Chris Nichols

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.

@Nichols_NHLPool on Twitter for timely NHL & poolie info, along with occasionally snarky comments.

Live blogging nightly: line combos, defensive pairings, analysis, statistical trends and more from every game on the NHL docket. Refresh the 'Live NHL Recap' page while the games are on to get new info as it is added.

Send in a brief fantasy hockey question, including all relevant league info, and it may be included in a future Hockey Hearsay blog during the week. One per person, please. Send it via Twitter for a possible response in the blog, or send via email (include your first name and hometown to represent!) if you'd prefer. chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

As much as the Canucks vowed to fix their bottom-six mix to compete when it matters most, The Vancouver Province believes the story that’s unfolding on the back end could be the springboard to leaping past any postseason foe.

With Sami Salo joining the Manitoba Moose on a maximum three-game, six-day long-term injury relief stint and playing tonight to test an offseason Achilles rupture, you don’t need a crystal ball to see the future.

Barring setbacks, Salo could play Feb. 12 against the Calgary Flames and Alexander Edler is expected to return in late March from lower-back surgery to form arguably the league’s best back end.

Imagine the pairings of Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa, Edler - Christian Ehrhoff and Keith Ballard - Salo with the seventh slot going to Andrew Alberts, Chris Tanev or Aaron Rome. The Canucks’ back end is already tops in shots, goals and points.

“They’ve got a lot going for them across the board,” said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville, who will pit Marty Turco against Roberto Luongo tonight. “They’re missing some defencemen and all of a sudden they’re pitching shutouts on the road. They’re deep. Being on top of the league there are reasons. Defence is important.

“In our first 40 games, there were 10 where we were tied in the third period and didn’t get points. And we even had leads in those games.”

The Province observes that one strength of the Hawks’ championship surge was Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell frustrating forecheckers by turning quickly and sending long laser-beam passes to forwards already in full stride.

The Canucks now have that in Hamhuis, while Bieksa and Ehrhoff have become better at carrying the puck out of their zone. Add the willingness to block shots — Ballard had five in the first period Wednesday during a 6-0 rout of Phoenix and Hamhuis seven a night earlier in a 4-1 win at Dallas — and the only question might be, is the group tough enough down low? The top hitter is Alberts, ranked 30th with 97 hits in 38 games.

Chicago has bigger problems. Keith has just four goals and only one in his last 15 games and there don’t seem to be the waves of attack that the Stanley Cup champions were noted for.

“Our consistency could be better,” said Keith. “We need to compete and use our speed. We have to push the pace and that’s our biggest asset. We haven’t done that every game.”

Campbell added this: “They [Canucks] have added some veteran guys, a hungry guy like Ballard who hasn’t had the opportunity and it’s an exciting team to play against. Our depth isn’t as much as last year and we’ve got a bit of a hangover. We’re trying to battle out of that.”

The Toronto Sun reports that as expected, The Monster will attempt to restore his roar with the Toronto Marlies.

With rookie James Reimer quickly becoming the toast of the town after blanking the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Thursday, the Maple Leafs announced Friday morning that struggling second-year goalie Jonas Gustavsson has been lent to the team's American Hockey farm club "for conditioning purposes."

The decision required the permission of Gustavsson, who reluctantly admitted prior to the all-star break that he would be open to such a move. Without his approval, the Leafs would have had to risk putting the young Swede on waivers in order to assign him to the Marlies, a move which likely would have seen him snapped up by another team.

"I trust Brian Burke. He knows what is right for the organization. If they want me to do something, of course I will do it," Gustavsson said last week.

Gustavsson has played in 23 games for the Maple Leafs this season and has registered a record of 6-13-2, a goals-against average of 3.29 and a save percentage of .890, numbers that are significantly below what both the Leafs and Gustavsson himself expected.

Reimer, meanwhile, is 5-3-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage as a Leaf.

The Leafs also reassigned goalie Ben Scrivens from the Marlies to Reading of the ECHL. Scrivens played 13 games with the Marlies and has earned a 2.25 goals against average, a .927 save percentage and a 5-2-3 record.

The Ottawa Citizen points out that the Sens are 1-10-4 without Jason Spezza (shoulder) in the line-up.

Now, perhaps the argument can be made that Spezza wouldn't have made any difference, given how poorly the team has been playing. Maybe that would have been true.

But you won't be able to convince coach Cory Clouston of that. Spezza's absence, said Clouston, only underscores his importance to the team.

"He's an easy target," said Clouston.

"He frustrates some fans at times, but he does so many little things that we don't realize that show up on the score-sheet.

