Hey James,

Just wanted to suggest a post on what NHL players have accepted training camp tryouts (and where!) and which players are still on the outs.  It's a pretty new phenomenon that established NHLers are having now to claw their way back into the league... I know the Canucks want to run a competitive camp and have invited guys... Who else is picking up with what teams?  Are they long shots or reasonable bets to get a contract?

Thanks,

Geoff

There are a lot of these guys this year, aren't there? The salary cap crunch is obviously worse than it has been the past few years and many players simply missed out in the game of musical chairs that went on in free agency.

Here's a look at all of the players with NHL experience I could find on tryouts this year, sorted by their likelihood of catching on:

Decent bets:

Petr Sykora, Wild
Blair Betts, Flyers
Brett McLean, Lightning

Healthy scratch or AHL bound:

Theoren Fleury, Flames
Ryan Bayda, Penguins
Mark Parrish, Canucks
Manny Legace, Thrashers
Darryl Sydor, Blues
Mathieu Dandenault, Sharks
Dan Fritsche, Thrashers
Shawn Bates, Avalanche
Martin Skoula, Panthers
Andy Hilbert, Wild
Alexei Semenov, Rangers
Mark Popovic, Thrashers

Long shots to sign:

Andrew Peters, Devils
Jason Allison, Maple Leafs
Kyle Calder, Ducks
Dan Cloutier, Red Wings
Christian Backman, Panthers
Dave Scatchard, Canucks
Mike York, Panthers
Jared Aulin, Blue Jackets
Mark Bell, Flyers
Jassen Cullimore, Ducks

No hope:

Dan Hinote, Sharks
Keith Carney, Canucks (ret.)
Ronald Petrovicky, Canucks

Players without a tryout:

Robert Lang, Manny Malhotra, Dominic Moore, Jassen Cullimore, Miroslav Satan, Michael Peca, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Francis Bouillon, Rob Niedermayer, Bret Hedican, Eric Perrin, Maxim Afinogenov, Mats Sundin, Chris Chelios