* Ten more players in the final year of their contracts who could be dealt before the trade deadline:
Right wing Wayne Simmonds (Flyers), center Jason Spezza (Stars), defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (Blues), center Derick Brassard (Pittsburgh Penguins), left wing Carl Hagelin (Los Angeles Kings), center Eric Staal (Wild), left wing Andre Burakovsky (Washington Capitals), left wing Micheal Ferland (Carolina Hurricanes), forward Marcus Johansson (New Jersey Devils), center Brian Boyle (Devils).
* Six teams that could be aggressively looking to improve before the deadline, putting future assets in play to better their chances now:
1) Predators -- second in the Central Division with 64 points, the same amount as the Jets but in four more games played; 2) Capitals -- second in the Metropolitan Division with 60 points but 0-5-2 in their past seven games; 3) Boston Bruins -- fourth in the Atlantic Division with 59 points, two behind the Montreal Canadiens; 4) Sharks -- second in the Pacific Division with 65 points, three more than the third-place Golden Knights in the same number of games (52); 5) Stars -- in position currently to be the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference; 6) Avalanche --in position to be the second wild card into the playoffs from the West with an extra first-round draft pick that could be used in a trade because they also get the Senators' first-round pick from a trade last season.
* The New York Islanders, arguably the most surprising team this season, are first in the Metropolitan Division with 62 points, three ahead of the Capitals, and they have four pending unrestricted free agents in forwards Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Jordan Eberle and Valtteri Filppula. The Islanders could be buyers in the trade market if they continue to play well into February. It could just be a question of where they play their home games in the playoffs, Barclays Center or Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders would love to have to answer that question.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the NHL with 37 wins and 76 points through 49 games. They're on pace for almost 62 wins, which is the NHL record for most victories in a season set by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. They're also on a 127-point pace, which would fall five short of tying the record for most points in a single season set by the 1976-77 Canadiens (132), who played 80 games. The Lightning would need to average 1.697 points per game in their final 33 games to catch the Canadiens. They're averaging 1.551 points per game. Can they keep pace in wins and pick up their pace in points to have a chance?
* The last major marquee event on the regular-season calendar takes place at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, on Feb. 23, when the Flyers host the Penguins in the 2019 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series (8 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS). It's a rematch of the Stadium Series at Heinz Field on Feb. 25, 2017. The Penguins won that game 4-2 in front of 67,318.