Bryan Bickell was traded by the only team he has ever known on Wednesday.

Related: Blackhawks' Bowman: Trading Bickell helps ability to re-sign Shaw

The 30-year-old was shipped form the Chicago Blackhawks to the Carolina Hurricanes in a deal along with Teuvo Teravainen for two draft picks. In parting fashion, Bickell released a statement Wednesday night thanking the organization and the city for being his second home.

Bickell concludes his chapter with the Blackhawks having notched 65 goals and 135 points in 384 games.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins' use of speed and skill en route to a Stanley Cup championship won't influence the Calgary Flames at the NHL Draft.

So says president of hockey operations Brian Burke, who continues to emphasize the need for truculence when building a successful hockey team.

"You still play 82 games and you've got to make the playoffs and to do that you've got to play big teams, especially in the west," Burke told Eric Francis of Sportsnet.

"Now you say to yourself maybe we've got to go with more speed, but the teams that made the playoffs and made it a few rounds like Los Angeles (lost in the opening round) and St. Louis (advanced to conference finals) - those are big teams. To get there you need size."

Skill and speed are indeed vital, Burke added, but the need to balance out the lineup with bigger players remains a priority.

"It's already moved towards more skill and speed but I still think the teams that are successful have some size in the lineup and can play that kind of game," he said.

The Flames will select sixth overall at this year's draft, where they'll look to pick the best all-around player, but again placing an emphasis on size in the end.

"It's too simplistic to say you'll draft fast or big guys," said Flames director of scouting, Tod Button. "You look at the total package and all things being equal between two guys you take the bigger player."

Calgary's leading scorer this season was Johnny Gaudreau, who's listed at 5-foot-9 and 157 pounds.

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Stan Bowman is hoping some gained cap space will help the Chicago Blackhawks retain their star pest.

Related: Bickell's camp 'relieved' to finally be traded out of Chicago

The club shipped forwards Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a couple draft picks Wednesday with the prospect of retaining forward Andrew Shaw on their mind.

"This is a step in the right direction," Bowman said of signing Shaw, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "We certainly had to move Bickell to have some flexibility."

Shaw will become a restricted free agent on July 1, coming off a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2 million.

"Obviously we like what he [Shaw] brings to the table and we’d like to try and make something work," Bowman said, according to CSN Chicago's Tracey Myers.

Shaw collected 14 goals and 34 points in 78 regular season games, but stepped up in the postseason leading the team with four goals and adding two assists in six games.

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To Thomas Vanek's agent - Steve Bartlett - no news is good news.

After the 32-year-old posted the lowest full-season goal total of his career - 18 goals - in his second season with the Minnesota Wild, there are rustlings that Vanek could be a prime candidate for a buyout from his club. However, Bartlett insists general manager Chuck Fletcher has not hinted at such a move, suggesting his client could be in the clear.

"If Chuck knew he was going to buy him out by now, I think I would know by now," Bartlett said, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "I do think I have a good enough relationship that he'd give me the heads up. Now that doesn't mean that they couldn't decide something different between now and two weeks from now."

The window to buy out player contracts opened on Wednesday and while obviously things could still change, Bartlett is hopeful that with a new head coach at the team's helm - in Bruce Boudreau - Vanek will have the opportunity to redeem himself.

"With a new coach, we'll just have to see how it all shakes out," Bartlett said. "I still think there's a rebound year in Thomas, and I'm hoping they'll give him that opportunity, but I understand in this day and age, you never know. You can never predict."

Vanek has one year remaining on his three-year contract with a cap hit of $6.5 million.

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Phil Kessel had good reason to break his Twitter silence.

The Pittsburgh Penguins winger hadn't published a thought on the social media website since thanking Toronto fans for the support showed to him over the course of his tenure as a Maple Leaf.

297 days later, he's thanking Pittsburgh fans on the day he and the rest of the Penguins paraded the Stanley Cup through town.

With Father's Day coming up, perhaps he'll match the third tweet down on his timeline.

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Ron Francis is pleased with his day's work.

The Carolina Hurricanes general manager was able to pull off a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that saw his team add forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell in exchange for a 2016 second-round pick and a 2017 third-round pick, and it's a deal he seems quite content with.

Related: Teravainen a painful cap casualty for Blackhawks

"It's not every day that you're able to do a deal like this," Francis said on the team's official website. "I think we feel fortunate that we are able to get those guys into our organization and lineup. We wouldn't have been able to do it if we didn't have the (salary cap) room cleared out over the last year or two, and we wouldn't have been able to do it if we didn't have the draft picks we've built up, as well."

The picks sent to Chicago were not originally owned by Carolina. This year's second-rounder (50th overall) originally belonged to the New York Rangers and was acquired in the Eric Staal trade, one that also freed up a bunch of cap space. And the 2017 third-rounder came from Chicago back in September.

Even after the trade, the Hurricanes have six picks in the top 75 this year (two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and three third-round picks), hence Francis referencing the flexibility with which he was able to work.

Here's what the GM had to say about the players heading to Carolina.

Teravainen:

We feel that this is a real good young player with a big upside. He scored 35 points last year in his first full season and probably didn't see much time on the power play, so I think it's a good opportunity for him to grow and develop.

Bickell:

That's a big body, something that we've talked about getting into our lineup. He skates, and he's got some skill. I would think that in being in the last year of his deal that he'll be extremely motivated. I would think it's not easy in Chicago playing behind a lot of those talented players to feel like you're in it, so hopefully he's excited about the opportunity here and comes in ready to roll.

The Hurricanes still have almost $27 million in available cap space, meaning Francis likely isn't done reshaping his up-and-coming roster.

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It was a sight to be seen Wednesday as the Penguins took their Stanley Cup celebration to the streets of Pittsburgh.

The team enjoyed their first victory parade in seven years and there were many cherished moments to be had.

With over 400,000 fans predicted to be in attendance, it's easy to see why this lady had the right idea showing up so early to the event.

Before...

After...

Judging by Matt Murray's reaction, you can tell the whole experience was breathtaking.

Even though the damage has been done, some fans still made sure to show their displeasure for the San Jose Sharks.

Can there be a better feeling than this?

Nobody really wanted to give the Cup up.

Some lucky fans even got to have a moment with the Cup - be it a very brief one.

While Bryan Rust was chugging beer, Phil Kessel elected for the healthier alternative.

Fun fact: This is how Mario always drives through town.

Finally, Eric Fehr's daughter summed up the entire experience with one motion.

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Even if they wanted to, the Edmonton Oilers can't use a buyout on veteran defenseman Andrew Ference.

The 37-year-old has not been cleared to play following hip surgery in March, meaning he's exempt from having the final year of his contract bought out, agent Kurt Overhardt confirmed.

"He's not cleared to play ice hockey and a cartilage repair takes a long time," Overhardt told Jim Matheson of The Edmonton Journal. "He's nowhere near being cleared so it's not even an issue. If you are hurt, you're hurt. He has to be able to run, he has to be able to skate."

The Oilers would have saved $2,166,667 in cap space for 2016-17 if Ference had been healthy.

Ference was limited to six games due to injury last season, and may not have a guaranteed spot on the roster if and when he's cleared to return. Whether his captaincy is removed in the meantime remains to be seen.

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