The New York Rangers have inked defenseman K'Andre Miller to a three-year, entry-level contract, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

New York drafted the 20-year-old with the 22nd pick in 2018.

The 6-foot-4 blue-liner has tallied seven goals and 18 points through 36 games during his sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Miller represented the United States at the world juniors in 2019 and 2020, capturing a silver medal at the former event.

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The funeral for late Montreal Canadiens legend Henri Richard will be a private event, Richard's family announced by way of the club Friday, in response to the Quebec government's measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Only immediate family members can attend the event. Media representatives and members of the general public will not be admitted.

Those who wish to offer condolences or send flowers can do so through Richard's online obituary.

Richard, the younger brother of fellow Canadiens legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard, died last Friday at the age of 84. The "Pocket Rocket" won the Stanley Cup 11 times - a record for a player - and served as Montreal's captain for four seasons in the 1970s.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.

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The NHL wants its players to avoid straying from the cities where their teams play and refrain from taking the ice for the time being with the season paused due to the coronavirus.

"The general expectation is that players will remain in the clubs' home cities absent unusual circumstances," The league's deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, wrote to TSN's Ryan Rishaug on Friday. "Obviously, where a player is separated from his family because his club-city residence is only temporary at this point, those players should be permitted to go home to their families in this initial phase of the pause period."

Daly added the NHL is recommending against informal skates at this time and that players will be covered by the protections afforded to them in their contracts once training for the resumption of play begins.

"We envision there coming a time (when) we transition direction from 'stay at home' to opening club facilities to players to work out and to skate on a voluntary basis in small groups - similar to what we generally see prior to the beginning of team training camps," Daly wrote, adding that he can't say when such a period would begin but that the league will monitor developments over the next week or so.

Daly said there will be no mandatory testing of players for the virus, but testing will be conducted "as appropriate" if a player exhibits symptoms or becomes sick.

He also addressed the schedule and how it could impact players' contracts.

"Any decision we make on (the) schedule will be done in conjunction with the NHLPA, and the parties can agree to extend the terms of existing contracts by whatever period is necessary to accommodate the resumption of play (based on) determinations that are ultimately made," he wrote.

The league and the players' association are developing rules for players during this time and should have a working agreement by the end of Friday, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

The NHL officially paused its 2019-20 campaign Thursday, following the lead of the NBA. Many other leagues have since canceled or postponed their respective seasons.

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The owners of the New Jersey Devils said Friday they will pay hourly employees and Prudential Center staff for postponed games and events while the NHL season remains paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Employees are family. ... It's important to band together and lift each other up during these times," Devils chairman Josh Harris and vice-chairman David Blitzer told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

After the league postponed operations Thursday, the Devils called their team and arena staff members "the heartbeat of the organization" and said the club was committed to assisting them through the hiatus.

It later became evident that several teams were following suit.

Ilitch Holdings, the company that owns the Detroit Red Wings and MLB's Tigers, set up a $1 million fund to cover one month's wages for part-time staff for games, concerts, and events they would've otherwise worked.

Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Capitals and the NBA's Wizards, told Capital One Arena staff Friday morning that anyone scheduled to work an event - including Capitals and Wizards games - through March 31 will be paid, a source told The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir.

Anaheim Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli will keep paying full- and part-time employees who were scheduled to work at Honda Center through March 31, reports The Athletic's Eric Stephens.

Winnipeg Jets owner Mark Chipman did the opposite Thursday, telling reporters that roughly 1,200 part-time workers at Bell MTS Place will not be compensated during the shutdown.

"They work when we work," the True North Sports and Entertainment chairman said, according to the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen. "So, regrettably, to the extent that we're not putting on shows and games, those people obviously would not have a call to work."

NHL clubs will not travel, practice, or hold team meetings while the season is suspended, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Thursday.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Friday the league expects players to stay in their club cities and recommends against holding informal skates.

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Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

What is sports betting without sports?

