Publicly, Nash insists he wants to remain with Columbus, the team that drafted him first overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. However, according to an article by John Shannon of Sportsnet.ca, those familiar with Nash and his situation claim that it may be a different story with Nash behind closed doors.

According to the article, Nash has admitted to friends his frustration with the direction the club is heading and doesn’t want to go through yet another rebuilding period with the Blue jackets.

“I have received a couple of calls from friends of Nash, who claim that Rick is very unhappy with the way the franchise is going and realizes it will take five more years to rebuild, again,” Shannon states in his article. “Nash is now telling people close to him that he would entertain being moved, but still will not be the one who asks for a trade.”

This rumor comes amid speculation that the Blue Jackets are also looking to move forward Jeff Carter at the trade deadline following a sub-par season after acquiring the skilled goal scorer from Philadelphia in a blockbuster trade last summer. Now, with Nash possibly on the trading block, it appears more and more likely that the Blue Jackets will completely blow up their roster to stock-pile picks and prospects at the trade deadline.

Unfortunately for Columbus, trading a player of Nash’s caliber may not be easy. Nash currently has the fifth highest cap hit of any player in the NHL at $7.8 million. Since his current contract takes him through 2018, any team that acquires Nash will need to have the cap space to accommodate his salary for years to come.

The New York Rangers and LA Kings have both reportedly already shown interest in trading for Nash, who would require a hefty return. It’s likely that Columbus would look to acquire a top young player, a prospect and a first-round draft pick in exchange for Nash. Brandon Dubinsky from the Rangers and Dustin Brown and Jack Johnson from the Kings are all names that come to mind that could find themselves involved in a Nash trade should it go down.

So far, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson has refused to comment on trade speculation, which, naturally, lends itself to even more speculation around the ‘net. With a little over two weeks left until the trade deadline, Rick Nash will certainly be one of the most watched and talked about players until a move is made or the trade deadline expires.

Howard admitted recently that he will miss more than the two games that were initially reported thanks to a broken finger sustained against the Vancouver Canucks last Thursday in a 4-3 shootout victory for the Wings. While Howard said there is no timetable for his return, he believes that it could be as many as two weeks, but should be less than the four-to-six weeks doctors estimated.

“I haven’t been told two weeks,” Howard said, “but when they said four-to-six weeks (to heal), I was like there’s no chance I’m going to be out for six. Two weeks sounded right.”

Through the first half of the season, Howard shouldered an incredible load with 44 starts in 54 games. Howard leads the league with 32 wins and has solid stats this year with a 2.03 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

His backup goalie, Ty Conklin, hasn’t fared as well. In nine games started this season, Conklin has looked inconsistent at best with only three wins with a 3.40 goals against average and a .878 save percentage – some of the worst stats of his career. Granted, with Howard playing so well, Conklin has been relegated to the bench for the most part, but Conklin has missed out on opportunities and failed to capitalize when he does get the nod.

After Howard’s injury last Thursday in Vancouver, Conklin got the start on Saturday night in Edmonton. He was pulled after the first period after surrendering three goals on nine shots against. Joey Macdonald, the Red Wings’ third string goalie, had a strong showing in relief of Conklin and helped the Wings fight back and earn a point in a shootout loss to the Oilers.

That strong showing earned Macdonald the start last night against the Phoenix Coyotes where Macdonald again looked good, but his defense did not. The Wings ended up losing their second straight by a score of 3-1.

The Wings have a .727 winning percentage when Howard starts. That percentage falls to .333 when Conklin starts. Macdonald has looked good in his brief NHL appearances, and he has been playing well for the Grand Rapids Griffins with 11 wins and a 2.63 goals against average along with a .913 save percentage. Still, the Wings may opt to upgrade their backup situation if better options become available before the trade deadline.

