The Montreal Canadiens agreed to terms with defenseman Alexander Romanov on a three-year entry-level contract, the team announced Friday.

However, the start of the contract has yet to be determined due to the uncertainty surrounding the NHL season.

The Canadiens are awaiting word on the league's ruling regarding whether new signings can play the rest of the current season, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

If there's a 24-team playoff format, which is reportedly gaining traction, the Eastern Conference's 12th-seeded Canadiens would presumably want Romanov to join the team for the remainder of this campaign.

Romanov, a second-round pick in 2018, suited up for 43 games in each of the last two seasons with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, racking up a combined 11 points.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Pittsburgh Penguins fans are being recognized for their dedication to the team, as Forbes Magazine ranks them the ninth-most passionate fans across the four major North American sports.

The magazine's rankings take into account television ratings, game attendance, merchandise sales, and social media reach. Penguins fans were the highest-ranked among NHL fan bases, and the only hockey-based group to make the top 10 overall.

"Our fans are the greatest," Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse said, according to NHL.com. "We are so grateful for their support, and it's never a surprise to us when they're named the most passionate fans in the NHL. Because they are. We hope everyone is staying safe during this challenging time."

The Penguins currently hold the NHL's longest-ever sellout streak, which began in 2007, according to Yahoo's Andrew Lisa.

"The NHL's only team in the top 10 can thank All-Star Sidney Crosby, whose jersey has been a hot item since his 2005 debut," Forbes wrote. "Two Stanley Cups in the last five years help, as do 12 sellout seasons at PPG Paints Arena."

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and pending unrestricted free agent Mikhail Sergachev haven't begun negotiations on a new contract, but the young blue-liner is confident a deal will get done once the NHL regains some normalcy.

"It's a little different obviously right now, but I'm trying to leave it to my agent (Mark Gandler)," Sergachev said Thursday, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "He's going to deal with it, I guess. But for me, I just want to continue the season, play and get better and see what happens. I feel like they're going to work out something. I have a good agent."

Sergachev's entry-level contract is set to expire at season's end. He's one of five RFA's on the Bolts' roster this offseason, most notably joined by burgeoning two-way center Anthony Cirelli and fellow defenseman Erik Cernak.

Tampa Bay currently has over $76 million committed to its 2020-21 roster. Given the uncertainty of next season's salary cap - this year's limit is $81.5 million - the Lightning may be forced to pull off a trade in order to make things work financially.

"We'll just wait and see what the salary cap is going to be like, if we're going to resume to play or not," Sergachev said. "It's still up in the air. We're kind of in limbo right now. I wish I knew and I wish I could tell you something."

Sergachev was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens ninth overall in 2016 and was acquired by the Lightning one year later in exchange for Jonathan Drouin. Before the league went on pause March 12, Sergachev had notched a career-high 10 goals in 70 games while seeing his ice time rise to more than 20 minutes per night compared to 17:55 last season.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

While a number of different options remain on the table, the NHL may be leaning toward an unprecedented 24-team playoff format if the 2019-20 season resumes.

"On Wednesday, in the Return To Play committee call, I'm told that 16, 20, and 24 (teams) were again talked about as options," TSN's Pierre LeBrun said on Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading."

"Of those three, from talking to people around the league both on the teams' side and on the players' side, 24 teams seems to be gathering a bit of traction."

The format could potentially hand postseason berths to teams that weren't previously considered to be in the playoff race. Two examples are the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, who sit in 12th place in the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively.

The format's specifics aren't entirely known, but it would eliminate the need to finish the regular season.

"You could easily adopt a play-in format that trims 24 down to the traditional 16 playoff teams," TSN's Darren Dreger added. "And by doing that, you don't have regular-season games, you have three-to-six play-in games, and that means you can get through the process more quickly."

LeBrun added that no decisions have been made and that these are just conversations between the sides.

The league is reportedly hoping to open its team facilities in mid-to-late May to commence Phase 2 of its plan to return to the ice.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Alexander Kerfoot isn't satisfied with the impact he's made in his first season with his new club.

Kerfoot was acquired in the July 1 blockbuster deal that also brought Tyson Barrie to Toronto and shipped Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche. Kerfoot was expected to capably fill Kadri's old spot as the Maple Leafs' No. 3 center behind big guns Auston Matthews and John Tavares, but he doesn't think things went quite according to plan.

