Linus Ullmark will start for the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night after missing the last four games due to injury, head coach Jim Montgomery confirmed.

The reigning Vezina Trophy winner is 13-5-2 with a .915 save percentage in 21 contests this season.

Ullmark posted a .938 save percentage en route to winning the hardware in 2022-23.

The Bruins are also getting two defensemen and a forward back as Brandon Carlo, Derek Forbort, and Matt Poitras will all make their returns as well.

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The Vancouver Canucks inked president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford to a three-year contract extension, club owner Francesco Aquilini confirmed Friday.

Rutherford oversaw the reshaping of a roster that has greatly exceeded expectations this season. The Canucks weren't a lock to make the playoffs coming into the campaign, but they now sit atop the Pacific Division at 30-11-4.

Though Rutherford and the organization took heat for how they handled ex-head coach Bruce Boudreau last season, Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin tabbed Rick Tocchet to replace him. Rutherford, Tocchet, and Allvin all worked together with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Alongside Allvin, Rutherford made several moves that eventually helped Vancouver turn things around in 2023-24.

The longtime executive and former NHL goaltender joined the Canucks in December 2021 after resigning from his previous post as the Penguins' general manager.

Rutherford was at the helm in March when Vancouver acquired defenseman Filip Hronek and a fourth-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings for a conditional first-rounder and a second-round selection. Hronek is now a fixture on the club's top pairing alongside Quinn Hughes, and the Czech blue-liner ranks second on the team behind Hughes in average ice time at 23:36.

In December, the Canucks further bolstered their back end by landing Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames for a 2026 third-round pick and a fifth-rounder this year.

Rutherford signed off on Vancouver re-upping skilled forward J.T. Miller on a seven-year extension in September 2022. He did so after drawing some criticism for choosing not to trade Miller at the previous deadline. Miller ranks among the NHL's scoring leaders this season with 20 goals and 41 assists in 45 games.

He also helped Vancouver correct the mistake of the Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade that the previous regime led by Jim Benning consummated with the Arizona Coyotes in July 2021. Rutherford and the Canucks bought out Ekman-Larsson's contract this past June, giving the club added financial flexibility.

Rutherford also significantly expanded the number of staff on the club's management team and brought in the first two female executives in franchise history, assistant GMs Emilie Castonguay and Cammi Granato.

Rutherford, who'll turn 75 on Feb. 17, constructed the Penguins clubs that won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017. He also did so with the Carolina Hurricanes squad that won it all in 2006.

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Jakob Chychrun had been a fixture in the rumor mill for over a year when the Arizona Coyotes finally traded him to the Ottawa Senators in March.

Now, less than a year later, he's back in it.

Sens general manager Steve Staios has been listening to other clubs' overtures for the defenseman, reports Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.

Staios is expected to meet with Chychrun's agent, Andy Scott, to see if they can agree on a contract extension. If they can't, talks with the other clubs may escalate, Garrioch adds.

Ottawa gave up a top-five-protected first-round pick in last year's draft, a conditional second-rounder in this year's proceedings, and a 2026 second-round selection to snag Chychrun from the Coyotes. He'd been on the block since at least January 2022, when it was reported they sought an "Eichel-like haul" for the blue-liner.

Chychrun has been productive since joining Ottawa, notching 31 points in 51 games over the last two seasons, including 26 across 39 contests in 2023-24. The rearguard, who turns 26 on March 31, ranks third on the team in average ice time with 22:34. He played parts of seven campaigns with Arizona, who drafted him 16th overall in 2016.

He's under contract through 2024-25 with a $4.6-million cap hit, according to CapFriendly. Ottawa already has around $72 million committed to players for that campaign, including Jake Sanderson's $8.05-million cap hit.

Chychrun has a 10-team no-trade list, a right he gained this season that will carry over until his contract is up.

The Senators seemed to be on the verge of contention, landing Chychrun after acquiring sniper Alex DeBrincat to complement a promising young core in July 2022. But Ottawa finished sixth in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season last spring.

The Sens have taken an even bigger step backward in 2023-24. They enter Thursday with the fourth-worst points percentage in the NHL and fired head coach D.J. Smith on Dec. 18. Coaching changes often inspire turnarounds, but Ottawa is 4-9-0 with Jacques Martin at the helm this season.

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Kyle Dubas insists there's nothing legitimate about the notion that he might trade Jake Guentzel.

The Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager denied exploring that possibility and clarified recent remarks made by Guentzel's agent that may have inadvertently raised some eyebrows.

"I don't think that Ben Hankinson with his comments a few weeks ago meant for it to kind of develop into the level of noise it's gotten to," Dubas said Wednesday on "The GM Show," a team-produced podcast. "Just in knowing Ben and how much he cares about his clients, and about Jake and my relationship with him, I don't think that was his intention whatsoever.