Rumors have linked the Wings with Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, whose $570,000 cap hit would still give the Wings plenty of room to make additional moves. The Wings attempted to sign Nabokov to a deal last year before the trade deadline, but the Islanders claimed his rights off waivers. Nabokov wants to play for a contender, and as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season the Islanders will likely try to move him. Columbus Blue Jackets backup Curtis Sanford has also been mentioned as a possible target.

If nothing else, Howard’s injury will give the Wings a long look at their backup goaltending situation and allow coach Mike Babcock and general manager Ken Holland to assess their needs in net. For the first time in a long time, the Wings have significant salary cap space to make moves at the trade deadline. While fans would love the Red Wings to pursue a game-changing target such as Shea Weber, Zach Parise or even Alexander Semin, Holland stated that he will be active at the deadline, but will likely look to add complementary pieces to his team instead of pursuing big names. Could one of those complementary pieces be a backup goalie?

Kovalchuk had a big three point effort with a goal and two assists en route to a 6-4 victory over the Flyers. Perhaps the biggest highlight of the night came midway through the third period, however, when Kovalchuk capped off the Howe Hat Trick and dropped the gloves with Flyers forward Brayden Schenn. This was Schenn’s second fight of the season and Kovalchuk’s first. However, for being one of the best snipers in the game, Kovalchuk is no stranger to dropping the gloves as he averages at least one fight per season according to HockeyFights.com.

The two pull away from a scrum at 11:38 of the third period and immediately drop the gloves. It doesn’t take long for the two players to engage each other to establish a dominant position. Kovalchuk appears to be the much stronger player as he throws Schenn around a bit and then lands several solid blows to Schenn’s head before finally landing a solid right hook to Schenn’s jaw that drops him for the count. Check out the full video below that highlights not only the fight, but Kovalchuk’s power play assist and dirty two-on-one snipe for his lone goal of the night. Stick around to the end of the video for a slow-motion replay of Kovi’s right hook on Schenn.

The move was announced around noon by the Rangers via their official Facebook page.

Christensen, a depth forward, will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season barring a contract extension with the Minnesota Wild. He had five points in only 20 games with the Rangers this season.

This will be Christensen’s fifth team in his short NHL career, with previous stops in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Anaheim and most recently with the Rangers. His most productive season came in 2006-07 when he split time between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Christensen posted 18 goals and added 15 assists for 33 points in 61 games with the Penguins that season. He contributed 11 goals and 16 assists for the Rangers last season in 63 games.

The move could be the first of many for both teams, as the Rangers are rumored to be looking to add offensive depth to their roster before the trade deadline. This could be tricky as the Rangers only have a little bit of wiggle room with roughly $1 million in available cap space. Christensen’s contract frees up another $925,000, and more moves could be on the way to help free up space.

While not a huge move, Chistensen gives Minnesota some depth and could be a signal that the Wild, who are currently clinging to the 8^th and final playoff seed in the Western Conference, could be buyers at the trade deadline as they look to secure a playoff berth. There have been suggestions that the Wild could look to deal defenseman Marek Zidlicky before the trade deadline as well.

The Hot List:

Mike Fisher (forward): Over the past two weeks, Mike Fisher posted six goals, including three game winners, and one assist. January was a solid month for Fisher who posted seven goals and eight assists in 13 games while Nashville won an incredible 11 out of a possible 13 games in January.  Keep an eye on Fisher to see if he keeps up this pace in the second half.

Mikhail Grabovski (forward): Owned in 64 percent of Yahoo Fantasy Hockey Leagues, Grabovski posted four goals and six assists and was a plus-five over the past two weeks with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Grabovksi now has 36 points in 45 games this season.

Clarke MacArthur (forward): Another Maple Leaf on the list, MacArthur tallied four goals and notched two assists over the last two weeks on only nine shots on goal. However, MacArthur seems to have fallen back to Earth after a 62 point outbreak last season and will likely hit the 50-point plateau at best this year.

