Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said there is still no decision from winger Jere Lehtinen, who is evaluating if he wants to play a 15th NHL season, according to an ESPN.com report on Tuesday. "I met with him the other day and I don't think he's really made up his mind," Nieuwendyk said.

After 26 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cups, Chris Chelios announced his retirement Tuesday at the age of 48, according to an ESPN.com report. "I guess I've been dreading this day for a long time," he said at a news conference in Detroit.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is ready to defend the team's Stanley Cup title. "There's a lot to be excited about," Quenneville said Monday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "We can't wait to start playing hockey again." Chicago will hold their first training camp practice on Sept. 18.

Four members of the Flyers championship Broad Street Bullies teams of the 1970s are going through the necessary steps that will make them American citizens by the end of the year. Canadians Bill Clement, Orest Kindrachuk, Bob Kelly and Dave Schultz are known for leading the Flyers to their only two Stanley Cup titles, in 1974 and 1975. "It's just the right thing to do," Kelly said. "It's something we should have done a long, long time ago."

The Devils have submitted to the league for approval a new contract with star free agent Ilya Kovalchuk, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to ESPN. According to Daly, the league has five days to review the contract. No specific details of the deal are known at this time.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has denied reports that the league rejected a second attempt by the Devils to bring star winger Ilya Kovalchuk under contract. The New York Post reported Wednesday that the league rejected a second proposal from the Devils and Kovalchuk's representatives. "In order for a contract to be rejected, there would have to be a signed contract submitted," Bettman said. "There has not been a signed contract submitted."

A representative for the NHL Players' Association says a deal with Donald Fehr to become the new executive director hasn't yet been finalized. The Sports Business Daily reported Wednesday Fehr had agreed to take the job and other candidates had been informed they're no longer under consideration, citing a number of sources. "The news reports, I can tell you, are not entirely accurate. There is a process that is still ongoing. The process isn't completed. When the process is completed and there's an announcement to be made, everybody will be made aware," Mike Ouellet, the NHLPA's chief of business affairs, said. "As far as the timeline goes, the expectations and hope is that something is in place by training camp. "For the reports to come out and say an offer has been accepted is, to say the least, a little premature given the process. No recommendation has been made [by the selection committee] to the executive board yet."

Aaron Ward is retiring from the NHL after 13 seasons, according to an Associated Press report. Ward announced his retirement in a statement released through the NHL Players Association on Tuesday. Ward spent most of last season with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2006. He was traded in March to Anaheim.

The Canucks are expected to soon name Henrik Sedin their new captain. He'll replace goalie Roberto Luongo. "Henrik Sedin will be named captain of the Canucks. Team doesn't want Luongo w/ C any more, and he won't stand in way of the change," Jeff Angus of Dobber Hockey wrote on his Twitter page.

The Devils continued the endless work of re-signing free agent Ilya Kovalchuk on Monday. Devils chairman/managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek, GM Lou Lamoriello and Kovalchuk's agent, Jay Grossman, met with NHL executives at the league's New York office Monday, a league source told ESPN.