The Vancouver Canucks claimed forward Jimmy Vesey off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, the team announced.

Vesey is currently on a one-year deal worth $900,000. The former Hobey Baker winner has amassed five goals and two assists over 30 games this season.

Vesey, 27, largely played a fourth-line role in Toronto, averaging 11:07 of ice time per game. Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said Tuesday the team waived Vesey to increase roster flexibility.

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New York Islanders captain Anders Lee will undergo surgery this week and miss the rest of the season, general manager Lou Lamoriello announced Wednesday.

Lamoriello confirmed that Lee's injury is a torn ACL, according to The Athletic's Arthur Staple.

The forward suffered the torn ACL in a game against the New Jersey Devils last week. He was in visible pain on the ice after getting tangled up with Devils forward Pavel Zacha.

The 30-year-old leads the Islanders with 12 goals this season and also accumulated seven assists in 27 games. The Islanders currently sit in second place in the East Division.

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The NHL will not delay the upcoming 2021 draft and it will proceed as scheduled in July, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The league was reportedly considering pushing the draft as late as the summer of 2022 and potentially even holding back-to-back drafts. Many general managers supported the idea.

Due to COVID-19, many hockey leagues around the world have either been playing modified seasons or haven't been playing at all. Evaluating eligible players has become much more difficult for NHL teams as a result.

"We've had different issues associated in Europe as well," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last week, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "And that is compounded by the fact that the club scouts, who are charged and employed to scout these prospects, to learn about them and to advise their clubs on those prospects, haven't been able for the most part to travel or watch them in person."

The 2021 NHL Draft is scheduled to take place July 23-24.

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New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is returning to the lineup Saturday against the Boston Bruins after a three-week absence, the team announced.

Panarin stepped away from the Rangers on Feb. 22 after his former KHL head coach, Andrei Nazarov, made an abuse allegation against him. The allegation stemmed from what Nazarov claimed was a physical altercation in 2011 between Panarin and an 18-year-old woman while the forward was playing in the KHL.

The Rangers believe the allegation is a fabrication designed to intimidate Panarin for his political views. Nazarov is a known supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Panarin has been a vocal Putin critic and shown public support for opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Reports have indicated that no evidence, witnesses, or court or police records have been provided to support the allegation. The KHL also said it was never informed of an abuse allegation against Panarin.

Panarin missed nine games while away from the Rangers, who went 4-5-0 during that span. The 29-year-old has amassed five goals and 13 assists in 14 games this season.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Mikko Lehtonen to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for goaltender Veini Vehvilainen, the club announced Friday.

More to come.

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Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella provided some insight into his decision to bench Patrik Laine for the majority of the third period and all of overtime in Thursday's 5-4 loss against the Florida Panthers.

"You guys think I don't want to play Patty? I mean, I want to play him," Tortorella said Friday, according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda. "But I still have to make calls as far as how the players are playing at that particular time.

"I thought Patty probably played one of his best periods in the first period," he continued. "He played really well. But I also have to make calls as the rest of his game is going on where he is at that particular time, especially late in the third period and us reeling a little bit.

"There's no free passes because you're notably the top gun."

Laine snapped a seven-game pointless streak after tallying a goal and an assist. Despite the offensive production, the 22-year-old only saw the ice for 2:20 in the third period and didn't play during the final seven minutes of regulation or in overtime after his line was on the ice for two goals against in the final frame.

The sniper was puzzled by his lack of ice time after the game, and said he thought he was "playing good." Tortorella doesn't necessarily see his decision to limit Laine's ice time as a benching.

"I didn't bench anybody last night," he said, according to Svoboda. "I just decided to play some other people in situations late in the third period that I felt more comfortable with at that time."

After owning a 4-1 lead against the Panthers, the Blue Jackets allowed three straight goals in the third period before falling in overtime. Columbus currently sits in fifth place in the Central Division with a 10-12-6 record.

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New York Islanders captain Anders Lee will be sidelined indefinitely with a lower-body injury, the team announced Friday.

Lee was in visible pain on the ice after getting tangled up with the New Jersey Devils' Pavel Zacha during Thursday's 5-3 victory.

The 30-year-old leads the Islanders with 12 goals this season and has also racked up seven assists in 27 games. After Thursday's win, the Islanders find themselves in first place in the East Division.

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After a solid start to his stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets, sniper Patrik Laine seems to have hit a wall both mentally and on the ice.

"Probably closer to zero," Laine said Thursday when asked where his confidence is at right now, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

Laine amassed six goals and four assists in his first 10 games with the club. However, he's gone pointless in his last seven contests, matching the longest drought of his career.

Starting with a new club midseason is never an easy task, but the 22-year-old has nothing but good things to say about Columbus.

"Haven't been here for a very long time, but it starts to feel like home, Laine said, according to Portzline.

"Can't thank the guys in the organization enough for making this as easy as possible for me," he continued. "Everybody's been great. My teammates are awesome. Everybody who works here is awesome. It's been an easy transition to come here, and I've enjoyed every minute of it.

The Blue Jackets acquired Laine and forward Jack Roslovic from the Winnipeg Jets for Pierre-Luc Dubois in late January. Laine has eight goals and five assists in 18 games this season.

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With the NHL looking to make some tweaks to its draft lottery system, commissioner Gary Bettman doesn't believe teams have intentionally played poorly to obtain better picks in the past.

"There are some clubs who recently think it's important that the teams that are struggling the most get the most help. There are other teams ... that think there is nothing wrong with the present system at all," Bettman said to media via Zoom Thursday. "I don't believe there's tanking in the game. I think our players, and our organizations, our coaches, are too professional."

The NHL recently proposed to the league's board of governors some changes to its lottery system. The reported alterations include limiting teams to no more than two lottery wins in a five-year period, allowing clubs to jump up only 10 spots, and reducing picks in the lottery from three to two.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday that it's "more likely than not" the upcoming 2021 NHL Draft will be held in July, according to The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno. The NHL's general managers were reportedly in favor of postponing the draft.

The league last altered its lottery format in 2016, making the top three picks available in the lottery for non-playoff teams instead of just the No. 1 selection. Bettman said he thinks the current system doesn't need a complete overhaul, just a few minor adjustments.

"Yes there's been an anomaly or two here and there, but the system wasn't necessarily crying out for major change," Bettman said. "I think these adjustments are more in the form of tweaks than anything else."

The NHL's last-place team has picked first overall just twice in the past nine years.

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Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart is well aware he's playing through one of the worst stretches of his young career.

"I just need to find more ways to stop pucks. Just go out and play," Hart said, according to The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor. "Not overthink things and just trust my game. It's just shitty right now. I don't feel like myself, and I've got to find a way to get back into playing the game that I love and trusting the game I've built."

The 22-year-old was pulled from Tuesday's contest against the Buffalo Sabres after allowing three goals on eight shots in the first period. Brian Elliott saved 11 of the 12 shots he faced in relief while helping to backstop the Flyers to a comeback win.

Hart had dropped four of his last five appearances prior to Tuesday's game, including a matchup against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 21 when he was yanked after allowing six goals on 23 shots.

Alain Vigneault knows Hart is early in his career, and the head coach maintains faith that the goalie will rebound.

"Carter is a very young goaltender. We all believe in him, we all think that he's got a tremendous amount of potential," Vigneault said, according to NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "But it's a tough position. He's going to learn from this, he's going to get better."

Hart has posted a 6-5-3 record with a .888 save percentage and a 3.61 goals-against average this season. He's also produced the league's fifth-worst goals saved above average rating (-8.18).

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