The New York Rangers attempted to introduce prospect K'Andre Miller to the fanbase on Friday, but the video chat's comments section was flooded with racial slurs.
"The National Hockey League is appalled that a video call arranged today by the New York Rangers to introduce their fans to one of the league's incoming stars, K'Andre Miller, was hacked with racist, cowardly taunts," the league said in a statement. "The person who committed this despicable act is in no way an NHL fan and is not welcome in the hockey community.
"No one deserves to be subjected to such ugly treatment and it will not be tolerated in our league. We join with the Rangers in condemning this disgusting behavior."
The Rangers disabled the chat as soon as possible and are investigating the matter, the club said in a statement.
The individual responsible repeatedly typed racial slurs into the message chat during the video call.
New York selected Miller with the 22nd overall pick in 2018. The 6-foot-3 defenseman signed an entry-level contract March 13 after two seasons at the University of Wisconsin.
New York Islanders forward Jordan Eberle is hopeful the 2019-20 NHL season will resume eventually, but he's being realistic about the delicate timeline.
"I'm for playing into later into the year. But that being said, I don't know at what point do you cut it off," Eberle said, according to NHL.com's Brian Compton. "You need to resume a full season next year and you need to have that time and that rest too. It's such a fine line."
He added that if the restart keeps getting pushed back and potentially into June or July, "at some point there has to be a date where you say, 'OK, the season's lost,' and we start recuperating for next year."
The Islanders, who were in the playoff hunt when the season was paused, sit just one point out of a wild-card spot.
"As of right now, I think everyone's mindset is that we do want to play the playoffs," Eberle said.
"You work all season long, all previous summer long to have a shot to win the Stanley Cup. Because of certain events that are out of all of our control, you can't do that, it's hard," he continued.
New York has played 68 games this season, while the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are one point ahead of the Islanders and occupy the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, have played 70 contests. With multiple possibilities open for what the playoffs could look like if the season resumes, New York isn't guaranteed a spot.
"I'm sure we can make a strong case for point percentage and we'd squeak into the playoffs," Eberle said. "Regardless of what's going to happen, if we do resume and we do resume with the playoffs, there's going to be some teams upset that they're not in."
Eberle recorded 16 goals and 24 assists in 58 games this season before the hiatus.
The NHL offseason is not technically underway yet, but the league's pause presents a good time to ask one pressing offseason question for each Metropolitan Division team.
The Canes have no pressing needs to fill this summer, boasting impressive depth both up front and on the back end. However, an upgrade between the pipes wouldn't hurt.
James Reimer and Petr Mrazek are both under contract for one more season, but they garnered mixed reviews in 2019-20. Reimer was solid, but Mrazek was mediocre at best.
With cap space at his disposal, general manager Don Waddell could pursue Lehner, whom he sniffed around for prior to the trade deadline. While overpaying for goaltenders is never a good idea, Lehner is one of the league's best, and he would push the Hurricanes from a strong team to a legitimate Cup contender.
After the trade deadline passed, TSN's Pierre LeBrun said: "I think there's a strong possibility" Anderson gets dealt this offseason.
Anderson is coming off a lost campaign in which he skated in just 26 games due to injury and registered only four points. In 2018-19, he potted 27 goals, and the 6-foot-3, 222-pound winger was considered up there with Tom Wilson and Evander Kane as one of the league's top true power forwards.
The 25-year-old is a pending restricted free agent and could become an unrestricted free agent after next season. The Blue Jackets have $15 million in projected cap space, but they have a handful of other pending RFAs due for raises, including Pierre-Luc Dubois and Elvis Merzlikins.
The problem with trading Anderson now is the Blue Jackets would be selling low. But if they re-sign him to a one-year deal, he'd likely walk in free agency in 2021. GM Jarmo Kekalainen has a tough decision to make.
New Jersey Devils
Andy Marlin / National Hockey League / Getty
Q: Who will be hired as the team's new GM?
