ESPN NHL

NASHVILLE -- In Game 1 of the Nashville Predators series against the Detroit Red Wings, defenseman Shea Weber slammed Henrik Zetterberg’s head into the glass as time expired in a move that infuriated Red Wings fans and players.

The NHL opted not to suspend Weber, fining him $2,500 instead.

And, as we know in the NHL, when the league doesn’t take care of justice, the players do it themselves.

In this case, it was Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi handing out the punishment, and it didn’t take long. Just 1:36 into the first period of Detroit’s 3-2 win over Nashville in Game 2, Bertuzzi dropped the gloves to fight Weber and stick up for Zetterberg.

“It’s hockey. Things happen in the game and whatever,” Bertuzzi said. “It’s kind of something you gotta do. You have to stick up for your teammates and do stuff like that.”

Said Weber: “Obviously, he’s sticking up for his teammate and I’m sure anyone in here would do the same thing if something happened to us.”

After the game, there was a short pause after Bertuzzi was asked if the fight naturally happened or if it was something he was going to make sure happened. Bertuzzi will forever be linked to his hit on Steve Moore in 2004, which makes any premeditated retribution a touchy subject for the big forward.

“It’s a hockey play,” he answered. “It’s part of the game.”

The Red Wings aren’t a team built for fighting, so the list of candidates to take on Weber was a short one. It provided the Red Wings an emotional lift early in the game and Detroit jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the fight.

“That’s good to see. I thought we got that out of the way early,” Detroit forward Danny Cleary said. “We’re not a team built for that type of retribution or answers. Bert took it upon himself. He’s the biggest guy we’ve got.”

Perhaps the ideal solution would have been a suspension from the league, but when that didn’t come, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said sticking up for Zetterberg was a necessary action.

“It’s an important part of hockey, standing up,” Babcock said. “I just thought that the incident the other night wasn’t part of hockey. I haven’t seen it since junior hockey. I thought it was unacceptable and I think sometimes when things don’t get looked after [by the league] you have to look after it yourself. And I didn’t think things were looked after at all.”

NASHVILLE -- Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber might have provided NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shananan with his first test of the postseason.

The league will no doubt review the final seconds of Nashville’s 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings where Weber roughed up Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg, first taking a swing and then shoving his head into the glass.

Zetterberg hit Weber in the back moments before the retaliation from the Predators franchise defenseman, but Weber deflected the question when asked if that’s what set him off.

“I don’t know,” he said. “You guys watched it.”

He said the physical play is something to be expected in this series between two rivals.

“Both teams aren’t going to back down,” Weber said. “It’s going to be a long series.”(

Now the question becomes will he be around to play for the entire thing? The hit would probably garner a suspension during the regular season, but during the recent GM meetings in March, Shanahan indicated that the postseason might be different.

“The standard of what is illegal or legal doesn’t change. ... When you suspend a player during the regular season, you’re suspending him over 82 games,” Shanahan said at the time. “[In the playoffs], you’re looking at things in seven-game clumps. It’s a seven-game season each series.”

The Predators are already missing Hal Gill, who missed the game with a lower-body injury, making Shanahan’s decision with Weber even more critical. If Zetterberg wasn’t injured, that helps Weber’s case. Zetterberg wasn’t made available to the media after the game, but an NHL source said that Zetterberg felt fine after the game.

We made our picks for this season's NHL awards, now it is time for you to weigh in.

Hart Trophy

---

Vezina Trophy

---

Jack Adams

---

Calder Trophy

---

Norris Trophy

---

Selke Trophy

---

About three weeks ago, Nashville Predators GM David Poile reached out to his captain, Shea Weber, to feel him and the team out regarding Alexander Radulov.

"He wanted to make sure that we were OK with it,’’ Weber told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "He didn’t want to bring a guy over that we’re going to be shunning and not welcoming into our room. He’s the kind of player that we know what he’s about, we played with him, he’s a good kid, we’re excited to get it going here.’’

Poile needed to ensure that he had his players’ backing.

"It’s one thing for me to make a hockey decision knowing that Radulov had matured as a person and as a player and the fact he’s possibly the best player playing outside the NHL, but having said that I wanted to make sure on a personal note he didn’t burn any bridges with our current players when he left,’’ Poile told ESPN.com on Wednesday after the news conference that reintroduced Radulov in Nashville. "What I found out is that Shea had talked to Radulov over the years, and so had Martin Erat."

Indeed, Weber himself had let it be known to Radulov directly in conversations at the 2009 world hockey championships in Switzerland and at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver that the Preds would welcome Radulov back with open arms.

"Oh yeah, we made sure he knew that,’’ Weber said. "He knew that we would welcome him and that it wouldn’t be a problem. It was pretty straightforward.’’

And the feeling Weber got in those conversations was that Radulov wanted to return.

"Every time I talked to him he was talking about coming back,” Weber said. "He wanted to play in the NHL. He wanted to be one of the best players in the game. Obviously, it just took a while with contractual stuff. But now that he’s back, we know it’s for real.’’

Some people have wondered whether the players on the Predators might be sour on Radulov for the way he bolted on his NHL contract and his team in the summer of 2008. Instead, Weber and the leadership group on Nashville were fully supportive of bringing him back. All they saw was a chance to add an important piece to a club that was already a Cup contender.

"Yeah, exactly,” Weber said. "That’s in the past, what happened. It was his decision to leave and he was young. But we’re just excited at the fact he’s decided to come back and he wants to win a Stanley Cup. He obviously feels that we’re close. We feel he can help us out and hopefully give us that depth and make us that much harder to play against.’’

Added Poile: "As Shea told me, he had never seen a game where Rad never tried 100 percent. This guy is one of the most passionate players we’ve ever dealt with in terms of wanting to be on the ice and wanting to play. He has great enthusiasm and wants to win. That’s the message Shea came back to me with."

The key now is to see what kind of adjustment period Radulov will need before feeling comfortable after four years away from the NHL.

"It’s a great player to be able to add at this time of the season," Weber said. "I mean, we’re going to try and make the transition as easy as we can for him to fit in. He knows some guys that were here in the past when he was here. So it’s going to be pretty fluid as far as that goes.’’

But what exactly are they getting now in Radulov? Considered by some the best player in the world not in the NHL, others however contend he’s been hurt by playing in a lesser league.

"Playing with him when he was young, you could see how much talent he had and what he could do with the puck and how dynamic he was,’’ Weber said. "We’re excited because obviously he’s that much older now. He had to have improved and only got better, and that’s exciting to think about.’’

The Norris Trophy race clearly appears to be a two-man affair and, quite honestly, either player at this point is fully deserving. Let’s take a look at our Norris candidates:

1a. Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Ever wonder what this guy would fetch July 1 if he was unrestricted as opposed to a restricted free agent? Let’s put it this way: I’m guessing at least a third of the general managers in the NHL would pick him first overall if the league redrew the rosters. Among the league leaders in points (36), plus-minus (plus-20) and ice time (26:15), Weber just does it all. Runner-up last season to the legendary Nicklas Lidstrom for the Norris, this finally could be Weber’s first win -- unless of course the next guy on this list wins it. They’re neck and neck in my opinion.

1b. Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

The parallels with the younger Weber are all too true. Physical impact, offensive force, shutdown terror and a great leader. They apply to both players; the only difference is that the veteran Chara has done it longer in this league. The 2009 Norris Trophy winner has a great shot at another one.

3. Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings

The seven-time Norris Trophy winner still has it. Can you believe he has a plus-25 rating through 53 games? Oh, and he’s 41. Nick, it’s the Hockey Hall of Fame calling, they want to know if they can name a wing after you.

4. Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks

As of Wednesday morning, Edler is second in the league in points by a defenseman, with 37 (7-30). I chuckled when a player turned to me during All-Star Weekend in Ottawa and remarked he had no idea how good this Edler dude was until seeing him in person. Um, yeah.

5. Dan Girardi, New York Rangers

Leads all NHLers in ice time per game and helps spearhead the stingiest defense in the Eastern Conference. He’s much deserving of Norris consideration.



Honorable mention:
Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins (if he hadn't missed 21 games with a concussion, he’d be right there with Weber and Chara, making this a three-horse race); Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (Leads all blueliners in scoring but defensive game still needs work.);Ryan Suter, Nashville Predators; Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks; Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs; Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers; Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers; Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues; Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks

Ryan Suter’s decision to share the news that he won’t be signing with the Predators before the trade deadline dominated discussion during Friday’s media availability with one player a little more interested than most.

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen’s interest was piqued mostly because Philadelphia could use a replacement for Chris Pronger. But partly because he can relate.

Timomen enjoyed playing in Nashville, but his rights were traded to the Flyers in 2007 when the Predators couldn’t afford to keep him or forward Scott Hartnell.

"They were going to be unrestricted free agents, demanding and worth more money than we could afford," Predators GM David Poile said.

History might be repeating. And it’s not just one franchise defenseman this time around. The future remains uncertain for both Suter and teammate Shea Weber.

"It’s not easy," Timonen said. "I’m sure these two guys want to stay in Nashville. I wanted to stay in Nashville, too. Sometimes it comes to money and business and that side of things. I’m sure these guys are talking to the team and trying to see, 'Is there any way we can work this thing out?' If not, then you have to move on. It’s a bad part of the business but it has to happen."

And if it has to happen, Timonen would love for his current team to be the beneficiary. Pronger has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the playoffs with a concussion, and the addition of Suter would come the closest to replacing him.

It would immediately catapult the Flyers back among the Stanley Cup favorites.

"Obviously if we can get one of [Suter or Weber], we’ll be happy to take them," Timonen said. "All the help you can get going into the playoffs and try to win the Stanley Cup -- we need it."

-- Craig Custance

Hossa: Rumors are unavoidable issue

Suter’s decision to put contract talks on hold will lead to a frenzy of rumors surrounding the defenseman as the trade deadline closes in.

It’s a world Marian Hossa remembers well. He made the same declaration about halting talks with Atlanta in 2008 and was traded to Pittsburgh five minutes before the trade deadline that year. Making it worse, Hossa was in Montreal on deadline day, playing against the Canadiens, a team feverishly pursuing him in trade talks with the Thrashers.

Hossa can laugh about it now.

"Lots of questions. Lots of media attention," Hossa said, smiling. "You never know what can happen; I think that’s what he’s going through right now."

Hossa managed the distraction well but admitted it becomes an unavoidable issue that teammates have to deal with.

"It’s a little bit of a distraction maybe in the dressing room," Hossa said.

The best solution was the drop of the puck.

"When I jump on the ice, I was with my teammates and didn’t think about what was going on," Hossa said.

-- Craig Custance

Campbell recalls Sabres trade

Florida Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell went through the same situation as Suter with the Buffalo Sabres during the 2007-08 season when his contract was expiring before he was slated for unrestricted free agency. He declined to sign an extension during the season and ultimately was traded to San Jose.

Campbell said Friday that he understands the pressure and stress Suter is going through.

"It's not fun at times -- going through all that experience," Campbell said. "It should be a great time, but you never know what's going to happen. I'm not sure. Hopefully, he probably wants to stay in Nashville and have a home there. Myself, it takes time to see what develops. I'm happy. Everything's worked out great for me. I'm sure it'll work out well for him."

Weber is a restricted free agent July 1. Together with Suter, he forms the NHL's top defense pairing, and Campbell finds it hard to picture Nashville without that stud duo.

"It's kind of hard to picture [the] Nashville Predators without those two guys in the back end," Campbell said. "They realize how much they mean to that team, and it'd be pretty hard to see them not there."

-- Pierre LeBrun

OTTAWA -- It’s not every day a player breaks his own news at the All-Star break, but that’s just what Ryan Suter did Friday.

The star defenseman for the Nashville Predators turned what is usually a fluff-filled media availability into a headline when he let it slip during questioning that he did not think he would sign an extension before the Feb. 27 trade deadline.

"I feel it would be more of a distraction than anything," Suter said of signing now. "We’ve never had a timeline or deadline. We’re just focusing on winning. Everything else will take care of itself."

Just to be perfectly clear, ESPN.com asked Suter again, was he saying he won’t sign before the trade deadline?

"I don’t see it being a benefit by hurrying up and trying to get something done," Suter confirmed. "I’m a Nashville Predator until July. I will focus on making my team better."

And with that, there was a little more clarity on what was already one of the most pressing situations in the NHL: Suter is UFA eligible on July 1, when he would easily be the most desired rearguard on the market.

Was Suter's admission Friday by design? Hard to say. But it’s been coming, said Suter’s defense partner and franchise captain. Shea Weber, who can become a restricted free agent on July 1, figured the pressure was mounting on Suter with Feb. 27 drawing closer.

"I was surprised maybe that it took that long for him to get that off his chest," Weber said Friday at his media availability. "Obviously, we talk a lot. It’s been weighing for him a while. Obviously [Preds GM] David [Poile] has been trying to get a deal done. Ryan doesn’t want to deal with it now and that’s why he came forward and said that today."

Now the next move belongs to Poile, whose team has been on a tear in the past month, rising up the Western Conference standings, clearly playoff-bound and perhaps capable of a deep run.

Can he afford to move Suter before Feb. 27 given where his team sits in the standings? Can he afford not to if he stands to possibly lose such a huge asset this summer for nothing?

That’s why Poile would have loved to sign him before Feb. 27 to eliminate that difficult decision.

Part of Poile’s challenge this season has been to show both Suter and Weber that the Preds are in the process of shedding their image of small-budget dime counters who can’t compete financially with the Detroits and the Chicagos of the NHL world.

Poile has told Suter and Weber that the old days of Nashville playing on small payrolls are over.

"That’s the conversation we’ve been having,” Poile told ESPN.com via phone Friday, a few hours before Suter broke his news. "Those days are past. We have new ownership in place. They’ve made a commitment to me and the players and both Ryan and Shea know that, because of the dollars they’re going to be getting and what we need to do to win that Cup, we’ll be spending what is necessary to contend."

Right now, the Preds are a bottom-five payroll. But if Suter and Weber sign on the dotted line over the next few months, that will obviously change.

"I know we’re one of the lowest payrolls this year, but going forward that will no longer be the case," stressed Poile.

But can he convince Suter and Weber of that?

"I think that’s the hardest part, you look at the past and seeing guys go through your team like Forsberg, Timonen, Hartnell -- you go down the list, all you see is guys leaving," Weber said. "You want to believe him [Poile], they’ve got the right things in mind. If they say they’re going to do it [increase payroll], then they should do it and we’ve got to trust them."

