Gonchar is 41-years-old but still had 13 points (1G / 12A) in 45 games with the Canadiens last season. However, he didn’t have a good enough training camp for the Penguins to hold onto him. This could be the end of the line for Gonchar.
Pouliot was expected to make the Penguins opening roster after having a strong 2014-15 season at both levels. However, he had a bad preseason and the Penguins have elected to have him start 2015-16 in the AHL. He had 24 points (7G / 17A) in 31 games with WBS last season—if he plays like that this year, he will work his way back into the NHL.
Pulkkinen, hasn’t played since September 24th because of an upper-body injury but is expected to play in the preseason finale and should be ready for the regular season opener. The 23-year-old had five goals and three assists in 31 games with the Red Wings last season and could have a breakout season in his first full NHL season.
Colborne underwent wrist surgery this offseason which put him behind the eight-ball to begin the preseason. To make matters worse he blocked an Andrew Ladd shot last night and was forced to exit the game. He is expected to be reevaluated on Friday where more details will be released.
Halak practice for the first time in over a week on Thursday, but was unable to make it all the way through the session. Head coach Jack Capuano said “we don’t know yet” when he was asked if Halak would be ready for next Friday’s season opener. Thomas Greiss would start the game against the Blackhawks should Halak not be ready.
If Bickell clears waivers, the Blackhawks could send him to the AHL and save about $950K in cap space. Chicago reportedly tried to trade Bickell all summer but could not find a suitor for his $4M cap-hit.
Chara has been out for over a week and has yet to join the Bruins for full practice yet. The Bruins are already without Dennis Seidenberg and they traded Dougie Hamilton, so they can’t afford to have Chara miss anytime at all. However, given his progress to this point, it seems unlikely that he will be ready for the season opener.
Dano was expected to crack the Blackhawks opening night roster and was expected to produce this season. He had 21 points (8G / 13A) in 35 games with the Blue Jackets last year, but will start the year in Rockford.
This is a tough break for the Red Wings, who planned to have DeKeyser play with Mike Green so that Green could open up offensively. Green will now play with either Kyle Quincey or Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl or one of the Red Wings’ young defensemen will be inserted into the lineup. DeKeyser is expected to miss at least the first seven games of the season.
Khokhlachev, 22, was expected to have a great chance to make the Bruins team out of training camp. The 2011 second round pick (40th overall) had 15 goals and 28 assists (43 points) in 61 games with Providence last season and that’s where he will start the 2015-16 season.
Hammond was slated to start Thursday’s prison game, but was scratched because he suffered the groin injury. The injury will now force him to miss a couple of weeks and likely the first five or six games of the season. Ottawa will look to Craig Anderson to lead the team, however they have two sets of back-to-backs in the first week and a half.
McKinnon has played the majority of his young career on the wing, but if they use MacKinnon in the middle it allows the Avalanche to give 18-year-old Mikko Rantanen a shot in the NHL and opens the door for Curtis Glencross and Jack Skille a chance to make the team on PTO’s. If MacKinnon indeed ends up on the third line, look for Rantanen and Blake Comeau to play on his wings.
Elias was already ruled out for the preseason and now he has been ruled out for the season opener and will start the year on IR. The 39-year-old will start the season behind the eight ball after a tough 2014-15 season.
The Capitals had previously said that Backstrom was expected to play at some point during the first 10 games of the season, but Barry Trotz said today that Backstorm will miss at least the first four games. This early in the season, the Capitals will not rush their star centre back into action and risk getting him more injured.
Moses, 26, set the KHL scoring record last season by scoring 36 goals and signed a one-year, $1M dollar deal with the Predators in April. Despite sending him down, Predators’ head coach Peter Laviolette believes Steve Moses is still a player who can contribute and help the Predators in due time.
Nurse, 20, had a nice preseason and some thought that he would at least get another preseason game, but he has been sent to the minors where he will wait for his next shot. The AHL has developed Anton Lander and Oscar Klefbom into great players, so the Oilers appear to be content to be patient with the former seventh overall pick. There’s a very strong chance Nurse gets recalled at some point during the season.
Eberle left Tuesday’s preseason game with a shoulder injury and was seen wearing a sling after the game. This afternoon the Oilers announced that their star winger will miss at least the first three weeks of the regular season with a shoulder injury. His injury means that Anton Slepyshev will probably start the season with the Oilers and Leon Draisaitl could start in the top-6.
Eberle left the game after taking a hit into the end boards and departed the ice immediately. Eberle was reportedly spotted wearing a sling after the game which isn’t an encouraging sign. The Oilers have yet to disclose the exact nature or severity of the injury, so stay tuned.
Campbell, 27, had one assist in 33 games with the Coyotes last season. He was a third round pick (74th overall) in 2008 and plays a physical game, but doesn’t have much of and offensive game to speak of.
Halak is going to be held off of the ice for a few days but should be ready for the season opener. The Islanders open the season with a back-to-back, so he probably wasn’t going to play both games on opening weekend anyways.
