The Vancouver Canucks today re-signed young defenseman Alexander Edler to a four-year contract extension.

Edler, 22, will see a significant raise over his current salary of $550K starting next season, as his new deal will be worth $3.25 million per season against the Canucks cap.

That's again going to raise eyebrows and undoubtedly some complaints for paying a young player (in this case, one with currently less than 100 NHL games on his resume) that much of a raise, but it reflects the continuing trend under this collective bargaining agreement whereby general managers are willing to invest more on potential rather than on previous experience.

And Edler certainly does come with promise, notching 20 points in 76 games with a plus-minus of +6 for the Canucks last season.

With veteran puckmoving blueliner Mattias Ohlund eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer this move could also be seen as insurance in case Ohlund tests next year's UFA market, or perhaps GM Mike Gillis could be tipping his hand as to Ohlund's future with the club .

The recent success of the NHL’s “premiere” games in Sweden and the Czech Republic this past weekend has some observers talking about the possibility of the league expanding there one day, perhaps in the next ten years.

That shouldn’t be surprising, given that over thirty percent of the league’s talent is European and the sport’s popularity in those aforementioned countries, along with Russia, Finland, Slovakia and Switzerland, especially for the NHL’s product.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman recently suggested that the league will continue to expand its presence in Europe, although he didn’t go so far to say that the club will put franchises there in the near future.  

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk certainly foresees the day when there are NHL franchises in Europe, believing it a question of time and scheduling; an opinion shared by NHLPA Executive Director Paul Kelly.

Europe is certainly a market worth exploring for the NHL, but it could take longer than expected for NHL teams to make their homes in European cities.

Most European cities lack NHL-size venues, which right off the bat puts them at a disadvantage. In a gate-driven league like the NHL you need at least a 16,500 seat arena, with luxury suites, to at least make a go of it.

Of course those venues could be constructed over time, but that raises the next problem: ticket prices.

The average ticket price to attend an NHL game last season was $48.72 US, according to the website Team Marketing Report. The average price for a premium ticket was $112.10. The average cost with concessions factored in for a family of four was $282.95.

Don’t expect too many European hockey fans to pony up that kind of cash when it’s costing them considerably less to enjoy quality hockey in long established European leagues.

Geographical logistics also have to be a factor. It would take teams in the Eastern Conference between four-five hours to fly across the Atlantic to play in Europe, even longer for Western Conference clubs, especially those on the West Coast. The European NHL based teams would also have to face those daunting road trips.

Finding potential owners in European cities willing to pay hefty expansion fees (perhaps as much as $150 million per team) would also prove a difficult challenge. Those teams would also find themselves competing for fans attentions with long established European leagues and Russia’s new oil barons-funded KHL.

Too many expensive factors currently work against the feasibility of NHL franchises in Europe, and it could be years, perhaps decades, before they could be overcome.

It’s quite likely we’ll see more NHL regular games being played in Europe in the coming years, and not just early season match-ups, as those games played last weekend certainly proved lucrative, and the NHL is always on the lookout to tap new revenue streams.

It would cost far less and earn the NHL far more to stage regular season games between barnstorming NHL teams than to try to put actual NHL franchises in Europe. 

The Los Angeles Kings long contract negotiations with forward Patrick O'Sullivan ended Tuesday with the young forward inking a three-year contract extension.

O'Sullivan will be paid $4 million for this season but over the course of the deal the cap hit for the Kings will be $2.95 million per season.

By getting O'Sullivan under contract now the Kings avoided a potential contract holdout, something that's become a rarity in the NHL's salary cap world.

O'Sullivan had a breakthrough performance in 2007-08, with 22 goals and 53 points in 82 games as part of the Kings "young guns" with Anzer Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Alexander Frolov, and is seen as a key piece of the club's rebuilding program.

If he can post up similar or better numbers over the next three seasons that $2.95 million per will be considered a bargain, and in this era when teams re-sign young players to lengthy contract this one seems more prudent, although it was rumored the Kings were seeking a lengthier deal.

