Sharks’ Meier out 4 weeks with mono

San Jose Sharks prospect Timo Meier will see his professional hockey debut delayed.

The 19-year-old will not take part in any NHL or AHL games for roughly four weeks as he deals with mononucleosis (otherwise known as mono), the team announced on Friday.

Meier was drafted with the ninth overall pick in 2015 and split last season between the Halifax Mooseheads and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL where he had a combined 34 goals and 87 points in 52 games.

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Report: Bruins sign Ehrhoff to PTO

Some early-season exposure at the World Cup of Hockey has paid off for defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.

The 34-year-old - who laced them up for Team Europe - has signed a professional tryout contract with the Boston Bruins, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.

Ehrhoff impressed on a European squad that shocked many, reaching the final before falling in two games to the host Canada. In six games, Ehrhoff led the team's defense core with three points.

Ehrhoff bounced from the Los Angeles Kings to the Chicago Blackhawks last season, playing a total of 48 games while managing just 12 points.

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Murray not ‘trying to low-ball’ Ristolainen in contract negotiations

The current stalemate between the Buffalo Sabres and restricted free agent Rasmus Ristolainen is not due to an undervaluation of the player, according to Tim Murray.

The Sabres general manager joined WGR 550 in Buffalo on Friday where he updated the current status of the contract negotiations, insisting it's all about finding what's fair.

"You just can't give him what he wants, but you try to be fair," said Murray. "I want to be fair within our structure. It's not like we're trying to low-ball this kid."

According to Murray, while both sides have not agreed to anything, talks remain positive and both sides would like to get a long-term deal done.

Ristolainen, in the meantime, will skate with the club while he awaits a new contract.

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Subban to make preseason debut Saturday

P.K. Subban will wear Nashville Predators gold for the first time in game action Saturday night versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, Adam Vingan of the Tennessean reports.

Subban was sidelined during the start of his first camp with Nashville while nursing an upper-body injury.

The gregarious defenseman was paired with Mattias Ekholm in his return to practice Friday morning, and it's expected that the two will work out of the same unit versus the Bolts.

Subban was acquired by Nashville in a stunning swap with the Montreal Canadiens for former captain Shea Weber.

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3 World Cup lessons: Rooting for Marchand an interesting experience

It seems like the World Cup began just yesterday, but it's over just like that.

Canada are champions - that's no surprise. That it took tight 3-1 and 2-1 wins over a competitive European squad to get it done is.

Here's what we learned over the past few weeks.

September hockey can be glorious

Pick one: the World Cup of Hockey or preseason hockey.

For all the tournament's criticism, hockey of the absolute highest quality was played for three weeks in September. Canada and the U.S. played each other three times, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who could point out which two didn't matter.

An Under-23 squad of the finest North American players on this planet, arguably the fastest team ever - ever! - assembled, played six games, winning four of them.

Three-on-three overtime is a new phenomenon, but North America and Sweden gave us the best five minutes of the format we've ever seen.

Hockey is fun. Especially in September, after two months without it, featuring the sport's finest players. You should have enjoyed it.

Rooting for Marchand is weird

If you're not a Boston Bruins supporter, Brad Marchand is the enemy. Always has been. Always will be.

The most super-pest to ever super pest, Marchand is the classic "Hate him unless he's on my team" player. The type who Bruins fans would go to the ends of the earth to support - and rightfully so. That he's loathed by most outside Boston is, in the end, a sign that he does his job well.

There's no denying Marchand's talent. He's a five-time 20-goal scorer and would have hit the mark in 2012-13 if not for the lockout. He exploded for a career-high 37 goals and 61 points last season, and picked up where he left off this fall.

Marchand looked remarkably calm and comfortable playing alongside Sidney Crosby, and finished with a World Cup-best five goals - four of them in the semifinal and final.

They were big goals, too - none bigger than Thursday night's tournament winner.

The World Cup offered a glimpse into life as a Bruins supporter. Patrice Bergeron and Marchand are world-class players, and when No. 63 exchanges black and gold for red and white, the hatred is traded for admiration. When Marchand's not pissing you off, he's actually quite enjoyable to root for.

Respect, Mr. Marchand. But now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The World Cup mattered

Think this tournament didn't matter? Europe captain Anze Kopitar would like a word:

With all due respect to Slovenia - Kopitar's homeland - it will never find itself in a tournament final against Canada, best-on-best or not. So the magnitude of Kopitar's experience wasn't lost on the 29-year-old, or his teammates, as they proved worthy final opponents.

"There has never been a team in a tournament like this with no past and no future," head coach Ralph Krueger famously said earlier in the week, and the Europeans forged an identity based on that ethos.

Canada's dominance over the past six years has gone all but unchallenged, which made it hard to root against the Europeans in their upset bid Thursday, with the game tied 1-1 and Drew Doughty in the penalty box. At the very least, we would have had one more game.

