NHL

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The NHL’s 2022 trade deadline is March 21, but the deals started well before that date. On Nov. 4, the Buffalo Sabres traded franchise center Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights for Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch and a pair of draft picks. Then, on Feb. 14, the Calgary Flames

7:00 AM ET Now that we’re into March, many eyes are on the NHL’s transaction wire as the 2022 trade deadline approaches on March 21. But, February was no slouch for excitement either, with a wild All-Star Weekend and a number of individual performances that highlighted both superstars and under-the-radar contributors around the league. For

10:32 PM ET ESPN News Services PHILADELPHIA — Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, out with an upper-body injury, left the team to return home before the end of an American road trip and is considered week-to-week, coach Jay Woodcroft announced. With Edmonton in a tight battle for one of the final postseason spots in the

7:00 AM ET Patrik Laine is living his best life — and it’s about time. The Blue Jackets winger had been stumbling ever since the Winnipeg Jets traded him to Columbus in January 2021. That transaction — which swapped Pierre-Luc Dubois for Laine and Jack Roslovic — was meant to be a fresh start for

6:55 AM ET Pat Verbeek retired from the NHL in 2002 after 20 seasons, 1,426 games, one Stanley Cup and the distinction of being the only player in league history to amass more than 500 goals and upward of 2,500 penalty minutes. Verbeek, affectionately known as the “Little Ball of Hate” as a player, was

6:23 AM ET Defense had no home in the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 10-7 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. The teams cleared the 6.5-goal total at 9:19 of the second period. By the final buzzer, they had cleared it by 10.5 goals. We’ve seen plenty of contests this season end with scores

8:00 AM ET IT’S A THOUGHT we’ve all had at some point. Where will we be when that life-changing, career-shifting moment happens? How will it feel to know a dream is about to come true? Karl Taylor was somewhere in Iowa, boarding a bus for a six-hour ride to Milwaukee. Cole Schwindt was pulled aside

12:41 AM ET NASHVILLE — The Tampa Bay Lightning said having so many of their fans in the crowd at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium made a huge impact in their Stadium Series victory over the Predators. “Our coaching staff actually mentioned it before the game. There was some extra motivation because of all the fans that

9:22 PM ET NASHVILLE — Wearing attention-grabbing outfits has become a hallmark of the NHL’s outdoor games, and the Nashville Predators matched the vibe ahead of their Stadium Series game on Saturday. The home team rolled up to the game looking like a bunch of outlaws before taking on the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa

8:00 AM ET Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry left the ice, pulled from a game for the first time this season. The New Jersey Devils had taken 19 shots against him in just over 33 minutes on Thursday night, and five pucks had flown into the back of the net. It was the fifth time

10:19 PM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — Los Angeles Kings coach Todd McLellan entered COVID-19 protocols and wasn’t behind the bench for Friday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Kings announced McLellan’s status less than an hour before faceoff. Assistant Trent Yawney served as the acting head coach. The Kings started a stretch

7:07 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered in a loss to New Jersey on Thursday. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Matheson is “week-to-week.” It is unclear when Matheson was hurt. He skated 19 minutes, 4 seconds in a 6-1 setback that marked

6:21 PM ET Associated Press GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes have signed defenseman Dysin Mayo to a three-year contract. Terms of the deal announced Friday were not released. Mayo, 25, has three goals and three assists in 42 games with Arizona this season. A fifth-round NHL draft pick in 2014, Mayo became the eighth

3:40 PM ET Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin issued an anti-war statement on Friday in his first comments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Please, no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries — we have to live in peace,” he said following the Capitals’ practice. Ovechkin, 36,

4:58 PM ET ESPN News Services Former NHLer Sean Avery was released Friday by the Orlando Solar Bears of the East Coast Hockey League — just two days after they signed the 41-year-old forward. Avery last appeared in an NHL game on Dec. 10, 2011, while a member of the New York Rangers. He had

12:01 PM ET Jokerit has decided to end its season rather than appear in the Kontinental Hockey League playoffs, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week. The Finland-based team was scheduled to face Moscow’s Spartak in the first round of the Gagarin Cup playoffs on March 1. The league said it will revise the Western

10:53 PM ET Zdeno Chara stands alone. The New York Islanders blueliner set a record for most games played by an NHL defenseman after he skated in his 1,652nd career contest Thursday night in San Jose, California. Hall of Fame defender Chris Chelios had held the mark since 2010, when he retired after 26 seasons

9:00 AM ET The old adage in the NHL is that “you can’t fire the players.” I mean, there are so many of them. It’s much easier to fire just one person, which is why the head coach usually pays for the team’s on-ice sins. Theoretically, firing the head coach is a surefire way to