Chris Nichols

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

Twitter: @Nichols_NHLPool/ Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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NHL Free Agents: Western Conference

NHL Free Agents: Eastern Conference

The Pittsburgh Penguins are hoping to get a much-needed goal-scoring boost from 38-year old winger and former Pen Alex Kovalev, whom they acquired from the Ottawa Senators today for a conditional draft pick.

If you've been in fantasy leagues for any amount of time, you know the drill with him. The potential, even at this age, is there for a nice mix of points, PIM and SOG. He has 6-3-9 in 10 GP this month on this recent tear, including 14 PIM and 21 SOG. The downside, as usual, is that his production can disappear for inordinate stretches and he will barely have any time to adjust to new linemates for this last period of the season.

Still, as fantasy free agent gambles go he's still one with enticing upside through the end of the regular season. He should, even when the Pens get more guys healthy, be a fixture on the first power play unit. It'd seem ideal, at least until Sidney Crosby is back in the line-up (still absolutely no timetable there), to have newcomer James Neal on the left side and Kovalev on the right side with Jordan Staal as the pivot on a first line with some serious pop.

Chemistry matters though, so only time will tell. The Pens are very familiar with the success that Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy can have with Staal as a trio and you'd have to imagine they'll reunite at some point.

Pittsburgh may also get both Mark Letestu and Dustin Jeffrey back for Friday's game against the Canes, according to The Post-Gazette, so it's possible one of them could centre the two new wingers with Staal resuming his place alongside his normal wingers.

Full line combos, as per the norm, in the Live NHL recaps nightly. Incidentally, the PPG also reported that coach Dan Bylsma said that when Paul Martin returns, he will step in for the traded Alex Goligoski on one point on the top power-play unit opposite Kris Letang.

The Tampa Tribune reports that the Lightning swapped goalie for goalie on Thursday, but freed up some salary room moving forward.

Tampa Bay sent Dan Ellis to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Curtis McElhinney in a straight player-for-player deal announced Thursday. Ellis has one year left on a two-year contract that pays $1.5 million next season, while McElhinney is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

The Ducks needed a goaltender after All-Star Jonas Hiller was sidelined by fatigue issues.

Tampa Bay has looked to move a goaltender since the acquisition of Dwayne Roloson on New Year's Day, but settled on Ellis as the backup and sent Mike Smith down to the minor leagues earlier this month.

While McElhinney is expected to arrive in time for Tampa Bay's game Friday against New Jersey, the team placed Smith on re-entry waivers on Thursday with the intention of bringing him back up. Freeing up some money could give the team more freedom as it works on a contract extension for league-leading scorer Steven Stamkos, scheduled to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

The trade caught Ellis by surprise.

"Yeah, to say the least, we weren't looking for a trade in any way, I was looking forward to helping out here and getting this team into the playoffs,'' Ellis said. "I absolutely love everything about Tampa Bay and the organization, but I do understand the business side of things. They have some salary cap space cleared out and have some things to get done, like Stammer's contract.

"At the same time, I know this is a huge opportunity for me going to a team that can use some help. And I can go in and help them, but I'm really going to miss Tampa. It's a great city, it's a great organization.''

The Tribune writes that after Smith was sent down to Norfolk, Ellis appeared to be the team's choice as backup goaltender. He had played well of late, going 2-0-1 in his past three starts with a 1.89 goals against average. Ellis said he wasn't disappointed with how the situation played out.

"My only disappointment is I'm going to miss being with a great organization with great people," he said. "I know that this wasn't so much about a situation where I didn't fit into a group, but it's just part of it.

"They've picked up some great players here with Marc-Andre Bergeron and Eric Brewer and I think they have some big moves going forward to take care of and some things they want to make fit. I'm just fortunate I've had the chance to be with one of the great organizations in the league and now I'm getting the chance to go to another one.''

The team will not know until Friday whether Smith clears waivers. If another team claims him, that team and Tampa Bay each would be responsible for half his remaining salary. He is in the final year of a contract that pays $2.4 million this season.

In five starts for Norfolk of the American Hockey League, Smith is 1-4-1 with a 1.83 goals against average and .924 save percentage.

The Columbus Dispatch says that as has been the case for more than a month, Rick Nash was dominating Tuesday with the game on his stick in a two-goal performance that led to a 4-0 win for the Jackets. Part of it is the natural evolution of a 26-year-old star entering his prime. Another part is a plan developed by the coaching staff in the offseason to keep the team's best player fresh for late in games and late in the season.

