Owen Tippett believes he can be a star.

The Florida Panthers' first-round pick in this summer's draft, Tippett is a budding winger who starred with the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads last season - a campaign in which he netted 75 points in 60 games.

Of those totals, 44 came as goals, a mark which only four players topped league-wide, and an ability that drew the Panthers' attention.

"Owen is a natural goal scorer with a bright future and he already possesses NHL-ready size and speed," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said in July. "We're looking forward to watching him compete for a spot on our NHL roster at training camp this fall."

A hulking power forward, Tippett is a prime candidate to make the immediate jump to the NHL, particularly on a Florida roster that has just 10 forwards currently under contract.

"I have the upside of Phil Kessel - the speed, the shot, the way he can make plays," Tippett told Luke Fox of Sportsnet. "I also have some things I need to work on to be a 200-foot player."

Tippett could soon have another attribute in common with Kessel: making the NHL as an 18-year-old. Drafted fifth overall by the Boston Bruins in 2006, Kessel made his NHL debut just four months later, as he appeared in 70 games in 2006-07.

No doubt Tippett will be given every opportunity come training camp to make his best impression.

"I feel I can fight for a spot in Florida," Tippett added. "But at the end of the day, if I'm back in Mississauga, I'll look at it as a chance to develop my game and get stronger and faster."

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

That's one way to burst onto the pro hockey scene.

Eeli Tolvanen notched a hat trick and four points in his first KHL game with Jokerit in a 6-1 rout of Dynamo Minsk on Wednesday, becoming the youngest player to collect three goals in a game in the history of the league.

The 18-year-old - whom the Nashville Predators drafted 30th overall in June - signed with the Finnish club last month after failing to meet the admission requirements of Boston College, the school he committed to in June of last year.

Here's his first KHL goal. Safe to say the kid can snipe.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New Jersey Devils have invited forward Jimmy Hayes to training camp on a professional tryout, the team announced Wednesday.

The 6-foot-5 right-winger averaged 17.5 goals per 82 games from 2013-14 to 2015-16, but went completely invisible last season with the Boston Bruins, picking up just two goals and three assists in 58 games.

With Kyle Palmieri as the Devils' only notable right winger, it's possible Hayes - who's still just 27 years old - could be given an opportunity as a top-nine forward on a rebuilding team.

Hayes played less than 10 minutes per game last season, and the biggest concern surrounding him is his foot speed - or lack thereof.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Highly touted college free agent Alexander Kerfoot has decided to sign with the Colorado Avalanche, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

The Avalanche will be the team out of five finalists to sign the Harvard University star, beating out the New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and Vancouver Canucks, according to Dreger.

Kerfoot was originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the fifth round in 2012, and elected to become an unrestricted free agent after not signing a deal with the club before Aug. 15.

The 23-year-old tallied 36 goals and 123 points in 123 career games over four years with Harvard and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last season.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

At least two of Patrick Marleau's former teammates expected the 37-year-old would return to the San Jose Sharks this offseason.

Marleau had played his entire career with the club that drafted him second overall in 1997, but after hitting the open market on July 1, the seven-time 30-goal scorer elected to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs, catching both Joel Ward and Jason Demers off guard.

"Definitely pretty surprised," Ward said, according to NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. "I was hoping he would stay, for sure. He was a big help for us, on and off the ice. It's definitely going to be a big blow for us."

As for Demers - who played with the Sharks from 2009 to 2015 - he knows the decision for Marleau to leave the team he's played 19 seasons with could not have been easy.

"That was crazy," Demers said. "For him to make that decision, I know him well personally and I know that was probably the biggest decision of his career. I don't think anybody understands on the outside how big of a decision that was for him. … In my head, after talking to him a little bit, I thought he was going to stay, but I think him and his family discussed it and I think it's going to be a great thing for him."

With the Maple Leafs, Marleau will now be playing alongside the team's speedy, young core, and while Demers welcomes the challenge of facing Marleau on a more regular basis - as a member of the Florida Panthers - he understands matching up against Marleau and the Maple Leafs won't be easy.

