The St. Louis Blues inked forward Brayden Schenn to an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value of $6.5 million, the team announced Friday.Schenn is entering the final year of his current deal that carries a $5.12-million annual cap hit. He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.The 28-year-old tallied 17 goals and 54 points in 72 contests last season and added five goals and 12 points in 26 playoff games to help the Blues capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.St. Louis acquired Schenn in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers in June 2017. He's appeared in 588 NHL games, recording 154 career goals and 372 points.General manager Doug Armstrong could have a busy summer in 2020, so signing Schenn will allow him to focus on some other key players who will need new deals.Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, while young forwards Robby Fabbri and Sammy Blais, and defenseman Vince Dunn will all be restricted free agents.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Dallas Stars blue-liner Roman Polak was stretchered off the ice in the second period of Thursday night's contest versus the Boston Bruins after going headfirst into the boards.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Dougie Hamilton scored in the shootout, Petr Mrazek stopped three shots in the tiebreaker and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Thursday night in the teams’ opener.Erik Haula, making his debut with the Hurricanes, tied it at 3 with a power-play goal with 13:05 left in regulation. Martin Necas also scored with the man advantage for a Carolina team that struggled in those situations during the postseason.Lucas Wallmark also scored, Hamilton had two assists and Mrazek made 33 saves for the Hurricanes. They are hoping for a carryover of the late-season surge in 2018-19 that propelled them to their first playoff appearance since 2009. Carolina upset Washington and the New York Islanders before being swept out of the Eastern Conference final by Boston.Jordan Weal, Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored during a three-goal second period that erased an early 2-0 deficit, with the goals by Tatar and Kotkaniemi coming 1:04 apart. Carey Price stopped 40 shots for Montreal, which has earned at least one point in six straight openers, going 4-0-2 in that stretch.Hamilton opened the shootout by deking Price before beating him with a wrist shot. Mrazek followed with three consecutive saves, stuffing rookie Nick Suzuki to end it.The power play was a season-long struggle a year ago for Carolina, which managed just five goals with the man advantage during its entire 15-game postseason run and was 0 for its last 13 chances against the Boston Bruins.Haula, one of four players making their debuts with the Hurricanes after being picked up in a trade with Vegas, tied it when he stuffed in the rebound of Hamilton’s shot.That goal came after the Canadiens’ second-period flurry was capped by Weal’s goal on an odd-man rush. Tatar started the surge by beating Mrazek with a wrist shot from between the circles on the power play at 4:18 of the second, and Kotkaniemi tied it at 2 at 5:22 off a rebound.NOTES: Montreal D Cale Fleury had family in town for his NHL debut - older brother Haydn is a defenseman with the Hurricanes. ... Cam Ward, the Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie on Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup champion team, sounded the siren that announces the Hurricanes’ entrance to the ice. Ward signed a one-day contract during the offseason to retire as a member of the team.UP NEXTCanadiens: Continue their season-opening three-game road swing Saturday night at Toronto.Hurricanes: Visit Washington on Saturday night in a rematch of their first-round playoff series.---More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/tag/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-SportsCopyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson and his wife Melinda celebrated the birth of their daughter on Thursday.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk is in the lineup for Thursday's contest against the Buffalo Sabres. He will skate on Pittsburgh's second line with Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Tanev.

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson will miss six-to-eight weeks with a fractured right fibula, the team revealed Thursday.In a corresponding move, top defensive prospect Evan Bouchard was recalled, the team also announced Thursday.Additionally, blue-liner Ethan Bear was assigned to the AHL.The 26-year-old suffered the injury while blocking a shot in the first period of Wednesday's season opener against the Vancouver Canucks. He logged 22:19 of ice time in the 3-2 win.Larsson ranked third among Oilers defensemen in ice time in 2018-19, averaging 21:37 per game. He also recorded three goals and 20 points in 82 contests.Bouchard, 19, registered one goal in seven games for the Oilers last season. Edmonton drafted the 6-foot-3 rearguard with the 10th overall pick in 2018.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL season triumphantly returned Wednesday night, featuring a four-game slate that included dramatic pregame ceremonies, a captaincy unveiling, an overtime winner, and much more.To put a bow on the first night of the 2019-20 campaign, here's one takeaway from each contest.Leafs finish strong on captaincy nightMark Blinch / National Hockey League / GettyAfter weeks of suspense, the Toronto Maple Leafs anointed John Tavares as captain to kick off opening night. However, the hype was short-lived, as Brady Tkachuk put the Ottawa Senators in front 25 seconds after puck drop to suck the life out of Scotiabank Arena.Toronto ultimately lured its home crowd back in, putting together a dominant performance in a 5-3 victory. Auston Matthews buried two goals and all the new bodies from a summer full of roster turnover contributed; Tyson Barrie racked up two primary assists, Ilya Mikheyev notched his first NHL goal, and rookies Rasmus Sandin and Dmytro Timashov each collected the first point of their careers.When the final whistle blew, the Leafs had controlled 59% of shot attempts, 59% of scoring chances, and 62% of expected goals at five-on-five.Caps' top six spoil banner nightDilip Vishwanat / Getty Images Sport / GettyIn a battle of the last two Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals took down the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime. The home squad started hot with two goals in the first eight minutes, but the Caps took over from there and didn't look back.Washington finished the game at 59% Corsi For while owning 60% of scoring chances and 61% of expected goals at five-on-five. The club found a ton of success through its top two lines, which is a great sign moving forward.As usual, Alex Ovechkin found the back of the net while his line produced several chances, but Washington's second unit of Jakub Vrana, Lars Eller, and T.J. Oshie did considerable damage as well. The trio owned a whopping 73% of shot attempts, and Vrana - who's expected to take on a larger role in the offense this season - registered five shots and the overtime winner in over 17 minutes of work.Look out for this offense when Evgeny Kuznetsov returns from suspension.McDavid and Draisaitl: Still very goodIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyThe Edmonton Oilers didn't look all that inspiring while hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, but their two superstars did enough to treat the home crowd to a win.Leon Draisaitl was a force. He skated with purpose and picked up right where he left off last season with a goal and a two assists. Connor McDavid looked merely pedestrian until a third-period showstopper electrified Rogers Place and completed the Oilers' late comeback.Edmonton entered the season hoping for more out of its supporting cast, but sometimes, you have to take what you can get.It's worth noting the Canucks looked solid in this one. They largely controlled play at even strength, while Tyler Myers, J.T. Miller, and Quinn Hughes all found the scoresheet. Tough result but an encouraging performance for Vancouver.The Golden Knights are scaryDavid Becker / National Hockey League / GettyOnly one side of the high-profile Pacific Division rivalry was ready for the rematch of last season's controversial playoff series, and it wasn't the San Jose Sharks.The Golden Knights seemingly played in a higher gear all night, cruising to a 4-1 victory. Vegas was in control in all facets of the game, scoring two goals at even strength, one on the power play, and one shorthanded. The club also out-chanced the Sharks 29-8 at five-on-five and won the overall shot battle 35-22.Vegas' top line had 14 shot attempts to four against, while Mark Stone and rookie Cody Glass - two-thirds of the club's second unit - each scored. A full season of Stone stands to be huge for the Golden Knights, who fully looked the part of Stanley Cup contenders in their first test Wednesday.(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Calgary Flames have inked general manager Brad Treliving to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.Treliving joined the organization in April 2014 and is entering his sixth season as general manager."Over the past five years, Brad has done an excellent job putting a team together on and off the ice," Flames president and CEO John Bean said. "Continuity is important in this role. Brad has earned the trust and respect of our ownership group and our fans. We look forward to continuing our work together as we strive for our ultimate goal; another Stanley Cup championship for the city of Calgary."The 50-year-old Treliving has maintained a competitive roster throughout his tenure in Calgary and is responsible for many key moves.He's added multiple promising pieces through the draft, including forwards Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk, and defenseman Juuso Valimaki.Treliving has also signed core players Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mark Giordano, and T.J. Brodie to cost-effective contracts. And in September, he inked Tkachuk, who was a high-profile restricted free agent, to a three-year, $21-million deal.Additionally, Treliving made a major splash last offseason by acquiring winger Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes.The Flames notched the second-highest point total (107) in franchise history and finished atop the Western Conference in 2018-19.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.Opening night was fun. More importantly, you won money if you followed along with the opening night betting guide. The Washington Capitals won, the Ottawa Senators hit the over 2.5 goals, Auston Matthews found the back of the net, and Brock Boeser got on the scoresheet.It was a fun night, but things are about to kick into high gear. Here's how to approach betting a busy four-day slate over the weekend:Game bettingNew Jersey Devils at Buffalo Sabres (Saturday)I'm not as high on the Devils as most this season, but the Sabres are bad and New Jersey has won in seven of its last eight visits to Buffalo. The Devils will likely be very short favorites, making a play on them even more appealing.Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday)The Leafs should be huge favorites again in this one, sapping any value in backing them. They will be flying home for the second half of back-to-back games after playing on Friday night in Columbus, a situation that's produced six consecutive unders for them.With Carey Price and Frederik Andersen likely in goal, the under is worth a hard look for this Saturday night showdown.New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators (Saturday)The Senators won't win much in 2019-20, but this is a great spot to back them at plus money. The Rangers have lost eight straight in Ottawa and are hardly deserving of the love the oddsmakers will probably give them in this spot.Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins (Saturday)If losing streaks are your thing, then this is one of those empty-the-account type of plays. The Penguins have won 10 straight over the Blue Jackets in Pittsburgh, with seven of those victories coming by at least two goals, making the puck line well worth a look.Dallas Stars at St. Louis Blues (Saturday)The Stars and Blues play fundamentally sound defense and limit goals. Six of the last seven meetings between the two teams in St. Louis have gone under the 5.5 total.The game should be profitable again on Saturday.Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers (Saturday)This is another spot where goals have typically been scarce. Six of the last seven meetings between the Kings and Oilers in Edmonton have gone under. The Kings have also lost six of those games. Oilers and the under parlay, anyone?San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks (Saturday)The Sharks have hit six consecutive overs when on the road and in the second leg of back-to-back games. Both their contests against the Ducks in Anaheim went over last year as well, so let's stick with tradition here.Game propsMinnesota Wild at Nashville Predators (Thursday)The Wild haven't beaten the Predators in Nashville since 2016, and the team has scored just seven goals over its last five games there. Take the team total under 2.5.Toronto Maple Leafs at Columbus Blue Jackets (Friday)Since Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner came into the league three seasons ago, the Leafs have played six games in Columbus, with each contest featuring two-plus goals in the first period. Hit that over 1.5 in the opening 20 minutes and don't look back.Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche (Saturday)The Avalanche are going to score a lot this season, and they should come out of the gate firing against the Wild. The first period has gone over 1.5 goals in each of the last five meetings between these two teams in Colorado.San Jose Sharks at Anaheim Ducks (Saturday)Let's revisit this game for a second. You saw the over trend in this spot for the Sharks (see above). Combine that with their last five games in Anaheim producing two-plus goals in the first period, and we get a tasty play here.Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames (Saturday)At this rate, we might as well play the first period over in every game this weekend and hope for the best. This could be the strongest play of them all though, with 11 of the last 12 meetings between the Canucks and Flames in Calgary featuring two-plus goals in the opening frame.Player propsMontreal Canadiens at Carolina Hurricanes (Thursday)Andrei Svechnikov scored 20 goals as a rookie last season for the Hurricanes, and he could realistically come close to doubling that tally this year. The sniper potted three against the Habs last season, and he's well worth a look to score his first this campaign in Carolina's season opener at +180.Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday)Max Domi has made no attempt to hide his disdain for the Maple Leafs. The Toronto-born forward enjoyed a breakout first season with the Canadiens in 2019-20, including six points in four games against the Leafs. Back him to go over 0.5 assists on Hockey Night in Canada.Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals (Saturday)There's nothing like celebrating a new contract with a goal. Sebastian Aho got paid this summer, and he's enjoyed plenty of success against the Capitals during his young career.With eight goals and 17 points in 12 career games against Washington, don't bet against him adding to that total on Saturday. Take the over on 0.5 points.Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins (Saturday)If you've already bet on the Pens in this game, why not spice it up even more with a wager on Jake Guentzel to score? He's recorded more goals against Columbus (seven) than any other team in his career.Winnipeg Jets at New York Islanders (Sunday)Have you seen who's playing defense for the Jets these days? It's not great.Anders Lee has scored 11 goals over 12 career games versus Winnipeg, while Mathew Barzal has netted four in four clashes against the Jets. Backing both Islanders forwards to score would return a profit as long as one of them finds the back of the net. If they both do, happy Sunday.Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Chicago Blackhawks have inked forward Alex DeBrincat to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $6.4 million, the team announced on Thursday.DeBrincat is on the final year of his entry-level deal, and his extension keeps him with the Blackhawks through the 2022-23 season. He'll become a restricted free agent when it expires.The 21-year-old broke out last season, recording 41 goals and 76 points over 82 games in his second NHL campaign.DeBrincat was a steal for Chicago in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He ranks fourth in both points (128) and goals (69) among all players from that class.By extending DeBrincat, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman did his best to get ahead of what could be a very busy 2020 offseason for the club. Young forwards Dylan Strome, Drake Caggiula, Brendan Perlini, and Dominik Kubalik are all set to become restricted free agents next summer.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

After scoring the game-winning goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the season opener on Wednesday night, Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid said he was grateful to play an important role in the victory following a difficult summer of rehab from a knee injury."Pretty close to (100%). I've still got lots of kinks to work out in my game," McDavid told Sportsnet's Scott Oake. "I've been working toward it but that goal means the world to me, honestly, it was a long summer and that just means the world to me."McDavid suffered a torn PCL in the final game of the 2018-19 campaign, which created doubts about his status for the start of this season.But with the score tied 2-2 on Wednesday, the 22-year-old flashed his trademark speed to split through the Canucks' defense before tucking the puck underneath the crossbar with 5:23 to play in the third period.

