The Philadelphia Flyers are fielding calls from teams about the availability of defenseman Ivan Provorov, multiple sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

Provorov, 25, has two goals and 12 assists in 41 games this season while ranking second on the Flyers in average ice time (23:12) behind only Tony DeAngelo.

The 2015 seventh overall pick wouldn't be a rental for any interested parties: Provorov has two years remaining on his current pact after this season at a cap hit of $6.75 million.

He posted a career-high 41 points during the 2017-18 season - his second in the league - but endured a frustrating stretch as of late. Provorov put up nine goals and 22 assists in 2021-22 but was a minus-20 on the campaign, the second-worst mark among all Flyers defensemen.

The Russian rearguard expressed frustration with the media's criticism of his play during last season's exit interviews.

"No matter what I say, you guys are gonna give me your own grades," Provorov said last May. "It doesn't matter, you're all experts on hockey, so you're gonna give me your super experienced grades. I don't think my opinion really matters to you guys."

He's also had to contend with a series of rotating partners after Matt Niskanen retired in October 2020. The acquisition of Ryan Ellis could've helped stabilize the blue line, but he was only able to play in four games last season due to injury and isn't expected to suit up at all in 2022-23.

Provorov has spent the majority of his time on a pair with DeAngelo this campaign.

The Flyers have had a rough ride through the first half of the 2022-23 campaign - their first under hard-nosed head coach John Tortorella. Like last season, Philadelphia enjoyed a promising start. It went 5-2-0 right out of the gate, but a 10-game losing streak in November sent the team crashing back down to earth.

Philadelphia currently sits in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 16-18-7.

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The Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators are interested in Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tuesday.

Dumba carries a $6-million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end. He recorded four goals and seven assists in 39 games this season while averaging 21:07 of ice time per contest. His underlying numbers have been poor this year.

But the 10-year veteran and former seventh overall pick comes with plenty of pedigree. His best season came in 2017-18 when he racked up 14 goals and 36 assists. He's struggled with injuries and inconsistency in the five years since, never cracking 30 points or 70 games.

He also shoots right - a trait among defensemen that's often appealing to teams.

Minnesota is currently in a playoff spot and entered Tuesday sitting third in the Central Division with 47 points. As The Athletic's Michael Russo noted in December, it may require a lateral move or "hockey trade" for the Wild to move Dumba, rather than the typical seller's ask of draft picks and prospects.

The Oilers entered Tuesday hanging on to a wild-card spot, and defense is a clear area of need. Edmonton general manager Ken Holland has scoured the blue-line market, inquiring about the Arizona Coyotes' Jakob Chychrun, the Montreal Canadiens' Joel Edmundson, and just about every potentially available defenseman, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reports.

The Senators, meanwhile, sit seventh in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference at 18-19-3. That's not the status of a typical buyer, so they may look to extend Dumba as part of a trade.

Ottawa hasn't been shy about its interest in upgrading the blue line. GM Pierre Dorion was unsuccessful in his search for a top-four defenseman in the summer, and the team was linked to Chychrun in September.

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Nashville Predators general manager David Poile acknowledged that the organization's decision to waive Eeli Tolvanen could be a misstep as the winger continues to light it up with the Seattle Kraken.

"Did we give him enough opportunities? Should we have played him higher? Time will tell," Poile said Tuesday during an appearance on 102.5 The Game. "Seattle's a team that plays a little bit differently than us. They really rotate almost their four lines equally, and offensively they put him in a position higher than we have.

"This could be a mistake on our part. That's on me if he turns out to be really successful, but we thought we tried him in a lot of different areas, different places."

The Predators placed Tolvanen on waivers on Dec. 11, and the Kraken scooped him up the following day.

Tolvanen, 23, logged two goals and two assists in 13 games with Nashville this campaign. He didn't debut for Seattle until Jan. 1, but early returns indicate he's a great fit. Tolvanen has five points in five contests while donning his new threads, and his three tallies with the Kraken would put him on pace for 49 goals over an 82-game season.

The Finn is suiting up for 12:32 of ice time per contest in Seattle, comparable to his average playing time in Nashville this season. However, Tolvanen failed to crack the 11-minute mark in five of his last six games as a Predator.

Poile said he didn't want to lose Tolvanen and that the organization hoped he'd spend time with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.

"We had to make some decisions. We were not going anywhere," he said. "He's doing well, great for him, and we've been doing better - not necessarily because of him, but because we've made a decision to go another direction with different types of players."

The Predators selected Tolvanen 30th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. He was a highly touted prospect lauded for his scoring ability but never fully emerged in Nashville. Tolvanen ended his tenure in the Music City with 25 goals and 26 assists in 135 contests.

Tolvanen will get a chance to take on his former team when the Kraken visit the Predators for a pair of games on March 23 and 25.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs placed defenseman T.J. Brodie on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.

Brodie didn't play in Toronto's 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday due to an undisclosed ailment. He will miss at least three more games. The 32-year-old was already unavailable for 12 contests this season due to an oblique injury.

