While the Blackhawks are interested in adding depth to their blue line, the team's interest in Hamhuis has "cooled considerably," according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.
In turn, McKenzie suggests the team appears to be focused on "lower-level depth options on the blue line." Given that, McKenzie believes anything is possible as the trade deadline draws closer.
Could that change? Sure. Door not completely shut, but at this moment in time, that's the CHI outlook, FWIW. #tradecentre#TSN
A potential deal for Hamhuis would also be difficult for the Blackhawks given cap stipulations. After acquiring forward Andrew Ladd from the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, the Blackhawks will have just under $1.5 million of cap space on deadline day, according to General Fanager, while Hamhuis has a cap hit of $4.5 million.
How do you get the best out of Matt Bartkowski? Tell him he might be traded.
One day after it was reported that the Vancouver Canucks had named him as one of seven players available at the trade deadline, the 27-year-old went off for a career-best, three-point night - scoring two goals and adding an assist - in a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators.
Bartkowski picked up a point on the first three Canucks goals, and after his second goal knotted the score at three apiece, the team's Twitter account couldn't help but acknowledge the man keeping them in the game.
"I probably have like eight voicemails from my mom," Bartkowski said post-game about his proud mother, who gained fame watching her son score live during a game earlier in the month. "You're lucky she wasn't here or everyone would have heard her tonight."
Bartkowski now has five goals and 11 assists in 59 games this season.
Emerson Etem also had a two-goal game, adding an empty-netter in the final minute to clinch the win. Jake Virtanen scored the game-winner during a third-period power play, and Ryan Miller made 27 saves to pick up his second consecutive win.
As for the Senators, they saw their four-game winning streak come to an end as they hope to make yet another late-season push for the playoffs. Star forwards Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone and Bobby Ryan all found the net for Ottawa.
The Canucks have one more game before the trade deadline, as they host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. The Senators will finish their three-game Western Canadian road trip against the Calgary Flames on Friday.
VANCOUVER - Jake Virtanen scored the winner in the third period as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ottawa Senators 5-3 on Thursday night.
Matt Bartkowski, with two goals and an assist for the first three-point game of his career, and Emerson E...
Mark Stone was understandably pumped after netting his 20th goal of the season against the Vancouver Canucks, immediately skating to the glass to high-five some traveling Ottawa Senators fans in the corner after the shorthanded tally.
The goal gave the Senators a 2-1 lead as they looked to extend their winning streak to six games.
The 23-year-old needs six more goals to match his career high from a year ago.
With his name flying around in trade rumors ahead of the NHL's Feb. 29 deadline, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis gave a candid interview on TSN 1040, reiterating that he hasn't been asked to waive his no-trade clause.
"Everything is in the realm of possibility because there's so many moving parts," the pending unrestricted free agent said. "It's not fun seeing all the speculation."
Hamhuis is in the final season of a contract paying him $4.25 million while carrying a cap hit of $4.5 million. The 33-year-old is from British Columbia, so potentially leaving the team he came home to play for presents an agonizing decision.
"This is not what you play for," he said. "You play to be in a playoff race."
The Canucks are 10 points back in the Western Conference wild-card race. It's all but officially over, and the team's reportedly "open for business" in the trade market.
Hamhuis could waive his no-trade clause, go to a contender to try and win a Stanley Cup, then return to Vancouver as a free agent in the offseason.
Hamhuis on leaving, then returning: That's one of the options. And a very interesting one. We've loved Vancouver and would welcome more
Spaling, who scored just the one time in 35 games with the Maple Leafs, got his second of the season with a rocket fired on his first shift with the club.
Matthias answered with his second of the season, cleaning up the crease roughly 10 minutes later, and ensuring that ex-Leafs would account for all the goal-scoring in the period.
Spaling was considered a throw-in along with defenseman Roman Polak in a deal that saw the Leafs add a pair of second-round picks to their collection of draft tickets.
Matthias was had for a fourth-round pick and a prospect.
Brad Marchand is staking his claim as a premier scorer, and it's affecting how the Boston Bruins proceed with Loui Eriksson as the NHL's trade deadline rapidly approaches.
First, some numbers.
With a goal in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marchand continued to up his career high, with only three players recording more than his 31 this season.
Player
Games Played
Goals
Alex Ovechkin (WSH)
56
39
Patrick Kane (CHI)
62
35
Jamie Benn (DAL)
61
32
Tyler Seguin (DAL)
61
31
Brad Marchand (BOS)
55
31
Marchand, 27, is in the penultimate season of a four-year, $18-million deal signed back in 2013, and will therefore be looking for a tidy raise based on how his overall game has improved since that time. He'll be eligible to sign an extension with the Bruins as early as July 1, a date that coincides with Eriksson's impending foray into unrestricted free agency.
The conundrum for general manager Don Sweeney, then, is trying to retain Eriksson's services while also not handcuffing his team in terms of salary obligations over the next several years.
Reports, however, suggest negotiations aren't going well between the Bruins and Eriksson.
Ongoing contract discussions between Loui Eriksson and the Bruins. It's believed a significant gap remains in both term and $. #TradeCentre
With 23 goals and 25 assists, Eriksson has recorded one more point than Marchand, and will certainly be looking to parlay a strong season into a long-term, high-money deal that will carry him into his mid- to late-thirties.
But the reality is the Bruins, who have major deficiencies on the blue line, won't be able to both meet Eriksson's demands and sign Marchand to the kind of extension he'll warrant.
So in the immediate future, the question becomes whether to trade Eriksson, keep him for a potential Stanley Cup run and risk losing him for nothing on the open market this summer, or, ideally, sign him to a more team-friendly extension that leaves room for Marchand's big deal and allows the team to address other areas of the lineup.
Eriksson, of course, is under no obligation to take a hometown discount, and although the Bruins are no doubt celebrating Marchand's break out, his looming free agency is indeed greatly affecting what the Bruins choose to do with his fellow winger.
MIke Condon has brought his best for the league's best.
The Montreal Canadiens netminder wisely kept with his momentum despite being caught turning in the wrong direction in order to deny Mike Richards of his second goal as a member of the Washington Capitals with an unorthodox, but absolutely brilliant blocker save.
The goal also marked the first-ever penalty-shot attempt by a Bruin against the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to PittsburghHockey.net, and contributed to another Bruins record:
With Pastrnak's goal, this marks the first time in #NHLBruins history the team has tallied 3 penalty shot goals in one season.
Larsen, a former fifth-round selection with 125 games of NHL tread, has spent the last two seasons in the KHL after a 30-game stint (in which he netted 12 points) with Edmonton in 2013-14.
TSN's Bob McKenzie is reporting that the fifth-round pick could be elevated to a fourth-round selection should Larsen hit production thresholds.
The Oilers, who acquired Larsen in the Shawn Horcoff trade, extended the slight defenseman a qualifying offer before he bolted to Russia, thus retaining his rights.
The fifth-round pick used to land Larsen is the second 2017 draft selection that the rebuilding Canucks have parted with.
McKenzie also notes that Vancouver intends to sign Larsen before July 1, and have him join the team for next season.