|
 General manager Jim Nill said Benn had issues with both hips
throughout the season. Doctors have not yet determined whether he
needs surgery on both hips. Recovery time is four to five months,
which means he should be ready for training camp in September.
Benn won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer on the
final day of the season, capping a 10-point surge in the final three
games. The 25-year-old set a career high with 87 points (35 goals)
for Dallas, which missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven
seasons.
Nill also said winger Ales Hemsky will have similar surgery.
---Patrick Kane practiced without restrictions on Monday and the
Chicago Blackhawks All-Star could play in the first game of the
playoffs this week, coach Joel Quenneville said.
Kane wasn't as definitive after the team's morning practice that he
would be in the lineup Wednesday when the Blackhawks open their
first-round series on the road against the Nashville Predators.
"I feel pretty good," said Kane, who missed the last 21 games of the
regular season with a broken left collarbone, an injury incurred on
a violent check from Alex Petrovic of the Florida Panthers on Feb.
24.
Kane has 64 points in 61 games this season, good for second on the
Blackhawks.
---The Detroit Red Wings will start goaltender Petr Mrazek for Game
1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Tampa
Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock announced Monday that Mrazek gets the
nod over Jimmy Howard.
The 23-year-old Mrazek went 16-9-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average
and .918 save percentage in 29 games this season.
Howard, when healthy, has been the Red Wings goalie in the Stanley
Cup playoffs each of the past five seasons. The 31-year-old Howard
went 23-13-11 with a 2.44 goals-against average and .910 save
percentage in 53 games.
---The Edmonton Oilers agreed to terms with right winger Nail
Yakupov on a two-year contract extension.
Terms were not released, but the deal reportedly carries an annual
average salary of $2.5 million.
Yakupov, 21, appeared in 81 games for the Oilers this season,
setting career highs in points (33) and assists (19). He also ranked
second on the Oilers in power-play goals (five) and fifth in
power-play points (10).
The first overall pick in the 2012 draft has registered 88 points
(42 goals) and 78 penalty minutes in 192 NHL games.
---Columbus Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards has been named coach of
the United States men's national team at the 2015 IIHF World
Championship.
Richards will be joined by Dan Bylsma and Greg Carvel, who will each
serve as assistants, for the tournament held May 1-17 in Prague and
Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Richards, 48, has coached the Blue Jackets for the past four
seasons, leading Columbus to the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. He has
guided the Blue Jackets to a 127-105-21 record (.543) in 253 games,
leading the team to back-to-back 40-win campaigns and three winning
seasons for the first time in franchise history.
[to top of second column] |
---The Los Angeles Kings signed defenseman Alex Lintuniemi to a
three-year entry-level contract.
The 19-year-old native of Helsinki, Finland, has appeared in 126
regular-season games with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey
League, totaling 57 points (46 assists) and 48 penalty minutes. In
six postseason games this season, he recorded three points (one
goal, two assists) and two penalty minutes.
A second-round (60th overall) selection of the Kings in 2014,
Lintuniemi tallied 36 points (29 assists) and 22 penalty minutes
this season, setting career highs in goals, assists and points.
---The Nashville Predators recalled 2014 first-round selection Kevin
Fiala from the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound left winger became the fourth 18-year-old
in franchise history when Fiala made his NHL debut in a 3-2 victory
over Montreal on March 24, logging 11:25 and putting three shots on
goal. He has amassed 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) in 33 AHL
games since making his debut with the Admirals on Jan. 21.
The native of St. Gallen, Switzerland, started the 2014-15 season
with HV-71 of the Swedish Hockey League, posting 14 points (five
goals, nine assists) in 20 games.
---The Calgary Flames signed forward Garnet Hathaway to an
entry-level contract.
Hathaway, a native of Kennebunkport, Maine, is in his second season
in the American Hockey League and has played 72 games for
Adirondack, scoring 19 goals and adding 17 assists along with 77
penalty minutes. The 23-year-old played four seasons with Brown
University in the ECAC where he played in 121 games and recorded 58
points (20 goals, 38 assists) and 178 penalty minutes.
---The Arizona Coyotes assigned goaltender Louis Domingue, forwards
Henrik Samuelsson and Jordan Szwarz and defenseman Klas Dahlbeck to
the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League in Monday.
Domingue, 23, was 1-2-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .911
save percentage in seven games with the Coyotes this season. He was
10-6-2 with a 2.57 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 18 games with
the Pirates.
Samuelsson, 21, played in three games with the Coyotes this season
and tallied 35 points (14 goals) and 53 penalty minutes in 65 games
with Portland.
Szwarz, 23, scored one goal in nine games with the Coyotes and had
21 points (12 assists) in 42 games with the Pirates.
Dahlbeck, 23, tallied four points in 23 games with the Coyotes and
Chicago Blackhawks and 10 points in 49 games with the Rockford
IceHogs (AHL).
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