A scary incident occurred in the waning minutes of the Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs game Wednesday night, as Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom took Auston Matthews' skate in the face as he was trying to prevent an empty-net goal.Brannstrom received a few stitches but will be fine, Senators head coach D.J. Smith told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.The Swedish blue-liner was the key return in the Mark Stone trade with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. The 20-year-old tallied 32 points in 50 AHL games in 2018-19.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Toronto Maple Leafs tabbed John Tavares as the 25th captain in franchise history prior to Wednesday's season opener against the Ottawa Senators.Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner were named alternate captains. The latter two will rotate throughout the season, the team announced.The Maple Leafs decided the captaincy well before learning of Matthews' disorderly conduct charge last week, general manager Kyle Dubas said during the first intermission, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.Tavares, 29, becomes the first Leaf to wear the captain's "C" since Dion Phaneuf in 2015-16. The Oakville, Ontario native served as captain of the New York Islanders for five seasons before signing a seven-year, $77-million contract with Toronto on July 1, 2018. He scored 47 goals in his first season with the Maple Leafs.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.It's been 112 days since the St. Louis Blues raised the Stanley Cup, and while I'm sure your team's comeback win in your rec league last week was as memorable as you've hyped it up to be, it's a relief to have real, meaningful NHL hockey back in our lives.The league has cooked up a banger for opening night, too. The last two Stanley Cup champions meet in The Lou, there's a pair of all-Canadian matchups, and the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights renew what's quickly developed into the greatest rivalry in hockey (shame about that whole Evander Kane suspension, though). Now, let's make a great night even better by winning some money:Game bettingThe Toronto Maple Leafs open as heavy favorites over the basement-dwelling Ottawa Senators, with the two teams projected to be at opposite ends of the standings by the end of the season. There's little value in backing the Leafs at -290, while even the -1.5 puck line has you laying juice. Could there be value with the road underdog, though? The Sens won three of four in the Battle of Ontario last season. With expectations high for the Leafs this year and the team expected to reveal its new captain before the start of the game, it's hard to envision anything other than a home win here.Toronto's captaincy decision won't hold a candle to the pregame ceremony in St. Louis, though, as the Blues are set to raise their Stanley Cup banner before taking on the Washington Capitals. The Caps were in this spot on opening night last season and went on to beat the Boston Bruins 7-0 after raising their banner. However, since the lockout in 2005, defending Stanley Cup champions are 4-9 on banner raising night. The Caps are also 39-19-3 over the last four seasons on the road against Western Conference teams. Perhaps a play on the road team is in order here.The Edmonton Oilers are hoping to put a disappointing year behind them as they begin their campaign Wednesday at home to the Vancouver Canucks. They're 7-2 at home to the Canucks in the Connor McDavid era.Meanwhile, in Vegas, the Golden Knights will be out for revenge after their improbable collapse in Game 7 against the Sharks last season. This should be a highly entertaining game to cap off the night - albeit slightly less so now that Kane and Ryan Reaves won't be going three rounds at center ice. Vegas is 9-4 in franchise history at home in October.Game propsWhile the Leafs can rack up goals with the best of them, they have their problems with keeping pucks out of their own net. The Senators scored nine times in two games in Toronto last season and averaged 4.16 goals per game at Scotiabank Arena over the last three years. A bet on the Sens' team total over 2.5 goals sits at +110 and is worth a look, as is the over 3.5 at +285 if you're feeling especially frisky.The first-period goal total prop is intriguing in Edmonton, as there have been 11 opening-frame tallies in the last four meetings between the Canucks and Oilers in Alberta. There have been at least two markers during the initial 20 minutes in each of those contests, making the over 1.5 first-period goals (-110) an attractive bet. The first-period over has also hit in three of four regular-season meetings between the Sharks and Golden Knights in Vegas.Player propsAuston Matthews tends to pad his stats against the Senators, with 10 goals and seven assists in 12 contests against them since he entered the league. Backing him to score at any time in the game is appealing, but less so at the -120 price tag. Instead, take a look at him to be the game's first scorer at +850.Another name to look at in this game is Ottawa's Thomas Chabot. He's the quarterback of the Senators' power play and should have ample opportunity to get on the scoresheet against a Leafs team that is without its top four penalty killers from last season (Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, Zach Hyman, and Connor Brown). Chabot has four goals in six games against the Leafs and presents good value at +250 to find the back of the net. The over 0.5 assists prop is also definitely worth a stab at +105.There's plenty of value in Vancouver's Brock Boeser to record an assist at +160, as he had four in as many games against the Oilers last season. Stay away from the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl goal props, though. The former hasn't scored in any of his last five home games against the Canucks, while Draisaitl has just five goals in 21 career games against Vancouver.A much stronger bet in the scoring market would be William Karlsson to find the back of the net for Vegas, as he's scored seven goals in eight games as a Golden Knights player against the Sharks, including four in four at home. I'd much rather back him at +155 than someone like McDavid (-125) or Draisaitl (-125).Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Arizona Coyotes and goaltender Darcy Kuemper have agreed on a two-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.Kuemper's agent, Ben Hankinson, confirmed that the deal carries an average annual value of $4.5 million."We are extremely pleased to sign Darcy to a two-year extension," said general manager John Chayka. "Darcy had an incredible season last year and established himself as one of the NHL's best goaltenders. With Darcy and Antti (Raanta), we are confident that we have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league."The 29-year-old Kuemper is entering the final year of a contract that carries an annual cap hit of $1.85 million. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.The Saskatchewan native is coming off his most productive NHL campaign, in which he posted a 27-20-8 record in a career-high 55 appearances.Kuemper ranked sixth among all netminders (minimum 20 games played) in goals-against average (2.33), save percentage (.925), and shutouts (five) during the 2018-19 season.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

For the second straight NHL campaign, it appears no one will wear the "C" for the New York Rangers.The club won't name a captain for the 2019-20 season, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.Marc Staal, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Jesper Fast will serve as alternates, adds Brooks.The Rangers haven't had a captain since Ryan McDonagh, who donned the "C" from 2014-18 before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jason Spezza's debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to wait at least one more game.The 36-year-old forward is a healthy scratch for Wednesday's season opener at home against his former team, the Ottawa Senators."You definitely want to be part of these games," Spezza told the assembled media, including the Canadian Press. "They give you things to get excited about."I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I'm also a professional."Offseason signing Nick Shore will center the fourth line as head coach Mike Babcock tries to find the right combination of players deeper in Toronto's lineup."I've talked to (Spezza) quite a bit about this and what we're doing and so we're on the same page moving ahead, and we're going to have a rotation with a few guys," Babcock said, according to TSN.Babcock said Spezza will play in the team's next game and cited a need for more practice on the penalty kill as his reason for holding the veteran out Wednesday."He's the coach and he decides the lineup. I have to get to up to speed with what he wants," Spezza said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.The Toronto native signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Leafs on July 1 after turning down more lucrative offers from other teams.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Pittsburgh Penguins fans can exhale.Sidney Crosby will suit up for the club's season opener against the Buffalo Sabres, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed Wednesday."Sid is good to go," Sullivan told reporters.Crosby had been day-to-day after blocking a shot during the team's preseason finale Saturday against the Sabres. He was held out of practice Sunday as a precaution but took part in Tuesday's full on-ice session.The two-time Hart Trophy winner is coming off a 100-point season. It was the first time he'd hit triple digits since 2013-14, when he won the Hart for the second time. He was a finalist for the honor in June.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Below, we take our best guess at mapping out the top five contenders for the Art Ross heading into the 2019-20 NHL season.Health is ultimately the most important and unpredictable factor in this exercise, so let's assume (and hope) the players on the list don't miss significant time.5. David Pastrnak, Boston BruinsBrian Babineau / National Hockey League / Getty2018-19 stats: 66 GP, 38 G, 43 A, 33 PPPA freak thumb injury sustained during a fall after a sponsorship dinner over the winter pushed Pastrnak's incredible regular season under the radar. The 23-year-old finished seventh in points per game in 2018-19 (1.23), sandwiched by linemates Brad Marchand (1.27) and Patrice Bergeron (1.22) in the league rankings.That prolific Bruins triumvirate isn't going anywhere and will ensure Pastrnak puts up monster numbers again this season. The unit's right-winger is one of the best pure finishers in the league and registered more shots on goal (235) than Marchand (231) despite playing 13 fewer games.Pastrnak will retain his top minutes at even strength and on the power play in 2019-20, and that bodes well for the Czech sniper. He led NHL regulars last season with 1.84 goals per 60 minutes at all strengths and sat third in points per 60 (3.93). It's no secret that Boston's most dangerous weapon is its top line, and while an argument can be made for any of the three to be the club's best player, it's Pastrnak who boasts the most offensive potential.He played at a 100-point pace over 82 games in 2018-19, which would have tied Sidney Crosby and Marchand for fifth in the Art Ross race. Triple digits is a lofty goal, but it's certainly within Pastrnak's reach this season.4. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado AvalancheRon Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports / USA TODAY Sports2018-19 stats: 82 GP, 41 G, 58 A, 37 PPPMacKinnon has played at an MVP level in each of the past two seasons and notched a career-high 41 goals and 99 points in 2018-19. The 24-year-old is one of the most dynamic skaters in the NHL and has developed a lethal offensive repertoire.While the Avalanche added depth up front this offseason, MacKinnon and his partners on the dominant top line will still be relied on to carry the majority of offensive minutes at even strength and with the man advantage.Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen each put up career years for the Avs a season ago, but it's MacKinnon who drives the bus. His ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone with so much speed is nearly impossible for defenders to slow down, and he creates a ton of scoring chances once he gets over the blue line.MacKinnon's improved his shot total in each of the last five seasons, and he ranked first in the NHL with a whopping 365 a season ago. It may be difficult to improve on that number, but he'll continue to create plenty of good looks on goal, and barring a highly unlikely shooting percentage downturn, he's going to convert a lot of them.3. Patrick Kane, Chicago BlackhawksGregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport / Getty2018-19 stats: 81 GP, 44 G, 66 A, 30 PPPAlthough the Blackhawks endured one of their worst seasons since he joined the club in 2007-08, Kane enjoyed his most productive campaign yet. The former MVP was electric, posting a career-high 110 points in 81 games as Chicago finished sixth in the Central Division.Kane's won every trophy there is to win and is one of the best offensive players of his generation. He's getting older, but there's little reason to think he's about to stop posting eye-popping numbers.Although the Blackhawks missed the playoffs by a wide margin, they ranked eighth in goals scored largely due to No. 88's offensive exploits. Kane logged 22:29 of ice time per game - third among all forwards, behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl - and he made the most of it, clearing Jonathan Toews for the team lead in scoring by 29 points.Kane's ice time is unlikely to decrease in 2019-20, and his less physically demanding style will likely reward him with several more high-quality seasons. Whether or not the Blackhawks qualify for the playoffs, Kane will be the driving force on offense.2. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay LightningScott Audette / National Hockey League / Getty2018-19 stats: 82 GP, 41 G, 87 A, 48 PPPNo ifs, ands, or buts about it, Kucherov was king last season. The Lightning dynamo put together one of the best seasons we've seen in years, registering the highest point total in a campaign (128) since 1995-96. He took just 62 games to hit triple digits and notched a career-high 41 goals in the process.Expect Kucherov to be in the thick of the Art Ross race again. But could he possibly be better than he was in 2018-19? His production could potentially take a slight dip early on with Brayden Point out until late October, and no player has put up back-to-back seasons of more than 120 points since Mario Lemieux did so from 1995-1997.The Bolts also did a ton of their damage on the power play, which, of course, was run primarily by Kucherov. If the top unit - which will still likely be among the league's best - doesn't click as well as it did in their historically dominant season, Kucherov's production will regress slightly.Kucherov is probably a lock to eclipse the 100-point plateau for the third consecutive season, and it was essentially a coin flip between him and the man below for the No. 1 spot.1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton OilersAndy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty2018-19 stats: 78 GP, 41 G, 75 A, 33 PPPMcDavid has recorded consecutive seasons of 100, 108, and 116 points before turning 23 years old, and he's only going to get better as he enters his prime years.The Oilers may stink, but McDavid is unequivocally the most impressive individual talent that the league has to offer. While Kucherov is the best player on a loaded Lightning squad, Edmonton's plans, hopes, and dreams all rest on McDavid and are put on hold when he's not on the ice.McDavid led all forwards with 22:50 logged per contest a season ago, and he factored in on 50 percent of the Oilers' goals. He also ranked third in five-on-five points with 64 - which trailed Kucherov by five in four fewer games - and slotted in at 11th among all regulars with 16.91 individual expected goals. For what it's worth, Kucherov ranked 76th in that category at five-on-five at 12.51.Stats aside, McDavid is coming into the 2019-20 season with a vengeance. He voiced his displeasure in April after missing the playoffs for the third time in his four-year career, and he's going to do all he can to get his Oilers closer to contention.The final tally will be close but count on Connor to claim the third Art Ross this season.Honorable mention:

The Boston Bruins and Torey Krug have begun working toward a new deal, general manager Don Sweeney told reporters on Tuesday.Krug, 28, said in September that the sides had yet to begin negotiating an extension.The 5-foot-9 rearguard is entering the final year of his current deal, which carries an annual cap hit of $5.25 million. He's set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.Krug has been a staple on the blue line for the Bruins, leading all defensemen on the club in games played (302), goals (32), and points (207) since the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign.The Royal Oak, Michigan, native tallied six goals and a career-best 47 assists for 53 points in 2018-19 while logging the second-most ice time on the Bruins with 21:18 per game.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

A new business deal might evoke some uncomfortable memories for the Ottawa Senators.In an effort to get fans to and from games without having to drive or park, the club is entering into an exclusive partnership with Lyft.It will officially kick off Saturday when the Senators play their home opener against the New York Rangers. The partnership includes an exclusive Lyft pick-up/drop-off zone at the main entrance of Canadian Tire Centre and discounted rides on select game days.In November 2018, a video surfaced showing several Senators players criticizing the coaching staff - most notably assistant Martin Raymond - while riding an Uber in Arizona. It was later revealed that the players were unknowingly recorded.The ensuing scandal forced then-Senator Matt Duchene to publicly apologize to Raymond. Meanwhile, the team demanded that the Ottawa Citizen take down the video, but the newspaper refused. The club also banned Citizen reporter Ken Warren from its charter flight in the aftermath of the video being posted.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

When it came time for Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson to seal her place in women's hockey history - to counter the golden overtime goal Marie-Philip Poulin scored in Sochi in 2014 and deliver an Olympic title to the United States - she didn't rush.Before she bore down on net in the decisive round of the gold-medal shootout at Pyeongchang, Lamoureux-Davidson took looping strides to either side of the ice. Play-by-play announcer Mark Lee, calling the game on Canadian television, described her route as "meandering." Her patience was purposeful. Squaring her skates, Lamoureux-Davidson lifted her left foot and twitched her gloves to fake a wrist shot. Instead, she retained the puck, dragging it from forehand to backhand and back again.The deke put the finishing touch on an indelible tableau: Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados lunging for her post, too far out to stymie the trickery that won the tournament.AFP / Getty ImagesWhy revisit this sequence almost 20 months later? Because women's hockey occupies shaky ground in our sporting topography. The standard of play can be magnificent. The U.S. and Canada, giants of the game, have long tended to thrill audiences whenever and wherever they face off. Yet as the 2019-20 season begins, scores of the world's best players aren't signed to any professional team - a choice born out of their collective dissatisfaction with the available options.These women - nearly all of them American or Canadian - formed the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, uniting to transcend their sport's defining rivalry and advocate for a single strong pro league. About 200 players have joined the movement, including nine representatives who comprise the PWHPA board.Two of those representatives? Lamoureux-Davidson and Szabados."We play for Team USA, Team Canada, Team Finland, but we don't play for them all year round," Lamoureux-Davidson said in a recent phone interview. "We want to play against the best players in the world during the season as well, whether that's with or against them."We need everyone at the table. It's an integral part of making this work," she said. "It's not just one country trying to figure this out. It's the best players in the world internationally."L-R: Brianna Decker, Renata Fast, Rebecca Johnston. Chase Agnello-Dean / NHL / Getty ImagesIn September, more than a dozen veterans of the U.S. and Canadian national programs convened in Toronto to participate in the first leg of the PWHPA's Dream Gap Tour, a traveling series of exhibition games scheduled to run parallel to the pro season. The tour heads to Hudson, New Hampshire, this weekend and to Chicago on Oct. 19-20, spotlighting the caliber of play in its ranks at an especially fraught moment for women's hockey.Citing poor compensation and working conditions, the members of Sweden's women's team are boycotting their national federation, which recently responded by canceling the Four Nations Cup tournament it was scheduled to host in November. Closer to home, the Canadian Women's Hockey League folded abruptly last spring, leaving the U.S.-based National Women's Hockey League as the only pro circuit on the continent - and prompting the conversations that led to the creation of the PWHPA.Jayna Hefford, the Hockey Hall of Famer who helped lead Canada to four Olympic gold medals and who now oversees the PWHPA, said that the Dream Gap Tour represents an unprecedented show of unity in women's sports. Many of the movement's biggest names have spent their adult lives entangled in their game's great rivalry, the bulk of their work with their country's national program oriented around the goal of beating, depending on their passport, either the U.S. or Canada.Their encounters are usually hard-fought on the scoreboard, and occasionally between whistles. In all five Olympic finals featuring both nations, the margin of victory has been one or two goals. Between 1997 and 2017, seven of the 15 world championship finals in which they met went to overtime. Six years ago, the teams brawled twice in the lead-up to the Sochi Olympics. Those skirmishes involved several players who now headline the Dream Gap Tour together, including Lamoureux-Davidson, her twin sister Monique Lamoureux-Morando, fellow Americans Kacey Bellamy and Hilary Knight, and Canada's Melodie Daoust, Brianne Jenner, and Jocelyne Larocque.If any hard feelings linger, they have been set aside for now in the name of solidarity."Obviously, we don't get along on the ice when we play against each other," American center Brianna Decker said. "But off the ice, we're striving for the same thing.""It's always, 'Canada against U.S., Canada against U.S.,'" Canadian forward Natalie Spooner said. "To show just how powerful this movement is, that we have come together with such a big rivalry between us - it must be something that is so important to all of us.""We're all playing for the same team here," Jenner said. "We all stand for the same goal."Kacey Bellamy (left) and Brianne Jenner. Harry How / Getty ImagesPrimarily, what these women seek is one pro league that can pay several teams' worth of players a living wage. Their ask, they are clear, is not NHL money, but salaries sufficient to make hockey their sole profession - and to prevent them from coming out of a season at a personal financial loss. That's happened in the past, Jenner says, when players have had to foot road-trip costs such as airport parking and meals.(In the NWHL, which begins play this weekend, some high-end players will be paid $15,000 for the coming six-month season, plus an additional 26% raise that every player is due from a sponsorship and media revenue-split agreement with the league. For road games, they'll get a per diem of $25.)"The way it's been set up in the past, it's been very, very difficult for girls to be motivated when they get to practice at 9 p.m. at night (after working another job) to push each other to get better," Canadian defenseman Renata Fast said. "The only way we can allow girls to focus on hockey is to provide them with a livable wage."Lamoureux-Davidson said, "If you're going to call yourself a professional anything - whether that's a real 9-to-5 job or a professional athlete - to be a professional, you have to make a reasonable wage doing so."The PWHPA's concerns aren't solely related to money. Its members are lobbying for a holistic conception of what constitutes a professional environment - specific elements that a league would guarantee, allowing the athletes to concentrate on playing.Peter Kneffel / dpa / Getty ImagesThe little things, the players say, are what add up. Instead of cycling through a rotation of facilities, they'd like each team to operate out of one home arena where players could work out, store their equipment, get their skates sharpened, have their laundry done, and practice at a decent hour. They'd like franchises to employ proper support staff, such as strength coaches and trainers - "We train our butts off," Decker said, a commitment that necessitates regular medical attention - and game-day employees who can take care of miscellaneous tasks around the rink."We don't want our general manager behind a camera videotaping our games, rolling out the red carpet for the ceremonial puck drop," Canadian forward Sarah Nurse said."I don't want players to be running around the rink before games looking for stick tape," said Liz Knox, a retired CWHL goaltender who is on the PWHPA board. "When we talk about things we want in a sustainable league, we want them to show up and just play hockey."In that sentiment, Americans and Canadians have found common cause. When tennis legend Billie Jean King, a pioneering voice for women's equality in sport, began advising the PWHPA earlier this year, Hefford said she impressed upon the players the importance of speaking with one voice. At the Dream Gap Tour's Toronto stop, Hefford and a few players expressed the same refrain: that in the throes of the U.S.-Canada rivalry, the women involved respect each other, and share a sense of responsibility to improve the state of their game.Tessa Bonhomme, who played for Canada with Hefford and is now a broadcaster for the Canadian network TSN, recalls an incident that evinced this dynamic during her early days with the national program. The summer before the 2006 Turin Olympics, the U.S. cut its longtime captain Cammi Granato, putting a curt end to her Hall of Fame career. The news "rocked" the Canadian dressing room, Bonhomme said. She remembers her captain, Cassie Campbell, summarizing the Canadian consensus: "This isn't right.""Everyone felt the exact same way - mainly because, yes, we did believe it was wrong, but also because we wanted to face the best U.S. hockey team that could be out there," Bonhomme said. "For us to be backing a player who was, we felt, wrongfully cut, as Canadians against our biggest rival, I remember thinking, 'This is kind of crazy. But at the same time, I can't help but feel for this and be passionate about this movement.'"It goes back a long way, and it started with both of those young ladies, Cassie and Cammi, really being at the forefront. Those are probably the two greatest leaders to have ever donned a jersey in the women's game. They really set the precedent there, and I think you can see it bleed through here (with the PWHPA)."Renata Fast (left) and Kendall Coyne Schofield. Steve Russell / Toronto Star / Getty ImagesMore than a decade later, a new generation of stars has emerged to take up the mantle. Though kickstarting the Dream Gap Tour required contributions from people all over the sport, Decker identified Jenner and American forward Kendall Coyne Schofield as players whose initiative and leadership have been essential these last several months.Acrimony at the international level hasn't stopped the Americans and Canadians from getting to know each other elsewhere. Decker and Jenner, along with a couple of other Olympians from each of their countries, won last season's CWHL championship together with the Calgary Inferno. The vast majority of Team Canada's national player pool attended U.S. colleges. The rivalry counts not one but two cross-border marriages: Meghan Duggan and Gillian Apps (of the U.S. and Canada, respectively), and Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette.On the ice, no other matchup has the capacity of U.S.