Another preseason contest for the Blackhawks on Thursday night — one game in, I already feel like we’re all just hoping to make it through the exhibition schedule unscathed. There probably won’t be as much coverage of the matchup against Detroit since it doesn’t appear to be on TV, but we’ll still be keeping up through various channels. Onto the news.
**Teuvo Teravainen returned to practice Wednesday but he’s already been ruled out for the preseason game tonight (CSN Chicago)
**Stan Bowman has generally done a very good job as GM, but Sam Fels points out some of the recent missteps that have led us to our current cap crunch. (The Committed Indian)
**The Rangers will be without top center Derek Stepan for several weeks after he suffered a broken leg during conditioning tests (Blueshirt Banter)
**Pavel Datsyuk will also be missing a few weeks due to a separated shoulder. The Red Wings just can’t seem to catch a break lately. (Pro Hockey Talk)
**The Islanders are giving Mikhail Grabovski first crack at filling the left wing spot next to John Tavares and Kyle Okposo (Newsday)
**How will the Rangers overcome losing Stepan? (Puck Daddy)
**Jordan Subban took the high road after The Vancouver Sun ran an offensive caption below a photo featuring the Canucks player. (Pro Hockey Talk)
**Well, this certainly would’ve been interesting. The Jets and Flyers were apparently “close” to a big deal involving Evander Kane over the summer. Who knows what the particulars of that trade might have looked like. (Pro Hockey Talk)
**Barry Trotz wants to see better success in faceoffs from his young centers, Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov, as they battle for the Caps’ No. 2 center spot (Washington Post)