The San Jose Sharks placed forward Evander Kane on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract "for breach of his NHL Standard Player Contract and for violation of AHL COVID-19 protocols," the team announced Saturday.
The Sharks have no further comment on the matter.
The 30-year-old cleared waivers in late November before reporting to the organization's AHL affiliate. Kane put up eight points in five games for the San Jose Barracuda.
Kane has been at the center of several controversies dating back to the summer, which culminated in a hefty 21-game suspension in mid-October after he violated the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
The league cleared Kane in a September investigation focused on allegations from his estranged wife, Anna, that he gambled on NHL games.
It opened two subsequent probes looking into domestic abuse accusations made by Anna and Kane's alleged use of a fake vaccination card.
Reports also surfaced in August that Kane's teammates were frustrated by his behavior and didn't want him to return to the Sharks. He said in November the locker room's dissatisfaction was news to him.
Kane hadn't played with the Barracuda since late December after entering the AHL's COVID-19 protocol.
He was the Sharks' leading scorer last season with 49 points in 56 games. He was under contract with San Jose through the 2024-25 season on a deal that carried an annual cap hit of $7 million.
Kane will forfeit $22,885,000 due to the termination, according to CapFriendly. His cap hit for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign and the following three seasons will come off the Sharks' books.
He's still eligible to sign with another club once he clears waivers, per CapFriendly.
John Olfert, president of Winnipeg Jets owners True North Sports + Entertainment, announced the team will stay put at the Canada Life Centre after exploring the possibility of playing home games in Saskatchewan to avoid Manitoba's attendance restrictions, according to The Athletic's Murat Ates.
The Jets had sent out a survey asking season-ticket holders how they felt about the team playing home games elsewhere, with the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon being considered a possible destination, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Saskatchewan currently isn't enforcing any attendance restrictions and the SaskTel Centre can hold a capacity of 15,000 people. Meanwhile, due to public health orders, capacity at Jets home games is limited to 250 people until at least Jan. 11. Six home contests have already been postponed this season.
Olfert sent an email to season-seat holders Friday to inform them that the Jets would not be moving their home games outside of Winnipeg after fans didn't seem too high on the idea, according to Ates.
Olfert announced that 40% of survey respondents held negative feelings toward the idea of home matchups being hosted in another jurisdiction, while 30% responded positively to the potential change. The remaining 30% were neutral.
Both players are being retested. Their status for Wednesday's contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs won't be known until game day.
They were held out of practice for precautionary reasons, according to Oilers play-by-play announcer Jack Michaels.
McDavid also missed morning skate Monday, but Tippett said the 24-year-old was just resting prior to the Oilers' game against the New York Rangers and that it wasn't a COVID-19 scare. McDavid played almost 19 minutes during Edmonton's 4-1 loss at Madison Square Garden.
He leads the league with 53 points in 33 games while averaging over 22 minutes of ice time a night. McDavid's absence would be a massive blow to the struggling Oilers, who are currently riding a four-game winless streak.
Ryan has registered two goals in 30 contests so far this season.
McDavid previously tested positive for COVID-19 and experienced mild symptoms back in October 2020.
The Maple Leafs find themselves in a similar situation prior to Wednesday's matchup.
Star center Auston Matthews tested positive on a rapid test Monday. He also took a PCR test Monday and the results came back negative Tuesday. He is awaiting further test results and hasn't been ruled out of the game against Edmonton.
The 28-year-old sustained the injury in the first period of Sunday's contest against the Washington Capitals. He exited after getting hit up high by a deflected puck.
Hamilton was taken to hospital for evaluation after the incident, and assistant coach Alain Nasreddine initially said he was doing OK.
The Devils announced earlier Tuesday that the blue-liner was still in New Jersey and would miss Tuesday's contest against the Boston Bruins.
Hamilton, the crown jewel of the franchise's offseason additions, leads all New Jersey defensemen with 20 points in 30 games while averaging over 21 minutes of ice time a night.
He was placed on the IR retroactively to Jan. 2 and will be out until at least Jan. 9. The team will likely have a clearer idea of Hamilton's timetable after his his surgery is complete, according to beat reporter Amanda Stein.
The team also announced Tuesday that goaltender Jonathan Bernier will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing successful hip surgery. The issue has impacted Bernier since training camp, and head coach Lindy Ruff said earlier in January that he was "worried" about the 33-year-old's long-term health.