Suter has communicated to Poile a desire to see the GM improve the team before the trade deadline, and Poile is trying to do just that ahead of Feb. 27.

Would that be enough for Suter to sign after the season?

"We have a lot of good players in our room," Suter said. "Not saying you gotta go out and get a big-name guy -- just the right piece.

"I want [to] help our team win the Stanley Cup and being in a place that we can go get more players and the pieces we need to help us win," Suter added.

Similarly, Weber is also sitting back and watching things unfold. Because he signed a one-year deal last summer after going to arbitration, the Predators weren’t allowed to talk contract with him until Jan. 1. Not that it mattered, Weber -- like Suter, as it turns out -- wants to wait until after the season.

"As soon as Jan. 1 rolled around, I told them right away that I didn’t want to negotiate during the season," Weber said. "I dealt with enough stress and pressure last summer going through arbitration and the negotiations. Right away, I put it on the back burner. We can use the summer and the next year to try and get something done."

And so, all of it now falls squarely on the shoulders of Poile. His team is at the most important crossroads in franchise history. His two most important skaters, homegrown Predators players, hold all the cards as to whether Nashville will indeed compete with the big boys for years to come or be depleted -- and set back for years -- by their exit.

"We had the good fortune of drafting them and seeing them develop into top NHL players, into being All-Stars, into being arguably the best defense pair in the National Hockey League," Poile told ESPN.com. "It’s our plan and our desire to sign them both. I think our team has proved over the last quarter of the season that despite the changes we made in the offseason -- arguably taking a step backwards and having to change some veteran players and replacing them with some of our up-and-coming players -- that we did it with a purpose. We’re trying to win a Stanley Cup. We felt that was the best way to go.

"And secondly, we had to clear some dollars last summer so we could sign Pekka Rinne, as we did. I said at the beginning of the season that I thought hopefully we could be better in the second half of the season. We needed to get these young guys acclimated. Right now, we’re tracking pretty well there. So I hope that Suter and Weber see that the development process doesn’t just work for them but it’s working for other younger players on our team. I think all the pieces are just about in place to be competitive for a number of years. But we need to re-sign Suter and Weber to make all that come to fruition."

The NHL trade deadline got an early jump Thursday night with the Montreal Canadiens shipping outspoken winger Mike Cammalleri to the Calgary Flames.

Just a day after spouting off about his frustrations with the way the team was playing, Cammalleri was gone.

Was it a rash move by embattled Habs GM Pierre Gauthier?

Consider this: One NHL GM told ESPN.com Thursday night he wished he would have known Cammalleri was available because he had some interest in the player.

Deduce from that what you will.

Whether or not the Canadiens informed a lot of teams, the Flames say this deal was not done overnight.

"It's been percolating for quite some time, we've been having a lot of conversations," Flames GM Jay Feaster told reporters in Calgary after the deal was announced.

The Habs also dealt goalie Karri Ramo and a fifth-round pick in 2012 in exchange for forwards Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a second-round pick in 2013.

The Flames got the better player in Cammalleri, but the Habs will save cap space; Bourque has a $3.3 million yearly cap hit, while Cammalleri is at $6 million.

Will the trade spark more moves? Another NHL GM told ESPN.com before this trade that he thought the chatter had more volume this early on compared with other years.

Let’s start in Boston with the Stanley Cup champs:

Bruins looking with caution

When you’re leading the NHL in goals for and goals against, and blowing away the opposition on some nights, just what exactly do you need ahead of the trade deadline?

"Obviously we have a lot of cap room, so there’s a lot of flexibility," Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli told ESPN.com Thursday. "I would like to add depth-wise on the forward front and depth-wise on the defenseman front. But I don’t want to subtract anything."

A year ago, Chiarelli was a busy man, adding Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly and Tomas Kaberle ahead of the deadline en route to a Stanley Cup championship.

This year, while willing to add again, Chiarelli is treading more carefully.

"The difference between last year and this year is that I’m a little more certain about the chemistry at this point," said the Bruins GM. "So I have to be a little more careful about adding. I don’t want to subtract in order to add. If I can add, I want to be careful about chemistry."

Chiarelli declined, like all GMs, to name any possible targets, so I’ll do a little sleuthing on my own.

I think two names that bear watching are forward Tuomo Ruutu and/or defenseman Tim Gleason in Carolina. Both are slated to be unrestricted free agents July 1.

But those are just two possibilities. Like any buyer at this time of year, the B’s would have more than a dozen names on their shopping list.

Parise's future

There has been lots of chatter this past week about Zach Parise and his future. The Devils' star captain is slated to be an unrestricted free agent July 1.

I’m not convinced the Feb. 27 trade deadline means a whole lot to Devils GM Lou Lamoriello in this particular case. Normally, when a pending UFA star like Parise hasn’t signed an extension yet and has the potential to walk away July 1 without compensation, the team will try to move him before the trade deadline to maximize his remaining asset value -- much like the former Atlanta Thrashers did with both Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk and the Nashville Predators may be forced to do with Ryan Suter this season.

But from talking to people around the league, there’s a growing feeling that Lamoriello will not move Parise.

"He can’t trade away his captain, the face of the franchise, with the team sitting in a playoff spot," one source told ESPN.com Thursday.

Another factor is that the Devils need Parise to make the playoffs, and the club -- still in an ownership mess -- can really use the additional revenue.

"Don’t discount that part of it," said the source.

The feeling is that Lamoriello will use the remaining months between now and July 1 to try to convince Parise to stay on board.

The other option for the Devils is that if Parise hasn’t signed by the June entry draft, they can move his rights then. It won’t fetch as much as trading him now would, but it’s better than nothing.

Wild hoping to buy

The Minnesota Wild, like many teams, don’t quite know yet if they’ll be buyers or sellers, as it depends on where they sit in the standings come Feb. 27.

They’re certainly hoping to be buyers and, if that’s the case, it’s pretty obvious they’ll be looking to upgrade a 29th-place offense.

"We’ve been talking to teams for a couple of months now," Wild GM Chuck Fletcher told ESPN.com Thursday. "We haven’t scored a lot of goals this year. I think there’s room for internal improvement, I think we have guys who will score more goals. But obviously if we could find a way to upgrade our team, we will."

What the Wild won’t do, however, is mortgage the future. Fletcher and his front office have worked hard to replenish the prospect base and minor league system in Minnesota.

"We’re not going to trade any of our top young prospects," Fletcher said. "We think we’ve worked hard to put together a pretty good crop of prospects going forward and we’re not looking to dismantle the whole thing for a quick fix. But if we can find a way to make a good hockey trade here, or move something that isn’t as critical to our future, then we’ll certainly look at that."

My sense is that the Wild would be willing to move a B-level prospect, a draft pick or a player off their current roster if that helps get them a top-six forward.

Fletcher, of course, would not mention any names, but I’ll put this guess out there: Vaclav Prospal, UFA July 1, is available in Columbus and Fletcher had him in Florida. I’m sure the Wild have a dozen targets on their wish list, but I’d be surprised if Prospal wasn’t one of them.

