The Arizona Coyotes have signed forward Alex Galchenyuk to a one-year contract worth $750,000, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

Galchenyuk joined the Coyotes on a professional tryout in September. He spent last season split between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, managing 13 points over 34 games.

The 27-year-old previously suited up for the Coyotes during the 2018-19 campaign. The Montreal Canadiens dealt him to the desert, and he was flipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins after one season.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have released forward Nikita Gusev from his professional tryout, while Josh Ho-Sang has converted his opportunity into an AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies, the team announced Tuesday.

Gusev joined the Leafs for training camp after spending last season with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils, managing 10 points in 31 games between the two clubs.

Ho-Sang will report to the Marlies, but signing an AHL deal exempts him from waivers for the time being. If the Leafs want to call him up, they can ink him to an NHL contract.

The 25-year-old former first-round pick played in the Swedish Hockey League last campaign after the New York Islanders waived him.

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It appears Phil Kessel is a prime candidate to be traded during the 2021-22 season.

"Kessel is in the final year of his contract with the Arizona Coyotes. We also know that (general manager) Bill Armstrong and the Coyotes have defined the direction that they're going in, and that will not include Phil Kessel," TSN's Darren Dreger said on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

"He wants a fresh start, he wants to earn a new contract somewhere in the National Hockey League," Dreger continued. "He's got some no-trade protection, he wants to go to a competitive, if not a contending team, if you will.

"He's got the big cap hit, but the salary is only $1 million. So if you have an injury, or team that's struggling offensively, he could be a fit later in the season."

Kessel is entering the final campaign of an eight-year, $64-million contract signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2013. The Coyotes, meanwhile, parted with several significant assets this past summer while beginning a full-scale rebuild.

Arizona acquired Kessel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019. There's a list of eight teams he'd accept a trade to in his contract, according to Cap Friendly.

The 34-year-old registered 20 goals and 23 assists over 56 contests last season while averaging 17 minutes per game. His active Ironman streak of 900 consecutive games is the fifth-longest in NHL history. However, the impressive feat could be in jeopardy because he's been sidelined with a foot injury during training camp.

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Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner held a press conference Monday to explain why he took to Twitter to call out the league over various issues this past weekend.

Lehner scolded the NHLPA online for its mishandling of the Jack Eichel situation and then went after Philadelphia Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault, claiming the veteran bench boss has a history of mistreating his players.

"The last 72 hours have been incredibly difficult, but also incredibly valuable to me, to my career, to my life goals," Lehner said.

"I had a great talk with the NHL and the NHLPA over the last day. I'm excited for the potential change that can be made to protect the younger generation. This is something I've been advocating for for years, and I'm encouraged about the approach they want to take."

Lehner has long been outspoken about the value of mental health. He says his online exploits were a last resort to finally break down barriers and start making changes. Lehner added all future discussions between him and the league will occur behind closed doors.

"I'm always going to advocate for mental health, and advocate for this league," Lehner said.

"But moving forward, I'm looking to help in a more private matter. This weekend was a cry for help from this league, the league I love that has given me so much. But I'm just looking to protect the younger players. The only way to affect change, in my mind, is to do it in a non-public fashion."

Lehner was also adamant he didn't stir the pot online for attention.

"I'm not comfortable with this. I did it anyway," Lehner said. "I'm not comfortable doing any of this. It's extremely hard, especially, again, not to hide behind anything as a proud bipolar person. It's not easy, with a storm like this, and people think I just seek attention and stuff like that. I really don't. I really don't like it, it's not easy for me mentally. But I don't think I have to do that anymore."

Lehner, 30, is entering his 12th NHL campaign.

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Just one team - the Nashville Predators in 2017-18 and 2018-19 - has won the Central Division in consecutive seasons over the last 12 years. The parity has been unrivaled.

While the Colorado Avalanche are likely to buck that trend, there isn't much value in backing them to do so.

Today, we'll be exploring the best way to attack the Central Division futures market.

The favorites

The Avalanche (-340) have the shortest odds of any team in the NHL to win their division. Understandably so.

There is no Achilles heel with this team. Offensively, they're as good as anyone. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog spearhead the attack - at even strength and on the power play - and there's no shortage of quality depth behind them.

Defensively, they're much more stout than they get credit for. Everyone knows about the production Cale Makar, Sam Girard, and Co. bring to the table. But their defense core can also defend with the best of them. The Avalanche actually allowed expected goals at a lesser rate than every team in the NHL at five-on-five. They really don't give up much.

When they do, they figure to be in good hands with Darcy Kuemper and a healthy Pavel Francouz. Each netminder owns a .925 save percentage at five-on-five over the last three years which, for perspective, puts them on par with annual Vezina candidate Connor Hellebuyck (.924 save percentage).