Bernier put up a .902 save percentage and 3.06 goals against average across 10 appearances this season.
There was one piece of good news in New Jersey, as forward Tomas Tatar is set to return to the lineup Tuesday after a three-game absence while in the COVID-19 protocol.
Rossi, the Wild's ninth overall pick in 2020, leads the Iowa Wild with 23 points in 21 contests this season. The 20-year-old forward experienced complications from COVID-19 last year and was shut down for the 2020-21 campaign after being diagnosed with myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle.
Minnesota drafted Boldy 12th overall in 2019. The forward has four goals and six assists in 10 games with Iowa in 2021-22.
Rossi and Boldy are set to make their NHL debuts when Minnesota takes on the Boston Bruins on Thursday, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.
The Wild are on a five-game winless streak and have been forced to deal with a slew of injury- and COVID-19-related absences.
Pittsburgh activated the pair off injured reserve earlier on Sunday.
Rust has sat out the past 11 games with a lower-body ailment, marking the second time this season that the 29-year-old has missed time due to injury. He has been effective when he's suited up for the Penguins so far this campaign, logging two goals and seven assists in 12 contests.
Guentzel, meanwhile, sat out Pittsburgh's last five games with an upper-body injury. Before being sidelined, the winger was riding a 13-game point streak and garnered seven points in his last two matchups. The 27-year-old leads the Penguins with 27 points in 24 games.
You could consider 2021 as the year that was slightly better than 2020 but not by much.
At least we got to see a complete, albeit shortened NHL season happily conclude (if you're the Tampa Bay Lightning), and we're currently in the midst of a restored 82-game campaign.
This year was full of challenges, but NHL players provided us with some mind-blowing moments regardless of the situation.
Let's countdown the 10 best plays of the calendar year.
Kirill Kaprizov took home the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie at the end of the 2020-21 season, and he showed exactly why he was worthy of the honor during this play against the Los Angeles Kings. The Minnesota Wild phenom showed off his skating, hands, scoring touch, and ability to dust defensemen (poor Michael Anderson) in the span of a few seconds.
Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is known for scoring jaw-dropping goals using his patented wrist shot. However, the 2021 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner decided to do things a little differently against the Montreal Canadiens for his 35th tally of the season. He flaunted his unreal hand-eye coordination by knocking a bouncing puck away from Nick Suzuki before shoveling it into the net.
8. Coleman crushes Habs' dreams with late heroics 🦸♂️
June 30, 2021
Head into the third period tied 1-1 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final? Not a chance. Clutch Lightning forwards Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman showed off their killer instincts in the dying seconds of the middle frame. On what turned out to be the game-winning goal, Coleman, who is no stranger to sacrificing his body, did his best Superman dive to finish off the nice pass from Goodrow. This is how you win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
Marc-Andre Fleury's left arm has a mind of its own, and it was all he needed to absolutely stone Anaheim Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom at the goal line. It seemed like a slam-dunk two-on-one play for the Ducks, but the veteran netminder reached behind him to sweep the puck out of harm's way. With saves like that, Fleury captured the 2021 Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie.
6. Marchand drags the Islanders for all they're worth 😳
June 7, 2021
Need a big goal? Bank on Brad Marchand to deliver. The winger had the equalizer on his stick halfway through Game 5 of the Boston Bruins' second-round playoff matchup versus the New York Islanders, and he took on one of the league's top defensemen to do it. Marchand challenged Ryan Pulock and made it look easy, dragging the puck around the blue-liner en route to the net. Then, he got goaltender Semyon Varlamov to bite the other way. Bonus points for the stylish celly, too.
Patrik Laine must love long, romantic drives along the coast, given that he gracefully went end-to-end for this nasty goal against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Columbus Blue Jackets sniper ran into a little bit of trouble in Chicago's zone, but not to worry. He just danced around defensemen Calvin de Haan and Riley Stillman like it was nothing and then got an open look at the net. Also, it was unassisted.
Everyone knows Carey Price was a force for the Canadiens during their run to the Stanley Cup Final. But few plays accentuate that fact better than this save on Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza in the first round. Whether you call it desperation or veteran intuition, it's something to behold. Spezza was staring into a yawning cage until Price showed off his athleticism and stretched out to deflect the puck out of play with his stick.
