We cleaned up with our best bets last time out, as Mathew Barzal and Thomas Chabot both went over their shot totals inside the first 40 minutes of their contests.Let's hope we can find similar results during Tuesday's 10-game slate.Craig Smith over 2.5 shots on goal (+125)The Ottawa Senators are one of my favorite teams to target for shot props. Why? Simply put, they bleed shots.They've allowed 67.47 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five over the last six games, which ranks 31st in the NHL.I don't see the Senators tightening the screws against one of the league's best shot-generating teams, especially since they're missing a couple of regulars due to COVID-19 protocols.While David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron are the sexy targets, I think the most value lies with Smith.For years, he's been one of the NHL's most efficient shot takers, particularly at five-on-five. He'll avoid Ottawa's best players - Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, etc. - and instead see a lot of the team's underwhelming middle-six.Smith has recorded three shots or more in five of his last six meetings against the Senators, averaging five shots per game in that time.That dates back to 2018, sure, but this Ottawa team has consistently bled shots over the years, and this season looks to be no different.There's real value at +125.Patrick Kane over 3.5 shots on goal (+110)The Pittsburgh Penguins are a strong defensive side. They do a good job of keeping teams to the outside and suppressing high-danger chances. They're only in the middle of the pack at preventing shot attempts, though. That's good news for those willing to shoot from range, such as Patrick Kane.Kane is averaging more than seven shot attempts, and nearly five shots on goal, per game. He's been even more potent at home.The 32-year-old Kane is averaging 8.2 attempts, and 5.4 shots on goal, in his own building. That's hardly surprising given that his line is placed in as many favorable situations as possible.While the Penguins aren't near the top of my target list, it's not as if they're a black hole where shots go to die.Kane doesn't even have to match his season averages to hit this number, and we're getting plus money for him to do it.Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Alex Tuch is excited to start a new chapter of his career with the Buffalo Sabres."He (general manager Kevyn Adams) talked about the opportunity I have here," Tuch said, according to The Athletic's John Vogl. "I talked about how excited I was to come and play for my favorite team growing up."He added: "I'd like to be as big of a part of this organization as possible."The Syracuse native grew up as a Sabres fan and now has the chance to be one of the franchise's cornerstone players. Tuch's contract runs through the 2025-26 season and is the second-longest on the team behind Jeff Skinner.The Sabres officially started a new era when they dealt Jack Eichel to the Golden Knights last week in exchange for Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and a couple of draft picks. In addition to trading Eichel, Buffalo also offloaded Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen in the offseason.Tuch took it as a compliment that he was one of the main pieces in a blockbuster deal for one of the NHL's biggest stars."It was an honor just to be traded for a guy like Jack Eichel," Tuch said. "I know it wasn't one for one, but to be a part of that trade and just to have someone that really wants you in their organization means a lot."The 25-year-old is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and won't hit the ice for a couple more months. The versatile winger scored 18 goals and added 15 assists in 55 games last season with Vegas.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Monday was a mixed bag on the ice. We rightfully saw value on the New York Rangers as home underdogs against a banged-up Florida Panthers side. Unfortunately, we couldn't complete the double-dip as Florida netted a pair of goals inside the final 90 seconds to spoil the under.We'll look to improve Tuesday as we comb through our best bets for an action-packed 10-game slate.Kraken (+100) @ Golden Knights (-125)We've been fading the Golden Knights - and backing the Kraken - quite often of late, so it'd only make sense for that trend to continue with the two sides set to meet Tuesday.The Golden Knights remain without four top-nine forwards, and that's not including the newly acquired Jack Eichel. They have very little scoring pop, play-driving ability, or depth due to all the injuries.This has proven to be problematic, as Vegas ranks 28th in expected goals share at five-on-five over the last 10 games.That's less than ideal when heading into a date with the Kraken. Seattle is controlling better than 55% of the xG at five-on-five over the last 10 contests, which ranks fifth during that span.The Kraken play a smothering brand of hockey. The reason they haven't been successful to this point is, by and large, goaltending. Philipp Grubauer owns a .886 save percentage through 10 starts and has conceded more goals above expectation than all but Marc-Andre Fleury and Carter Hutton. Not good.Luckily, Chris Driedger, one of the NHL's save percentage leaders since entering the league, appears healthy and is expected to get the nod in goal Tuesday. He doesn't need to be a savior, though. If he can just make the saves he's supposed to, the Kraken should be in good shape, considering they're likely to get the better of the chances at five-on-five.Bet: Kraken (+100)Senators (+250) @ Bruins (-300)The Senators enter play on a four-game losing skid, and it's tough to envision that ending in Boston.Ottawa is playing terrible hockey right now. The Senators rank 29th in expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five during this losing streak and have controlled only 43% of the xG.By comparison, the Bruins have controlled a whopping 58% of the xG over the same period of time. They're dominating the run of play, which should continue at home in such a favorable matchup.This is also a fantastic spot for Boston's power play to get on track. Only the injury-plagued Golden Knights have given up scoring chances at a higher clip on the penalty kill than Ottawa.The Bruins have advantages across the board, which will become even more evident with the Senators a little undermanned due to an internal COVID-19 outbreak. That means a few regulars - headlined by Connor Brown - will be unavailable for this game.Expect Boston to take care of business with relative ease.Bet: Bruins -1.5 (-115)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jack Eichel is confident he'll reach new heights once he suits up for the Vegas Golden Knights.The superstar center is set to undergo his preferred surgery Friday to repair a herniated disc in his neck, which was promptly scheduled after the Buffalo Sabres traded him to Sin City. Eichel is hoping to debut for his new club three months after the procedure."I think I've got a lot more," Eichel said Monday at his introductory press conference, per NHL.com's Nicholas Cotsonika. "I think I'm only scratching the surface. Yeah, I think the season a couple years ago, I think that that was sort of the start of the way that I want to make an impact. Coming in here there's some really good hockey players, and I think this kind of environment, the culture here, is only going to push me to become better."Eichel recorded his best season in 2018-19 when he racked up 82 points over 72 contests. He established himself as one of the league's best players soon after the Sabres drafted him second overall in 2015, posting 355 points across 375 games with Buffalo."I think there's a lot more in me, and this is about as motivated as I've been," Eichel said. "I think there's a lot of people out there that may be doubting me or don't think I'm going to get back to the form I was in, so look forward to putting all the doubts to rest and getting back to the level that I believe I can play."Eichel's fallout with the Sabres mainly revolved around the best way to repair his neck injury. Buffalo preferred a traditional fusion procedure, while Eichel wanted to undergo artificial disc replacement surgery, which has never been done on an NHL player. Eichel has been sidelined since last March due to the ailment and failed his physical at the Sabres' training camp."I feel very, very confident in what I'm doing," Eichel said. "There's been other players that have dealt with herniated discs in other ways, but from what I've gathered speaking to them, they really were never given the option, and I feel very fortunate that my second opinion gave me this option to look at as being the superior surgery."Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The 2021-22 NHL campaign is already roughly 12% finished and we've seen very little separation in the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy race.Leon Draisaitl and Alex Ovechkin lead the pack with 10 goals each, double the current tally of preseason favorite Auston Matthews. Competition is fierce with 18 players having found the back of the net at least seven times this season.Can Draisaitl and Ovechkin sustain their strong starts? Can Matthews make up lost ground? Let's dive in.PLAYERODDS (NOV. 8) ODDS (OCT. 8)Auston Matthews+400+350Connor McDavid+400+750Alex Ovechkin+600+1000Leon Draisaitl+800+700David Pastrnak+1200+1200Alex DeBrincat+1700+1700Kirill Kaprizov+1700+1700Kyle Connor+1700+1700Mika Zibanejad+1700+1700Nathan MacKinnon+1700+1700Brayden Point+2000+2000Mikko Rantanen+2000+2000Nikita Kucherov+2000+2000Sebastian Aho+2000+2000Only listing players 20-1 or shorter.Auston Matthews (+400)The Maple Leafs' superstar center is already five goals behind Ovechkin and Draisaitl for top spot. Even so, the market doesn't seem overly concerned. His odds of winning have only dropped from 22.5% to 20%, and it's easy to see why. Matthews has missed three games and yet he's tied for second in the NHL in scoring chances. He's creating quality looks at an insanely high rate, and there's no doubt he has the talent to make the most of them. His shooting percentage (12.8%) will almost certainly rise in time. That, along with all the chances he's creating, is a recipe for success.Connor McDavid (+400)McDavid is a very real threat to win this award. He's known more for his playmaking, of course, but he is becoming more of a goal-scorer as time goes on. He has the ability to make something out of nothing - as we saw Friday against the Rangers - and is now unleashing a new and improved one-timer on a regular basis. McDavid ranks fourth in expected goals, so the quality looks are there in bulk. Expect McDavid to be in the mix until the end.Alex Ovechkin (+600)Ovechkin was one of the guys we backed during the preseason. Quite frankly, +1000 felt egregious for the generation's best and highest-volume shooter. It's still early, but getting that number sure feels like robbery. Ovechkin leads the league in shot attempts and shots on goal, and he appears completely unbothered by the absence of his usual running mate, Nicklas Backstrom.Leon Draisaitl (+800)Getting the current co-leader at +800 seems like a steal. However, the picture isn't as promising beneath the surface. Draisaitl is doing a fantastic job of getting into dangerous areas when he does shoot; the problem is a lack of volume. More than 40 players - 43, to be exact - have recorded more shots on goal. That's problematic because, as good as Draisaitl is, he won't shoot 30% forever. His career average is 17.4% and he's finished above 20% just once. He really needs to increase the shot volume if he's going to challenge for the "Rocket" Richard.David Pastrnak (+1000)Pastrnak is one of the game's best finishers but something is off this year. I think these odds imply a much better chance than Pastrnak actually has based on what we've seen. Pastrnak ranks 54th in expected goals, and 79 players have recorded more scoring chances. He has the talent to score from range but is simply not generating enough quality or quantity to pile up goals at the necessary rate to compete for this award.Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

