Does he have enough in the tank to keep playing ?
Does he have enough in the tank to keep playing ?
That's what I'd like to know. His numbers dipped each of the last two years, and he only played 52 games last year. As Izzy said, he's a real glue guy though. One of the nicest people in the league. If he plays the year, he stands to break 800 games played. That's a nice feather in the cap for a Canadian University graduate that was undrafted.
BTW, I've noticed two players who are under contract to teams who haven't been invited to training camp and aren't on previously announced loans:
-F Hapela, who played a game for Florida last year, played some with Springfield of the AHL, had some injury issues, then was loaned back to a club team in Finland, was not on the Panthers training camp roster.
-F Yan-Pavel Laplante, who played some with Utica of the AHL last season, was not invited to the Canucks rookie camp, and was not listed on their main camp roster, released today.
F Jesse Gabrielle was not invited to the Boston Bruins' rookie or training camps either.
Notes:
Two players under contract are missing from the Penguins training camp list: Filip Hållander and Kevin Czuczman. First one is no surprise as he's an 18 year rookie who has already been loaned back to Sweden where he'll play upcoming season. No word on Czuzcman's status but safe to assume it's injury related (he missed final playoff game last season so probably still recovering from that injury).
Mantha suffered a bad eye injury late last season and his vision is still impaired. He’s hoping for it to recover enough to be able to play but it’s apparently never going to be 100%.On the topic of players under contract but do not appear to be present at NHL camps:
- F Vaclav Karabacek was not invited to the Buffalo Sabres' rookie or training camp
- Per the Edmonton Oilers' official training camp roster, D Ryan Mantha is considered a "player not attending camp," a section which is mostly reserved for NCAA/European players.
- And per this medical update press release from the Chicago Blackhawks, F Jordan Maletta "will not attend training camp," though no injury is mentioned.
[edited to include multiple players rather than make multiple posts]
On the topic of players under contract but do not appear to be present at NHL camps:
- F Vaclav Karabacek was not invited to the Buffalo Sabres' rookie or training camps.