Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.
• He’s gone 25 straight games with a point now and is as white hot as they come: Why Taylor Hall is firmly in the conversation for the Hart Trophy. [Sportsnet]
• Simply put, the Colorado Avalanche would not be in the chase for a playoff spot without Nathan MacKinnon, and while names like Kucherov, Stamkos and Malkin continue to float around in the Hart Trophy discussion, forgetting about MacKinnon would be a mistake. [Mile High Hockey]
• Victor Hedman is, undoubtedly, in the mix for the Norris Trophy, a dream he’s likely to realize this June when the hardware gets handed out. [Sports Illustrated]
• Philadelphia Flyers defenseman ShayneGostisbehere, a former Marjory Stoneman Stoneman Douglas High School, hosted the school’s hockey team just weeks after 17 people died in a school shooting and days after the hockey team won the state title. [Sun-Sentinel]
• The Florida Panthers are one point out of a playoff spot, which has a lot of people surprised given the team had less than a five-percent chance to make the postseason at the end of January. [Panther Parkway]
• It sounds crazy, but here’s a story suggesting that the Washington Capitals should fire Barry Trotz, and the analysis to prove it might be the right move. [Japers’ Rink]
• I’ll take, “In other things that sound crazy” for $400, Alex. Here’s why the Ottawa Senators should trade the best player they’ve ever seen. [SenShot]
• A bar called the Angry Beaver sounds like the most Canadian thing ever. Instead, it’s a bar in Seattle where hockey fans congregate to talk hockey. And soon they could be the fans of the NHL’s newest franchise. [Seattle Times]
• The Nashville Predators are a very good hockey. A great hockey team. Perhaps the best hockey team in the NHL. And they’re probably one of two teams (with the other being the Pittsburgh Penguins) pipped to reach the Stanley Cup finals this season. So adding a highly-touted prospect as early as this week should be fun to watch. [The Tennessean]
• Hockey is tough. Battling cancer is far tougher. Ed Olczyk explains. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• A jersey that’s making its way across the NHL this season made its stop in Carolina this weekend. [Section 328]
• Putting Willie O’Ree -- the NHL’s first black player -- into the Hockey Hall of Fame is long overdue. Momentum is building for that to happen this year. [The Color of Hockey]
• With the NHL considering the possibility of having an outdoor game in the heart of Saskatchewan, the Winnipeg Jets should be one of the teams on the ice when it happens. [Jets Nations]
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck