FanHouse SteveMontador

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division.

Brian Burke begins his rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa and just what is Boston going to do with Phil Kessel and a limited amount of salary cap space?

After picking up Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks, the Boston Bruins have acquired veteran forward Mark Recchi, along with a second-round pick, from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Matt Lashoff and Martins Karsums, as reported by TSN. Tampa Bay held Recchi out of the lineup on Tuesday night, and he was reportedly unhappy that Tampa Bay management hadn't been communicating with him through the process.

It's a worst-to-first type of move for the 41-year-old forward, as he leaves a disappointing Lightning squad for the top team in the Eastern Conference.

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Avalanche 4, Flames 3: Colorado ended a four-game losing streak with its win over Calgary on Monday night, thanks in large part to a three-point effort from Marek Svatos. Svatos chipped in two goals (including the eventual game-winner late in the second period) and added an assist, while Ryan Smyth registered a pair of helpers in the win.

Peter Budaj was strong in net for the Avalanche, turning aside 36 of 39 shots to pick up his 14th win over the season.

It's great to see quality NHL action return to Chicago after years of disappointing hockey, and man, what a team the windy city has. With their 4-1 win in Minnesota on Sunday, the Blackhawks picked up their ninth straight victory, improving their record to 20-6-7, good enough for the fifth best record in the league.

Chicago received a four-point performance from Dustin Byfuglien, who scored a pair of goals in the first period and also added a pair of assists later in the game, as the Blackhawks dominated Minnesota. Cristobal Huet faced only 19 shots, turning away 18 of them to pick up his fifth consecutive win in goal. During his personal winning streak, Huet has allowed only four goals, posting a .967 save percentage.

Cal Clutterbuck scored Minnesota's only goal, while Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added tallies for the Blackhawks.

While Chicago has been reeling off win after win, the Wild have been going the opposite direction winning just two of their past 10 games.