The Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak are discussing an eight-year contract as they attempt to finally reach a new deal."We are now discussing an eight-year max term to see if we can find some common ground," Pastrnak's agent, J.P. Barry, said, according to Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe.The news doesn't come as much of a surprise as Barry said last week that such a deal was his camp's intention. Further, Pastrnak was using the eight-year, $68-million deal signed by Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl as a comparison in contract talks, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tuesday."They know our position on the current marketplace for elite young forwards," Barry said, "and we will continue our negotiations again (Wednesday)."The recent reports are a sign that progress is being made. Last week, Bruins president Cam Neely was candid, saying there had been little dialogue between the parties.As if there needed to be another reason to get a deal done soon, training camps open up in one week.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Put Nazem Kadri atop the list of Maple Leafs players excited by the club's offseason free agent acquisition Patrick Marleau."It's going to be great," Kadri said of having the 19-year NHL veteran on the team, according to Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. "Experience is the No. 1 thing we need. It builds confidence in those high, stressful games. Patty is going to bring that to us. He's going to be a leader."The 26-year-old Kadri was one of the more senior members on a youthful, budding Maple Leafs team a year ago. Adding a grizzled vet like Marleau will surely be quite refreshing for players like Kadri, who were relied upon for leadership despite being relatively young players themselves.Marleau has played just about every role possible in his career. There are few things he hasn't seen or experienced.He's played both center and wing. He's been counted on as a primary scorer in his heyday, and he's been used as a secondary contributor in recent years. His solid two-way game has allowed coaches to use him in a checking role. He was even the Sharks' captain for parts of five seasons. He's played in 177 playoff games, including six Stanley Cup Final games.Furthermore, Marleau has played 622 consecutive regular season games, and hasn't played less than 74 games in any season during his career (except for the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season). For a player who doesn't shy away from physicality (80 or more hits in three of last four years), this either means he's incredibly lucky, or takes great care of his body. Assuming it's the latter, the younger Leafs will learn plenty from the way he trains and prepares for games.While some questioned the signing, it certainly provides a huge morale boost to players like Kadri, who have never skated alongside someone with the pedigree and vast NHL experience of Marleau.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue is hoping someone will return an important part of his on-ice wardrobe.Domingue took to Twitter on Tuesday pleading for any information as to the whereabouts of his new mask that was stolen out of his bags while traveling between Montreal, Dallas, and Arizona.

One of the most influential and revolutionary contributors to the goaltending position, Francois Allaire, retired from his craft Tuesday, he announced on his Facebook page.The 57-year-old Allaire spent the last 32 years as a goalie coach with the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and most recently, the Colorado Avalanche.Allaire was the first-ever goalie coach of the Canadiens, where he took a young protege by the name of Patrick Roy under his wing and helped him become arguably the best goaltender of all time.Though netminders such as Glenn Hall, Tony Esposito, and Vladislav Tretiak experimented with falling to both knees to make a save, Roy made it the most popular style under Allaire's tutelage. Any goalie who doesn't use the butterfly nowadays is considered a dinosaur.Allaire joined the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1996, where he turned an unheralded Guy Hebert into one of the league's best goalies. Yet, his best work in Orange County came with Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Award in 2003 and later the Stanley Cup in 2007.Allaire finished his career with stints in Toronto and Colorado, but his everlasting legacy will live on. Without Allaire, goalie coaches might not exist today, while goaltenders might still be standing up to make saves, and the NHL would be a much higher-scoring game.In addition to Roy, Hebert, and Giguere, other notable goalies to work under the instruction of Allaire included Jocelyn Thibault, Roberto Luongo, Martin Biron, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jonas Hiller, James Reimer, Semyon Varlamov, and Calvin Pickard.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Any team looking to hire a depth defenseman should slide into James Wisniewski's DMs.The 33-year-old and former 50-point man - as he was sure to point out - tweeted Tuesday that he's still looking for a job:

Jaromir Jagr may not be a part of the NHL this year, but that doesn't mean hockey fans won't have at least one graybeard to fawn over.Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara enters the coming campaign as one of just two 40-year-olds - the other being Minnesota Wild center Matt Cullen - and while he's had a prolific 19-year career, Chara doesn't see 2017-18 as his swan song."I definitely want to play beyond this season," Chara told Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. "It's really hard to put a number on it. Some people do and some people don't. I just obviously want to keep playing beyond this season."I love this game too much. I have made no secrets about it. I want to stay here and continue to play."While Chara may have his sights set on the years ahead, there are no guarantees he'll play beyond 2017-18. That's because he's entering the season on the final year of a seven-year deal he signed in 2011.Still, earning a contract extension will be only part of his focus this season."I love the game. I love everything about it. I love the sacrifice and I love the training. There are so many things that are so positive," Chara added. "At my age, I look at what I can still do and just really enjoy it. I just want to keep improving and play for as long as I can."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Despite a hefty pay bump, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl expects things to be business as usual.The 21-year-old was on the ice with many of his teammates for an informal skate Tuesday, where he later stated that his new eight-year, $68-million contract won't add any more pressure than he's already been used to."There's always pressure really, it doesn't matter," Draisaitl told reporters. "Last year I had the pressure of it being my contract year and it's the same every year. For me it's not really a matter of the pressure too much. I want to live up to that contract and that's what I'm going to try and do."Last season Draisaitl had a career year, capitalizing in the final year of his entry-level contract by putting up 29 goals and 77 points in 82 games, finishing second in both categories on the Oilers behind only Connor McDavid.In the end Draisaitl got paid and his deal appears to have even set the tone for the market, as reports suggest Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak is seeking a similar deal.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik announced Tuesday a $1 million donation to the American Red Cross in response to Hurricane Harvey flood relief efforts.The donation comes six days after the NHL and the NHLPA made a combined contribution of $200,000 to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity."Penny (Vinik) and I stand alongside the wider Tampa Bay Lightning family in expressing support for all victims of Hurricane Harvey," Vinik said in a statement. "We are honored to support our fellow Gulf Coast community and deeply admire the resilience of those affected by this storm. We will keep all residents and first responders in our thoughts as rebuilding efforts commence."Hurricane Harvey caused recent catastrophic flooding in Houston. It was the first Category 4 hurricane to reach landfall in the U.S. since 2005. Harvey flooded hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and 66 casualties have been confirmed.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Andreas Athanasiou may be ready to walk the walk.The restricted free agent has been unable to come to an agreement with the Detroit Red Wings, and is fielding offers from at least one KHL club. According to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, Athanasiou is believed to have a one-year offer in the range of $2.5 million to $3 million from Ak Bars Kazan.Therefore, says agent Darren Ferris, "because of the huge disparity, the KHL has moved to more of a probability at this time."Ferris recently commented on the "considerable difference" between what the Wings were offering and what Athanasiou could earn in the KHL, but up to this point, it seemed as though it was all posturing for the sake of pressuring the club to increase its offer.Athanasiou scored 18 goals - 17 at even strength - in 64 games while averaging 13:28 of ice time last season.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Buffalo Sabres don't appear to be any closer to inking center Jack Eichel to a long-term extension.In fact, talks between the two sides have recently died down, Eichel's agent, Peter Donatelli, told Matthew Bove of WKBW."Right now, Jack is planning on starting the season," Donatelli said. "Whether or not he has a contract extension prior to the season, we do not know and is not his main focus going into camp."While Eichel seems fully prepared to enter 2017-18 on the final year of his entry-level deal, he hasn't closed the door on negotiating once the puck drops. That's a different tune from some players, who prefer to avoid the distraction of in-season contract talks."I have no problem playing the year out," Eichel told Paul Hamilton of WGR 550, according to Bove. "I'm adamant about staying a Sabre, I want to bring some new excitement to this town and the contract thing will take care of itself."I look at myself to be one of the leaders on this team and a guy that's going to push this organization to the next level. So I've got to be a guy that everybody leans on and I've got to be better on and off the ice."Last month, Jason Botterill, the first-year general manager of the Sabres, noted he'd like to re-sign Eichel for eight years, the maximum contract term permitted by the NHL.The second overall pick in the 2015 draft, Eichel finished first on the Sabres in scoring last year with 57 points, despite missing the first 21 games of the season after he suffered a high-ankle sprain.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Steven Stamkos has an extra spring in his stride.The Tampa Bay Lightning captain, who suffered a torn meniscus that required surgery early last season, has begun skating with teammates ahead of training camp following a failed attempt to return for a playoff push in the spring.It's hard to say whether he's game-ready at this point, but he's certainly chomping at the bit to find out."When you've been through the tough stretch that I've been through in the last four or five years, it's tough to know what 100 percent is," he told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "I don't think I will know, but like I said it's the best its felt since the surgery, way better than where I ended the season off before the season ended when I was on the ice with the guys."It's just been getting better and better every day and I can see it continually doing so. It's just exciting. I haven't looked this forward to a training camp in a long time. I feel like I've put in the work and am seeing the results."Stamkos added he believes his meniscus was partially torn prior to succumbing to the season-ending injury and going under the knife, and that it was the toughest rehabilitation process of all his injuries.He missed a large chunk of 2013-14 with a leg injury, as well as the majority of the 2016 playoffs with a blood clot.In 17 game prior to the injury, Stamkos scored nine goals and added 11 assists."My expectations are that I'm going to get back to that player," he said, per Smith. "Hopefully it's right away. That's the plan. We'll see how it goes."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Carolina Hurricanes will have a new leader for the 2017-18 season, as general manager Ron Francis expects to name a new captain at the conclusion of training camp, according to Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer.It will mark the sixth captain since the Hurricanes arrived in Raleigh in 1997.Eric Staal is the longest-serving captain in Hurricanes history, an honor he held from 2010-16, when he was traded to the New York Rangers.While Francis, who captained the Hurricanes from 1999-2004, did not reveal who will get the "C," candidates could include Justin Faulk, Victor Rask, Jordan Staal, and Jeff Skinner, all of whom served as alternate captains last season.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