How much does one player matter? It depends on the team. Sidney Crosby is not replaceable for even one game with the lack of depth on the Pittsburgh Penguins, whereas the Florida Panthers are better equipped to absorb the absence of Aleksander Barkov. While a long-term Barkov injury would hurt the Panthers, Florida can cover for him in one game. Don't overpay for a great player's absence from a great team.The recipeWe provided a three-chapter series on how to use the regular-season point-total market to create team ratings, how to interpret home-ice advantage, and then how to use those to create your own moneylines.I've taken the advanced stats I value most from those games, the market rating for regular-season win-total markets, and last season's advanced stats to create a rating for each team. (I make adjustments for injuries to key players.)With roughly 13% of the season played, here's how I'm weighing those three factors as of Nov. 8:LAST SEASON MARKET 2021-2225%60%15%Last season's advanced metrics act as a baseline so we don't overreact to a good start. Aren't you glad you didn't start wildly betting on the Sabres after a few wins to begin the season? The Avalanche are sixth in the Central Division. Do we think that's a sign of things to come? No.Next, we use the regular-season point-total market to account for our assessment of these teams before the campaign. We all had the chance to bet the under on the Montreal Canadiens' season point total, and not enough of us did to move the number lower. So let's not overreact to their slow start.Lastly, we use the games we've seen so far this season. What happens on the ice now does matter, but 11 games isn't a predictive sample size. No one is tattooing the Panthers and Oilers for a Stanley Cup Final matchup, are they?The cheat sheetThe following is a lookahead to a week's worth of games. Bettors and content creators alike throw around "value" as a buzzword, but what does that actually mean for you?The following includes my fair price on the games (true moneyline) and the moneyline price I would need to bet either side. I just need a 1% edge for a favorite if we're getting better than a fair price on the team that's more likely to win. For the underdog, I'll need 4% or better to make it a bet.DATEGAMETRUE MLPRICE TO BETNOV. 8BUF@WSH+193/-193BUF +232/WSH -185FLA@NYR+102/-102FLA +119/NYR +116LAK@TOR+158/-158LAK +188/ TOR -151NOV. 9LAK@MTL+160/-160LAK +191/MTL -154OTT@BOS+198/-198OTT +239/BOS -190CAR@TBL+120/-120CAR +141/TBL -115FLA@NJD-103/+103FLA +114/NJD +121EDM@DET-129/+129EDM -124/DET +153STL@WPG+113/-113STL +132/WPG -108*PIT@CHI+122/-122PIT +144/CHI -117SJS@CGY+138/-138SJS +163/CGY -132SEA@VGK+105/-105SEA +124/VGK -101ANA@VAN+153/-153ANA +181/VAN -146NOV. 10TOR@PHI-118/+118TOR -113/PHI +138NSH@DAL+132/-132NSH +156/DAL -127MIN@ARI-171/+171MIN -164/ARI +204NOV. 11EDM@BOS+115/-115EDM +135/BOS -111NYI@NJD+126/-126NYI -121/NJD +149*FLA@PIT-138/+138FLA -132/PIT +163LAK@OTT+128/-128LAK +151/OTT -123CGY@MTL-104/+104CGY +100/MTL +122WSH@DET-127/+127WSH -122/DET +150NSH@STL+143/-143NSH +169/STL -137SJS@WPG+120/-120SJS +141/WPG -115VAN@COL+189/-189VAN +227/COL -181ANA@SEA+152/-152ANA +180/SEA -146MIN@VGK-102/+102MIN +115/VGK +120NOV. 12CGY@TOR+161/-161CGY +191/TOR -154EDM@BUF-120/+120EDM -115/BUF +141PHI@CAR+127/-127PHI +150/CAR -122WSH@CBJ-135/+135WSH -130/CBJ +159ARI@CHI+146/-146ARI +173/CHI -140NOV. 13BOS@NJD-121/+121BOS -116/NJD +142*PIT@OTT+123/-123PIT +144/OTT -118MTL@DET-104/+104MTL -100/DET +122LAK@WPG+127/-127LAK +150/WPG -122TOR@BUF-202/+202TOR -193/BUF +243FLA@TBL+107/-107FLA +126/TBL -103NYR@CBJ-146/+146NYR -140/CBJ +173STL@CAR+109/-109STL +128/CAR -105ARI@NSH+193/-193ARI +232/NSH -185PHI@DAL+128/-128PHI +151/DAL -151SJS@COL+185/-185SJS +221/COL -177MIN@SEA-118/+118MIN -113/SEA +138VAN@VGK+124/-124VAN +146/VGK -119NOV. 14CGY@OTT-135/+135CGY -130/OTT +160EDM@STL-125/+125EDM -120/STL +147*PIT@WSH+140/-140PIT +165/WSH -134NJD@NYR+117/-117NJD +137/NYR -112MTL@BOS+144/-144MTL +170/BOS -138VAN@ANA+113/-113VAN +133/ANA -109*Reflects price without Sidney Crosby (Out due to COVID-19 as of this writing)If you're looking at betting a game this week, refer to this chart to see whether or not you're truly getting value with one side or the other. New injuries or lineup issues will naturally arise, but this is a good reference point for identifying an attractive price for the side you like.Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there’s a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

New Jersey Devils forward Miles Wood underwent surgery on his right hip, the team announced Monday.There is currently no timeline for his return.Wood suffered the injury during a preseason contest in October. The team added that he exhausted all conservative measures before electing to have the surgery.The 26-year-old led the Devils with 17 goals last year and chipped in eight assists in 55 games.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We have a rather bland three-game slate on the menu to start the week.The Maple Leafs and Capitals are heavy home favorites over teams that aren't expected to contend for playoff spots.Outside of that, we're left with the Panthers - who could be without their best player, Aleksander Barkov - taking on a Rangers team that has dropped three straight games.Though it's not the most exciting card, there's still some value to be had. Let's dive into our best bets.Panthers (-125) @ Rangers (+105)The Panthers are the NHL's highest-scoring team, while the Rangers enter play having conceded six goals in consecutive games.Considering those trends and the firepower involved in this game, it'd be easy to see people jumping on the over. However, I think the value lies with the under.New York is struggling to create offense right now. The Rangers' stars haven't been as lethal as we've grown accustomed to and the team just doesn't have quality depth behind them. If the stars aren't scoring, New York isn't scoring - and right now, the team is having a tough time even creating chances.The Rangers are generating just 1.78 expected goals at five-on-five per 60 over their last five games. That ranks dead last in the NHL.Believe it or not, the Panthers haven't fared much better. They are creating just 2.0 xG per 60 during that span, which ranks 27th. Barkov's potential absence certainly wouldn't help matters.Goaltending also figures to be good in this game. While Sergei Bobrovsky - the NHL's leader in goals saved above expected - is not available for this game, Florida is still in solid shape with top prospect Spencer Knight between the pipes. He owns a 4-0-1 record this season and has posted a solid .918 save percentage. Knight isn't your run-of-the-mill backup.Things look even more promising at the other end. Igor Shesterkin, even after getting torched by the Flames, ranks third in GSAx with +8.5 through nine starts. Put another way, Shesterkin's shaving off nearly a goal more than expected each time out.With both sides failing to create many looks at five-on-five and the projected starting netminders playing well, this has the makings of a somewhat low-scoring affair.Bet: Under 5.5 (-110)Bonus roundBacking a side that has conceded 12 goals in two games is a scary thought, especially against a scorching hot team that has 10 wins in 11 games. But we might just have to do it.Florida is dealing with a few injuries to key players, including a Sam Bennett absence that has already tested the team's depth at center. If Barkov is out, the Panthers could be in a tough spot, especially on the road without control of matchups.There is value on the Rangers (+105) at home.Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The number of Ottawa Senators players in COVID-19 protocol doubled Monday, as forwards Connor Brown and Dylan Gambrell landed on a list that already includes winger Austin Watson, defenseman Nick Holden, and associate coach Jack Capuano.Ottawa canceled practice Monday for precautionary reasons.Senators head coach D.J. Smith said Brown and Gambrell don't have confirmed positive tests but won't play Tuesday against the Boston Bruins. Smith added that the two players could suit up later this week.The team placed Watson in the protocol Friday, and Smith confirmed one day later that Watson tested positive. Ottawa added Holden and Capuano to the list Sunday night.Being in COVID-19 protocol isn't necessarily indicative of a positive test.Brown ranks third on the Senators with seven points in 11 games this season.Ottawa recalled forwards Scott Sabourin and Egor Sokolov from its AHL affiliate Monday after summoning defenseman Erik Brannstrom on Sunday.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ottawa Senators defenseman Nick Holden and associate coach Jack Capuano have joined forward Austin Watson in NHL's COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Sunday.Watson has been in the protocol since Friday. Head coach D.J. Smith has confirmed the 29-year-old tested positive.The Senators canceled practice Monday for precautionary reasons.Holden has put up one point in 10 games this season while averaging 17:35 a game. Watson only suited up for two contests with the Senators after recovering from an ankle injury before being sidelined due to the protocol.In a corresponding move, Ottawa recalled defenseman Erik Brannstrom from its AHL affiliate. Brannstrom has yet to play in an NHL game so far this campaign but has three points in nine games with the Belleville Senators.Ottawa faces the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

This is the third edition of theScore's NHL Power Rankings for the 2020-21 season. Check back for updated rankings every second Monday during the regular season.In this edition, we pick one word to describe each team's start to the season.1. Florida Panthers (10-0-1)Previous rank: 1Convincing: Often overshadowed by other talented stalwarts in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers are demanding the league's attention as a true Stanley Cup contender. The true exclamation point on their season thus far was when they dominated the previously undefeated Carolina Hurricanes. The Panthers are on the offensive.2. Carolina Hurricanes (9-1-0)Previous rank: 4Surging: No, this isn't just because of their classic post-victory Storm Surge. What the Hurricanes have accomplished in the early goings is the sheer definition of "surging." They're a powerful force that's ripped through each of their opponents thus far, except for one. The Panthers are the only reason the Canes aren't No. 1 on this list.3. Edmonton Oilers (9-1-0)Previous rank: 2Thrilling: The Oilers are easily the NHL's most watchable team this season, as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to create magic on a nightly basis. The pair finally seems to have a dynamic supporting cast with the likes of Jesse Puljujarvi and Zach Hyman pulling their own weight, and every game is a must-see.4. Calgary Flames (7-1-3)Previous rank: 15Redemption: The Flames stumbled to a horribly disappointing 26-27-3 record in the realigned North Division last season after making the playoffs the previous campaign. Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Jacob Markstrom, who currently leads the league with four shutouts, seem hell-bent on making sure they don't fall flat again this season.5. St. Louis Blues (7-2-1) Scott Rovak / National Hockey League / GettyPrevious rank: 3Flashback: After sputtering in back-to-back playoff appearances since winning the 2019 Stanley Cup, the Blues appear to be back. Craig Berube's group looks as deep as ever, ranking in the top 10 in both goals for and goals against in the early stages of the season.6. Philadelphia Flyers (6-2-2)Previous rank: 16Promising: The Flyers can't endure another season with poor goaltending. So far, so good. Carter Hart and Martin Jones have posted .926 and .950 save percentages, respectively, through 10 games, playing a large role in Philly's hot start.7. Minnesota Wild (8-3-0)Previous rank: 7Tenacious: The Wild love having the puck. They lead the league in several key possession and offensive statistics at five-on-five, controlling the majority of the shot attempts for (55.3%) and expected goals for (58.3%). They're fourth in the NHL in scoring chances for (54.9%) and third in high-danger chances for (56.5%). Minnesota's real tough.8. Tampa Bay Lightning (6-3-2)Previous rank: 10Recharging: Winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships is tiring. The Lightning haven't gotten off to a dominant start, which is understandable since they lost their entire third line in the offseason and Nikita Kucherov is on the shelf again thanks to another injury. The Bolts are slowly finding their game, but they'll truly be put to the test as clashes against the Hurricanes and Panthers await them this week.9. Winnipeg Jets (6-3-2)Previous rank: 19Precarious: The Jets are collecting wins but are doing so in an unsustainable manner. Winnipeg ranks 24th in five-on-five expected goals at 47.07%, but the team is third with a 9.42 shooting percentage. That can't last forever. If