It's a question the sports betting community has grappled with since Wednesday night, when the NBA suspended its season indefinitely after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Since then, the NCAA canceled its men's and women's college basketball tournaments, the NHL and MLB suspended play, and other leagues across the world took precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. By the time you're done reading this, another league will have likely followed suit.

Among the hundreds of unanswered questions resulting from this global pandemic, the sports betting industry faces a peculiar one: If there are no sports, what are bettors and bookmakers supposed to do?

"It's never happened," said Robert Walker, sportsbook director for USBookmaking. "We're in such uncharted territory."

Many books, including theScore Bet in New Jersey, have suspended all bets on leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB until further confirmation on when play may resume. In the case of a canceled postseason - such as the NCAA Tournament - most bettors can expect a refund for their futures bets. That includes win totals and title tickets, even if those teams had already been eliminated from contention.

But such refunds depend entirely on the house rules of each book, which may not be equipped for this type of situation. In many cases, bet shops are simply trying to take cues from the leagues in question - which, in a time of ever-changing information, can prove tricky.

"When you’re creating house rules, you try to anticipate different scenarios," said Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader. "But this is a hard scenario to anticipate."

Sportsbooks also have to prepare for the immediate losses from not booking major events on the betting calendar. Last year, Nevada generated $495 million from bets on basketball during March alone, which included $32.5 million in winnings. That's to say nothing of the lost revenue from food and beverages when bettors congregate for key sporting events, such as March Madness or pro leagues' playoffs.

To be clear, there are worse ramifications from the coronavirus outbreak than canceled bets, even within sports - the risk posed to players, team employees, and their families takes precedent. Still, with the sports world on pause, books are preparing for something they've never faced before.

"We’re definitely bracing for the possibility that there’s very little for us to do in April," Walker said.

If this "sports blackout" extends beyond three or four weeks, it'll put incredible stress on books to expand their offerings. Bettors surely won't replicate the volume of basketball and baseball with, say, golf or auto-racing, and an extended period without revenue could threaten the viability of smaller or seasonal leagues - meaning even less to bet on when play resumes.

Needless to say, sportsbooks suffering major losses could jeopardize opportunities for bettors when everything returns to "normal." Yet even with fewer sports to book in the event of a widespread suspension of play, oddsmakers can't afford to inflate prices on their bets during that stretch without losing even more customers, forcing them to navigate even thinner margins in an industry with little room for error.

"You’re not going to see ‘price gouging’ because nobody's going to engage with us if we do that," Rood said. "We’re all in the same boat. We'll be as creative as we possibly can on what’s left to put up for wager."

What if games resume but with no fans? That presents another challenge for sportsbooks, which will be pricing a home advantage with no real evidence to work from.

Normally, home teams get a boost of 2.5 or 3 points on the line, but with no fans in the arena, is it really such an advantage? Rood expects that number to come down, as might the over/under for basketball games played in an empty gym. But he admits that's only a guess, and the early days of fanless sports will be an important "information-gathering" period from the sharp community - albeit with lower limits than usual.

"The answer is we kind of don’t know (what we'd do)," Rood said. "We’re going to need a sample size, and we’re going to have to adapt quickly to what unfolds in those early games if that’s the case moving forward."

For now, it's a "wait and see" situation for sportsbooks, which were booking NCAA title bets just a few days ago. However, they're far from the only ones dealing with the fallout from the coronavirus.

"I've been telling everybody when they leave, 'Be safe,' because that’s all that matters," Walker said. "You want to see the same people the next day. We don’t want to lose anybody over something like this.

"There will be another March Madness. There will be another NBA season. We just want everybody to be safe and healthy."

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.

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New York Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux will be suspended for his check on Colorado Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi on Wednesday night, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Friday.

The length of the suspension will be determined once resumption of play guidelines have been established.

Lemieux caught Donskoi with a hit to the head late in the third period of Colorado's 3-2 overtime victory. The Avalanche winger left the game and didn't return.

