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It’s a humbling experience going from Stanley Cup contenders one year to missing the playoffs. The next which is something Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres don’t take lightly.

With a wool cap pulled tightly down to his eyebrows, the star goalie - almost incognito - modestly outlined the perspective he’s gained after an ultra-long, five-month offseason ended Friday, when Sabres players reported for the start of training camp.

“Some of the disappointment kind of wears off and you turn it into motivation,” Miller said. “I don’t have any real profound remarks. I don’t think there needs to be. It’s another season, fresh start.”

That’s as simple as it gets around the Sabres these days, three weeks prior to the start of the regular season.

Gone were the T-shirts with the Stanley Cup emblazoned on the front, which Sabres players wore in proclaiming their confidence and objective at the start of previous camps. Also missing was the telltale buzz of excitement that followed the team’s back-to-back runs to the Eastern Conference finals in 2006 and ‘07.

In their place was an almost quiet insistence that the Sabres are prepared to rebound from a streaky up-and-down season in which Buffalo (39-31-12) finished 10th in the East and became only the third team since NHL expansion in 1967-68 to miss the playoffs a year after winning the regular-season title.

“Hopefully, we’re a year older. And hopefully, we’re a little more mature,” Miller said. “We’ve got to take our lesson from last year.”

The lesson Miller referred to regarded a Sabres team that spent much of last season searching for its identity after losing co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere to free agency in July 2007.

The team’s lack of cohesion showed particularly in how it went 14-18 in one-goal games a year after going 25-16. That, plus a dreadful 0-5-5 midseason skid, combined to eliminate Buffalo from playoff contention in the final week.

The hope is that the Sabres’ young core is prepared to establish its identity at the start, and not the end, of this season.

“Everybody’s here hungry, ready to start it up again,” forward Paul Gaustad said. “I learned a lot from last season and a lot of guys did. So I think we can improve off that growth we had.”

The Sabres buy into that belief. Management elected to keep most of its roster intact, with the exceptions of acquiring veteran defenseman Craig Rivet in a trade with San Jose and adding veteran goalie Patrick Lalime in free agency to serve as a proven backup to Miller, who wore down after appearing in a career-high 76 games last season.

Otherwise, the Sabres have such belief in their young core that they spent the summer signing Miller, Gaustad and forward Jason Pominville to long-term contracts.

They were moves welcomed by the players.

“I think that’s a good core to build a team around,” forward Thomas Vanek said. “I think what’s important is that all those guys want to be here and are happy to be here. And that’s where it starts.”

It also starts with Vanek, who finished with a team-leading 36 goals. But his points production dropped to 64 from 84 the previous season.

Vanek struggled under the added pressure after he signed a new seven-year, $50 million contract. It didn’t help that the Sabres offensive attack was depleted without Drury and Briere, allowing opponents to focus their attention on him.

“As a team and me as a person, we’ve got to be more consistent,” Vanek said.

Veteran defenseman Toni Lydman described the struggles as an important reminder of what it’s like to fail, something the Sabres weren’t accustomed to the previous two years.

“We were, what is the fancy word for it, underachievers last year,” Lydman said. “You’ve learned something about yourself as a hockey player and as a team. I think it should be a good pump for us this year.”

Selanne will participate in Ducks camp.

Teemu Selanne has signed a tryout agreement with the Anaheim Ducks while negotiations continue on a standard contract for the 10-time All-Star forward.

The Ducks’ career scoring leader will join the team for training camp and is expected to be on the ice on Saturday for drills. The 38-year-old free agent’s signing has been delayed because the Ducks are $3 million over the $56.7 salary cap.

Selanne and defenseman Scott Niedermayer missed part of last season, with both sitting out to consider retiring before deciding to return. Selanne played in 26 games and had 12 goals and 11 assists.

He has 325 goals and 689 points with Anaheim, and his overall total of 552 goals ranks fourth among active players.

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Rangers Zherdev off to slow start.

