Quick Hits: Ritola, Fraser, Pelley, Stralman, Halak, Kovalchuk, Jets, Hitchcock

The quick hits around the NHL today:

• Bob McKenzie tweets that Tampa Bay put Mattias Ritola on $125 waivers, and New Jersey’s Mark Fraser and Rod Pelley clear waivers.
• Andrew Gross tweets Rangers coach John Tortorella is not sure of when Anton Stralman will play after the defenseman completes his medical tests.
• When the Blues take the ice tonight for Ken Hitchcock’s first game as head coach, Jaroslav Halak will be in net.
• Ilya Kovalchuk will sit out a second straight game on Tuesday when the New Jersey Devils play host to the Carolina Hurricanes reports Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com
• Despite struggling to contribute, Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little aren’t expected to sit for the Winnipeg Jets in the immediate future. Coach Claude Noel told the Winnipeg Free Press that benching either (or both) wouldn’t likely solve anything.
• According to Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun, the Flames had looked into the possibility of hiring Ken Hitchcock as an assistant general manager to work with GM Jay Feaster. Hithcock was hired as the Coach of St. Louis on November 7th.