"I am not overly thrilled with how things went from a personal standpoint," Kerfoot told reporters Thursday, including TSN's Kristen Shilton. "Everything was a little bit inconsistent. I think there were times when I was happy with my game, (but) overall it was a little bit more inconsistent than I would like. Maybe I didn't contribute/produce as much as I would have liked to. I'm still confident in myself. I think I can still be a big part of the team and I'm excited to get back and keep improving and get better and help out."

Kerfoot signed a four-year, $14-million extension after the trade. He produced nine goals and 19 assists across 65 games in which he averaged just under fifteen minutes per contest.

The 25-year-old missed time due to a broken jaw and was also suspended two games for boarding Avs blue-liner Erik Johnson. Both absences occurred in November around the time head coach Mike Babcock was replaced with Sheldon Keefe. Kerfoot admitted it was a lot to deal with, but he doesn't believe it was at the root of his up-and-down play.

"I think that there was just a lot that happened this year," Kerfoot said. "You come in from one organization to another organization. You meet a new coach, get comfortable with the new coach, and then the coach gets fired and then there's a whole new coach coming in, running a whole new system, and you have to get used to that. And I get suspended for a couple games. I break my jaw. I don't mean to make excuses; I just think there was a lot of things thrown at you. But I don't know if that necessarily was the reason why I didn't play up to my personal expectations."

Barrie also had some issues adjusting to Toronto, recording just 39 points after a career season in Colorado in 2018-19. Kadri, meanwhile, registered 36 points in 51 games with the Avs before the season went on pause.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hall of Fame goaltender Gerry Cheevers has added more fuel to the longtime rivalry between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens.

The former Bruin criticized Canadiens puck-stopper Carey Price on Thursday while praising Boston's current netminder, Tuukka Rask.

"I love Tuukka," Cheevers said, according to NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty. "He's big, he fills the net. I would say he's in (the) top two or three in the league.

"Not a Price fan," Cheevers continued. "He hasn't won. He loses certain games he shouldn't."

Rask won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, although he didn't play a single minute during their playoff run. He has twice helped Boston reach the final as its starting netminder.

Although Price has never led the Canadiens to a championship, the British Columbia native has had tremendous success on the international stage. Price earned gold medals at the 2007 World Junior Championship, the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with Team Canada.

Price was also dominant during the Canadiens' playoff run in 2014, guiding the club to the Eastern Conference Final before suffering a season-ending leg injury in Game 1 against the New York Rangers. Montreal went on to lose the series in six games.

Cheevers played 12 seasons with Boston, earning a pair of Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. He ranks fourth on the Bruins' all-time wins list with 226.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New Jersey Devils interviewed Dallas Stars assistant John Stevens for their head coaching job, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

The Devils fired head coach John Hynes during the 2019-20 campaign and made Alain Nasreddine his interim replacement. New Jersey also cut ties with GM Ray Shero this season, and assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald has since been running things in the interim.

Stevens' first NHL head coaching job came with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006, two years removed from a Calder Cup title with the AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms. He led the Flyers to two playoff appearances, including a trip to the conference finals in 2008, before he was fired in his fourth season on the job.

He then joined the Los Angeles Kings' bench as an assistant coach, helping guide the club to two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014 under Darryl Sutter. He replaced Sutter as head coach in 2017-18 and led L.A. to a 98-point season and a playoff berth. The club was ultimately swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round, and he was fired the next season following a 4-8-1 start.

Stevens was hired by the Stars as an assistant coach prior to the 2019-20 season.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jeremy Leipsic, the brother of Washington Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic, has been released from the University of Manitoba men's hockey team after a series of offensive group messages on Instagram went viral Wednesday night, the University's athletic director Gene Muller announced Thursday, per the Winnipeg Sun's Scott Billeck.

"Bison Sports was extremely disappointed to learn of the comments made made by the group of prominent hockey players, including one of our own, who were involved in the group chat that has emerged online," Muller said. "We condemn any such remarks and attitudes as they are offensive, reprehensible, and have absolutely no place in our sport or in our programs.

"Leadership, respect, and integrity are core values of the Bison Sports community and as a result of this situation, we have taken the action to release the current student-athlete from the program."

Screenshots of the messages showed the Leipsic brothers and their peers making crude comments on several different topics. The NHL released a statement Wednesday condemning such behaviour, and one Capitals spokesperson said the team "will handle the matter internally," in regard to Brendan's involvement.

Brendan also issued an apology on Twitter after the screenshots were released.

Jeremy was in his sophomore season with the Bisons after playing parts of three campaigns with the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.