Marc-Andre Fleury chose to wear the mask he had made for Native American Heritage Night on Friday despite the NHL insisting he wasn't allowed to do so.

The Minnesota Wild goaltender - who was dressed as the team's backup for the evening's game against the Colorado Avalanche - said earlier in the day he was upset that the league wasn't going to let him wear the mask.

The custom headgear honors his wife, Veronique Larosee Fleury, who is a member of an Indigenous tribe in Canada.

Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, said pregame that Fleury implied he'd wear the mask regardless of the league's stance and pay a fine as a result. The NHL then threatened to charge the team a "significant additional fine," according to Walsh.

However, sources told The Athletic's Michael Russo neither Fleury nor the Wild are likely to be billed over it.

The veteran netminder told Russo he was most upset about the league's position because the mask also features a quote in French from his late father, Andre, who lost his right eye as a child and often told his son to keep his eye on the puck.

Before the start of this season, the NHL updated its guidelines on theme nights in response to seven players refusing to wear Pride jerseys during warmups in the previous campaign. The league said teams could still hold theme nights, but players wouldn't be allowed to wear anything promoting causes of any kind on the ice.

The rule prohibited anything promoting cancer awareness in addition to the aforementioned initiatives.

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott became the first player to defy the blanket ban when he used Pride tape on his stick during a game against the Anaheim Ducks in October.

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The Philadelphia Flyers are itching to make some moves to position themselves for success down the road.

"I can tell you that they're interested and eager in becoming a wheeler and a dealer, but that's not because they're trying to sell off assets," TSN's Darren Dreger said on Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading."

"It's because they want to build a stronger foundation for the future, and they're willing to listen basically ... on every position - not every player, but every position. They feel like they've got the assets to move," Dreger continued.

The Flyers' three pending unrestricted free agents - Nick Seeler, Sean Walker, and Marc Staal - are all blue-liners. They're 30, 29, and 36 years old, respectively. Staal turns 37 in January.

Philadelphia has a core of relatively young talent, with nine players at 24 years old or younger, including Joel Farabee, Owen Tippett, and Bobby Brink. The Flyers' No. 1 goaltender, Carter Hart, is 25. Travis Konecny, the team's leading goal-scorer, is 26. Defenseman Travis Sanheim (who leads the team in points) is 27.

General manager Daniel Briere landed a couple of high draft picks while trading away rearguard Ivan Provorov in the offseason. The GM also dealt away veteran forward Kevin Hayes, bought out defenseman Tony DeAngelo, and let experienced winger James van Riemsdyk walk in free agency.

The Flyers won three of their first five games this season and occupied first place in the Metropolitan Division exactly one month ago on Oct. 23. They now sit fourth at 10-8-1 on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, a time when NHL clubs typically take the opportunity to evaluate how they've started the campaign.

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The New Jersey Devils have their brightest star back.

Jack Hughes is in the lineup for Saturday's game against the New York Rangers.

His status was a game-time decision after he returned to practice Friday as a full participant.

Hughes missed the last five games. He left a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 3 with what the Devils called an upper-body injury after crashing into the boards on a scoring chance. Hughes was considered week-to-week.

The 22-year-old entered Saturday maintaining a lead over all other NHL skaters in points per contest. He piled up 15 assists and 20 points in 10 games before the injury and was leading the NHL in both of those offensive categories when he got hurt.

Hughes is coming off a campaign in which he set a Devils single-season record with 99 points.

The Devils are still without captain Nico Hischier, who's been out since Oct. 27. He left a victory over the Buffalo Sabres after opposing defenseman Connor Clifton caught him with a headshot. Clifton was suspended two games for the incident.

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Two key Florida Panthers defensemen are back in the lineup for the first time this season.

Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are in against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night, the team announced. Both blue-liners underwent shoulder surgery in June and missed training camp along with the Cats' first 16 games of this campaign.

In September, Panthers general manager Bill Zito estimated the defensive duo would be healed by around mid-December.

Following Florida's surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final last season, Ekblad revealed he had a dislocated shoulder, a broken foot, and a torn oblique during the playoffs.

Montour led the Panthers in average ice time during the 2022-23 regular season at 24:08. He exploded for 16 goals and 57 assists over 80 games before adding eight tallies and five helpers in 21 postseason contests.

The 29-year-old averaged a whopping 26:58 of ice time in those playoffs, ranking second to Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars among rearguards who played more than six games. Montour is in his third full season with the Panthers, who acquired him in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres in April 2021.

