Team Sweden isn't planning on having Sabres forward prospect Alexander Nylander on the roster for the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo.

Nylander, who played mainly in the AHL last season, was made available by the Sabres for the 2017 tournament, and starred en route to a fourth-place finish for his home country. But Swedish coach Tomas Monten didn't add the 19-year-old to the roster for this week's World Junior Summer Showcase, and expects Nylander to be a permanent fixture in the Buffalo lineup in 2017-18.

"Of course if Buffalo wants him to play (for Sweden), we're going to keep our door open. He for sure has a spot on our team but I think he's going to make Buffalo this year," Monten said, according to Amy Moritz of the Buffalo News. "That's why I didn't bring him. We haven't talked in the summer.

"Of course I'm going to ask Buffalo what they think. If he's available, we'll take him for sure but I don't think he is. I think he's going to play in Buffalo."

Nylander was drafted eighth overall by the Sabres in 2016. He registered 10 goals and 18 assists in 65 games for the Rochester Americans as an AHL rookie last season, and recorded one assist in four appearances with Buffalo.

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Dylan Strome knows a good summer will help him crack the Arizona Coyotes' roster this season, and the team's top center prospect is putting in the time to realize that dream.

"I've been working hard in the gym and on the ice and I feel a lot stronger and quicker," Strome told Jerry Brown of NHL.com. "Every player has the same goal of making the NHL and playing 82 games, but nothing is given to you. I know if I don't prove I'm ready, I'm going to be in the minors. It drives me to show what I can do."

The offseason workouts appear to be paying off, as Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports notes Strome is weighing in above 200 pounds - a fair uptick from the 6-foot-3, 185-pound center the Coyotes drafted third overall in 2015.

Part of that training regimen includes sessions with Coyotes skating coach Dawn Braid, who has helped add more strength and power to Strome's stride.

"He's stronger, sturdier, and the legs have a little more pop in them," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said in July. "Sometimes, big centers take a little longer to come along but he's certainly doing all the right things."

Strome spent last season with the OHL's Erie Otters, recording 22 goals and 53 assists in 35 contests. He also made a Memorial Cup run with the Otters, where he set a tournament record with a seven-point game just five months after a silver-medal finish with Team Canada at the world juniors.

But Strome's junior career is a thing of the past, as he'll turn pro in 2017-18. Whether the Mississauga, Ontario native spends the season with the Coyotes or the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners is yet to be determined, but he'll have some frame of reference after a seven-game stint with Arizona last season.

"We could have had Dylan here and had him play a depth role or play on the wing," Chayka told Brown. "He would have been fine doing that, but that's not what we're looking for out of him. We're looking for him to be a 200-foot center who impacts the game in all areas."

He's expected to fill a top-nine center role next season alongside Derek Stepan, whom the Coyotes acquired from the New York Rangers this summer, and Christian Dvorak, who enters training camp after tallyinged 15 goals and 18 assists in his freshman campaign.

Strome's ability to generate offense should please new bench boss Rick Tocchet, who's preached that he wants the Coyotes to attack with an aggressive, creative style.

"(Strome) has so many attributes from a skill and anticipation standpoint that let you know (he) has a chance to be a great one," Chayka added. "When a player has a ceiling like that, you don't want to do anything that can harm that. It's too valuable to the organization long term when you have a player of that caliber."

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David Backes' first season with the Boston Bruins didn't exactly go as planned.

The veteran power forward averaged only 0.51 points per game with his new club in 2016-17 - his lowest such mark since 2007-08, his first full NHL season.

That was due, in part, to getting settled in Boston after 10 years in St. Louis, as well as finding his spot within the Bruins' lineup. At the same time, the 33-year-old appeared to have lost a step or two in a league that is increasingly emphasizing youth and speed.

As such, Backes - at the behest of team management - is prioritizing quickness, agility, and explosiveness during his summer training, according to Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe, rather than focusing on adding bulk or building raw power.

Backes said he was a offered frank evaluation of where his game was lagging, "the way the game's trending, and how we need to keep up," and took the feedback seriously.

"We need to be honest in order to improve ourselves," he said. "That was a recognition, probably in January in conversations with Cam (Neely), Don Sweeney, and a little bit with (former head coach) Claude (Julien). This was the way I needed to improve myself. I've really taken that to heart and put the time in this summer."

The former Blues captain reiterated how tough it was to change teams and conferences last summer, and is excited to enter this year's camp with a clearer mind.

"Looking forward to having a year where I can just play hockey, come to a house that's set up, just move my family and dogs and cats in, start living life, and really be able to focus on playing the game and helping our team win," Backes said. "That's what I'm most optimistic about."

He has four seasons remaining on a contract that carries a $6-million cap hit.

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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt was awarded a two-year, $4.5-million contract by an arbitrator, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Schmidt was the only restricted free agent this offseason that required an arbitration ruling, as Friedman previously reported that the sides couldn't agree on money or term.

The Golden Knights plucked the 26-year-old blue-liner from the Washington Capitals in June's expansion draft after Schmidt recorded a career-high 17 points in 60 games.

With Schmidt locked up, all of Vegas' roster players have contracts for the club's inaugural season.

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The Detroit Red Wings have locked up ninth overall pick Michael Rasmussen on a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Saturday.

Rasmussen was Detroit's highest first-round pick since 1990, as the club missed the postseason for the first time in 26 seasons in 2016-17.

In 50 games with the WHL's Tri-City Americans last season, Rasmussen, a towering 6-foot-6 center, recorded 32 goals and 23 assists.

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USA Hockey won't use its failed past blueprints to construct a 2018 Winter Olympics roster.

Team USA, which named Jim Johannson as general manager and the University of Wisconsin's Tony Granato as coach of its Olympic entry Friday, will have a different look when it arrives in Pyeongchang.

"We want a skilled team," Johannson told Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. "The game is all about skating today. We're gonna get up and down the ice."

Given USA Hockey's lagging international results - including a disastrous run at last year's World Cup, in which a hard-nosed club constructed by former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi finished an embarrassing seventh - a change in philosophy seemed to be in order.

Johannson is a longtime member of USA Hockey who currently serves as assistant executive director of hockey operations, one of many titles he has held since 2000. The Minnesota native was the GM behind Team USA's three gold-medal finishes at the world juniors in 2010, 2013, and 2017.

American hockey fans hope Johannson can now bring that winning track record to the Olympic stage.

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