Jason Spezza is helping to ensure Toronto Marlies players get paid.

Spezza led an initiative in which a group of Toronto Maple Leafs players pooled together money to make a contribution to their AHL counterparts.

"I have to give Spezz a lot of credit on this one," captain John Tavares said when asked about the contribution, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "He kind of brought it to the forefront from the leadership standpoint, and the leadership group thought it was really important.

"I think we know - society as a whole, but certainly in our game - how tough a year it is for so many. So, within the organization, we wanted to make sure we try to take care of our own."

The 37-year-old Spezza is on a league-minimum contract this season but has totaled nearly $89 million in career earnings, according to CapFriendly.

An AHL player's minimum salary for the 2020-21 campaign is $51,000, per the league's CBA. However, due to a shortened season and minimal gate revenue, players' salaries have been reduced by 52%.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe had high praise for his club's actions.

"It just, first of all, speaks to the character of our group, but I think it also just speaks to the recognition of the fact, through this pandemic, people in all walks of life are going through some tough times, and the hockey business as well at different levels," Keefe said.

"If you're a guy playing on an AHL contract, it's a challenge to get through this period," Keefe continued. "I don't know a whole lot about it, but not surprised that our players have the character that they do and step up."

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Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby joined some historic company in the NHL record books during Saturday's 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Crosby notched his 55th point of the 2020-21 campaign with an empty net goal, officially clinching his 16th straight point per game season. Only Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky have managed more seasons with a point per game pace, with 17 and 19, respectively, the team announced.

Crosby also joins Gretzky as the only players in NHL history to start their careers with 16-plus consecutive point per game campaigns.

Crosby currently ranks fifth in points per game among players who have played at least 700 contests.

With the goal during Saturday's contest, Crosby also broke a tie with Lemieux and teammate Evgeni Malkin to become the first player in Penguins history to record 20-plus goals in 13 different seasons, according to NHL PR.

"He's a generational talent ... he’s in such elite company," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He’s building a real compelling argument for being one of the greatest players of all time. We believe he is, but with each milestone he reaches it just provides hard evidence."

The 33-year-old has recorded 20 goals and 35 assists in 47 games this season. In 1,031 career games, he's amassed 482 goals and 836 assists while capturing three Stanley Cup victories, two Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies, and two Hart Trophies.

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Edmonton Oilers forward Zack Kassian will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, head coach Dave Tippett announced Saturday.

The bruising right wing suffered the injury early during Wednesday's contest against the Montreal Canadiens when he went to lay a hit on defenseman Shea Weber. Kassian previously missed 17 games earlier in the season due to an upper-body injury.

Kassian has amassed two goals and three assists in 27 games this campaign. The 30-year-old ranks third on the Oilers with 13.68 hits per 60 minutes while averaging 11:51 minutes of ice time per game.

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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wayne Simmonds isn't buying the idea that his team has played dirty against the Winnipeg Jets lately.

"Every time we've played them, they've tried to run us out of the building to start games," Simmonds said, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "We come back, and we're physical, and now we're a dirty team? I don't buy that. We're defending ourselves."

The NHL handed Leafs veteran Joe Thornton a $3,017.24 fine earlier Friday for an interference penalty on Jets forward Mathieu Perreault during Thursday's contest. Thornton was given a two-minute penalty on the play.

Newly acquired forward Nick Foligno also delivered a questionable hit Thursday to defenseman Josh Morrissey.

In a matchup last week, Zach Hyman received a $5,000 fine for high-sticking Neal Pionk.

Simmonds believes the Leafs are simply matching the Jets' intensity and said he's "sick of guys jumping on our goalie and being allowed to spear our goalie and the refs not calling it."

The 32-year-old took matters into his own hands during Thursday's high-octane game after Pierre-Luc Dubois delivered some shots to goaltender Jack Campbell while he had the puck covered.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice was asked Friday if he believes the Leafs are a dirty team.

"I don't think so. The league has said they're not, so we'll abide by the league's rulings," Maurice said, according to Winnipeg News' Mike McIntyre.

"But they are a poorer team," he joked. "There's some fines. Probably looking at some part-time jobs now."

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Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Zach Bogosian will miss at least four weeks with a shoulder injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Friday, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

Bogosian suffered the injury during Tuesday's 6-3 loss against the Vancouver Canucks after falling awkwardly into the corner boards.

With the defender out of the lineup, the Leafs' defensive pairings looked like this at Friday's practice with Rasmus Sandin stepping in:

Bogosian had four assists in 45 games this season while averaging 14:40 of ice time per game.