David Pastrnak has his eye on a particular price point.The winger and his representatives are using Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl as a comparison in contract extension talks with the Boston Bruins, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.The Oilers, who drafted Draisaitl third overall in 2014, recently gave the young forward an eight-year deal worth $68 million, or $8.5 million per season. Per a recent report, Boston offered Pastrnak a deal worth $6 million.Based on last season's numbers, Pastrnak's ask is not out of line.PlayerGamesGoalsAssistsPointsShotsLeon Draisaitl82294877172David Pastrnak75343670262There's a disparity in games played, but the end result is Draisaitl averaged 0.94 points per game as compared to 0.93 for Pastrnak.With training camp set to start next week, the Bruins and Pastrnak are running out of time to find common ground in time for the preseason.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New York Rangers added a pair of former hockey stars to help build the current club.Brian Leetch and Brad Richards have been named hockey operations advisors and the pair will assist in both hockey-related decisions as well as off-ice player and prospect development.Leetch was a longtime Rangers defenseman, winning the Calder and Norris Trophies. He helped the team win a Stanley Cup in 1994, earning playoff MVP honors. He also served as team captain from 1997-2000 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.Richards played center for three seasons in New York before his contract was bought out. The team owes him $1,055,556 through 2025-26 as a result of that decision, per Cap Friendly. He too won a Cup and the Conn Smythe, but as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Richards retired following a stint with Detroit in 2015-16.

Throughout the month of September, James Bisson and a cast of editors from theScore will share their rankings of the greatest players, teams, and moments in the 100-year history of the National Hockey League. This week's list focuses on the best individual seasons (* denotes a league-leading statistic).100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1Voter List

The Calgary Flames don't appear to be any closer to signing restricted free agent Sam Bennett.According to TSN's Darren Dreger, there remains a sizable gap in contract talks between club and player, and there's even a possibility that Bennett will head overseas until an agreement is reached with the Flames.As a reminder, if Bennett doesn't sign a contract by Dec. 1, he's ineligible to play in the NHL this season, according to the collective bargaining agreement.General manager Brad Treliving recently expressed confidence in getting Bennett signed, while the team is now less than two weeks away from its preseason opener against Edmonton.Bennett recorded 13 goals and 13 assists in 81 games for the Flames last season, averaging 14:59 of ice time per game.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are far from done.While team president David Morehouse was enjoying his day with the Stanley Cup - his third since assuming the position in 2007 - he affirmed his belief that the recent run of success is entirely sustainable."I actually think we can win a couple more Cups," Morehouse told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We have the best owner in hockey, the best general manager, the best coach, and a bunch of the best players."Morehouse is referring to team owner Mario Lemieux, GM Jim Rutherford, and likely a group of players that include Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, and Matt Murray.The Penguins, of course, have won the past two Stanley Cups, and will be aiming for a rare three-peat, something that hasn't been achieved since the New York Islanders dynasty in the early 1980s."The goal would be to try and replicate what we’ve been able to do," Morehouse added. "It’s the hardest trophy to win, but I’d like to give it a shot and try to win a few more."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The usual flurry of offseason movement sent several key contributors to new locales, and while some will benefit from their changes of scenery, others won't be so fortunate.Two forwards and a goaltender, in particular, are likely to suffer due to their destinations and respective situations therein.Here's a trio of players whose fantasy stock has taken a hit heading into the 2017-18 campaign:Marcus JohanssonThe Swedish winger established career highs with 24 goals and 58 points last season with the high-powered Washington Capitals offense, but the cap-crunched club traded him to the rebuilding New Jersey Devils in early July.Only Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie notched more goals for Washington than Johansson did last season, but he'll be hard-pressed to duplicate that output on a Devils squad with considerably less scoring punch.He's clearly talented, but going from playing alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams to lining up with rookie Nico Hischier and Drew Stafford is going to significantly decrease his scoring opportunities and thus hurt his chances of matching last season's solid production.Derek StepanMuch like Johansson, Stepan is going from a stellar offense to a paltry one.The New York Rangers posted the fourth-best goals-per-game mark in the league in 2016-17, and Stepan was a big reason for that, but he moves to an Arizona Coyotes club that managed the fourth-worst goal-scoring average in the NHL (2.33) last season.Stepan is usually a lock for 30-to-40 assists and 55 points (he's collected at least 53 of the latter in each of the last four seasons), but his new Coyotes teammates are obviously much younger and far more inexperienced than the Rangers.He'll be Arizona's No. 1 center and he'll log plenty of time on the Coyotes' first power-play unit, but he'll no longer have the luxury of setting up Rick Nash and Jimmy Vesey.Brian ElliottThe veteran goaltender's stock certainly wasn't sky-high to begin with, but taking a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers and leaving what is now arguably one of the NHL's best defense corps is surely going to hurt his fantasy value.The Calgary Flames solidified their back end this summer by acquiring Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders, and Elliott's former club now boasts the best defensive unit on paper this side of the Nashville Predators.That deal happened on June 24, and six days later, the Flames re-signed Michael Stone to further secure their blue line, but Elliott still opted to bolt for the Flyers on July 1.That decision may haunt the 32-year-old netminder, who'll be playing behind a defensive group that tied for the 10th-most goals allowed in the NHL last season and still features Andrew MacDonald in its top-4.Elliott's numbers were by no means elite last season, but he appears destined to fare worse in 2017-18.(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In his first meeting with Daniel and Henrik Sedin, new head coach Travis Green didn't sugarcoat his feelings about the twins' play last season."In our first meeting with Travis Green, he told us we were not good enough last year," Daniel told Sportsnet 650 on Monday. "We use that, we like that. He's honest with you. He's going to keep us accountable."Last season, Daniel tallied 15 goals and 44 points in 82 games - his lowest point total in a full season since he posted 31 (with 14 goals) in 31 games during 2002-03. That was the twins' third season in the league.Meanwhile, Henrik was a bit better, finishing the 2017 season with 50 points in all 82 games. That tied his 2014 production - when he played just 70 games. Still, 50 points is his lowest total in an 82-game season since 2003-04 (42 points).Green's comments suggest there will be pressure on Daniel and Henrik to step up this season. Daniel says that every season, the twins approach training camp feeling that nothing is guaranteed."For me and Henrik, we always come in every year not expecting to make the lineup," he said. "We have to work hard in training camp. We have to come into camp in good shape. We have to be really good in the preseason games. That's always been our mindset."That needs to be the mindset for the young players too."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Vancouver Canucks are inching closer and closer to locking up restricted free agent Bo Horvat, according to general manager Jim Benning."It's going well," Benning told Sportsnet 650 Vancouver of the contract negotiations. "Hopefully, we can get it done here in the next week."While a new contract for Horvat appears imminent, Benning didn't reveal any specifics. Earlier in the summer, team president Trevor Linden said the Canucks and Horvat have discussed everything from two to eight years.Horvat has built a strong case to land a long-term deal after emerging as one of the team's best players a season ago, leading the Canucks with a career-high 52 points.Vancouver has $5.3 million in cap space to work with, according to CapFriendly, and the club is set to kick off training camp in mid-September.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Throughout the month of September, James Bisson and a cast of editors from theScore will share their rankings of the greatest players, teams, and moments in the 100-year history of the National Hockey League. This week's list focuses on the best individual seasons (* denotes a statistic led the league).100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1Voter List

