One day before the Seattle Kraken's first-ever NHL regular-season game, they have multiple players on the COVID-19 list.

Seattle's head coach Dave Hakstol initially said Joonas Donskoi, Marcus Johansson, Jared McCann, and Jamie Oleksiak had joined Calle Jarnkrok in COVID-19 protocol, according to the Seattle Times' Marisa Ingemi. The team later reinserted Johansson into the roster.

The Kraken put Jarnkrok in the protocol on Friday. Adding a player to the list doesn't necessarily mean he's tested positive.

Before the preseason, Seattle's general manager Ron Francis said the entire roster was fully vaccinated. Vaccinated players who test positive must get initial confirmation plus two additional tests, and they can rejoin the team if both subsequent tests come back negative.

The Kraken also have two other players dealing with injuries. Colin Blackwell is out indefinitely, and Yanni Gourde is day-to-day. The club claimed Alex Barre-Boulet off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier Monday.

Seattle will begin its inaugural NHL campaign with a five-game road trip, beginning Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken will host the Vancouver Canucks in their first home opener on Oct. 23.

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Evander Kane is temporarily unlisted as a member of the San Jose Sharks while the NHL investigates him.

San Jose considers Kane a non-roster player pending the results of the league's probe, which is looking into two separate matters relating to the winger.

A report emerged in late September stating the NHL was looking into Kane's possible violation of its COVID-19 protocols, while the other part of the investigation pertains to his actions toward his wife, Anna. One week later, a subsequent report specified the league was investigating the forward for allegedly using a fake vaccination document.

The NHL launched the two-pronged inquiry after clearing Kane of Anna's initial accusations that he bet on hockey and threw games. The Sharks star denied those claims but admitted to having a gambling addiction.

Kane, who filed for bankruptcy in January, is under contract with San Jose for the next four seasons. His pact carries a $7-million cap hit, but it's unclear how the ongoing investigation will impact the club in that regard.

The 30-year-old led the Sharks in goals and points last campaign.

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Vancouver Canucks forward Brandon Sutter is sidelined for the foreseeable future as he deals with the effects of long-term COVID-19 symptoms, general manager Jim Benning announced Monday.

"He's experiencing some of the symptoms from COVID," Benning said. "I guess they call it being a long-hauler. He still has some issues that he's working through with that.

"He's going to be out for a while. He's not going to be back anytime soon."

The Canucks had A major COVID-19 outbreak derail their 2020-21 season. Vancouver had to postpone several of its contests, and Sutter was one of 21 players to test positive.

The 32-year-old has been with the Canucks for the past six campaigns, registering 12 points in 43 games last season. Sutter signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract to stick with Vancouver this past summer.

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Four NHL players were claimed off waivers on Monday, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.

Many expected Barre-Boulet to make the Lightning after the club lost multiple key forwards in the offseason. The undrafted product out of Montmagny, Quebec, has been highly productive in the AHL, racking up 136 points in 144 games over the last three seasons. The 24-year-old has only played 15 NHL contests, but he could get a longer look with the Kraken.

The Maple Leafs lose Brooks to the rival Canadiens. The 2016 fourth-round pick has tallied four goals and four assists in 18 career NHL games. He failed to crack Toronto's roster despite the club missing Auston Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev to begin the season.

Brown has served as a reliable depth forward for the Golden Knights over the last couple of seasons, skating in more playoff games (14) than regular-season contests (5).

Jonsson-Fjallby's stay in Buffalo was short-lived. The Sabres claimed him off waivers from the Capitals on Oct. 4, only for Washington to re-claim him Monday. He's been assigned to the AHL's Hershey Bears.

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The Seattle Kraken named Mark Giordano their first captain in franchise history on Monday.

Seattle selected Giordano from the Calgary Flames in July's expansion draft. The 38-year-old wore the "C" for the Flames over the last eight seasons.

Giordano is by far the oldest and most experienced member of the Kraken. Forwards Jordan Eberle and Marcus Johansson, both 31, are the next-oldest players. Giordano leads Seattle with 15 NHL seasons under his belt.

The aforementioned duo is tied for second-most on the club with 11 seasons apiece.

Giordano is entering the final campaign of a six-year contract he signed with the Flames in August 2015. The pending unrestricted free agent's pact carries a $6.75-million cap hit, according to CapFriendly.

