The NHL will review whether the Chicago Blackhawks can place forward Marian Hossa - who announced Wednesday he will miss the entire 2017-18 campaign with a skin disorder - on long-term injured reserve for the upcoming season, Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reports.

Much rides on the decision, as Hossa landing on LTIR would provide the cap-crunched Blackhawks with major financial relief, compared to "cap recapture" penalties should he have to retire.

With the expansion and entry drafts taking place this week, the NHL is rather preoccupied, but Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski reports league deputy commissioner Bill Daly said a decision should come by July 1.

The 38-year-old powerhouse winger revealed he privately underwent treatment throughout the season, and side effects from the medication to treat the disorder contributed to the decision to sit out.

Hossa, a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, netted 26 goals and 19 assists across 73 contests for the Blackhawks in 2016-17, and has four seasons remaining on his current contract which carries an annual cap hit of $5.275 million.

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

The NHL's top prospect - Nolan Patrick - got a quick taste of the limelight in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon.

The Brandon Wheat Kings forward - who will enter Friday's NHL entry draft in Chicago as the top-ranked North American skater, according to NHL Central Scouting - threw out the opening pitch at Wrigley Field ahead of the Chicago Cubs' clash with the San Diego Padres.

Fellow prospects Casey Mittelstadt and Gabriel Vilardi were also on hand to join Patrick in the festivities.

The New Jersey Devils have the first overall pick in the draft, while the Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars round out the top three.

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

Two of the Vegas Golden Knights' first games are now confirmed and with a team based in the betting capital of the world you can bet lines are already set.

The Golden Knights will play their first game on Oct. 6 against the Dallas Stars and will host their first home game on Oct. 10 against the Arizona Coyotes.

With that, here are some numbers you might want to consider if you care to get in on the early action, according to Westgate Las Vegas Superbrook:

Oct. 6 vs. Stars

Oct. 10 vs. Coyotes

Of course, since Vegas is without a roster in place for the time being - with the expansion draft scheduled for Wednesday night - you can expect these numbers are likely to change in a few hours time.

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

Las Vegas' professional sports teams are playing nice.

With the Vegas Golden Knights set to reveal their expansion-draft roster at the NHL Awards on Wednesday night, their soon-to-be NFL neighbors sent a letter wishing them all the best as they break ground in the desert.

The Raiders won't be moving from Oakland to their new stadium in Las Vegas until at least the 2020 NFL season, but knowing what a big day this will be for the Golden Knights, they couldn't wait to share in the excitement.

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

The Vegas Golden Knights will host the Arizona Coyotes in the team's first-ever regular-season game at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 10.

The league announced each team's home opener for the 2017-18 season on Wednesday, with the full schedule being released Thursday.

Among other notable home openers:

• The Golden Knights will play their first-ever game against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 6.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs will kick off the season in Winnipeg on Oct. 4, giving fans an early dose of Auston Matthews versus Patrik Laine.
• The Detroit Red Wings will host the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 5 in the first regular-season game in the newly built Little Caesars Arena.
• Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers will welcome the Calgary Flames to Rogers Place for another installment of the Battle of Alberta on Oct. 4.
• The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins kick off their pursuit of a three-peat with their home opener on Oct. 4 against the St. Louis Blues.

Let the games begin.

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

Braden Holtby doesn't foresee himself repeating as the Vezina Trophy winner.

The Washington Capitals goaltender and reigning victor has been blunt about who deserves the trophy this year, suggesting Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky should take home the hardware.

"He definitely deserves it," Holtby said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "That's my expectations and I think that's what it should be. It goes to show what kind of season he had."

Bobrovsky will be looking to earn his second Vezina after capturing it during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

Holtby insists Bobrovsky's season compares favorably to that of Carey Price's 2014-15 campaign, when the Montreal Canadiens netminder earned the Vezina, the Hart, and the Ted Lindsay Award.

"It's not far off," Holtby said. "It's pretty special and I hope he gets the praise that he deserves because he put in a lot of work and us goalies around the league realize that and appreciate (that) what he's done this year is pretty special."

The 28-year-old certainly put up the numbers to back up the vote of confidence from Holtby. Bobrovsky constructed a record of 41-17-5 in 63 games, pacing the league among goalies with at least 25 games played with a .931 save percentage, a 2.06 goals-against average, and tying for third in shutouts with seven.

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

The Vegas Golden Knights will claim Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury in the expansion draft after the Penguins agreed to sweeten the deal with a draft pick, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

That was the price to be paid for the Golden Knights to select Fleury, who has two years remaining on a contract that carries a $5.75-million cap hit.

According to LeBrun, the Penguins were concerned the Golden Knights could pass on Fleury, given the amount of goaltenders made available in the expansion pool. That would have left the cap-crunched Penguins on the hook for Fleury's big-ticket deal.

According to Cap Friendly, the Penguins have just under $15 million in available cap space, a number that increases to more than $20 million with the exit of Fleury. But several Penguins are up for new deals, including Nick Bonino, Chris Kunitz, Conor Sheary, Trevor Daley, Brian Dumoulin, and Justin Schultz, among others.

Fleury - who carries a no-movement clause - required protection from the expansion draft before he agreed to a move to Vegas. The 32-year-old was a key piece in the Penguins' recent Stanley Cup win.

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

The Minnesota Wild have reportedly agreed to send 2014 first-round pick Alex Tuch to the Vegas Golden Knights as part of an expansion-draft side deal, Michael Russo of the Star Tribune reports.

The agreement will see the Golden Knights sign Wild restricted free-agent Erik Haula after the new club agreed to stay away from center Eric Staal and defensemen Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella, all of whom were made available in the expansion draft. Vegas will also receive a conditional draft choice in the deal.

According to Russo, Haula has agreed to a multi-year extension with the Golden Knights, which had an exclusive window to negotiate with pending free agents.

It's not the first such deal struck by the Golden Knights, which has also reportedly made similar arrangements with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders, with both deals expected to return first-round draft choices to Vegas.

The Golden Knights will announce their 30 selections as part of Wednesday's NHL awards ceremony, at which time it will also reveal the various trades it made as part of the expansion draft.

Any further deals, where Vegas chooses a player and then flips him to another club, cannot be announced until a league-wide trade freeze lifts Thursday.

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