The officials handed Lemieux a two-minute interference minor.

He's been suspended once before at the NHL level, earning a two-game ban while playing for the Winnipeg Jets for a hit to the head of then-Florida Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck in November 2018.

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The Under-18 Men's World Hockey Championship has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the IIHF announced Friday.

The 10-team tournament had been scheduled for April 16-26 in Plymouth and Ann Arbor, Michigan. USA Hockey will refund those who purchased tickets for the event.

The IIHF cited U.S. President Donald Trump's ban against travel between Europe and the United States, as well as Michigan authorities' recommendation to avoid gatherings of more than 100 people.

Meanwhile, the IIHF will hold a conference call Tuesday to discuss the status of the Men's Senior World Championship, which is scheduled to be played May 8-24 in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland.

The governing body of international hockey canceled the Division II and III worlds Friday.

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Hockey is officially on hold.

The NHL followed the NBA's lead on Thursday afternoon by suspending its season in an attempt to avoid contributing to the spread of the coronavirus. The decision comes after two Utah Jazz players tested positive for the virus, and it marks a sharp escalation in the NHL's response to the outbreak, which until now was focusing on distancing players from the media and curbing contact with fans.

The main concern here is the NHL doing its part in the broader effort to curtail the virus. Games are rightfully an afterthought when steps can be taken to minimize public health risks.

Still, this indefinite postponement raises hockey-specific questions about everything from this year's Stanley Cup chase to the ceiling of the next salary cap. Whether the league can continue the season, and how that might be structured, will shape the resolutions to those issues.

Here are four major storylines to ponder as the hiatus begins.

The playoff picture

Before play was suspended on Thursday, there were between 11 and 14 regular-season games remaining for each NHL team. The race for the final postseason spots in both conferences is now on pause, with no definite word on how, exactly, the timing and length of the schedule will be affected.

Depending on when the NHL decides it's resuming play, the league could opt to go in one of these directions:

• Pick up where the schedule left off, play the full remaining slate of games, and push the start and end of the playoffs back.

• Play an abbreviated number of remaining regular-season games, then begin the playoffs closer to the original start date.

• Cancel the rest of the regular season and hold an impromptu wild-card tournament to settle tight playoff races.

• Cancel the rest of the regular season and award playoff positions based on the current standings.

Let's say the postponement lasts several weeks, past the planned end of the regular season on April 4, and the NHL decides that last scenario is optimal under the circumstances. These would be the first-round playoff matchups based on points percentage:

That's a pretty enticing slate. The Leafs would hold onto a playoff spot and aim to beat the Lightning to earn their first series victory of the Auston Matthews era, and the memory of a Columbus sweep last season is still fresh for Tampa. Elsewhere, Pennsylvania rivals would square off, and the Capitals would meet the Hurricanes in a rematch of last year's first-round series.

Currently, the fight for the final playoff spots is airtight, so several clubs could be forgiven for crying injustice if the regular season were cut short. The Winnipeg Jets (.563 points percentage) and Minnesota Wild (.558) sit a hair outside of the Western wild-card slots. Out east, the Hurricanes (.596) and Islanders (.588) aren't completely clear of the Blue Jackets (.579), Panthers (.565), and Rangers (.564).

This discussion is speculative for now, as figuring out how to proceed will be difficult for the NHL until there's a sense of how long the lull is likely to last. In a statement, the league said its primary objective "is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup."

To that end, TSN reported Thursday the NHL has asked each team to note which dates their home arena is available through the end of July. Possible overlap with rescheduled NBA games and concerts may complicate that exercise, but the request at least indicates a belief play could stretch deep into the summer if necessary.

An aside on the starkest possible outcome here: The NHL season has ended without a Stanley Cup champion being crowned just once. That occured in 1919, when the Stanley Cup Final was abandoned on the eve of its deciding game because of an influenza pandemic that, within days, killed Montreal Canadiens defenseman Joe Hall.