The Toronto-born blue-liner spent all 15 of his previous seasons with Flames. He ranks second on Calgary's all-time list with 949 games played, fifth with 366 assists, and eighth with 509 points.

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Leading up to the start of the 2021-22 season, theScore is counting down the top 100 players in the game today, as voted on by our NHL editors. Injuries affecting players entering the season have been taken into consideration.

100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1

Editor's note: After Mitch Marner’s disappearing act in the playoffs, and after what Tom Wilson did to Artemi Panarin, we erroneously left them off our top 100 list. We deeply regret the error, but this is Marner and Panarin's fault. And Wilson's, too, actually.

20. Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers

There's no doubt Huberdeau is a wizard. The Panthers' all-time leading scorer potted 61 points last season to lead Florida for a second consecutive campaign. He was also the team's second-most utilized forward in 2020-21.

19. Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes

Aho can fill the net and make plays better than almost anyone his age. The 24-year-old franchise cornerstone buried 38 goals over 68 games in 2019-20. He followed it up with 24 goals across 56 contests last season, which translates to a 35-goal pace across 82 games.

18. Adam Fox, New York Rangers

A lot of people predicted Fox to have a great sophomore season after an impressive rookie campaign with the Rangers, but not many penciled him in to win the Norris Trophy. Fox possesses an incredible two-way game and can contribute at an elite level on both ends of the ice.

17. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Ovechkin has been a top-10 lock on this list for his entire career, but his all-around impact has begun to diminish. That said, he's still as dangerous as ever in the o-zone, and some poor defensive metrics aren't going to prevent us from rating the greatest goal scorer of his generation among the league's best.

16. David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

Pastrnak is coming off a bit of a down year by his standards. However, he remains one of the game's most lethal shooters and likely has another Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy coming his way in the future.

15. Roman Josi, Nashville Predators

The 2020 Norris Trophy winner didn't match his 0.94 points-per-game average from the 2019-20 season, but he still led the Predators last campaign with 33 points over 48 contests. Josi also bared the brunt of the workload, topping Nashville with over 24 minutes of ice time per game.

14. Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche

The myth that Rantanen is merely a product of Nathan MacKinnon's prowess has long been debunked, but the Finnish winger ascended to new heights in 2021. Rantanen needed only 52 contests to reach the 30-goal plateau (a 47-goal pace over 82 games), and he ranked among the NHL's top five in both goals and points last season.

13. Brad Marchand, Bruins

Marchand's transformation into one of the league's most elite players has been incredible to watch. Since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, the Bruins star ranks third in the NHL in points (426) behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He's also one of the league's best penalty killers, he drives play at an incredible pace, and he can still get under his opponents' skin with ease.

12. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks

Another year, another top-10 finish in league scoring for Kane. The Blackhawks' veteran star remains one of the NHL's most prolific producers, and it's hard to imagine him ever slowing down.

11. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning

Point proved the naysayers wrong this past season, producing a stellar campaign despite not having Nikita Kucherov on his wing. He's also shown in the postseason what a big-game player he is, potting 28 goals over his last 46 playoff contests.

10. Aleksander Barkov, Panthers

Barkov cracks the top 10 on this list after winning the 2021 Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward. The 26-year-old led all Panthers forwards in average ice time last season. He also finished in the top 10 in the NHL in scoring for the first time with 26 goals. Barkov is the definition of a dual-threat.

9. Cale Makar, Avalanche

Makar was more deserving of the Norris Trophy, but he'll win the award in the future as he's nearly peerless at his position. The gifted Avalanche blue-liner led all qualified defensemen with exactly one point per game over 44 contests in 2021. He would've been the favorite for the Norris had he not missed 12 games due to injury.

8. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning

Vasilevskiy is tracking to become one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history. He just led the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup victories, has been a Vezina Trophy finalist in each of the last four years, and has topped the league in wins for four straight seasons now. He's only 27 years old and should continue to rack up the accolades as he plays behind a stacked Tampa Bay team.

7. Victor Hedman, Lightning

Hedman posted some shoddy defensive underlying numbers last season, but his reputation as the league's most dominant defender speaks for itself. The Lightning stalwart has been a Norris Trophy finalist in each of the last five seasons, winning the award once. He's also captured a Conn Smythe, two Stanley Cups, and averaged 0.83 points per game across 346 regular-season contests over that time.

6. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

Sid is no longer a kid - he's 34 - but he remains one of the game's elite players. There's a fair argument that the No. 6 spot on this list is too low for someone of his ilk. Crosby puts up points, but it's his intangibles and 200-foot game that still make him one of the best.

5. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers

Draisaitl is one of the two main reasons the Art Ross and Hart Trophies have rarely traveled outside of Edmonton in recent years. The 25-year-old had the second-most points in the league last season with 84 over 56 games. He was also the NHL's third-most utilized forward, averaging over 22 minutes a game. He's unstoppable.

4. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Matthews cemented himself as the NHL's pre-eminent scorer in 2021, capturing the "Rocket" Richard Trophy with 41 goals across 52 games after falling one goal short of the league leaders in 2019-20. Even more impressively, the Leafs sniper paced the league while playing most of last season with a wrist issue.

3. Nikita Kucherov, Lightning

After sitting out all of last season due to a hip injury, Kucherov returned for the playoffs and absolutely tore it up with 32 points over 23 games. His 1.36 points-per-game pace across the last three seasons is second to only McDavid, and he's one of the only players in the league who has a legitimate shot at challenging the Oilers superstar for the Art Ross Trophy.

2. Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche

There aren't many hockey fans left who wouldn't consider MacKinnon as the league's second-best player. The Avalanche superstar has been an offensive force for four straight seasons, and it's only a matter of time until he starts adding some hardware to his resume.

1. Connor McDavid, Oilers

Is this really even a debate? McDavid posted an absurd 105 points over 56 games last season. That's 21 more points than the next player and 36 better than someone not on his team. The Oilers captain also made huge strides defensively last season. What will he do for an encore in 2021-22?

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As one would expect, a bulk of the NHL's most watchable teams are also among the league's best. Though some have had difficulty achieving playoff success, the entertainment value they provide is undeniable.

Some clubs are watchable because of their high-octane style of play or their superstars, while others will draw attention because of new acquisitions, or in one obvious case, the novelty of being an expansion franchise.

As a reminder, these aren't typical power rankings, nor are they purely based on the squads expected to finish at the top and bottom of the standings. This is all about how appealing they'll be from the viewer's perspective.

Here are the 16 teams we expect will be the most compelling. Tap here to see the bottom 16.

16. New York Islanders

The Islanders are undoubtedly a very good squad, but head coach Barry Trotz's defensive system doesn't make it easy to watch New York regularly. Mathew Barzal is a threat to make the highlight reel at any moment, but the club's dull but effective approach isn't the most conducive to viewership.

15. Dallas Stars

The Stars were in the middle of the NHL pack in terms of goals per game last season, but they ranked third in expected goals for percentage at five-on-five. Tyler Seguin's healthy again, and while Dallas' core is aging, Calder Trophy finalist Jason Robertson is another reason to pay attention to this squad.

14. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have a versatile group of forwards, including underrated sniper Kyle Connor and speed demon Nikolaj Ehlers. Winnipeg was the league's ninth-worst possession team in 2021, but the club should improve in that department thanks to a bolstered blue line.

13. Minnesota Wild

What will Kirill Kaprizov do for an encore following his impressive Calder-winning campaign in 2021? The electric winger has proven he can singlehandedly make the Wild a must-watch team, and he should ascend to new heights with two-way wizard Joel Eriksson Ek now centering Minnesota's top line.

12. New York Rangers

Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox lead a pretty fun Rangers side that would be higher on this list if youngsters Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko were further along in their development. New York didn't drive possession in 2021 but will be worth viewing more often than not this season.

11. Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin's mere presence ensures the Capitals will frequently be worth a live look-in, especially when they go on the power play. Ovi, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, and T.J. Oshie are all in their 30s, while Evgeny Kuznetsov will turn 30 in May. So Washington's window may be closing, but this squad is still reasonably entertaining for now.

10. Seattle Kraken

The Kraken made some splashes in their first-ever offseason, and their branding has been a major success. While the team itself is a bit underwhelming, the expansion factor and curiosity about the Seattle market will keep many tuned into Kraken broadcasts throughout the club’s inaugural campaign.

9. Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks will be far more watchable than they were last season after adding Marc-Andre Fleury and Seth Jones over the summer to complement Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. Much like 2021, Chicago still might not be a playoff team, but there's plenty of star power here, and it'll be worth seeing if the club's bold moves pay off.

