Nikita Kucherov clearly wasn't feeling the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Friday night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning star - and the league's 2023-24 points leader - struggled to muster much energy in the passing challenge. The fans in Toronto voiced their displeasure.

Kucherov displayed further nonchalance as he ambled his way through the stick-handling event. He finished off his round by sarcastically waving to the crowd.

For what it's worth, the star winger appeared to try harder in the accuracy shooting later on. However, he jumped the gun and started before he was supposed to.

Kucherov finished with 0.5 points across four events before being eliminated.

The NHL's revamped Skills Competition includes a $1-million prize for the winner this year. Kucherov has a $9.5-million cap hit through 2026-27, according to CapFriendly.

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NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh went nuclear on Arizona Coyotes ownership and management Friday for their repeated arena project failures and a lack of communication with the union.

"I have serious concern(s) about Arizona," Walsh said during a press conference at the All-Star festivities in Toronto.

"I'm extremely disappointed in the ownership of Arizona (and) the (team) president. They have not reached out to the (NHLPA) to talk to us about what the situation in Arizona is."

Walsh noted the Coyotes have missed two unofficial deadlines to advance an arena project.

"It's not just about buying a piece of land, it's like, OK ... how long will it take you to permit the land? Does the land need a referendum? Is there hazardous waste? Do you need to remediate the land? There's lots of questions. So you can talk about buying land in Arizona, and it can be 10 years before a shovel goes in the ground.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's unacceptable on behalf of the players on that team, and it should be unacceptable for the league."

Walsh also took aim at the Coyotes for having to play at Mullett Arena, an NCAA facility that primarily hosts the Arizona State Sun Devils.

"The league feels that Arizona is a good market for hockey, and I can understand that," Walsh said, according to The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. "The issue I have, and the players have, is how long do you wait to get a home? They're playing in a college arena, they're the second tenant in that arena. I'm not criticizing the league for this, this is the team.

"This is not the way to run a business. (Look) at what happened with the (Oakland) A's moving allegedly to Vegas. Leagues are making sure that teams are investing in their facilities. And in this particular case, we have a 5,100-seat college arena that doesn't sell out every night."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday the league has no active plans to expand despite recent interest from Utah. But Walsh made it clear that relocating the Coyotes to the Beehive State would "absolutely" be supported by the players if Arizona has no plan in place by the end of this season.

Shortly after Walsh's remarks, the Coyotes expressed a vague desire to stay put while notably referring to a hopeful comment from Bettman about team owner Alex Meruelo rather than anything Walsh said.

The Coyotes have explored opportunities in Mesa, Phoenix, and Tempe, but none of them have panned out. They started playing at Mullett Arena last season and are signed on to play there through 2024-25 with an option for the following campaign.

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The NHL All-Star Player Draft returned for the first time since 2015 on Thursday night, as four captains took turns selecting their teams for Saturday's three-on-three tournament in Toronto.

The assistant captains had already been named along with the captains and celebrities in January.

For the final four picks, Toronto Maple Leafs legend Dave Keon handed out envelopes for each of the teams to select at random.

Here's how it went down:

Team Hughes

Captain: Quinn Hughes
Assistant: Elias Pettersson
Celebrity: Michael Bublé

Hughes nabbed the NHL's current 2023-24 points leader with the first overall pick, and the Vancouver star brought his goaltender into the fold with his second one. Hughes and Pettersson secured Boeser and Miller later on but weren't able to bring their newest teammate - a certain trade acquisition - into the fold. The Orlando-born Hughes picked six Americans: Demko, Connor, Tkachuk, Boeser, Miller, and Vatrano.

Team Matthews

Captain: Auston Matthews
Assistant: Morgan Rielly
Celebrity: Justin Bieber

Matthews and Rielly predictably employed a similar strategy to that of Team Hughes, making sure to snatch up their fellow Maple Leafs with their first two picks. The California-born, Arizona-raised Matthews also chose several of his countrymen: Oettinger, Keller, DeBrincat, and Trocheck.

Team MacKinnon

Captain: Nathan MacKinnon
Assistant: Cale Makar
Celebrity: Tate McRae

Just as we predicted Wednesday, MacKinnon took fellow Nova Scotian (and one of his offseason training partners) Crosby at his first opportunity. McRae, who's from Calgary, drafted the suddenly ex-Flame and now-Canuck, Lindholm, with the team's penultimate pick - much to the chagrin of Team Hughes.

Team McDavid

Captain: Connor McDavid
Assistant: Leon Draisaitl
Celebrity: Will Arnett

McDavid started things off by hauling in his namesake in goal but couldn't complete the Connor trifecta as Team Hughes snapped up Kyle a couple rounds later. McDavid - again, as we predicted - landed the goal-scorers ranked second (Reinhart) and third (Pastrnak) in the NHL this season, so this squad boasts plenty of firepower up top.

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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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