More rumblings

• I can confirm reports that Philadelphia and Toronto have chatted over the past week. The Leafs have long coveted winger James van Riemsdyk. Sources on both teams, however, told ESPN.com Thursday that nothing was close to imminent on any deal. The Flyers' top priority is to get help on defense, and it just so happens that's where Toronto has extra bodies. Still, as I reported earlier this week, Philly's top name on its shopping list is Suter. Tim Gleason of the Hurricanes also interests the Flyers.
• The New York Rangers, we’re hearing, are looking for either a top-six forward who can put the puck in the net and/or a power-play defenseman with a good shot. Like most other contenders, including the likes of Philadelphia and Detroit, the Rangers are keeping a close eye on Nashville and what the Predators are going to do with either Suter (UFA July 1) or Shea Weber (RFA July 1). Needless to say, the Rangers would covet either one of those studs on defense.
• The Detroit Red Wings have more cap space than they’ve ever had since this system was put in place in 2005. They’ll be looking to add, but not at all costs.
  
  "We got cap space, I’m going to work the phones like I always do over the next six to seven weeks," Wings GM Ken Holland told ESPN.com Thursday. "If there’s a fit, we’ll do something, but if there isn’t, I don’t feel the urge to do something for the sake of doing something. I like our team."
  
  As I reported earlier this season, I believe the Wings have some interest in Oilers winger Ales Hemsky, who is UFA July 1. I also believe an upgrade on backup goalie Ty Conklin would be a target.
• The Vancouver Canucks are looking for size up front, most likely in the form of a bottom-six forward. Backup goalie Cory Schneider, who is starting material, would need to fetch a big-time offer to move before Feb. 27. My sense is he’s more likely to move in the offseason.
• New York-based rumors this week had Shane Doan possibly on the move with the Rangers a team that would covet him. Well, the Rangers do like him, but he’s not available at this point. "No truth in that whatsoever," Coyotes GM Don Maloney responded via email when asked about those Doan trade rumors. The Coyotes captain is slated to be an UFA July 1.
• The Florida Panthers want to get healthy before they decide what they’re going to do regarding the trade deadline.
  
  "We don’t know yet, hopefully we’ll have everybody back in the lineup in the next couple of weeks and then we’ll see what we have," Panthers GM Dale Tallon told ESPN.com Thursday. "And then we’ll see where we’re at as well. There’s no rush here."
  
  The Panthers feel pretty good about their blue line, so odds are they’ll be looking to add up front, more specifically in my opinion, a No. 2 center to help beef up the secondary scoring.
• The San Jose Sharks made a lot of their moves last summer but could still use more depth in the form of a third-line forward. They’re also shopping goalie Antero Niittymaki.

1. Looking for John Law to get it right

Every week brings more hearings for Judge Roy Bean, er, Brendan Shanahan, and every week some other player loses his mind and tries to decapitate (or in the case of Brad Marchand, maliciously submarine) an opponent. Not all injuries are the result of reckless play but enough are that it’s clear that the league’s new office of player safety, of which Shanahan is the head honcho and hangman, isn’t really getting the job done in the way it needs to get done. Once again, consistency remains the big bugaboo in getting players to fly right. Shanahan himself told us in the fall that his mandate was to hammer repeat offenders, the guys who don’t get it. Does Andy Sutton get it? Apparently not. Does Rene Bourque get it? Nope. Or Daniel Carcillo? Not a chance. But still we pussyfoot around with five- or six-game love taps from the league. (Carcillo got seven for another cheap-shot play that has left Tom Gilbert out of the Edmonton Oilers' lineup long-term.) The talk is tough but ultimately cheap, and until we see players such as Bourque -- whose cowardly elbow to the head of an unsuspecting Nicklas Backstrom left the talented center unable to practice and might ultimately cost the Capitals a playoff berth -- sent to the sidelines for 10, 15, 20 games, then the merry-go-round of eliminating the headhunters and backstabbers will continue to turn in perpetuity. Oh well, maybe the back half of this season will see the league finally make good on its promises, although we must admit we remain doubtful.

2. Shots fired! Shots fired!

Talks between the league and the players’ association aimed at creating a new collective bargaining agreement are supposed to begin after the All-Star break. Of course, the two sides have already scuffled in the dirt, with the players refusing to give consent to the league’s hard-fought plan to realign the 30-team league into four conferences next season. Does that bode ill for the coming talks? Already pundits are predicting a work stoppage for next fall. Surely, though, two men who boast as many battle scars on their labor briefcases as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and new NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr do understand that one skirmish does not a war make. Or something like that. Bottom line is that neither man has a reputation to forge here; no one has to make a statement in dragging the other side into a protracted work stoppage. The game is, in many ways, as healthy as it’s ever been in terms of on-ice product, revenues and profile. The only way to sour that is to keep spitting in each other’s breakfast cereal and deny the fans (Remember them? No? Didn’t think so) the game that they keep alive with their money and attention. We’ll soon see whether cooler heads will prevail or whether the realignment border skirmish was really the harbinger of dark days many believe it to be.

3. Who will be crowned czars of the Central?

The Central Division is the toughest place to play hockey in the NHL right now. Apart from the embarrassing Columbus Blue Jackets, the four remaining teams should be playoff bound and the battle between Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago for the top spot should make for some compelling moments in the second half of the season. Getting home ice is always nice and winning the Central is a pretty big deal because it’s likely going to mean the first or second seed in the West and, more importantly, if you don’t win the Central there’s a pretty good chance the first round of the playoffs will feature a matchup of the second- and third-place teams. Right now that would mean Detroit and Chicago facing off in the first round. Not a bad way to start the postseason if you’re a fan but you can bet all three of Chicago, Detroit and the current Central Division leaders, St. Louis, would like to avoid that kind of road through the playoffs. The Blackhawks and Red Wings fancy themselves Stanley Cup contenders and have the pedigree to support that theory. The Blues, meanwhile, are trying to figure out if they can play with the big boys. Their turnaround under Ken Hitchcock has been exemplary and they are the top defensive team in the conference. The Hawks have defensive issues and a tendency to go completely sideways at times, while the Red Wings have struggled on the road although they've been dominant at Joe Louis Arena. Should be fun, right to the bitter end.

4. Who dat?

There are lots of interesting teams occupying playoff spots at the midpoint that most observers felt weren’t going to be a factor come springtime. The Florida Panthers lead the Southeast Division and the Toronto Maple Leafs are hanging around the playoff fray, and even more surprising, the rebuilding Ottawa Senators owned second place in the Northeast Division at the turn and were actually only a couple of points removed from fourth and home ice in the first round. Go figure. In the West there was Minnesota, although the Wild had already shown signs of significant slippage. Within a couple of points of eighth were Colorado and Dallas, neither of which figured to be in the vicinity of a playoff berth at the outset of the season. So, who hangs around? Well, that’s the beauty of the second half of the season, especially the next four or five weeks leading up to the trade deadline. This is nervous time for GMs and coaches of those teams trying to figure out if they’ve uncovered fool’s gold or the real deal. For us, we like the Panthers to hang around, Minnesota, too. The rest, not so much, even though we tip our hat to Paul MacLean and the Sens, where there is recharged interest in a team that looked to be several years away from being competitive again. And if there are strange interlopers in the mix for a playoff spot, that means some of the mainstays have disappeared, such as Washington, a perennial Cup contender that has lost its swagger. Even firing Bruce Boudreau has done little to restore the fire for a team that was the top dog in the Eastern Conference the past two seasons. Can the Caps make the playoffs? Sure. The Eastern Conference is full of junky teams. But this is a team that lacks confidence and whose best players are either hurt (Backstrom, Mike Green) or struggling (Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Tomas Vokoun). Look for Pittsburgh to join this crew of "can’t-miss" teams on the outside looking in as the Penguins continue to lose bodies at an alarming rate. At the halfway point, the Pens were looking at life without Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Jordan Staal for the foreseeable future. And then there’s Buffalo, a team that went hog wild last offseason, lavishing huge contracts on its own young players (Tyler Myers will have a check for $10 million waiting for him July 1) and free agents galore. And bless new owner Terry Pegula for injecting some much-needed life into the Sabres. Unfortunately, the team has played like a bag of hammers for most of the season and hasn’t managed to win back-to-back games since the middle of November. No way Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff survive this fiasco if the Sabres can’t turn it around in the second half. And given the paucity of leadership shown thus far in Sabreland, there's no reason to suggest anything different is imminent.

