Morning Bag Skate: Morin shrugs off trade questions, salary cap estimated at $73 million

A couple days off gave us no shortage of things to talk about, especially with the expected return of Patrick Sharp on Tuesday night mixing things up a bit. We think it's time for the team to start looking into deals for Jeremy Morin since he's been buried on the roster for weeks, but I also saw some counter-arguments in the comments that make a good deal of sense, as well. It's not a black-and-white situation, so it'll be interesting to see how the team resolves things. Here's the latest news:

**Morin shied away from talk of the trade request Monday, telling reporters that he's focused on earning playing time in Chicago. (CSN Chicago)

**In addition to Sharp's return, Scott Darling is set to start in goal against New Jersey tonight. (CSN Chicago)

**In some potentially good news for the Blackhawks, the prospective salary cap is being set at $73 million assuming no further drops in the Canadian dollar. Chicago badly needs that extra $4 million. (PHT)

**The Senators fired head coach Paul MacLean and replaced him with ex-assistant Dave Cameron. (SB Nation)

**The NHL Board of Governors has permitted a prospective Las Vegas franchise owner to conduct a season ticket drive to gauge interest. It's getting harder to believe that the NHL doesn't want a team there. (PHT)

**The Blackhawks topped this week's SBN NHL power rankings (SB Nation)

**2014 No. 1 overall pick Aaron Ekblad is impressing in his first few months as an NHL defenseman. Don't be surprised if he snags the Calder. (Fox Sports Florida)

**P.K. Subban gets a profile in the New Yorker this month. (New Yorker)

**The league suspended Jets forward Evander Kane two games for an illegal hit on Clayton Stoner. (NHL)

**SBN's medical expert, Dr. Ali Mohamadi, offered his take on the recent outbreak of mumps across the NHL (SB Nation)

*Roberto Luongo is up to fourth all-time in saves, trailing only Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy and Curtis Joseph. He passed former Blackhawks star Ed Belfour over the weekend. (PHT)

**Jonathan Bernier had to apologize after mistaking Nelson Mandela for an athlete while making comments during a recent event celebrating the South African leader's life. Bernier says he was nervous at the time. (Toronto Star)

**Vincent Lecavalier denied rumors that he's ready to retire before his current contract with the Flyers expires. (Philadelphia Daily News)

**Coyotes ownership insisted Monday that the sale of the franchise to Andrew Barroway is still on track to close by the end of the year. That's only in a few weeks, though. (PHT)