During a recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that Edmonton Oilers forward Andrew Mangiapane would be open to waiving his no-movement clause if the Oilers could find an interested team that would give him the chance to have a more prominent role. 

Mangiapane has had trouble finding his fit with the Oilers, so a change of scenery certainly could help the 29-year-old forward. In 39 games so far this season with Edmonton, Mangiapane has posted five goals, six assists, and a minus-16 rating. 

While Mangiapane's offensive totals are low this season, his past success could make some clubs be interested in him if he becomes available. Due to this, let's look at two potential trade fits for the former 35-goal scorer. 

Boston Bruins 

The Bruins have been struggling big time lately, as they have lost each of their last five games. They have also fallen to seventh in the Atlantic Division, so that could spark them to pursue a trade. There is no question that they could use another skilled winger in their middle six, and a player like Mangiapane could grab their attention because of it.

The Bruins were also rumored to be interested in Mangiapane this off-season before he signed with Edmonton.

Buffalo Sabres 

The vibes are high with the Sabres right now, as they have won each of their last eight games and have climbed up the standings because of it. With the Sabres being red-hot, perhaps it could spark them to try to make a move to improve their roster further. They could use another forward in their top nine, and Mangiapane could be a nice pickup for their group because of it. 

A former Chicago Blackhawks forward is set to miss time, as the St. Louis Blues have announced that Pius Suter will be out for the next four weeks due to a right ankle injury.

Suter suffered his injury during the Blues' Dec. 27 contest against the Nashville Predators, where he recorded one shot in 10:55 of ice time and 15 shifts. Now, with this update, the Blues are going to be without Suter for a decent chunk of time.

With Suter being a solid part of the Blues' roster, there is no question that they will miss him while he is sidelined. This is especially so when noting that the Blues are currently fighting for a playoff spot, being just one point behind the San Jose Sharks for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference standings. 

Suter is currently in his first season with the Blues after signing with the club in free agency this past summer. In 37 games so far this campaign with St. Louis, he has posted seven goals, seven assists, 14 points, and a minus-3 rating.

Suter played his first NHL season with the Blackhawks during the 2020-21 campaign. In 55 games with the Blackhawk, he posted 14 goals, 13 assists, and 27 points. 

The Buffalo Sabres were one of the teams that were connected to forward Yegor Chinakhov. However, the 24-year-old winger is no longer an option for the Sabres, as he has been traded elsewhere.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they have acquired Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for forward Danton Heinen, a 2026 second-round pick, and a 2027 third-round pick. With this, the Sabres have officially missed out on Chinakhov. 

The Penguins bringing in Chinakhov is entirely understandable. The Penguins are in the middle of a retool, so it certainly makes sense that they are taking a chance on a skilled former first-round pick like Chinakhov. 

The Sabres will now need to explore their options elsewhere. Given how well the Sabres are playing right now, they are certainly in a position to make a move to help strengthen their roster. Unfortunately, Chinakhov is no longer a potential option for them, with him heading to Pittsburgh. 

In 29 games so far this season with Columbus before this trade, Chinakhov posted three goals and three assists. This is after he had seven goals and 15 points in 30 games for the Blue Jackets in 2024-25. 

The Ottawa Senators will begin a four-game homestand on Monday night as they host the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a win over the Islanders on Sunday, Columbus is on a back-to-back with travel that was complicated by a cancelled flight on Sunday night.  They were supposed to leave on Monday morning instead, but that flight was delayed as well.

As a result of their later-than-usual arrival, the NHL has switched the start time of Monday night's game from 7 pm to 7:30 pm.

This is an important game for both teams as they try to stay within shouting distance of the division and conference leaders. The Jackets may be in last place in the East, but they're just 3 points behind the Senators and four out of a playoff spot.

While the Senators didn’t play on Sunday, they did get a shock to the system when starting goaltender Linus Ullmark shared that he will be taking an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. The team said in a prepared statement on Sunday that Ullmark has the organization's full support but won't comment further on the matter. The veteran was yanked from a 7-5 loss in Toronto on Saturday night after allowing four goals on 14 shots.

So that leaves 23-year-old Levi Meriläinen to man the net for the foreseeable future.

Meriläinen posted excellent numbers in an emergency role last season, appearing in 12 games, but hasn’t yet been able to replicate that form this year. In 10 games, he has a goals-against average of 3.40 and a save percentage of .874. He entered Saturday night’s game in relief of Ullmark, whose numbers this season haven't been a whole lot better.

Ottawa Senators: 'Linus Ullmark Will Be Taking A Leave Of Absence From The Team'The club announced on Sunday afternoon that 'Ullmark has the full support of our organization during this time.'

30-year-old Hunter Shepard has been recalled from the Belleville Senators to serve as Ottawa's new backup. Between them, Shepard (5) and Meriläinen (24) have appeared in a grand total of 29 career NHL games.

Ottawa has also sent down Dennis Gilbert and Xavier Bourgault, who made his NHL debut on Saturday. That signalled that Shane Pinto and Tyler Kleven, who both practiced on Monday for a second straight day, may be ready to return to the lineup.

Pinto has been sidelined since December 4, while Kleven has been out since December 20. Both players were injured on similar falls near the boards. 

After practice, the Sens confirmed that Kleven would be in while Nick Jensen comes out. They're not sure yet on Pinto.

As for the Blue Jackets, they placed star defenseman Zach Werenski on the IR yesterday, retroactive to Dec. 20. He's day-to-day with a lower-body injury and can return whenever he's ready. Werenski leads his team in goals, assists and points, so the Senators probably wouldn't mind if he needs another game off.

Yesterday's roster move allowed the Jackets to activate tough guy Mathieu Olivier off the injured list. 