5. Should I stay or go?

Ah, The Clash would love the dilemmas facing Nashville’s twin defensive towers Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, and New Jersey’s franchise winger Zach Parise. What about class acts Shane Doan or Jarome Iginla? And then there’s Columbus captain Rick Nash, who might or might not be enticed into waiving his no-movement clause to get a taste of respectability given the disaster that is the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Feb. 27 trade deadline might create even more big names on the move than normal, given the end of the collective bargaining agreement. Anaheim GM Bob Murray has said his team is wide open beyond Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu (and who knows whether Selanne might want a shot at playing in the postseason one last time, if indeed this is the last hurrah for the Finnish Flash). Parise is the top forward who could be available. He could be an unrestricted free agent in July and said this week he wants to be where he can win a Cup and make lots of money (OK, we’re paraphrasing), and New Jersey doesn’t really seem to be that place, not with the ridiculous Ilya Kovalchuk contract already in place and the team ensconced in the bottom end of the playoff bracket, assuming it makes it at all. Weber and Suter remain intriguing because Nashville GM David Poile would like to sign both, but Suter is about to become a UFA while Weber will be a restricted free agent in the offseason. If he can’t keep both, would Poile try to add offense for a playoff run while dealing Suter to ensure a prized asset doesn’t walk away for free? Stay tuned, folks.

Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are open for business.

GM Scott Howson has seen enough and signaled his intentions in a solid column by Bob Hunter in Wednesday’s Columbus Dispatch.

I reached out to Howson on Wednesday to follow up, and his feelings certainly had not changed. The GM was willing to forgive his lineup in the opening six weeks with so many faces missing because of injury or suspension, but since then it’s been mostly a healthy lineup and the Jackets have remained stuck in the basement.

"We haven’t played well in the last 2 to 3 weeks and it’s given us a little bit more clarity," Howson told ESPN.com.

So trades are coming.

"We’re going to be open to discussions, yes," Howson said. "There’s nothing imminent right now; I don’t have anything on the burner right now. But certainly between now and over the next couple of months, we’re going to be very active, yes."

Rick Nash isn’t going anywhere, but what about Jeff Carter?

"I have no intention of trading Jeff at this point," Howson said.

That’s not going to stop other teams from calling about Carter, however.

Otherwise, Howson will be open to almost anything. While the GM refused to name specific players, one has to assume Derick Brassard will be in play, given the controversy earlier in December with the forward’s agent, Allan Walsh, hammering coach Scott Arniel over the usage of his client.

Brassard has two more years on his deal past this season, paying him $3.2 million a year.

Your typical rental players should be available, the likes of Vaclav Prospal, Sammy Pahlsson and Kristian Huselius, all unrestricted free agents July 1.

Either way, interesting times are ahead in Columbus.

Oilers on the move?

If you’re looking for a big name who could possibly move by the Feb. 27 trade deadline, circle Ales Hemsky.

He’s an UFA as of July 1, and with the kids ruling the roost in Edmonton, word is around the league the Oilers might be willing to move Hemsky, although it hasn’t been totally ruled out that they might try to re-sign him as well.

Hemsky has all-world talent, but it doesn’t show up on a consistent basis, and health is always a factor.

Still, given that he’d be a traditional rental player, you will see a number of clubs willing to take him on for the rest of the season if and when the Oilers decide to put him on the market.

The Kings had interest in Hemsky last season before settling for Dustin Penner in a deadline-day trade with Edmonton. If the Darryl Sutter renaissance is successful in L.A. and the Kings are in a playoff spot come February, it wouldn’t surprise me if they came sniffing around on Hemsky again. They need an upgrade on the wing in L.A. -- whether or not the Kings fix that this season or next summer is what remains to be seen.

Another club that could come calling on Hemsky is Detroit. The Red Wings have cap space and will be an aggressive team come the trade deadline. They’ll look at all kinds of options, but I believe Hemsky will be among the names on their shopping list.

Weber contract talks could open soon

With Jan. 1 rolling around, the Predators and the camp for Shea Weber will be allowed to talk contract.

As per collective bargaining agreement rules, because the Nashville captain is on a one-year contract, the two sides have to wait until Jan. 1 to begin talks on a new deal.

Preds GM David Poile told ESPN.com Tuesday that he expected to chat with Weber’s people "sometime in January."

Poile added, however, that the more urgent matter remains Ryan Suter because he’s an UFA July 1, whereas Weber will be a restricted free agent.

The plan, if it wasn’t obvious, is to be able to go to their franchise player in Weber once/if Suter joins star goalie Pekka Rinne with a contract extension to show how serious the team is about competing. It makes sense to approach it that way because in the end, Weber’s deal will be the most difficult to negotiate. Better have the other two in the bag before commencing that one.

So the pressure point now is on the Suter talks with the trade deadline approaching.

"David and I continue to talk, but there’s nothing new to report at this point," Neil Sheehy, Suter’s agent, told ESPN.com Wednesday.

If Suter is not signed by Feb. 27, what does Poile do? He decided not to move Dan Hamhuis a few years back because the team was in a playoff spot only to see the top-four blueliner walk away in free agency. That aggravated Poile; I don’t think he could stomach that again. I think he deals Suter if there’s no extension signed by the trade deadline.

Tick-tock, tick-tock ...

Bruins will have work to do

Boston GM Peter Chiarelli has done a remarkable job managing his cap and payroll, the Stanley Cup champs returning to the ice this season with a near identical roster and with cap space to boot.

But the work never ends.

Earlier this season, Chiarelli took care of his top priority when he extended center David Krejci to a three-year, $15.75 million deal. Krejci would have been an UFA July 1.

The Bruins still have six players headed for unrestricted free agency in forwards Chris Kelly, Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell as well as blueliners Joe Corvo and Johnny Boychuk.

Like any team right now, the tricky part is to try to guess at what the CBA is going to look like next season with the expectation that if the owners and league get their way (and the players will have a big say in that), the salary cap will go down, which means less money to spend on players. So you have to be careful in handing out extensions right now.

"We have six UFAs and we are sorting out our future expenses (new system)," Chiarelli told ESPN.com via email Wednesday. "So, nothing new except that we will try to sign as many as financially responsible and possible."

