Category: Sports News

The Chicago Blackhawks will celebrate their annual “Hockey Fights Cancer” night at the United Center on Sunday. This game will take place against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. 

Florida, coming off an emotional overtime win over the Minnesota Wild one night prior (courtesy of Brad Marchand), comes into Sunday 27-20-3. The Blackhawks are 21-22-8. Both teams are alive in very different Wild Card races, but each needs all the points it can get. 

Scouting Florida

The Florida Panthers enter Sunday five points out of the playoffs. The Atlantic Division is loaded, and a couple of very good teams will miss out as a result. Being the defending champs doesn’t get you any grace in the standings. 

Florida is without its best player, Sasha Barkov. He was injured during training camp and is likely to miss the entire season. Matthew Tkachuk, who is also a game-breaking forward, just returned for the first time last week. 

Verhaeghe - Rodrigues - Reinhart

Greer - Bennett - Tkachuk

Luostarinen - Lundell - Marchand

Vilmanis - Kunin - Samoskevich

Forsling - Ekblad

Mikkola - Balinskis

Bjornfot - Petry

Tarasov

Future Hall of Famer Sergei Bobrovsky started in their win over the Wild, so Daniil Tarasov is projected to be the starter. With the way Florida defends and plays when they do have the puck, they have full confidence in both guys.

Brad Marchand, who scored in overtime on Saturday, is still a game breaker at his age. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell, and Carter Verhaeghe are also players you game-plan for. With that many impactful forwards, it is no wonder that they've been in the final for three straight years. 

On defense, they are missing Seth Jones, who is going to be missing from the Olympics as well. Even without him, Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling play a key role in their championship-caliber defending.  

Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks are coming off a 2-0-1 stretch. They didn't play perfect hockey against the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and Friday's back-to-back games, but they still found a way to earn three of four points. 

Moore-Bedard-Burakovsky

Greene-Nazar-Lardis

Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev

Donato-Foligno-Slaggert

Vlasic-Crevier

Kaiser-Levshunov

Grzelcyk-Murphy

Knight

During the morning skate, Jeff Blashill had Oliver Moore and Nick Lardis seperated, but both are in the top six. This is an opportunity for Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar to skate with talented and speedy wingers around their age. Moore has played better as a center, and with Bedard, he will take faceoffs and be involved in all three zones. 

Spencer Knight will get the start for Chicago against his old team. After a great goaltending performance all around last week, Knight is looking to keep it going. 

Colton Dach and Sam Lafferty are the healthy scratches here. As of now, there are no illnesses to report; only Teuvo Teravainen is still out with an injury. 

How To Watch

The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it is available on CHSN locally and on NHL Network nationally. The puck will drop shortly after 6:00 PM CT. 

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With the Feb. 4 roster freeze and March 6. NHL Trade Deadline approaching, trade rumors revolving around Artemi Panarin have begun to pick up steam.

Quickly after New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury issued a letter outlining the team’s plan to retool the roster, it was reported that Drury held an individual meeting with Panarin and informed him that the Rangers do not plan to re-sign him past this season and will look to trade him to anywhere he wishes to go. 

Panarin’s seven-year, $81.5 million contract is set to expire this upcoming summer, as he will become an unrestricted free agent if a contract extension is not signed before July 1. 

In a potential deal for Panarin, the Rangers are reportedly seeking a similar return to the one the New York Islanders received for Brock Nelson from the Colorado Avalanche.

"He's the name that everyone's focused on right now and if you'll remember last year Brock Nelson was traded from the Islanders to Colorado and the trade was for Cal Ritchie, a first rounder, and a conditional third, there were other players involved, but those were the key pieces, and it sounds like that's where the Rangers starting point is with Panarin right now,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said. 

Which teams may be in the mix for Panarin’s services?

Friedman links a few specific teams to Panarin, including the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and Washington Capitals.

It’s unclear if he would be willing to waive his no-move clause for any of these three teams or if he has a preference on exactly where he would like to end up. 

Why The Rangers Should Look To Target Shane Wright In Potential Trade A player who fits the exact criteria the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">Rangers</a> are looking for has found himself in the thick of trade discussions.&nbsp;

“I think some of the teams are looking around, Anaheim,” Friedman said. “Panarin has a history with Joel Quenneville, I think LA has some decisions to make about their overall situation where they are right now and where they truly are as a franchise and what an extension would look like, I think Washington with an extension, and I think there's a bunch of other teams, I'm always conceding that I'm missing teams in on this, but I think that's kinda where the market starts, the trade talks start and some of the teams are trying to figure out what Panarin is willing to do.”

