The Florida Panthers continue to take safety measures ahead of a looming storm of potentially significant proportions.

Hurricane Irma's imminent arrival is forcing the club to charter a plane to transport players, staff members and their families to Boston on Friday, according to the Miami Herald's George Richards.

The Panthers are funding the flight and may open training camp in Springfield, Mass., - home of the team's AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds - next week.

"We have the facilities in Springfield and could start camp there if we had to," Panthers CEO Matthew Caldwell said Wednesday, according to Richards. "We hope this is just a couple days up in Massachusetts and a flight home. But we don't know what's going to happen, don't know what (kind of damage) we will sustain."

Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Roberto Luongo, and Derek MacKenzie are among the players planning to take the charter flight. Keith Yandle, who hails from Boston, has apparently arranged his own flight to Massachusetts.

Irma is projected to make landfall in Florida on Sunday at about 2 p.m. ET, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Earlier Wednesday, the Panthers canceled their prospect tournament that was originally scheduled to take place in Estero, Fla., from Sept. 9-12.

- With h/t to SB Nation

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Unrestricted free-agent P.A. Parenteau has accepted a professional tryout with the Detroit Red Wings, his agent Allan Walsh announced, on Wednesday.

Parenteau split last season with the New Jersey Devils and the Nashville Predators. He posted 13 goals and 27 points in 59 games with the Devils, but chipped in just one assist in eight games with the Predators.

While Parenteau is coming off a down year, he is just two years removed from a 20-goal season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile, with Andreas Athanasiou in the midst of a contract dispute and Johan Franzen - who has not played since the 2015-16 season - likely going back on the long-term injured reserve, there could be a couple forward spots to be had going into Red Wings training camp.

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A new rule will punish teams that unsuccessfully issue an offside challenge by assessing those clubs a two-minute penalty for every failed review, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

The cost of losing a goaltender interference review will remain the same, as teams that unsuccessfully challenge for that infraction will still give up a timeout, according to Friedman.

There is reportedly one additional rule change that will take effect beginning this season, as teams will no longer be allowed to call a timeout immediately after icing the puck.

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One of hockey's most colorful personalities is getting a bigger voice.

Former NHL tough customer Paul Bissonnette will join the Arizona Coyotes' radio booth this season as a color analyst, the team announced Wednesday.

"Paul was an incredibly popular player when he played for the Coyotes so I'm confident that our fans will be thrilled to have him back," Coyotes president and CEO Steve Patterson said in a statement. "He will be a great addition to our broadcast team and we look forward to his presence on our website and social media platforms. Paul will also make a positive impact in the community."

While Bissonnette's on-ice stats aren't something to write home about, his legendary status stems from his social media fame, where "BizNasty" has more than 1 million Twitter followers.

"The Coyotes picked me up off waivers in 2009 and provided me an opportunity to keep playing in the NHL. I played five seasons in the Valley and it's always felt like home to me," Bissonnette said in a statement. "The organization has always been first class and the Phoenix media treated me very well as a player.

"I love the community and the people that I've gotten to know here. I'm very grateful to (owner) Mr. (Andrew) Barroway and Mr. Patterson for the opportunity and I look forward to beginning the next chapter in my life with the Coyotes. We have a great young team and a very bright future ahead. This is an ideal role for me and I can't wait for the season to start."

Over five seasons in Arizona, Bissonnette appeared in 187 games, tallying seven goals and 14 assists, alongside 318 penalty minutes.

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The ongoing contract saga between John Tavares and the New York Islanders seems to be farther from a resolution than ever before.

Last week, it was reported that the two sides had yet to even discuss financial details of a new deal, and this week, Tavares himself fanned the flames of speculation.

"Things are a lot more complicated than they think," Tavares told Brian Compton of NHL.com. "I think everyone's situation is different, everyone's circumstances are different, but you look at some of the situations with guys in similar situations that I'm in, it doesn't always happen the first day or that first month. It takes time.

"It's a big decision in your life and you want to make sure you're thorough and you understand everything going forward, so I think anybody making any decision like this in life would approach it the same way."

Before Tavares commits to the Islanders long term, it's obvious he's waiting to see where the club will even be playing its future home games, as the team is expected to put forth a new arena proposal for the Belmont Park site within the next few weeks.

