The Daily Puck: Blue Shirts' New Blueliner

The Daily Puck
by Kevin King

- Pre-deadline madness is upon us!  A busy, busy Saturday was highlighted by Bryan McCabe heading to the Rangers from the Panthers in exchange for Tim Kennedy and a draft pick.
- Four goalies were placed on waivers on Saturday. Curtis McElhinney (TB), Pascal Leclaire (OTT), Natahn Lawson (NYI) and Ty Conklin (STL) are all waiting on word on whether they are headed somewhere else, or will clear waivers and possibly head for the AHL.
- Remember to check out our starting goalie grid for the latest confirmed starters.

Tampa Bay (Dwayne Roloson) vs. NY Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 1:00 p.m

Tampa Bay injuries:

Mattias Ohlund (D) - Questionable for Sunday with lower-body injury.

NY Rangers injuries:

Marian Gaborik (LW) - Questionable for Sunday with concussion symptoms. Did not skate on Saturday, hard to imagine he'll be on the ice Sunday for the early start time.
Marc Staal (D) - Out Sunday with knee injury.
Ruslan Fedotenko (LW) - Out. May have re-injured shoulder on Friday in first game back from injuring that shoulder.

Columbus (Steve Mason) vs. Nashville (Mark Dekanich), 3:00 p.m

Columbus injuries:

No Significant Injury News

Nashville injuries: 

No Significant Injury News

Toronto (James Reimer) vs. Atlanta (Chris Mason), 5:00 p.m

Toronto injuries:

No Significant Injury News

Atlanta injuries:

Ondrej Pavelec (G) - Doubtful to start Sunday due to undisclosed injury.

New Jersey (Martin Brodeur) vs. Florida (Tomas Vokoun), 5:00 p.m

New Jersey injuries:

No Significant Injury News

Florida injuries:

Dmitry Kulikov (D) - Out for Sunday. Could return from amkle injury this week.
Chris Higgins (LW) - Out with broken thumb that will keep him out up to three weeks.

Phoenix (Ilyz Bryzgalov) vs. Chicago (Corey Crawford), 7:00 p.m

Phoenix injuries:

Ray Whitney (LW) - Questionable for Sunday after sitting out on Friday night with a lower-body injury.
Scottie Upshall (RW) - Will be back in the lineup after serving a two-game suspension.
Adrian Aucoin (D) - Out. Has been listed as day-to-day with lower-body injury for over a week now.

St. Louis (Ben Bishop) vs. Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff), 8:00 p.m

St. Louis injuries:

Nikitia Nikitin (D) - Questionable after sitting out Friday night with a lower-body inury.
Jaroslav Halak (G) - Doubtful to dress on Sunday as he battles hand injury. The Blues waiving of backup Ty Conklin on Saturday quite possibly means Halak is on the doorstep of being back between the pipes.

Calgary injuries:

Tim Jackman (RW) - Probable for Sunday. He did not practice Saturday after being on the wrong end of a fight during Friday night's game but coach Brent Sutter expects Jackman to be all set.
Niklas Hagman (LW) - Game-time decision for Sunday after sitting out of Saturday's practice with a touch of the flu.

Boston (Tuukka Rask) vs. Edmonton (Devan Dubnyk), 8:00 p.m

Boston injuries:

No Significant Injury News

Edmonton injuries:

Taylor Chorney (D) - Questionable. Sat out of Friday night's game with knee injury.
Nikolai Khabibulin (G) - Out. Placed on IR with eye infection.

Colorado (Peter Budaj) vs. Anaheim (Jonas Hiller), 8:00 p.m

Colorado injuries:

Ryan O'Byrne (D) - Out Sunday. Will mis the next week or so after suffering facial lacerations against the Oilers on Wednesday.
Adam Foote (D) - Out for Sunday but still listed day-to-day with injured quad.

TRANSACTIONS

Bryan McCabe (D) NY Rangers - Acquired from Florida in exchange for Tim Kennedy and a future third-round draft choice
Nick Boynton (D) Philadelphia - Claimed off of waivers from Chicago.
James Van Riemsdyk (RW) Philadelphia - Loaned to Adirondak (AHL)
Brett MacLean (RW) Phoenix - Assigned to San Antonio (AHL)
Nolan Yonkman (D) Phoenix - Assigned to San Antonio (AHL)
Brett Sterling (LW) Pittsburgh - Assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)
Johan Harju (LW) Tampa Bay - Assigned to Norfolk (AHL)
Marco Sturm (LW) Washington - Claimed off of waivers from Los Angeles
Jay Beagle (LW) Washington - Recalled from Hershey (AHL)
Todd Ford (G) Washington - Recalled from Hershey (AHL)
Mathieu Perreault (C) Washington - Assigned to Hershey (AHL)
Chris Thorburn (C) Atlanta - Signed to multi-year extension
Shane Hnidy (D) Boston - Agreed to terms on one-year deal with Bruins
Kirk MacDonald (Forward) Boston - Signed to contract by the Bruins
Greg Nemisz (C) Calgary - Recalled from Abbotsford (AHL)
Nick Leddy (D) Chicago - Recalled from Rockford
Craig Rivet (D) Buffalo - Clamied off of waivers from Buffalo
Jed Ortmeyer (RW) Minnesota - Assigned to Houston (AHL)
Warren Peters (C) Minnesota - Assigned to Houston (AHL)
Wade Belak (RW) Nashville - Assigned to Milwaukee (AHL)
Nathan Lawson (G) NY Islanders - Placed on waivers
Robbie Schremp (RW) NY Islanders - Placed on waivers

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Who's Hot

Matt Calvert (LW) Columbus - Calvert has been rolling of late for the Jackets thanks to a hat trick on against the Coyotes on Friday night. He has four goals and an assist in the last two games while carrying a plus-2. The problem? He only has give goals and three assists in the other 18 games he has played this season.
Anntti Niemi (G) San Jose - So forget these short-term hot streaks, what Niemi is doing for the Sharks is pretty staggering. He is doing much more than just carrying the Sharks...if you're fortunate enough to have him he is carrying your entire squad with nine wins in his last 11 starts. He's also stopping nearly 95% of the pucks he sees.

Who's Cold

Pekka Rinne (G) Nashville - Rinne finally has hit a bump in the road in what has been an otherwise brilliant season. Rinne has dropped four straight starts and could use a night off. But with the backup goaltending situation in Music City a mess, he may not be getting that any time soon.
Toby Enstrom (D) Atlanta - Another guy having a terrific season but a brutal week is Enstrom. Still, the bar has been set so high that a two-game pointless streak is considered cold for Toby, who is a minus-4 this week. 

Recommended Pickup

Al Montoya (G) NY Islanders - Beggers can't be choosers, and if you need help at the goalie position, you need to snag Montoya, who for now looks like the number one on Long Island. The University of Michigan alum is the best startable option available on the waiver wire.