In today’s News & Notes, the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks have made a trade, the NHL has announced their three stars of the week and Craig Anderson was a full participant in practice.
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Stars and Ducks Trade
The Stars have acquired veteran forward Andrew Cogliano from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Devin Shore. The trade comes as the Ducks are in the middle of a major losing skid (11 games at the time of the deal) and are looking to make a change, either to rectify the situation on the fly or to start their retool.
The Stars, on the other hand, are looking at bringing in Cogliano as a veteran piece to help them compete now.
“In acquiring Andrew, we are able to add a conscientious player who brings a veteran presence to our room,” said general manager Jim Nill. “His explosive speed, 200-foot game and iron-man mentality will help our team both on and off the ice.”
A veteran of 912 points and one of the most reliable players from a games-played stand-point, Cogliano joins the Stars having scored 159 goals and 379 points in his career, including three goals and 11 points in 46 games this season.
Cogliano’s ironman streak of consecutive games-played ended last season due to a two-game suspension after he played a very impressive 830 games to start his career. He’s still never missed a game due to injury. To put that in perspective, the longest streak of consecutive games played in league history in 964 held by Doug Jarvis. The current longest streak is 676 held by Florida defender Keith Yandle.
In Shore, the Ducks are acquiring a 24-year-old who has looked impressive in his first three seasons in the NHL. In 82 games in his rookie season in 2016-17, he would score double-digits with 13 goals and 33 points. He’d post nearly identical totals the following season with 11 goals and 32 points in 82 games and is well on his way to that same type of production this season with five goals and 17 points in 42 games.
NHL 3 Stars of the Week
Jake Guentzel has been named the NHL’s third star of the week. The young left winger scored five goals (tied for the league-lead last week) and six points in three games. With help from his efforts, the Penguins were able to win two games and moved to 10 wins in their last 12 games dating back nearly one month to Dec. 19.
Included in that impressive week was his second carer hat trick (both coming this season) against the Ducks on Jan. 11. He’s now up to 23 goals and 44 points in 45 games this season and leads the Penguins in goals.
Jordan Binnington has been named the NHL’s second star of the week after going 3-0-0 to start his career. The 25-year-old had a long journey to his first NHL start but he would break out in a big way with a 25-save shutout in a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, making him just the 35th goalie in the history of the league to debut with a shutout and the second in Blues history after Rich Parent did so in January of 1999.
Binnington would make 74 saves on 76 shots in three games, giving him a very impressive 0.67 goals-against average and .974 save percentage to start his career.
Mark Giordano was named the NHL’s first start of the week after he led the entire league in points with eight, including three goals. He’d help the Western Conference-leading Flames to a perfect 4-0 record last season and a five-game winning streak.
Despite being 35 years old, Giordano has shown no signs of slowing down in his accelerated age and may actually be having the best season of his career with nine goals and 47 points through 45 games this season. As it stands, Giordano should be the front-runner for the Norris Trophy at the end of the season.
Anderson Returns to Practice
The Ottawa Senators got good news Monday when Anderson returned as a full participant in practice. The veteran netminder only just returned to practice for the first time Friday after missing the team’s last 10 games with a concussion but his status as a full participant is an encouraging step forward. There remains no timetable for his exact return date, however.
In 30 games this season, the 37-year-old goalie has posted a 14-13-3 record with a 3.58 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. When he does officially return, the Senators will need him to improve in every facet of his game if they want to make a push for the postseason this year, even if that seems like a daunting task for a team that looks destined for a missed playoff bid.