from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Trade that might make sense only to me: something around Justin Faulk from Carolina to Detroit for Andreas Athanasiou.

- The Lightning are going through a rough stretch, tortured Monday by Connor McDavid’s four-goal game. Since the calendar flipped to 2018, Tampa Bay’s power play is 28th (15 per cent) and penalty kill 18th (76.6). They were first and 24th, respectively, from the start of the season until New Year’s Eve. (The penalty kill may be higher in the rankings, but the percentage actually dropped.)

They are still very, very good and one of the few teams with enough assets to do almost anything. Yzerman never tips his hand, but will do what it takes to make them better. I was talking about this with a GM the other day: is there a single available difference-maker Tampa would not be able to trade for?

- One of the Olympic hockey subplots will be Ilya Kovalchuk. Unlike last summer, when New Jersey held his rights, he is unrestricted this time. And, if he comes back to the NHL, it is believed his eyes are on New York.

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