The Maple Leafs have had a rotating cast of blue-liners thanks to various injuries with Morgan Rielly, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, and Jordie Benn all missing time, along with Jake Muzzin and Victor Mete, who remain out.

Brodie has two goals and eight points in 28 games this season.

Toronto subsequently recalled forward Bobby McMann from the AHL. The 26-year-old left winger captured AHL Player of the Week honors after scoring three goals and six points in three contests. He's yet to make his NHL debut.

The Maple Leafs are second in the Atlantic Division with a 25-9-7 record. Toronto is back in action against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.

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We suffered a setback Monday night, hitting just one of our three props.

Thomas Chabot was the swing player, finding the target only twice while missing on six attempts. If one more hit the net, we'd be enjoying another winning night but, alas, the margins are slim in this space.

Let's dive into three props that stand out on Tuesday's slate as we look to rebound quickly.

Nikita Kucherov over 3.5 shots (-115)

It's a day that ends in the letter "Y," which means we are targeting the Blue Jackets with a shot prop.

Columbus continues to struggle defensively, ranking 29th in shot attempts against per 60 minutes over the last 10 games.

The Blue Jackets still take their share of penalties as well and are going up against a Lightning team that draws plenty of them; only five teams have spent more time on the man advantage this season.

The matchup is great for Kucherov on paper, as he has gone over his shot total in both meetings against the Jackets this season.

Given his shooting form - only seven players have attempted more shots over the last 10 games - I expect Kucherov to continue throwing pucks on net.

Dylan Larkin over 2.5 shots (-120)

Larkin has gone a little cold of late, recording three shots or more just three times over the past 10 games. There's a lot to like about Larkin in this spot, though.

For one, the Jets give up a lot of shots to opposing centers. Only eight teams have conceded more to the position on a per-game basis.

Winnipeg has struggled in that regard for a while now, and Larkin has shown the ability to take advantage. He generated 13 shots on goal over two games against the Jets in the calendar year of 2022.

Beyond a strong positional matchup, Larkin should benefit from reinforcements. Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to return from injury and will rejoin Larkin on the top line. Lucas Raymond has been reunited with Larkin as well.

With his usual two running mates by his side and better supporting talent to work with, the Red Wings should be able to control more of the play with Larkin on the ice, opening up more offensive zone time and opportunities to shoot.

Miro Heiskanen over 2.5 shots (+105)

Heiskanen is firing on all cylinders right now. The star blue-liner - no pun intended - has registered three shots or more eight times over the last 10 contests, and the numbers beneath the surface suggest that's no coincidence.

He has attempted 65 shots in that span, slotting him behind only Jason Robertson among Stars players.

League-wide, Heiskanen ranks fourth among all blue-liners these past 10 games. Roman Josi, Cale Makar, and Dougie Hamilton are the only defensemen to attempt more shots.

Heiskanen finds himself in a good spot against an Islanders team that ranks bottom 10 in suppressing shots versus opposing rearguards. Look for him to stay hot.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar knows his team has faced adversity this campaign, but he doesn't want the defending champions to be satisfied with just scraping their way into the postseason.

"I have a lot of confidence and trust in our team. … That confidence can't come off just what we've done in the past," Bednar said, according to the Denver Post's Bennett Durando. "Because it's not just about hanging onto a playoff spot and getting into the playoffs. Like, we're past that."

He added: "The regular season is for learning lessons, figuring out how to win, what it takes to win in all aspects of your game. So our game has to get to a spot, for me, where we feel like we can beat anyone in the West and anyone in the league."

Bednar doesn't think the "floundering" Avs have met that benchmark 38 games into the season.

The Avalanche currently sit in fourth place in the Central Division with a 20-15-3 record. They're two points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but Colorado has three games in hand.

The Avs snapped a five-game losing streak Saturday after scoring three unanswered goals during an overtime victory over the Oilers.

Colorado only lost 19 contests in regulation in 2021-22, and the team's longest winless streak was four.

However, the Avs have been decimated by injuries in 2022-23. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is still waiting to make his season debut after undergoing knee surgery in October, while superstar Nathan MacKinnon missed 11 games in December due to an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Valeri Nichushkin, last season's breakout player, has been limited to just 15 games because of an ankle ailment.

Colorado's blue line hasn't had much injury luck, either. Josh Manson has been out since Dec. 1 with a lower-body ailment, while Bowen Byram last played Nov. 4.

"Big picture, you like to think we get guys back, everything comes together - that's fine," Bednar said. "It's good to be confident."

Colorado will next play Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

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Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to return to the Detroit Red Wings' lineup Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets, head coach Derek Lalonde confirmed Monday.

The forward has missed 16 games after sustaining a left hand injury on Nov. 30 that required surgery. He injured his right hand earlier in the season, forcing him to miss nine games in October.

The 27-year-old practiced Monday on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, according to The Athletic's Max Bultman.

Bertuzzi's played just nine contests this campaign, tallying one goal and four points. He's coming off a career year in 2021-22 in which he scored 30 goals and 62 points in 68 games.

The Red Wings are sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 16-15-7 record and are in the midst of a three-game losing streak.

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