Phil Kessel can flat out fly on the ice, but his reluctance to board small planes apparently cost his linemates a late-night TV appearance.

Nick Bonino revealed that the vaunted "HBK" line - made up of himself, Kessel, and Carl Hagelin - was forced to decline an invite to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" after winning the Stanley Cup last weekend.

"Me, Haggy, and Phil were invited to Stephen Colbert and we were going to go on the day after we won or the day after we got back," Bonino told the Pardon My Take podcast.

"They sent an eight-person jet, and Phil was like, 'No, it's too small,' because he's afraid to fly, so he cancelled the whole show. (He) wouldn't get on the private jet. Me and Haggy are like, 'F---, man, we're never going to get to go on Colbert without you, and (Kessel) just went to sleep and that was it. Never heard from him again."

Kessel's postseason performance nearly earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy, and his eccentricities will surely fly with his teammates as long as he continues to deliver on the ice.

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If the Colorado Avalanche wade into the free agency pool, it won't involve a blockbuster signing on the first day of the frenzy.

"We're not going to be looking that day," Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic told Mike Chambers of The Denver Post.

"As the summer goes on, we’ll see what good fits are. But on July 1, don’t expect us to go after any big long-term deals. Within our own, we’re going to discuss what we have within, but outside on July 1 we’re not going to go after a big splash.”

The Avalanche have seven pending unrestricted free agents and five pending RFAs - including Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie - with about $18.75 million in cap space, according to General Fanager.

Related: Avalanche to let Boedker and Matthias test free agency, but will bid

Sakic said Thursday that Barrie will not be traded and that the club would prefer to sign the defenseman to a long-term deal but will go to arbitration if necessary.

TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tuesday that Sakic has told other NHL GMs that he's willing to listen on trades and potentially deal big names.

As he did on the Barrie front, Sakic shot down the notion that the Avalanche could be interested in acquiring pending RFA blue-liner Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets.

“I don’t ever comment on rumors,” Sakic said. “There’s a lot of speculation out there. All I can tell you is we’ve had conversations with different teams and we want to try to improve our crop.”

The Avalanche hold the 10th overall pick in the draft, which takes place next Friday and Saturday in Buffalo. They selected forward Mikko Rantanen in that same spot last year.

Colorado finished five points out of a playoff spot this season, but the Avalanche boast a solid core that includes MacKinnon, Barrie, captain Gabriel Landeskog, and forward Matt Duchene.

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Daniel Sprong's 2016-17 season will be an abbreviated one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect will miss seven-to-eight months after having surgery on his right shoulder, the club announced Friday.

Sprong suffered the injury while serving as one of the Penguins' reserves - or 'Black Aces' - during the run to their fourth Stanley Cup championship.

The 19-year-old played 18 games for the NHL club earlier this season before being sent to the QMJHL's Charlottetown Islanders.

He racked up 46 points in 33 junior games before joining the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and scoring five goals in 10 playoff contests.

Sprong was Pittsburgh's second-round pick in 2015.

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Jonathan Drouin has already stated that he wants to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and his agent confirmed Friday that his client's previous desire to be dealt has been officially rescinded.

Drouin's trade demand was withdrawn during a conversation between Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman and agent Allan Walsh that came after the forward's expression of loyalty to the club, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.

"As (Jonathan) said at the end of the season, he wants to be back in Tampa next year,” Walsh told LeBrun in an email Thursday. "It's a tight-knit group, and going forward, he's happy being part of it."

At the team's final media availability in late May, Drouin made it clear that he'd changed his tune.

"I definitely want to be here," Drouin told reporters, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "I love the way this ended, I guess, with this different and weird year. … It's definitely somewhere I want to play."

That same day, Yzerman implied there was no reason to believe Drouin wouldn't return to the Lightning next season.

Drouin was suspended by the club in January for failing to report to an AHL game. Walsh announced earlier that month that he and his client demanded a trade in November.

The 21-year-old returned to the Lightning for the final two games of the regular season, scoring a goal in both contests.

Drouin carried that success into the playoffs, notching five goals and 14 points in 17 postseason games.

Walsh's confirmation was essentially a foregone conclusion, but it puts to bed any lingering doubts about his client's intentions.

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The Calgary Flames officially named Glen Gulutzan their new head coach in a news conference Friday.

"It became very clear, meeting with Glen early, that this was a perfect match," Flames general manager Brad Treliving said.

Gulutzan spent the last three years as an assistant with the Vancouver Canucks, after two seasons as the head coach of the Dallas Stars.

The 44-year-old was the head coach and GM of the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers from 2003 to 2009. The Wranglers were the Flames' affiliate.

"What a whirlwind," Gulutuzan said. "It's a honor. This is where I started to cut my teeth in the NHL when I was in Las Vegas."

Treliving believes his new head coach's greatest strength is his ability to connect to players.

"The players trust Glen. That is a huge factor," Treliving said.

Gulutzan plans to alter the way the Flames play compared to their approach under former head coach Bob Hartley.

Gulutzan revealed the grueling nature - literally - of the interview process.

The new head coach knows he's inheriting a youthful club that includes the likes of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, and Dougie Hamilton.

"(There's) a really good young base, that's what I see here," Gulutzan said.

Calgary had the sixth-youngest team in the NHL last season, according to NHLNumbers.

The Flames fired Hartley last month after missing the playoffs in a campaign that came one year after he was given the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top head coach.

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The magic may be over on this side of the pond.

Pavel Datsyuk met Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland on Friday evening to discuss his playing future, though early speculation suggests the sit-down was merely a formality.

TSN's Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger endorsed a report from Aaron Ward on Friday afternoon stating the two sides will announce Saturday at a joint press conference that Datsyuk will not return to Detroit for the final season on his contract.

Instead, Datsyuk's expected to return to Russia to continue his playing career close to home, likely with KHL outfit SKA St. Petersburg.

Datsyuk's agent, Dan Milstein, said his client will address the media Saturday at noon, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan.

"I don't have any information that I can share," Milstein said earlier Friday.

Because Datsyuk signed his lucrative multi-year contract beyond age 35, his impending departure will see the Red Wings on the hook for his entire $7.5-million salary. The two sides are expected to explore avenues to have his contract dealt, and hidden on a payroll elsewhere.

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The Calgary Flames will name Glen Gulutzan head coach Friday, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

The Flames have called a news conference at which it's expected Gulutzan will be introduced.

The Vancouver Canucks assistant coach was reportedly the favorite to land the Flames' job. He was hired as a Canucks assistant in the summer of 2013 after being dismissed as head coach of the Dallas Stars.

Gulutzan went 64-57-9 in two seasons with Dallas, failing to qualify for the playoffs in both campaigns.

The Flames fired former head coach Bob Hartley in May, one season after he received the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top head coach.

Hartley spent four years behind Calgary's bench and was inherited by Flames general manager Brad Treliving, who was hired in the spring of 2014.

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Turns out the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters weren't the only champions in the building.

Evgeni Malkin showed up to watch Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins forward had an amusing way of showing support for Cavaliers center and fellow Russian Timofey Mozgov.

Mozgov played only two minutes in Cleveland's blowout victory, missing his lone shot, grabbing one rebound, and swiping one steal.

Malkin won his second Stanley Cup championship with the Penguins on Sunday, and his winning ways rubbed off on the Cavs, who forced Game 7 with a decisive victory over the Warriors in Cleveland's final home game of the season.

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