What You Need to Know August 27

It's been a while since I've written an instalment of my summer series "What you need to know". Normally they come out of Fridays, but since I'm sick of talking about an impending lockout I decided it was time to give you all a breakdown on whats going on around the league. Here we go;

• Nail Yakupov battling leg infection

The first overall pick from the 2012 entry draft and top prospect of the Edmonton Oilers had an accident while training which resulted in a leg infection. While taking part in a 3 on 3 training session in Edmonton, Yakupov took a tumble off a treadmill. It was reported he suffered a leg infection from the fall/cut and had to stay off the ice. He is now back to training. Yakupov insists he is now fine;

"Nobody worry about my leg!" ~Nail Yakupov

• Neuvirth blames translation for harsh comments about teammates

The Washington Capitals goaltender is trying to cover his tracks in a big way. Neuvirth had an interview with a Czech media outlet who were kind enough to translate the interview into English, many were surprised by the goaltenders comments. In the interview he claimed that Brayden Holtby was his "weakest competition ever and he would have no problem winning the starting job" and that teammate Alexander Ovechkin "wasn't the same player he used to be".

Last week Neuvirth said his comments were not translated correctly and he didn't say those things in that context. Only Neurvirth knows what he really meant in his interview and hopefully it wasn't anything serious. Here's a link to the interview.

• Oilers lock up Taylor Hall

The Edmonton Oilers locked up their "face of the franchise" and possibly their next captain Taylor Hall to a 7 year deal worth $42 million.
The Oilers drafted Hall first overall in the 2010 draft and he helps lead a young group of talented Oilers.

"I'm only 20 years old. I think this just shows the commitment that I have here. When they said seven years I didn't blink, I'm comfortable being here for that long, and I think by that time, hopefully we're a perennial threat. That's my main goal, and that's my mindset when I signed the deal, is that that's going to happen." ~ Taylor Hall

•  19 days to make a deal

There are roughly 19 days left for the NHL and NHLPA to agree on a new CBA. The impending deadline of September 15th is coming quickly, leaving little time for negotiating. One side must cave if there is to be hockey and look for it to be the players.

• Predators lock up Fisher

The Nashville Predators and Mike Fisher agreed on a two-year contract extension worth $8.4 million. The deal assures that Fisher who would have become a free agent during the 2013-2014 campaign will be staying Nashville.

• Flyers lock up Hartnell

The Eastern Conference wont be getting any easier to play in next season. The "broad street bullies' have resigned their agitator Scott Hartnell to a six-year extension worth $28.5 million. Last season he proved to the Flyers and fans that he can do more than just annoy opponents physically, he can also annoy them on the score board; He had a career year last season which saw him score 37 goals and rack up 67 points, a feat the Flyers are hoping he can repeat.

• Canada on top once again

Team Canada won their fifth straight Ivan Hlinka championship with a 4-0 victory over finland. The tournament helps feature some of the best prospects available for the 2013 draft and Nathan MacKinnon made sure he made a lasting impression netting a hat-trick to help solidify the win for Canada.

• Traverse City Prospects tournament cancelled

Sad news for Sabres fans or any fan who likes to watch prospects get together and battle it out. The tournament the Buffalo Sabres rookies won last season has been cancelled. The Detroit Red Wings organization which hosts the tournament decided to cancel the even due to the uncertainty surrounding the CBA.

• KHL after Ovechkin

Remember how I've said many NHL stars would head over to Russia to play in the KHL? It's already happening, the Moscow Dynamo club out of the KHL has told the media they will attempt to sign Washington Capitals captain and Russian Alexander Ovechkin to a contract if there is indeed an NHL lockout.