Nikoaj Ehlers is beginning the 2017-18 NHL seasons with some long-term security, as the Winnipeg Jets have locked up the 21-year-old winger to a seven-year, $42-million contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.
Ehlers, the ninth overall pick in 2014, will play out 2017-18 on his entry-level contract before the extension kicks in next season.
The 21-year-old had an outstanding sophomore season, suiting up in all 82 games, registering 25 goals - 20 of which came at even strength - and 39 assists. His 64 points were good enough for a tie for third on the Jets.
Winnipeg begins its season Wednesday night versus Toronto.
There are plenty of intriguing storylines heading into the 2017-18 campaign, and some of the NHL's most significant subplots could yield unexpected results.
From long, drawn out trade negotiations that will mercifully come to an end, to a brand-new franchise avoiding the basement, here's a handful of things we're expecting to see this season:
The Predators will get Matt Duchene
David Poile knows a thing or two about reeling in a superstar who's on the trade block, and the Nashville Predators' general manager is going to swing another blockbuster trade.
The Predators' only real weakness entering the season is up the middle, and Poile undoubtedly understands the club's need, the importance of getting back to the Stanley Cup Final, and the opportunity that presents itself in Duchene's availability.
Ryan Ellis' injury made it temporarily impossible for the Predators to trade one of their top-four defensemen to the Colorado Avalanche, but Nashville made a play for the talented forward over the summer, and Poile still has pieces he can offer.
The Predators aren't the only team in the mix, but they'll put a package together that Avalanche GM Joe Sakic will ultimately accept.
Alain Vigneault will be fired
The New York Rangers are on the decline, and that will accelerate this season, despite the fact the club boasts a few talented forwards and power-play point producer Kevin Shattenkirk. They've been carried by Henrik Lundqvist over the last couple of years, but the veteran goaltender is 35, and Ondej Pavelec is New York's Plan B, so this won't end well.
Trading Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes over the summer will come back to haunt the Rangers, who'll sputter to a sub-.500 record into December, costing head coach Vigneault his job.
Lindy Ruff was brought in as an assistant coach to add some experience behind the bench, and that move is going to prove prescient when the former Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars bench boss takes over the Rangers in a misguided and ultimately unsuccessful attempt by GM Jeff Gorton to right the ship.
2 teams will be worse than the Golden Knights
Expansion teams are usually terrible in their inaugural seasons, but there are a few reasons why the Vegas Golden Knights won't be the worst team in the NHL this season.
Secondly, the Avalanche are going to be awful again, and if they finally trade Duchene, they could be even worse than they were last season, when they set the salary-cap era record for futility.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks are also going to be very bad. Beyond the development of Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko, there isn't much to look forward to for the Canucks this season, particularly given the uncertain future of the Sedin twins.
The Golden Knights won't be good either, but the Avalanche and Canucks will be here to remind them it could be worse.
Someone will score 5 goals in a game
Three players scored four goals in a game last season, and given the amount of offensive firepower in the NHL, it's not too far-fetched to expect someone to pot a handful during a game in 2017-18.
It's even more of a possibility when you consider there will be more power plays this season, with minor infractions now being handed out for failed offside challenges, plus more calls for slashing and faceoff violations.
Jonathan Drouin will finish with 30 goals
Defense is going to be a recurring issue for the Montreal Canadiens all season, but offense from the top six won't be a problem.
Whether Drouin sticks on the Canadiens' primary unit centering Pacioretty or slots in on the wing, he'll build on the 21-goal, 53-point season he put together with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016-17.
Montreal has enough talent on its top two lines to ensure Drouin enjoys a breakout campaign regardless of where he ultimately lands in the lineup.
Three of his 30 goals this season will come Dec. 28 in his return to Amalie Arena, and the 60-point plateau is a realistic target for the dynamic 22-year-old.
Bickell played 384 of his 395 career NHL games with Chicago. The other 11 came as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016-17, but his season was interrupted by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis last November.
