Penguins get more bad news

Evgeni Malkin is headed toward surgery and won't play again until next season, Sidney Crosby's return date from a concussion is still unknown, Chris Kunitz is day-to-day, and Mike Comrie, Mark Letestu and Arron Asham are all sidelined with various injuries.

Might as well add one more Pittsburgh Penguin to the out-of-action bunch.

At least the Penguins know for sure when forward Matt Cooke will return to the lineup. He'll be back once he's done serving a four-game suspension, brought down by the NHL yesterday.

Malkin, the 2009 NHL scoring champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs will have surgery today to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. He was injured in a 3-2 win over Buffalo on Friday. He finished with 15 goals and 37 points this season.

General manager Ray Shero said Malkin's rehabilitation period will take 6 months.

Cooke received a 5-minute major penalty for charging, and issued another 5 minutes for fighting Columbus forward Derick Brassard after the hit.

Cooke, who will forfeit $87,804.88 in salary, was also suspended for two games on Nov. 28, 2009. He is eligible to return Feb. 20 at Chicago.

Cooke gave Boston forward Marc Savard a concussion on a blindside hit on March 7, 2010. Savard did not return until the second round of the playoffs and missed the first 23 games of this season.

Crosby, Malkin and Kunitz (lower-body injury) have combined for 65 goals this season.

* Toronto traded veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin to the Anaheim Ducks for right wing Joffrey Lupul, prospect Jake Gardiner and a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2013.

Beauchemin played two seasons with the Ducks before signing a 3-year, $11.4 million free-agent contract with the Leafs last July. Lupul, who played for the Flyers from 2007-09, has 13 points in 26 games this season.

* Florida sent right wing Michael Frolik and goalie Alexander Salak to the Chicago Blackhawks for right wing Jack Skille and two prospects. The deal moved the 22-year-old Frolik, Florida's second-leading scorer with eight goals and 21 assists, to the defending Stanley Cup champions, who are in a fight to return to the postseason.

* New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov has been suspended for three games by the league for elbowing Carolina's Zach Boychuk in the head during Tuesday's game. The suspension will cost Boychuk $68,548 in salary.

In other news, Devils interim coach Jacque Lemaire said goaltender Martin Brodeur suffered a right knee sprain in Sunday's game against Montreal and will likely miss at least two games.

* The New York Rangers announced captain Chris Drury will be out 6 weeks with a left-knee injury that will require surgery.

* Calgary forward Alex Tanguay will be out indefinitely with a concussion, the team announced.

* New York Islanders rookie goalie Kevin Poulin will miss the rest of the season after dislocating his left knee cap during pregame warmups Tuesday. The team said the injury will require surgery.

* Vancouver defenseman Keith Ballard will miss 3 to 4 weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee after taking a hit during a game against Ottawa Tuesday.

* Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson has pulled himself out of the lineup due to a lower-back injury but said he doesn't expect to miss more than a "couple of weeks."

* Peter Forsberg's debut with Colorado remains delayed because of visa issues. Coach Joe Sacco says the 37-year-old center is in Canada clearing up the problem. The team anticipates Forsberg, who signed Sunday, will be able to play later this week.