Welcome to Puck Pursuit, an interview-style podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Brent Sopel, a former NHL defenseman, joins the show to discuss a variety of topics, including:

• Becoming a dyslexia/dysgraphia advocate
• Finding sobriety after retiring from hockey
• Changing style of play late in NHL career
• Memories from Chicago's 2010 Cup win
• Assessment of current Blackhawks team

... and more!

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Oilers Entertainment Group, the city of Edmonton, and the province of Alberta have made a joint bid to become an NHL hub city if the 2019-20 season resumes, Alberta premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday, according to Global News' Scott Johnston.

While making his pitch to a group of reporters, Kenney dubbed Edmonton the "safest place in the continent" to host the NHL playoffs due to the city's low number of COVID-19 cases.

"We're down to (58) active cases in this population in Greater Edmonton of 1.2 million people, and a handful of people in hospital with hundreds of acute care beds that have been set aside for COVID(-19) patients, together with the highest per capita testing in North America, if not the world,” Kenney said.

Additionally, Kenney believes Edmonton would be a top choice based on logistics.

"We've got one of the best facilities, I would say the best facility, with the brand new Rogers Place arena," he said.

Rogers Place, the Oilers' state-of-the-art arena, opened in 2016. It features several dressing rooms, an in-house practice rink, and an attached 364-room luxury JW Marriot Hotel. OEG vice president Tim Shipton said there are enough rooms for 12 teams and their support staff in the immediate downtown area.

Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, who tweeted out his letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday, agrees.

"In addition, the city of Edmonton is working closely with OEG on an agreement to use our high-quality civic recreational facilities, currently closed to Edmontonians during the pandemic, where NHL teams could practice and train safely while in Edmonton," Iveson wrote in his letter.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that the league is evaluating eight or nine potential hub cities that could host about a dozen teams in one location.

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Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nick Robertson believes he's ready to take his game to the highest level.

"My eyes are on the NHL right now," Robertson said, according to The Athletic's Joshua Kloke. "If I didn’t have (a) tenaciousness in my game, I wouldn't say I'm ready right now.”

The Leafs selected Robertson with the 53rd overall pick in the 2019 draft after he tallied 27 goals and a team-high 55 points through 54 games in his sophomore season with the OHL's Peterborough Petes.

This season, Robertson took his game to new heights. The dynamic winger exploded for a league-high 55 goals - which included a 14-game goal streak - and 86 points in 46 contests, and he attributed his strong performance to being able to focus solely on his play.

"My second year, I had the pressure of the draft and the combine and interviews," Robertson said. "Whereas in my third season, I know where I am. And I know that I’m already drafted and signed. So I’m not saying I’ve got nothing to lose, but I can go out there and do my thing and be confident."

Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said in March that Robertson will get every chance to make the big club's opening-night roster next season. Meanwhile, the 18-year-old knows the Leafs have plenty of offensive depth and insists he could make an impact in a bottom-six role if need be.

“I don’t have to be a top-six player to be effective," Robertson said. "It's not just my scoring or my playmaking. It's my tenacity. It's the way I work."

The Michigan native also represented Team USA at the 2020 world juniors, contributing two goals and five points over five outings.

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NHL resource Puckpedia.com polled 25 agents on a variety of topics and recently published most of the results.

Agents answered questions about CBA jargon, draft eligibility, and some juicier subjects, including player contracts and which general managers are the best or worst to deal with.

Here's a look at some of the results.

Worst contract from team perspective

Lucic signed a seven-year deal with the Oilers in 2016, and his production dropped drastically after a solid first season. The soon-to-be 32-year-old was traded to Calgary to clear salary last offseason.

Seabrook was rewarded by the Blackhawks after being a core member of the club's three Stanley Cup titles last decade. His play and his body have both deteriorated since his extension, and there are still four seasons to go on the deal.

Karlsson cashed in with the Sharks after his lengthy run as the game's top defenseman, but persisting injuries have many wondering if the eight-year term was worth it.

Lastly, Skinner parlayed a 40-goal debut season in Buffalo into an eight-year, $72-million contract. In the first year of his lucrative extension, he's mustered 23 points in 59 games.

Most team-friendly contract

MacKinnon and Pastrnak are no-brainers, as both are MVP candidates who make pennies on the dollar compared to players with similar levels of production.

Jarnkrok is a bit of a surprise inclusion, as he potted 34 points in 64 contests this season. Labanc, meanwhile, made headlines for accepting a $1-million contract last season with the goal of being paid more when the team had more cap flexibility.