There aren't any questions that can be asked about the Devils' offseason before there's a person in charge to make the decisions.
Interim GM Tom Fitzgerald appears to be the clear front-runner for the permanent job. He's been with the club since 2015 and he's a coveted executive, as he was approached by both the Wild and Hurricanes for their recent GM vacancies.
However, even though there's an obvious successor to Ray Shero in place, that hasn't stopped the Devils from exploring all of their options. The team reportedly interviewed former Canucks GM Mike Gillis and has plans to interview other candidates once the season is officially over.
Barzal's the best RFA set to hit the open market. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello said he'll match any offer sheet for his star pivot, but with only $12.6 million in projected cap space, a team with lots of flexibility could theoretically sign Barzal to an offer sheet that's too expensive for the Isles.
However, Lamoriello has a reputation as a stern negotiator. He's unlikely to give in to the player before July 1. Barzal, though, is one of the game's elite talents and could realistically demand Mitch Marner money (six years, average annual value of $10.893 million). He's worth it, too.
A short-term bridge deal would make sense for both sides. The Isles would get Barzal at a lower AAV during their window to compete, and Barzal could get a chance to cash in again in two-to-three years. The AAV should still be relatively high, though. Even on a bridge deal, anything below $8 million would be an absolute bargain.
Shesterkin is the goalie of both the present and future, so he isn't going anywhere. Lundqvist has one more year left on his contract, carrying a monstrous $8.5-million cap hit New York would love to see disappear. Georgiev, meanwhile, is a pending RFA.
In a perfect world, Lundqvist retires and the Rangers can roll with the two young Russians. That seems unlikely to happen, though. The Rangers could buy out Lundqvist, but would they do that to a franchise icon?
Trading Georgiev seems like the way to go, considering they'd likely lose him in the Seattle expansion draft in 2021, anyways. However, New York's asking price for the 24-year-old appears to be ridiculously high. Something has to give. Going another season with three netminders is not a viable option.
Gostisbehere has fallen out of favor in Philly. The 26-year-old tallied just 12 points in 42 games and was routinely a healthy scratch for the club this season. However, he's just two years removed from a 65-point campaign, and his $4.5-million cap hit through 2022-23 is quite enticing for other teams.
Trading Gostisbehere this offseason would be selling low, but his departure would give the Flyers more flexibility to re-sign fellow defensemen Justin Braun (UFA), Robert Hagg (RFA), and Philippe Myers (RFA).
Dealing Gostisbehere would've seemed unthinkable two years ago, but the emergence of Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim has made him expendable. It's time for Gostisbehere to get a fresh start.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Gerry Thomas / National Hockey League / Getty
Q: Will the Penguins decide on a goalie of the future?
The Penguins are fairly tight against the cap and both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are RFAs with arbitration rights after this season. GM Jim Rutherford may be forced to pick one goalie and trade the other, especially considering he has a quality backup in Casey DeSmith (career .917 save percentage in the NHL) sitting in the minors on a team-friendly deal (AAV of $1.25 million through 2022).
If the Pens keep both Jarry and Murray, they'll almost certainly lose one of them to Seattle in the expansion draft.
Murray is coming off a rough season with a .899 save percentage, but if Pittsburgh wants to bring him back, it seems unlikely he'd come cheaper than his current AAV of $3.75 million. It'd be tough to trade Murray, though, considering he helped the Pens win back-to-back Stanley Cups and is still just 25 years old.
Jarry, meanwhile, played for just $675,000 this season but is due for a significant raise after posting a .921 save percentage in 33 games. If you're going by recency bias, Jarry, 24, is the goalie to keep, but he's still far less proven than Murray.
Of course, perhaps Rutherford can sign them both, roll out the tandem for another year, and accept the fact he'll probably lose one of them to Seattle.
The expiration of Holtby's contract gives Washington some options this offseason. The former Vezina Trophy winner was carrying a $6.1-million cap hit but his play between the pipes deteriorated, as he sported a .897 save percentage this season and was drastically outplayed by rookie Ilya Samsonov.
