Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning is hoping to sign pending unrestricted free-agent goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a contract extension and add a top-six winger before the Feb. 24 trade deadline, he told Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre on Wednesday.

"Yes, that's my plan," he said. "That's our goal. Jacob is an important guy in our locker room. He was a player we thought we could develop into a No. 1 goaltender. We've seen him get better and better every year. He's had some interruptions this year with his father, but we're past that now. We need him to be kind of where he left off last year."

The 6-foot-6 Swede has been remarkably consistent, owning a .912 save percentage for the third straight season.

However, 24-year-old netminder Thatcher Demko, who owns a .906 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average in 12 games this season, is also in the fold. If Markstrom re-signs, the Canucks would have to choose between the 29-year-old veteran and the former highly touted prospect when it comes to protecting just one goaltender for the 2021 Seattle expansion draft.

"There's a lot of time between now and the expansion draft," Benning said. "We'll figure that out as we get closer. Thatcher is a young goalie in this league and he's learning what it takes to be competitive and consistent every night. I think this is a good learning experience for him and we think he'll get even better down the road."

Even though the Canucks are three points out of a playoff spot, Benning is also looking to add a top-six winger.

"I try to keep in contact with all the other general managers in the league, and if there's something that fits and makes sense, we'll look at it," Benning said.

Benning attempted to complement his lethal one-two punch down the middle in Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat by adding a pair of wingers during the offseason. He traded a conditional first-round pick, a third-round pick, and goalie Marek Mazanec to the Tampa Bay Lightning for J.T. Miller. He also signed free agent Micheal Ferland to a four-year contract with a cap hit of $3.5 million.

The addition of Miller has worked beautifully, as the 26-year-old is enjoying a career year with 31 points in 31 games. However, Ferland has been a disappointment, tallying just five points in 14 games while missing time due to injury.

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Brady Tkachuk claims he wasn't up to any mischief when he collected the puck after Wednesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens - which just so happened to be the first NHL victory for his old pal Cayden Primeau.

The Ottawa Senators pest was spotted grabbing the puck before skating off the ice following his club's overtime loss. However, during his venture, he was met by Carey Price, who was looking to give the biscuit to his goaltending partner.

Price was then asked whether he thought Tkachuk was stealing the puck.

"I think so," Price said, per The Athletic's Arpon Basu. "I was watching to see what happened to the puck and just saw him scoop it up."

Tkachuk was asked about it Thursday, and he pleaded innocence.

"Honestly, I didn't even realize it was his first win puck," he told The Athletic's Chris Stevenson. "I know (Primeau). I played with him at the U18 Worlds and we won a gold medal together. I know him pretty well. Honestly, I didn't even think of it. When I saw him, I was like 'Oh, OK.' I didn't even realize. I was just going to give the puck to a kid in the stands."

Primeau, 20, was a seventh-round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2017. Thursday's win came in the second NHL start of his career.

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Ron Francis says that when he extended Bill Peters' contract in 2016 while the two were with the Carolina Hurricanes, he felt the physical abuse allegation involving Peters and former Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan had been dealt with.

“We looked where the team was and how it was playing,” Francis, the former Hurricanes general manager, told the Seattle Times' Geoff Baker. “It was moving in the right direction ... And quite honestly, we looked at that (physical abuse) situation. We addressed it and we felt it was behind him.”

On Nov. 26, Jordan tweeted that during his time in Carolina, Peters kicked him and punched another player in the head on the bench during a game. Francis didn't provide a direct answer when asked if he'd handle the situation differently given the recent abuse allegations against numerous hockey coaches.

“I think you deal with it the best you can with the situation you have at the time,” he said. “... I don’t claim to be perfect. I make mistakes. I try to learn every day from the people I talk with in situations."

Francis said in a Nov. 30 statement that a group of players and hockey staff members told him about the Peters incidents at the time - which would have been between 2014 and 2016 - and he "took immediate action to address the matter and briefed ownership."

The 56-year-old gave his account of the events after former Carolina majority owner Peter Karmanos claimed he wasn't informed of the incidents. Karmanos said he would have fired Peters "in a nanosecond" had Francis made him aware of the physical abuse allegations.

The Calgary Flames also conducted an investigation into Peters' actions following Akim Aliu's revelation that the coach directed the N-word toward him multiple times while the two were with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs in 2009-10. Peters, who had been at the helm in Calgary since 2018, resigned from his post with the Flames in November 2019.

On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman laid out the league's initial plan to address inappropriate conduct, which included a zero-tolerance policy for teams not reporting incidents, a mandatory diversity and inclusion program for coaches and top-level executives, and a potential whistleblower hotline.

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The San Jose Sharks have dismissed head coach Peter DeBoer, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

The move is a hockey decision, Friedman adds, as the team has gone 15-16-2 in 2019-20 after reaching the Western Conference Final last spring.

Assistant coach Bob Boughner is expected to take the reins.

DeBoer was in his fifth season behind the bench with San Jose. The Sharks made the playoffs in each of his previous four campaigns at the helm, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final during his first year with the club in 2015-16.

The 51-year-old joined San Jose after three-plus seasons with the New Jersey Devils and three campaigns with the Florida Panthers. He guided the Devils to the Cup Final in 2012.

He's the fifth NHL bench boss to lose his job in 2019-20. Three of the other four were fired, and Bill Peters resigned from his post with the Calgary Flames.

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Warning: Story contains offensive content.

Former NHLer Akim Aliu's revealed another racist incident he was subjected to during his pro career.

In 2011, as one of the newer members of the ECHL's Colorado Eagles, the Nigerian-born Aliu was invited to the team's Halloween party, but he was told to "come a little bit later" - an instruction he didn't think too much about at the time, Aliu told The Wall Street Journal's Andrew Beaton.

Aliu said he arrived at the party to find Tony Deynzer, the team's head equipment manager, in blackface while wearing an Afro-style wig and an Eagles jersey with Aliu's No. 78 and nickname - "Dreamer" - stitched on the back.

Those attending the party - including Aliu's teammates, staff members, management, and some of their families - encouraged the two to take a picture together, which Aliu shared with Beaton:

"Guys just started laughing," Aliu said. "All I can do is tell my story."

Aliu, who said he didn't see anyone else at the party who was black, posed for the picture because he didn't want to cause a scene. He said he felt trapped and in shock, and then called his brother immediately afterward.

"I didn’t even grasp the idea of how vicious of a thing that is to do," Aliu said.

Aliu played only 10 games for the Eagles. He requested a trade, which was eventually granted, and wound up in the Calgary Flames organization before making his NHL debut in 2012.

Deynzer remains the equipment manager of the Eagles, who were the Winnipeg Jets' ECHL team in 2011 but are now affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche. Deynzer, who's been with the club since 2003, didn't respond to requests from Beaton for his story.

The Eagles said in a statement they "had absolutely no knowledge of this event, therefore we feel it would be premature to comment at this time," according to Beaton.

Aliu revealed more than two weeks ago that Flames head coach Bill Peters directed the N-word toward him several times while the two were with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs a decade ago. Peters ultimately resigned from his position with Calgary.

Last week, Aliu met with NHL officials, including commissioner Gary Bettman, to confront racial and conduct issues in hockey. In that meeting, he told them about the blackface incident. On Monday, the NHL announced it will institute a mandatory annual program focused on counseling, consciousness-raising, education, and training on diversity and inclusion.

"They need to accept the fact that there is a problem," Aliu said. "That’s the only way you start."

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