The largest mass shooting in United States history hit close to home for Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker.
The California native grew up in Las Vegas, and he has a friend who was shot Sunday night while attending a country music concert on the city's Strip. His family is safe, though, and he's heartened by the response to the unimaginable events.
"It's a very small community there," he said Monday, per Dan Myers of Wild.com. "It seems like there's a lot of people and a lot of tourists, obviously, but it's a very small community. I know they'll rally behind everyone.
"The law enforcement did a wonderful job as far as I've been hearing. Everybody, all the responders, from what I've heard, have been phenomenal and just the support overall has been great."
Vegas, of course, is now home to the NHL's Golden Knights, and Zucker is confident the city won't be forever defined by this moment.
"I know Vegas will bounce back. I know they're a strong community with a lot of great supporters behind them."
At last report, 58 people were killed and over 500 injured in the tragedy.
The Wild will visit the Golden Knights on March 16, 2018.
When it was announced that Ottawa Senators rearguard Erik Karlsson could miss the beginning of the 2017-18 regular season, many expected highly touted first-round draft pick Thomas Chabot to make the jump to the NHL.
On Sunday, however, Chabot was sent down to the club's AHL affiliate in Belleville. And on Monday, Senators head coach Guy Boucher provided some direct reasoning for the demotion.
"He hasn't surpassed our regular guys," Boucher said of Chabot, according to TSN's Brent Wallace.
"He was minus-5 last game. Same recurring theme. Professional reads, we call them," Boucher added, according to Don Brennan of The Ottawa Sun.
With Chabot unready to be an NHL regular just yet, and Karlsson expected to miss - at least - the season opener, the Senators will be taking the ice Thursday night with a less-than-ideal defensive lineup.
Subban put in a strong showing at training camp, but was beat out by Anton Khudobin for the right to serve as backup to Tuukka Rask.
Selected 24th overall in 2012, Subban has appeared in only two games with the Bruins, with a save percentage of .727 in 62 minutes of play.
His play at the AHL level gives a better look at how he's fared as a pro. In 127 games with the Providence Bruins, he's posted a record of 56-45-14 with a .918 save percentage.
Regardless of whether he's claimed or clears waivers, it appears as though drafting a goalie in later rounds is the way to go:
As Malcolm Subban hits waivers, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been only first round goalie in the last 10 drafts to secure an NHL job.
On the heels of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Las Vegas' only major professional sports franchise offered its support to the city in a heartfelt message.
A gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire Sunday night from a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, killing at least 58 people and injuring hundreds more at an outdoor concert festival.
The Knights were in Vegas at the time of the shooting, as the team was competing in its final preseason game against the San Jose Sharks.
The veteran winger has been dealing with a back issue throughout training camp, and because of the problem, will be held out of the lineup for at least the club's first two regular season games, scheduled for Thursday and Saturday.
"Parise's having a hard time getting to 100% so we'll be pulling back slightly," said general manager Chuck Fletcher. "If all goes well he'd rejoin the team next Monday."
Last season, Parise was limited by nagging injuries and illnesses, and finished with only 19 goals and 23 assists in 69 games - his lowest full-season totals since his rookie season with the New Jersey Devils.
Minnesota's third game is set for Oct. 12, giving him extra time in which to get up to speed, health permitting.
The deal is believed to be worth a base salary of $1 million, with $1 million available in bonuses.
Jagr, who will turn 46 in February, appeared in all 82 games for the Florida Panthers last season, recording 16 goals and 46 points.
The hockey legend sits second on the NHL's all-time points list with 1,914, and third in goals with 765 - 36 behind Gordie Howe. He could also achieve another career milestone with the Flames.
Jaromir Jagr needs 57 GP to become NHL's all-time leader in games. Barring injury, he will set that record in #Flames silks. Pretty cool.
Jagr joins the Flames after speaking with the St. Louis Blues, who reached out to the Czech winger following a season-ending injury to Robby Fabbri. Jagr ultimately rejected the Blues' offer, saying he was going in a different direction, which we now know is north to Alberta.
Amazingly, he joins a Flames club that features Matthew Tkachuk, whose father, Keith, was selected 19th overall at the NHL Draft in 1990 - 14 spots after Jagr.
The deal is believed to be worth a base salary of $1 million, with $1 million available in bonuses.
Jagr, who will turn 46 in February, appeared in all 82 games for the Florida Panthers last season, recording 16 goals and 46 points.