the concerning trends persist while Connor Hellebuyck struggles uncharacteristically, regression could hit hard.10. New York Islanders (5-3-2) Darcy Finley / National Hockey League / GettyPrevious rank: 12Steady: What else can you expect from this group? The Islanders started a tad slow, but they refused to panic and have since heated up. To no one's surprise, the Isles have allowed the fewest goals thus far.11. Toronto Maple Leafs (7-4-1)Previous rank: 22Huh?: What exactly are the 2021-22 Maple Leafs? They were shoddy throughout the first week and a half of the season and the sky almost fell in Toronto after an abysmal four-game losing streak. The Leafs have turned things around since then, dispatching the Lightning and the Boston Bruins en route to a five-game winning streak. Time will eventually uncover the true face of this Toronto team.12. Columbus Blue Jackets (7-3-0)Previous rank: 14Comeback: This has been an unexpected statement start for new head coach Brad Larsen's Blue Jackets. His scrappy squad has won a league-leading four games in which it's trailed after the second period. Speaking of comebacks, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has been outstanding, putting up a sparkling .940 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average in six games. These Jackets have a lot of fight.13. Boston Bruins (5-4-0)Previous rank: 8Drought: One wouldn't expect a team that boasts a forward group deservedly nicknamed the "Perfection Line" to have the third-least goals for (24) in the league, but here we are. The Bruins' stunted production isn't for lack of trying, though. They have the NHL's second-highest expected goals for rate (56.6%), and they top the league in shots for percentage (56.2%) at five-on-five. They're mostly just handcuffed by a lackluster shooting percentage (5.14%).14. New York Rangers (6-3-3)Previous rank: 11Underwhelming: The Rangers were expected to take a significant step toward contention after wholesale offseason changes, but the blueprint hasn't gelled just yet. Adam Fox is outscoring all of New York's big-ticket forwards, and the club sits 28th with a 45.27% expected goals rate.15. Washington Capitals (5-2-4) Patrick Smith / Getty Images Sport / GettyPrevious rank: 5Incomplete: Nicklas Backstrom started the season on injured reserve, and he's since been joined by T.J. Oshie and Anthony Mantha. Until the high-powered Capitals are operating at full strength, it's tough to judge the state of the perennial Cup contenders.16. San Jose Sharks (6-4-1)Previous rank: 9Invigorated: Multiple key Sharks have stated chemistry within the locker room has drastically improved this season, and it's shown during San Jose's nice start. Hardly anybody expected this club to be competitive this year, and it'll be interesting to see how long a rejuvenated Sharks squad can keep it up.17. Vegas Golden Knights (6-6-0)Previous rank: 24Overreliance: The Golden Knights are grappling with mass injuries to their forward group, but their defense just has to be better. Goaltender Robin Lehner is working overtime to cover up mistakes and has faced the most amount of high-danger chances at all strengths (104) in the league. Despite that fact, he's second in goals saved above expected (8.94) in all situations. Lehner needs better support from blue-line leaders like Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo.18. New Jersey Devils (5-3-2)Previous rank: 17Snakebitten: New Jersey is posting quality underlying numbers so far, owning 50.69% of shot attempts, 52.75% of scoring chances, and 55.05% expected goals. However, the Devils have a 6.35% conversion rate at five-on-five, which ranks 28th.19. Pittsburgh Penguins (4-3-3)Previous rank: 6Exhausted: After fending off wave after wave of injuries and COVID-19 issues, the Penguins are hanging on by a thread. They've shown resiliency in the face of adversity, but that adversity is starting to catch up to them. Pittsburgh will need some consistency and better luck to find continued success.20. Colorado Avalanche (4-5-1) Michael Martin / National Hockey League / GettyPrevious rank: 20Wounded: The Avalanche haven't been at full strength for a single game this season. On the bright side, only Cale Makar remains sidelined. Colorado will look to get back to its dominant ways once he returns.21. Nashville Predators (6-5-1)Previous rank: 27Overdue: The Predators' highest-paid forwards - namely Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen - are finally producing like they used to. That'll have to continue for Nashville to make any noise in the playoff race.22. Buffalo Sabres (5-4-2)Previous rank: 18Relief: The Jack Eichel era in Buffalo is finally over, and a new chapter officially begins. The Sabres own an extremely impressive prospect pool and have a great group of young talent, too. With a slew of draft picks in the coming draft, Sabres fans hopefully won't have to suffer for much longer.23. Anaheim Ducks (6-4-3)Previous rank: 26Floating: Ducks typically have two primary functions, and this Anaheim team certainly isn't flying up the standings any time soon.24. Los Angeles Kings (5-5-1)Previous rank: 28Persevering: The Kings have been without defensemen Drew Doughty and Sean Walker since Oct. 25. In the four games since they lost the two vital blue-liners, the Kings have gone 4-1-0. Eating up Doughty and Walker's minutes is a tall order, but Los Angeles has held it together so far.25. Detroit Red Wings (6-5-2) Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyPrevious rank: 23Optimism: It's been a rough few years for Red Wings fans, but it finally looks like everything is coming together. Top prospects like Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond appear to be developing into true studs, and the team looks as close to returning to being a contender as it has in a long time.26. Vancouver Canucks (5-6-1)Previous rank: 21Stuck: The Canucks have a lot of players making great individual efforts. J.T. Miller is playing at over a point-per-game pace, Conor Garland has been a fantastic fit, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is off to a strong start, and Thatcher Demko has been an absolute stud. But with some of its stars like Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser struggling to produce, Vancouver just can't put it all together. The Canucks aren't good, they're not bad, they're just stuck.27. Dallas Stars (4-5-2)Previous rank: 13Misfiring: The Stars have plenty of potency in their lineup yet rank 31st in goals. They're too deep for this to last forever, but it's been a frustrating start for Dallas' offense.28. Seattle Kraken (4-7-1)Previous rank: 29New: Duh. As the league's newest team, the Kraken are working on piecing it all together. They aren't clicking yet, and they're struggling to start games, having given up the second-most goals (14) in the first period. Seattle also has the NHL's worst power play, firing at just a 7.9% success rate. The lack of cohesion may be because the Kraken don't know each other well enough yet.29. Ottawa Senators (3-7-1)Previous rank: 25Ouch: This entry is two-fold. First, it hurts to play the Senators, given they lead the league with 342 hits through 11 games. Second, Ottawa's fan base is in a different kind of pain watching its club stumble out of the gate in a season that was supposed to be a step forward.30. Montreal Canadiens (3-10-0) Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images Sport / GettyPrevious rank: 30Disappointing: Nobody expected the Canadiens to be one of the league's top teams this season, but not many pegged them to be as terrible as they've been. Nothing seems to be clicking, as the team owns an abysmal 66% penalty kill alongside a measly 13.6 power-play success rate.31. Chicago Blackhawks (2-9-2)Previous rank: 32Disturbing: The Blackhawks' on-ice product is bad, but what's happening within the organization at large is distressing. The integrity of the team's veteran leadership is rightfully under a microscope following TSN's moving interview with Kyle Beach, and the Blackhawks currently have the same number of interim tags (coach Derek King and general manager Kyle Davidson) as they do wins. A lot needs to change for this club to regain any semblance of respect.32. Arizona Coyotes (1-10-1)Previous rank: 31Disaster: The Coyotes finally won a game, but they're still really bad. We expected that, but Arizona is taking uncompetitive to new levels this season. The team has barely put up a fight in the majority of its 10 regulation losses, giving up 48 goals over 12 games for a terrible goal differential of -29. It's bad, man. It's real bad.(Analytics sources: Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick)Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Petr Mrazek is expected to miss four weeks due to a groin injury, the team announced Sunday.Mrazek suffered the injury earlier in the season and re-aggravated it recently. He last played in a game on Oct. 30.The 29-year-old has appeared in only two contests this season, managing a .877 save percentage and 4.20 goals-against average. Jack Campbell has done the heavy lifting for the Maple Leafs, recording a .936 save percentage and 1.88 goals-against average over 10 games.Toronto recalled goaltender Joseph Woll from the AHL's Toronto Marlies in a corresponding move Saturday. The Maple Leafs have a busy schedule over the next four weeks with 13 contests and three back-to-backs.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, interim head coach Andrew Brunette announced, per Jameson Olive of the team's website.Florida ruled him out shortly ahead of Saturday's clash versus the Carolina Hurricanes when Barkov suffered a flare-up before puck drop.The Panthers and Hurricanes entered Saturday's clash as the top two teams in the NHL. Florida ultimately captured a 5-2 victory without its top player.Barkov is off to a tremendous start in 2021-22, notching 12 points in 10 games while averaging over 22 minutes per night.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Colorado Avalanche received some much-needed reinforcements Saturday night.Forwards Mikko Rantanen and Andre Burakovsky returned to the lineup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and defenseman Devon Toews made his season debut.Rantanen has missed the team's last three contests with a lower-body injury, and Burakovsky missed one game with a lower-body ailment of his own. Toews hasn't played yet following offseason shoulder surgery.Colorado seemingly has yet to ice a fully healthy lineup this campaign and still won't be at full strength Saturday despite the additions. Star defenseman Cale Makar remains sidelined after missing the team's last game, and Valeri Nichushkin is also out.The Avalanche have struggled out of the gate to a 4-4-1 record thus far.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Chicago Blackhawks have dismissed head coach Jeremy Colliton along with assistants Sheldon Brookbank and Tomas Mitell. Four other assistants, including Marc Crawford and goaltending coach Jimmy Waite, will remain in their positions.The team named Derek King interim bench boss. King was the head coach of Chicago's AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.The Blackhawks went 1-9-2 to begin this season. Colliton was in his fourth campaign coaching the club, which entered Saturday's action ranked 29th in goals per game and 31st in goals against per contest in 2021-22."On the ice, interim general manager Kyle Davidson has our full confidence and autonomy to make hockey decisions, and we support him on this coaching change," Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz wrote in a statement. "We appreciate all that Jeremy has brought to the Blackhawks, and we look forward to working with Derek as our interim head coach while we work to rebuild our permanent hockey operations leadership."Colliton signed a two-year contract extension with Chicago in January.The Blackhawks posted a record of 87-92-26 under his guidance, making the playoffs once in 2019-20. The Blackhawks upset the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round that season before the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated them over five games in the next stage.Chicago promoted Colliton from the IceHogs upon firing Joel Quenneville on Nov. 6, 2018 - exactly three years before Saturday's moves.