It's going to be a late night for Nashville Predators fans as they play on the West Coast tonight, but in the meantime, get your day started with a fresh batch of NHL news and notes.

Until then, you should also tune into the Thom Abraham Show on WNSR 560-AM today; I'll be on during the 12:00 hour to preview Nashville's big road trip.

After the jump, we have the latest updates from the Preds' injury ward, news that an NHL team is talking about signing Peter Forsberg, and another player on re-call waivers, meaning any team in the league can claim him for 50% off...

Predators News

Dumont injury sparks scramble again - Predators Insider
John Glennon takes a stab at how the forward lines will look now that Dumont, Erat and Wilson are out, but Arnott and Tootoo return. It's not a pretty sight.

Rookie joins heap of injured Predators | Nashville City Paper
David Boclair details the list of walking wounded among the team.

Predators pile up the points early - The Tennessean
Bryan Mullen points to some reasons for optimism as the Preds sit at the .500 mark. While he needs to get sharper on the facts, writing The Predators opened the season 0-for-29 on the power play when in fact they scored on their very first one, it's encouraging to see a second writer contributing on a regular basis over at the Tennessean.

Around the NHL

Rangers scouting legend in Sweden - NY Post
Larry Brooks brings word that the New York Rangers are openly talking about their interest in acquiring Peter Forsberg.

Do Players Really Understand? | Hockey Independent
Al Cimaglia wonders if the NHL will ever take a proactive stance towards player safety, rather than merely reacting to serious incidents with one-off policy shifts.

Severity of injury big factor in OHL ruling - CBC Sports
The Ontario Hockey League has suspended Michael Liambas for the rest of the regular season for a hit into the boards that put Ben Fanelli into the hospital. It's another sad example of a league tying the penalty for a big hit to the injury which results, rather than focusing on the action itself.

Cash-strapped Jackets focus of report - Business First of Columbus:
The Blue Jackets are sidling up to the public trough to try and staunch annual financial losses. I can't believe they're seriously proposing the use of federal stimulus money to adjust the arena financing, and think the first question they should answer is why they're spending $10 million over the salary cap floor for a middling team. (hat tip to Kukla)

Team Canada Depth Chart: Defence - Hockey Or Die!
Taking a look at the top contenders for Team Canada's blueline for the Winter Olympics. I don't know that I'd have Mike Green as high as he's listed here, but they'll be stacked regardless.

Chris Chelios makes his debut at the Bradley Center - Hockey Gal
The Ancient One suited up for the Chicago Wolves against the Milwaukee Admirals last night, and this post includes a nice pic of him battling Ryan Jones in front of the Wolves' net. Chelios earned two assists on the night and was 2nd Star of the game.

Postgame Avs-Coyotes – where were you tonight? | All Things Avs
Adrian Dater calls out Denver fans for a disappointing crowd last night against Phoenix. Here's an idea; we know it's going to be a rough year in many NHL markets due to the economy - why obsess over the obvious?

Toni Rajala Talks to The Copper & Blue - The Copper & Blue
SB Nation's Edmonton Oilers blog gets an interview with one of the team's prospects.

The looming transaction - Ryan Craig on re-call waivers - Raw Charge
When a player goes through re-call waivers, another NHL team can claim him, and only have to pay half his salary. Should the Preds look at perhaps bringing in a depth winger who can score the odd goal, at the bargain-basement price of $400,000?

Sportsnet record for Kessel’s debut | Truth & Rumours
Phil Kessel's first game for Toronto drew a tremendous TV audience, writes William Houston. I'm sure that the Preds would have liked the spectacle of having a flashy new player to show off to the fans, just as much as they would have liked his goal-scoring ability.

Rotten To The Corps? - Anaheim Calling
Pondering the problems on the Anaheim blueline. You just had to expect some trouble with Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemain both gone.

Canes Now - Have Canes reached that 'point" yet?
With a 2-9-3 record after 14 games, the storm clouds are gathering over the Carolina Hurricanes (ooh, that was awful, wasn't it?).