The Colorado Avalanche have signed defenseman Samuel Girard to a seven-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.

The deal comes with an average annual value of $5 million, according to the Denver Post's Mike Chambers.

Girard has one more year remaining on his entry-level contract. The extension will kick in for the 2020-21 season and keep him in Colorado through the 2026-27 campaign.

Girard was acquired by the Avs in the three-team trade in November 2017 that sent Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators and Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators. He was a second-round pick by the Preds in 2016.

The 21-year-old tallied 27 points in 82 games last season. Girard, who stands just 5-foot-10 and 162 pounds, excels at skating and moving the puck.

Colorado's blue line is filled with promising young players, including 2019-20 Calder Trophy favorite Cale Makar, 2019 fourth overall pick Bowen Byram, and Girard.

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The New Jersey Devils have avoided arbitration with restricted free-agent defenseman Will Butcher, agreeing on a three-year contract with an average annual value of $3.73 million, the team announced Wednesday.

Butcher was a fifth-round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2013. However, he never signed with the Avs, and after a storied NCAA career at the University of Denver, he agreed to join the Devils as a college free agent.

The 5-foot-10 blue-liner was an effective player in his first two NHL seasons. He tallied 44 points in 81 games as a rookie and followed that up with 30 points in 78 games last season, although the Devils plummeted to near the NHL's basement.

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Calgary's city council voted 11-4 in favor of the Flames' new arena project Tuesday, according to The Canadian Press' Donna Spencer.

City lawmakers, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (the entity that operates the club), and Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Limited agreed to fundamental terms and conditions for the development and construction of a new facility to replace Scotiabank Saddledome last week.

The new sports and entertainment event center carries an estimated construction cost of $550 million, which will be split 50-50 between the city and the team.

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The Minnesota Wild aren't wasting any time in their search for a replacement for general manager Paul Fenton, who was fired Tuesday.

Minnesota has reached out for permission to speak to Ron Hextall, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

Hextall replacing Fenton would be an ironic twist considering Fenton's predecessor in Minnesota, Chuck Fletcher, replaced Hextall as Philadelphia Flyers GM last year.

The former Vezina Trophy winner served as the Flyers' general manager from May 7, 2014, to Nov. 26, 2018, making the playoffs twice.

Hextall built a deep farm system while running the Flyers, drafting the likes of Travis Sanheim, Oskar Lindblom, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, and Carter Hart within a three-year span. Perhaps more regrettably, he also selected Nolan Patrick second overall in 2017 ahead of Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, and Elias Pettersson.

Tom Kurvers is currently serving as acting Wild GM.

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The Minnesota Wild fired general manager Paul Fenton after just one season, the club announced Tuesday.

The search for Fenton's replacement will begin immediately. For the time being, assistant GM Tom Kurvers will serve as acting GM.

Leading up to Fenton's firing, "numerous accounts of unhappy employees throughout the organization and countless other turbulent incidents ... made their way into (Wild owner Craig) Leipold's office," sources told The Athletic's Michael Russo.

Under Fenton, the Wild missed the postseason for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.

Fenton wasn't very active last summer, but made a handful of trades during the season. His first major move, dealing Nino Niederreiter to the Carolina Hurricanes for Victor Rask in January, backfired almost immediately. Niederreiter totaled 14 goals and 30 points in 36 games with the Canes, while Rask registered just three points in 23 contests with the Wild.

Leading up to the trade deadline, Fenton sent Charlie Coyle to the Boston Bruins for Ryan Donato and a fourth-round pick. Coyle went on to be an integral part of Boston's run to the Stanley Cup Final, tallying 16 points in 24 postseason contests.

Fenton traded Mikael Granlund, a third member of the Wild's previous core, to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Kevin Fiala on deadline day.

He also attempted to trade Jason Zucker on multiple occasions. A deadline-day trade to the Calgary Flames fell through. During the offseason, Zucker appeared to be Pittsburgh-bound until Phil Kessel - who was reportedly heading the other way - refused to waive his no-trade clause due to a belief the Wild wouldn't contend.

Fenton made one major splash during free agency, inking 31-year-old Mats Zuccarello to a five-year, $30-million contract.

Prior to being hired by the Wild last May, Fenton worked in the Predators organization for 20 years - 12 of which he spent as David Poile's assistant GM.

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The Ottawa Senators have traded goaltender Mike Condon and a sixth-round pick in 2020 to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Ryan Callahan and a fifth-round pick in 2020, the team announced Tuesday.

In June, Callahan was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, which led doctors to recommend that he should no longer play professional hockey. He has one year left on his contract, which carries a $5.8-million cap hit, and plans to retire once it expires, according to The Athletic's Joe Smith.

Before the trade, the Lightning had planned to place the 34-year-old Callahan on long-term injured reserve. He registered 17 points in 52 games last season.

Condon, who played just two games in the NHL last year, has one year left on his deal with a $2.4-million cap hit. The 29-year-old owns a 2.79 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage across 129 career games.

In what's been a common theme for the cash-strapped Senators this offseason, the trade increases their cap hit but decreases their salary expenses. Ottawa is now $4.06 million above the cap floor following the trade.

For their part, the Lightning have a bit of a logjam between the pipes. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy is the unquestioned starter and veteran Curtis McElhinney was brought in to be the backup, leaving Louis Domingue and Condon with unclear futures.

Assuming both Domingue and Condon will be assigned to the minors, the Lightning will have just over $11 million in projected cap space with two unsigned RFAs, Brayden Point and Adam Erne.

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