Just a guess on my part, but I think Kelly is the next player to get signed. Kelly, a versatile two-way forward, is on pace for a career-high 49 points. His career high was 38 points in Ottawa in 2006-07.

Trade winds blow in Carolina

Whether they’ve been buyers or sellers over the years, the Carolina Hurricanes have usually been an active team ahead of the trade deadline and often much before the actual deadline day.

And they have five pending UFAs on their roster who could be in play: defensemen Tim Gleason, Bryan Allen and Jaroslav Spacek as well as forwards Tuomo Ruutu and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

Here’s the catch for the Hurricanes right now, however: They can’t just go ahead with straight-up salary dumps in January in any trade because it risks moving them below the payroll floor. According to capgeek.com, the Canes are at $51.4 million in payroll with the league’s floor set at $48.3 million this year.

Any deal they make in the short term has to be more of a hockey deal. Instead of just getting a draft pick or a prospect in return, they’ll need to get an NHL roster player back.

If they decide to wait right up until the Feb. 27 trade deadline, by then the cap hit (and payroll hit) should be minimized, so they can go ahead and make any kind of deal they want.

Lots of teams, as always, will be looking for defensemen, so veteran Canes GM Jim Rutherford will be a popular phone call with his colleagues around the league.

The Norris Trophy vote could be one of survival as much as performance.

Shea Weber now joins Chris Pronger and Kris Letang on the sidelines with a concussion. In a perfect world, they are three of your five top choices for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.

Pronger is out for the season, Letang remains sidelined indefinitely and now Weber -- who was injured Friday night -- is out with the official word being that there is no timetable for his return.

However, Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz clearly is hoping (praying?) for a Claude Giroux-like recovery from his franchise defenseman.

"There's no official timetable for his return but he's feeling better and I'm hoping there's a chance for him to return Friday," Trotz told me Tuesday afternoon. "But we'll see."

By now, most hockey fans have had it ingrained in their hockey lexicon that you can’t put a target date on a return from a concussion. It’s a day-to-day process in which you hope to string enough good days together to get the green light. For Giroux, that happened quickly. For Letang and many others, it hasn’t.

Like others before him this season, including the likes of Letang, Giroux and Andy McDonald, Weber didn’t become symptomatic until a few days later. Trotz told ESPN.com that Weber was fine after Friday’s game and didn’t show symptoms until Monday’s morning skate.

One thing’s for sure, the Preds are not pleased that Mark Fistric of the Dallas Stars wasn’t punished by the league for his forearm (some would say elbow) to Weber that caused the concussion late in Friday’s game. The league looked at the play, but the initial lack of quality video for replays limited any compelling evidence and, thus, the league’s ability to act.

A source told ESPN.com Wednesday evening that new video of the hit, which the league obtained, showed Weber falling forward just before getting hit by Fistric. So the league feels no discipline was warranted on the play.

Not that a suspension to Fistric would have changed the reality for the Preds. Their franchise player is out. As GM David Poile told ESPN.com earlier Tuesday, not all injuries and not all players are created equally. You don’t replace a player of Weber’s caliber. He plays 26 minutes a game, anchors the power play, is a key cog on the penalty kill and is matched up as the shutdown D-man against the other team’s top offensive weapon. Just ask Alex Ovechkin about that from the 2010 Olympic quarterfinals.

It’s not a hole in Nashville’s lineup, it’s a crater.

But if there’s a team that understands survival, it’s the Preds, who lose key players every offseason and plug those holes with homegrown drafted and developed players.

In this case, Ryan Ellis was called up and played his first NHL game Monday night. Nashville’s first-round pick, 11th overall, from the 2009 NHL entry draft is not being asked to replace Weber on his own -- no one can -- but he’s getting a chance to play significant minutes and show what he has learned so far at AHL Milwaukee.

"His pace has improved since we saw him at camp," Trotz said. "He’s a bright kid and obviously has lots of talent."

There’s only one thing, however, that will ease the nerves of the Predators' coach. A quick and healthy return of his captain.

Weber's agent is upset the NHL didn’t punish Fistric for his hit.

"It is very disappointing that Mark Fistric’s hit on Shea Weber in Dallas last Friday is not being looked at as a suspendable act," Jarrett Bousquet of Titan Sports Management Inc. told my TSN colleague Darren Dreger. "To me this is an illegal hit to the head and in complete violation of Rule 48. Fistric is a repeat offender and regardless of where the puck is, Fistric makes direct contact with Weber’s head resulting in a concussion. This is the exact kind of hit that the NHL is trying to eliminate. If the NHL wants to protect its superstars, or any player for that matter, hits like this should result in a suspension."

Reached by ESPN.com after the statement was released to TSN, Bousquet maintained his frustration.

"I just don’t understand how that was swept under the carpet," Bousquet said.

The league has pointed to the lack of a quality video replay from the incident last Friday and thus the lack of compelling evidence in its decision not to suspend Fistric. Fistric's agent, Gerry Johansson, declined comment when reached by ESPN.com.

Bousquet didn’t think a return this week was likely for Weber.

"He has to follow the protocol first and foremost and certainly has to be completely honest with himself," said Bousquet. "I don’t think there’s any real time table right now."

An interesting race is unfolding for the Norris Trophy this season because former winner Chris Pronger is sidelined with injury. Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, who had looked like he might step into the Norris discussion earlier this season, also is injured. Despite their absence, the race is again shaping up to be a tight one with no clear front-runner. Here’s how we handicap the race as we hit the second third of the season.

1. Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

Chara was out of action this week but only on a day-to-day basis. That’s why we like the former defenseman of the year and captain of last season's Stanley Cup champs to lead the Norris charge at this point in the season. Like many of the Bruins, Chara started slowly -- GM Peter Chiarelli prefers to talk in terms of Stanley Cup haze as opposed to hangover -- but the defenseman has returned to form.

So have the Bruins, who have vaulted to the top of the Northeast Division and are in the hunt for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Sometimes there is a tendency to overlook Chara because in the past he hasn’t produced the offensive numbers that some of the other top defenders have. But Chara’s 19 points are more than respectable, and he has four power-play goals, which place him among the league leaders among defensemen. Chara is plus-18 while playing big minutes against the best opposition. What is impressive about Chara’s high level of play is that we’ve seen other Norris winners take a step back, especially after a Cup win. Duncan Keith struggled the season after winning the Norris in 2010, for instance. Not so with Chara.

“He just keeps doing what he’s always done,” Chiarelli told ESPN.com this week. “His game is just so steady and so predictable. That’s part of the attraction for 'Z,’” he said. Same old, same old? Good enough for us.

2. Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Predators, but they seem to have turned a corner and are again back in the top eight in the Western Conference. As per usual, it’s their captain, Shea Weber, who has been the catalyst of good things happening in the Music City. Weber is near the top of all major statistical components among defensemen with six goals, four power-play goals, 21 points and a plus-14 rating. He is averaging 26:12 a night in ice time. But perhaps more impressive is that Weber’s defensive game and leadership abilities continue to evolve and mature. A Norris Trophy nominee last season, Weber is on a collision course to earn a place on the final ballot again.

