Hockey Hearsay: Schenn; Outdoor update

Hockey Hearsay runs weekdays, 12 months a year; mixing NHL stories, quotes and fantasy takes.

The Ottawa Citizen notes that Mika Zibanejad has two games left to play before the Senators must decide whether to keep him and trigger the first year of his contract or send him back to Sweden and delay his NHL career.

Game No. 9 will be on Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, against the Hurricanes. Game No. 10 will be in Ottawa two nights later against the Florida Panthers.

Will he be in the lineup for that game? It looks like it’s going to be a close call.

On Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, Zibanejad found himself back at centre and between two new linemates, Zack Smith and Chris Neil.

The hope was that he would feel more comfortable at centre instead of right wing, where he had been playing recently, and that Neil and Smith would create more space for him to use his offensive skills.

“I think he has played his best when he has been in the middle,” coach Paul MacLean said before the game. “Chris Neil has been one of our most consistent players, so we’re going to give Mika a certain comfort level with the people he’s playing with, to allow him to show his stuff.”

Zibanejad said he’s trying not to think about the nine-game deadline, but admits it’s a difficult thing to do. He’s also under a little extra pressure this week with his parents, Mehrdad and Ritva, in Ottawa along with some other relatives.

Murray hasn’t yet offered his opinion on Zibanejad’s play, but he has a believer in MacLean. MacLean said he wasn’t focusing on the nine games, but on the big picture — what he has seen from Zibanejad since the start of training camp.

And what he has seen has told him that Zibanejad should be staying.

“I think he’s an NHL player,” said MacLean. “Now, we’re going to make a decision based on what’s best for Mika, but I think he has played fine.”

A league source has confirmed to the Winnipeg Free Press that the Jets have expressed interest in hosting the next Heritage Classic, which is expected to be played in 2014.

The NHL is expected to study and consider the viability of hosting the outdoor game in Winnipeg.

"Winnipeg will have the benefit of having a suitable outdoor facility," said an NHL source, referring to the new football stadium being built on the University of Manitoba campus and expected to be ready for next summer's CFL season.

The NHL has developed the Winter Classic into a yearly franchise in the U.S. in an attempt to sell the game, but uses the Canadian version known as the Heritage Classic much more sparingly.

The Jets had no comment on the potential of hosting an outdoor game.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette indicates that last night center Evgeni Malkin missed his fourth game in a row and sixth in the past seven games because of lingering soreness in his surgically repaired right knee. Malkin was on the ice before but not during the game-day skate.

"There was not a setback," coach Dan Bylsma said, adding that Malkin is improving and his status is day-to-day.

"It's just with the amount of games we're playing, if he were to play every day we would be dealing with him being sore and stiff. It needs to calm down, to get better."

The New York Post recalls that when Tim Erixon was the focus of intense media attention in Stockholm, he was being celebrated for making his NHL debut in his homeland. The 21-year-old, freshman pro defenseman was again the focus of media attention yesterday, but it was for a very different reason.

Erixon had refused to sign with the Flames after having been a first-round, 23d overall selection in the 2008 Entry Draft. Faced with the prospect of losing his rights before this June's draft, Calgary general manager Jay Feaster traded Erixon to the Rangers in exchange for two second-rounders and center Roman Horak, a 2009 fifth-round pick.

The Flames' organization obviously feels betrayed.

"It's not something that's going to be a focal point inside the room but we certainly know the situation," Flames coach Brent Sutter said. "We recognize it."

Erixon said money was not the root cause of his decision to spurn the Flames' offer, but that "small issues," he did not care to disclose formed the basis for his decision.

"It was nothing against Calgary. It's a great city," he said. "I thought my agent would come to an agreement but it didn't happen. That's all in the past right now. I don't think I have to explain myself."

Phil Kessel (7-5-12), Thomas Vanek (6-4-10), Anze Kopitar (4-6-10), Daniel Sedin (3-7-10), Henrik Sedin (3-6-9), Jason Pominville (2-7-9), Marc-Andre Bergeron (2-7-9), James Neal (7-1-8), Milan Michalek (5-3-8), Claude Giroux (5-3-8), John Tavares (5-3-8), Jason Spezza (3-5-8), David Legwand (2-6-8), Tyler Seguin (2-6-8), Nicklas Backstrom (1-7-8), Erik Karlsson (1-7-8)

Devin Setoguchi has never been asked to play this many minutes in a game before, according to The Edmonton Sun.