Teddy Purcell (forward): Purcell will likely fall short of his career best of 51 points from last season, but he could top the 20 goal mark for the first time in his career. His play has been streaky at best, but he has six points in his last six games and appears to be shooting the puck more with 18 shots on goal over the same time span. When forwards shoot the puck, good things happen.

Matheiu Garon (goalie): Brought in as a backup netminder in the offseason, Garon appears to be slowly stealing the starting role from Dwayne Roloson. With a 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets last night, Garon is now the winner of four of his last five starts.

Last week at the NHL All-Star Game, Nashville Predators defenseman and pending unrestricted free agent Ryan Suter came out and stated bluntly that he will not be signing a contract extension with the Predators before the trade deadline. This immediately caused speculation that Suter intends to jump ship once he’s a free agent. But this may not be the case.

Many players will opt not to engage in contract negotiations after a certain period in the season – especially if the team continues to stay in the playoff hunt. Suter may fall into this category where he simply doesn’t want negotiations to shadow his play as the Predators look to secure a playoff berth.

“I want to focus on playing for Nashville,” Suter said to clarify his earlier comments. “We’ve got a good team and if we can add a couple of pieces here and there I think we have a legitimate chance of going to win the Stanley Cup.”

Suter’s clarification on his previous comments could be more telling of his intentions for the future than the initial comments themselves. While many jumped on the notion that Suter was basically saying he wanted to test the open market as a free agent, his clarification insinuates a different notion – that he wants to see how dedicated to winning Nashville really is.

At 27-years-old, Suter could be one of the most sought-after free agents this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension. And surely his willingness to sign will depend on what Nashville does at the trade deadline later this month.

Coming into the trade deadline, the Predators possess more than $14 million in cap space. However, the Predators have been incredibly reluctant to spend significantly in the past on free agent talent. After all, this is the team that was rumored to be offering Shea Weber $4.5 million per season in contract negotiations last summer. While that number may have just been a rumor, Nashville has still been behind the eight ball when it comes to attracting highly talented free agents thanks to their reluctance to spend significantly on high-end talent.

Weber himself will be a restricted free agent this summer, and, like Suter, his future with Nashville seems in flux because both players want to know that Nashville is willing to take the necessary steps toward building a winner. Before re-signing with the Predators, each player wants to know that the team is moving in the right direction. Otherwise they may look to jump ship for a team willing to do what it takes to win.

Nashville currently sits fourth in the Western Conference with an impressive 9-1-0 record over their past 10 games. The losses of Joel Ward and Steve Sullivan to free agency last summer, a combined total of 20 goals and 51 points, hasn’t seemed to effect the Predators greatly as they still rank 11^th in the NHL in goals scored per game. Still, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber remain vital parts of that team’s success and losing either of them could be a devastating blow.

It’s highly unlikely that either Suter or Weber gets traded at the trade deadline as some have speculated, but if Nashville intends to get serious about winning, this is the season to do it. The Predators are playing awesome hockey this season and are primed for a solid playoff run. Adding a talented scorer or maybe some scoring depth at the trade deadline could go a long way to help that cause. It could also go a long way toward convincing their own players how serious they are about winning both now, and in the future.

The second annual NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft had a little bit of everything, from surprise picks to cheers and jeers from the home crowd in Ottawa, to rivalries that can’t yet be put aside and a first-hand look at players sitting back, enjoying themselves and the game they love.

The night started off with a great show of sportmanship by Daniel Alfredsson, the homewtown captain of the Ottawa Senators and one of the All-Star Game captains, when he yielded to Zdeno Chara, captain for the “visiting” team, and allowed him to call the toss of the puck because he is the defending Stanley Cup Champion. As it turned out, Chara called correctly and received the first overall pick with co-captain Joffrey Lupul by his side.

Zdeno Chara poses for pictures with Pavel Datsyuk, the #1 overall pick in the NHL All Star Draft

Most fans figured Evgeni Malkin, who currently leads the league in points, or Claude Giroux, a close second behind Malkin, would be taken first overall. Instead, Chara decided to go a different route and picked Pavel Datsyuk, a highly skilled puck handler and someone Chara thinks “plays the game the right way.” Datsyuk should have no problem setting up some of the goal scorers that Chara later picked, including Malkin, Gaborik, Kane, Hossa, Perry and Iginla.