3. Dan Girardi, New York Rangers

Girardi has emerged as a force along the Rangers' blue line in the absence of Marc Staal and has been a leader on one of the top teams in the NHL during the first third of the season. Girardi leads all NHLers in average ice time at 27:33 a night and has produced a surprising amount of offense with three goals and 12 points. He is plus-6, but as with all elite players, intangibles are what have vaulted Girardi into the Norris Trophy discussion. Although the Rangers' blue line has been depleted by injury, they continue to boast the third-best goals against per game in the league, and Girardi’s presence is a key reason.

4. Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers

You have to like how Brian Campbell has embraced a leadership role with the remade Panthers. His play has sparked what has been a stellar first 30 games for the Southeast Division-leading Panthers. Campbell is averaging 26:42 a night in ice time, third in the NHL. His 24 points are second among defensemen, and he’s plus-8.

GM Dale Tallon has nothing but good things to say about Campbell’s play and his importance to the team's instant chemistry, even though the Panthers added a bevy of new faces to their lineup in the offseason. One of the quiet benefits of Campbell’s work in Florida is how he’s helped Jason Garrison emerge as a top triggerman from the blue line. Garrison has nine goals, three more than the next-most-prolific goal scorer among NHL defensemen, and a lot of those goals are the product of sweet Campbell passes. For a guy who took more than his fair share of criticism in Chicago, Campbell has been worth every penny for the Panthers.

5. Ryan Suter, Nashville Predators

In many ways, the careers and fortunes of the two Nashville defensive pillars will be joined -- at least as long as they toil in Nashville. And although the longtime defensive partners play two different styles, their importance to the Preds and their overall value among NHL defensemen is a lot closer than perhaps some people would suggest. Suter, who can become an unrestricted free agent in July, is second among all NHLers in average ice time, and his 20 points are just one behind Weber's total. He is plus-11 and has three power-play goals. Suter exists somewhat in the shadow of the Predators’ captain, but he is vitally important to the big goals the Predators score.

Honorable mentions: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators; Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings; Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks; Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers; Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins.

As we rush into the second quarter of this no-longer-young NHL season, a number of burning questions present themselves. Well, five, to be exact:

1. What will happen to the big boys: Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise?

No three players will dominate discussion of player movement between now and the Feb. 27 trade deadline the way these three franchise players will. Suter and Weber, of course, represent the final two players of the Nashville Predators' triangle of hope. (That's our term, not GM David Poile's, by the way.)

Poile moved decisively earlier this season to lock up the third member, netminder Pekka Rinne, and signed him to a seven-year, $49 million deal. Ownership has given Poile leave to pursue signing his two big defensemen at market value, which means around $7 million or so for Suter and closer to $8 million for Weber, depending on term.

Complicating an already complicated issue is Suter can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, while Weber, who went to arbitration at the club's behest this past summer, again will be a restricted free agent. Poile recently met with Suter's people but told ESPN.com this week there's no news on a new deal.

The issue for Poile is he would be loath to watch Suter walk away without getting anything in return on July 1, especially after watching Dan Hamhuis go that route a couple of years back. That could mean Suter will be in play before the deadline if no deal is in the offing.

The same issue exists for the New Jersey Devils and franchise forward Parise, who will also be an unrestricted free agent in July if he doesn't re-up with the Devils.

Technically, Parise cannot sign a deal until Jan. 1, but president and GM Lou Lamoriello should have a pretty good idea in early January whether he wants to stay or not. If the answer is no, Lamoriello has to decide whether to move a player who would yield a veritable king's ransom on the trade market. Worth noting is that Parise does not have a no-trade or no-movement clause, so he can be dealt with as Lamoriello sees fit.

The fates of these three players will have a major impact on their respective clubs, those clubs' futures and other teams that may covet these players. Our guess? Suter signs, but Parise does not.

2. Since the start of training camp, has there been a bigger ongoing story than the work of the new discipline czar Brendan Shanahan?

In a few short months, Shanahan has taken the NHL's disciplinary process out of the dark ages by posting informative videos after most fines and suspensions. French versions of Shanahan's renderings are also available. Further, Shanahan has come out to explain on occasion why incidents did not merit supplemental discipline in the view of the league's department of player safety.

The league's player-assistance fund has grown significantly as a result, up from $680,639 in fines and forfeited salary through Nov. 28 last season to just shy of $1 million this season. Not long ago, Shanahan said the number of reported concussions this season was down 50 percent compared to a year ago. That's a pretty small sample, and Shanahan acknowledged that, but it would seem to suggest the process of getting players to stop taking one another's heads off is working.

We have applauded Shanahan's work for the most part. The recent three-game suspension handed to Montreal's Max Pacioretty was among his most difficult, as Shanahan acknowledged that Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang had entered a dangerous area crossing the blue line with his head down. Still, the principal point of contact by Pacioretty was the head, and that was good enough for a three-game ban.

The decision created more than your usual buzz given that Pacioretty avoided what could have been a career-ending injury last season when Boston captain Zdeno Chara rode the Montreal forward into a stanchion at the Bell Centre. Chara was not subject to supplemental discipline (although the Montreal police saw fit to investigate the incident. Huh?), and the league moved to install safer, curved apparatuses in NHL rinks to lessen the risk of similar incidents.

So, as the second quarter moves along, the question is whether Shanahan's voice is being heard. Or, more to the point, are lessons being learned? For us, the issue is relatively simple. Do you want to get rid of blows to the head? Nod your head if you think "yes," and if so, we'd like to see Shanahan wield a heavier hand. For instance, the recent cheap shot delivered by Andre Deveaux of the New York Rangers on Florida's Tomas Fleischmann easily could have yielded a seven- or 10-game suspension given the cowardly nature of the blindside hit to the head. Deveaux received three.

3. At what point does Sidney Crosby's name become part of the Hart Trophy discussion?

On the night Sidney Crosby returned to action on Nov. 21 and delivered a virtuoso four-point performance in his first game since Jan. 5, it was almost said in jest. How long until he's hot on the tail of Phil Kessel and the Sedin twins at the top of the scoring chart? Ha, ha. Well, Crosby has collected 11 points in his first five games back.

So, let's ask again, at what point does Crosby insinuate himself into the NHL scoring race? Well, if he assumed a pace similar to last season, when he averaged 1.6 points per game over the first 41 games, he would be around the 75-point mark after the next 41 games. That would more than put Crosby in the hunt, assuming the Art Ross Trophy will be awarded to a player somewhere in the 110-point range. In short, you can expect to see Crosby's name in the top 10 within this quarter.

4. Where are players like Ovechkin, Parise, Kovalchuk or Getzlaf on the NHL score sheets?

At least Crosby had an excuse for not showing up on the score
sheets for the first quarter.

A glance down -- and we do mean down -- the NHL scoring list shows a number of top-end players who aren't exactly producing top-end performances.

Alex Ovechkin tops the list in part because the Washington Capitals' dramatic fall in the past month cost coach Bruce Boudreau his job this week. Ovechkin's ice time is down, and his points total (18 points in 23 games and just one goal at home) is pedestrian. In Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have started to come around, but they have just 11 goals between them.

Ryan Getzlaf has just four goals and is a minus-13 in Anaheim, where the Ducks are floundering. Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk have combined for just 10 goals for New Jersey, while Eric Staal has five goals and is a minus-17 in Carolina, where a slow start cost Paul Maurice his coaching job.

