The Pittsburgh Penguins winger handed the Stanley Cup over to sister and 2016 NCAA national champion Amanda Kessel on Sunday, and, as one is wont to do, she promptly took a sip of an unspecified (but likely adult) beverage out of it.
Amanda Kessel, also an Olympic silver medalist and 2013 world champion, recently signed the largest contract in NWHL history, and will make her pro debut with the New York Riveters in 2016-17.
This according to new co-owner Jon Ledecky, who maintains the franchise center and team captain is "not going to be a free agent" when his contract with the Islanders expires at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Instead, he and Scott Malkin will work toward ensuring Tavares is surrounded with enough talent to bring the Stanley Cup to Brooklyn.
"We should be the world-class destination for free agents," Ledecky said, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. "If you think about a capped world, everybody can spend to the cap, and we certainly have no constraints on our (general manager) and our staff to spend.
"We want to create and continue to progress toward John Tavares lifting that Stanley Cup, so we should be world-class in everything we do."
The Islanders made a splash in free agency this summer by signing winger Andrew Ladd to a five-year, $38.5-million contract. Ladd's $5.5-million cap hit is equal to what Tavares will carry over the next two seasons, but that number is set to rise significantly on his next contract.
Tavares and the Islanders can officially begin negotiating an extension on July 1, 2017.
P.K. Subban is making his presence felt in Nashville.
After spending part of Sunday touring the Predators' facilities and taking pictures with new, young fans, the recently acquired defenseman hit up a famous local watering hole and busted out a rendition of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."
If all goes according to plan, Subban will have everyone in Nashville signing anything but the Blues over the coming years.
Meanwhile, some back in Montreal are quietly singing another Cash hit, "I Still Miss Someone."
With Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman in for the long haul, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman is doing his best to keep as many pieces of the band together as possible.
"We're very comfortable doing a long-term contract at the right cap number with Alex," Yzerman said Sunday, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "He's been with us his entire career. He's a high-character young man, tremendously fit and part of the core of our team.
"We're trying to keep the core together as much as we can."
This is where things get a bit more challenging for Yzerman.
With Killorn signed, the Lightning have $8,529,167 in projected salary cap space for 2016-17, with restricted free agents Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov still waiting on new deals.
On top of that, Tampa Bay has several players facing free agency in 2017.
Position
Player
Age
2016-17 Cap Hit
Status
F
Jonathan Drouin
21
$894166
RFA
F
Tyler Johnson
25
$3.33M
RFA
F
Ondrej Palat
25
$3.33M
RFA
F
Brian Boyle
31
$2M
UFA
D
Andrej Sustr
25
$1.45M
RFA
G
Ben Bishop
29
$5.95M
UFA
Yzerman said Sunday that it's highly likely he'll have to make a move in order for the team to be cap compliant before the beginning of the season, but added that it won't come through another buyout, after having already used one on Matt Carle.
The Lightning were one of the NHL's youngest teams last season, and advanced to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals after losing in the Stanley Cup Final the year before.
It's no wonder Yzerman wants to keep the core together. How much of it will remain intact long term remains to be seen.
In a busy offseason, Yzerman has also managed to retain captain Steven Stamkos, as well as provide defensive-anchor Victor Hedman with a long-term extension.
Killorn, 26, recorded 14 goals and 26 assists in 81 games last season, and added 13 points in 17 playoff contests for the Lightning.
Building an NHL franchise is no easy task, just ask George McPhee.
Still, the newly appointed general manager of the Las Vegas franchise is ready to get to work, starting with the bare bones.
The team has 11 months before they can even add a player, but don't think for a second McPhee won't be occupied during that span.
"That 11 months is going to fly by, absolutely fly by because we are going to be so busy putting a staff together and then strategizing and trying to execute on that strategy in the way we're going to scout both the amateurs and the pros," McPhee told Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "It's going to be a lot of work, not to mention everything we have to do in house to get our offices and everything like that set up. But this time is going to fly by. We're not going to feel like we have enough time."
Although it's a daunting project, McPhee is relishing the uniqueness of building an NHL franchise from scratch.
"Other than the initial building of it, which should be fun and is sure I'm something all GMs would like to do when building a team, have an absolutely clean slate, I've just been overwhelmed by the number of people interested," McPhee said.
"Once we get through the expansion draft and the first draft, then it's the same for all GM's it's drafting and developing properly and managing people and managing your team. The other element is it's a brand new market and it's up to us to educate the market, to grow grassroots hockey, to make people aware of the game and really enjoy it and help them understand it."
Don Sweeney is indeed in talks with Brad Marchand in regards to a contract extension.
A report surfaced Friday that the Boston Bruins general manager had been in touch with Marchand and his representatives, and Sweeney himself confirmed he's looking to re-sign Marchand before the winger becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.
"I think I’ve been pretty up front in that I’d like to be aggressive in trying to identify - and we have identified - Marchy as a core guy," Sweeney said Friday, according to Eric Russo of BostonBruins.com.
"We want to continue down that path, but it takes two sides to make a deal I would envision that he’d like to be part of this organization for what could be, arguably, his whole career. But Brad has a say in this as well."
The 28-year-old led the Bruins with a career-high 37 goals this past season, and the winger is averaging 27.6 goals per every 82 regular-season games played since making the jump to the NHL in 2010. Marchand has also become a staple alongside Patrice Bergeron, forming one of the league's most effective lines without whoever's lucky enough to jump on the right side.
He also recently represented Canada at the World Championships and will suit up for his country at the World Cup in September.
Marchand is set to make $5 million in salary this season while carrying a $4.5-million cap hit, and is certain to command a healthy raise on his next contract.
Haydn Fleury knows an opportunity is there for the taking.
The 20-year-old defenseman, who was drafted seventh overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2014, has yet to make his NHL debut, but is well aware that a spot on the blue line recently opened up.
"Ever since (James) Wisniewski was bought out, that's the only thing that's been on my mind," Fleury said, according to Kurt Dusterberg of NHL.com.
"It's extra motivation for me in the gym and on the ice the rest of this summer."
Fleury took on a leadership role at the team's summer development camp, and head coach Bill Peters expects the young defenseman to fight for an opening-night roster spot at training camp.
And that's exactly what Fleury intends to do, despite seven defensemen being signed for next season after the Wisniewski buyout.
"I'm going to come into the main camp in the fall and do my best to take that spot."
Fleury spent the past two seasons back with the WHL's Red Deer Rebels, recording 12 goals and 29 assists in 56 games in 2015-16.