Reports out of Finland have been comfirmed – Sami Salo has suffered an achilles tendon injury and will miss the next 3-6 months. Does this change Vancouver’s plans with Kevin Bieksa?

Ondrej Pavelec's contract is very, very nice for the Thrashers. Two years, $1.15 million cap hit. He'll learn a lot from Chris Mason, one of the hardest working goalies in the game. Pavelec's short term value suffers with Mason, but his long-term value (two years from now, after Mason's contract expires) is very, very high.

The 2010-11 Pool Guide is about eight days away (or 192 hours for you impatient types).

It’s Friday… how about a few bold predictions?

Spezza hits 100 points in 2010-11, and is among the finalists for the Hart.

A team other than Washington wins the Southeast…

Tomas Kaberle is traded before September…. 2011.

Reason #5304 why the DobberHockey Forums kick major butt? Posts like this one, by site regular gatticus.

Cal O'Reilly is waiver eligible. If he doesn't make the Predators out of camp, you can bet there will be at least one other team out there willing to give him a shot. O'Reilly is a fantastic playmaker and has done about all he can do at the AHL level.

One player who you'll find out about this season if you don't know about him already – Islanders center Frans Nielsen. He is one of those players who flies under the radar because he does everything very well, but nothing extremely well. He was originally pegged as a decent fourth line center with minimal upside, but after last season he could be centering New York's second line by midseason in 2010-11.

The Hawks saved about $600,000 by shipping Marty Reasoner off to Florida for Jeff Taffe. Reasoner is a fantastic checking/depth center, but he has little fantasy value.

With Niemi's arbitration looming… one wonders what he will get. He was pedestrian against both Vancouver and Philadelphia, and great against Nashville (at times) and San Jose (at all times). If he gets awarded $3 million or more, Chicago is going to have to walk away.

Does Niemi sign on elsewhere? San Jose, perhaps, to form a Finnish duo with Niittymaki?

I doubt Chicago would be confident to have either Toivonen or Crawford starting next year. Marty Turco is still available, and his fantasy value would obviously skyrocket if he signs with the Blackhawks. A lot of speculation on my part!

Opinions on Linus Klasen? Have been watching a few highlights of him over the summer and he has really impressed me. Nashville signed him out of the SEL, and the plan is to give him a year in the AHL. He led his SEL team (Sodertalje SK) in scoring last season by a whopping 19 points.

Interestingly (or not interestingly, whatever), the second leading scorer is another Linus (Videll). And I thought it was just a word used by Buster Bluth on Arrested Development…

Great article on Dion Phaneuf by Pension Plan Puppets. Where do you see Phaneuf at this coming season offensively? He'll get tons of minutes in all situations.

Alex Ovechkin gives a good interview here.

The highlight of the interview:

"You have signed the contract with Washington for “only” 13 years. Maybe you should’ve sign for a lifetime ? To go on the ice till the end of my life deprived of drinking wine and smoking cigarettes? No, it’s not for me (laughs)."

There will be a few defensemen in New Jersey competing for an open spot. One of them is Tyler Eckford, who I mentioned last week. Eckford has a fantastic shot and will see power play time with the Devils (if he makes the team) because of it.

Part II of “The Business of Fantasy Hockey” with Mike Colligan and yours truly is only days away…