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The San Jose Sharks re-assigned forward William Eklund to Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Hockey League, the team announced Friday.Eklund skated in nine games with the Sharks to begin the season, collecting four assists. San Jose selected the 19-year-old with the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft."This was one of the toughest decisions we have had to make," general manager Doug Wilson said. "William's tremendous skill and vision have been evident since his participation in our rookie tournament in September. In his nine NHL games as a teenager, he has shown that he is going to be a special player in this league, but ultimately, we feel it is in the best interest of his long-term development to return to Sweden and continue to work on becoming the dominant player we know he can be."Eklund said he's disappointed with the Sharks' decision."I think I did what I could to stay here, and I was just trying to do my best every day. Of course, rules are rules," he said.Eklund played with Djurgardens the past two seasons, recording 11 goals and 23 points over 40 games during the 2020-21 campaign.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price will rejoin the club Monday after spending the last month in the NHL's player assistance program, head coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed Friday.Ducharme added that Price will meet with athletic trainers Monday to develop a plan moving forward as he gets ready to return to the crease. It's unknown how much more time he'll need to get game-ready. Price was also recovering from offseason knee surgery prior to the program.The 34-year-old entered the program voluntarily on Oct. 7 and was expected to come back after completing the minimum 30 days in it.Price returned to his MVP form during the playoffs last season, leading the Canadiens to an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final. He posted a .924 save percentage over 22 games during the postseason after putting up a .901 save percentage during the regular season.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha is out indefinitely after undergoing shoulder surgery following Thursday's contest against the Florida Panthers, the team announced.Mantha likely suffered the injury in the second period when he collided with teammate John Carlson during a power play. He finished his shift but didn't return for the remainder of the game.The Capitals are dealing with a slew of injuries, as Mantha joins Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie on injured reserve.Mantha has scored two goals and added four assists in 10 games this season. He has accumulated 14 points in 24 contests since being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings last season.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine will be sidelined four-to-six weeks with an oblique strain, the team announced Friday.Laine suffered the injury late in Wednesday's contest against the Colorado Avalanche. The Blue Jackets placed him on injured reserve.The 23-year-old started this season hot with three goals and seven assists over nine games. Laine ranks second on the team in points and has registered two overtime-winning goals.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We have a hectic weekend of hockey ahead, with Saturday's 12-game NHL slate sandwiched by a pair of five gamers.Let's get into our best bets for the next couple of days.Devils (+105) @ Kings (-125)

The Ottawa Senators have named Brady Tkachuk the 10th captain in franchise history, the team announced Friday.Tkachuk is the team's first captain since Erik Karlsson donned the "C" in 2018."Brady personifies leadership," team owner Eugene Melnyk said in a statement. "While on the ice, he craves winning and commands respect. Off of it, he routinely sets a good example for his teammates and carries himself with a combination of confidence and dignity. He's deserving of this next step in his career. We're proud to bestow the honor of being the team's 10th captain upon him."Tkachuk recently inked a seven-year, $57.5-million extension with the Senators. The 22-year-old was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.The team's leadership group includes Thomas Chabot as a full-time alternate and Connor Brown, Nick Paul, and Nikita Zaitsev as a rotating group of alternates."Brady's ingrained understanding of what it means to be a pro has made him the right choice for the team's captaincy," general manager Pierre Dorion said. "He holds a unique skill set and places team success above all else. Admired by teammates and coaches, and respected by opponents, he's certain to serve as a great ambassador for both our team and for the city of Ottawa."Tkachuk has scored 62 goals and added 67 assists in 205 career games with the Senators.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHLPA executive board has voted in favor of conducting an independent review into the union's response to the sexual assault allegations Kyle Beach made toward then-Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, who's held that position since 2010, recommended conducting the independent investigation on Monday.Beach never suited up in an NHL regular season or playoff game, but he had NHLPA membership since he was a Black Ace for the Blackhawks during their 2010 Stanley Cup run.Fehr was contacted on two occasions about the allegations against Aldrich, according to law firm Jenner & Block's 107-page report, published Oct. 26. He told investigators he couldn't recall either conversation but didn't deny they happened.As part of an Oct. 27 interview with TSN, where he identified himself as the "John Doe" in the lawsuit, Beach said he had reported all details to the NHLPA."I know I reported every single detail to an individual at the NHLPA, who I was put in contact with after. I believe two different people talked to Don Fehr," Beach said."And for him to turn his back on the players when his one job is to protect the players at all costs, I don't know how that can be your leader. I don't know how he can be in charge."There were no talks about removing Fehr from his job as executive director during Monday's conference call, which featured roughly 80 players and lasted over two hours, per ESPN's Emily Kaplan.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The months-long soap opera starring Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres has finally concluded.The Sabres traded Eichel and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft to the Vegas Golden Knights for forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs as well as a top-10-protected first-rounder in 2022 and a second-rounder in 2023.The blockbuster swap signals the end of an era in Buffalo, while in Vegas, the front office hopes it's hit the jackpot (sorry) with another marquee acquisition.Let's break down the trade from the perspectives of the three parties involved.Eichel Bill Wippert / Getty ImagesEichel is a gigantic winner here for two chief reasons.Firstly, the 25-year-old center is getting his way after digging in his heels for almost six months. It was revealed in May that Eichel wanted to undergo artificial disc replacement surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck. However, the Sabres refused to grant permission based on the advice of their doctors, suggesting the 2015 second overall pick have fusion surgery instead. Eichel never relented on his desired procedure - even switching agents during the standoff - and now Vegas will in fact let him do exactly what he wants.Secondly, Eichel is joining a hockey team that actually wins games on a regular basis. The Sabres were horrible in the six seasons Eichel played, posting a league-worst .444 points percentage. Conversely, the Golden Knights became the most successful expansion franchise in North American pro sports history in 2017-18 and during the three-plus years since that incredible debut have refused to take their foot off the gas.This season, the Golden Knights own a mediocre 4-5-0 record. The club has been dealing with injuries to key players - most notably Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and Tuch - and have now added another forward to the list. So it would be disingenuous to say Eichel is walking into an ideal situation where the sky's the limit on Day 1. In reality, the situation has very strong potential, and if 2021-22 ultimately ends up being a dud for Vegas, there's no need to panic. Eichel's contract, which carries an AAV of $10 million, runs through 2025-26.The Golden Knights haven't broken up William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Reilly Smith for an extended period of time since the team entered the league, so Stone and Pacioretty appear to be the obvious linemates for Eichel once all three are healed. Eichel, who was arguably a top-10 center before getting sidelined, has never played with wingers of Stone and Pacioretty's caliber. Given he's also in the prime of his career, there's no reason to believe Eichel won't flourish in Vegas.That said, there is a little bit of uneasiness. When will Eichel return to action? Recovery time from artificial disc replacement surgery tends to be measured in multiple months, not weeks. If he undergoes the procedure in the immediate future (which is reportedly the plan) he'll be scheduled to return at some point in early 2022. He last played in March. How will he look after such a long layoff, with his peers so deep into the season?Unrelated side plot: Eichel is now in the same division as Connor McDavid, the generational talent and draft buddy he's constantly stacked up against.Golden Knights NHL Images / Getty ImagesPaul Stastny. Pacioretty. Stone. Robin Lehner. Alex Pietrangelo. Eichel.The Golden Knights' front office, which is led by the one-two punch of president of hockey operations George McPhee and general manager Kelly McCrimmon, has reeled in its sixth big fish. Whether it's via trade or free agency, Sin City's team never settles for the minor move, and owner Bill Foley deserves props for consistently giving management the green light.This deal could be the most impactful of the bunch considering the one quibble with Vegas' roster construction through its short history has been the absence of an elite center. Eichel, who for his career has averaged 0.95 points a game despite lackluster support, immediately addresses that need. His eventual arrival to the lineup will allow head coach Pete DeBoer to slide Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson into the 2C and 3C roles. If, like in the past, Vegas struggles to bag goals in the playoffs, it won't be management's fault.Something very important to keep in mind moving forward: The Golden Knights are in a salary-cap bind after the trade. Once their roster is at full health, they'll be well over the $81.5-million upper limit since the Sabres didn't retain salary in the deal. (Tuch and Krebs make a combined $5.6 million.) In other words, a Golden Knights player, or players, of considerable value will likely be shipped out of town. Smith and his $5-million-a-year expiring contract jump off Vegas' CapFriendly page, but he isn't the only option.Of course, bidding farewell to an asset or two would be par for the course for Vegas, an organization so aggressive in its pursuit for a Cup that trading picks and prospects (Nick Suzuki, Cody Glass, Erik Brannstrom, and Krebs) - to say nothing about outgoing veterans like Marc-Andre Fleury, Nate Schmidt, Stastny, and Tuch - has simply become part of the club's brand and identity.Sabres Bill Wippert / Getty ImagesLook, it isn't a joyous day for the 5-3-1 Sabres and their loyal fan base.Drafting Eichel in 2015 was supposed to be the start of something special. It turned into years of losing games and quality players, Eichel eventually getting stripped of his captaincy, and a decent yet unremarkable return from Vegas.Tuch, who's 6-foot-4, can skate like the wind and can snipe. He's one of the NHL's most entertaining forwards and will undoubtedly be a fan favorite in Buffalo after he's recovered from an injury. Krebs, meanwhile, is still developing. The 20-year-old's ceiling is a two-way second-line center. If reached, that's an impactful piece. Still, neither Tuch nor Krebs will change the trajectory of the franchise and combined they likely won't bring as much value as Eichel.The late first-round pick is obviously crucial to the trade's success or failure. The Sabres could conceivably hit a home run with it, especially since the 2022 draft class projects to be quite strong. Yet it's one lottery ticket, not two or three high-end picks. Netting two firsts, or a first and two seconds, would have greatly improved the overall package received by GM Kevyn Adams.Where the return evolves from "unremarkable" to "decent" is in the context of the situation. It's difficult to criticize Adams too much considering Eichel's displeasure with the organization precedes his tenure as GM. When Adams was hired last June, he inherited a disgruntled captain whose last straw proved to be the disagreement over which surgery was best for his future. The Sabres could have allowed Eichel to have his preferred surgery, but they clearly didn't want to be pushed around (and, let's not forget, the NHL/NHLPA CBA gave them the final call). Once the dispute went public, Adams lost a significant chunk of his negotiating leverage with rival GMs.At the end of the day, the relationship between player and team was frayed beyond repair and Adams waited out the market long enough to fetch a decent return (and the Sabres aren't retaining salary). Decent, under these circumstances, which calls for a grade of B-. And now a new era begins in Buffalo.John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

