Hockey Hearsay

Hockey Hearsay runs weekdays, 12 months a year; mixing NHL stories, quotes and fantasy takes.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review describes how Jordan Staal, long considered one of the game's elite defensive forwards, has become an offensive force. His vision and creativity — never strengths in his first five seasons — have seemingly caught up with Staal's immense size and defensive gifts.

His teammates aren't surprised by his overall dominance.

"I've always seen it, ever since I've been here," right wing James Neal said. "I saw it in juniors, too. That talent has always been there. It just gets overshadowed because of how great defensively he is."

The glimpse of supreme goal-scoring ability Staal displayed during a rookie season in which he scored 29 goals is back, five years later, in a more refined, mature manner. Left wing Matt Cooke, a longtime Staal linemate, said the center only needed time.

"I don't think that he's playing in a way that he's never played before," Cooke said. "He's been given a big opportunity to succeed with Sid (center Sidney Crosby) out. He's been put in a position to succeed, and he's been nothing but solid."

Staal will never match the skill of fellow centers Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — few in NHL history can make such a claim — but his performance offensively has reached a different dimension. Clearly more patient with the puck, Staal is executing passes that he wouldn't have attempted a couple of years ago.

The Tribune-Review says Bylsma theorizes that Staal's understanding of his own ability is leading to the maturation of his offensive game.

"Trying to toe-drag is not where he's strong," Bylsma said. "But when he skates and uses his size, it gives him a chance to make plays and go to the net. When he stays in that box, he can show a lot of offensive prowess."

Teams wishing to focus on Crosby and Malkin likely will be burned if they pay Staal no attention.

"Nobody focuses on him scoring goals," defenseman Kris Letang said. "He was a guy who could play 22 minutes a night in all situations. But now when you see his shot, his size, and how he's going to the net, you understand why he's been so good offensively."

Staal is starting to produce like a star, and his intangibles have never been questioned.

"Right now, he is unbelievable," Neal said. "The way he skates, everything. He's at the top of the league in terms of being a shutdown defender. But now, he is offensively as well. He can do it all."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been ruled out of the game tonight at Tampa Bay. Beyond that?

"Any speculation further away is not going to happen at this time," coach Dan Bylsma said Wednesday. "He will be with us on the trip."

The Penguins also will play Saturday at Florida before they have a three-game homestand next week.

Crosby has been out since Jan. 5 because of a concussion. He has been cleared for full contact for more than a month and continues to look strong and at ease in practice while he waits for clearance to play.

Nikita Filatov's tenure with the Ottawa Senators could be over by the end of November, according to The Ottawa Citizen.

Unhappy about being in the minors, and being pursued by Central Red Army of the Kontinental Hockey League (where he could earn 10 times the $65,000 he is making in the AHL), Filatov met with Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray on Sunday. Murray promised the 21-year-old Russian he would make a decision by the end of the month.

If the decision is that Filatov can't play on the NHL team, Murray said he would try to make an arrangement that would see Filatov return to Russia. Central Red Army's general manager, former NHL player Sergei Nemchinov, has called Murray about Filatov. But because the KHL and the NHL have a reciprocal agreement to honour each other's contracts, Filatov can't return to Russia unless the Senators agree to release him from his contract. And Murray is not close to doing that.

Murray offered this: "Basically, what I told him, 'We're going on a road trip for two weeks.

"'Go down and play in Binghamton, and play hard. If we feel, at the end of our trip, that we'd like to give an opportunity to you again - (coach) Paul (MacLean) has said we'd be moving you up and down a few times - if you're playing well, we will give you an opportunity to again show your wares here. And then, by the end of November, if you're not in the NHL, I will sit down and talk with you again.'

Sens coach Paul MacLean, who will get a big voice in the final decision, told The Citizen he'd like nothing better than to have Filatov on his team. But he's not going to be given it as a gift.

