NHL

6:22 PM ET ESPN will open its first season of a new NHL TV contract with an Oct. 12 doubleheader, including the first game for the Seattle Kraken. The season opens with the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Kraken at the Vegas

10:07 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to an entry-level contract with defenseman Nolan Allan, their first-round pick in this year’s NHL draft. The team announced the deal on Thursday. The three-year contract runs through the 2023-24 season and carries an $870,000 salary-cap hit. Allan, 18, was selected by Chicago

6:00 PM ET The NHL season returns on Oct. 12 with a doubleheader that will air on ESPN. The first game features the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 p.m. ET and the second game will the first game for new NHL franchise the Seattle Kraken as they play the Vegas Golden

1:22 PM ET Associated Press Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday the NHL expects 98% of players to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the start of the season. The league projects that only between 10 and 15 of roughly 700 players will not be vaccinated by the time the season begins Oct. 12. The

1:06 PM ET ST. LOUIS — Tyler Bozak re-signed with the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, inking a one-year deal worth the veteran minimum of $750,000. Bozak, now 35, was with the Blues in 2019 when they won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. He put up 13 points during that

Sep 13, 2021 Last season was the strangest I’ve ever navigated in fantasy hockey. On the one hand, there was the predictability of the league’s temporary realignment, as teams would face only opponents within their own divisions. Pick a weak division, reap the rewards — half of the league’s top scorers were preying on the

7:09 PM ET Associated Press Former Boston Bruins center Fred Stanfield, the mild-mannered sidekick to Bobby Orr on the high-scoring teams of the early 1970s, has died. He was 77. Stanfield died Monday and the Bruins announced his death Tuesday. A cause of death was not given. A native of Toronto, Stanfield played six seasons

3:06 PM ET Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. — Former New York Rangers forward Jim Vesey is among three players the New Jersey Devils have signed to tryout contracts. The Devils also announced Tuesday the signings of center Mark Jankowski and defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon. They will join the team when all players report to the NHL

1:30 PM ET Sylvain Lefebvre is out as a Columbus Blue Jackets assistant over his decision to not receive a COVID-19 vaccine, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen confirmed Monday. “Per NHL protocol, he is unable to do the job we hired him for,” Kekalainen told ESPN. Last month, the NHL sent a memo to its teams

9:00 AM ET The incorporation of defensive categories – such as blocked shots – into ESPN’s standard game has changed the way we look at blueliners through the fantasy scope. It’s no longer about those precious few candidates who shoot the puck with abandon and contribute regularly with the extra skater. Beginning for the first

4:34 PM ET Associated Press CALGARY, Alberta — – The Calgary Flames signed defensemen Erik Gudbranson and Michael Stone to one-year deals on Friday. Gunderson’s contract is worth $1.95 million and Stone signed for $700,000, the club said. Gudbranson, 29, has played 10 NHL seasons for six teams: Florida, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Ottawa and Nashville.

Sep 7, 2021 It feels like only a few short weeks ago we were watching Steven Stamkos hoist the Stanley Cup for the repeat champion Tampa Bay Lightning following an NHL campaign like no other before. Because it was. Yet here we are, already revving up for a hopefully full and uninterrupted – and fingers

1:19 PM ET ESPN News Services COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Longtime NHL player, coach and executive Paul Holmgren, retired forward Peter McNab and broadcaster Stan Fischler make up the 2021 class of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. USA Hockey announced the class Thursday. Holmgren, McNab and Fischler are set to be inducted along with

12:00 PM ET No need to rehash the argument from the position preview for centers here, but to quickly recap: For roster purposes, your league should use forwards as all the same position, and if you must separate them, use centers and wingers. For all the same reasons presented for the centers versus wingers argument,

5:22 PM ET ESPN News Services Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks after undergoing a procedure on his left wrist, the team announced Wednesday. The timeline for his recovery means the 34-year-old will miss the start of the regular season. “This is not a new injury

5:31 PM ET Associated Press CALGARY, Alberta — The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Connor Mackey and forward Brad Richardson on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Mackey agreed to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $912,500. He made his NHL debut for the Flames last season, finishing with a goal and two assists in six

11:24 AM ET The Florida Panthers NHL team offered endorsement deals Wednesday morning to every female college athlete at nearby Florida Atlantic University. The Panthers established an “FLA Athlete” program this summer after the state of Florida passed a law that makes sure college athletes are allowed to make money from their names, images and

8:30 AM ET This space is my annual opportunity for a call to action to end the separation of fantasy hockey forward positions. Too long have centers, left wingers and right wingers been confined to their own slots on rosters. The NHL coaching staff is wise enough to look past any labels that come with