Here we are once again with another edition of Caption This Photo! Last night, the Avalanche and Kings played a pre-season game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It's the annual game in Las Vegas and the Avs won the game 4-3 in a shootout. But the great part in about spending the weekend in Vegas is that there is much more to do than watch a hockey game. On Friday night, members of both teams participated in the Luc Robitaille/Shelter for Serenity Celebrity Poker Tournament. It's a great charity event and also game us some interesting pictures of NHLers in front of the poker tables. Take the one above picturing Robitaille, Tony Granato and PJ DeLuca, a member of the Avalanche staff.

Here's the original caption from Getty:

LAS VEGAS - SEPTEMBER 26: (L-R) Former NHL player Luc Robitaille, Colorado Avalanche head coach Tony Granato and PJ DeLuca talk while participating in the Luc Robitaille/Shelter for Serenity Celebrity Poker Tournament at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino September 26, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Exciting stuff, right? No. Not at all. So let's see what you guys got!

I'll get us started and please leave your own captions in the comments!

Granato: Luc, you had a pair of twos! That was clearly a hand to go all-in on!

Robitaille: That is the LAST TIME that I ever take poker advice from you. Get away from me.

Granato: Now, see you've got 7-5 off-suit. You want to slow play this hand for sure.

DeLuca: Hey... Is that Jessica Biel by the craps table?

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Andrew Raycroft, G (FA-TOR); Darcy Tucker, F (FA-TOR)

Who's Out: Jeff Finger, D (FA-TOR); Andrew Brunette, F (FA-MIN); Kurt Sauer, D (FA-PHX); Wyatt Smith, F (FA-TB); Jose Theodore, G (FA-WSH)

What's Changed: The Avalanche are not younger, and it's hard to argue that they look like they're going to be better. Joe Sakic is back to lead the offense, and he's just a small part of an aging group. Sakic turns 40 next summer, and he's joined by over-30 guys like Ryan Smyth, Milan Hejduk, Ian Laperriere, Scott Parker, Brian Willsie, and Tucker.

Everybody's favorite indecisive holdout (and no, I'm not talking about ESPN's man crush on Brett Favre) Peter Forsberg has made an announcement today. The big news? Well, it's that he may not make an announcement about his playing future until Christmas. So yes, there you have it, an announcement that he won't make an announcement about his playing future for quite a while.

Per the Rocky Mountain News:

Swedish newspaper Expressen reported earlier this summer that Forsberg would need several months of rehabilitation for a chance to salvage his NHL career.

The newspaper quoted Forsberg, 35, as saying he probably wouldn't be available to play before Christmas.

Ah yes, it just isn't hockey season if the Peter Forsberg Saga isn't rolling mercifully along. I'm sure going to miss all this when Peter acutally does retire. But that won't be until 2021 so at least I have some time until that happens. In the meantime I'm going to soak in all of the will he/won't he questionable goodness.

Unlike our friend Mats, who apparently has issues with this "decision-making" thing, Joe Sakic has figured out what he wants to do.

The future Hall of Famer announced Wednesday that he intends to play again in 2008-2009. He signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche, setting him up to begin his 20th season in the NHL.

"Ultimately, it came down to the fact that I still enjoy playing and competing," said Sakic, who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and 2001. "I'm comfortable with my conditioning and my overall health. I'm ready for the start of [training] camp."

When healthy last year, Sakic was still effective, averaging around a point per game in the regular season and exactly one point per game in ten playoff games. However, he wasn't the impact player we're used to seeing.

He's still a great leader and a super representative for the Colorado organization, but if the Avalanche are leaning on him to lead them to a Stanley Cup, they're crazy.

Not only that, but Sakic's return doesn't even begin to make up for the loss of Jeff Finger.

Right?

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

I was inspired by this week's column by the Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek that contemplated the short-term future of the members of the 4-S Club: Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan, Teemu Selanne, and Mats Sundin. All four remain unrestricted free agents that for various reasons have not signed for the coming season and may even end up hanging up their skates and retiring from the NHL.

These four superstars have been lighting up the league for the greater part of two decades, combining for 5,225 regular season games played, 2,380 goals scored, and 5,448 points. All are among the top 50 point-scorers and the top 25 goal-scorers in NHL history, and are members of the exclusive 500 goal club and the 1,000 point club. Collectively, it's not like their game has slowed down considerably, either. If you tallied all their seasons before the 2004-05 lockout and pro-rated the results to an 82-game schedule, the pre-lockout 4-S Club averages 38 goals, 48 assists, 86 points. If you did the same exercise with the same group's post-lockout results, the foursome averages 36 goals, 48 assists, 84 points. Not a noticeable drop-off at all.

I don't know who among that group has really played their last NHL game, but it would be stunning if all four heroes rode off into the sunset together. After the break, I'll point out where these 4-S members stand on the all-time and active scoring lists, thanks to the resources at Hockey-Reference.com.

While Avs fans are understandably nervous about whether Joe Sakic will retire or not this summer, we can't forget that 32-year old Milan Hejduk is no spring chicken, either.

In an interview on Pardubice's (his 'home' Czech club) website, Hejduk all but confirmed that he'll be retiring from the NHL after his contract with the Avalanche expires. This means it's two more seasons and out for the Czech sniper.

