SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski took the lead with 25 points, and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer was at 24 points after the first round of the American Century Championship on Friday.
Twelve players were within seven points of Pavelski in the modified Stableford scoring event, including baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz (21), Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry (18), former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (18), Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum (18) and actor Alfonso Ribeiro (18).
The scoring system awards six points for eagle, three for birdie, one for par, zero for bogey and minus-two for double bogey or worse.
Pavelski, who has spent his entire 12-year NHL career with San Jose, is making his third appearance in the event. He finished 10th in 2016 and tied for 12th in 2017.
Three-time defending champion Mark Mulder finished eagle-birdie-birdie, worth 12 points, and was in a group at 16 along with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Charles Barkley, a fan favorite, was in his usual spot, alone in last place among the field of 92 with minus-34 points.
Shore was a restricted free agent and was scheduled to go to arbitration on July 20.
"Devin is a hard-working, young forward who has shown us that he is willing to do whatever it takes on the ice to help the team win," general manager Jim Nill said in a release. "His durability and versatility as a player has proven to be a major asset for our club. We look forward to watching his continued growth and development."
Shore is coming off his second full season in the NHL, where he put up 30-plus points for the second straight year. He concluded his sophomore season with 11 goals and 21 assists, and finished third among Stars forwards with 57 blocked shots.
The Los Angeles Kings re-signed defenseman Paul LaDue to a new two-year contract that will carry an annual cap hit of $825,000, the team announced Friday.
LaDue, 25, suited up for 12 regular-season games with the Kings last year, scoring three goals and adding one assist. He compiled 18 points in 38 AHL contests with the Ontario Reign.
The Vegas Golden Knights signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a three-year contract extension Friday, the team announced. His new deal is worth an annual average value of $7 million.
Flower had one year remaining on his previous contract, which carried an AAV of $5.75 million. This extension keeps him on the Strip until the end of the 2022 campaign.
The Sorel, Quebec native joined the Knights via the expansion draft last June and went on to have one of the best seasons of his storied 14-year career. Fleury posted a record of 29-13-4 to go along with a sensational 2.24 goals-against average and .927 save percentage while backstopping Vegas to the Pacific Division crown and Stanley Cup Final run.
Fleury proved last season that despite his age and lengthy track record, he can still turn in Vezina Trophy-level performances. He's a three-time Cup champion and ranks 11th all time in victories with 404.
The Montreal Canadiens agreed to terms with restricted free-agent winger Joel Armia on Friday, the team announced. The deal will pay Armia $1.85 million for the 2018-19 season.
Armia was dealt to Montreal from the Winnipeg Jets along with goaltender Steve Mason on June 30 in exchange for defensive prospect Simon Bourque. The Finnish native played in 79 regular-season games for the Jets last campaign, registering 12 goals and 17 assists in 12:36 of ice time per night.
The 25-year-old forward will bring some much-needed scoring depth to a Canadiens forward group that managed the third-lowest goal total last season with a measly 207.
Armia was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (16th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He has 26 goals and 58 points in 180 career regular-season games.
These five players won't be on many radars come draft day, but fantasy owners could strike gold by plucking at least one of them in the later rounds.
LW/RW Ondrej Kase, Ducks
Kase was very productive for the Anaheim Ducks this past season despite his limited role and missing 16 games, finishing in a tie for second on the team with 20 goals. Here's how he stacked up against the team's fellow top-nine right-wingers:
Player
GP
G
A
P
ATOI
Corey Perry
71
17
32
49
17:47
Jakob Silfverberg
77
17
23
40
17:58
Ondrej Kase
66
20
18
38
13:55
While Silfverberg's ice time is more reflective of his defensive abilities, Perry is on a dramatic decline. Considering Kase is one of their best offensive players, the goal-hungry Ducks could look to give him an expanded role this coming season, eating into Perry and Silfverberg's minutes.
If Kase remains healthy, sees more ice time, and maybe even gets an audition alongside Ryan Getzlaf on the first line, he has the skill for a 30-goal season.
