- Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun: Canucks forward Ryan Kesler had hip labral surgery on July 25th and will be out 10-12 weeks. It is likely that he’ll miss the start of the regular season. Kesler suffered the injury during Game 5 against the Sharks, and he had hoped to avoid surgery. He had a similar injury in 2006-07 that required surgery.
- Lindsay Applebaum of the Washington Post: Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth isn’t that concerned about the teams addition of Tomas Vokoun.
“Yeah, that’s a pity,” he said to the Czech site. “But I don’t care who is number one and who is number two right now. It’s summer, the season has not even begun. These talks don’t harm me at all. I’m going to camp with the same position as every year. I want to play as many games as possible, whether at the expense of Tomas Vokoun or Varly. I just want to play.”
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Red Wings winger Jiri Hudler struggled last season despite being given opportunities to play with their top players. He’s expected to “be kept on a short leash.” If he doesn’t show that he’s capable of playing on the top 2 lines, the Wings may look to move him while he still has some value. He’ll be a free agent after the season.
- Eric Stephens of the OC Register: Teemu Selanne is still testing his knee, he’s been skating in Finland. If he returns next year is still unknown. Ducks GM Bob Murray has been in contact with Selanne all summer and remains confident that he’ll play if his knee is okay.
- James Mirtle via twitter: Colin White and Trent Hunter cleared waivers yesterday and are closer to being bought out.
- Katie Strang of Newsday: Islanders GM Garth Snow answered “We would look at all options to make our team better” when asked if they would consider re-signing Trent Hunter when he is bought out.
- Jeff Klein and Ken Belson of the NY Times: Charles Wang after the voters voted no,
“Right now, I have to tell you, it’s a very emotional time and we’re not going to make any comments on any specific next steps.”
If they can’t come up with a new or refurbished arena, the Islanders could move in 2015. They reportedly lose $20 million a season. If they consider relocation, the front-runners could be Brooklyn and Quebec City, with Kansas City, Hamilton and Seattle longer shots.
“We will continue to work closely with the Islanders to explore whatever options still may be available in light of what obviously is not a positive development,” Bettman said. “Our goal is for the team to remain on Long Island and we still hope that objective can be realized.”
- Larry Brooks via twitter: New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s spokesperson said he has, “no interest in purchasing another sports team at this time.”
- Andy Strickland of True Hockey: 9 individuals/groups have expressed interest in buying the St. Louis Blues, and each have been sent a letter informing them to submit their formal offers by August 22nd. Matthew Hulsizer may have moved on as the asking price was too high.
