Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Scott Darling is taking a personal leave of absence, general manager Don Wadell announced Sunday.

"He's obviously had a tough year on the ice and he needs, from a mental standpoint, needs to regroup basically," Wadell told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.

After struggling throughout the 2017-18 campaign, Darling has played just eight games for the Hurricanes this season, posting a 3.34 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage. He was placed on waivers Nov. 29 and has spent the majority of the campaign with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers.

"He had a tough game the other night and his agent called me and said he would like to take a personal leave of absence and would we allow that to get his mind back together," Waddell said. "That night he got rocked for about five (goals) and before he had a shutout (in regulation) before we lost in overtime 1-0. So we gave him the leave of absence."

Waddell added there is no set timetable for the 30-year-old's return.

"I'll touch base with him," he said. "I told him to take a week and touch base with me in a week or so and we'll go from there."

Carolina acquired the rights to the 6-foot-5 netminder in 2017 after his impressive three-year run as the Chicago Blackhawks' backup goaltender. Darling signed a four-year, $16.6-million deal to be the Hurricanes' starting goalie a week later.

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The Montreal Canadiens have traded defenseman David Schlemko and forward Byron Froese to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Dale Weise and defenseman Christian Folin.

The Canadiens welcome back a friendly face in Weise, as the 6-foot-2 power forward played 152 games from 2013-16 for Montreal. Weise enjoyed his best hockey with the Habs, registering a career-high 29 points during the 2014-15 campaign.

Folin has played in just 26 games this season, recording two assists for the Flyers. The Swedish blue-liner signed a 1-year, $800,000 deal with Philadelphia at the beginning of the season and will become a UFA on July 1.

A knee injury at the start of the campaign kept Schlemko sidelined until Nov. 10. He's appeared in 18 games for Montreal this season, splitting time with the Laval Rockets of the AHL. When healthy, Schlemko can provide some depth on defense for a Flyers team looking to make a late playoff push.

After a 48-game slate with the Canadiens last season, Froese spent all of 2018-19 with Laval. With 110 games of NHL experience under his belt, the 27-year-old could be an option should the Flyers run into injury trouble down the stretch.

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Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Reinhart is clearing the air after seemingly criticizing his team's goaltenders after Thursday night's 6-5 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes.

"That's not what I meant at all. ... I'm saying we all need to come back and defend more," Reinhart said according to The Athletic's John Vogl. "I was trying to say we need more for our goalies. It doesn't take a hockey genius to know those have been our two best guys all year."

Following the loss, a frustrated Reinhart appeared to blame the Sabres' goalies as the reason for them falling behind early in games and ultimately struggling to win the subsequent high-scoring affairs. However, the 23-year-old insists he was directing his frustration at the team's defense, not the goaltenders.

"I was lost in translation, I wasn't trying to be hard on them at all," Reinhart said. "I was trying to be harder on the guys skating around the ice to come back and defend more."

The Sabres have allowed four or more goals in four of their last five contests, and have won only five games since Christmas. Despite his comments, Reinhart claims the team is in good spirits.

"We're already joking around today, so we're all good," he said.

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Los Angeles Kings forward Ilya Kovalchuk is "definitely available" ahead of the Feb. 25 trade deadline, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

The 35-year-old Kovalchuk's in the first season of a three-year deal that carries a $6.25-million annual cap hit. However, he would need to waive his no-movement clause in any trade - something LeBrun reports he'd be willing to do for the right situation.

The veteran winger has produced just 26 points in 44 games during his first season back in the NHL, although a recent 11-game stretch has seen the former Rocket Richard Trophy winner heat up with four goals and nine points.

The last time Kovalchuk played in the NHL postseason, he led the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 with a team-high eight goals and 19 points in 23 contests.

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Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic is not going to compromise his team's future, but that doesn't mean he won't try to make the Avs better in the short term.

"We're looking at the big picture here. We love what's coming," Sakic said, according to Mike Chambers of The Denver Post. "It's a process, and we're not going to deviate from that plan. If there's a player that can help us that isn't going to include one of those (first-round) picks and top prospects, then we'll look at that."

Colorado currently holds its own 2019 first-round selection, as well as the Ottawa Senators' first-rounder, courtesy of the Matt Duchene trade. The Senators sit near the bottom of the standings, which means that pick will likely become one of the top selections at the draft this June.

