Ryan Kesler didn't mince words when echoing New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin's concerns over the ongoing escrow battle between the NHL and the players' association.

Panarin said Thursday that "the players have protected the owners' income with escrow" for nearly two decades, prompting the Anaheim Ducks veteran to call for the owners to take on more accountability.

"It’s about time ... the owners need to understand we’re done paying their debts," Kesler said. "You run your team into the ground it’s on you .... if there’s a pandemic it's on the owners ... figure it out it's not a free ride."

In order to ensure teams and players split all hockey-related revenue, the NHL and NHLPA retain a percentage of players' salary, known as escrow, during the season.

Negotiations to extend the CBA have reportedly been tethered to the return-to-play talks, and Panarin said the players cannot report to training camp, which is set to open July 10, until an agreement is in place.

Kesler did not play in 2019-20 after being placed on long-term injured reserve with a hip injury in September. He has two years remaining on his current deal, which carries an average annual value of $6.875 million.

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Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla has entered rarified air.

The longtime Flames captain was one of five players selected Wednesday for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020.

"It's an amazing, amazing honor," Iginla told Hockey Hall of Fame chairman and fellow Flames icon Lanny McDonald upon receiving the call, per TSN. "Thank you guys on the committee for voting for me to be a part of it. ... It's just hard to believe, it makes you reflect and think back and it's truly, truly hard to believe."

Iginla, 42, will enter the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and he admitted it's an achievement he couldn't have imagined when he made his NHL debut as an 18-year-old in 1996.

"I never dreamt it when I got into the NHL, it's awesome. I'm truly honored and very blessed. ... it means a lot to my family and I, and (I) still can't believe it."

The two-time winner of the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy ranks 34th in all-time NHL scoring with 1,300 points in 1,554 career games. He's also one of 20 players to record at least 600 career goals, notching 625 over 20 NHL seasons.

Iginla holds the Flames franchise records for games played (1,219), goals (525), game-winning goals (83), and points (1,095). The club raised his No. 12 to the rafters at Scotiabank Saddledome last March.

Internationally, the native of Alberta won gold with Team Canada at both the 2002 and 2010 Olympic Games.

Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson were also selected as players. Longtime executive and current Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland was selected in the builder category.

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Construction of the event center that will serve as the Calgary Flames' new home is set to begin in August 2021, according to The Canadian Press.

The city of Calgary and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) agreed last year to split the cost of the $550-million project, which is scheduled for completion in May 2024.

The building will be located on the eastern side of downtown Calgary, just north of the Scotiabank Saddledome, where the Flames have played since 1983. The Saddledome will be demolished once the team moves into the new event center.

The venue will feature an arena with up to 19,000 seats and will also become home to the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen and National Lacrosse League's Calgary Roughnecks, both of which are owned by CSEC.

U.S. architectural and engineering firm HOK is helping design the new building in partnership with Calgary company Dialog. HOK was the lead designer of Edmonton's Rogers Place, Detroit's Little Caesars Arena, and Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Along with the expansion of a convention center on the Calgary Stampede grounds, the new venue will be part of one phase of a revitalization plan for the area.

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Vegas Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves believes the 2020 postseason will be as intense as ever with the anticipation of hockey's return continuing to build throughout the NHL's lengthy hiatus.

“You’re sitting at home for four months, training, trying to stay ready for this,” Reaves said, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger. “Do you want to waste that four months for three games or five games? No. You’re going to battle your ass off.”

“There’s no time to act like this is an exhibition or a tuneup, because it’s not," he added. "I expect the very first game, very first puck drop, to be a playoff atmosphere, because you only get one shot. I expect it to be absolute wars out there.”

Reaves' Golden Knights, along with the St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche, will compete in a round-robin tournament to decide the top four Western Conference seeds as part of the league's expanded 24-team playoff format.

Vegas won 11 of its final 13 contests before the season was suspended March 12, and Reaves believes the club can carry that momentum into the summer in hopes of capturing the franchise's first Stanley Cup.

“I’m anxious to get back on the ice, and I think everybody on this team is,” Reaves said. “We know we have a good team, and we have a good shot at winning the Stanley Cup. I know a lot of teams are going to say that, but we really believe that. We got the pieces. We were proving it down the stretch.”

The Golden Knights' tough guy, who led the club with 47 penalty minutes this season, is also excited to continue throwing his weight around.

“I’m getting the itch to put my fist through somebody’s face, or lay somebody out through the boards,” Reaves said.

Training camps are slated to begin July 10, but the league and players' association have yet to agree on an exact date for Phase 4 of the return-to-play plan, which is the official resumption of play.

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Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment resubmitted its bid for Toronto as an NHL hub city on the weekend and now proposes that players and personnel would live on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds just outside of the downtown core, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reports.

The bid presents the idea of a "40-acre campus-like bubble" that would grant players access to facilities including Toronto FC's BMO Field, Coca-Cola Coliseum (home of the AHL's Toronto Marlies), the Toronto Raptors' practice facility, and Hotel X, which has 400 rooms, according to LeBrun. He added that MLSE would be willing to add other features such as food trucks and an outdoor movie theatre.

Toronto's initial bid apparently focused on creating a bubble in the downtown core closer to Scotiabank Arena.

The league recently cut its shortlist of hub cities from 10 to six. Columbus and Pittsburgh were officially eliminated from contention, while Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas are reportedly out of the mix as well.

Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto are apparently the six remaining contenders to host the NHL's 24-team playoff format.

The NHL reportedly expanded Phase 2 group sizes from six players to 12 on Tuesday and apparently isn't considering pushing back its July 10 start date for training camps despite 11 players testing positive for COVID-19 since Phase 2 began June 8.

