NHL

9:49 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche sent veteran defenseman Ryan Graves to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in a move made with an eye on the upcoming expansion draft of the Seattle Kraken. In exchange, the Avalanche acquired forward Mikhail Maltsev and a second-round selection this year from New

4:10 PM ET Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. — Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is welcoming a new baby giraffe, named Stanley in honor of the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s second consecutive NHL championship. The park announced on Twitter this week that Stanley was born July 7, the same day the Lightning won their final game against the

7:00 AM ET The Seattle Kraken will be joining the NHL in an on-ice capacity at the start of the 2021-22 regular season. They’ve filled out their front office and coaching staff, but now they need some players. In order to fill out the roster, they will be selecting one player from 30 of the

9:54 PM ET Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber could miss next season and his NHL future is in doubt because of multiple injuries, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. According to multiple reports, Weber has been battling lingering foot, ankle, knee and thumb injuries. TVA Sports reported that the Canadiens will expose Weber in

2:27 PM ET The Boston Bruins secured a building block on defense by signing Brandon Carlo to an extension Wednesday, but they lost blue-line depth with the retirement of Kevan Miller. Carlo, 24, received a six-year contract extension with an annual cap hit of $4.1 million. After his entry-level deal, he had signed a bridge

7:00 AM ET The NHL is expanding to 32 teams beginning with the 2021-22 season, as the Seattle Kraken will join the Pacific Division. This sets up a natural regional rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks and brings the sport back to the city whose Metropolitans were the first team awarded the Stanley Cup in 1917.

9:20 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville has offered to participate in the Chicago Blackhawks‘ review of allegations by a former player who says he was sexually assaulted by a then-assistant coach in 2010. Quenneville, 62, coached Chicago to three Stanley Cup titles over 10-plus seasons before he was fired

1:54 PM ET Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois confirmed on Tuesday that star forward Nikita Kucherov played in the Stanley Cup Final with a non-displaced rib fracture. Kucherov was hurt on a cross-check during Game 6 of the conference final against the New York Islanders. “He played with

7:00 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — When Robbie Hall signed a new contract with ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators in 2020, he felt like he was living the dream. The money wasn’t great — about $500 per week, before taxes — but it was double the $250 a week he was making in the SPHL. “I was

9:03 PM ET The Edmonton Oilers acquired Chicago Blackhawks veteran defenseman Duncan Keith and prospect forward Tim Soderlund on Monday in a trade for defenseman Caleb Jones and a conditional 2022 third-round pick, a source confirmed to ESPN. Which side comes out ahead in the deal? We grade both GMs here: Duncan Keith has three

10:50 AM ET Ron Francis and Dave Hakstol didn’t know they were participating in a four-week audition. They bonded at the 2019 IIHF world championships in Austria and Slovakia, where Francis was part of Team Canada’s management brain-trust and Hakstol was a member of the men’s team coaching staff. “I got to know him as

8:53 AM ET Every week, we’ll provide a recap and accompaniment to the latest episode of Quest for the Stanley Cup, the NHL docuseries about the playoffs available exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+. This week we dive into Episode 6, titled “On the Cusp.” Describe this episode in 10 words or less Thirty charming,

8:30 AM ET Every week, we’ll provide a recap and accompaniment to the latest episode of Quest for the Stanley Cup, the NHL docuseries about the playoffs available exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+. This week we dive into Episode 5, entitled “Chasing the Champs.” Describe this episode in 10 words or fewer The most

4:48 PM ET Associated Press Face masks were as prevalent as pucks throughout the NHL this past season, but documents show Canadian health officials wanted the league to take additional steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The league introduced a number of protocols in a bid to get back on the ice, including the

3:56 PM ET Associated Press Former NHL defenseman Bryan “Bugsy” Watson, who played for Scotty Bowman and with Doug Harvey and coached Wayne Gretzky, has died. He was 78. A Washington Capitals spokesperson said Friday that Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the team, learned of his death Thursday from a member of Watson’s family.

1:34 PM ET Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler to a two-year contract worth $2,250,000 on Friday. The contract has an average annual value of $1,125,000. The breakdown is as follows: $1,050,000 in the 2021-22 season and $1,200,000 in the 2022-23 season. The 24-year-old Siegenthaler

9:00 AM ET An announced crowd of 18,110 fans watched the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night. That’s 18,110 more fans than attended their home opener on Jan. 13 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Amalie Arena, and 18,110 more fans than saw them raise last season’s Stanley Cup in the Edmonton,

10:26 PM ET Star winger Vladimir Tarasenko has requested a trade from the St. Louis Blues, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday. Tarasenko, 29, is in the seventh year of an eight-year, $60 million deal he signed in July 2015. He has a full no-trade clause to go along with 218 goals and 224