Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen believes the club will lock up blue-chip pivot Pierre-Luc Dubois before training camp begins.

"I'm 100% sure it will get done," Kekalainen said Wednesday, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

"We've been in this situation before where we've had RFAs that want to take their time to agree on a contract, and we respect that and they have that right," Kekalainen said. "But I'm confident he'll be signed before training camp starts."

It remains unclear when training camp will begin, but the NHL is targeting Jan. 1 as opening day for the 2020-21 campaign.

Dubois, 22, is a restricted free agent and paced the Blue Jackets with 49 points through 70 games in 2019-20 before notching a team-best four goals and 10 points over 10 playoff contests.

The 6-foot-3 center has tallied 65 goals and 158 points in 234 games since being selected third overall by the Blue Jackets in 2016.

Columbus has $9.22 million in projected cap space with no outstanding restricted free agents beyond Dubois.

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Aesop once wrote that "slow and steady wins the race," and it appears U.S. Customs is doing its best to pay tribute to the classic fable.

On Wednesday, Vancouver Canucks goaltender Braden Holtby's wife, Brandi, asked her Twitter followers for help with a pet-related problem.

Later, she explained in a reply that the couple filed papers with the Canadian government but didn't realize they needed to do the same with the American authorities.

She also reiterated that Braden himself can't get into Canada because of the issue.

The netminder signed with the Canucks in October after playing 10 seasons with the Washington Capitals.

In May, the two animal lovers rescued a trapped kitten with the help of some passersby.

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General manager Steve Yzerman continues to steer the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings in the right direction, but he knows he still has a lot of work to do.

"Yeah, I think so," Yzerman said Wednesday on NHL Network when asked if he's happy with the direction of his team after its offseason additions. "Obviously we have a lot of work to do. ... Every team feels good about their offseason but the players that we've added I think will help us."

Yzerman has been one of the league's busiest executives since the opening of the free-agency period. He's added the likes of Vladislav Namestnikov, Bobby Ryan, Thomas Greiss, Troy Stecher, and Jon Merrill.

He also re-signed two key players in Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. Mantha secured a four-year contract worth $22.8 million, while Bertuzzi was awarded a one-year, $3.5-million deal in arbitration.

The Red Wings experienced a historically bad season last year, going 17-49-5 and finishing dead-last in the league. Despite the tough campaign, Yzerman feels hopeful about the future thanks to the team's young stars and recent draft picks.

"Our younger players performed well. You mentioned Tyler and Anthony and Dylan Larkin and Filip Hronek," Yzerman said. "Robby Fabbri did really well coming over from St. Louis, so if we can slowly add to that group with maybe one or two younger players again this year and keep adding to the group slowly over time, we're hopeful as some of these younger players that the Red Wings have drafted over the last two-to-three years slowly move into the lineup and continue to try to improve the team slowly each year."

Detroit has selected Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, Filip Zadina, and Michael Rasmussen within the top 10 of the past four NHL drafts.

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Team Canada WJHC training camp invitee Ridly Greig tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 8, his agent told TSN's Ryan Rishaug.

Greig is at home, asymptomatic, and is expected to join Canada's camp Nov. 22 when his 14-day quarantine ends.

The Ottawa Senators selected the 5-foot-11 center 28th overall during the 2020 NHL Draft. He collected 60 points in 56 games with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings last season and has drawn comparisons to Colorado Avalanche pivot Nazem Kadri.

The world juniors begin Christmas Day, and Canada's gold-medal defense starts Boxing Day against Germany.

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The ECHL's six North Division clubs will suspend play for the 2020-21 campaign, the league announced Wednesday.

The Adirondack Thunder, Brampton Beast, Maine Mariners, Newfoundland Growlers, Reading Royals, and Worcester Railers will each sit out the season due to the ECHL's COVID-19 policy. All six teams are scheduled to return for 2021-22.

All players on the North Division clubs are now free agents.

"As we continue to navigate the continually changing regulations across North America, we recognize the difficult nature of this decision," ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a statement. "While some of our teams' host cities have allowed upcoming plans to include fans inside arenas, we unfortunately do not see the same path for these highly affected areas in the Northeast."

Here are the division's NHL affiliations:

Wednesday's decision leaves 18 ECHL teams set to participate in 2020-21. The Atlanta Gladiators - who are affiliated with the Boston Bruins - and the unaffiliated Norfolk Admirals previously opted out of the campaign.

The ECHL is set to use a two-tiered system for the coming season. Thirteen teams will begin 72-game schedules on Dec. 11, while the other clubs will open 62-game slates on Jan. 15 "upon jurisdictional approval," according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.

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Akim Aliu is pleased the Florida Panthers are hiring Brett Peterson, the former player agent who's believed to be the NHL's first Black assistant general manager.

"It's massive," Aliu, the co-head of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, told TSN's Kate Beirness. "It's a huge step in hopefully the right direction, and I couldn't be more thrilled. ... This is kind of what we're pushing for, and it's long overdue.

"We feel that there's a lot of people of color that are deserving of jobs and also people from different genders - obviously, women I think are very (adept at) doing a good job in the game of hockey - so we think this is a step in the right direction where hopefully this is the first of many."

Though Aliu approves of the move, he believes the NHL still has room for improvement.

"Honestly, it's a relief to see that things are kind of starting to come together, but I just think we've still got a lot of work to do," he said. "I think there are still people that are not super happy with some of the issues that are going on in our game and are not ready to accept the issues that have been going on in our game."

The Panthers hired Peterson on Tuesday, reuniting new Florida GM Bill Zito with his former colleague in player representation. The two worked together with Acme World Sports, the company Zito founded before leaving for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013.

Peterson's hiring continues a recent trend of minority hires in the NHL. Manny Malhotra joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as an assistant coach in September while the Philadelphia Flyers added Chris Stewart to their player development staff. In October, the Pittsburgh Penguins tabbed Trevor Daley as a hockey operations advisor upon his retirement. Stewart and Daley are two of the nine founders of the HDA.

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Canada's deputy chief of public health feels optimistic regarding the proposed health and safety protocols for the 2021 world juniors in Edmonton.

"We've been engaged in ongoing discussions with Hockey Canada and all the relevant partners, including public health officials from the province of Alberta," Dr. Howard Njoo said Tuesday, according to The Canadian Press.

"I think the proposals and what's been put forward to us at the present time look very promising. It looks very good."

The planned Edmonton bubble will require players and team personnel to isolate themselves from the public during the event. Additionally, fans won't be permitted to attend games.

The NHL did not record a single positive COVID-19 test between the Edmonton and Toronto bubbles during the playoffs. Njoo believes Edmonton's experience handling the situation will be beneficial.

"Certainly the lessons learned, the experience Alberta had, because they had one of the hub cities for the NHL playoffs, will certainly serve them in good stead," Njoo said. "So, at this point, we're still looking at the proposals, but I can say, from a technical public health point of view, it looks good."

However, Njoo said public health officials are still reviewing the proposals.

Canada's selection camp began Tuesday, but 14 players were apparently not on the ice due to mandatory quarantines, because they didn't receive their test results in time to travel Monday, or because they weren't cleared to travel, according to TSN's Ryan Rishaug.

The tournament is set to begin Christmas Day and conclude with the bronze and gold medal games Jan. 5.

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