"A perfect example is the faceoff department. We've lost a couple of games, we've given up a couple of goals, directly as the result of a lost faceoff.

"And (Wednesday night) on the power play, we lost two faceoffs late in the game. He's generally very good in that area.

"He also draws attention. He relieves pressure on other guys. When he's out there, usually the top defensive pairings are out against him, which relieves pressure against other lines.

"There are just a lot of little things that go on in a game ... that we are so much better when he's in the lineup."

Not to mention, The Citizen writes, that through his career he has averaged a point a game. On a team as offensively starved as the Senators, that has to be welcome.

For Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, which begins a four-game road trip, Spezza will be on a line with Daniel Alfredsson and Nick Foligno. Foligno is there, in part, for face-off insurance.

Spezza said he'll see how his shoulder feels as the games go on.

"I haven't taken too many (faceoffs), so that's probably the last thing that's going to come," he said.

"The plan is I'm going to take some draws and see how I feel and if I can't take faceoffs right away, I'm still better off playing.

"Everything else is fine. I'm shooting pain free, I don't feel anything out there. Faceoffs are maybe the one thing that will come a little bit later, but I'm just going to go on how I feel.

"If I feel good, I'll be taking draws all night. If I don't, I'll just let somebody else take them."

The Washington Post writes that for the number of ups and downs the Capitals have experienced throughout the season, and for dealing with the frustration of playing well one period and letting up on the gas the next, the players know that if they can find a way to put it all together none of it will matter.

So the question turns to how do they manage to assemble things simultaneously, and who leads the charge?

In talking about how to minimize or eliminate the fluctuating level of play Thursday, Nicklas Backstrom said some of the burden must fall on his and the Capitals' other star players shoulders.

"I think that comes from me, myself and a couple other players," Backstrom said. "At the beginning of a period, game we have to get some shifts in the other team's zone, get things going. I think if we do that then everybody follows. We haven't been doing that too much and that's why this happens. It's a little bit frustrating too. You're always trying to do your best out there [and give] 100 percent, but sometimes it doesn't go your way and it's frustrating."

The Post believes the most irritating part of the inconsistencies is the segments of a game where everything goes the way the Capitals want it to. For as important as each contest is growing at this time of the year though, Washington remains in a good position. It's just a matter of making those spurts of strong play translate into a larger success, starting on Friday night against Tampa Bay.

"We know we have it, we just have to show it," Backstrom said. "I think [playing like they did in the first against Montreal] is what we're looking for. We have been up and down for the whole season but we're still in a good spot right now. If we just get things together it can be a great team. I think we can do great things."

The Ducks are among the teams trying to acquire veteran goaltender Ray Emery, his agent confirmed to The Orange County Register on Thursday.

Calgary-based agent J.P. Barry said he has been in contact with the Ducks - who have no comment on the matter - about Emery as they're seeking a reliable insurance goalie in case either or both Jonas Hiller and Curtis McElhinney get injured down the stretch. It is believed they would offer him a two-way contract, which would likely make him the starter for the Ducks' AHL team in Syracuse. The Ducks' interest is also a clear sign that they don't have much confidence with Syracuse goaltenders Timo Pielmeier and J.P. Levasseur.

"The Ducks are one of the teams that I've been talking to," Barry said. "It goes both ways, right? I'm looking for a position for Ray. There's some teams that have been receptive to discussing him, and they're one of them."

Emery, 28, is recovering from a career-threatening hip injury that he suffered last season while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, where he posted a solid 16-11-1 record and 2.64 goals-against average in 29 games.

As far as whether Emery would accept a two-way contract that would include a sharply-reduced AHL salary, Barry sounded open to that scenario.

"I think the opportunity is what's more important," he said. "At this stage of the year, the contract isn't about money. It's about getting him back playing and getting him positioned with the right team that will allow him to play games.

"He's ready to go here. I think if we put him with a team on Monday, he'd be ready to play Friday or Saturday."

Fire & Ice remarks that since returning to coach the Devils after John MacLean was fired on Dec. 23, Jacques Lemaire has repeatedly said that his loyalty to general manager Lou Lamoriello was the reason he did it.

Lemaire gave a second reason after the Devils’ 3-2 win over the Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden.

“I feel that it’s a top organization and it was hard to look at them playing the way they were playing,” Lemaire said. “I knew a lot of these guys that I coached in the past and I felt sorry for them for what was happening to them. I thought I could help.”

The San Jose Mercury News reports that goalie Antero Niittymaki was declared good-to-go, but re-tweaked the groin injury that has sidelined him the past five games during this morning’s practice in Boston ahead of tomorrow's game.