"When I talked to Nikita last week when we sent him (down), (I told him) we want him to be an NHL player," said MacLean. "We want his skill, his abilities here in Ottawa to help our team. The problem is, when he comes up here to play, he doesn't do the things he does when he's down there.

"When he's there, he's a star and he has the puck all the time, and he makes other people better and he attacks the net and he's a dangerous player.

"When he comes here, he doesn't do that. Yes, he's only played maybe on the fourth line and played seven minutes or whatnot.

"But if you go on the ice and you actually do something and play, the coach is probably going to give you an opportunity to play again, because the coach wants to put you on the ice.

"I told him that, as well: 'I want to put you on the ice, but I can't put you on the ice just because you think you should play 17 minutes.

"If you come here and are prepared to work, you're going to get those minutes, but you have to play (well) in order to get them.'"

The Washington Post notes the Capitals left Nashville Wednesday afternoon bound for a destination they haven’t visited since December of 1995, a city in which only one of their players has ever skated in an NHL game.

Fifteen years after the NHL pulled its franchise out of Winnipeg, though, the highest level of professional hockey is back with the reincarnated Jets, and for at least one season the Capitals will get a front-row seat to the league’s return to Manitoba.

With Winnipeg’s inclusion in the Southeast Division for the 2011-12 campaign, the Capitals will face the Jets six times, including three trips to western Canada.

“It’s a nice city, it will be fun,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “It’s smaller than [Calgary and Edmonton], it’s colder than them. I think the thing that we’re all excited about is we haven’t had a chance to play there yet, the fans haven’t really had a chance to see guys like Ovi and Nicky really, and in turn I think it’s going to spill on to the ice.”

When it became clear that the ownership group in Atlanta was seeking to sell the fledgling Thrashers, whose attendance was consistently among the bottom three in the league since it was created as an expansion franchise in 1999, Winnipeg had its opportunity. Once news of the franchise’s relocation broke, the city began its celebration and the franchise quickly sold its goal of 13,000 season tickets.

“It’s crazy,” said rookie Cody Eakin, the lone Winnipeg native on Washington’s roster. “When it was announced, they shut down the downtown and had parades, had street hockey games going on Main Street there, festivals and concerts and all that.”

The Post points out one of the new faces added to the dressing room once the team moved to Winnipeg was former Capitals winger Eric Fehr. The Winkler, Manitoba, native was traded from Washington in July in an effort to clear space under the salary cap. Fehr has yet to play a game this season because he is recovering from offseason surgery on his right shoulder and won’t be ready to face his former teammates, but he’s seen how Winnipeg’s infatuation with the NHL doesn’t come without expectations.

“The first couple weeks it was just pure excitement. Everyone was just happy to have the NHL back,” Fehr said in a phone interview. “The pressure has slowly started to build from there, though. I think we all want to live up to that and give this city something it can get behind. The support from the city has been great now that they got the team back; they want to make sure it stays here.”

While only Roman Hamrlik has played an NHL game in the city, a handful of Capitals have positive memories of Winnipeg.

Goaltender Michal Neuvirth, defensemen Alzner and John Carlson, center Mathieu Perreault and assistant coach Bob Woods won the Calder Cup as members of the 2009 Hershey Bears the last time they visited MTS Centre.

“It’s probably the most beautiful hockey memory I have so far. I’m never going to forget,” said Neuvirth, who will likely get the start in goal against the Jets. “They got pretty nice rink and I’m pretty excited to see it [Thursday].”

The Winnipeg Free Press notes that when they declared Eric Fehr close -- finally -- to NHL action this season, the Jets brought out the yellow flags of caution for reporters and fans on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Winkler product, acquired from the Washington Capitals over the summer, has been sidelined since off-season shoulder surgery.

"He's close," coach Claude Noel said Wednesday. "I'd like to get him another practice or two."

Noel, who said Fehr's ice time will be limited in his first two or three appearances, didn't rule the right-winger over for Saturday's home game versus Philadelphia, though it's more likely his return comes next week.

But GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said that whenever Fehr returns, it's still a process of baby steps.

"Once we get Eric Fehr into the lineup, we'll begin to truly understand where we're at with the players within our organization," Cheveldayoff said. "You don't know what he's going to bring to the table yet.

"Also I should caution everybody here now that this is a player that has not had training camp. This is a player that has started to skate, is cleared for contact and is ready to ramp it up.

"It's still going to take time for him to get acclimated to the rigours and speed of where we're at, almost a quarter of the season in."

Phillynews.com reports that forward Brayden Schenn skated with the Flyers yesterday for the first time since fracturing his left foot on Oct. 26 when he blocked a shot against Montreal.

Schenn probably has about another week of skating - and a week to complete his original, 4-week timeline as set by doctors - before he could return to the lineup. He is also on the long-term injured reserve and the Flyers would need to clear roster and cap space for him to return.

Schenn has skated alone for 3 days, wearing a protective boot on his skates to prevent further injury.

"[I feel] pretty good," Schenn said. "The main goal is to get better day by day. Hopefully, tomorrow it feels better."

Schenn, 20, has appeared in just four games. He has no points and a minus-5 rating after starting the season in AHL Adirondack.

"It's not the start I was looking for," Schenn said. "I know there is a lot of hockey to be played, a lot of games. I obviously hit some rough patches off the start, but I think I can contribute to this team."

Marc Staal has been given approval to begin light physical activity following his examination by concussion specialist Dr. Robert Cantu in Boston on Tuesday, an individual familiar with the case told The New York Post.

It remains unclear whether the Rangers’ alternate captain, who had been shut down completely for a month following a previous visit to Dr. Cantu during the week of Oct. 16, will be able to play this season.

The Rangers refused to confirm or deny the report. Moreover, The Post was told that the club will not be issuing updates on the status of Staal’s health during the recovery process from the concussion he initially sustained on a check delivered by his brother, Eric, in Carolina on Feb. 22 of last season.

The 24-year-old defenseman missed five matches over the next month with what much later were acknowledged to be post-concussion symptoms, though he did return for the final eight games of the regular season and the five-game, first-round playoff defeat to the Caps. The Rangers did not reveal that Staal had suffered a concussion until training camp.

Staal, it was then learned, had also experienced headaches following workouts at different junctures of the summer, but the Rangers and their medical staff were caught by surprise when the headaches returned after he had participated in the on-ice testing the first two days of camp.

The Post continues that after expressing optimism through camp that Staal would possibly be able to join the team for the opening two games of the season in Stockholm on Oct. 7 and 8, the Rangers have been silent on the matter for weeks.

Before visiting Dr. Cantu last month, Staal had undergone repeated acupuncture treatments and had taken a cortisone injection in the neck in attempts to accelerate his recovery.

While the approval to begin light activity implies that Staal was symptom-free while sedentary, there is obviously no guarantee he will remain so as he exercises.

There is no timetable whatsoever attached to this recovery period.

ESPN Dallas indicates the injuries are starting to pile up for the Dallas Stars. The latest big blow on the injury front is forward Adam Burish, who is expected to be out four to six weeks with a broken hand.

“Bur was playing really well for us,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “It’s unfortunate.”

Burish was injured in Tuesday night’s 6-0 loss to Florida when he was hit in the left hand by a puck off the stick of teammate Brenden Morrow.

Burish was the second Dallas player to get knocked out of action by a puck in the last three games. Defenseman Alex Goligoski is expected to be out at least four weeks after suffering a broken thumb in last Friday’s 3-1 loss at Pittsburgh.

The status of forward Krys Barch is up in the air as well. He twisted an ankle in the Florida game and he is listed as day-to-day.

“You’d rather have them now. You’d rather not have them at all, but if you are going to have them, have them now,” said Gulutzan. “We’ve got the guys that can up their levels with Goose and Bur and Barchy out. The depth will have to fill in for the guys that are out.”

