Blue Line Buzz: New York, New York

If there ever were a "Team of the Year" award, the New York Islanders would win it with no questions asked. Formerly a long-time laughing stock of the NHL, how ironic the Islanders have become one of the league's best teams in their final year at the outdated but iconic Nassau Coliseum.

Their resurgence has a lot to do with Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk, the team's No. 1 pair that general manager Garth Snow acquired shortly before the season began. Though Calvin de Haan (plus-6) and Travis Hamonic (27 points, 81 PIM) are two very good defensemen in their own right, Leddy (15.34) and Boychuk (15.87) have the third and fourth-best Corsi ratings in the league, and together are even better than the Kings' Drew Doughty (12.04) and Jake Muzzin (16.64, league-best).

So when the Islanders re-signed Boychuk to a seven-year extension Thursday, matching the one Leddy signed just a few weeks ago, the move drew applause around the league. It ensured the team's top pairing would stay intact until 2022, but more importantly, the financial numbers made sense. Throwing money around was something that had been a trademark of the team, but instead of spending lavishly on players that didn't want to be there (Alexei Yashin) or didn't have the track record to warrant a big contract (Rick DiPietro), they were spending it on players who had proven track records and also wanted to be there.

It's no surprise that Leddy and Boychuk turned out to be good players, but that the two have played so well together so quickly certainly was. They were coming from two different teams, and Leddy was coming from a different conference and asked to step into a much bigger role than he was used to in Chicago.

The ultimate test will come in the playoffs where the Islanders are expected to make multiple journeys together with their new core. As with most championship teams, the Islanders may have to lose a tough series or two before they get enough experience to really challenge for the Cup, though Leddy and Boychuk do bring Cup-winning experience to the table. Down the road, Leddy has the most offensive upside and is second among the team's defensemen with 29 points, 10 of which are goals. Boychuk has already set a career-high with 32 points this season, but at 31 years old it's unlikely he'll improve that total a substantial amount.

A Good Bear Market

With Boychuk getting his big payday and Tyler Seguin also flourishing for Dallas, the parade of former Bruins players having good years continues with Steven Kampfer, who recently re-signed for two years with the Panthers. A former Michigan Wolverine and Ducks draft pick, Kampfer played 48 games with the Bruins before moving on to the Wild and then Panthers this season, where he's notched three points in 20 games with a minus-4 rating.

Kampfer brings a lot of value as a right-hand shot who can skate, but he remains a tweener until he can prove more. The second year of his contract is one-way, which means Kampfer will earn a full NHL salary even if he plays in the AHL. It's usually an indicator that the team expects the player to be a full-time regular in his second season, a show-me kind of contract. On the other hand, it doesn't show a lot of the team's confidence in Kampfer to be a full-time player right away. In truth, he may end up being a journeyman depth defenseman his entire career and his upside doesn't register in fantasy.

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall

Tyler Myers left Thursday's game and missed Saturday's game with an upper-body injury, which is believed to be serious enough that he could miss some time. This is a big blow to a blue line already without Dustin Byfuglien, and is suddenly much less physically-intimidating with a top pair of Tobias Enstrom and Jacob Trouba. These two significant injuries could end up breaking the Jets' playoff chances. Keaton Ellerby was called up but he's no difference maker, which means the Jets are crossing their fingers and hoping for the best.

That same Thursday, the Lightning announced that Braydon Coburn would miss 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury. Though Steve Yzerman overpaid dearly for him, Coburn brought a big physical presence to the blue line. The Lightning are essentially a lock to make the playoffs, unlike the Jets, which puts them in a slightly less perilous position, but they'll need Coburn once the postseason starts. Coburn's 11 points make him a rare contributor on offense, but his ice time may get eaten by Mark Barberio, a frustratingly-inconsistent offensive defenseman in the NHL but a game-breaking points machine in the AHL. Barberio notched five shots on goal, an assist and played more than 18 minutes against Boston but played fewer than 16 the following game against Winnipeg and registered just one shot.

With the Jets and Lightning losing big pieces, the Flames are potentially adding one as their playoff chances continue to increase with each comeback win. It'll be interesting to see if the Flames do commit to Douglas Murray after inviting him to a tryout, but it is difficult to see how he will fit. Murray is a good shot blocker, something the Flames already do very well with Kris Russell, but he's also very slow and can't move the puck. If the Flames do use Murray in the playoffs, it'll be with limited minutes in certain situations.

The Party Crashers

With an exodus of defensemen from Toronto at the deadline, it has paved the way for Andrew MacWilliam, a seventh-round pick from 2008, and journeyman veteran T.J. Brennan to enter the lineup. For MacWilliam, this will be his first taste of NHL hockey, and after 53 games as a dependable two-way defender for the AHL Marlies, has an assist in three games with the Leafs. Brennan has spent most of his career in the AHL as an offensive defenseman (72 points in 76 games last year), and while he has tried to stick with the Sabres and the Panthers in the past, he has fallen short due to his troublesome defensive play. As more teams fall out of the playoff race, expect more teams to hand out auditions for next year. Brennan has some upside offensively, but his impact may be minimal. In two games with the Leafs, Brennan has skated more than 20 minutes each night but is a minus-4 in that span.

Two players who recently signed but are very unlikely to make their NHL debuts this season are Colton Parayko of the Blues and Ashton Sautner of the Canucks, both of whom inked their entry-level contracts recently.

Parayko, a third-round pick from 2012, wrapped up three years at Alaska-Fairbanks as the team's top defenseman, scoring 49 points in 71 games in his sophomore and junior seasons. He'll likely head to AHL Chicago as he transitions to his pro career. Sautner, on the other hand, is an undrafted free agent who scored 90 points in 142 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings over the past two seasons. The Oil Kings have produced some quality defensemen over the years, including the Islanders' Griffin Reinhart and the Sabres' Mark Pysyk, and Sautner may have been overlooked playing behind elite talents. Because the Blues and Canucks feature pretty deep blue lines, both players are unlikely to be contributors in the short-term.

Hot
Erik Karlsson
Having a red-hot Andrew Hammond certainly helps the Sens' defensemen sleep a little better at night, but Karlsson is determined to propel his team into the playoffs. The swift Swede has four points in his past three games, all of them wins. With 18 goals and 54 points, Karlsson hasn't been as dominant as people expected, but his ability to get the puck on net is still among the league's best. His 244 shots on goal ranks fourth overall in the league and first among defensemen.

Marek Zidlicky
The veteran defenseman has been indispensable for Detroit so far, scoring seven points in seven games, including a three-point effort against Pittsburgh. When Mike Babcock rights the ship and starts to get the team clicking every night, Zidlicky's production might even increase. He's a valuable pick-up in any format, if he hasn't been claimed already.

Cold
Johnny Boychuk
Overpaid!!! Just kidding. That seven-year, $42 million extension he signed wasn't so bad. But Boychuk's caught in a cold spell right now, having gone pointless in his past five games, including a 3-1 loss to the Habs where he was on the ice for all three opposition goals. No doubt Boychuk's offense will bounce back when the Islanders snap out of their three-game funk, during which they've managed just three goals.

Jeff Petry
Despite playing over 23 minutes per game, Petry has yet to register a point as a member of the Habs. Although he is playing a big role, the Habs don't score very often, which really hurts his value in fantasy. The points will come soon enough, but don't expect him to pace the Canadiens' defensemen in scoring or outscore someone like Zidlicky, who is on fire and handling a lot of Detroit's offense from the blue line.