So if the Washington Capitals wanted Martin Erat, who was crushed into boards by Florida Panthers’ Erik Gudbranson Saturday, injuring his left leg, and were willing to take his contract ($4.5 million for the next two years), did Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini not call the Capitals to see if they wanted Ales Hemsky? The veteran winger only has one year left on his contract and will earn $5 million in 2013-14. Hemsky is Erat’s equal as a player — neither is a scorer, both are passing wingers and both are from the Czech Republic. Would the Capitals have given up Forsberg for Hemsky?
- OK, we’ve been rapping Alex Ovechkin most of the year, saying he’s lost his fire and his passion for scoring, but he’s got it back. Twenty-five goals now, 16 in the last 14 for the Caps to tie Steve Stamkos. He might score 35 in 48 games. Maybe he hasn’t lost it, after all. We’ll hold off until with the total mea culpa until the playoffs, though. When teams play Ovie night after night they’ve tended to frustrate him, and, yes, the Caps are winning the southeast division.
- Most people think the best the Calgary Flames could have received for veteran goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, if he opted to go to the Toronto Maple Leafs at last Wednesday’s trade deadline, was a second-round draft pick, not Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens in return. I know the Flames said they owed it to Kiprusoff to give him some leeway for time served and shots saved, but this is the same as using a no-trade clause, without a no-trade clause. Or am I wrong?
- The Montreal Canadiens are the NHL’s surprise team this season, but I don’t see any young goalies in their system, which means they might be taking one early goalie in the June entry draft. The top three goalies going into the draft are Edmonton Oil Kings backup Tristan Jarry, Eric Comrie of the Tri-City Americans and Halifax Mooseheads’ Zachary Furcale. Probably half of the’ NHL’s teams are eyeing them to go in the Round 2.
- Nice early return on Jussi Jokinen with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored in his first game, got a shootout goal and won 12 of 15 on faceoffs. He has 32 goals in shootouts, which ties him with Pavel Datsyuk and Zach Parise for No. 1 all-time. The Penguins are the only NHL team not to lose in a shootout or overtime this season. With the Carolina Hurricanes picking up 30 per cent of Jokinen’s $3-million contract next season, he’s a manageable $2.1 million. Very astute pickup by Penguins GM Ray Shero.
- Most scouts think Danny DeKeyser, who played strongly in his first NHL game for the Detroit Red Wings Friday against the Colorado Avalanche and was out there a fair bit against St. Louis Sunday, figures to be a third pairing NHL defenceman. Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said he was going to be a “good player for a long time,” but he doesn’t have the high-end game Oilers defenceman Justin Schultz displayed when he was a free agent coming out of college. He’s good, though.
- Corollary to the Erat for Forsberg trade: the Capitals also got American Hockey League forward Michael Latta in the deal. “He’s greasy, really greasy,” said one NHL team amateur scout. Many scouts think Latta can play in the NHL in a year or so. He’s like a Matt Hendricks, who currently plays for Washington.
- If there’s any doubt that Ilya Kovalchuk is the engine that drives the New Jersey Devils, it’s pretty clear they can’t win without him. His separated right shoulder won’t be fully healed until the last week of the season. By then, the Devils, who pushed the Los Angeles Kings to six games in the Stanley Cup final last June, could be out of the playoff picture.
- Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron has had four concussions now since the Randy Jones demolition job in October 2007. This latest concussion where Ottawa Senators’ Colin Greening hit him was minor stuff. Same story with former Edmonton Oiler Jeff Beukeboom, who had six concussions and never played again after current Calgary Flames assistant coach Martin Gelinas accidentally kneed him the head, not hard but hard enough for Beukeboom’s already fragile skull. With each concussion, players seemingly need less trauma to give them another. Bergeron went to see concussion expert Dr. Robert Cantu on Sunday.
- If the Calgary Flames were really interested in starting over, they would have dealt 30-year-old Curtis Glencross, who had a score of contending NHL clubs sniffing around at the deadline. They could have retrieved a younger, warm body and a good draft pick for him because he’s in his prime and at a reasonable ($2.55 million) salary-cap hit. They should deal him early rather than later if they’re tearing down the team. Is he going to be happy stuck in a massive rebuild?
- Sidney Crosby hopes he’s back by the last few games of regular season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, undoubtedly with a cage-shield to protect the plate in his jaw. For now, he’s on a steady diet of milkshakes. He said jokingly to friends that unfortunately there were no ham shakes so he could enjoy his Easter Sunday dinner.
- The Calgary Flames have a whack of salary-cap room next season, but when you’ve got a team that finishes 28th, 29th or 30th, you only attract free agents by overpaying them. Calgary did that with defenceman Dennis Wideman last summer (five years, $26.25 million), and they weren’t as bad as they are now.
- Washington Capitals centre Mike Ribeiro must look at the list of free-agent centres this July 1 and lick his chops. Florida Panthers’ Stephen Weiss, who’s currently out after wrist surgery, and Toronto Maple Leafs’ Tyler Bozak are his only real competition for a big payday. But if he’s smart he’ll stay where he is for three years at the same $5 million a season. “The grass is not always greener somewhere else,” said Oilers defenceman Ryan Whitney, who is also an unrestricted free agent. I suspect he’d take three years at $3.25 million per season from the Oilers, if they were offering that.
