Penguins, Capitals and what we learned in the NHL the past week

Lessons from the last week in the NHL:

No one is untradeable

Columbus Blue Jackets Coach John Tortorella brought things to a head with center Ryan Johansen by making him a healthy scratch last Thursday, increasing the chances that Johansen will be traded. Tortorella previously made examples of Scott Hartnell and Fedor Tyutin.

General Manager John Davidson said that anyone on the team is tradeable but while Johansen would draw a lot of interest, major deals are difficult to complete because of salary cap considerations.

Stamkos staying?

Steven Stamkos said he wants to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning, contrary to reports that he plans to leave as a free agent next summer.

“I envision myself winning a championship here and want to do that,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “Obviously, we got close last year, and I’m the captain of this team and I want to be that leader.”

He also dismissed rumors of a rift with Coach Jon Cooper, who recently signed a contract extension, and noted that Kings center Anze Kopitar also is an impending free agent who hasn’t yet signed an extension. But Stemkos hedged when asked if he would waive his no-move clause if he doesn’t have a new deal by the Feb. 29 trade deadline.

“When we cross that bridge, we’ll go over it then,” Stamkos said. “There’s still a lot of time before then. A lot of things can happen.”

Pittsburgh struggles continue

It’s looking more like the Pittsburgh Penguins’ problems weren’t Mike Johnston’s fault. They lost their first four games under his replacement as coach, Mike Sullivan, while being outscored, 15-4.

Overall, they were winless in five in a row before facing the Blue Jackets on Monday. Adding injury to insult was Sullivan’s announcement Sunday that Sidney Crosby has a lower-body injury and is day to day.

Soaring in D.C.

The Washington Capitals’ confidence is soaring, and so are they. They took over the No. 1 spot in the NHL on Sunday after their second consecutive comeback win, a 7-3 road victory over the New York Rangers.

“We’re obviously not going to score seven every night but we have the ability to come back on anybody,” winger Justin Williams told NHL.com. “We’re not scared of anybody. We feel we’re one of the better teams in the league and we’re going to try to prove it throughout the year.”