Morning Bag Skate: Discussion of fighting starts early this season

There were only a few NHL games on Monday thanks to the holidays in North America, but we get a fuller slate Tuesday night with nine different games. Unfortunately, none of them involve the Blackhawks, who have one more day off before hosting the Flames on Thursday. For now, here's the news.

**Where does Michal Rozsival fit now that he's rounding into form physically after spending some time on the sideline? (CSN Chicago)

**Brandon Mashinter has been assigned to Rockford after clearing waivers Monday (SCH)

**Trevor Gillies received a 12-game suspension in the AHL for his brutal slamming of William Carrier's head on the ice during a fight. Gillies apologized for "embarrassing the family name," and if you see the replay, yeah, dude. That shouldn't happen anywhere, let alone a sporting event. (Pro Hockey Talk)

**Speaking of fights, Mike Milbury opened up a bit on his anti-fighting stance during the NBC Sports Network broadcast on Monday night (Pro Hockey Talk)

**Trevor Hughes, the SBN NHL editor, argues that Gillies "does not belong in professional ice hockey" due to his repeated on-ice incidents (SB Nation)

**It's official: Buffalo will host the 2016 NHL Draft (SB Nation)

**Pretty pitiful attendance for this Monday night game between the Panthers and Senators in Florida. Talk of expansion seems pretty odd when current franchises are having troubles like the Panthers have. (SB Nation)

**I totally approve of "The Honest Abe Player of the Game" (CSN Washington)

**Leafs coach Randy Carlisle explained the decision to healthy scratch Jake Gardiner on Sunday (Toronto Sun)

**The Flyers will be without Vincent Lecavalier for two weeks and Samuel Morin for a month (Flyers)

**Anaheim forward Patrick Maroon suffered a knee injury after being hit by Buffalo's Josh Gorges (SB Nation)

**U.S. Olympian Anne Schleper skated with the Tampa Bay Lightning during morning practice on Monday, coming off the heels of Hilary Knight doing the same in Anaheim (Puck Daddy)

**The Wild waived forward Stu Bickel (Star Tribune)

**Nick Cotsonika spoke to Chris Pronger about his new gig as with the NHL's Department of Player Safety (Yahoo! Sports)

**Smooth and totally awesome move, Jonathan Quick (SB Nation)