Wednesday marked an exciting day on the NHL calendar as teams across the league held their respective media days to kick off training camp.
Here are some of the biggest news nuggets to come out of the day’s festivities:
Leafs share Liljegren’s tough injury news but at least Matthews is happy
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without defenceman Timothy Liljegren for at least six weeks due to hernia surgery. He will be placed on long-term injured reserve to begin the year.
Much of the focus of the Leafs’ media day revolved around Kyle Dubas’s uncertain future beyond this season but Leafs fans will be relieved to hear that franchise centre Auston Matthews is still enjoying his time in Ontario’s capital.
Mike Smith not fit to play
The Edmonton Oilers won’t be seeing Mike Smith anytime soon as general manager Ken Holland revealed the veteran netminder failed his physical and will go on LTIR. There is no timeline for Smith’s return to action.
Edmonton shored up its goaltending situation by signing Jack Campbell to a five-year, $25-million contract in free agency.
Sabres keep their man
The Buffalo Sabres rewarded general manager Kevyn Adams with a multi-year contract extension. Adams is entering his third season as GM after spending more than a decade in various roles within the organization.
Buffalo looks to build on a season in which it finished fifth in the Atlantic Division with 75 points.
Another year of Chychrun rumours?
After appearing in countless trade rumours last season, defenceman Jacob Chychrun admitted he recently took the Arizona Coyotes up on their offer of trying to find him a new team. The 24-year-old’s value likely took a hit after a disappointing 2021-22 campaign that saw him record 21 points in 47 games. A change of scenery could help get him back on track.
Nill drops big news at Stars camp
A couple juicy news items came out of Dallas as GM Jim Nill announced star RFA Jason Robertson will not join the team for training camp as he continues to look for a new contract. Robertson broke out with a 41-goal season last year and the Stars can’t afford to have him out of the lineup for an extended period.
Nill also revealed the NHL asked Ben Bishop not to assume his front office role with the Stars until his contract with the Sabres (as a player) expired. Dallas traded the goaltender to the Sabres earlier this summer with one year and $3.5 million remaining on his contract. Bishop’s playing career is over due to several injuries.
Checking in with the offseason kings
The Calgary Flames will be without a pair of key contributors for the time being as forward Andrew Mangiapane suffered an undisclosed injury over the summer and won’t be ready to skate with the team right away. The injury is not believed to be serious. Defenceman Oliver Kylington will also miss the start of camp due to a “personal family issue.” Veteran forward Brett Ritchie officially signed a one-year deal with the Flames to round out the player news.
After dominating offseason headlines with the Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk departures, plus the Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau signings, general manager Brad Treliving didn’t have an update on his or head coach Darryl Sutter’s contract statuses as both enter the final years of their current deals.
Lighthearted moments
Sometimes you just need a good laugh.
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