The Los Angeles Kings have been linked to Calgary Flames defenseman and primary trade candidate Rasmus Andersson.

In an article by The Athletic, NHL insiders Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston played "NHL Trade Matchmaker" with multiple trade candidates. One of those was Andersson, and while LeBrun picked his destination to be Pacific Division opponents, the Vegas Golden Knights, Johnston's pick was the Kings.

Los Angeles explored the potential fit for Calgary's No. 1 D-man over the summer, according to Johnston. During that off-season, Andersson reportedly wasn't ready to sign an extension for the team looking to acquire him in a trade.

A large part of the happenings of this hypothetical trade is whether Andersson, who is a pending UFA, would sign an extension in a sign-and-trade. The Swede is in the final year of a six-year contract that sees him earn $4.55 million against the salary cap.

Nonetheless, with a reluctance over the off-season, Johnston believes that the "Kings remain a sensible destination with a blue line that could use a jolt."

This year, Andersson is on track to have one of the best seasons of his 10-year career. In 38 appearances, the 29-year-old has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points. He's also averaging a career-high 24:10 of ice time per game, leading the team in that category.

With his production this season, he's on pace to beat his personal bests. In 2021-22, Andersson registered 46 assists and 50 points. In the following campaign, he put up 11 goals and matched that total last season.

The Flames blueliner is on track to finish the year with 15 goals and 54 points. That suggests he'll set new highs in goals and points, and will just be shy in the helpers department. However, all that can change as the midway point of the season approaches.

With Andersson having an exceptional season, it's not going to be a cheap cost for the Kings if they are interested in acquiring the Flames defenseman.

Report: Three Kings Scouts Take In Maple Leafs and Blackhawks, Looking For Scoring WingerThe Fourth Period has reported that the Los Angeles Kings had three scouts watching the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Who could the Kings be looking at in terms of a scoring winger?

Nonetheless, as Johnston wrote, Kings GM Ken Holland "has never shied away from taking a big swing during his Hall of Fame career."

Not long ago, he made a notable deal sending Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens for a second-round pick. Maybe Holland has another move up his sleeve to help push Los Angeles to another level.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

DETROIT — William Nylander will miss his fifth game this season when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed that his star forward will not play, despite the player accompanying the club for the one-game trip to Detroit.

Nylander departed in the second period of the club’s 7-5 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Although Berube didn’t specify the specifics of the lower-body injury, Nylander departed shortly after getting tangled with Senators defenseman Artem Zub.

Nylander scored the game-opening goal on the power play on Saturday. Easton Cowan, who has been a health scratch for the club’s last three games, will draw into his place.

The Leafs are 2-2-0 without Nylander in the lineup this season. He missed three games in late October due to a lower-body injury sustained at the hands of Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Zucker on Oct. 24.

Toronto Maple Leafs • News and CommunityToronto Maple Leafs news, video, analysis and community on The Hockey News Follow all Leafs news at https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/

Cowan has four goals and seven assists in 26 games this season. Berube insisted there was no message sending to the 20-year-old rookie.

“I've communicated with him very well,” Berube said. “A young guy like that you got to have real good communication and let him know what's going on and why and he's in a good spot."

Maple Leafs Await William Nylander's Status For Game Against Red Wings After Lower-Body InjuryWhile William Nylander’s inclusion on the trip to Detroit offers a glimmer of hope, his potential absence looms large for a Maple Leafs team facing the division-leading Red Wings without their star winger.

Cowan for Nylander will be the only change as far as skaters on the ice are considered. Dennis Hildeby is expected to get the start in goal after Joseph Woll started on Saturday. It’s typical for the team to split goaltending duties when playing games on consecutive nights.

The Leafs have won back-to-back games, but face quite a challenge against the Atlantic Division-leading Red Wings. Although satisfied with the club pulling out two points against Ottawa on Saturday, Berube wasn’t pleased with a mistake-filled third period that allowed Ottawa to pull within a goal after Toronto enjoyed a three-goal lead.

