Luc Tardif has been elected as the new IIHF president, the federation announced Saturday.

The French hockey official is succeeding longtime president Rene Fasel, who held the position for 27 years and didn't stand for re-election. Tardif beat out Franz Reindl by 67 votes to 39 in the fourth round.

Tardif has been president of the French Ice Hockey Federation since 2006.

"Believe me, I will do everything to be at the level of your expectation. I'm committed to open up our beautiful sport, to promote it, to defend it, to prepare it for the future but above all to respect it with dignity," Tardif said.

Prior to his election, Tardif underlined the importance of helping international hockey bounce back from losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The change comes just five months before the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. It was announced earlier this month that, after missing the 2018 Games, NHL players will return to the biggest international stage.

Fasel, a dentist and former amateur player, helped bring NHL players to the Olympics for the first time in 1998.

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John Tavares will suit up in a game for the first time since being stretchered off in the opening contest of the Toronto Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in May.

The Maple Leafs captain is on the roster for Toronto's 2021-22 preseason matchup versus the Canadiens on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Tavares required the stretcher in Game 1 of the postseason after taking an inadvertent knee to the head from then-Canadiens forward Corey Perry. Tavares was hospitalized and discharged the next morning but didn't play again in the playoffs.

In late August, the Maple Leafs center said he was "doing great" and hadn't experienced any "hiccups" in his recovery.

The 30-year-old has played three campaigns with Toronto after signing a seven-year, $77-million contract with the club as a free agent in July 2018. He registered 19 goals and 31 assists over 56 regular-season games in 2021.

The Maple Leafs will play six preseason contests this year, including three against the Canadiens. The two clubs will meet again Monday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, and then again on Oct. 5 in Toronto. The Leafs will play the Ottawa Senators in their other three exhibition games, with Toronto wrapping up its preseason schedule Oct. 9.

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Normality is nice, isn't it?

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shuffling of the NHL landscape in 2020-21, the league is back on track this season. Farewell to all the think pieces about whether the all-Canadian North Division was good or not. Goodbye to the intense fight for first place in the West Division.

It's time to welcome back the good old Pacific, Atlantic, Metropolitan, and Central divisions. Here's how the NHL's realigned realigned divisions stack up, from weakest to strongest.

4. Pacific

Congratulations to the Golden Knights on making the playoffs for the fifth straight season in 2021-22.

Nothing is guaranteed in the NHL, but the Golden Knights won't even have to compete with the Avalanche for the division's top spot like they did last year. Between the Sharks, Ducks, Kings, and Canucks, the Pacific is home to four teams that were among the league's bottom 10 in goal differential last season.

The Oilers will likely be Vegas' biggest competition since they employ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the league's highest-scoring duo in 2020-21. The picture gets hazier for Edmonton on the back end - the team didn't get any help for 39-year-old goaltender Mike Smith and its defense took a hit with the losses of Ethan Bear and Adam Larsson.

Beyond the Golden Knights and Oilers, the Pacific is open. Hockey in California is in a rebuilding phase, but the Kings are in a position to surprise thanks to their additions of Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson.

The Canucks and Flames will be looking for redemption after missing the playoffs. Vancouver will want a clean slate after a season riddled with COVID-19 issues, while Calgary will need to cope without Mark Giordano's leadership.

Meanwhile, the Kraken probably won't stun the league like the Knights did in their inaugural season, but they're still an unknown quantity.

3. Central

Beyond the Avalanche at the very top, the Central is looking a little crowded - five of these teams made the playoffs in 2020-21, and two of the squads that didn't qualify were the Stars, who are getting Tyler Seguin back, and the Blackhawks, who have improved exponentially after adding Seth Jones and Marc-Andre Fleury.

Like Chicago, the Jets filled some pretty big holes this summer after shoring up their blue line with Brenden Dillon and Nate Schmidt and look poised to challenge for a playoff spot.

Additionally, the Wild are certainly a better team with Kirill Kaprizov, and their future outlook is stronger with him in the mix on a five-year deal.

However, the Central falls short when considering that some teams either got worse in the offseason or have too many question marks for anyone to really figure out what these clubs actually are.

After stumbling into the playoffs, the Predators started their rebuild and parted ways with several franchise mainstays like Arvidsson, Ryan Ellis, and Pekka Rinne.

The Blues added solid forwards in Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich, but Vladimir Tarasenko's long-term status with the club is still up in the air.

The Coyotes, the newest members of the Central Division, are where other teams' unwanted contracts went to die this offseason. Hopefully, they can find a new arena.

2. Metropolitan

Death, taxes, and the Penguins and Capitals being playoff threats in the Metropolitan Division. They've recently been joined by the Islanders, who've been the postseason bridesmaid but never the bride, running into a brick wall known as the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round two years in a row.

