Frozen Ponderings

Adam Oates is 38-years old, but he remains an elite player in the NHL and deserves Hall of Fame induction when his career is all over. After garnering a goal and two assists against the Penguins Monday night, Oates was 6-32-37 for the season. He is only 75 assists from 1,000 and has fed some of the best wingers the game has seen the last 15 years -- Brett Hull, Cam Neely, Peter Bondra. Hull still says he loved playing with Oates and the unassuming center doesn't get much publicity. But watch him play, even at 38, and it's clear that this guy is truly a special player. The Rangers have played hard of late and have nothing to show for it. The Blueshirts are on an 0-6-1-1 skid and are beyond being in danger of missing the playoffs. It's amazing that with Theo Fleury, Brian Leetch and Mark Messier their results have been so poor. GM Glen Sather seems poised to perpetuate Neil Smith's trend of improving the team through trades for more veterans. Perhaps, it's time to dump some older talent and get some defensemen and a goaltender for the future. It might mean another season with no playoffs, but it might be a better long-term strategy. The Blues allowed 22 shots against the Flyers and lost 2-1. Of course, the Blues only mustered one goal, but it's a perfect example of a game they needed their goalie to steal a game. And Roman Turek didn't do it. St. Louis has lost three of four, and in those losses has allowed eight goals on 74 shots -- not bad, but not good enough. If the Blues are going to get past Colorado, Dallas or San Jose in the playoffs, they need better goaltending.

Kings center Steve Reinprecht isn't even the leading rookie scorer on his team. But Slovakian Lubomir Visnovsky is a defenseman and at 5-foot-10, he's a bit of a freak with his five goals, 23 points and plus-16.

So for now, we'll stick with Reinprecht, a guy most fans heard about before this season because of his stellar play at the University of Wisconsin, where he lead the nation with 66 points (26-40-66) in his senior year. Reinprecht signed as a free agent last spring and played one game for the Kings. But like Visnovsky, Reinprecht's emergence this season has been a bit of a surprise – a pleasant one for the Kings.

Right out of training camp, Reinprecht stepped in and made a difference. He had nine points in his first 13 games and 16 in his first 25. He's tied for third among NHL rookies in scoring with nine goals and 22 points in 41 games.

"I had no expectations coming into camp," said Reinprecht, who trained this past summer in Prague and didn't even want to think about making the big club out of camp. "I knew I'd come into camp in the best shape and do the best I could. You want to make it and do all these things, but you don't want to set yourself for a big fall."

Of course, the quick transition from college to the NHL is no longer a huge leap, but even so, Reinprecht was less heralded than other collegians like Chris Drury (Boston University) or Paul Kariya (Maine), who made big splashes in their first NHL seasons.

"The leadership on our team helped my transition," Reinprecht said. "Rob Blake, Nelson Emerson (both from Bowling Green), Kelly Buchberger are great guys who are great leaders. They made sure the young guys stayed confident."

Visnovsky grew up in Slovakia, and although a good part of his youth was post-Cold War, he didn't grow up watching the NHL like Reinprecht did. That's why it's a little strange for Reinprecht when he is playing next to a guy like Luc Robitaille who was lighting the lamp in the NHL before Reinprecht lit the lamp in pee wees.

"There was a little weirdness at first," Reinprecht admitted. "But he's been great, always giving a piece of advice for me. He's scored a lot of goals and has a lot to teach."

Hockey in juniors and in college has progressed a lot in recent years and more and more players are making quick transitions to the NHL. But Reinprecht contends that the NHL remains a big jump, and if someone isn't prepared, he could be in real trouble.

"Like everyone says, the game is faster and the guys are bigger," he said. "Positionally and systematically, it isn't that different. "But guys don't get mesmerized with the puck like they can in college. You have to know what you are going to do before you get the puck."

Mailbag
During the season, I'll try to answer a question or two from ESPN.com users for every edition of In the Corners. If you want to get a question answered, click here and ask away.

Question from Derick, San Francisco, Calif.: With the Penguins resembling the Czech National Team, and Dominik Hasek planning to retire after this season, do you think that Pittsburgh might make a move to acquire The Dominator since his trade value won't be very high because he wont be back next season?

Response: Hasek would be a great fit for the Penguins, but a few things make this deal difficult. First, Hasek makes $7.5 million this season and is due to earn more than $9 million next season. The Penguins are already strapped for cash and are on the hook for $10 million to pay Jaromir Jagr. Also, it's doubtful the Sabres want to deal Hasek to a team too close to them in the East; it would look bad if Hasek beat Buffalo in the postseason. The other factor in the way of such a deal is what Pittsburgh would give up. Billy Tibbetts and other minor leaguers aren't enough, and the Penguins don't want to disrupt their nucleus as much as they did last year at the trade deadline.

So, as much as it would make the Penguins truly great, acquiring Hasek is a bit of a pipe dream for Pittsburgh fans ... but then again, no one thought Mario Lemieux would come back.

Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com. He can be reached at brian.shactman@espn.com.