You won't see Cory Schneider's name on a lineup card this preseason.
The Devils netminder continues to rehab from offseason hip surgery and will be sidelined for all six of New Jersey's exhibition games, general manager Ray Shero confirmed to NHL.com's Mike Morreale.
Shero added that he's not sure about Schneider's status for the Devils' regular-season opener against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 6.
The 32-year-old netminder battled a nagging groin injury last season that limited him to just 40 games. Backup Keith Kinkaid stepped up in Schneider's absence, putting together a 26-10-3 record across 41 appearances.
However, Schneider returned in time for last year's playoffs and impressed through four appearances against the Tampa Bay Lightning, posting a 1.78 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage.
The all-world blue-liner is a pending unrestricted free agent entering the final year of the seven-year, $45-million pact he inked with the Senators in 2012, at a cap hit of $6.5 million.
Karlsson didn't want to talk about the likelihood of an extension with the Sharks when asked about it in the aftermath of the trade.
"As for right now, that's a private discussion and not something I'm going to elaborate on," he said on a conference call Thursday, according to NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika.
The Sharks have some decisions to make for 2019-20, as 34-year-old captain Joe Pavelski and 39-year-old franchise fixture Joe Thornton are also pending UFAs.
After beginning preliminary discussions about an extension in late August, Canucks general manager Jim Benning said Thursday that the two sides will now wait until the end of the 2018-19 campaign to finalize a deal.
"(Boeser) loves playing in Vancouver and wants to be here long term," Benning told Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet 650. "At the end of the day, we both agreed that he will play out the last year of his entry-level deal. At the end of the year, we'll circle back and figure out a deal long term."
Despite appearing in just 62 games last season, Boeser tied Daniel Sedin for the team lead in scoring with 55 points. His 29 tallies finished second among all rookies, trailing only Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor, who netted 31 goals.
That sort of production could mean Boeser is due for a major raise. This season, the 21-year-old will carry a $925,000 cap hit, but he can also pull in another $850,000 in performance bonuses.
After months of waiting for the hammer to fall, the league's top blue-liner was dealt to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for an immediately underwhelming package of six assets Thursday in a deal that shook the hockey world off its axis.
Karlsson wraps up his Senators tenure as one of the greatest players in franchise history, and certainly the best defenseman. While he'll continue his trajectory toward the Hockey Hall of Fame elsewhere, it would be unjust to discount all that occurred and all he accomplished over his nine-year career in Ottawa.
Let's reflect.
June 20, 2008 - Sens draft Karlsson
Ottawa hosted the 2008 draft, and after brokering a trade with the Nashville Predators to move up two spots, the late Bryan Murray drafted a tiny, dynamic blue-liner out of Frolunda 15th overall.
The hometown fans weren't overly receptive to the decision to take the slender Karlsson, but Murray was investing in his upside, and when you consider Zach Bogosian, Luke Schenn, and Colten Teubert were among the six defenders selected earlier, Karlsson landing in the nation's capital was an absolute steal.
Dec. 19, 2009 - First NHL goal
Karlsson returned to Sweden for one season after he was drafted but made the Senators out of camp in 2009-10. He was briefly sent down to the AHL early on but returned to the big club and buried his first NHL goal - a booming one-timer - versus the Minnesota Wild.
Karlsson completed his rookie campaign suiting up in 60 games, registering five goals and 21 assists.
2011-12 - A star emerges
In his third NHL season, Karlsson's path toward superstardom was clear.
He paced all rearguards with 78 points in 81 games, 25 points ahead of Dustin Byfuglien and Brian Campbell in second place. Karlsson averaged over 25 minutes per night, led all blue-liners in shots, and ranked second with 28 power-play points en route to his first Norris Trophy and a first-team All-Star selection. By earning top defenseman honors, he joined legends Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin as the only players to win the award before turning 23 years old.
After his breakout season, Karlsson signed a seven-year, $45.5-million contract with Ottawa.
Feb. 13, 2013: The Cooke incident
Joe Sargent / National Hockey League / Getty
After managing 10 points through the first 14 games of the lockout-shortened season, Karlsson saw his campaign derailed after Pittsburgh Penguins pest Matt Cooke rode him into the boards, lacerating his Achilles tendon with an errant skate blade.
The debate over Cooke's intentions was highly controversial at the time, and while the perpetual agitator avoided suspension, Karlsson was given a recovery timeline of four-to-six months. However, in superhuman (typical Karlsson) fashion, No. 65 returned to the ice after missing only 10 weeks and put up eight points in 10 playoff games before the Sens were eliminated by Cooke's Penguins in Round 2.
Oct. 2, 2014 - Karlsson named captain
Prior to puck drop on the 2014-15 season, Karlsson was named the ninth captain in Senators history, succeeding the recently traded Jason Spezza.
