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.

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The Denver Post announced that after nearly three years since playing his last NHL game, Peter Forsberg will be back in the lineup tonight for the Avalanche.

Forsberg will skate at left wing on a line with Matt Duchene and Milan Hejduk in tonight's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"I'm excited — and nervous," Forsberg said, after taking part in the morning skate with teammates at Nationwide Arena. "I don't know how it's going to go, but I'm going to be skating with two great players, so hopefully they can help me out a little bit out there."

Forsberg, 37, last played in Game 3 of the 2008 Western Conference semifinals against Detroit. Tonight will be Forsberg's 707th career NHL game. He has 885 career points, and his .901 assists per game ranks fourth in all-time NHL history, behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.

"It's going to be good. He's obviously a great passer and I'm just hoping he can find me out there and maybe I can get a couple goals," Duchene said. "I think it's a good thing for us, a good distraction for us, maybe make us a little bit lighter. Every team goes through tough stretches, but it's far from over and hopefully we can get back in to a playoff spot."

The Post notes that Avs coach Joe Sacco said he would let the game determine how many minutes he might play Forsberg.

"We're hoping he can help create some offence for us," Sacco said. "He brings experience and he brings winning to our club. He's won some Stanley Cups, and you can never have enough of those guys, guys who have been through those kinds of games and experiences."

Forsberg said he might have to change his previous style of game some — which was skilled, but included a dash of hard-hitting, agitating, bring-it-on toughness.

"Maybe a little bit," Forsberg said. "Maybe I won't run around as much as I did before. I think it's going to be hard, though. As soon as you get out there, you want to (hit). But first game, though, I'm sure I'm not going to have too much energy to run around out there."

With the addition of Joffrey Lupul and some recent line shuffling, the Toronto Maple Leafs currently have a top six of Nikolai Kulemin - Mikhail Grabovski - Phil Kessel/ Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Clarke MacArthur.

Given the development of MacArthur this season, how well Nikolai Kulemin is playing and that Lupul's addition (it can't be said enough that you need to ignore his third line stats from Anaheim) really strengthens the top two lines overall, things are looking up for the Leafs. They're not suddenly playoff contenders, naturally, but it's another incremental step toward respectability.

The hot button issue for fans of the team though, regardless of which side of the issue you fall, has been the lack of production from Phil Kessel. His current linemates combine with him to make a pretty formidable trio and for what it's worth I think everyone should back off and give this threesome some time together, but Kessel had been skating with Tyler Bozak and Joey Crabb before that. All in all, the level of his linemates this season just hasn't been too strong. But is that a legitimate reason for his extended slumps?

The Toronto Star has a really interesting take on that today with comments from legends Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull, Dale Hawerchuk and Mike Gartner. It's a good read.

To illustrate a point, The Star writes, Marcel Dionne draws on a memory from 25 years ago when a rookie centre on the Kings named Jimmy Carson was always hanging around his Los Angeles home.

“One day he was pouting. He’s 18 years old, he’s in the NHL and he’s pouting. I said, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ He said, ‘I have no wingers,’” Dionne recalls.

“I said to him, ‘Jimmy, who is the superstar on your line? They frickin’ drafted you with a first-round pick. You’ve got to make those guys better. That’s what your commitment is.”

Carson scored 37 goals that season, 55 the next before being part of the package that brought Wayne Gretzky to L.A.

The Star reiterates that Dionne’s premise is that we — as in those who are quick to say Kessel’s offensive struggles arise because he has no linemates to complement his considerable skills — are looking at the Kessel conundrum backwards. Call it the burden of talent if you wish, but the NHL’s fourth all-time goal scorer said he’s always believed that it is the stars in the league that have to elevate their linemates not the other way around.

“You’re the superstar. You’ve got to make it happen,” said Dionne. “How many times did we hear that Mats Sundin had no wingers? Did he get a thousand points? Probably more.”

Brett Hull is remembered for finding jaw-dropping synchronicity with centre Adam Oates, a relationship that helped them put up monster numbers. Dionne and Mike Gartner had a variety of linemates over the years but produced consistently. Dale Hawerchuk had great years in Winnipeg on a modest roster, one overshadowed by star-laden Oilers squads in the same conference.

While they wouldn’t specifically comment on Kessel and the 12-game slump he carried into Thursday’s game — except Dionne who is impressively current and honest about today’s NHL — there was a common theme espoused by almost all those big-time scorers.

As Dionne said, linemates shouldn’t matter. If you can score, you can score. Who you skate with is overrated.

“As a goal scorer you’ve got to be able to find a way to score goals no matter who you play with,” said Hull who scored 86 times as Oates’ winger one season.

“There were years when I wasn’t playing with Adam Oates too and obviously I got to play with other great players but not with the likes of Adam Oates. Maybe your numbers aren’t as high as you’d like them to be but as a goal scorer you have to find a way to score.”

“There are a lot of guys with a lot of goals that aren’t playing with the greatest of players but they go to the net, they have a nose for the net, they go hard and bang in rebounds and the fight to score goals. That’s what you have to do if you want to score goals instead of being a guy who’s going to complain that he doesn’t have anyone to play with. Make the best of what you got and figure out a way to score goals. That’s my theory.”

The article notes that Hull had his first 70-goal season with Peter Zezel as his centre before Oates became his middleman. He later had 50-goal seasons while being centred by Ron Wilson, not the Leafs’ coach, and Ron Sutter who were decent players but lacked the sublime passing ability of Oates.

“If you’ve been labelled a goal scorer, you’ve obviously scored goals. It isn’t because you just got lucky and played with a great player,” said Hull, who finished his career with 741 goals and is third all-time.

When Hawerchuk broke into the league with Winnipeg, his first wingers were Paul MacLean and Larry Hopkins, neither of whom would be confused with that Jari Kurri fellow who often flanked Gretzky in Edmonton. But he managed 45 goals, 103 points and was the NHL’s rookie of the year in 1982.

While Hawerchuk admits it is easier for a centre, who carries the puck more, to impact and shape a line than it is for a winger like Kessel, he agreed that it’s incumbent for a star player to not worry about what he doesn’t have but, instead, make the most of what he does.

“You can waste a lot of energy thinking about what it could be or what it might have been so you’ve got to stay positive and you’ve got to stay in the moment,” he said, an approach he often tries to pass on to the junior players he coaches with the Barrie Colts.

“I think the biggest thing you have to do is look at what your linemates are and what the best attributes of each guy is and figure out how we make this thing work.”

The Star says that Hawerchuk said whenever he was in a slump, he’d change his game.

“When I was struggling, I’d just go out and start hitting guys and going to the net. At least your teammates know you care and you want to get it fixed,” he recalled.

Gartner recalls hitting the video room more when he was in a slump, not a common situation for a winger who had an NHL record 17, 30-goal seasons including 15 in succession.

Gartner’s consistency came despite playing on five different teams with dozens of different centres, some stars, some lesser lights.

He said while he’s not close enough to Kessel’s situation to comment directly on the Leafs’ struggles, contrary to the opinions of Hull and Dionne, he believes it is very difficult for a talented player to produce in a situation when he hasn’t meshed with his linemates.

“There’s a chemistry that has to happen. You have to have all three players on a line, all five players on the ice, contributing. No one person usually scores a goal, usually it’s the by-product of a bunch of hard work from everybody else,” he said.

Dionne still watches a lot of hockey and while an admirer of Kessel’s talent, he believes the sniper can do more to help his linemates. “Sometimes I watch him and he doesn’t create the play for his line. He creates his own play,” he says — and he believes he can also do more to help himself.

