McKenzie is enjoying his first full season with Stars since being drafted in the sixth round in 2009. In 43 games, the 26-year-old has chipped in with four goals and 11 points.
The team also announced the signing of goaltender Landon Bow to a two-year entry-level contract.
Bow has split the season between the AHL's Texas Stars and the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads. His numbers with the Stars have been forgettable, but he's fared better with the Steelheads to the tune of a 15-4-0 record, 2.15 goals-against average, and .933 save percentage.
The Calgary Flames fashioned a win streak of eight games or more for the first time in more than a decade Thursday night, thrashing the Montreal Canadiens 5-0 on home ice.
This latest triumph, which pulls Calgary back to within two points of the second seed in the Pacific Division race, and also further away from the other wild-card contenders, is part of an NHL-best 12-2-1 record since the beginning of February.
Here is what's behind the success of Glen Gulutzan's club:
Taking their chances
The scoring wave Calgary is riding hasn't been incredibly exaggerated.
The Flames have netted 49 goals in 15 games over the last five weeks and change. That works out to 3.27 goals per outing, which is a sizable increase from their average, but certainly isn't outrageous, landing outside the top-five scoring outfits over the same time period.
They've also done it with a power play that has hardly sizzled.
What is, to use a buzzword, potentially unsustainable, is the rate at which they're converting chances.
Over the same time period, the Flames are 19th in shots taken and third from the bottom in scoring chances. And yet, they're one of three teams averaging more than three goals per 60 minutes with a second-ranked 9.95 percent shooting clip at even strength.
Micheal Ferland has helped drive that number since being upgraded to the top line, scoring with almost 18 percent of his shots.
Seeing the puck
Of course, there's a second, and in many ways more important, component to prolonged winning streaks: Hot goaltending.
What limited the Flames for the first few months of the season is now propelling them forward. Calgary's netminders have combined to block pucks at a .928 rate overall, and a .941 clip at 5-on-5.
Brian Elliott has been particularly impressive in handling the bulk of the work since Feb. 1, steering away rubber at over 95 percent at even strength.
He sported a dismal .890 save percentage at Christmas.
Comebacks on the comeback
Remember the 2014-15 season, when the Flames led the league in third- period scoring and won 13 times when trailing after two? Bob Hartley has some hardware as affirmation.
They might still have a little of that comeback magic in them.
The Flames trailed at one point in each of the first six games during their current eight-game ride, and overcame deficits in two of the four wins they racked up before their last loss.
Altogether, they trailed in 11 of their first 13 games played since Feb. 1 (and before their last two dominant wins over the Islanders and Canadiens), and won 10 times.
Follow theScore's fantasy feed on Twitter (@theScoreFantasy) for the latest news, features and more. And download Squad Up, theScore's free-to-win-money sports game.
Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Friday, Mar. 10:
Dynamic Duos
C Aleksander Barkov (58K) & LW Jonathan Huberdeau (47K), Panthers (vs. Wild): The Wild will be playing their second game in as many nights and will likely start Darcy Kuemper (3.22 GAA) between the pipes. Since Huberdeau returned from injury on Feb. 3, this duo has combined for 24 points in 14 games.
LW Jaden Schwartz (62K) & RW Vladimir Tarasenko (84K), Blues (vs. Ducks): Anaheim will also be playing on back-to-back nights. Jonathan Bernier picked up a shutout on Thursday, but if he starts again Friday it will be his first time starting on consecutive days since October of 2015. Tarasenko and Schwartz should take full advantage.
C Evgeni Malkin (66K) & RW Phil Kessel (53K), Penguins (at Oilers): Everyone will be salivating over Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby in this matchup, but Malkin has been hotter than both of them lately. He has five goals and three assists in his last three games and comes cheaper than both. Kessel has picked up four helpers in that span.
Bargain Plays
G Robin Lehner (75K), Sabres (at Blue Jackets): The Blue Jackets have only scored eight goals in their last five games. Lehner is enjoying a stellar season, yet is priced at the minimum. His affordability allows you to stack your lineup with stars.
RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (35K), Blue Jackets (vs. Sabres): Columbus' offense has been cold lately, but Bjorkstrand has three points in his last two games. He is apart of Columbus' lethal power-play unit which will face Buffalo's 29th-ranked penalty kill.
C Rickard Rakell (33K), Ducks (at Blues): Rakell has an astounding 27 goals on the year with no signs of slowing down. Despite this, he remains a bargain on Squad Up.
Top Fades
C Dylan Larkin (48K), Red Wings (vs. Blackhawks): Don't be fooled by Larkin's recent offensive output. He has three points in his last three games but has only taken four shots. He has been a major disappointment this season but isn't priced like it.
RW Corey Perry (54K), Ducks (at Blues): Speaking of disappointment, Perry is having one of his worst offensive seasons ever. He is stranded on the third line with two nobodies and he isn't even on PP1 anymore. Yikes.
RW Jordan Eberle (53K), Oilers (vs. Penguins): To make it three in a row, Eberle has also failed to meet expectations this season. He does have three points in his last four games, but there are much better options available at 53K.
Contrarian Options
C Evgeni Malkin (66K), Penguins (at Oilers): Malkin will likely be overlooked with Crosby and McDavid going head-to-head, but the Russian has been the most productive of the three lately and comes with the lower salary. He should continue his torrid ways against Cam Talbot, who is showing signs of fatigue. He has started a league-high 59 games this year and has struggled over his last four outings.
G James Reimer (102K), Panthers (vs. Wild): Reimer has been spectacular in three of his last four starts, but he got lit up in the other one. Against a presumably tired Wild team, he is worth spending up for when not many others will.
LW Alex Steen (53K), Blues (vs. Ducks): Steen will be overlooked since he is having a down year and doesn't line up with Tarasenko at 5v5. He does spend time with him on the power play, though, and Anaheim has been shorthanded 232 times this season -- the third-most in the league.
Add Jakub Voracek to the list of those in favor of the NHL's participation in the Olympics.
At this week's general managers meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., Gary Bettman remained coy on the subject, hinting at the likelihood that NHLers won't participate at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. That isn't sitting well with the Philadelphia Flyers star.
Voracek also referenced comments made by deputy commissioner Bill Daly about the league likely not participating, suggesting he forgot who would actually be playing.
"Absolutely ridiculous. We have it once every four years," said Voracek. "I read something that Bill Daly said we're not going. Nobody wants you to go.
"The players want to go. Why you're saying you're not going? You're not part of the players association. ... Nobody wants you there. They want the players."
Voracek represented his native Czech Republic at the 2014 games in Sochi, and while he's adamant about his participation, he feels the league might have an even more difficult time convincing patriotic Russians such as Alex Ovechkin to stay home.
"It's the Olympics," Voracek said. "It's not just about business. You want to be part of the Olympics. And trust me, players want to go. And the players who don't go get a week off to recharge their batteries. If you have bumps and bruises, you can heal and recover.
"The players want to go, I guarantee you that. I want to see how you are going to hold Ovechkin back. The Russian players. Tell them they can't go."
With the GM meetings having wrapped up, this week's NHL roundtable focuses on four changes we'd make to improve the NHL's on-ice product. Check 'em out below and vote in the poll at the bottom of the post.
Clean hits are allowed, you know
Justin Cuthbert: If I could tinker with the nervous systems of the several hundred players signed to NHL contracts right now, I'd cut the internal circuit that causes gloves to be flung off immediately in response to bone-rattling - but clean - hits.
Nothing raises the temperature between two opponents like whopping body-on-body contact, much in the same way nothing sucks the life out of a game like a sloppy, short-lived wrestling match between two, or often a group of skaters, who belong to different weight classes.
Hits lead to emotion. Emotion leads to mistakes. Mistakes lead to goals. Goals allow for exciting games.
Let's allow the momentum to build, not shut off the valve.
Speed up the challenge process, already
Craig Hagerman: Enough stalling.
This week, 31 NHL general managers failed to make any changes to the current review and challenge processes.