Other notables receiving votes in this category were Aleksander Barkov, Mark Scheifele, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Blake Coleman.

Best GM to get client a good deal from

Toronto's boss was the only GM to receive multiple votes, likely due to the big-ticket contracts he doled out to core forwards Auston Matthews ($11.634 million), John Tavares ($11 million), Mitch Marner (10.96 million), and William Nylander ($6.9 million).

Interestingly enough, the GM voted toughest to deal with was Lou Lamoriello, who joined the New York Islanders when Dubas took over the job in Toronto.

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The NHL was not happy that a handful of teams signed players to entry-level contracts with "to be determined" start dates, sources told The Athletic's Michael Russo.

In a normal season, a team could sign a player to its "reserve list" on an ELC and later have that player join the club for the remainder of its campaign - much like the Colorado Avalanche did last season with Cale Makar, who made his NHL debut in the playoffs after his NCAA campaign wrapped up.

But with the season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL made a rule that any contract signed at this time cannot include a 2019-20 start date. That rule would prohibit a team like the Minnesota Wild - who sat one point out of a playoff spot when the season was postponed - from bringing in KHL star Kirill Kaprizov for the stretch run. In a normal season, Kaprizov wouldn't be able to join the Wild this season because the KHL campaign would still be running.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly made it clear to the Wild that the rule won't be changed, sources told Russo.

However, a handful of teams and players - including the Montreal Canadiens with Alexander Romanov, the Florida Panthers with Grigori Denisenko, the Chicago Blackhawks with Ian Mitchell, and the St. Louis Blues with Scott Perunovich - later found a potential loophole, agreeing to terms with TBD start dates, which irked the league office.

The NHL has not allowed any of those contracts to be submitted to its Central Registry with that terminology, Russo added.

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Everett Silvertips netminder and Calgary Flames prospect Dustin Wolf has been named the Western Hockey League's goaltender of the year, the league announced Tuesday.

Wolf posted a 34-10-2 record along with a .935 save percentage, 1.88 goals-against average, and nine shutouts before the WHL canceled the remainder of its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 19-year-old native of California has won 86 games across three seasons with Everett.

Current Philadelphia Flyers goalie and Silvertips alumnus Carter Hart was the WHL's goalie of the year in 2016 and 2018.

The Flames selected Wolf in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft.

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Nashville Predators forward Matt Duchene hopes that if the Stanley Cup is awarded this season, the NHL does its best to prevent anyone from putting an asterisk beside the champion.

"I just think that you gotta keep ... as much integrity as possible," Duchene told Sportsnet's "Hockey Central" on Tuesday.

“You don't want to have a COVID Cup, and I'm worried that if we come back and force this thing ... and it's a little gimmicky or if it's not quite right, whoever wins the Cup is gonna have people trying to take it away from them their whole lives and they don't deserve that, (the) guys that come back and ultimately win it. So I feel very passionately about this part of things."

The NHL is reportedly progressing toward using a 24-team playoff format - which would include several clubs that have been virtually eliminated from contention - if the 2019-20 campaign is able to resume.

The 29-year-old center expressed his distaste for an expanded playoff model and urged the league to implement a more traditional format instead.

"There's no fair way to say who should be in and who should be out because of not playing ... the full 82 - but, for lack of a better word, somebody's gonna get screwed," Duchene said.

"So I believe let's keep it as traditional as possible. I'd love to see us jump to a 16-team playoff. Normal (best-of-seven) playoff, maybe you're playing a little more frequently because guys are gonna be fresh and you can play a game at 3 o’clock on Friday and play at 7 on Saturday and there's no travel."

Duchene's Predators currently occupy the final Western Conference wild-card berth with the season on hold.

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NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly remains optimistic about the league's potential resumption despite Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement Tuesday that the border between the United States and Canada will remain closed for all non-essential travel for another 30 days.

Daly is hopeful the decision "will not materially affect the resumption of play timelines we are currently contemplating," according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Though players and staff remain in self-quarantine, the league hopes to initiate Phase 2 of its return plan by late May. At that point, players would be permitted to train in team facilities in small groups while following health and safety guidelines.

The league is reportedly looking to utilize a 24-team playoff format. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that approximately eight or nine locations are being looked at as potential hub cities to host up to a dozen teams in one location.

Trudeau said earlier this month that any players crossing over into Canada would need to follow quarantine protocol if the NHL should return.

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