The reporter says he didn’t see how it occurred, but when he passed Niittymaki in the locker room as he was heading out the door and asked if he was ready to return, he said “no” and kept walking. Officially, it’ll probably be announced as a lower body injury, but he reporter's hearing it’s the same problem that he suffered during the pre-game skate in Vancouver on Jan. 20.

That time the Sharks needed to turn to the University of British Columbia for a back-up goalie. This time, they’re positioned much better geographically and will be able to get Alex Stalock back.

The article also notes that elsewhere on the health front, expect to see Logan Couture (flu) back against the Bruins.

Couture said he was still feeling a little off, but thought he should be ready to go by game time. Todd McLellan’s “we’re counting on having him back” was slightly more encouraging.

The Tampa Tribune chimes in that Vinny Lecavalier's name has been absent from the headlines for much of the Lightning's run to the top of the Southeast Division, but not many people seem to have noticed. That probably wouldn't have been the case in other years.

We'd be harping on the fact he has only eight goals (to be fair, he missed a month with a broken bone in his hand). With the trade deadline approaching, there'd be near-daily rumors that he was about to be moved. With Vinny, there was always something.

But this is a different Lightning team and a different Vinny. So when you mention to coach Guy Boucher that it seems like his highest-paid player is flying below the radar, he smiles and says simply, "Yeah, which is good."

As the Bolts prepare to play Washington in a rather large game tonight at the Forum, the talk is about how Lecavalier has bought in completely to Boucher's all-for-one system. He is, in Boucher's words, "back-checking like crazy" and generally playing in a way you'd expect from a grinder while trying to mesh with new linemates Simon Gagne and Teddy Purcell.

And in a conversation Thursday following a spirited practice at the Ice Sports Forum, Vinny brought up the whole goal-scoring thing before he could be asked.

"Obviously, I want to get that scoring confidence back. I think everything else but that, that finish, is going great," he said.

"I'm going to keep playing the way I am with these two guys. The goals will come."

The Tribune writes that then he said something else that spoke volumes about the state of this team today.

It goes back to a conversation he had last summer with Steve Yzerman, not long after the legendary one took over as general manager. Stevie Y. wanted to make sure Vinny got the message that things were different in a good way and he should come along for the ride.

"I didn't know what to expect at first. He told me he wanted me to be part of this team. He wanted to help me out with leadership, and he told me a little bit about his career. He led by example and told me he wanted me to do the same thing. That's what I'm trying to do," Lecavalier said.

"We're building a culture here of working hard and doing the little things right. As a captain, you want to lead by example, but on this team there's not one guy who works harder than anyone else. That's how you build a culture."

The article points out that Gagne, Purcell and Lecavalier have been together just three games but the chemistry is there for something good. Gagne, who played so many games against Lecavalier as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, sees the possibilities.

"I've seen him so much, I know pretty much everything about Vinny," Gagne said. "That's one reason I was excited to come here, the chance to play with him. Right now, the way we're playing is fun and exciting."

The Chicago Tribune says that Stars producing like stars is the most critical component to the Hawks' stretch run, which continues Friday night against the Western Conference-leading Canucks. The most important component of that duty for Marian Hossa simply is staying on the ice and finding consistency despite a litany of bad luck and odd ailments.

A random practice collision in late November cost him 10 games. Just before the All-Star break, Hossa missed a game thanks to a bout with vertigo, of all things. All of it makes discovering a rhythm that much more arduous.

"When these things start happening, you start thinking, what is next?" Hossa said. "On the other side, I try not to think negative."

Hossa has four points in his last three games.

"I just know how important he is to our team," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "He had his game a couple of times where he had it at the start of the year, where he was flying. We're looking for that pace."

Hossa readily acknowledges the idea is to ramp up the production so the Hawks' footing in the playoff race doesn't slip.

"Of course — that's the goal after (the All-Star) break," he said. "Hopefully no more injuries and these type of things will stop it."

The Tribune also notes that Marty Turco will get his second consecutive start in goal Friday night when the Hawks face the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Corey Crawford, who has lost his last two games, will watch from the bench while Turco looks to build on his 29-save performance in a 7-4 victory over the Blue Jackets.

"Goalies want to play and when you get a little confidence in you, you want to keep the net and sustain the game," Quenneville said. "We're going to need both guys playing well down the stretch. I think it's good that Marty gets a chance to come right back. Their play will dictate a lot of the things we do."

In describing the Peter Forsberg situation to The Denver Post, Avalanche coach Joe Sacco brought out a basketball analogy.

"The ball is in his court," Sacco said.