"We've been talking with teams the better part of three, four weeks now. But what we're not doing is moving our high picks and prospects," Sakic said. "There are things we'll continue to look at - hockey trades - and see how we can get better."

The Avalanche got off to a red-hot start this season, boasting a conference-best record of 15-6-5 on Dec. 1. But they've won just seven games since and sit two points outside of a wild-card spot heading into Thursday's action.

With 74 points in 52 games, Mikko Rantanen has established himself as a premier player, and linemates Nathan MacKinnon - a nominee for last season's Hart Trophy - and Gabriel Landeskog help round out one of the NHL's most productive lines. The team's offense falls off after the top line, however, as the trio is currently responsible for 45 percent of Colorado's point production this season.

"We like our back end. We like our goaltending - we just got to get them playing with more confidence," Sakic said. "If we can add some scoring, some depth scoring, that would be our priority."

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Jake Muzzin has come as advertised for the Toronto Maple Leafs so far, but the 6-foot-3 defenseman made his mark Monday night.

First, Muzzin caught Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry with a punishing hit, putting the 33-year-old into the boards as he tried to make a play at the blue line.

The hit did not sit well with the Ducks, as captain Ryan Getzlaf tried roping the Toronto blue-liner into a fight and Nick Ritchie took an ill-advised cross-checking penalty, whacking Muzzin after the whistle.

It didn't take long for the Ontario native to get his revenge. Muzzin immediately hammered home his first goal as a Maple Leaf off the ensuing faceoff, sending the crowd at Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy just before the second intermission.

The goal was Muzzin's second point with his new team after he registered an assist on Andreas Johnsson's goal a few minutes earlier. Toronto acquired the defenseman from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 28 in exchange for its 2019 first-round pick and two prospects.

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The Winnipeg Jets are looking to bolster their roster before the Feb. 25 trade deadline and have placed their first-round pick on the market, TSN's Frank Seravalli reports.

Sitting near the top of the standings with about one-third of the season remaining, the Jets' No. 1 priority is to acquire a second-line center who can prove useful in a Stanley Cup run, Seravalli adds.

The Jets have shown recent interest in Kevin Hayes of the New York Rangers, reports Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos. The 6-foot-5 center has recorded 36 points in 42 games this season and carries a $5.175-million cap hit. He's scheduled to become a UFA at the end of the campaign.

Winnipeg needed help at the position one year ago and acquired center Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues for a package that centered around its 2018 first-round pick. The deal paid off, as Stastny was instrumental in helping the Jets reach the Western Conference Final, tallying six goals and 15 points in 17 playoff games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were the first team to move their first-round pick this season, shipping it along with two prospects to the Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Jake Muzzin on Jan. 28.

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Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin is listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will not play this weekend, head coach Mike Sullivan announced Friday.

"We are hopeful that this is a short-term thing and he’ll be back in our lineup soon," Sullivan added.

Pittsburgh is scheduled to take on the Ottawa Senators at home on Friday night before traveling to Toronto to clash with the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The 2012 Hart Trophy winner is currently tied for second in team scoring with 14 goals and 55 points in 50 games this season.

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The Montreal Canadiens have ruled defenseman Noah Juulsen out indefinitely with a "vision-related issue", the team announced Friday.

Montreal said Juulsen is expected to make a full recovery.

The Habs' 2015 first-round pick has played 21 games this season, recording five points and a plus-5 rating.

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Teams are licking their chops at the opportunity to try and steal one of the Toronto Maple Leafs' young star players this summer.

"I can tell you, with certainty, that teams are 100 percent preparing an offer sheet for Mitch Marner," TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading."

Despite the rumblings, general manager Kyle Dubas has vehemently denied any concern of losing any of his core players to an offer sheet.

Marner's agent, Darren Ferris, has made it clear their intention is to wait until after the season to begin contract negotiations with the Maple Leafs. Should talks bleed into July 1, the 21-year-old would become a RFA, making him eligible to receive an offer sheet from other teams.

Marner is in the midst of a breakout season in his third NHL campaign, leading the Maple Leafs with 62 points in 49 games - just eight short of setting a career high with 33 games left on the schedule.

Since the 2004-05 NHL lockout, only eight players have signed an offer sheet. The last time it happened was in 2013 when the Calgary Flames signed Ryan O’Reilly to a two-year, $10-million deal, only to have it matched by O'Reilly's team at the time, the Colorado Avalanche.

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