The hockey community continues to demonstrate support for the town of Humboldt, Saskatchewan and the fallen members of the Broncos hockey club following last week's fatal bus crash.

Several current and former NHL players have started to join in on a tribute to the team by putting hockey sticks outside their doors.

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John Tavares is officially on the clock.

With the regular season now a thing of the past, the 27-year-old New York Islanders franchise center can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and it's time for him to get serious about making a decision.

"I've got to take some time to see how things go over the next few days and few weeks and collect my thoughts and move on from there," Tavares said Monday, according to Brian Compton of NHL.com. "I think I've earned the right to take my time. I don't know if it will be a week, two weeks, a month, two months, I don't really know."

Tavares added that he's still processing the way the Islanders' season played out, and noted that he hasn't considered who might make him an offer if things get to that point.

"You don't know how many opportunities you get to get to this point and possibly see what the landscape is," Tavares said. "I don't even necessarily know if that's really what I want to do yet. I've always stated how much I love it here. It's emotional either way. Great organization, great place to play. Obviously, I want it to work out here."

If Tavares does hit the open market, he'll become one of the most prolific free agents in hockey history, having recorded 621 points in 669 games since the Islanders selected him first overall in 2009.

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Andrew Shaw's offseason will start in the operating room.

The Montreal Canadiens forward is scheduled to undergo knee surgery on Tuesday. Shaw suffered the injury against the Dallas Stars on March 13, and did not dress for the team's final 12 regular-season games.

Shaw re-aggravated a knee injury on the play - previously described as a lower-body injury - that kept him out of the lineup for 19 games.

Shaw also suffered a concussion on the same play, and experienced concussion symptoms for the following three days. He has now been medically cleared.

The veteran forward is expected to make a full recovery prior to next season's training camp.

The Canadiens acquired Shaw from the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016.

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Bill Peters' summer vacation will have to wait.

The Carolina Hurricanes bench boss will coach Team Canada at the upcoming World Championship in Denmark.

St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo and Florida Panthers bench boss Bob Boughner, who will serve as associate and assistant coach, respectively, will join Peters' coaching staff.

This year's tournament marks the third World Championship for Peters, and his second time as head coach. Peters guided Canada to a gold-medal finish in 2016.

Peters, 53, has spent the past four seasons with the Hurricanes after a three-year stint as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings.

The 2018 World Championship begins May 4.

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Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter shared an emotional message on Twitter on Tuesday after learning that Adam Herold - one of the victim's of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash - looked up to him.

Herold was the youngest player killed in the crash, and would have turned 17 on April 12. He had appeared in only nine games for the Broncos, eight of them during the team's current playoff run.

The left-handed defenseman was set to join the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders next season.

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Marc Bergevin remains the right person for the job despite a disappointing season in Montreal.

This according to Canadiens owner Geoff Molson, who will not be looking for a new general manager anytime soon.

"I'm very confident that with all the changes we have to make, I have the right person in place," Molson said Monday, the team announced. "Even if there will be changes, to have Marc in charge of turning the page is the right decision."

Molson, evidently, is adamant about the need to make changes.

"We are extremely disappointed with our season," he said. "When things don't go well, it gives us the chance to evaluate everything we do. The status quo is unacceptable. We must bring back a winning culture which we did not see this season.

"If I can send one message to our fans, it would be that we will be better, both on the ice and off it. On the ice, changes will be required. Off the ice, we are going to improve our communication with fans at all levels."

Montreal finished 28th in the overall standings, and Bergevin believes the one area that needs improvement is the team's attitude.

"If we had a different attitude on the team, we wouldn't have lost 40 games," he said. "We were never fighting for a playoff spot."

Losing Shea Weber to injury was detrimental, Bergevin admitted, but not critical.

Montreal enters the offseason with five picks in the first two rounds of the NHL draft, including what could be a top-five selection.

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Jake Evans is ready to turn pro.

The Notre Dame captain signed with the Montreal Canadiens on Monday, agreeing to a two-year, entry-level contract.

Evans has spent the past four years with Notre Dame. In 40 games this season, he tallied 13 goals and 33 assists. The Toronto native captained Notre Dame to the championship game of this year's Frozen Four before falling to Minnesota Duluth.

The Canadiens selected Evans in the seventh round of the 2014 draft.

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Bet on the Nashville Predators making good on their Stanley Cup potential this time around.

Oddsmakers have made the defending Western Conference champions the favorites to win, with the Boston Bruins tabbed as the best to come out of the Eastern Conference.

Rounding out the top five are the Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets, two franchises that have never won a single playoff game.

(Odds courtesy: Bodog)

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