It'll also move O'Sullivan to within one season of his eligibility for unrestricted free agency upon the contract's completion.

He also missed all of training camp and pre-season and that could have an adverse effect on his play early in the season. History has shown that players who miss that preparation time struggle early and become susceptible to injury. Hopefully for O'Sullivan and the Kings that won't be the case.

With the new NHL season beginning this week teams continue to adjust their rosters via waivers and trades.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks went the latter route, engaging in a four-player swap on Monday, with the Lightning shipping forward Michel Ouellet and defenseman Shane O'Brien to the Canucks for defenseman Lukas Krajicek and winger Jaraj Simek.

Ouellet had been rumored on the trade block throughout the off-season and O'Brien's name had appeared in the mill over the weekend after a poor performance in the Lightning's season opener against the NY Rangers saw him scratched from the second game on Sunday.

It was believed the Cqanucks would shop a defenseman for scoring depth at forward and Krajicek had been rumored as one of those blueliners who could be moved. Simek has yet to play a game in the NHL.

One of the concerns for the Lighting was a lack of experienced depth on the blueline but while Krajicek could be considered an upgrade over O'Brien he's only 25 and has played only two NHL seasons where he's played more than 67 games due to injury, which also limited him to 39 games last season.

O'Brien appeared to be a key part of the Lightning's defense corps, racking up 21 points and 154 PIMs in 77 games last season but struggled under new Lightning head coach Barry Melrose and told the St. Petersburg Times that he saw this move coming.

He should provide the Canucks with a strong physical presence and shouldn't have much difficulty fitting into the defensive system of Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault.

Ouellet has a reputation as a high-energy winger with a decent scoring touch, which has earned him second and third line playing time. He had 48 points in 73 games with the Penguins in 2006-07 and 36 points in 64 games with the Lightning last season.

Given the concerns over the Canucks offensive depth Ouellet could get an opportunity for more playing time on the second line  but his versatility should make him a good addition to their checking lines too.

**UPDATE** Ouellet is being sent to the Canucks minor league affiliate in Winnipeg but I suspect he'll be back with the big club sooner rather than later.

With the NHL's 2008-09 season to begin later this week for the rest of the 26 teams who didn't open this past weekend in Europe the final round of roster cuts are being made. Here are some of the most notable that have been made over the past week:

Carolina Hurricanes: Jeff O'Neill. Ended his comeback  a week ago. His NHL career is likely over.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Richard Matvichuk. Released this past weekend but still hopes to land with an NHL team.

New York Rangers: Petr Nedved. Appeared to have a promising start in the pre-season but was cut by the Rangers over a week ago. He'll be returning to the Czech Republic to continue his playing career but his NHL days are over.

Philadelphia Flyers: Bryan Berard and Jim Dowd. Berard however has been linked to the Tampa Bay Lightning so there's still a chance he'll be playing in the NHL this season.

The Calgary Flames today placed defensemen Rhett Warrener and Anders Eriksson and forward Jamie Lundmark on waivers, while the Toronto Maple Leafs did the same with forward Mark Bell. If unclaimed it's expected the four could be demoted to the minors.

Quick take on the Rangers-Lightning game in the Czech Republic and the Penguins-Senators tilt in Sweden.

- The Blueshirts-Bolts matchup was kind of dull. That’s not likely to impress fans of either club but I honestly didn’t find it a very entertaining game.

Might’ve been the ice conditions, I’m not sure, but it just seemed to lack energy in long stretches, although the excitement level increased late in the game when the Rangers Brandon Dubinsky scored on a screen shot  to snap a one-all tie and ultimately proved to be the game winner.

The Czech fans seemed to sit on their hands throughout most of this, at least that's how it came across on television. That’s not to say they weren’t supportive but they certainly didn’t have the noise factor of the Swedish fans.

At least the Rangers didn’t scratch Czech winger Petr Prucha as rumored, perhaps over fear of a backlash?

