Phil Kessel knows a thing or two about what it's like to play in the intense hockey market that is Toronto.

So when the former Maple Leaf and current Penguin returned to the Big Smoke for his offseason workouts with fellow Leaf alum Gary Roberts, Kessel was quick to offer advice to a much-improved Toronto club that will face much higher expectations next season.

"It's always tougher the second year. There's a little more pressure," Kessel told TSN.ca this week. "They got good players there and you never know what happens, but, tough league ...

"Every year is different. You never know who's going to make the playoffs - even the best teams might miss the playoffs."

The Maple Leafs experienced a complete 180 over the past two seasons. After finishing dead last in 2016, they made the playoffs a year later and took the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals to six games - five of which were decided by sudden-death overtime.

With success comes the pressure to sustain it. Maple Leafs fans are aware of their talented young squad's potential, and expectations in Toronto are higher than they've been since Doug Gilmour rocked the "C." But opposing NHL clubs have taken notice too.

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If you're not 10 years old or into seeing celebrities covered in slime, you probably didn't realize the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards were taped on Thursday night. Don't worry, you didn't miss it; the events are being broadcast on July 16.

Reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook was in attendance to (spoiler alert) pick up his award for "Clutch Player of the Year," but more importantly, the Long Beach, Calif., native donned an awesome Mighty Ducks of Anaheim throwback jersey, fittingly customized with his nickname, "The Brodie."

Russ' sartorial gesture has created more questions than answers. What are his thoughts on "The Flying V?" If he's the alternate captain, who has the captain's C on their chest? Was he covered in green slime right after these photos were taken?

We may have to tune in Sunday to find out.

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If you're not 10 years old or into seeing celebrities covered in slime, you probably didn't realize the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards were taped on Thursday night. Don't worry, you didn't miss it; the events are being broadcast on July 16.

Reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook was in attendance to (spoiler alert) pick up his award for "Clutch Player of the Year," but more importantly, the Long Beach, Calif., native donned an awesome Mighty Ducks of Anaheim throwback jersey, fittingly customized with his nickname, "The Brodie."

Russ' sartorial gesture has created more questions than answers. What are his thoughts on "The Flying V?" If he's the alternate captain, who has the captain's C on their chest? Was he covered in green slime right after these photos were taken?

We may have to tune in Sunday to find out.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Nashville Predators will celebrate their 20th anniversary with a fancy new commemorative logo.

"The logo, featuring the eye of the Preds' saber-toothed tiger representing the '0' in 20 years, will be used in a variety of ways to celebrate and commemorate the 2017-18 season," the team announced.

The logo will likely be featured on the shoulder of both the home and away jerseys next season.

The Predators joined the NHL as an expansion team in the 1998-99 season.

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Rick Tocchet has been head coach of the Arizona Coyotes for less than 72 hours, but he knows from personal experience just how badly their fans want a winning club.

So when Tocchet addressed the media Thursday for the first time as the Desert Dogs' bench boss, he said Arizona - which isn't generally considered a hockey town - is willing and ready to support its team.

Related: 3 takeaways from the Coyotes' introductory press conference

"This is an underrated hockey market," Tocchet said, according to Jerry Brown of NHL.com. "I've seen a lot of old friends from when I used to live here and they are starving for a winner. Then you take the commitment by the new front office and ownership to a new start … you mix all that in together and it was an easy choice for me to come back."

Tocchet will be counted on to revive a Coyotes club that's missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, and 11 out of the last 14. Unsurprisingly, Arizona's attendance has also been poor, consistently ranking among the bottom three teams in the NHL.

Support was significantly higher during Tocchet's playing days in the desert - Arizona averaged over 15,000 fans per game from 1997-2000 - something the 53-year-old remembers fondly.

"We had a good, smart, competitive team that played a fast style and that's what this fan base wants," Tocchet said. "We had offensive players with skill and the fans really connected. When we played downtown (at America West Arena) and the building was electric, we had a good advantage."

If Tocchet can manage to turn around the Coyotes, perhaps Arizona fans will connect with them all over again.

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Jim Rutherford is tapping the brakes on any trade speculation surrounding Phil Kessel.

The seeds of that conjecture were planted by local columnists in recent days, most notably Ron Cook of the Post-Gazette. Cook suggested the Penguins could look to ship Kessel out of town in light of the departure of Rick Tocchet, with whom the winger had a close relationship.

But in an interview on 93.7 The Fan on Thursday, the Penguins general manager affirmed Kessel's significance to a team coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup wins.

"Phil Kessel's an important part of the Penguins," Rutherford said, according to Jonathan Bombulie of TribLive. "He gets a lot of points. He scores big goals. He sets up big goals. The more impact players that you have, like we have, the better chance you have of winning. ...

"I don't want to sit here and say that a certain player's not going to get traded at some point in his career. I mean, Phil already did. But that's not something that I foresee happening right now."

Rutherford did qualify his assessment of Kessel by pointing to an apparent lack of consistency.

"It may not be on a regular basis, but it may come at a certain time in a series or whatnot, just like it did against Ottawa," Rutherford said. "Kessel came up with the big goal in that 1-0 game (in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals)."

In two seasons since being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kessel has averaged 0.79 points per game during the regular season, and contributed 18 goals and 27 assists in 49 postseason appearances. Those 45 playoff points put him one behind both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin over the same span.

According to Cap Friendly, Kessel has five years remaining on a contract that carries an $8-million annual salary cap hit, $1.2 million of which was retained by the Maple Leafs. His deal also contains a modified no-trade and no-movement clauses that allows him to submit a list of eight teams he'd move to should he agree to be traded.

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After leading the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 13 goals in 25 games, Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Jake Guentzel got his day with the trophy on July 13, and only then did his achievement really sink in..

The Cup landed in Minneapolis, Minn., and headed to Guentzel's hometown of Woodbury as family and friends awaited its arrival. That's when he was able to truly appreciate the culmination of a rookie season which began in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

"That's when it becomes real," Guentzel said, according to Jessi Pierce of NHL.com.

Guentzel brought the trophy to a public event at HealthEast Sports Center, where he played youth hockey.

While the Penguins' top stars in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Marc-Andre Fleury finished off their (first) career hat trick of Stanley Cup victories, Guentzel is cherishing what could be his only one.

"It's exciting. You've worked so hard for this your whole life, and to have my family and friends here and see how excited they are, it makes it fun for all of us," said Guentzel.

His father Mike, who is an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, approached the beginning of his son's professional career with very modest expectations.

"We were just hoping he'd get to play maybe five or 10 games in the pros to start," Mike said.

Instead, Jake quickly got an opportunity on Crosby's left side, and stayed there for the remainder of the regular season and through the playoffs. Asked how he would have reacted if someone told him a year earlier that he'd be at his old rink with the Stanley Cup on Thursday, Jake echoed his father's surprise.

"I'd probably have laughed at you," he said. "You don't expect it to go like this. It's been fun. (I'm) just trying to soak it in."

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Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. is indeed considering an offer to sell the team.

Chuck Greenberg, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers, is reported to be close to purchasing the club for approximately $500 million in a deal that would keep the team in North Carolina, according to Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.

In response, the Hurricanes offered the following statement, via Chip Alexander of the News and Observer:

"Since an offer has been made to purchase the team, Mr. Karmanos intends to evaluate that offer and also will continue to evaluate his other options, including retaining his ownership of the team."

If the sale goes through, the team would not be on the move.

Waddell added he could not comment on the details of the reported sale price, the potential new ownership group, or how long the process could last.

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