Ruutu was expected to be an attractive trade target for a lot of contending teams. This signing puts even more attention on the Blue Jackets forwards and the likes of Ales Hemsky.

The 29-year brings an blend of physicality, two-way play and offensive skill. He set a career high with 57 points in 2010-11, and had 26 goals in 2008-09. This season he has scored 17 goals and 30 points in 57 games. This is a pretty clear sign that while veterans like Jaroslav Spacek and Bryan Allen could be on the move, this Carolina franchise is not in selling mode despite a frustrating season.

Ovechkin played in an unusually low amount of ice time in Monday’s loss to Carolina, and has only practised for about eight minutes this morning since then. The injury has been described as ‘lower body’. It’s not clear what the odds are in terms of whether Ovechkin will make it into the line-up or not, but it is pretty clear that this is a bad time for the Capitals to be without a key player.

Keith Aucoin has been called up from the AHL and could suit up if Ovechkin is out.

On paper, this looks like an excellent move on the part of the Coyotes. They give up their third string goaltender, two picks, but only one of them high, and in two different years. Vermette is a versatile, two-way forward. He is 29 and signed through the next three years at a relatively good price. He is just the sort of forward, who should do well in Phoenix under Dave Tippett, where he won’t be under pressure to impress statistically. Vermette’s career has been one of never quite reaching his full potential. He had three consecutive improving seasons coming out of the lockout with Ottawa culminating in a 24-goal, 53-point campaign in 2007-08. However, a disappointing performance the next season saw him traded to Columbus. His first full season with the Blue Jackets would be a career best as he scored 27 goals and 65 points. 2010-11 would be a little bit of a come down, he potted just 19 goals along with 47 points, and this season he has just eight goals and 27 points in 60 games.

However, make no mistakes that GM Don Maloney knows what he is doing, and he knows he has acquired a player, who should thrive while playing Coyotes hockey.

It isn’t clear where this leaves the Blue Jackets. GM Scott Howson made it clear that he understand his team needs to move forward, but didn’t indicate whether the Vermette trade would be the first step in an all out fire sale, or whether this was just one of the moves being made to re-stock the cupboards. The league waits with baited breath to see whether Rick Nash and/or Jeff Carter have new homes after February 27.

He’s in the final season of a two-year contract that has an average annual value of $1,937,500. The newspaper is reporting the new contract would have a salary-cap hit of $2.2 million per season.

The newspaper quotes Bertuzzi’s agent, Pat Morris, as saying, “We’re working at it, and getting closer.”

Bertuzzi is in the third season of his second stint with the Red Wings (he played eight games in 2006-07, then returned in 2009-10). In 225 games, he has 48 goals and 74 assists. He’s also been pretty durable, missing just eight games the last three seasons.

Originally drafted by the New York Islanders in the first round of the 1993 Entry Draft (No. 23), Bertuzzi has 301 goals and 441 assists in 1,076 games with the Islanders, Canucks, Panthers, Red Wings, Ducks and Flames.

[From NHL.com]

In typical fashion, the injury is being succinctly described as of the ‘upper body’ variety. Buffalo doesn’t practice today, Regehr’s status is listed as day-to-day and is completely unknown for Friday’s game against Boston.

Khabibulin tweaked his groin during Sunday’s loss to Vancouver, and his injury will likely to sideline him until at least after the trade deadline. His injury makes his trade status less certain, especially combined with the fact that both he and Oilers GM Steve Tambellini have publicly stated that a trade is unlikely to happen.

Khabibulin has shared duties with 25-year Devan Dubnyk this season and has one more year left on his deal. Yann Danis has been called up from Edmonton’s minor league affiliate.

Los Angeles’ offense exploded in the first period of their game against Phoenix, but the Coyotes gradually clawed their way back into it, and eventually won the game thanks to Mikkel Boedker’s shootout tally. Drew Doughty, Andrei Loktionov, Dustin Brown and Justin Williams scored in the loss for the Kings; Jonathan Quick made 25 saves. Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata scored two goals each, Vrbata’s game tying tally came with less than three minutes left on the clock. Phoenix pulled four points clear of ninth place and into a tie with San Jose in the Pacific. LA moved back up to eighth with the point.

Two teams with slim playoff chances took to the ice, one appears to be in all out sell mode, while the other is still holding on. Tampa Bay beat Anaheim 3-2 for their third straight win despite trading off veterans Pavel Kubina, Dominic Moore and Steve Downie. Steve Stamkos scored two goals, both in the first period, and then assisted on Teddy Purcell’s second period strike as the Lightning took 2-0 and 3-1 leads. Purcell also added two assists. Mathieu Garon made 28 saves to improve to 8-2-2 in his last 12 games. Saku Koivu and Bobby Ryan scored in the second to keep the game close, but the third period remained goal-less. Tampa are now just five points behind eighth place Toronto, while the Ducks fell to six points back of LA in the West.

Dallas moved back to within one point of the playoffs with a 3-0 road victory over Montreal. Ryan Garbutt, Mike Ribeiro and Tom Wandell scored the goals for the Stars, who haven’t been showing the best form lately and are still without leading scorer Jamie Benn. Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves for the shutout. Carey Price stopped 33 shots in the Canadiens net, but Montreal lost their second straight and slipped to seven points behind eighth in the East.