However, having traded their best defenceman in order to acquire the Taber native, the Minnesota Wild are going to try and get the most out of the former 30-goal scorer.

"I averaged about 14, 14-and-a-half minutes a game in San Jose for five years," Setoguchi said. "Higher minutes means for higher responsibilities. You have to be quicker on your shifts, you can't extend them, if you're going to be out there 20-plus minutes, you have to keep your shifts quick. It's just another adjustment, but so far it's been working out well.

"It comes down to everything, fitness, nutrition and just taking care of yourself. The more minutes you play the more tired you're going to be and the more recovery you're going to need."

With the Wild, Setoguchi is averaging nearly 20 minutes per game playing on the club's top line with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley, also acquired from the Sharks.

According to Wild rookie head coach Mike Yeo, it's not necessarily about Setoguchi getting used to the increased ice time, but instead the added responsibility.

"I think the biggest adjustment with Seto is for him to open the door and say 'Here I am'," Yeo said. "I think he's deferred a little bit to those guys. That's normal for younger guys, you're playing with two great players and perhaps the mentality is to allow the older guys to do all the work and make the play and just be there when they need you."

At 24, Setoguchi could be the face of he franchise for years to come. The Wild are hoping he regains the form which saw him score 31 goals in his rookie season.

"What I would like to see from him is to assert himself and say 'I'm a huge part of this line,' make plays happen himself, be more aggressive," Yeo said. "I'd like to see his speed be more of a factor and to me it's just a matter of him having the confidence and not to simply defer to those guys and take the initiative himself."

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notices that James Neal has scored a lot of goals early this NHL season, but Penguins general manager Ray Shero said there is no rush to begin talks about a contract extension.

Neal scored his team-best seventh goal, tied for the league lead, Thursday night for the Penguins in a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Consol Energy Center. He could become a restricted free agent July 1 and will be eligible for salary arbitration, but the Penguins would retain his rights.

"We'll likely wait a little bit," Shero said of potential extension talks with Neal's agent, Pat Morris. "He has an agent I've dealt with well over the years. When the time comes, we'll get something done. There's no doubt in that."

Morris confirmed there have been no talks regarding Neal, whose current salary-cap hit is $2,875,000.

Last week, the Penguins extended the contract of left wing Chris Kunitz, retaining him for the next two seasons at his current annual cap hit ($3,725,000).

Neal, 24, was acquired Feb. 21 along with defenseman Matt Niskanen from Dallas in exchange for defenseman Alex Goligoski.

Neal struggled after joining the Penguins last season, scoring only once in the regular season and adding a playoff goal. However, he has flourished this season after switching from left to right wing and despite the Penguins playing six of nine games without top centers Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (right knee).

"Like any other player we've wanted to sign, we'll find a way to sign him," Shero said of Neal. "And we'll find a way with James as well."

The San Jose Mercury News points out that had Joe Thornton missed one more game over the past 14 years, his milestone 1,000th would have come Saturday where it all started in Boston, not Friday against the New Jersey Devils.

But Thornton dismissed any added significance that would have had for an event he's downplaying.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "Just one of those things."

The Sharks captain, who will play in his 468th game as a Shark after 532 with the Boston Bruins, says the sense of his accomplishment likely will mean more to him in the future.

"I know a lot of guys who played 900 and some odd games, and they always wished they played 1,000 games," he said. "You kind of realize after your career is done how big it was."

Coach Todd McLellan, however, treats it as a "remarkable milestone" now.

"It shows that you have the talent to play for that amount of time, you've been able to keep your game elite, you probably started at a very young age, you've taken care of yourself, remained healthy and contributed," McLellan said.

Thornton, the NHL's overall No. 1 pick in the 1997 draft, remembers his first game coming against the Phoenix Coyotes.

"I was just so, so nervous. That's all I can really remember," he said. "It was in Phoenix, and I played three or four minutes. That's how rookies broke in back then."

Thornton will become the 29th current NHL player to hit the 1,000 mark -- following another player who broke in with Boston in 1997, Montreal defenseman Hal Gill, by one day.

The Sharks will recognize Thornton's achievement Nov. 3 with a pregame ceremony.