Ekblad collected 14 goals and 24 assists across 71 regular-season games in 2022-23 before adding two tallies and six helpers in 20 playoff contests. The 27-year-old averaged 23:24 of time during the regular season and 23:57 in the postseason last spring.

He's spent his entire career with the Panthers, who drafted him first overall in 2014.

Forward Jonah Gadjovich is also making his Panthers debut Friday after signing as a free agent in the offseason.

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Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent had a simple explanation for why Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine didn't see the ice down the stretch in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

In the late stages of the defeat, Vincent favored his second line of Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Fantilli, and Kirill Marchenko over the top unit that normally features the two aforementioned talents.

"I coach a team," Vincent said postgame, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. "I don't coach individuals. Those guys were going, they're going to play. That's what we've been doing all year.

"Once the game starts, we have 18 guys and two goalies. Tonight, it was those guys that were going, and that's why they were on the ice."

When asked if the opposite held true for Gaudreau and Laine, Vincent implied the affirmative.

"Asking that question is answering that question," the Columbus bench boss said.

Vincent sat Laine for the final 9:53 and held Gaudreau out for the last 6:15.

Gaudreau and Laine were both held pointless in the contest, playing 14:42 and 12:36, respectively. Both players were on the ice when Lawson Crouse buried the Coyotes' second goal in a 28-second span to go up 3-1 in the third period. Laine finished the loss with no shots on goal, and Gaudreau registered only two.

Jackets defenseman Damon Severson scored to make it 3-2 with 1:57 remaining, but Columbus couldn't complete the comeback.

Vincent also benched Gaudreau for the final 16 minutes of the Blue Jackets' 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 4. He said at the time that "it's not about your name, it's about what's in front of your jersey and who we believe are going to give us a chance to win."

Gaudreau is Columbus' highest-paid player with a cap hit of $9.75 million through 2028-29. Laine is the Jackets' third-highest-paid player and second-highest-paid forward at $8.7 million through 2025-26.

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Jonathan Huberdeau expressed relief Thursday night following a 5-2 victory by his Calgary Flames over the Vancouver Canucks in which he scored a goal after going 11 games without one.

"Obviously, it felt good; it has been a while," the Flames forward told reporters. "It was good to get, finally, a goal and a big win for us."

Huberdeau elevated the puck from in tight to net his third tally of the season early in the third period.

The 30-year-old winger added that he appreciated the response from the crowd when he got off the schneid.

"I (took) it in, (and) I think it's nice to get the support from the crowd. They've been patient," Huberdeau said. "It's nice, obviously, but hopefully that can get me going. It was a good game, our line, we created a lot of chances. We've just got to take that and do it for next game."

Flames head coach Ryan Huska also credited the Calgary crowd for acknowledging Huberdeau's effort.

"I thought it was cool. We have great fans here, and what they do recognize is hard work," the bench boss said. "You could see that from him tonight, so when he gets rewarded, it was nice, and it goes a long way for a player that is really working to find his way. We're all happy for him. It was good to see him score that."

Huberdeau later set up Elias Lindholm's empty-netter with under two minutes remaining.

The veteran of 11 previous seasons played 10 of those with the Florida Panthers. He amassed a career-high 85 assists and 115 points in 2021-22 while finishing fifth in Hart Trophy voting. But after the Panthers traded him to the Flames in the blockbuster swap involving Matthew Tkachuk (and Calgary signed Huberdeau to an eight-year, $84-million contract shortly thereafter), he's had well-documented struggles with his new club.

The 2011 third overall pick collected only 15 goals and 40 assists in 79 games during the 2022-23 campaign, and his average ice time (16:52) was his lowest since 2013-14.

Huberdeau got off to a promising start to this season, netting two goals and two assists in the first four contests. But then came the 11-game scoring drought in which he produced only three assists.

The Quebec-born forward has six helpers to go along with his three tallies over 16 games in this campaign.

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USA Hockey named Florida Panthers assistant general manager Brett Peterson the GM of its senior men's national team Thursday.

He's the team's first-ever Black general manager, according to NHL.com's William Douglas.

Peterson will oversee the assembly of the American squad that will play at the World Championship hosted by Czechia in May 2024.

"It's a great honor, and I'm excited to get a group of fantastic individuals together and see what we can do," Peterson told Douglas.