New Jersey made it four wins in a row with a 4-3 overtime victory over Toronto. Petr Sykora, David Clarkson, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored in regulation for the Devils, but the Maple Leafs hung in there all the way getting goals from Tim Connolly, Clarke MacArthur and Phil Kessel. Defenseman Mark Fayne would get the winning goal in overtime, while Martin Brodeur finished with 29 saves. The point ensures that the Leafs remain in eighth place, and moves them two points clear of 10th place Washington.

Chicago made it four straight wins with a 2-1 home decision against the red hot Detroit. Valtteri Filppula got the Red Wings on the board first, but the Blackhawks would take elevate their game with each period. Jimmy Hayes scored his fifth goal of the season, and Marcus Kruger got the eventual game winner early in the third. Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots as he continues his solid form. Jimmy Howard returned to the ice for the first time in seven games and looked sharp while making 27 saves.Chicago made it four straight wins with a 2-1 home decision against the red hot Detroit.

Consecutive wins and suddenly Buffalo has a sniff for the playoffs again. The Sabres beat the Islanders 2-1 to move to just six points behind eighth place Toronto. Tyler Myers and Thomas Vanek scored the goals, while Derek Roy and Jason Pominville each recorded two assists. Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots conceding just the one goal to Frans Nielson. Kevin Poulin bounced back from a short game against Ottawa with a strong 35-save performance.

It hasn’t been a particularly regular occurrence of late, but it happened last night as Edmonton beat Calgary in the ‘Battle of Alberta’. They didn’t just beat the Flames, they thrashed them scoring six goals. Scott Hannan scored to give Calgary a 1-0 lead, but Jordan Eberle tied it up before the end of the first period, and a four-goal second sealed it for the Oilers. Ales Hemsky, Eric Belanger, Sam Gagne, Ryan Smyth and Taylor Hall scored for Edmonton, while Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves.

Winnipeg were denied a chance to take the lead in the Southeast division by a Wayne Simmonds goal with 10 seconds left in regulation, which forced the game into overtime. Jaromir Jagr scored the winner for Philadelphia in overtime as the Flyers fired 55 shots on Ondrej Pavelec; Pavelec stopped 50 of them in a strong performance. Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Maxime Talbot scored the other goals for Philadelphia, while Ilya Bryzgalov was shaky once again making just 22 saves. Dustin Byfuglien, Evander Kane and Andrew Ladd (2) scored for the Jets, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games.

Pittsburgh got their first ever win against the Rangers in the Consol Energy Center. Evgeni Malkin and Steve Sullivan scored for the Penguins, while Marc-Andre Fleury secured the shutout making 27 saves. Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves in the loss. Pittsburgh remain in sixth place, but they are in a close battle with Atlantic division rivals New Jersey and Philadelphia for fourth and fifth place.

As they prepare for the potential of a fire sale, Columbus fans got a boost on Tuesday night as their team thrashed San Jose 6-3. Jeff Carter scored two in the first period, and capped off a hat-trick in the third. RJ Umberger, Rick Nash and David Savard scored the other goals, while Steve Mason would finish with 38 saves. Logan Couture struck twice and Joe Thornton also scored, but the Sharks dropped to their fourth consecutive loss, and are now only top of the Pacific by virtue of fewer games played.

Nashville dealt Vancouver their first regulation defeat since Jan 12 (a span of 14 games), and are looking better and better as the postseason nears. Mike Fisher, Sergei Kostitsyn and David Legwand scored the goals for the Predators, while Pekka Rinne stopped 32 shots. Roberto Luongo made 25 saves for the Canucks with Dale Weise potting Vancouver’s lone goal.

Tampa Bay swung a pair of deals, first swapping forward Steve Downie for defenseman Kyle Quincey from Colorado. They then traded Quincey to Detroit in exchange for a 2012 first round draft pick and minor league blue-liner Sebastien Piche.

Downie provides the Avalanche with some grit and sandpaper up front, while also bringing speed and scoring touch. It will be interesting to see where Joe Sacco slips him in, but it seems likely that he will enjoy a similar offensive role to the one he enjoyed with the Lightning. He has 12 goals and 28 points in 55 games this season. He set career highs with 22 goals and 46 points in 2009-10. He was also very impressive on the team’s recent run to the Eastern conference finals where he scored 14 points in 17 games.

Quincey strengthens the Red Wings blue-line. He brings depth in terms of being a player with good size, and he also adds some useful offense. The 26-year old scored 38 points with Los Angeles in 2006, but has failed to take his game to the next level. He has 23 points in 54 games this season, but his role has fluctuated quite a bit during the course of the year.

The Lightning continue their youth movement, and must feel pretty happy about getting a first round pick out of this. The team continues to push towards the playoffs, but it is a credit to GM Steve Yzerman that he is looking at the bigger picture and strengthening this organisation in the long run.

Datsyuk underwent minor surgery on Tuesday morning and is expected to miss the time. Detroit have been unstoppable of late, but the loss of Datsyuk will be felt, though his return long before the playoffs start is obviously crucial.

Datsyuk has 59 points, which ranks him ninth in the league, he is also widely recognised as one of the league’s top defensive forwards. Henrik Zetterberg will be charged with the job of filling in as the team’s top center, while the likes of Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm could see more ice time down the line-up.

Langennbrunner has been ruled out with a broken foot for at least four weeks. Langenbrunner has 21 points so far this season, brings a solid two-way presence and a lot of leadership to the dressing room. Ryan Reaves or BJ Crombeen are expected to jump up to the team’s third line, while Evgeny Grachev remains a solid call-up option.

The Blues are also currently without two top nine wingers in Alex Steen and Matt D’Agostini.