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St. Louis Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko says the added time off due to the NHL's hiatus has allowed him to strengthen his surgically repaired shoulder.

"I was really close to coming back and playing when the season was delayed so I got some extra time to recover," Tarasenko said Monday, according to NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "Not even recover, extra time practicing and making it more strong. Everything is good."

Tarasenko played only 10 games this season before undergoing a procedure Oct. 29 to repair a dislocated left shoulder. The Russian winger returned to practice Feb. 8 but was unable to get back into a game before the NHL suspended play March 12.

In detailing his recovery, Tarasenko said he needed to get comfortable skating again before gradually adding more difficult components to his game.

"You start slow, you start with the basics, some exercises where you can ... not learn to skate again, but remember the feeling, and I think it'll be pretty quick (to come back)," he said.

"I skated a few times (during the pause) so it wasn't that hard. It's like the usual start to skating, you work on the basics and you move to harder and harder levels."

Tarasenko, who led the Blues in goals in five straight campaigns entering 2019-20, felt rejuvenated from rejoining his teammates before the stoppage. With training camps set to begin July 10, the 28-year-old is excited to carry that momentum into the summer.

"The closer you get, the more positive emotions you have, the more happy you are for seeing the boys for the first time, skating with them," he said. "I was lucky to go on a couple road trips (before the season pause) and feel that atmosphere. I'm ready to come back and play some hockey."

The Blues, along with the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Vegas Golden Knights, are slated to compete in a round-robin tournament to establish the top four Western Conference playoff seeds if play returns this summer.

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The NHL is close to deciding which two cities will host the potential resumption of play this summer, and Vegas Golden Knights president of hockey operations George McPhee believes Las Vegas offers everything the NHL needs from a hub location.

“Vegas is a hospitality town," McPhee said Monday, according to Sportsnet's Mike Johnston. "It’s a service business down there and they’re used to big, big events and they can handle this one.”

The league is looking to spread the 24 returning teams out evenly between two locations in secure bubbles away from the public. While making the case for Vegas, McPhee says players would have access to everything they'll need at some of the largest hotels in North America.

“Any time a tourist goes to Vegas and you get into one of the hotels, you rarely leave because they have everything there,” McPhee said. “Your meals and all your entertainment, you can work out there, theaters, sportsbook, spas, you can get a haircut, whatever you need.

"... These hotels, some of them have as many as six, seven thousand rooms."

In terms of rink availability, McPhee said “there’s enough ice to go around," mentioning the two sheets of ice at the Golden Knights' practice facility, and two additional sheets at the Las Vegas Ice Center about a mile away.

The NHL's bubbles will be very tight once play resumes, and the league isn't overly concerned about a recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Nevada and considers Vegas a strong option, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

The NHL cut the list of hub-city candidates from 10 to six on Saturday, with Columbus eliminated from consideration, and Minnesota reportedly also now out of the running. Las Vegas, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Chicago reportedly remain in the mix.

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New Jersey Devils legend Martin Brodeur isn't ready to become the club's general manager if the opportunity arises in the near future.

"I know what it takes to be a GM," Brodeur said Thursday, according to The Hockey News' Matt Larkin. "I've been around Doug Armstrong (with the St. Louis Blues) for a long time and Lou Lamoriello (with the Devils).

"I'm just not ready for the commitment, regardless of whether it would be offered to me."

The Hall of Fame netminder spent three years as assistant general manager with the St. Louis Blues after ending his playing career in 2015. In August 2018, he joined the Devils and took on a business-development position before moving to a hockey operations role in January 2020 following the firing of former general manager Ray Shero.

New Jersey replaced Shero with Tom Fitzgerald, who said earlier in June that nothing has changed regarding his interim status. Though Brodeur isn't immediately interested in the position, the 48-year-old didn't rule it out down the road.

"I’m not saying that one day, I won’t say, 'You know what? This is the time for me to do it, maybe,'" Brodeur said. "But right now, I value my time off too much to get myself involved. Not that I’m not involved, as in my role I need to be pretty much present, but I’m able to kind of make my own schedule and not rely on the general manager setup."

Brodeur logged 1,259 games with the Devils before playing his final seven contests with the Blues in 2014-15. He holds NHL records for wins (691) and shutouts (125), and Brodeur captured three Stanley Cups with New Jersey (1995, 2000, and 2003). The Quebec native was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

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The NHL shortened its list of 10 potential hub cities to six with Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Vegas still in the running, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

LeBrun adds that the "hope and expectation" is for the NHL and NHLPA to agree on two hub cities by the end of this upcoming week.

Vancouver has picked up steam to be selected as one of the two destinations, according to Sportsnet's Satiar Shah.

On Friday, the Canadian government approved the NHL's proposal to use a cohort quarantine approach for players entering Canada. Though players will not be permitted to completely avoid the mandated 14-day quarantine upon entering the country, they can immediately begin training at team facilities while keeping away from the public.

The league confirmed that 11 players tested positive for the coronavirus since Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan commenced June 8. Despite the recent wave of positive tests, the league reportedly isn't considering pushing back its July 10 start date for training camps.

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NHL players won't be required to wear full face shields if the season resumes this summer, sources told The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno.

The NHL and NHLPA have focused on testing and other off-ice safety precautions rather than equipment changes amid return-to-play negotiations, Whyno added.

An infectious disease specialist recommended last month that players take extra precautions if the NHL returns. They suggested the use of face shields and the elimination of scrums, spitting, and fighting from the game.

However, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in May that players and personnel would be tested every evening for the coronavirus. As a result, there isn't expected to be specialized on-ice equipment.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly also said he didn't think drastic changes to equipment would be necessary.

Bauer Hockey is expected to announce a new line of protective equipment including specialized facial protection, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

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