Matt and Blake talk about Elias Pettersson's future with the Canucks and how this year needs to be the year they make the playoffs. No, really. Serious this time. One last dance with Petey if the team falls short. Other topics include ex-Canucks signing PTOs with Edmonton, the Canucks chairman celebrating a star-studded birthday, the Lions baffling loss to Hamilton, the Whitecaps' sensational win at Portland, and CPKC Women's Open at Shaughnessy.

Former Canadian national team player and head coach Jay Triano joins the show to talk about the team's terrific opening weekend at the FIBA World Cup in Indonesia. Canada wins its first two games by 30 and 50 points, respectively, and looks like it has finally arrived to the challenge the USA.  Jay takes us through the personnel, the head coach (whom he serves with in Sacramento with the Kings), the tournament to come and what it means to builders like him to see the program making so much progress, the sport getting more attention from coast to coast.

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Sam Gagner is back in an Oilers jersey.

Edmonton signed the veteran forward to a professional tryout, the team announced Monday. It will be Gagner's third stint with the team that drafted him in 2007 and then acquired him in a trade in 2018.

The 34-year-old tallied eight goals and 14 points in 48 games last season with the Winnipeg Jets. His campaign ended in March when he underwent hip surgery.

Gagner accumulated 111 goals and 317 points in 542 games with the Oilers from 2007-14 and 2018-20. His career highlight came on Feb. 2, 2012, when the then 22-year-old scored eight points in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks, matching Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey for Edmonton's single-game franchise mark.

The London, Ontario, native also played for the Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, and Detroit Red Wings. Gagner's accrued 192 goals and 519 points in 1,015 career contests.

The Oilers added Brandon Sutter to their training camp roster on a professional tryout earlier in August.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenseman Simon Benoit to a one-year contract worth $775,000, the team announced Monday.

Benoit tallied three goals and 10 points in 78 games with the Anaheim Ducks in 2022-23. The 6-foot-3 blue-liner accumulated 60 penalty minutes and had a minus-29 rating while playing 19:21 per contest.

The 24-year-old led the Ducks and ranked 21st league-wide with 216 hits.

Anaheim didn't tender Benoit a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. He'll be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his new deal next summer.

The Laval, Quebec native accrued 15 points in 137 games with the Ducks over parts of three seasons. He was signed by Anaheim as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

The Maple Leafs have eight NHL defensemen under contract after the signing.

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Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg is ready for training camp after a goalmouth collision injured both of his knees in February.

"I’ve been back to 100% for a long time," Forsberg told The Athletic's Ian Mendes. "I would have been back last year if we made the playoffs."

Forsberg was stretchered off the ice on Feb. 11 against the Edmonton Oilers after Zach Hyman was pushed onto him in the crease. He was subsequently diagnosed with MCL tears in both knees and given a two-to-three-month timeline that ended his season prematurely.

Despite the nature of the injury, Forsberg feels confident entering the new campaign.

"I feel like I’m not thinking about it at all," he said. "I’m not hesitating, so I feel like it’s all healed. I haven’t had any restrictions of what I can and can’t do. I’ve been doing what I usually do, so I can’t really say I’m holding back on anything right now."

The 30-year-old posted an 11-11-2 record and a .902 save percentage in 28 appearances last season prior to his injury. He has two years remaining on a contract that carries a $2.75-million cap hit.

The Senators spent $20 million on the opening day of free agency to bring in netminder Joonas Korpisalo on a five-year pact. The 29-year-old's coming off a bounce-back campaign in which he had an 18-14-4 record and .914 SV% in 39 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings.

Forsberg and Korpisalo backstopped the Lake Erie Monsters to an AHL championship in 2016.

"We were a good tandem there, and that’s what we want to do here, too," Forsberg said. "We’re really good friends, and when we played together, we hung out together a lot."

Though Korpisalo joins Ottawa on a richer contract, Forsberg's prepared to battle for the starting job and earn his minutes.

"I think at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to who is playing the best. And that’s how it should be," Forsberg said. "If (Korpisalo) plays better, he should play. If I play better, I should play. That’s the way I look at it. This is a team game and the best players should be playing. And I’m looking forward to it."

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Free-agent forward Joonas Donskoi announced his retirement from professional hockey Sunday after battling concussions throughout his seven-season career.

The 31-year-old suffered what ended up being a career-ending concussion during a preseason game last year. Donskoi missed the entire 2022-23 season due to the injury.

Drafted by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round (99th overall) in 2010, Donskoi spent his first six professional seasons playing in his native Finland before signing an NHL deal with the San Jose Sharks ahead of the 2015-16 campaign. He helped the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup Final as a rookie, scoring 12 points in 24 playoff games. Donskoi also netted the overtime winner for San Jose in Game 3 of the 2016 final.

Donskoi spent four years with the Sharks before moving to the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent in 2019. The Seattle Kraken selected him in the expansion draft two years later, and he scored two goals in 75 games during the club's inaugural season.

He tallied 80 goals and 208 points over his NHL career, plus 32 playoff points. Donskoi also represented Finland on the international stage seven times, earning a bronze medal at the 2010 World Under-18 Championships and a fourth-place finish at the 2012 World Juniors.

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Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares isn't sleeping on any of his rivals in the Atlantic Division in 2023-24.

"The steps that Detroit, Buffalo and Ottawa ... are taking, you see the talent they are developing and the season some of their guys have had (last year) and the way their teams are growing and the challenges they present," he said, per NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. "They obviously feel they are ready to start contending and be playoff teams.

"There is no doubt it's only going to continue to get harder and harder, so we are aware of that challenge and know what's ahead."

The Red Wings, Sabres, and Senators all missed the playoffs last season to extend their respective postseason droughts, ranging from six years for Ottawa and a lengthy 12 campaigns in Buffalo's case.

The usual suspects dominated the top half of the Atlantic Division for the third straight campaign (excluding the re-aligned 2020-21 season), with the Boston Bruins, Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers taking the first four spots.

However, the division's underdogs were closer than they've been in quite some time.

The Red Wings were 12 points out of the playoff picture but they posted their highest win total (35) and point percentage (.488) since 2015-16, the last time they made the postseason. The Senators finished six points ahead of Detroit in the standings, and their 86 points made for their highest total since 2016-17. The Sabres were the closest out of the bunch, though, completing the campaign just one point behind the Panthers for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

All three squads made changes to their rosters this summer, too.

Detroit was the most active of the trio, bringing in two-time 41-goal-scorer Alex DeBrincat, responsible center J.T. Compher, wingers Klim Kostin and Daniel Sprong, as well as a host of new blue-liners including Jeff Petry, Justin Holl, and Shayne Gostisbehere. Buffalo also revamped its defense corps by adding Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson and will be relying on talented rookie Devon Levi in the crease. Finally, Ottawa tabbed Joonas Korpisalo as its new No. 1 goalie and reeled in veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

Tavares has faith that his Maple Leafs can handle the increased competition.

"We certainly respect what they bring to the table, but we have to be prepared and we expect a lot of ourselves and have high expectations to still be one of the top teams, if not the top team, in our division," he said.

"That's always the goal when you start the year, and I think with the caliber of players we have and the depth we have, we still want to be right there."

The Maple Leafs made the playoffs for the seventh straight season last spring after finishing as the Atlantic Division's second-best team for the second consecutive year.

The puck drops on Toronto's 2023-24 campaign on Oct. 11 against the Montreal Canadiens.

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