Nikolai Zherdev was the standout at yesterday’s hyper-competitive second day of training camp, and no, that is not good news for the Rangers.

The fact is that the presumptive first-line right wing the Blueshirts acquired this summer from Columbus to fill the slot vacated by Jaromir Jagr stood out for every wrong reason.

Though his teammates competed for the puck, took the body and drove to the net as if this were a mid-season practice conducted by a seething coach Tom Renney - much like the one in Philadelphia last Jan. 30, for example - Zherdev displayed no urgency whatsoever.

The 23-year-old took short cuts throughout the charged morning scrimmage, once turning over the puck while dangling one-on-one three feet inside the offensive line, the giveaway leading to a goal-against, and consistently failed to move either the puck or his feet with any obvious purpose.

Indeed, Zherdev, whose pseudo star-like body language on the ice has by far eclipsed his performance the first two days on the ice, was so ineffective with linemates Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund that Renney switched the combination for a handful of shifts.

Even if the combination clicks - and it had better, because the Rangers don’t appear to have any reasonable alternative to play up on the right side - there still is the question of which one of the three forwards will retrieve the puck when it’s in the corners.

But after a second day of camp in which No. 13 was the laziest athlete on the ice. Yes, it’s just two days, but it took only one day in 1999 to expose Pavel Brendl - there’s not much question why Zherdev, the fourth overall selection of the 2003 Entry Draft, was an underachiever for most of his four-year tenure with the Blue Jackets.

*

Acknowledging the lack of size on the wings on both the Nigel Dawes-Chris Drury-Petr Prucha and Dan Fritsche-Brandon Dubinsky-Ryan Callahan units, Renney said he’s likely to take a look at Aaron Voros and/or Patrick Rissmiller on either of those lines in forthcoming scrimmages or preseason games.

“We’ve got to try some size up there,” the coach said. “Aaron and Patrick would love the opportunity, and until we give it to them, who knows what they might offer.

“We’ve got to get guys into different so we can properly assess them.”

*

Fritsche - a right-hand shot playing the off-wing - scored the day’s highlight goal, burning Michal Rozsival with outside speed before cutting to the net to beat Steve Valiquette . . . Lauri Korpikoski skated again with Blair Betts and Colton Orr, hardly the linemates best suited to highlight the young left winger’s offensive abilities. . . . It was another good day for Corey Potter, bidding for the job as seventh defenseman on a squad that very well might only carry six on the NHL roster. . . . No news to report regarding Brendan Shanahan.

Alex Ovechkin strolled into the Washington Capitals practice. Facility to report for training camp Friday, wearing a tight-fitting tank top, faded camouflage shorts and flip-flops.

A little while later, the NHL’s reigning MVP swapped that outfit for team-issued red mesh shorts and a bright, white T-shirt reading, “The Future is Now” in red on the front and “Good is Not Good Enough” on the back.

Oh, how quickly the outlook around these parts changed. That’s what a league scoring champion, a late-season surge, a surprising playoff appearance and a coach of the year award for in-season hire Bruce Boudreau will do for a hockey team.

“When Bruce first came in last year, his message to the players was, ‘Working hard and trying hard isn’t good enough anymore. We’ve got to start winning,”‘ general manager George McPhee said. “We’re now at a point where we think we have a good club and we don’t want to set any limitations on what we might be able to do. It’s not about just making the playoffs. We want to go a long way, as far as we can go. We’d like to win a Cup.”

Heady talk, given where the Capitals were recently: They finished 27th in the 30-team league in both 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Which is why, forward Brooks Laich explained, “Last year, we came to camp sort of hoping to make the playoffs. We weren’t sure yet where we were at. But this year it’s a different feeling around here. After what we did last year, we’re expecting to make the playoffs - and not just get in, but expecting to do something when we get there.”

Even the modest goal of contending for a postseason berth seemed out of the question in late November, when the Capitals were an NHL-worst 6-14-1, prompting McPhee to fire coach Glen Hanlon and promote Boudreau from the minors.

