donato.
Brian Gionta
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
The longtime Devils, Montreal Canadiens, and Sabres winger will be Team USA's captain at the Olympic tournament. He isn't playing professionally this season, but he's only a year removed from a 15-goal campaign with the Sabres.
Matt Gilroy
Gilroy won the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player in the nation as a member of the Boston University Terriers back in 2009. The 33-year-old has seen time with four NHL clubs but has spent the last four seasons in the KHL.
Jordan Greenway
Speaking of Boston University, Greenway is in his third year with the Terriers and has 17 points in 19 games. The 20-year-old left winger is a Wild prospect who was taken in the second round in 2015.
Ryan Gunderson
This 32-year-old defenseman has played for various clubs in Finland, Sweden, and Belarus since 2010, and he toiled in the ECHL and AHL before that.
Chad Kolarik
Once a seventh-round pick of the Coyotes, Kolarik has only six NHL games to his name, having played in Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, and Germany since 2010.
Broc Little
Little had some good years with Yale, but his college tenure was a long time ago. Since leaving the Bulldogs in 2011, the 29-year-old forward spent six years playing in Sweden and is now with Davos in Switzerland, where he's put up 19 goals and 31 points in 35 games.
John McCarthy
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
This very late pick by the San Jose Sharks in 2006 has since had a few decent AHL campaigns and has played 88 games for the big club. But at 31 years old, he still hasn't proven capable of carving out a steady NHL role. The winger has 12 points in 29 contests with the San Jose Barracuda this season.
Brian O'Neill
O'Neill has spent the last two seasons with Jokerit in the KHL, following a five-year AHL career in which he made only 22 NHL appearances. He won the Calder Cup with the Manchester Monarchs in 2015 and played with Little as a Bulldog for three of his four collegiate campaigns.
Garrett Roe
Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Austria have been the hockey homes of this 29-year-old winger over the last five seasons, and he's currently playing for EV Zug in the Swiss National League, where he's piled up 37 points in 31 games.
Bobby Sanguinetti
Sanguinetti has plied his trade in Switzerland for the last couple of years after a two-year stint in the AHL and one KHL season. He played 40 games over two seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, as well as five contests with the New York Rangers, but managed only six points in his brief NHL tenure.
Jim Slater
Slater played 10 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise after being taken 30th overall in 2002. He's been playing in Switzerland for the last three years.
Ryan Stoa
Stoa is a 30-year-old center who's spent the last five seasons in the KHL. He was a second-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2005, but played only 37 games for them over two campaigns and appeared in only three contests for the Capitals before heading to Russia.
Troy Terry
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
He's best known for his shootout prowess, scoring three times in the post-overtime session to beat Russia in the semifinals at the World Junior Hockey Championship last January, then notching the only shootout goal as the U.S. came from behind to stun Canada for gold.
The 20-year-old center is an Anaheim Ducks prospect in his third season with the University of Denver, with whom he won the national championship last spring.
Noah Welch
Fans of the Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Panthers, and Penguins might recall Welch, although his NHL career was less than memorable. The 35-year-old blue-liner has been playing in Sweden since 2011-12.
James Wisniewski
One of the most recognizable names on the U.S. roster has 36 points in 23 games for the Kassel Huskies of Germany's second-tier DEL2 league this season. He hasn't played in the NHL since suffering a devastating injury in the season opener while with the Hurricanes in 2015-16.
Ryan Zapolski
The lone goalie added to the initial roster has a .935 save percentage in 32 games with Jokerit this season. He's spent the last two years in Helsinki after playing three campaigns with another Finnish club, Lukko Rauma, and spending the three previous years in the ECHL.
Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk collected a goal and an assist apiece as Canada officially began its quest for revenge at the World Junior Hockey Championship with a 4-2 victory over Finland on Tuesday.
Finland nearly made it a one-goal game midway through the final frame, but Canadian defenseman Cal Foote dove and gloved the puck away to preserve the two-goal lead.
Canada scored twice in a span of 27 seconds early in the first period, including an opening goal that generated some controversy. Katchouk flew in on a breakaway and scored despite appearing to knock the net off its moorings beforehand.
Drake Batherson's first-period goal that made it 3-1 for Canada held up as the eventual game-winner.
Aleksi Heponiemi and Henri Jokiharju provided the offense for Finland.
Canada plays Slovakia on Wednesday night, while Finland is off until facing Denmark on Thursday at noon ET.
Philadelphia extended its win streak to three, with all of those victories coming on the road against Western Canadian clubs this week.
The Flyers snapped their 10-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday, doubled up the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Wednesday, before beating the Canucks one night later.
Philadelphia begins a five-game homestand Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The St. Louis Blues season-ticket holder - who's a vending machine worker by day, according to The Associated Press - briefly served as the club's backup goaltender Thursday night.
So how did that happen?
Goalie Carter Hutton got hurt in the morning skate, and while the Blues called up Ville Husso from their AHL affiliate, he couldn't make it to the arena in time for puck drop.
That gave Stewart the unlikely opportunity to hear head coach Mike Yeo's pregame speech, speak to several Blues players, and warm up alongside starter Jake Allen.
The 25-year-old signed a tryout contract Thursday afternoon.
What a moment for Tyler Stewart, local St Louis kid. Told me he was 5’7. Hmmmmmm. Waiting on Ville Husso to get to rink, he is the emergency back up. @FSMidwestpic.twitter.com/NUOumsrqlJ
Seattle has the green light, but a certain Canadian city has once again been left waiting at a stop sign.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday that the league is only looking at Seattle for potential expansion, meaning Quebec City is not a possibility this time around, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.
Bettman said he doesn't know where this leaves Quebec City going forward, per TSN's Pierre LeBrun, and added that the former NHL city is still on the league's radar, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.
Quebec City submitted an expansion application in June 2016, but the NHL deferred it and chose Las Vegas as the only new franchise destination.
Quebecor, a local media company, oversaw the construction of the $370-million Videotron Centre, which opened in fall 2015.
The NHL's Nordiques left Quebec City for Denver and became the Avalanche in 1995.
