Penguins deal Jordan Staal to the Hurricanes

June 22, 2012 will be a day that Jordan Staal will never forget. Not only did he get married, but he was also traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, from the Penguins, to play with his older brother Eric. Staal has been a third line center with the Penguins for the past few seasons mainly because of the presence of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby ahead of him on the Pens depth chart. Staal finished last season with 25 goals and 25 assists in 62 games for Pittsburgh and scored six goals and three assists in six postseason games.

The Rick Nash Sweepstakes: Leafs, Rangers, Hurricanes in the mix

Barring a Don Draper-level sales pitch from John Davidson, should he eventually join the Blue Jackets organization, Rick Nash is likely in his last weeks with the franchise.  The NHL Draft next week in Pittsburgh will be the first round of auctioneering; and should there be a need for a second, it’ll be during the Free Agent Frenzy the following weekend.  Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reported on Friday that talks were heating up between Jackets GM Scott Howson and a few of Nash’s suitors:

Devils battling minor injuries; the future of Devils goaltending



Adam Larsson has played big minutes for the Devils,
despite having only played 4 NHL games.

http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2011/10/devils_rookie_adam_larsson_sid.html

 The 3-1-0 New Jersey Devils have won three consecutive games since dropping their Opening Night contest, 3-0 to Philadelphia.  In the process, rookie defenseman and 2011 fourth overall draft pick Adam Larsson has received big minutes.  According to hockeyreference.com, Larsson is averaging 24:14 of ice-time per game through four games.  He was struck in his leg during a practice and missed an additional practice session following the team's recent victory in Nashville.  Larsson returned to practice today.

NHL 2011-2012 Season Preview

The NHL season preview is here! I give you my X-factor and breakout players for each team as well as their additions and departures. Enjoy!

By: Charlie Roumeliotis

Twitter: @CRoumeliotis

Sabres and Hurricanes kick off 2011-12 Season Tonight

The Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes kick off their respective seasons tonight with a pre-season game scheduled for 7pm (et) at the newly dubbed First Niagara Center. High profile free agents Ville Leino and Tomas Kaberle will be making their first appearance for their new teams tonight. The Sabres are expected to also have new faces Christian Ehrhoff, and Robyn Regehr in the line-up. Among the young players projected to see the ice tonight will be Marcus Foligno, Luke Adam, Zack Kassian, Corey Tropp, Alex Biega, TJ Brennan, and goaltender Drew McIntyre. Ryan Miller will get the night off and Jhonas Enroth will relieve McIntyre later in the game.