Update – The news keeps rolling in. Carolina did the smart thing and re-signed Anton Khudobin for two more years at a $2.25 million cap hit per James Mirtle. Man, am I going to have time to do ramblings tonight or just keep editing Michael’s?

Dobber jumping on. Transactions are moving fast and furious and we’ll be breaking down the analysis (Mike, Steve and myself) over the next couple of hours (it is 4:30pm ET now). Here are the highlights:

 

1 – Roberto Luongo to the Panthers

2 – Viktor Fasth to the Oilers

3 – Evgeni Kuznetsov on a plane to Washington

4 – Andrew MacDonald to the Flyers

5 – Dustin Penner to Washington

6 – Brad Boyes re-signs with Florida for two years

7 – Jacob Markstrom to Vancouver

8 – Niklas Backstrom “shut down” for the season

 

Stay tuned – your reliable, amazing Deadline Day coverage on DobberHockey is starting early!

 

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The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped another one-goal game Monday night against Columbus, their third since returning from the break. The Leafs had several glorious chances from point-blank range in the third but failed to capitalize for the tie.

 

James Reimer got a rare start in this one and had a nice showing. He made a bunch of saves in the third to hold the Leafs in it, but it remains to be seen if it earns him another start. Reimer has proven he can easily get on a hot streak, but he won't be able to do it and provide any fantasy value starting once a month. Jonathan Bernier had been somewhat shaky lately and Randy Carlyle starting Reimer on Monday was likely more to send a message to his No. 1.

 

Joffrey Lupul has just one goal in his last six, but had a strong effort on Monday night, picking up an assist. It's great to talk about how well Kessel, Bozak, and van Riemsdyk are playing, but the Leafs need secondary scoring if they plan on winning a playoff series in April.

 

Dave Bolland will be returning to lineup soon and it will be interesting to see where he fits in. Does he go right to the third-line center spot? Or does Carlyle drop Kadri back and have Bolland play on the second line? With just one point in five games from Kadri, it wouldn't surprise me to see the second scenario go down.

 

Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are an adventure of pair on the blue line every night. It's a lot of high-risk, high-reward right now with those two, but they are going to be fun to watch when the figure things out.

 

*

 

Sergei Bobrovsky was excellent for the Blue Jackets, stopping 28-of-29 shots. He's proving that last season wasn't just lightning in a bottle.

 

Artem Anisimov scored for Columbus to give him a goal in three straight games. He might be a good one to grab and ride out this streak if you are desperate for points in a fantasy playoff push. Anisimov also has a pair of shorthanded goals this year.

 

Bad news for Ryan Murray owners as the youngster left this one with a lower-body injury. It looked to be his leg, but he left quickly with no hesitation, which is always a bad sign.

 

Ryan Johansen didn't score a goal against the Leafs but he did save one.

 

 

*

 

Jhonas Enroth got another start against the Stars on Monday and was outstanding, albeit in a losing cause. Word is Buffalo may be looking to quickly flip Jaroslav Halak in a trade, so Enroth could be a great pickup right now. If wins are what you're after you will be disappointed, but he's going to make a lot of saves.

 

Tyler Ennis had a pair of goals and he actually has scored in three straight. After the deadline he may be one of the few Buffalo keeps around, so look for his minutes to increase. The same goes for any other young players on the Sabre roster. The time to scoop them is now if you want to take a chance on someone late in the year.

 

Matt Moulson with a pair of assists against Dallas. He could be a huge fantasy asset in the final month if he gets dealt to a contender.

 

Ville Leino still hasn't scored this year and he's the Sabres' highest paid forward. It's safe to say that signing was a disaster.

 

*

 

The victory by the Stars improved their hold on the final playoff spot in the West. They've been in similar situations at this point in the season in recent years but haven't made it to the dance. Will this year be different?

 

Something tells me it will. Kari Lehtonen has been excellent and more importantly healthy for a change. Dallas has a ton of firepower up front, so if Lehtonen can avoid the injury bug I think the Stars squeak in.

 

Alex Chiasson must have had a hundred chances on Monday and only scored on one thanks to Enroth. It was his first since January 18^th. He played over six minutes on the power play against the Sabres and may be someone to look at buying low on.

 

Another guy who ended a long goalless drought was Alex Goligoski. He notched his first since November 1^st. The Stars likely were expecting more out of him than he has shown thus far on the campaign.

