The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Dakota Joshua to a four-year contract with a $3.25-million cap hit, the team announced Thursday.

Joshua, 28, tallied a career-high 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games last season. He added four goals and eight points in 13 playoff games. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent Monday.

Vancouver added Joshua as a free agent in 2022 on a two-year contract with a cap hit of $825,000.

Before signing with the Canucks, Joshua had played just 42 NHL games and accrued nine total points. He established himself as an NHL regular in 2022-23 with 23 points in 79 contests before his breakout campaign this past year.

Joshua led Vancouver with 245 hits last season. His 21.4% shooting percentage was also the highest on the team among regulars.

His signing comes after the Canucks shipped Ilya Mikheyev to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Vancouver retained 15% of Mikheyev's salary but still cleared just over $4 million.

The Canucks have $17.5 million of cap space with Tucker Poolman's cap hit on long-term injured reserve, according to CapFriendly.

The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Joshua 128th overall in 2014.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving knows he can't make a rash decision regarding star forward Mitch Marner despite constant talk about the player's future.

"I'd caution us to not pay too much attention to some of the noise," Treliving told reporters, according to TSN's Chris Johnston. "We can't react to all of the noise. ... Mitch knows how I feel about him as a player."

Marner has been involved in rampant rumors since the Maple Leafs' first-round exit at the hands of the Boston Bruins. After years of unwavering support, president Brendan Shanahan said the team will "look at everything this summer and consider everything this summer" at Toronto's year-end press conference.

The 27-year-old is eligible for a contract extension on July 1 and is set to become an unrestricted free agent after next season.

Marner struggled to produce in the first round after accumulating 85 points in 69 regular-season contests. He managed only one goal and three points in the seven-game series.

Treliving admitted there is "a lot of work to do this summer," according to Johnston. In addition to Marner's undetermined future, Toronto has notable free agents in Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi as well as significant question marks on defense and in the crease.

Talks with the team's free-agent defensemen are ongoing, Treliving said, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. That group includes veterans TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano, plus trade-deadline pickups Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin.

Treliving noted the Maple Leafs are likely to keep the 23rd overall pick in this week's draft, according to The Athletic's Joshua Kloke.

The first round of the draft is Friday in Las Vegas, while unrestricted free agency opens on Monday.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Teddy Blueger to a two-year contract with a $1.8-million cap hit, the team announced Wednesday.

Blueger, 29, tallied six goals and 28 points in 68 regular-season games to match his career high in scoring. He played all 13 of Vancouver's contests in the playoffs, recording two assists.

"Teddy was a key addition to our team last year, and we are really excited to have him back for a couple more seasons," general manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement. "His versatility and experience really helped our group in both the regular season and playoffs. He is a strong leader and someone we will count on a lot more moving forward."

Blueger won 53.1% of his faceoffs last year. He was also a key part of the Canucks' penalty kill, as he led all Vancouver forwards in shorthanded minutes in the playoffs, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Vancouver signed Blueger to a one-year contract worth $1.9 million last summer as an unrestricted free agent.

The Latvian has 41 goals and 126 points in 336 NHL games. He played the first five seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2022-23, where he won the Stanley Cup.

Vancouver has just over $14 million in cap space after the signing, according to CapFriendly.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Anaheim Ducks unveiled the team's new logo and jerseys on Wednesday.

The rebranding sees Anaheim lean into its location in Orange County and bring back the iconic Mighty Duck logo with updated colors.

"The Ducks are a symbol of Orange County, and our pivot to orange with an updated, iconic logo encompasses our past, present, and future," owners Susan and Henry Samueli said.

The new jerseys are the Ducks' fourth set of primary uniforms since the team's inception in 1993. Last season's home and away jerseys had been used since 2014.

The Mighty Duck logo was last used as Anaheim's primary logo in 2006. The team's previous logo is still being used as a shoulder patch.

Anaheim is the second California-based team to unveil new jerseys on Wednesday after the Los Angeles Kings showcased their updated '90s-inspired look.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is abandoning the prospect of reactivating the franchise, PHNX Sports' Craig Morgan reports.

The site of Meruelo's planned arena for a future Coyotes franchise became unavailable last week when the Arizona State Land Department canceled the auction for the tract of land.

Meruelo told Coyotes staff on Monday that he has no plans to pursue further arena options, Morgan reports.

The Coyotes' assets were sold for $1.2 billion in April in a move that effectively relocated the team to Utah. As part of the transaction, the Arizona franchise was deemed "inactive" by the NHL.

Meruelo has until Dec. 31, 2027, to build 50% of a new arena and inform the league of his intention to reactivate the franchise and trigger an expansion draft.

With the cancelation of the land auction, Meruelo doesn't see a viable option to meet the parameters of the reactivation clause, Morgan reports.

The Coyotes played the past two seasons at Arizona State University's Mullett Arena, which has a capacity of 4,600.

Meruelo still owns the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners. The team had initially been scheduled to play six games at Mullett Arena next season, but the Roadrunners announced Monday that those games have been moved back to Tucson.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 on Monday to claim the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Sam Reinhart netted the eventual game-winner in the second period. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves.

Oilers superstar Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The Panthers took the first three contests of the Cup Final. Edmonton battled back to force Game 7, becoming the third team in NHL history to do so in the Cup Final after facing a 3-0 deficit.

