Prior to being acquired by the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, Brandon Manning had been viewed as public enemy No. 1 in Oil Country, stemming from a 2015 incident with Connor McDavid. During McDavid's rookie campaign, Manning was involved in a collision responsible for breaking McDavid's collarbone, forcing him to miss 37 games.

Many, including McDavid, indicated that they believed the collision was an attempt to injure by Manning. The next time the two players met, the bad blood boiled over. They jawed at each other for much of the meeting, which McDavid said was "one of the most classless things" he's ever seen on the ice. Manning then said McDavid's reaction to scoring was also "classless."

However, upon hearing the news Manning had been acquired by the Oilers, Edmonton's captain reached out in order to bury the hatchet.

"He (Chiarelli) mentioned the incident with Connor is behind them and he talked to Connor," Manning told Paul Gazzola of the team's website. "Connor actually reached out. He said he's happy to have me and thinks I can help the team. Obviously, with our history and when a guy of that caliber reaches out to you, it's pretty special."

It remains to be seen if the addition of Manning can get the Oilers back on track, but at least it appears they'll be no awkward locker room interaction between the two upon his arrival.

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Calgary Flames forward Michael Frolik was a healthy scratch Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks for the second time this season, and his agent Allan Walsh isn't pleased, to say the least.

"Many people in Calgary have been reaching out asking why Michael Frolik is a healthy scratch," Walsh said on Twitter. "Keeping one of the team's most efficient and versatile forwards in the stands marginalizes and devalues a great team player. Head coach's attempt to run a good player out of town?"

Frolik is in his fourth season in Calgary, but his first under Bill Peters, who was hired as the team's head coach this offseason. He has seven goals and zero assists in 22 contests and is playing five minutes less per game than he did a year ago.

The offseason acquisitions of right-wingers Elias Lindholm and James Neal are partially responsible for Frolik's diminished role this season; however, he was already trending in the wrong direction offensively. He averaged just 0.36 points per game in 2017-18 after averaging at least 0.5 points in each of his previous four campaigns.

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The Edmonton Oilers traded forward Drake Caggiula and defenseman Jason Garrison to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday in exchange for defensemen Brandon Manning and Robin Norell, the team announced.

Caggiula, a speedy, undrafted forward, is on pace for a career season. The 24-year-old has seven goals and 11 points in 29 games with the Oilers, which included a brief stint on the club's top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Manning is the centerpiece of the return. He's been considered a villain of sorts in Edmonton, as he was responsible for McDavid missing nearly half of his rookie campaign with a broken collarbone. The 28-year-old blue-liner had three points in 27 games with the Blackhawks after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Garrison, a veteran defenseman, skated in 17 games with the Oilers this year, recording one point.

Norell, a fourth-round pick of the Blackhawks in 2013, recorded three points in 37 games in Sweden this season.

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Warning: Story contains coarse language

The NHLPA issued a pointed response Sunday to Jim Lites' profane criticism of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, implying the existence of a double standard and questioning the Dallas Stars CEO's professionalism.

"The comments Jim Lites made regarding Tyler and Jamie are both reckless and insulting," the union said in a statement, according to Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press. "If players directed such comments towards management, how would those be regarded? To say that Jim Lites' conduct is unprofessional would be a gross understatement.

"In professional sports, all individual players and teams go through highs and lows, but this is not how professionals handle adversity."

Lites ripped into Seguin and Benn in a pair of interviews Friday, most notably telling The Athletic's Sean Shapiro the duo's performance this season is "fucking horseshit" and informing Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that their "terrible play" has "pissed me off."

"This is not about trading anyone. This is not about firing anyone," Stars owner Tom Gaglardi said in a statement to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Saturday night.

Both players brushed off the comments earlier Saturday, with Benn saying, "I don't play for him, I play for every player in this room and the coaching staff." Seguin revealed he hasn't had a conversation with Lites since the end of last season.

Seguin and Benn currently rank first and third in team scoring, respectively.

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Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill isn't overly impressed with how CEO Jim Lites decided to call out stars Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

Lites went on an expletive-infused rant Friday about the play of Benn and Seguin, accusing the forwards of being "f---ing horse----." On Sunday, Nill insisted that while he supports Lites' message, he does not agree with the language used in his tirade.

"I was aware he was going to talk to the media," Nill told Nick Alberga and David McCarthy on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. "First of all, I don't condone Jim's language and the tone and we've talked about that and we've addressed that internally. Jim's a very emotional guy. I just think he let the best get a hold of him a little bit, but in the long run, I don't want the message lost either about how the players have to be better. That's the main message.

"Once again I don't condone the language that was used and Jim and I have talked, he agrees. He knows he got carried away, but in the end, the message is our players do have to be better and that's the message he wanted to get out there."

On Saturday, owner Tom Gaglardi told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that no one would be traded or fired in the wake of the recent comments and that the team's best players must perform as such. For his part, Seguin admitted that he and his teammates "hear the message."

In the short term, the remarks seem to have given the team a bit of a kick, as Dallas dismantled the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Saturday. With victories in back-to-back games, the Stars occupy the final wild-card spot in the West and sit just two points out of third place in the Central Division.

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The Florida Panthers have dealt defenseman Alex Petrovic to the Edmonton Oilers for blue-liner Chris Wideman and a 2019 third-round pick, the clubs announced Sunday.

Florida will receive the higher of Edmonton's two third-round selections in next year's draft.

Petrovic, who was born and raised in Edmonton, played parts of seven seasons with the Panthers, who drafted him 36th overall in 2010.

The Oilers acquired Wideman from the Ottawa Senators for a 2020 sixth-rounder on Nov. 22.

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is expected to be out until after the All-Star Game on Jan. 26, head coach Paul Maurice said Sunday, according to team insider Mitchell Clinton.

The 33-year-old suffered a leg injury Saturday night after taking a hit from Minnesota Wild forward Luke Kunin.

A minimum four-week absence is a significant blow for the Jets as Byfuglien's been the club's most productive blue-liner, having tallied 29 points in 32 games. The good news is that the Jets have gone 5-0-1 in the six contests that Byfuglien has missed this season.

The Jets currently sit tied for top spot in the Western Conference with 50 points despite coming off back-to-back losses to the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames.

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With 2018 winding down, theScore looked back at the previous 12 months and voted on the top 25 sportspeople of the year. Here's the fourth instalment, highlighting Nos. 10-6.

25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1

10. Eliud Kipchoge, marathon runner

Few athletes had as dominant a 2018 as Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge. The 33-year-old has won 10 of the 11 marathons he's entered since switching to the distance in 2012. His last was a record-smashing 2:01.39 at the Berlin Marathon that shattered the previous best by 78 seconds. So dominant was Kipchoge's performance in Berlin that he ran the final 17 kilometers alone after dropping the third of three pacemakers, running the second half in an obscene 60:34 - or 4:37 per mile. The greatest marathoner of all time, full stop. - Michael Chandler

9. Shohei Ohtani, P/DH, Los Angeles Angels

Shohei Ohtani arrived stateside with absurd expectations after seemingly every MLB team was in on the bidding for his services. As the first true two-way player to hit the league, he was basically a unicorn. Ohtani showed that he could measure up to his peers on both sides of the ball (.925 OPS, 22 HR, 3.31 ERA, 10.97 K/9) en route to winning AL Rookie of the Year. And though Tommy John surgery risked derailing his year, he answered by going 4-for-4 with two homers on the very day surgery was suggested. The phenom may have to wait until 2020 before he can pitch again, but he should be able to swing a bat and remain an impactful piece. - Jason Wilson

8. Chloe Kim, snowboarder

Chloe Kim is the future.

At just 17 years of age, Kim entered PyeongChang 2018 as one of the faces of the games and somehow exceeded the enormous hype. The California native, who has family ties to South Korea, faced stiffer competition from her hunger than those in the field, as evidenced by her tweet between runs.

Kim already had the gold medal sewn up before she took to the course for her final run, and her triumph represents much more than just being crowned as the world's best. Despite being just a teenager, Kim is a role model to so many - Americans, Asian Americans, women, girls - and has comported herself with aplomb at every turn, even in the face of casual and cruel misogyny. Thanks to the trail she's helped blaze, there will be more Chloe Kims coming down the pipe. - Andrew Joe Potter

7. Kylian Mbappe, F, Paris Saint-Germain

What were most 19-year-olds doing this year? Probably watching Kylian Mbappe, mouth agape in awe. The forward, who only turned 20 on Dec. 20, set the world alight with his scintillating pace and prolific scoring on the way to winning a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain and starring in France's World Cup triumph in Russia this summer. His four goals and breathtaking performances saw him named that tournament's Best Young Player after he became just the second teenager - after Pele in 1958 - to score in a World Cup final. An unbelievable talent. - Tom Nightingale

6. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

Having gotten a taste of the jaw-dropping plays he was capable of making in college, football fans were excited to see Patrick Mahomes step in as the Chiefs starter in 2018. Nobody could have predicted he'd translate that ability to the professional level so quickly. At an early career stage where quarterbacks are typically going through growing pains, the 23-year-old is on track to join Peyton Manning and Tom Brady with the third-ever 50-touchdown season. He's running away with the MVP race as a result, but such accolades can't even begin to adequately explain his impact. Mahomes is football's human highlight reel.

Chiefs games have become must-see TV on a weekly basis because of the frequency with which he hits throws that other quarterbacks wouldn't even dream of attempting. Just as a phenomenal generation of quarterbacks closes in on the end of their reign, the NFL's next megastar has emerged. And he's only just begun. - Dan Wilkins

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Connor Hellebuyck believes NHL officials are allowing skaters to do too much when it comes to contact with goaltenders.

The Winnipeg Jets netminder was particularly miffed about Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin kneeing him in the head during Thursday's game.

“My question is why is there no penalty on that?” Hellebuyck told the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen on Friday. “It’s not like I dove in front of him. He wasn’t pushed in. He just made a dumb route. You see that more coming around this game. People aren’t really afraid around the goalies anymore.”

Hellebuyck then implied that it's time for the league to take action.

“Something needs to change there,” he said. “Because I get called for a penalty in L.A., right? So now I have more penalties called against me than I drew. And I think that’s ridiculous.

“You can see in the young guys, like (Flames forward Matthew) Tkachuk – (he) tries to push me into the net. It’s ridiculous. Something needs to be called or something needs to be changed with the goalies. We’re players too.”

The 2017-18 Vezina Trophy finalist said he's noticed a developing trend in which "they're trying to take a little more from us," and he doesn't think there's a desire to fix it.

“They don’t want it to change," Hellebuyck said. "They like the goals. They want more goals and want to take more from us. (Hanifin) wasn’t shoved in or anything. What needs to happen is a penalty needs to be called, and then their coach is going to say that was a dumb penalty to take, and then he’s not going to come storming at the net when I’m covering the puck.”

The first-place Jets have dropped two consecutive games following Saturday's 2-1 defeat to the Minnesota Wild. However, Hellebuyck was hardly to blame for either loss, and he's posted a .924 save percentage over his last nine starts.

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