The Great One says there's less room for creativity in modern hockey than there was in his heyday and when he was growing up.

"What we've lost a little bit of is playing on the pond, and just going out there and using your creativity and your imagination, doing things with the puck, learning how to make funny plays, good plays and creative plays," Wayne Gretzky told CBC's Peter Mansbridge.

"We've lost a little bit of that imagination and creativity that we had in the '60s, '70s, and '80s."

Gretzky believes the diminished level of creativity stems from added pressure and an emphasis on methodical hockey at the development level.

"It's very much more robotic because it's more systematic now," he said. "There's too much at stake, not only for ... the NHL teams, (but) junior teams, college teams. If you go to a peewee hockey game here in Toronto ... these coaches are systematic now. You play left wing, you play your position. You play right wing, you play your position."

The NHL's all-time leading scorer isn't sure he could play in today's game.

"I don't know if a guy like (Hall of Fame defenceman) Paul Coffey or myself … could play in this era, because our creativity would have just naturally taken over, and now the game is so systematic," Gretzky said.

He also believes young players are being overworked.

"When I was 10 years old, I went to school at 9 o'clock and I got out at 3:30 … and then you went and did hockey, baseball, lacrosse," he said. "Now these kids they go to school at 8 o'clock, they get out at 11 and they're practising from 11 until 5 at these hockey academies and these camps."

Gretzky did concede that the overall level of play has improved despite the overall lack of ingenuity.

"The game's better. We're not losing anything in the game with this (diminishing) creativity and imagination. The game is better because the players are better."

The Great One is the latest - and most influential - hockey figure to weigh in on the lack of creativity in the modern game.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month, Pavel Datysuk said creativity in the NHL is fading.

Hall of Famer Guy LaFleur made similar comments in December 2015, and Gretzky himself told The New York Times in April that the NHL lacks creativity and imagination.

It's not a new argument, but it carries extra weight when reinforced by the game's most respected player.

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Clubs that fail to follow the NHL's new concussion policies will face financial penalties.

The league's new head injury protocol calls for fines that escalate with each offense for teams that don't abide by the new rules.

"Specified sanctions will be imposed on clubs that violate the concussion protocol," the NHLPA announced in a release Tuesday.

"Clubs that do not remove a player who requires an evaluation will be subject to a mandatory minimum fine for a first offense, with substantially increased fine amounts for any subsequent offense.

Additionally, any player designated for a mandatory evaluation will not be permitted to re-enter the game unless and until he is evaluated by his club’s medical staff and cleared to play in accordance with the protocol."

The NHL's new concussion standards were revealed by deputy commissioner Bill Daly last month, but the concept of financial implications was announced Tuesday.

A new staff of central spotters employed by the league will monitor every game from the Department of Player Safety in New York. It will have the authority to remove a player from a game for a concussion evaluation if it's deemed necessary following a hit to the head.

The new spotters will be certified athletic trainers with hockey backgrounds and experience identifying concussion symptoms, as Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported in September.

In-arena spotters and on-ice officials will compliment the league's new staff.

The ongoing concussion lawsuit filed against the NHL may have played a role in the implementation of the new rules, but regardless, the changes should be seen as progress. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Monday that Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sidney Crosby will be out indefinitely after being diagnosed with his third concussion.

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The younger Nylander brother won't begin the season in the NHL.

Alexander Nylander was among four players assigned by the Buffalo Sabres to the AHL's Rochester Americans, the club announced while finalizing its roster Tuesday.

The Sabres selected the 18-year-old forward eighth overall in June's draft.

He notched 75 points in 57 regular-season games for the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads last season, adding six goals and six assists in six playoff contests.

Alex's older brother, William, made the Toronto Maple Leafs' opening-night roster following a 22-game NHL stint in 2015-16.

The Sabres also sent forwards Nicholas Baptiste and Daniel Catenacci, and defenseman Justin Falk, to their AHL affiliate Tuesday.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have released forward Brandon Prust from his professional tryout, and in addition, completed their final roster ahead of Wednesday's season opener versus the Ottawa Senators.

