The Preds are expected to re-sign Pekka Rinne today. That will mean that the odds of Ellis getting moved have just gone up. Rinne because an improved fantasy asset as the undisputed No.1 and Ellis’s value actually increases a bit as well due to the fact that he could be moved to a team that will play him a lot.

Dallas has placed Alex Auld on waivers. This could mean that they are keeping Marty Turco after all.

Some young slumpers who could/should bounce back big next season, according to my THN article: http://shar.es/mmY2r

The rumor that has been bouncing around Twitter is that the Lightning will replace Rick Tocchet as head coach. I’m not sure why – the team is doing as expected. The dropoff after their best six or seven players is very steep and that will take another year or two to address.

It’s been argued to me that Jarome Iginla is not only too slow for the top line, but that his five goals were against the likes of Norway and Germany. I would argue that Iginla got onto the Crosby line in the final five or six minutes of the game against US and not only created several scoring chances, but Crosby scored his goal with Iggy as a linemate. So to recap – six periods and five minutes playing with Crosby, five goals and a ton of chances created. I won’t argue the skating issue because I don’t care about it – Iginla could stand in the slot wearing flip-flops, as long as he keeps scoring goals. Who else would you want there? Mr. One-goal-in-10-Olympic-Games-Nash? As someone mentioned here yesterday, Nash isn’t strong at right wing. The new setup is a good one. Now if we can just go back in time and replace with Perry with Carter… and if we could just give Pronger his 2002 legs back.

LOVE Richards, Morrow and Toews. LOVE it. I would throw them out there every third shift. They don’t play enough. The heart they bring is contagious.

SPECTOR discusses several trade rumors, including the likelihood that Peter Mueller will be dealt.

So the Quarterfinals look like this: USA vs. Swiss at 3pm ET; Russia vs. Canada at 7:30 ET; Finland vs. Czech at 10pm ET; Sweden vs. Slovakia at 12am ET.

Latvia’s Edgars Masalskis stopped 47 of 50 Czech shots. The 30-year-old diminutive netminder has never been drafted but is having a strong KHL season, posting 2.84 and 0.910 numbers.

Marek Zidlicky leads the Czechs in points with five.

Jaromir Jagr has three points in four games. That’s not returning to North America with a ‘bang’ as some of us had hoped.

It’s interesting that Satan has averaged just seven minutes of ice time per game – and yet he found a job in the NHL this season, albeit late, while Jozef Stumpel couldn’t find one LAST year. Stumpel averages nearly 18 minutes and has four points in four games. Granted, Satan’s hand laceration is still probably bothering him.

On a team with just nine goals, Loui Eriksson has managed to notch three of them. He has made huge strides over the last three years.

Forsberg is pointless in three contests. But then again, so is Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Hornqvist…

With the power-play time that they get, I’m surprised that the two Johnsons haven’t combined for more than a single point.

Still looking for his first point: Paul Stastny

Canes Now is reporting that Carolina still hopes that Cam Ward will return this season and that he will not require surgery on his back. All the same, the play here is to take one of Legace or Peters if you need a goalie. Personally, I think Peters will eventually be the guy.

He may only have nine goals in his rookie pro campaign, but St. Louis prospect Brett Sonne has five of them in his last nine games for Peoria. He’ll need to continue improving for another two full seasons before even being considered in training camp.