The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to give one of their defensive prospects a look down the stretch.

Calle Rosen will join the club in New York ahead of Monday's contest against the Islanders, Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock told reporters, including TSN's Mark Masters, on Saturday.

Babcock's plan is to have Rosen in the lineup until injured blue-liner Jake Gardiner returns, according to Masters.

Rosen has racked up 46 points in 54 games with the Toronto Marlies this season, in his second campaign with the Leafs' AHL affiliate.

The Leafs signed the 25-year-old to a two-year contract extension in December.

Toronto will face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

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Nick Schmaltz has agreed to a new seven-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes, the club announced Saturday.

The contract extension carries a $5.85-million average annual value, or $40.95 million in total, The Athletic's Craig Morgan reports.

Schmaltz has been out since December with a knee injury. The 23-year-old collected 14 points in 17 games before being forced out of the lineup.

He was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks in November for forwards Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini.

The Blackhawks selected Schmaltz with the 20th overall pick in the 2014 draft.

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Mark Giordano, Robin Lehner, and Corey Crawford are among the 2018-19 nominees for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

The Calgary Flames defenseman, New York Islanders goaltender, and Chicago Blackhawks netminder are among 31 players selected by the corresponding chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the award that recognizes the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

Giordano is having the best season of his career at the age of 35 and is the heart and soul of a resurgent Flames club. He's also likely to be a Norris Trophy finalist as one of the top blue-liners in the NHL.

Lehner has overcome addiction, a bipolar disorder diagnosis, and opened up in September about having suicidal thoughts last season. The 27-year-old Swede enters Saturday's games with a .926 save percentage, and he's helped the Islanders defy expectations by fighting for the Metropolitan Division crown.

Crawford returned to action in late February after suffering his second concussion in the last two seasons. He missed most of the 2017-18 campaign and more than two months of 2018-19, but has helped the Blackhawks make a late-season playoff push this spring. He came into Saturday's schedule with an 8-4-1 record and a .921 save percentage since his return.

Here's the full list of the nominees from each club:

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The "storm surge" will fade away before the postseason.

Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams confirmed the club will do one last celebration on Thursday night, regardless of the result against the Washington Capitals.

Three home games remain on the Hurricanes' regular-season schedule. They'll host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and the New Jersey Devils on April 4.

Carolina enters Thursday's action occupying the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The team sits one point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens with a game in hand, and three points clear of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Hurricanes' post-win routines have captivated the hockey world, while also drawing criticism from the likes of analysts Don Cherry and Brian Burke.

After Cherry called the team a "bunch of jerks," the Hurricanes sold T-shirts featuring that phrase and also projected the words onto the ice.

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The Colorado Avalanche signed Boston University forward Shane Bowers to a three-year, entry-level contract, the Avalanche announced Friday.

The deal won't begin until the 2019-20 season, but Bowers will report to the AHL's Colorado Eagles on an amateur tryout contract.

The 19-year-old sophomore forward produced 11 goals and 21 points over 37 games with the Terriers this season.

Bowers was the Ottawa Senators' first-round pick in 2017. He was dealt to the Avalanche in the three-team swap involving Matt Duchene later that year.

A slew of Boston University players have turned pro since the team's 2018-19 season ended, including Dante Fabbro, Joel Farabee, Jake Oettinger, Bobo Carpenter, and Chad Krys.

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Frederik Andersen hasn't been himself of late, but he's looking at the final push before the postseason as his chance to get back on track.

"These last games are as close to a preseason as you can be without being back there, but you're trying to get your swagger and get your confidence and feel good about yourself going into the playoffs," the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender told reporters Wednesday. "That's the main thing for everyone in this room."

The 29-year-old said he's not concerned with how many games he plays before the regular season concludes.

"I don't really care what that exact number is, that's a waste of time for me," he said.

Andersen is 35-15-5 with a .917 save percentage this season, but he only has two wins and an .841 mark over the last six contests, having allowed four goals or more four times in that span.

Despite an eight-game absence earlier this season, only seven netminders have played more minutes than Andersen in 2018-19.

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J.P. Barry is not happy about his client getting hurt in a seemingly unnecessary scuffle.

The prominent agent, who represents Montreal Canadiens winger Paul Byron, is questioning the unwritten rules of hockey that encourage players to settle scores by fighting.

Byron was injured in a fight with Florida Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar on Tuesday night. The bout was apparently Weegar's response to Byron's high hit on him in January, which drew a three-game suspension.

"This wasn't a hockey fight," Barry texted to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "Paul knew he had to deal with it then or likely later. Paul probably gives up five inches and 50 pounds to a very tough player - how is this the code?"

