NHL - News

Los Angeles - Kings forward Milan Lucic, entering the final year of his contract, said Monday he's always dreamed of playing for his hometown Vancouver Canucks. Lucic, who was traded to the Kings by the Boston Bruins on June 26, will make $6.5 million this season (with an NHL salary-cap charge to the Kings of $3.5 million). Los Angeles forward Anze Kopitar also is entering his final contract year and seemingly would be a priority for the Kings, who are $4.5 million under this season's $71.4 million salary cap. Lucic, 27, said that all can wait till later, with his focus on helping Los Angeles return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing out one year after winning it all in 2014. Lucic, who had 18 goals and 26 assists in 81 games for Boston last season, was traded to Los Angeles for goalie Martin Jones, defenseman prospect Colin Miller, and the 13th pick in the 2015 NHL Draft (defenseman Jakub Zboril).
"I honestly don't know what's going to happen moving on. I mean I have one year left on my contract, and there's a possibility that I can hit the [unrestricted free agent] market. ...It's obviously something that's been a dream of mine since I've been a kid, is to play in your hometown and play for the Canucks, but right now the main focus is going down to L.A. and trying to make the most of that. If you look at the roster, we're still a really deep team that has another chance to make a Cup run. So right now I'm more worried about that than anything else." Lucic told TSN 1410 Radio.
Lucic (6-foot-3, 235 pounds) said he expects his British Columbia background to help him with Kings coach Darryl Sutter, who is from Alberta.
"He loves the Western [Canada] boys. And obviously my style of play kind of fits his style, y'know, the rough and tough Sutter type, so I'm looking forward to playing for him and to see what it's like to play for a different coach. I'm interested to see what's it's going to be like [Road Trips], not just in Vancouver, just around the League. To see what kind of road presence the Kings have, because being an Original Six team, we get a lot of Bruins fans no matter where we are. So I'm interested to see what it's going to be like in Vancouver and everywhere else."

Brooklyn - The ice is down at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the new home of the New York Islanders. A time-lapse video posted on the Islanders Twitter account Tuesday showed the ice being placed in the arena, followed by the traditional logo being added at center ice. The Islanders previously said they would not change their logo or jerseys upon moving to Brooklyn. The jerseys will include a commemorative patch for the inaugural season in Brooklyn, Newsday reported in June. The Islanders begin the regular season at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 9. New York will play three preseason games at Barclays Center, the first on Sept. 21 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Islanders spent 43 years at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, winning four Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83. Each of those four banners, along with those of six retired numbers, Denis Potvin (5), Mike Bossy (22), Clark Gillies (9), Bryan Trottier (19), Bob Nystrom (23) and Billy Smith (31), and ones honoring coach Al Arbour and general manager Bill Torrey will hang at Barclays Center.
John Tavares: "We want to make it a tough place to play right off the bat. I don't think too many teams enjoyed [going to Nassau Coliseum], so you want to bring that same kind of feel to [this] season."

Calgary - KHL side Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg has signed former Flames forward, Oleg Saprykin. Saprykin racked up 325 NHL games, whilst also icing for Phoenix and Ottawa. A pne-year deal has been announced.