Roberto Luongo will oversee Team Canada at the upcoming men's World Hockey Championship.
Hockey Canada tabbed Luongo as general manager for its entry in the tournament on Tuesday.
Former NHLer Shane Doan and Scott Salmond, the senior vice president of national teams for Hockey Canada, will round out Canada's management group for the event.
Luongo will be in charge of all hockey operations, including selecting players and staff, and leading the evaluation process. The former NHL goaltender and current Florida Panthers front office member will make his international management debut during the 2021 worlds.
Hockey Canada named him an assistant GM for its 2022 men's Olympic team in February. Luongo played for Canada during three Olympics, four world championships, and a World Cup of Hockey. He helped the nation win two Olympic gold medals, two titles at the worlds, and one more at the World Cup.
Before retiring in 2019, the 42-year-old notched the third-most goaltending wins in NHL history with 489, though he also posted the second-most losses with 392. He ranks second all time after playing 1,044 games.
The 2021 worlds will be held May 21 through June 6 in Riga, Latvia.
The Columbus Blue Jackets head coach made the forward a healthy scratch Monday night for the 4-2 loss against the Florida Panthers.
Tortorella didn't specify his reasoning for the move, but it would appear to be a response to a pair of recent incidents.
Domi was assessed a 10-minute misconduct in addition to minor penalties for high-sticking and slashing for his actions toward Dallas Stars forward Rhett Gardner late in the second period Saturday. Gardner was assessed a slashing minor of his own.
Five nights earlier, Domi went after Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy, earning a 10-minute misconduct as well as minor penalties for hooking and cross-checking.
Domi has collected only seven goals and 12 assists over 46 games for the Blue Jackets this season in his first campaign with Columbus. The team landed him along with a third-round pick in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens for forward Josh Anderson in October.
The 26-year-old signed a two-year, $10.6-million contract with the Blue Jackets one day after they acquired him.
The veteran goaltender is the Canadiens' starter for Saturday's afternoon tilt with the Ottawa Senators, Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme said about two hours before puck drop.
Price missed the previous six games with a lower-body injury.
The 33-year-old has struggled this season, authoring a .903 save percentage in 23 games. He's also posted a minus-4.32 goals saved above average and a minus-7.32 goals saved above expected in 2021, according to Evolving Hockey.
Jake Allen went 2-4-0 with a .900 save percentage in Price's absence. The backup has been the better Canadiens netminder this season, albeit in fewer appearances.
Price has spent his entire 14-year career with Montreal. He won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2014-15.
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper isn't worried about his captain remaining on long-term injured reserve for longer than the minimum length of time required.
Cooper said Saturday that the club hopes Steven Stamkos can skate in 7-to-10 days, and the club is "extremely optimistic" the star forward will be ready to play once his mandatory stay on LTIR is complete, according to team reporter Bryan Burns.
Later on Saturday, the Lightning said Stamkos' injury is unrelated to the core muscle ailment he sustained at the end of the 2019-20 regular season.
On Thursday, Tampa Bay placed him on LTIR. The move was retroactive to April 8, when he was hurt late in a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Players placed on LTIR must miss at least 10 games or 24 days.
Stamkos remains tied for the team lead in goals this season with 17 despite playing five fewer contests than fellow club scoring leader Brayden Point and the four other skaters in the top six on the list.
The Lightning entered Saturday's action sitting second in the Central Division with the NHL's fourth-best record.
The Buffalo Sabres superstar won't return to the ice this season due to a herniated disc in his neck, the club announced Wednesday. The team expects him to be ready to play at the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Eichel hasn't suited up for a game since March 7. The normally dominant Sabres captain struggled to score in 2021, collecting two goals and 16 assists in 21 contests. He posted a shooting percentage of only 3.3 after tallying at a 15.9% rate last season. The 24-year-old racked up a career-high 36 goals to go along with 42 assists over 68 games in 2019-20.
His underlying numbers also indicated bad luck was a factor in 2021. The dynamic center produced a goals for percentage of 38.46 at five-on-five, but his expected goals for percentage was a favorable 56.42 in those situations, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Eichel has played his entire six-year career with Buffalo. The Sabres drafted him second overall in 2015 and named him captain at the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
Taylor Hall won't have to wait long to face his former team.
The star winger will be in the Boston Bruins' lineup for Tuesday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed after his team's morning skate.
