Welcome to the newest addition to the hockey coverage here at RealGM with our new hockey blog called Hockey Talk. Running on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Hockey Talk will examine player and team trends as well as take a more in-depth look at the game. This is an interactive project so feel free to email your opinions to Douglas.Benton@RealGM.com and your thoughts may just appear in this space. February 15 The Carolina Hurricanes? playoff hopes took another blow on Thursday night when center Rod Brind?Armour tore his left ACL in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Hurricanes? captain had 19 goals and 32 assists for a team best 51 points but will now miss the rest of the season. The Hurricanes now have a huge void in veteran leadership and will have to have excellent play from goalie Cam Ward and for Eric Stall to become a dominant player. I don?t think either player can, and you can expect the Hurricanes to fall out of the division race. The New York Rangers locked up all-world goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to a six-year, $41.25 million contract. Lundqvist is 24-21-5 with a 2.37 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Lundqvist is a top notch goaltender who is in the prime of his career. The Rangers' philosophy in player acquisition is to bring in more flash over substance which usually results in a strong crop of offensive players with minimal defense. The Rangers could still miss the playoffs (although I think they will make it), but in either situation, Lundqvist is a very good piece to build around. In Edmonton, the Oilers have struggled this year at 27-27-5, but they have two nice wins this week at home against the Wild (4-2) and at San Jose (3-2). Some of the success has to go to goaltender Mathieu Garon, who has been in net for both wins. He has stopped 66 of 70 shots in those two games against some potent offensive players. February 13 In a recent trade, the Carolina Hurricanes traded forward Cory Stillman and defenseman Mike Commodore to the Ottawa Senators for forward Patrick Eaves and defenseman Joe Corvo. The move gives Ottawa two more veterans who also are previous Cup winners while Carolina becomes younger and gets control over two more players. In the end, I like Ottawa as the early winner in this deal. Stillman and Commodore are veterans who have won a Stanley Cup and are still above average players. Stillman has over 50 points this year and along with Commodore, who will bring some physical play to the Senators, will add some depth after the Senators? superstars. In Carolina, they could have lost both of these players, considering they are both unrestricted free agents. Also, Eaves is an interesting player to acquire while Corvo has tallied 21 assists from the blue line. However, when you are in the thick of a division, it isn?t smart to make a trade in which you receive less talent, what is exactly what Carolina did here. It isn?t a horrible trade for Carolina, but I give the nod to Ottawa in a move which could keep them on top in the Eastern Conference. February 11 After a brief hiatus, we are back with another installment of Hockey Talk. During my time away, I traveled back to Minnesota, where I was able to see Hockey Day Minnesota. This yearly celebration of the sport showcases games from the high school, college, and pro level, including an outdoor high school game on a day in which the temperatures were below zero. The popularity of hockey has seen an ebb and flow of sorts the past few seasons, but it is only going up in Minnesota. Known as the state of hockey, Minnesotans relish in the sport of hockey and its continued development as seen in their program sales. At each home game for the Wild, a youth hockey program sells the game programs and takes all of the money back for gear and other needs. For this year?s game, the Wild played host to the struggling New York Islanders. The Wild ended up winning 4-3 in overtime despite lackluster play throughout. In the end, though, Minnesota is one of those places all hockey fans should go. As my cousin Jeremy told me: it isn?t Canada, but it?s the closet thing we have in the United States. February 4 Over the weekend, the Nashville Predators signed right-winger J.P. Dumont to a four-year contract worth $16 million. The signing gives the Predators control of one of their best forwards until he is 33 in an effort to keep their best players in town once he hits his peak performance. Dumont has had a really solid year with 18 goals and 27 assists with a +8 rating while playing in all of his team?s 53 games. For his career, Dumont has scored at least 20 goals five times coming into this season although he has never scored over 23. Nashville is currently in the eighth spot with 59 points but definitely need on-ice leadership the rest of this season and beyond. The franchise, as a whole, has floundered in the playoffs and has lacked continuity both on and off the ice. The deal works for Nashville because it feeds some of these needs at an affordable price while also not leaving them liable for a steep downturn common with long term contracts. For Dumont, he gets stability in the prime of his career while still getting paid for his talents. He and Jason Arnott are a strong pair in the Western Conference.