Michael Ryder

Right Wing - MTL

GOALS: 6 | ASST: 8 | PTS: 14
SOG: 42 | +/-: 4

The Canadiens announced Tuesday they have re-acquired Ryder from the Dallas Stars in a trade for wing Erik Cole. Montreal also will receive Dallas' third-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Ryder, who turns 33 next month, had three assists in the Stars’ 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators on Monday night. He has six goals and eight assists in 19 games this season, his second in Dallas.

Looking to boost a struggling club, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren turned to a familiar face, acquiring Simon Gagne from the Los Angeles Kings in a trade Tuesday afternoon.

"It's tough to say exactly the way I feel right now," Gagne said Tuesday. "It's always a shock first of all getting traded, but when they told me the place I was going, the place I was there for more than 10 years and where everything started … it's going back to the place where I'm really familiar, and [I'm] really excited to go back to Philly."

The Flyers gave the Kings a conditional fourth-round pick (previously acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes) in the 2013 NHL Draft. If the Flyers qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they will transfer their third-round pick in the 2013 draft.

Gagne, 32, had five assists in 11 games with the Kings this season, but never really found his groove after suffering an injury during the 2011-12 regular season. After appearing in 34 games during the regular season -- scoring seven goals with 10 assists -- Gagne did not return until the Stanley Cup Final. He made four appearances in the Kings' six-game victory against the New Jersey Devils.

The National Hockey League is proposing a new realignment plan that would see the League go from six divisions to four divisions and introduce a form of divisional playoffs instead of the current conference system in place for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to a report by ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.

The plan was detailed in a memo sent to the League's clubs Tuesday, according to LeBrun.

The plan needs approval from the National Hockey League Players' Association and the League's Board of Governors. If it passes, it would take effect for the 2013-14 regular season.

"We have been in discussions with the Players' Association for the past several weeks on the issue of realignment and we are trying to get to a solution that everybody can live with," Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com. "There are no perfect answers here, so we have to do the best we can in trying to adequately address a number of competing concerns. Once we get to a point where we have the Union's go-ahead, we will present it to our Board of Governors for its consideration. We certainly hope to be in a position to announce something in the relatively near term."

The Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers made a minor swap Monday, as the Flames acquired right wing Mike Testwuide in exchange for Mitch Wahl. Testwuide has been assigned to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League.

Testwuide, a native of Vail, Colo., has played the past three seasons with the Flyers' AHL club, the Adirondack Phantoms. In 76 games during his rookie professional season in 2010-11, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound winger recorded 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists). In 161 career AHL games, he has tallied 70 points and 168 penalty minutes.

NEW YORK -- San Jose Sharks forward Ryane Clowe has been suspended for two games, without pay, for leaving the bench on a legal line change for the purpose of starting an altercation with Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw during NHL Game No. 249 in Chicago on Friday, February 22, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Clowe will forfeit $39,189.18. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Clowe was assessed a minor penalty for roughing and a game misconduct for leaving the bench on an illegal line change to start an altercation with 8.4 seconds left in regulation – an infraction that calls for an automatic 10-game suspension.

Upon further review of video of the incident from multiple angles and a hearing conducted today to examine the incident, it was determined that Clowe, in fact, entered the ice on a legal line change. However, upon doing so, he skated directly to and grabbed Shaw, who was not engaged physically with any other player.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alexander Semin's tenure with the Washington Capitals was at times amazing, at times disappointing, and rarely mundane.

If his return to Verizon Center for the first time as a visiting player wasn't a high-profile event on the NHL calendar, Capitals forward Troy Brouwer might have made it so Monday.

Brouwer did not hold back when talking about Semin, who signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes during the summer after spending seven seasons with the Capitals.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- George McPhee and the Washington Capitals have never been shy about extending the contracts of players well in advance of when their current pacts expire, and Monday was a busy day at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on that front.

The Capitals inked goaltender Braden Holtby and defenseman John Erskine to two-year contract extensions. Each was in the final year of his current deal -- Holtby would have been a restricted free agent July 5 and Erskine would have been unrestricted.

Holtby, 23, will make $1.7 million next season and $2 million in 2014-15. He was one of the breakout stars of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite only 21 NHL games before the postseason began, Holtby helped the Capitals to within one win of the conference finals.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Monday that center Evgeni Malkin would be placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 22.

Malkin was officially diagnosed with a concussion on Sunday. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Malkin has been suffering from severe headaches and mild disorientation.

"He's feeling pretty good right now, so as we go forward in the next few days, standard protocol will be followed," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said after the Penguins' 5-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.

"After the hit in the previous game, Evgeni suffered some short-term memory loss and therefore was diagnosed with a concussion. He's had no other symptoms. He's feeling fine and his memory is returning."

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety on Saturday unveiled its "Goaltender Interference" video, the second in a series of educational videos designed to help players and fans better understand how specific infractions are viewed and evaluated, what is legal and what merits the assessment of Supplemental Discipline.

This latest video takes viewers through the dynamics of determining the issues involving goaltender interference that can merit the possibility of Supplemental Discipline. It provides several examples of goaltender interference incidents and explains the key components that must be present for a goaltender interference infraction to rise to the level of review by the Department of Player Safety.

NEW YORK -- Philadelphia Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and Ottawa Senators goaltender Ben Bishop have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending Feb. 24.

FIRST STAR -- JAKUB VORACEK, RW, PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Voracek led all skaters in points (4-7—11) and assists as the Flyers won three of four games. He opened the week with the first four-point game of his career (0-4—4) in a 7-0 win over the New York Islanders Feb. 18 and recorded his first career hat trick, including the game-winner with 1:31 remaining in regulation, in a 6-5 victory at Pittsburgh Feb. 20. Voracek scored his seventh goal of the season in a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers Feb. 21 and capped the week with three assists in a 5-3 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets Feb. 23. The Kladno, Czech Republic, native has points in five straight games (4-8—12) and leads the Flyers in goals (seven), assists (15) and points (22) this season. Now in his fifth NHL campaign, the 23-year-old Voracek has 64-141—205 in 339 career games.