"I think a lot of people have tried to say that when he said 'it could get ugly,' that was about the contract. I don't think so. I think he was more talking about ... the team and where it's going to go in the next several seasons. So I didn't take it as offensive or as anything other than Ben trying to do right by his client."

Dubas then stated he hasn't talked to other clubs about Guentzel's potential availability.

"We haven't had any conversations with any other teams about Jake, so anything that's out there is pure speculation," the executive said. "That's really as simple as that. We'll continue to go through the season here and I'll continue to evaluate where we're at, and then either at the All-Star break or after the season, we'll do what's best for everybody - best for the Penguins, best for Jake - and we'll determine that together."

Guentzel is a pending unrestricted free agent who will be one of the most coveted players if he does hit the market. His current deal carries a cap hit of $6 million, and the Penguins have about $65 million committed to other players next season, with only Jeff Carter, Alex Nedeljkovic, and other role players left to sign aside from Guentzel, according to CapFriendly.

The 29-year-old forward has 19 goals and 27 assists over 42 games in 2023-24. He's in his eighth campaign with the Pens, who drafted him 77th overall in 2013. The Nebraska-born winger has shown continued chemistry with Sidney Crosby over the years, burying at least 36 goals in three of those seasons, including 40 on two occasions.

The Penguins have an aging core, but a playoff spot is still a realistic goal for a squad that entered Thursday sitting fourth in the Metropolitan Division at 21-15-6.

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Mitch Marner is upset that his Toronto Maple Leafs keep coughing up leads in crushing losses, but he doesn't want external pressures to frustrate the team.

"Obviously, pissed off about it, but ... all these games we've been playing, we've played some really good hockey," Marner said after the Maple Leafs blew a two-goal lead and lost 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. "We've just given (leads) back. We've had a lot of chances to extend leads in games and haven't done a good job of that."

Toronto's defeat was its fourth straight and fourth in which the club squandered a late lead. Three of the collapses have come in the third period.

Marner believes the team should tune out any criticism about its inability to close out games lately.

"We've got to ignore what everyone else says. We know we're a great hockey team," he said. "We show it every night. I mean, these last four games that we've had leads, we've played some awesome hockey. ... Stuff goes your way sometimes, (and sometimes) stuff doesn't. So for us, we just can't get frustrated at each other. We know we're doing the right things."

Marner added that the Leafs can't "let anything outside of us frustrate us or get us angry" before again referring to what he believes is external pressure to be upset about their recent play.

He said he doesn't feel frustration seeping in but thinks "a lot of people on the outside are trying to do that."

The Maple Leafs have been streaky of late. They lost three straight to conclude 2023, then won all three games on a California road trip and another against the lowly San Jose Sharks at home before the latest four-game skid.

Toronto held a 2-0 lead on Tuesday, but Leon Draisaitl made it 2-1 late in the second period. Derek Ryan tied it early in the third, and Ryan McLeod buried the winner with 3:05 to go before Evan Bouchard's empty-netter sealed Edmonton's franchise-record 11th consecutive victory.

The Leafs fell to 21-13-8 and occupy third place in the Atlantic Division. They're seven points back of the second-place Florida Panthers and one point ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings with a game in hand on both clubs.

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Mitch Marner is upset that his Toronto Maple Leafs keep coughing up leads in crushing losses, but he doesn't want external pressures to frustrate the team.

"Obviously, pissed off about it, but ... all these games we've been playing, we've played some really good hockey," Marner said after the Maple Leafs blew a two-goal lead and lost 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. "We've just given (leads) back. We've had a lot of chances to extend leads in games and haven't done a good job of that."

Toronto's defeat was its fourth straight and fourth in which the club squandered a late lead. Three of the collapses have come in the third period.

Marner believes the team should tune out any criticism about its inability to close out games lately.

"We've got to ignore what everyone else says. We know we're a great hockey team," he said. "We show it every night. I mean, these last four games that we've had leads, we've played some awesome hockey. ... Stuff goes your way sometimes, (and sometimes) stuff doesn't. So for us, we just can't get frustrated at each other. We know we're doing the right things."

Marner added that the Leafs can't "let anything outside of us frustrate us or get us angry" before again referring to what he believes is external pressure to be upset about their recent play.

He said he doesn't feel frustration seeping in but thinks "a lot of people on the outside are trying to do that."

The Maple Leafs have been streaky of late. They lost three straight to conclude 2023, then won all three games on a California road trip and another against the lowly San Jose Sharks at home before the latest four-game skid.

