Catching up the injury statuses of Souray, Versteeg, Horton, Giroux and others…

September is upon us and fantasy drafts are just around the corner.  Lets check in on how some players are recovering from surgeries and injuries this off-season.

Sheldon Souray had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist. He suffered the injury while working out back in August. The Anaheim Ducks official website stated that Souray is expected to be out four-to-six months.

Aaron Rome had a bone growth removed from his femur and still hasn't fully recovered. The Dallas Stars blog quoted Rome on Wednesday saying, "I definitely feel better. The procedure went well, and they said anywhere from four to six months, and last week was exactly four month. I feel like I'm on the right track right now." 

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will likely participate at the Edmonton Oilers training camp with a non-contact jersey according to the Cult of Hockey blog. Nugent-Hopkins said, his "repaired shoulder is feeling good." The Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson said "RNH was buzzing and ripping wrist shots in skate with Oil guys. Shoulder surgery looks like it worked." NHL.com reported that RNH said his "shoulder felt good, although he stopped short of penciling himself into the Oilers lineup for season opener." Expect Nugent-Hopkins to return to action sometime before November 1.

Colin Wilson was quoted on NHL.com stating, "I'm rehabbing every single day and doing everything I can. I'm ahead of schedule right now." Wilson is hoping to ready in time for training camp.

David Booth had ankle surgery back in March and had a rehab program setup to be ready for training camp. According to the Vancouver Province, the Vancouver Canucks remain unsure if Booth will be healthy when training camp begins as he has yet to receive medical clearance.

Eric Staal was back on the ice with his teammates on August 21, this was his first informal workout with his Carolina Hurricanes teammates. According to Chip Alexander "Staal skated and stick-handled. He shot the puck, played some two-on-two and had a few laughs with the guys. If you didn't know Staal had suffered a major knee injury in May, after taking a dangerous knee-on-knee hit, you would have thought it was just another day at the rink for the Canes captain." Staal was quoted on NHL.com that "I'm foreseeing no issues come training camp and I'm going to treat it like I normally would any camp." Great news for Staal owners.

Joni Pitkanen is still dealing with a lingering heel injury from last April. Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford was quoted on Canes Now blog stating that "Pitkanen needs more recovery time and will not be ready when preseason training camp begins Sept. 11. We'll look at what our options are for a possible replacement for Joni, if he's out a long time. We don't know how long it's going to be that he'll be out. Will it be a couple of weeks, a month, a half a year, a whole year? I don't know."

Nathan Horton had shoulder surgery this off-season but according to the Puck-Rakers blog "it's still too soon to say if Horton is ahead of schedule, on schedule, or behind schedule. The plan is still for him to return in December or January," according to Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen.

Darren Helm is back on the ice, skating and feeling 'fairly' pain free according to the Detroit News. Helm stated, "I've been skating pretty good for the last several weeks. Things are going well and it's good knowing I've been skating this hard for a while. I feel good and 'fairly' pain-free." It has been a long road back for Helm and hopefully it's all behind him now.

Ed Jovanovski is still recovering from knee surgery and according to the Florida Panthers blog Jovo was quoted saying that he is "waiting for the doctors to give him the OK for contact in drills." Jovo believes he'll "be in training camp doing practices but probably wearing a different color jersey to avoid any contact."

Kris Versteeg says surgically repaired knee feeling strong, hopes to be ready for start of season, according to tweet from George Richards.

Brian Gionta is still recovering from surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon and will likely miss the start of the season. Montreal Canadiens head coach Marc Bergevin was quoted on TSN saying "It's possible that Gionta might not be ready to start the season but he'll be ready not too long after that."

George Parros may miss the start of the season after undergoing rotator cuff surgery as reported by TSN.

Ryan Callahan had surgery to repair a torn labrum back in May and according to the Ranger Rants blog he won't be cleared for contact in time for the start of training camp. Callahan admitted that there is "definitely doubt" as to whether he will be ready to play by the season opener.

Carl Hagelin is in the same situation as fellow New York Ranger Callahan in that he won't be cleared for contact at training camp after undergoing shoulder surgery as reported by the New York Post.

Claude Giroux will keep the splint on a little longer and hand is healing according to tweet by Tim Panaccio. He injured his finger while golfing back in August and needed surgery to repair it. Giroux's original rehab time was five to six weeks, which would mean he would be ready in time for the start of the season, however with this recent news return date is a little unclear.