Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren got a taste of the NHL this season and is hoping to earn a permanent stay at the top level next year.

"That's my goal, to be with the team all year," Liljegren told TSN's Mark Masters in an interview April 16. "Once you get those games in, you just want to be out there every day, so that's where I'm focusing now, to work hard and to eventually be out there (for) a full year."

The 20-year-old played 11 games in the NHL this season. He averaged 10:18 minutes of ice time per contest and recorded one assist.

Liljegren spent the majority of his time in the minors during 2019-20. He played top minutes with the AHL's Toronto Marlies and recorded five goals and 25 assists in 40 games.

"I think I was pretty consistent," Liljegren said of his AHL season. "I think I started off pretty good and then I just kind of kept it on the same level and just got better every week, every game. Eventually, I got that NHL debut against Chicago and it was a dream come true. ... Once you get that first game, you just want to play more games. Once I came (back) down to the Marlies after that first game, I just tried to work harder so I could go up there again."

Liljegren was slotted behind Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci on the right side of the Leafs' defense while up at the NHL level. However, both veteran defensemen are impending free agents.

With a potential opening on the blue line up for grabs next season, the Swedish defenseman understands that his game still has room to grow.

"Just keep working on everything, basically," Liljegren added. "Just get stronger to be able to hold onto guys in the defensive zone. Just try to work on playing the same type of game I play with the Marlies, (but) up in the NHL, to get that confidence to be able to do that."

Liljegren was selected 17th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2017 NHL Draft.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets signed forward Mikhail Grigorenko to a one-year deal for the 2020-21 season, the team announced Monday.

It's a $1.2-million contract, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Grigorenko spent the last three seasons with the KHL's CSKA Moscow. While Friedman reports he received better offers to stay in the KHL, Grigorenko wanted to try to make a comeback in the NHL.

The 25-year-old spent five seasons in the NHL after the Buffalo Sabres drafted him 12th overall in 2012. He managed 22 goals and 42 assists in 217 games while playing for the Sabres and later the Colorado Avalanche.

In the KHL, Grigorenko posted 46 goals and 116 points in 147 games. He captured the Gagarin Cup with CSKA Moscow in 2019 and won a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Games with the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

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Vegas Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty knows that if the league does resume this season, there will be an all-out battle for the Stanley Cup.

"I think this will be the hardest Stanley Cup to win out of all of them. Look at all the obstacles," Pacioretty said, according to team reporter Gary Lawless. "Who knows when we're going to play, where, fans or no fans, everything is up in the air. With that being said, whatever teams that have been banged up are healing up right now.

"They're getting their bodies ready and you better believe everyone around the league is trying to get every advantage possible in terms of recovery and getting in whatever shape they can. Most teams go into the playoffs beat up, but that won't be the case this year."

The 31-year-old has rebounded this season, lighting the lamp 32 times in 71 games before the league's pause on March 12. The Golden Knights looked primed for another deep playoff run, sitting first in the Pacific Division as the season neared its conclusion.

Pacioretty hopes the campaign he and his teammates put together won't be for nothing, and he'll do anything to get a shot at the Stanley Cup.

"I mean, if we had to wait six months and play in Antarctica, I'd be willing to do that," Pacioretty said. "We have a special group. We want to do whatever we can to finish out this year because we feel we have a group that's capable of doing special things and it's up to us as a group to try and achieve that when we do get started."

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New Jersey Devils interim general manager Tom Fitzgerald isn't breaking a sweat after Jack Hughes didn't dominate as a rookie during the currently suspended 2019-20 season, but he's aware that there's plenty of room for improvement.

"He's going to be a fun player to watch," Fitzgerald said, according to NJ.com's Randy Miller. "With that being said, what does he need to work on? I think we all know what the audience is. He went from being on tour after being drafted to not having an NHL summer and now he has that time.

"All he has is time to get stronger, get bigger, get thicker, and get faster. The sky's the limit with this young gentleman once he hits his maturity."

New Jersey selected Hughes with the first overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old struggled to adjust to the NHL right away, though, registering just seven goals and 14 assists in 61 games while averaging 15:52 minutes of ice time per game.

Devils interim head coach Alain Nasreddine said earlier in April that Hughes' lack of size and strength is "basically what's holding him back" in the early stages of his pro career.

Fitzgerald said Hughes' numbers could have benefited from a few more fortunate bounces, but he added he was still impressed by what he saw during the young forward's debut season and believes Hughes will only improve as he gains muscle and NHL experience.

"I'm not saying (Hughes) underestimated the NHL by any means, but I don't know if you realize that he would be the first to admit - like he did to me - how good (NHL) defenseman defend ... their reach, their skating ability, how they close, how they take the time and space away," Fitzgerald said.

"I'm not sure that was something that he prepared himself for. That's one of the things he's learned. I think he's learned that it's a tough league for an 18-year-old, but with all that being said, I'm very proud of what he accomplished."

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Calgary Flames goaltender Cam Talbot believes he's proven himself this season and can return to being a starting goaltender next year.

"I knew that if I came to camp healthy and in the right situation, I was confident I was going to be able to get back to that form," Calbot said, according to Sportsnet's Eric Francis. "I think I played through some stuff that maybe I shouldn’t have played through the year before, and toward the end of the year before that, so that had a lot of mitigating factors behind my declining play those years.