RW Ty Rattie, Oilers
Rattie should be classified as an extremely deep sleeper. Barring some sort of ridiculous performance in preseason, he probably won't even get drafted in your league, so he can be used with a final-round pick.
The 25-year-old has largely underwhelmed thus far, considering he was chosen 32nd overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. He's spent most of his career in the AHL, where he has produced admirably. In brief NHL stints, he failed to make an impact; that was, however, until he was placed on Connor McDavid's line.
In the final 12 games of the 2017-18 season, Rattie scored five goals and added four assists while primarily flanking McDavid and opposite Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the Oilers' top line. While there's certainly no guarantee he takes the spot again, Edmonton hasn't added any wingers worthy of competing for that role.
Monitor his usage in training camp and preseason, and if he's still with McDavid, scoop him up as a final-round flier. A 25-goal season is possible.
C/RW Nick Bjugstad, Panthers
Bjugstad is far down the list of the Florida Panthers' fantasy-relevant players, but he could be in for a monster season, which is fitting because, at 6-foot-6 and 218 pounds, he's a monster himself.
Like many of the Panthers, Bjugstad had an excellent second half, tallying 10 goals and 27 points in his final 34 games. That second-half surge started right around the time he joined forces on a line with superstar center Aleksander Barkov.
Given how much firepower the Panthers have, a full year alongside Barkov could result in a 60-point season for Bjugstad.
A second-round pick in 2013, Zykov, now 23, is older than most rookies who will be making headlines, but he's a darkhorse Calder Trophy candidate. He led the AHL with 33 goals last year despite only suiting up in 63 games. In his 10-game audition with the Carolina Hurricanes last year, he tallied seven points while averaging less than 14 minutes of ice time.
The Hurricanes have a lot of young talent up front, but with Jeff Skinner likely on his way out, there could be a spot for Zykov in the top-six. With his upside, he's more than worthy of taking a flier on in the final round.
D Ryan Pulock, Islanders
Pulock's biggest weapon is his shot. He has an absolute bomb from the point, and he isn't afraid to use it. He scored 10 goals on 184 shots last year and both of those numbers could rise drastically this season.
Among defenseman who played at least 500 minutes at even strength last year, Pulock ranked third in shots per 60 minutes, trailing only Brent Burns and Dougie Hamilton, according to Natural Stat Trick.
With Calvin de Haan departing in free agency and Johnny Boychuk getting on in age, Pulock could see much more ice time in his second full season, and it could result in a 15-goal, 45-point campaign.
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford says he wasn't taking an intentional shot at the Columbus Blue Jackets when he made an assessment about Jack Johnson's usage that didn't sit well with John Tortorella.
“I have nothing but respect for the Columbus Blue Jackets,” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey. “They’ve got a good city, a good franchise, a great owner, and (president of hockey operations) John Davidson to run the franchise. I feel bad that it either (came) out the way it did or it upset people; that certainly wasn’t my intent. They have a very good franchise there, and it’s very well run.”
After the Penguins made the signing of Johnson to a five-year, $16.25-million deal official on the first day of free agency, Rutherford told reporters the following about the veteran defenseman, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline:
"I don't think he had a bad year. He was a healthy scratch at the end of the season. I know the reason why. It wasn't because of how he was playing."
When asked Thursday to clarify what he meant by the latter remark, Rutherford declined to elaborate.
“I don’t think that’s going to do anybody any good at this point,” he told Mackey. “We feel comfortable with the homework that we did on this player.”
Rutherford's initial comments, along with Johnson telling reporters on July 1 that, “I've been really wanting to be a part of a winning culture and a place where the expectations to win are as high as they can be," clearly irked Tortorella at the time.
The always forthright Blue Jackets head coach issued an expletive-laden response in which he said that for Rutherford "to question our decision-making from three hours away, he must be a fucking magician," later adding that the Penguins GM should "shut the fuck up," and that Johnson's statement was "utter bullshit."
Johnson was scratched in all six of the Blue Jackets' playoff games this spring and he collected only 11 points in 77 regular-season contests in 2017-18.
