Vancouver Canucks fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The Canucks and Elias Pettersson have agreed to an eight-year extension at $11.6 million per season. The belief is that Pettersson had originally stated he wanted to wait until the offseason to negotiate a new contract, but the Canucks wanted this resolved sooner. The fact that Pettersson remained noncommittal about his future in Vancouver, with a recent trade rumor involving Carolina sprinkled in, added to the drama surrounding this story.

Pettersson's new contract is the largest in #Canucks history.

These are the highest-paid NHL players by AAV beginning in 2024-25:

Auston Matthews $13.25M
Nathan MacKinnon $12.6M
Connor McDavid $12.5M
Artemi Panarin $11.64M
Elias Pettersson $11.6M

— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) March 2, 2024

The cap hit is a bit below the league's top players, which seems just about right. Pettersson is only 25, and he already has a 100-point season under his belt and is almost on pace for another one. The raise in salary cap leagues will be just over $4 million, but salary cap leaguers should be making room for him regardless given how few players have Pettersson's scoring upside. In fact, this contract could age very well given how much the cap ceiling could increase over the next few years.  

An added benefit to the Canucks for getting this contract done is that they can now turn their attention to which of their free agents they wish to sign. RFA Filip Hronek is now the most important one, but the list of UFAs for the Canucks is long: Elias Lindholm, Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, Sam Lafferty, Tyler Myers, Nikita Zadorov, Ian Cole, Mark Friedman, and Casey DeSmith. These players aren't really the core of the Canucks, but they've been instrumental to their success this season. Keeping all of them next season will be impossible.

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In a bit of a surprise move, the Capitals have placed Evgeny Kuznetsov on waivers. This follows news that Kuznetsov has been cleared to practice on Saturday by the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. His $7.8 million cap hit is a tough one for teams to swallow considering his mediocre production of 17 points in 43 games this season, so expect him to be AHL-bound. Kuznetsov might benefit from a fresh start somewhere else, so it's not outside the realm of possibilities for a team to acquire him in some way. The Capitals might have to get creative if they are trying to part with Kuznetsov, which they could maybe do by retaining salary in a trade.

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In a very early game (9:30 a.m. PST), the Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead into the third period before the visiting Jets stormed back with five unanswered goals to win 5-3. Nino Niederreiter scored a pair of goals, while Josh Morrissey contributed three assists. Points-wise, Morrissey might be the hottest defenseman in the league at the moment with 14 points (all assists) over his last seven games. Morrissey hasn't scored a goal since January 9, but fantasy leaguers should be fine with that given all of the assists he has been providing recently. Morrissey has multiple assists in five of his past six games.

Also for the Jets, Cole Perfetti was a healthy scratch. He has been without a point over his last 15 games. Rick Bowness described taking Perfetti out of the lineup as a "reset," so let's see where this goes. The 22-year-old Perfetti is still ideal for keeper leagues, but he doesn't seem rosterable in most single-season leagues until he puts points on the board again.

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The goals and points were going to come for Brandon Montour. You just had to be patient. After a long slump to start the season (11 points in first 36 games), Montour now has 14 points over his last nine games. As well, four of his six goals this season have been over the last seven games. Montour led the Panthers with a goal and two assists in their 4-0 win over Detroit.

Sergei Bobrovsky picked up a 21-save shutout against the Wings. I thought Goalie Bob would have been exhausted after a long playoff run last season and was trying to trade him during the offseason. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong about him. Bobrovsky is the third goalie to pick up 30 wins, and he now has nine wins and 10 quality starts over his last 10 games. With the Panthers at the top of the league, Bobrovsky is a must-start, which is more than could have been said about him in previous seasons in Florida.

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Alexis Lafreniere is impressing more and more with each game. The former first overall pick led the Rangers with a goal and two assists, giving him eight points over his last seven games. He has just tied his career high with 39 points, and he is on pace for 52 points. Even though Laffy has already played 277 NHL games, he's only 22 years of age, so there's still plenty of room to grow.