"But I think my record shows that when I'm healthy and on top of my game, I can be one of the best in the league."

Talbot signed a one-year deal with the Flames last summer after posting a .892 save percentage over 35 games during a disastrous 2018-19 season split between the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers.

The 32-year-old appeared in just 26 games this season, while teammate David Rittich played in 48. Talbot managed a respectable 12-10-1 record with a .919 save percentage and 2.63 goals-against average. Rittich, meanwhile, posted a .908 save percentage and 2.97 goals-against average.

Talbot, a pending free agent, believes his numbers were good enough to earn him a starting job in the future, potentially outside of Calgary if need be.

"I obviously wouldn't mind coming back here either. I loved it here. It's a great situation, a great locker room and, obviously, I have a really good relationship with Ritter and Siggy (goalie coach Jordan Sigalet)," Talbot said. "So I mean, I wouldn’t rule out coming back, but, obviously, my goal coming here was to show the rest of the league that I still have it in me to be a starting goalie and I think I accomplished that."

Talbot added he would be open to a return if he could get "a fair chance off the bat" to be the starter, something he felt he didn't receive this season.

Rittich is signed through the 2020-21 campaign.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to a two-year contract extension, the team announced Friday.

The deal carries an average annual value of $2.8 million, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

Korpisalo, 25, set career highs in wins and games played in 2019-20 and was set to become a restricted free agent this summer. He compiled a 19-12-5 record with a .911 save percentage and 2.60 goals-against average in 37 games for Columbus during his first year as a starter.

The Finnish netminder was selected to the 2020 All-Star Game but was forced to bow out due to a knee injury that also sidelined him for 25 regular-season games.

"Joonas had the opportunity to play a lot of games for us early in the season before he was injured and responded by playing at an All-Star level," Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement. "He is a young, talented goaltender with a great work ethic and desire to succeed and we are very excited to see his continued development and improvement moving forward."

Originally selected by the Blue Jackets in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft, Korpisalo has put together a 60-43-14 record with a .908 save percentage and 2.80 goals-against average in 127 career games.

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Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov announced his retirement from professional hockey Thursday, the team announced.

Montreal selected Markov in the sixth round of the 1998 draft, and he went on to spend his entire NHL career with the club. The 41-year-old played his last three seasons in the KHL after his contract with the Canadiens expired at the conclusion of the 2016-17 campaign.

Over 16 seasons in Montreal, Markov racked up 119 goals and 453 assists in 990 games. He ranks second in franchise history among defensemen in games played and points, trailing Larry Robinson in both categories.

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Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was one of the league's top performers inside the crease this season, and while he's honored that his name is in Vezina Trophy talks, he says his focus remains on something else.

"It would be a great milestone and it would definitely be one of my goals achieved, but at the end of the day, what I truthfully want is the Stanley Cup and a chance to win it," Hellebuyck said, according to the Winnipeg Sun's Scott Billeck. "So anything that gets me closer to that, I would do for sure."

Hellebuyck had put together an impressive 31-21-5 record alongside a .922 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average when the NHL hit the pause button March 12.

He helped keep the Jets competitive all season long, backstopping one of the worst defensive teams in hockey. He started the second-most games in the league (56), faced the most shots (1,796), and saw the most high danger shots (509).

The 26-year-old says his secrets to success were greater amounts of preparation and experience coming into the season.

"I think I came in with the right mindset," Hellebuyck said. "I was ready to prove myself. I had another year under my belt, so I had a little more experience. Not only that, I had this new chest pad that I finally had figured out. It took all training camp to really fine-tune some things. Once I finally had my trigger, which I'm going to keep as a secret for me, once I had that figured out, things were falling into place."

The Jets sat in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference when play was halted.

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar says the three players on his team who tested positive for COVID-19 have all seemingly recovered.

"All of our guys are doing well," Bednar said, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers. "Some of them were even doing well before they had their test results. As far as I know, they're all doing good and are back with their families and continuing to follow the guidelines given to us.

"Those guys were lucky that there wasn't anything too serious with their symptoms and they were able to come through it without any major complications."

The league paused games March 12 due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak. The first positive diagnosis in the Avalanche organization occurred March 26.

Eight NHL players have tested positive for the coronavirus, with three on the Avs and five on the Ottawa Senators. Bednar admitted he wasn't shocked when learning of the positive diagnoses within his organization.

"(Given) what's going on and the number of people who are testing positive, I'm sure we all know people who have tested positive or read about people that we know who tested positive, so I can't say that surprised me," he said.

Bednar also confirmed not every Avalanche player has been tested, only those who have shown symptoms.

"Our guys, we're giving them the information, and if they're not feeling well, we relay that information to our medical staff. In turn, they'll get tested and away we go," he said. "It's the same as the rest of the country and the world; not everyone is getting tested."

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The St. Louis Blues have signed defenseman Marco Scandella to a four-year contract extension with an average annual value of $3.275 million, the team announced Thursday.

Scandella, 30, was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens prior to this season's trade deadline in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2021. Montreal will now receive that fourth-rounder due to Scandella re-signing with St. Louis.

The veteran defenseman dressed in 11 games with the Blues this season, recording one assist. Overall, he appeared in 62 contests during 2019-20 before play was suspended, recording four goals and 13 points.

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