Nash is averaging 18:37 of ice time - a significant 2:20 drop from a season ago and his lowest total since the 2005-06 season. Among the NHL's top 15 scorers, Nash is playing the fewest minutes.

"Most star players want to be on the ice all the time," coach Scott Arniel said. "They want more opportunities to be the difference. But he's been really good about it, and when he's out there he's giving us his all."

Nash has been a goal-scoring, back-checking, hard-skating dynamo during a 10-3-3 run that has thrust the Jackets into the playoff race. He's not just compiling points - Nash has nine goals and 11 assists in that span - but he's also playing with an intensity of purpose and elevated level of leadership.

The Dispatch points out that in recent weeks, coaches such as Los Angeles' Terry Murray and Nashville's Barry Trotz have remarked on the transformation.

"He was a guy who was a bit of a one-trick pony, a guy who was really dangerous off the rush and could do some things one-on-one," Trotz said. "Now, he's using people much better, his game is evolving and he's using his power game more."

Nash might have more power because he's playing fewer minutes. He rarely kills penalties, unlike seasons under former coach Ken Hitchcock, and he's making an effort to keep shifts shorter.

The reduced ice time has not affected his production. He's the league's seventh-leading goal scorer (29) and is tied for second with 14 third-period goals and seven game-winning goals.

"It's been great," Nash said recently. "We've got guys in here who are good at killing penalties and it's enabled me to be fresher late in games."

Gm Scott Howson told The Dispatch this: "It's allowed Rick to be more physically assertive. (Head coach Scott Arniel) deserves credit for that. We're seeing a more concerted, consistent effort from Rick."

Howson and Arniel laud the selflessness of Nash.

"He's won the individual awards and he's gone through two or three contract negotiations, and right now it's all about winning," Howson said. "It's not about whether he scored 40 or 50 or 60 goals, it's about the team. You can see that in his play."

According to The Toronto Star, Tyler Bozak hopes something is about to give.

Not only have the Maple Leafs not scored in Montreal yet this season, but the Leafs centre hasn’t registered a point in 14 games. So Bozak would love it if both streaks ended Thursday night at the Bell Centre. It’s been a tough slog for Bozak, getting top line minutes but not producing offence at a rate commensurate with his time on ice.

“I was wondering what I did in the summer to get this treatment,” said Bozak. “It’s been tough. Chances have been there. I’ve had a lot of chances to score. I’ve made some plays where guys could have scored. Just things haven’t gone my way.

“But we’re winning and that’s the only thing that matters. If the chances weren’t there and we were losing, it’d be a huge problem. We’re winning games and getting back in this race. I’m just trying to stay positive and help the team as best I can.”

The Star believes the Leafs might have caught a break when the Habs announced that Alex Auld would start against Toronto. Carey Price has shut the Leafs out twice but is coming off an emotional win in Vancouver.

The Leafs were embarrassed 3-0 in a loss here in Montreal on Feb. 12, but have gone 3-0-1 since.

“We were pretty disappointed leaving here,” said forward Clarke MacArthur. “I didn’t feel we put a good effort in at all. We didn’t forecheck, we didn’t compete.”

After that game, forward Joffrey Lupul had some angry words for Habs defenceman P.K. Subban for the way they fought. Subban threw a punch while Lupul was trying to remove his helmet.

“He apologized,” Lupul said of Subban. “He said he didn’t know I was going to take my helmet off. To be honest, it’s in the past. We can’t worry about fighting and settlings scores. We have to go out and deliver.

“Last time we were in this building, we played poorly and we got dominated. Maybe that game was a wakeup call for us. Price shut us out but I don’t think he had to make any big saves.”

The Vancouver Province writes that in a moment of levity, it was suggested the struggling Mason Raymond attempt the Marc-Pierre Bouchard breakaway ballet that made the highlight reels Tuesday night. The Minnesota Wild speedster executed a spin-o-rama and stuffed a backhand past startled Edmonton Oilers netminder Nikolai Khabibulin.

“I have thought about doing it in a game before,” said Raymond, who used the spin to score a shootout goal. “It’s the speed and angle and the time he had and I think that’s a real effective move. I don’t think any goalie expects that in a game. He had a gap and I thought it was pretty good.”

Raymond has had a lot to think about.

With just three goals in his last 25 games and only 10 this season after netting a career-high 25 last season, there’s some angst in the organization as Monday’s trade deadline nears and with playoffs on the horizon. Raymond is age (25) and salary cap friendly next season ($2.55 million US) but the concern is this season. Everybody is saying the right things because everybody loves Raymond’s speed, skill and game-breaking potential. But the knock is that he doesn’t get to tough prime scoring areas often enough and that a penchant for a perimeter game will be even less effective in the postseason.