"Kind of your worst nightmare when you lose Game 6," Aaron Ekblad told Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas. "You kind of mourn it for a night, and then you gotta get back on the horse. We got some great leadership in that room that turned it around and found a way to get it done tonight."

Matthew Tkachuk's acquisition in 2022 transformed the Panthers. The former Calgary Flame gave his Alberta fans a nod in victory.

"Shoutout to my fans in Calgary. You know I couldn't let Edmonton win," Tkachuk told Bukauskas.

Aleksander Barkov is the first Finnish captain to win the Stanley Cup.

"It's incredible to see how hard everyone worked for this moment," Barkov told Bukauskas. "And now, there is no more games tomorrow."

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice moves to 5-0 in Game 7s in his coaching career. It's the first Stanley Cup for the veteran bench boss, who's coached almost 2,000 NHL games in the regular season and playoffs.

"It's not what I thought it would be. It's so much better," Maurice told Bukauskas. "But it's the hugs, man. I saw Sam Bennett smile today, first time in two years. It's brilliant."

Among those in the Panthers' front office to win the Cup is Hall of Fame goaltender Roberto Luongo, who didn't win the trophy as a player.

"It doesn't feel real right now," Luongo said, according to Sportsnet's Brendan Batchelor. "Put in a lot of work, whether it was on the ice or off the ice the last few years. We finally got it."

Before the win, Florida was 0-2 in the Cup Final in franchise history, having lost to the Vegas Golden Knights last year and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final is off to a blistering start.

Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring at 4:27 of the first period with a perfect redirection.

The goal briefly gave the Panthers their first lead since Florida won Game 3.

Oilers forward Mattias Janmark responded just 2:17 later to even up the contest.

Janmark's goal was Edmonton's 23rd of the Cup Final, the most the Oilers have scored in the team's eight trips to the championship series.

Edmonton is looking to complete a reverse sweep of the Panthers after trailing 3-0 in the series. The feat has been accomplished once in Cup Final history when the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs came all the way back against the Detroit Red Wings.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Marc Savard as an assistant coach, the team announced Sunday.

Savard mutually parted ways with the Calgary Flames in May after one season with the team.

The hiring completes the Maple Leafs' coaching staff for next season. Toronto hired Craig Berube as head coach in May and added Lane Lambert as an associate coach earlier in June. Assistant Mike Van Ryn, goaltending coach Curtis Sanford, and video coaches Jordan Bean and Sam Kim return from last year's staff.

Savard began his coaching career in St. Louis under Berube, running the Blues' third-ranked 24.3% power play in 2019-20. The 46-year-old left St. Louis after one season to be a head coach with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires for two years before returning to the NHL as an assistant with the Flames.

Under Savard, Calgary's power play struggled out of the gate, operating at just 12.1% before the new year. After, Jan. 1, though, it rebounded to a respectable 22.8% to finish the campaign. The Flames finished the season with the 26th-ranked power play.

On June 15, the Maple Leafs announced assistant Guy Boucher, who ran their power play in 2023-24, won't return next season.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Los Angeles Kings signed forward Alex Turcotte to a three-year contract with a league-minimum cap hit of $775,000, the team announced Saturday.

The Kings drafted Turcotte fifth overall in 2019. The 23-year-old played 20 NHL games last season, accruing four points. He tallied 29 points in 35 AHL contests.

His extension is two-way in 2024-25 and one-way for the last two years of the deal.

Turcotte played on a star-studded U.S. NTDP team in his draft year. L.A. selected him before teammates Trevor Zegras, Matt Boldy, and Cole Caufield, among others, but he's yet to become a full-time NHLer.

The Kings will have to place Turcotte on waivers if they want to send him down beginning next season.

Turcotte has one goal and four points in 32 career NHL games.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Leon Draisaitl praised Edmonton Oilers fans after the team's Game 6 Stanley Cup Final victory over the Florida Panthers on Friday.

"It means the world to us," Drasaitl said of getting fans a win in Edmonton's last home game of the season. "I've been here for a long time and been through some pretty bad years. Seemingly, the people that were there tonight, they showed up every night and still showed up at games and supported us. So, to give them that is really special. Hopefully, we can finish the job for them."

The Oilers' latest win forces a Game 7 after they trailed 3-0 in the series. While Draisaitl recognized that it's been an incredible run, he added that he knows the next victory will be the most difficult.

"It's been a helluva story so far, but at the end of the day, we play to win," Draisaitl said. "This is gonna be the hardest game for us. They're gonna come out hard, they're gonna play at home. We have to bring our game again.

"I'm just really proud of the way we gave ourselves a chance. That's what it's all about. By no means is this gonna be easy, a walk in the park now."

Draisaitl assisted on the opening goal in Game 6. After being critical of his play in recent contests, the star forward said postgame Friday that he was relieved to make an offensive impact.

"I'm an offensive guy," Draisaitl said. "Confidence comes from putting up numbers sometimes, that's just the way it is. Do I have other things I'm good at? Yeah, of course. But sometimes it's nice to make a play and get rewarded for it. You can ask any offensive player, that's just the way you feel."

Game 7 is Monday at 8 p.m. ET. The Oilers are looking for the team's first Stanley Cup since 1990 and sixth in franchise history.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.