-Canada to galvanize new viewers. In Toronto, Nurse recalled how Canada's dramatic 3-2 victory in the 2002 Olympic final introduced her to women's hockey at age 7 - "I was sold," she said - and kindled her dream of playing internationally. Later this season, her national team will face the U.S. in a touring five-game showcase series, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, on Dec. 14.Meanwhile, the Dream Gap Tour continues (and is expected to add more dates), serving as a platform for the players to disseminate their call for lasting change."I think it's amazing they take that attitude: 'We're going to dream and we're going to push and we're going to make it happen,'" Granato said in a phone interview. "It does take a special group of people to actually have the guts to do that, to have the passion to do that, to understand the game's bigger than them.""It was pretty special being in the locker room getting dressed, knowing that you're going out there making history, and you're doing it with people that you've played against and that you've been rivals with for years," U.S. defenseman Kacey Bellamy said after the tour's first games in Toronto."Fifty years from now, we're going to look back and say, 'Wow, we started this.'"A goal is scored at the Dream Gap Tour. Anne-Marie Pellerin / Courtesy of PWHPAThe scale of individual sacrifice that will be required to even approach that point has already become apparent. For all of the Olympic veterans at the forefront of the PWHPA, the movement includes several times as many players who reside outside the spotlight, each of whom has forgone a season of their pro career in service to the larger mission.To Lamoureux-Davidson, perspective is paramount. Even if many active players never sign a contract in the league the PWHPA envisions, she said, their selflessness will have laid the groundwork for that league's existence - and ensured that each player is remembered for much more than a tournament victory or a sublime, historic shootout goal."If you're able to step outside of living one season at a time and doing what's best for yourself, then you can see the big picture," Lamoureux-Davidson said."At this point, why I am still playing the sport? I just turned 30. I have a young son at home," she continued. "I guess if I had a young daughter, I would want her to have the ability to at least have the same dreams as my son." The same goes for her young nieces, and, for that matter, any girl who might find herself newly entranced by the game."It's unfortunate that right now, they simply can't have those same dreams," Lamoureux-Davidson said. "It's on us to make sure that that happens."Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Laila Anderson is now the proud owner of a championship accessory.St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko and forward Alex Steen personally delivered a Stanley Cup ring to the young superfan, who was a season-long inspiration for the team.

Ryan Reaves never misses an opportunity to take a jab at Evander Kane, verbal or otherwise.On Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights agitator fired his latest shots at the San Jose Sharks winger, who was suspended three games for abuse of an official in Sunday's preseason contest between the two clubs.Reaves lamented the fact that Kane won't be in the lineup for either of the first two games of the regular season, which pit the Pacific Division rivals against each other Wednesday and Friday."Poor Evander. So tragic," he told KTNV's Ross DiMattei. "I wish he was on the ice. It's always more fun when he's on the ice."The Vegas grinder doesn't believe there's any legitimacy to Kane's claim that he's treated differently than other players."I don't understand why he would say that," Reaves said.After Sunday's game, Kane expressed his frustration about being taken down to the ice by linesman Kiel Murchison. The player responded to the collision by shoving the official, which earned him the three-game ban.Reaves didn't have much sympathy for Kane, however."Well yeah, he's weak," Reaves said. "Gets taken down by a ref. It happens. Gotta get in the gym, no?"Kane and Reaves feuded constantly last season, and their rivalry reached a climax during Game 3 of their first-round playoff series, which featured a fight between the two players and a war of words in the days that followed.Reaves renewed the spat over the summer when he called himself "Kane's worst nightmare," to which the Sharks forward tweeted, "Great example of trying to be relevant when you're not."Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2019-20 season, theScore will be counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. We'll reveal 10 players every day until the top 10 is unveiled on Oct. 2.100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-130. Mark Stone, Golden KnightsStone has always been one of the best defensive wingers in hockey, but his positive offensive development has made him a rare commodity. Despite the Golden Knights' first-round playoff exit last season, the 27-year-old exploded for a ridiculous six goals and 12 points in seven games. It will be a treat to see what he can do over a full campaign on one of the league's top clubs.29. Blake Wheeler, JetsWheeler is arguably the league's most underrated playmaker. Only Nikita Kucherov and Connor McDavid have more assists than the Jets captain over the past two years. There's a conversation to be had that he's a top-five NHL winger, but he's also shown the versatility and selflessness to play center when necessary.28. Mark Scheifele, JetsFrederick Breedon / Getty Images Sport / GettyScheifele has been a point-per-game player over the last three years for the Jets, culminating with career highs in goals (38) and points (84) last season. He has the ability to be a difference-maker by either scoring goals or setting up teammates as a playmaker and will be looking to help Winnipeg make another extended playoff run after last season's disappointing first-round exit.27. Roman Josi, PredatorsJosi continues to be one of the NHL's best puck-moving defensemen. The Nashville captain excels at generating offense, consistently maintaining favorable Scoring Chances For and Goals For percentages. He's topped 50 points in four of the last five seasons, and averaged more than 25 minutes of ice time in 2018-19.26. Ryan O'Reilly, BluesCould 2018-19 have gone any better for the Ontario native? O'Reilly mustered a career-high 77 points in his first year with the Blues and captured the Selke Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and of course, the Stanley Cup. After such a dominant season, there's no question the 28-year-old is among the best two-way players in hockey.25. Mitch Marner, Maple LeafsMarner established himself as one of the game's best playmakers in 2018-19, leading the league with 36 primary assists at five-on-five. While he receives no shortage of attention playing in Toronto, the highly intelligent winger probably doesn't get enough credit for his defensive game. He has an excellent stick and is a threat shorthanded.24. Sebastian Aho, HurricanesAho was a massive talking point during the offseason after signing an offer sheet with the Canadiens. Carolina quickly matched the offer, which should have come as no surprise considering the 22-year-old is coming off of a breakout season when he led the Hurricanes in goals (30) and points (83).23. Mikko Rantanen, AvalancheMichael Martin / National Hockey League / GettyRantanen took another step forward last season, collecting 31 goals and 87 points to exceed his 2017-18 numbers despite playing seven fewer games. The Finnish forward benefits from playing on one of the best lines in hockey, but he's proven over the last two campaigns that he deserves a spot on Colorado's explosive top unit.22. Brayden Point, LightningPoint enjoyed a breakout third NHL season, notching career bests with 41 goals and 92 points in 79 games. The dynamic, two-way center also proved to be a lethal weapon on the man advantage, leading the entire league with 20 power-play markers.21. Tyler Seguin, StarsOnly Alex Ovechkin fired more shots on goal than Seguin over the past two years. He's had at least 70 points in every season since joining the Stars in 2013-14, and it's quite possible the best is yet to come.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2019-20 season, theScore will be counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. We'll reveal 10 players every day until the top 10 is unveiled Oct. 2.100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-120. Johnny Gaudreau, FlamesJohnny Hockey had his best year during the 2018-19 season, setting personal bests in goals (36), assists (63), and points (99). His efforts helped lead the Flames to their best regular season since 1988-89 when they went on to win the Stanley Cup. Gaudreau didn't find the same kind of postseason success with just one point in a five-game first-round loss, so he'll be chomping at the bit for a shot at playoff redemption.19. Andrei Vasilevskiy, LightningThe NHL's best goalie was a major reason why Tampa Bay was so dominant in the 2018-19 regular season. Vasilevskiy posted a career-high .925 save percentage en route to claiming the Vezina Trophy for the first time, and he's improved in each of the last three campaigns. Can the 25-year-old get even better this season?18. Leon Draisaitl, OilersAndy Devlin / National Hockey League / GettyThe big German went scorched-earth in 2018-19 and became the first Oilers player to record a 50-goal season since Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87. Draisaitl isn't just a goal-scorer, either. His career-best 55 assists ranked second on the club to only Connor McDavid.17. Taylor Hall, DevilsAfter he was limited to just 33 games last year, it can be easy to forget that Hall is one of the NHL's most dynamic players. The 27-year-old won the Hart Trophy with 93 points in 2017-18, but next season could be a career year for one of the most powerful skaters in the league after the Devils beefed up in the offseason.16. Brad Marchand, BruinsMarchand may not be the most popular player outside of Boston, but his impact on the ice is undeniable. Often known more for his ability to pester the opposition, Marchand took his game to another level last year, reaching the 100-point mark for the first time in his career and then equalling Ryan O'Reilly for the league lead with 23 postseason points.15. Steven Stamkos, LightningThe captain of the NHL's most watchable team is a huge part of its fearsome offensive attack, and he remains one of the league's brightest stars. Stamkos was also a major contributor to linemate Nikita Kucherov's 2018-19 Hart Trophy exploits, pouring in 45 goals and a career-high 98 points.14. Brent Burns, SharksBrandon Magnus / National Hockey League / GettyWill Burns ever slow down? It appears the 34-year-old rearguard is only getting better with age. Burns has reached the 60-point mark in five straight campaigns, including a career-high 83 point season in 2018-19. His 101 goals in that span lead all NHL defensemen by a wide margin of 17.13. Patrice Bergeron, BruinsShould the Selke just be renamed the Bergeron? The Bruins pivot has been named the NHL's top defensive forward a record-tying four times. He likely could've added to that total, but injuries have held him out of a combined 35 games over the past two years. He may be 34 now, but he's coming off a career-best 79 point season despite skating in just 65 contests.12. Aleksander Barkov, PanthersBarkov emerged as a premier two-way player last season after several years as a Selke Trophy contender. The 24-year-old added elite offensive production to his defensive acumen, putting up a career-high 98 points, 18 higher than his previous best, and helping bring a lot of optimism for the future in Sunrise.11. John Tavares, Maple LeafsTavares' first season with Toronto was the best campaign of his career from a production standpoint. The former New York Islanders captain came within three tallies of the 50-goal mark and racked up 88 points while playing every game. Few centers in the NHL possess Tavares' scoring touch, and his quick hands make him very difficult to contain.