Boudreau’s attacking style and “believe you can win” mantra sparked Washington, which went 37-17-7 the rest of the way. Among the main contributors were youngsters Ovechkin (65 goals, an NHL record for a left wing), Nicklas Backstrom (team-high 55 assists, Calder Memorial Trophy finalist for top rookie) and Mike Green (league-best 18 goals by a defenseman). Ovechkin turned 23 this week, and he’s the oldest of that trio.

Other key players returning include forwards Alexander Semin (26 goals), Laich (21 goals), Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov, who helped Washington win 11 of its last 12 games to earn the Southeast Division title.

By the time the Capitals lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime of Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs, the franchise’s self-image and reputation were revamped.

“It’s good when teams respect you and teams know you’re a good team. We deserve that,” Ovechkin said. “We play hard, we’re working hard in practice, we support each other.”

Clearly, opponents view Washington differently.

Just ask goalie Jose Theodore, the 2002 NHL MVP who signed a $9 million, two-year contract as the Capitals’ lone significant offseason addition.

“Looking maybe two or three years back, we all knew they had some great talent. But last year, they saw that they could put everything together and they could be one of the best teams,” Theodore said. “We saw what they did the second half of the season, and when we played against these guys, I said, ‘These guys are going to be good for a long time.”‘

He sounded undaunted by the prospect of replacing the departed Olie Kolzig, Washington’s No. 1 goalie for a decade, and Cristobal Huet, who won his last nine regular-season starts after being acquired in a trade.

Still, Theodore’s play will be among the main story lines for Washington heading into the new season, which begins Oct. 10 at Atlanta.

“We’re pretty good, and we’re on the right track to getting really good,” Boudreau said on the eve of his first training camp as an NHL coach. “The players finally believe that they’re capable of being a very good team when they put their mind to it.”

Backstrom (right ankle) won’t participate in Saturday’s opening practice, Boudreau said. “We want to be overly cautious. This is still September. You know those ankles - they’re such a weird injury,” Boudreau said. … Captain Chris Clark (groin) and Michael Nylander (torn left rotator cuff), who both missed the end of last season, are ready for the start of camp. … The team made three roster moves Friday: First-round draft pick Anton Gustafsson was returned to his Swedish team; D Keith Seabrook, a 2006 draftee, was returned to the juniors; D Craig Switzer was released.

On the eve of training camp, the Minnesota Wild still had one glaring item remaining on their summer to-do list.

Marian Gaborik’s future - ideally signing him to a long-term contract extension, or else consummating a trade to avoid losing him to free agency next year for no compensation - must be determined soon. General manager Doug Risebrough stopped short of declaring a before-the-season deadline for resolution, but he said he expects the situation to come together fast, one way or another.

“It’ll become pretty clear pretty quickly,” Risebrough said.

After recently signing defenseman Nick Schultz (six years), forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard (five years), center Mikko Koivu (four years) and defenseman Brent Burns (four years) to extensions, the Wild have identified the young core they plan to move forward with. That’s a good group, but it’s missing a big piece, one the Wild are eager to add.

Gaborik’s agent, Ron Salcer, is scheduled to travel to Grand Forks, N.D., early next week for a second face-to-face meeting with assistant general manager Tom Lynn in continuation of their negotiations. The Wild will practice in North Dakota for four days before returning to headquarters in St. Paul for their first exhibition game on Wednesday.

Risebrough and Lynn traveled to Slovakia to talk with the 26-year-old Gaborik himself last month, selling him on the notion he can be one of the NHL’s most prolific scorers if he stays healthy - even in a defense-first system under coach Jacques Lemaire.

“He wants to win and he wants to be a premier player in the league, and I’m glad I heard that,” Risebrough said.

The Wild believe Gaborik can be happy here, but the problem for them is he has the leverage with one year left on his current contract at $7.5 million. They’ve created enough salary cap space to devote to a multiyear deal and are willing to pay him a market price. But if he has another 40-goal season - or more - that average annual value will only go up. It might be tempting for Gaborik to wait and see what he can get when several teams are bidding for his services.