“He’s got to find a way to get to the inside and find the net a little bit more and find a way to get to those rebounds,” said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. “But there are a lot of things that I like about his game.”

The Province suggests that one theory might be that if you factor in the improved play of Ryan Kesler and the ability of Mikael Samuelsson to also release a good shot and it affects the dynanics of the second line. The first option is to find the red-hot Kesler because he has a career-high 33 goals in the Rocket Richard Trophy dash. How do you not defer to him? In a 3-2 loss to Montreal on Wednesday, the line had 13 shots but was a combined minus-7 and Kesler ate up a season-high 26:32 of ice time. He also has 193 shots, while Samuelsson has 179 and Raymond 139.

“We all want the puck,” added Raymond. “It’s a work in progress because we’ll have a couple of good games and then last night we fought it a bit. When we’re communicating and using the short little passes and jumping into holes, we’re very effective.

“Maybe my role has changed a little in trying to create turnovers and those offensive chances. All year long, it’s been why, why, why? It’s not so much that anymore. It’s just doing the things I can do and getting that bounce to put me on a roll. In order to that, it can just be myself. I need help from my linemates.”

It’s natural for confidence to wane as a scoring drought lengthens and players start to over-think, rather than instinctively racing to holes or finishing off scoring chances.

“The mind is a powerful thing,” added Raymond. “When things are going, things just happen and you make good plays and are in the right place.”

Maybe Kesler put it best about the unrest. If the first focus of the second line is to work in unison, nobody should be slumping and everybody should be profiting.

“We need to kind of figure out how to play together again,” admitted Kesler. “Now is the time to refine our game as a line and start going to those areas to score. We need everybody going there. Mase has the skill to do it. I think it’s a confidence thing.”

The Calgary Herald observes that the Flames have been entrenched in stretch-drive mode for weeks. Months even.

But now, only 20 dates remain - every single one of them against Western Conference foes - and the true crunch is upon them.

The breakdown is even - 10 at home, 10 on the road.

But the approach is unwavering.

"We said (winning) two out of three from Christmas on," said Alex Tanguay, "and we've been doing it for the most part."

For the record, in the eight three-game bunches since the holiday hiatus, the Flames have managed to bag four or more points six times. A victory Friday over the visiting San Jose Sharks would boost it to seven of nine.

The Herald notes that since waffling through three consecutive duds in December - falling to Minnesota, Minnesota, Columbus, while scoring only one goal on each night - the Flames are 17-5-5. Given that torrid clip and knowing that they're still not free and clear of anybody in the playoff race tell you how cavernous that hole had been.

"We're in a situation now where we desperately need every point," said Tanguay, "but we're not going to win every game - we know that. You look at our situation, usually it takes 96 (points) . . . it might even take 98 this year to get ourselves into the playoffs."

"But we're in a great position to do it and we're all looking forward to the challenge.

"We're right there, so we're not going to feel bad. We win Friday? We'll move up on another team," added Tanguay.

The Calgarians have put 62 games - and 70 points - into the bank.

Still sitting on the table, the Herald points out, are 40 points. The local heroes would love 14 triumphs' worth, which translates into 98 points, but does require a .700 winning percentage.

"We know it's going to be like this all the way in. We just keep going," said captain Jarome Iginla. "We weren't as aggressive and assertive and confident as we could've been early (against Boston). But we just get back at it next game. Get ready to work, skate.

"We know that one day we'll be in (the conference's top eight), one day we'll be out. We'd love to win them all, but we're going to keep pushing."

And to hear Tanguay talk, they're not about to sell themselves short.

"We're in a situation where we're going to be tied with a lot of people," said Tanguay. "With the amount of games we have against those teams that we're (fighting), if we just do our job, we're going to give ourselves a pretty good chance at being in the playoffs. And we're not only looking at being in the playoffs, with everything being so tight, we could be fourth and get home ice (for the post-season's first round). We know we're probably not going to catch Vancouver, but if we play like we're capable of playing, we might give ourselves a shot at home-ice advantage. So a big game Friday - we'll be ready for it."

Johan Franzen has a dangerous, heavy wrist shot, but Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told Michigan Live he wants the power forward to use his size and strength to drive to the net more and snap out of an unusually long scoring slump.

Franzen has gone 10 games without a goal since his five-goal game in a 7-5 victory at Ottawa on Feb. 2.