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leading up to the start of the 2019-20 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors.100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-110. Victor Hedman, LightningYou can't discuss who the league's top defenseman is without almost immediately mentioning Hedman. The 6-foot-6 Swede is dominant at both ends of the ice and ranks third among NHL defensemen in points (236) over the past four seasons. Hedman has finished in the top three in Norris Trophy voting in three consecutive campaigns, including his win in 2018.9. Evgeni Malkin, PenguinsMalkin can take over games like no other player in the NHL - when he wants to. The problem is that when he doesn't want to, he can hurt his team, which was the case for much of last season. The two-time Art Ross winner could easily bounce back this season if he's up for it. He at least sounds motivated, and that should scare opponents.8. Erik Karlsson, SharksBrandon Magnus / National Hockey League / GettyThe highest-rated defenseman in our top 100, Karlsson was significantly hampered by injury last season and still managed to record 45 points in 53 games plus 16 more points in the playoffs. When healthy, the smooth-skating Shark is arguably the best offensive-minded blue-liner in the game and a perennial Norris Trophy contender.7. Auston Matthews, Maple LeafsInjuries have slowed Matthews over the last couple of seasons, but he's been ultra-productive when healthy, posting more than half a goal per game and over a point per contest in 2018-19. He's among the NHL's best snipers and brightest stars at 22 years old.6. Patrick Kane, BlackhawksOne of the league's most electrifying players is geared up for another season of "Showtime" in Chicago. The 30-year-old Kane showed why he's one of the most elite players in the game with a career-best 44-goal, 110-point season in 2018-19. Sitting at 938 career points, Kane will become the youngest American-born player to join the 1,000-point club if he can do it this season.5. Alex Ovechkin, CapitalsYou know a player is special when his Hockey Reference page is covered in bold print, signaling a league leader. Ovechkin has won the "Rocket" Richard Trophy eight times and has led the NHL in shots 11 times. Even if he doesn't catch Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goals record, the Great Eight should be considered the best pure goal-scorer in hockey history based on era-adjusted stats.4. Nathan MacKinnon, AvalancheDilip Vishwanat / National Hockey League / GettyAfter four decent but not great seasons to begin his career, MacKinnon emerged at age 22 as one of the best players in hockey during the 2017-18 season. Since then, the former first overall pick has notched 196 points in 156 games and enters the season as a Hart Trophy favorite.3. Nikita Kucherov, LightningSure, he plays on a stacked team, but Kucherov was a worthy Hart winner in June after leading the NHL in points and assists. The dynamic Russian forward's production has increased in all five campaigns since his rookie year in 2013-14, and while it might be hard to top 128 points, he's one of only a handful of players in the league who could conceivably do it.2. Sidney Crosby, PenguinsCrosby proved last season that he's got plenty left in the tank with his first 100-point campaign since 2013-14. He may no longer be the consensus top talent in the league, but he's still arguably the most important face of the game. It will be a privilege to watch him add to his legacy in the back half of his career as the Penguins look to stay near the top of a competitive Metropolitan Division.1. Connor McDavid, OilersFor the second straight season, McDavid is our consensus No. 1 overall player, and rightly so. Nobody's more dominant than 97. He's the most explosive skater the game has ever seen, and the things he can do with the puck on his stick while at top gear are simply remarkable. Watching McDavid play hockey is a treat, and we should never take it for granted.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Welcome to Puck Pursuit, a weekly NHL podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.This week, journalist and author Sean Fitz-Gerald joins John to discuss the state of amateur hockey:

A Canadian team hasn't hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1993, but a few clubs north of the border have serious chances to end the drought in 2019-20.No season comes without its obstacles, however, and each Canadian team enters the campaign facing a unique challenge it must overcome to maximize its potential.Flames: Establish reliable goaltendingIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyThe Flames are strong in nearly every area of the ice. The only real question mark is between the pipes.Is David Rittich ready to take the reigns as a full-time starter? Can Cam Talbot bounce back and become a reliable option after consecutive down seasons? Calgary needs answers as quickly as possible.Rittich was satisfactory last season, but the Czech puck-stopper's numbers waned in the latter half as a knee injury plagued him from the start of 2019 onward:DateGPGAASV%Oct. 3 - Dec. 29222.25.924Dec. 31 - April 3232.92.899Come playoff time, veteran Mike Smith stole the show and Rittich didn't play a minute of action. It remains to be seen if he can shoulder a starter's workload over the course of a full campaign.Talbot, meanwhile, finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting after a sensational 2016-17 campaign but hasn't looked anything like a starting netminder since then: The 31-year-old has a 3.15 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage over his last 102 appearances.The Flames have serious Stanley Cup aspirations, but the quality and consistency of their goaltending will define their ceiling.Oilers: Live up to playoff pressureJeff Vinnick / National Hockey League / GettyFew teams face more pressure to make the playoffs this season than the Oilers, who will have to adjust to a new regime as quickly as possible.Connor McDavid looks healthy after a scary leg injury sustained in Edmonton's final game of 2018-19 kept him off the ice for most of the summer. Having the league's top talent miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five campaigns would be nothing short of a disaster, but the Oilers didn't add much on the ice this offseason to move the needle.A new and experienced voice behind the bench in head coach Dave Tippett should benefit the club. But with the team pressed against the cap, general manager Ken Holland may have to wait until next summer to really put his stamp on the roster.The Oilers will be hard-pressed to compete for a divisional playoff seed in the top-heavy Pacific, but a wild-card berth is certainly attainable if they can get off to a strong start.Canadiens: Keep pace in tough AtlanticIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyThe Canadiens have too much skill not to compete for a playoff spot, but their talent runs thin compared to the juggernauts atop the Atlantic Division.The Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins are practically locks to make the postseason, while the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres both made improvements this summer. An all-world season from Carey Price will go a long way, but the offense needs to be firing on all cylinders if the Habs are to stay competitive.Montreal will need more from its top offensive talents - especially with the man advantage. Last season, the Canadiens' power play posted the league's 30th-ranked percentage (13.2%) while scoring the fewest total goals (31). Defenseman Shea Weber, who missed 24 contests due to injury, led the club with five power-play markers.Several young talents including Nick Suzuki, Ryan Poehling, and Jake Evans could all force their way into Montreal's lineup at some point this season. If a playoff berth is firmly out of reach come February, the Habs will be faced with a decision: Run it back again in 2020-21, or enter a slight rebuild to give their younger talent more exposure.Senators: Instill winning habitsKevin Sousa / National Hockey League / GettyIt's highly unlikely the Senators shock the hockey world and step into playoff contention this season, and that's just fine. The club's focus for 2019-20 should be giving its promising young talent as much NHL exposure as possible.D.J. Smith, a rookie himself as a first-time NHL head coach, will play a key role in this team's development. Ottawa may lose more often than not, but Smith understands a strong work ethic is paramount in building a winner."Instil the mentality that we won't be outworked," Smith said in an August interview with Sportsnet's Wayne Scanlan. "We're just not going to be easy to play against. We're not going to win every game, but it can't be easy to come here and get two points. When you play Ottawa, people need to know we're coming to play."Defenseman Thomas Chabot and forwards Brady Tkachuk and Colin White represent a bright future for the Senators. If that trio can take some major steps in this season, consider it a productive campaign in Ottawa.Maple Leafs: Keep Frederik Andersen freshIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyThe Maple Leafs enter 2019-20 boasting arguably their strongest roster of the millennium, but it may not matter come playoff time unless they lighten Frederik Andersen's workload.Since joining the Leafs in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, no goalie has started more regular-season games (192) or played more minutes (11,198) than the 6-foot-4 Dane.Comparing Andersen's playoff stats from his final two seasons in Anaheim - where he shared regular-season duties with John Gibson - to his postseason totals with the Leafs, the numbers speak for themselves:SeasonTeamGP (season)GAA (playoff)SV% (playoff)2014-15Ducks542.34.9132015-16Ducks431.41.9472016-17Leafs662.68.9152017-18Leafs663.76.8962018-19Leafs602.75.922It's essential the Leafs separate themselves from the pack as early as possible in order to afford Andersen more rest. Veteran netminder Michael Hutchinson looks poised to assume the backup role, but the 29-year-old has started just 12 NHL games over the past two seasons and it remains to be seen how much responsibility he can handle.Canucks: Find depth scoringLen Redkoles / National Hockey League / GettyBeyond Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Bo Horvat, the 2018-19 Canucks lacked serious scoring punch. The club ranked 25th offensively and didn't have a single player break 35 points besides those three talents. Vancouver's potential bottom-six forward group for 2019-20 contributed a combined 47 goals in 316 man-games played last season.Loui Eriksson, the club's highest-paid forward, and 2014 first-round pick Jake Virtanen need to find the net at a more consistent rate. Swiss winger Sven Baertschi could also play a major role this season after an injury-riddled 2018-19 campaign. The 26-year-old has tallied four points in four preseason contests and will look to carry that momentum into October.General manager Jim Benning attempted to address his team's offensive deficiencies this summer by bringing in forwards Micheal Ferland and J.T. Miller. The Canucks will also have Quinn Hughes in the fold for a full season, and the young blue-liner should be able to contribute right away. Will those additions be enough to help the Canucks establish some depth scoring and push themselves into the playoff picture?Jets: Figure out the blue lineChristian Petersen / Getty Images Sport / GettyThe Jets' main priority is getting restricted free-agent forward Kyle Connor signed to a new deal. Assuming they succeed at some point in the near future, they still face another significant challenge - keeping pucks out of the net.Dustin Byfuglien's future remains up in the air, leaving the club's opening-night blue line looking something like this:LDRDJosh MorrisseyNeal PionkNathan BeaulieuSami NikuDmitry KulikovTucker PoolmanWinnipeg ranked 15th in goals against last season, and that was with Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot, and Byfuglien in the fold. The former three averaged a combined 61:50 of ice time per night, a number that jumps to 86:12 when Byfuglien's minutes are included. That's a remarkable amount of ice time to replace, especially considering this season's projected right-side trio has combined for just 156 career NHL games.The 2018-19 Jets were slightly below average in terms of five-on-five possession (Corsi For 48.97%). Early in their careers, Neal Pionk and Sami Niku have been far below average when it comes to this metric, with respective Corsi For rates of 42.59% and 43.99%. Pionk played his first two NHL seasons with a weak New York Rangers team, though, so Winnipeg's elite forward group should help boost his number.Winnipeg has $14.85 million in cap space without Connor signed, according to CapFriendly. If and when the Jets ink him to a new pact, they should still have some financial flexibility to explore bolstering the blue line.(Analytics courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

