With the departure of franchise cornerstone Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson is calling on his young players to take the team to the next level.

"Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, it's their time," Wilson said, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers. "They need to step up to the next level.

"We have to be the sum of all our parts. There are teams around this league that have lost some good players. Some teams lost their best players in their prime and they found their team game, they found their collective connection and had a lot of success. We need everyone to bring something to the table, learn from what happened last year, re-establish our game and bring that love and juice and energy that 'Jumbo' brought to the rink."

Thornton's departure marked the second straight offseason in which a key veteran player moved on from the Sharks. Last year, Joe Pavelski opted to sign with the Dallas Stars after spending 13 years in San Jose.

The Sharks have only two forwards on their active roster who are at least 30 years old: Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau. Wilson expressed his confidence in his team's young lineup and sees the potential for players to step up and take on bigger roles next season.

"We have five top-six forwards, guys who have scored 30 goals or close to 60 points, we need someone to come in and compete for that (sixth) spot," Wilson said. "I like our defense. I want to leave a spot open for some competition for some of the younger guys. We think we have the bones of a good team. We have some competition. We have some young guys coming in."

The Sharks finished last in the Western Conference this past season with a 29-36-5 record.

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Legendary broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick announced his retirement Monday, and the hockey world is celebrating the 74-year-old's storied career and already missing his distinct voice.

Here are kind words from the many people Emrick impacted over his 47-year career, along with some of his most memorable calls.

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The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Adam Gaudette to a one-year contract worth $950,000, the team announced Monday.

"Adam has been an excellent young player for us and we are happy to have him continue his progress for another year in Vancouver," said general manager Jim Benning. "We look forward to his intensity and compete level continuing to be a great source of energy for our team."

The 24-year-old recorded career highs with 12 goals and 21 assists over 59 games during the final year of his entry-level deal in 2019-20.

Vancouver selected Gaudette in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. The 6-foot-1 pivot has amassed 17 goals and 45 points through 120 career contests.

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Mike "Doc" Emrick is signing off after a legendary career in the broadcast booth.

Emrick finished his journey with NBC while working from home this postseason, and the 74-year-old expressed gratitude as he reflected on his career.

"I hope I can handle retirement OK, especially since I’ve never done it before," he said Sunday, according to the New York Post's Phil Mushnick. "But I’ve just been extremely lucky for 50 years. And NBC has been so good to me, especially since the pandemic, when I was allowed to work from home in a studio NBC created.

"Now, into my golden years, this just seemed to be the time that was right."

Emrick began his career in sports broadcasting in 1973 with American radio station WHLS. The Indiana native then became the first voice of the New Jersey Devils when the club joined the league prior to the 1982-83 season. He's been the lead voice for NHL games on NBC and NBC Sports since moving to the network full time in 2011.

In 2004, Emrick became the first of now five media members to receive the NHL's Lester Patrick Award. He also received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008.

Emrick has won six national Emmy Awards for excellence in sports broadcasting, and he became the first media member to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.

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The Arizona Coyotes will ink Christian Fischer to a two-year, one-way pact, a source told NHL Network's Craig Morgan.

Arizona issued Fischer a qualifying offer but he didn't accept it by Sunday's deadline of 5 p.m. ET, according to Morgan. However, contract talks continued after the deadline passed.

Fischer is the Coyotes' lone remaining restricted free agent. The 23-year-old is not eligible for salary arbitration.

The 6-foot-2, 214-pound winger collected six goals and three assists while averaging just over 11 minutes in ice time across 56 games with Arizona this past season. It was his third full campaign with the Coyotes, who drafted him 32nd overall in 2015.

Fischer notched a career-high 15 goals across 79 contests in 2017-18 after tallying three goals over seven games in his first taste of NHL action during the previous season. However, he's failed to build on that since, combining for only 17 goals and 27 points in 127 games during the last two campaigns.

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"Jumbo Joe" got some help from another Joe who knows all about leaving Northern California after spending most of his career there.

Joe Thornton said he talked to NFL legend Joe Montana before the veteran NHL forward chose to join the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Joe gave me some good advice," Thornton told reporters Sunday. "He just talked about leaving San Francisco and going to Kansas City."

The 49ers traded Montana to the Chiefs amid a quarterback controversy in 1993. He played 13 years with San Francisco, guiding the team to four Super Bowl titles. The all-time great suited up for two seasons with Kansas City before retiring in 1995.

Thornton spent nearly 15 of his 22 seasons with the San Jose Sharks, who acquired him from the Boston Bruins in a 2005 trade. Though the Sharks never won a championship, he helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and the Western Conference Final three other times.

The 41-year-old also said Sunday he signed with the Maple Leafs because he believes they're "ready to win now." He inked a one-year contract with Toronto at the league minimum of $700,000.

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