The trophy is awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
Lindblom was diagnosed in December with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Fans and players around the league rallied around the 23-year-old forward throughout his treatment. Lindblom rang the bell to mark the end of his chemotherapy treatments on July 2 and was able to spend some time on the ice with his teammates.
Johns, who missed nearly two years of action due to post-traumatic headaches, returned to the ice in January. He skated in 17 games with the Stars, recording two goals and three assists. Johns told Sean Shapiro of The Athletic that during his recovery he battled severe bouts of depression.
Ryan entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in November. After returning to the team in February, he opened up about his battle with alcoholism. In his first home game back in Ottawa, Ryan scored a hat trick.
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner won the award last season.
Cassidy said he originally expected both players to be available Thursday. He added that it is unclear how long the pair will be sidelined.
Both players missed practice Monday and Tuesday, but the two managed to hit the ice Wednesday. Pastrnak participated in a small group, while Kase practiced alone afterward.
The Bruins are set to depart to the Toronto hub in just under two weeks. They'll kick off their first round-robin game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Aug. 2.
The Chicago Blackhawks signed Pius Suter to a one-year, $925,000 deal beginning next season, the team announced Thursday.
Chicago also inked defenseman Ian Mitchell to a three-year contract that runs through the 2022-23 season with an average annual value of $925,000.
Suter, 24, has played with Switzerland's National League-A Zurich Lions for the past five seasons. He recorded 30 goals and 23 assists in 50 games during 2019-20. His 53 points were the most in the league and helped him earn the MVP award.
The center racked up 81 goals and 87 assists in 210 games during the last five seasons in Switzerland. He also represented the country at the 2018 Olympics, during which he notched five points in four games.
Mitchell, who was selected by the Blackhawks in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft, just completed his junior season at the University of Denver. He was the team captain during the 2019-20 season and finished the regular season sixth among NCAA defensemen with 32 points.
Over three seasons with the Pioneers, Mitchell registered 89 points in 116 games.
With the NHL salary cap remaining flat at $81.5 million for at least the 2020-21 season, players who are up for a payday are in an unfortunate position due to general managers needing to exercise caution during free agency this summer.
Whether it be to further prove their worth or improve on a rocky season, the following unrestricted free agents have a chance during the league's resumption to better their position to push the market this summer.
Taylor Hall, Coyotes
Norm Hall / National Hockey League / Getty
Current AAV: $6M
It's been a bit of a bumpy road for the Arizona Coyotes star since he captured the Hart Trophy with the New Jersey Devils in 2017-18. Hall amassed a career-high 93 points in 76 games during that award-winning season but has mustered only 89 points over 98 games in the two campaigns since.
Some of Hall's struggles can be attributed to injuries, while being traded midseason from one offensively strapped team to another certainly doesn't help, either. Regardless, Hall turns 29 in November, and this offseason likely presents his final shot at a big payday.
He has a large enough body of impressive work that the floor for his salary should remain quite high. With the salary cap remaining flat, however, Hall's play this postseason will go a long way in dictating just how much he'll be able to raise his value.
Braden Holtby, Capitals
Sara Schmidle / National Hockey League / Getty
Current AAV: $6.1M
Holtby has been mediocre at best over three consecutive campaigns and authored a career-low .897 save percentage in 2019-20 while starting fewer than 50 contests for the first time in five seasons. Despite his overall struggles, he boasted strong numbers during two consecutive postseasons and will hope to capture that playoff spark once again this summer.
He turns 31 in September, and with youngster Ilya Samsonov projecting to be the Washington Capitals' future No. 1 netminder, Holtby will be looking to prove he still deserves to be paid as a starter. With his recent decline, however, the 6-foot-2 puck-stopper hasn't afforded himself much room for error.
Holtby and Samsonov will likely share time in goal during the round-robin tournament, and if the former is outplayed by the talented Russian, he may not get much of a chance to bolster his case for a hefty contract.
Mikael Granlund, Predators
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Current AAV: $5.75M
Granlund likely would have been paid handsomely in free agency last summer despite struggling to end the campaign after being traded to the Nashville Predators at the deadline. Compounding that poor late-season stint with a hefty drop in production in 2019-20, however, may end up costing him.
As Granlund's numbers head in the wrong direction, so, too, does his age. He turns 29 next February, and teams may think twice before handing out a long-term deal with a relatively high average annual value to a declining player approaching his 30s. Granlund has a chance to redeem his recent subpar play with a strong postseason and prove he's worth the investment.