Waivers today:#LetsGoOilers Philp#LetsGoPens Heinen#LeafsForever Rifai#TusksUp Valimaki#Isles Bear

For purposes of termination:#LetsGoOilers Tomasekhttps://t.co/so7qgeK2D3

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) December 28, 2025

“I think you look at the mistakes we made in the third period,  they're correctable,” Berube said. “It's things we did well throughout the game that we didn't do well in the third period. But at the same time, we show a lot of going over the good stuff and the puck play and the offensive things that we did well in the game. But you always have to make corrections.”

Earlier in the day, the Leafs sent Henry Thrun to the Marlies. Toronto was allowed to temporarily exceed the 23-player roster limit when they activated Chris Tanev from long-term injured reserve on Dec. 23. Now that the holiday freeze has lifted, the club sent Thrun down to get back to 23 players. The Leafs also placed defenseman Marshall Rifai on waivers. The step was necessary because Rifai sustained a wrist injury in training camp. Although he played in one game with the Marlies on a conditioning stint, waivers were required for him to be sent back down, provided none of the other 31 NHL clubs put in a claim.

D Henry Thrun has been assigned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) December 28, 2025

Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Boris Katchouk is officially on the move.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they have traded Katchouk to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Michael Milne. 

Katchouk signed a two-way contract with the Lightning this off-season, officially beginning his second tenure with the club. However, his second stint as a Bolt has now come to an early end, as he is heading to Minnesota with this minor trade. 

Katchouk played in three games this season with the Lightning before this trade, where he recorded zero points, two blocks, and five hits. He also recorded four goals, six assists, and 10 points in 21 games with the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. 

The Blackhawks acquired Katchouk during the 2021-22 season as a part of the trade that sent forward Brandon Hagel to the Lightning. From there, Katchouk appeared in 117 games with the Blackhawks from 2021-22 to 2023-24, where he posted 11 goals, 15 assists, 26 points, and 176 hits. His time with the Blackhawks ended when he was claimed off waivers by the Ottawa Senators on March 7, 2024. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they have placed forward Danton Heinen on waivers.

Heinen being placed on waivers comes with forward Blake Lizotte being activated off of injured reserve. 

This is the second time that Heinen has been placed on waivers this season, as he also hit the wire in early October. Now, the 30-year-old winger is back on waivers again, and the rest of the NHL has the opportunity to claim him if they wish to. 

Heinen has played in 13 games this season with Pittsburgh, where he has recorded one goal, one assist, and a plus-1 rating. This is after he had nine goals, 20 assists, and 29 points in 79 games split between the Vancouver Canucks and Penguins this past season.

If Heinen clears waivers, Pittsburgh will be able to assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Heinen has had plenty of success with the AHL club earlier this season, as he has recorded six goals and 17 points in 12 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2025-26.

In 579 career NHL games over 10 seasons, Heinen has posted 97 goals, 146 assists, and 243 points. 

The Montreal Canadiens currently have a 20-12-5 record and are third place in the Atlantic Division standings. Due to this, there is an expectation that they will continue to try to improve their roster after acquiring Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings. 

One of the Canadiens' needs right now is another impactful and skilled winger. Due to this, they are now being viewed as a potential fit for one of the NHL's best trade candidates. 

In The Athletic's latest NHL trade matchmaker column, insider Chris Johnston named the Canadiens as a potential trade fit for Nashville Predators winger Jonathan Marchessault. 

"This is a move that would certainly sit well with Marchessault, which is important given the fact he’s got that NMC in his contract. The former Conn Smythe Trophy winner would bring some experience to the NHL’s youngest roster and should be able to add offensive pop to the Habs’ top-six forward group," Johnston wrote. 

Johnston also mentioned that the Canadiens could move Patrik Laine, who has an $8.7 million cap hit, to the Predators in a hypothetical Marchessault deal to make things work out financially. 

It is worth noting that Marchessault is having a down season by his standards with the Predators, as he has recorded seven goals and 10 points in 28 games. Yet, when looking at his resume, there is a clear reason to believe that he should bounce back. Just last season with Nashville, he posted 21 goals and 56 points in 78 games. This was after he had 42 goals and 69 points in 82 games with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023-24. 

