Despite already playing two games in London, the Kings still had a chance to trim down a larger roster by today's deadline, thanks to the excess travel they had to go through for their European adventure. The Kings will have a bit more youth in their line-up when they start playing back here in North America, including Jack Johnson, Brady Murray and Jonathan Bernier (Box 12). They will certainly give their Pacific Division opponents a new look to take cover from and possibly should win a few more games then they did last season.There is a lot to choose from for your pool team, if you haven't already. Mike Cammalleri (Dale B.) has already registered 3 points in the draft, which is a mighty fine treat from a couple games overseas.
| Alexander Frolov | Anze Kopitar | Mike Cammalleri |
| Ladislav Nagy | Michal Handzus | Dustin Brown |
| Kyle Calder | Derek Armstrong | Brady Murray |
| Raitis Ivanans | Patrick O'Sullivan | John Zeiler |
| Brian Willsie | Scott Thornton |
| Lubomir Visnovsky | Tom Preissing |
| Rob Blake | Brad Stuart |
| Jaroslav Modry | Kevin Dallman |
| Jack Johnson |
| Jonathan Bernier |
| Jason LaBarbera |
The Kings current line-up now stands at $42.2 million against the cap, which is seeming to be around the average number for most teams... give or take a million or two.
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NHL, Hockey, Hockey Pool, Los Angeles Kings, Jonathan Bernier
The New Jersey Devils picked up defenseman, Sheldon Brookbank from the wire. Brookbank was being sent to Syracuse from Columbus before being picked up. The Devils were still going to make a cut or two from their roster today, I believe, before picking him up, so there is still going to be a shave or two from that active roster, before seeing where Brookbank ends up. Brookbank played in 3 games last season only recording 1 assist. Not really a big pool mention here.
The team updates just keep on coming from the Opiated Sherpa. This time it's the Islanders' turn to show off their new line-up. With Shawn Bates injured and Chris Simon still suspended, the Islanders will have a few new faces in their line-up when play starts this week. 
The Coyotes might have themselves a very active roster this season, as you should be pretty sure that a season like last, won't be acceptable in the desert this year. With new vibrance from Martin Hanzal and Peter Mueller, the team might have themselves a credible second (or first) line before it's all said and done. Team speed was obviously addressed with the new youth movement.
The Rangers look like they have enough to do a lot of damage... on paper that is. With plenty of scoring up front, a mix of mobility and responsibility on the blueline and a starting goaltender that ranks amongst the top goalies in the league... you would think the Rangers could end up being a Cup favourite going into the season.
The Bruins have now set their opening night roster, but the question marks still hang over some heads. Milan Lucic earned a spot on the 23-man roster, but will he jump into the bigs right away for Boston? Claude Julien was quite pleased with the energy the young winger brought to the club and he could see some time in a 3rd or 4th line role. It's probably unlikely that Lucic will be much of a fantasy player, but you never know.
The Detroit Red Wings have announced their 23-man roster and it surprisingly doesn't include Igor Grigorenko. Grigorenko was sent down to the minors to make room for enforcer, Aaron Downey, who impressed head coach Mike Babcock with his grit and energy. This comes as a big surprise, since Grigorenko was apparently molded from the same cast as Pavel Datsyuk (
Thought about being sneaky with Martin Kariya in your pool team? Well, if at all possible, you might want to drop him, because he's now been sent to Peoria of the AHL. The Blues sent Paul's younger brother down on Monday, reducing hte roster to 26.
Ales Kotalik has been sidelined with a mild knee strain, which will cause him to miss the opening game for the Sabres on Friday. It's unclear how much time he'll actually miss, but if you're counting on him for big things right away, you might want to hold off or move him from your starting line-up for the time being. He doesn't feature in any of the Sherpa's pools, so there isn't much concern here.
As you may have noticed from the number of blog posts, teams have been sending down players and finalizing their rosters. The Penguins also made a move or two over the weekend and have now sent Kristopher Letang (
It was a big day on Monday for Carey Price, as his name was still on the Canadiens roster going into the season opener this week. Price will likely back-up Cristobel Huet for a good portion of the season or until Huet slumps and Price picks up the slack. The future is awfully bright for the Canadiens and their young prospect.
Out of training camp go Jiri Tlusty, Jay Harrison, Simon Gamache and Scott Clemmensen, among others, and that wraps up the line-up heading into the regular season. With injuries Kyle Wellwood and suspensions to Mark Bell, the team will take on some extra talent and give guys like Wade Belak and Chad Kilger some longer term shots at a roster spot.
The Colorado Avalanche draw ever-closer to finishing up their roster for the current season. There are now only a few more cuts that need to be made. On Sunday, they cut two more from their training camp roster, including Mark Rycroft, who was included on the last team update. Now inserted onto the team roster is tough guy, Scott Parker. His only major fantasy impact would be penalty minutes and there should be a good chance that he'll make the squad as the rest of the league aims to get much tougher this season.
In the draft, which will be my main concern in the newsletter, it was 
In the basement, there is a bit of party going on. There were three teams that didn't have a man-game to be played and there were another four teams that didn't capitalize on their man-games that could have been played. Saying that, the collection of basement dwellers all didn't register a point, but it isn't really fair to say that when Week One only has 2 games. I certainly wasn't going to draft an Anaheim Ducks player, just because I could get the lead. But I suppose Corey Perry wouldn't be a bad pick-up either.
Well, we've got a few games coming up on Hockey Night in Canada this week. To start the North American season, HNIC will broadcast the Flames home opener versus the Philadelphia Flyers. We should all expect Martin Biron (