Deen’s Daily: Avs Return This Month; Price Trade on the Horizon?; Penguins Sale, Trade Possibilities

August is over, September is here, and hockey is not far away. Also, the Habs might finally trade a big contract and the Pens could be the one absorbing it.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — September 2.

Colorado Hockey Now

I haven’t done it often over the summer, but I took the day off yesterday to get one last hurrah before the madness begins. We’re still right around two weeks away from the real start of everything but the end of August has always been somewhat of a ending to the offseason. We should expect things to take off from here.

As for the Avs, they’re hosting a rookie tournament at the South Suburban Sports Complex in 10 days. Media day follows after that, and then training camp begins on Sept. 18 — two weeks from Thursday.

I’m going to up the coverage here in the next few days with season previews for individual players. It’s an exciting time.

READ MORE: Avalanche’s Prospect Pool Ranked Among the Worst in the NHL

Around The NHL

Montreal Hockey Now: Now that the Habs have paid out the final big lump sum of bonus money to Carey Price, we’ll likely see him traded in the near future to clear cap space off their books. Montreal is roughly $5 million above the cap and could start the season with Price on LTIR to clear the space. But if you have an opportunity to not use LTIR, and have cap flexibility instead, you’re better off. What will they pay to get it done?

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It sounds like this could be a big week for the Pens. Fenway Sports Group might be selling the team to a new ownership here soon. And on the ice, the Penguins still have Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell all as hot commodities on the trade market. Can they be the team to acquire Price to obtain draft assets?

Detroit Hockey Now: What if the Pens decide to deal one or two of those trade assets? The Red Wings are a likely landing spot for them. Can Steve Yzerman pull it off? Also, Dylan Larkin is climbing the games played list in Detroit, and he might be one of the best players without Stanley Cup success in franchise history. Can he shake off that label?

Speaking of Red Wings captains, Nick Lidstrom might find his way back in the organization soon.

Philly Hockey Now: What are you most excited for with the Flyers this season? For me, it’s the addition of Rick Tocchet as head coach after the John Tortorella era. And what Tocchet could do for Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras, among others.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Where the Devils rank for under 23 players.