"Playing alongside those guys in Toronto, they're going to be real fast," Demers said. "It's going to be fun seeing him more than twice a year, but it's going to (stink) because now I've got to try to defend him more than twice a year."

Demers will get his first look at Marleau in a Maple Leafs' uniform when the Panthers host Toronto on Nov. 22.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

When T.J. Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2015, he expected to do one thing: win Cups.

But, after running through the Eastern Conference in back-to-back regular seasons to only be bounced in the second round of the playoffs, Oshie knows the task ahead is only getting harder. Especially when you consider the talent Washington lost this offseason.

"We lost a lot of really, really good players, and I think we knew that was going to happen," Oshie said, according to Jessi Pierce of NHL.com. "Now we're going to need a lot of younger guys to fill in for a lot of different roles."

With the offseason losses of veteran wingers Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams, the Capitals' bottom-six forward group will need unproven youngsters like Jakub Vrana, Andre Burakovsky, and Riley Barber to take their games to the next level.

"I'm looking for everyone to take that next step," Oshie said. "It's not one or two guys; we need everyone to get on board and to find that next level. From our star players to our support players and to the guys that play the dirty minutes, we need everyone."

Washington was also dealt a blow on the blue line, as salary cap restrictions influenced the departures of rearguards Karl Alzner, Nate Schmidt, and Kevin Shattenkirk.

Oshie recognizes that without some of the aforementioned names, the Caps are in for a much stiffer test this season as opposed to the past two.

"I don't expect us to run away with it like we did the past couple years in the regular season," he said.

Washington still touts one of the best core groups in the NHL today with Alex Ovechkin, Braden Holtby, and Nicklas Backstrom anchoring the club.

But, regardless of who it is, the Capitals will need someone to step up to support the big three, otherwise it will be another long summer for Ovi and the boys.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

More space for shooting equals more space for scoring.

That's the thinking of New York Islanders winger Josh Ho-Sang, a proponent of bigger nets in a bid to see more goals in the NHL.

"It's not rocket science. They can literally make the nets wider and not make them (deeper). It's the same game," Ho-Sang told Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "If you want more goals, that's what I'd do."

Related: Ho-Sang hopes Tavares is happy whenever, wherever he signs

In recent seasons, the NHL has toyed with various tweaks to create more offensive opportunities, from a reduction in goalie equipment, to reviews on goaltender interference, to the implementation of hybrid icing, among other ideas.

Bigger nets, an idea championed by Ho-Sang, represents a starker change.

"The goalies are really good. That's reality," Ho-Sang added. "The technology side has to give because athletes are just going to keep getting better. There are goalies who aren't in the NHL that are outrageously good."

(Information courtesy of SportingCharts.com)

The NHL's goals per game has remained relatively stable over the past four full seasons, and since the introduction of the salary cap, has averaged more than six goals per game just once, reaching 6.05 in 2005-06.

Maybe Ho-Sang is on to something. No doubt he's speaking from experience. After beginning last season with the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Ho-Sang moved up to the Islanders, where he netted 10 points in 21 games.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Detroit Red Wings forward and current restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou is considering a one-year contract offer from a KHL team, his agent told Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Athanasiou is the lone player on Detroit's ledger without a contract, and negotiations between he and the organization this summer have yet to lead anywhere productive.

While considering leaving the NHL could simply be a move to apply pressure on general manager Ken Holland to get a deal done, losing Athanasiou would be a crucial loss to a Red Wings roster that lacks talent.

Athanasiou, just 23, is one of Detroit's top young players, and in 64 games with the club last season, he recorded 18 goals and 11 assists despite playing just over 13 minutes per night.

The situation further magnifies Detroit's cap problems, as the Red Wings are a projected $3.9 million over the limit, per CapFriendly. Even when Johan Franzen's cap hit is placed on LTIR, the club still has virtually no wiggle room without making a roster move.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.