 

Valeri Nichushkin may have been slowed by the Olympic break even though he participated in the games. He had goals in two straight before the break but has managed just an assist in three contests since play resumed.

 

*

 

The Wild beat the Flames 3-2 and Darcy Kuemper picked up another win. Some of those aforementioned Halak rumors had him going to the Wild and if that pans out it's going to hurt Kuemper's value, otherwise he's a great play right now.

 

Mikael Granlund had a pair of assists on Monday. That makes four points in three games since returning from Sochi. Many felt he would be a breakout player upon his return, and so far he hasn't disappointed.

 

Mikko Koivu and Marco Scandella returned to the Wild lineup after battling injuries. Koivu is especially a huge boost for Minnesota and they are getting healthy at the right time.

 

*

 

Mike Cammalleri had his first goal and point in 10 games on Monday. If he gets traded to a contender at the deadline he isn't likely to see many pointless droughts of that length.

 

Markus Granlund saw action for the Flames against his brother and managed to pick up an assist.

 

Joe Colborne now has points in four-of-five games and may be someone to pick up for the stretch run. If the Flames become major sellers on Wednesday he could see his minutes increase.

 

David Jones left with an upper-body injury and did not return.

 

*

 

Montreal fell 2-1 to Los Angeles and Peter Budaj got another start for the injured Carey Price. In fact, Price was placed on injured reserve before the game, so if you are desperate for goaltending help Budaj might be a nice short-term option. You can add Price’s name to the list of injured players at Sochi.

 

Lars Eller has just one point in 21 games and didn’t even see 12 minutes of ice-time against the Kings. That’s his second lowest total of the year. Not a good sign.

 

*

 

Jonathan Quick is looking in top form again. He’s had some small stretches this season where he’s battled with consistency, but Quick has been excellent ever since he returned from Sochi. 

 

Another King who looks rejuvenated is Justin Williams. He’s got five points since NHL play resumed and is always a versatile fantasy option. Williams can help you out in a lot of different categories. 

 

Jake Muzzin found the back of the net for the Kings. He’s had a nice jump when it comes to shots on goal this season and is playing nearly an additional 30 seconds a night on the power play then he did in 2013. 

 

*

 

It looks like Pekka Rinne will be back between the pipes for Nashville on Tuesday, meaning Carter Hutton's value is going to deteriorate rapidly. Even though his play had been sliding somewhat as of late, I still thought Hutton would have some value down the stretch if the Predators decided to shut Rinne down for the year. Apparently not. Nashville is still a long shot to crack the post-season, which is the reason I figured they might tell Rinne to pack it in, but maybe they feel with him back there they have a chance.

 

*

 

Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov has been suspended two games for a hit to Brayden Schenn on Sunday. Adjust your lineups accordingly.

 

*

 

Speaking of missing time, the Blackhawks will be without Marian Hossa for 2-3 weeks after suffering an upper-body injury against Pittsburgh on Saturday. Word is Brandon Saad may get bumped up to the wing and play with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. Not too shabby for Saad owners.

 

*

 

The Oilers inked Ben Scrivens to a two-year deal reportedly worth $2.3M per season on Monday. Scrivens has played well since arriving in Edmonton and this is a good indication that he is being favored over Ilya Bryzgalov at the moment. Dallas Eakins stated he wanted to give Scrivens a string of starts to see what they had after the Olympic break, so it looks like this may be his best chance to win a No. 1 job. At 27-years-old, he won't get many more chances to prove he can be a starter, so he would be wise to take advantage.

 

*

 

Daniel Sedin looks like he may be out for a significant amount of time after injuring himself in the Heritage Classic, and the Canucks recalled Darren Archibald from Utica to fill in. I would say this is a big loss for Vancouver, but Sedin hasn't done anything for months. If anything this may alter the Canucks' trade deadline plans. Rumors are swirling that they are going to deal Ryan Kesler, but does that change with Sedin now sidelined?

 

*

 

Has there been a team hit worse than the Red Wings with injuries this year? Stephen Weiss was closing in on a return from a groin injury, but now he has suffered a setback and there is no timetable when for when he will see action.  Not only that, but Pavel Datsyuk will miss Tuesday's game with a knee injury and Dan Cleary is out a week because of a similar ailment. If Detroit sneaks into the playoffs this year I will be very impressed.

 

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike