St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko will undergo a third shoulder surgery next week and will be re-evaluated in five months, the team announced Wednesday.

The Blues sniper exited the bubble during the club's opening-round series for an evaluation on his shoulder.

More to come.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs dealt winger Kasperi Kapanen to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, and general manager Kyle Dubas likely isn't finished making moves after another early ending to the club's season.

The Leafs have been dangling four names in recent trade talks, with starting netminder Frederik Andersen highlighting a group that also includes forwards Andreas Johnsson, Pierre Engvall, and Alex Kerfoot, multiple NHL clubs confirmed to The Athletic's James Mirtle.

Andersen has spent the past four seasons with Toronto and has one year remaining on his current deal, which carries a cap hit of $5 million. According to Mirtle, Andersen can be dealt for a "useful" but low-cost asset in what would primarily be a cap-clearing trade.

The Danish netminder had an up-and-down campaign but compiled a .936 save percentage over five play-in games against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Johnsson, 25, carries a cap hit of $3.4 million over the next three seasons. The speedy winger is coming off an injury-plagued campaign but has shown the ability to be an impactful top-nine forward.

Engvall, 24, inked a two-year, $2.5-million deal with the Leafs in February. The 26-year-old Kerfoot is under contract through 2022-23 with a cap hit of $3.5 million.

The Maple Leafs cleared more cap space by moving Kapanen and his $3.2-million AVV through 2021-22 and have $7.79 million in projected space this offseason. The club is in need of adding a top-four defenseman, while blue-liner Travis Dermott and winger Ilya Mikheyev are each restricted free agents in need of a new deal.

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Mike Green is calling it a career after 15 NHL seasons spent between the Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings, and Washington Capitals.

The 34-year-old defenseman suffered an MCL injury in February and opted out of the NHL's return-to-play plan in July. Green says he feels healthy, but is looking forward to spending more time with his family and pursuing new things in life.

"Being an athlete isn’t the only part of who I am," he said, according to The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir. "I am a husband, father, son, brother, uncle. I’ve been very fortunate to turn my passion into my profession, but at this point in my life, I’m considering other things that I feel called to do."

Green was acquired by the Oilers ahead of the trade deadline but played just two games with the club before the injury.

The Alberta native was one of the most electric blue-liners in the league over his decade-long tenure with the Capitals. Green finished as runner-up in Norris Trophy voting in consecutive campaigns (2009, 2010) and is one of eight defensemen in history - and the only this century - to score 30 goals in a season, netting 31 in 2008-09.

The 6-foot-1 veteran amassed 150 goals and 501 points over 880 regular-season contests, adding 37 points in 76 career playoff contests.

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Brendan Burke, the television voice of the New York Islanders, turned to Twitter last week to enlighten the hockey-watching public about the pitfalls of narrating playoff action remotely.

No team broadcaster is inside either NHL hub city; a central feed transmitted from Toronto to MSG Networks' Manhattan studio is Burke's view to all live goings-on at Scotiabank Arena. That's how he saw Islanders winger Jordan Eberle rush the center line in overtime of Game 3 against the Washington Capitals - the setup for what he thought was just a garden-variety dump-in.

Burke is used to hailing the presence and proficiency of Mathew Barzal, the 23-year-old center whom we now know was standing at the blue line to accept Eberle's pass and score the game-winner. The same can't always be said for his opponents. For a noted speed demon (not even Connor McDavid could edge him during the All-Star Weekend's fastest-skater event), Barzal is slippery, too: he eludes the notice of a distracted defender and is quick to prey on their preoccupation.

It's an invaluable tool at this advanced stage of the postseason, as Barzal headlines a roster that's unexpectedly reached the second round in consecutive seasons. That's nothing to sneeze at, given the legends whose title aspirations the Islanders have snuffed en route - Sidney Crosby in 2019 and Alex Ovechkin this month - and the depths to which they slumped before Barry Trotz's hiring as head coach.

The Isles were the NHL's shoddiest defensive team when Barzal was a rookie. Now they're firmly among its most stout, and in a workmanlike lineup that has smothered rival offense all playoffs, Barzal is a rare dynamo, the kind of element that, if needed, could swing a series against the comparatively stingy Philadelphia Flyers.

Barzal's verve has helped complete New York's transformation into the turnaround team of the Eastern Conference bubble. It's easy to forget the Islanders endured a terrible end to the regular season; they lost seven games in a row and 11 of their last 13 when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic paused the season in March.

