Drew Stafford has signed a two-year extension with the Sabres. That leaves Kessel and Dubinsky…

Angus here. Got any fantasy hockey questions? Until 9pm (EST), ask me here!

TarikElBashir: Fleischmann’s condition is called deep vein thrombosis On blood thinners. cn work out now, but not on ice until early Oct. Source is twitter.

Training camps are all under way around the league today. Dobber’s article today is a fantastic breakdown of many interesting situations. I was going to cover it for my weekly column but I don’t think I can top today’s piece!

The buzz in Nashville is the trading of the rights to Radulov to the Bruins as part of the package for Kessel. The buzz in Toronto is the trading of high draft picks – as many as three of them, for Kessel.

I didn’t know that the Blackhawks chose not to qualify goaltender Josh Unice. It goes to show how deep their talent pool is, as they chose to spend their 50 contracts limit elsewhere. Anyway, the youngster was invited to Atlanta’s training camp and frankly I think they’ll sign him. He’s coming off one bad junior year. He’d add decent depth to the position, especially if Pavelec bolts. I would not consider him in any fantasy format right now.

The Lightning have signed Radek Smolenak to a contract. He had left for the KHL, but was released.

When analyzing the Heatley deal and Murray’s job on it, also consider that he signed Kovalev. He would not have done so without that trade demand. He was forced to move Heatley for less than value, but he brought in Kovalev, Michalek and a 2nd rounder. He also freed up salary for 2011-12 – a lot would be tied up in Heatley without this deal. If Kovalev can get 75 points and Michalek can get 70, and that 2nd rounder turns out to be an NHL player – all very possible things to happen – then I think the Sens did pretty good. Cheechoo getting back to even 55 points would just be a bonus. No denying, though, that the Sharks made off like bandits – superstar, and shedding albatross salary in Cheechoo.

Doug MacLean was hired as an advisor by Jim Balsillie – the Dispatch figures that no other team would hire him, so he jumped at the chance to get on board with a new owner. He had been critical of Balsillie, but did an about-face. His former FAN590 colleague Bob McCown was very critical of this decision, and MacLean called the show. The audio can be found here.. VERY heated, especially towards the end, and McCown has actually banned MacLean from his show. Not because of MacLean’s decision, but how heated MacLean was on this clip.

Other NOTABLE invites:
Chris Holt, OTT
Ryan Hollweg, PHO
David Shantz, CGY
TJ Trevelyan, SJ
Dan DaSilva, SJ