Europe fell short, but the squad leaves Toronto with its heads held high.

No past and no future, but that was some present.

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Hitchcock leaves door open for NHL coaching return next season

Ken Hitchcock is considering the possibility of coaching in the NHL beyond this season, but he's still leaning toward moving on next summer.

The St. Louis Blues head coach admitted there's a chance the coming campaign might not be his last in the league.

"That (coming back) is possible, but that's in May or June and that's a long time off and you know I just don't think at this time ... I don't think it's fair to do that," Hitchcock told TSN's Darren Dreger.

"I'm going to coach like crazy and I want to see how I feel and if I feel different then I will let somebody know. Other than that, I feel like I want to pour it all in now and then take stock at a different time."

In late May, the Blues announced Hitchcock was returning for "one final season."

When the Blues hired Mike Yeo as associate coach in mid-June, general manager Doug Armstrong said Yeo would serve under Hitchcock in 2016-17, then succeed him as head coach "for three years after that."

TSN's Bob McKenzie said on Toronto radio Friday that the club's plan hasn't changed, and that if Hitchcock decides to coach beyond this season, it won't be with St. Louis.

The veteran coach told Dreger that there could eventually be enough motivation for him to reverse his original plan, but he won't decide that any time soon.

“Maybe there will be, but that's a decision that's going to be made quite a few months from now,” Hitchcock said.

“Looking back, when we talked about this in May I couldn't make that decision and I didn't think it was fair to the team, nor to Doug (Armstrong) to sit there and hold them hostage, so we were proactive in it.”

The 64-year-old is entering his 20th season behind an NHL bench, and his sixth with the Blues.

He guided St. Louis to the Western Conference final in 2015-16, and ranks fourth all time with 757 coaching victories.

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Blues’ Schwartz out 4 weeks with elbow injury

The St. Louis Blues will be without winger Jaden Schwartz for at least four weeks, as he has been sidelined with a left elbow injury, the team announced Friday.

An ankle injury limited Schwartz to just 33 games last season, in which he scored 22 points. The Blues' first round pick in the 2010 draft, Schwartz has scored 157 points in 240 career games.

Schwartz, 24, signed a five-year extension with the Blues in July.

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Obama to honor Penguins at White House next week

The Pittsburgh Penguins will get reacquainted with the commander in chief before their latest title defense begins.

President Obama will host the Stanley Cup champions Thursday at the White House, the NHL confirmed Friday. The Penguins visited the nation's capital for a similar ceremony after winning the Cup in 2009.

The president invited the team during a call with head coach Mike Sullivan to congratulate him in June.

Pittsburgh opens its 2016-17 regular-season schedule at home against the Washington Capitals on Oct. 13.

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Stars’ Janmark to miss 5-6 months following knee surgery

Dallas Stars center Mattias Janmark will have knee surgery and be out of action for five-to-six months, the club announced Friday.

Stars general manager Jim Nill revealed Janmark was born with osteochondritis dissecans, a joint disorder that causes cracks to form in knee cartilage and bone.

The 23-year-old forward, who was seen walking on crutches at Stars practice Thursday, joins a slew of teammates recovering from injuries in the preseason, including Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Ales Hemsky.

Janmark collected 15 goals and 29 points last season in his rookie campaign.

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Season Preview: Edmonton Oilers depth chart

theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.

Is this the year the perpetually rebuilding Edmonton Oilers finally rise to the ranks of the competitive?

A full season out of Connor McDavid will certainly give them a fighting chance, while a deep and talented forward corps, and a bona fide starting goalie may be enough to cover up apparent weaknesses that remain on the blue line.

Here's what the opening night roster may look like in Edmonton.

Forwards

LW C RW
Milan Lucic Connor McDavid Jordan Eberle
Patrick Maroon Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Nail Yakupov
Benoit Pouliot Leon Draisaitl Jesse Puljujarvi
Matt Hendricks Mark Letestu Zack Kassian
  • Kris Versteeg entered training camp on a professional tryout, and could have a good shot at landing an opening night roster spot as an experienced depth forward.

Defense

LD RD
Oscar Klefbom Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera Mark Fayne
Darnell Nurse Brandon Davidson
  • Eric Gryba returned to the Oilers on a PTO of his own heading into training camp.
  • As much as Adam Larsson's addition was meant to bolster the blue line, this remains Edmonton's greatest area of weakness.

Goalie

G
Cam Talbot
Jonas Gustavsson
  • Cam Talbot proved to be up to the task of stepping into a starter's role last season, but Jonas Gustavsson may not be solid enough insurance to afford him the rest he'll need if they hope for meaningful hockey late in the season.

NHL Depth Charts

ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY
CAR | CHI | COL | CBS | DAL
DET | EDM | FLA | LA | MIN
MTL | NSH | NJD | NYI | NYR
PHI | PIT | OTT | STL | SJ
TB | TOR | VAN | WSH | WIN

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