Very quickly: I have been reading at several sites that Pavol Demitra's $4 million salary won't count against the Canucks' cap because he will be on the long term injury list due to offseason shoulder surgery. It was first reported that Demo would require surgery for a torn labrum in his shoulder on May 14, two days after the Blackhawks eliminated the Canucks from the playoffs and the injury was finally specified.

Nothing has been said about Demitra since in regards to that.

The report stated that Demitra would miss 4 months.

So if he received surgery within a couple weeks of that report, that would make him eligible to play again in mid-September. If he was a body-builder or a pitcher it would probably be a different story. But from this medical site (a wrestling site- no, not WWE wrestling) it states:

Rehabilitation

After surgery, you will need to keep your shoulder in a sling for three to four weeks. Your physician will also prescribe gentle, passive, pain-free range-of-motion exercises. When the sling is removed, you will need to do motion and flexibility exercises and gradually start to strengthen your biceps. Athletes can usually begin doing sports-specific exercises after six weeks, although it will be three to four months before the shoulder is fully healed.

That is relating to wrestling, a contact sport. Can't see how much different it would be with hockey. I expect Demitra to be ready for the regular season. We'll find out soon enough with training camp on the horizon. Food for thought.