With Goligoski out the Stars still have six healthy regular NHL defensemen and over the weekend they called up Philip Larsen, who Gulutzan said is ready to be an NHL player.

The Stars will get some relief at forward with the expected return of Steve Ott, who has missed the last six games with a hip pointer. Ott should be ready to return for Friday's game at Colorado.

“Today was the best day I had in a couple weeks now. I am actually energetic about it,” Ott said following Wednesday’s practice. “I’ve come off the ice the last couple times maybe a little hesitant or not so excited because I knew I needed more days. Now I am at a point where today was a real good day. I am a lot closer to that 100 percent mark now than I was even yesterday.”

Gulutzan said Ott will take Burish’s spot at right wing on a line with Morrow and Mike Ribeiro. The rest of the lines will remain the same.

Michigan Live details how Pavel Datsyuk was quite blunt in assessing his performance this season, calling it “awful.”

“I need to be more productive,” Datsyuk said after practice Wednesday. “I need to shoot more, need to be more dangerous.”

Datsyuk has gone 11 games without a goal, picking up only five assists during the stretch. He has only two goals and eight assists in 16 games. At that pace, he would finish with 10 goals and 51 points.

He has a minus-3 rating. Datsyuk has posted a minus rating only once in his first nine seasons (minus-2 in 2003-04). He does, however, lead the league with 27 takeaways.

Fellow star forward Henrik Zetterberg hasn’t been any better, with three goals and three assists.

The Red Wings,because of strong defensive play and outstanding goaltending from Jimmy Howard, have stayed above water at 9-6-1. But they are not going far unless their stars get their groove back.

“They’re really good people, they’re really good players and have been good players for us for a long time,” coach Mike Babcock said. “They have a lot of pride. We have a lot of pride. They want to be better. They want to score.

“But this is what I know, whether you’re 16, 18, 25, 30 or 40, if you think about scoring, you don’t score. If you do things good, good things happen. So work hard, be good defensively, go to the net, it’ll go your way.”

Datsyuk missed 26 games with a broken wrist last season but still averaged more than a point a game (59 points in 56 games).

The article notes Babcock has juggled his lines frequently, searching for the right combinations. Datsyuk and Zetterberg usually are dominant together, but their line, with Danny Cleary, had no impact for nine games in October before being broken up.

Zetterberg is just as puzzled by his own scoring issues.

“Absolutely. I’m the same as Pav,” Zetterberg said. “You’re trying to do everything right, working hard in practice, working hard in games. Hopefully it will turn around.”

Jeff from Victoria: "Hi Chris. Would really appreciate your advice on a couple players who could be dropped from my team now that I've got Steve Ott coming off the IR. Standard yahoo default scoring. 12 team league. 2 centres, 2 left wings, 2 right wings, two forward, 4 defence, 4 bench , 2 goalies. Here's my team:

(C) Stamkos, M. Koivu, C. Smith, E. Stall ! Ott (LW) Versteeg, Pacioretty, Camellerri, S. Gagne (RW) P. Kane, Hornqvist , Selanne , Versteeg (D) Lidstrom, Weber, Subban, Kulikov , Markov (G) Vokoun, Hiller!! , Enroth

Thanks Chris. And read your Hockey Hearsay, and Live Recap every morning. Great work."

Chris: Thanks Jeff, I appreciate it. Ott has a good top six wing spot and he's been doing really well this season with that point/PIM blend. I could see dropping Hornqvist, who is notoriously streak, despite how well he's produced lately.

I'm sure at some point you'll end up swapping out several of those guys in the line-up, but while they're producing they're serving their purpose. Not too likely Versteeg keeps this pace up, as an example, but he and that line have been excellent for the Panthers. Nice work grabbing Enroth too. Never know how these concussions can go and Ryan Miller's timeline could be a short one or something worse could happen. Hard to say.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

Submit your brief fantasy hockey question for a Hockey Hearsay blog via email. One per person, please and include your first name and hometown to represent!

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