Around the NHL:

The roller coaster summer continues with news in the NHL heating up again!

From signings and trade rumors to CBA talks, there is plenty to talk about today:

Catch up around the NHL after the jump

• TSN is reporting that the Detroit Red Wings are in talks with the Calgary Flames about acquiring D Jay Bouwmeester.

Don't think anyone is too surprised by this move. This entire summer Detroit has been looking to upgrade their defense corps through every medium possible (free agents, trades, offer sheets) but has come up empty handed.

The Red Wings have cap space, the Flames need to shed some salary. It seems like a good match and I personally believe Bouwmeester could return to being an offensive catalyst from the Red Wing blue line with a change of scenery.

What makes this situation interesting is that Detroit is expecting Philadelphia to hop in on the Bouwmeester sweepstakes if they aren't already. Quite frankly, I think this media attention is a ploy by the Flames to spark a bidding war for the expensive defenseman.

• The Carolina Hurricanes resigned F Jeff Skinner to a 6-year, $34.35 million contract

Arguably one of (if not the) most active team this off season, the Hurricanes locked up one of their top young players. The deal will pay Skinner an average of $5.725 per season.  The Hurricanes will enter the 2012-2013 season with one of the most dynamic offenses in the league led by Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner and Alex Semin. If Skinner can improve on his rookie season where he put up 31 goals and 32 assists in 82 games the Hurricanes will have themselves one hell of a deal with one of the top young guns in the NHL.

• F Bobby Butler signs a 2 way, 1 year deal with the New Jersey Devils

Recently bought out by the Ottawa Senators, it appears as though Bobby Butler has landed on his feet signing a one year deal with the New Jersey Devils. As someone who was high on this heavily sought after collegiate free agent, I am glad he has found a home in the NHL. Reports over the past few days had many thinking Butler was off to Sweden to play there.
For more a deeper analysis on Butler click here.

• NHL Owners set September 15th deadline for CBA 

Ah, the big one. As hockey fans, we tend to forget about the business aspect of the game but it is there and this summer it could potentially have a huge impact on the game. The owners have set their deadline and have said that if there is no agreement in place by the day that the old CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) expires, the NHL will lock out its players.

From a business standpoint? The NHL cannot afford another lockout. The game has progressed at an incredible rate since the last lockout and another year of increased revenue supports that. However, Bettman still wants to expand the game of hockey into the United States and a lockout would be extremely detrimental to that plan.

I have experienced one lockout as a die hard hockey fan and trust me when I say I never want to go through that again. It's safe to say that I could have been part of this ... and then this. Regardless, let's just avoid that whole debacle and just sign that CBA so the NHL season can start on time. Deal? Great.

• Team Canada defeated Team Russia 3-2 in Game 1 of the Canada-Russia Challenge

Team Canada scored three unanswered goals in the second period and would hang on to win. Malcolm Subban (Boston Bruins), Dougie Hamilton (Boston Bruins), Morgan Reilley (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers), Nail Yakupov (Edmonton Oilers) and Mikhail Grigorenko (Buffalo Sabres) all made impacts on the outcome of the game.

From NHL.com, "The Canada-Russia Challenge celebrates the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, an unforgettable eight-game tournament held in September that year. Canada won the series 4-3 with one tie."

• More players have been added to the rosters for the Winter Classic Alumni game

Today, it was announced that Paul Coffey and Lanny McDonald will be lacing up the skates one more time for the alumni game at the 2013 Winter Classic. Coffey will be a Red Wing again and McDonald will dress for the Maple Leafs.

This is one alumni game I personally will be looking forward to watch as both clubs have rich histories with legends and Hall of Famers that will be playing together for one more game. Both clubs also have a great mix of older players and players who have recently retired which should make it an enjoyable game for fans of all age groups.
For the rosters of both clubs follow this link.

• NHL.com releases their top 15 jerseys sold in July

I thought this was pretty neat. Here is their list:

1. Zach Parise, MIN
2. Ryan Callahan, NYR
3. Claude Giroux, PHI
4. Anze Kopitar, LAK
5. Jonathan Quick, LAK
6. Mike Richards, LAK
7. Drew Doughty, LAK
8. Sidney Crosby, PIT
9. Alexander Ovechkin, WAS
10. Jonathan Toews, CHI
11. Pavel Datsyuk, DET
12. Dustin Brown, LAK
13. Ilya Kovalchuk, NJD
14. Martin Brodeur, NJD
15. Rick Nash, NYR

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That about wraps up all I have for you today. I will post updates as they come.

Thanks for reading!