A change of scenery can do wonders.Whether through trade or free agency, this offseason has seen a shift of power in the NHL and inevitably some situations are sure to provide certain players with better opportunities to improve on last year's outputs than others.Here are three players that swapped jerseys this offseason and should be nabbed in your drafts.Alexander RadulovYearGPGPTSCF%2016-1776185454.11Alexander Radulov's return to the NHL was an overwhelming success last season. The 31-year-old finished second on the Montreal Canadiens in scoring, but after a seemingly-dropped ball by Canadiens' management, Radulov was plucked by the Dallas Stars as a free agent.In Dallas, Radulov is expected to play alongside Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, so it's pretty obvious he's going to be much more productive.Last season, Radulov spent the majority of his time playing alongside Max Pacioretty and Phillip Danault. The two forwards each saw increases in goals-for per 60 minutes, Corsi For, and goals-for percentage while playing alongside Radulov.With the big Russian slotting next to two of the most elite offensive talents in the league in Benn and Seguin, the trio is destined to be as lethal as any.Mike Smith(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)YearGPWLOTLG.A.ASV%SO2016-1755192692.92.9143Mike Smith hasn't backed down from throwing shade at his former club this offseason, and it could very well be because he knows he should be in a place to succeed in Calgary.The biggest reasons why is because Smith is joining a team and a system that has played much better in front of their goaltenders than he's been used to with the Arizona Coyotes.This past season the Coyotes ranked 29th in shots against per game, giving up 34.1 per contest, while the Flames ranked eighth, allowing 28.7 per game. On the special teams side of things, the Coyotes had a 77.3 percent success rate on the penalty kill - good enough for 27th - while the Flames had the 12th-ranked penalty kill, killing off 81.6 percent of penalties. Lastly, the Coyotes ranked last with a 44.9 percent Corsi For rating, while the Flames ranked 11th with a 50.4 percent rate.Factor in the addition of Travis Hamonic to a Flames blue line that already includes Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Dougie Hamilton, and Michael Stone, and Smith should be in good hands.Jordan EberleYearGPGPTSCF%2016-1782205152.8Jordan Eberle may have been pushed out the door in Edmonton, but it's not due to production. The 27-year-old has posted four-straight 20-goal seasons and still managed 50 points in a down year in 2017.While he has not approached his 76-point season level of production in 2012, there is reason to believe he could this year.Eberle is expected to play alongside John Tavares, a huge upgrade from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic - whom Eberle spent the majority of last season with. In fact, Eberle averaged more goals-for per 60 minutes and Corsi For when playing away from Nugent-Hopkins and Lucic.Meanwhile, Tavares dramatically improved the play of his linemates this season, as Josh Bailey saw a 14.6 percent decline in his Corsi For without Tavares, while Anders Lee saw a reduction of 6.6 percent.Let the magic begin.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Anthony Duclair has a clear goal heading into the new season.The 22-year-old winger signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Coyotes worth a reported $1.2 million, and will become a restricted free agent once again next summer. In order to secure a bigger and better contract, he knows he must make good on this opportunity."I just want to prove myself with this one-year deal," Duclair said Sunday, per the team's website. "Obviously, last season was a little rough for myself. It was a good learning experience but at the same time, I just want to prove this year that I can play at an elite level like I did my rookie season and hopefully have a better contract next summer."Following his first full season with the club, there was no question about his place as a fairly significant building block. A down 2016-17, however, put his ability to hang at the NHL well in doubt, resulting in a 16-game AHL demotion ahead of restricted free agency this summer.2015-162016-17Games8158Goals205Assists2410Shots10576Shooting %19.06.6To be fair, expectations in year two may have been as inflated as his shooting percentage the previous season, but it's clear Duclair's game tailed off by a wide margin.The arrival of a new voice behind the bench in head coach Rick Tocchet should help, according to general manager John Chayka."He’s a goal scorer but he’s got a touch with the puck and he can make plays," Chayka said of Duclair. "It’s more about using his skating to be more involved and that’s Rick Tocchet’s system."If he can use his skating to put pressure on defenses, turn pucks over and if that leads to him spending more time in the offensive zone with talented players, they can set him up and he can put them in the net. It’s just a holistic approach. You’ve got to be committed to 200 feet of the ice and Tocchet is going to push him to do that."Chayka added other contract options were offered, but Duclair chose the one-year deal in hopes of putting himself in an even better position next summer."Our stance was if he wanted term and dollars, it would be on our terms or he could have the option of taking the one-year deal and kind of earn that right," said the GM. "He took the one-year option and we're glad in some ways because now he's going to go out and earn it."And clearly that's what he's intent on doing.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Arizona Coyotes announced they've re-signed restricted free agent Anthony Duclair to a one-year contract Sunday.The deal is worth $1.2 million, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports."We are very pleased to sign Anthony to a new contract," said general manager John Chayka. "Anthony is a highly skilled forward with great speed and scoring ability. We are confident that he can be an impact player for our team and look forward to having him in our lineup this season."The 22-year-old registered five goals and 15 points in 58 games for the Coyotes last season, and was sent to the AHL for a 16-game stint with a view to finding his game.Those lowly numbers came after Duclair reached 20 goals and 44 points in 2015-16, demonstrating the offensive acumen Arizona was hoping for in acquiring him by trade from the New York Rangers in a deal centered around defenseman Keith Yandle.Duclair will be aiming to rediscover that form on this one-year contract in hopes of securing a longer and more lucrative deal when he hits restricted free agency again next summer.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Patrick Marleau is getting ready to wear blue and white, but a part of his heart will always be teal.The former San Jose Sharks forward took out a full-page ad in Bay Area News Group publications Sunday to thank the city of San Jose, which he called home for 19 seasons before signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer.

The following five players were some of the best fantasy performers last season, but their chances of repeating that success for another year are slim to none.Mark Scheifele, JetsMark Scheifele arrived last season. He set career highs in both goals (32) and assists (50), finishing seventh in the NHL with 82 points. Scheifele is a great talent, and plays on an explosively offensive team, but it's highly unlikely he plays at a point-per-game pace once again.Scheifele took less shots this past season (160) than the two seasons prior, resulting in an inflated shooting percentage of 20 percent. In fact, his shooting percentage was the third-highest in the league among players who took at least 100 shots. Unless he decides to start shooting more, he will not score 30 goals once again.Scheifele had a bit of luck in the assist category too. Of his 50 assists, 24 of them were secondary helpers. Even with talented linemates such as Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, a near even split of primary and secondary assists in not sustainable for a forward.Given the depth of the center position in fantasy hockey, let someone else draft Scheifele in the early rounds of your draft.T.J. Oshie, CapitalsOshie set a career high in goals with 33 a year ago, despite missing 14 games due to injury. He led the league with a completely unsustainable 23.1 shooting percentage.Oshie, 30, has been more of a 20-goal scorer over the course of his career, and even though he will likely spend most of 2017-18 alongside Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, this 40-goal pace from last year seems like a total aberration. However, 25 goals should be well within his reach.Justin Schultz, PenguinsThere was plenty of hype surrounding Justin Schultz when he signed with the Edmonton Oilers as a college free agent in 2012. He failed to live up to the bill in Edmonton, but broke out in his first full season as a Penguin, recording 51 points in 78 games a year ago.Of Schultz's 39 assists, a whopping 17 of them came on the power-play. With Kris Letang missing the bulk of last season, Schultz manned the point on Pittsburgh's top power-play unit alongside forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Patric Hornqvist.It's always a possibility the oft-injured Letang once again misses significant time, but if he doesn't, Schultz will be relegated to second unit power-play duties, and his point total will suffer because of it.Mikko Koivu, WildKoivu was one of the luckiest players in all of fantasy hockey last year. Of his 40 assists, 26 of them were secondary assists - a completely unsustainable rate.Even if he is somehow able to get lucky two years in a row, he doesn't carry enough upside in any other category to warrant a selection outside of the final few rounds.Jimmy Howard, Red WingsInjuries limited Howard to just 26 games last year, but he was spectacular when healthy, posting career bests in both goals-against average (2.10) and save percentage (.927).Had Howard played a full season, he likely would have came down to earth, but he will be overdrafted because of those sparkling numbers from a year ago.The Red Wings were a bad team last year, and they project to be even worse this year, further cementing Howard's status as a regression candidate.(Photos courtesy: Action Images)Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tyler Johnson is not a fan of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.For the first time since 2013, and for the the first time since he made a permanent jump to the NHL, his Tampa Bay Lightning failed to qualify for the postseason, and Johnson isn't keen on missing out on future quests for the Cup."Something I'd rather never do again," he told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.Johnson, who signed a seven-year extension worth $35 million in July, used this extended offseason to recuperate from a series of injuries that have plagued him over the past couple of years, including a broken wrist suffered during the 2015 Cup Final and lower-body injuries that kept him from helping the team make a late push for a playoff spot this past season.With training camp only a couple of weeks away, Johnson says he feels "10 times better" than he did at this point last year, and sees value in being able to rest after previous long playoff runs."Injuries come when your body gets fatigued, that's pretty much what happens," Johnson said. "Sometimes you get some unlucky things here and there, but a lot of times it's fatigue. In a way, it was nice to have that break to relax. I've never had that before."But those summers are way too long," he added. "I'd rather not have them."Tampa Bay went deep in the playoffs in both 2015 and 2016, but missed out in 2017 by a single point despite dealing with a number of man-games lost due to injury, most notably by captain Steven Stamkos.The long summer, although not a longed-for result, should help the team get back to full strength and into the ranks of Cup contenders.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Without having played a single game, the Vegas Golden Knights are racking up points.The expansion franchise's Twitter account is drawing rave reviews for the way those behind it interact with fans and take aim at the future opposition. Perhaps the finest work to date came at the expense of the San Jose Sharks, whose attempt to one-up the Golden Knights in the weather department resulted in a savage burn.

