The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Josh Wesley to a three-year entry-level contract worth an average of $625, the team announced.

The deal will pay Wesley - who was drafted by the Hurricanes in the fourth round in 2014 - an average of $625,000 at the NHL level, and includes a $210,000 signing bonus.

The 20-year-old is the son of former Hurricane and the club's current director of defenseman development, Glen Wesley. He is coming off his third season in the Ontario Hockey League, which he split between the Flint Firebirds and Niagara IceDogs, totaling five goals and 18 points in 57 games.

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Kyle Okposo appears destined to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

With his contract set to expire at the end of June, there have been no talks between the winger's agent and the New York Islanders in regards to a new deal, reports Arthur Staple of Newsday.

Okposo, 28, is coming off a five-year deal that carried an average annual valuation of $2.8 million, and will no doubt be looking for a significant raise.

Drafted seventh overall by the Islanders in 2006, Okposo has recorded 139 goals and 369 points in 529 career games, with career highs of 27 goals and 69 points set in 71 games back in 2013-14.

Most recently, he contributed two goals and six assists over the course of the Islanders' 11 playoff games in 2016.

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The Carolina Hurricanes are at the center of a real-life family feud.

Owner Peter Karmanos is being sued by his three sons over the matter of $105 million promised to them in his will. The problem is that Karmanos borrowed millions against the trust account to help fund his NHL club.

Back in June of 2013, Karmanos reportedly wrote a loan contract for more than $100 million, agreeing to pay interest installments until June, 2022, or one year following his death.

From Rod Meloni of Local 4 Detroit:

A lawsuit filed last Thursday says 'on or about April 21, Peter the third ... sent his father a notice of default of balance of principal and interest on the June 2013 note.'

The sons claim their father 'failed to timely cure such defaults and accordingly, on or about May 25, 2016 the entire balance of the June 2013 note ... more than $105 million ... would become immediately due and payable.'

The Karmanos sons filed a civil case against their father as a contract dispute.

One of the sons named in the suit, Jason Karmanos, was relieved of his duties as executive vice president and assistant general manager of the Hurricanes in September of 2013 as a result of a "family matter."

Karmanos was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 as a builder, an event not attended by his sons.

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With his Pittsburgh Penguins just three games away from capturing the Stanley Cup, defenseman Olli Maatta has just one thing on his mind, and it isn't his health.

The 21-year-old has been a medical anomaly over the last couple years. Having suffered several upper-body injuries, a run in with the mumps, and most shockingly a surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in his thyroid last season.

“It really wasn’t as heartbreaking for me as it sounded like. It wasn’t as bad," Maatta said on Media Day of the tumour, according to Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt. "I know there’s people that have way worse than I had it, and I can’t really compare what I had to what other people had.

"I felt like I had a target on my back. But it’s done and over with. There’s nothing I can do now. I'm just trying to live in the moment. I'm trying to enjoy this. I'm playing hockey. I'm in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's the biggest thing. I can't think about what happened last year."

While Maatta's battles with his numerous ailments have usually gathered more worry from teammates, coaches, and management, Maatta has remained calm and cool-headed and wants no special treatment, according to assistant general manager Bill Guerin.

"We were making dinners for him, asking if he wanted to stay certain places, bring his family around, he was like, 'Nah, I’ll be fine. I’ll be good on my own,'" Guerin says. "I don’t know. Just taking care of himself. He didn’t want the extra attention. He just wanted to get the procedure done and move on. I think he was very appreciative of that, but it was almost like, 'I'm okay. Don’t worry about me. I’m good.'"

Maatta hasn't escaped injury during the postseason either. He was sidedlined for three games after a headshot from Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik in the second round.

But still Maatta continues to patrol the club's second pairing while logging nearly 20 minutes of ice time most nights, simply doing whatever he can to help his team win, despite what may be ailing him.

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A loss to the Penguins in Game 2 on Wednesday in Pittsburgh could effectively sink the San Jose Sharks.

Since entering the NHL in 1991-92, the Sharks have never won a Stanley Cup Playoff series in which they've lost the opening two games, going 0-10 in that situation.

And in this history of the Final, a team that has lost the first two games has lost the series 44 of 49 times.

"You never want to go down 2-0 in a series," Sharks goalie Martin Jones said Tuesday, according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. "Whether you lose the first game, any game, you never want to lose two in a row in playoffs.

"That sense of urgency is going to be important for us."

The Sharks did have the NHL's best road record this past regular season (28-10-3), and have lost back-to-back games only once this postseason, Games 3 and 4 against the Predators, both of which were played in Nashville.

The last team to fall behind 0-2 and win the Cup was the Boston Bruins in 2011. They dropped Games 1 and 2 in Vancouver against the Canucks, then won all three games at home and came out on top in Game 7 as the visiting team.

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From captain to ... doctor?

Retired Ottawa Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree June 7 at Carleton University's spring convocation, according to CBC's Andrew Foote.

The 43-year-old will be one of 15 people receiving honorary degrees at the ceremony, according to Joanne Laucius from the Ottawa Citizen.

Alfredsson played 17 of his 18 NHL seasons with the Senators - 14 as captain - and has long been active in the Ottawa community, working with the Ottawa Senators Foundation and Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health.

He currently serves as the Senators' senior advisor of hockey operations.

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Without a large market between the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks, ratings were expected to dip in this year's Stanley Cup Final.

With Game 1 matched up against an incredible Game 7 in the NBA between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder, the viewership was as low as anticipated.

Viewership for Monday's game on NBC dropped 36 percent from last year, receiving a 2.7 overnight rating - the lowest for a Cup Final Game 1 since the 2012 series opener between the Kings and Devils, which earned a 2.4 rating, according to Sports Media Watch.

Meanwhile, the Warriors-Thunder game had nearly five times the viewership, grabbing an 11.2 rating on the night nationally, as well as in the Bay Area, with both the Warriors and Sharks representing Northern California.

Earlier in the week, Sharks forward Joel Ward told reporters "it sucks" that the games occurred on the same night, but that won't be an issue for Wednesday's Game 2, which should provide a great opportunity for San Jose to truly rally around their hockey team.

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Without a large market between the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks, ratings were expected to dip in this year's Stanley Cup Final.

With Game 1 matched up against an incredible Game 7 in the NBA between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder, the viewership was as low as anticipated.

Viewership for Monday's game on NBC dropped 36 percent from last year, receiving a 2.7 overnight rating - the lowest for a Cup Final Game 1 since the 2012 series opener between the Kings and Devils, which earned a 2.4 rating, according to Sports Media Watch.

Meanwhile, the Warriors-Thunder game had nearly five times the viewership, grabbing an 11.2 rating on the night nationally, as well as in the Bay Area, with both the Warriors and Sharks representing Northern California.

Earlier in the week, Sharks forward Joel Ward told reporters "it sucks" that the games occurred on the same night, but that won't be an issue for Wednesday's Game 2, which should provide a great opportunity for San Jose to truly rally around their hockey team.

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