Sacco and the Avs seem to have liked what they've seen of the 37-year-old Forsberg, attempting to make a comeback to the NHL. But whether his play and overall condition so far has been enough to convince Forsberg himself to stay and sign with the Avs remains uncertain.

Forsberg took part in the Avs' morning skate Thursday with seemingly no ill effects, but he did not meet with the media. Sources close to Forsberg said he has had some discomfort with his oft-injured right foot, however, and is trying to find a better fit in his skate with a brace.

Sacco said he thought Forsberg looked good at the skate and downplayed Wednesday's seemingly tough practice for him, after which Forsberg said some things that seemed to give discouragement to hope of a successful comeback.

"It was a tough practice, and anybody would have been tired afterward, including Peter," Sacco said. "But I thought he looked good."

Though not a certainty, a decision by Forsberg whether to continue is likely to come by Sunday at the latest. The Avs will practice that morning at their facility in Centennial before boarding a charter to Phoenix to start a four-game road trip through the week.

It is not likely Forsberg would skate on his own through the week without a contract, and he said Wednesday he wanted to make his decision "as soon as possible."

The Post also reports that Avs winger Peter Mueller (concussion) skated for a second straight day, which Sacco called "encouraging." There remains no timetable on a possible return.

The Columbus Dispatch writes that with every bumbled puck and failed attempt to clear their zone, and with every botched pass advancing the puck through the neutral zone, the Blue Jackets have found it tougher to resist recalling defenseman John Moore - their top blue-line prospect - from minor-league Springfield.

On the cusp of losing any hope of making a playoff push, the Blue Jackets made the call for Moore yesterday. He'll be with the club for tonight's game against the Detroit Red Wings in Joe Louis Arena, although he's already listed a healthy scratch. He may play Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers though.

But it remains to be seen what Moore's recall means. The Blue Jackets are billing it as a short-term fix to cover them in the wake of defenceman Rostislav Klesla's lingering knee injury.

"John has earned an opportunity," Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel said. "We're not sure how long Klesla's out. We only have six defencemen with a bunch of games, some back-to-backs, coming up over the next week or so.

"This gives John a chance to get a feel for what the NHL is like."

The Dispatch points out that Moore was the Blue Jackets' first-round pick (No. 21 overall) in 2009. He's a fluid skater who can get the puck out of trouble with his feet or with passes. This is his first pro season with only 47 AHL games under his belt, but Moore thinks he's ready for the NHL.

"I know what my strengths are," he said last night. "I know what I have to do, night in and night out. That's what it means to be a pro, to bring a certain level - a high standard - to the rink every night."

Moore, who spent yesterday flying back to Springfield from the AHL All-Star Game in Hershey, Pa., got a fine reward at the Falcons' practice rink when Springfield coach Rob Riley found him.

"He just said 'You're going to the NHL, John. You got the call,'" Moore said. "It was great. Chills. The first people I thought about were my mom and dad, because they did a lot for me to make it to the NHL. This is about them, too."

The question now is whether Moore's arrival in Columbus is a glimpse into the Blue Jackets' future or the beginning of it.

Michigan Live reports that Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk hasn't ruled out a possible return for Saturday's game in Nashville, saying his status will be determined after the morning skate.

“We'll see tomorrow. I want to play, but I can't play tonight,'' Datsyuk said today after the morning skate. “I shoot OK but not (hard) enough. Shoot for tomorrow, but you never know.''

He has missed 17 games with a broken right hand. He's been cleared to play, but doesn't feel comfortable. He has to be careful not to reaggravate it.

"I don't want to come back and again go on vacation,'' Datsyuk said. "I need to make sure if I (return) I finish the season.''

The Miami Herald says the Florida Panthers haven’t had much to celebrate since captain Bryan McCabe broke his jaw during a game against the Devils on Jan. 15. Florida won that night, but hasn’t done much since, winning once in the eight games since McCabe has been on the sidelines.

One bright spot during that time has been the play of defencemen Keaton Ellerby, 22, and Dmitry Kulikov, 20. Ellerby came up from the minors to fill in for McCabe, and assistant coach Gord Murphy paired the two youngsters.

Yes, it’s early. But the Panthers might be getting a look at what will be their top defensive pairing of the future.

“We really like these two together. Look at their age. What these kids are doing is really a silver lining for us right now,’’ coach Pete DeBoer said Thursday. “We’re throwing them into a lot of situations and giving them a lot of responsibility on the power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5, in key moments in overtime. And they’re handling it. That’s a good sign.’’

The article notes that with McCabe out for another few weeks, Ellerby – the 10th overall pick of the 2007 draft – is playing with the confidence of a veteran and knowing he’s not going back to the minors anytime soon might be a reason. Ellerby looked tentative and shaky when he came up from AHL Rochester, N.Y., last season, and DeBoer gave him almost no playing time.