The Toronto Maple Leafs proved a lot of NHL experts wrong last season when they qualified for the playoffs for the second time since 2004. And while the feat was no fluke, Auston Matthews knows that replicating last year's success will be a much tougher task this season."Only 16 teams make it and it’s not going to be easy," Matthews said Friday, according to the Toronto Sun's Lance Hornby. "We surprised some teams last year. That doesn’t really matter now. It’s a new season, they’re going to know that we have some firepower and they’re not going to take us so lightly."While Toronto didn't make any major splashes on the free-agent market, they did add veteran depth, and, with the signing of Patrick Marleau, some winning caliber, as well."He‘s played 19 years, he’s been in the Stanley Cup finals, he knows how to win,” said Matthews. "When I talked to him he was pretty excited to be here.""All three of those guys we picked up are veterans who can definitely help us now, as a young team. They’re guys who’ve been there. Ron Hainsey won a Cup last year (in Pittsburgh), Dominic Moore is a Toronto native and been in the league a while."With another year of experience under is belt and new teammates in tow, Matthews expects both himself and his team to elevate their play for the 2017-18 campaign."As an individual and as a team, we all want to take a step forward this season."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Despite missing the playoffs in three of the last five seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers are not in rebuild mode - if you ask general manager Ron Hextall, anyway.Related: Hextall insists Flyers 'absolutely not' rebuilding despite draft movesYes, the Flyers did pick with the second overall selection in this year's draft, but that was mostly due to a stroke of good luck, as the Flyers were a competitive team that finished only seven points short of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. A result that Hextall feels is a strong indication of the direction his club is going."You’re not rebuilding when you’re competitive," Hextall said, according to Sam Carchidi of Philly.com. "A rebuild, to me, is when you go to the bottom and you pick high, high, high - and essentially, you’re not trying that hard to win. That’s not in our DNA. We want to win. We want to win as many games as possible.""We’re not going to go to the bottom of the league and pick first overall for four or five years. That’s no way to build culture. Our vision was to stay competitive, and build, and get younger - and that’s exactly what we’re doing."Landing Nolan Patrick with the second overall pick obviously goes a long way to ensuring that vision come to fruition, but, Hextall realizes that at the end of the day, execution on the ice is all that matters."I can sit here and tell you 85 points, 105 points, but it really doesn’t mean anything," said Hextall. “What’s (important) is when our team starts the season and we go do it. Do we expect to make the playoffs? Of course we expect to make the playoffs."" ... I’m comfortable saying we expect to make the playoffs because our team on paper is good enough to make the playoffs."The Flyers drop the puck on their 2017-18 season Oct. 4 in San Jose.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The following players are already adequate fantasy performers, but some basic analytics suggest they could make the leap from good to great this season if some more bounces go their way.Aaron Ekblad, PanthersEkblad had a strange season. He played a career-low 68 games but set a career high with 225 shots. His career shooting percentage heading into the season was 7.7, but he only scored on 4.4 percent of his shots in 2016-17.If he maintains his shot generation but scores on the 7.7 rate from his first two seasons, he projects to score 21 goals if he plays all 82 games.It was also strange that despite having a prominent role on Florida's blue line, he only managed 11 assists after averaging 24 in his first two seasons. This was likely a mix of bad luck and the Panthers being without their two best forwards - Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau - for good chunks of the season.Elias Lindholm, HurricanesLindholm set a career high with 34 assists last season even though he missed 10 games due to injury. Thirty-four helpers is pretty good for a 22-year-old, but the data indicates his assist total could have been much higher.Amazingly, 29 of the 34 were primary helpers. Most players have a much closer split in their assist totals. For example, Nicklas Backstrom had 32 primary assists and 31 secondary assists.As the first-line center on what projects to be a much-improved Hurricanes team, there's a good chance Lindholm at least triples his secondary assist totals. With some luck in the shooting percentage department (his was 3.2 percent below league average last year), Lindholm is a darkhorse candidate to collect 70 points.Frank Vatrano, BruinsVatrano is expected to be a mainstay on Boston's second line this season, and if Bruce Cassidy ever opts to split up the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak trio, Vatrano could find himself playing alongside even more talented players.His 11.74 shots on goal per 60 minutes was the eighth-highest mark in the NHL. The only problem was that he missed 38 games and averaged less than 14 minutes per contest.Playing a full season in an expanded role, Vatrano could become a 30-goal scorer in 2017-18. After all, he did score 36 goals in 36 AHL games in 2014-15. The 23-year-old is a high-volume shooter with a knack for scoring.Tanner Pearson, KingsPearson has consistently improved in his NHL career.SeasonAgePPGSPGATOI2013-14210.281.2410:492014-15220.381.6213:182015-16230.461.7314:282016-17240.552.3416:19As you can see, his points per game and shots per game have increased with age and ice time. He turned this progression into 24 goals and 20 assists last year on what was a down season from many Kings forwards, including his linemate, Tyler Toffoli.Pearson ranked seventh in the NHL with 66.4 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five. However, of his 364 total shot attempts, he only hit the net with 187. Pearson has a heavy shot, and, if he's able to harness it, goals will come in bunches for the former first-round pick.The Kings made a coaching change in the offseason, replacing Darryl Sutter with John Stevens. It's possible Stevens will give Pearson a bump in his ice time, which could once again result in positive strides offensively for the 25-year-old.(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

Last season, the Vancouver Canucks scored the second-fewest goals in the league. On Friday, they made a move to help correct that.The club put pen to paper with forward Thomas Vanek, agreeing to a one-year, $2-million contract. Vanek might be getting up there in age, but he feels he can still be valuable, especially in the goal-scoring department."Looking at the team, they are obviously not where they wanted to be last year, but I think you can grow fairly quickly in this league and talking with (first-year coach) Travis Green and (general manager Jim) Benning, they wanted to come in and have someone help out scoring goals, and it just seemed like a really good fit for me," Vanek said, according to NHL.com's Kevin Woodley.Vancouver finished with the NHL's second-least productive power play last season, connecting on just 14.1 percent of its opportunities. Luckily for the Canucks, that is where Vanek feels his presence can be felt the most."That's one of my specialties," Vanek said. "I think I am still very good in front of the net and tipping pucks and reading other players and finding that open space, so it's definitely in my mindset to come in there and work for that power-play time."Vanek scored five of his 17 goals on the power play in 2016-17, while adding another eight power-play assists. He certainly still has value and it is because of this reason that the 33-year-old admits he never lost faith that he would sign a deal this offseason."After you don't go that first week or the first couple days, I knew it was going to be a longer summer," he said, "but at the same time I wasn't worried about it. I knew what I could do and what I could bring, and in fact, if anything, training harder to prove people wrong. I still feel like I can have a lot of years left and score many goals."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

When the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Scott Darling from the Chicago Blackhawks, it signaled the end of an era in Carolina.The club later inked Darling to a four-year contract and now the man who backed up Corey Crawford will take the reigns in Carolina. Cam Ward would certainly like to keep his net in light of the acquisition, but he understands the move and will do whatever he can to help his new goalie counterpart."I'm realistic," Ward said, according to Chip Alexander of the News Observer. "I understand the situation. I know he was brought in here to sign a four-year deal for pretty good money not to be a backup."I know where I am in my career. … Certainly I’m a competitive guy and I still want to be able to play and I’ll do whatever I can to earn that ice time, but I'm hopeful he can make that next step. He deserves that."In 2016-17 Ward posted his worst save percentage and goals-against average in three years with .905 and 2.69 marks respectively. Meanwhile, Darling posted a save percentage of a .924 and a goals-against average of 2.38 - albeit in a smaller sample size.It's likely part of the reason why Ward admits he was very supportive when he caught wind of the Darling trade."I thought it was a great move," Ward said. "I've heard nothing but good things about Scott Darling. … I look at a guy who’s ready to take that next step."I've been very fortunate to be here as long as I have and to be a No. 1 guy for over a decade, so I think I have something to offer to him. I think I can offer him my experience and give him the support he needs to make that next step."Ward will turn 34 this season, while Darling turns 29 this coming December. Ward has 11 full seasons under his belt and knows his game is not at the level it once was."I'm getting toward the end," Ward said. "I hate to say that but it's realistic. I'm not in the first-half of my career; I'm in the second half."You learn to appreciate the game a lot more, your time with your teammates and trying to help them out. I'm looking forward to meeting Scott. I think we’ll be a good partnership."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