Tyson Barrie, Maple Leafs
Mark Blinch / National Hockey League / Getty
Current AAV: $5.5M
Like Granlund, Barrie is set to hit free agency following a down season that's somewhat overshadowed his prior success. One year removed from a career-best 14-goal, 59-point campaign in 2018-19, the Maple Leafs blue-liner wasn't quite as effective during his first season in Toronto.
Barrie's play improved after the Leafs replaced head coach Mike Babcock with Sheldon Keefe in November. His points per game spiked from 0.30 to 0.68 under Keefe, as he also experienced an increase in ice time.
Playing behind a potent offense under Keefe's free-wheeling system, Barrie will get plenty of opportunities this postseason to prove his value as an offensive defenseman. He also benefits from being a coveted right-shooting rearguard.
Robin Lehner, Golden Knights
Ethan Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Current AAV: $5M
Lehner somehow earned only a one-year deal last summer in free agency following his career campaign with the New York Islanders in 2018-19. The Swedish puck-stopper continued his dominance this season for the defensively inept Chicago Blackhawks but landed on his fourth team in three seasons when he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in February.
Turning 29 in July, he's likely not looking for another short-term deal this summer. Lehner's faced with some tough internal competition in Vegas with Marc-Andre Fleury still in the fold, but successfully guarding the crease for one of the top Western Conference teams in the postseason will put him in a strong position to find a long-term home.
Winnipeg Jets sniper Patrik Laine apparently wasn't joking when he said in May there was a good chance he'd "look terrible" if the NHL returned this summer.
With games quickly approaching, the Finnish winger admits he's not quite up to speed following the league's four-month layoff.
"Still kind of far away," Laine told reporters about the current state of his game Wednesday, according to NHL.com. "It's kind of hard to see myself playing playoff hockey in two weeks.
"But just trying to make the most out of it and trying to be as well-prepared as I and as we can ... just try to work hard these next couple of weeks so we'll be ready when the puck drops."
Training camps began July 13 and the Jets are slated to take on the Calgary Flames in Game 1 of their best-of-five play-in series Aug. 1.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice isn't as worried about his young winger's current status, and said he anticipated his players showing some rust upon returning to the ice.
"He looks good, like he's shooting the puck right and he's running his routes," Maurice said of Laine. "Today we had a pretty darn good pace and we got some battling in today and, yeah, he looks right on.
"But I guess, I don't think anybody looks the way they're going to in about two weeks, we all expect that right?"
Laine bounced back from a setback year in 2018-19 with 28 goals and a career-best 35 assists through 68 games this season.
The Vegas Golden Knights will name their first captain in franchise history prior to the start of the 2020-21 campaign, head coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.
Forwards Mark Stone and Reilly Smith along with defensemen Deryk Engelland and Nate Schmidt currently serve as the four alternate captains. Smith and Engelland have held their roles since the club's inaugural 2017-18 season.
Winger Max Pacioretty is the only player on the Golden Knights' roster who has donned the "C" at the NHL level, serving as captain of the Montreal Canadiens for three seasons (2015-18).
The Golden Knights, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and New Jersey Devils are the only teams in the league currently without a captain.
"We got embarrassed last year in the postseason," Monahan said Wednesday, according to Sportsnet's Eric Francis. "As a player representing an organization, that sticks with you. We've got a lot to prove here and we have a lot of things motivating us."
The Flames were the top seed in the Western Conference entering last season's playoffs and faced off against the Colorado Avalanche. Calgary lost the series in just five games.
After serving as one of the most dominant lines during the regular season, Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and Elias Lindholm combined for just two goals, three assists, and a minus-6 rating during the series.
"We've talked about it a lot - and a lot behind closed doors - we got outworked and outcompeted and got owned by Colorado," Monahan added. "You want to be a guy who can be a part of the postseason and that's where a lot of guys' legacies are built. That's the kind of guys we want to be, and we want to step up and take charge in Game 1."
Monahan, who produced 34 goals and 82 points last season, managed 22 goals and 48 points this year. Meanwhile, Gaudreau dipped from 99 points to 58, and Lindholm from 78 to 54.
"Last year was my first appearance in the playoffs and overall our line didn't do a very good job," Lindholm said. "For myself, I kind of got away from my game and started doing other things and tried to hit people. It's part of my game, but not something I'm looking to do. In the playoffs I was."
The Flames finished the abbreviated 2019-20 regular season in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a 36-27-7 record. They are set to take on the Winnipeg Jets in the best-of-five play-in round.