"To get a guy of Taylor's magnitude, knowing we could use that extra layer of secondary scoring, was big for our guys," Cassidy said.
The Sabres traded Hall and forward Curtis Lazar to the Bruins on Sunday in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick and forward Anders Bjork. Boston also acquired defenseman Mike Reilly from the Ottawa Senators before Monday's trade deadline.
Hall said Monday he'd "love to be a Bruin for a few years," adding that he nearly signed with Boston in the offseason and that the club was his desired destination in a trade. He approved Sunday's deal by waiving his full no-movement clause.
The 29-year-old collected only two goals and 17 assists in 37 games with the Sabres after signing a one-year, $8-million pact with Buffalo, but bad luck and poor team play contributed to his diminished production. Hall posted an expected goals for percentage of 52.76 at five-on-five, and his shooting percentage of 2.3 was down significantly from his career average of 10.4 over his previous 10 NHL seasons.
Hutton posted one goal and four assists over 34 games with the Ducks in 2021. The 27-year-old had spent his entire six-year career with teams on the Pacific coast, playing the 2019-20 campaign with the Los Angeles Kings after suiting up for the Vancouver Canucks in his first four seasons.
Barabanov collected one assist in 13 contests with the Maple Leafs this campaign. The 25-year-old inked a one-year deal with Toronto last April after playing parts of seven seasons in the KHL.
Suomela played four games with the Sharks in 2021. The 27-year-old notched one goal and five assists in 10 contests with their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, this year. Suomela played all three of his NHL seasons in the Sharks organization.
Alex Iaffalo isn't the only Los Angeles Kings forward who's recently started negotiating a contract extension with the club.
"Talks have also begun with another player who does not have term for next (season) and that's Andreas Athanasiou," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on a bonus edition of "Saturday Headlines."
Friedman added: "The Kings are looking to see if there's a fit (and) they can keep him beyond this year as well."
Athanasiou is a pending restricted free agent currently on a one-year, $1.2-million pact he inked with Los Angeles in December. He's eligible for arbitration if the two sides are unable to agree on a new deal.
The 26-year-old entered Saturday's action with eight goals and seven assists in 31 games. The Detroit Red Wings traded him to the Edmonton Oilers at last year's deadline.
The Kings have reportedly begun to take calls from other teams about Iafallo, who's a pending UFA carrying a $2.42-million cap hit. However, Los Angeles is also discussing an extension with him.
The Vancouver Canucks will reopen their facilities Sunday and return to action April 16 against the Edmonton Oilers, pending Saturday's COVID-19 test results.
The NHL has rescheduled the seven postponed Canucks games that were to occur between March 31 and April 14. As a result, Vancouver's regular-season slate will now end on May 16.
In addition to those changes, two other games will be played on the same dates as originally planned, but with new start times. The Maple Leafs-Canucks contest in Vancouver on April 19 will now begin at 9 p.m. ET instead of 10 p.m., and the Oilers' road game against the Montreal Canadiens on May 10 will now start at 7 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m.
Nineteen Canucks players remain in COVID-19 protocol.
Welcome to the 12th edition of "Looking North," our weekly Friday dive into the all-Canadian division. This installment dates back to April 2.
The rundown
The North Division had managed to avoid COVID-19 outbreaks until last month. Then, the Montreal Canadiens had four games postponed after two of their players landed in virus protocol. However, the Vancouver Canucks' subsequent and ongoing outbreak is by far the worst yet among the NHL's teams north of the border.
It could complicate the end of the regular season for all Canadian clubs and even the rest of the league. But most importantly, it has served as an important reminder of what matters most: the health and safety of those involved. It has also underscored how dangerous the coronavirus and its variants have become, as well as how quickly they can spread.
The Canucks' numbers have climbed steadily since their first game was postponed March 31. Nearly their entire roster has now tested positive, and several staff members have also been affected. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday the league hopes Vancouver can get back on the ice by the end of next week, but when the team can actually return remains to be seen.
Though the Canucks' uncertain situation remains the biggest story in the division, there were notable on-ice results this past week. The Toronto Maple Leafs have reeled off five straight wins and gained some breathing room in first place ahead of the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers.
However, the Oilers have also been rolling lately. Edmonton has won seven of its last 10 games, though its three wins over the last week came against the struggling Calgary Flames (one) and Ottawa Senators (two).