“What scares me is the longevity of his slumps. Ten, 15 games. I’ll tell you the reason. He’s all over the ice. Sometimes he just does too much. He overskates, He overdoes things; over-dekes guys,” said Dionne.

“He’s got a lot of speed; he’s got a great shot. But I bet you 90 per cent of the goals in the NHL are scored from between five and 10 feet (of the net). When it’s not happening the way you think it should be happening, there’s only one place you have to get you’re a—. It’s in front of the net. He’s too much on the perimeter.”

Predators GM David Poile, via The Nashville Tennessean, on the trade completed yesterday that saw his team acquire Mike Fisher from the Ottawa Senators for a first round draft pick this summer and a conditional pick in 2012. Fisher's contract runs through 2013, and the salary cap hit is $4.2 million. He will make $4 million in 2011-12 and $3 million in 2012-13.

"What I really like is that this is not a rental like a lot of deals are at the trade deadline (on Feb. 28)," Poile said. "Mike is signed for the next two years. This is a deal that hopefully helps us down the stretch this year, but hopefully also helps us in years to come."

"Giving up our first-round pick, that's never comfortable for a team like ourselves that builds our roster primarily through the draft," Poile said. "But we have drafted really well and have a lot of good prospects at a lot of different positions. We knew it would be painful to do this, but that's what we did."

Poile said he and Ottawa have been in discussions for about a week and that many deals were discussed.

"I didn't want to trade anybody off our team. I didn't want to give up a prospect," Poile said. "So there was nothing left there. It was the least painful of what my options were. We're trying to add, not subtract."

The Edmonton Journal reports that Oilers defenceman Ryan Whitney is now in a walking boot and will be for several more weeks. He hobbled up to the stairs in the Rexall Place press box Wednesday to watch the Oilers lose to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1.

If Whitney makes it back to the blue-line this season, it won’t be until April, just before the regular season ends.

“I told Tamby (Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini) that I would like to maybe come back and get a game in and play at the world championships (Slovakia). It would be nicer going into next season, feeling I didn’t miss anything ... not having to play my first game in eight months.”

Whitney is already into his rehab. He’s swimming, working out in the gym and doing some Pilates.

“I’ll probably be in the best shape of my life when this is over,” he said, laughing.

Philly.com writes that Carolina winger Erik Cole has heard the rumors that he could be reunited with Peter Laviolette - his coach when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006 - in a trade with the Flyers.

Cole, 32, is taking it in stride, though he said he enjoyed playing for Laviolette.

Laviolette was "a coach who believed in me as a player and what I could do. His expectations of me, at times, were even higher than my own," said Cole before Thursday night's game against the Flyers. "And sometimes when you have a situation like that, it makes for a good opportunity."

A potential unrestricted free agent after the season, Cole would not be able to nix a deal. The trade deadline is Feb. 28.

"It's not like I have a no-trade clause or anything like that," he said. "At the end of the day, this is a business, and this is our job. We're fortunate to do what we do, but there's always sort of an underbelly to everything. To move and change cities and change teams is not always the best thing, but it's not always the worst, either. Things like that, you can't control and you have to go out and continue to perform."

The article notes that Laviolette is high on Cole. So are the Flyers, sources said. The winger has 14 goals and 17 assists while averaging 18 minutes, 4 seconds per game.

For the moment, Cole said his thoughts are directed toward helping Carolina earn a playoff spot. The Canes entered Thursday clinging to the eighth and last spot in the crowded East, and he probably won't be traded unless Carolina falls out of the playoff hunt.

"We've got enough on our own plate. As my buddy says, you've got to keep your eye on your own bobber," he said with a laugh.

The Orange County Register writes that Francois Beauchemin went through his first practice Thursday with the club with which he spent nearly four seasons and hoisted a Stanley Cup until he left for nearly two lucrative but fruitless years with the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs.

Beauchemin, acquired Wednesday via trade, put on his new gear for his workout at Rogers Arena and was right at home.