“We want to make it as productive as possible in working toward a common goal,” Salcer said this week. “We’re very willing to explore all options that are available to Marian. He’s got a contract for one more year, which we’re going to honor, and we’ll see what happens from there.”

So, as Minnesota sports fans certainly remember from last winter when the Twins traded Johan Santana to avoid losing him as a free agent, the possibility of dealing Gaborik certainly exists.

“I’m not going to comment about a time frame,” Risebrough said, adding: “The picture is pretty clear about what we’re trying to do, but I’m not going to say when it has to be done.”

Not signing him and not trading him would create a potential lame-duck status and subsequent distraction.

“The only player that could be distracted is the guy involved,” coach Jacques Lemaire insisted. “Gabby will have to make a decision, sooner or later, and he’s going to live with that decision. So I don’t see any worries there. If he wants to wait, that’ll be his decision, and he’s got to live with it.

“He wants to be part of this team for a long time; again, he’s going to take that decision and he’ll live with it. Coaching staff and other players, we just try to do our job. This is out of our hands.”

After an informal skate-around with several teammates earlier this week, Gaborik shed little light on his feelings.

“I’m excited for the season to start. I want to get ready for the season, and I’m not thinking about it,” Gaborik said. “I’m going to have fun, enjoy it, and just try to get ready.”

Ditto for his teammates.

“It’s none of our business,” said forward Andrew Brunette, who will be one of at least eight new players on the 23-man roster this season. “It never comes up. It’s something he’s going to take care of on his own. I think we’re all familiar with the situation, and we’ve just got to play. That’s our job, and we do it. I’m sure it’ll work itself out.”

And ditto for his agent.

“I think Marian’s main focus is playing hockey, because he knows that everything good that happens to him starts on the ice,” Salcer said. “Marian’s a professional, and there are certain things he realizes he can’t control.”

Calgary Flames head coach Mike Keenan will test out newcomer Todd Bertuzzi on a line with captain Jarome Iginla. And Daymond Langkow when the NHL team holds its first training camp workout Saturday.

Flames players reported to the Pengrowth Saddledome on Friday for medicals and fitness training and Keenan said he was eager to start up the on-ice sessions.

I think theres more of a buzz this year than Ive felt in a long time, Keenan said. Yes Im excited about the start and anxious to see the team on the ice.

Keenan, who coached Bertuzzi when the two were with the Vancouver Canucks in the late 1990s, said hes excited to see what the six-foot-three, 226-pound forward can accomplish this season.

Hes more experienced than when I coached him, Keenan said. Hes in a good space mentally.

Hes positive about himself and about his opportunity here he views this Im sure as a good new start.

Keenan confirmed hell test out Bertuzzi on Calgarys top line to start training camp.

Im going to start with he, Langkow and Iginla and go from there and evaluate the players as we go along, he said.

Bertuzzi said hes looking forward to playing for Keenan once again.

He demands a lot out of you, but at the same time he has a lot of respect for his players, he said. He knows how far to push individuals to get the best out of them.

Bertuzzi, 33, a 12-year NHL veteran, said it was nice to get a vote of confidence from Iginla prior to the Flames signing him as a free agent July 7.

Its pretty flattering, said Bertuzzi. Hes probably one of the top-three players in the NHL right now.

Its an opportunity that Im that looking forward to. I had a chance to play with Jarome a little bit at the Olympics. I played a little bit with him on the power play and it was pretty comfortable. Hopefully Ill have a good camp and we get some chemistry going and well be a good 1-2 punch.

Iginla said hes impressed with Bertuzzis fitness level heading into the season.

He looks great, he said. Everybody knows him as a big power forward, but hes extremely skilled and really great in front of the net obviously, but a really good passer.

I think itll be exciting. Ive had an opportunity to play with him before and I liked it.