This is the first edition of theScore's NHL Power Rankings for 2019-20. Check back for updated rankings every second Monday during the regular season.1. Tampa Bay LightningLast year's infamous first-round sweep was a massive disappointment, but the Lightning remain as deep and dangerous as they were during a historically dominant 2018-19 regular season. Tampa Bay still boasts the NHL's most potent roster, and thus begins the season as the prohibitive Stanley Cup favorite.2. Boston BruinsThe Bruins came within one win of the Stanley Cup in June and return for 2019-20 with the core intact. After extending blue-liners Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, the reigning Eastern Conference champions are well-positioned for another deep run.3. St. Louis BluesThough few expect the Blues to repeat, the defending champs also enter the new campaign with virtually the same core that won a title this past spring. The acquisition of Justin Faulk raises some questions, but it does give the team even more defensive depth. St. Louis remains a well-rounded club with strength in all three positional groups.4. San Jose SharksIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettySan Jose lost some firepower over the summer but still has plenty of it. With Erik Karlsson now signed for the long haul and Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc both inked at reasonable rates, the Sharks are once again poised to be one of the NHL's top clubs.5. Vegas Golden KnightsThe Golden Knights will be as motivated as any team in 2019-20 after last season's controversial first-round exit. Trading away cap casualties Nikita Gusev and Colin Miller might sting, but Vegas still boasts a dangerous top six, a solid top four on the blue line, and the ever-dependable Marc-Andre Fleury in the crease.6. Toronto Maple LeafsWith Mitch Marner's contract situation resolved, the Maple Leafs again enter the season with one of the league's most talented stables of forwards. Will the defense-bolstering addition of Tyson Barrie and continued development of the young core be enough to get them over the first-round hump this spring?7. Calgary FlamesThe Flames got their own high-profile restricted free agent, Matthew Tkachuk, signed to a new deal last week, but a few questions loom large: Can David Rittich shoulder a starter's workload in net? Can Mark Giordano avoid a big regression? Will Milan Lucic make a positive impact following the worst season of his NHL career?8. Nashville PredatorsIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyMatt Duchene should help improve the league's worst powerplay of 2018-19. P.K. Subban is gone, but Predators general manager David Poile felt comfortable making that trade partly because of what he's seen from Dante Fabbro. Nashville's vaunted blue line likely won't be significantly worse this season.9. Colorado AvalancheAn utterly fearsome top line, a potential Calder Trophy candidate in Cale Makar, and some new depth up front have the Avalanche poised to take a big step forward in 2019-20. Philipp Grubauer is going to exceed last season's career-high 37 appearances; if he can provide stability over the course of a full schedule, Colorado should be one of the NHL's most dangerous teams.10. Carolina HurricanesThere's been some turnover for the Hurricanes following their run to the Eastern Conference Final. The team will still ice one of the NHL's deepest defensive groups, however, as well as a trio of promising young forwards. "Storm Surge" or not, Carolina will be a tough out once again.11. Washington CapitalsA first-round playoff exit followed by a fairly uneventful offseason in D.C. has cast some doubt on the Capitals' chances of returning to their 2017-2018 championship form. They'll be more intimidating, with Radko Gudas joining a team that already features Tom Wilson, but will that ultimately matter?12. Dallas StarsRonald Martinez / Getty Images Sport / GettyThe Stars could be legitimate contenders in 2019-20. If Jamie Benn can get back on track and Miro Heiskanen takes another step forward in his development, Dallas should improve on last season's wild-card finish and make some noise come playoff time.13. Florida PanthersWhat a difference an offseason makes. Sure, the Panthers didn't get Artemi Panarin, but Sergei Bobrovsky and new head coach Joel Quenneville should turn Florida into a quasi-contender before long, especially considering the talent already on the roster.14. Pittsburgh PenguinsChanges were clearly coming for the Penguins after they were swept out of the first round in the spring, but general manager Jim Rutherford raised eyebrows when he traded Phil Kessel for Alex Galchenyuk and signed Brandon Tanev to a six-year deal. The Penguins' window isn't closed yet, but it's starting to slide shut.15. New Jersey DevilsThe Devils already possessed a solid collection of talent before putting together an incredible offseason. Adding P.K. Subban, Jack Hughes, and Nikita Gusev to a group that includes Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, and Kyle Palmieri all but ensures this New Jersey squad will be much better than the one that finished with the NHL's third-worst record in 2018-19.16. Winnipeg JetsIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyPatrik Laine and Kyle Connor are back in the fold, but Dustin Byfuglien's future is still up in the air and the Jets' defense is depleted regardless of whether the hulking blue-liner returns. Winnipeg has the talent to remain competitive, but this team will be in tough keeping pace in the ultra-tight Central Division.17. Montreal CanadiensMontreal only missed the playoffs by two points and had incredible underlying numbers throughout the year. An infusion of new young talent in Nick Suzuki and Ryan Poehling combined with healthy seasons from Carey Price and Shea Weber could be enough to get the Habs over the hump this time around.18. New York IslandersThe Islanders had a relatively quiet summer - aside from losing their best player from a season ago. Is Semyon Varlamov reliable enough to mask New York's deficiencies as effectively as Robin Lehner did? Time will tell.19. New York RangersArtemi Panarin, Kaapo Kakko, Jacob Trouba, and Adam Fox. How the Rangers' new players impact their playoff chances remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Things just got way more entertaining on Broadway.20. Philadelphia FlyersLen Redkoles / National Hockey League / GettyIt was a busy offseason in Philly. The Flyers hired a new coach, signed Kevin Hayes to one of the summer's most lucrative free-agent contracts, and made a pair of trades to shore up the blue line. Most importantly, though, goaltender Carter Hart had a .982 save percentage in the preseason and remains this squad's best hope for a postseason appearance.21. Chicago BlackhawksThe Blackhawks will be an interesting team to watch this year. Jeremy Colliton has a full season to make his mark and a few new pieces at his disposal. That said, he has his work cut out for him as this aging roster eyes a playoff berth in the stacked Central.22. Arizona CoyotesThe Coyotes came within four points of the playoffs in 2018-19 despite being ravaged by injuries. With a healthy roster and Phil Kessel in the mix, Arizona might be good enough to squeak in this time.23. Vancouver CanucksExpectations are high in Vancouver as the Canucks look to take a step forward this season. The young core is talented, and the front office added J.T. Miller, Micheal Ferland, and Tyler Myers to help build a more complete roster. Anything less than a stake in the wild-card race will be a disappointment.24. Buffalo SabresIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyGeneral manager Jason Botterill has made a series of shrewd moves to bolster the Sabres' blue line, but offensive depth remains a serious concern. It's tough to see how this club makes noise in the Atlantic relying solely on the contributions of Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner.25. Edmonton OilersSpeaking of lackluster offensive depth, the Oilers seemed destined to repeat last year's playoff miss unless Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (once again) put together some truly stellar numbers.26. Minnesota WildMinnesota is a team stuck in the middle, but with good health, the Wild could be sneaky. The club's veteran forwards are still quietly productive and the blue line remains solid. The lack of star power might be an issue, though, especially in the Central.27. Columbus Blue JacketsIf the Blue Jackets are to make the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, they'll have to do so through hard work and grit. Columbus lost too much talent this summer to be considered a true threat, but it'd be unwise to discount John Tortorella's ability to rally his troops.28. Anaheim DucksIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyThe Ducks are in the midst of a retool but still have a handful of quality pieces. If Dallas Eakins is the right fit behind the bench and John Gibson does what John Gibson does in goal, maybe Anaheim can surprise.29. Los Angeles KingsOutside of Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, the Kings are running seriously low on talent. Another high draft pick is the best-case scenario in Hollywood this season.30. Detroit Red WingsSteve Yzerman's first year back in Motown is likely to be a long one as the Red Wings' rebuild is still in its infancy. At least Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha should be fun to watch.31. Ottawa SenatorsThe Senators sold all their veterans last season and enter the 2019-20 campaign in true scorched-earth form. The wins will be few and far between, but there are some nice pieces to develop this year. Brady Tkachuk, Erik Brannstrom, Thomas Chabot, and Drake Batherson comprise a genuinely promising young core in Ottawa.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

What even is a bold prediction? Given the unpredictable nature of the NHL these days, there really isn't a whole lot outside of the realm of possibility.Last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were one win short of an NHL regular-season record before being swept in the first round of the playoffs, the St. Louis Blues went from last place midway through the campaign to hoisting the Stanley Cup by the end of it, and Robin Lehner was nominated for the Vezina Trophy!I have a feeling we're in for some more chaos this year, so let's get wild with these fearless value bets for the 2019-20 NHL season:1. The Sharks win the Stanley Cup (25-1)Erik Karlsson is healthy, players are taking discount deals to stay with the team, and the Sharks bring back pretty much the entirety of the core that reached the conference finals last season. So why is everyone writing them off? This is the year it all comes together for San Jose. They win the franchise's first Stanley Cup as Joe Thornton sails off into the sunset.2. The Panthers win the Eastern Conference (9-1)The Panthers already had an excellent core in place led by Hart Trophy candidate Aleksander Barkov, and now they finally have the goaltending after signing two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky. Brett Connolly, Noel Acciari, and Anton Stralman provide excellent depth, but the greatest offseason acquisition was that of Joel Quenneville. The three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach is the man to finally put it all together for the perennially underachieving Panthers.3. The Hurricanes win the Metro Division (4-1)One of the best teams over the second half of last season, the Hurricanes are incredibly deep on the back end, and the Jake Gardiner signing proves to be a bargain. Andrei Svechnikov doubles his goal tally in his sophomore season, while Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen take another leap forward in their development. Rod Brind'Amour is an excellent coach, and I think Carolina gets a strong season out of Petr Mrazek.Gregg Forwerck / National Hockey League / Getty4. The Canucks make the playoffs (9-5), Flames miss the playoffs (2-1), Jets miss the playoffs (10-13)The future is incredibly bright for the Canucks with Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and Quinn Hughes, but so is their present. Jacob Markstrom holds down the fort before Thatcher Demko takes over with a monster second half between the pipes to sneak Vancouver into the playoffs for the first time since 2014-15, becoming the only Canadian team in the Western Conference to make the playoffs.The Flames regress after getting career years from Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, and Mark Giordano, while neither Cam Talbot nor David Rittich take the reigns in net.Dustin Byfuglien will likely suit up at some point this season, but the Jets need every minute they can get from him after losing Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot this offseason. Defensive depth is a massive issue for Winnipeg, which struggled down the stretch last season. That's a harbinger of things to come in 2019-20.5. The Penguins miss the playoffs (8-5)While many teams around them improved, the Penguins have to rely on an erratic Alex Galchenyuk and an overpaid Brandon Tanev to replace the offensively gifted Phil Kessel. Depth is lacking on the Penguins, which is even more concerning given the recent injury history of ageing stars Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. They barely made the postseason last year. This time around, for the first time since 2005-06 - Sidney Crosby's rookie season - Pittsburgh misses the playoffs. The Flyers finish third in the Metro, behind the Hurricanes and Capitals.6. The Coyotes make the playoffs (6-5)The Coyotes would've made the playoffs last year if not for injuries. Things are different this season: Phil Kessel brings his penchant for goals to the desert, Clayton Keller takes another step forward, they get a full season from Nick Schmaltz and Jason Demers, and Antti Raanta's return to health gives them a significantly underrated goalie tandem with Darcy Kuemper. With Rick Tocchet coaching up a storm, Arizona gets back to the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12, ending the league's second-longest playoff drought.7. The Devils miss the playoffs (10-11), Islanders miss the playoffs (1-1), Rangers miss the playoffs (2-3)New York and offseason hype go together better than Evgeny Kuznetsov and ... never mind. The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers are moving in the right direction, and they'll be playoff teams again in a New York minute, but it's too soon for them. Goaltending holds the Devils back, while the Rangers are too weak down the middle to be taken seriously. Regression is inevitable for the New York Islanders, who deserve to miss the playoffs for kicking Robin Lehner to the curb. For the first time since 1965-66, no New York area team makes the NHL playoffs.8. The Blues miss the playoffs (5-2)I have nothing but respect and admiration for Blues coach Craig Berube. But in a tough Central Division, with a target on their backs, I don't see how Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington is able to sustain anything close to a 1.89 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. He didn't even manage those numbers in the AHL. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native takes a step back as St. Louis struggles to find the consistency that got them to the playoffs last year, and finish fifth in the strongest division in hockey.9. Nathan MacKinnon wins the Hart (14-1)I can't say enough great things about MacKinnon. From his attitude to his ability, he's exactly the guy you want leading your team. MacKinnon goes scorched earth on the NHL, finishing with a career-best 111 points, and the Avalanche, armed with their best roster in over 15 years, finish atop the Central Division.Michael Martin / National Hockey League / Getty10. Erik Karlsson wins the Norris (8-1)Finally healthy, Karlsson finishes the season with a career-high 84 points and helps the Sharks finish atop the NHL, winning the award for the third time in his career. In doing so, he edges out compatriots Victor Hedman and John Klingberg, as three Swedish-born players are nominated for the Norris for the first time ever.11. John Gibson wins the Vezina (26-1)I'm higher on the Anaheim Ducks than most. They won't make the playoffs, but they'll be competitive. John Gibson is a big reason why, posting a career-best 2.05 GAA and .936 SV%. Gibson joins Bobrovsky (2012-13) as the only other goalie in the NHL's modern era to win the Vezina despite their team missing the playoffs.12. Matthews wins the Rocket Richard (14-1)In one of the most fascinating Rocket Richard races in years, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews narrowly edges out Alex Ovechkin and Alex DeBrincat, as three players score 50 goals for the first time since 2009-10. Matthews plays 80 games for the first time since his rookie season and hits the 50-goal mark for the first time in his career. Matthews pots two in the final game of the season to finish with 52 goals, while Ovechkin tallies 51 for a second consecutive season, and DeBrincat reaches the landmark for the first time in his young career.Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

