Daily Nuggets: Knights Squander Pacific; Emotional Rantanen Trade Fallout; Canucks Drama

This time last month, the Vegas Golden Knights were comfortably in control of the Pacific Division. Weeks of poor play and missed opportunities return to haunt the Golden Knights as the Edmonton Oilers overtook them for first in the division yesterday. Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, Sean Monahan will be sidelined with a wrist injury that threatens to hinder the Columbus Blue Jackets as they continue their Cinderella story. Teams continue to circle the Vancouver Canucks like vultures in hopes of acquiring JT Miller or Elias Pettersson. 

Golden Knights News

The Golden Knights have lost seven of their last nine games. In other words, they’re ice-cold.

After weeks of ‘will-they, won’t-they,’ the Edmonton Oilers pushed past the Golden Knights and now sit atop the Pacific Division. The Oilers (31-15-3) have 65 points; the Golden Knights (30-15-4) have 64 points. Both teams have played 49 games. 

If the Stanley Cup Playoffs started today, the Golden Knights would face the Los Angeles Kings, which would mercifully prevent the league from suffering through a fourth consecutive year of Oilers-Kings.

The Golden Knights shoe drive ends Wednesday, January 29th, so fans only have a few more days to donate new or gently used shoes at the team’s practice facility.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC): Elias Pettersson was almost a Carolina Hurricane, and now the Buffalo Sabres are entering the sweepstakes. Sidney Crosby is not getting traded. Mitch Marner is a pending UFA but has a full No Movement Clause (NMC), so his situation is not comparable to Mikko Rantanen’s. Also, it sounds like some teams will set an internal cap with the salary cap rising.

Boston Hockey Now: The Eastern Conference playoff hunt is tighter than ever. The Bruins are far from a postseason lock, but defenseman Nikita Zadorov is “not planning to miss the playoffs.”

Colorado Hockey Now: In a moment of rare vulnerability, Nathan MacKinnon opened up about the Mikko Rantanen trade.

NHL History: 61 years ago today, some guy named Wayne Gretzky was born.