"It felt like I never left," said Beauchemin, who played with the Ducks from 2005-09 until he signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent.

"Pretty special to get back in that mix and put the Ducks uniform back on again and bring all the memories back," Beauchemin said. "Just seeing all the guys this morning, the trainers, medical staff. It was a good feeling. Good memories."

Beauchemin arrives as a potential major upgrade for the defense corps, currently nine in number. Not only was his jersey familiar, but he figures that it won't be problem jumping into a system he already knows.

"It hasn't changed," he said. "I remember every single drill from today's practice. It's the same from two years ago, four years ago. It's the system that doesn't really change. You do it, and it works."

Coach Randy Carlyle cautioned The Register that one shouldn't assume that Beauchemin will have no adjustment period because of his history with the team.

"I think time will tell," Carlyle said. "It's not a situation where you say it's automatic. It's never automatic. He's been away for two years. ... If he reflects back, hopefully, he's got a memory that doesn't need to be jogged quite as often.

"We would like him to fit into our lineup as seamlessly as possible. But you're never guaranteed that."

Beauchemin, who received his work visa so he can play in the United States, said he isn't sure who he will be partnered with on Friday against Calgary, and Carlyle wasn't any more forthcoming.

It is possible that he could start with rookie Cam Fowler, a heady puck-mover in the vein of Beauchemin's former Ducks' partner, Scott Niedermayer.

"We'll make a decision on where's he's going to play," Carlyle said. "He's going to play. That's all I know. He'll play in our lineup tomorrow night."

The Register also reports that Carlyle said goalie Jonas Hiller, who has been dealing with issues of fatigue and lightheadedness, could be a possibility for tonight's game in Calgary against the Flames.

"Jonas is much, much better," Carlyle said. "I think Jonas is an option for us for Friday."

The Chicago Tribune says that Marty Turco has had Friday night's game against the Stars circled on his calendar so long the ink is probably fading.

The veteran goaltender will play his first game in Dallas after leaving the Stars following nine seasons with them when the Blackhawks visit American Airlines Center for a key Western Conference showdown.

"As soon as I knew I wouldn't be back and since I wasn't retiring, a return to Dallas was something you were wondering what it's going to feel like and … when it would fall," said Turco, who will get the start in goal after watching from the bench the last two games. "When the schedule came out, certainly that was a big one you circle. … It seems like a big buildup, waiting until February to do it."

Turco signed with the Hawks in August, agreeing to a one-year, free-agent contract worth $1.3 million after posting a 262-154-63 record in 509 games with the Stars.

"I'm pretty excited about it," said Turco, who is 11-11-2 with a 3.10 goals-against average this season. "My family is going to come down and I'll see some old friends. … There will be some emotions at the beginning and after that it will be all about getting the win and stopping the puck."

The Tribune notes Turco started the first two games of the Hawks' current six-game trip and coach Joel Quenneville is turning to the veteran in the first of back-to-back games to finish the odyssey.

"It will be an exciting time for him and it's a big game for everybody," Quenneville said. "I'm sure that he's looking forward to it."

The Columbus Dispatch believes that in his third season, Jackets pivot Derick Brassard is finally experiencing the pressure and expectation associated with a playoff push. He's enjoying the environment and learning what it takes to centre a top line at a time when the biggest game is always the next one.

His four goals and eight assists in the past 11 games have helped the Blue Jackets go 6-3-2 in that span to remain relevant in the postseason conversation. They play the Colorado Avalanche tonight in Nationwide Arena.

"This is a great growth opportunity for our young players like Derick," general manager Scott Howson said. "You are put in a position where you have to play well every night because the games are so important. He has given us a jolt offensively and the challenge for him will be to keep it going."

Centring a line with captain Rick Nash and Jake Voracek, Brassard already has established career highs in goals (13) and points (38).

"I think the last couple of years have been frustrating for Brass with the injuries and not having the production that he expected," Nash said. "But he's playing great right now and I think he's shaping up to be a top centre in the league."

