Dan’s Daily: More UFA Signings, Lundqvist Open Heart Surgery

Who would have thought a player on long-term injured reserve could become an asset? That’s going to be a big question among the NHL GMs sooner than later as teams scramble for cap space, and not every GM is OK with the practice. Also in the daily links, the Pittsburgh Penguins released their training camp roster and a few more UFAs signed in interesting places.

The Penguins training camp roster has a lot of new faces (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

This week’s Off the Record was cookies from grandma. GMs are unhappy with the Tampa Bay Lightning trading from players on LTIR, prospects may be without hockey after the WJCs, and we’ve been told how much Mike Hoffman will sign for after training camp in St. Louis (PHN+)

Give us $25 a year, and we’ll give you the inside story.

The Montreal Canadiens are a MUCH better team today than they were in March. They’re still young, but now they have more scoring. On Monday, they added Corey Perry, too (Montreal Gazette)

The LA Kings were the team to take a chance on Andreas Athanasiou (Puck Prose)

Perhaps a break for the Pittsburgh Penguins — the New York Islanders have not yet signed RFA Mathew Barzal. There are seven top RFAs still on the beach. Here’s the latest on each (Sportsnet)

Chicago Blackhawks top prospect Kirby Dach broke his wrist in an ugly way during the World Juniors. He’ll miss most or all of the NHL regular season after surgery on Monday (Chicago Sun-Times)

Too many American media types who watch hockey but don’t really “get” hockey have offered too many opinions that Dach shouldn’t have played in the WJCs. I hate to paint with a broad brush, but those folks don’t get the hockey benefits or the cultural significance of the WJCs, because, in the U.S., it’s only a prospects tournament.

The NY Rangers didn’t allow the top overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere, to play because there was little benefit to him; he already won gold and had the experience. A player like Dach can come back better than before.

Henrik Lundqvist’s hockey career is probably over. The goalie, who stepped away from the Washington Capitals because of heart issues, announced that he is having open heart surgery (TSN)

PHN and the National Hockey Now family wish King Henrik a speedy recovery and good health.