Kenny Agostino has an impressive new qualification to add to his hockey resume in advance of NHL free agency, as the the 24-year-old has been awarded the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL's most valuable player this season.

Agostino has appeared in 65 games for the Chicago Wolves, recording 24 goals and 59 assists to lead the league in total points with 83, 16 clear of the next most productive player.

"He has put up the numbers with the scoring, but he’s more than that," said Wolves head coach Craig Berube. "Night-in and night-out, look at the effort that he puts in. Then there’s his work ethic and just how competitive of a guy he is."

Originally drafted by Pittsburgh out of Yale University in 2010, Agostino was sent to Calgary as part of the Jarome Iginla deal in 2013. He only squeaked into the lineup on 10 occasions with the Flames, and signed with the St. Louis Blues - the Wolves' parent club - on a one-year, two-way deal last summer.

Agostino did score a goal and add two assists in seven appearances with the Blues, but barring a postseason call up, he's set to choose his next NHL destination as an unrestricted free agent beginning July 1.

Based on his play at the AHL level and the MVP honors, he'll likely command greater attention this time around.

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The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly expected to add some offensive punch to their playoff roster as soon as their AHL affiliate's campaign concludes.

Jesse Puljujarvi is likely to be summoned by the Oilers when the Bakersfield Condors' season comes to an end, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

The fourth overall pick in last year's draft has 28 points in 37 games with the farm club.

Edmonton gave Puljujarvi an extended look at the start of the season, but the 18-year-old rookie didn't look ready, posting a lone goal and eight points in 28 contests.

The Condors are in must-win territory ahead of the penultimate game on their regular-season slate. They need a regulation win against the Stockton Heat on Friday night, then a win in any fashion over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday and a win in regulation by the Tucson Roadrunners over the Heat that same night just to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs.

Game 2 of the Oilers' first-round series against the San Jose Sharks goes Friday, and Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday night.

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Ken Hitchcock wants Tyler Seguin to become a permanent top-line center, and to say the Dallas Stars' points leader is looking forward to attaining his new head coach's goal is an understatement.

"It gets me giddy. It gets me giddy," Seguin told Mark Stepneski of the club's official website.

"Since I've come to Dallas, I've wanted to be a number-one centerman," he added. "I still want to be. I want to be a number-one centerman and a two-way guy."

Hitchcock, who was re-hired by the Stars on Thursday, already has a list of responsibilities he hopes Seguin will eventually be able to fulfill full time.

"I've got to work hard in the summer to get Tyler to start thinking like a (number-one center)," the veteran bench boss said.

"That means he's got to be out there in critical spaces all the time. That means he's got to kill penalties, he's got to play against the other team's top players, he's got to be out there at the start of games, and he's got to be out there at the end of games. He's got to take key faceoffs. He's got to do everything to become a (number-one center). That's what a (number one) does."

There's no doubting Seguin's offensive gifts. He scored 37 goals in each of the two seasons before this one, averaging more than 80 points. The 25-year-old had his worst campaign in the last four from a production standpoint in 2016-17, but still tied Jamie Benn for the team lead in goals (26) and edged him by three for the club lead in points (72).

It's on the defensive end that Seguin acknowledges he still needs improvement.

"I am a goal scorer, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I know when I have a goal or a couple of assists. That's human nature," he said. "But ultimately I am big into if we are winning or losing and I know I need to improve the two-way side."

Hitchcock agreed that his star forward has to bring more to the rink than his scoring and playmaking abilities.

"I need him to act, think, and behave like a number one," the coach said. "That means he is going to have to set the competitive direction, not the skill direction. There's a big difference. His skill level and his talent get us to the floor, but it's going to be his compete and his character that's going to take us to the ceiling."

Despite boasting two of the NHL's most productive offensive players, Dallas missed the playoffs for the second time in four seasons under Lindy Ruff, who was fired Sunday.

Hitchcock led the Stars to a Stanley Cup championship in 1999, and spent parts of seven campaigns with Dallas in his first NHL head-coaching stint from 1995-96 to 2001-02.

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Solidarity in the Pittsburgh sports community.

In light of the passing of Steelers chairman Dan Rooney on Thursday, the Penguins will wear special helmet decals in his honor during Game 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

A moment of silence will also be held prior to puck drop Friday night.

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Tom Wilson opened eyes around the NHL with his overtime goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, for example, scored just once in their Game 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and captain Nick Foligno pointed to Wilson's shot from the side boards as an example of a simple way to help boost his team's offense.

"There is no bad shot in the playoffs," Foligno said Friday about Wilson's goal, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "Sometimes when you're trying to create offense you're looking for the perfect play but that's not how it's going to work in the playoffs. The best offense is gritty and just throwing it in there."

