William Nylander is done with Twitter, or at least with his Twitter handle.

The Toronto Maple Leafs prized rookie deactivated his account at the request of the club after it was brought to light that "Snizzbone" can be considered a derogatory term, Yahoo's Dhiren Mahiban reports.

Nylander, 19, unaware of any crude second meaning, has stated previously it was a nickname given to him when he was younger.

There's no timeline for his return to the social media website.

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Having already locked up the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed with weeks to spare, the Washington Capitals have the opportunity to rest, heal, and preserve bodies before embarking on what they hope will be a long, fruitful playoff run.

And they're taking advantage of such luxury with "banged up" pivot Nicklas Backstrom.

"If he's not 100 percent, he probably will not play," Capital coach Trotz said when assessing Backstrom's chances of returning Tuesday, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.

That, of course, will be different when the postseason rolls around. Backstrom didn't take line rushes, but was once again a full participant at practice Monday, seemingly unimpeded by whatever's ailing him.

"We're in a good position right now," he admitted. "And we don't want to rush anything. It's probably smarter decision for now, I'd say."

He's missed the club's last two games.

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For Shane Doan, the NHL's draft lottery system hits close to home.

It was literally a topic of conversation around the family dinner table last season after his son, a die-hard Arizona Coyotes fan, began cheering for the team to lose in order to increase its chances of landing the first overall pick.

"My son (Josh) is literally the biggest Coyotes fan that you'll ever meet," Doan told Sarah McLellan of azcentral sports. "He lives, breathes - he, until very recently, would be physically upset when we lost, and it'd break your heart. And I remember him cheering after games, being mad, but being happy we lost - like cheering against us.

"And it was awful, and I hated it and I thought it was the stupidest thing in the world because here's a guy who's the most passionate Coyotes fan cheering against us."

Doan's solution? Reward teams who keep winning even after being eliminated from the playoffs.

"The day you're mathematically eliminated, you start accumulating points," Doan explained. "When you get to the end of the year, whoever's accumulated the most points gets the first overall pick."

This would keep fans of non-playoff teams engaged to the very end of the regular season, cheering for the accumulation of points instead of hoping for losses. The finer details would need to be ironed out, but Doan believes it's an ideal starting point.

"You should always be cheering for your team or have something to look forward to in your team, and so I've been a big proponent of this system and trying to give your team something to play for because ... every fan could be behind you," he said.

"These next (four) games would be huge for us, huge for us, because you'd have the ability to dictate where you're going to be. Your coaches would be coaching to win. Your management would be managing to win, and there'd be immense pressure to keep winning and it'd help you."

As it stands, the Coyotes have a 6 percent chance of landing local boy Auston Matthews with the first overall pick this June.

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You can forgive Steven Stamkos' teammates for thinking it was an April Fool's joke.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost their captain to a blood clot in his arm Friday, and he underwent successful surgery Monday, the club announced. It's unknown how long Stamkos will be out - anywhere from one-to-three months - and he will be re-evaluated in two weeks. His teammates, meanwhile, are still digesting the news on both a hockey and a personal level.

Brian Boyle, who considers Stamkos a close friend, was blindsided by the news.

"Completely shocked, really, almost in disbelief. You feel for the guy so much," Boyle said, as quoted by The Tampa Tribune's Erik Erlendsson. "On a personal level it makes you sick to your stomach, almost. The passion and drive that kid has for this team and the game, the way he conducts and handles himself, he does everything the right way, it seems a bit unfair. It's something that you don't really understand and you just feel for the guy."

Valtteri Filppula echoed Boyle.

"It's a big, huge loss, and first of all you worry about the health, that’s the most important thing to put hockey aside," he said. "On the hockey side, it's tough having that kind of guy who's been playing well for a while now out, so we just need guys to step up a little bit more."

According to head coach Jon Cooper, it's up to the guys who are healthy to ensure Stamkos and injured defenseman Anton Stralman play hockey again this season.

"... the one thing we can't do is say our two big guns are out and now our season is over," Cooper said. "We've come way too far to have anything like that try to get in to our mind-set. So it stings, it hurts and it's clearly not ideal. But we have to be pros. ... So that has to be our mind-set, let's get them back and not make this the end of their season."

The Lightning can clinch a playoff berth - their third straight - with a point against the New York Islanders on Monday.

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The St. Louis Blues will be without captain David Backes and goaltender Jake Allen for the rest of the regular season, the club announced Monday. Both have lower-body injuries.

Allen has struggled with injuries throughout the season, and left injured after one period Sunday, stopping all 11 shots he faced. Backes has yet to miss a game this season. Both will be re-evaluated once the regular season ends.

Backes finishes the season with 21 goals and 24 assists in 79 games. He's a free agent on July 1.

Allen's campaign concludes as the best of his career. He went 26-15-3, finishing with a .920 save percentage and six shutouts - both personal highs.

The Blues have dealt with an absurd amount of injuries throughout the season, so it's no surprise this is the way their 82-game campaign comes to an end. Hopefully, these injuries aren't serious, and shutting down the two players is for precautionary reasons.

The playoffs begin April 13. The Blues will be there.

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New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano had some choice words for a trio of forwards in advance of Monday's game against Tampa Bay.

In order for his club to secure a playoff spot, Capuano said he needs more from Ryan Strome, Josh Bailey, and Brock Nelson.

"There's no surprises. We need Strome to be better. We need Brock to be better. We need Bailey to be better. We need guys to be better if we're going to have any chance at all," Capuano told reporters Monday. "They see it, it's black and white. The video doesn't lie. It doesn't come down to X's and O's, it doesn't come down to systems. It comes down to how hard you want to compete.

"We've struggled with a few guys, for sure, about their compete level and their work ethic. It has to be better. ... The guys mentioned need to pick their shit up and start playing."

Capuano's roster appears top-heavy as a result of star performances from John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. More was expected from the supporting cast - especially Strome, a fifth overall selection by the Islanders in 2011.

The results, however, leave much to be desired.

With five games remaining, the Islanders have a three-point advantage over Boston and two over Philadelphia in the race for the Eastern Conference's wild-card spots.

Capuano's statements come after Tavares himself said Saturday he was embarrassed by the team's effort in a shutout loss to Pittsburgh.

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The Philadelphia Flyers will have to make the playoffs without Andrew MacDonald.

MacDonald won't play Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings, the club announced Monday. He's considered day to day with an upper-body injury after being hit from behind Sunday. Based on the evidence, it's likely a head injury.

The 29-year-old defender has seven assists in 24 games, playing 20:16 a game. He'll be missed, as the Flyers look to overcome a slow start and qualify for the playoffs.

According to the Flyers' website, "head coach Dave Hakstol will likely return to Evgeny Medvedev, who has been a healthy scratch recently."

Medvedev has three goals and eight assists in 44 games.

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