NHL Trade Buzz: Wild could move core players before Deadline

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are 11 days remaining until the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline on Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. ET,, and the buzz is picking up. What is going on with the Minnesota Wild? Can Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds' return to health add to his value before the deadline? How will the Columbus Blue Jackets handle the next few days?
Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

Minnesota Wild

General manager Paul Fenton has received permission from ownership to do whatever is necessary to improve the Wild for now or the future, including
trading core players, according to The Athletic
.
The news comes after Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau predicted Thursday that the Wild
would make the Stanley Cup Playoffs
for a seventh straight season.
The Wild (27-25-5, 59 points) have a two-point lead on the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference but are 1-4-2 in their past seven games.
Among the players potentially on the trade block in the scenario reported by The Athletic is forward Eric Staal, who is in the final season of a three-year, $10.5 million contract and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Staal, who is second on the Wild with 17 goals, has said the uncertainty surrounding his future bothers him. The Athletic reported on Wednesday that
Staal has a 10-team no-trade clause
.
"I've done a good job of trying to control what I can control, but it can be difficult," he told The Athletic on Thursday. "This is a hockey place and every single person I've met over the course of my last couple years here, they're all asking me too, 'Are you going to get traded? Are you going to get traded?'
"And there's not much I can say. I don't know. That's difficult. But at the end of the day that doesn't matter. My job is to try to ignore it. And I've got to be better if I want to help this team start winning so we can make the playoffs."
The Wild can take a step toward doing so when they play the New Jersey Devils at Xcel Energy Center on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, MSG+, NHL.TV).
"The way I see it, we're in a playoff spot and I plan on making the playoffs … here," Staal said. "My goal is to be here, hopefully not somewhere else, and to help us win a playoff spot and continue on."

Philadelphia Flyers

Wayne Simmonds hears all the chatter surrounding his future with the Flyers but has done his best to block it out.
"It is what it is," he said. "That stuff I can't really do anything about. Just come, play my game and I'll try to control what I'm doing on the ice."
The 30-year-old forward is in the final season of a six-year contract with an average annual value of $3.97 million and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
The Flyers (26-24-7, 59 points) are 10-1-1 in their past 12 games. They are eight points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia also would have to pass the Carolina Hurricanes (64 points) and Buffalo Sabres (63).
Simmonds had surgery May 1 to repair a torn pelvis on his right side and a torn abdominal muscle on his left side. He's been healthy enough to play all season but he said his doctor told him it could take up to nine months for him to feel fully comfortable.
He's third on the Flyers with 16 goals and third with five power-play goals, and feels his body and game are getting to the right place at the right time of the season.
"Coming back off all my surgeries this summer, it was a long, hard process of trying to get ready and be prepared," he said Friday. "I didn't have much of a training camp, anything like that. I've tried to work my way into it. I think I've gotten to a point where 53 games into the season I feel really, really good. I think my play is only getting better.
"But when you have the type of surgeries, I had it takes time. Not trying to make excuses but I always put my best foot forward and continue to try to get better as a hockey player."

Ottawa Senators

Center Matt Duchene and the Ottawa Senators continue to discuss a contract extension as the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline approaches.
"The only thing I can say, really, is, we're still working through it," Duchene said Thursday. "It's an ongoing process."
Duchene and forwards Ryan Dzingel and Mark Stone each can become an unrestricted free agent July 1. The Senators (21-30-5) are last in the NHL with 47 points, 23 behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"There's a lot of things that go into it," Duchene said as the Senators prepared to play the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV). "I'd rather keep it kind of internal between my agent and the team and stuff. But yeah, it's not an easy thing, that's for sure."
Stone said he wanted to keep it between his agent and the team too.
"You're going to get the same answer," Stone said. "Nothing's changed for me. I come to the rink every day and do my job, which is try to win hockey games for this team."
Separating business from hockey has been the easy part, Duchene said.
"Obviously things have ramped up a bit in the last couple weeks, but until then it didn't really cross my mind too much," Duchene said. "I just kind of left it as a future thing. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I really enjoy coming to the rink every day and playing with these guys. We're not where we want to be in the standings, obviously, but it's hard to get down when you see the compete level these guys bring every night."
Stone has four goals in his past three games and leads Ottawa in scoring with 57 points (26 goals, 31 assists). Duchene has four goals in his past four games and 53 points (25 goals, 28 points). Dzingel has 41 points (21 goals, 20 assists).
In the
most recent Behind the Numbers
, NHL.com correspondent Scott Cullen did a deeper dive on what each of these players brings to the Senators, as well as to potential suitors.
-- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, NHL.com columnist

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets have six games remaining before the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, including one against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG+, NHL.TV).
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen isn't feeling rushed when it comes to his plans for forward Artemi Panarin and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Panarin, who leads the Blue Jackets with 64 points (22 goals, 42 assists), and Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, each can become an unrestricted free agent July 1. Bobrovsky has a no-movement clause in his contract.
"We're going to have to look at all our options, and once we have them in front of us we'll make a decision,"
Kekalainen told NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika.)
.
Kekalainen could opt to keep one or both players and go all-in with the hope the Blue Jackets have the talent in place to win a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time.
Columbus (32-20-3, 67 points) is third in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the second-place Washington Capitals and five behind the first-place Islanders. Their 67 points are tied for 11th in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, also of the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets have played two fewer games than the Penguins.
Or Columbus may opt to try to move one or both rather than risk them leaving after July 1 for no compensation.
"It's more about the outcome of the whole deal -- for now, the near future and into the little more distant future," Kekalainen said. "That's the deciding factor. … People try to make a big deal about making it to the second round of the playoffs. I'd like to make it to the fourth round of the playoffs and win. That's the goal here."

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets could be looking at Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone to improve their top-nine forward group, according to TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie.

The Jets, who play the Colorado Avalanche at Bell MTS Place on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, ALT, NHL.TV), are 5-4-1 in their past 10 games and have scored two goals or fewer in five of those games.
According to the Winnipeg Sun, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion will be in attendance.

Stone, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, leads the Senators with 26 goals, which is more than anyone on the Jets except for center Mark Scheifele (30). The 26-year-old forward has scored at least 20 goals in each of the past five seasons.
The Jets (36-18-3, 75 points) are missing Nikolaj Ehlers because of an upper-body injury and Patrik Laine has scored one goal in his past 19 games.
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