Igor Eronko via twitter: KHL president Alex Medvedev said he’ll be heading to North America in February to talk to the Devils about a contract buyout for Ilya Kovalchuk to bring him back to Russia.
The Fourth Period: With the Oilers in need of some help on the blueline, they may look at moving Ales Hemsky this season. They had inquiries last season, but decided in the end to keep him and sign him to a 2 year contract extension. At last years draft, they reportedly turned down an offer from the Canadiens that included P.K. Subban for the 1st overall pick. The Oilers may look to send him to an Eastern Conference team. The Panthers, Devils, Islanders and Jets would all like to add a player like Hemsky and could target him. The Oilers and Jets could look at Zach Bogosian in a deal according to a league source.
Bob McKenzie via twitter: The Hurricanes trade Brian Boucher and Mark Alt to the Flyers for Luke Pither.
John Boruk via twitter: Boruk looks at 4 reasons why the Flyers may explore a trade for Roberto Luongo. 1. Upgrading the position 2. Compliance buyout – would owe Ilya Bryzgalov about $23 million on a buyout. 3. The new “Luongo Rule” 4. Failure to bolster the defense.
TSN: Video of James Duthie sitting down with Brian Burke to discuss his firing.
David Pagnotta via twitter: The Canadiens have announced that 27 players will be attending training camp, including Mike Commodore, Alex Galchenyuk, Jarred Tinordi and Brendan Gallagher. There will be 16 forwards, 9 defense and 2 goalies.
NY Islanders via twitter: Ryan Strome and Griffin Reinhart have been recalled by the Islanders to attend training camp.
Arthur Staple via twitter: The Islanders made travel arrangements to have Lubomir Visnovsky flown in to New York for physicals on Sunday. Visnovsky didn’t get on it. It looks like this will have to be settled between the NHL and KHL. B.D. Gallof via twitter: Visnovsky is testing the KHL/NHL agreement. If the KHL says no, he’ll be back with the Islanders. If they say yes, he’ll remain in the KHL.
Corey Pronman via twitter: The Hurricanes are bringing Jeremy Welsh, Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman, Bobby Sanguinetti and Ryan Murphy into camp.
