Tuesdays with Dani: Riding the wins

Since the Lightning started making deals with the Dominic Moore trade, the Bolts have won their last two games and are technically still in the playoff picture. Damien Cristodero reports that Steve Yzerman said Saturday that if they keep winning he may alter his strategy heading into next week's trade deadline. He won't be a buyer but he may just let the guys remaining on the team just keep riding the wins if that's how they are playing.

Ryan Malone likes this strategy saying "That's great, if that's how it is" (Tampa Bay Times). Of course the strategy has its limitations as if there is a great return for a player in trade, I don't think Yzerman will hesitate to make it. As for the talk about Malone being traded, I just don't see it happening. His annual salary decreases to 3 million next year and then 2.5 million for each of the next two seasons. I realize his cap hit remains the same but I just don't see them trading him away when he's becoming cheaper over the next few years unless the deal is amazing.

Here are your links for the week:

Your Lightning links:

• In hopes of saving his career, Mattias Ohlund has had major surgery on his left knee this Thursday. What is he getting done? "Noted orthopedist Anthony Miniaci will use a thin layer of titanium to resurface the bottom of the femur behind the kneecap. That should create a cushion where cartilage that usually covers the bone has flaked off to such an extent there is painful bone-on-bone rubbing at the patellofemoral joint." Yikes. (Tampa Bay Times)
• Vincent Lecavalier is out for tonight's game with an upper body injury that "popped up" according to Boucher in the game against the Caps (Tampa Bay Times)
• Defenseman Pavel Kubina talks about the trade to the Flyers and says this about signing in 2010: "To be honest, when I signed to come back here (in 2010) I had better offers from other teams; more years and for more money, and I took this deal because this team belongs to my heart and I spent so many great times here." (NHL.com)
• ....Annnd he's already saying that he hopes to stick around as a Flyer, "If I play well for this team and they want me, I don’t want to go anywhere and test the water" (Broad Street Bull)
  

The rest of your links after the jump...

Your links from around the NHL:

• From the Phoenix Business Journal via Puck Daddy, the Phoenix Coyotes sale is nearly complete to San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison. Could this really be the end?
• Chris Pronger's wife talks on the constant struggle their family goes through every day with the post concussion symptoms that Pronger has. A really honest and emotional read (CSN Philly)
• Ted Leonsis says last night's Capitals / Hurricanes game was the worst game of the season for the Washington Capitals. If you saw it, you would agree, what a mess the Caps are (Ted's Take)
• NBC did well in the early games on Hockey Day in America (Puck the Media)
• Ryan Lambert did not enjoy not being able to watch the regional games the Center Ice or Game Center Live due to a blanket blackout of the game. He's right on how the game stream on the NBC website is really sub-par to the quality you get through Game Center Live (Puck Daddy)
• Steve Lepore on how some of NBC's regional choices for Hockey Day in America were a bit puzzling (Puck the Media)
• Ryan Whitney on how twitter is where news breaks in hockey now and gives some honest insight into how he as a player feels about it (Edmonton Journal)
• Manny Malhotra of the Canucks takes 87% of his 493 faceoffs in the defensive zone. That's bananas. The science behind taking faceoffs and how coach Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks uses faceoff location to help determine which player takes the faceoff (The Province)
• The Tim Thomas story refuses to end, this week it's about how the Bruins GM spoke with Thomas about his political Facebook posting. Elliotte Friedman reports "He didn't say to stop, but did explain that you can't expect the media not to ask about it." (Puck Drunk Love)
  
• The CBC/NHLPA player poll has been released, and who is the most overrated team according to the survey? The Vancouver Canucks
• Thomas Drance thinks player polls are overrated. The 'haters gonna hate' gif is pretty awesome (Canucks Army)
• Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts: The Kings' royal pains
• The Royal Half has an epic music video for Rick Nash to the music of Hall & Oates
• Scott Burnside looks at how the emergency players fund has grown over the years and how it will undergo restructuring in the near future. Interesting insights as to what it is actually used for (ESPN)
• The amazing power of forgiveness and hockey: Even Kaufmann, a "great-grandson of two people who were killed at the hands of the Nazis, Evan is trying to carry on his grandfather's dream of forgiveness by playing on the German national team as well as the DEG Metro Stars of the German professional league" (Puck Drunk Love)
  
• Four fictional hockey teams that could beat the Capitals (RMNB)
• Ever want to be an NHL Insider? On the Forecheck gives you a step-by-step program called the E.K.L.U.N.D. System
• Some "found" photos of Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand at Mardi Gras (Days of Y'Orr)

Video of the week: HNIC's Inside Hockey segment on Wes Rypien, Rick Rypien's brother