Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher announced his retirement in an article published in The Tennessean on Thursday morning.

Fisher ranks fourth in franchise history with 109 goals and leaves the organization ranked in the top 10 in power-play goals, game-winners, and goals per game.

The 37-year-old spent parts of seven seasons with the Predators after being traded to Nashville by the Ottawa Senators for a pair of draft picks in 2011.

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It takes time for the mortar to dry when building around a cornerstone. The process can't be rushed.

The Vancouver Canucks seem to have been in no hurry to secure the future of their best building block in 22-year-old restricted free-agent forward Bo Horvat. General manager Jim Benning calls it a typical negotiation process, according to Ben Kuzma of The Province.

"I think the talks are progressing and I think we’ll get something done," Benning said.

It appears Horvat is next in line to be named captain and become the new face of the franchise with Henrik and Daniel Sedin entering the final year of their contracts at cap hits of $7 million.

Horvat broke out to lead the Canucks with 52 points in 2016-17. He's totaled 117 points in his first 231 NHL games since being selected with the No. 9 pick in the 2013 draft.

The $14 million owed to the Sedins for the upcoming season leaves the Canucks with a little over $8.1 million in cap space, according to Cap Friendly. The front office needs to re-sign just two RFAs in Horvat and forward Brendan Gaunce.

According to Kuzma, Benning expects to reach an agreement with Horvat before training camp.

"I would say that everything has been positive to this point and we’ll just continue to go through the process because Bo is a very good young player for us and we want to figure something out that is fair to him and fair to the team," Benning said.

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Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund didn't wait long after signing his new extension to set the bar high for his team next season.

Related: Wild sign Granlund to 3-year, $17.25M extension

Granlund inked his three-year, $17.25-million deal Tuesday, and on Wednesday spoke to the media via a conference call.

"I'm glad we got this done," Granlund said, according to Dane Mizutani of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I think we have a really good group of guys and we can (do) some damage in the playoffs. ...

"It’s been a pleasure to play in Minnesota and I'm really glad I can do that next season too," he went on to say.

On the heels of a season in which he led the Wild in assists (43) and points (69), Granlund recognizes that his head coach will rely on him even more to score for a Minnesota club that failed to produce a single 30-goal player.

"He gave me a lot of responsibility," Granlund said of Bruce Boudreau. "I took a step as a player. Hopefully we can keep that going."

The Wild have qualified for the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, and, if that number is going to hit six, Minny will need another strong year from its No. 1 offensive weapon.

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Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov finished last season tied for fifth in league scoring with 85 points, but he also ended the year by calling out his teammates and organization.

Related: Plenty of Kucherov's teammates had good numbers, so who's he calling out?

Despite him burying 99 goals over the last three seasons, the comments didn't go over well. However, he attempted to remedy the issue by speaking with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman recently, according to his agent, Dan Milstein.

"They got on the same page. There's no disagreements," Milstein told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "Everything is good. What was said is done, stays in the past."

Milstein added that Kucherov knows he has to continue to improve next season, and is excited about Tampa's chances.

"He knows what's expected and wants to be great," he said. "He wants to keep working, improving, and building on last year's performance. He hopes to have a redo this year, and that everyone stays healthy. He feels this is the year for them to win the Cup. He's very excited."

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The New York Islanders and defenseman Calvin de Haan have agreed to a one-year contract, the team announced.

De Haan will make $3.3 million in 2017-18, according to Mike Kelly of TSN.

The agreement came at the last minute, as an arbitration hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Last season, the former first-round draft pick was an anchor on the Islanders' blue line, logging just under 20 minutes per game while blocking 190 shots and dishing out 139 hits. De Haan also chipped in on the offensive end, registering 25 points.

With De Haan's contract now settled, the Islanders' roster is set for 2017-18 while the team has $3.634 million in remaining cap space, according to Cap Friendly.

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When healthy, few in the game today can produce like Islanders captain John Tavares.

In 587 career regular-season games for New York, Johnny T has tasted plenty of regular-season success, tallying 235 goals and 305 assists for 537 points. So, it's understandable that the 26-year-old soon-to-be free agent wants to stay in N.Y.

"It's obviously a great place to play," Tavares told TSN on Tuesday. "I've really enjoyed my time being an Islander and I want that experience to continue. I'm just trying to focus and get ready for Day 1 of training camp, approach it like I have every year."

Despite dealing with several nagging injuries last season, including a hand issue that required surgery, Tavares was still able to contribute and logged yet another solid offensive campaign - a fact that Tavares remembers when training for the upcoming season.

"For me personally, I don't know why I would change my approach. I think I keep learning, keep getting better," he said.

"You're always tweaking things, seeing where some things have worked well and parts of your game have come a long way. I'm just trying to get better and be the best player I can be for the Islanders."

Tavares has one year remaining on his six-year, $33-million deal signed in 2011. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the completion of the 2017-18 season.

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Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene has been arguably the most talked-about player of the 2017 offseason. Columbus, Nashville, and even Boston have been mentioned as potential future destinations for the 26-year-old.

For now, Duchene remains in Colorado. And despite the continued rumors of his impending departure, the Haliburton, Ontario native is seemingly at peace. "I think right now I'm pretty relaxed," Duchene told TSN, according to NHL.com.

"I know whatever's going to happen is going to happen and I don't really have control of it. I'm just worried about being at the top of my game and kind of getting to where I was the first half of last season before everything kind of fell apart for everybody in Colorado."

Duchene is coming off the most disappointing season of his eight-year career, as he registered only 18 goals and 23 assists in 77 games while finishing with an ugly minus-33 rating.

Regardless, he remains an elite talent with tremendous speed and offensive upside that most teams would love to get their hands on. But, Duchene understands that at this point, he can only focus on himself.

"I feel good right now, probably as good as I've ever felt at this time during the year," he said. "It is what it is, (so) we'll let it happen."

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