The Hurricanes are perhaps the most interesting case in the Metro. They finished first in their division last season but followed it up with a less-than-desirable offseason during which they lost defenseman Dougie Hamilton and Calder Trophy nominee Alex Nedeljkovic. How they respond to that will be the key to their season.

Couple that with the fact that Washington's core is aging and Pittsburgh will start the season without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (all while banking on goaltender Tristan Jarry rebounding from a downright horrific postseason) and there just might be some wiggle room in the Metropolitan.

The Rangers enter the season with higher expectations, the reigning Norris winner in Adam Fox, and a grittier lineup. The Flyers revamped their defense after a frightful 2020-21 campaign and will hope for a better performance from goalie Carter Hart. Even the Devils are going to be harder to play against after scooping up Hamilton in free agency.

If the Blue Jackets are going to join the party, defenseman Zach Werenski will have to handle some serious pressure as the new No. 1 blue-liner, while Patrik Laine will have to put up or shut up.

1. Atlantic

It's impossible to not put the division that has both 2021 Stanley Cup finalists in the No. 1 spot. With a strong supporting cast that includes the Maple Leafs, Bruins, and Panthers, the Atlantic Division is gearing up to be a slugfest. Four of these squads were among the league's top 10 in the standings last season.

Though the Lightning lost the heart of their offensive depth this offseason, they didn't lose any of their star power and look like major contenders again.

It's hard to gauge what the Canadiens will be without Shea Weber, but hoping to fill his skates is Stanley Cup champ David Savard, and the team boasts more offensive toys like Mike Hoffman.

The contending Leafs and Bruins have some roster questions to answer - both will have to adapt after losing key forwards in Zach Hyman and David Krejci, respectively. There's uncertainty surrounding Tuukka Rask's status, but Boston has filled his absence with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. The Panthers are dealing with goaltending issues of their own after Chris Driedger went to Seattle.

Following the juggernauts at the top, the bottom of the Atlantic tells a different story. The headache-inducing Senators will want to build on their strong finish to the 2020-21 season, while the Red Wings are one year closer to being scary. Detroit will likely get some better goaltending with Nedeljkovic in the crease.

At least there's another high draft pick in the Sabres' future.

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The Montreal Canadiens scooped up free-agent defenseman Sami Niku on a one-year, two-way deal Friday after the Winnipeg Jets placed him on unconditional waivers earlier this week for the purpose of terminating his contract.

The pact will pay Niku $750,000 in the NHL and $425,000 at the AHL level with a guaranteed salary of $475,000.

Niku will wear the number vacated by former Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who joined the Carolina Hurricanes in early September after signing an offer sheet with the club in late August.

The decision to end the 24-year-old's time with Winnipeg was reportedly mutual. Niku was named the AHL's defenseman of the year in 2017-18, but he ultimately failed to make an impact with the Jets. He suited up for 54 NHL games over the course of four seasons and registered two goals and eight assists over that span.

The Jets selected him in the seventh round of the 2015 draft.

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Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes took a moment to acknowledge his late brother Jimmy while speaking to the media for the first time at camp Friday. One thing is for certain: Jimmy will be on Kevin's mind all season long.

"It's gonna be weird stepping on the ice for the first time knowing that my brother's not there. I'm sure a lot of people say this, but he honestly was my biggest supporter," Kevin said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi.

He added, "It's something that I'll miss, and it's something that I think will really push me this year when I'm having bad days or bad games, or not playing up to how the fans want me to here. I'll probably just think of my brother and he'll, hopefully, push me through."

Jimmy died in August at the age of 31. Kevin paid tribute to him the day after his death, calling Jimmy his "best friend."

Kevin admitted Friday that he doesn't think his life will ever be the same without Jimmy, who seemed to have a knack for standing up for his younger brother.

"If I had a bad game, (Jimmy said) it was (Alain Vigneault's) fault, not mine. If I wasn't playing a lot of minutes, he wanted to talk to AV, he wanted to talk to Chuck (Fletcher)," Kevin joked.

Above all, Kevin said he was "totally taken aback" from the support he's continuously received from the hockey community.

"It is really nice being in Philly with these guys and being around the team," he said.

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The Washington Capitals will be the first NHL club to feature advertisements on their uniforms after agreeing to a multi-year deal with Caesars Sportsbook.

Beginning in 2022-23, the Capitals' home and third jerseys for games played at Capital One Arena in Washington will include the Caesars logo.

The team teased the new look Friday morning.

The jersey patch is 3-by-3 1/2-inches in size, according to The Athletic's Sean Shapiro, who adds that Washington's road sweaters will include an ad from a different sponsor, which the club is finalizing.

In August, it was reported NHL teams would begin placing ads on jerseys starting in the 2022-23 campaign. The league allowed helmet ads in 2021 as a way for clubs to recoup money lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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