Unless this team suffers a multitude of injuries, they're winning the Central.

The rest

The Dallas Stars (+800) figure to be a strong team this season. They finished third in expected goals share a year ago despite an overwhelming amount of injuries. With better health and the addition of Ryan Suter to stabilize the top four on defense, they should win a lot of games. Enough to make the Avs sweat? Probably not.

The Minnesota Wild (+800) are likely to take at least a small step back. The Wild shot the lights out in 2021, leading the league in five-on-five shooting percentage and benefiting from the highest PDO (shooting percentage plus save percentage) in the NHL. They have talent on the roster, but probably not enough to sustain those kinds of numbers. Replacing Suter with Alex Goligoski is a step in the wrong direction, and the team's stable of high-end prospects probably needs at least another year before making an impact.

The St. Louis Blues (+1500) don't strike me as a team with a chance of knocking off the Avalanche. Only the Detroit Red Wings generated expected goals at a lesser rate than St. Louis last season. The Blues did their best to rectify that, bringing in the likes of Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich to round out the top six. I don't know if Craig Berube is the coach to get the most out of those guys, though, and it's anyone's guess how much longer Vladimir Tarasenko sticks around. Their defense isn't as good as it gets credit for, either. On paper it looks fine, but they ranked 18th in expected goals against per 60 and 20th in high-danger chances against last season, and have no real upgrades. The only notable difference is they lost Vince Dunn to the Seattle Kraken.

The Winnipeg Jets (+1500) are an interesting side to consider. They have a potent offense and one of the league's best netminders. What's largely held them back in recent years is their blue line, which should be much better in 2021-22. Brenden Dillon is a rock-solid defensive defender and Nate Schmidt is only a year removed from playing at a borderline top-pairing level. They're not world-beaters, but they're quality pieces that significantly upgrade the top four.

The Chicago Blackhawks (+2500) are a better team than a year ago but the hill is much too large to climb. They're overrated on the betting market, as I recently explained. They just don't have much scoring depth and their overall team defense is not where it needs to be to compete in such a strong division.

Nashville (+6000) was only able to sneak into the playoffs last season despite all-world goaltending from Juuse Saros. There isn't much reason to believe they'll be better this year, especially with the departure of Ryan Ellis.

You don't need me to tell you the Arizona Coyotes (+10000) are a complete write-off. They lack high-end talent, depth, and their goaltending tandem might be the league's worst. Let's call a spade a spade. It's tank season for Arizona.

Best bet: Winnipeg Jets (+1500)

Let me preface this by saying, again, I fully expect the Avalanche to win the division. It would take an alarming string of injuries, suspensions, or unforeseen circumstances to prevent that from happening. But with the odds implying a 77.8% chance of winning the Central, there simply isn't much value.

That's why I'm going with the Jets. Led by Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Nik Ehlers, we know the offense is formidable. The Jets are also in great hands with Hellebuyck routinely stealing games in net. If the defense is better, as it should be, they have arguably the highest ceiling in the division outside of Colorado.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid wasn't happy with the officiating in Monday night's 4-3 preseason win over the Calgary Flames.

The play that irked McDavid happened in the third period as he was cutting toward the net before the game-tying goal. Flames defenseman Chris Tanev tripped McDavid up which caused him to crash into Calgary netminder Jacob Markstrom.

As he crashed into Markstrom, a shot from Jesse Puljujarvi ricocheted off McDavid and went in. Despite the goal counting, McDavid voiced his displeasure after the game.

"Obviously they have the right to defend their net and defend me trying to get in there but when the stick kinda comes into the feet there like Tanev's did it's a dangerous play for me and for the goalie," he said. "I don't want to go flying in there, the goalie doesn't want me to go flying in there. And the guy that's left safe is the defenseman that was sloppy with his stick.

"I think you'd like to see that called a little bit more."

McDavid suffered a devastating knee injury in the final game of the 2018-19 season against the Flames when he was tripped into the net on a similar play.

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This past NHL offseason truly had it all - a successful offer sheet, an expansion draft, several blockbuster trades, and hundreds of millions of dollars in cash doled out in shiny new contracts for players across the league.

Keeping up with the wide variety of storylines was an exhausting and chaotic task at times. As we wait to see how it all pans out this coming year, let's reflect on some moves that still have us scratching our heads.

5. Oilers splurge for Keith

The Edmonton Oilers entered the offseason with a solid chunk of cap space but immediately handcuffed themselves by acquiring Duncan Keith. The Oilers brought in the 38-year-old future Hall of Fame defenseman in exchange for Caleb Jones and a conditional pick in 2022. While the cost wasn't outrageous, it made little sense for Edmonton to take on Keith's entire $5.538-million cap hit and full no-movement clause for the next two seasons.