Team bonds and friendships won out afterward as Alfredsson and his co-captain Henrik Lundqvist picked young defenseman Erik Karlsson, a teammate of Alfredsson’s in Ottawa. In the second round, Chara followed suite and grabbed Tim Thomas, his teammate in Boston, while Alfredsson picked Jason Spezza, another Ottawa teammate. With that pick, Spezza became $20 poorer when it was later revealed that he had bet Malkin $20 that Malkin would be picked before him.

By the end of the night, Chara had all of the Boston players while Alfredsson had all of the Ottawa Senators.

This year’s Mr. Irrelevant, the last picked player in the draft, came down to two young players who didn’t share ties with either of the captains or co-captains. Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars and Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks were the last two remaining on the stage with Chara left to pick his last player and determine who would become the last pick of the draft and this year’s Mr. Irrelevant – a spot that Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs found himself in last season.

Again, Chara showed class on stage and picked Benn over Couture because, as Chara prefaced before the pick, Benn deserved to not be last after having emergency appendectomy surgery recently and still showed up to play this weekend. The All-Star Game on Sunday will be Benn’s first game back after the surgery in any capacity.

Don’t feel too bad for Couture, though. Being last picked in the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft has its merits as Couture walked away with a free car.

Here are a few more thoughts and notes about the draft last night:

• Turns out, some rivalries are a bit tougher to put aside than others. Daniel Sedin went to Team Alfredsson in the 9^th round. Daniel’s brother Henrik sat on the board until Round 13, where he was also drafted by Team Alfredsson. Chara had several opportunities to split up the brothers but opted not to. Evidently Chara has a long memory and the Boston Bruins defenseman didn’t want anything to do with any of the Vancouver Cancucks players. The remaining Canuck, Alexander Edler, also went to Team Alfredsson.
• The Ottawa Senators fans in attendance made their disdain for the Toronto Maple Leafs well know. Any time Joffrey Lupul attempted to make a selection for Team Chara, he was met with a loud chorus of boos and jeers. In fact, it actually got quite annoying to watch as a spectator as the jeers continued even into the late rounds of the draft. Lupul shrugged it off and acted like he didn’t mind, but at times he seemed annoyed with the fans in the crowd as well.
• Another car for the last man picked? Come on NHL, these are guys that get stitched up in the locker room in between periods and then come back out on the ice to finish a game. I think they can handle being the last picked just fine without giving them a car to help soften the blow to their ego. I think a donation to the player’s favorite charity would be more than enough.
• Please stop interviewing Phil Kessel. Really, just skip over him and don’t let him near a mic. His responses were just a lot of, “Oh, I don’t know,” and, “It doesn’t matter.” Tyler Seguin is on thin ice for similar responses as well.
•  Best zing of the night goes to Jeremy Roenick for his Marian Gaborik comment after the draft was over. After being selected by Team Chara, Gaborik walked halfway across the stage toward Team Alfredsson’s side. This brought a round of laughter from the crowd and the players in attendance. Roenick later commented that “it’s a good thing New York signed Brad Richards so he can at least point Gaborik toward the right net.”
• The NHL’s promotion of social media was very apparant last night – and it made for interesting commentary. Having the players live Tweet the event and then reading them on air was a really cool social media maneuver that offered inside access for fans. But the NHL needs to do one thing from here on out – get Alyonka Larionov in front of the camera whenever, wherever and as often as possible. Enough said.
• Looking over each roster, I’ve gotta give the advantage to Team Chara. I think they assembled a team more geared toward offensive production and, let’s face it, the All-Star Game is all about offense. But Team Alfredsson edges out Team Chara in goaltending, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out on Sunday.

