The Los Angeles Kings' workhorse is making his return to the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

Drew Doughty will play in the evening's matchup after missing the previous 16 contests, Kings head coach Todd McLellan confirmed, according to the club's editorial content manager Zach Dooley.

Doughty hurt his right knee on a collision with Dallas Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa on Oct. 22. Five days later, the team revealed Doughty sustained a contusion and was expected to return to game action in about eight weeks, which would've had him coming back around Dec. 22.

The veteran blue-liner, who'll turn 32 on Dec. 8, was enjoying a productive start to the season before missing time. Doughty posted a goal and six assists while averaging 22:37 of ice time over the first four games of the campaign, including a four-point effort in a season-opening win over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Doughty has spent his entire 14-year career with the Kings. He helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, then won the Norris Trophy in 2016.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy is in COVID-19 protocol, the club announced.

Cassidy has mild symptoms, and assistant coach Joe Sacco will assume primary duties behind the bench, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe's Matt Porter.

Boston is already without suspended star Brad Marchand, who was handed a three-game ban Monday for slew-footing Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Sunday.

It hasn't been an ideal 24-hour period for the Bruins. Forward Jake DeBrusk's agent confirmed Monday his client is requesting a trade. He will remain with the team while the club and his representative try to arrange a deal.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon will suit up against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, head coach Jared Bednar confirmed on Denver's Altitude Sports Radio on Tuesday, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh.

MacKinnon has missed the last eight games with a lower-body injury. Bednar said on Nov. 10 that MacKinnon would miss "give or take three weeks."

The 26-year-old has produced a goal and nine assists over eight games this season.

Colorado went 7-1-0 during his most recent absence. MacKinnon also missed the first two contests of the campaign, over which the club went 1-1-0.

The bolstered Avalanche will face a Maple Leafs squad that's currently the hottest team in the NHL. Toronto has won four straight games and nine of the last 10.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Minnesota Wild will raise Mikko Koivu's No. 9 to the rafters on March 13.

Koivu, the team's longtime captain and all-time points leader, will be the first player in franchise history to have his jersey retired.

The 38-year-old ended his career in February as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing with them for his final campaign. Before that, he played 15 seasons with the Wild, wearing the "C" on a full-time basis for 11 of them after serving as a co-captain in 2008-09.

Koivu is also Minnesota's all-time leader in games played (1,028) and assists (504) in addition to having produced a club-best 709 points. He represented Finland 14 times, captaining the country's World Cup of Hockey squad in 2016.

The Wild drafted him sixth overall in 2001.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Montreal Canadiens overhauled their front office Sunday, firing general manager Marc Bergevin, assistant GM Trevor Timmins, and senior vice president of public affairs and communications Paul Wilson.

The Canadiens also named former New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton executive vice president of hockey operations.

Montreal has begun its search for a new GM; the team stated Bergevin's successor must be able to speak both English and French.

The 56-year-old said Sunday he's proud of what he accomplished during his tenure with the organization and expects the underachieving club to be in good hands going forward.

"The current team is much better than the results show, and I am convinced that my successors will be able to rise to the challenge," he wrote in a statement.

Bergevin had served as the Canadiens' GM since May 2012. The club made the playoffs in six of his nine subsequent full seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Final last campaign and making an Eastern Conference Final appearance in 2013-14.

However, Montreal has struggled mightily in 2021-22, posting a 6-15-2 record that placed the team second-last in the Atlantic Division entering Sunday's action. Canadiens captain Shea Weber has missed the entire season due to injury and goaltender Carey Price has been away from the team after voluntarily entering the NHL's player assistance program before the campaign began.

Bergevin made several blockbuster moves during his tenure, including trading defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Weber in June 2016. Bergevin joined Montreal after serving as assistant GM of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Rangers unexpectedly fired Gorton along with team president John Davidson in May. The latter returned to his former role as the Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey operations.

New York hired Gorton as GM on July 1, 2015. The Rangers reached the postseason in three of his six years in the position but failed to get past the second round in that span.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The San Jose Sharks are waiving Evander Kane on Sunday, as first reported by the Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka.

If Kane goes unclaimed by Monday at 2 p.m. ET, the Sharks will assign him to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, Pashelka adds.

The NHL suspended the forward for 21 games in mid-October after he violated the league's COVID-19 protocol.

Sharks assistant general manager Joe Will revealed Sunday he's expecting Kane to practice with the AHL squad on Tuesday.

"We just decided that since he's a contracted hockey player, it's the best thing at this time for him to continue to play hockey, and this is the best option for that right now," Will said.

The executive added that Kane is fully vaccinated.

The NHL reportedly looked into the 30-year-old's alleged use of a fake vaccination card in early October while investigating a separate matter.

The league also cleared him of wrongdoing following its initial probe in September. That investigation examined his estranged wife Anna's claims that he bet on hockey and threw games.

Kane is under contract with San Jose through 2024-25.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Matt Murray went unclaimed on the waiver wire and will be demoted, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The Senators will demote Murray to their AHL affiliate, reports Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith said Saturday that the club would assign the netminder to Belleville if he cleared waivers.

More to come.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL postponed the New York Islanders' games through at least Nov. 30 on Saturday as a result of the team's worsening COVID-19 situation.

The Islanders' road contests against the New York Rangers on Sunday and versus the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday won't be played as scheduled.

Another Islanders player landed in COVID-19 protocol on Saturday morning, and up to eight in total may be unable to play as a result of being on the list, according to the league. The NHL also cited the possibility of there being more cases due to the virus spreading within the team.

The club has been decimated by absences related to COVID-19. On Tuesday, Zdeno Chara became the seventh Islander to land in protocol along with captain Anders Lee, forwards Josh Bailey, Kieffer Bellows, and Ross Johnston, as well as defensemen Andy Greene and Adam Pelech.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL fined New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin $5,000 on Saturday for unsportsmanlike conduct during Friday's win over the Boston Bruins.

Panarin took his glove off and threw it at Bruins forward Brad Marchand while the two were exchanging words from the benches late in the contest.

Officials gave both Panarin and Marchand 10-minute misconducts as a result of the altercation, which took place with about 12 seconds remaining in the Rangers' 5-2 victory.

The two players rank among the league's scoring leaders this season. Panarin is tied for ninth in assists (16) and 13th in points (21), while Marchand is tied for ninth in points with 22.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tampa Bay Lightning star Brayden Point will likely be out four-to-six weeks due to the upper-body injury he sustained Saturday.

The Lightning said on Sunday that Point would be out indefinitely.

Point went hard into the boards after a scoring chance late in a loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. He stayed in the game to take the ensuing penalty shot but missed Tampa Bay's win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

The Lightning have been without fellow top-liner Nikita Kucherov since Oct. 16 due to an injury of his own.

Point has produced seven goals and six assists over 13 games this season. The 25-year-old led the team with 23 goals and 48 points while playing all 56 contests in the previous campaign.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.