Ericsson's Staying in Detroit

The Detroit Red Wings are keeping around one of their best defenseman, who is in the midst of closing in on 300 games with the Red Wings.

Ericsson has been signed to a six-year, $25.5 million extension, the team announced Wednesday morning. Ericsson was described as "really happy" abut the deal. He has never played for any NHL team but the Red Wings, and it seemed like with the way he played and the way the Wings loved his production, he wasn't willing to go anywhere else. Before the contract, he was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. That means he's off the market.

Ericsson said of Detroit, "I really like it here. For me to be able to get a deal done here, now, it means a lot for me and my family."

Ericsson made his debut when he was called up during the 2009 playoffs to fill in for injury holes. He became a regular player in the 2009-10 season. There was a point in time that coach Mike Babcock sat him for being a turnover machine.

This is a really good deal for the Red Wings. They don't have a lot of players who can really carry this team defensively. Jonathan Ericsson is definitely the right investment. And plus, with all of the injuries they have right now, I think it was wise to start thinking about a contract extension. And especially going into the game against the Boston Bruins, you can't have this type of cloud floating over a team, especially if they had some interest in keeping him around. Ericsson loves it in Detroit, his family is in Detroit. I can't imagine a scenario of him leaving. This is a good move for the Red Wings, it keeps Ericsson around, and one of their key defensive pieces is going to be around for a long time. Good for the Red Wings.

Where Should Martin Erat Go?

Apparently, one player in the NHL is not well suited to play for his current team. And because of that, he requested a trade.

Capitals forward Martin Erat wants out and the team has said it will try to accommodate his wishes. Erat said of his demands, "Since day one, I didn't get the chance here. I got traded here to be a top-six player but never got the chance, never played more than 15 minutes here, and it's time for me to move on."

GM George McPhee said the request happened earlier this season and has been in the office repeatedly. Erat also requested a trade from the Predators last season because of his limited playing time.

Erat was acquired at the trade deadline last spring, when Brooks Laich went out with an injury. Erat's been playing on the second line. Michael Latta was also picked up with Erat. Laich is back healthy this season and with the addition of Mikhail Grabovski, the Capitals have had too many forwards.

In 23 games this season, he has had no goals. He has a no-trade clause, but that's likely to be flexible come the time that they trade him.

Martin Erat is one of those guys who wants playing time wherever he goes. But it seems he always gets traded to another team who has one of their players injured or out because of injury. I feel sorry that he's not been able to feel at home on a team that wants him. I understand why he wants to be traded. He wants to go somewhere where he can be effective and be able to produce with a talented offense. The Capitals have too many people, and with Grabovski and Laich playing a lot of ice time, it seems that Erat is the odd man out.

I'm not sure where he should go. There are plenty of teams that can pick him up. They're not likely to be contenders for the Cup, but teams like the Panthers, Islanders, Flames, and Stars would be good spots for Erat. But again, I'm not entirely sure where he'll be able to fit in. The Flames just traded away Tim Jackman and acquired Lane McDermid so I'm not sure if Calgary is going to work, but it might be a nice opportunity. For any other team, they might be willing to take a chance on Martin Erat. Thing is, he has to produce and that means getting out of the slump that he's been in and be an effective scorer on any line for any team that he joins.

How Many Games For Kevin Westgarth?

Looks like another NHL player is going to get the call from Brendan Shanahan. And that distinction belongs to Hurricanes forward Kevin Westgarth.

He will face a phone hearing on Tuesday for his hit that injured Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki.

Borowiecki lost his balance skating away from Westgarth and slid into the boards during the first period. Westgarth pursued the puck, but hit the defenseman from behind as he tried to stand up. Borowiecki did not return to the game and the Senators announced on Twitter that he had a stiff neck, which is not an injury but stiff necks makes it very hard to turn your head.

The league announced it will be based on the boarding rule. I'm not as familiar with the boarding rule as I am with head shots, but in my estimation, boarding rules usually get between two to five games. My best guess is three or four. Boarding is a very serious injury. Dan Boyle was hit into the boards by Maxim Lapierre when he was injured in that Sharks-Blues game and Lapierre got five games for it. So it is possible that perhaps Westgarth could suffer the same consequences but Borowiecki was not seriously injured on the play as Boyle was, so that's why I believe he will get between three or four games for this.

