When the Edmonton Oilers acquired Adam Larsson from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Taylor Hall, the Oilers' feedback was - to put it nicely - underwhelming.
In trading Hall, the Oilers relinquished one of their top offensive threats for an under-the-radar defenseman, yet to reach the pinnacle of his career trajectory as the fourth overall pick in 2011.
Still only 23 years old, Larsson believes he can develop into more of an offensive threat, coming off a personally promising campaign last season.
"I think I can take an even bigger step," Larsson said, according to NHL.com's Derek Van Diest. "There was a lot of focus on defense and penalty kill last year and the next step is to be more offensive, and hopefully, get more powerplay time."
In 274 NHL games, Larsson has 69 points, but skepticism aside, he's excited for a change of scenery in Edmonton, even if he's replacing a fan favorite.
"They are obviously big shoes to fill," Larsson said. "He's a forward and I'm a D-Man and it's different, but New Jersey got a really good player and I'm happy to be here. It's going to be a lot of fun. Looking at the group, it's a really young group, and especially now with the new rink, I think it's going to be a good, new fresh start for everyone."
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On Tuesday, for the first time since a leg injury saw him stretchered out of the rink during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop will take the ice.
The 29-year-old will suit up for the first time this offseason after spending most of the summer rehabbing a high-ankle and shin sprain, according to ESPN's Joe McDonald.
Bishop has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason, but he remains with the Lightning for the time being, and is preparing for the World Cup of Hockey in September, where he'll represent Team USA.
Last season, Bishop produced the best campaign of his NHL career, winning 35 games with a .926 save percentage and 2.06 goals-against average, en route to second in Vezina Trophy voting.
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theScore is ranking all 30 NHL jerseys. We're counting down by six each day this week.
We all long for the return of the Mighty Ducks.
Four primary colors is difficult to pull off, and although it's unique, the color scheme the Ducks employ is far too busy. A logo featuring more than a duck's foot would make sense too.
Meh.
The colors certainly pop, but Carolina's get-ups lack any sort of punch. The checkered pattern of years past at least provided some intrigue.
Ottawa's horizontal-striped alternates are glorious, but their regular duds could use some improvement.
The design on the jersey doesn't match the socks, and the stripes on the socks don't match the stripes on the pants. Call it nitpicking, but details are what make uniforms great.
Adding black to a simplistic burgundy and white color scheme brought the Coyotes back a step. It's a shame, because Arizona's logo is one of the best in the league.
The Flames could use a re-brand.
The vertical piping on Calgary's jerseys is out of date, and the black logo certainly doesn't pop as much on a dark red background as the white one did in the past.
That said, the flaming letters used to represent Calgary's captains are outstanding.
Red pants save a relatively bland uniform for the Blue Jackets.
The cannon shoulder patch would be much better served as a primary logo, but let's just be thankful there's no more neon-green bugs involved.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs avoided arbitration for a second time Monday by agreeing to terms on a one-year contract with defenseman Frank Corrado.
Corrado is $600K...and a one-way deal. https://t.co/nuPzRHF9w2
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 25, 2016
Corrado - who was claimed off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks this past season - joins Peter Holland. The forward was signed earlier in the day to avoid his arbitration meeting, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Corrado posted one goal and six points in 39 games with the Maple Leafs this season and contributed three assists in seven games with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
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The Florida Panthers signed forward Denis Malgin to an entry-level contract, the team announced Monday.
Malgin was the club's fourth-round pick in 2015, taken 102nd overall. He spent the majority of last season with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A, where he racked up five goals and 17 points in 38 games.
The 19-year-old shone at the World Junior Championship this past winter. He finished tied for sixth in tournament scoring and first on Switzerland with nine points in six games.
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Two Canadian hockey icons have received one of their country's biggest honors.
Don Cherry and Ron MacLean, stars of "Hockey Night in Canada" and the segment "Coach's Corner," received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame, which was officially unveiled Monday.
@CWOFame inductees @RonMacLeanHTH and @CoachsCornerCBC unveiled their stars on King St today pic.twitter.com/tN7BSrmjDC
— Holmes PR (@Holmes_PR) July 25, 2016
"Coach's Corner" has been on the air since 1980. The segment featured Cherry alone until MacLean joined him in 1987 and has remained since.
It was reported in June that MacLean would return as the host of Sportsnet's "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcast, replacing George Stroumboulopoulos after just one season.
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The Detroit Red Wings are coming down to the wire with two of their young stars set to go to arbitration.
The Red Wings will get a third-party decision on Thursday regarding Danny DeKeyser's next contract, unless both sides are able to come to an agreement first.
"Ideally, Danny would like to do a longer-term deal. The club would like to do a longer-term deal," general manager Ken Holland said, according to Brendan Savage of MLive.com. "Since they filed, this period of negotiation and time to do your brief for an arbitration hearing has mostly been about discussions on a longer-term deal.
"We talked Thursday, we talked Friday, we're going to talk again (Monday)."
Holland said both sides have "basically agreed on what the one-year award looks like" in the event they don't agree on a longer contract.
DeKeyser is coming off a two-year, $4.375-million deal and an eight-goal, 20-point season.
The Red Wings are also trying to finalize a contract with goaltender Petr Mrazek, but things don't appear to be going as smoothly as they are with DeKeyser. The team elected to go to arbitration with Mrazek asking for one year more than the Red Wings' proposed one-year contract and negotiations are ongoing.
"We've had lots of discussions," Holland said. "There's way more comparables, I think, in Dan DeKeyser's case so it was easier to figure out what was the marketplace. That's certainly not the case of Petr Mrazek's situation.
"So we've had lots of conversations about them explaining their position and (us) explaining our position."
In Mrazek's case, both sides will have two days to negotiate a deal before their scheduled hearing Wednesday. The 24-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him post 27 wins, a .921 save percentage, and a 2.33 goals-against average in 54 games.
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The investigation into Russia's Olympic doping scandal could soon impact the NHL.
IIHF president Rene Fasel plans to submit a request for the release of the 14 hockey players implicated in the World Anti-Doping Agency's report on alleged systematic doping in Russia.
"We will do it ... at least if we find out they tested positive we will of course suspend them," Fasel said in an interview with Russian news agency TASS.
The 14 hockey players identified by WADA's independent commission participated in the men's and women's competitions at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
There were 16 NHL players on the men's squad, which finished fifth.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs and forward Peter Holland have settled on a one-year contract worth $1.3 million, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.
He was scheduled for an arbitration meeting with the Maple Leafs just prior to signing the deal.
Holland didn't take on a greater role under Mike Babcock as was expected in a season in which the Maple Leafs tore down. He produced at about the same offensive rate and with a similar usage as the year prior, and finished with 27 points to edge his career-best total.
The former first-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks was placed on waivers last week as a tactic leading up to Monday's scheduled meeting.
Toronto has $1.3 million in cap room with restricted free agents Frankie Corrado and Martin Marincin still unsigned, as well as an empty slot on the roster for a backup goaltender.
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