The injury bug has taken a significant bite out of the San Jose Sharks early in the season, as forward Joe Thornton has been placed on the injured reserve after experiencing swelling in his surgically-repaired right knee, according to Paul Gackle of the Mercury News.

Thornton flew back to the Bay Area amid the club's four-game road trip to visit doctors, but head coach Peter DeBoer says it's only precautionary.

"He had a little bit of swelling after the last game, and rather than continue on the road and risk anything with it, we're going to take the safe route and get him home and get it looked at," he said.

The earliest Thornton could rejoin the Sharks would be in one week, but at this point, there's no clear timetable on a return.

Thornton has been battling frequent knee problems as of late. The 39-year-old was sidelined for the final 35 games and the playoffs last season after tearing his ACL and MCL in his right knee, nine months after doing the same to his left.

He signed a one-year contract to remain with the Sharks over the offseason, and sits on the cusp of two major milestones, needing just five more games for 1,500 and three goals for 400 in his Hall of Fame career.

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Florida Panthers netminder Roberto Luongo left Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning due to a lower-body injury.

Luongo suffered the injury midway through the second period after teammate Frank Vatrano fell onto his leg.

Backup netminder James Reimer stepped into the game in place of Luongo.

Saturday's contest marks the first game of the season for the Panthers.

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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said "the hope" is to have the next World Cup of Hockey in Fall 2020, according to The Athletic's Corey Masisak.

However, Daly adds that holding the next tournament is contingent on neither the NHL or NHLPA exercising its right to terminate the collective bargaining agreement next year, Masisak notes. If the agreement gets terminated or reopened, a World Cup in Fall 2020 isn't likely.

The 2016 World Cup of Hockey was the most recent best-on-best international hockey tournament because the NHL didn't go to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

Eight teams took part in 2016: Canada (players age 24 and over), Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, United States (players age 24 and over), Team Europe (players from European nations not represented in the tournament), and Team North America (players age 23 and younger from Canada and the United States).

Canada won, defeating Team Europe two games to none in a best-of-three final.

The 2020 World Cup of Hockey would mark the fourth edition of the tournament, with the first two coming in 1996 and 2004.

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One season among the game's elite isn't going to cut it for reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall.

The New Jersey Devils winger broke out in a big way in 2017-18, establishing new career-highs across the board with 93 points in 76 games. His efforts were enough to clinch the club's first playoff appearance since 2012 before he was named the NHL's most valuable player in June.

As he enters a new campaign, however, Hall isn't resting on the laurels of his banner season.

"I’ve kind of included myself in a tier of players now and I want to stay there," Hall told The Athletic's Scott Burnside. "You see the guys who do it season after season, every season, you know the Crosbys, the Malkins, the Benns, they’re just there every year. So now that I’ve kind of included myself there I want to stay there so I just tried to prepare myself as best as possible."

Hall was every bit as valuable as each of the players he listed last season. He won the team's scoring race by a whopping 41 points, and went on a historic 26-game point streak from January to March.

Now, it's about finding a way to be that same player year after year.

"We had a lot of a success as a team. For me, I found that I took my game to another level," Hall told Under Armour at a recent photo shoot. "As an athlete, when you accomplish that much in one season you want to make sure you come back the next and play the same way. So it was definitely an exciting feeling, but also huge motivation for the upcoming season."

As for how Hall plans on maintaining his excellence into 2018-19, the 26-year-old will rely on a skill-based offseason training regimen that helped spark his breakout showing a season ago.

"In previous years, I would take 2 to 3 months off the ice and let my body relax," Hall said. "This past summer, I made a commitment to skate, play hockey and work on my skills all summer long, and I think that’s what really made the difference for me this season."

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The Calgary Flames will be without Travis Hamonic for a while.

The defenseman suffered a facial fracture during a fight with Erik Gudbranson in Calgary's season opener on Wednesday and now has a week-to-week status, the club announced Friday.

Defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been called up from the AHL in a corresponding move.

The fight against Gudbranson occurred only 4:22 into the first period. Hamonic later returned to action, receiving 14:35 of ice time.

The 28-year-old is a big part of the Flames' defense. He played 74 games last year in his first season with Calgary, averaging 20-plus minutes of ice time per game.

Andersson was the Flames' second-round pick in 2015. He played 10 games for Calgary in 2017-18.

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