Future Hall of Fame defenseman Zdeno Chara signed to a one-year, $795,000 contract with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday following a 14-year run with the Boston Bruins, the team announced.

Chara posted a heartfelt farewell to Boston on his Instagram, and revealed that it was the Bruins who initiated the divorce.

"The Boston Bruins have informed me that they plan to move forward with their many younger and talented players and I respect their decision," he said. "Unfortunately, my time as the proud captain of the Bruins has come to an end."

More to come.

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Here are three players unlikely to meet expectations next season relative to how high you'll need to draft them.

Brayden Point, C, Lightning

There's no denying Point is one of the best all-around players in the NHL, but when it comes to fantasy, he's not nearly as valuable. He doesn't rack up shots, hits, or blocks, so most of his value is tied to goals, assists, and power-play points.

However, Point may struggle to match the near point per game pace he played at last season now that linemate Nikita Kucherov is done for the year. Here's a look at Point's five-on-five metrics with and without Kucherov the last two seasons:

Point also does plenty of damage with the man advantage, ranking fifth in the league with 28 power-play goals over the past two seasons. However, Kucherov assisted on 21 of those goals, notching the primary helper on 11 of them.

Center is also the deepest position in fantasy hockey, so there's no point in drafting the Lightning pivot as early as you'll need to. He's currently listed at No. 22 in Yahoo's rankings.

Tony DeAngelo, D, Rangers

DeAngelo enjoyed a breakout season in 2019-20, finishing fourth among defensemen in goals (15) and points (53) in 68 games. However, history is not on his side when it comes to repeating that production, specifically in the goals department.

Since 2005-06, only two defensemen have posted a shooting percentage of 10 or higher in back-to-back seasons with a minimum of 100 shots: Lubomir Visnovsky (2005-07) and Ryan Whitney (2006-08).

DeAngelo's 10.1 shooting percentage last season ranked third among blue-liners with at least 100 shots. His chances of duplicating these numbers are unlikely unless he increases his shot volume. DeAngelo's 149 shots a year ago were the 26th-most among blue-liners.

There are further concerns with DeAngelo, though. Sixteen of his 38 assists came on the man advantage last season. And while he was a key member of the power play, it wouldn't be overly shocking if the Rangers eventually replaced him with teammate Adam Fox if the top unit gets off to a slow start.

Dominik Kubalik, LW/RW, Blackhawks

Banking on Kubalik to replicate the production from his excellent rookie season would be a huge mistake. He scored 30 goals last season, but did so with a 19.1 shooting percentage - the seventh-highest in the league among players with at least 100 shots.

Most of the players ahead of him on the list either take the majority of their shots from close to the crease - like Zach Hyman and Alex Killorn - or are proven snipers - such as Leon Draisaitl and Mika Zibanejad. Kubalik doesn't fit either description.

Kubalik's 79 hits help in certain leagues, but outside of his goal-scoring, he didn't provide much fantasy value. He had just 16 assists, only 157 shots, and didn't receive much power-play time.

Jonathan Toews - Kubalik's primary center last season - is out indefinitely to start the season with an illness, which doesn't help the sophomore's chances.

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

Josh Wegman has been theScore's resident fantasy hockey expert since 2015. Find him on Twitter @JoshWegman_.

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The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Devin Shore and defenseman Ryan Stanton to professional tryouts, the team announced Tuesday.

Shore split last season between the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets, tallying five goals and seven assists. A second-round pick by the Stars in 2012, Shore recorded 82 points in 209 games during his tenure in Dallas.

The 26-year-old is capable of playing down the middle, meaning he could compete with Jujhar Khaira and Gaetan Haas for the team's fourth-line center job.

Meanwhile, Stanton signed an AHL contract with the Bakersfield Condors. The 31-year-old has played in 120 career NHL games, with the last one coming in 2015-16 with the Washington Capitals. He spent last season with the Ontario Reign - the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate.

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The Buffalo Sabres signed center Riley Sheahan to a professional tryout, the team announced Tuesday.

The 29-year-old tallied 15 points in 66 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season. Sheahan spent parts of seven campaigns with the Detroit Red Wings before stops with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers.

The team expects Jack Eichel, Eric Staal, and Cody Eakin to lead the depth chart down the middle, meaning Sheahan will likely compete with Curtis Lazar for the team's fourth-line center role. Youngsters Casey Mittelstadt and Dylan Cozens are in the mix as well, but they will most likely start the season on the wing if they make the team.

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Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss the start of the upcoming campaign with an undisclosed illness, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger.

The team will reportedly make an announcement Tuesday.

Toews registered 60 points in 70 games last season while finishing 15th in Selke Trophy voting and also added five goals with four assists in nine postseason contests.

Chicago's center depth will be put to the test early, as the Blackhawks expect phenom Kirby Dach to miss the first four-to-five months after undergoing wrist surgery.

Dylan Strome, who remains an unsigned restricted free agent, is projected as the team's top center to begin the campaign, followed by offseason additions Carl Soderberg and Lucas Wallmark.

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Welcome to theScore's 2020-21 fantasy hockey rankings.

Yahoo uses hits in standard head-to-head leagues and blocks in standard points leagues, so we're adopting both. We've also excluded plus/minus for our rankings since it's an outdated and generally unpredictable statistic. Here's what we're factoring in.

These rankings are based on 12-team leagues and factor in positional value. The value of certain positions can change depending on the size of the league. Positional eligibility is courtesy of Yahoo.