While training camp is now just a few weeks out, Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving remains confident the team will get restricted free agent Sam Bennett signed to a new contract."We’re going to get Sam signed," Treliving said, according to Eric Francis of the Calgary Herald. "Every contract is unique and takes its own course. We’re working away at it and we think Sam is going to be a good player in this organization for a long time. He’s growing and I know he’s had a good summer. We’ll keep banging away at it."Bennett just finished his second full season with the Flames, although it was a year in which he saw his stats take a hit. After tallying a respectable 18 goals and 18 assists in 2016, he potted just 13 goals and notched 13 assists this past year.Bennett is coming off of his entry-level deal and the Flames still have over $7 million in cap space, so a deal is surely forthcoming.Meanwhile, with a year away until he becomes an unrestricted free agent, the team must also start considering what to do with Mikael Backlund. The 28-year-old is coming off a career-year, contributing 22 goals and 53 points - good enough for third on the club - while playing a huge role with the Flames."We’ve got lots of time and he’s a good player and a good man," said Treliving. "We’ll see where that goes."Treliving is sure to be a busy man in the coming weeks.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Patrick Maroon gives all the credit for his breakout campaign last season to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.The Edmonton Oilers forward demolished his previous career high of 11 goals - tallying 27 last season while also putting up a career-best 42 points - largely playing alongside one or both of McDavid and Draisaitl."Obviously without those two I wouldn't have the success I did, but sometimes you've got to give yourself some credit too," Maroon said, according to NHL.com's Louie Korac. "Those two are very tremendous players, and for me I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing to stay with them."Obviously Todd McLellan had a really big part in that. He gave me an opportunity to play with those two. For me, I've just got to continue what I did last year, come (to training camp) in really good shape again and hopefully good things fall into place again."Given the incredible talent both youngsters have shown in such a short time, Maroon knows it's up to him to do some of the dirty work when he is on the ice alongside the two - going to the net, banging away at pucks, and getting into the open areas."Playing with Connor and Leon Draisaitl last year, a lot of people don't give Leon enough credit because there's always Connor there," Maroon said. "But I think with both of them together really helped me out last year. They obviously see things that certain players don't see. So for me, I think I was trying to do my part, be big and strong, go to the net hard and hoping for them to find me and hopefully clean up the mess if they got a shot or whatever."In all, Maroon proved to be a vital part of the Oilers' offense during the regular season and the playoffs - where he tallied another eight points in 13 games. There is certainly renewed confidence in Edmonton and, while Maroon and Co. will look to improve on last year's performance, the big winger understands that nothing is guaranteed."I think for us, we can't expect to just do it again," Maroon said. "We've got to start out of the gate hot and play how we're capable of playing and go into the season with confidence and a swagger that we are a good hockey team."I think everyone's excited to get this season started. Last year was a tough fall to Anaheim, but we've bounced and we came a long way. It was a proud moment not only for the organization but the players to see how far we came from the year before to doing that. I think the guys are really excited and anxious to get the season started. We know what we're capable of and we know what we have to do to make the playoffs again."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Vancouver Canucks are taking a chance on Thomas Vanek.The club signed the 33-year-old to a one-year, $2-million contract on Friday, the team announced."Thomas has been a prolific scorer throughout his career and we're excited to add his offence and experience to help with the continued growth of our forwards," general manager Jim Benning said in a release. "His skill and ability to contribute on the scoresheet, combined with his lead-by-example style will help our team this year, and will benefit our younger players as they continue to develop their game."

On Wednesday following his retirement, it was reported that the Calgary Flames were among handful of teams that had shown some interest in veteran Shane Doan.Doan ultimately decided to hang up the skates, but that didn't halt rumors that the Flames might be in the market for a veteran forward as whispers then turned to unrestricted free agents Jarome Iginla and Jaromir Jagr.The rumors hit such a chord that general manager Brad Treliving went on record with some confusion as to where they came from."I don’t know where all this talk comes from - we certainly never made a statement saying we’re looking at so-and-so," Treliving said, according to Eric Francis of the Calgary Herald. "Both are Hall of Famers. Nobody has done more as a player in Calgary than Jarome Iginla. You can’t help but respect them. But this notion we’ve been in contract talks with them is rumor and I’m not going to comment on them."While Treliving declined to speak to the rumors themselves, he did suggest that the club could still look to make some acquisitions before training camp opens."Are we going to go to camp with the group we have? Good chance," said Treliving. "Are we poking around at a few things and could there be additions before camp? Yes. Is that a guarantee? No. I wouldn’t say there’s anything significant on the horizon, but we look at everything every day."Last season Iginla split time between the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings, tallying 14 goals and 27 points, while Jagr amassed 16 goals and 46 points with the Florida Panthers.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Columbus Blue Jackets signed forward Alexander Wennberg to a six-year contract on Friday, the team announced.Per club policy, the terms of the contract were not disclosed, but according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, the deal will pay Wennberg an annual average of $4.9 million for a total of $29.4 million.