Scheduling ripple effect

The NHL calendar is rigid. Seasons begin and end around the same time every year, and signature events like the All-Star Game and draft always fall within a narrow time frame. The schedule is neat and tidy with no surprises.

Nothing is neat and tidy after Thursday's announcement, which means there will be a ripple effect on the league's 2020 calendar. A few key questions to ponder:

Will the NHL hold its scouting combine?

As of now, probably not, due to travel concerns and the sweaty, intimate environment the fitness-testing portion of the event creates, which runs counter to recommendations from health officials.

The combine, which is scheduled for June 1-6 in Buffalo, isn't essential to NHL business. It's one part of a wider prospect talent-evaluation process. Teams could conceivably conduct the interview portion of the event via phone or video.

Will the NHL hold its entry draft?

Almost certainly, though it's possible that instead of being held at Montreal's Bell Centre on June 26-27, the draft takes place online and/or at a later date. Unlike the combine, the draft doesn't technically require any in-person contact.

However, the event generates significant buzz for the league. So, unless the virus continues to spread at an alarming rate and business around the continent completely halts, the 2020 draft should occur at some point.

What about the offseason and beyond?

This is where things get tricky and super speculative.

If the current season resumes in a couple of months and not a couple of weeks, the flow of the offseason will be disrupted. Does free agency get pushed back if the playoffs leak past July 1? Are training camp and the preseason prior to the 2020-21 campaign - which together eat up the entire month of September - in jeopardy of being shortened? If there's a lengthy layoff followed by a postseason that goes long into the summer, something's got to give on the scheduling front.

These won't be easy conversations between the NHL and NHLPA, especially with the owners and players sometimes coming to the table with competing interests.

Next season's salary cap

This pandemic has led to an unprecedented economic situation globally, let alone in the sports world. There's no playbook here for professional sports leagues like the NHL.

No matter how the global economics play out, pausing the NHL season for any length of time is going to hurt the bottom line. Commissioner Gary Bettman's projection of an upper limit for the 2020-21 salary cap had been between $84 million and $88.2 million. Throw that projection in the trash now.

This year's upper limit ($81.5 million) is a better benchmark for the time being, though the length of the NHL's season suspension will ultimately determine how much damage is done to the league's annual revenue of about $5 billion. Spring is especially important, with the hectic two-month postseason driving fandom.

And the salary cap is strongly linked to fandom. Ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, in-arena board advertisements, and more are included in hockey-related revenue. Making matters worse, the Canadian dollar - another big economic variable for NHL business - has sagged lately.

Remembering this season

Beyond how the rest of the campaign is structured and the possible financial fallout heading forward, indefinite postponement also presents a spiritual conundrum. How should fans process the events of what is now a radically disrupted season?

If the regular season is abridged, the resolution of some award races may seem insufficient. Leon Draisaitl has made a strong case to win the Hart Trophy, but could his superstar teammate Connor McDavid, or even a dark-horse candidate such as Artemi Panarin, have made a credible late-season push? What about the razor-thin margin separating Quinn Hughes' and Cale Makar's claims to the Calder Trophy?

Poignantly, any abrupt end to the season could deprive certain legendary players of a celebratory send-off into retirement. The San Jose Sharks are limping toward a bottom-five finish, but Joe Thornton still deserves a proper farewell game. A shortened schedule means fewer last chances to appreciate Patrick Marleau and Zdeno Chara, both of whom are pending UFAs in their 40s.

Alex Ovechkin's charge past 700 career goals and toward Wayne Gretzky's record of 894 - one of the dominant storylines of early 2020 - provides a point of statistical intrigue. If the rest of this season were to finish in full, Ovechkin would be on pace to surpass Gretzky comfortably if he approaches 50 goals in each of the next four campaigns. That math will need to be adjusted if this season is cut short.

In the absence of further clarity, this much is evident for now: All of hockey is in limbo together. Buckle in for a prolonged - and, in the grander scheme, important - intermission.

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