"I'm very happy that our game and our sport continues to evolve and grow where there can be 'firsts' and 'seconds' and 'thirds,'" he continued. "I think it just speaks to what USA Hockey has done creating opportunities for so many different people to play the game, myself included, and then to continue to fall in love with it and continue to want to chase our dreams to the highest level."

Peterson became the first Black assistant GM in NHL history when the Panthers hired him in November 2020. He'd been a player agent since 2009 and was vice president of hockey for Wasserman Media Group before joining Florida.

He played five seasons as a defenseman in the AHL, ECHL, and IHL after playing four with Boston College.

The U.S. Men's National Team Advisory Group will assist Peterson. It's led by USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations John Vanbiesbrouck and features 10 NHL GMs, including Kevyn Adams (Buffalo Sabres), Craig Conroy (Calgary Flames), Lou Lamoriello (New York Islanders), and Chris Drury (New York Rangers).

The Americans finished fourth at the Worlds this past spring.

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A game in Stockholm between the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings would be incomplete without Daniel Alfredsson's involvement, but Swedish fans need not worry.

Alfredsson will be on the bench for both of Ottawa's games in his home country this week, namely Thursday's clash between his two former clubs and then Saturday's tilt between the Senators and the Minnesota Wild.

"(I) talked to the coaching staff (and) they asked me if I would like to join them," he told TSN 1200. "I guess I've done a decent enough job that they trust me. I'm really looking forward to that, being part of the action and (seeing) it up close."

However, the former winger isn't going to take the Global Series lightly.

"These are big games for both teams. Every point matters," he said. "We know it's going to be a tight race through most of the season, so obviously if I'm going to be on the bench for these two games, I want us to be successful. So I'll be nervous, but it's going to be really fun and I'm definitely looking forward to it."

Red Wings legend Nicklas Lidstrom, who's also on hand for Thursday's game, helped Alfredsson out by translating his quip about playing.

Alfredsson, who'll turn 51 on Dec. 11, rejoined the Senators in October in a role that includes player development and coaching. He served as a senior adviser to hockey operations for Ottawa after retiring as a player but left the team in 2017 before returning this fall.

The Swedish great personified the Senators during his 17-year tenure. He's still the franchise's all-time leader in goals, assists, and points, and he ranks second to Chris Phillips in games played by one. Alfredsson also played one season with the Red Wings before signing a one-day contract to conclude his career with Ottawa.

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Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy isn't expected back in the lineup until late December at the earliest.

Soucy will miss six-to-eight weeks due to what the club called a lower-body injury.

The 29-year-old left Sunday's win over the Montreal Canadiens early in the second period and didn't return. He's notched two goals and three assists while averaging 16:52 of ice time over 13 games this season.

Soucy is in his first season with the Canucks, who signed him to a three-year contract worth $3.25 million annually when he was a free agent on July 1. He played two seasons with the Seattle Kraken after starting his career with the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Duluth product was driving possession with a five-on-five expected goals for percentage of 50.98, according to Natural Stat Trick. He's not known for his offense, but his underlying numbers show he's been defensively sound.

The Wild drafted Soucy 137th overall in 2013.

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The Oilers placed Dylan Holloway and Mattias Janmark on long-term injured reserve, Edmonton announced Wednesday.

Holloway left Monday's win over the New York Islanders in the second period and didn't return. The 22-year-old only has one point - a goal he scored in Saturday's victory over the Seattle Kraken - in 14 games this season.

The Oilers drafted Holloway 14th overall in 2020. He debuted with Edmonton in 2022-23, collecting three goals and six assists over 51 NHL contests while adding seven tallies and three helpers in 12 games with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors.

Players on LTIR must miss at a minimum of 10 games and 24 days, so Holloway will be able to play again on Dec. 10 against the New Jersey Devils.

Janmark hasn't suited up since Oct. 26, sitting out seven contests since then. His move to LTIR is retroactive to that date, so he has to miss at least the next three games and would be eligible to play again on Nov. 22 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The veteran center, who'll turn 31 on Dec. 8, has been held off the scoresheet entirely in seven tilts this season.

Edmonton greatly underachieved to start the campaign but has been gaining some momentum of late. The team has won two games in a row, including Monday's matchup with the Islanders in new head coach Kris Knoblauch's debut behind the Oilers bench. They fired Jay Woodcroft after the win over Seattle on Saturday.

The Oilers recalled forwards Adam Erne and Raphael Lavoie along with defenseman Philip Broberg from the Condors in corresponding moves to the LTIR designations Wednesday.

Edmonton sits second last in the Pacific Division at 4-9-1.

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