Marchessault would be more than a rental for the Canadiens if acquired, too. This is because he has a $5.5 million cap hit until the end of the 2028-29 season. Thus, he would have the potential to be a nice part of the Canadiens' forward group for multiple seasons if brought in. 

The Minnesota Wild made a trade early Sunday morning with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Minnesota sent forward prospect Michael Milne to the Lightning for a veteran power forward Boris Katchouk.

Milne, 23, was drafted by Minnesota in the third round, 89th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft. He has been very injury prone in every season he has been in the Wild's organization.

The 5-foot-10 forward has appeared in 15 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season, recording two goals and five points. He has played 172 career AHL games, all with Iowa, and has recorded 32 goals and 65 points.

Katchouk, 27, was a second round pick by the Lightning in 2026. He has played in 261 career AHL games and has recorded 64 goals, 90 assists and 154 points. He has played in three NHL games this year and has zero points and five hits.

In 179 career NHL games, Katchouk has 15 goals, 21 assists, 36 points, 310 hits and is a minus-23. The 6-foot-3 forward has played four seasons in the NHL with three different teams and is expected to go to the Iowa Wild.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.

Recent Wild Stories

Quinn Hughes Is Now Third All-Time In This Elite American Defenseman CategoryQuinn Hughes notched his 27th three-assist game, climbing past a legend and into elite company among American defensemen.

- Minnesota Wild Set Franchise Record Heading Into Holliday Break.

- 'You Want To Get Out Of Your Zone': Why Quinn Hughes Changes The Game For The Wild.

- 'We Want To Compete For The Stanley Cup': Why Bill Guerin Went All In.

- When The Ice Shrinks, The Wild's Game Is Built To Hold Up.

- 'Sometimes You Gotta Look Yourself In The Mirror': Matt Boldy's Message Has Now Become The Wild's Mantra.

The Chicago Blackhawks just earned their gutsiest win of the season on Saturday night. They woke up after a three-day holiday break, got on a plane, flew to Dallas without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, and beat one of the best teams in the NHL to snap a six-game losing streak.

Blackhawks Snap Losing Streak With Quality Win Over Stars The Chicago Blackhawks picked up a quality win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

Now, on the second half of a back-to-back, the Blackhawks will face the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center. Quickly, the mentality is to turn the losing streak into a winning streak. 

Scouting Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had a lot of success over the last 20 years. However, they are in a strange phase right now as their aging superstars are still great, but the rest of the team is not good enough to be a playoff team. 

At 15-12-9, the Penguins are only three points below the playoff line, but they are the third-to-last team in the conference. Anything can happen, but making the postseason would be a tremendous challenge for them at this point. 

Rakell-Crosby-Rust

Mantha-Novak-Brazeau

McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen

Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari

Wotherspoon-Karlsson

Kulak-Letang

Shea-St. Ivany

Silovs

For the last 20 years, everything to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins started and ended with Sidney Crosby. It still does in 2025-26. He leads the team with 20 goals and 38 points in 36 games played. 

He will lead their top line alongside Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. This is the line that the Blackhawks will need their best against at all times. Crosby knows how to defend well, be hard to forecheck against, and turn it all into offense. 

This forward group has some notable players alongside some young guys looking to establish their games at the NHL level.

They will, however, be missing Evgeni Malkin, who has missed the last 10 games with an injury. He won't return against Chicago, but he did skate before practice on Saturday. Malkin, like Crosby, will be a first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the greatest ever.  

On defense, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are the two leaders. Fittingly, they are aging superstars who will be in the Hall of Fame like Crosby and Malkin, but they still know how to get it done at a high level. In goal for Pittsburgh will be Arturs Silovs. 

Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks, playing the second half of a back-to-back with travel, have the cards stacked against them in this matchup as well. However, they've proven that they can compete in situations like this. Without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, it's an even harder challenge, but coach Blashill will have them prepared to give it a good effort. 

Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Slaggert

Teravainen-Donato-Burakovsky

Moore-Greene-Dach

Lardis-Toninato-Lafferty

Vlasic-Crevier

Grzelcyk-Levshunov

Kaiser-Murphy

Knight

Captain Nick Foligno has been unable to return over their last couple of games, but every match is a chance for him to come back. If it is in this matchup, you can expect one of Sam Lafferty or Dominic Toninato to take a seat from this group.

Landon Slaggert was called up from Rockford to replace Ilya Mikheyev, who is out due to the birth of his child, but he played so well against the Stars that it would be hard to bench him one night later. 

Arvid Soderblom started in goal for the Blackhawks on Saturday night. That means that Spencer Knight will likely get the nod against the Penguins on Sunday. 

How To Watch

The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be found locally on CHSN. Nationally, it can be streamed on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 6 PM CT. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Ottawa Senators’ 7–5 loss in Toronto on Saturday night won’t go down as the greatest game ever played in the Battle of Ontario, but it was certainly entertaining. Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist for Toronto, which snapped a five-game losing slide against the Sens.

Neither team seemed to be at their best, which isn’t uncommon following a three-day holiday break when players are completely off skates and – how shall I put this? – their standard nutritional intake is ignored.

In a lot of ways, the game resembled a holiday skate on the ODR, with loads of goal scoring and only a passing interest in defence.

The Senators’ penalty kill proved to be the perfect tonic for Toronto’s 32nd-ranked power play, which went to work early to give the Leafs a 2–0 lead by way of William Nylander, who would later leave the game with a lower-body injury and did not return. Knies got into the act with a snapshot from the bumper position on a nice pass by Max Domi, who finished the night with three assists.

But the Senators fought back to tie the game.

Nick Cousins tucked home his sixth of the year with under three minutes left in the period to make it 2–1. Then, 18 seconds into the middle frame, Ridly Greig charged to the net with the puck with Leafs defenceman Philippe Myers all over him. Greig managed to get the puck to the net, but Myers ended up plowing Greig, the puck, and Leafs goalie Joseph Woll into the Toronto net.

After review, it was determined that Myers was the one responsible for putting the puck into the Leafs’ net, and the goal stood.

With the score now tied and the ship apparently righted, the Sens began taking on water again after Linus Ullmark let in a pair of goals that head coach Travis Green admitted after the game he didn't like.

The first restored Toronto's lead when a slow-moving puck trickled through Ullmark's legs and sat exposed near the goal line. Bobby McMann whacked it into the vacant net. On the next one, Ullmark gave up a big rebound, which fell right to Auston Matthews, who was standing near the crease right beside Thomas Chabot. Let completely untouched, Matthews crammed in the rebound for one of the easiest goals of his career, which would be the end of Ullmark’s night.

He certainly wasn’t good on Saturday, allowing four goals on 14 shots, but he didn’t get much help either. Backup Leevi Merilainen was scored on with the first shot he faced from Nicholas Robertson.

Down 5-2, the Senators came out and made a game of it in the third.

Drake Batherson scored 14 seconds in, taking a pass from Dylan Cozens in the slot and roofing a beauty over the top of Woll. Tim Stützle then made it 5–4 just over five minutes into the third, cutting into the slot and ripping a wrist shot that Woll got a big piece of, but not enough to stop it from going in.

That momentum didn’t last even a minute, as Knies scored his second of the game to put Toronto back up 6–4.

Jordan Spence made it 6–5 when his wrist shot hit Claude Giroux on the skate, which stung the veteran, but the puck bounced right back to Spence, who had all kinds of room to reload and shoot to make it 6–5.

Giroux, despite the bruise, ended up with two assists in his 1,300th NHL game.

Ottawa continued to push in the late going, but John Tavares put it away with an empty-net goal with 1:16 to play.

Now that the Sens have shaken off the eggnog, they’ll be back home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night to kick off a four-game homestand that take them into 2026 and finish off the first half of their regular season.

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.