Keith's legacy is undeniable. Three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, two Norris trophies, and a Conn Smythe make him one of the greats of his generation. But he's been an ineffective defender for years now. Keith hasn't posted a positive expected goals rate at five-on-five since 2015-16 and has been below 50% in shot share in each of the last three seasons.

There's no question the Oilers needed to add a blue-liner this summer. However, targeting Keith doesn't solve any of their defensive problems, especially considering Adam Larsson joined Seattle and Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie - the club's only other signings on the back end - are prone to surrendering a ton of chances.

4. Flyers add Ristolainen

The Philadelphia Flyers were one of the league's busiest teams this offseason, setting out to make significant changes after a disappointing 2020-21 campaign in which they missed the playoffs. Some of the club's moves should genuinely help the cause, while others, like trading a first-round pick for Rasmus Ristolainen, are less likely to do so.

Ristolainen has been one of the NHL's worst defenders by almost every metric for years. Here's a peek at his overall impact over the past three seasons. In the chart below, red is bad.

It's difficult to excel when playing for a Buffalo Sabres team constantly spinning their tires in a seemingly never-ending rebuild, but Ristolainen has a big enough sample size under his belt to indicate that he likely won't change at this point in his career.

Philadelphia's decision to pay such a high price for Ristolainen looks worse when you consider he's an unrestricted free agent next summer. Trading Shayne Gostisbehere for literally nothing to accommodate Ristolainen's $5.4-million cap hit only adds to the mystery of what general manager Chuck Fletcher envisions for his defensive corps this season.

3. Hurricanes send Nedeljkovic to Red Wings

It feels like only yesterday the Carolina Hurricanes had their future in goal stabilized by a young netminder up for the Calder Trophy. Then they traded him for peanuts.

Alex Nedeljkovic took over No. 1 netminding duties for the Canes last year and led the NHL in save percentage (.932) and goals-against average (1.90) while shining in several underlying metrics. With incumbents Petr Mrazek and James Reimer set for unrestricted free agency, it seemed like the perfect time for Carolina to commit to Nedeljkovic, who was a restricted free agent himself.

Instead, the Hurricanes traded Nedeljkovic to the Detroit Red Wings for Jonathan Bernier's signing rights and a third-round pick. Carolina let Bernier walk and then committed $6.5 million for the next two seasons to an uncertain veteran tandem in Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta. Meanwhile, Detroit locked up Nedeljkovic to a modest two-year, $6-million contract.

That's a price the Hurricanes could afford, but perhaps they weren't ready to commit to a goalie with only 29 NHL appearances. After all, Carolina's front office is privy to much more information than we are, but on the surface, this trade was curious at best and one that could backfire immensely at worst.

2. Golden Knights dump Fleury

From a hockey ops perspective, the Vegas Golden Knights can't afford to pay their goalie tandem $12 million if they want to compete for Stanley Cups perennially. As the older, more expensive, closer-to-free-agency option, it made sense for the Golden Knights to trade Marc-Andre Fleury.

From a personal perspective, the heartless way Vegas cut ties with the face of its franchise is puzzling. Fleury had been the Golden Knights' heart and soul since being selected in the expansion draft. He was a fan favorite from the get-go and played an enormous role in the club's immediate success. Despite the future Hall of Famer's popularity and stature within the organization, Fleury was left in the dark about the stunning move and found out he'd been traded over Twitter.

Making matters more bizarre, Vegas dumped Fleury for Mikael Hakkarainen, a 23-year-old fifth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks who's bounced between the ECHL and AHL since 2019.

Fleury's tenure in Vegas always felt like an unlikely fairytale. He revived his career, backboned the most successful expansion franchise in league history, won a Vezina Trophy, and became a household name in a hockey market many believed was destined for failure. For it to end in such an ugly fashion was the final chapter no one saw coming.

1. Eichel, Sabres in limbo

At the outset of the offseason, the narrative surrounding a Jack Eichel trade was a matter of when and not if. It was supposed to be the story of the year - a young, disgruntled superstar dealt in the prime of his career for a king's ransom. Now just days away from the start of the 2021-22 season, it still hasn't happened.

The team and player remain at odds about the best course of action for Eichel's ailing neck. Amid the stalemate, Eichel has fired and replaced his agent, been stripped of his captaincy, and had former teammates, as well as commissioner Gary Bettman, publicly address the dubious twists and turns this saga has taken.

What was once a gigantic storyline for hockey fans to look forward to has now evolved into an unprecedented game of chicken that neither side will benefit from any time soon. How can the Sabres establish fair value in a trade at this point? When can we reasonably expect Eichel to retake the ice? What is his quality of life like as he awaits significant neck surgery?

How and when this all gets resolved remains a mystery.

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