Fedorov’s Asking Price Going Up

It’s almost January and Detroit still has seen little of Sergei Fedorov, other than the green flag, the universal sign of cash, he continues to wave in the Red Wings’ face.

The 28-year-old Fedorov is believed to be asking for upwards of $7 million a year, each new megasigning lifting his asking price by $1 million.

Meanwhile, Detroit general manager Ken Holland has left Motown for Finland, where he’ll spend the next week to 10 days watching the World Junior tournament. He figures he’ll be joined there by at least a dozen other NHL GMs.

“And I’m sure Fedorov’s name will come up,” said Holland.

Five clubs have expressed the most interest: Florida, San Jose, Los Angeles, Washington and the Islanders.

A sticky situation

When Sergei Krivokrasov went down because of a sprained knee last week, he became the third left wing the Chicago Blackhawks have lost to an injury in the past several days.

With nowhere else to turn, they recalled Dmitri Nabokov, their No. 1 pick from the 1995 draft.

So what happens? Nabokov arrives in Vancouver without any sticks for his NHL debut against the Canucks. The Hawks didn’t have any sticks to fit the 6-foot-3 Russian, so a Vancouver equipment guy loaned him a few.

Nabokov scored twice in a 5-0 victory.

Santa comes through

Toronto’s Kris King credits his 9-year-old daughter, Danielle, with helping him end his 34-game streak without a point last week against Phoenix, his former team.

“When I talked to my wife that morning, she told me my daughter had written a letter to Santa Claus,” King said. “She wrote, ‘Please bring me a couple of Beanie Babies, a couple of jigsaw puzzles, and to please get my daddy a point.”’ That night, King had an assist, his first point of the season. In his next game, he had a goal and an assist.

There’s hope for Bradley

It was believed that Tampa Bay’s Brian Bradley would be forced to retire after a recent MRI revealed spots on his brain. But now doctors have discovered the cause of Bradley’s headaches and dizziness, and it doesn’t appear to be life- or career-threatening.

Neurosurgeon Arthur Day said Bradley is suffering from subtle swelling in the temporal lobe, which may be the result of severed or partially torn nerve fibers. It is a classic case of post-concussive syndrome.