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Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg will miss the next four-to-six months after undergoing successful surgery for femoroacetabular impingement and to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, the team announced Friday.

Silfverberg had apparently been playing through the issue for the past two campaigns.

"Jakob is a great teammate and leader in our locker room," general manager Bob Murray said.

"He did everything he could to continue playing, but after two years dealing with this issue, now is the right time to help him get to 100 percent. He has been an impactful player in all situations for us, and we are confident he will return to full health by next season."

The 30-year-old recorded eight goals and eight assists in 47 games this season. The Ducks inked him to a five-year, $26.25 million contract in 2019.

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Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin will miss the remainder of the season due to an upper-body injury, the team announced Friday.

Larkin joins a slew of forwards including Tyler Bertuzzi, Frans Nielsen, and Bobby Ryan who have also already been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

Detroit has seven games remaining on its schedule and currently sits in seventh place in the Central Division with a 17-25-7 record.

Larkin, 24, recorded nine goals and added 14 assists in 44 games this season.

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Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the team announced Thursday.

Garland suffered the injury during practice Tuesday, according to Jose M. Romero of AZCentral.com. He subsequently missed Wednesday's contest against the Minnesota Wild.

The 25-year-old has been one of the Coyotes' most productive players this season, recording 10 goals and 22 assists in 45 games. He's tied for second on the team in points.

Arizona currently sits fourth in the West Division with a 20-22-5 record. The St. Louis Blues trail by one point but have four games in hand.

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Newly acquired forward Nick Foligno will debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets on the team's top line alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

"Might as well jump right in, right?" Foligno said Thursday about starting with the duo, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

With the addition of Foligno, the Leafs' lines looked like this during their morning skate Thursday:

There's no timeline for defenseman Zach Bogosian's return after he suffered an injury Tuesday, though the veteran will miss more than a week, head coach Sheldon Keefe said.

Foligno was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets ahead of the trade deadline, and he's been in quarantine since arriving in Toronto. He hasn't appeared in a game in nearly two weeks, so the 33-year-old is tempering expectations.

"I think I'll be playing off adrenaline more than anything tonight, and I'm looking forward to being out there," Foligno said. "I haven't played in 10 days, I'm not expecting to jump in and start dangling, but I do want to contribute."

Foligno has recorded seven goals and nine assists over 42 games this season.

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Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner says the NHL isn't fulfilling promises made to players about loosening restrictions once they're vaccinated against COVID-19.

"At some point, we gotta start looking at the mental health of people around us. Not just (the) NHL, but everyone in society and see how can we start getting back to normalcy," Lehner told reporters Wednesday. "Because the problem is gonna be huge, but being lied to us about things changing, to kind of force us to take the vaccine. Unacceptable.

"And to now when we have taken the vaccine to have the excuse of saying, 'Nah, we're not changing because of competitive advantage.' It's outrageous."

Lehner says the NBA was used as an example of how the NHL would ease restrictions for players who get vaccinated. In March, the NBA and NBPA agreed that restrictions would loosen for players who get fully vaccinated, including not needing to quarantine after coming into direct contact with someone who tests positive and being allowed to leave their hotels on the road.

The netminder said the league is waiting for more teams to get vaccinated so that restrictions aren't unfairly lifted for some clubs and not others, leading to a competitive-balance issue.

"That made me go crazy, to be honest. ... We are humans as everyone else," Lehner said. "So, there's a two-fold problem for me here. The first one is we get promised something to take something that not necessarily everyone wanted, so that was a lie, a blatant lie."

"No one thinks about the mental impact, and there are people struggling," he added. "I know people will say, 'Oh, you're millionaires, this and that, you're crying, what about these guys.' We care about that too, man. No matter what people think, this is a society problem. But when government, corporations, NHL, whoever, are taking decisions in terms of these irrelevant things like a competitive edge over the human being, it's not OK, man."

Lehner took to Twitter shortly after speaking to the media to clarify his comments, saying his main point is about remembering the mental health of players.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly pushed back against Lehner's remarks shortly thereafter.

"I respect Robin's views and feelings. It's a tough situation. Having said that, I reject the assertion that any promises were ever made on protocol changes related to player vaccination," Daly wrote in an email to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's David Shoen.

Here are Lehner's full comments:

The 29-year-old has been vocal about his own battle with mental health in the past, including his diagnosis as bipolar.

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