The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed restricted free-agent forward Zach Aston-Reese to a one-year deal worth $1.725 million, the team announced Thursday.

Aston-Reese had filed for arbitration.

The 26-year-old had offseason shoulder surgery last August and made his 2020-21 season debut in February. He went on to post a career-high nine goals in 45 games, while Pittsburgh scored 59% of the goals with Aston-Reese on the ice at five-on-five. His 84 minutes of shorthanded ice time ranked second among all Penguins forwards.

"Zach is a versatile forward that brings energy and edge to our lineup," Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said. "He is a responsible, two-way player, and we're glad we were able to re-sign him."

Aston-Reese has 51 points in 161 NHL games, all with Pittsburgh.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Like Montreal Canadiens fans, Carey Price’s wife Angela is certainly relieved all the expansion draft drama is over.

Angela detailed the experience on her lifestyle blog, "By Angela."

"With your world dependent on what seemed like a game of chicken was bizarre and something I hope to never experience again," she wrote.

Carey waived his no-movement clause ahead of the expansion draft, and the Habs created quite a stir when they left their franchise icon unprotected and free for the Seattle Kraken's picking - a decision the organization made so it could protect backup netminder Jake Allen instead.

"Really, there was no other option," Angela wrote. "I was not stressed about it at all - because of Carey’s contract, his age, and his injury, Seattle wouldn’t even give him a second glance ... or so we thought."

Then, the rumor mill started churning, and Angela "spent the next couple of days living on Twitter."

"It definitely got to a point where I thought we were for sure headed to Seattle, so I let myself start mentally preparing for it and even talking about it. Just in case it did happen," she wrote.

Of course, seeing as the Kraken opted to select defenseman Cale Fleury from Montreal instead, Carey will be suiting up for Montreal once again next campaign.

"Our heart, my heart is with the Canadiens organization," Angela wrote, adding that she "hated" the way the news of Carey's choice to waive his no-movement clause broke before the news of his injury.

"His injury was the entire reason we had lifted his no-trade and he was left unprotected," she said. "It hurt my heart to read that people thought we wanted out of Montreal. I was so thankful when it came out the next day that Carey was going to need surgery, but at the same time Carey’s agent was calling to say that Seattle didn’t seem too concerned about his injury and him being picked up could really happen."

Carey received knee surgery on July 23, and he's expected to be ready for the start of the regular season in October.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Minnesota Wild's Kevin Fiala and Philadelphia Flyers' Travis Sanheim are headed to salary arbitration, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Neither Fiala nor Sanheim were among the restricted free agents who filed for player-elected arbitration by Sunday's deadline, but their respective teams decided to move forward with the process.

The deadline for team-elected salary arbitration notification was at 5 p.m. ET Monday. Hearings are set to be held from Aug. 11-26.

Both Fiala and Sanheim can continue to work toward a deal in the meantime.

Fiala, 25, registered 40 points across 50 games this past campaign. He just wrapped up a two-year deal that carried an average annual value of $3 million.

Sanheim put up 15 points in 55 contests during the 2020-21 season. The 25-year-old defenseman finished a two-year pact with a cap hit of $3.25 million.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman Ryan Murray to a one-year deal worth $2 million, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

Murray accrued 14 points in 48 games while averaging 18:36 of ice time per contest with the New Jersey Devils during the 2020-21 campaign. The 27-year-old has eclipsed the 20-point mark three times over his career.

The 6-foot-1 left-handed shot is projected to slot into the Avalanche's middle pairing. He's joining a strong, defensively minded team in Colorado; the President Trophy-winning Avs led the league in shot attempts for (58%) and expected goals for (60%) while giving up the fewest high-danger goals (55) at all strengths last season.

Murray was drafted second overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2012 and has 124 points in 395 career games.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL's investigation into gambling allegations made against Evander Kane is expected to wrap up before the start of training camp in mid-September, league deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to The Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka.

Daly also added that the San Jose Sharks forward has not been suspended.

Evander's wife, Anna, said he threw his own games for gambling reasons in a series of Instagram stories posted Saturday. The NHL released a statement of its own, saying the league would be taking her allegations "very seriously."

The following day, Evander denied Anna's claims, tweeting, "I have NEVER gambled/bet on hockey, NEVER gambled/bet on a Sharks game, NEVER gambled/bet on any of my games, and NEVER thrown a hockey game."

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Penny Oleksiak better look out: There's a new swimmer in the family.

The Olympian's brother, Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, says he's started to incorporate swimming into his training regimen to help get himself out of his comfort zone.

"I might have to race Penny," Jamie joked in an interview with TSN's Mark Masters. "I'm gonna need a long, long head start before she gets going."

