from Michael Russo of Russo's Rants,

For the first time, Zach Parise confirmed the Star Tribune’s report before the playoffs that he has a herniated disc pinching on his nerve. He had been playing with the injury since January and received the maximum three cortisone injections before he couldn’t play anymore.

“Rehab is going really well,” he said. “I’ve got to continue doing the rehab for a little bit and go from there. But it’s progressing really well.”

Asked if he’ll need surgery, Parise said, “It’s too early to tell, but I’m optimistic that therapy and the rehab is working really well that we’re going to be able to avoid that.”

With the amount of time it’ll take to rehab from surgery, Parise said that decision needs to come pretty soon....

THOMAS VANEK

Broken and displaced ribs ended his season prematurely, he said. He said with time, it’ll heal.

Asked if he hopes he’s back, “I hope so. I signed here not because this is where I live. I signed here because I truly love it here and I want to win here. That would be a dream come true.”

Asked if he’s worried he may be bought out of the final year of his deal, Vanek said, “I don’t know. You can ask Chuck that question. I do understand the business side of it. again, I’m not happy with my year, but at the same time, I truly still believe that I’m a 30-goal scorer in this league. I’ll worry about myself, have a good summer and be ready to go.”

more on each plus other players...