- Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Sidney Crosby has been cleared to practice but his medical team can’t agree on when he should be ready for contact. A Florida-based chiropractor who has been examining Crosby told a Pittsburgh radio station that he’s ready for contact. Crosby’s doctors at a concussion clinic may not think so and stand behind their comments at the news conference earlier this month, “We’re going to make sure we introduce contact in a very careful way,” Collins said at the time. “And we’re not even close to that right now.”
- Pierre LeBrun via twitter: Kings GM Dean Lombardi told LeBrun that he feels they made their best possible offer to Drew Doughty, 7 years at a $6.8 million average.
- Renaud Lavoie via twitter: Luke Schenn salary breakdown: $3.6 million with a $1 signing bonus this year, and $3.35 million in the remaining 4 years. Also has a modified no trade clause.
- Renaud Lavoie via twitter: The Islanders re-signed Josh Bailey to a 2 year deal. He’ll get $800,000 this year and $1.3 million next year.
- Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times: Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane is still wearing a splint on his left wrist and is taking a cautious approach with it.
“I’m going be cautionary about putting myself in contact right away,” Kane said Friday. “I’ll be doing practice with whatever team is out there, working real hard to get my range of motion back.”
“They said if it was the middle of the season right now, and if I wanted to play, I could play,” Kane said. “It’s just making sure we don’t make it any worse and I’m fully 100 percent ready to go.”
Marian Hossa is still in Slovakia as he attended a Pavol Demitra’s memorial on Thursday, and will join the team soon. The Blackhawks aren’t too worried that Patrick Sharp could miss the entire preseason.
“Sharp was in excellent shape,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Through that process of taking the necessary time to heal himself up to get ready, he’s a finely tuned athlete. He can play through a lot of different injuries. We saw that last year how quickly he got back, particularly at a critical time of the year.”
- Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov won’t be taking the ice with teammates today:
“I wish I could skate with the team tomorrow or today, but I want to be 100-per-cent sure I’m healthy,” Markov said Friday as he discussed his rehabilitation from major knee surgery. “I don’t want to come back for a few games. I’d like to stay here for the long term, and that’s what we’re looking for.”Markov, who signed a 3 year, $17.5 million deal in the off-season, has had 2 surgeries to repair is his ACL in his right knee.
“He said the healing is good,” Markov said of his meeting with Andrews. “Everything in the knee, like the bones and muscles, is good. I had a little swelling at that time, but he said it’s normal for a second surgery.”
If Markov is out for an extended period of time, GM Pierre Gauthier may have to go looking for a defenseman.
- James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson plans on cutting his training camp roster from 70 to 40 by Wednesday and down to 26 or 27 by next weekend.
“I’m cutting through all the B.S. here and getting right down to the NHL players,” Wilson said. “I’m not worried about where we’re going to be in two or three years. My primary responsibility is making the playoffs this year and getting off to a good start.”
Wilson would have 2 exhibition game with 40 players and 3 games with close to regular season lineup.
- Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: Predators Mike Fisher’s recovery from shoulder surgery is going slower than he had hoped.“I’m just going to kind of work my way in here, just trying to get stronger. Still not ready for contact or anything. But I am skating and starting to shoot a bit, and it’s coming. I’m just really not sure as far as timetable. I just have to be patient.”
- Bob McKenzie via twitter: Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien weighed in well under the 269 pounds he weighed in last year in Atlanta. Josh Rimer via twitter: Rimer is hearing that the Jets are considering moving Dustin Byfuglien back to forward this year.
- David Pollak via twitter: Antti Niemi said he should be back playing in a few days.