Oilers superstar Connor McDavid expressed disappointment in the NHL for scheduling Edmonton to play the Calgary Flames on Saturday, mere hours after former teammate Colby Cave's memorial.

"You're asking a lot from guys to sit through something like that and remember your teammate and see what they're going through, the whole family, and expect to perform that night," McDavid said postgame, per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman. "I'm not sure what the league was really thinking there."

Cave, a former Oiler and Boston Bruin, died at 25 last April after suffering a brain bleed. The celebration of life in Edmonton had been planned for weeks, while the NHL only finalized Saturday's clash Monday due to North Division schedule changes in response to the Vancouver Canucks' COVID-19 outbreak.

"Some days are a little more than just about hockey," McDavid said. "Obviously, the performance wasn't there tonight, but today is about Colby and his memorial and his celebration of life.

"You'd like the NHL to maybe think that one through a little bit."

Many of the Oilers gathered at their hotel in Calgary to watch the ceremony remotely.

The Flames won the contest 5-0.

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Alex Iaffalo isn't the only Los Angeles Kings forward who's recently started negotiating a contract extension with the club.

"Talks have also begun with another player who does not have term for next (season) and that's Andreas Athanasiou," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on a bonus edition of "Saturday Headlines."

Friedman added: "The Kings are looking to see if there's a fit (and) they can keep him beyond this year as well."

Athanasiou is a pending restricted free agent currently on a one-year, $1.2-million pact he inked with Los Angeles in December. He's eligible for arbitration if the two sides are unable to agree on a new deal.

The 26-year-old entered Saturday's action with eight goals and seven assists in 31 games. The Detroit Red Wings traded him to the Edmonton Oilers at last year's deadline.

The Kings have reportedly begun to take calls from other teams about Iafallo, who's a pending UFA carrying a $2.42-million cap hit. However, Los Angeles is also discussing an extension with him.

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The Vancouver Canucks will reopen their facilities Sunday and return to action April 16 against the Edmonton Oilers, pending Saturday's COVID-19 test results.

The NHL has rescheduled the seven postponed Canucks games that were to occur between March 31 and April 14. As a result, Vancouver's regular-season slate will now end on May 16.

Here are the rescheduled contests:

All times in p.m. EST.

In addition to those changes, two other games will be played on the same dates as originally planned, but with new start times. The Maple Leafs-Canucks contest in Vancouver on April 19 will now begin at 9 p.m. ET instead of 10 p.m., and the Oilers' road game against the Montreal Canadiens on May 10 will now start at 7 p.m. instead of 5:30 p.m.

Nineteen Canucks players remain in COVID-19 protocol.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired highly sought-after defenseman David Savard from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a multi-team trade involving the Detroit Red Wings, the team announced Saturday.

The Lightning sent their first-round pick in 2021 and a third-round pick in 2022 to the Blue Jackets, while their 2021 fourth-rounder went to the Red Wings. Tampa Bay also acquired defenseman Brian Lashoff from Detroit.

The deal took some serious savvy for Lightning general manager Julien Brisbois to pull off.

Columbus retained 50% of Savard's expiring $4.25-million cap hit after first flipping him to the Red Wings for Lashoff, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. Detroit then traded Savard to Tampa Bay and retained another 50% of his contract in exchange for the Lightning's fourth-rounder.

The Blue Jackets then sent Lashoff to Tampa for the Lightning's pair of draft picks.

Savard, 30, will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The 6-foot-2 blue-liner has contributed one goal and six points while logging 19:38 of average ice time through 40 games.

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The Buffalo Sabres traded defenseman Brandon Montour to the Florida Panthers for a 2021 third-round pick, the teams announced.

The Sabres aren't retaining any of Montour's $3.85 million salary, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

Montour, a pending unrestricted free agent, joined the Sabres from the Anaheim Ducks during the 2018-19 campaign. He has 14 points in 38 games this season while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per contest.

The 26-year-old's advanced stats took a major hit after joining Buffalo:

The Panthers are in the thick of the race for top spot in the Central Division and entered Saturday one point back of the first-place Carolina Hurricanes. Florida was widely expected to be in the market for a defenseman after top-pairing stalwart Aaron Ekblad recently suffered a season-ending injury.

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The Colorado Avalanche acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk from the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a fifth-round pick in 2021, the team announced Saturday.

The Sharks aren't retaining any salary in the trade, but the Minnesota Wild are already paying 50% of Dubnyk's earnings thanks to the offseason trade that sent the veteran netminder to San Jose, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh.

Dubnyk's posted a .898 save percentage in 17 games this season and struggled last year as well. The West-leading Avalanche were known to be hunting for a backup goalie behind starter Philipp Grubauer ahead of the April 12 trade deadline as Colorado had their championship hopes dashed in the bubble last summer due to a slew of injuries in goal.

The Avs still have nearly $2 million in cap space after the trade, according to Cap Friendly. By dealing their fifth-rounder, the club only has picks in the first, third, and seventh rounds of the upcoming draft.

Pateryn is an unrestricted free agent at season's end. The 30-year-old has appeared in 11 games this campaign, registering two assists.

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