Veteran Brooks Laich was designated to the AHL's Toronto Marlies, while the freshly-claimed Seth Griffith earned a spot on the big club's 23-man roster.

What's more, the Leafs announced Tyler Bozak, Matt Hunwick, Leo Komarov, and Morgan Rielly will serve as alternate captains on a rotating basis throughout the season.

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Devin Setoguchi is back in the NHL for now.

The veteran forward agreed to a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings, general manager Dean Lombardi announced in a release Tuesday.

It's a two-way deal, according to Fox Sports West's Jon Rosen.

Setoguchi will have "an opportunity ... to re-establish his NHL career and prove he belongs here every day," a team source told Rosen.

The 29-year-old will earn $575,000 at the NHL level, leaving Los Angeles with about $2.1 million in cap space, according to General Fanager.

He was invited to Kings camp on a pro tryout agreement last month, and on his first day opened up to The Hockey News' David Pollack about his battles with alcoholism and depression.

The revelations came one year after he admitted to Sportsnet 590 The FAN that he had checked into rehab in the spring of 2015.

Setoguchi posted 24 points in 30 games for HC Davos in the Swiss league last season after being released from Toronto Maple Leafs camp, where he was also brought in on a PTO.

He enjoyed his best stretch in the NHL from 2008 to 2012, scoring 31 goals with the San Jose Sharks in 2008-09 and adding two more 20-goal campaigns with the club before notching 19 with the Minnesota Wild in 2011-12.

The Sharks selected Setoguchi with the eighth overall pick in 2005.

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It was almost 2 a.m., while sprawled out on the sofa, when Brent Seabrook finally understood the sacrifices fans of the Chicago Blackhawks are willing to make.

Back at work, and likely needing another coffee several hours after the Chicago Cubs fell to the San Francisco Giants in extra innings early Tuesday morning, Seabrook touched on his new appreciation for the club's dedicated fans.

Blackhawks fans don't have it easy. Only the Nashville Predators live farther east among Western Conference teams, meaning most Blackhawks games away from the United Center run deep into the night.

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The Buffalo Sabres will have their No. 1 defenseman in the lineup for opening night.

Rasmus Ristolainen has agreed to terms on a six-year contract extension with the club, putting an end to his restricted free-agent status. The blue-liner will earn $5.4 million annually, which values the total agreement at $32.4 million, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.

Ristolainen is now the club's highest-paid defenseman, and will earn more than everyone on the roster save for recent high-profile additions Ryan O'Reilly and Kyle Okposo.

The 21-year-old received the same contract that Seth Jones - a worthy comparable in terms of age, ability, and ceiling - signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets in June.

Ristolainen bounced back after a difficult second season with an encouraging third, scoring nine goals, posting 41 points, and improving his previously woeful underlying numbers. He's still a work in progress, and will be playing up to his contract value, but has shown signs of growing into a legitimate, perhaps dominant, top-pairing defenseman.

Ristolainen was skating with the team as the sides worked to hammer out a deal, so getting him up to speed for the Sabres' opener Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens will not be a concern.

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The Calgary Flames have reportedly signed defenseman Nick Grossmann to a one-year contract.

The deal is one way in nature and is worth $575,000, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.

Grossman, who attended Flames training camp on a pro tryout, appeared in 58 games for Arizona last season, recording three goals and four assists.

Tnhe addition gives Calgary depth on the blue line, with eight defensemen now under contract.

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Kevin Bieksa had some fun with his Anahiem Ducks teammates during a recent preseason game against Arizona, going undercover as a member of the ice crew and going about his business in a somewhat unorthodox fashion.

Watch until the end to see how he got himself discovered.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that captain Nick Foligno and his wife Janelle have made a $1-million donation to the Nationwide and Boston Children's Hospitals.

Their donation is to be split between the two institutions that helped save their 3-year-old daughter Milana, and to support continued research into congenital heart condition.

Milana had experimental open-heart surgery at Boston Children's Hospital when she was three weeks old. She now lives a healthy and happy life.

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