Florida Panthers forward Micheal Haley will be away from the team while taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, the league and the union announced in a joint statement Friday.

"Micheal is a valued part of our team and Panthers family," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said. "He has our full support as he takes the time he needs to tend to this matter."

Haley hasn't played in a game for the Panthers this season. The 32-year-old, who's in his second campaign with Florida, appeared in 75 contests in 2017-18, chipping in nine points while racking up 212 penalty minutes.

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We're over a week into the 2018-19 NHL season and Toronto Maple Leafs restricted free-agent forward William Nylander remains back home in Sweden, without a contract.

Both sides want a long-term deal to get done, but they can't seem to agree on terms. Nylander's camp is looking to get its worth - a figure that likely accounts for the continued growth of the former eighth overall pick. The Leafs, meanwhile, are apparently insisting all their top players take less money to keep the core together under the salary cap.

It appears the two sides remain far apart on a deal they had all summer to negotiate, leaving the door open for a rival team to sign Nylander to an offer sheet.

Now, offer sheets in the NHL are rarely tabled. The last one was in 2013 when the Colorado Avalanche matched a two-year, $10-million sheet Ryan O'Reilly signed with the Calgary Flames. In total, there have been eight signed since 1998 - the Anaheim Ducks letting Dustin Penner ink a deal with the Edmonton Oilers is the only one that wasn't matched.

It's pretty clear there's an unwritten code among the league's general managers that offer sheets are off the table - even though they're completely legal - and that poaching another team's RFA results in a tarnished reputation. However, players are rarely unsigned in mid-October, and Toronto appears extra vulnerable to an offer sheet given the massive paydays Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner will get next summer.

If an offer were to be tabled, it would need to be by teams in the absolute perfect position to do so: the Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes.

For offer sheet compensation, refer to CapFriendly. But, as per the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, the average annual value is calculated by dividing the total amount by the lesser of the number of years or five.

The case for Colorado

Offer: 6 years, $8-million average annual value ($48M total)
Compensation: Two first-round picks, one second-round pick, one third-round pick

The Avalanche are coming off a surprising playoff berth, one season after they had the worst campaign in the salary-cap era. There's a lot to like about Colorado, but the team's heavily reliant on its top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog. Adding Nylander would provide some much-needed secondary scoring, whether at center or right wing.

It makes sense on and off the ice - the Avs are as well-equipped as any team to offer sheet Nylander. Even if they were to give up two first-rounders, a second, and a third, they still have the Senators' 2019 first- and third-round picks, acquired in last year's Matt Duchene deal.

Thanks to MacKinnon's and Landeskog's team-friendly contracts, Colorado has the financial resources to make this happen, too. The Avs have $12.7 million in cap space this season and project to have $33.5 million in 2019-20. Rantanen, Nikita Zadorov, Alexander Kerfoot, and Semyon Varlamov are the only core players in need of new contracts next year.

Nylander and Rantanen could combine to take up almost half that $33.5 million, but Zadorov and Kerfoot won't command a whole lot, and re-signing Varlamov isn't a necessity with Philipp Grubauer in the fold.

Make no mistake: If Colorado general manager Joe Sakic wants to make this happen, he can.

The case for Carolina

Offer: 5 years, $8-million AAV ($40M total)
Compensation: One first-round pick, one second-round pick, one third-round pick

The Hurricanes own the NHL's longest active playoff drought, and though the 2018-19 season is in its infancy, they're looking to snap that streak, with a 3-0-1 record out of the gate. Adding Nylander would give them an extra push offensively, and fill a need at the same time, as the club could desperately use another center. Plus, GM Don Waddell has already reportedly expressed interest in Nylander, making this scenario perhaps more plausible than Colorado landing the young Swede.

While Carolina doesn't own an additional first-round pick like Colorado, the Hurricanes have the necessary draft choices to make this offer sheet happen. Plus, their farm system is quite deep and added a potential franchise player in Andrei Svechnikov at No. 2 in June. In short: Carolina needs an impact player in the early stages of his career a lot more than it needs those three picks.

There's more: Carolina has the most cap space in the NHL, and while Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are RFAs next year, the organization would have no issues getting all three players under contract - with room to spare.

How would Toronto counter?

The Maple Leafs wouldn't be pleased about an offer sheet, that's for sure. With the team off to a hot start, Kasperi Kapanen flourishing on Matthews' wing, and Nylander losing more than $30,000 a day during his holdout, Toronto's got leverage in this stalemate. An offer sheet would take it all away.

If Colorado or Carolina signed Nylander to an offer sheet, Toronto would have seven days to match it or accept compensation in exchange for the 22-year-old.