The slow starts aren't limited to skaters. Roberto Luongo has been watching as Cory Schneider has helped the Canucks climb up the Western Conference standings after a slow start following last season's disappointing loss to Boston in the Stanley Cup finals. One wonders how this stint on the bench will impact the mental state of a netminder who has never been known as a tower of power emotionally.

Dwayne Roloson, one of the compelling stories last season as he helped lead Tampa Bay to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, has struggled mightily with a 3.46 goals-against average and .887 save percentage.

So, who will rebound? We know Roloson is made of pretty stern stuff and should turn things around. But having watched Ovechkin of late, we're less confident we'll see a return to form for the two-time Hart Trophy winner. As for Luongo? That's a pretty expensive bench-door opener for the Canucks, but this may be Schneider's time.

5. Which teams are the interlopers or legitimate tenants?

With a nod to the "Occupy" compounds around North America, there were a great number of unusual squads that "occupied" spots in the top eight of both conferences through the first quarter.

We've seen some, Edmonton and Colorado among them, fall back beneath the playoff barrier, but as of Wednesday morning, three Western Conference teams that failed to make the playoffs last season maintained residency within the top eight (Minnesota, Dallas and St. Louis). Throw in Phoenix if you like given that almost no one (us included) figured it for a playoff team. In the East, two more teams, Toronto and Florida, were comfortably in the top eight after long playoff absences.

But the second quarter will be a true test of where these teams are.

So, who stays and who goes? By the time the third quarter rolls around, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Stars falling back, along with the Leafs. But we have been true believers in the reversal of fortunes in Minnesota and Florida from the start; rookie coaches Mike Yeo (Wild) and Kevin Dineen (Panthers) deserve kudos for defying the skeptics. Likewise, we believed St. Louis was playoff-bound from the outset; we just didn't know it would be Ken Hitchcock working his magic behind the Blues' bench.

This week, we take a look at the early candidates for the Norris Trophy, and we've got a few surprises here:

1. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Where would the Penguins be without him so far this season, given all the big names who have missed time through injury on this club? He plays in all key situations and is gold at both ends of the ice.

2. Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs

No wonder Darryl Sutter got shown the door in Calgary last season. The Leafs’ trade with the Flames from a few years ago is looking like a total steal. Phaneuf has been a demon at all facets of the game and is a big reason for Toronto’s quick start in October.

3. Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Let’s face it, it’s his trophy to lose this season. Ask most NHL GMs and they’ll tell you Weber is their top-ranked blueliner. But with five points in 11 games to start the season, he has another level to go.

4. Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks

Edler was only one point off the defenseman scoring lead as of Wednesday morning but brings so much more than that to the plate.

5. Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers

He plays against the top offensive line from the opposing team every night and still manages to produce offensively. Underrated as ever.

Honorable mentions: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa; Sheldon Souray, Dallas; Ryan Suter, Nashville; Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit; Duncan Keith, Chicago.

Bryan McCabe remains unsigned and the stars would really have to align for him to pack his bags at this point.

That's not to say it's not going to happen, but he's settled in South Florida with his family and the kids are in school, so it would need to be a really tempting offer.

A source told ESPN.com that a Western Conference team showed interest within the past week, but it wasn't something that interested the defenseman. He's made plenty of money in his career and has nothing to prove to anyone. If he does sign with a club this season, it has to be a super fit for him.

A source told ESPN.com Wednesday that the New York Rangers are scouring the market looking for help at defense, but they're not interested in bringing back McCabe at this point.

Predators' contract talks

Netminder Pekka Rinne and defenseman Ryan Suter are slated to become unrestricted free agents July 1 and the Predators have no interest in seeing that happen. GM David Poile met with Suter's agent, Neil Sheehy, last weekend and Rinne's agent, Jay Grossman, last week in New York to move talks along on an extension. The Preds will be aggressive in trying to get a deal done on both fronts.

Just like Ilya Kovalchuk's contract talks with Atlanta two years ago were an ongoing story, this has the potential to be the same in Nashville. And that's not even to mention franchise blueliner and captain Shea Weber, who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. He can't walk free like Rinne and Suter, but it remains a hugely important negotiation that will also draw lots of attention.

Because he signed a one-year deal last summer after going to arbitration, Weber can't sign a new contract until January at the earliest. In the meantime, Weber and his agent, Kevin Epp, will sit back and see how things play out with Suter/Rinne, as well as look at how the team fares this season. All will be factors in Weber's next move.

Doughty update

There haven't been any talks between the Kings and Drew Doughty's veteran agent, Don Meehan, since the eve of camp. But given owner Tim Leiweke's comments to Helene Elliott of the L.A. Times this week and the urgency behind them, it's our guess the NHL club will likely reach out soon to Newport Sports (Meehan's firm) and try to take one last stab at it.

The Kings don't have a choice to try again. It's a big season for them; they want to contend and they need Doughty to do that.

Burke on Simmonds ruling

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, who has become an important voice on gay issues, said he is OK with the league's decision not to discipline Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds.

When asked about it after a recent preseason game, Rangers forward Sean Avery said Simmonds used a homophobic slur toward him on the ice.

"It's like banned substances; you can't suspend a player for using a drug that isn't among the list of banned substances," Burke told ESPN.com. "In this case, we didn't have a rule about homophobic slurs, so you can't suspend Simmonds. But now that the league put out that statement and put players on notice that any future homophobic slur will be punishable, I think that was a real important day for the NHL. It has to stop."

Burke also said he would address the issue with his own players before the regular season begins next week.

Leafs' trade talk

The Leafs' newfound depth, especially on defense, has the club working the phones to see if there's any interest in some of their players. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson and center Tyler Bozak are among the names that have been discussed, but as of Wednesday, we're told nothing was close with any team. The Leafs could also start the season with eight defensemen on their roster.

Kronwall and the Red Wings

Contract talks are well under way between the Red Wings and star blueliner Niklas Kronwall, who is eligible to become UFA on July 1. Both camps spoke this week. My colleague at TSN, Darren Dreger, also reports the Kronwall camp is looking for a long-term, front-loaded deal similar to what Christian Ehrhoff signed with Buffalo.

Sabres' front-loaded deals

We've encountered some grumbling from a few NHL team executives about the Buffalo Sabres' front-loaded contracts with Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers.

Ehrhoff will earn $18 million of his $40 million, 10-year deal over the next two years. Similarly, Myers' new extension calls for him to earn $12 million of his $38.5 million, seven-year extension in the first year.

"I'm sorry, but that's killing this industry," one NHL GM, requesting anonymity, told ESPN.com. "We have to stop those front-loaded contracts in the next system."

The Sabres didn't break any rules. Other well-heeled clubs have done the same, but mid- to small-market clubs are frustrated, feeling that front-loaded deals have squeezed them out of the free-agent market.

NHLPA's fall tour

Union chief Donald Fehr has begun the NHL Players' Association's annual fall tour. Over the next two months, he'll meet with all 30 teams with the CBA at the top of the agenda. He began his tour last week and so far has met with players on the Flyers, Islanders, Lightning, Panthers and Canadiens.

Emery's future

Ray Emery is slated to get his first full start of the preseason Friday. His performance will go a long way in helping the Blackhawks decide whether they sign the camp invite to a one-year NHL contract to be their backup this season or cut ties and give youngster Alexander Salak the job instead.