Zack Kassian isn't going to apologize anytime soon for his actions toward Matthew Tkachuk that warranted a two-game suspension.
"I'd do it again all over again," Kassian said to reporters when asked if he'd do anything differently. "Since I've been in minor midget I've stood up for myself and my teammates. People don't do that to me or my teammates when I'm out there. To me, those are two dangerous hits."
The Edmonton Oilers forward got into an altercation with the Calgary Flames winger on Saturday. After two questionable hits from Tkachuk, Kassian engaged in a one-sided fight with him. He earned a double-minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct while Tkachuk got nothing.
"I'm a big boy. I love big-boy hockey. But if you're gonna play big-boy hockey, you gotta answer the bell every once in a while," Kassian added. "I'm not crying about the hits, it's hockey, it's the game of hockey - it's rough.
"I thought they were a little bit on the blind side, but at the end of the day I've laid big hits like that, I've been hit like that - but two times is more than enough. You play with fire, eventually, you're gonna get burned, and he messed with the wrong guy and I don't think he realizes that we're in the same division and I have a great memory."
Kassian will be eligible to return from his suspension for the Oilers' game against the Flames on Jan. 29.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are inching toward full health and will get one of the best players in the league back Tuesday.
Sidney Crosby will return to the Penguins' lineup against the Minnesota Wild, the team announced. Crosby has been out of action for two months after undergoing core muscle surgery Nov. 14.
Despite being without Crosby for nearly half the season, the Penguins have been one of the NHL's top teams. Since his last game on Nov. 9, Pittsburgh has gone 18-6-4 - the best record in the league during that span, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
Crosby had five goals and 17 points in 17 games before hitting the shelf. The Penguins have won three straight and currently sit second in the Metropolitan Division.
The 32-year-old center is in the final season of a 10-year deal he signed with the Capitals in 2010. He negotiated his new deal without the help of an agent, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
Backstrom has been a staple in the Capitals' lineup since the club drafted him fourth overall in 2006. He's amassed 240 goals and 908 points in 934 career games with Washington.
An integral member of the Capitals' Stanley Cup-winning team in 2018, Backstrom is in the midst of another great season, posting nine goals and 35 points in 39 games.
Despite a handful of high draft picks and some splashy trades over the last five years, Ray Shero couldn't turn the New Jersey Devils into a contender. With the Devils making just one playoff appearance during his tenure and the team in the league's basement yet again, Shero's time with the squad came to an end when both sides mutually parted ways on Sunday. Let's take a look at how the former GM's franchise-altering moves have panned out to date:
Acquiring Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson
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Shero shocked the hockey world when he landed then 24-year-old Taylor Hall from the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 2016. It didn't stun people that Hall was traded, as the Oilers couldn't escape the bottom of the standings for years, but nobody could believe how little Shero had to give up to acquire the former first overall pick.
The infamous words tweeted out by TSN's Bob McKenzie on the day of the deal, informing the public that it was a one-for-one trade, still echo in the hockey world today. Shero sent 24-year-old defenseman Adam Larsson to the Oilers. Larsson, the Devils' fourth overall pick in 2011, was by no means a bad player. He was a solid stay-at-home defenseman, which the Oilers were desperately searching for, but Larsson wasn't in the same league as the future MVP winner.
Hall captured the Hart Trophy in 2017-18 when he seemingly single-handedly dragged the Devils to their first playoff appearance since 2012. But he was limited to just 33 games last season due to injury, and other than his MVP year, his time with the Devils was rather lackluster. Still, Shero managed to pull off one of the most lopsided NHL trades in quite some time.
Hall spent three full seasons with the Devils, and he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes earlier this year. He's due to become a free agent this summer and he didn't express a desire to re-sign with New Jersey, so Shero decided to get some assets and move on.
Grade: A+
Drafting Nico Hischier 1st overall
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Shero didn't have the easiest decision to make when he headed into the 2017 draft armed with the first overall pick. It wasn't so obvious who the selection should be. There was a lot of debate about whether Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick should go first. On draft day, Shero decided to go with Hischier.
Now in his third season with the club, Hischier is slowly developing into a great two-way player that can chip in on both sides of the puck. After putting up 17 goals and 47 points in 69 games last year, Shero rewarded the 21-year-old with a seven-year, $50.75-million extension in October. Hischier will be part of the Devils' core for years to come, and rightfully so.
However, in retrospect, it appears that Shero shouldn't have selected Hischier or Patrick. Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, and Elias Pettersson were drafted with the third to fifth picks, respectively. Heiskanen and Makar are quickly turning into two of the biggest names on the blue line in the league. Pettersson took home the Calder Trophy in his rookie season and is continuing to excel this year.
Any three of those players would have been a great fit for the Devils, a team that lacks scoring power and needs help on the defensive end. Hindsight is always 20/20, and Hischier isn't a bad consolation prize.
Grade: B
Acquiring P.K. Subban
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Shero made another surprise splash when he acquired P.K. Subban from the Nashville Predators last summer. The three-time All-Star only cost the Devils two second-round picks, Steven Santini, and Jeremy Davies. On paper, the trade looked phenomenal for New Jersey. However, things haven't gone according to plan so far.
The 30-year-old defenseman was brought in to be a shutdown defender and contribute offensively. 45 games into the season, Subban has just five goals and 10 points and is on pace for the lowest point total of his career.
