Notes: Nyquist keeping his cool as trade deadline approaches

DETROIT -- With less than a week remaining before the trade deadline, there is bound to be a little extra stress for the players whose names are being mentioned in rumors.
One of those players is Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, who is in the final year of his four-year, $19 million contract.

On Saturday, Sportsnet's Chris Johnston said on Hockey Night in Canada that the Wings had asked Nyquist if he had a list of teams for which he would consider waiving his no-trade clause.
"Maybe the deadlines you've been through, but this is a little different for me with this being the last year of my contract, going into unrestricted free agency," Nyquist said. "So it's a little different for me this year but it's part of the business. It happens to everyone."
Nyquist declined to say if he had offered the Wings any teams he'd be willing to go to.
When Nyquist missed Sunday's game against Philadelphia due to illness, some people believed that a trade was in the works. But Nyquist was, in fact, ill, missing his first game of the season and first since the 2016-17 season.
Wings coach Jeff Blashill is cognizant that this issue could be weighing on players like Nyquist as Monday's 3 p.m. deadline looms.
"I talked to him last Friday and I thought he came out and played great on Saturday, he was one of our best players in Philly," Blashill said. "The conversation was just that in the end, things are way better if he plays great hockey and things aren't great if he doesn't play great hockey and some of the other stuff is out of your control, some of the other stuff, the business side, you got to work through. One of the things you have to do in any business and certainly this one is you have to compartmentalize, so I think the ability to compartmentalize, put the business side to one side and the hockey side to another and make sure he's playing great hockey. He appreciated the conversation and I think he understood. I think he's in a pretty good spot."

Nyquist is currently second on the team with 48 points to leader Dylan Larkin's 55. Nyquist is first on the team in assists with 33.
Nyquist, 29, has already surpassed his 40-point total in 82 games last season and is tied with the 48 points he had in 76 games in the 2016-17 season. His career high is 54 points in 82 games in 2014-15.
"I think Nyquie has played real good the last couple years. I've said that lots," Blashill said. "I said that last year. I maintain it this year. I think he's competed on a consistent basis. I think he's created offense. I think he's back to creating space for himself with his smarts and his ability to use his edges. He hasn't had the production on the power play that he had in the years that he scored high goal numbers, so we'd love to get that back, but overall, I think he's played real good hockey."
Nyquist said he talked with former teammate Tomas Tatar about it before the deadline last year, before Tatar was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.
"You always talk about it, especially when you hear your name or someone's name," Nyquist said. "Both me and him, we'd heard our names before. That kind of happened last minute, so that was kind of a little bit of a surprise I guess, because it happened so late. I feel like it was last minute. But I'm happy Tats is doing well. He's a good friend of mine. It's been working out real well for him in Montreal."
Tatar, who was traded from Vegas to Montreal, is third on the Canadiens in scoring with 43 points.
The situation is also challenging for the rest of the team, even if their names aren't being discussed in the rumor mill.
"The past couple years, it's been really tough when you see your buddies get traded," Larkin told the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday morning. "You spend so much time together and the guy just goes away and you're still friends with him, you see him when you guys play against each other but you're not with him every day and joking around in the locker room. It's a weird time. A lot of fans and people on the outside don't realize that a lot of guys have families and there's life outside of hockey that a guy just has to pick up and move cities and a lot of times he leaves his family here and they figure it out in the summer. It's a weird time and something that I hope that we can win some games here and we don't have to go through this a lot in my career."

Blashill hasn't talked about it with the team but believes it's best to just stay on task.
"I'd say one of the ways we would address it is by taking a normal approach and making sure nothing changes from our aspect," Blashill said. "We're trying to win a hockey game against Chicago and keeping a real narrow focus. I think our team has done a real good job of having a short memory, learning from the last game but moving on, moving to the next challenge and that's the game against Chicago. I don't like to get too far beyond that. We'll continue that same exact approach."
LINE SHIFTS: When Nyquist missed Sunday's game, Blashill put forward Anthony Mantha in his spot with Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Based on Tuesday's practice at the BELFOR Training Center, that line will stay the same and Nyquist will skate with center Frans Nielsen and wing Thomas Vanek.

"I thought when Anthony's played with Dylan, he was playing really well before he (hurt) his hand," Blashill said. "I think Nyquie's played really well with Dylan as well. Might have something to say about Dylan, Dylan's done a good job of driving offense for sure in the league. But those guys have both played well. I think when Nyquie's been away from Dylan, he's played good hockey, too, and he certainly has with Vanek and he has with Nielsen and they're all kind of thinkers, which Nyquie tends to like playing with thinkers like that.
"They got to make sure there's enough forecheck presence, got to make sure there's enough guys at the net, all those things, but we'll judge it as it goes. I thought Anthony was the best player on the ice between the two teams on Sunday, so I just felt he deserved the opportunity to stay up there. It doesn't mean it'll be forever but I thought he deserved the opportunity to stay up there with that line."
Nyquist has played with both Nielsen and Vanek before.
"Nielsen's a great player and obviously having Vanek there, we've had some chemistry in the past, so hopefully we can get up to speed here real quick," Nyquist said. "I don't think it'll be too big a problem. Two great players, so hopefully we can create some offense."

HRONEK ON PP: Also during Tuesday's practice, rookie defenseman Filip Hronek quarterbacked the power-play unit with Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Mantha and Vanek.
"He's done a good job on the power play up here," Blashill said. "I wouldn't say it's been great yet but a good job on the power play up here. I've seen greatness at times in GR when I've watched. He scored two goals late in a game in a real big comeback game in one of the games I watched. He's got a real good shot. I think he's generally facilitated the power play well, meaning he's carried the puck up the ice and made the right decisions on where to distribute to without taking too much unneeded risk. In that sense, good management of the puck, and he's not afraid to shoot the puck.
"He's got to make sure he maintains a shooting mentality when he's there. I'd like to see any of those guy on either of those units really take charge and be elite on the power play. I think that's what we're missing. We got a whole bunch of guys who's been good on it. We need guys to step up and be elite on it. I don't know that anybody deserves to come off but I don't know that anybody demands to stay on. So we need some guys to continue to take steps on that."
Mike Green quarterbacked the other power-play unit with Nielsen, Bertuzzi, Nyquist and rookie Michael Rasmussen, meaning Niklas Kronwall is not on the power play, at least for now.