Projected Rosters from NHL.com (subject to change)

Senators

David Perron -- Tim Stutzle -- Fabian Zetterlund

Brady Tkachuk -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson

Michael Amadio -- Ridly Greig -- Claude Giroux

Kurtis MacDermid -- Stephen Halliday -- Nick Cousins

Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot -- Jordan Spence

Tyler Kleven -- Nikolas Matinpalo

Leevi Merilainen

Hunter Shepard

Scratched: Nick Jensen

Injured: Shane Pinto (lower body), Lars Eller (broken foot)

Blue Jackets

Mason Marchment -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko

Dimitri Voronkov -- Sean Monahan -- Kent Johnson

Boone Jenner -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier

Miles Wood -- Brendan Gaunce -- Cole Sillinger

Ivan Provorov -- Dante Fabbro

Denton Mateychuk -- Damon Severson

Jake Christiansen -- Brendan Smith

Elvis Merzlikins

Jet Greaves

Scratched: Zach Aston-Reese, Yegor Chinakhov

Injured: Zach Werenski (lower body), Erik Gudbranson (hip), Isac Lundestrom (lower body)

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News - Ottawa

Read more Ottawa Senators news and features at The Hockey News:

Top Ottawa Senators Prospect Suits Up Again At World Juniors
Josh Norris: 'I Really Felt Like (Ottawa Fans) Had My Back, Even When I Was Injured'
NHL Player Fined For Cross-Checking Senators Star Tim Stutzle In The Face
Ottawa Senators Have A Soft Spot For Their Tough Guy
Senators Announce Their Latest Addition To Ring Of Honour

Steve Warne is the Ottawa Senators site editor at The Hockey News. Steve has covered the Senators since day one, first as Sports Director for Rogers Radio in Ottawa on AM 1310 and FM 105, then as the long-time host of the morning show at TSN 1200 radio, the Sens' flagship station. Steve is also the owner and host of The Sens Nation Podcast.

Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche take on the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena, having won four of their last five games against them. Colorado will look to secure its eighth straight victory in a matchup that carries added significance, as it could be Anze Kopitar’s final visit to Denver as an NHL player.

Avalanche Stats

Nathan MacKinnon has tallied nine points in his last five games against the Kings, recording one goal and eight assists over that span.

Martin Nečas has posted seven points in his last five games against Los Angeles, scoring four goals and adding three assists.

Artturi Lehkonen has put up five points in his last five contests against the Kings, with two goals and three assists in that time.

Brock Nelson has also produced five points in his last five games against Los Angeles, registering three goals and two assists over that stretch.

The Avalanche are coming off an electrifying 6-5 shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. It was their first shootout win of the year. Nečas had two goals and both MacKinnon and Sam Malinski had three-point games.

Los Angeles Stats

A trio of Kings have posted four points in their last five against the Avs, including Alex Laferriere, Kevin Fiala, and the aforementioned Anze Kopitar. Los Angeles also played Saturday and are fresh off a 6-1 smackdown of the Anaheim Ducks.

Avalanche Projected Lineup

Forwards

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas

Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin

Victor Olofsson — Ross Colton — Gavin Brindley

Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Joel Kiviranta

Defensemen

Devon Toews — Cale Makar

Josh Manson — Brent Burns

Samuel Girard — Sam Malinski

Goaltenders

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

Kings Projected Lineup

Forwards

Alex Laferriere — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe

Warren Foegele — Quinton Byfield — Trevor Moore

Kevin Fiala — Alex Turcotte — Andrei Kuzmenko

Joel Armia — Samuel Helenius — Corey Perry

Defensemen

Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty

Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke

Brian Dumoulin — Cody Ceci

Goaltenders

Anton Forsberg

Phoenix Copley

Game Time

Coverage of tonight's game kicks off at 7 p.m. local time and stay tuned to The Hockey News for all of the action. 

The Florida Panthers have been named as a possible match for Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy. 

There have been several reports throughout the season that the Panthers could be interested in adding a third-pairing defenseman. Since Dmitry Kulikov went down with an injury, the Panthers have struggled to find a third pairing that they feel comfortable with. 

They signed Jeff Petry in the off-season to a one-year, $775,000 contract, but the move hasn't paid off quite as well as the Panthers would have hoped. They've attempted to play both Uvis Balinskis and Donovan Sebrango alongside him, but haven't always liked the results.

Murphy, whom The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun selected as a match for the Panthers, is a right-handed defenseman and would likely replace Petry in the lineup. As they are both right-handed, the Panthers' third pair could be Kulikov-Murphy. Murphy, 32, has played in 38 games this season, notching five assists.

Throughout his NHL career, Murphy has played 783 games, scoring 43 goals and 165 points. He's only been to the post-season once, playing in nine games. 

The Blackhawks have added several young defenseman to their lineup this year, which is why the 6-foot-4, 212-pound defenseman's ice time has gone down. He's averaging just 15:26 of ice time, over five minutes fewer than last season. 

"The hurdle for Florida would be finding the cap space," said LeBrun. "Murphy’s $4.4 million cap hit is rich, but obviously it would require Chicago retaining some, plus the Panthers have $3.8 million in long-term-injured-reserve money at their disposal with captain Aleksander Barkov out. The Panthers and Blackhawks made a trade a year ago involving Seth Jones. Obviously, this wouldn’t be at the same level, but it could be beneficial."

"I also think the Blackhawks will want to do right by Murphy, who has long been respected in that room," LeBrun continued. "He’s only played nine career playoff games and they were in the Edmonton pandemic bubble in 2020, so he hasn’t experienced a traditional playoff run with fans. Joining the Cup champs would be perfect."

Murphy is in the final season of a four-year, $ 4.4 million contract he signed with the Blackhawks. With the rising cap, the Panthers could re-sign him in the off-season when his contract expires. 

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