8. Carolina Hurricanes

Removing proven puck-mover Dougie Hamilton and Calder finalist Alex Nedeljkovic from the equation made the Hurricanes worse, but they still project to be among the NHL's best possession teams while boasting game-breakers Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.

7. Florida Panthers

Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau have long been a dynamic duo, and Aaron Ekblad is healthy again after having his 2021 campaign cut short. The Panthers ranked fourth in the league in expected goals for percentage at five-on-five last season. Florida should again be among the most exciting teams, especially if goaltending phenom Spencer Knight gets extended playing time.

6. Boston Bruins

David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand make up one of the absolute best lines in the NHL, and the Bruins’ 10th-ranked power play will be even better with the rejuvenated Taylor Hall contributing over a full campaign. Boston overhauled its goaltending, but the seventh-ranked possession club in 2021 should again be one of the league’s most appealing.

5. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs will be worth watching as they've been in recent years due to their skilled (and expensive) top four forwards led by "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews. But it'll also be compelling to see if Toronto - the NHL's second-best team in terms of expected goals for percentage last season - can finally silence the critics and win a playoff series with this group.

4. Vegas Golden Knights

Fleury's gone, but the ever-potent Golden Knights are still largely intact. Mark Stone is fun to watch wherever he is on the ice, while defensemen Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo are adept at creating offense. Vegas remains deep from top to bottom, and the club that tied for the lead in league points last campaign should again be a can't-miss team in 2021-22.

3. Edmonton Oilers

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl make the Oilers worth watching no matter how the squad itself is faring. The NHL's two most recent Hart Trophy winners are the definition of appointment viewing, frequently scoring highlight-reel goals while racking up huge numbers. And as usual in the era of this supremely gifted duo, Edmonton will also be worth viewing to see if the club can avoid wasting its talents.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

Remember, this isn't about which team is best. The Lightning are loaded with exciting players like Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, and Steven Stamkos, and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions would be the most watchable NHL squad if not for their thrilling Central Division counterparts.

1. Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog make up the best line in hockey, and Cale Makar has a convincing case as the league's most dominant defenseman despite Fox's claim to the Norris. Forget about Colorado's playoff failures - the Avalanche were the NHL's No. 1 possession team in 2021, and there's no reason to believe they won't be the most tantalizing club yet again.

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

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The Chicago Blackhawks are bringing back a familiar face, signing defenseman Erik Gustafsson to a one-year, $800,000 contract on Monday.

Gustafsson spent parts of four seasons with the Blackhawks until they traded him as a rental to the Calgary Flames at the 2020 deadline. He put together a career-best 17-goal, 60-point campaign in 2018-19 while quarterbacking Chicago's top power-play unit.

The 29-year-old hasn't been able to uncover that same offensive spark since then. He recorded 29 points in 66 games in 2019-20 before tallying just one goal and 11 assists in 29 contests last season while playing limited minutes with the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens.

Gustafsson suited up in 16 games during Montreal's run to the Stanley Cup Final this past spring, registering a goal and two assists while averaging 10 minutes per contest.

He spent this preseason on a professional tryout with the New York Islanders but didn't make the team.

The Blackhawks were in need of depth on the left side of their blue line after offseason acquisition Caleb Jones suffered a left wrist strain, which is expected to sideline him for six weeks.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have rewarded head coach Jon Cooper with a three-year contract extension through the 2024-25 season, the team announced Monday.

"Unequivocally, Coop is the best person for the job," general manager Julien BriseBois said. "He is a great leader, spokesperson, and ambassador for our organization. We are lucky to have him as our head coach, and I very much look forward to our continued partnership."

Cooper is the longest-tenured head coach in the league, as he's been at the helm since the 2012-13 campaign. He's led the team to two division titles, three Stanley Cup Final appearances, and two championships.

"It has been a tremendous honor to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the past eight-plus seasons and I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to build on what we have here," Cooper said. "My family and I love the organization and being a part of the Tampa Bay community, it is our home."

Prior to his promotion to the Lightning, Cooper served as the head coach of the organization's AHL squad, the Syracuse Crunch (and previously the Norfolk Admirals). He guided the Admirals to a Calder Cup title in 2011-12.

Cooper's reputation in league circles is sterling, as the Prince George, British Columbia, native was named the head coach of Canada's men's team for the 2022 Olympics.

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