In 51 games this season, the 34-year-old forward has recorded 19 goals, 37 assists, and 56 points, while averaging 20:51 minutes.

The Buffalo Sabres have successfully bounced back from a pair of losses against Minnesota and in Carolina with three straight wins over Nashville, Montreal, and a 5-0 shutout against the New York Islanders at the UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon. Jason Zucker scored twice, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Alex Tuch scored for Buffalo, who moved past Montreal into third place in the Atlantic Division. 

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to the media after the game:

It seemed like your penalty kill got you the momentum back, like it did for the Islanders:

It looked like when we were on the power play, and we were on the penalty kill. I thought our penalty kill was fantastic too. Didn't give up q chance. Did a real good job, Lyon stalled them out. I thought when we had chances to pressure, we did. Maybe a couple clears, we didn't get down the ice. But other than that, these last two games, the times we have killed them have been very good.

You talked about this before. In the third period,  you changed your lines, and had a defensive guy on each line. Was that your thought, since you don't have the last change?

I changed them in the second, to be honest with you. I just didn't like the way it was going. We just needed a little spark. Not really more about defensive guys, just more about seeing if we could get a little bit of life in the lines that generate a little bit more. And I thought, the McLeod line came out at the start of two periods and got us a goal. Benson and Thompson have played a lot together, and Ostlund has played such good hockey, that line looked pretty good too. I think sometimes inside of a game, you just have to mix things up. We're not getting the matchups. They were trying to match up their heavy guys against us. So I thought, try to get away from it.

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How big of a spark has Jason Zucker provided in recent games?

Jason Zucker has kind of sparked you guys the last couple of years. We need that. We need that out of our veteran guys. He not only scores two goals, but he lays himself out on a big blocked shot too. I look at that sometimes as being bigger than scoring. He's putting himself first and forefront to help win a hockey game.

Mattias Samuelsson has always been a defensive contributor, but how big has his offense this season?

I think we've all seen the creating offense and making good plays. He's really been a rock back there on both sides of the puck when it comes to killing plays, and it comes to joining even. The shot to Tuch on the fifth goal. I mean, perfect shot. Tuch got his blade underneath it, but his outlet passes first and foremost, I thought were excellent.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

The Buffalo Sabres just keep winning. With their 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday, they now have a 29-17-5 record and have jumped up to third place in the Atlantic Division standings. 

With the Sabres continuing to impress, they are putting themselves in a position to be buyers at the 2026 NHL trade deadline. One of their top goals ahead of the deadline should be to bring in another top-six forward. When looking at trade candidates around the NHL, New York Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck stands out in a major way. 

With Rangers GM Chris Drury confirming that the team is retooling and open to making moves, Trocheck has been creating a ton of buzz as a trade candidate. When noting that he is a proven top-six center with an affordable $5.625 million cap hit until the end of the 2028-29 season, several teams should be targeting him. The Sabres would be wise to be among them. 

If the Sabres brought in Trocheck, he would give them another star forward to work with in their top six and on both their power play and penalty kill. This would be great for a Sabres team that is looking to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2011. 

In 38 games so far this season with the Rangers, Trocheck has recorded 11 goals, 21 assists, and 32 points. This is after he had 59 points in 82 games during the 2024-25 season and a career-high 77 points in 82 games back in 2023-24. With numbers like these, he would be a major pickup for the Sabres, and it will be intriguing to see if they pursue him because of it. 

The Buffalo Sabres turnaround in mid-December may have had more to do with two factors; the return of center Josh Norris from nearly two months on the injured list, and the going with Alex Lyon between the pipes. The Sabres went 14-3-1 with Norris in the lineup before he suffered a rib injury against Philadelphia on January 14th, and Lyon won seven straight before suffering a lower-body injury in St. Louis on December 29.

The Sabres pace slowed down slightly with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis between the pipes, but Lyon has continued where he left off, winning two games this week against Nashville and pitching a 26-save shutout against the NY Islanders on Saturday afternoon for his club-record tying ninth consecutive victory. 

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The win is Lyon’s 12th of the season (12-6-3, 2.70 GAA, .911sv %) and moves the 33-year-old into the club lead in victories over Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The veteran netminder had matched five other Sabres goalies (Ryan Miller, Bob Sauve, Don Edwards, Carter Hutton, and Gerry Desjardins) with eight consecutive victories, and is now tied with Desjardins for the club-record, set in 1976-77.

"He's just given us a lot of real good hockey battle-hardened games. Tonight was fabulous. You look at the power play that we got a whole all out of sorts. The four saves he made on the power play, that could have turned the game for sure," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game.  "(Alex has) been able to step in, coming off injury, and play well, battle through games. He's given us some great hockey."

