Vancouver Canucks forward Tyler Toffoli will return to the team's lineup for Game 2 of their series against the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday, the team announced.
The 28-year-old has been out of action since Aug. 2 after suffering an injury in the qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild.
The Canucks acquired Toffoliin February, and he quickly became a key player in the lineup. He recorded six goals and four assists in 10 games before the coronavirus pandemic paused the 2019-20 season on March 12.
The club is scratching forward Loui Eriksson - who appeared in their last 10 games -to make room for Toffoli. He recorded 0 points in that span.
Vancouver was shut out 5-0 by the Golden Knights in Game 1 of their series.
Corey Crawford is interested in returning to the Chicago Blackhawks next season, but he wants to be sure he'll get the bulk of the time in the crease.
"I would like to be back," the veteran goaltender said Tuesday. "I think we still have a lot of great pieces on this team, and to win another Stanley Cup in Chicago would be unbelievable, so that's the No. 1 goal."
Crawford, a pending unrestricted free agent, plans to sit down with Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman to discuss his future this week, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers.
"Going into the meeting, that's the main thing, to win a championship, to play, to be, obviously, the main guy, and play a lot," Crawford said.
The 35-year-old added that it's difficult to say what his mindset is heading into free agency, considering he and the Blackhawks were only eliminated last week. However, he reiterated that he wants to stay as long as he's given a heavy workload.
"Definitely, I'm leaning toward staying in Chicago and, like I said, I want to win another championship and I want to play a ton," Crawford said. "I don't want to play half the games and sit on the bench for stretches at a time. I think my value is just not as good doing that.
"I'm way more valuable playing games and playing consistently, so, it really depends on how much I'm going to be used. Salary, that can be discussed. That is definitely something that is not as important at this time."
Crawford split starts with Robin Lehner before the Blackhawks dealt Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2019-20 trade deadline. Crawford went 16-20-3 with a .917 save percentage and 9.01 goals saved above average in 40 regular-season games this season before starting in all nine of Chicago's postseason contests.
Lehner played 33 games for the Blackhawks before the trade, going 16-10-5 with a .918 save percentage and a 10.17 GSAA.
Crawford has spent his entire 13-year career with Chicago, backstopping the club to Stanley Cup championships in 2013 and 2015.
Montreal Canadiens forward Philip Danault has been the team's No. 1 center for the past two seasons, but after his role shifted during the 2019-20 postseason, he's now unsure of his fit in Montreal.
The emergence of youngsters Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi during the playoffs often moved Danault to the third line in a much more defensive, shutdown role.
"I don't think I'm ready to accept that," Danault told TVA Sports in French of his new role, as translated by theScore. "I like producing offensively, and I know I can reach another level on offense. I don't know if I want to limit myself to a strictly defensive role. I don't think I can improve with strictly defensive assignments."
Danault has one year remaining on his current contract before becoming a free agent.
When asked if his role with the team will influence whether he stays in Montreal, the 27-year-old simply replied, "Yes."
"In the playoffs, the coaches wanted to see what the young players could do, and they shuffled the lines," he added. "My role has become strictly defensive, and I'm repeating myself, but I can bring more to the table than that."
During the postseason, Danault was bumped from his typical line with Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar numerous times in favor of Suzuki. During the 2019-20 season, the trio of forwards ranked first, second, and third in the league in Corsi For %.
Danault added that he's always had excellent chemistry with Gallagher and Tatar and that the line works.
Danault has excelled in his role with Montreal since arriving with little NHL experience during the 2015-16 season. He's combined to score 25 goals and add 75 assists in 152 games over the past two seasons.
Toronto needed to clear cap space this offseason to use while surely aiming to improve its defense. Moving Kapanen and his $3.2-million AAV (through 2021-22) may only be the beginning, but it's a great start. Among Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Alexander Kerfoot, the former was the team's most valuable trade asset due to his exceptional speed.
The Pens clearly value Kapanen more than the Leafs. The former 20-goal scorer wasn't able to mesh with Toronto's top-six forwards when given the opportunity. And while he's a good third-line player, a team with roughly $40-million tied up in four forwards can't afford to pay three third-liners north of $3 million. Plus, there are cheaper options - such as Nick Robertson - who can take Kapanen's top-nine role.
Last offseason, Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas was tasked with cleaning up the mess Lou Lamoriello left behind. He started by sacrificing a 2020 first-round pick to get Patrick Marleau's contract off the books, and then Dubas used the cap space to sign Kapanen and Johnsson. Now, the Leafs get back into the first round with the 15th overall selection - just two spots below where Toronto would've originally drafted had the team kept its pick. The 2020 draft is also considered to be deep.
Beyond the first-round pick, the Leafs also get a useful prospect in Hallander. The Penguins' second-round pick in 2018, The Athletic's Corey Pronman ranked the 20-year-old as Pittsburgh's fourth-best prospect, labeling him a legitimate future NHLer.
"Hallander isn’t a flashy player, with average foot speed and slightly above-average puck skills, but what drives his value is his high hockey IQ and compete level," Pronman wrote.
Meanwhile, there's no guarantee Lindgren, a fourth-round pick in 2014, or Aberg ever suit up for the Penguins. The same can be said for Rodrigues, a fourth-line caliber player, and Warsofsky, a 30-year-old with just 55 career NHL games played.
It boils down to a third-line winger for a mid-first-round pick and a solid prospect, making the trade a win for Dubas. While this swap will ultimately be graded on what the executive does with the cap space and pick, it's a very promising deal.
Grade: A
Penguins overpay for Kapanen
Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / Getty
Are the Penguins a better team today than they were yesterday? Yes. Did they overpay to make it happen? Also yes.
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said Kapanen can improve Pittsburgh's top-six forward group. However, Kapanen didn't take advantage of the top-six opportunities he received in Toronto. He possesses elite speed, but the 24-year-old isn't a proven finisher and he lacks vision.
Perhaps playing with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin could help unlock some potential - Rutherford is betting on it - but the analytics suggest he's best-suited for a third-line role.
Trading away a mid-first-round pick in a deep draft and a decent prospect for a third-line winger - who most of the league probably knew the Leafs wanted to part with - isn't getting great value.
Pittsburgh's window to secure another Stanley Cup is dwindling, so Rutherford is obviously doing whatever he can to win now. But using just one first-round pick over a seven-year span is concerning (he also traded his 2021 first-rounder for Jason Zucker).
It's impossible to knock what Rutherford did to help the Pens win Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. But having cost-effective players on entry-level contracts would certainly help Pittsburgh's cap situation, and first-round selections are generally needed to acquire those players.
Rutherford drafted Kapanen in 2014 with his first pick as GM of the Penguins. Kapanen's father, Sami, also played under Rutherford with the Carolina Hurricanes. So there's plenty of familiarity between the player and GM.
However, it's far from certain Kapanen develops into a top-six forward and helps Pittsburgh reach the promised land. If he's the same player he was in Toronto, and the Penguins fail to go on a deep playoff run over the next few years, this trade will be a failure.
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella was fined $25,000 for his conduct during a media availability following Game 5 of his team's first-round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL announced on Tuesday.
Tortorella walked out after 40 seconds, saying he didn't want to address "the touchy, feely stuff, and the moral victories and all that."
The 24-year-old Kapanen tallied 13 goals and 36 points in 69 games with the Maple Leafs during the 2019-20 season.
The right-winger was originally the Penguins' first-round pick in 2014, but he was traded to Toronto a year later in the deal that brought Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh.
