Report: Ekman-Larsson, Coyotes agree to survey trade market

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is on the trade block again, but the Arizona Coyotes captain is entering the process with a more open mind this time around.

The Swedish blue-liner was involved in trade rumors last offseason but was reportedly willing to accept a move only to the Boston Bruins or Vancouver Canucks by using his full no-movement clause.

However, the Coyotes and Ekman-Larsson's camp will use a different approach this summer.

"What Ekman-Larsson has told the Coyotes and what the Coyotes have agreed to do is, 'We're going to go out there, we're going to check the market, and we're going to bring a deal to you, and then you can decide whether you're comfortable with that team,'" Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday's "Headlines" segment.

Ekman-Larsson tallied three goals and 21 assists in 46 games in 2020-21 while averaging 20:58 of ice time per contest - the lowest since his rookie campaign. The underlying numbers haven't been kind to him at even strength over the last three years, though he's produced on the power play, according to Evolving-Hockey.

Evolving-Hockey

Ekman-Larsson turns 30 years old in July and has six seasons remaining on his contract carrying an annual cap hit of $8.25 million, according to CapFriendly.

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers were reportedly among the other teams to show interest in Ekman-Larsson last summer.

Ekman-Larsson said in October he's "never really wanted to do anything but to stay in Arizona."

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Report: Canadiens’ Ducharme out 2 weeks with COVID-19

If the Montreal Canadiens are to march on to the Stanley Cup Final, they'll have to do so without their interim head coach.

Dominique Ducharme needs to isolate for 14 days before he's eligible to rejoin the team following a positive COVID-19 result Friday, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Assuming Friday counts as one of Ducharme's 14 isolation days, he wouldn't be eligible to return to the team's bench until July 2. Game 7 between the Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights is scheduled for June 26.

General manager Marc Bergevin said Friday that Ducharme is doing fine. Ducharme received his second COVID-19 vaccination shot June 9. However, he's not considered fully vaccinated because that date was less than two weeks ago.

Assistant Luke Richardson took over the reins and coached Montreal to victory over Vegas in Game 3. Alex Burrows and Sean Burke served as his assistants.

Ducharme replaced the fired Claude Julien behind Montreal's bench midseason. He led the Habs to a 15-16-7 regular-season record before defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs.

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Hurricanes’ Slavin becomes 4th D-man ever to win Lady Byng Trophy

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin edged out Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon to win the 2021 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

The award is given to the "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

The 27-year-old is the fourth defenseman ever to win the award in its 96-year history. Brian Campbell was the last to do so in 2012. Red Kelly (1951, 1953, 1954) and Bill Quackenbush (1949) also won the trophy.

Slavin, who's regarded as one of the league's better shutdown defenders, recorded just two penalty minutes in 52 games while averaging 22:59 per contest. His one infraction was a delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass.

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Golden Knights’ Smith: Power-play woes ‘costing us the series’

The Vegas Golden Knights understand that their ineptitude with the man advantage is the primary reason they trail their Stanley Cup semifinal series 2-1 to the Montreal Canadiens.

"There are a lot of problems (on the power play), I don't think you can just pinpoint one," said Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith after Montreal defeated Vegas 3-2 in overtime Friday.

"(Our) breakouts have been bad. We're not doing a good job handling pressure. We're not releasing the puck very well, and we're not doing a good job crashing the net and picking up rebounds. So, there are a lot of things we have to get better at, and it's costing us the series right now."

Vegas went 0-for-4 on the power play in Game 3 and lost - largely thanks to Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's late gaffe - despite dominating the Canadiens at five-on-five.

The Pacific Division club outshot their North Division counterparts 45-27 in the game. Vegas also outplayed Montreal in terms of scoring chances for percentage (59.18 to 40.82) and expected goals for percentage (53.88 to 46.12) at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

"Our five-on-five play was excellent tonight," said forward Mark Stone. "We controlled the majority of the game and had tons of scoring chances, but in a game like this, your power play needs to step up for you.

"The last two games, our power play has had to step up, and we haven't even gotten us any momentum. ... It's about time as a group we take a little bit more pride in playing on the power play. (We need to) take that five-on-five mindset to the power play."

Vegas has a league-low 10.5% success rate with the man advantage in this postseason, scoring just four times in 38 opportunities. Over the last 30 years, no team has won the Stanley Cup with a rate under 11%, and no champion has ever had the lowest percentage of any club in the playoffs, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.

Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday in Montreal at 8 p.m. ET.

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DeBoer: ‘No doubt’ Fleury gaffe carried into overtime

Vegas Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer believes Marc-Andre Fleury's gaffe leading to the Montreal Canadiens' late third-period equalizer in Game 3 had an effect on his club in overtime.

Fleury mishandled a dump-in behind his goal and Habs forward Josh Anderson deposited the loose puck into the empty net, evening the score at 2-2 with 1:55 remaining in the final frame. Anderson then buried his second of the night in overtime.

"Those type of events are tough to recover from," DeBoer said postgame, according to NHL.com's Danny Webster. "I didn't think we were poor in overtime but there's no doubt that carried over."

Golden Knights captain Mark Stone came to the defense of his goalie.

"It was an unfortunate bounce, there's nothing you can do about it," Stone said, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger. "Fleury has been great all year. It was one mistake and we needed to bail him out, and we didn't."

Fleury is up for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender of 2020-21 after posting a 26-10 record in the regular season along with a .928 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average. Coming into Friday's clash with Montreal, the 36-year-old had a .923 clip in 14 playoff games this spring.

Vegas thoroughly controlled play throughout the game, outshooting the Canadiens 45-27 while commanding 59.18% of scoring chances and 53.95% of expected goals at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Montreal leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Sunday night.

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Barkov wins Selke as top defensive forward

Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers has been named the 2020-21 recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward, the league announced Friday.

Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights and Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins were the other finalists.

More to come.

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Canadiens’ Ducharme isolating due to COVID-19 testing irregularities

Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme is isolating at home due to "irregularities" in his COVID-19 testing, the club announced Friday, according to TSN's John Lu.

Ducharme will undergo more tests during the day.

The team confirmed Friday that Ducharme has been vaccinated twice, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. The 48-year-old received his second dose June 9 along with the rest of the Canadiens who chose to get it.

Montreal named Ducharme the club's interim head coach upon firing Claude Julien in February. The Canadiens went 15-16-7 after Ducharme took the reins, finishing fourth in the North Division. They then upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games during the first round of the playoffs before sweeping the Winnipeg Jets.

Game 3 of the Stanley Cup semifinal between the Canadiens and the Vegas Golden Knights is scheduled for Friday night. The series is tied 1-1.

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