When the Buffalo Sabres selected Jack Eichel second overall in the 2015 draft, failing to finish outside of the bottom 10 in the league and missing the playoffs for six straight seasons couldn't have been what the team had in mind for the superstar's tenure.It certainly isn't what the 25-year-old envisioned for himself or the fanbase."I can't say enough good things about the fans here. They love hockey, they deserve a winner. I feel bad that I wasn't able to contribute more to winning here, but they deserve it all," the former Sabres captain said in an interview with ESPN's John Buccigross. "I really, truly care a lot about the fans here in Buffalo."Eichel's frustrating stint as the face of the Sabres came to a close on Thursday. He's headed to Sin City following a blockbuster trade with the Vegas Golden Knights.The past couple months in Buffalo were especially contentious. Both sides were unable to agree on a type of surgery to repair the herniated disc in Eichel's neck, which has kept him sidelined since March, and rumors about the center's future began to swirl."It's been tough since I got hurt. It just seems like things haven't really went my way, and that's fine, people deal with adversity, and this is no different," he said. "It's definitely been a long process. ... Just a lot of drama that you don’t really want to deal with. I guess you just learn to."I'm just happy to be on the other side of it. I'm happy to be moving on."The Golden Knights have announced Eichel will undergo artificial disc replacement surgery, which is his preferred procedure. The club estimates he will miss about three to five months."I really appreciate the Vegas Golden Knights organization for giving me the opportunity to move forward with what I want to do and just get back to playing hockey and doing what I love," Eichel said.Eichel added that he's "not sure" if he would've stayed with the Sabres even if they did let him get his desired surgery."We obviously changed management in 2020. It just seemed like we were heading towards another, I don't want to say 'rebuild,' we weren't really in a position that we were going to try and go win," he said in an interview with Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman."I went to the team and said I wasn't really happy with the idea of that, and if that's the route they wanted to take, that maybe it would be better to move me."Obviously, that didn't go over well. I'm a competitor, I want to win, we obviously hadn't won."Eichel pointed to Taylor Hall's offseason addition in 2020 as a move that got him "excited" about the team again. However, Buffalo ultimately fell short once more during the 2020-21 campaign, which the star forward said was a "disaster" for him personally.Vegas has struggled with injuries to start the year and currently holds a 4-5-0 record. The Golden Knights have made the playoffs in each of their first four seasons so far.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have talked to other teams about some of their defensemen, sources told The Athletic's James Mirtle.The recent emergence of Timothy Liljegren appears to have created a bit of a logjam on Toronto's blue line. The 22-year-old Swede has played at least 17 minutes in back-to-back games, posting an expected goals share of 91.7% in those two contests - best among Leafs defensemen, per Natural Stat Trick.Liljegren has only played 17 career games with the Leafs, but if he continues to establish himself as a legitimate NHLer, that would give Toronto seven capable blue-liners.Veterans Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and T.J. Brodie all have full no-trade clauses - and Rielly just inked an eight-year, $60-million extension - so it's unlikely any of them are being floated in trade talks.That would leave Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, Travis Dermott, and Justin Holl.Liljegren and Sandin - the Leafs' first-round picks in 2017 and 2018 - are both in the final season of their entry-level contracts. In addition to their youth and upside, their affordability is valuable to the cap-strapped Leafs.Holl has been a healthy scratch in back-to-back games in favor of Liljegren. Dermott, meanwhile, didn't play the final 10 minutes on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings while the Leafs were defending a lead.Dermott, 24, has two years left on his contract with a $1.5-million cap hit, per CapFriendly. Holl, 29, also has two years remaining with a $2-million cap hit. His deal includes a 10-team no-trade list.Holl has played top-four minutes for the Leafs in each of the last two seasons and was protected in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. Dermott has predominately played third-pairing minutes in his career - occasionally moving up in the lineup when injuries struck. He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and Seattle opted to take forward Jared McCann from Toronto.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Wednesday was a good night on the ice. We successfully backed the Oilers to win in regulation and the Blue Jackets to upset the injury-plagued Avalanche, even if the Blackhawks blew it in the third period to prevent us from going undefeated.It was especially successful if you followed through on me leaning towards the Kings and the under of 5.5 goals, but I personally passed as I wanted Cal Petersen.Thursday night offers us a jam-packed schedule to pick through. Let's get to our best bets.Sabres (+155) @ Kraken (-175)Remember when the Sabres were good for a week or two? Unsurprisingly, they've come crashing down to earth and are now playing to their true talent level. That's ... not good.Buffalo ranks 30th in Corsi For percentage and only the Golden Knights, sans half of their roster, have controlled a smaller share of the five-on-five scoring chances over the last five games. The Sabres are getting absolutely cratered on a shift-by-shift basis and they don't have the talent or goaltending to keep themselves afloat when that happens.While the Kraken have won just three of 10 games thus far, they're playing better than their results indicate. Seattle is finally starting to get healthy and it's making a big difference. The team has controlled better than 60% of the expected goals over their last five games, which ranks best in the NHL by a comfortable margin.The Kraken have just been on the wrong end of a couple of goaltending performances recently. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin turned a dominant effort by Seattle into zero points, despite the club leading the high-danger chances 16-5 against New York. Joey Daccord started the following night for the Kraken because Chris Driedger was unavailable, and he conceded five goals on just 23 shots against the Oilers.We probably don't have to worry about the Sabres' Craig Anderson or Dustin Tokarski stealing a game from Seattle - and with Driedger back in the mix, we can be comfortable with whoever the Kraken elect to start in goal.I expect Seattle to dominate the run of play and get back on track with a clean home win against Buffalo.Bet: Kraken in regulation (-115)Golden Knights (-125) @ Senators (+105)We've picked on the Golden Knights a lot as of late, and we're going right back to the well today.All of the reasons we've targeted them in past games still apply. In fact, they're even shorter on players than in previous showings.Peyton Krebs was playing regularly for Vegas, but he's no longer in the mix following this morning's trade to Buffalo for Jack Eichel. Krebs isn't a difference-maker, but he was a legitimate NHL player on a team short of them. Vegas lost Krebs on top of already playing without Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson, Alex Tuch (also traded), and Zach Whitecloud. That stings.It's difficult to put into words just how much these injuries have sucked the life out of this team. The Golden Knights are perennially one of the best five-on-five sides in the NHL. Right now, they're one of the worst.Their season numbers are bad and they're actually trending further downward. No team has controlled a lesser share of the chances over the last five games and they've allowed chances at a higher rate than anyone (36 per 60).While the Senators are still a flawed team, they are competent. Their top line is playing well, and scratching Nikita Zaitsev should be an addition by subtraction on the back end.Filip Gustavsson is starting and has been Ottawa's best goaltender in terms of Goals Saved Above Expectation, being the only Senators goalie with a positive number in that metric.I like rolling the dice with Ottawa at plus money.Bonus round: Keep your eye on the Sharks (+110). If San Jose gets some bodies back from COVID-19 protocol and/or Jordan Binnington gets the night off, it will be a worthwhile play.Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Buffalo Sabres have traded superstar center Jack Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-round pick, the team announced Thursday.

Welcome to the first edition of theScore's Norris Trophy Power Rankings.These rankings focus on analytics and the all-around ability of defensemen based on this season's results rather than just points or reputation.

Brad Aldrich's name has been crossed out on the Stanley Cup, according to the Hockey Hall of Fame, per The Athletic's Mark Lazerus.The change was made Sunday when the names of last season's Tampa Bay Lightning were added, reports TSN's Ryan Rishaug.

The New York Rangers loaned Vitali Kravtsov to the KHL's Traktor Chelyabinsk, the club announced.New York can recall Kravtsov when the ongoing KHL season ends, and he's amenable to rejoining the NHL team, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman."After discussions with Vitali and his representation, we decided a loan to Traktor was in the best interests of both him and the organization," Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a statement Wednesday. "We think very highly of Vitali and the Rangers development staff will continue to work with him to reach our mutual goal of him some day being a New York Ranger."Kravtsov also focused on the positive."I want to thank the Rangers for working with me, and appreciate the open and honest conversations we have had during this process," he said in his own statement. "While this has been a challenging time for me personally, I believe having the opportunity to return to Traktor and work on my game is the best thing for me right now. My main focus is getting better every day to continue towards my goal of playing hockey for the New York Rangers."The Rangers reportedly gave Kravtsov permission to seek a trade on Oct. 12 after the club left him off its roster to begin the season. The forward, who'll turn 22 next month, was apparently unhappy that he didn't make the team.Kravtsov collected two goals and two assists over 20 games as a rookie with New York in the last campaign. He spent parts of five seasons with Traktor before that and played 39 AHL games in 2019-20.The Rangers drafted the Russian-born forward ninth overall in 2018.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby tested positive for COVID-19, head coach Mike Sullivan announced Wednesday.Defenseman Brian Dumoulin also tested positive. Sullivan added that Crosby is displaying mild symptoms and Dumoulin is currently asymptomatic.Symptomatic players are typically expected to miss at least 10 days.Defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel were placed in the league's COVID-19 protocol Monday after testing positive. Kris Letang was present at practice Wednesday for the first time since testing positive on Oct. 23.The Penguins have been dealing with COVID-19 cases since before the season even started.