The Columbus Dispatch details how for NHL veterans, pulling on a Blue Jackets jersey can be a rude awakening. Right winger Vinny Prospal is the latest, and — only six games into the season — he has reached a breaking point of frustration.

After a loss on Tuesday to the Dallas Stars, which dropped the Jackets to 0-5-1, Prospal delivered a salty but simple message to his teammates in the dressing room.

The veteran, who will play his 985th NHL game tonight at the Detroit Red Wings, wants to see harder work, more urgency and an increased attention to detail in practice, not slow-motion skating and feeble flips of the puck into the goaltender’s chest.

“For us to be getting out of this, it’s a matter of putting more pride in ourselves going to the net, creating screens, getting on loose pucks,” Prospal said. “But I would say the biggest thing is it starts in practice. It’s the way you practice that becomes the habits you take into the game.

“This is what the young guys should be doing, and the older guys should be teaching them to do.”

Prospal said the Jackets’ offensive woes — they’ve scored two goals in every game and have an anemic power play — are directly related to their approach in practice.

Asked if he’s seen the level improve, Prospal thought a moment.

“Not right now, no,” he said. “This is not one game. We’ve scored two goals every game. It’s been going on for six games. The coaches are expressing enough, but ultimately it’s up to each individual, how they approach it. The coaches can do only so much to guide you, show you what to do. Ultimately, it’s on the individual to perform out there. Not try to do it, do it.

“(Against Dallas) it’s great that we had 40 shots, but we still scored two goals. It’s not enough. That’s what we should be thinking about, not that we played a good game, that we probably outplayed them. That’s not enough. We cannot be satisfied.”

The Dispatch notes Prospal has played with great players along his many NHL stops — Philadelphia (twice), Tampa Bay (twice), Ottawa, Florida, Anaheim and the New York Rangers.

One player who stood out, he said, is Lightning winger Martin St. Louis.

“That guy, when he’s not scoring, he goes out there and he battles like crazy,” Prospal said. “He shoots with purpose. He goes to the net with purpose. That’s what makes you appreciate the hockey player and the person. He has achieved so much over his career and still, if he’s not scoring, he doesn’t just say, ‘Oh, (the heck with) it, it will come.’ No, no. He works through it.

“I wouldn’t want to judge (the franchise) because I haven’t spent much time here. But for right now, for sure, it’s one of the reasons why we are where we are.”

Philly.com observes that Brayden Schenn joined the Flyers yesterday for the first time since training camp adjourned on Oct. 5, saying he didn't want to do "too much."

Last night's first period let him get his feet wet in his Flyers debut, playing just 2:48 out of 20 minutes because of the six penalties that were called against both sides.

"You want to make a good first impression," Schenn said before the game. "But just because I'm out there doesn't mean I'm going to try to be flashy or impressive."

Schenn wasn't flashy. Just impressive, in his own way, despite finishing as a minus-3 in the 5-2 loss to Washington.

"I thought he was strong,'' coach Peter Laviolette said. "I don't think the stats are a good reflection. I think on two of those goals, they were deflected off our own guy. The third one was a bad turnover. They weren't his fault.''

Despite spending much of the first period on the bench, Schenn was on the ice to take a key, defensive-zone faceoff in the first period. He was lined up between stars Jaromir Jagr and Claude Giroux. Schenn won the draw and headed straight for the bench, to be swapped out for James van Riemsdyk, as Giroux raced in on the puck now in Washington's end.

It was a good indication of Laviolette's trust in the 20-year-old rookie, who played eight games with the Kings last season before being sent back to his junior team. He deserved to start this season with the Flyers, but salary-cap issues kept him from doing so. Schenn knows the NHL style, both from his own experience and what his older brother Luke, a captain in Toronto, has taught him.

The article points out that whatever confidence was lacking, Schenn said, was restored during his four-game trip to Adirondack, where he collected four goals and four assists for the Phantoms.

Last night, he was held off the scoresheet, limited to just one shot and four hits in 11:03 of ice time.

Schenn's biggest impact was on the lineup, which largely had been set in stone during the first five games. Jody Shelley, in his first game eligible since being suspended five games for a hit in the preseason, was a healthy scratch.

Laviolette had to juggle his lines to squeeze in Schenn, knowing that fourth-line minutes wouldn't suffice for a player of Schenn's caliber.