"I'll take everything into consideration," Tavares said.

"When the time is right, it'll all work out. It's hard for me to just sit here and say what-ifs, because I don't like to look at it that way. You obviously have an idea of the future and things you want to understand and have an idea, but at the same time, I really try to live in the present."

Unless the Islanders and Tavares have some unforeseen breakthrough in contract talks over the next few months, he will become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2018.

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Vegas Golden Knights netminder Calvin Pickard has chosen a winner in his mask-design contest, opting for a look that highlights different pieces of the Las Vegas culture.

The winning design, which Pickard will wear in his first season with the Golden Knights, includes a royal flush, the Strip skyline, and a medieval knight, in addition to the Golden Knights logo.

The contest winner will receive a Golden Knights jersey as well as a meet-and-greet with Pickard.

Fans will have the first opportunity see Pickard's mask live in (warm-up) action when the Golden Knights drop the puck for their first-ever home game Oct. 10 against the Arizona Coyotes.

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When Seth Jones was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Nashville Predators in January 2016, few expected the club he was joining to set a season record for wins (50) and points (108) just a year later.

Now, he recognizes that expectations for the club have changed a bit since he arrived.

"We want to win the Stanley Cup right now," Jones said Wednesday, according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com.

Jones added, "We've come a long way, I'll say that. When I got to Columbus, you knew it was in the room. You knew the core. You knew the values of the team. You knew the leadership and you knew it was there. But last year, we definitely translated it to the ice."

That core consists of such talented players as Zach Werenski, Cam Atkinson, and the recently signed Alexander Wennberg - all of whom are 28 years old or younger.

Last year's 108-point performance made a statement to the rest of the league that the Blue Jackets are the real deal. Jones doesn't expect his opponents to forget it, but isn't satisfied with the status quo.

"We're not catching any teams off guard this year and we all know that," Jones said.

"Every year you have to get better. You have to build on something. Last year wasn't good enough. We had a great season. We came a long way from the year before. But it wasn't good enough. We have to be that much better to be at the top of the league, where we want to be."

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Las Vegas sportsbooks make a living off of sharp predictions. Win totals, losses, even injuries. You name it, Vegas will handicap it.

And, usually, their expert predictions are scarily accurate. So, when the projected 2017-18 point totals for all NHL clubs were released by Westgate SuperBook on Tuesday, it came as a bit of a surprise that the Anaheim Ducks were pegged as the team to earn the most points.

Especially when you consider that the Ducks finished last season behind such powerhouse clubs as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and Chicago Blackhawks.

Regardless of who you feel should be on top, here is the complete list of projected 2017-18 points, according to Westgate SuperBook:

Hedge your bets accordingly.

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Few defensemen are as important to their team's success as Ottawa Senators rearguard Erik Karlsson, but he's not sure he'll take the ice with them when the season begins.

Karlsson's status for opening night remains up in the air, he told TSN's Pierre LeBrun on Wednesday, adding that he hasn't started skating yet as he rehabilitates from surgery in June to repair torn tendons in his foot.

Training camp is days away, and considering Karlsson is coming off major offseason surgery and still hasn't stepped back onto the ice, he seems unlikely to be ready by Oct. 5.

If Karlsson indeed misses any portion of Ottawa's regular-season schedule, the Sens will be in tough to replicate last season's 98-point success.

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The Florida Panthers aren't taking any chances.

The club announced Wednesday that the four-team prospect tournament scheduled to be held in Estero, Fla., has been canceled.

Florida is preparing for Hurricane Irma, the strongest Atlantic storm since 2005. Evacuation orders have been rolled out as the Category 5 storm intensifies. Estero is about 150 miles south of Tampa on the state's west coast.

The tournament was set for Sept. 9-12 and was to include the Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Washington Capitals.

"We are here and ready to support our Florida family, Broward County, and the City of Sunrise as the community prepares for Irma's possible landfall," Panthers owners Vincent Viola said in a statement. "Service to the community and family are in the DNA of our organization."

Meanwhile, the BB&T Center - the Panthers' arena in Sunrise - will serve as a tactical operations site as South Florida prepares for the storm.

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