from Eric Duhatshek of the Globe and Mail,

Trade talk, injury updates, player signings and the immediate challenge of repatriating almost 200 players from Europe will keep the 30 hockey-operations departments busy in the next 48 hours.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Kings had a little bit of bad luck Saturday when they lost their leading scorer last year, Anze Kopitar, to a knee injury in the final game he played for Mora of the Swedish league before the lockout ended. According to Kopitar’s agent, Pat Brisson, who spoke to his client on Saturday, Kopitar plans to have a magnetic resonance imaging test Monday, and is expected back in L.A. by Wednesday.

“When I say he should be fine, I mean it’s nothing major,” Brisson said. “It might be 10 days, it might be 12. It’s nothing to panic over. He may have to miss camp, but he’s been skating and playing since Sept. 15. And Danny Brière (the Philadelphia Flyers’ No. 2 centre) got hurt a week ago in Germany, a slight hairline fracture, but he should be okay too.”

The Canucks also have a question with regards to centre Ryan Kesler, who is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. Gillis said he couldn’t accurately predict a return date for Kesler, but that he was “moving in the right direction and everything’s positive. We do have extra forwards, so we’ll just go through camp and see who’s ready to play.”

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