Bob McKenzie reports that George Stroumboulopoulos will be the face of hockey for Sportsnet and he indicates that Ron MacLean will still be there but not in the main role. Meanwhile, Don Cherry is closing in on a two-year contract. We are all a-flutter when a guy like Roberto Luongo signs a contract that takes him into his 40s… how do we feel about Grapes doing this into his 80s?

I look at the Strombo idea as interesting, but insulting…to Elliotte Friedman. I think we all assumed Friedman would take over as “the guy” when MacLean was done. For him to get passed over in favor of a non-hockey guy is a slap.

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Speaking of Cherry, if anyone caught Coaches Corner Saturday, Don Cherry said what I’ve been saying here for years and nobody listens – that Steven Stamkos is the product of Martin St. Louis. (And by extension – Malkin is better. Just had to throw that in there). Sure, Stamkos is still a superstar and he’ll still get his 50 goals and 85 points. But not 60 and 95. Not unless and until Jonathan Drouin can replace St. Louis. As Cherry says – although Brett Hull was still a superstar (and a Top 5 fantasy own), he was no longer the 75-goal guy (and a Top 3 fantasy own) without Adam Oates.

Here is Coach’s Corner (Stamkos talk at 5:30) –

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St. Louis has one assist in three games for the Rangers. Not exactly eye-popping. So much for the chemistry with Brad Richards. But with him on that line, it actually makes the Richards line a threat to put points on the board. And really, since mid-November, have we been able to say that? Meanwhile, with that line as a threat, the other lines are getting it done.

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The two reasons that the Burke-haters had for running him out of Toronto -

1) For what he didn’t do (not sign big free agents, stood pat on deadline day, etc)

2) The Kessel trade

So while his highway robberies involving Kaberle, Blake, Giguere, Beauchemin, etc that brought in the likes of Lupul, JVR, Gardiner, Phaneuf and restocking the draft picks were ignored, the dummies focused on the above two issues. And now they’re starting to see that hey – not signing Brad Richards was genius. Not overpaying at the Trade Deadline and Free Agent Frenzy was the right move. And as for Kessel – let me ask you this:

If you knew in advance that you could acquire a player who finishes sixth in scoring, fourth in scoring and third in scoring – three years in a row. Would you pay two firsts and a second even knowing that one of the firsts could be a Top 3 pick? Nobody belittled the Rangers for giving up a first, a second, and Callahan for St. Louis. I’m saying that you can’t be down on a trade when it lands a player who goes on to become a Top 6 NHL scorer three years running.

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Funny enough, the guy going the other way in that Kessel deal – the pick that became Tyler Seguin – is now fifth in scoring, just four points behind Kessel.

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After 22 points in his prior 16 games, Gustav Nyquist was finally shut down Sunday by the Rangers.

I will say this about Martin St. Louis as a Ranger that does indicate that his production will go down by 10% or more – his ice time is down. Just 17:33 on Sunday and he’s used to seeing over 22 minutes with TB.

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Carl Soderberg has 13 points in his last 14 games and 30 in his last 43. The above half-season numbers would indicate that he could be a 60-point player even on a deep team like Boston. I had figured that it would take a new team to get to that level.

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Jimmy Hayes scored two goals for the Panthers Sunday and he saw over 16 minutes of ice time for the first time this season. Hayes is 6-6, 221 and he’s had spurts of production, but I’d be surprised if he wound up as a scoring-line player. His brother Kevin, though – there’s a future stud. Third in the nation in NCAA scoring (behind Calgary prospect Johnny Gaudreau and unsigned/undrafted Greg Carey), he’ll sign with the Blackhawks soon and you might see him get in a game or two before he either plays in the AHL or watches Chicago’s playoff run as one of the black aces.

I didn't do much at the trade deadline in any of my three leagues this year, but in the one league where we have an auction waiver-wire, I re-jigged three of my minor leaguers. I focused on players we could see or hear about in the coming weeks – and that includes adding Kevin Hayes (read more on Hayes here). I also added Carey, in anticipation of a team signing him, as well as European goaltender Oscar Alsenfelt.

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Chad Johnson is up to 13 wins. Not bad for a backup. Seven weeks into the season he only had three starts, but since then, after earning the trust of his coach, he’s pretty much starting every six days, give or take. Sunday was the tail-end of a back-to-back, and since Boston has six more back-to-backs this season, I’d think Johnson gets six games in yet – 18 wins for a backup? Could happen.

This would mean that Tuukka Rask has 12 more starts. He’d have to run the table to reach 40 wins.

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Jarome Iginla – 550 goals ties Ron Francis:

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 In his first two career NHL games, Florida prospect Vincent Trocheck saw 40 minutes in ice time. That’s crazy-high for an NHL debut. I don’t expect him to be a regular next year – but 2015-16 is a safe bet. The Panthers are just seeing what they have in the system over the last few weeks. For more on Trocheck, click here.

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Still looking for his first point with his new team – Brandon Pirri. He’s playing with Huberdeau, too. Here were the line combos Sunday:

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In his Buffalo debut, Cory Conacher notched an assist playing with Ennis and Stafford. Here were Buffalo’s post-deadline line combos:

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Jhonas Enroth is playing very well, but you have to think that Michal Neuvirth will prove himself enough that the Sabres will try him as their starter next year. Though, if I know my hockey politics – and I think I do – the Sabres won’t announce him as such. They’ll pull a Toronto and pretend that the job is up for grabs and that either he or Enroth could run with it. But it will be Neuvirth (much like it was Bernier for Toronto). He stopped 42 of 44 Saturday in his Sabres debut.

David Rundblad made his Chicago debut Sunday. I think. Does 7:38 count?

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Tough news out of Calgary. Matt Stajan is away on personal leave after the death of his newborn son. Our thoughts are with him and his wife during his unimaginable grief.

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Ilya Bryzgalov took the OT loss Sunday, but played well enough (28 saves, 30 shots) to earn another start soon. Don’t assume Darcy Kuemper will see the bulk of the starts down the stretch – the Wild would love it if the veteran Bryzgalov won the starting job.

Matt Moulson notched an assist in his first game with the Wild. As expected, he lined up with Mikko Koivu.

Jared Spurgeon saw a season high 29:11 of ice time. The Wild roll four defensemen, with the bottom pair hardly seeing any ice time. That leaves Suter, Brodin and Spurgeon eating a lopsided amount of minutes, and Marco Scandella sees what I’d consider ‘normal’ (around 20 to 22 minutes). It bodes well for Spurgeon’s future production, if he can ever stay healthy long enough to get any momentum.

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The St. Louis Blues are 18-0-1 versus the Central and are now first in the NHL with 94 points.

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Two games into his LA career and Marian Gaborik is still shooting blanks. As expected, he’s eating the ice time of Tyler Toffoli (who still managed an assist Sunday).

In six games since Sochi, Dustin Brown has six points.

Carter, Gaborik and Kopitar on the power play, which has gone two for seven since the trade.

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We’ve seen the last of Rusty Klesla. He refused to report to the Sabres, or to Rochester and plans to continue his career in Europe. The Sabres have suspended him.

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Joe Colborne has seven points in his last eight games. I was always pretty high on this player, but the past year has seen me all but forget about him, and write him off. And now he shows up?

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In my Hockey News article Thursday, I looked at a handful of players who were just moved, and how I think they will do.

In my Puck Daddy article Thursday, I looked at a handful of players who were not traded at all – but are very much affected by trades. 

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Dallas retired Mike Modano’s number last night: