The Ottawa Senators will not offer goaltender Craig Anderson a contract for 2020-21, general manager Pierre Dorion told reporters, including Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch, on Wednesday.

"He's the best goalie we've ever had," Dorion said. "It's time for us to take another direction and we thank him for everything he did."

The pending unrestricted free agent is the Senators' all-time leader in games played by a netminder. He's also tied with Robin Lehner atop the club's save percentage list with a .914 mark while having played 349 more contests with Ottawa than his fellow soon-to-be UFA.

Anderson, 39, spent nine-plus seasons of his 17 NHL campaigns with the Senators. Ottawa traded goaltender Brian Elliott to the Colorado Avalanche for him in 2011.

The Senators signed Anderson to a two-year, $9.5-million extension in September 2017.

He struggled while backstopping a rebuilding team in 2019-20, posting a .902 save percentage and minus-7.95 goals saved above average in 34 games.

Anderson won the Masterton Trophy in 2016-17 after taking several leaves of absence that season to spend time with his wife, Nicholle, who was diagnosed with throat cancer.

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Bill Armstrong wants to make it clear he didn't take the job as Arizona Coyotes general manager to soak up some rays.

"Weather has nothing to do with it," Armstrong added. "As I told them in the interview process, I will see my house, the car, and my office, and not much of Arizona."

However, the 50-year-old - who the Coyotes hired last week - did say his new employer's state has its charm.

Armstrong also said he's "looking forward to working with" head coach Rick Tocchet, according to NHL Network's Craig Morgan.

The Coyotes named Armstrong to the position on Thursday. He replaces John Chayka, who terminated his contract in July, after which Arizona accused him of quitting on the franchise.

Armstrong spent the last two seasons as assistant general manager of the St. Louis Blues, helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2019.

Arizona eliminated the Nashville Predators in four games during their best-of-five play-in round series to advance to the round of 16 in August. However, the Colorado Avalanche then ousted the Coyotes in five contests.

Arizona hasn't advanced past the first round since 2012, and the Coyotes hadn't made the playoffs prior to this season since that same year, when they reached the Western Conference Final.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins may try to add a second Tanev brother to the fold this offseason.

Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is expected to pursue Vancouver Canucks defenseman Christopher Tanev by attempting to shed enough cap space to sign him, league and team sources told The Athletic's Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe. Pittsburgh has reportedly made adding a right-shooting blue-liner a priority.

Rutherford isn't opposed to offering the rearguard a five-year contract that would last as long as the pact he agreed to with Tanev's younger brother, Brandon, a team source told Rossi and Yohe.

The elder Tanev, who will turn 31 in December, is a pending unrestricted free agent. The 2019-20 campaign was the final season of the five-year, $22.25-million deal he inked with the Canucks in 2015. That agreement carried a $4.45-million cap hit, and the defenseman is reportedly seeking a raise. However, the Penguins would prefer not to sign off on a deal with a cap hit over $5 million.

Tanev said in June that he'd love to play his whole career with Vancouver. He's spent all 10 of his NHL campaigns with the Canucks, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2010.

The Penguins reeled in Brandon Tanev with a six-year, $21-million contract in July 2019. The 28-year-old forward posted 11 goals and 25 points in his first campaign with the club.

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New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss will likely be available when the NHL's free-agency period opens in October.

"At this point, I do expect he's headed to the market," Greiss' agent, Ray Petkau, told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Monday.

But Petkau added that the pending unrestricted free agent "loves being a New York Islander" and would consider re-signing with the team if given the chance.

Greiss shared the crease with Semyon Varlamov this season but was ultimately relegated to a backup role. Greiss posted a .913 save percentage and 2.77 goals saved above average across 31 regular-season games before authoring a .929 save percentage in four playoff appearances.

The 34-year-old has been dependable in recent years, producing a .915 save percentage and 17.6 GSAA over five campaigns with New York.

Greiss carried a $3.33-million cap hit in 2019-20, finishing off the three-year, $10-million contract he signed with the Islanders in January 2017.

The goalie market could include fellow pending UFAs Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Anton Khudobin, Corey Crawford, and Braden Holtby. It's also expected to feature Detroit Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard, who said Sunday he's "probably not" re-signing with the club.

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The 2019-20 Art Ross Trophy, and Ted Lindsay Award winner will add another piece of hardware to his collection.

Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, the league announced Monday. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers were the other finalists.

Draisaitl led the league with 110 points and ranked fourth with 43 goals in 71 games this season. Along with fellow superstar Connor McDavid, he helped lead the Oilers to a 37-25-9 record and a berth in the play-in round, though the Chicago Blackhawks upset them to advance to the round of 16.