Karlsson was coming off a season in which he recorded 74 points for the 21st place Senators, yet inexplicably finished seventh in Norris voting. But in his follow-up act, he simply continued being his dominant self and was accordingly awarded his second Norris Trophy at season's end.
In his first campaign with the "C" on his chest, Karlsson once again paced all at his position with 66 points, 292 shots, and 30 power-play points. He also finished third in ice time, logging 27:15 per contest as the Senators made their way back to the postseason.
2015-16 - His best yet
Jana Chytilova / National Hockey League / Getty
Karlsson's 2015-16 season was one for the history books.
He appeared in all 82 games and established a new career high in points with 82 - good enough to finish in a tie for fourth in the league scoring race with Joe Thornton. Karlsson also established a new NHL record for points in a season by a Swedish blue-liner, eclipsing the great Nicklas Lidstrom's benchmark of 81 in 2005-06. If that's not enough, he became the first defenseman since Paul Coffey in 1985-86 to finish in the top five in scoring, and the first since Orr in 1974-75 to lead the league in assists (66).
In spite of his earth-shattering showing, Karlsson was again snubbed in Norris voting, this time coming in behind Drew Doughty - who he topped in virtually every statistical category - for second place.
Spring 2017 - The playoff run
The most memorable stretch of Karlsson's tenure in Ottawa came during the 2017 playoffs when the Senators defied all odds and came within one goal of their second Stanley Cup Final appearance.
Karlsson played a huge role in Ottawa's unlikely success, leading the club with 18 points in 19 games and routinely torturing opponents with highlight-reel setup after highlight-reel setup. His performances thrust him onto the Connor McDavid-and-Sidney Crosby-led shortlist of the world's best players and even garnered a Conn Smythe vote despite missing out on the finals.
Perhaps most impressively, Karlsson still managed to dominate while nowhere near 100 percent healthy. Once the curtain closed on his club's miracle run, Karlsson promptly underwent surgery to repair torn tendons in his foot and had half his ankle bone removed in the procedure.
2017-18: The unraveling
Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photo / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Optimism was high in Ottawa entering last season, and it's truly unbelievable how quickly things came crashing down. Earth's most decorated historians will struggle to fully document all that went wrong with the 2017-18 Senators, but here we'll try to encapsulate Karlsson's presence among the turmoil.
Karlsson misses the first five games of the season as he continues to recover from surgery
Dec. 1: Karlsson says he's going to get what he's worth on his next contract
Dec. 11: In the midst of a one-win-in-12-game stretch, Karlsson says he wants to win in Ottawa
July 5: Sens and Lightning reportedly work on trade, though nothing materializes
Aug 24: Karlsson denies report of being unwilling to sign a contract with a Canadian team
Sept. 13, 2018 - Dealt to San Jose
So there we have it. The Sharks add the best defenseman in the world to a group that already features fellow Norris winner Brent Burns and the ever-consistent Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Meanwhile, the Senators are set to embark on a scorched-earth rebuild without their best and most iconic player at a juncture when the disconnect between the organization and its fan base is at an all-time high.
Karlsson finishes his Senators career with 518 points in 627 games (0.82 points per game) to go with (somehow only) two Norris Trophies and four first-team All-Star selections. He ranks third in franchise history in both points and assists and sits eighth in games played now that it's all said and done.
Twitter, of course, was blown away by a trade that'll certainly be talked about for years to come.
Some couldn't believe the return Ottawa received.
The Karlsson return is underwhelming, to put it mildly. That said, looking forward to "we could have offered more" grumblings from teams who've known he was on the market for six months.
the deal is better than it looks on the surface for Ottawa, because Rudolfs Balcers is actually two players named Rudolf Balcer https://t.co/GWsQWFbGji
To be fair, Dorion gave the fans exactly what they were asking for. After months of complaining about a need for new ownership, it's safe to say that Doug Wilson now owns the Sens.
In return, the Senators receive forward Chris Tierney, defenseman Dylan DeMelo, prospects Josh Norris and Rudolfs Balcers, a conditional 2020 first-round pick, a conditional 2019 second-round pick. Ottawa would also receive a conditional 2021 second-round pick if Karlsson re-signs in San Jose.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Victor Rask underwent surgery to repair his fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand after injuring them while slicing food in his kitchen, the team announced Thursday.
He's been ruled out indefinitely.
The 25-year-old suited up in 71 games last season, recording 14 goals and 17 assists.
The Swede would be the fourth captain in team history, following in the footsteps of Keith Tkachuk (1996-2001), Teppo Numminen (2001-03), and Shane Doan (2003-17).
Ekman-Larsson signed an eight-year extension reportedly worth $8.25 million annually on July 1. The 27-year-old blue-liner tallied 14 goals and 42 points in 82 games last season.
