As reported on XM Radio this morning, OC Register writer Randy Youngman sent a photo of a recent tennis outing by Teemu Selanne. Brian Burke reportedly raised an arched eyebrow and suggested to Youngman that Selanne needs to give him a call.

And a tough call it'll be for Burke if he has to replace Selanne. Tougher still if Selanne's indecisiveness binds Burke by forcing him to allocate some money for an eventual return, while replacing the player at the same time. It'll be 2007-08 all over again in the case of Selanne, if Burke allows this to continue.

Selanne is one of the most gentlemanly of all NHL players and is always forthcoming and accountable. It's time for the Ducks' biggest star to return the favor to Burke, after the GM cut him huge slack last season, signing him with 26 games remaining, during which Selanne scored twelve goals and eleven assists for 13 points.

Selanne has never rankled fans in SoCal--indeed, he's rightly adored--but his current delay in choosing whether to play is wearing thin, and compromising the club's ability to complete its roster for the upcoming season.

Tampa Bay Lightning "Outreach" Program?

Brian Lawton, it's been reported, is a major investor in the Bear Mountain Resort, in British Columbia, owned by Lightning co-owner Len Barrie.

Sounds like a very nice place. It's also more than 3,000 miles from Tampa.

Despite the fact that club higher-ups are investors in the resort, it says here that the Lightning should have taken this opportunity to reach out to its fan base by holding its development camp in Tampa.

The fan base was already shortchanged when the NHL missed an entire season to lockout, and the Lightning never got to defend its 2004 title. Now, with new ownership, Lawton as de facto GM and Barry Melrose installed as coach, the team should have taken this summer opportunity directly to the folks who fill the seats. Holding all summer events locally would have been a better use of funds than a Bear Mountain retreat.

The player calls the shots in the Cap Age: Jay Bouwmeester

They say that in the salary cap era, the player decides where he wants to play. Nowhere is that more evident this summer than in the case of Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.

Bouwmeester, the biggest name on the NHL's salary arbitration list [ LINK ] this summer, who came to terms with the Panthers on a one-year, $4.875M contract Monday.

The thinking by GM Jacques Martin and Panthers' brass is that the club needed to lock up their franchise defenseman at the price it did, because the arbitrator could easily have landed at a figure much higher, maybe $6M per.

Martin wants a long-term deal, but in this, the Cap Age, Bouwmeester will wait and see whether the club is headed in the right direction.

"Sometime during the season, I hope to get it (done) long-term," Martin told the Miami Herald. "We want to have a good start to the season, then address the issue."

Bouwmeester, at just 24 years of age, is a veteran of arbitration battles, having been awarded a two-year deal by an arbitrator in the spring of 2006. Despite his young age, he has played five NHL seasons and one AHL campaign during the lockout. He scored fifteen goals last season, a career-high, topping his previous high of 12 in 2006-07. Now shooting roughly 180 shots per season over the past three years, Bouwmeester has proven worthy of the third overall choice the Panthers spent on him at the 2002 draft.

With unrestricted free agency looming next July 1, he'll be one of, if not the hottest commodities available in this, the Cap Age. For the Panthers to retain him, it will take a deal in the neighborhood of $6-7M per, akin to what Brian Campbell or Dion Phaneuf are earning. As a likely last resort, the Panthers will deal Bouwmeester at the trade deadline.

Whatever the outcome, the ball will remain in Bouwmeester's court, as it is in the Cap Age.

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