Fellow Czech Michal Rozsival wasn’t much of a standout on the Rangers blueline except an early first period giveaway that resulted in a good scoring chance by the Lightning.

I can’t help but feel the fans would’ve been more into it had Czech stars Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka returned with the Rangers this season.

  Jagr is now playing for Avangard Omsk of the KHL after failing to reach a deal with the Rangers (and has 17 points in fourteen games thus far) while Straka was not signed as a UFA and is now playing in the Czech Extraliga.

Had Jagr been there I think the crowd would’ve been more involved.

Both teams headed into this game and this season with concerns over their respective defensive games and it was obvious after this match the Bolts have work to do in that regard, especially their discipline.

Still, despite being outshot 41-21 the Lightning did make a game of it, and a positive note was the performance of goalie Mike Smith, who looked sharp and couldn’t be blamed for his team’s loss

- The Pens-Sens game, won 4-3 by Pittsburgh in overtime,  was a more spirited affair as both clubs played with more energy, and the Swedish fans certainly got into it, cheering on the Senators and their team captain, Swedish star Daniel Alfredsson. 

Nice ovation given to Mats Sundin, the all-time leading scorer amongst Swedish NHL players, who dropped the puck in a ceremonial faceoff, prompting the Hockey Night in Canada commentators to wonder if this was the last time we’ll see Sundin on the ice this season.

Two significant points in this one: Martin Gerber’s goaltending could continue to be an area of concern for the Senators, and the Penguins sorely miss injured blueliners Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney.

Gerber allowed in two softies, both off the stick of Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy which opened and closed the game’s scoring, and at times seems rattled.

The absence of Gonchar and Whitney forced the Penguins  to press younger and lesser skilled blueliners into action  and their inexperience showed.

Still, one game does not an 82-game regular season make, so there’s plenty of time for all four teams to address their weaknesses.

The Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday placed former starting goalie Nikolai Khabibulin on waivers in hopes of perhaps enticing a rival team to pluck him and his $6.75 million salary off their hands.

As expected however Khabibulin cleared waivers as no NHL team is currently willing to take on that salary, especially given Khabibulin's inconsistency and injury history over the past three seasons.

So now GM Dale Tallon faces four choices:

One, he could simply keep Khabibulin on the roster and have him and Cristobal Huet battle it out for the starting goalie's job, in hopes that his play might entice a rival team to come calling with a trade offer.

Possible, but it's seems apparent Tallon would prefer to move Khabibulin and perhaps bring up Corey Crawford to back up Huet, whose signing this past summer by the Blackhawks signaled the beginning of the end of Khabibulin's tenure as their starting goalie.

Second, Tallon could try to trade him, which he's been rumored doing since signing Huet back in July, but again Khabibulin's salary and injury history apparently isn't attracting much interest.

That might change after a few weeks of the regular season when injuries or poor performances could force some clubs to shop for goaltending help, but as we've seen in the NHL's salary cap world, major trades early in the season rarely occur, as almost all the teams have committed their available cap space, or in the case of teams that hug the league's cap floor, unwilling to spend more above that level.

Tallon's third option would be to simply demote Khabibulin to the minors, which would clear his salary from the Blackhawks cap thus freeing up room for the Blackhawks GM to perhaps add another player, like a veteran center.

The downside to that option is that while Khabibulin's salary won't count against the cap, the Blackhawks still have to pay him his $6.75 million, which is a lot of money to have riding the buses in the minors.

The fourth option, and one which might be more palatable to rival teams possibly interested in Khabibulin, is to demote him and then place him on recall waivers.

A team could then claim him and only be on the hook for half of Khabibulin's salary, leaving the Blackhawks to pick up the other half.

At this point in the season that might be the only way for Tallon to move Khabibulin, and would still leave him enough cap space to bring in additional help later in the season.

It remains to be seen what Tallon will do but hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out.

