Merry Turkey to our Canadian readers, Happy Columbus Day to our American readers.
- Allan Walsh via twitter: Ondrej Pavelec was released from hospital yesterday and is back to home. Walsh thinks he’ll be “back in action soon”.
- Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post: Semyon Varlamov who’s out with a groin injury hopes to return later this week.
- Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star: Tomas Kaberle and Brian Burke have yet to meet on a contract extension, with Burke and Kaberle’s agent, Rick Curran, agreeing to let things wait for a bit. A deal may come down to money, Kaberle will likely looking for a raise from this $4.25 million. The Leafs already have a lot of cash tied up in their defensive corps. Kaberle,
“I haven’t talked to Brian since the start of the season,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not worried about it right now. I’m just going to worry about the games coming up, especially the first month of the season. It always shows the way the team is going to play. We have to be at least .500 to have a chance to go into the playoffs when the real season starts.”
- Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: Zdeno Chara’s new contract (7 years, $45.5 million) probably won’t be used as a comparable for Predators defenseman Shea Weber. Better comparables would be Dion Phaneuf (6 years, $39 million) or Jay Bouwmeester (5 years, $33.4 million).
- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: It looks like 2010 1st round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes, Jeff Skinner, will remain with the club for the rest of the season.
- Eric Stephens of the OC Register: Andres Lilja has signed with the Anaheim Ducks. An agreement was reached Saturday night, and Lilja is flying to Anaheim from Sweden.
- Andy Stickland via twitter: St. Louis Blues forward Cam Janssen will miss 2 weeks with a concussion and sternum injury.
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson poor play has found himself down the 3rd pairing and could find himself in the AHL if his game doesn’t improve.
- Mark Everson of the NY Post: Devils GM Lou Lamoriello might have to free up some cap space depending on the severity of the injuries to Brian Rolston and Anton Volchenkov. Lamoriello also wouldn’t say if they’ll appeal the loss of their 1st round pick and $3 million fine.
- Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun: Mark Giordano and the Calgary Flames started contract talks last year, but they are no closer to a deal. He’s said how much he enjoys playing in Calgary, but how much the Flames would offer and how much he might be able to get on the open market might be a big difference. Giordano may also not want to rush to a decision with the Flames until he sees what direction the team may be going in.