The win moved the Sabres into third spot in the Atlantic Division, tied with Montreal and one point ahead of Boston, who hold the two Eastern Conference wildcard spots. Lyon could set the record when Buffalo finishes off their road trip in Toronto on Tuesday.  

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

The NHL will freeze rosters on Feb. 4, ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, and they’ll unfreeze on Feb. 22, meaning teams will be unable to execute trades or other transactions during that two-and-a-half-week stretch.

Many close to team operations suggest the Feb. 4 date could be used as a “mini trade deadline,” ahead of the real NHL trade deadline on Friday, March 6. The landscape in the NHL this season is vastly different from most due to almost all 32 teams remaining in a playoff race to varying degrees.

The only two teams to have, in any shape or form, declared themselves “sellers” this season are the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers. The Rangers sent out a statement to fans and followers that they’re to enter a “retool” period with their franchise and make significant changes to their current roster.

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Rangers star winger Artemi Panarin (34) has been told that the organization has no intention of offering him a contract extension, and they’d be willing to work with him to find him a new team via in-season trade.

Premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman mentioned the Anaheim Ducks as a team that’s “looking around” at Panarin on his “Saturday Headlines” TV hit and that the current asking price is what the New York Islanders received when they sent center Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche at the 2025 trade deadline.

Brock Neslson was traded along with William Dufour to Colorado in exchange for Calum Ritchie, Oliver Kylington, a 2026 first-round pick, and a conditional 2028 third. The conditions were not met, so the Islanders will keep that third-round pick.

“(Panarin) is the name everyone is kind of focused on right now,” Friedman said. “It sounds like (the Nelson trade) is where the Rangers’ starting point is with Panarin right now. Part of this is also, will he be willing to sign an extension?

He has a no-move clause, so he controls where he goes. Some of the teams that are looking around: Anaheim. Panarin has a history with Joel Quenneville.”

Friedman also mentioned the Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals as potentially interested teams.

Panarin is in the final year of a seven-year contract that carries an AAV of $11.6 million. His deal also includes a full no-move clause, which essentially allows him to handpick his destination and could drive his acquisition cost down.

If the Anaheim Ducks are involved, they’d likely want some sort of guarantee that he’d sign an extension, as their season could very much end with them not qualifying for the playoffs, and if they do, it’s unlikely they’d be serious Stanley Cup contenders.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli appeared on Sportsnet’s “Real Kyper & Bourne” show and revealed Panarin’s desired term for said extension.

“I think there’s a number of teams that are looking at this situation, going, ‘Hmm, I don’t know if we’re in it for the long haul with Panarin,’ and by long haul, I mean legitimately that,” Seravalli said. “The belief is around the league that Panarin is looking for a longer-term deal, potentially even one that takes him to 40.”

The Ducks have nearly $26 million in current cap space and a projected $39 million in cap space for the 2026-27 season. Ryan Poehling, Jacob Trouba, and Radko Gudas will be unrestricted free agents come July 1, while Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, Ian Moore, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger will become restricted free agents.

That projected cap space could disappear quickly, but the Ducks could still likely fit Panarin’s potential extension under the 2026-27 ceiling. The question then becomes one of cost and fit.

As mentioned, the acquisition cost may be depressed due to limited options, and even if Panarin gets his desired six-year term, he’ll likely require north of $10 million in AAV. If the Ducks were to match the Rangers’ ask for him, Anaheim would send a first-round pick to New York along with a player or prospect of similar value to Ritchie (Tristan Luneau, Stian Solberg, or Olen Zellweger).

On paper, a 35 to 40-year-old Artemi Panarin doesn’t quite align with the Ducks’ perceived “contending window,” as his best years are likely behind him. However, he’s produced 926 points (321-605=926) in 803 career NHL games and has scored over a point-per-game every season since his first two in the NHL (2015-16 and 2016-17), where he scored 77 and 74 points, respectively. On the last-place team in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26, he’s again tallied 56 points (19-37=56) in 51 games. Though he eventually will, it doesn’t seem like he’s slowing down just yet.

Though the ideal scenario would be for the Ducks to acquire a “prime-aged” star player (roughly 24-27) who does fit their window, Panarin would, in theory, stabilize a clearly volatile young core, aid in rehabilitating their struggling power play, as well as buoy, nurture, and enhance the potential of the team’s youngest and most talented players.

Most insiders and speculators are theorizing that Ducks' general manager, Pat Verbeek, is looking to take a “big swing” to improve his roster this season or over the summer. We’ll soon discover if Panarin will represent that swing and if he’ll rejoin former teammates Trouba, Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Chris Kreider, and his first NHL coach, Joel Quenneville, in Anaheim.

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