It’s still weird adjusting to life with no Jagr, but then again, it’s been easy adjusting to the Zherdev era, at least as a fan, as he is clearly not rolling at full tilt yet.

However, despite what someone’s dog apparently told them at some point, Henrik Lundqvist seems fine, and didn’t really look like a player who was ever sore, much less injured.

I still believe it would be more productive to sign Shanahan than Sundin, although it seems neither of them get much mention in the NYR press these days, other than to report that nothing has changed. Realistically, I think the top forward lines are set with Gomez, Drury, Zherdev, and Naslund serving as the core of the offence. Brandon Dubinsky will hope to continue progressing his career, as will Dan Fritsche and Aaron Voros. I think Nigel Dawes will be a fun player to watch this season, as he is turning into a Mike Fisher style player who is all out all the time, and has just enough raw talent to net himself a few 25 goals seasons if he earns a spot in the top lines. A wild card is Ryan Callahan, who like Dawes is a player who thrives on his relentless effort. He’s great on the forecheck, and generates a lot of scoring chances from down low that might be converted on a more potent offensive line.

Defensively, Wade Redden has a lot to live up to in my books – and I live in Ottawa… If Ottawa didn’t think he was worth more than $3.5M per season, then what the hell was Sather thinking by offering $6.5M? Sure, the Rangers needed a puck-moving defenceman… I totally disagreed with that back during the offseason, and I still do. With Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal, you have the foundations of a very good set of powerplay lines, provided you split those guys up. Then you sign Brendan Shanahan, and play him with one of those units, and hope that someone like Dmitri Kalinin can step up to play on the point. Let’s face it, our scoring will mainly come from up front!

Finally, “King” Henrik “Henke” Lundqvist. The dude looked sharp in Europe, save for the goal in the second game, which trickled through the back of his pads after a very nicely designed faceoff play by the Lightning, that was capped off by Adam Hall. He doesn’t appear to have had more than a single cortizone shot over the offseason for his ailing knee, and that is a good sign. I’m hoping the Rangers play him a little less, maybe about 65 games maximum, and give Valiquette some starts against the weaker teams they face over the course of the season. He needs to be sharp for what appears to be a playoff berth that is the Rangers’ to lose…

My prediction? Rangers finish first in the division, third in the conference.

The move would be done in an effort to push current starting netminder Marc-Andre Fleury to play better, rather than push Fleury off the team.

McKenzie suggests that the Penguins could sign an unrestricted free agent like Curtis Joseph, or try and trade for one of Ilya Bryzgalov (Anaheim Ducks), Andrew Raycroft (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jaroslav Halak (Montreal Canadiens), or Martin Gerber (Ottawa Senators).

When questioned about the rumors that his club had interest in signing UFA defenseman Danny Markov, Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli would only tell The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont that he has spoken with the player’s agent “on and off… the last couple of months.”

Markov’s agent, Jay Grossman, confirmed to Dupont that his client remained unsigned.

Bucky Gleason of The Buffalo News reports that Buffalo Sabres have started discussing a contract extension with pending free agent defenseman Brian Campbell.

“We’ll see what happens,” Campbell said. “I think something can be done but until it’s done, it’s still out there. How many contracts get close to getting done but don’t get done, and somebody is somewhere else. I’m just sitting back and waiting to see what happens.”

Campbell has stated on numerous occasions that he’d love to re-sign with the Sabres.

Meanwhile, Gleason reports that the Sabres have not begun contract negotiations with defenseman Dmitri Kalinin, who also becomes a free agent next summer.

Brian Biggane of The Palm Beach Post reports that Florida Panthers GM and head coach Jacques Martin is continuing his search for a “decent enforcer,” a process that has been going on “for months.”

Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland tells Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that if forward prospect Igor Grigorenko decides to go back to play in Russia, “he’ll stay there for good.”

Grigorenko is expected to return to the Red Wings’ line-up after playing in the AHL since the start of the regular season. It remains to be seen if he can earn a job with the big club.

“If he can win a job, he can win a job,” [Red Wings head coach Mike] Babcock said. “If he can’t, he can’t.”

While the Sabres’ policy has always been not to negotiate with soon-to-be unrestricted free agents during the season, the departures of forwards Daniel Briere and Chris Drury during this past off-season has made the club re-think their rules. That is why Regier has already held “some very general conversations” with the agents for Campbell, Kalinin, and Hecht.

“I don’t have any hard-and-fixed rules with respect to that,” Regier said. “That’s something we’ll look at and work through as we proceed here.”

“I don’t want to put a deadline on it, but the preference would be to do them sooner rather than later.”

And that would be just fine with Campbell, who says that he would be willing to give up free agency in order to stay with the Sabres.

“Would I like something to get done? Yeah. I like it here. But I can’t worry about that too much right now.”

As the Sabres’ top scoring defenseman and an All-Star starter, Campbell would be an attractive commodity should he become a UFA.

Campbell is set to earn $1.75 million this season, Kalinin will make $2.25 million, and Hecht $2.35 million. All are expected to receive significant raises whether they re-up with the Sabres or sign with another team.