The Maple Leafs seemingly can't afford to pay Nylander $8 million long term given that John Tavares already makes $11 million, Marner is bound to make somewhere north of $8 million, and Matthews could wind up exceeding Connor McDavid's league-high $12.5-million cap hit.

General manager Kyle Dubas would be left with three choices: Match the offer sheet and keep Nylander, match and trade Nylander next year, or decline to match and accept compensation.

If Colorado offered the proposed six-year deal, Dubas may be inclined not to match it. Essentially, it comes down to what he believes has more trade value on the open market: Nylander, or two firsts, a second, and a third-round pick. Given Toronto's status as Stanley Cup contender, Dubas would almost surely turn those hypothetical draft picks into immediate help for his team, likely on the blue line - clearly Toronto's most glaring weakness.

With Carolina's five-year offer sheet, Dubas would almost certainly match it, declining to take the package of a first, a second, and a third-round pick. This could still work in Carolina's favor, though.

After matching the offer sheet, Dubas would begin surveying the league for an eventual trade partner for Nylander - even though he couldn't deal him for one year, per the CBA. Waddell's relationship with Toronto's front office could be in tatters, but Dubas wouldn't pass up the best possible trade offer because of some bad blood over unwritten rules. Carolina may be able to provide the best offer for Nylander given its depth of quality, young defensemen.

Given that the cap-strapped Leafs would be unable to exact revenge and offer sheet a Hurricanes or Avalanche player in the near future, all Waddell or Sakic would be left with is some hurt feelings. To acquire a game-breaking talent like Nylander, it seems worth the risk.

(Cap info courtesy: CapFriendly)

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Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini is not exactly pleased with some of the recent decisions the team's front office has made.

Canucks general manager Jim Benning signed forward Sam Gagner to a three-year, $9.45-million contract on July 1, 2017, on the heels of a career-high 50-point season. However, Gagner was cut by the Canucks at the end of training camp this year and is currently on loan with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

Gagner is owed $3.5 million in base salary this year, and $3.2 million next season, regardless of whether he's playing in the NHL or the AHL. Deciding to leave him off the team's 23-man roster led to an uncomfortable phone call between Benning and his boss.

"It was a hard conversation," Benning told Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre. "I tried to explain to him that we had signed Sam but we felt younger players had outperformed him at camp. I was talking about (Nikolay) Goldobin, mostly. We had to make a hard decision on that, and it was hard to have to call him up and explain it. But at the end of the conversation he understood. That was the hardest call I've had to make to him."

Aquilini was rather candid with his reaction to the surprising news.

"When they made that decision to put Sam in the minors, when they told me, I wasn't happy about it," Aquilini said. "I mean, it's $3 million (per season). It's crazy, but that's what was necessary."

Gagner, 29, tallied 31 points in 74 games with the Canucks last season.

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The Ottawa Senators have been hit by a tidal wave of injuries.

Defenseman Cody Ceci (upper body), and forwards Ryan Dzingel (lower body) and Alex Formenton (concussion) have been placed on injured reserve, the club announced Friday.

In a corresponding move, defenseman Christian Jaros and forward Nick Paul have been recalled from the AHL.

Ceci had been held without a point through four games but has logged the second-most minutes on the team's inexperienced blue line.

Dzingel was thrown into a top-line role after a busy offseason and has been up for the challenge, scoring twice and adding two assists.

The 19-year-old speedy Formenton had been held without a point thus far.

The Senators are off to a 1-2-1 start to the season.

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Morgan Rielly's red-hot start to the 2018-19 season has earned him a spot in the NHL's history books.

With a goal and an assist on Thursday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs top-pairing blue-liner bumped up his point total to 12, making him the highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL's modern era (since 1943) through five contests, per Sportsnet Stats.

Here's a look at the names he passed:

Rielly now sits ahead of some legendary defenseman, and he's also tied with teammate Auston Matthews for the league lead in points.

Rielly, 24, broke out offensively last season, posting a career-high 52 points in 72 games, and he looks poised to set a new personal benchmark in his sixth NHL campaign.

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An arbitrator has reduced Austin Watson's suspension to 18 games, the NHL and NHLPA announced Thursday.

The Nashville Predators forward was originally suspended for 27 games following a no-contest plea to domestic violence.

"Our organization was not involved in the appeal of Austin Watson’s 27-game suspension, but we are aware of its reduction to 18 games," the Predators said in a statement. "As previously stated, our focus has and will continue to be the health and well-being of Austin and his family."

Watson is now eligible to return on Nov. 15 against the Arizona Coyotes.

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