HOCKEY HEADLINES | Trade News, All-Stars, World Juniors, more

By Dean Matheos, Staff Writer

(Photo by Getty Images)

► Flyers – Kings trade

• The Philadelphia Flyers traded forward Vincent Lecavalier and defenceman Luke Schenn to the Los Angeles Kings for Jordan Weal and a third round pick in the upcoming 2016 draft.
• The trade appears to be a win for the Kings, but from a Flyers perspective they were the winners.
• Philly traded away an overpaid player who was not performing in Lecavalier. With an injury to L.A.’s Matt Green, Luke Schenn was acquired to be the replacement. While the Flyers retain 50 per cent of the salaries, this does free some cap space in order to add forward help and depth to their lineup.

► Johansen – Jones swapped

• A blockbuster 1-for-1 trade was made between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators. Nashville finally got that number one centre they have been looking for while Columbus got a top defenceman they needed.
• With the depth on defence for Nashville it made it easier to part with Seth Jones to get a player they needed. It was tough to do but in the end it was worth it as Ryan Johansen tallied a goal and an assist in his debut but the team ended up losing 5-3 to the Avalanche.
• Seth Jones made his Columbus debut on the same night. He was held off the scoresheet in a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes.

► Tokarski to Anaheim

• The Montreal Canadiens traded goaltender Dustin Tokarski to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Max Friberg.
• After John Gibson went down with an injury the Ducks were seeking goaltending help and depth. Montreal had a goalie to spare since they acquired Ben Scrivens.
• The Habs get a forward that they hope can help them in the future as they seem to struggle at times on offense.

► Canucks – Rangers swap wingers

• The Vancouver Canucks traded Nicklas Jensen and a 2017 sixth round pick to the New York Rangers for Emerson Etem.
• Etem who was part of the trade that saw Carl Hagelin go the other way has just three assists this year.
• Jensen will look for an opportunity to crack the Rangers roster and contribute to their success.

► Richards to Washington

• Mike Richards is back in the NHL as a member of the Washington Capitals. After the team spoke with Richards’ former teammate  Justin Williams they decided to bring him in on a 1-year deal. This is another opportunity for Richards to prove to teams that he deserves to be in the NHL.

► Iginla gets goal number 600

• In career game number 1 432 Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla reached yet another milestone. In a game against the Kings, Iginla scored his 600th career goal. He is one of the 19 players in NHL history to score that many goals

► Price out till after All-Star break

• The Montreal Canadiens have announced that starting goaltender Carey Price will not be back before the All-Star break.The star netminder has suffered a setback in his recovery process. He was originally scheduled to be skating with the team by mid-January.

► Dickie Moore tribute

• After a lengthy road trip the Habs came home and paid tribute to one of their greats Dickie Moore who had past away during the road trip.

► All-Star rosters

• The NHL announced the full rosters for the new 3-on-3 format regarding the All-Star game. Earlier they had announced the captains for each team. Arizona Coyotes John Scott who had the most votes will captain the Pacific Division. As for the others, Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane will captain the Central Division, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals will captain the Metropolitan Division while the ageless Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers will captain the Atlantic Division.
• Leo Komarov of the Toronto Maple Leafs will represent the team in the All-Star game. It come as a surprise but he is really having a phenomenal season under new head coach Mike Babcock.
• Another surprise is the Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was left off the roster.

► World Juniors

• The 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship has come to an end. The host Finland wins gold in a thriller while Russia wins silver and Team USA win bronze in a blowout win against Sweden
• The 2017 tournament is back in Montreal and Toronto. Group A will consist of 1st place Finland, 4th place Sweden, 5th place Czech Republic, 8th place Denmark and 9th place Switzerland. Group B consists of 2nd place Russia, 3rd place USA, 6th place Canada, 7th place Slovakia and Latvia who come up from Division 1 after Belarus got relegated.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Carey Price, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dustin Tokarski, Emerson Etem, featured, Jordan Weal, Los Angeles Kings, Luke Schenn, Max Friberg, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, NHL, Nicklas Jensen, Philadelphia Flyers, Ryan Johansen, Seth Jones, Vancouver Canucks, Vincent Lecavalier, Washington Capitals