And when Foligno says there's no bad shot, he means firing an attempt from anywhere.

"Catch a goalie off guard. Catch them off guard," he continued. "Right when they think you're going to go behind the net with it, rip it at the net. Things like that that all of a sudden cause chaos. That's really what you're trying to do in the offensive zone."

The Blue Jackets did outshoot the Penguins 32-29 in their Game 1 loss, a total that could rise if Foligno's message gets through.

And with Marc-Andre Fleury in net for Pittsburgh, one never knows what could happen.

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TAMPA, Fla. - Scotty Bowman was 12 years old when he saw Jackie Robinson play in Montreal. More than 70 years later, Bowman says Montreal welcomed Robinson during the Hall of Famer's one season with the International League Royals.

''Adoration,'' the winningest coach in NHL history said. ''Montreal fans embraced him.''

Robinson ended racial segregation in major league baseball on April 15, 1947 when he made his big league debut at first base in a Brooklyn Dodgers home game against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field.

Robinson is honored every April with ceremonies throughout baseball. All MLB players will wear his retired No. 42 jersey in Saturday's games.

Robinson's journey to Brooklyn had one final stop after being signed in 1945 by Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey: a season in the minor leagues.

Bowman attended Sunday games at Delorimier Stadium in 1946, where Robinson was part of a powerful Dodgers Triple-A team that won the IL title and the Junior World Series. Robinson hit .349 with three homers, 66 RBIs, 113 runs scored and 40 stolen bases over 124 games in his lone minor league season.

''He could have played in Brooklyn that year,'' Bowman said. ''We went to the games, my friends and I, and you could see it. He was an all-around player.''

Robinson remains revered in Montreal. The house where he rented an apartment is a landmark.

''They made it a heritage building,'' Bowman said.

Robinson, raised in California, got a taste of the Canadian winter as the Royals capped off the year by beating the American Association's Louisville Colonels for the Junior World Series championship.

''It was snowing in one of the games,'' said Bowman, currently a senior adviser with the Chicago Blackhawks. ''It didn't bother them, they won.''

After Bowman had his hopes of an NHL playing career derailed by injuries, he eventually ended up becoming a Montreal legend, too. Five of Bowman's NHL-record nine Stanley Cup coaching championships came from 1973-79 while with the Montreal Canadiens.

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Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Noah Hanifin and Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller have been added to Team USA's World Championship roster, USA Hockey announced on Friday.

This marks Hanifin's fourth time that he will dress for the United States at the tournament. As for Keller, this marks the second time this year that he will represent his country after he contributed three goals and eight assists in seven games at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Related: Lee, Hellebuyck among 15 players named to U.S. World Championship roster

Hanifin is coming off a strong sophomore season in the NHL that saw him post 29 points in 81 games - a seven-point improvement over his rookie year.

Meanwhile, Keller is coming off his first year at Boston University where he posted 21 goals and 45 points in 31 games. The 18-year-old also got his first taste of the NHL collecting two assists in three games with the Coyotes.

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The Anaheim Ducks could receive a boost to their lineup sooner rather than later.

Head coach Randy Carlyle spoke to reporters after Friday's practice and noted that injured defenseman Cam Fowler is improving "rapidly," based on a Thursday assessment. The team is hopeful that Fowler will begin skating within a week.

Fowler missed the final two games of the regular season and Thursday's playoff opener after a knee-on-knee hit from Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano on April 4. His timeline was expected to be anywhere between two and six weeks.

The 25-year-old Fowler led all Ducks defenders with 11 goals and 39 points in 80 games this season, his highest points output since his rookie campaign back in 2011.

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The Anaheim Ducks sure know how to put out a spread.

At Friday's practice - following Thursday's 3-2 Game 1 victory over the Calgary Flames - the Ducks provided media members with a spread of burgers and fries from In-N-Out Burger, and it was something to behold.

One would assume the players' meal may have been just a tad lighter on the stomach.

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With a flick of the wrist, Tom Wilson became a very popular man.

The Washington Capitals forward was the hero of Game 1 on Thursday, scoring the overtime winner against his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs. When he looked at his phone after the game, he had 91 text messages from family and friends in both cities, according to Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic.

Related - Watch: Wilson's OT winner completes Capitals' Game 1 comeback over Leafs

Of course, the goal makes Wilson more an enemy than a hero in his hometown, but teammate Brett Connolly said that should make Games 3 and 4 in Toronto even more exciting for Wilson.

"He's probably so excited to go in there and be the villain and just do his thing," Connolly said, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.

In the meantime, the Maple Leafs will try to even the series in Game 2 on Saturday night.

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