The hockey legend sits second on the NHL's all-time points list with 1,914, and third in goals with 765 - 36 behind Gordie Howe. He could also achieve another career milestone with the Flames.
Jaromir Jagr needs 57 GP to become NHL's all-time leader in games. Barring injury, he will set that record in #Flames silks. Pretty cool.
Jagr joins the Flames after speaking with the St. Louis Blues, who reached out to the Czech winger following a season-ending injury to Robby Fabbri. Jagr ultimately rejected the Blues' offer, saying he was going in a different direction, which we now know is north to Alberta.
Amazingly, he joins a Flames club that features Matthew Tkachuk, whose father, Keith, was selected 19th overall at the NHL Draft in 1990 - 14 spots after Jagr.
The NHL won't be sending its players to Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the Winter Olympics in February, but that's seemingly not stopping some of the league's newest rules from featuring prominently.
According to International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasal, the IIHF is planning to review the possibility of including coach's challenges at the 2018 Games.
"We will have consultations with the leagues that are currently utilizing the coach’s challenge system and will look at the best possible method of implementation," Fasel said.
"We are also aiming to test out a system during the international breaks in the leadup to the games."
The proposal to include the challenges was introduced last Friday at the IIHF semi-annual congress, with support coming from Canada, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Russia.
St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong told TSN's Pierre LeBrun that the Blues made an offer to the unrestricted free agent over the weekend, but was told Jagr is going in a different direction.
Armstrong says he, Martin Brodeur and Mike Yeo spoke with Jagr on the phone over the weekend then made him an offer. No hard feelings though
LeBrun added that "all signs point" to Jagr signing with the Calgary Flames, but that nothing is official. If and when he does agree to a contract with the Flames, it's expected Jagr will sign for $1 million with another $1 million in attainable bonuses.
Jagr, 45, scored 16 goals and added 30 assists in 82 games with the Florida Panthers last season.
That's basically the hierarchy of talent in today's NHL, with those two greats expected to battle it out once again for the Art Ross Trophy as the top point producer.
There's other contenders, however, and it's quite possible that any of the following five players could take the scoring title:
5. Mark Scheifele
With 30 goals and 52 assists for the Winnipeg Jets last season, Mark Scheifele finished with the fifth-highest point total among all NHL players. He reached 82 points while appearing in only 79 games, and despite the fact high-scoring winger Patrik Laine missed nine games due to injury.
One would figure his assist total will be boosted if both he and Laine remain on the ice together over a full season, but his goal production may fall off a bit considering he scored at a 20 percent success rate in 2016-17.
Still, the Jets offense is loaded, and Scheifele will be at the middle of a large part of the action.
4. Patrick Kane
Over the past two seasons, no player has been more productive than Patrick Kane, and it's not even really close.
The Chicago Blackhawks winger registered 80 goals and 115 assists for 195 points in his last 164 regular season games, 21 more points than the second-ranked Crosby.
It remains to be seen whether his numbers were boosted by playing with Artemi Panarin, who's since been traded to Columbus for Brandon Saad. For now, Kane is riding the wave of his career, and should be expected to keep it going.
3. Nikita Kucherov
By the end of last season, Nikita Kucherov had put his name in the Hart Trophy conversation, and would have garnered some votes had the Tampa Bay Lightning made good on a late playoff push.
The Russian winger is a superstar few have yet to give the title, a station earned after registering 40 goals and 45 assists in 74 games last season. And that was without Steven Stamkos in the lineup for the majority of the season.
One gets the sense this 24-year-old is just getting started.
2. Sidney Crosby
He very well may have been supplanted as the best player in the world, but Crosby is second to one.
The Pittsburgh Penguins' all-world center recorded 44 goals and 45 assists in 75 games last season, missing the opening seven contests with a concussion. That 0.59 goals per game average is the second-highest of his career, proving he's aging quite well.
Crosby excelled once again in the playoffs, where he meshed well with young wingers Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary.
Expect Sid to continue to do what he does best, and that's produce.
1. Connor McDavid
It's hard to imagine any player topping the Edmonton Oilers phenom anytime soon.
McDavid was the only player to reach 100 points last season, topping Crosby and Kane by 11 points in the Art Ross Trophy race. For his career, he's averaging 1.17 points per game, which works out to 96 over an 82-game season.
Only Kane has surpassed that total in any of the past three seasons, recording 106 in 2015-16.
In short, McDavid is the perennial favorite to win the scoring race until further notice.