Toronto held a 2-0 lead on Tuesday, but Leon Draisaitl made it 2-1 late in the second period. Derek Ryan tied it early in the third, and Ryan McLeod buried the winner with 3:05 to go before Evan Bouchard's empty-netter sealed Edmonton's franchise-record 11th consecutive victory.

The Leafs fell to 21-13-8 and occupy third place in the Atlantic Division. They're seven points back of the second-place Florida Panthers and one point ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings with a game in hand on both clubs.

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Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois wants to put an end to any chatter about the notion that he'd deal away his longtime franchise cornerstone.

"The one thing I would say just to get it out there because I know as we get closer to the deadline, it's a popular and interesting and frequent topic: 'Who's going to get traded? Who won't get traded?'" BriseBois said Tuesday, according to team reporter Chris Krenn.

"Steven Stamkos isn't getting traded. You can all write that ... so we can put that one to bed if anyone was speculating on that," the GM continued. "That's not going to change between now and the deadline under any circumstances."

BriseBois said they'll sit down after the season to evaluate where both the team and Stamkos are and try to "make all the parts work together." The GM noted that the fact that Stamkos has been the face of the Lightning franchise for so long "obviously factors" into the decision.

Stamkos is a pending unrestricted free agent who was eligible to sign an extension as of July 1, 2023. Tampa Bay isn't as much of a lock to make the 2023-24 postseason as it has been in recent years; the Bolts occupy fifth place in the Atlantic Division in points percentage through 44 games.

Stamkos has captained the perennially competitive squad since 2013-14 and has been the sole holder of the "C" since 2014-15. The veteran forward, who'll turn 34 on Feb. 7, has played all 16 of his NHL seasons with Tampa Bay and is the club's all-time leader in games played, goals, and points while ranking second in assists.

The two-time "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner and one-time Hart runner-up helped the Bolts win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 (though he was injured for all but one postseason game during the first one) and was a part of four Cup Final appearances (2015 and 2022 being the others). Tampa drafted him first overall in 2008.

He's still producing at an impressive clip, having notched a point per game over 41 contests - including 18 goals - while averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time.

The Lightning have about $65 million committed to players' cap hits next season with only depth players left to sign after Stamkos. His current deal carries an average annual value of $8.5 million, per CapFriendly.

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The Chicago Blackhawks inked forward Jason Dickinson to a two-year contract extension with a $4.25-million cap hit, the club announced Tuesday.

Dickinson was a pending unrestricted free agent. The 28-year-old ranks third on the team with 21 points in 43 games this season. His career-high 14 goals trail only Connor Bedard by one.

The Ontario-born center plays on both sides of special teams for Chicago, suiting on the second power-play unit and first penalty-killing group.

Dickinson is in his second campaign with the Blackhawks, who acquired him in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks in October 2022. He's in the final season of a three-year pact he signed with his former club in the summer of 2021. It carries a cap hit of $2.65 million, according to CapFriendly.

He spent his first six campaigns with the Dallas Stars, who drafted him 29th overall in 2013.

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Carolina Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov is in concussion protocol, head coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed Friday, according to team reporter Walt Ruff.

Kochetkov was injured in a collision with Anaheim Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom during the Hurricanes' 6-3 win on Thursday.

Kochetkov is 11-7-3 with a .900 save percentage this season. However, he'd excelled in the 10 games before Thursday's abbreviated outing, boasting a 7-1-2 record and a .931 save percentage in that stretch. The 24-year-old allowed three goals on 13 shots before leaving the contest.

Antti Raanta will presumably retake the reins in the Hurricanes' crease. Carolina waived the 34-year-old, who's struggled immensely this season, on Dec. 16. The Finnish goalie is 7-5-2 with an .861 save percentage over 16 games in 2023-24.

Kochetkov is in his third campaign with the Hurricanes, though he played only three regular-season games during his first in 2021-22. He suited up for four playoff contests that spring amid injuries to Raanta and Frederik Andersen.

Andersen hasn't played since Nov. 2 due to a blood-clotting issue and is out indefinitely.

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The Chicago Blackhawks inked Nick Foligno to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4.5 million, the club announced Friday.

Foligno has eight goals and nine assists across 39 games with the Blackhawks this season. The veteran forward is in his first campaign with Chicago after spending the previous two with the Boston Bruins.

The 36-year-old has also suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Ottawa Senators in his 17-year career. He captained Columbus from 2015-16 through the abbreviated 2021 season and played seven campaigns with the club.

Foligno is among numerous Blackhawks players currently dealing with injuries. Chicago placed him on IR last Saturday after he left Friday's game against the New Jersey Devils.

He's the oldest player on the Blackhawks roster.

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