Josh Wegman has been theScore's resident fantasy hockey expert since 2015. Find him on Twitter @JoshWegman_.

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The Ottawa Senators have put pen to paper with forward Tim Stuetzle on a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Sunday.

Ottawa selected the German phenom third overall at the 2020 NHL Draft.

"Tim possesses an exceptional blend of both speed and skill and a playmaking ability that our fans are going to enjoy watching for several years to come," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said. "He's a dynamic forward who we expect to become a key piece of our roster as we continue trending toward icing an eventual elite-level team."

Stuetzle is currently captaining Germany at the world juniors. He entered Sunday with a goal and an assist over two games in the tournament.

The 18-year-old is capable of playing center, but he's expected to start his NHL career on the wing.

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The Arizona Coyotes traded center Derek Stepan to the Ottawa Senators for a 2021 second-round pick, the team announced Saturday.

The 30-year-old pivot is in the final season of his contract, which carries a $6.5-million cap hit, per CapFriendly. He's only owed $2 million in base salary, though.

Stepan was once a steady offensive producer. In his first eight NHL seasons, he averaged 57 points per 82 games, but his production tailed off in recent years as he tallied 35 points in 2018-19 and 28 points in 70 contests last season.

However, the veteran may very well step in and serve as Ottawa's No. 1 center. The team's other options down the middle are Colin White, Chris Tierney, Artem Anisimov, Logan Brown, Josh Norris, and Nick Paul.

The second-round pick heading to Arizona was originally owned by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Senators still have their own second-round pick in 2021 and the San Jose Sharks' second-rounder.

The Coyotes were up against the cap before this trade, but they project to have $8.3 million in flexibility once Marian Hossa is placed on long-term injured reserve.

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In the lead-up to the 2021 World Junior Championship, we're taking a look back at each of the 18 Canadian teams to capture the gold medal, culminating Dec. 25 with the start of the latest edition of the tournament.

After losing to the United States in the gold-medal game at the 2017 world juniors, Canada was looking to avenge its predecessors on American soil in Buffalo, New York, at the 2018 tournament.

The roster

*Denotes returning player
All ages are as of the start of the tournament

The tournament

The Canadians opened with a 4-1 victory over a strong Finnish team that had won gold in 2014, 2016, and would win again in 2019. They then toppled Slovakia 6-0 before an outdoor game at New Era Field (now Bills Stadium) in Orchard Park, New York, against the United States.

In front of 44,592 fans - smashing the previous record of 20,380 for a world junior game - Canada squandered leads of 2-0 and 3-1. Wearing Buffalo Bills-themed jerseys, USA scored two third-period goals to force overtime. The Americans ultimately prevailed in the shootout to claim victory.

However, thanks to USA's loss to Slovakia and Canada's 8-0 win over Denmark, the Canadians finished the tournament atop group A. This would prove to be massive. Instead of playing Russia in the quarters and Sweden in the semis, Canada got to beat Switzerland 8-2 in the quarters and Czech Republic 7-2 in the semis. That set up a gold-medal game against the Swedes, which Canada won 3-1 for its 17th gold in tournament history.

The stars

Carter Hart was phenomenal in his second World Junior Championship. Starting six of Canada's seven games, he led the tournament with a 1.81 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. However, Sweden's Filip Gustavsson was named the tournament's top netminder.

Cale Makar was also a force for Canada, tallying eight points in seven games while being named to the media All-Star team.

Jordan Kyrou and Sam Steel were offensive catalysts, recording 10 and nine points, respectively.

The key moment

The biggest moment of the tournament came from one of Canada's most unheralded players.

Tied 1-1 in the third period with just 1:40 remaining, Tyler Steenbergen re-directed a Conor Timmins point shot to give Canada a late lead. Alex Formenton added an empty-netter 26 seconds later to put the icing on the cake. Watch Steenbergen's winner here.

The tally was Steenbergen's first goal and just his second point of the tournament. He was Canada's only forward without a goal up until that point.

The fallout

The most immediate fallout featured heartbroken Swedish captain Lias Andersson, who threw his silver medal into the crowd.

Canada failed to defend its gold-medal title in 2019, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Finland in overtime. But the nation reached the top of the podium once again in 2020.

While all of the players from this team are still just 21 and 22 years old, a handful of them have already become stars in the NHL. Makar is the reigning Calder Trophy winner, and Hart has already established himself as one of the best young goalies in the league.

Most of the players from this squad are not yet in the NHL, but some will likely make their mark in due time.

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The St. Louis Blues will name forward Ryan O'Reilly the 23rd captain in franchise history, sources told The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.

An announcement is reportedly expected to be made this coming week.

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who signed with the Vegas Golden Knights this offseason, last wore the "C" for the Blues.

"He is a good choice," Pietrangelo told Rutherford via text message. "One of the hardest working guys I know. Leads by example every day. Has succeeded in this league for a long time, and for good reason. I was happy to have him by my side for a few years. Great person, teammate, and player!

"He will make a great captain. Good luck to him, no doubt he is the right choice."

The 11-year veteran is as decorated as they come. O'Reilly has already won a Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, Selke Trophy, and Lady Byng Trophy. The 29-year-old tallied 61 points in 71 games last season and is considered one of the league's premier two-way centers.

O'Reilly was acquired in a franchise-altering trade with the Buffalo Sabres in July 2018 in exchange for Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, a 2019 first-round pick (Ryan Johnson), and a 2021 second-rounder.

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