Couple notes from camp.

I don't know how I missed this yesterday in my round up. Anton Gustafsson said in an interview that he'd like to play in North America next season. I saw the quote but thought that was just his way of saying that he hoped to stick in the NHL, but Corey Masisak from the Washington Times got Gustafsson to clarify it a little bit. It seems that his team in the Elitserien, Frolunda, is signing a lot of players this off season for a championship push. With six older centermen in front of him, he thinks that time in the AHL would be better for his development. This is great news for Bears fans. Read Masisak post here.

More good news for Bears fans, Bourque, Wilson and Pinizzotto all re-signed today. Bourque & Wilson are both on two-way, one year contracts and Pinner is locked up for two more years. Press release here.

The flip side of this announcement is that Jeff Schulz didn't sign his qualifying offer. He didn't file for arbitration, so I'm not sure what his game is. This raises the possibility of not having Schulz or Jurcina on the Caps blue line next year.

We all know what that means, two less Bears defensemen. Sloan is the likely candidate to get the call first. Boudreau really seemed to like Tyler last year or maybe it was because he was a cheap salary cap hit. I don't know why he spent so long with the big club, but he seemed to be the Caps first choice when they needed a fill in on D.

The other hole is a bit harder to fill. If Kronwall was still here, I would have said that the job was his to lose. Now I don't know who Coach Boudreau will pick. Karl Alzner is a logical replacement for Schulz. They are both big, stay at home style D-men. However, John Carlson is the new golden boy in the organization, so he may get the call.

I don't think that either of them are ready for full time duty in the NHL, but Luke Schenn wasn't ready for it at the beginning of last season either and he turned out to be a stud. The Caps would probably prefer to have both of them spend at least half the season with the Bears this year, but they might be forced into playing one of them on the third pairing with the big club next season.

Only 77 days to the home opener!