The NHL's reset was a reprieve. No one has touched the Islanders in Toronto, a trend that continued with Monday's 4-0 Game 1 win. Through 10 playoff contests, the Isles have outscored the Flyers, Capitals, and Florida Panthers 34-15 overall and 21-6 at five-on-five, aided tremendously by the return of No. 1 defenseman Adam Pelech from his Achilles injury and Semyon Varlamov's .965 even-strength save percentage.

Philadelphia's Carter Hart is the active starter with the closest mark (.955) to Varlamov's at even strength, portending the likely dearth of goals in this series. With Anthony Beauvillier, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and captain Anders Lee contributing a combined 15 playoff tallies, Barzal is hardly New York's only answer, too. But he's led the Isles in scoring his whole career, starting with the 85-point campaign that won him the Calder Trophy in 2017-18.

"Just like it does for any other team that has a dynamic young man up front, (Barzal's offense) gives you more balance. It makes you more dangerous. It makes you a deeper hockey club," Trotz said ahead of the Flyers series. "If he's having success or if he's not having success, that dictates your level of anxiety on the bench for your team."

"When (Barzal and his linemates) move up the ice, special things happen," Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "He's one of my favorite players to watch out there."

Barzal has always been a scorer. When he was 15, he racked up 103 points (three per game) at the Under-18 AAA level in Vancouver, according to his Elite Prospects profile. By nightly average, his 79 points in 41 games (1.93 PPG) for the 2016-17 Seattle Thunderbirds is a top-10 mark this century in the Western Hockey League. That Thunderbirds squad won the WHL championship, a fine coda to his junior career that segued into his Calder Trophy campaign.

New York's philosophical reset under Trotz has curtailed Barzal's numbers, but even airtight defensive units still need to score, and his bountiful offensive arsenal - the capacity to stickhandle, pass, rip shots, and fly around the ice - is undeniably an asset. When a blocked shot, forced turnover, or successful puck battle secures the Isles possession, they rely on Barzal to make things happen from there, as these regular-season stats attest:

• Barzal averaged 20:03 in overall ice time and 17:24 at even strength, most among Islanders forwards.

• His 20 primary assists at five-on-five tied for fifth in the NHL among forwards, according to Natural Stat Trick.

• At five-on-five, Barzal tied for 15th among forwards in high-danger shot attempts (71), tied for 21st in penalties drawn (17), and was second to only Auston Matthews in takeaways (66), further exemplifying his ability to track down the puck and wreak havoc with it.

• However, he also led all forwards in five-on-five giveaways by a wide margin, conceding 80 to Mathew Tkachuk's second-place 67. Such is the burden the habitual puck-handler bears.

To review Barzal's playoff production, meanwhile, is to find that he's driving the offense within the Isles' trusty system. All eight of his points have come at even strength - a team high and saving grace for New York's scuffling power play - and most were the product of counterattacks he took the initiative to create.

In Game 4 of the play-in round against the Panthers, Barzal (No. 13 below) lurked at the far blue line - similar to the way he did against Washington in OT - to spur a quick breakout, take a stretch pass, and spring Beauvillier with a pretty saucer feed.

Later that game, Barzal punished Keith Yandle's ill-timed and fruitless pinch by outracing Mike Hoffman - a speedster himself - for the puck and inside position as he bore down on Sergei Bobrovsky.

In Game 4 against Washington, Barzal spearheaded a rush during an Isles line change and outmaneuvered several defenders and Braden Holtby in another display of his transcendent handiness and footwork. (Nice return pass from Nick Leddy, too.)

In Game 1 against the Flyers, Barzal hit his opponents in transition, hustling to stretch the Philadelphia defense and deliver a perfect pass on the move to an open Lee.

"We've been following his goals and his assists pretty closely to show to our guys the way that he uses the open ice to be able to attack the opposition blue line with speed," Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette, an assistant on the Seattle staff throughout Barzal's time there, said in a recent phone interview.

"It's very difficult for the defense to handle that type of speed he has," he added. "Combined with his vision and playmaking abilities, that's a tough assignment for any pair of defensemen."

Shortly before New York bumped his team from the bubble last round, Capitals blue-liner Nick Jensen explained during Zoom media availability what has to be done to keep Barzal in check: defenders have to respect his skills but remain ready to exploit his tendency to turn the puck over. If he can be thwarted long enough and is inclined to force the issue, that might beget offense the other way.

"But it's a double-edged sword," Jensen said. "You've got to make sure you keep him from getting those scoring chances and make sure you're playing very defensive against him to get him frustrated first."

Lee's goal notwithstanding, the Flyers' top pair of Ivan Provorov and Matt Niskanen played well against Barzal's line in Game 1, pitching in to limit them to a 31.03% Corsi For figure at five-on-five. As an add-on to Jensen's point, meanwhile, Washington had fleeting success capitalizing on Barzal's occasional carelessness. The Islanders led 2-0 in Game 4 of that series when he took holding minors 2:17 apart; Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ovechkin scored soon after each of them, which keyed the Capitals' lone win.

Of course, the Caps had trouble beating or corraling New York's whole roster, the same problem the Flyers faced Monday. Varlamov and his defense are riding a 136-minute shutout streak, and the addition of Pageau at the trade deadline has gifted Trotz an impact third-line center to supplement Barzal and Brock Nelson. With the exception of Cal Clutterbuck, who's barely under the 50% threshold, every Islanders regular owns a positive expected-goals figure during the postseason.

Basically, the Isles haven't yet needed Barzal to swing or steal any matchup. It's telling, though, that his capabilities characterize much of what they're doing right offensively. O'Dette saw that dynamic with Seattle's title-winning team, and, from a distance, he considers New York a sweet situation for his former charge. Trotz is there to exhort Barzal to mind details and round out his game, and he still has leeway to remind everyone of the risk that overlooking him entails.

"The competitive fire that he has is contagious," O'Dette said. "For a lot of those highly talented players, to have that competitiveness, that's a dangerous combination. Those guys that have that, they live for these moments - the big moments, the big stage. You can see that Mat's in that zone right now."

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Toffoli will return to the team's lineup for Game 2 of their series against the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday, the team announced.

The 28-year-old has been out of action since Aug. 2 after suffering an injury in the qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild.

The Canucks acquired Toffoli in February, and he quickly became a key player in the lineup. He recorded six goals and four assists in 10 games before the coronavirus pandemic paused the 2019-20 season on March 12.

The club is scratching forward Loui Eriksson - who appeared in their last 10 games - to make room for Toffoli. He recorded 0 points in that span.

Vancouver was shut out 5-0 by the Golden Knights in Game 1 of their series.

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Corey Crawford is interested in returning to the Chicago Blackhawks next season, but he wants to be sure he'll get the bulk of the time in the crease.

"I would like to be back," the veteran goaltender said Tuesday. "I think we still have a lot of great pieces on this team, and to win another Stanley Cup in Chicago would be unbelievable, so that's the No. 1 goal."

Crawford, a pending unrestricted free agent, plans to sit down with Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman to discuss his future this week, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers.

"Going into the meeting, that's the main thing, to win a championship, to play, to be, obviously, the main guy, and play a lot," Crawford said.

The 35-year-old added that it's difficult to say what his mindset is heading into free agency, considering he and the Blackhawks were only eliminated last week. However, he reiterated that he wants to stay as long as he's given a heavy workload.

"Definitely, I'm leaning toward staying in Chicago and, like I said, I want to win another championship and I want to play a ton," Crawford said. "I don't want to play half the games and sit on the bench for stretches at a time. I think my value is just not as good doing that.

"I'm way more valuable playing games and playing consistently, so, it really depends on how much I'm going to be used. Salary, that can be discussed. That is definitely something that is not as important at this time."

Crawford split starts with Robin Lehner before the Blackhawks dealt Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2019-20 trade deadline. Crawford went 16-20-3 with a .917 save percentage and 9.01 goals saved above average in 40 regular-season games this season before starting in all nine of Chicago's postseason contests.

Lehner played 33 games for the Blackhawks before the trade, going 16-10-5 with a .918 save percentage and a 10.17 GSAA.

Crawford has spent his entire 13-year career with Chicago, backstopping the club to Stanley Cup championships in 2013 and 2015.

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Montreal Canadiens forward Philip Danault has been the team's No. 1 center for the past two seasons, but after his role shifted during the 2019-20 postseason, he's now unsure of his fit in Montreal.

The emergence of youngsters Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi during the playoffs often moved Danault to the third line in a much more defensive, shutdown role.

"I don't think I'm ready to accept that," Danault told TVA Sports in French of his new role, as translated by theScore. "I like producing offensively, and I know I can reach another level on offense. I don't know if I want to limit myself to a strictly defensive role. I don't think I can improve with strictly defensive assignments."