I talked to a Czech source of mine, and after translating the interview for me, he gave me a synopsis of Hejduk's future plans.

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"He says that his health problems have limited him already for some time and that it won't get much better. Milan has an option to undergo major surgery, but would need to rehab for nearly a year after that and it isn't absolutely sure that his knee will be all right again after that. Right now he is at about 80% of his mobility. The Avs wouldn't let him to play at the World Championships because of his knee problems and he himself didn't feel like playing there exactly because of his knee.

Milan will return to Colorado on August 15th, and on 20th he will hit the ice for the first time. He hasn't been skating at all back home this summer. He still played his beloved tennis this summer, but couldn't do any jumping and his running was hampered.

Milan also says that last season was fairly successful in Colorado, but admits that the Red Wings were the better team. In the end, he says that he doesn't plan to play in the Czech Extraleague after finishing his NHL career like David Vyborny or Martin Rucinsky are doing."

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So, it appears that once Milan's NHL career is over, that is it for good. Enjoy it while it lasts!

There are a lot of big names still on the board through the early stages of free agency today. The one position that there's been no shortage of movement at? Goalie. Goalies are changing teams left and right today and the effects of some of the moves are going to be pretty wide-ranging. Let's take a look at some of the moves that have taken place and what they might mean. All of the exhaustive contract details are via TSN.

Jose Theodore to the Capitals- It's a two-year, $9 million deal and Eric's got the details below. Theodore did seem to regain some of his form this past year with the Avalanche, but he melted down in the playoffs against the Red Wings while suffering from a bad case of the flu. He'll probably give the Caps an upgrade over what Olie the Goalie was giving them earlier in the year, but he won't carry them the way Huet did down the stretch last year. And $4.5 million seems like a lot of money for a guy that just might be washed up, doesn't it?

Cristobal Huet to the Blackhawks- With a ton of moneyalready tied up in Nikolai Khabibulin (~$7 million a year), the 'Hawks are now paying Huet $5.635 a year as well. Huet's an upgrade over what the Blackhawks have, for sure, but I'm trying to wrap my mind around paying more than $12 million a year for their top two goalies.

More goalie moves after the jump.

TSN is reporting that Jose Theodore is now a member of the Washington Capitals. It's a two-year contract for $9 million.

Going into the offseason, the Washington Capitals were facing several challenges. Challenge #1 was re-signing defenseman Mike Green. That mission was accomplished earlier today when he came to terms with the team on a four-year contract. Challenge #2 was getting Cristobal Huet, who was acquired from Montreal at the trade deadline for a second round draft pick in 2009, re-signed. It was Huet, as most folks will recall, whose incredible play down the stretch enabled him to displace long-time franchise stalwart Olie Kolzig (now off to Tampa Bay) and helped the team qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

Last Friday Huet's agent, Stephen Bartlett, told me that while his client was comfortable with the term of the contract the Capitals had put on the table, the money was a sticking point. Yesterday, Bartlett told Corey Masisack of The Washington Times that Huet was prepared to wait until today to see what the market had to offer. For more details, check out Capitals Insider, where word is already out that Huet is off to Chicago for four years at $5.6 million per season.

Back in 2003, this goal by Andrew Brunette accomplished a few meaningful things.

• It gave Minnesota their first-ever playoff series win.
• It ended the legendary career of Patrick Roy.
• It cemented Brunette as the kind of player Wild fans would never forget.

After the NHL lockout, Wild general manager Doug Risebrough decided not to re-sign Brunette, who went to Colorado. The thought was that Brunette's lack of speed would hurt him in the "new NHL". Instead, Brunette tallied over 200 points in three years for the Avalanche. Oops.

Today, the 34-year-old Brunette inked a three-year deal with Minnesota, bringing him back to the place he made a name for himself as a pro.

Brunette scored 55 goals in his previous three-year stint with the Wild. Forward Brian Rolston is thought to be as good as gone, so the Wild will probably need more than that out of Brunette this time around.

The Wild also tried to bolster their defensive corps. They acquired Marek Zidlicky from the Nashville Predators in exchange for young forward Ryan Jones and a second-round pick in 2009. Zidlicky is a good offensive defenseman, but he doesn't bring much to the physical side of the game. The Wild are clearly upgrading the blue line with puck-moving players, but it appears they may be falling short of the physical presence they'll eventually need there.

It sounds simple.

Let one veteran forward (Brian Rolston) go. Sign another veteran forward (Andrew Brunette). It sounds simple, and it may be what the Minnesota Wild decide to do when free agency opens up Tuesday.

As Kevin Schultz reported, the Wild have traded Rolston's negotiating rights to Tampa Bay for a conditional pick. Common sense dictates that this is the final step in the process of losing a player who has scored 96 goals for the Wild in the last three years.

Michael Russo notes that the Wild and Brunette seem to have mutual interest in a reunion. There is no secret that Wild general manager Doug Risebrough has a tinge of regret over his decision to let Brunette walk three years ago. Evidently, Brunette has some similar regrets. Well, not exactly the same.

Plus, if Brunette returns, all will be forgiven with his wife, Lorie.

"I don't think she's still gotten over leaving Minnesota," Brunette quipped.

Hey, Risebrough will take it any way he can get it. He needs a presence in front of the net, and he needs a presence in the locker room that can pick up some of the void left by Rolston.