The German dynamo is the first Oiler to win the Hart since McDavid did so in 2016-17. Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov claimed the honor last season.

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The bubble remains effective, as the NHL did not record a single positive COVID-19 test for the eighth consecutive week since resuming play.

It's the ninth straight week overall for the league without any new cases. Testing began in the week before the return as players began reporting to the hub cities.

During the most recent period, from Sept. 13-19, the NHL conducted 1,127 daily tests on everyone in the teams' 52-member traveling parties, including the players.

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Blake Wheeler wants something done in his team's city amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

The outspoken Winnipeg Jets captain expressed that sentiment in a tweet to Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister on Sunday.

The province in which Wheeler plays reported 28 new cases Sunday morning, bringing the total number to 1,586. Twenty-three of the new positive tests came in Winnipeg.

"There has been a concerning increase in the number of cases in Winnipeg, with many cases having large numbers of close contacts," the Government of Manitoba said in a statement.

Wheeler has often used his platform to advocate for social issues. The Minnesota-born forward authored a powerful plea for systemic change in the aftermath of George Floyd's death in police custody in late May.

In April, Wheeler replied, "No" to President Donald Trump's tweet pressuring the player's home state to end its lockdown.

The 34-year-old winger has played the last nine seasons with the Jets and the last 10 with the franchise, serving as captain for the last four.

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Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness believes Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos will return from injury at some point in the Stanley Cup Final.

"We're expecting Steven to play at some point," Bowness said, according to The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno. "Listen, he's a great player. He changes the whole look on the power play. So that's a big factor."

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters on Sunday that the team is hopeful the captain plays but he's "not exactly sure when that's going to be." Cooper added that "as of now I don't think" Stamkos will play in Game 2 on Monday.

Stamkos has missed the entire postseason with an undisclosed injury and hasn't suited up for a game since Feb. 25. He ranked second on the team behind Nikita Kucherov in both goals and points during the regular season.

The Stars lead the series 1-0 following a 4-1 victory on Saturday.

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Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith doesn't foresee the club sewing the "C" on anyone's jersey in 2020-21.

"It's not going to happen (next) season," Smith told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. "I can't say 'not,' but as of right now we're not planning on it. We're going to transition some of the younger guys into a leadership role."

Budding stars Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk are possible candidates but Smith doesn't anticipate either one becoming the captain anytime soon.

"I think everyone knows Chabot and Tkachuk are the guys pushing from the bottom," he added. "I don't see that happening this year. I see more of a group mentality where you're going to have to have people with leadership up front and leadership on the back end. Part of being a young team is maybe the coach has to be a leader maybe for one more year."

Smith doesn't feel the need to put added pressure on a relatively inexperienced player for a team that isn't contending.

"It's real tall order for a young guy to be a captain in a rebuild situation," he said. "You're constantly being asked the questions and you may not have the answers (because) you haven't been through it. It's not fair for a 21-, 22-, 23-year-old kid to have to answer those questions. That's why I think you see a lot of times these guys who are captains have been through it and have been through the experience.

"They've been through a rebuild, been through winning and losing, and they know what's possibly coming next. It's unfair to rush that on a guy and that's where we're at."

Chabot led Ottawa in average ice time this season with 26 minutes per game. The 23-year-old also paced the team in assists and ranked second in shots on goal and fifth in points. The 2019-20 campaign was his third in the NHL after the Senators selected him 18th overall in 2015.

Tkachuk led all Senators skaters with 44 points in 2019-20. He also topped the team and ranked eighth in the league with 259 shots on goal. Tkachuk played his second NHL campaign this past season after Ottawa drafted him fourth overall in 2018.

The Senators haven't had a captain since trading superstar Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in September 2018.

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Jimmy Howard is leaning toward leaving the only NHL franchise he's ever played for.

The Detroit Red Wings goaltender will "probably not" play for the club next season, he told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Sunday.

Howard, who's a pending unrestricted free agent, added that he's not planning to retire.

"Someone is going to have to tell me I can't play anymore," he said, adding that 2019-20 isn't the way he wants to end his career.

The 36-year-old also said he's been training for the last two months and that he talked to his family about relocating for a year if he can't play for a team close to home.

Howard struggled mightily this past season, posting a save percentage of .882 (the worst mark in the league among goalies who played at least 27 contests) and minus-22.12 goals saved above average to go with his 2-23-2 record.

He's spent his entire 14-year NHL tenure with the Red Wings, who drafted him 64th overall in 2003.

If Howard elects to hit the market, he'll join a crop of free-agent goaltenders that could include Anton Khudobin, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Thomas Greiss, Corey Crawford, and Braden Holtby.

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