The Capitals have nearly $13 million in projected cap space this summer and almost the entire team under contract for next season, with the exception of Holtby, Radko Gudas, Ilya Kovalchuk, and a few inexpensive RFAs.
If GM Brian MacLellan is comfortable handing the reins to Samsonov, he could sign a cheap backup goalie and make a splash in free agency on a one-year deal. Alex Ovechkin and Jakub Vrana will need new contracts after next season, so MacLellan can't overpay someone beyond 2021. But for the first time in a while, the Caps have the flexibility to make some noise in free agency.
The NHL offseason is not technically underway yet, but the league's pause presents a good time to ask one pressing offseason question for each Metropolitan Division team.
The Canes have no pressing needs to fill this summer, boasting impressive depth both up front and on the back end. However, an upgrade between the pipes wouldn't hurt.
James Reimer and Petr Mrazek are both under contract for one more season, but they garnered mixed reviews in 2019-20. Reimer was solid, but Mrazek was mediocre at best.
With cap space at his disposal, general manager Don Waddell could pursue Lehner, whom he sniffed around for prior to the trade deadline. While overpaying for goaltenders is never a good idea, Lehner is one of the league's best, and he would push the Hurricanes from a strong team to a legitimate Cup contender.
After the trade deadline passed, TSN's Pierre LeBrun said: "I think there's a strong possibility" Anderson gets dealt this offseason.
Anderson is coming off a lost campaign in which he skated in just 26 games due to injury and registered only four points. In 2018-19, he potted 27 goals, and the 6-foot-3, 222-pound winger was considered up there with Tom Wilson and Evander Kane as one of the league's top true power forwards.
The 25-year-old is a pending restricted free agent and could become an unrestricted free agent after next season. The Blue Jackets have $15 million in projected cap space, but they have a handful of other pending RFAs due for raises, including Pierre-Luc Dubois and Elvis Merzlikins.
The problem with trading Anderson now is the Blue Jackets would be selling low. But if they re-sign him to a one-year deal, he'd likely walk in free agency in 2021. GM Jarmo Kekalainen has a tough decision to make.
New Jersey Devils
Andy Marlin / National Hockey League / Getty
Q: Who will be hired as the team's new GM?
There aren't any questions that can be asked about the Devils' offseason before there's a person in charge to make the decisions.
Interim GM Tom Fitzgerald appears to be the clear front-runner for the permanent job. He's been with the club since 2015 and he's a coveted executive, as he was approached by both the Wild and Hurricanes for their recent GM vacancies.
However, even though there's an obvious successor to Ray Shero in place, that hasn't stopped the Devils from exploring all of their options. The team reportedly interviewed former Canucks GM Mike Gillis and has plans to interview other candidates once the season is officially over.
Barzal's the best RFA set to hit the open market. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello said he'll match any offer sheet for his star pivot, but with only $12.6 million in projected cap space, a team with lots of flexibility could theoretically sign Barzal to an offer sheet that's too expensive for the Isles.
However, Lamoriello has a reputation as a stern negotiator. He's unlikely to give in to the player before July 1. Barzal, though, is one of the game's elite talents and could realistically demand Mitch Marner money (six years, average annual value of $10.893 million). He's worth it, too.
A short-term bridge deal would make sense for both sides. The Isles would get Barzal at a lower AAV during their window to compete, and Barzal could get a chance to cash in again in two-to-three years. The AAV should still be relatively high, though. Even on a bridge deal, anything below $8 million would be an absolute bargain.
Shesterkin is the goalie of both the present and future, so he isn't going anywhere. Lundqvist has one more year left on his contract, carrying a monstrous $8.5-million cap hit New York would love to see disappear. Georgiev, meanwhile, is a pending RFA.
In a perfect world, Lundqvist retires and the Rangers can roll with the two young Russians. That seems unlikely to happen, though. The Rangers could buy out Lundqvist, but would they do that to a franchise icon?