"The challenge for Mule is we want him on the inside, we want him to be big and physical and be at the net," Babcock said. "He can always be a shooter. He’ll be able to be a shooter at 40. He’ll be able to glide up and down the wing and get two kids to pass him the puck and he’ll score goals.

"But if you want to be a dominant power forward, you got to be involved, you got to be on the inside. And when you’re scoring, those things seem to happen naturally. When you’re not scoring, they tend to get away from you. So he’s just in a process of working his way back."

The article notes that this is Franzen’s longest goal-scoring drought since he went 11 games without a goal at the start of the 2007-08 season, when he still was a third-line grinder who didn’t log as much ice time.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Franzen said he’s not frustrated. He is confident he’ll break through soon, having scored 116 goals in his past 224 games, including the playoffs.

"I’m probably playing the same. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t," Franzen said. "Puck’s just not going in. It happens every year, couple, three, four times you go through a run where you don’t score and then all the sudden you start scoring again."

Franzen, who has been playing on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi, has four assists, a plus-3 rating and 32 shots on goal during this drought.

The Montreal Gazette writes that the Canadiens have struggled over the past eight games with a 2-4-2 record but, as they prepare to the meet the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, it might be a surprise to learn that the Canadiens are in a better position than they ere coming out of the All-Star break earlier this month.

When play resumed on Feb. 1, Montreal was in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a scant three-point edge over the ninth-place Carolina Hurricanes. Wednesday, the Canadiens are in sixth place and there are nine points separating them from ninth-place Buffalo Sabres.

One reason for the improved position is that most of the teams chasing the Canadiens have also had problems. That hasn’t been the case for the Maple Leafs, who are making a belated playoff run. The 11th-place Leafs were shut out 3-0 at the Bell Centre on Feb. 12, but are 7-2-2 in their last 11 games and are only three points out ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

Rookie goaltender James Reimer has been a key to the Leafs’ success. He was forced into a starting role because Jonas Gustavsson and Jean-Sébastien Giguère have health issues. The 22-year-old Reimer has seized the opportunity and has fashioned a 9-4-2 record. He has a 2.12 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage, and those numbers would be among the league leaders if he had played more games.

The Gazette reports that while the Canadiens spent Wednesday returning from Vancouver, the Leafs practiced in Toronto and they worked on crowding the goaltender.

“No goalie likes traffic,” Nikolai Kulemin told reporters after the workout. “That’s the key for us. We have to get in front of him and shoot more. We haven’t had our best games there.”

According to The Nashville Tennessean, the typical Predators buzzwords about player development surround Jonathon Blum.

"Guys are ready when they're ready," Coach Barry Trotz said in reference to the defenceman.

Said Blum: "I would rather develop and have a long career than play right away."

The reason for the patient rhetoric about Blum has to do with his age (22) and the amount of time it took for him to finally make his NHL debut Tuesday against Columbus. The Predators hope that their tolerance with the 2007 first-round pick pays off for both Blum and themselves.

"A first-round pick you want him ready the next day, but it's usually not the case," Trotz said. "He has gone through the regular process and has learned to work and get stronger and learned to play the game with a pro style."

When the Predators drafted Blum, they knew he would be a project. While he displayed an NHL-level mind, he weighed 155 pounds — not exactly the ideal size for an NHL defenceman. Every summer, Blum would look to add 10 pounds in hopes of eventually reaching his goal of playing in the league. But every year, he saw another player from the first-round of his draft class get the call while he continued to play in junior and the American Hockey League.

A lot of this had to do with Nashville's glut of elite blueliners. No matter how well Blum played he was constantly blocked. Overall, 20 players in the first round of the 2007 draft were called up before Blum.

"It was a little frustrating at times because you see other guys on other teams getting chances and call-ups and stuff like that, but really it's all mental," Blum said. "You have to stick with it. You can't pout, you want to work hard in the gym, work what you need to do on the ice and off the ice to get better and wait for this day to come."

The Tennessean writes that in Milwaukee over the last two seasons, Blum displayed his consistent puck-moving game. In 2009-10, his first year as a pro, he had 41 points in 80 games. This season he was described as Milwaukee's best defenceman. At the time of his call-up he had 34 points in 54 games. He was minus-1 in 16:02 of ice time in his NHL debut on Tuesday in a 4-0 loss to the Blue Jackets.

With Ryan Suter most likely returning for tonight's game against the Blackhawks, and Francis Bouillon ramping up his workouts to return from a concussion, the odds of Blum sticking around for the rest of the season are probably slim.