If there's one thing you can rely on in today's NHL, it's parity - especially come playoff time. Each season, there are a handful of teams that either overachieve or fail to live up to expectations, and it often creates chaos in the standings.In 2018-19, five teams that qualified for the postseason the year prior failed to get back inside the cutline, and fans subsequently endured one of the craziest playoffs in recent memory.In saying that, it's reasonable to assume there will be another dose of fresh blood when the next dance rolls around in April 2020. But instead of guessing who the new guys will be, let's take a look at three teams that could be replaced.Columbus Blue JacketsJamie Sabau / National Hockey League / GettyThe Blue Jackets are far and away the easiest pick of this exercise. The club's former star trio of Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Matt Duchene all bolted in free agency, disbanding the squad that stunningly swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.Columbus' roster simply forfeited too much talent to be considered a legitimate playoff threat again, though if there's one coach who could potentially rally his troops to succeed through will and determination, it's probably John Tortorella.Torts still has some quality pieces at his disposal (Cam Atkinson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Seth Jones, and Zach Werenski among them), but the Jackets lost all their true game-breakers, and that projects to prove costly in a stacked Metropolitan Division.New York IslandersIcon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyIn their first year under head coach Barry Trotz, the Islanders were one of the league's biggest surprises, finishing as the Metro's No. 2 seed in the wake of John Tavares' departure. Was it a flash in the pan, or are the Isles a real threat under the two-time Jack Adams Award winner?We're wagering it's the former. New York is returning basically the same roster as last season, minus one key component: Robin Lehner. The veteran netminder was a Vezina finalist after posting a .930 save percentage in 46 appearances in his lone season with the Islanders, helping New York rank first in the NHL with 191 goals against. For whatever reason, though, the front office let him walk in free agency despite the goalie expressing his desire to stay.Lehner's replacement Semyon Varlamov is far from a sure thing between the pipes. From December onward last season, the 31-year-old registered an 11-14-6 record and a .899 save percentage, resulting in Philipp Grubauer taking over as Colorado's No. 1 down the stretch.Varlamov's also dealt with plenty of injuries throughout his career, and in contrast to New York's elite goaltending a season ago, its attack wasn't all that good. The Islanders ranked 22nd in goals for last year, and 26th in shot share with a five-on-five Corsi For percentage of 47.85. Barring some drastic improvements on the offensive side of the puck, the Islanders could be on the outside looking in come playoff time.Winnipeg JetsDavid Lipnowski / Getty Images Sport / GettyWinnipeg still has a ton of talent, but the Jets' run to the 2018 Western Conference Final - when it seemed like the club had a wide-open window to compete for Stanley Cups - suddenly feels like forever ago.The Jets' blue line was hit hard this past summer, losing regulars Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot. The uncertainty surrounding Dustin Byfuglien's future is a major concern, too, as Winnipeg's defensive corps would become awfully thin if "Big Buff" doesn't return. What was once a strength for the Jets has abruptly become a big question mark, and the lack of depth on the back end isn't the only predicament the club faces.Winnipeg's strength is clearly its offensive prowess, but production down the middle is lacking, and depth scoring was an issue last season. Patrik Laine, fresh off inking a two-year contract extension, is the club's X-factor, and, as crazy as it may sound, another season of 30 goals from the Finnish phenom might not be enough to keep the Jets competitive.The puck hasn't dropped yet, but it seems like the Jets are already well behind the eight ball in terms of personnel. If they get off to a slow start without their full roster, making up ground on the contenders in the daunting Central Division will be a monumental task.(Advanced Stats Courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki wasn't very impressed with Auston Matthews' preseason antics.The Toronto Maple Leafs star trolled Senators forward Scott Sabourin during an exhibition contest between the two sides on Sept. 18, and video of the incident went viral."I thought it was a little bit disrespectful, to be honest," Borowiecki said on Tuesday, according to The Canadian Press' Lisa Wallace. "We're not all blessed with Auston Matthews' talent, unfortunately, but I truly wish I was. Some of us have to do it the hard way."Sabourin, 27, has spent seven years in the American Hockey League and is slated to make his NHL debut this season after cracking the Senators' roster out of camp."I'm not sure Auston appreciates what it's like being a fighter down there, it's a role he never had to play," Borowiecki said. "It's really tough when you know you're going to fight double digits every year and ride the bus around and get paid $70,000."The Leafs host the Senators in their season opener on Wednesday night, which will be the first of four meetings between the two division rivals this season.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Vancouver Canucks aren't sewing a "C" on anyone's jersey just yet, but they will in due time.Bo Horvat, Alexander Edler, Chris Tanev, and Brandon Sutter have been named alternate captains, the club announced Tuesday."We are going to name a captain this season," Canucks head coach Travis Green said. "It's a special moment. Something our fans should be able to witness firsthand. We'll make the announcement Wednesday at our home opener."Horvat was expected to be given the "C" entering the 2019-20 campaign.Vancouver hasn't had a captain since Henrik Sedin served in the role from 2010 to 2018.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Winnipeg Jets will be without at least one of their key players for Thursday's season opener against the New York Rangers.Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu will miss at least four weeks with an upper-body injury, according to NHL.com's Mitchell Clinton.Forward Bryan Little could also miss the team's first game, as he's in concussion protocol, Clinton adds.Little left Sunday's preseason contest against the Minnesota Wild after taking a high hit in the first period and did not return. The 31-year-old recorded 15 goals and 41 points in 82 contests for the Jets last season.Winnipeg is already thin on the blue line entering the season after losing defensemen Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot this summer. Dustin Byfuglien's future also remains unclear.Beaulieu logged 16:51 of ice time per game and tallied five assists in 18 contests with the Jets in 2018-19.The Jets claimed Swedish rearguard Carl Dahlstrom off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane has been suspended three games for violating Rule 40.4 governing the physical abuse of officials, the NHL announced Tuesday.The incident occurred during a preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.It's an automatic three-game suspension that the Sharks can appeal, at which point NHL commissioner Gary Bettman could consider a reduction, TSN's Darren Dreger noted.Kane was ejected from Sunday's heated exhibition contest after an altercation involving Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland and linesman Kiel Murchison. The Sharks winger slashed Murchison in an apparent attempt to whack Engelland, and then shoved Murchison after the official took him down to the ice.Kane said postgame that the linesman's actions were "an absolute joke."The Sharks and Golden Knights open the regular season with a home-and-home series beginning Wednesday in Vegas and concluding Friday in San Jose.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

New York Islanders prospect Josh Ho-Sang and Anaheim Ducks forward Daniel Sprong each cleared waivers Tuesday and will begin the 2019-20 season with their teams' respective AHL affiliates.Winnipeg Jets goaltender Eric Comrie (Arizona Coyotes) and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Carl Dahlstrom (Jets) were the only two waived players that were claimed.Here's a list of all of the other players who cleared the waiver wire:TeamPlayerPositionANASam CarrickFBOSPeter CehlarikFBUFRemi ElieFBUFCurtis LazarFBUFCasey NelsonDBUFScott WilsonFCARClark BishopFCARAnton ForsbergGCARGustav ForslingDCBJMarko DanoFCGYAlan QuineFCOLJayson MegnaFEDMSam GagnerFEDMBrandon ManningDMINJ.T. BrownFNJMatt TennysonDNSHMiikka SalomakiFNSHSteven SantiniDNYITanner FritzFNYIThomas HickeyDNYRCristoval NievesFPITCasey DeSmithGTBLuke SchennDTORKenny AgostinoFTORKevin GravelDTORNicolas PetanFTORGarrett WilsonFVANSven BaertschiFVANAlex BiegaDVANNikolay GoldobinFWPGJC LiponFWPGNelson NogierDWSHChristian DjoosDWSHLiam O'BrienFWSHMichael SgarbossaFThe Islanders selected Ho-Sang with the 28th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. The 23-year-old winger has struggled to carve out a permanent role at the NHL level, recording seven goals and 24 points in 53 pro contests.Sprong, 22, is coming off a career-best season with the Ducks in which he tallied 14 goals and 19 points in 47 contests.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Winnipeg Jets lost a goaltender on the waiver wire Tuesday, but they snagged a blue-liner.The Arizona Coyotes have claimed netminder Eric Comrie from the Jets, and Winnipeg has claimed defenseman Carl Dahlstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks.Comrie allowed five goals on 28 shots in his lone NHL appearance in 2018-19. He spent most of the season with the AHL's Manitoba Moose, compiling a .917 save percentage across 47 games. The Jets selected the 24-year-old 59th overall in 2013.Dahlstrom split last season between the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, collecting six points over 38 NHL appearances. Chicago drafted him eight picks before Winnipeg chose Comrie in 2013.The Jets need defensive depth with Dustin Byfuglien's future uncertain, and after the offseason departures of Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot.Winnipeg is set in goal with starter Connor Hellebuyck and backup Laurent Brossoit.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Veteran forward Lee Stempniak announced his retirement Tuesday.“I am honored and privileged to have played in the NHL for 13 seasons and I am extremely grateful to have lived my dream every day throughout my career," Stempniak said."I would like to thank each and every organization, all of my coaches, and the staff members for your help over the years. A special thank you to all of my teammates. I will miss our friendships, laughter, and camaraderie."Stempniak was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the fifth round of the 2003 NHL Draft. The 36-year-old recorded 203 goals and 266 assists for 469 points over 911 games between 10 NHL teams. He last played for the Boston Bruins in 2018-19.The West Seneca, New York, native also played for the United States in three consecutive World Championships from 2007 to 2009.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens prospects Nick Suzuki and Cale Fleury have made the big club out of camp.The Habs announced Tuesday that forward Ryan Poehling has been assigned to AHL Laval, meaning Suzuki and Fleury claimed the final roster spots.Suzuki notched one goal and three assists in five preseason contests while impressing the club with his speed and skill.The Vegas Golden Knights selected the 20-year-old with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. The Canadiens acquired him as part of a trade for former captain Max Pacioretty in September 2018.Montreal selected Fleury in the third round of the 2017 draft. The 6-foot-1 rearguard tallied nine goals and 23 points in 60 AHL games in 2018-19.Poehling was held to just two exhibition contests after suffering a concussion in the team's preseason opener against the Florida Panthers on Sept. 18.