The former Norris Trophy winner's only been with the team for just over half a season, so it might be too early to write this off as a bad trade. Shero didn't mortgage the team's future in the deal, making it a rather low-risk move. Subban has two years left on his current contract, which carries a hefty $9-million cap hit, so there's still time for him to turn things around and return to his All-Star form with the Devils.
Grade: C
Drafting Pavel Zacha
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The 2015 draft was absolutely loaded with top-end talent, with a number of teams securing franchise players in the first round. Shero opted to go with Pavel Zacha with the sixth overall pick. At the time, scouts ranked Zacha in that range of the draft. Unfortunately, he hasn't panned out for the Devils, and the quality of the players selected after him makes that sting a little bit more.
Zacha, 22, has 32 goals and 94 points in 242 games with the Devils. Mikko Rantanen, Zach Werenski, Timo Meier, Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, and Ivan Provorov were all selected after him. The Devils could desperately use any of these players, and if Shero had gone with virtually anyone other than Zacha, the state of the team could be drastically different.
Grade: F
Trading Adam Henrique for Sami Vatanen
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Looking to bolster his defensive group, Shero managed to land Sami Vatanen and a conditional pick from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Adam Henrique, Joseph Blandisi and a third-round pick.
The trade came in November 2017, and at the time, Henrique had four goals and 14 points in 24 games. His scoring touch was missed as Hall finished the campaign with 39 more points than the Devils' next highest scorer, but Vatanen helped the team secure a playoff spot.
Vatanen appeared in just 50 games last year as his season was cut short due to injury. He's currently in the final year of his contract and is set to hit free agency this summer. Meanwhile, Henrique inked a five-year extension with the Ducks worth $29.125 million, and he's been a steady scorer for Anaheim with 18 goals last season, appearing in all 82 games.
It seems unlikely that Vatanen will return to the Devils at season's end with Subban and Damon Severson locked up on the right side of the blue line for a combined cap hit of $13.16 million a year. The trade made some sense at the time, but it no longer looks like it worked out in favor of the Devils.
The 32-year-old has another year remaining on his deal - which carries a $4-million annual cap hit - after the current campaign, so he's not simply a rental.
Los Angeles traded defenseman Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season for a first-round pick and two prospects. The expected return for Martinez is slightly less than that, LeBrun added.
Martinez, who returned from a lengthy absence on Jan. 4 due to a wrist injury, has one goal and five assists in 29 games this season.
Hjalmarsson has been absent for most of the season after suffering a cracked left fibula in a game on Oct. 12. He managed one goal in four contests before sustaining the injury.
The 32-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, $10-million contract extension he signed with the Coyotes in 2018. Arizona has been battling it out atop the Pacific Division during his absence and has the chance to reclaim first place Sunday.
Dylan Larkin has addressed comments he made about not wanting to be included in the All-Star Game festivities.
"In the moment, I said what I said but I really do regret that," Larkin said on Saturday after the All-Star Game rosters were finalized, according to the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James. "I didn't mean to disrespect the league. I feel I did that, and disrespected the Red Wings.
"My main goal as a hockey player in the state of Michigan is to represent myself and the Red Wings and be a good example for kids growing up playing the game. I felt I wasn't that, so I'm sorry about that."
On Dec. 31, Larkin told reporters he would prefer to get the days off rather than participate if fans voted him into the All-Star Game. The comments drew attention around the league, including from Sportsnet's Brian Burke, who harshly criticized the Detroit Red Wings forward.
"I have to own up to them. I didn't mean for them to become that big of a thing. I saw what Brian Burke said and I have a lot of respect for Brian," Larkin added. "He was in the right to say that. I have to represent this team and this franchise and my teammates better than that."
The 23-year-old has recorded 11 goals and 29 points in 45 games this season. Since making his comments on New Year's Eve, Larkin is riding a five-game point streak with two goals and three assists.
Jeremy Roenick has apologized after NBC suspended him nearly three weeks ago for inappropriate comments made about his co-workers.
"I want to take this opportunity to apologize to NBC Sports, Kathryn Tappen, Patrick Sharp, (and) Anson Carter for some insensitive comments that I made on a recent podcast," Roenick said in a video he tweeted out on Saturday. "I never meant to offend anyone and I definitely went too far and for that I deeply regret it."
Roenick appeared on the podcast "Spittin' Chiclets" last month, and he made multiple sexual references about his wife and his co-worker Tappen. He also made suspect comments about co-hosts Sharp and Carter.
NBC suspended him indefinitely without pay shortly after the episode was released.
"I've called everybody involved and I'm so thankful for their loving and gracious acceptance of my apology, and that includes my family and friends," Roenick added. "I've always tried to act professional, I've always tried to entertain. This time I went too far, and I will make sure in the future that I'm mindful of people's feelings, the sensitivities of my co-workers, and of all you, my loving fans."
Roenick has been with NBC as an analyst since 2010 after being hired shortly following his retirement from the NHL in 2009. He has yet to return to the network's broadcasts.
Toronto Marlies assistant coach Rob Davison, who suffered a medical episode prior to his team's game Friday night, is in stable condition and has been discharged from the hospital, the Maple Leafs announced Saturday.
Davison, 39, suffered a prolonged grand mal seizure in the locker room with the players and staff present. He was transported to a local hospital where he was kept overnight for observation.
The incident prompted the team's leadership group, including Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, to forfeit the AHL contest against the Texas Stars.
Davison will return to Toronto on Saturday and will remain away from the team indefinitely on medical leave.
