Grant Besse, Benilde-St. Margaret's

Senior right wing Grant Besse didn't conclude this year's state tournament in the same remarkable fashion he did in 2011-12, but he certainly did his share in the regular season to catch the eye of all those who watched him perform at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School in Minnesota.

The 5-foot-8.5, 177-pound Besse, No. 124 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list of the top 2013 draft-eligible North American skaters, was awarded the Mr. Hockey Award on March 10 during the 29th ceremony in St. Paul.

The Mr. Hockey Award is given to the outstanding senior high school hockey player in the state of Minnesota and is selected by a panel of National Hockey League Scouts, Division I coaches and selected media members from around the state.

"[Besse] isn't real big, but he's very strong on his skates and with how he moves," Central Scouting's David Gregory told NHL.com. "He just looks so comfortable getting around the ice. He does everything with such ease, like move puck to teammate, shoot on the fly or move laterally to get around somebody.

"He doesn't have to slow down, stop or look. He's always constantly moving and when you combine that with one of the best wrist shots and releases in the draft, you understand why he almost put up 50 goals this season."

Besse was No. 187 on Central Scouting's final ranking prior to the 2012 Draft in Pittsburgh, but wasn't chosen.

Halifax Mooseheads forward Nathan MacKinnon clearly wasn't interested in easing his way back into the lineup after missing over a month due to injury.

On Wednesday, in his first game since Feb. 8, when he tweaked his knee and spent the next 14 games out of action, MacKinnon had two goals and two assists to lead the Mooseheads to a 6-2 victory against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

MacKinnon wasted little time, scoring just 35 seconds into the first period.

"We wanted to wait until he was 100 percent before he came back so he was really ready to go," Halifax coach Dominique Ducharme told The Chronicle Herald. "He was excited to be coming back. He played with energy and it was great to see how he handled it."

MacKinnon, No. 2 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters for the 2013 NHL Draft, has a point in 11 straight games, dating to Jan. 12, and has totaled eight goals and 21 points in that span. In addition to his offensive output Wednesday, MacKinnon also generated a team-high six shots on goal, delivered one hit and won 10 of 18 faceoffs.

NEWARK, N.J. -- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn has the flu and is out of the lineup against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday at Prudential Center.

Schenn, who skated with the team in the morning, had appeared in all 27 games for the Flyers this season. The 23-year-old has two goals, seven points and a plus-2 rating.

Schenn was replaced in the lineup by Kurtis Foster, who was listed as a healthy scratch the past 12 games.

NEWARK, N.J. -- In an effort to generate some spark into the lineup, Philadelphia Flyers coach Peter Laviolette will reunite Danny Briere with Simon Gagne on a line with Sean Couturier when his team plays the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday at Prudential Center.

The Flyers sit last in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Couturier was centering Briere and Gagne during practice Tuesday at the Flyers SkateZone in Voorhees, N.J. Laviolette confirmed Wednesday after his team's morning skate that those three players would join forces in an attempt to "maybe try and find something offensively or try a different look."

Laurent Dauphin, Chicoutimi, QMJHL

NHL Central Scouting has advised all NHL personnel to keep an eye on four 2013 draft-eligible players shooting up the ranks for the month of March.

In addition to profiling many of the top prospects on the radar, it's always interesting to learn of those performers improving to the point of getting special attention, as is the case each month when Central Scouting provides team scouts and GMs a cheat sheet of such performers.

This month, Central Scouting has targeted right wing Zach Nastasiuk of the Owen Sound Attack in the Ontario Hockey League, center Laurent Dauphin of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and center Nicolas Petan of the Portland Winterhawks and defenseman Dillon Heatherington of the Swift Current Broncos in the Western Hockey League.

Nastasiuk, Dauphin and Heatherington, who were regarded as 'B skaters' in February, were upgraded to 'A skaters' this month. Petan jumped from a 'C' rating to 'A'.

The Halifax Mooseheads will have one of their top 2013 draft-eligible forwards returning to the lineup on Monday when they play host to Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the Halifax Metro Centre (6 p.m. ET).

Halifax general manager Cam Russell informed NHL.com that Jonathan Drouin, who has missed the past three games with a lower-body injury sustained on March 2, will make his anticipated return. Nathan MacKinnon, who has missed the past 13 games after sustaining a lower-body injury on Feb. 8, remains out. According to Russell, "[MacKinnon] is close."

Drouin, No. 3 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list of the top draft-eligible North American skaters, still leads the team with 98 points on 39 goals and 59 assists in 45 games. Despite playing in 20 fewer games, the 5-foot-10.75, 185-pound Drouin is three points from the overall scoring lead in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Josh Currie and Ben Duffy of the P.E.I. Rocket have 101 points apiece.

It's possible MacKinnon, Central Scouting's No. 2-ranked skater on the midterm report, could return Wednesday on the road against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. MacKinnon has 28 goals, 69 points and a plus-37 rating in 41 games this season for the Mooseheads (54-6-4).

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mikemorrealeNHL

The coaches of the British Columbia Hockey League recently revealed their league all-star team selections for the 2012-13 season.

Among those listed were two skaters on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of the top North American skaters eligible for the 2013 NHL Draft -- forward Adam Tambellini of the Surrey Eagles was named a Second-Team All-Star, and defenseman Dane Birks of the Merritt Centennials was named to the league's All-Rookie Team.

Tambellini, son of Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini, was listed as a 'B' prospect at the start of the season for the Vernon Vipers before his trade to Surrey on Jan. 10. Tambellini, who is committed to the University of North Dakota for the 2013-14 season, had 36 goals and 65 points in 52 games for Vernon and Surrey. In 16 games with Surrey, he's totaled 14 goals and 26 points.

NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils will have their captain back in the lineup against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at Prudential Center.

Defenseman Bryce Salvador, who missed the team's game on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes with an upper body injury, will replace Mark Fayne.

NEWARK, N.J. -- Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec considers himself lucky to have been an understudy of one of the hardest-working goalies to strap on the pads in the National Hockey League -- Johan Hedberg.

Pavelec and Hedberg were partners for three seasons with the then-Atlanta Thrashers from 2007-08 through 2009-10 before Hedberg signed with the New Jersey Devils in July 2010.

The former teammates will be opposite each other on Sunday when the Devils play host to the Jets at Prudential Center.

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer confirmed on Saturday night that goalie Johan Hedberg would start between the pipes when his team faces the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at Prudential Center.

Hedberg was yanked from Saturday's match against the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in three starts after yielding five goals on 18 shots. Rookie Jeff Frazee replaced Hedberg to open the third period and made three saves on three shots in a 6-3 loss.

"When you look at our schedule we've got back-to-back [games]. It made no sense to keep Heddy in there," DeBoer told reporters after the loss. "He's got to play again [Sunday]. It's our fifth game this week, so it was a decision more about energy than anything."