Carey Price was in the crease for the first time since November 2015 on Friday, and that was enough.

The Team Canada and Montreal Canadiens goaltender was on the wrong side of a 4-2 exhibition loss to the United States, but the result wasn't all that important.

"It was nice to get my feet wet," Price said, according to Sportsnet's Emily Sadler.

Price added that he started to feel good in the third period, after he had 40 minutes to shake off months of rust. He knows it's going to take some time to find his game. But most importantly, he got through the game healthy.

"I knew I was ready," he said. "I've got some more work to do. I've got a long time before my next start, hopefully."

Price won't be between the pipes for the teams' rematch Saturday night in Ottawa. Braden Holtby is the expected starter.

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The Boston Bruins are making Brad Marchand a priority.

Over the summer, both Marchand's and Bruins' braintrust made it clear they want to reach an extension before the diminutive winger becomes an unrestricted free agent next July 1.

While Marchand is occupied with Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey for the next few weeks, Bruins president Cam Neely is aiming to reach a deal with last season's leading goal-scorer before the puck drops on the new campaign.

"We'd like to get Brad signed. We've made that clear to him, and we've made that clear to his agency. I know Don (Sweeney) has been working with their group to get a deal done," Neely told CSNNE's Joe Haggerty. "We'd like to get something done before the start of the season."

Marchand notched a career-high 37 goals and 60 points last season, and should be in line for a significant raise from his current cap hit of $4.5 million.

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The NHL is preparing to make some changes to its concussion protocol.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman discussed the expected changes - that will be announced prior to the start of the regular season - during intermission of the World Cup exhibition game between the United States and Canada:

They have hired four individuals who are going to watch all the games on T.V. Now these are people - from what I'm told - that have backgrounds in hockey, but they do not work for any NHL teams at this time. They have been hired by the league and they are going to watch the games and they are going to have the power apparently to call and say 'I see something here, take the player out of the game.'

These television spotters will work in conjunction with other spotters in the stands, who are already in attendance at each game. Friedman further explained that decisions by spotters to remove players from games will be mandatory.

According to Friedman, the change may have stemmed from a game this past season between the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators, in which Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman took a hit, but asked to stay in the game even after an independent spotter recommended he be removed and was later deemed to have suffered a concussion.

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On Wednesday, the Florida Panthers announced a six-year extension for young star winger Jonathan Huberdeau.

The deal pays out more than $35 million and continues an offseason trend in which the Panthers have locked up their core, showing a willingness to spend along the way.

In July, the Panthers signed franchise defenseman Aaron Ekblad to a maximum eight-year pact, worth $60 million. Only days later, winger Reilly Smith re-upped for $25 million over five years, while center Vincent Trocheck agreed to a six-year, $28.5-million extension.

That's not to forget commitments to forwards Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov, signed until 2021 and 2022, respectively, that pays out a combined $60 million over that term.

"I'm very fortunate and we're very fortunate that we have that commitment from (ownership)," Dale Tallon, the Panthers' president of hockey operations, told NHL.com. "It's fantastic. This is the kind of ownership you want … you want commitment, and they're showing it, they're putting their money where their mouth is."

Florida has 10 players signed into the next decade, including defensemen Keith Yandle (seven years, $44.45 million) and Jason Demers (five years, $22.5 million), who joined the Panthers in free agency.

The Panthers won the Atlantic Division last season and qualified for the postseason for just the second time since 2000. The expectation is that Florida's young core will take the next step this season.

"The team is in a great position for not only the present but the future," Tallon said. "I'm very excited about the Florida Panthers and the direction we're headed in."

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It didn't take long Friday in World Cup exhibition action to renew the rivalry between Team Canada and Team USA.

A heavy hit by American center Ryan Kesler on Canada's Shea Weber only further sparked the dislike between the two sides.

Kesler was given a five minute major and a game misconduct as a result of the hit.

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The arbitration case between the Toronto Maple Leafs and defenseman Jared Cowen is expected to take place in October, reports Postmedia's Lance Hornby.

The hearing will decide the legality of the Maple Leafs' buyout of Cowen, whose camp called foul as the blue-liner was recovering from a hip injury at the time of the June buyout.

Cowen, 25, has one year remaining on his contract, carrying a $4.5-million cap hit. He was dealt to Toronto last season as part of the trade that sent Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators.

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