Kings fans who are nervously awaiting the results of an MRI on the injured knee of prospect Brayden Schenn might be able to take some heart from some excerpts of a story in the Brandon Sun, a Canadian paper that covers Schenn's junior team, the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The story was written by James Shewaga and forwarded by Matt McNish of the Sun:

Brandon Wheat Kings centre Brayden Schenn is expected to undergo a precautionary MRI exam today in Los Angeles after suffering what is believed to be a minor knee injury in practice on Tuesday.
While wild speculation ran rampant on Internet sites that Schenn may have suffered a major injury, Wheat Kings head coach/general manager Kelly McCrimmon said initial indications are it doesn't appear to be serious.

"I think it's pretty minor, just tweaked his knee in practice (Tuesday) and didn't skate (Wednesday)," McCrimmon said. "And he was scheduled to fly to L.A. (today), so they will pick up on it there."

While Schenn was unavailable for comment, his father Jeff confirmed via telephone from Saskatoon that an MRI is scheduled for today, but also described the injury as minor and doesn't believe any surgery will be required.

Thanks, Matt and James. When the Kings provide an update, we'll pass it along -- and get confirmation on which knee Schenn injured

The NHL has harshly penalized the New Jersey Devils for signing Ilya Kovalchuk to 17-year, $102 million contract that circumvented the league's salary cap.

Commissioner Gary Bettman fined the Devils $3 million and took away two draft picks, including a first-rounder of New Jersey's choice sometime in the next four years.

The Devils also will lose a third-round draft pick next year.

Devils president and chief executive Lou Lamoriello issued a statement late Monday, insisting the team had done nothing wrong. He disagreed with Bettman's decision.

The NHL had the right to discipline the Devils after arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled on Aug. 9 that Kovalchuk's free-agent contract constituted a circumvention of the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement. The league's biggest problem with the deal was that the 27-year-old Russian star was to be paid only $550,000 in each of the final six years of the deal.

"We were today advised of the ruling by the commissioner with respect to the Kovalchuk matter," Lamoriello said in a statement. "We disagree with the decision. We acted in good faith and did nothing wrong. We will have no further comment."

It was not immediately clear if the Devils can appeal the ruling.

The fine will not count against the Devils' salary cap, a decision the league and the NHL Players' Association reached earlier this month in working out an amendment on long-term contracts.

That amendment paved the way for the league to approve a 15-year, $100 million contract that the Devils and Kovalchuk reworked after Bloch's arbitration ruling.

The NHL said it now considered the matter closed and will have no further comment, including anything on its disciplinary action.

When the Devils decide to give up their first-round pick, they must tell the league by the day after the Stanley Cup finals in that year.

The Devils originally signed the high-scoring left winger to what would have been a landmark deal in July. It would have kept Kovalchuk under contract until he was 44.

The league immediately rejected the deal, noting that paying the Russian All Star such a low salary in each of the final five years violated the league's salary cap because it drove down New Jersey's annual salary cap hit.

The players' association filed a grievance against the league, but Bloch sided with the league after hearing from both sides.

The Devils and Kovalchuk reworked the contract and settled on the revised 15-year deal earlier this month. The NHL approved it after reaching an agreement with the players association on the amendment covering long-term contracts.

With 338 goals and 304 assists in 642 career NHL games, Kovalchuk was the biggest prize on the free agent market this season. He had 41 goals and 44 assists in 2009-10, a season he split between Atlanta and the Devils, who acquired him in a multiplayer deal in February.

The new deal will put a $6.67 million annual hit on the Devils' salary cap and put the team roughly $3 million over the league limit ($59.4 million) with only 21 players under contract, two under the league limit.

If there was any debate about what kind of character Drew Doughty possesses, it's been silenced, and quickly. Reports around the blogosphere indicate that Drew Doughty offered Willie Mitchell the number eight, the number Mitchell donned during his tenure in Vancouver. The two already have built quite a strong relationship, with Mitchell pointing to the possibility of pairing with Doughty as one of the main selling points in coming to Los Angeles.

Mitchell obviously declined, but the fact that such a rising star was willing to part with his number in order to strengthen relationships in Los Angeles suggests that this Kings team, and Doughty in particular, may be more focused on winning than anything else, something that can't be said for every team in the National Hockey League.

"Here we go again," said the three-time NHL coach of the year. "They're trying to kill me before I'm dead. I come to Quebec to spend some time with my family and they say I'm dead. I'm not dead, far (expletive) from it. They've had me dead since June. Tell them I'm alive. Set them straight."