Sbisa and Fasth Out Again

Just when the Ducks thought they were getting some players back from injury, they end up losing them again to injury.

Defenseman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six to eight weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. And backup goaltender Viktor Fasth will miss another 3-4 weeks with muscle inflammation in his lower body. Fasth was a late scratch in Friday's game against the Lightning and Jonas Hiller started in goal.

Due to the injuries sustained by Fasth and Sbisa, the Ducks have recalled goalie Frederik Andersen and defenseman Nolan Yonkman from Norfolk in the AHL. Sami Vatanen was recalled on Friday and scored a goal in Saturday's game against the Coyotes.

Sbisa and Fasth have been through significant injury problems for the first part of this season. Sbisa missed the first 15 games of the regular season with an injured ankle. He got hurt again in the Ducks' 1-0 OT victory against the Lightning on Friday. He will have surgery on that wrist Monday.

Fasth was expected to start, but was scratched late when he got hurt in warmups. He missed a month earlier this season with a lower-body injury and only appeared in five games.

Andersen has had a great start to his NHL career. He went 6-1 with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage. He is the first goalie in nearly two decades to begin his NHL career with six straight victories.

As Ducks fan all know, they have fought through major significant injury issues while at the same time, leading the NHL standings for most of the season.

Koivu has not played since Oct. 27 because of a concussion. Jakob Silfverberg broke his hand in late October, and will still need another month. Sheldon Souray is still out after surgery on a torn ligament in his right wrist and is expected to be back in January.

I'm surprised the Ducks are this good, despite all the injury problems they've had. One reason they've been able to stay in games is because of Andersen and Hiller, who have backstopped this team, as well as a tandem of great defenseman like Ben Lovejoy and Cam Fowler, who have been able to keep pucks out of their own end and have given guys like Perry and Getzlaf a great way to score. As for the injury mess of Fasth and Sbisa, I honestly think that the Ducks do play better without Sbisa. Sbisa's line, before he went out, has had problems keeping the puck out of the net. It's not all his fault but his injuries, as well as him moving slower than he usually is, is something to be of concern about. As for Fasth, I'm not sure what I can say, except that I hope he gets better. The thing is, he could possibly be on the trade block come February. The Ducks can't afford to keep three really good goaltenders around. I doubt the Ducks will trade away Andersen, considering that he has played well for them so far and Bob Murray is not the type of guy to trade away talent that the Ducks need. Either way, Sbisa and Fasth are out again, and the Ducks will have to deal with their absences.

Reformation of Steve Mason

Remember Steve Mason? He was once the goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets when they went to their only Stanley Cup playoff appearance and when he won the Calder Trophy. After that, he has struggled, the Blue Jackets have been eliminated every year, and now he had been traded to the Philadelphia Flyers where he seems to have gotten his game back together.

He came to Philadelphia with a hope that he could get some answers into how to restructure his game. He flipped through magazines and newspapers, looking for something that might give him the edge. One thing he did find was that the goalie should focus on segments within the game as just one game. He says that he sees the game more as a neighborhood of nine segments.

He said, "I just break it down into a pretty much seven-minute increments of a period."

This, of course, is referencing to the three TV timeouts per period, which, adding up, totals nine segments in three periods. He talks to his teammates sometimes and compares notes on what he's seeing from his crease to what the skaters are seeing.

Mason doesn't pay attention to numbers on the scoreboard (no player should, in my opinion). He doesn't keep score. Even when the Flyers were losing despite his best efforts to keep them in the game, Mason does his best to distance himself from his teammates. He didn't want his own performance to falter when his other teammates were slumping.

He gives credits to goalie coach Jeff Reese with a lot of the improvements in his game. Apparently, because he's been playing so well, he's considered for the Olympics.

I won't say anything on whether he should be considered for the Olympics, because that's not my area of expertise, but I will say that Mason looks like he has revisioned himself in a way that helps out the Flyers. I like how he has been able to cut this down to see it as just one game at a time per seven minutes of play. And even though the Flyers haven't been doing too well, he's been able to stop a lot of pucks because of the way he visions his gameplay. They've won five of their last six games thanks to good goaltending. Look for Mason to continue his strong goaltending and hopefully help the Flyers get back into the playoff picture.