Dustin Byfuglien appears close to calling it a career.

"It's very unlikely Dustin Byfuglien's going to play," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest edition of "Saturday Headlines."

"Teams have asked," Friedman continued. "One of the teams that has asked is the Minnesota Wild. They figured because Byfuglien obviously has a lot of ties to Minnesota, he'd want to play there, and they could use him. They're probably the only team that has a chance, but I checked with Byfuglien's agent, Ben Hankinson, (and) he said it's doubtful that Byfuglien will play again."

The 35-year-old defenseman sat out the 2019-20 campaign amid a contract dispute with the Winnipeg Jets, which stemmed from a difference of opinion over his health entering this season. He and the club agreed to a contract termination in April, which made him an unrestricted free agent.

Byfuglien originally had one year remaining on his contract with Winnipeg and would have received payments through 2020-21.

The gargantuan rearguard would be one of the top free-agent blue-liners if he chose to resume playing, despite his age and his extended NHL absence.

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Patric Hornqvist said he was caught off-guard when the Pittsburgh Penguins shipped him to the Florida Panthers on Thursday, but ultimately, his decision to approve the swap wasn't difficult.

"This came up and blindsided me because I had a no-move clause," Hornqvist said Friday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Matt Vensel. "But then I find out that Pittsburgh didn't want me and Florida really wants me, and it was an easy choice for me and my family. I'm super excited to go down there and help them win some games."

The deal, in which the Panthers sent defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Colton Sceviour to the Penguins, was first reported Wednesday. However, Hornqvist had to waive his no-trade clause for the transaction to go through, and it wasn't finalized until Thursday.

"It's been obviously a little crazy," he added. "It was obviously a tough situation for me and my family, when you get blindsided a little bit. When you know you have a no-trade, you don't think this kind of question is going to come up. When it came up, I took my time to go through every scenario."

The 33-year-old spent the last six seasons with the Penguins - helping them win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017 - after playing his first six NHL campaigns with the Nashville Predators.

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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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