Matt Rempe has played in seven games. He already has four fights. Every other player with at least as many fighting majors has played in at least 28 games, while the league leaders (Liam O'Brien, Nicolas Deslauriers, Andreas Englund) each have nine fights. You could say the 6-7 winger has been looking for a dance partner each time he plays, and he already has a shiner in his eye to show for it. His latest brawl involved none other than Ryan Reaves, and it was a doozie. Remember the Bob Probert fights with Troy Crowder and Tie Domi? That's what this Rempe kid is becoming. Add him if you need penalty minutes and hits (2 HIT/GP), although you’ll probably need to look elsewhere for points.

Reaves and Rempe drop em' 🥊 pic.twitter.com/NvvmDiyzYI

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 3, 2024

With a goal on Saturday, Mitch Marner has 23 points over his last 13 games. He's on pace to hit 100 points for the first time in his career.

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In the Predators' eighth consecutive win, Cody Glass recorded his first career hat trick while finishing with a plus-3 and six shots. I can remember when Glass was thought to be the player the Canucks were targeting with the fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft, but they decided to go with some unknown named Pettersson instead. Glass's career hasn't taken off the same way that Pettersson's has, as he has just 10 points in 34 games. And Glass will need to score more often to be considered for fantasy teams. Prior to this game, he had scored just two goals in his first 33 games after scoring 14 goals last season.

Remember how hot Tommy Novak was during the second half of last season (35 PTS in 38 GP)? Novak is heating up again with seven points in his last seven games, including a goal and an assist on Saturday. And he's doing this while on a line with… Luke Evangelista and Mark Jankowski? Novak is just 4 percent rostered in Yahoo, if you feel the second-half magic coming on again. Nashville looks like a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.

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Another hat trick, this one of the natural variety. Kyle Palmieri scored three goals in the first period and added an assist as the Islanders took care of the Bruins 5-1. I've streamed Palmieri at least a couple times this season and he continues to be a regular on my watch list. I like the fact that he is on pace for at least 20 goals and at least 20 power-play points as a regular on the top power play for the Isles. He has also slightly increased his shot rate to 2.6 SOG/GP, which is his highest total since 2018-19. The Isles have games against the Sharks and Ducks next week, and he's widely available (10% Yahoo/27% Fantrax). Stream away.

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Owen Power has powered his way onto the hot list. With a goal and two assists in Buffalo's 7-2 knockout of Vegas, Power now has five points over his last four games after being reactivated from IR (hand injury). In his second full NHL season, Power is on pace for a similar point total compared to last season (35 points). Comparing this season to last season, there's not a whole lot of difference.

Dylan Cozens scored a pair of goals in the win. He has 16 points in his last 16 games after starting the season with 22 points in his first 42 games. He's receiving about a minute more per game overall, although his power-play time hasn't changed much. Because of the sluggish first half, Cozens is projected to finish well below the 68 points he reached last season. A strong second half should be an encouraging sign, though.

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Tyson Foerster has been one of the most-searched names on Frozen Tools recently. That makes sense, as Foerster has been hot recently with six goals and an assist over his last five games. Foerster filled the statsheet on Saturday, scoring a pair of goals with a plus-4 and seven shots. Foerster's 16 goals places him tied for third among rookies in goal scoring, only a goal behind co-leaders Connor Bedard and Marco Rossi. John Tortorella seems to move players all over the lineup, which is why I'm not quite as bullish on this potential add as others might be. That being said, go ahead and ride the hot hand. Foerster is only 22 and a former first-round pick, so he is also worth targeting in keeper leagues.

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Even though the Calgary Flames have gone into sell mode, they've managed to win five games in a row.

On Miikka Kiprusoff jersey retirement night, Yegor Sharangovich scored the game-winning goal with just under a minute left to give the Flames a 4-3 win. Sharangovich scored two goals in this game, giving him three goals over his past two games to follow an 11-game stretch without a goal. With 23 goals, he is just one goal shy of his career high. He has provided a solid return for the Flames when they traded Tyler Toffoli to New Jersey.

Nazem Kadri has six goals over his last seven games, including this highlight-reel goal.

HOLY MOLY NAZEM KADRI pic.twitter.com/y5Ukp6yX4s

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 3, 2024

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