Offside reviews are excruciating to watch, with calls coming down to the slimmest of margins in a game played at incredibly high speeds. What makes these so painful is the fact coaches have found ways to stall the game between whistles, taking time to review plays on tablets behind the bench to determine whether a challenge is in order - for offside and goalie interference decisions.
The point of the review process was to crack down on the few instances in which it was clear that officials missed something. Now it's become little more than a nuisance to a league already starved for offense.
One solution to limit the amount of stoppages, especially those that appear too close to call, is to give coaches a strict window - let's say five seconds - to issue a challenge after play is blown dead. (Think of it similarly to a line change after a whistle when the home coach has a few seconds to decide what line he wants to send onto the ice after he sees who's out there for the opposition.)
A five-second window would hopefully force coaches to only challenge plays they are certain were missed, and cut down on the time spent reviewing calls frame by frame.
Ban goalies from playing puck behind goal line
Navin Vaswani: More pain for goaltenders, who have taken most of the blame for the drop in scoring over the years. But, really, goalies have only themselves to blame. They're too damn good.
While the trapezoid behind the net currently keeps goalies from playing the puck in the corners, it's time to take it a step further and outlaw puck-stoppers from playing the puck anywhere behind the goal line - period. Sorry, 'tenders, but this must be done.
As players only get bigger and faster, and NHL ice as a result only smaller, it's time to stop goalies from becoming a third defenseman on the ice. Right now, they're stopping dump-ins, serving as puck-movers, and starting breakouts.
I mean, have you seen Carey Price play the puck? He can make better breakout passes than most bottom-pairing defensemen.
While it's certainly unfair to penalize those goalies who are adept at playing the puck, dump-ins aren't going anywhere, obviously, so let's keep the players in charge of retrieving the puck and clearing the zone.
And, yes, I've thought of everything: Goalies would be allowed to cover a loose puck at the side of the net that happens to be behind the goal line, in order to stop play. They simply wouldn't be allowed to use their goal sticks to play the puck behind the line.
Fix the bloody standings
Sean O'Leary: Each and every season, the race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs turns innocent hockey fans into hardcore schedule-lurkers and incessant standings page-refreshers. It's an exhilarating time of year, watching postseason hopefuls jockey for position all the way down to the wire, but in the end, it's a heavily flawed system.
The NHL needs to scrap its current playoff format and revert back to having the top eight seeds in each conference qualify for the postseason. Keep divisions for scheduling purposes, but let the best teams get in - simple as that.
Look no further than the current Eastern Conference standings to pinpoint the problem. The Rangers have the fourth-highest point total, yet technically are the seventh seed, due for a first-round series on the road if the playoffs started tomorrow.
This isn't new, either. Last season, Philadelphia had 96 points, Detroit had 93, yet the Flyers were the wild-card team. That qualifies as backwards, right?
Since the NHL re-aligned after the 2013 season, the same problem has resurfaced every year, and will continue to until the NHL finally gets it right.
A Pittsburgh Penguins fan gave a homeless man an experience he won't soon forget last week.
Jimmy Mains was prepared to watch Friday's game between the Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning alone after being left with an extra ticket, but that changed after he encountered a homeless man asking for money.
As Mains explained in a Facebook post, he told the man - named Rob - he didn't have any money and asked if he'd like to come to the game with him.
"Rob was ecstatic and thought I was kidding," Mains wrote. "We went in and the whole time he couldn't stop smiling. Once we got to our seats it was time for the National Anthem. Rob took off his hat and sang the whole time.
"Once the puck dropped he cheered the whole game. During intermission we got chicken tenders. At the end of the game he told me that I made his life. He asked me how he could repay me and I told him just to pay it forward."
Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how each night's action impacts the playoff race, identifying which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.
Thursday night was more about keeping pace than cementing playoff berths.
Meanwhile, in the West, the Los Angeles Kings kept themselves in the hunt with a win over the Nashville Predators, and the Calgary Flames' eighth straight win gave them a nice cushion in the first wild-card spot.
The veteran forward almost single-handedly willed the Los Angeles Kings to a crucial victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night, burying the overtime winner on the power play for his second goal of the game.