Barry added, "Player Safety already gave Paul three games for an improper check and now the 'code' gets to give him several more? ...

"This exact situation is Exhibit A for re-examining our current rules for fighting. If the fight is patently retribution for something that happened long before this game was ever played, how is that allowed to occur without being addressed?

The agent said he expected many others to praise Byron as a "warrior" who "answered the bell."

"These are the people that believe in the old 'code,'" Barry continued. "It's time for Player Safety to be the new 'code.' What really matters is eliminating avoidable concussions wherever we can."

Byron struggled to skate off the ice after the fight and didn't return to the game.

Weegar asked Byron whether he wanted to fight and the Canadiens forward said yes, the Panthers blue-liner told La Presse's Richard Labbe postgame.

Byron won't play on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets and he'll be evaluated on a daily basis, his club announced Wednesday.

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The Buffalo Sabres aren't parting with Phil Housley, but the team's owners say the bench boss has room for improvement.

Terry and Kim Pegula, who also own the Buffalo Bills, said as much at the NFL owners meetings in Arizona on Tuesday. They also acknowledged general manager Jason Botterill recently giving the head coach a vote of confidence.

"The season obviously hasn't finished yet. But, I think Botts has said it pretty well that he supports Phil," Terry told WIVB's Nick Filipowski. "Phil communicates with the players well. Are we happy with the way the season has gone? Absolutely not. So, something has to change. We don't know what but we're going to put our heads together and talk about it."

He was then asked about justifying bringing Housley back for a third season in 2019-20.

"He's a young coach," Terry said. "He was a great player and I think he can grow as a coach."

Kim echoed that sentiment.

"I don't think, anytime these things happen, it's usually not just one thing or just on one person," she said. "We'll figure all that out. Know that, Terry and I, our staff, everybody in the organization we want to get better, no doubt about it.”

The Sabres reeled off a 10-game win streak in November, but have since plummeted in the standings, sitting third-last in the Atlantic Division with the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Entering Wednesday's action, Buffalo ranks 26th in goals scored per game and ninth-worst in goals allowed per contest. The team also sits in the middle of the pack in power-play and penalty-kill efficiency.

Buffalo finished with a 25-45-12 record in 2017-18, Housley's first campaign as an NHL head coach. Despite adding Jeff Skinner and first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin for the 2018-19 season, the club has posted a 31-36-9 record with six games left.

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Evgeny Kuznetsov is flapping back at Don Cherry for criticizing his bird-themed goal celebration again.

“If he want(s) to say something, he can call me or he can meet me, but to call me (a) jerk on TV doesn’t make him look good, you know? But whatever he said, my parents (taught) me a lot of good things when (I was) young, and I’m not going to say anything bad about a guy who’s much older than me," the Washington Capitals Russian forward told Scott Allen and Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post on Tuesday.

During Saturday's edition of "Coach's Corner," Cherry called Kuznetsov a "jerk" for doing the bird celebration after scoring against the Tampa Bay Lightning, insisting that players should "never inspire the other team" with such behavior.

Kuznetsov said on Tuesday that he's a fan of the Carolina Hurricanes' "Storm Surge" celebrations, which Cherry also infamously bemoaned, calling that team "a bunch of jerks."

“That’s what hockey should be for, for fun,” Kuznetsov said. “Fans like it, and you know, the way (Cherry) talk(s), it doesn’t make him look good, right? If he thinks he’s good, he should check his record when he was coaching in the CHL and that’s it, he should shut his mouth.”

Cherry's Mississauga IceDogs went 11-47-10 during his stint behind the bench in 2000-01.

The "Hockey Night in Canada" pundit knocked Kuznetsov in January for doing the move in front of the Columbus Blue Jackets' bench after scoring a game-tying goal, noting that the Blue Jackets then did it themselves to mock him following their overtime winner.

A similar move in the "FIFA" video games inspired Kuznetsov's celebration, and he says his daughter loves it, according to The Post.

When the Capitals host the Hurricanes on Tuesday night, they'll be giving away bobbleheads featuring Kuznetsov doing his trademark post-goal routine.

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The New York Islanders will be without one of their top-six forwards for the rest of the season.

Andrew Ladd is out for five months or so with a torn ACL and will undergo surgery on the knee this week, Islanders president of hockey operations and general manager Lou Lamoriello told reporters Tuesday.

Ladd was hurt in New York's 2-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

Earlier this season, the 33-year-old missed more than three months with what the club called a lower-body injury before returning in late February.

Ladd has three goals and eight assists in 26 games in 2018-19.

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