The Nashville Predators will raise Pekka Rinne's No. 35 to the Bridgestone Arena rafters on Feb. 24, 2022.The recently retired goaltender will become the first player in franchise history to have his number retired.Rinne, who turned 39 on Wednesday, ended his NHL tenure in July following a 15-year career spent entirely with the Predators.The Finnish-born goalie was unquestionably Nashville's best-ever netminder and arguably one of the most accomplished in NHL history. Rinne leads the Predators in almost every category at his position, and his 369 career wins put him in a tie for 19th on the NHL's all-time list. He also sits in the league's top 20 in save percentage (.917) and shutouts (60).Rinne provided prolonged stability in the crease and helped the Predators reach the playoffs 10 times, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016-17. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2017-18 and was a finalist for the honor in three other seasons.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We don't have quantity on the ice Wednesday, but there is plenty of quality.This four-game slate features several of the league's hottest teams, with the Hurricanes (8-0-0), Oilers (7-1-0), and Blues (6-1-0) among those in action.Let's get into our best bets.Predators (+175) @ Oilers (-210)The Predators enter play on a four-game winning streak. I don't like their chances of making it five in this spot. Wednesday will mark Nashville's third game in four nights, and the first two were taxing contests that went to overtime.Now, with a quick turnaround, they take on a high-powered Oilers team that is built on fast-pace, high-event hockey. Not ideal.Making matters worse is the Predators won't have their star goaltender, Juuse Saros, between the pipes to try and bail them out. Heck, they won't even have their veteran backup in David Rittich.Instead, 24-year-old Connor Ingram will be tasked with slowing down Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and arguably the NHL's most potent offense.Ingram did show well in his lone NHL game; however, he posted a sub-.900 save percentage in the AHL and SHL a year ago. This is not some highly touted, can't-miss prospect.The Oilers should be able to control the run of play at five-on-five. They're a better team in that game state and have fresh legs.If, for some reason, they still can't win the five-on-five battle, they're in good hands with the power play. They are the most prolific team, by far, on the man advantage, and Nashville is among the most undisciplined squads. I doubt the Preds will magically clean up their act with tired legs. If anything, they'll be more prone to reaching in and taking lazy penalties.On top of all that, Filip Forsberg's status is in question after leaving last night's game with an injury. The Predators aren't going to control play so will rely on opportunistic scoring to hang around. Losing Forsberg would be a big blow for their ability to do that.I like the Oilers to snap Nashville's winning streak in this one, and I think it happens with relative ease.Bet: Oilers inside regulation (-130)Setting the tableThe Blackhawks (+140) could be a worthy 'dog if they start Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. His play is trending upward and Chicago is at home. The Hurricanes have been fantastic this season but are due for some regression. Their expected goal differential at five-on-five is +2. Their actual goal differential is +13. Oh, and Frederik Andersen isn't going to give them a .955 save percentage forever.The Blue Jackets (+155) have been bet down quite a bit, but I still see some value on this line. The Avalanche are severely undermanned, playing without the likes of Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Andre Burakovsky. They're also expected to start one of the league's worst netminders in Jonas Johansson.Lastly, the Kings (+120) and under 5.5 goals (-110) are my leans should Cal Petersen start in goal. The Blues have overperformed thus far and are without arguably their most important player in Ryan O'Reilly. I don't see many goals in this game with the likes of O'Reilly, Viktor Arvidsson, and Drew Doughty out of the lineup - if Petersen starts, that is.Official plays: Oilers in regulation (-130), Blue Jackets (+155)Wait and see: Blackhawks (+140), Kings (+120) and/or under 5.5 (-110)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In the first edition of theScore's 2021-22 Vezina Trophy Power Rankings, we take a look at which goalies are off to hot starts early in the season.GAA = Goals against average

The Jack Eichel sweepstakes is down to two.The Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights are the two remaining finalists to acquire the Buffalo Sabres superstar, sources told ESPN's Emily Kaplan.Additionally, the Flames and Knights are both OK with Eichel getting his preferred artificial disc replacement surgery, according to Kaplan.Eichel missed the second half of the 2020-21 campaign due to a herniated disc in his neck. He's been adamant about having the artificial disc replacement surgery, but the Sabres have denied his preferred method as they want him to have a fusion surgery. ADR is a relatively new procedure that hasn't been performed on an NHL player before.This disagreement caused significant friction between the two sides, leading to several trade rumors throughout the offseason. Ultimately, no deals came to fruition over the summer. Eichel showed up for Sabres training camp but failed his physical due to the injury and was stripped of his captaincy in the process.Eichel wouldn't be cleared to play for at least three months following the artificial disc replacement surgery, Kaplan added. The ADR's recovery timeline is two months shorter than the fusion surgery's.The 25-year-old would fill a massive hole for the Golden Knights, who lack a bonafide No. 1 center. Elias Lindholm has emerged as a catalyst down the middle for the Flames, but Eichel would give them a dynamite 1-2 punch.Eichel has five years left on his contract with an annual cap hit of $10 million. Buffalo is reportedly unwilling to retain any salary in the deal. Both the Flames and Golden Knights are up against the cap, so a significant contract or two would have to go the other way in order for either team to swing a deal.The Sabres selected Eichel second overall at the 2015 NHL Draft. His best season came in 2019-20 when he racked up 78 points in 68 games.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff apologized to Kyle Beach during a press conference Tuesday.The apology comes following the investigation into the Blackhawks' mishandling of Beach's sexual assault allegations in 2010, when Cheveldayoff was an assistant GM for Chicago."I want to begin by stating how sorry I am that this happened to Kyle and that he suffered as horribly as he did," Cheveldayoff said, per The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno."Kyle was failed by a system that should have helped him but did not," Cheveldayoff added, according to Jackie Spiegel of The Sporting News Canada. "I am sorry that my own assumptions about that system were clearly not good enough."Cheveldayoff's comments to the media were his first since the NHL determined he wasn't responsible for the Blackhawks' inaction.An independent investigation found that Blackhawks executives were told during a May 2010 meeting that then-video coach Brad Aldrich had behaved in a sexually inappropriate way toward a player, later revealed to be Kyle Beach.However, per the investigation, the franchise didn't act on the information until reporting it to human resources three weeks later, days after the team won the Stanley Cup.Cheveldayoff said "harassment allegations" were discussed in the meeting but he didn't know the full extent of what occurred."I left that meeting believing that the allegations would be dealt with by those above me," Cheveldayoff said, per CBC. "Three weeks later, upon learning that the individual was no longer with the organization, I further assumed the situation had been addressed."Blackhawks president John McDonough, general manager Stan Bowman, and head coach Joel Quenneville were at the 2010 meeting as well, according to the investigation. Bowman and Quenneville resigned from their positions last week.Cheveldayoff was asked Tuesday how it felt to retain his position with the Jets while his former colleagues lost their jobs."I think everyone is paying prices at different levels," Cheveldayoff said, per ESPN's Kristen Shilton. "I'm fortunate I have an opportunity to be someone who still has a chance to make a change in the game and help grow and learn and try to make this a better and safer place so there isn't another Kyle Beach."Jets owner Mark Chipman, who also spoke at the press conference, pledged to do his part to address similar situations within the league."I commit to you today that I will use my influence within the National Hockey League to acknowledge that there are systemic problems that require systemic solutions," Chipman said, according to The Athletic's Murat Ates.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Carey Price may be ready to return to the Montreal Canadiens shortly after his time in the NHL's player assistance program concludes."We don't have confirmation yet, but we're expecting him in town soon," Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said Tuesday, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "We don't have the exact date yet."Players must spend a minimum of 30 days in the program, and Friday will be Price's 30th.The goaltender voluntarily entered the program on Oct. 7. Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin said at the time that Price could be out longer than the 30-day minimum. One day before that, the Canadiens said they expected the netminder to miss the start of the season due to a non-COVID-19 illness.Price excelled in last season's Stanley Cup Playoffs, posting a .924 save percentage over 22 games while leading the Canadiens to a surprise appearance in the championship round. The 34-year-old raised his game after struggling during the regular season.Montreal will host the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson will miss four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury, the club confirmed Tuesday.Karlsson has a broken foot, The Athletic's Jesse Granger reported Monday.The 28-year-old was injured blocking a shot in Friday's win over the Anaheim Ducks.Vegas is already without key forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and Alex Tuch due to injury. The Golden Knights have a 4-4-0 record so far this season.Karlsson registered three points in eight games before sustaining his injury. He'll be sorely missed in the Golden Knights' lineup, as he logs minutes on the power play and penalty kill.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We started the week off with mixed results. The Blackhawks bounced back in a big way, thumping the Senators 5-1 to win their first game of the campaign.Our player prop didn't work out so well. Alex DeBrincat couldn't get in on the fun, failing to get three shots on goal for just the third time this season.We have a jam-packed schedule on the docket Tuesday. Let's get into our best bets.Golden Knights (+160) @ Maple Leafs (-180)To say the Golden Knights have injury problems would be an understatement. The lineup is a shell of its usual self.Vegas is expected to be without Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Alex Tuch, William Karlsson, Nolan Patrick, and Zach Whitecloud, among others, against the Maple Leafs.Those injuries leave the Golden Knights paper-thin, which is especially evident when looking at their centers. Nicolas Roy is expected to head the top line, while Chandler Stephenson, Mike Amadio, and Jake Leschyshyn will play behind him. Not ideal.While the Maple Leafs can be inconsistent defensively, I really don't see these undermanned Golden Knights creating much offense. That's problematic given how poorly they're defending. Vegas ranks dead last in expected goals against per 60 at five-on-five. They're giving up quality chances in bulk, which is a recipe for disaster against the likes of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Co.Toronto is playing well offensively despite its early struggles to find the net. No team is generating scoring chances and expected goals at a more efficient clip. The Maple Leafs are just struggling to convert. That will change sooner than later given all their high-end talent.The Leafs should have no problem creating opportunities against this ailing Vegas team, and I expect them to capitalize.Bet: Maple Leafs in regulation (-120)Devils (-125) @ Ducks (+105)Despite Jack Hughes' absence, the Devils have been a very strong five-on-five side in the early going. They've controlled 53.81% of the expected goals, good for seventh in the NHL. They're consistently getting the better of the chances.The Ducks, well, are not. Anaheim owns a 45.51 xGF%, which ranks them 28th.Even being their third game in four nights, the Devils are a good bet here to control the run of play. That bodes well for their chances of success, especially with Jonathan Bernier expected back between the pipes.He's not exactly a household name, but he played well for a bad Red Wings team the last couple of years and has picked up where he left off in New Jersey. He owns a 3-0-0 record and has a +3.3 goals saved above expectation.That's much better than Bernier's expected counterpart, John Gibson. He started the year well but has quickly fallen off. He owns a pedestrian .906 save percentage and a GSAE of -2.3.However, I would hold off on this bet until we get a little clarity. New Jersey played the Penguins on Saturday and the Blue Jackets on Sunday. Both of those teams dressed at least one player who is now in COVID-19 protocol, so it's possible some Devils players were exposed.I recommend holding off until the team is cleared. Should that happen, the Devils are worth backing.Bonus round: I don't want to leave you hanging with just one play in the event the Devils encounter COVID-19 issues. As such, I'm also backing the Dallas Stars (+110). They've been playing very well since getting the likes of Jason Robertson and John Klingberg back in the lineup but have been scoring on an unsustainably low percentage of their shots. That's bound to change soon, especially if Connor Hellebuyck isn't available in the Jets' net. Winnipeg recalled an AHL goaltender as insurance because Hellebuyck may miss the game due to the seemingly imminent birth of a child.Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Today marks our first installment of theScore's 2021-22 Calder Trophy Power Rankings. These will be published, along with the other major awards, once a month until the regular season ends.5. Spencer Knight, Panthers Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyGPWSV%GSAA32.9291.3Small sample sizes were an obstacle for our inaugural rankings, but we feel Knight deserves some recognition for his body of work so far this season. And make no mistake, he's certainly a candidate to move up the list as the campaign progresses.Between last season's brief NHL stint and this year's hot start, Knight has shown he has all the makings of a true No. 1 for the surging Florida Panthers. Unfortunately for him, and the organization to a degree, Sergei Bobrovsky is on Florida's books for $10 million per season until 2026. Knight will likely need to steal the starting job to have a real shot at the Calder.4. Dawson Mercer, Devils Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyGPPATOIXGF%7514:1455.08%Mercer has made a tremendous impression early into his tenure with the New Jersey Devils. The 20-year-old has stepped up to play key minutes down the middle of the ice with Jack Hughes sidelined, and he's delivered some strong results to boot. On top of ranking third in rookie scoring, New Jersey owns 76.25% of the goals and 55.88% of the shot attempts with Mercer on the ice at five-on-five.3. Bowen Byram, Avalanche Michael Martin / National Hockey League / GettyGPPATOIXGF%8520:2259.75%It appears the Colorado Avalanche have another young defenseman ready to dominate the scene. Byram remains rookie eligible in 2021-22 after playing only 19 games last season, and he's off to a roaring start this campaign. Colorado has put the 2019 fourth overall pick with Cale Makar on the top pairing for most of his minutes, and the dynamic duo has influenced a 64.44% expected goals rate when sharing the ice.Byram ranks second among all rookie blue-liners in points and average ice time, while he also places third in shots on goal.2. Moritz Seider, Red Wings Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyGPPATOIXGF%9822:2655.11%It appears Seider is on the fast track to superstardom if the first month of his NHL career is any indication. The 2019 sixth overall pick has flashed potential to be a franchise cornerstone in Detroit's rebuild by contributing offense, physicality, and poise beyond his years.Seider leads all freshmen in average ice time by almost a full minute and sits second in scoring. He's posted assists in seven of nine games - four of which came as the quarterback on the Red Wings' No. 1 power-play unit - and currently riding a five-game point streak.1. Lucas Raymond, Red Wings Dave Reginek / National Hockey League / GettyGPPATOIXGF%9916:0764.68%Steve Yzerman appears to have landed a gem in Raymond, who the Red Wings selected fourth overall in 2020. Raymond has burst onto the NHL scene after spending a development year in Sweden. Now he's showcasing his elite shot and offensive instincts on a nightly basis for a Detroit squad that is routinely surprising its opponents.Raymond is tied for the rookie lead in goals, highlighted by a hat trick in only his sixth NHL game. He's also the only first-year player to be operating at a point-per-game clip. So far, he's the leader in the clubhouse to bring home some hardware come awards season.Honorable mentions: Anton Lundell (FLA), Jonathan Dahlen (SJ), Filip Gustavsson (OTT)(Analytics source: Evolving-Hockey)Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens forward Cedric Paquette received a two-game suspension for boarding Anaheim Ducks center Trevor Zegras on Sunday, the league announced Monday.Paquette was handed a five-minute major and game misconduct on the play. This marks the second time the league has suspended him in his nine-year career. The 28-year-old was given a one-game suspension for a boarding hit on Torey Krug in 2017.Zegras initially left the game but later returned. The 2019 ninth overall pick has recorded a pair of goals and three assists over 10 games this season.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New York Rangers signed reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox to a seven-year contract extension, the team announced Monday.The deal's terms weren't officially disclosed, but TSN's Pierre LeBrun reports the average annual value on Fox's new contract is $9.5 million.Fox was set for restricted free agency at season's end. His new contract is the largest ever for a defenseman coming out of their entry-level deal, according to TSN's Darren Dreger."We are thrilled that we have agreed to terms with Adam on a contract extension and that he will continue to play for the team he grew up cheering for," general manager Chris Drury said. "In just over two seasons, Adam has consistently shown why he is a cornerstone for our organization and one of the best players in the NHL. It has been a privilege for us, and our fans, to watch Adam showcase his ability on a nightly basis, and we are glad to have that opportunity for seven more years."Fox is one of the league's top blue-liners, posting elite numbers at both ends of the ice.

The NHLPA issued a statement following Monday's executive board meeting."On the NHLPA’s Executive Board call today, Don Fehr recommended that an independent investigation be commenced by outside legal counsel in order to review the NHLPA’s response to the Kyle Beach matter. The Executive Board is currently voting on this matter."Voting will likely commence on Tuesday as some players on the call had to leave for their Monday games, ESPN's Emily Kaplan reports.The call, which featured roughly 80 players and lasted over two hours, was focused on how the NHLPA handled the sexual assault allegations Beach made toward then-Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010, Kaplan added.Beach never played an NHL game, but since he was a Black Ace for the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup run, he was part of the NHLPA membership.Fehr was contacted twice about the allegations against Aldrich, according to Jenner & Block's 107-page report. He told investigators he couldn't recall the conversations but didn't deny their occurrence.Upon identifying himself as "John Doe" in the lawsuit, Beach said he reported all details to the NHLPA."I know I reported every single detail to an individual at the NHLPA, who I was put in contact with after. I believe two different people talked to Don Fehr," Beach said. "And for him to turn his back on the players when his one job is to protect the players at all costs, I don't know how that can be your leader. I don't know how he can be in charge."There were no discussions during the call about removing Fehr as the union's executive director, Kaplan added.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Chicago Blackhawks' legal team told the NHL in December that a potential lawsuit involving the conduct of former video coach Brad Aldrich had "no merit," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Monday."The first we would have heard of the specific allegations (was) after the civil litigation was filed in May, and then I think there was an amended complaint getting more specific with the allegations," Daly said."We were given a heads-up by Chicago team counsel in late December with respect to a potential or threatened civil litigation, to which they claimed to have looked into, and to which they said there was no merit. With respect to being contacted directly by Kyle or his counsel, no, that never happened."Kyle Beach, then only identified as "John Doe," filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks on May 7. He said that Aldrich sexually assaulted him in May 2010, when he was a Black Ace, and that the team didn't immediately act on the information after he reported it.Less than three weeks after Beach submitted his lawsuit, a former high school hockey player in Michigan also sued the Blackhawks. The player says Aldrich sexually assaulted him in 2013, when he was 16, and the Blackhawks provided Aldrich with a reference, failing to inform Aldrich's subsequent employers that there were sexual misconduct allegations against him. Aldrich pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a student in Michigan in 2013.Beach and the former high school player each filed amended complaints in July.In response to the suits, the Blackhawks commissioned an investigation by law firm Jenner & Block. The investigation report, released Tuesday, revealed that several members of the Blackhawks' senior management group - including then-team president John McDonough, general manager Stan Bowman, head coach Joel Quenneville, and assistant GM Kevin Cheveldayoff - met on May 23, 2010, and discussed allegations that Aldrich had, at minimum, sexually harassed a player.The Blackhawks did not act on the allegations until June 14 - five days after Chicago won the Stanley Cup - when McDonough told the team's director of human resources, according to the report. On the evening of June 10, Aldrich made an unwanted sexual advance on a Blackhawks intern, the former employee told investigators. The Blackhawks allowed Aldrich to resign without an investigation on June 16.Bowman and Quenneville resigned from their respective positions in the wake of the report. The NHL didn't discipline Cheveldayoff, now Winnipeg Jets GM, asserting that he wasn't a senior member of the Blackhawks' management group. The club fired McDonough in April 2020.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman also spoke Monday. He defended the league's decisions to fine the Blackhawks $2 million and to allow Quenneville to coach a game for the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night before he met with Bettman on Thursday and subsequently resigned.Bettman pledged to expand the NHL's hotline for reporting inappropriate conduct to encompass all levels of hockey and not just the league itself.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Copy rooms were in high demand last week as hockey fans lined up to print the weekly NHL betting value cheat sheet and carry it around in their pocket. Of course, you can always bookmark it on your phone, but hockey fans are an old-school group.The recipeWe provided a three-chapter series on how to use the regular-season point-total market to create team ratings, how to interpret home-ice advantage, and then how to use those to create your own moneylines.I've taken the advanced stats I value most from those games, the market rating for regular-season win total markets, and last season's advanced stats to create a rating for each team. (I make adjustments for injuries to key players.)With roughly 10% of the season played, here's how I'm weighing those three factors as of Nov. 1:LAST SEASON MARKET 2021-2230%60%10%Last season's advanced metrics act as a baseline so we don't overreact to a good start to this year. There's still an undefeated team in the NHL, and it isn't the reigning Stanley Cup champion.Next, we're going to use the regular-season point-total market to account for what we thought of these teams before the campaign. There's one hiccup, though. The Seattle Kraken were assigned a near league-average point total for fear that setting the bar too low would result in the sportsbooks getting beat the way they did with the Vegas Golden Knights in their first year. As such, we'll take their numbers with a grain of salt, as they've performed 7% below league average.Lastly, we use the games we've seen so far this season. The Carolina Hurricanes are the aforementioned undefeated club - the market assumed a dip for them this season - but aren't the top team this season based on my numbers. The early leader there is the Florida Panthers.The cheat sheetThe following is a lookahead to a week's worth of games. It includes my fair price on the games (true moneyline) and the moneyline price I would need to bet either side. I just need a 1% edge for a favorite if we're getting better than fair price on the team more likely to win. For the underdog, I'll need 4% or better to make it a bet.DATEGAMETRUE MLPRICE TO BETNOV. 