**UPDATE** Turns out another option could be "loaning" Khabibulin to a Russian team for the season , which would not only clear his salary from the Blackhawks cap but might also result in a Russian team picking up most of the cost of that salary.

Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke has been very busy over the past week, shipping Mathieu Schneider to Atlanta and signing forward Teemu Selanne. The latter however put the Ducks over the salary cap by $1.22 million, requiring another move to cut salary and get back under the cap.

Burke made the move today by shipping veteran blueliner Sean O'Donnell to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a condition pick in 2009.

The trade moves O'Donnell's $1.25 million salary off the books and places the Ducks just under the $56.7 million cap.

It also addresses two needs for the Kings, acquiring an experienced "stay-at-home" blueliner and adding more salary to nudge them closer to the league's mandatory minimum cap level of $40.7 million.

For O'Donnell it brings his career full circle, returning to the team where he began his NHL career and spent six seasons until moving on to seasons with the Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes and the Ducks, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2007.

With the start of the NHL's 2008-09 season slated for October 4th several NHL teams were busy trying to pare down their rosters.

The Chicago Blackhawks made the biggest news of the day, placing veteran goalie Nikolia Khabibulin on waivers in hopes a rival club might be willing to claim him rather than trade for him.

Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon would love to move Khabibulin's $6.75 million salary for this season but it's doubtful he'll find any takers for "The 'Bulin Wall" via waivers. He might have better luck demoting Khabibulin and then placing him on recall waivers, where an interested team could claim him and only be on the hook for half his salary, with the 'Hawks having to absorb the other half.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were busy as well, trading forward Nick Tarnasky to the Nashville Predators for a conditional pick in 2009 and placing forward Michel Ouellet on waivers.

Tarnasky, a checking line forward, played 80 games for the Lightning last season and had 6 goals and ten points.

Placing Ouellet on waivers however suggests the Bolts couldn't find any takers for him via the trade market and could also mean the club now intends to retain forward Jussi Jokinen, who was the subject of trade speculation this summer but impressed new head coach Barry Melrose with a strong training camp.

Ouellet is an energetic winger who last season had 17 goals and 36 points in 64 games with the Lightning, and with an affordable $1.25 million salary cap hit he might be an affordable option for rivla clubs.

The New York Islanders meanwhile added to their blueline depth, claiming Thomas Pock off waivers from the New York Rangers.

Pock was considered a promising defense prospect several seasons ago but struggled to stick with the Rangers over the past two years. He might get a better opportunity with the Islanders.

Two days after trading defenseman Mathieu Schneider to get under the NHL's $56.7 million salary cap the Anaheim Ducks signed veteran forward Teemu Selanne to a two-year, $5.25 million contract.

Dan Wood of the Orange County Register reports Selanne will be paid $3.25 million this season and $2 million in 2009-10 but both seasons will count as $2.65 million against the Ducks cap.

It also pushes the Ducks over the salary cap by around $1.225 million, meaning GM Brian Burke will once again have to clear some salary to get under the cap prior to the club's season opener on October 9.

Wood reports Burke could either trade another veteran player or place one on waivers where that player could either be claimed by a rival club or demoted to the minors

Forward Bobby Ryan has been mentioned as a possible candidate for demotion as he wouldn't have to clear waivers first but it's believed Burke wishes to keep him on the roster.

Selanne's proven he can still play at a high level despite being 38 years old, and if he can maintain the point per game pace of the past three seasons the salary will be a considered a sensible one.

Paul Newman, one of Hollywood's greatest actors, passed away on September 26, 2008,at the age of 83.

He starred in such great movies as The Hustler,Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Absence of Malice, The Color of Money and Road to Perdition.

To hockey fans, he'll always be remembered as Reggie Dunlop, the beloved fast-talking player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs in the 1976 film "Slap Shot".

It may not be the best representation of the sport of hockey, but it was still very entertaining and much-loved by hockey fans and players even to this day.

Check out some of the film's on-ice action here, but be forewarned there's plenty of uncensored language and some scenes of (movie) violence that might not be suitable for young children.