Schenn - who skated with Hartnell and Jakub Voracek - bumped Sean Couturier to the bottom line. One game after scoring his first NHL goal on Tuesday in Ottawa, Couturier still received the bulk of his minutes on the penalty kill. Matt Read moved to play with Danny Briere and Wayne Simmonds, while Jagr's line with Giroux and van Riemsdyk remained unchanged.

Schenn looked comfortable, as he did during training camp. He made plays in front of the net and in traffic and isn't afraid to hang onto the puck for an extra second on the boards.

The Orange County Register points out that to fill the spot vacated when Jason Blake suffered a torn tendon above his left wrist, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle promoted Brandon McMillan to the second line alongside Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu.

With that also comes expectations, and McMillan's job now isn't about keeping that spot warm.

"I think it's what it is," Carlyle said. "It's an opportunity. (I had) a conversation with him. Just don't accept that you're playing there. We need production. Don't expect that just because you're the guy that's practiced there, that that's going to continue if we don't get production.

"This game is about producing and winning. It gets masked if you're not producing and you're winning because you kind of fly under the radar. At some point, even the best players get criticized for not producing."

McMillan is getting the first crack at trying to fill in for Blake, who is expected to be out until mid-to-late January at the earliest. McMillan, a second-year player, is another of the youngsters the Ducks are relying on to complement their stars.

Some other players have shown promise as a rookie and then regressed as a sophomore. McMillan wants to show Carlyle and the rest of the Ducks brass he won't fall into that category.

"I do it for myself as well," McMillan said. "You don't want to come in and have a poor season. I'm here for the team as well. And I've got to work hard and be the player I was last year and even improving on that would help this team out a lot."

The Denver Post reports that Avalanche forward Peter Mueller wasn't scheduled to play in Thursday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks​. But he was expected to continue to skate with the team, yet he did not participate in Thursday's pregame skate at the Pepsi Center.

Avs coach Joe Sacco said Mueller, who missed all of last season with concussion symptoms, wasn't feeling well after Wednesday's practice and will not skate with the team today or in Saturday's game at Chicago. He has not played in the past four games, and the team finally listed him on the injured list Thursday with a "head injury."

Whether Mueller had a brief bout with concussion symptoms and is on the mend, or might miss a lot of time, remains unclear. But it would be against current Colorado Avalanche

NHL protocol to have a player skate who said he was suffering from concussion symptoms.

"I don't think anyone of us really know the details about it," Avs forward TJ Galiardi said of Mueller's absence. "Obviously, it's not as bad as last year, because he has been on the ice."

The Avs recently consulted with Dr. Robert Cantu, a Boston-based, prominent concussion specialist who has helped treat many NHL players, including Mueller.

Mueller completed practice Wednesday and briefly spoke to reporters.

"Feeling great," he said. "Just, you know, getting everything back in the loop and waiting for my time to (get the) call."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Blues winger David Perron skated alone early Thursday morning and then decided that it was time. He wanted to join the team in practice after his own session.

Perron got the OK from team officials and participated in one drill, which lasted about 15-20 minutes, before leaving the ice. That was pre-planned, so no one should take his quick exit as a bad sign.

"It felt good," Perron said. "I wanted to try it out with guys moving around me. It was just one drill. I had the chance to score a goal."

Teammate T.J. Oshie found himself lined up with Perron on the drill, with both headed to the net. Oshie knew that nobody cared if he scored.

"I made sure that I was shooting for a rebound, so (Perron) could slam it home," Oshie said. "You could see when he threw it in the net, all the guys were screaming for him. It was pretty good.

"It’s great to see him out there. It’s a tough time for the team right now after our road trip, but it put a little smile on our face seeing him out there with the boys."

Grapes: "Hey Chris, Long time follower. Single season points only non-keeper pool.

I have Kopitar and looking at making a move to swap him for Tavares. Better cast in L.A. Can JT out point Kopitar this year ? cheers"

Chris: I wouldn't put it past Tavares and thought going into this season that he'd take that next step into the point-per-game range. But I really don't think I'd give Kopitar up for Tavares purely for safety reasons. Like you said, the Kings likely offer him better wingers overall and we know the Kings should be one of the better teams in the West. The jury is still out on the Isles in the long run of this season. I'd stand pat with Kopitar, personally.

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.