"As any professional athlete will tell you, stepping away from the game is extremely difficult especially given my circumstances," said Bickell. "I’m honored to be retiring a Chicago Blackhawk - a team that has given me and my family so many great memories. I appreciate Rocky Wirtz, John McDonough, and Stan Bowman for allowing me this opportunity."
Bickell scored 65 goals and added 70 assists over his 10-year NHL career. He upped his game and became a fan favorite in the playoffs, however, scoring 20 goals and adding 19 assists in 75 appearances, all with Chicago.
"We are thankful to Bryan for his accomplishments on the ice and we look forward to hearing his voice in raising awareness for multiple sclerosis as he fights the disease," added Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman.
Bickell was able to rejoin the Hurricanes for the final two games of the regular season, and he capped his career by scoring a shootout goal in his final act as a pro hockey player. He was also honored at the 2017 NHL Awards for being able to play following his diagnosis.
On the eve of the start of the NHL regular season, much is always to be made about the players who were the given the heartbreaking news that they're not among those to crack their perspective team's roster.
On the flip side, many received news that they had done enough to earn their spot, even if it was a bit of a shock. With that, here are five players who surprisingly earned opening-night roster spots:
Seth Griffith
Seth Griffith has broken through the American Hockey League barrier.
After being placed on waivers several times last season and spending the majority of his time with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, Griffith has claimed a spot on the Buffalo Sabres roster.
Griffith had a respectable preseason with the Sabres, tallying a goal and an assist in four games. His roster spot looks to be the result of paying his due in the AHL, where he's tallied 66 goals and 202 points in 203 career games.
Haydn Fleury
The Carolina Hurricanes defense corps has quickly become one of the more desirable ones in the league.
Sure Fleury was the seventh overall selection in 2014 and looks to be a great talent, but it's somewhat surprising he was able to muscle his way into the lineup after just one year of seasoning in the AHL.
The 19-year-old is just 5-foot-8 and 154 pounds, but what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in offensive prowess. The Edmonton Oilers forward finished second on the club in preseason scoring behind only Connor McDavid and led the team with five goals, while adding two assists in six games.
Considering Yamamoto was just drafted this past June (22nd overall) and given his size, there's no question he had to fight for his spot, but it appears it has been well earned.
David Booth
Given that he hadn't played in the NHL since the 2014-15 season - on a lowly Toronto Maple Leafs squad - it seemed a return might be out of the cards for David Booth.
However, after two years in the KHL, the 32-year-old inked a professional tryout with the Detroit Red Wings and made the most of it. He tallied just one assist in five games, but proved he can create offense, firing the second-most shots on the club (16) during the preseason.
Booth is expected to slot on the fourth line, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan, but after a two-year absence from the league, he'll take it.
Victor Mete
Prior to training camp few people had likely heard about Victor Mete, but very quickly he has become one of the better stories to come out of camp.
The 19-year-old earned a spot on the Montreal Canadiens' blue line after proving he can contribute offensively while also taking care of things in his own end.
His four points during the preseason were just one point shy of the team lead, while his three power-play points paced the Canadiens. Not bad for a 2016 fourth-round pick.
Eichel's agent Peter Fish said that the 20-year-old chose to take less money to allow the Sabres more room to make moves under the salary cap, according to John Wawrow of the Associated Press.
"It was important for Jack to get a deal done that was friendly for both sides and would not hamstring the Sabres going forward," Fish told Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
The following five players were all expected to make their respective teams' opening day rosters, but were instead assigned to the American Hockey League, or even placed on waivers.
Jesse Puljujarvi, Oilers
Puljujarvi, the fourth overall pick from the 2016 NHL Draft, made the Oilers' opening night roster a year ago, but wasn't so lucky this time around.
Puljujarvi was beat out by the diminutive Kailer Yamamoto, Edmonton's 22nd overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft.