Trading Georgiev seems like the way to go, considering they'd likely lose him in the Seattle expansion draft in 2021, anyways. However, New York's asking price for the 24-year-old appears to be ridiculously high. Something has to give. Going another season with three netminders is not a viable option.
Gostisbehere has fallen out of favor in Philly. The 26-year-old tallied just 12 points in 42 games and was routinely a healthy scratch for the club this season. However, he's just two years removed from a 65-point campaign, and his $4.5-million cap hit through 2022-23 is quite enticing for other teams.
Trading Gostisbehere this offseason would be selling low, but his departure would give the Flyers more flexibility to re-sign fellow defensemen Justin Braun (UFA), Robert Hagg (RFA), and Philippe Myers (RFA).
Dealing Gostisbehere would've seemed unthinkable two years ago, but the emergence of Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim has made him expendable. It's time for Gostisbehere to get a fresh start.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Gerry Thomas / National Hockey League / Getty
Q: Will the Penguins decide on a goalie of the future?
The Penguins are fairly tight against the cap and both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are RFAs with arbitration rights after this season. GM Jim Rutherford may be forced to pick one goalie and trade the other, especially considering he has a quality backup in Casey DeSmith (career .917 save percentage in the NHL) sitting in the minors on a team-friendly deal (AAV of $1.25 million through 2022).
If the Pens keep both Jarry and Murray, they'll almost certainly lose one of them to Seattle in the expansion draft.
Murray is coming off a rough season with a .899 save percentage, but if Pittsburgh wants to bring him back, it seems unlikely he'd come cheaper than his current AAV of $3.75 million. It'd be tough to trade Murray, though, considering he helped the Pens win back-to-back Stanley Cups and is still just 25 years old.
Jarry, meanwhile, played for just $675,000 this season but is due for a significant raise after posting a .921 save percentage in 33 games. If you're going by recency bias, Jarry, 24, is the goalie to keep, but he's still far less proven than Murray.
Of course, perhaps Rutherford can sign them both, roll out the tandem for another year, and accept the fact he'll probably lose one of them to Seattle.
The expiration of Holtby's contract gives Washington some options this offseason. The former Vezina Trophy winner was carrying a $6.1-million cap hit but his play between the pipes deteriorated, as he sported a .897 save percentage this season and was drastically outplayed by rookie Ilya Samsonov.
The Capitals have nearly $13 million in projected cap space this summer and almost the entire team under contract for next season, with the exception of Holtby, Radko Gudas, Ilya Kovalchuk, and a few inexpensive RFAs.
If GM Brian MacLellan is comfortable handing the reins to Samsonov, he could sign a cheap backup goalie and make a splash in free agency on a one-year deal. Alex Ovechkin and Jakub Vrana will need new contracts after next season, so MacLellan can't overpay someone beyond 2021. But for the first time in a while, the Caps have the flexibility to make some noise in free agency.
Wayne Gretzky recently gave Connor McDavid a major vote of confidence, with The Great One telling the Edmonton Oilers captain he'll win a Stanley Cup.
"When you guys do win - and you will win a Stanley Cup - the feeling is just over the top," Gretzky said during a lengthy interview the two did together with GQ. "You work your whole life to do that, because even at a young age you probably said, 'Connor McDavid scored in overtime, Game 7, I got the winning goal.' And if you lost you probably said, 'OK, we're going to play again.' So, you always won. But when you actually lift the Cup, it's pretty special, and you will lift it one day because you're too good."
Gretzky won four Stanley Cups during his tenure with the Oilers in the 80s, and he told McDavid multiple times during the interview that winning a championship in a hockey-crazed city like Edmonton is special.
The wide-ranging discussion touched on a variety of topics, including McDavid's path to the Oilers, which Gretzky says was much different than his journey to the NHL.
"The reality was, although there was a lot of focus on me, you were a can't-miss No. 1 pick at 16," Gretzky said. "At 16 and 17 I still had half the hockey world saying, 'Well, I'm not sure if he can play, he might be too small, might be too slow.' My path, my journey was a little different than yours because you had so much pressure."