Iginla is also excited to see what newcomers Mike Cammalleri, Rene Bourque and Curtis Glencross can accomplish this season.

Every year is exciting, said Iginla, noting the coaching staff has many options up front because so many forwards can play different positions. You come in and every team goes through different changes.

Theres so many different options for Mike as far as where guys are going to play and who fits best together and until you see it during games you never know.

After a few days of on-ice sessions, the Flames will get right into action Tuesday night with a pre-season game against the Florida Panthers, the first of games in four nights.

Right away getting into game action and getting hit and being able to be prepared for that before the season starts is always good, Bertuzzi said.

Keenan said the seven-game exhibition schedule will give him and his coaching staff a great chance to evaluate his squad heading into the start of the season.

It gives you an opportunity to move some lines around and people around, he said. We are going to try a lot of different things, different combinations and different pairings.

As for his No. 1 netminder, Keenan said he expects Miikka Kiprusoff to work hard in training camp to start the season at the top of his game.

Its not just Miikka, Keenan said. All of us have to get better and thats going to be the solution that were looking for to continue to improve.

Everyone understands that.

Kiprusoff shrugged off any speculation that his relationship with Keenan soured after being pulled in favour of backup netminder Curtis Joseph in Game 7 of a first-round playoff loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Everythings all right, Kiprusoff said. Its more like everybody outside (is) talking and saying there is something, but I always thought everything is fine and theres no problems there.

Avalanche captain Joe Sakic pulled rank Friday. And instituted what he called the “old-man rule,” thereby getting himself out of fitness testing.

While his teammates went through lactic threshold exams, played catch with a medicine ball and had their leaps measured in standing long jumps, Sakic took it easy.

Not that his teammates begrudged his preferential treatment - they’re just glad Sakic decided to keep playing, returning for a 20th season.

“He’s starting to look old, though, isn’t he?” defenseman John-Michael Liles said with a grin. “Nah. He’s Joe. It’s great to have him back.”

Sakic’s return calmed an otherwise turbulent offseason for the Avalanche. The team underwent dramatic changes after being swept by Detroit in the second round of the playoffs.

They lost Jeff Finger, Andrew Brunette, Kurt Sauer and Jose Theodore to free agency and decided to part ways with coach Joel Quenneville, hiring Tony Granato for a second stint.

Granato thinks he’s more confident and more relaxed this time than when he inherited the team in 2002.

“You always learn a lot,” said Granato, who was replaced by Quenneville in July 2004 and served as an Avalanche assistant, before receiving the promotion. “You try to get better each day.”

With Theodore gone, Granato is handing the goaltending duties back to Peter Budaj, who was 16-10-4 last season. Backing him up will be free agent Andrew Raycroft.

“Peter is our go-to guy,” Granato said. “He’s deserved that. He’s proven with what he’s done in the past he’s ready for it. We’re very solid, and very confident in the guys we have in net.”

Granato has promised a revamped offense that will play with more tempo, kind of like the Red Wings, who captured the Stanley Cup championship.

“We want to be a speed team, a team that dictates the pace of the game with our quickness,” Granato said. “We’re excited to get this thing going.”

So is Sakic.

“I see a lot of good possibilities for this team, the 39-year-old center said.

The Avalanche added some grit in the offseason, bringing in Per Ledin, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Darcy Tucker and Brian Willsie.

Avalanche forward Ian Laperriere will take grit any day.

“Detroit won it with skill and speed, it’s good to have,” Laperriere said. “I still believe in grit. It cracks me up - I’d like to have a (Henrik) Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk, too, but there’s only one or two of those guys in the league. You have to find a way to win with grit. We do have skills and we’ll bring some grit.”

Sakic gave serious consideration to calling it a career after the Avalanche season ended. If Sakic had been forced to make his mind up in June, he probably would’ve stepped away.

But as the summer wore on, he realized he didn’t want to leave the game.

“I got the itch and fire back,” Sakic said.

That came as a relief to Laperriere, who pestered Sakic to return with frequent text messages.

