The National Women's Hockey League is officially expanding to Toronto for the 2020-21 season, the league announced Wednesday.

Toronto will be the league's first Canadian team and sixth franchise overall, joining the Boston Pride, Metropolitan Riveters, Buffalo Beauts, Minnesota Whitecaps, and Connecticut Whale.

"Launching our first team in Canada is a pivotal and proud moment for the NWHL," league commissioner Dani Rylan said. "Everyone in the Toronto hockey community can be sure that this first-class team of professionals will make bold strides for the women’s game."

Former Brown University coach Digit Murphy has been named team president and will oversee hiring a general manager and head coach. Johanna Neilson Boynton, a former captain at Harvard, and Tyler Tumminia, will serve as owner and chairman, respectively.

"We aspire to build a perennial Isobel Cup contender for Toronto," said Boynton. "This will be an organization with strong fan, community, and corporate support, outstanding coaching, training, and player development, and a club dedicated to promoting hockey as a game for everyone."

Signing, hirings, and venues for the team will be announced at a later date, but fans can immediately begin submitting ideas for a team nickname, colors, and logos here.

The 2020-21 NWHL season is expected to begin in November.

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Warning: Some videos contain coarse language

The Boston Bruins got most of their 2011 championship-winning squad back together to watch a rebroadcast of Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, and more than the result of the game was predictable.

It didn't take long for things to get entertaining during the Zoom call, albeit occasionally vulgar.

Brad Marchand couldn't resist taking a shot at Patrice Bergeron.

In an unexpected turn, Milan Lucic made a Corsi reference.

Lucic didn't hold back one bit when Ryan Kesler was shown during the broadcast.

If one thing's clear from all this, it's that the NHL and its teams should organize way more of these.

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The NHL could conduct the draft in the month it normally takes place even if the season remains on pause.

The league has discussed possibly holding the event in June before the resumption of the current campaign, though that's one of many potential plans, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told TSN's Pierre LeBrun on Tuesday.

It would be held virtually rather than at an arena, but nothing has been decided yet, adds LeBrun.

As he notes, this idea presents several issues, including the draft order and conditional picks, which the final regular-season standings and playoff results typically determine, respectively.

Such a scenario would also make draft-day trades - arguably the most entertaining part of the event - impossible, as ESPN's Greg Wyshynski points out.

The league postponed the upcoming draft, the combine, and the annual awards show amid the coronavirus pandemic in late March. Montreal was scheduled to host the 2020 draft, and the NHL later reassured the Canadiens they would get the chance to host one in the future.

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Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson and many other players in Sweden have been granted permission by local authorities to return to the ice, something their peers overseas are not pleased about, TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

Some players in North America "do not like the idea" of the Swedes being allowed to skate due to the "competitive edge" it could offer if the league returns, according to Dreger.

Having players return to the ice is a recommendation - but not a directive - from the league, Dreger adds. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, arenas and training facilities remain closed in North America to all players unless they are rehabbing an injury.

Last week, the league extended its self-quarantine recommendation for players and staff for the third time, pushing back the date to April 30.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said players will need a two-to-three week training camp if the NHL resumes its season, which was suspended March 12.

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The New Jersey Devils are taking a proactive approach while the NHL remains on hiatus.

Devils interim general manager Tom Fitzgerald has spoken with former Vegas Golden Knights bench boss Gerard Gallant about New Jersey's head coaching position, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

"Gerard Gallant, according to our sources, (was) interviewed last week," LeBrun said, before adding that the conversation with Fitzgerald took place virtually rather than face to face.

Fitzgerald has spoken to several candidates, according to LeBrun, who wrote shortly thereafter on The Athletic that Devils interim head coach Alain Nasreddine is a legitimate candidate to keep the job.

The Golden Knights fired Gallant, replacing him with Peter DeBoer in a surprise move back in January. Vegas was 24-19-6 at the time, and the team sat only three points back of first place in the Pacific Division despite being on the outside of the playoff picture.

Gallant won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top head coach for 2017-18 after guiding the Golden Knights to a playoff berth and a run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. He spent parts of three campaigns with Vegas after tenures of similar lengths with the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nasreddine took over behind the Devils' bench on an interim basis after the dismissal of John Hynes in early December. Under Nasreddine, the Devils have gone 19-16-8.

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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza had the chance to play for his hometown team this season, and he's hoping he can continue to do so.

"I definitely feel I have game left," the veteran said, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "And there's nowhere else I'd rather be than play another year here in Toronto."

The Mississauga, Ontario, native signed a one-year, $700,000 deal with the Maple Leafs last summer and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Spezza will turn 37 in June. He's filled a bottom-six role nicely for Toronto, recording nine goals and 16 assists in 58 games while averaging 10:50 minutes of ice time.

He has skated in 1,123 career games, racking up 341 goals and 599 assists.

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Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is beginning to enter the tail end of his career, but he's still not exactly sure when he'll call it quits for good.

"We'll see, I have one more year after this season and we'll see," Ovechkin said in an interview with NBC Sport's Kathryn Tappen and Wayne Gretzky Tuesday. "I'm healthy, thank God, and I still love this game. As soon as I'm not going to love this game, I'm not going to cheat on it. I respect it a lot, and I don't want to put my name on the caliber players who just play out there and take somebody's spots. I don't want to do that."

Ovechkin, 34, is set to enter unknown territory as he approaches free agency. He has one more season left on the 13-year extension he signed with the Capitals in 2008 - the only contract he's signed following his rookie deal. The veteran will be 36 years old at the start of his next contract if he chooses to sign one.

The perennial goal-scorer has shown no signs of slowing down yet. He was tied for the league lead in goals with 48 when the season paused on March 12. He's also shown incredible durability throughout his career, only missing a handful of games over the years due to injury.

When asked about his thoughts on what he's accomplished and what he still has to get done, Ovechkin showed he understands the significance of his work on the ice so far.

"Obviously right now I have lots of time to think about and you know it's great, it's great for (the) game, it's great for me, for my teammates, it's great for Washington area, D.C. area to be able to see that," Ovechkin said of his personal feats to date. "Right now, I can't even realize what I did throughout all my career because you know my career is not ending, but to be eighth all time (on the all-time goals list), it's special."

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