Neal will join teammates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang as representatives for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the festivities this weekend in Ottawa, which kick off this Thursday at 8 p.m. with the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft and continues Saturday night with the Skills Competitionand the All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the first All-Star appearance for the 24-year-old Neal, who was traded from Dallas to Pittsburgh last season. However, this will be Neal’s second appearance at the NHL All-Star Weekend as he played in the YoungStars Game in 2009 in Montreal.  

Neal should have been on the roster from the get-go thanks to a season that will certainly end with personal bests in nearly every stat category. With 27 goals on the season, Neal has already tied his personal best in goals and will likely surpass his personal best in assists and total points within the next month. He currently ranks second on the Penguins in points, behind only Evgeni Malkin, and ranks 13^th in the league in points with 47 and third in the league in goals.   

It will be interesting to see if All-Star captains Daniel Alfredsson or Zdeno Chara attempt to draft both Malkin and Neal in order to give their team a competitive advantage by having two players on a line together who already have chemistry.

Specs: Easton Stealth RS, Grip finish, Iginla curve, 100 flex

Modifications: Cut two inches off the butt of the stick

Appearance and Design:

There were a few small manufacturing defects that I initially noticed in the blade of the RS when I first received the stick. I decided to leave these in place, opting not to sand them off or otherwise alter the stick. So far, these small defects haven’t had much of an impact on my game and would be easy enough to get rid of had I put the effort forth.

Matte finishes seem to be the latest trend in stick design. This is my second stick with a matte finish, the first being a Warrior AK one-piece stick. However, the finish on that stick seemed to chip with any little touch to the shaft. That problem isn’t nearly as pronounced with the Stealth RS. Obviously the shaft shows signs of wear after several games, but the matte finish has held up much better than the finish of the Warrior AK.

The stick shows minor wear and a few scuff marks, and the yellow stripe at the bottom of the blade has basically worn off, but overall I am surprised how well the shaft has held up.

Feel:

I’ve used this stick for both ice and roller hockey and I really like how the puck feels on this stick. It isn’t the lightest stick on the market, but Easton did a good job of balancing it out so that you get a good feel when you touch the puck. I find myself skating with my head up more thanks to the increased feel, especially in roller hockey where the puck is much lighter.

Shooting and Accuracy:

As you probably read in my initial impressions review, I had a major issue with shooting and accuracy using my previous Stealth S17. While most of these issues are diminished, some are still present and I fault those issues on the elliptical TORX technology on the lower part of the shaft.

Accuracy with this stick is better, but still inconsistent. While wrist shots usually go where I want them to, I sometimes feel as if my shots are released prematurely and go wide of my target. Still, it is capable of producing powerful wrist shots that generally go where I intend them to.

Unfortunately, slapshots fair a tad worse. I find that my slapshots tend to pull a little wide when I really lean into a shot, which I blame on the elliptical TORX shaft on the stick since I don’t have this issue with any other stick. Still, the problems are not as severe as they were with my previous S17.

The great thing about this stick is the “pop” that you get off of shots. The release is quick and can produce faster shots with seemingly less effort. Still, I seem to sacrifice some accuracy in order to get faster shots. So it’s a toss up if you’re willing to sacrifice accuracy for speed.

Durability:

This is one area that I really wanted to focus on since Easton has a rocky reputation when it comes to consistent durability in their stick lines. And after my initial impressions review of the stick, I had high hopes for the build and quality. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Stealth RS delivers on durability.

Let me preface this by saying that my stick personally has held up fine so far. The shaft is solidly constructed and doesn’t feel flimsy or fragile in the least and there aren’t any chips rattling around the inside either. The blade looks very good and doesn’t have any cracks or other serious damage despite heavy use. So far, my usage experience has been very good.