"Your pressure came from within, having to be successful and live up to the expectations," he continued. "... Each and every year you've gotten better and delivered. I don't think people realize the pressure and microscope that guys like you and Sidney Crosby and Mario (Lemieux). When they come into the league it's a lot harder than people think."
Since drafting McDavid first overall in 2015, the Oilers have made the playoffs once, culminating in a run to Game 7 of the second round in 2017, with the 23-year-old collecting nine points across 13 games.
This season, Edmonton appeared destined to get back to the playoffs after recording 83 points through 71 games, with McDavid and fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl leading the way as the league's top two scorers when the season went on pause.
Brian Burke seems to enjoy opening up about his would-be trades that never came to fruition.
One week after saying his Anaheim Ducks made a better offer than the San Jose Sharks did for Joe Thornton in 2005, the former NHL general manager discussed another deal he didn't make, this time toward the end of his Toronto Maple Leafs tenure.
We were all in hard on Luongo around the time when I got fired. The price would have come down to a lot but we were in the mix. They asked for Gardiner, Kadri and two firsts. Way too step, even for @strombone1https://t.co/QNto0oM5XU
The Vancouver Canucks ended up shipping Roberto Luongo back to the Florida Panthers in March 2014 in a package deal that netted them Jacob Markstrom, their current No. 1 goalie.
During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Jake Gardiner was in his second NHL campaign after registering 30 points across 75 games in his rookie year. Nazem Kadri was in the midst of his first full season with the Maple Leafs and went on to post 44 points in 48 games before playing another six largely productive years with the club.
As for the two first-round picks, it's unclear at which drafts they would have applied, but Toronto selected Frederik Gauthier 21st overall in 2013. The team chose William Nylander eighth overall the following year and Mitch Marner with the No. 4 pick in 2015.
Burke began guiding the Leafs in November 2008. He spent three seasons with the Ducks prior to that, winning the Stanley Cup in 2006-07. He also served as the Canucks GM from 1998 to 2004.
The longtime executive spent five seasons as president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames from 2013 to 2018 before joining Sportsnet as a studio analyst.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly is using the NHL's hiatus as a time to reflect, and he recommends his teammates do the same.
"It's important that we use this downtime to really take a look in the mirror. As players, we all have to be better," he told TSN on Thursday.
He added: "When hockey does resume, I think we know that we have to be better and we have to be more consistent. And I think that this time is important for the players to really think about that and know what's at stake."
The Maple Leafs have been one of the most inconsistent teams this season.
They followed up a February loss against the Carolina Hurricanes and emergency backup David Ayres with a win against the juggernaut Tampa Bay Lightning. Before the season came to a halt, Toronto dropped three straight games against a trio of basement-dwelling California clubs but responded with another victory against the Bolts.
"I thought that we answered the bell at times when we had to against some pretty good teams," Rielly said. "And then, obviously the downs being games where you're supposed to win, or you expect a good team to be able to win, and we weren't able to execute that."
Rielly missed nearly two months with a broken foot before playing just one game prior to the season being paused. He's collected 27 points in 47 contests this campaign.
The Maple Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division with a 36-25-9 record.
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New York Islanders president of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello strongly believes the postponed NHL campaign will start up again in one form or another.
"I'm extremely optimistic that we will play at some time as far as this season," Lamoriello told Newsday's Andrew Gross on Thursday. "Whether it's in June, whether it's in July, whether it's in August, I'm not thinking about that. I'm just thinking, in my mind, knowing that we will play and using this time to get ready for that.
"But, prior to that, the most important thing is everyone staying safe and everyone doing the things in the best interest of their families because we're in a different world today."
The league postponed play March 12 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the NHL reportedly extended its self-quarantine directive for players until April 15.
Teams have reportedly been asked to provide available arena dates in August, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly subsequently said the league would try to fit games into that month if it had to do so.
