Canucks and Boeser still have lots of work to do … Juolevi not a 100 percent yet
Rick Dhaliwal: There is still lots of work for the Vancouver Canucks and Brock Boeser to do on a new contract. days till training camp now.
Rick Dhaliwal: Canucks defenseman’s Olli Juolevi may not be fully ready for the start of training. His knee injury may not be 100 percent, but he may not be far off. He was skating for most of August back in Finland and is back in Vancouver now.
Bouma to Kings on a PTO … Vilardi progressing
Rick Dhaliwal: Lance Bouma signed a PTO with the Los Angeles Kings. Bouma played in the Swiss League last season.
Lisa Dillman of The Athletic: Kings prospect Gabriel Vilardi isn’t listed for their rookie tournament that gets underway this weekend which isn’t a surprise. GM Rob Blake on his status.
“I know there’s a ton of questions about him. The update I can give you right now is he is progressing his in rehab,” Blake said. “He is not cleared to skate. He will not be at camp (on the ice), but he’s farther along in his rehab progression than he has been probably in the last 12 months.
“We’re confident he sticks to this and continues to get that rehab. And we hope to have him on the ice.”
Williams won’t be starting the season
Carolina Hurricanes: Forward Justin Williams announced that he’ll be stepping away from hockey ahead of this season.
“This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt unsure of my aspirations with regards to hockey,” said Williams. “For as long as I can remember, my whole off-season until this point has been hockey and doing what was necessary to prepare for the upcoming season. Because of my current indecision, and without the type of mental and physical commitment that I’m accustomed to having, I’ve decided to step away from the game.”
Sara Civian of The Athletic: Justin Williams won’t be attending the Hurricanes – or any other teams – training camp this year. He didn’t announce that he was retiring either.
There are some sources who think he could return later in the season like Mike Fisher did. Williams didn’t want to be a distraction going into training camp.