- Tom Gulitti via twitter: Lou Lamoriello said that center Travis Zajac was injured doing plyometrics yesterday, and recovery will take 3 months. Zajac will miss the first month and a half of the regular season.
- Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post: So the Sabres have added Robyn Regehr, Ales Kotalik, Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino this offseason. With all the additions and salary increases, they sit about $3.5 million over the salary cap ceiling. Sabres GM Darcy Regier on how they’ll get under the cap:
“I think we’ll probably, more than anything, look toward the trade market and see what we can do there.”
Regier On how the trade market is around this time of year:
“We’re just talking, it’s very quiet right now. I need some more guys to get back to the office.”
- Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: The Sabres sit $3.6 million over the salary cap, but could easily knock over $5 million off by sending Ales Kotalik and Shaone Morrisonn to Rochester of the AHL.
“Hopefully that’s not the case,” Regier said of putting players in the minor leagues. “Hopefully we’re able to make some moves to address that prior to the start of the season.”
Brad Boyes ($4 million), Jochen Hecht ($3.525 million) and Paul Gaustad ($2.3 million) are in the last year of their deals and could be traded. They could look to teams that are below the salary floor, which includes the Avalanche, Islanders, Coyotes, and Jets. The Predators, Hurricanes, Panthers, Stars, Senators, Ducks, and Blues are all $5 million or less away from the salary floor.
- TSN: Maple Leafs Sr. VP of Hockey Operations Dave Nonis on TSN 1050 Radio yesterday:
“Contracts sometimes take a little longer to get done,” Nonis said in the one-on-one interview. “This isn’t the first one that’s gone into late August.
“When you’re starting point is the player wants to be here and the team wants to have him, usually you find a way to get it done.”
Nonis on Matthew Lombardi and his concussion:
“We’re very comfortable that he’s on his way back, that the concussion isn’t an issue at this point,” explained Nonis. “But there’s a lot of things that happen when you have that kind of injury; there’s neck issues, there’s nerve issues and those all have to be addressed.
“With Matthew, there is no timetable. He’s getting better. He’s been feeling very good. His workouts have increased in duration and intensity, but he won’t be playing for us until he’s ready to play. So whether that’s a month or six months, who knows when that’s going to be. We’re not going to rush him, but we’re going to be pushing as hard as we can to get him ready and prepared.”
- John Shannon via twitter: Mikkel Boedker’s salary breakdown: $1 million next year, $1.2 million the following year.
- Helene Elliott of the LA Times: There were reports that the LA Kings and Drew Doughty had reached an agreement in principle, but ….
“No, not at all. That’s certainly not accurate,” Doughty’s agent, Don Meehan, said of reports attributed to unnamed sources on hockeybuzz.com and other websites. “We don’t have a deal.”
Kings GM Dean Lombardi wouldn’t comment but indicated they weren’t near a deal.
- TSN: Drew Doughty on Wednesday:
“I guess there’s really no rush,” said Doughty. “Both sides, we’re discussing things, and I’m sure that something is going to get done soon. I don’t have a timeframe or anything like that. But I still want to be a King, and I can’t wait to get something done just so it’s over with.”
- Rob Brodie of OttawaSenators.com: 2011 1st round draft pick Mika Zibanejad hopes to make the Senators lineup rather than heading back to the Swedish Elite League.”I want to give the coaches a hard decision (about whether) to keep me here or send me back home,” he said. “Hopefully, I can stay here in Ottawa.”
- Andy Strickland via twitter: The Blues won’t be inviting any “Name” players to training camp on pro tryouts.
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Alexander Semin had nothing to say about Matt Bradley comments about him.
- Bob Mitchell of the Toronto Star: Defenseman Chris Campoli still remains unsign. “There are a few irons in the fire right now,” Campoli said. “There is interest. I have to stay positive.” He hasn’t given any thought to Europe as he’s certain he’ll get an NHL deal.