Here are the top 250 skaters and goalies ranking in descending order based on their value in 10- or 12-team "banger leagues." A typical banger league consists of the following categories:SkatersGoaliesGoalsWinsAssistsGoals-against averagePlus/minusSave percentagePenalty minutesShutoutsPower-play pointsShots on goalHitsBlocked shotsThe key difference from a banger league and a standard league is the addition of hits and blocked shots. Though two additional categories may seem like a minor difference, it can have a major affect on the value of players.Top 250Rk.PlayerTeamPos.Trend1Alex OvechkinWASLW▲2Connor McDavidEDMC3Erik KarlssonOTTD4Brent BurnsSJD5Sidney CrosbyPITC6Victor HedmanTBD7Jamie BennDALLW8Dustin ByfuglienWPGD▲9Tyler SeguinDALC/RW10Steven StamkosTBC11Blake WheelerWPGRW12Carey PriceMTLG13Patrick KaneCHIRW▼14Evgeni MalkinPITC15Wayne SimmondsPHIRW16Vladimir TarasenkoSTLRW▼17Roman JosiNASD18Patrik LaineWPGRW19Auston MatthewsTORC20Matt MurrayPITG21Nikita KucherovTBRW▲22Rasmus RistolainenBUFD23Sergei BobrovskyCLBG24Braden HoltbyWASG25Jack EichelBUFC26Brad MarchandBOSLW▲27Joe PavelskiSJC/RW28Cam TalbotEDMG29P.K. SubbanNASD30Devan DubnykMING31Nicklas BackstromWASC32Evander KaneBUFLW33Alex PietrangeloSTLD34Filip ForsbergNASLW35Leon DraisaitlEDMC/RW36Shea WeberMTLD37John TavaresNYIC38Tuukka RaskBOSG39Mark GiordanoCGYD40Ryan GetzlafANAC41David PastrnakBOSRW42Ryan KeslerANAC▲43Patric HornqvistPITRW▲44Nazem KadriTORC45Kevin ShattenkirkNYRD46Kris LetangPITD47Max PaciorettyMTLLW48Corey PerryANARW49Jake AllenSTLG50Anders LeeNYILW51William NylanderTORC/RW52Colton ParaykoSTLD53Andrei VasilevskiyTBG54Mark ScheifeleWPGC▼55Artemi PanarinCLBLW56Jonathan QuickLAG57Chris KreiderNYRLW▼58Mitch MarnerTORC/RW59John KlingbergDALD60Alexander RadulovDALRW61Nino NiederreiterMINLW/RW62Dougie HamiltonCGYD63Oliver Ekman-LarssonARID64Corey CrawfordCHIG65Jonathan HuberdeauFLALW66Jeff CarterLAC67Nikolaj EhlersWPGLW68Ryan JohansenNASC69Aleksander BarkovFLAC70Jon GibsonANAG71Duncan KeithCHID72Milan LucicEDMLW73T.J. OshieWASRW▼74Pekka RinneNASG75Nick FolignoCLBLW/RW76Mike HoffmanOTTLW▲77Cam AtkinsonCLBRW78Ben BishopDALG79Shayne GostisbeherePHID80Seth JonesCLBD81Patrice BergeronBOSC82Anze KopitarLAC83Johnny GaudreauCGYLW84Jeff SkinnerCARLW85John CarlsonWASD86Torey KrugBOSD87Frederik AndersenTORG88Phil KesselPITRW89Aaron EkbladFLAD90Claude GirouxPHIC▼91Zach WerenskiCLBD92Brayden SchennSTLC/LW93Taylor HallNJLW94Sebastian AhoCARLW/RW95Justin SchultzPITD▲96Ryan McDonaghNYRD97Evgeny KuznetsovWASC98Mikael GranlundMINC/RW99Martin JonesSJG100Boone JennerCLBC/LW101Brandon DubinskyCLBC102Patrick MaroonEDMLW103Charlie CoyleMINC/RW104Jonathan DrouinMTLLW/RW▼105Sean MonahanCGYC▼106Tanner PearsonLALW107Scott DarlingCARG108Nathan MacKinnonCOLC109James van RiemsdykTORLW110Mike SmithCGYG111Kyle PalmieriNJRW112Logan CoutureSJC113Justin FaulkCARD114Dmitry OrlovWASD▲115Jacob TroubaWPGD116Jonathan ToewsCHIC▲117Dion PhaneufOTTD▲118Brandon SaadCHILW119Viktor ArvidssonNASRW120Vincent TrocheckFLAC121Ivan ProvorovPHID122Henrik LundqvistNYRG123Craig AndersonOTTG124Nikita ZaitsevTORD125Brent SeabrookCHID126Jakub VoracekPHIRW127Anthony ManthaDETLW/RW128Alex GalchenyukMTLC/LW129Gabriel LandeskogCOLLW130Robin LehnerBUFG131J.T. MillerNYRLW/RW132Matthew TkachukCGYLW133Eric StaalMINC134Martin HanzalMINC135Cory SchneiderNJG136David BackesBOSRW137Oscar KlefbomEDMD138Jaccob SlavinCARD139Mark StoneOTTRW140Mats ZuccarelloNYRRW141Alexander WennbergCLBC142Adam LarssonEDMD143Ryan SuterMIND144Nick RitchieANALW145Rickard RakellANAC/LW▼146Radko GudasPHID147Cam FowlerANAD148Jake GardinerTORD149Brian ElliottPHIG150Thomas GreissNYIG151Jordan StaalCARC152Ryan EllisNASD153Jason SpezzaDALC/RW154Henrik ZetterbergDETC/LW155Marc-Edouard VlasicSJD156Tom WilsonWASRW157Jake MuzzinLAD158Matt NiskanenWASD159Ondrej PalatTBLW160Jake GuentzelPITC/LW161Matt DucheneCOLC/RW162Elias LindholmCARC/RW▲163Patrick MarleauTORC/LW164Dustin BrownLARW165Travis KonecnyPHIC/LW166Jaden SchwartzSTLLW167Morgan RiellyTORD168Keith YandleFLAD169Leo KomarovTORC/LW170Frank VatranoBOSC/LW▲171James NealVGKLW/RW172Bryan LittleWPGC173Tyler ToffoliLAC/RW174Tyson BarrieCOLD175Zach PariseMINLW176Evgeny DadonovFLARW177Roberto LuongoFLAG178James ReimerFLAG179Nico HischierNJC180Andre BurakovskyWASLW/RW181Ryan StromeEDMC/RW182Marcus JohanssonNJLW183Conor ShearyPITLW/RW184Steve MasonWPGG185Connor HellebuyckWPGG186Tomas HertlSJC/LW187Nolan PatrickPHIC▼188Nate SchmidtVGKD189Jonathan MarchessaultVGKC/LW190Jordan EberleNYIRW191Marcus FolignoMINLW192Jimmy HowardDETG193Sami VatanenANAD194Hampus LindholmANAD195Matt DumbaMIND196Charlie McAvoyBOSD197Alec MartinezLAD198Kyle OkposoBUFRW199Antti RaantaARIG200Vadim ShipachyovVGKC/LW201Jakob MarkstromVANG202Semyon VarlamovCOLG203Josh MansonANAD204Tyler JohnsonTBC205Ryan O'ReillyBUFC206Jakob SilfverbergANARW207Kyle TurrisOTTC208Mika ZibanejadNYRC209Miko RantanenCOLLW/RW210Adam LowryWPGC211Marc-Andre FleuryVGKG212Jared SpurgeonMIND213Mark BorowieckiOTTD214Zdeno CharaBOSD215Brendan GallagherMTLRW216Josh AndersonCLBRW217Alexander SteenSTLC/LW218Bobby RyanOTTRW219Patrick EavesANARW220Dylan LarkinDETC/RW221Viktor RaskCARC222Antoine RousselDALLW223Bo HorvatVANC225Julius HonkaDALD226Paul StastnySTLC227Daniel SedinVANLW228Henrik SedinVANC229Robby FabbriSTLC/LW230Derek StepanARIC231Joe ThorntonSJC232Shea TheodoreVGKD▼233Brandon MontourANAD234Matt MartinTORLW235Ryan ReavesPITRW236Andrew ShawMTLC/RW237Sam ReinhartBUFC/RW238Jesse PuljujarviEDMRW239Richard PanikCHILW/RW240Kevin FialaNASLW241Nick SchmaltzCHIC/LW242Andrew LaddNYILW243Dylan StromeARIC244Matthew BarzalNYIC245Nick BoninoNASC246David KrejciBOSC247Patrick SharpCHILW/RW248Jason ZuckerMINLW/RW249Kris RussellEDMD250Calvin de HaanNYIDThese rankings will be updated throughout the lead-up to the season.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Attention fantasy hockey commissioners - the following article is the most important one you'll ever read. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but arguably the most pivotal aspect of running a head-to-head fantasy league (the best and most common format for hockey) is choosing the correct categories.What you should include