But for Blum, the end game is most important.

"You never know what management wants," he said. "There are 20 games left in the stretch drive, and I did get called up for an injury, so I think mentally you have to be ready to go back to Milwaukee if you have to. If not, then stay and help the team win. Either way you have to have a positive attitude and try to get better every day."

Philly.com believes that more than anything, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren's move yesterday to waive Nikolay Zherdev (he cleared today) was a way of saying the first-place Flyers won't be bogged down by one guy's wayward attitude - no matter his stats or his talent.

"He scored some big goals for us," Danny Briere said. "But at the same time, we have lots of firepower. We have lots of guys that can score. Guys have to do more than just scoring goals. You can't just go out there and score, you have to chip in with the rest of the team. I think it's a message to the rest of the team that we're not going to take any guys not working as hard."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that as the Blues try to shake off back-to-back losses tonight when they face the Vancouver Canucks, they'll remain without starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

Halak, who is on the injured-reserve list because a bruised right hand, will miss his fourth consecutive game and his sixth in the team's last 10. He traveled Wednesday with the Blues for the start of their three-game trip but won't play tonight, leading to speculation he could play in Edmonton on Friday or Calgary on Sunday. His stint on the seven-day IR is retroactive to Feb. 14, so he could come off any time.

"When Jaro is ready, so be it, but right now we're confident in our two goaltenders," Blues defenseman Barret Jackman said.

In the four games Halak has missed, Ty Conklin is 1-1 with a 2.61 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage. Ben Bishop, who made his first appearance of the season Saturday, is 1-1 with a 3.16 GAA and an .895 save percentage.

The Dispatch believes that looking past the goaltending, the Blues have other issues - namely old habits.

The team made two trades last week and the initial results were positive. After dealing Eric Brewer to Tampa Bay and then moving Erik Johnson and Jay McClement to Colorado, the Blues won 9-3 over Anaheim with one of the newcomers, ex-Av Chris Stewart, netting two goals.

But since then, the club has lost its last two games. The Blues were in both games, tied 2-2 in each, but had long lapses that led to a 5-3 loss to Chicago and a 4-3 defeat to Colorado, allowing the Avs to snap a 10-game losing streak.

"For about 12 minutes (Tuesday) and the whole second period Monday, we're just getting away from our game," Blues forward T.J. Oshie said. "I think when that happens, you can see that we break down. We get a little individualistic and we maybe gamble on some offensive plays that aren't there."

Although the Blues put up nine goals in the debut of Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk on Saturday, and Stewart has scored four goals in three games, the players say it will take time to familiarize themselves with one another.

"There's a lot going on system-wise, and that's going to take a lot to adjust to - playing with new linemates, too," Stewart said. "The system is quite different (than in Colorado). But the way they play here, I think, is going to benefit a guy like me. They want their guys working and moving their feet, and that's my style of game."

The article points out that there may be even more adjustments on defence.

Brewer and Johnson were among the ice-time leaders on the team and now they're gone. That puts the onus on Jackman, Roman Polak, Alex Pietrangelo and Carlo Colaiacovo and dramatically increases the ice time for Nikita Nikitin. He's played more than 20 minutes two of the last three games.

"It's a little different," Jackman said. "There's some switching of pairings and (Shattenkirk) gets in there, and there's a little feeling-out process. The quicker we can adjust and move on, the better we are."

Coach Bruce Boudreau told The Washington Post today he expects Nicklas Backstrom to play against the New York Rangers on Friday and that the Capitals' top-line centre is "gonna be fine."

Backstrom suffered a minor fracture to his left thumb in Pittsburgh on Monday, when he was slashed by Penguins defenceman Kris Letang in the third period. Backstrom said the injury did not have a negative affect on his ability to handle the puck after practicing at KCI on Thursday morning.

"It feels pretty good," said Backstrom, who was not wearing a splint or anything on his hand by the time media members entered the dressing room. "I can't feel a difference today [in stick handling] so we'll see. If I can play I'm going to play."

Backstrom has never missed a game in his NHL career.

The Post also indicates that Mike Green missed practice because of the flu, which Matt Hendricks had earlier in the week. Boudreau said he expects the defenceman, who has missed six of the past seven games since he was struck in the head with a puck on Feb. 6, to return to the lineup against New York.

"I expect him to play unless he gets worse," Boudreau said.

Michal Neuvirth will get the nod in net for the Capitals against the Rangers tomorrow at Verizon Center.