We’re officially one week from the beginning of the regular season, with no more preseason games at the United Center before then. I quickly want to mention here again that we’re going to try something a little different, using the Morning Bag Skate as something of a central hub for the day’s discussion. Obviously you can comment wherever you’d like, but think of this as the daily thread for the blog in addition to being a whole bunch of links. I know these don’t get up at 6 a.m. every morning on weekends — a guy needs to sleep sometime — but hopefully this should organize things a little bit. We’ll get those other days figured out soon, too. Anyways, thanks for reading, onto the news!
**We’ve got all of our preview stuff in one place, if you haven’t checked it out yet (SCH)
**Need to catch up on last night’s game? Here’s our game stream. (SCH)
**Boone Jenner will miss five weeks after undergoing surgery to repair his broken hand. The Jackets were supposed to start the season with a Jenner-Ryan Johansen-Nathan Horton first line, but that’s not exactly going according to plan. (Blue Jackets)
**Minnesota’s Justin Fontaine will miss a few weeks with a groin injury (Pioneer Press)
**We’re still waiting to see Evgeni Malkin in practice this fall, which is rather concerning with so little time before the first puck drop. You’d think we’d know more about his status at this point. (Tribune Review)
**RFA Taylor Beck signed a one-year, $550,000 deal with the Predators (Predators)
**Sounds like the Red Wings will enter the year with Mike Babcock on a lame duck contract. Still seems hard to see him leaving Detroit next summer. (Pro Hockey Talk)
**The pressure is on as opening day nears for the Stars and defenseman Brendan Dillon (Pro Hockey Talk)
**The Flames cut seven players Wednesday, including Sheldon Brookbank (Flames)
**Claude Julien says he supports the NHL’s efforts to limit diving in games (CSN New England)
**The Rangers are going to mess with Martin St. Louis at center for a game or two and see it how goes. Sure why not. (Pro Hockey Talk)
**The KHL’s Lokomotiv has hired Dave King as its head coach for the season (Puck Daddy)