Welcome to the 2022-23 NHL Training Camp Buzz. Training camp is underway for all 32 teams and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
New Jersey Devils
Miles Wood is healthy and recovered from a hip injury that caused him to miss all but three games for the Devils last season.
“It feels great right now,” the forward said after a scrimmage on Friday. “Last year was certainly a long year for me but I was very fortunate enough to work with great people to get my hip back to where it is now. I’m here to just play my style of hockey. Don’t change anything. Just keep being me and good things will happen.”
Wood, who had hip surgery Nov. 8, 2021, tied for the team lead in goals (17). Pavel Zacha in 55 games in 2020-21.
“I thought, right off the bat (in the scrimmage), he delivered a pretty big hit,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “He’s in on a couple scoring chances. I thought he skated well and was looking at the type of chemistry that line could have (Wood, Eric Haula, Dawson Mercer).”
Goalie Jonathan Bernier, who signed a two-year contract on July 28, 2021, played 10 games before going on injured reserve Dec. 10 because of a hip injury. The 34-year-old said he’s day to day after playing in the scrimmage Friday.
“It was good to get out there, get in a game, get your timing and your reads back,” Bernier said. “That was probably the hardest part for me, but it was good to get the first one out. It’s not pain free, but as long as it doesn’t get too much and I just manage the inflammation there, we’re good. ” — Mike G. Morreale
Chicago Blackhawks
Jake McCabe had cervical spine surgery six weeks ago and the defenseman said it’s unlikely he’ll be ready for the season opener against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 12.
“I haven’t had contact yet, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself. That’s going to be the real test with this injury,” McCabe said Friday after his second straight day of practice. “My legs feel good but the contact aspect, I still have to wait a couple of weeks for full battle contact. Just trying to stay patient with that. As good as I do feel, trying not to get ahead of myself and take a step backwards.”
McCabe said he’s been dealing with a herniated disc off and on for several years, and that doctors removed a fragment of the disc that was hitting a nerve. The original recovery timeline from when he had surgery was 10-12 weeks.
“It was a long summer, so I was trying the conservative approach [with the injury] for a while and that wasn’t doing the trick. It became pretty clear I had to get it operated on to get some relief,” he said. “I did get that relief, so feeling a lot better now.” — Tracey Myers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tristan Jarry and the Penguins have had talks on a new contract, general manager Ron Hextall said Friday.
The goalie is in the final year of a three-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
“We’ve been talking to ‘Jars’, so we’ll see where it goes,” Hextall said. “There’s no real urgency there, I think, from either side. But we’ll continue talking, try to get something done. I don’t anticipate talking when the season starts, but who knows? We’ve been talking a little bit. We’ll see where it goes.”
Jarry was a full participant when Pittsburgh opened training camp on Thursday after recovering from a foot injury that kept him out of the first six games of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Rangers last season. Jarry returned to make 26 saves in Game 7, a 4-3 overtime loss.
He said his foot did not feel 100 percent until about a month after the season.
“It was something I had to take really good care of, do a lot of treatment on,” Jarry said Thursday. “A lot of therapy. I think it’ll help me this year and make me stronger.”
Casey DeSmiththe Penguins’ backup goalie, also practiced fully Thursday after having core muscle surgery May 6. — Wes Crosby
Washington Capitals
Dmitry Orlov said there have been no discussions with the Capitals yet about signing a new contract.
The 34-year-old defenseman is entering the final season of a six-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, but understands the Capitals had a hectic offseason. Washington signed goalies Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgrenforward Dylan Strome and defenseman Erik Gustafsson and acquired forward Connor Brown in a trade with the Ottawa Senators.
“Nothing really happened,” Orlov said of his contract. “It was a busy summer. You can see they changed the goalies. They kind of focused on [the start] of the camp, so we didn’t sign anybody [in the last year of] their contract.”
Gustafsson, Brown, defensemen Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk and forwards Conor Sheary, Lars Eller, Marcus Johansson and Garnet Hathaway can also become unrestricted free agents after this season.
“I try not to worry about it,” Orlov said. “I enjoy my time here and my family (too). The team was good to me, and I hope we’re going to find out whether I’m going to stay or not, but I think right now I’ll just focus on the season and hope we’re going to have a good season and make the playoffs and go from there.” –Tom Gullitti
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