“Everybody knows he’s still a premier player in this league,” said Laperriere, who’s already sporting a cut under his eye, the result of a wayward stick in a summer game. “It’s very exciting.”

Sakic had reason to ponder his future after coming off his most trying season, missing 38 games following hernia surgery.

Despite being banged up, he was still effective, scoring 40 points in 44 games. Sakic enters the season ranked eighth on the NHL career list in points (1,629), 11th in assists (1,006) and 14th in goals (623).

“Him being 100 percent and feeling excited and ready to go gets everybody else that much more excited,” forward Paul Stastny said. “I like what we’ve got here.”

As does Sakic.

“We’re all excited to see what we have here,” he said.

Sakic scanned the room Friday, smiling as some of his teammates went through comprehensive fitness drills.

“I’m very excited with my testing this year. I passed,” Sakic proudly said.

The “old-man rule” served him well.

The New York Islanders on Friday announced that assistant coach Gerard Gallant will be moving. To the front office to work as a special consultant for general manager Garth Snow.

Gallant served as an assistant with the Islanders last season under head coach Ted Nolan, who parted ways with the club in July due to philosophical differences with Snow.

The head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2003-2007, Gallant was considered a candidate to replace Nolan, but the Islanders opted to hire 2008 American Hockey League Coach of the Year Scott Gordon in August.

I am grateful to the Islanders organization for affording me the opportunity to continue my coaching career last season, Gallant said. I am excited about the opportunity to work with Garth, which at this point in time will also allow me to spend more time with my family and even get a chance to watch my son play in junior hockey.

The Islanders went 35-38-9 last season and finished 13th in the Eastern Conference.

With Mats Sundin out of the picture, the Montreal Canadiens reached for another veteran centre Friday - Robert Lang.

The Canadiens dealt a second-round pick in the 2010 draft (previously acquired from Toronto) to the salary cap-strained Blackhawks for 37-year-old Lang, a playmaking centre who had 21 goals and 33 assists last season in Chicago.

They also brought back veteran defenceman Patrice Brisebois, an unrestricted free agent, on a one-year contract worth US$750,000, with a chance to earn another $750,000 in bonuses.

General manager Bob Gainey said this summer he had a backup in mind if he failed to land former Maple Leafs captain Sundin as a free agent. That turned out to be Lang, who had his best years playing with Canadiens winger Alex Kovalev when both were with Pittsburgh in the late 1990s.

There was no indication to us that we would see Mats Sundin with our team, said Gainey, who met with the Swedish star on the weekend. I didnt have a sense that Sundin wanted to start the season or come to training camp and we wanted a team ready for training camp.

He added that the club is no longer interested in Sundin, who has yet to decide whether he will play another season.

The Blackhawks were over the salary cap and were looking to move a player. Lang is to earn $4 million this season in the second year of a two-year free agent deal signed last season.

I knew (Chicago GM) Dale Tallon had to do something, Lang said from his home in Chicago. If you play with the numbers in your mind, you figure you could be one of the guys (who gets traded).

You never want to get traded or have to move your family, but I think its going to be a great situation. Its a great hockey town.

In the off-season, Gainey has acquired wingers Alex Tanguay from Calgary and Georges Laraque from Pittsburgh as well as Lang. He said they make up for the loss of forwards Michael Ryder and Brian Smolinski and forward/defenceman Mark Streit.

Were a little better, Gainey said. A little heavier, a little more talented.

Added to the group thats there, I feel we responded to our needs for this year.

The Canadiens hockey brass decided after last season, when the team finished first in the NHL Eastern Conference but lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers, that it needed help at centre - particularly a skater with a right-handed shot, along with some extra size and experience.

The six-foot-three, 216-pound Lang fit that bill.

He adds to our depth and experience and to the level of our attack, Gainey said.

How Lang will fit in will be worked out in camp. The Canadiens current top two centres are captain Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec, who played with Kovalev and Andrei Kostitsyn on a very effective line last season. One of them may be moved to the third line.