Swimming is a "late development" for the 28-year-old, but he's giving it a go.

"Things can get kind of monotonous when you do the same training over and over again. So I think doing swimming is something a little bit different, kind of use different muscles that you're not used to and developing them," Jamie said.

Jamie has a lot of work to do before he can reach the same heights as his sister, who just became the all-time most decorated Canadian Olympian while competing at the Tokyo Games.

"I wouldn't say I'm the best swimmer ever," he said, adding, "I'm definitely more of a sinker."

Jamie's favorite stroke at the moment is freestyle.

"I can't do anything else, basically," he said. "I'm not much of a swimmer, so I'm sticking to the basics right now, we'll see what happens down the road, though."

Between Penny's historic success and Jamie's new five-year deal with the Kraken, the Oleksiaks will have plenty to celebrate when Penny returns to Canada. Jamie says the family plans to head to the cottage and catch up.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Seventeen NHL players filed for salary arbitration before Sunday's 5 p.m. ET deadline, the NHLPA announced.

Here's the complete list:

The deadline for club-elected salary arbitration notification is Aug. 2 at 5 p.m. ET. Hearings will be held from Aug. 11-26.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

A member of Jack Eichel's medical team says replacing the herniated disc in the Buffalo Sabres star's neck would set him up for a better future.

Dr. Chad Prusmack outlined two pathways available for Eichel on Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman's "31 Thoughts" podcast. The first, which is what the Sabres prefer, is an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery. The procedure Prusmack recommends for the Sabres captain is an artificial disc replacement surgery.

In both procedures, the injured disc is removed through the front of the throat. However, in a fusion surgery, a surgeon will insert a graft, and the bones will fuse over time. In a replacement surgery, meanwhile, the disc is swapped out for an artificial one. Prusmack likens the replacement procedure to getting an artificial knee or hip.

The handling of Eichel's injury has been a major point of contention between the 24-year-old and the Sabres this offseason, with his agents saying in a statement that Buffalo "was in agreement with the artificial disc replacement surgery until that was no longer the case."

Prusmack assures both surgeries are "phenomenal procedures," but getting an artificial disc would suit Eichel's needs moving forward as it allows "better flexibility."

"That guy's slap shot and the way he's got to use his position sense, he's going to lose that if he gets a fusion. When you fuse the spine, it's hard to know where your head is on top of your shoulders," he explained.

"You want to make Jack Eichel as close of an identical twin to what Jack Eichel is after the surgery," Prusmack said, adding, "I think that he would perform better ... let's restore the motion so that he can perform at the elite level he does."

A concern for the Sabres is that no NHL player has ever undergone artificial disc replacement surgery, and it only became available to use in 2000, but Prusmack notes that athletes in other sports such as rugby and MMA have found the procedure to be successful. Hockey players have received the surgery, just not at the pro level.

Prusmack also said the recovery timetable for a replacement surgery is shorter. If Eichel were to receive the fusion surgery, he would be re-evaluated in three months and if that went well, he could be on track to return in six-to-nine months. With a replacement surgery, he could return to the ice within six weeks and engage in contact after eight weeks.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL will investigate San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane after his wife, Anna, made a series of allegations about his gambling on social media.

In three Instagram Stories posted Saturday, Anna accused Evander of throwing games to support his gambling addiction.

"How does the NHL let a compulsive gambling addict still play when he's obviously throwing games with bookies to win money?" she wrote. "Maybe someone needs to address this."

Anna also called NHL commissioner Gary Bettman into question, asking him how the league can "let a player gamble on his own games."

The NHL addressed the situation in a statement, saying it will be taking the allegations "very seriously."

"The integrity of our game is paramount," the league wrote. "We intend to conduct a full investigation and will have no further comment at this time."

The Sharks announced they have been in contact with the league about the allegations, according to The Athletic's Kevin Kurz.

"We support a full and transparent investigation into the situation to maintain the integrity of the game and consistency with our team values," the team said.

Evander filed for bankruptcy in January. He reportedly had $26.8 million of debt at the time of his filing and held assets of only $10.2 million.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch is expected to miss six months after undergoing shoulder surgery, the team announced Friday.

With the 2021-22 NHL season slated to start in October, Tuch is unlikely to play until January or February.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon said Tuch's shoulder bothered him throughout the season, but the team initially believed that surgery wouldn't be necessary, Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Tuch had 33 points in 55 games during the 2020-21 campaign before registering nine points in 19 playoff contests. He scored a career-best 1.17 goals per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The 25-year-old carries a $4.75-million cap hit. The Golden Knights will be cap compliant once placing him on long-term injured reserve, The Athletic's Jesse Granger notes. Vegas could then sign restricted free agents Nolan Patrick and Dylan Coghlan.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.