There are essentially three things that happen in this Mathew Barzal goal against the Buffalo Sabres that warrant it being on this list's podium. First, he bumps 6-foot-4, 221-pound Rasmus Ristolainen off the puck like he's a ragdoll. Then, Barzal slows down just a touch in front of the net to trip up goalie Carter Hutton. Finally, and this really puts it over the top, he guides the puck between his legs and flips it into the net. Hang this one in a museum.
Get ready to see a whole lot more of this Connor McDavid goal before this season is done. The Edmonton Oilers captain forced overtime with this late equalizer against the New York Rangers, and what an equalizer it was. He turned nothing into something, skating through four Rangers players like they were pylons. Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev couldn't do much on the play either, except think about how much he's going to have to watch this goal over the next few months. Hockey fans everywhere should thank McDavid for giving us this gift so early into the 2021-22 campaign.
To quote the great Teemu Selanne's response to this play, "Wow." This goal even stunned Trevor Zegras, and he's the one who made it happen. The Ducks rookie was behind the net when he lifted the puck like he was trying to pull off the "Michigan" but then flipped it over in an alley-oop pass to teammate Sonny Milano. Not to be outdone, Milano batted the puck out of midair and into the back of the net. To make the moment sweeter, the stunner stood as the game-winner against the Sabres. This goal will have an infinite shelf life on any highlight reel.
The remainder of the 2022 World Junior Championship has been canceled due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the IIHF announced Wednesday.
Three preliminary-round contests were called off over the past two days due to a handful of players testing positive.
"Together with the teams, we came into this event with full confidence in the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the IIHF, the LOC, Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada," IIHF President Luc Tardif said. "The ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant forced us to readjust our protocols almost immediately upon arrival to attempt to stay ahead of any potential spread. This included daily testing and the team quarantine requirement when positive cases were confirmed."
"We owed it to the participating teams to do our best to create the conditions necessary for this event to work," Tardif said. "Unfortunately, this was not enough. We now have to take some time and focus on getting all players and team staff back home safely."
Team USA had two players test positive and had to forfeit its game against Switzerland on Tuesday, while Czechia-Finland and Russia-Slovakia were both canceled Wednesday.
Any team that received a positive test result had to enter a mandated quarantine.
After Czechia forfeited its contest against the Finns due to one positive test, the IIHF announced that all on-ice game officials at the tournament would be required to wear masks during games as part of enhanced COVID-19 protocols.
Last week, the IIHF canceled all upcoming tournaments that would have started in January because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
The world juniors, which were held in the Canadian province of Alberta, began Dec. 26. Team Canada forward Cole Perfetti will end the competition as the leading scorer with six points in two games. Sixteen-year-old Connor Bedard led the way in goals after lighting the lamp four times against Austria on Tuesday.
Team USA took home the gold medal in 2021.
The final game to take place at the 2022 world juniors was Canada's 11-2 victory over Austria.
The NHL and NHLPA agreed Wednesday to update the COVID-19 protocol for vaccinated players and personnel, shortening the isolation period for those who have tested positive from 10 days to five days if certain conditions are met, according to a memo obtained by Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.
If people don't have symptoms or their symptoms are resolving, and they don't have a fever, they can leave protocol by producing one or two negative test results (depending on test type) or a positive lab-based PCR with a cycle threshold (CT) that suggests they aren't contagious.
Players also need medical clearance from the team physician and can only exit isolation after five days if that is in compliance with local health regulations.
Individuals who are experiencing a fever must isolate until the fever resolves.
The day of the positive test isn't part of the five-day isolation period. Players can test out of isolation on or after the fourth day.
After exiting protocol, players must wear a mask for five days except for during games and practices. All other aspects of the protocol remain in place, including cardiac screenings.
The league's protocols were updated in response to this week's new guidelines from the CDC.
The Canadian government has imposed stricter pandemic-related regulations than the U.S. The NHL has already postponed nine Canadian games because of attendance limits in certain cities.
The NBA and NFL made similar changes earlier this week to reduce isolation periods for players who test positive.
The NHL has been dealing with mass postponements of games as COVID-19 cases rise across North America, and the league just returned to action from an extended holiday pause on Dec. 28.