It was a very insignificant deal at the trade deadline, but it will be a Steve Mason injury away from having a major impact in roto leagues next season. Calgary’s fifth-round draft pick in 2005, goaltender Kevin Lalande, was buried in their system. Forced to play in the ECHL thanks to the numbers game, the Blue Jackets took advantage and ‘stole’ him for a fourth-round pick. So early return? Last week, Lalande backstopped Syracuse (the Blue Jackets’ farm club) to a 3-0-0 record despite being outshot 114-71. He was the first star in all three games. 

Ryan Miller has been skating for two days and is certain he will be back before the end of the season. My guess – a week to 10 days more.

Jere Lehtinen is ready to return to the lineup. James Neal has been removed from the second line as a result and Neal will play with Sutherby and Conner according to the Dallas News. If Brunnstrom is ready by tomorrow, he will sub in for Conner.

If Mike Gillis knew Alex Burrows would respond to a new contract like this, he would have re-signed him in October instead of March. Since signing the four-year deal, Burrows has seven points and 10 penalty minutes in six games. He has 15 points in his last 13 games and is a plus-11 in that span. 

Since coming back from his wrist injury, JM Liles has eight points in eight games.

Mark Streit has 14 points in 15 games since returning from his upper body injury. Despite missing five games this season, he's still going to top 60 points. The 31-year-old is signed for four more seasons and it wouldn't surprise me if he was a top five scoring defenseman in all four of them. He doesn't have the pedigree of a Jay Bouwmeester, a Ryan Whitney or a Jack Johnson – but it says here that Streit will outscore all three of them over the next four years.

Braydon Coburn is likely going to receive a suspension for a match penalty he received on a high stick yesterday on Nik Antropov.

Randy Jones left yesterday's contest with a groin injury.

Jeff Carter has played 200 straight NHL games. Fantasy owners love that reliability.

NYR line combos: Drury with Naslund and Antropov again; Gomez with Avery and Zherdev; Dubinsky with Sjostrom and Callahan.

Dubinsky has 21 points in his last 57 games. After his big season with Jagr and his 11 points in 11 games start – that obviously would have been the time to 'sell high' on this player.

The line on Sean Avery since rejoining the Rangers: five points in six games, 10 PIMs, even plus/minus and at least 16 minutes of ice time in his last three contests.

Goalie Peter Mannino got his first NHL start for the Islanders and stopped 40 of 42 shots. Not worth a flyer at this time though.

The writers at DobberHockey, myself included, try to bring you an extreme opinion. That's what separates us from other sources – we're not afraid to put it out there. While other sources are conservative with their outlook on players we try to be bolder then that. The result? We're either very wrong, or very right. We either look incredibly stupid or we look like geniuses. Criticism is fine, as they often spur debate, but don't be too hard on us – the last thing you want is for us to start watching what we say or reining in our opinions. You don't want DobberHockey to turn vanilla! Please disagree – we love the debate it stirs up. Just don't insult

The Caps returned Michal Neuvirth to Hershey and have recalled Semen Varlamov. Look for 'Simeon' to get into one of the upcoming back-to-backs. Probably Atlanta.

Patrick Sharp is back skating. He has missed 13 games with a knee injury, but could be back in a week or two.

Chicago recalled Jack Skille. This is because Havlat, Kane and Bolland all missed practice Saturday with "minor ailments". However, all three played last night, so Skille sat in the press box.

Chris Kunitz has 11 points and is a plus-5 in nine games since joining the Pens. On Sid's line next year, he could be in line for 75. Off the line, it will be 55. What PIT does in the offseason is essential to his performance over the next several years.

Michael Russo is reporting in his blog that Andrew Brunette is playing on a a knee that has a partially torn ACL.