The 6-foot-4 Puljujarvi only lasted 28 games with the Oilers to begin last season, collecting just one goal and seven assists. Upon being sent down to the AHL, he tallied 28 points in 39 games.
Given how high of a draft pick he was and his relative success in the AHL last year, Puljujarvi seemed like a lock to make the Oilers out of camp this season.
Kyle Connor, Jets
Connor had a tremendous season in the AHL a year ago, scoring 25 goals and adding 19 assists in 52 games with the Manitoba Moose. Winnipeg seemed to have a spot up for grabs in their top-9 forward group, and Connor seemed like the obvious fit.
The 20-year-old was chosen 17th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft and seemed poised to make the jump this year, but obviously the Jets deemed he still has some learning to do.
Thomas Chabot, Senators
Anyone who watched Chabot play for Canada at last year's World Juniors would have assumed he could have stepped into the NHL at that moment, let alone without an offseason of training to play in the world's best hockey league.
Once it was learned that Erik Karlsson would likely miss the start of the season and Marc Methot was lost in the expansion draft, Chabot seemed like a lock to make the team. However, the Sens will opt to start the season with a more experienced back end. Here is their projected top six:
LD
RD
Dion Phaneuf
Cody Ceci
Fredrik Claesson
Johnny Oduya
Mark Borowiecki
Chris Wideman
Head coach Guy Boucher didn't mince words when assessing Chabot, saying "He hasn't surpassed our regular guys."
Malcolm Subban, Bruins
This may have been the most surprising move of them all. Subban, the Bruins' first round pick in 2012, needed to clear waivers in order to be sent down to the minors. The Bruins didn't seem to care though, as he was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Subban, 23, didn't play all that well in his four games this preseason, posting an .889 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average, but he has put together an impressive AHL career thus far:
Year
GP
GAA
SV%
2013-14
33
2.31
.920
2014-15
35
2.44
.921
2015-16
27
2.46
.911
2016-17
32
2.41
.917
Obviously nobody is unseating Tuukka Rask as Boston's starting goalie, but 31-year-old Anton Khudobin wasn't exactly spectacular as the backup last season, recording a 2.64 GAA and a .904 SV% in 16 games.
Frederick Gaudreau, Predators
Unlike the previous four names on this list, Gaudreau wasn't a first round pick. In fact, he was far from it, as he wasn't even drafted.
However, when both Ryan Johansen and Mike Fisher went down during the playoffs last year, Gaudreau was brought up to provide center depth and he performed admirably, scoring three goals in eight games.
Given his playoff performance, and the fact that Nick Bonino missed the entire preseason, it's surprising Gaudreau wasn't able to carve out a spot on the Preds' 23-man roster.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was really hoping goaltender Malcolm Subban would go unclaimed after Boston placed him on waivers, but it wasn't to be, as the Vegas Golden Knights jumped on the opportunity to nab the former first-round draft pick.
"I had my fingers crossed that it wasn't gonna happen," Sweeney said, according to NBC Sports' Joe Haggerty. "But that's part of the business, and we wish Malcolm obviously success in the opportunity that he's going to get. But it's a loss for us.
"Am I surprised? I think Malcolm has taken a step, and I'm not surprised in the situation. Vegas is doing what they're trying to build. Obviously, (Bruins goaltender) Zane (McIntyre) had experience last year and had a very good run. Daniel (Vladar) probably, if Malcolm does stay there, will get an opportunity to back up in Providence and get the exposure there at the next level. It's disappointing. We've had a lot of time invested in Malcolm, and we were seeing him grow as a person on and off the ice."
While Subban was claimed by Vegas, he's still likely to end up in the AHL again, slotting in between Marc-Andre Fleury and Calvin Pickard.
The Buffalo Sabres are on the cusp of locking up the face of their franchise, as the club and Jack Eichel are closing in on an eight-year extension with an expected average annual value of $10 million, TSN's Bob McKenzie reports.
Eichel is going into the last year of his entry-level contract, and would be a restricted free agent after the 2017-18 season.
