Nail Yakupov is heading home to Russia, as the 24-year-old winger signed a two-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, the league announced Tuesday.

Yakupov spent 2017-18 with the Colorado Avalanche, signing a one-year, $875,000 contract with the club after he was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the St. Louis Blues one season prior.

After recording nine goals and seven assists with the Avs, Yakupov was never given a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Yakupov was drafted first overall in 2012 by the Oilers, and after registering 31 points in 48 games in a promising debut season, he never lived up to expectations afterward, maxing out at 33 points in 2014-15. If the trip overseas signals the end of his NHL career, he departs as one of the most disappointing No. 1 picks in recent memory, with 136 points in 350 games.

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The Ottawa Senators continue to try and work themselves out from under the mess that has become their offseason, as the club has given teams permission to discuss a contract extension with Norris Trophy-winning rearguard Erik Karlsson, according to the New York Post's Larry Brooks.

Related: Senators offer extension to Karlsson

Ever since the off-ice drama between the Karlsson family and former Senators teammate Mike Hoffman and his fiancee, rumors have been hot and heavy over Karlsson's potential departure out of the nation's capital.

Ottawa offered Karlsson a contract extension Sunday, but given the relative disarray the franchise currently finds itself in, there is a real possibility that the premier blue-liner has played his final game with the Senators.

Despite playing last season with half an ankle bone, Karlsson still managed a respectable campaign on a ragtag Sens squad.

Karlsson racked up nine goals and 53 assists in 71 games, and even though he looks to have lost a step following last year's surgery, he is still one of the best defensemen in the game who will have multiple teams trying to acquire his services.

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Ryan O'Reilly has no regrets about how his end-of-season locker room clean out interview went.

After another losing season with the Buffalo Sabres, O'Reilly said the following when asked if the team was mentally strong enough, according to The Athletic's Joe Yerdon.

Yeah, I think our mindset is ... we're stuck in this mindset of just being okay with losing. I feel too I think it's really crept in with myself and over the course of the year, I lost myself a lot and where you just kind of get through and being the guy and being okay with making a mistake and that's just not winning hockey at all and it's crept into all of our games. It's disappointing, it's sad. I feel throughout the year I've lost the love of the game multiple times. I need to get back to it; it's eaten myself up and you can see other guys, too. It's eaten myself up. It's tough.

O'Reilly, who was traded to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, stood by those candid comments during a conference call Monday.

"My comments, I stand by them," he said to John Wawrow of The Associated Press, according to colleague Stephen Whyno. "I wanted to make a change. I wanted to personally do things different and be more honest."

Those comments may have come from the heart at the time they were said, but now, O'Reilly seems energized to be heading to the Gateway to the West.

"I couldn't be happier going to St. Louis. I'm absolutely thrilled," he said. "I feel like I have a spark in me now. It's something different."

This shouldn't come as that much of a surprise, as the Sabres finished dead-last in the NHL a season ago. While the Blues also missed the playoffs, they could very well return next year, and O'Reilly may get a chance to play alongside star winger Vladimir Tarasenko.

Regardless, O'Reilly had nothing but good things to say about the Sabres and the city of Buffalo.

"I love that city and love those guys on that team," he told Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. "I think they're a team that's very close too. It will be interesting to see what will happen with them ... they're in good hands and there's great things to come there.

"They've been monumental in my life."

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As the New York Islanders continue to try and pick up the pieces left in the wake of John Tavares' move to Toronto, the club signed forward and two-time Stanley Cup champion Tom Kuhnhackl to a one-year deal Monday, the team announced.

Kuhnhackl is coming off a campaign in which he registered two goals and six assists in 69 regular-season games while averaging just over 10 minutes in ice time per night.

The Germany native was drafted by the Penguins in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft, and went on to win two Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017, but is probably most famous for this viral clip from the 2018 postseason:

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The San Jose Sharks re-signed forward Tomas Hertl to a four-year contract Monday, the team announced. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Tomas took a big step forward last season, both on and off the ice, and we feel that he is just starting to hit his prime," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said.

"He has the ability to be a dominant player in this League and proved during the playoffs that he can take over any given game with his combination of skill and strength. His capability to play both center and the wing gives our team some flexibility, and he has one of the most infectious personalities in our dressing room. We're excited he made this commitment to our organization."

Hertl is coming off a season in which he produced a career-high 22 goals to go along with 24 assists. He also led the Sharks in game-winning goals with five, and paced the club in faceoff wins with 587.

In 10 playoff contests for San Jose last season, Hertl registered six goals and three assists. The Czech native was selected by the Sharks in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft, 17th overall.

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Brian Gibbons has a one-way ticket to California.

The unrestricted free-agent forward has signed a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks, the team announced Monday. The first one-way contract of Gibbons' career is worth $1 million, reports Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.

In 2017-18, he recorded 12 goals and 14 assists in 59 regular-season games. He leaves the New Jersey Devils organization after two campaigns.

The 30-year-old Boston College alumnus has also dressed for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets over a 125-game NHL career. In total, Gibbons has posted 17 goals and 31 assists.

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Happy birthday, Jumbo.

The San Jose Sharks signed veteran centerman Joe Thornton, who turned 39 on Monday, to a one-year contract, the club announced. It's worth $5 million and includes a no-trade clause, reports The Athletic's Kevin Kurz.

Thornton's 2017-18 season was cut short by a knee injury, but he still managed to produce a respectable 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in 47 games. The future Hall of Famer has 1427 points in 1493 career regular-season contests split between the Sharks and the Boston Bruins.

A year ago to the day, Thornton inked a similar one-year contract worth $8 million.

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Former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov's domestic violence charge has been dismissed, according to The Athletic's Katie Strang.

On Monday, Voynov had his petition for the dismissal to the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted, Strang reported. The 28-year-old didn't appear in court, according to Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times.

Voynov served two months in jail after pleading "no contest" to a misdemeanor charge of corporal injury to a spouse. The incident occurred in October 2014.

The Kings terminated his contract shortly after the arrest, though the right-handed blue-liner has since played in the KHL for SKA St. Petersburg and internationally at the world championships and 2018 Olympics for Russia.

Multiple NHL teams are said to be interested in signing Voynov if NHL officials allow the two-time Stanley Cup champion to re-enter the league.

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