Lang, who began his NHL career with Los Angeles in the season when Montreal won its last Stanley Cup in 1992-93, is a former 32-goal scorer who has also played for Boston, Washington and Detroit.

As for playing with Alex, we had a great time in Pittsburgh playing together, said Lang, a member of the Czech Republics 1998 Olympic gold-medal team. Hopefully, we can revisit the chemistry we had. It should be great.

Lang laughed at the coincidence of being traded to mostly French-speaking Montreal on the birthday of his four-year-old son, who attended a French school in Chicago.

He wasnt surprised to find himself with the Canadiens, one of the teams he spoke to before signing with Chicago.

Brisebois, 37, is Montreals last on-ice link to its 1993 Stanley Cup, although coach Guy Carbonneau and assistant coach Kirk Muller were also on that squad.

Gainey asked him to wait before signing his contract until a decision was made on Sundin and the teams salary cap space was settled. Brisebois said he wasnt interested in signing with any other team than the Canadiens.

Its the teams 100th year and I really wanted to be part of that, the Montreal native said. I told my agent Don Meehan try to sign with Montreal.

He never talked to any other teams.

Brisebois, entering his 18th season and only 53 games short of 1,000 in his career, had three goals and eight assists in only 43 games as a part-time player last season, when he returned to Montreal after two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.

This season, he will be one of the candidates to replace Streit on the right point of the power play, although he remains the teams seventh defenceman.

Its Carbos decision, but the season is long and there are injuries, so you never know what will happen, said Brisebois.

Nikita Filatov of the Blue Jackets will miss the team rookie camp in Traverse City, Mich. This weekend because of a lower leg injury.

The 18-year-old forward was the club’s top pick and sixth overall in the draft. He had 32 goals and 34 assists in 34 games with CSKA of the Russian Junior League in 2007-08 and played on the Russian team that won the silver medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships.

Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson said Friday that Filatov was bothered by an old injury and would not accompany other rookies to the NHL Prospects Tournament. He will stay in Columbus and be evaluated in the next two weeks.

The Blue Jackets open training camp Sept. 19.

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Montreal acquires Lang from Chicago.

The Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Robert Lang from the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday for a second-round pick in 2010.

The 37-year-old Lang, set to make $4 million in the final season of his contract, had 21 goals and 54 points in 76 games for Chicago last season.

The Canadiens also re-signed defenseman Patrice Brisebois to a one-year deal. He had three goals and 11 points in 43 games last season.

The New Jersey Devils re-signed center Rod Pelley on Friday. And acquired forward Kevin Cormier in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Pelley had two goals and four assists in 58 games with the Devils last season.

New Jersey traded defenseman Sean Zimmerman to get Cormier, who had three goals and two assists in 23 games last season for Arizona of the Central Hockey League.

Zimmerman split the 2007-2008 season between the Devils’ minor league affiliates in Trenton and Lowell.

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Canadiens acquire C Lang from Blackhawks.

Robert Lang is on the move again.

The Montreal Canadiens on Friday acquired the veteran center from the Chicago Blackhawks for a second-round pick in the 2010 draft.

Montreal will be the seventh team in 15 seasons for Lang, who was a seventh-round pick of Los Angeles in 1990. The 37-year-old Czech recorded 21 goals and 33 assists in 76 games with Chicago in 2007-08, finishing tied for third on the team in scoring while reaching the 50-point plateau for the eighth straight campaign.

Robert is a quality guy and we appreciate that he gave us everything that he had, but this move gives one of our great young players an opportunity to step up, Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon said.

An All-Star in 2004, the 6-3, 216-pound Lang has collected 234 goals and 401 assists in 875 career contests with the Kings, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and Blackhawks. He enjoyed his best season with Pittsburgh in 2000-01, when he registered career highs of 32 tallies and 80 points.

Lang also has represented the Czech Republic at four Winter Olympics, helping his nation win the gold medal in 1998 and bronze in 2006.