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Humans are drawn to neatly packaged, occasionally false narratives.For instance, some of us have convinced ourselves that in troubled times "everything happens for a reason," or that millennials are destroying the economy, or that if you swallow chewing gum it takes seven years to digest.We've even convinced ourselves that the 2018-19 St. Louis Blues fell into a championship.As you've heard repeatedly, the Blues were dead-last in the NHL standings on Jan. 3, before rallying to win the Stanley Cup. Enthralled by this worst-to-first plot, the general public has forgotten the full scope of the matter. St. Louis had been considered a fringe Cup contender heading into the year. All things considered, nobody should be blown away by their achievement."The big thing with the St. Louis story is that they were underperforming half the season and then they start playing as good as they can play. That's why they turned it around," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said earlier this month at the NHL's annual preseason media event in Chicago."It's not like they came from nowhere. They had the team to play like that, and that's the difference between a really good team underperforming (and) maybe a bad team playing their best."Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesKeep Lundqvist's words in mind as the new NHL season opens. The Blues are icing a nearly identical lineup, should again be viewed as a Cup threat, and are one of four very strong clubs in the Central Division.The Atlantic may ultimately produce the Cup winner - the Lightning are favored, with the Maple Leafs and Bruins on their heels - but it's the potency of the Central that will define the season. No other division has a higher concentration of talent, or as many intriguing storylines."There's so many things we learned from winning that we need to hold on to and find a way to channel. But also we know we're not going to surprise anyone," Blues center and reigning Conn Smythe winner Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's going to be a whole different feel for us. 'OK, how can we elevate our game?' We're not going to catch teams by surprise."The Nashville Predators have made the playoffs five years in a row, the longest such streak among Central teams. They lost in the 2017 Cup final and haven't really been the same since. In the offseason, general manager David Poile removed defenseman P.K. Subban and his $9-million cap hit and added Matt Duchene and his $8-million cost for an upgrade at center, a seemingly eternal position of need for the franchise.Duchene, a hot commodity on the free-agent market, cited Nashville's Cup window and the presence of incumbent top-line center Ryan Johansen as key reasons why he signed with the Predators."I think we have an opportunity to be a 1A-1B situation, where you have two top lines that … compete every night to be the best line," Duchene said of Johansen and the depth chart. "And when you have that internal competition, it pushes each other and it makes you better, and you root for each other within that competition."Ronald Martinez / Getty ImagesJim Nill, Poile's counterpart in Dallas, faced a similar offseason predicament. With goaltending and defense largely taken care of, it was time to upgrade the Stars' offense. The signings of 30-somethings Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry could do the trick for a forward group that in the past has relied on Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, and not much else."You look at Perry's track record. He's pretty much won every trophy you can win in hockey," Dallas goalie Ben Bishop said."Pavelski is going to be huge for us," defenseman John Klingberg said, citing the former Sharks captain's leadership. "I think that's something we really thrived on last year. After we got going, I think more voices in the locker room started speaking. Getting him in there is going to help us even more."The surging Colorado Avalanche, meanwhile, have no issues filling the leadership quota or scoresheet. Captain Gabriel Landeskog, superstar Nathan MacKinnon, and $9.25-million man Mikko Rantanen form arguably the league's best line. Nazem Kadri, a battle-tested soon-to-be 29-year-old, will take over the No. 2 center spot after an offseason trade with Toronto. Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky, added from San Jose and Washington, respectively, were quality free-agent depth acquisitions by GM Joe Sakic. His defense, while still a work in progress, is mobile and effective."I think we should have high expectations with the group that we have," Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. "It's a special time. It's such a young team that honestly the sky's the limit."Martin Rose / Getty ImagesThe division's pecking order dips a bit after the top four teams. The Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks are all capable of making the playoffs this season. Each team is more talented than an average NHL group, but each also has major question marks, ranging from the Jets' depth issues on defense, the Hawks' troubles preventing goals, and the Wild's lack of game breakers."Everybody can win on any given night," Bishop said. "I'd like to see somebody trying to predict the standings of the Central Division."Only five Central teams can qualify for the playoffs, if they claim both Western Conference wild-card spots. Maybe one of the Cup contenders falters, because sports can be unpredictable. Maybe a lower-end team sneaks up on the hockey world. The variety of outcomes is what makes this division such a murderer's row.John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Buffalo Sabres assistant coach Don Granato has been hospitalized with severe pneumonia and will be taking a medical leave from the team, the club announced on Tuesday.Chris Taylor, the head coach of the Sabres' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, will assist the Sabres' coaching staff in the interim. Meanwhile, Americans assistant coach Gord Dineen will serve as head coach of the AHL squad.Granato, 52, joined Ralph Krueger's staff with the Sabres in June following two seasons as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks. He previously served as associate coach at Wisconsin and spent seven campaigns as head coach of the St. Louis Blues' AHL affiliates.He also won the ECHL's Kelly Cup as head coach of the Peoria Rivermen in 2000 and led the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2013 to 2016.Granato is the brother of former NHL forward and current University of Wisconsin bench boss Tony Granato, as well as U.S. women's hockey legend Cammi Granato.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane made it clear he wasn't happy with how he was treated by the officials in Sunday night's heated preseason contest against the Vegas Golden Knights."It's funny how, if you look at the way I get treated out there when it comes to the scrums or whatever it may be, what the other team's trying to do to me, there's a massive difference compared to everybody else on the ice," Kane said postgame, according to the Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka. "I've never seen, I get kicked out of the game for getting jumped from behind by a referee (Kiel Murchison)."Kane was ejected following an altercation Sunday with Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland and linesman Murchison.With about eight minutes remaining in the third period, Kane slashed Murchison in an apparent attempt to whack Engelland. Moments later, Murchison skated over to further separate the two players and brought Kane down to the ice."I've never seen the refs take five strides and if you look at his face, he's getting all his power and trying to drive me into the ice, which is what he did," Kane said. "That's unbelievable. Talk about abuse of an official, what about abuse of a player? It's an absolute joke."The San Jose forward added that he wasn't given an adequate explanation for why he was ejected."I have no idea, and then I got kicked out of the game," he said. "I was just skating up the ice. Whistle went, minding my own business, and next thing you know, I'm driven into the ice by the official for doing nothing. I wasn't even engaged with one of their players. So you have to explain that to me how that makes any sense, how I get kicked out of the game for that. Baffling."Kane's abuse of official penalty generally carries an automatic 10-game suspension, but that would need to be enforced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who's unlikely to do so before Tuesday, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.Sunday's 5-1 win by the Golden Knights featured 114 penalty minutes.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jordan Binnington is out to prove his Cinderella rookie campaign wasn't a fluke.The spotlight is shining brightly on the St. Louis Blues netminder as he enters his second year, with many wondering if he can duplicate his freshman performance. Binnington recently discussed the matter with The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford."It's part of it, right? I love it. People put me under the gun, and it might not be perfect, it might not be right away. But I'll turn that gun right back around and point it back at you."Binnington took over in St. Louis' goal in December and sparked a remarkable turnaround that culminated with the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The 26-year-old went 24-5-1 with a .927 save percentage in the regular season before clinching the championship with a .914 clip in the playoffs.He was rewarded for his efforts with a two-year, $8.8-million contract in the offseason.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Brock Boeser is good to go.The young Vancouver Canucks forward and teammate Oscar Fantenberg have been cleared to play in the team's season opener Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, Canucks general manager Jim Benning told reporters Monday.Both players were injured on hits in a preseason win over the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 23. Boeser entered concussion protocol after being checked from behind by Senators forward Chris Tierney.The American winger returned to practice Saturday.Boeser signed a three-year, $17.63-million contract with the Canucks as a restricted free agent on Sept. 16.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Patrik Laine is ready to get back to filling opponents' nets over the next two years.After settling for a two-year, $13.5-million bridge deal with the Winnipeg Jets last week, the Finnish forward is betting on himself to return to his scoring ways."I know I'll be good for the next two years," Laine told reporters Monday. "I'm going to score a lot of goals, that's for sure."I've always trusted myself ... I'm gonna be betting on myself these two years."Despite scoring 30 goals last season, Laine's year was widely seen as a disappointment. Eighteen of those tallies came in the month of November, and issues with his 200-foot game became more clear during the season."You can always be better, always room to improve," Laine added. "Just play better five-on-five and help my team to win."The 21-year-old has scored 110 goals in 237 games since being taken second overall in the 2016 NHL Draft.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Daniel Sprong, Sam Gagner, and Sven Baertschi were among a slew of NHLers placed on waivers Monday, the penultimate day before the start of the 2019-20 regular season.Here's the list of all 39 players waived by their respective clubs:TeamPlayerPositionANASam CarrickFANADaniel SprongFBOSPeter CehlarikFBUFRemi ElieFBUFCurtis LazarFBUFCasey NelsonDBUFScott WilsonFCARClark BishopFCARAnton ForsbergGCARGustav ForslingDCBJMarko DanoFCGYAlan QuineFCHICarl DahlstromDCOLJayson MegnaFEDMSam GagnerFEDMBrandon ManningDMINJ.T. BrownFNJMatt TennysonDNSHMiikka SalomakiFNSHSteven SantiniDNYITanner FritzFNYIThomas HickeyDNYIJosh Ho-SangFNYRCristoval NievesFPITCasey DeSmithGTBLuke SchennDTORKenny AgostinoFTORKevin GravelDTORNicolas PetanFTORGarrett WilsonFVANSven BaertschiFVANAlex BiegaDVANNikolay GoldobinFWPGEric ComrieGWPGJC LiponFWPGNelson NogierDWSHChristian DjoosDWSHLiam O'BrienFWSHMichael SgarbossaFSprong tallied 14 goals in only 47 games for the Anaheim Ducks last season.Gagner, the Edmonton Oilers' sixth overall pick in 2007, collected 10 points in 25 contests for the club in 2018-19 after being acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks.Baertschi produced nine goals and 14 points in 26 games with the Canucks in 2018-19. He's spent parts of five seasons with Vancouver after beginning his career with the Calgary Flames.The New York Islanders raised eyebrows earlier Monday when general manager Lou Lamoriello revealed Josh Ho-Sang and Thomas Hickey would be placed on waivers.Casey DeSmith was the Pittsburgh Penguins' backup goaltender last season and posted a .916 save percentage in 36 contests.The Tampa Bay Lightning waived Luke Schenn on Monday after signing him to a one-year, $700,000 contract on July 1.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Seattle has found a home for its AHL team.The newest NHL team has been awarded an AHL expansion franchise that will be located in Palm Springs, California, the league announced on Monday.

The NHL is entering a two-year, cross-platform marketing and promotional partnership with the band Green Day, the league announced Monday.Green Day's new song, "Fire, Ready, Aim," will serve as the opening theme for NBCSN's Wednesday Night Hockey, which debuts on Oct. 9 when the New Jersey Devils take on Philadelphia Flyers.The song will also be featured on NHL on NBC broadcasts throughout the 2019-20 season.Green Day will have music from their upcoming album "Father Of All ..." featured throughout the NHL, including game highlights, in-arena content, and on television partners' platforms.The league also announced that the group will perform at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis on Jan. 25.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Josh Ho-Sang couldn't crack the New York Islanders' opening-day roster.The Islanders are placing Ho-Sang, Thomas Hickey, and Tanner Fritz on waivers, general manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters Monday.Ho-Sang, the 28th overall pick in the 2014 draft, made his NHL debut in 2017 and has appeared in just 53 games for the Islanders, recording 24 points.The 23-year-old has spent the majority of his pro career in the AHL, where he's appeared in 156 games and racked up 26 goals and 110 points.Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.