Considering Newman didn't learn to skate until he did this film and was 50 when it was made I think he looked pretty good in the role.

The Mathieu Schneider trade watch is finally over.

After months of speculation the Anaheim Ducks today dealt the veteran blueliner to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenseman Ken Klee, forward Brad Larsen and a minor league prospect.

The move provides valuable experience and depth to the Thrashers defense corps, giving them three strong puck-moving defensemen with Schneider, Tobias Enstrom and Ron Hainsey.

For the Ducks they move his expensive salary, which gets them under the league's $56.7 million salary cap, but in taking on the combined salaries of Klee and Larsen ($1.9 million) it might not leave enough cap space to sign UFA winger Teemu Selanne.

The Ducks were sitting at just over $58 million prior to the deal, so dumping Schneider's salary should push them under $52.5 million, but in adding the Klee and Larsen salaries that'll likely push the payroll over $54 million.

Now if Selanne is willing to consider signing for, say, less than $1.5 million, it's not a problem, although it would leave the Ducks with little available cap space for possible roster moves later in the season.

It's possible Ducks GM Brian Burke might not be done dealing.

The Atlanta Thrashers wasted little time ensuring they kept one of their better young defensemen under contract, re-signing Tobias Enstrom to a four-year extension which commences in 2009-10. Financial terms weren't disclosed but as soon as they're available I'll post them here.

It'll be interesting to see what Enstrom receives for a raise, as he's in the final season of a two-year contract paying him paying him a base salary of $750k per season.

The Thrashers certainly got their money's worth last season as Enstrom was their best defenseman with 38 points in 82 games as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable 2007-08 season for the team.

Small for a defenseman by NHL standards (5'10, 175lbs) Enstrom has terrific offensive skills and led all rookie blueliners last season in points whilst averaging over 24 minutes per game in ice time, perhaps the most impressive of his stats in his rookie season.

If it's an affordable deal (between $2.5-$3 million per season) this could end up being a bargain for the Thrashers if Enstrom can improve on his notable debut.

The following notable players are either on training camp tryouts with NHL teams or are on two-way contracts for this season hoping to land spots with their respective teams.

Anaheim Ducks: Eric Boguniecki, Teemu Selanne.

Carolina Hurricanes: Jeff O’Neill, Dan Lacouture.

Chicago Blackhawks: Keith Carney.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Richard Matvichuk.

Dallas Stars: Nolan Pratt

Detroit Red Wings: Darren McCarty.

Florida Panthers: Jassen Cullimore.

New York Rangers: Petr Nedved (hat tip to Chip)

Minnesota Wild: Krys Kolanos.

Ottawa Senators: Luke Richardson

Philadelphia Flyers: Jim Dowd, Bryan Berard (hat tip to "midknt").

San Jose Sharks: Jeff Friesen, Alexei Semenov.

Continuing a string of recent re-signings of key players, the Buffalo Sabres today inked right winger Jason Pominville to a five-year contract extension. Financial terms weren't disclosed but they should be available soon.

Pominville stated late last week his intention to get a new contract in place with the Sabres prior to the start of training camp on Friday, a view the club's management evidently shared.

It's not surprising the Sabres would lock up the 25-year-old Pominville, who has made steady improvement in each of his three NHL seasons, including an impressive 80-point performance in 2007-08, making him the Sabres second leading scorer (by one point) behind Derek Roy.

The Sabres management took a lot of justifiable criticism in recent years for failing to retain their best players, losing notables such as Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Jay McKee and JP Dumont to free agency.

Since last summer however they've shown a willingness to retain their better young player, matching a hefty offer sheet from Edmonton for Thomas Vanek and re-upping Pominville, Roy, goalie Ryan Miller and forward Paul Gaustad.

Keeping those key young players in the fold should go a long way toward improving roster morale as well as that of the team's loyal fanbase, who'd begun to question the club's committment to winning after losing those key aforementioned veteran free agents.