Although we’re still nearly a full year away from potentially having CBA talks officially reopening, Larry Brooks of the New York Post mentions some of the early discussion points among the informal talks that have been held so far. Perhaps most noteworthy among them is the NHL’s preference to move to a draft age of 19 instead of 18 as it is currently. It would certainly aid in the scouting and evaluation process for teams but at the same time, it would prevent the top young players from making the jump to the NHL right away, something we’ve seen more of in recent years. The ability to reopen the CBA comes next September and these early discussions may wind up going a long way towards determining whether a deal can be reached or if another work stoppage will be on the horizon.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Capitals aren’t expected to have center Evgeny Kuznetsov or winger T.J. Oshie back in the lineup on Monday in Montreal, notes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Both players are dealing with head injuries and are listed as day-to-day. Washington may have goalie Braden Holtby available though as he took part in practice with the team today after missing the past three games.
- Nick Foligno has rejoined the Blue Jackets after missing their last game due to a personal matter, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). After a down season in 2017-18, the winger is off to a better start this season with six goals and six assists in 19 games, good for a tie for fifth in team scoring.
- While the Ducks were originally planning to provide an update regarding defenseman Cam Fowler today, they’ve decided to wait a little longer before providing an estimate of how long he’ll be out, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Fowler underwent successful surgery to repair multiple facial fractures but it certainly sounds like he’ll be out for a while. That makes the news that fellow blueliner Hampus Lindholm is on injured reserve even worse for Anaheim.