You've heard this before: The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the come up.Touting one of the finest young crops of players in the NHL, the Leafs are no longer a pushover club. A lot of that rejuvenation has to do with rookies like Mitch Marner.Marner recognizes that in a hockey-crazed market like Toronto, an improved on-ice product means expectations off the ice are heightened: "Everyone just keeps telling me how many wins they want," Marner told Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun."But, it will be fun coming in here, believing in each other, believing in the one beside us. We do that and play the way we can, we’re going to be better than last year."While Marner turned heads league-wide last season with his slick hands and offensive ability (19 goals and 42 assists), he realizes he'll need to become more of a two-way player in order for Mike Babcock to play him at crucial moments."You want to be out there to get a game tied so you can win it in overtime," said Marner. "You want a bigger role, go out on every shift like it’s your last. "Defense has always been important to me, it was always taught first. You’re always trying to see the guy coming in so they can’t back-door us."Following a year in which Toronto qualified for the playoffs only one season removed from finishing dead last, the Leafs won't be surprising teams during this campaign compared to last.That fact isn't lost on Marner."Last year, people didn’t know how we were going to," Marner said. "Now, we have to expect a hard game every night and that people will bring their 'A' game against us. We have to be ready."The rest of the hockey world will find out if the Leafs are indeed "ready" when they kick off their regular-season schedule Oct. 4 with a visit to Winnipeg to take on the Jets.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Few athletes in the world of professional sports have the talent with which Roger Federer is blessed.So, when the 19-time major champion chimed in with his assessment of countryman and New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier, people paid attention."I mean, look, we're very happy in Switzerland that we have such a great hockey player in the starting blocks who is hopefully going to be a great, great player," Federer said, according to Jeff Eisenband of The Post Game. "Hope he stays healthy. I'm only hearing great things about him. He's a good guy. Unbelievably talented."People predict a great future ahead of him. I had the same. It's always easy to predict. But he's the guy who has to put in the work and be the guy who does it every single night on the ice."While Federer has been competing on the world's biggest stage for nearly two decades, Hischier is just embarking on his career.And, while the buzz around Hischier's debut has been substantial, Federer was quick to caution the 18-year-old rookie about the noise that comes along with being pegged "The Next One.""That's the tough thing about it. It's always easy for people to talk, predict you're going to be world No.1, best goal-scorer," said Federer. "Doesn't matter. You have to put your head down and just work as hard as you possibly can."With New Jersey set to open training camp in a matter of days, Hischier might be wise to lean on his Swiss counterpart for some advice. Guidance that Federer is more than willing to provide."If he has questions, I'm always happy to help," Federer said. " ... But I wish him all the very best."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Here's the first update to the 2017-18 standard-league rankings. Updates will continue throughout training camps and the preseason as depth charts and roles become more clear.These rankings apply to standard leagues. Yahoo! scoring counts goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power-play points, and shots on goal for skaters. Goaltender stats consist of wins, goals-against average, save percentage, and shutouts.Positional eligibility may vary by fantasy site.Top 250Rk.PlayerTeamPos.Trend1Connor McDavidEDMC2Sidney CrosbyPITC3Erik KarlssonOTTD4Steven StamkosTBC5Brent BurnsSJD6Sergei BobrovskyCLBG▲7Alex OvechkinWASLW8Nicklas BackstromWASC9Nikita KucherovTBRW10Braden HoltbyWASG11Jack EichelBUFC12Brad MarchandBOSLW13Patrick KaneCHIRW14Evgeni MalkinPITC15Victor HedmanTBD16Devan DubnykMING17Jamie BennDALLW18Tyler SeguinDALC/RW19John TavaresNYIC20Auston MatthewsTORC21Vladimir TarasenkoSTLRW22Mark ScheifeleWPGC23Matt MurrayPITG24Carey PriceMTLG25Cam TalbotEDMG26Cam AtkinsonCLBRW27Patrik LaineWPGRW28Joe PavelskiSJC/RW▼29Alexander RadulovDALRW30Artemi PanarinCLBC/LW31P.K. SubbanNASD32Jonathan HuberdeauFLALW33Kris LetangPITD34Filip ForsbergNASLW35Phil KesselPITRW36Claude GirouxPHIC37Shea WeberMTLD38Blake WheelerWPGRW▲39Johnny GaudreauCGYLW40David PastrnakBOSRW41Dustin ByfuglienWPGD42Evgeny KuznetsovWASC43Ryan GetzlafANAC44Patrice BergeronBOSC45Leon DraisaitlEDMC/RW▼46Sean MonahanCGYC47Wayne SimmondsPHIRW48Jeff SkinnerCARLW▲49Max PaciorettyMTLLW50Tuukka RaskBOSG51Roman JosiNASD52Aleksander BarkovFLAC53Kevin ShattenkirkNYRD54Jeff CarterLAC55John KlingbergDALD56Jonathan DrouinMTLLW/RW57Ryan JohansenNASC58Andrei VasilevskiyTBG59Zach WerenskiCLBD60Jakub VoracekPHIRW61Nikolaj EhlersWPGLW62Sebastian AhoCARLW/RW63Corey PerryANARW64Pekka RinneNASG65Mikael GranlundMINC/RW66Ben BishopDALG67Duncan KeithCHID68Martin JonesSJG69Taylor HallNJLW70Mitchell MarnerTORC/RW71John GibsonANAG72Mike HoffmanOTTLW/RW73T.J. OshieWASRW74Viktor ArvidssonNASLW/RW▲75Jake AllenSTLG76Jonathan QuickLAG77Oliver Ekman-LarssonARID78Dougie HamiltonCGYD79Rickard RakellANAC/LW80Nathan MacKinnonCOLC81Shayne GostisbeherePHID▲82Logan CoutureSJC83Jonathan ToewsCHIC84Jordan EberleNYIRW85Rasmus RistolainenBUFD86Henrik LundqvistNYRG87Justin SchultzPITD88Craig AndersonOTTG89Anze KopitarLAC90Ryan KeslerANAC91Jason SpezzaDALC/RW92Ryan SuterMIND93John CarlsonWASD▲94Brayden SchennSTLC/LW95Mike SmithCGYG96Drew DoughtyLAD97Ryan O'ReillyBUFC98Frederik AndersenTORG99Eric StaalMINC100Brandon SaadCHILW101Nazem KadriTORC102Mark StoneOTTRW103Cory SchneiderNJG▲104Corey CrawfordCHIG105Scott DarlingCARG106Martin HanzalDALC▼107Henrik ZetterbergDETC/LW108Anders LeeNYILW109Robin LehnerBUFG110Torey KrugBOSD▼111James NealVGKLW/RW112Aaron EkbladFLAD113Jakob SilfverbergANARW114Colton ParaykoSTLD115Alex GalchenyukMTLC/LW116James van RiemsdykTORLW117Ondrej PalatTBLW118Mark GiordanoCGYD119Alexander WennbergCLBC120Bryan LittleWPGC▲121Nino NiederreiterMINLW/RW122Kyle OkposoBUFRW123Tyler ToffoliLAC/RW124Kyle PalmieriNJRW125Oscar KlefbomEDMD126Zach PariseMINLW127Kyle TurrisOTTC128Marcus JohanssonNJLW129Patric HornqvistPITRW130Alex PietrangeloSTLD131Jake GuentzelPITC/LW132Mika ZibanejadNYRC133Vincent TrocheckFLAC134Matt DucheneCOLC/RW135Mats ZuccarelloNYRRW136Tyler JohnsonTBC137Mikko KoivuMINC138William NylanderTORC/RW139Matthew TkachukCGYLW140Andre BurakovskyWASLW/RW141Justin FaulkCARD142Derek StepanARIC143Anthony ManthaDETLW/RW144Roberto LuongoFLAG▼145Milan LucicEDMLW146Travis KonecnyPHIC/LW147Ryan McDonaghNYRD148Jaden SchwartzSTLLW149Nick FolignoCLBLW/RW150Evgeny DadonovFLARW151Chris KreiderNYRLW152Keith YandleFLAD153Dylan LarkinDETC/RW154Ryan StromeEDMC/RW155Nolan PatrickPHIC156Nick SchmaltzCHIC/LW157Sam ReinhartBUFC/RW158Victor RaskCARC159Patrick SharpCHILW/RW160Mikko RantanenCOLLW/RW161Seth JonesCLBD162Brian ElliottPHIG163David KrejciBOSC164Marc-Andre FleuryVGKG165Nico HischierNJC166Nick BoninoNASC167Richard PanikCHILW/RW168Antti RaantaARIG169Mathew BarzalNYIC170Radim VrbataFLARW171Boone JennerCLBC/LW172Conor ShearyPITLW/RW173Patrick MarleauTORC/LW174Charlie McAvoyBOSD175Brady SkjeiNYRD176Jesse PuljujarviEDMRW177Charlie CoyleMINC/RW178Brendan GallagherMTLRW▼179Shea TheodoreVGKD180Kevin FialaNASLW/RW181Alexander SteenSTLC/LW182Tomas HertlSJC/LW183Jonathan MarchessaultVGKC/LW184Robby FabbriSTLC/LW185Sami VatanenANAD186Gabriel LandeskogCOLLW187Nick BjugstadFLAC/RW188Vadim ShipachyovVGKC/LW189Paul StastnySTLC190Patrick MaroonEDMLW191Dmitry OrlovWASD192Ryan Nugent-HopkinsEDMC193Daniel SedinVANLW194Gustav NyquistDETLW/RW195Pierre-Luc DuboisCLBLW196Jakub VranaWASLW/RW197Evander KaneBUFLW198Matt DumbaMIND199Teuvo TeravainenCARC/LW200Bobby RyanOTTRW201Artem AnisimovCHIC202Joshua Ho-SangNYIRW203Elias LindholmCARC/RW204Rick NashNYRLW/RW205Joe ThorntonSJC206Cam FowlerANAD207Bo HorvatVANC208Kyle ConnorWPGLW▲209Connor HellebuyckWPGG210Jimmy VeseyNYRLW211Justin WilliamsCARRW212Anthony DuclairARILW/RW213Tomas TatarDETLW/RW214Derick BrassardOTTC215J.T. MillerNYRLW/RW216Tanner PearsonLALW217Tyson BarrieCOLD218Ryan EllisNASD▲219Tyler BozakTORC220Ryan PulockNYID221Ivan ProvorovPHID222Kevin HayesNYRC/RW223Patrick EavesANARW224Matt NiskanenWASD225Max DomiARILW226Mathieu PerreaultWPGC/LW227Clayton KellerARIC▲228Ryan MillerANAG229Tyson JostCOLC230Jake MuzzinLAD231Thomas GreissNYIG232Jason ZuckerMINLW/RW233Jake GardinerTORD234Jaromir JagrUFARW▼235Jared SpurgeonMIND236Pavel ZachaNJC/LW237Jason PominvilleBUFRW238Ryan SpoonerBOSC/LW239Dylan StromeARIC240Josh MansonANAD241Mattias JanmarkDALC242Juuse SarosNASG243Sonny MilanoCLBLW244Travis SanheimPHID245Jacob TroubaWPGD246Damon SeversonNJD247Mike GreenDETD248Will ButcherNJD▲249Zdeno CharaBOSD250Sean CouturierPHICCopyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

At the completion of Boston's season in April, Bruins centerman Patrice Bergeron revealed that he played through the 2016-17 campaign with a sports hernia issue that ended up requiring offseason surgery.Despite the injury, Bergeron produced respectable offensive numbers (21 goals, 32 assists) while earning his fourth Selke Trophy as the games' best defensive forward. And, following a summer of rehab, Bergeron finally feels healthy once again."Still doing some rehab. I'll be ready for camp," said Bergeron, according to Matt Kalman of NHL.com. "I feel good. There's still some restriction there that we have to work on, but overall, I feel pretty good. I feel good on the ice, I feel good in the gym."We still have to definitely do some treatments, but definitely I feel good and I know I'll be ready for camp."While Bergeron admits he still has work to do to get back to 100 percent, he was also open about how the injury affected his production last campaign." ... It was hard that way, it was in my head also, but once I was past that hurdle of realizing it's going to be there for the whole year and just kind of not worrying about it, I felt better," Bergeron said."But that being said, it's still one of those where - it's not an excuse for the slow start I had and missing some chances - but still it was slowing me down a bit and was just annoying."Regardless of last season's dip in offense, Bergeron is still one of the best two-way forwards in the game and an integral part of the Bruins' core. A healthy Bergeron to start the year can only mean good things for Boston."Hopefully I'll have a better start," he said. "That being said, I'm trying to get back to my game, playing both ways. You always want to push your limits, be better offensively but also defensively and in every aspect of the game."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