DeBoer had a heart-to-heart with Ellerby when the season ended, a talk Ellerby took to heart. Days after the season was over, Ellerby was working out like never before. He added 20 pounds to his lean frame and came to camp with a chip on his shoulder.

Ellerby, more of a physical defensive presence than Kulikov, is rubbing off on his new running mate. Kulikov, who broke into the league as an 18-year-old last season after being taken 14th overall in 2009 draft, is playing with more and more confidence and is hitting more.

“He’s a good player and I think there is good chemistry there,’’ Kulikov said. “I seem to know where he is at all times. We had some bad goals against us in Montreal, but other than that, I think we’ve done a good job. Experience is a big part of playing well.

“He didn’t do so well last year and I was a rookie. We both have a little more experience now, and that leads to confidence.’’

The Miami Herald reports that goalie Tomas Vokoun said Thursday that he hasn’t heard of any new offers from the Panthers regarding a contract extension. Vokoun, who signed a four-year deal with Nashville before being traded to Florida in 2007, can become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career July 1.

Vokoun said he hopes to speak to general manager Dale Tallon when the team returns to South Florida. The NHL’s trade deadline is Feb. 28, and the general belief is Florida will try to deal Vokoun if a deal is not reached. Vokoun can decline any trade as he has a non-movement clause.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch observes that the Blues will have gone eight days between games before hosting the Edmonton Oilers tonight at Scottrade Center. The team was off for five days for the All-Star break and three more days when Tuesday's home game against Colorado was postponed because of severe weather.

The players seemed restless in Thursday's practice, ready to begin the challenge of climbing out of 14th place in the Western Conference with only 33 games remaining. But perhaps no one wearing a Blues' jersey Thursday was more ready than Andy McDonald, who missed 63 days with a concussion.

"I'm really looking forward to (Friday) night," said McDonald, who watched as the Blues went 10-11-3 in the 24 games he missed. "It's been a long recovery and I'm excited to get back in. It's crunch time for us as a team. We've got 30-plus games left and we've got to make a run here."

McDonald is expected to play left wing on the top line with David Backes and Brad Boyes. On the second line, Oshie will continue to play with Alex Steen and Patrik Berglund.

"It's a boost in our skill area and our execution area," coach Davis Payne told The Post-Dispatch, referencing McDonald's comeback. "He's a guy who can produce points, he's a guy who can attack with speed and apply pressure that way ... it's why he's a top-six guy for us.

"It gives you the opportunity to not need a volume of scoring chances, but that one key play can get made and make a difference. Obviously that's something we haven't had, but now we've got options."

He added, "I don't think just adding Andy McDonald and T.J. Oshie turns it into a jailbreak offence for our hockey club. The style still remains ... it just becomes more effective in the chances that we generate.

"We've got to make sure that our 5-on-5 play gets to a higher level of offensive zone time, which is something that we haven't had a ton of over the last month. You talk about guys like Oshie and Andy McDonald and their ability to possess pucks in small areas and just create constant pressure in the offensive zone, this is where these two guys give us a significant improvement."

McDonald agreed.

"You only have to look back to the structure we played with at the start of the year, where we were tight defensively, but certainly opportunistic (offensively)," he said. "We're not going to open it up and trade chances, but the offensive guys in this room certainly have a responsibility to score goals, and that's what we have to do."

Jeff in Nashville: "Hi Chris, Your input still has me in first place in my league this year. Thanks!

I'm in a standard 10 team H2H league, scoring G, A, PPP, SOG, GWG, & +/-. Currently entertaining an trade offer I'd like your input on before deciding which way to go. I'm trying to pick up Lecavalier to pair with my Gagne. Lecavalier's owner wants my B. Ryan to go with his Perry. My concerns are one, the health issues with Lecavalier & Gagne, and two losing C/W eligibility of Ryan. Do you think I should pull the trigger on this one?"

Chris: Thanks Jeff. I'm assuming this isn't a keeper league, or it'd be an easy "no" for you. For a single-season format, I still see it as a pretty quick "no" too.

I like Lecavalier. I like TB. I like the possibilities with Gagne, especially facing second-tier checking pressure thanks to Stamkos-St. Louis. But how long do we have to wait for results from Lecavalier and why part with a guy like Ryan who has much better stats and should continue to produce? I'm not necessarily against acquiring Lecavalier and hoping for a good stretch run, but IMO you'd need to part with a lower-valued player in order to do it. Ryan's too expensive, I believe. Throw in the C/W eligibility and you really need to keep Ryan.