The Dispatch notes that Brassard's creativity and playmaking never have been in question. Brassard recognizes, however, he must improve his defensive game and consistency in the faceoff circle. (He was 5 of 30 the past two games.) Being a top centre in the Western Conference means handling down-low coverage on Joe Thornton and taking defensive-zone draws against Pavel Datsyuk.

At this time of season, a defensive mistake can be the difference between finishing a night four points or eight points out of the final playoff spot.

"I can still be a lot better in my one-on-one coverage," Brassard said. "That's what makes guys like Datsyuk and (Sidney) Crosby so good. They play well without the puck, and I can learn by watching them."

Fire & Ice relays that sniper Ilya Kovalchuk credits Devils coach Jacques Lemaire with helping him become a better player. Kovalchuk gave his coach something last night as a small token of his appreciation: the overtime goal that gave Lemaire his 600th career win.

Kovalchuk scored with just 23.2 seconds left in overtime to lift the Devils to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre.

The victory pulled the Devils to within 13 points of Carolina for the last playoff spot in the East and pushed Lemaire into some elite company. He is just the eighth coach in NHL history to reach 600 regular season wins.

“It’s nice,” Kovalchuk said of scoring the goal that gave Lemaire his 600th win..” We knew he had 599 and I think he’s the best coach I ever played for definitely. With his experience, he knows exactly what you need to tell the guys to make them work and make them go. It’s a pleasure to play for those kind of coaches.”

Kovalchuk made it clear that he’s hoping to convince Lemaire, 65, to stick around for another season rather than return to retirement—as was the plan when he took over for the fired John MacLean on Dec. 23.

“We really hope he’s going to stay next year,” Kovalchuk said. “We’ve got a lot of games in front of us, but we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

The New York Post observes that the Rangers haven't played since Monday and nobody needed that time off more than Henrik Lundqvist.

The All-Star goalie's slump that preceded this breather in the schedule is under a microscope for a couple reasons, none bigger than the fact the Rangers have lost five straight (0-4-1) heading into tonight's game in Atlanta.

Lundqvist has been on the bench for the last two, watching his understudy, Martin Biron, play terrific yet still come away with losses.

The season has reached a point at which the Rangers' best players need to step up, especially against teams like the Thrashers, who are four points behind the Blueshirts for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference. And Lundqvist understands that starts with him between the pipes.

"I know I have to play my best, we need it right now," he said. "We need everybody to play at their best going forward. We should all see it as a great challenge for us."

The Post notes that coach John Tortorella didn't seem overly concerned with Lundqvist's recent regression, although he was pleased that his superb goaltending coach, Benoit Allaire, was able to have so much time to spend with the unquestioned No. 1 netminder. Lundqvist hasn't played in a game since being pulled in the second period against the Devils on Feb. 3, when he gave up three goals on 12 shots.

"Ben has done a lot of work with him both off the ice and on the ice," Tortorella said. "But I never worry about Hank in that situation. This was a good thing for him, in these few days we didn't have games it enabled him to get to work."

Lundqvist knows he hasn't been great recently, but tries to focus on the season as a whole.

"Two or three games? Before that I think I played my best hockey," said Lundqvist, who in 18 games from Dec. 3 until Jan. 19 had a sparkling 1.72 GAA. "Sometimes it feels like guys around here try to make it bigger than it is.

"I definitely had tougher times," he continued, "but because we had the [All-Star] break, then I played two games, then I'm off for a week, of course it feels like I haven't played a lot lately. But look at my last 20 games, I'm pretty happy. But you have to take away the last three games.

"It is what it is. I'm confident that I'm going to step up here and play well."

The Tampa Tribune reports that while no official word on the status of injured LW Ryan Malone has been released by the team, coach Guy Boucher indicated Malone could miss between six and eight weeks with an abdominal muscle injury that is still being evaluated by team doctors. Malone was injured during the second period Tuesday night against Buffalo while overextending a stride just before crashing into the Sabres' net. The hope is Malone will be at full strength by the start of the playoffs in April.

