The Canucks and Canadiens agreed to a mid-level trade earlier this week, with the Canucks sending Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick to the Habs for Casey DeSmith.

This trade is interesting on a number of levels. First, Pearson played only 14 games last season because he had a fairly significant hand injury – one that the Canucks may not have handled properly. I don't think the Canucks were expecting Pearson to be ready for the season, and in true Canucks fashion had made offseason moves that pushed them right to the cap limit again. Letting yet another draft pick fly out the door isn't ideal, especially since the Canucks' cap problems are mostly self-inflicted.

Regardless, it is nice to see Pearson be able to resume his career when it at one time seemed to be in doubt. The Habs have a need for Pearson because Christian Dvorak won't be available until at least November because of a knee injury. Pearson is ideally a third-line forward at this stage in his career, but he could fill in on the second line if the Canadiens need him to.

This is a big year for the Canucks, and much of their fate rides on the performance and health of Thatcher Demko. Although I wouldn't write this in pen yet, DeSmith appears to be the best bet to be the backup goalie for the Canucks, ahead of Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs. DeSmith is an experienced backup who should allow the Canucks to not overplay Demko. If Demko is injured beyond the short term, I still think World Hockey Championship MVP Silovs will be recalled and push for the starting job.

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The Patrick Kane watch is in full effect, as we sit and wait for him to choose a new home. In addition, Darren Dreger has reported that Kane will need at least another month of rehab on his hip following June surgery. 

It's difficult to make a projection on Kane, since we don't know how many games he'll play, which team he'll play for, nor how productive he will be. The last part won't be easy because Kane is coming off a career-low 0.78 PTS/GP pace (57 points in 73 games). There was some speculation during the season that he was being slowed down by an injury, so a bounce-back to point-per-game levels is entirely possible. However, Kane is now 34 years old, so a regression is entirely possible.

At this point, I'd only stash Kane away in deep leagues with lots of bench slots. Those in standard-sized Yahoo leagues (ie. similar to their mock drafts or only slightly bigger) should simply rely upon trying to be the first to grab him once news heats up about a possible signing. If someone has already beaten you to Kane, then it might not be a bad thing if you consider the carrying costs of having someone on your bench that is inactive.  

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Training camps began across the league on Thursday. Here are a few related news and notes:

Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale are still without a contract. Zegras and the Ducks are reportedly in agreement on a three-year extension, but they are far apart in the amount. We're still over two weeks away from opening night, but it might be time to start thinking about moving him down your single-season draft rankings a little bit. Although both could easily sign in time for the season opener, they may need some time to get up to game speed. The Ducks have over $16 million in cap space, which should be more than enough to sign both players. However, they are not a team that typically spends to the limit.

Nikolaj Ehlers missed Friday's practice due to neck spasms. Ehlers played in just 45 games last season and is a certified Band-Aid Boy. Moreover, he has averaged just 54 games over each of the past two seasons. His ADP has fallen this season, particularly in Yahoo (159 ADP), which may reflect the recent string of injuries. If he's going to be dealing with more injuries this season, then you might be best to continue to fade him.

Logan Couture is currently week-to-week with a lower-body injury, which places his availability for the start of the season in doubt. The Sharks don't have a whole lot left beyond Tomas Hertl as far as top-line scorers go. Perhaps someone like William Eklund or Thomas Bordeleau are more likely to start the season in San Jose as a result. The Sharks appear to be lottery-bound, which is something to keep in mind if adding any of their players. 

If you've been waiting on Oliver Kylington, the start of his season might be delayed. The Flames have announced that he is unable to participate in the start of training camp. The announcement cited that this followed medical and fitness testing, so it might be related to being off for an entire season. Hopefully he is doing well.

Ilya Mikheyev has also left Canucks camp for personal reasons, which are reportedly family related and unrelated to his recovering knee. Mikheyev was already in doubt to start the season following ACL surgery last season and recent reports that he would not play in preseason games. He has scored at a 50-point pace for each of the previous two seasons, although he has never played more than 54 games in any of his four NHL seasons. He has the potential to be fantasy relevant if he can remain injury-free. 

Oh yeah, and there's always the hysteria about first- and second-day line combinations. Here's one for you: Jonathan Drouin has been skating on the top line at Avalanche camp. That's the top line with former junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Drouin is a prospect who is now… (checks Frozen Tools profile)… 28 years old? Man, time sure passes quickly. Drouin's highest games-played total over the past four seasons was 58, which he reached last season. He's also been on about a 45-point pace over that span. He won't receive another opportunity like this one. But if there's any team that can breathe life into his career, it's the Colorado Avalanche.

Brent Burns and Tony DeAngelo were both on the Hurricanes' top power-play unit, along with Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis. As I've said before, TDA's biggest strength is his scoring, and why else would you bring him and his baggage in if you don't play him on the top power play? This also bodes well if you have Jarvis as a potential sleeper.

Tyler Bertuzzi opened training camp on the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. After he was traded to Boston, Bertuzzi recorded 16 points in 21 regular-season games and 10 points in 7 playoff games. Whether he is on this line or another scoring line on Toronto, Bertuzzi is in a great, great spot for a possible career year. His contract is also for one year, which provides added motivation.   

Since it's impossible for me to break down every single training camp development, and quite frankly I won't know of every single one, go to Dobber Player News for the latest.

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The Keeping Karlsson podcast added another angle to the topic of busy days, which I discussed last weekend. The podcast mentioned stacking, which is adding multiple players from the same team in order to take advantage of a strong matchup. Stacking can become a problem for busy teams like Tampa Bay, as you're more likely to result in schedule conflicts with players on your bench. I hadn’t thought about it that way before, so it’s something to keep in mind.

To add to that, if Alex Killorn lost value from leaving Tampa Bay and signing in Anaheim, then maybe he recoups some of that value in moving from the heavy-day leader to the light-day leader. In other words, Killorn won't face as many potential scheduling conflicts for the Ducks (22 busy days) as he would have for the Lightning (37 busy days). He might not be as bad a depth option for your fantasy team as you think for that reason. Another 60+ point season might not seem realistic, but it's when you can deploy him that might matter. It also doesn't mean I'll prioritize Killorn over someone like Steven Stamkos, but like anyone, draft him in the right spot.

If you want to utilize light days but don't like what the Ducks have to offer, consider loading up on players from New Jersey. The Devils already have plenty of fantasy-worthy options, and they play on only 27 busy days. They play on 34 light days, a higher total than the busy days. Compare that to Tampa, which plays on 37 busy days but only 17 light days.   

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