Going into this season the plan was for the Chicago Blackhawks to be one of the worst teams in the entire league. Arizona went 1-2 last week, losing to the Anaheim Ducks at home, blanking the St. Louis Blues 5-0, then dropping an overtime game to the Ducks in Anaheim, 2-1.
With a few end-to-end goals, a save-of-the-year candidate, and one very large hat, here’s everything you need to see from this past week of NHL action. Ok, while he technically wasn't an EBUG, Matt Berlin and the Edmonton Oilers are still most certainly the talk of the town after he made a cameo to end the Oilers-Blackhawks game Saturday night.
Plagued by injuries this season, the Colorado Avalanche have surged back into a playoff spot with seven wins in their past eight games. O'Reilly, who was drafted 33rd overall by the Avalanche in 2009 and spent six years with the franchise, is a pending unrestricted free agent, carrying a cap hit of $7.5 million.
The 33-year-old center is signed through 2026-27 with an average annual value of $8 million and a three-team trade list. SPECTOR’S NOTE: Couture is enjoying a solid performance this season with 42 points in 51 games.
Defenseman Luke Schenn has been excellent for the Canucks this year and has a cap hit of just $850,000. The Hawks would have to eat a lot of the salary to move them, and they can definitely afford to do it, but it has to make sense if they’re going to say goodbye to two of the best players in franchise history.
In ANaheim, Trevor Zegras’ 18th goal of the campaign gave the Ducks a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. “The more the game went on the better we were,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said.
Various reports have suggested the asking price, at a minimum, is two first-round draft picks and a prospect, if not more, for the 24-year-old defenseman, who is signed through the 2024-25 season. "For me, it's pretty easy to come up with when you look at the player involved.
Shayna Goldman of The Athletic: Bill Armstrong made it known that Jakob Chychrun is likely out the door. They have enough prospects to make a deal happen and would have flexibility.
Jakob Chychrun - Nabs helper in win Chychrun posted an assist, three blocked shots, two hits and a plus-2 rating in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Golden Knights.