To help fill the hole created by Malone's expected long-term absence, Tampa Bay recalled LW Johan Harju from Norfolk of the American Hockey League on Thursday. The AHL All-Star has been up with the Lightning on two other occasions this season, scoring his first career NHL goal Dec. 7 in Calgary. The 24-year-old has two points in seven games with Tampa Bay, and 18 goals with 35 points in 40 games with Norfolk.

D Mike Lundin, who has missed the past two games, will be out indefinitely as he recovers from a severe muscle strain. C Nate Thompson, who was woozy after hitting the boards head first Sunday, was feeling "much, much better" according to Boucher but has not resumed workouts and will not play Saturday, although he has not been diagnosed with a concussion.

D Matt Smaby, meanwhile, said he will be ready to play after leaving Tuesday's game during his second shift following a hit on Tyler Ennis.

The Washington Post notes that both coach Bruce Boudreau and Mike Green reiterated that they believe the defenceman will be in the lineup for Saturday's matinee contest against the Kings. Green, who was struck in the head by a slap shot on Feb. 6 and missed Tuesday's game against San Jose, is scheduled to undergo neuropsychological tests this afternoon.

"I'm sure. I have no qualms about it or there's no doubts in my mind, anyway," Boudreau said of if he expected Green to play. "Unless something really strange happens this afternoon."

Green stayed out on the ice for the duration of the Capitals' hour-long practice at KCI this morning and said afterward he felt "a lot better than I have. I'm back to normal, 100 percent."

Lines at Friday's practice were the same as yesterday with Alexander Semin on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

The Lonely End of the Rink: "Doc, It's been a while since I last requested your superior knowledge.

I have (3) Fantasy teams (1st, 3rd, and 7th). It is the 7th place team that I am looking for help with. By the looks of this roster by names only one would think I would be contending for a top spot, but so far not the case. A lot of under achieving going on here.

10 team roto weekly lock keeper league (we keep 4). G, A, + -, PIM, SOG, PPP, SHP, HIT, W, GAA, SV%. Start (2) c, lw, rw, g and (4) d per week. My Luongo for Green trade and going with the WAS goalies hasn't really panned out, but thems the breaks. I just picked up Malkin off of waivers (dropped J. Staal) and am planning on keeping him for next season or using him to upgrade for another keeper. Would you have kept Staal and dropped Dubinsky instead and who would you keep going into next season? Here is my roster to date:

C: Getzlaf, Malkin IR, Franzen, Dubinsky LW: Heatley, Nash, Neal RW: St. Louis, Selanne, Downie D: Green, Carlson, Kaberle, Enstrom, E. Johnson G: Varlamov, Neuvirth, Rask

thanks again for all you help."

Chris: Thanks for the kind words, as usual. It's too bad that trade and the WAS goalie strategy hasn't worked but it was sound at the time. Like you said, such is life.

Adding Malkin for free like that is tremendous, even if he will be coming off major surgery. It's still worth the investment to hang onto him going into next year and whether it's Staal or Dubinsky that you used to get him doesn't seem to matter at this point.

The likely candidates for the four keepers, aside from him, are Getzlaf, Heatley, Nash and Green. St. Louis is excellent, but still on the older end of the scale. I'm assuming Green and the Caps are going to rebound offensively, even while keeping a defensive posture. That could potentially allow you the opportunity to upgrade one of the guys like Heatley by dealing him with another higher-end guy (Franzen maybe, or even St. Louis) to the team with Ovechkin if that team is challenging for the title.

If you have no chance of coming back from seventh, this is time to make that sort of deal where you can get a good keeper upgrade while allowing that owner a better chance to win while still also retaining a good keeper like Heatley. Worth a shot, anyway.