We're just over a month away from the start of the NHL season, but a handful of summer subplots remain unresolved.Several high-profile players are still awaiting new contracts, whether they be extensions on their existing deals or brand-new pacts for some aging players.A talented center who's been the subject of trade talks for months hasn't been moved, and a longtime NHL winger is likely pondering his future after seeing a fellow veteran call it a career.Here are five things we're still itching to see this summer:Someone needs to sign Jagr alreadySeriously, how is Jaromir Jagr still out there?Yes, he's old. Yes, he's probably looking for a decent chunk of change. But hasn't he earned it?Jagr's exploits are well documented. He's the NHL's third all-time leading goal-scorer and ranks second on the league's career points list.The 45-year-old scored 16 goals and played in all 82 games last season. It was his third and final campaign with the Florida Panthers, who cut ties with the living legend on July 1, officially putting him on the open market.But numbers side, the mere act of signing Jagr would be a major public relations victory and a boon to a club's marketing efforts.Somebody needs to step up to the plate and get his signature on the dotted line.Eichel, Sabres need to agree on money(Photo courtesy: Action Images)Unlike Jagr, Jack Eichel is still under contract, but the young Buffalo Sabres star could enter the final season of his entry-level deal without an extension in hand.Sabres general manager Jason Botterill said last week that both sides want the maximum amount of term on a potential new agreement, which under NHL rules would be for eight years.The issue, then, is the cash, and that aspect of the negotiations has more than likely been impacted by the recent extensions signed by Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and his talented teammate, Leon Draisaitl.Still, the market has been established, and the Sabres need to recognize that. They can avoid the in-season distraction that the lingering talks would cause by paying their franchise player what he deserves before the puck drops again this fall.Pastrnak needs an extension, too(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)The Boston Bruins have their contract quandary with a young star to worry about.David Pastrnak is a restricted free agent, so there's even more urgency to resolve his impasse than there is regarding Eichel in western New York.The promising 21-year-old's agent, J.P. Barry, said Thursday that talks will pick up Friday, and frankly, it's about time they did. Barry revealed he's going to request an eight-year deal, which would be for a year or two more than the club reportedly offered them earlier this summer.In other words, Pastrnak's response to apparently being offered far less than he's worth ($6 million per season) is to seek a deal for the maximum amount of term allowable under the NHL's CBA.This is how negotiations work, and this particular one will likely culminate with the two sides meeting somewhere in the middle, but surely they could have gotten there by now.Will Iginla follow Doan's lead?(Photo courtesy: Action Images)Now that Shane Doan is retired, the attention shifts to Jarome Iginla.After the Los Angeles Kings' season ended in disappointing fashion back in April, the 40-year-old said he was interested in playing another campaign.But that was more than four months ago, and Iginla is an unrestricted free agent still searching for a new contract as autumn approaches.Iginla had his moments with the Kings but failed to muster much production with the moribund Colorado Avalanche prior to the deadline deal that sent him to Hollywood.There would be no shame for Iginla in bidding farewell to the NHL, and Team Canada will consider him for the 2018 Olympics if he goes that route, but he's certainly entitled to take his time to make such an important decision.Will a Duchene trade ever happen?(Photo courtesy: Action Images)Matt Duchene has been on the block since at least last winter, so why hasn't a deal been consumated?Talks have seemingly heated up on numerous occasions, but there have also been plenty of lulls in negotiations, which is where we appear to be now.The Avalanche might be better served waiting until the 2018 trade deadline to maximize the return on a deal, but after the 2017 deadline passed without a Duchene move, the forward said there was "probably a good chance" a trade would be made this summer.The end of the offseason is on the horizon, and a deal obviously hasn't happened yet, but the Avalanche clearly have no problem dragging this on until they get the package they want.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ryan Malone is attempting a comeback, with a bit of a twist.The veteran forward, who has been out of the NHL for the past two seasons - and hasn't laced up the skates in any other league - agreed to a pro tryout with the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, the tryout is the first step in Malone hoping to make the cut for Team USA in the upcoming Olympics.While NHL players and those on two-way contracts are prohibited from playing in Pyeongchang, those on AHL-only deals are eligible.That means Malone, a Pittsburgh native, could sign a minor-league deal with the AHL's Iowa Wild and still qualify for Olympic participation. Malone has already discussed that possibility with USA Hockey, according to Russo.Malone was part of Team USA at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, grabbing the silver medal after Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal for Team Canada. Malone finished the tournament with five points in six games.The 37-year-old began his NHL career with Pittsburgh in 2003, spending four seasons with the Penguins prior to a trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning.After six seasons in Tampa Bay, the Lightning bought out the final year of Malone's contract in June 2014, two months after he was charged with possession of cocaine and driving under the influence of alcohol.Malone played six games with the New York Rangers the following year before he was later sent to the minors, effectively marking the end of his playing days.However, it now appears his career could have at least one more chapter.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

David Pastrnak is seeking a maximum term deal with the Boston Bruins.On Thursday, Bruins president Cam Neely candidly spoke at the Bruins FanFest, admitting the club has not had any real dialogue with Pastrnak's camp since tabling a six- or seven-year contract at an annual average of $6 million.However, Pastrnak's agent J.P. Barry responded, saying they plan to hold discussions Friday, and has since announced they intend to discuss a max-term deal."(The Bruins) are aware that the offers to date aren’t where we feel David fits in this marketplace," Barry said, according to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. "We plan to discuss an eight-year maximum term to see if we can find more common ground."There is speculation that Pastrnak could be seeking a deal closer to that of Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl is the same age as Pastrnak and after tallying 29 goals and 77 points this past season, earned an eight-year, $68-million deal from the Oilers.Pastnak is a restricted free agent and is coming off a career year that saw him finish second on the Bruins with 34 goals and 70 points in 75 games.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Little progress has been made in the negotiations between the Detroit Red Wings and restricted free agent forward Andreas Athanasiou, his agent Darren Ferris told Ansar Khan of MLive.com.The latest update comes just nine days after a KHL club tabled a one-year contract for Athanasiou to take his game overseas."Andreas is evaluating the pros and cons of all the offers," Ferris told Khan. "Andreas loves Detroit and especially the Detroit fans but he has to really consider the serious offers from the KHL he has before him. There is a considerable difference in the amount of money."How the needle moves from here appears to be up to Athanasiou's camp, as Red Wings general manager Ken Holland noted he has already extended several different offers."The ball is in their court," Holland told Khan. "They have a decision to make."Further complicating the matter is that the Red Wings are in a contract jam, as they're more than $3 million above the salary cap, according to CapFriendly.While Detroit can soon free up some dollars by placing winger Johan Franzen - whose cap hit is nearly $4 million - on the long-term injured reserve, it would still leave little wiggle room to get a deal done with Athanasiou.Athanasiou, 23, made his debut with the Red Wings two seasons ago, and became a regular last year when he recorded 29 points in 64 games.Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The time for falling short is over.Like every team, playoffs are the goal this season for the Winnipeg Jets, and that was the message captain Blake Wheeler hammered home in speaking with Jason Bell of the Winnipeg Free Press."It's gotta be this year, it just has to be," said Wheeler, who appeared in all 82 contests last season but who has not skated in a playoff game in the Manitoba capital since 2015.The Jets have qualified for the postseason just one time in the six seasons since uprooting from Atlanta - when they were swept by the Anaheim Ducks three years ago. That fact doesn't sit well with Wheeler, nor the team's fan base."We have enough talent," Wheeler added. "There's no reason why we can't push this to the next level this year. It's going to be about getting this group together and figuring out how we have to play to win hockey games."While the Jets fell short of expectations a year ago, in which they finished with 87 points and seven back of a playoff position, the season offered hope for the years ahead.Dynamic winger Patrik Laine - the second overall pick in the 2016 draft - in particular fuels a lot of the high hopes for the team's upcoming season. Laine netted 36 goals and 28 assists in his first season in North America, finishing as the runner-up to Toronto's Auston Matthews for rookie of the year honors.Laine should take another step forward this season, while the Jets will have other reinforcements on board as well. One of those newest pieces is netminder Steve Mason, who agreed to a two-year deal with the club this summer.Related - Jets' Wheeler: 'We need better goaltending'Mason is a key addition for the Jets, and he'll be tasked with helping clean up the team's defensive miscues. While Winnipeg was one of the top offensive teams last season - finishing tied for sixth with 249 goals - only three teams allowed more goals against. The hope is Mason can cut down on that category.Of course, it won't be all up to the goaltenders, and the Jets' skaters will have to do their part."We've got to figure out a way to win hockey games," Wheeler said. "A part of that is getting better goaltending and a part of that is playing better in front of our goalies - allowing them to maybe not see as many odd-man rushes or the breakdowns that we have sometimes."Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Mike Ribeiro appears to be in dire straits.The longtime NHL forward's family and representatives haven't been able to contact him recently and he had a substance abuse relapse in December, his agent, Bob Perno, told TSN 690's Tony Marinaro on Thursday.The agent last spoke to Ribeiro at the end of last season and has been attempting to contact his client lately to no avail.