Vegas Golden Knights sniper Max Pacioretty will miss significant time with a lower-body injury, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.

The ailment, which Pacioretty suffered in Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Kings, is expected to keep him out for approximately six weeks, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

Pacioretty is the latest Golden Knight to go down, as the team is dealing with a litany of injuries up front.

Pacioretty led the Golden Knights with 24 goals last season and finished second with 51 points in 48 games.

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It's less than a week into the new season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have already found themselves in a battle with the salary cap.

The Leafs are signing University of Toronto goaltender Alex Bishop to a one-day amateur tryout to serve as Jack Campbell's backup Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Toronto, which made the move after netminder Petr Mrazek suffered a groin injury Thursday in Ottawa, was only carrying one extra skater due to its cap crunch. However, that extra skater, Timothy Liljegren, is needed to play on Saturday due to an illness to defenseman Justin Holl, head coach Sheldon Keefe announced, per TSN's Mark Masters.

Mrazek's injury doesn't appear to be a long-term issue, Keefe added. So neither Mrazek, Holl, nor Auston Matthews - who was already ruled out for the first week of the season - are on long-term injured reserve. Thus, all three players still count against the cap even though they won't be active Saturday night.

Once the Leafs play one game short an NHL player - as they will Saturday - they can recall third goalie Michael Hutchinson from the AHL on an emergency basis for their next tilt Monday, even if their injury and cap situation remains the same, per TSN's Chris Johnston.

Bishop, a native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, posted a .922 save percentage in 24 games with the Varsity Blues in 2019-20. Prior to attending UofT, the 24-year-old played three seasons in the QMJHL and a year split between the OJHL and MHL.

Here's the Leafs' full projected lineup Saturday:

Liljegren, a first-round pick in 2017, has skated in 13 career NHL games, recording one assist. He's projected to take Holl's spot alongside Jake Muzzin, with whom Liljegren was paired during the team's first week of training camp.

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The Boston Bruins have locked up defenseman Charlie McAvoy with an eight-year contract extension carrying an average annual value of $9.5 million, reports TSN's Bob McKenzie.

More to come.

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Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon and head coach Jared Bednar will miss the team's first game of the 2021-22 campaign after testing positive for COVID-19, general manager Joe Sakic announced Tuesday, per Altitude TV's Marc Moser.

Both are asymptomatic, Sakic added.

The Avs open their season Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

MacKinnon was a Hart Trophy finalist last campaign after recording 65 points in 48 games.

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Nikita Gusev is heading back to SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, the league announced Tuesday.

The 29-year-old was recently released from his professional tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs after recording a pair of assists in three preseason games.

Gusev arrived in the NHL with plenty of hype. He lived up to it in his first campaign, tallying 44 points in 66 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2019-20.

Things took a turn for the worst last season, though, as he only managed four goals and six assists in 31 contests split between the Devils and the Florida Panthers while posting poor underlying metrics.

Gusev was one of the KHL's most electric players before he headed to North America, racking up 82 points in 62 games in 2018-19 with SKA St. Petersburg.

He also led the Olympic Athletes of Russia to a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, pacing the team with 12 points in six contests.

Gusev was originally a seventh-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012.

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Vitali Kravtsov's time in the Big Apple may come to an end before it really got going.

The New York Rangers have given the forward permission to contact other teams in pursuit of a trade after he was left off the season-opening roster, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The Rangers selected Kravtsov ninth overall at the 2018 draft. The 6-foot-3 winger skated in 20 games with the Blueshirts last season, registering two goals and two assists while averaging 12:24 per contest.

Kravtsov also logged 49 games in the KHL last season, tallying 16 goals and eight assists with Chelyabinsk Traktor.

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The Montreal Canadiens have signed center Nick Suzuki to an eight-year contract extension carrying an average annual value of $7.875 million, sources told TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Suzuki is entering the final year of his entry-level contract, so the new deal will begin in 2022-23.

The 22-year-old posted 41 points in 56 games last season. He had a coming-out party in the playoffs, tallying seven goals and nine assists in 22 postseason contests during Montreal's miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Suzuki was drafted 13th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. He was shipped to Montreal, along with Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick, in exchange for Max Pacioretty in 2018.

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Four NHL players were claimed off waivers on Monday, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.

Many expected Barre-Boulet to make the Lightning after the club lost multiple key forwards in the offseason. The undrafted product out of Montmagny, Quebec, has been highly productive in the AHL, racking up 136 points in 144 games over the last three seasons. The 24-year-old has only played 15 NHL contests, but he could get a longer look with the Kraken.

The Maple Leafs lose Brooks to the rival Canadiens. The 2016 fourth-round pick has tallied four goals and four assists in 18 career NHL games. He failed to crack Toronto's roster despite the club missing Auston Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev to begin the season.

Brown has served as a reliable depth forward for the Golden Knights over the last couple of seasons, skating in more playoff games (14) than regular-season contests (5).

Jonsson-Fjallby's stay in Buffalo was short-lived. The Sabres claimed him off waivers from the Capitals on Oct. 4, only for Washington to re-claim him Monday. He's been assigned to the AHL's Hershey Bears.

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The Chicago Blackhawks are bringing back a familiar face, signing defenseman Erik Gustafsson to a one-year, $800,000 contract on Monday.

Gustafsson spent parts of four seasons with the Blackhawks until they traded him as a rental to the Calgary Flames at the 2020 deadline. He put together a career-best 17-goal, 60-point campaign in 2018-19 while quarterbacking Chicago's top power-play unit.

The 29-year-old hasn't been able to uncover that same offensive spark since then. He recorded 29 points in 66 games in 2019-20 before tallying just one goal and 11 assists in 29 contests last season while playing limited minutes with the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens.

Gustafsson suited up in 16 games during Montreal's run to the Stanley Cup Final this past spring, registering a goal and two assists while averaging 10 minutes per contest.

He spent this preseason on a professional tryout with the New York Islanders but didn't make the team.

The Blackhawks were in need of depth on the left side of their blue line after offseason acquisition Caleb Jones suffered a left wrist strain, which is expected to sideline him for six weeks.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have rewarded head coach Jon Cooper with a three-year contract extension through the 2024-25 season, the team announced Monday.

"Unequivocally, Coop is the best person for the job," general manager Julien BriseBois said. "He is a great leader, spokesperson, and ambassador for our organization. We are lucky to have him as our head coach, and I very much look forward to our continued partnership."

Cooper is the longest-tenured head coach in the league, as he's been at the helm since the 2012-13 campaign. He's led the team to two division titles, three Stanley Cup Final appearances, and two championships.

"It has been a tremendous honor to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the past eight-plus seasons and I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to build on what we have here," Cooper said. "My family and I love the organization and being a part of the Tampa Bay community, it is our home."

Prior to his promotion to the Lightning, Cooper served as the head coach of the organization's AHL squad, the Syracuse Crunch (and previously the Norfolk Admirals). He guided the Admirals to a Calder Cup title in 2011-12.

Cooper's reputation in league circles is sterling, as the Prince George, British Columbia, native was named the head coach of Canada's men's team for the 2022 Olympics.

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