Dan Rosen of NHL.com answers some questions from the fans...

How likely is it that the Chicago Blackhawks move a core piece like Niklas Hjalmarsson?

There's an extremely good chance someone goes. I can't say for sure it'll be Hjalmarsson. I'd say unlikely as of now because he has a no-movement clause and a modified no-trade clause in his contract, according to CapFriendly.com. In the end, I think the Blackhawks are going to protect Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Hjalmarsson from being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft. However, I can't rule out the possibility of Hjalmarsson being traded to create some cap space. He is a solid, reliable, experienced defenseman with two years remaining on his contract and a cap-friendly $4.1 million salary-cap charge. There are a lot of teams that would covet a player like him on that contract. Much to their dismay, if the Blackhawks need to create cap space, Hjalmarsson could be one to go.

There also are many reports now that Trevor van Riemsdyk could be on the move to Vegas or elsewhere. And it's well known across the League that the Blackhawks are trying to trade Marcus Kruger to Vegas to get rid of what CapFriendly.com has as a $3.083 million salary-cap charge the next two seasons. I have not done specific reporting on this. Kruger is the one that makes the most sense to go, but if it's to Vegas, he'll have to go in a package with another player or draft picks. Vegas isn't going to do the Blackhawks any favors here.

Do you think the New York Rangers will get Kevin Shattenkirk?

I keep thinking this is less and less likely to happen. I keep thinking it's more and more likely that the Rangers look to make a trade. I speculated in an earlier mailbag about them trying to acquire a right-handed defenseman like Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade for a core forward, perhaps Chris Kreider or J.T. Miller. I haven't heard anything of the sort from anyone on that since, but now is the time when trade talk picks up. Maybe they will look to do something along those lines. I think they should.

The other thought I have is maybe they bring back Brendan Smith and then try to incorporate some of their prospects (Sean Day, Sergei Zborovskiy, Neal Pionk, Alexei Bereglazov, Ryan Graves and John Gilmour) into the mix. Maybe one or two of them could be players for the Rangers this season. Going younger on D is a good idea for the Rangers.

The NHL buyout window begins Thursday. I think the Rangers have to buyout Dan Girardi, who has three years remaining on his contract. He would be on their cap for the next six seasons at a reduced rate if they buy him out. Marc Staal has four years remaining, so buying him out means he'd stay on their cap for the next eight years at a reduced rate.

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