1WSH@TB+113/-113WSH +133/TB -109OTT@CHI+131/-131OTT +154/CHI -125SEA@EDM+122/-122SEA +144/EDM -117NOV. 2DET@MTL+140/-140DET +165/MTL -134VGK@TOR+169/-169VGK +201/TOR -162AZ@PHI+177/-177AZ +211/PHI -169DAL@WPG-118/+118DAL -114/WPG +139OTT@MIN+172/-172OTT +206/MIN -165NSH@CGY+104/-104NSH +122/CGY -113NJD@ANA-139/+139NJD -133/ANA +164NYR@VAN-110/+110NYR -106/VAN +130BUF@SJ+161/-161BUF +192/SJ -155NOV. 3CAR@CHI-118/+118CAR -113/CHI +139NSH@EDM+130/-130NSH +153/EDM -125CBJ@COL+221/-221CBJ +268/COL -211STL@LAK+111/-111STL +130/LAK -107NOV. 4VGK@OTT+112/-112VGK +131/OTT +105TB@TOR+103/-103TB +121/TOR +114WSH@FLA+119/-119WSH +140/FLA -114PHI@PIT+134/-134PHI +158/PIT -129DET@BOS+186/-186DET +223/BOS -178NYI@MTL-108/+108NYI -103/MTL +126DAL@CGY+107/-107DAL +126/CGY -109BUF@SEA+172/-172BUF +206/SEA -165STL@SJ+106/-106STL +125/SJ +110NOV. 5CHI@WPG+106/-106CHI +125/WPG -102NYR@EDM+110/-110NYR +130/EDM -106AZ@ANA+120/-120AZ +141/ANA -115NSH@VAN+106/-106NSH +110/VAN +125NJD@LAK+128/-128NJD +151/LAK -123NOV. 6TB@OTT-121/+121TB -116/OTT +143CAR@FLA+126/-126CAR +148/FLA -121BOS@TOR+125/-125BOS +147/TOR -120DET@BUF+112/-112DET +132/BUF -108PHI@WSH+125/-125PHI +148/WSH -120VGK@MTL+124/-124VGK +146/MTL -119NYI@WPG-128/+128NYI -123/WPG +151COL@CBJ-180/+180COL -173/CBJ +216MIN@PIT-115/+115MIN -111/PIT +115NYR@CGY+103/-103NYR +121/CGY -113SEA@AZ-135/+135SEA -130/AZ +159NJD@SJ-104/+104NJD -100/SJ +122NOV. 7VGK@DET+106/-106VGK +124/DET +111NSH@CHI+101/-101NSH +118/CHI +117STL@ANA-121/+121STL -116/ANA +142NYI@MIN+107/-107NYI +125/MIN -103DAL@VAN-106/+106DAL -102/VAN +125Last tipsWe talked about being careful with the Kraken, but there's another team that has the ratings in flux: the Arizona Coyotes. Though they're not as bad this season as the Blackhawks, according to my numbers, there's more hope for Chicago to turn things around based purely on organizational motivation. The Desert Dogs are likely angling for the first overall pick, while the Blackhawks stink by accident.Many hockey bettors set a parameter for big favorites/underdogs. They don't want to lay a big price on a favorite, nor do they want to suffer the losses that will come if you blindly bet on teams like the Coyotes because the sportsbook gives you a few percentage points of value. Sticking to games priced inside of -200/+300 is certainly a reasonable strategy with the number of games the NHL season provides.Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there’s a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We concluded the week on a high note, as the Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings both came through with victories Saturday night.We'll now look to pick up where we left off. Let's dive into our best bets for Monday's three-game slate.Senators (+105) @ Blackhawks (-125)I was down on the Blackhawks heading into the season. I thought they were very overrated following a few noisy additions in the summer and there was value in betting them to miss the playoffs.But I never expected a woeful 0-7-2 start. Chicago is one of two teams without a win, and, in many categories, the tanking Coyotes have actually outperformed the Blackhawks. It's bad.Despite all that, Chicago is a tempting side to back Monday. Patrick Kane (COVID-19 protocol) should return to the lineup in this one, which would provide a much-needed spark to the offense.And, as poor as Marc-Andre Fleury has played to date, it seems more than reasonable to suggest Chicago has a clear edge in goal over Matt Murray.Chicago is also flat-out due for a win. You generally don't bet teams because "they're due," but this is the NHL. Even the worst teams, usually, are going to win two or three of every 10 games.While Chicago has obviously played poorly thus far, the extreme record is undeserved. At five-on-five, expected goals for are 16.82-12.61 in favor of Chicago's opponents. Actual goals: 29-7. The Blackhawks are deserving of a -4 goal differential but instead sit at -22.Sooner or later, the pendulum is going to swing. This team isn't going to continue shooting 4% at five-on-five, and Fleury isn't going to continue playing like a pumpkin. Eventually, they're going to start finding some level of success.A home date against an underwhelming Ottawa Senators team seems like a good time for that to happen.Bet: Blackhawks (-125)Player propThere isn't a ton of value to be found on Monday's games themselves, so we're turning to player props.I'm going right back to Chicago against Ottawa and backing Alex DeBrincat's shot total (2.5) to go over the number. He has attempted 59 shots through nine games, averaging more than 6.5 per contest. He's shooting every chance he gets, and he should see plenty of chances against the Senators.Ottawa is allowing 61.05 shot attempts per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, good for 30th in the league. This is a dream matchup for a volume shooter like DeBrincat.Bet: Alex DeBrincat over 2.5 shots on goal (-130)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Time flies, doesn't it? It feels like hockey just arrived and yet we're approximately 10% through the 2021-22 NHL season.While still dealing with a small sample size, we have an indication of which teams will perform above and below expectations.Let's take a look at the biggest risers and fallers in terms of Stanley Cup odds.TEAMODDS (NOV. 1)ODDS (OCT. 10)Colorado Avalanche+550+500Tampa Bay Lightning+800+600Florida Panthers+900+1800Toronto Maple Leafs+900+1100Carolina Hurricanes+1000+2000Vegas Golden Knights+1000+600Boston Bruins+1200+1400Edmonton Oilers+1400+3000Minnesota Wild+1800+2500New York Islanders+1800+1800Pittsburgh Penguins+2400+2500Washington Capitals+2700+2500St. Louis Blues+2800+5000New York Rangers+3000+2500Dallas Stars+3500+2500New Jersey Devils+5000+5000Winnipeg Jets+5000+4000Calgary Flames+5500+6000Philadelphia Flyers+5500+2500San Jose Sharks+6000+15000Seattle Kraken+7000+5000Chicago Blackhawks+8000+6000Montreal Canadiens+8000+4000Vancouver Canucks+8000+4000Los Angeles Kings+10000+5000Nashville Predators+10000+8000Detroit Red Wings+11500+10000Ottawa Senators+15000+10000Columbus Blue Jackets+20000+20000Anaheim Ducks+30000+20000Arizona Coyotes+30000+20000Buffalo Sabres+30000+30000Biggest risersFlorida Panthers (+1800 to +900)The Panthers have bonafide stars Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Aaron Ekblad, and a ton of quality depth to properly complement them. Goaltending was supposed to be the big concern. However, Sergei Bobrovsky currently leads the league in goals saved above expected (+13.5), and highly touted rookie Spencer Knight has predictably held his own. While Bobrovsky is unlikely to sustain this level of play, he's looked like a different version of himself. That's huge for Florida's chances.Carolina Hurricanes (+2000 to +1000)Carolina has been on the brink of something special for a couple of years now. They appeared to take a step back when they balked at paying Dougie Hamilton - who has been spectacular for New Jersey thus far - in the offseason and elected to go with a Frederik Andersen/Antti Raanta one-two punch in goal. Apparently not! The Hurricanes are off to a miraculous 8-0-0 start and have yet to show an Achilles heel. They rank second in the NHL in goals scored and no team has conceded fewer. Andersen and, to a lesser extent, Raanta are big reasons why. They've combined to give the Hurricanes the league's best save percentage.Edmonton Oilers (+3000 to +1400)The Oilers are off to a remarkably strong start. They own a 6-1-0 record and have controlled better than 57% of the expected goals across all game situations. Connor McDavid seems poised to take another step forward, averaging 2.28 points per game in the early going. Zach Hyman has fit like a glove, scoring six goals in seven games, while Jesse Puljujarvi looks destined for a breakout campaign. The emergence of Evan Bouchard has helped stabilize the defense as well. If the goaltending holds up, the Oilers are going to be a problem.Biggest fallersMontreal Canadiens (+4000 to +8000)You'd be hard-pressed to draw up a worse start for the Canadiens. They've picked up just two wins in 10 games and have looked alarmingly bad in the process. Montreal was a strong five-on-five team for years, which helped mask some of its shortcomings with finishing and special teams. That has not been the case this season.The Canadiens rank 22nd in shot attempt share and 24th in scoring chance share thus far. Combine that with poor special teams and it's no wonder the Habs are consistently leaving the ice pointless. They've scored only four power-play goals in 56 minutes on the man advantage and no team has conceded more goals while killing penalties. The Canadiens are going to have a tough time turning it around in a potent Atlantic Division.Vancouver Canucks (+4000 to +8000)The Canucks made a lot of moves in the offseason to try and improve the present product. To this point, the likes of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland haven't been enough to keep the team afloat. The Canucks have won just three of nine games thus far and looked vulnerable in the process. They've controlled just 42% of the expected goals share at five-on-five, which is good for dead last in the NHL. They're getting out-chanced to the point where strong goaltending from Thatcher Demko isn't enough to get results. If things don't improve, and fast, this team isn't going to come close to making the playoffs.Philadelphia Flyers (+2500 to +5500)Philadelphia is off to a strong 4-2-1 start but it appears to be smoke and mirrors. They rank 32nd in five-on-five chance share and 30th when it comes to high-danger opportunities. To this point, unsustainably high percentages have covered up the blemishes. The Flyers are first in the NHL in five-on-five shooting percentage and have benefited from a .938 save percentage in those situations. When their shooting luck dries up, I don't have much faith in Carter Hart and Martin Jones to pick up the slack.Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Montreal Canadiens sent top prospect Cole Caufield to the AHL's Laval Rocket, the NHL club announced Monday.Caufield entered the season as the consensus Calder Trophy favorite, but he's produced only one point - an assist - over the first 10 games of the campaign.The 20-year-old impressed upon arriving in the NHL last season, notching four goals and an assist across 10 regular-season contests before adding four markers and eight helpers in 20 playoff games.Caufield won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top Division I men's hockey player while playing for the University of Wisconsin in April. The Canadiens called him up for his NHL debut later that month.Montreal signed the American-born forward to an entry-level contract in March after drafting him 15th overall in 2019.The Canadiens recalled forward Michael Pezzetta on Monday in a corresponding move.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens forward Cedric Paquette will have a hearing Monday to answer for his hit on Anaheim Ducks phenom Trevor Zegras on Sunday night.Paquette received a five-minute major and game misconduct after boarding Zegras in the first period of the Ducks' 4-2 win.Zegras left the game but later returned. The 2019 ninth overall pick had recorded five points in nine contests entering Sunday.Paquette has one prior suspension in his nine-year career - a boarding hit on Torey Krug in 2017.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Perreault will miss two-to-three weeks due to an eye injury, head coach Dominique Ducharme said Sunday.Adam Brooks will replace Perreault in the lineup.Ducharme added that Perreault had been dealing with the injury for some time now and didn't sustain the ailment during Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Kings, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. Doctors reportedly only recently gave Perreault his recovery timetable.The Canadiens are banged up at the moment. Brendan Gallagher and Jeff Petry were game-time decisions for Sunday's road clash with the Anaheim Ducks, and they weren't alone in dealing with injuries.