Team
Points over last week
Maple Leafs
8 (4-0-0)
Oilers
7 (3-0-1)
Jets
5 (2-0-1)
Canadiens
2 (1-3-0)
Senators
2 (1-3-0)
Flames
0 (0-3-0)
Canucks
0 (0-0-0)*
*The NHL postponed all four of the Canucks games since last Friday.
The stars
Derek Leung / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Forward: Auston Matthews just keeps scoring. The Maple Leafs superstar buried four goals in as many games this week, with all four coming in his last three contests. In doing so, he padded his league-leading total of 28 in 37 games.
Defenseman: Thomas Chabot notched a few helpers over four contests. More impressively, though, he averaged a whopping 28:17 of ice time during that span.
Goaltender: Jack Campbell has been a revelation for Toronto. He set the Maple Leafs' franchise record with his 10th straight win Wednesday night in a victory over the Canadiens. The 29-year-old also went 3-0-0 this past week with a .937 save percentage.
Canadian of the week
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Connor McDavid has earned this honor before, and rightfully so. The Oilers dynamo had himself another outstanding week, amassing six points in four games. He leads the NHL with 46 assists and 69 points in 41 contests.
The moments
Brady Tkachuk elbows Wheeler up high 😬
The Jets will be without their captain for the foreseeable future. Senators forward Brady Tkachuk elbowed Blake Wheeler in the head Monday, and while Wheeler finished the game, head coach Paul Maurice said later in the week that the veteran forward didn't feel well in the following days. Wheeler was diagnosed with a concussion Thursday and isn't flying with the team on its current five-game road trip.
Campbell establishes franchise record 📜
Campbell's historic win Wednesday was no fluke, as the Maple Leafs netminder turned aside 32 of the 34 shots he faced in a 3-2 win over the Canadiens. The Toronto goalie grabbed sole possession of the club record after tying Felix Potvin (1993-94), Jacques Plante (1970-71), and John Ross Roach (1924-25).
Draisaitl at the buzzer ... and it's good! ⏰
Leon Draisaitl notched a hat trick in the nick of time Wednesday night. The reigning Hart Trophy winner scored in the first and second periods before firing home an empty-netter with less than one second remaining in the third to cap a 4-2 victory over the Senators.
The question
Jeff Vinnick / National Hockey League / Getty
The most pressing concern amid the Canucks' outbreak is the health of those infected, but the uncertainty also brings into question how the situation will affect the rest of the schedule for Vancouver, the rest of division, and the league going forward in 2021.
Daly's target of mid-April for the Canucks' return to the ice seems optimistic at this point considering the growing number of players and staff members testing positive and the fact that most of Vancouver's roster remains in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
It may be possible considering a symptomatic player who tests positive must wait 10 days or have two negative tests before returning, and it's already been over a week since the outbreak began. But on the other hand, the team's list has been growing almost by the day, and the symptoms some players have reportedly exhibited are very concerning.
The Canucks aren't likely to qualify for the postseason, but the situation affects their opponents as well, including the four teams that are virtual locks to make the playoffs.
What happens to the rest of the division schedule if Vancouver's has to be postponed further or if the team is unable to complete it? The NHL has already started to delay the postseason but clearly doesn't want to - or can't - beyond a certain point. So, would it come down to points percentage? That would be the most reasonable solution, but it's not an ideal one. Though once again, the outbreak itself is a more pressing matter.
Stat of the week
When the New York Islanders shut out the Washington Capitals 1-0 on Tuesday, it gave the Senators a distinction that was equal parts surprising and impressive.
Tonight marked the first game this season that the Capitals did not score a goal. Entering tonight's game, Washington was one of two teams (Ottawa) in the NHL that had not been shutout.
The Senators lost both of their subsequent games to the Oilers on Wednesday and Thursday. However, they prevented Edmonton from shutting them out in both contests (4-2 and 3-1 defeats, respectively), keeping their streak of not being blanked alive through 41 games in 2021.
Regardless of Ottawa's overall record (13-24-4) and position in the North Division (last place), at least the "Sickos" have something (else) to be proud of.
Games to watch
Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty
Two teams heading in opposite directions - the Flames and Oilers - will reignite the "Battle of Alberta" on Saturday. Earlier that evening, the Senators and Maple Leafs will resume the "Battle of Ontario." The first-place Leafs and second-place Jets (points percentage-wise) will face off again Thursday.