But that can’t be said for everyone who uses the stick. Take a look at this quote from Hockey World Blog reader Don:

“I have gone through 3 stealth RS in 90 days one under warranty and two this week after the blades fall apart. The sticks crack along the bottom of the blades then they brake. I took the two sticks in where I bought them from they were going to show the Easton rep. One was cracked along the bottom still had all the yellow paint the blade looked like new. Other stick cracked along bottom and worked up the blade one more shot and it would of blew up. So basically I never got 30 days out each stick. Worst stick I have owned. Nice stick to shoot but not worth the money.”

After doing some research on the web, it became apparent that cracks in the blade and other durability issues having to do with the blades of these sticks is very widespread and common.

Like I said, my experience has been good so far, so I will continue to monitor the durability of the stick, especially the blade, in weeks to come. However, Easton has a poor reputation amongst recreational players regarding durability and it seems as if the problem hasn’t been resolved.

Overall Impressions:

The best things about this stick are the feel for the puck and the “pop” that you get off of shots. However, it’s very clear that this stick is not meant for everyone. A forward would likely benefit more from the stick than a defenseman or all-around player based on which features stand out on the Stealth RS and which hold it back. It is difficult to ignore the durability issues, but if you’re an Easton fan looking for a good puck-handling stick with an excellent “pop”, the Stealth RS may be for you.

Thinking of buying a new stick? Be sure to check out our reviews of other sticks including the Reebok Ai9, the Warrior AK and the Miken Razor Z9. And be sure to visit Pure Hockey before you buy and use the coupon code HOCKEYWORLD  at checkout to receive 10% off your purchase!

A good Fantasy Hockey league setup has roster positions and bench positions so that on some nights, when most everyone on your team is playing, you have to make the tough decisions regarding who to bench and who to play. So as a Manager, how do you decide which players to play and which to sit?

Sometimes it comes down to a “hunch” or intuition. Obviously your star players will likely get spots because they are more likely to put points on the board. Players on hot streaks may also get the nod over someone that is slumping. Or you may choose to go by which team any given player is playing against that night.

For instance, if you’re trying to decide between two players, and one is playing against the New York Rangers while the other is playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning, you may want to consider playing your guy against Tampa Bay. Why? Because Tampa Bay averages 3.47 goals against per game while the Rangers average 1.98 goals against per game, meaning there is a greater probability that your player will score against Tampa Bay.

Here is a breakdown of the top five teams in the league with the lowest goals against averages per game:

New York Rangers (1.98)

St. Louis Blues (1.98)

Boston Bruins (2.02)

Los Angeles Kings (2.13)

San Jose Sharks (2.28)

Similarly, here are the worst five teams in the NHL with the highest goals against averages per game:

Tampa Bay Lightning (3.47)

Columbus Blue Jackets (3.22)

Carolina Hurricanes (3.17)

Ottawa Senators (3.08)

Toronto Maple Leafs (3.07)

The Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders also have averages of 3.00 goals against per game or better as well.

You can also get a good idea of how your players will fare by looking at which goalie he will face that night. And these numbers don’t always correlate with the team average.

Boston has a low enough team goals against per game average, but backup netminder Tuukka Rask actually has a lower goals against average than starter Tim Thomas. This means that your player is more likely to score on Thomas than on Rask, but the likelihood that he will score against Boston at all is slim.

Consider the Colorado Avalanche as well. As a whole, the team averages 2.85 goals allowed per game. However, goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere have basically split time, but Varlamov’s goals against average is much higher at 3.00 goals against per game than Giguere’s 2.12 goals against per game. So if Varlamov gets the start, play against him with confidence.

The Philadelphia Flyers have a similar issue with Ilya Bryzgalov (3.00) and Sergei Bobrovsky (2.42). Thankfully for Fantasy Managers, Bryzgalov gets the majority of the starts with 30 this season compared to Bobrovsky’s 14.

It doesn’t happen often when you have a full slate of games and have to make the tough choices as a manager on whom to bench and whom to play, but knowing the odds can help you make the right decision in the future. It’s not fool-proof by any means, but it’s a step in the right direction.