Jeff Carter never wanted to leave Philadelphia. He was shocked last June when the Flyers shipped him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, while sending his buddy Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings the very same day.

He had a right to be upset. He and Richards had made long-term commitments to the only NHL team they had ever known, dreaming of raising Cups together in the City of Brotherly Love (in more ways than one), only to have the Flyers split them up and send them on their separate ways before their no-trade clauses kicked in.

But there is no going back to Philly. There never was. And this is the next best thing, the best second (or third) chance he could possibly ask for. He is being reunited with Richards, now that the Kings have acquired him from Columbus for defenseman Jack Johnson and a first-round draft pick, pending physicals.

He is going to a team that might as well be Philly West, for all its Flyers connections. He is going to a team with talent that desperately needs his

The saddest part of the Rick Nash saga is that he has never been a bigger name than he is right now. He has scored 30 goals six times, 40 twice. He has won an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada. But he has appeared in only four NHL playoff games, and now his Columbus Blue Jackets – far behind the field, even in an era of parity – are considering trading him for assets they can use to rebuild the team. All you hear is Rick Nash, Rick Nash, Rick Nash.

There are two main reasons why Nash could go before the trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET Monday: if he wants out, and if he and the Jackets want this to end as soon as possible. Nash has always said all the right things, but it is possible to love Columbus, want to win there and realize you're better off elsewhere, all at the same time.

Did the Jackets approach Nash about the possibility of waiving his no-movement clause, or did he really approach them

The San Jose Sharks need another player. Specifically, they need a top-six winger with enough talent to make a difference in the playoffs, as they try to make the Stanley Cup final for the first time in franchise history.

But it almost certainly won't be Rick Nash. It probably won't be Teemu Selanne. It might not be Tuomo Ruutu. The way the market looks at the moment, it might not be anyone before the trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET Monday.

It might have to be Martin Havlat, and that's okay if - IF! - everything goes according to plan. There is a reason the Sharks acquired Havlat from the Minnesota Wild in the off-season, and it hasn't changed while Havlat has recovered from surgery to repair a torn hamstring. He is supposed to return in mid-March.

"You always explore, but if you can fill a hole and not create others, that's what you do," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. "When we have all our players back in the mix, we like our team a lot."

There is a lot to like, despite the

DETROIT – Ryan Suter stood in the Nashville Predators' dressing room Friday morning, dreaming about the future – not about July 1st, when he can become an unrestricted free agent, but about Feb. 27, the NHL trade deadline.

"We're a couple pieces away from having a legitimate chance of winning the Stanley Cup, so why don't we focus on that?" Suter said. "And if we win, pretty much the rest is taken care of."

A couple of hours later, the Predators were one piece closer. General manager David Poile acquired Hal Gill in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens, adding the big, experienced, penalty-killing defenseman he needed.

Now Poile needs at least one more piece: an experienced, scoring forward. He has to keep going for it. He has worked too long and too hard to get to this point – oh, so close to true Cup contention – and he can't stop now. He has no choice.

No one knows what will happen after this season. Suter could leave this summer, perhaps even for a Central Division rival like the

This is why I'm not that worried about the Chicago Blackhawks, even though they're flirting with disaster, even though there is talk of firing coach Joel Quenneville and trading Patrick Kane, even though their nine-game losing streak could stretch to 10 on Thursday night when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Flash back to last April. The Blackhawks backed into the playoffs, losing in regulation on the last day of the regular season when all they needed was a point to clinch, making it in only because the Dallas Stars failed to seize their opportunity afterward against the Minnesota Wild. Then the 'Hawks lost three in a row to the rival Vancouver Canucks, and captain Jonathan Toews was standing in the dressing room, seething.

"We know we can be a better team than them," he said. "We just haven't shown it yet."

The 'Hawks won three in a row after that. They went to

This is why I'm not that worried about the Chicago Blackhawks, even though they're flirting with disaster, even though there is talk of firing coach Joel Quenneville and trading Patrick Kane, even though their nine-game losing streak could stretch to 10 on Thursday night when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Flash back to last April. The Blackhawks backed into the playoffs, losing in regulation on the last day of the regular season when all they needed was a point to clinch, making it in only because the Dallas Stars failed to seize their opportunity afterward against the Minnesota Wild. Then the 'Hawks lost three in a row to the rival Vancouver Canucks, and captain Jonathan Toews was standing in the dressing room, seething.

"We know we can be a better team than them," he said. "We just haven't shown it yet."

The 'Hawks won three in a row after that. They went to

DETROIT – Scott Hartnell had been here many times before, sitting in the visitors' dressing room after a loss at Joe Louis Arena, wondering what had gone wrong. What is up with those #%@*$%! end boards? Why are the Detroit Red Wings such a pain to play against? How do they keep doing it year after year?

At least now Hartnell plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. He comes to Detroit once a season, at most. Thank goodness. When the Wings tied an NHL record with 20 straight home victories Sunday night, he felt like he was back with the Nashville Predators, back when he came to the Joe often, back when the Preds were trying to establish themselves in the NHL against superstars like Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan and Chris Chelios, back when games were virtually over before they began.

"You knew it was going to be a hard night and …"

Hartnell laughed.

"You probably weren't going to walk out with a win," he said. "Them winning 20 in a row, it gets in teams' heads, I think."

It's

DETROIT – Of all the hilarious Tomas Holmstrom stories, the most famous is the one about his number.

In March 1998, late in his second season with the Detroit Red Wings, Holmstrom gave up No. 15 to newly acquired veteran Dmitri Mironov. He switched to No. 96 to honor the year he arrived in the NHL, but coach Scotty Bowman suggested something else.

The details have gotten hazy, and they depend on who you talk to. But the conversation went something like this:

"You should wear 98," Bowman said.

"What do you mean?" Holmstrom said. "Why?"

"Because that's the year you'll be going home."

Really, it was amazing Holmstrom had made it to the NHL at all. He hadn't been drafted until he was 21, and even then, he wasn't taken until the 10th round – 257th overall. He was a goofy guy from a small town in northern Sweden who could barely speak English and barely skate at a professional level.

But Bowman was kidding, and Holmstrom has had the last laugh.

It is 2012.

"I'm still here," Holmstrom said,