Around the NHL - Tuesday 30 Sept

Posted by admin on 1st, 2008

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Injury (formerly player) Updates:

Penguins’ Gonchar out 4 to 6 months
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar will have arthroscopic surgery on his dislocated left shoulder Thursday and miss four to six months of the upcoming season. (sports.yahoo.com)
Sabres’ Gaustad to miss up to 3 weeks after surgery
Sabres center Paul Gaustad will miss up to the first three weeks of the regular season after he had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb Tuesday. (sports.yahoo.com)

NHL Updates:

Important season looms for Kelly & NHLPA
One of Paul Kelly’s first tasks in his first full season at the helm of the NHL Players’ Association might be his most important yet. During visits with all 30 teams this fall, the NHLPA’s executive director will give players a thorough analysis of the collective bargaining agreement before they vote on whether they want to see that deal terminated two years early. (sports.yahoo.com)

Signings & Acquisitions:

O’Neill ends comeback attempt
Jeff O’Neill has ended his NHL comeback bid with the Carolina Hurricanes. He notified the team of his decision after Sunday’s exhibition win over Philadelphia. Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford said it’s difficult for a player who sat out for a season to return to the league, but that O’Neill looked fine in training camp. (sports.yahoo.com)
Khabibulin clears waivers
Khabibulin cleared waivers on Tuesday, the Daily Herald reports. (sports.yahoo.com)
Ducks trade D O’Donnell to Kings
The Anaheim Ducks traded away a veteran defenseman for the second time in a week, dealing 36-year-old Sean O’Donnell to Los Angeles on Tuesday for a conditional draft pick. O’Donnell played in all 82 of Anaheim’s games in 2007-08, scoring twice and adding seven assists for nine points with a plus-9 rating. He was 1-1-2 and plus-3 in the Ducks’ six-game playoff loss to Dallas. (nhl.com)

Trades & Rumours:

From Spectorshockey.net:

Steve Buffery reports the NY Rangers have reportedly issued “an ultimatum of sorts” to former Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin to make up his mind if he’ll play for them. The club is attempting to re-sign former Rangers winger Brendan Shanahan.
Chris Stevenson reports further on Daniel Alfredsson’s contract status. “(I)f Alfredsson plays 70 games and gets at least 70 points this season, he has the option to accept $3.8 million (all terms US) for next season or declare himself an unrestricted free agent”, writes Stevenson, adding that if Alfredsson doesn’t hit that “70-70″ mark, the Senators keep him for next season at $3.8 million, but the Sens don’t want to take a chance that he could be come a UFA next summer. Talks between Senators GM Bryan Murray and agent JP Barry are in the preliminary stage.
Erik Erlendsson reports the Lightning likely aren’t done cutting payroll after trading Nick Tarnasky and waiving Michel Ouellet, suggesting David Koci, Jason Ward and Ryan Craig are the bubble players. Erlendsson guesses Koci could be the odd man out unless a trade develops over the next 72 hours.

Game Results: