Around the NHL: Fake snooze, Price’s fatigue, Torts’ free pass
Bobby Ryan seems fairly amused by various reports about trade talk and other matters. “I don’t know what time you get to sleep, but it’s got to be late,” the Senators winger told a group of reporters. “I wake up the next morning and hear something new and think: I don’t even think that’s close to being true.”
KANE’S DREAM: Evander Kane knows his name is going to come up a lot in the run-up to the NHL trade deadline on Feb. 26. The Buffalo Sabres winger is fine with that. The nine-year veteran has yet to play in the post-season. “I come into the season every year, as I’ve done since I’ve started, hoping to play in the playoffs and envisioning that,” Kane told the Buffalo News. “For me, it’s taken a long time. I think that’s my type of hockey. I think I’m built for that as a player. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to showcase that.” BIG HEART: Defenceman Joe Hicketts, generously listed at five-footeight, made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings. Signed as a free agent in 2014 after going undrafted, Hicketts played twice for Canada’s world junior entry, once winning gold. Size, not heart, has always been an issue. “I definitely trick myself into thinking I’m a little bigger,” Hicketts told the Detroit Free Press. “It’s something that’s just ingrained in my mentality, that if there is a puck I’m going to get it. I’m going to do everything in my power to beat the guy beside me in that battle.”
LOW PRICE: Canadiens goalie Carey Price told TVA Sports he has suffered from chronic fatigue this season. “I was always tired,” Price said. “A guy who eats well and sleeps well like me isn’t supposed to be tired like I was. Price has begun seeing a nutritionist after discovering through blood samples he was deficient in vitamins D and B12. JACKET REQUIRED: Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella encouraged his players to take in the Vegas nightlife when they got to town before their game against the Knights on Tuesday. “I want ’em to go out,” Tortorella told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I think playing guilty is a big part of being a really good hockey player in the National Hockey League. We have agents and their whole entourage making sure you drink that carrot juice and ‘Holy crap, you can’t have a beer.’ . . . Let ’em have a little fun. Let us have some personality.”
TWIN TALK: Canucks GM Jim Benning said he’d talk with agent J.P. Barry about the future of Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The 37-year-old twins become unrestricted free agents on July 1. It’s possible the Canucks could seek an extension. It’s possible they could allow themselves to be traded. It’s possible they might retire as Canucks at the end of the season. “We’re going into the trade deadline, and for planning purposes we want to see if there was any way that they were leaning,” Benning said. “We’re not going to hold it to them if something changes between now and the end of the year.”
STATS PACK: The Coyotes have earned a point in five straight games (2-0-3) . . . The Wild have points in six straight games (4-0-2) with Jason Zucker scoring in each of the last four . . . Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders is the first rookie to reach 50 points this season. Only Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy (both 40 games) got to 50 points as Isles rookies faster than Barzal (49 games). Kevin McGran