Danault has one year remaining on his current contract before becoming a free agent.

When asked if his role with the team will influence whether he stays in Montreal, the 27-year-old simply replied, "Yes."

"In the playoffs, the coaches wanted to see what the young players could do, and they shuffled the lines," he added. "My role has become strictly defensive, and I'm repeating myself, but I can bring more to the table than that."

During the postseason, Danault was bumped from his typical line with Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar numerous times in favor of Suzuki. During the 2019-20 season, the trio of forwards ranked first, second, and third in the league in Corsi For %.

Danault added that he's always had excellent chemistry with Gallagher and Tatar and that the line works.

Danault has excelled in his role with Montreal since arriving with little NHL experience during the 2015-16 season. He's combined to score 25 goals and add 75 assists in 152 games over the past two seasons.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off a surprising six-player blockbuster trade on Tuesday. Here are the full details:

Below, we hand out trade grades for each team:

Maple Leafs get impressive haul

Toronto needed to clear cap space this offseason to use while surely aiming to improve its defense. Moving Kapanen and his $3.2-million AAV (through 2021-22) may only be the beginning, but it's a great start. Among Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Alexander Kerfoot, the former was the team's most valuable trade asset due to his exceptional speed.

The Pens clearly value Kapanen more than the Leafs. The former 20-goal scorer wasn't able to mesh with Toronto's top-six forwards when given the opportunity. And while he's a good third-line player, a team with roughly $40-million tied up in four forwards can't afford to pay three third-liners north of $3 million. Plus, there are cheaper options - such as Nick Robertson - who can take Kapanen's top-nine role.

Last offseason, Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas was tasked with cleaning up the mess Lou Lamoriello left behind. He started by sacrificing a 2020 first-round pick to get Patrick Marleau's contract off the books, and then Dubas used the cap space to sign Kapanen and Johnsson. Now, the Leafs get back into the first round with the 15th overall selection - just two spots below where Toronto would've originally drafted had the team kept its pick. The 2020 draft is also considered to be deep.

Beyond the first-round pick, the Leafs also get a useful prospect in Hallander. The Penguins' second-round pick in 2018, The Athletic's Corey Pronman ranked the 20-year-old as Pittsburgh's fourth-best prospect, labeling him a legitimate future NHLer.

"Hallander isn’t a flashy player, with average foot speed and slightly above-average puck skills, but what drives his value is his high hockey IQ and compete level," Pronman wrote.

Meanwhile, there's no guarantee Lindgren, a fourth-round pick in 2014, or Aberg ever suit up for the Penguins. The same can be said for Rodrigues, a fourth-line caliber player, and Warsofsky, a 30-year-old with just 55 career NHL games played.

It boils down to a third-line winger for a mid-first-round pick and a solid prospect, making the trade a win for Dubas. While this swap will ultimately be graded on what the executive does with the cap space and pick, it's a very promising deal.

Grade: A

Penguins overpay for Kapanen

Are the Penguins a better team today than they were yesterday? Yes. Did they overpay to make it happen? Also yes.

Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said Kapanen can improve Pittsburgh's top-six forward group. However, Kapanen didn't take advantage of the top-six opportunities he received in Toronto. He possesses elite speed, but the 24-year-old isn't a proven finisher and he lacks vision.

Perhaps playing with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin could help unlock some potential - Rutherford is betting on it - but the analytics suggest he's best-suited for a third-line role.

Trading away a mid-first-round pick in a deep draft and a decent prospect for a third-line winger - who most of the league probably knew the Leafs wanted to part with - isn't getting great value.

Pittsburgh's window to secure another Stanley Cup is dwindling, so Rutherford is obviously doing whatever he can to win now. But using just one first-round pick over a seven-year span is concerning (he also traded his 2021 first-rounder for Jason Zucker).

It's impossible to knock what Rutherford did to help the Pens win Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. But having cost-effective players on entry-level contracts would certainly help Pittsburgh's cap situation, and first-round selections are generally needed to acquire those players.

Rutherford drafted Kapanen in 2014 with his first pick as GM of the Penguins. Kapanen's father, Sami, also played under Rutherford with the Carolina Hurricanes. So there's plenty of familiarity between the player and GM.

However, it's far from certain Kapanen develops into a top-six forward and helps Pittsburgh reach the promised land. If he's the same player he was in Toronto, and the Penguins fail to go on a deep playoff run over the next few years, this trade will be a failure.

Grade: C

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