NHL

7:00 AM ET Last Friday, the NHL’s owners and the players approved a new collective bargaining agreement as well as the league’s return-to-play plan to finish out the 2019-20 season in two bubbles this summer. It’s six seasons of labor peace for a sport that hasn’t seen much of it over the last 30 years.

9:54 PM ET Kirill Kaprizov, Alexander Romanov and Ilya Sorokin — three of the best NHL prospects playing in Russia’s KHL — signed deals with their respective NHL clubs on Monday. There’s only one catch: They won’t be available to play for their teams in this summer’s 24-team restart. The Wild (Kaprizov), Canadiens (Romanov) and

9:15 AM ET It has been 123 days since the NHL hit the pause button on the 2019-20 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. As the sports world continues to reckon with adjusted schedules around the world, there also have been continuous nuggets of new information regarding the resumption of the NHL season, the draft,

7:00 AM ET The NHL is set to return from the monthslong pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. The postseason will be played out with a 24-team format, with 12 teams from the Eastern Conference skating in Toronto and their Western Conference counterparts heading to Edmonton, Alberta. Some have said this format could be the

5:23 PM ET NHL players will hear fans chanting “We Want The Cup!” during their postseason tournament — just not in person. The league’s teams began emailing season-ticket holders over the weekend, asking them to record 30-second clips of cheering on their players. The clips will be used during games played in empty arenas inside

2:39 PM ET ESPN News Services Edmonton’s Mike Green, Boston’s Steven Kampfer, Vancouver’s Sven Baertschi, Dallas’ Roman Polak and Montreal’s Karl Alzner on Saturday joined the list of players who won’t be reporting to training camp for the resumption of the NHL season. In the aftermath of a deal being struck to resume the season

3:07 PM ET The NHL announced on Saturday that it has prohibited teams from releasing coronavirus test results and injury information during its season restart this summer. “We’ve talked to the NHLPA about it and continue to feel that medical privacy is important in this process. Having said that, we have an obligation as a

12:10 PM ET ESPN News Services Captain Steven Stamkos will be limited at the start of Tampa Bay Lightning training camp because of a new lower-body injury, general manager Julien BriseBois announced Saturday. Stamkos fully recovered from core muscle surgery in early March but was injured again during voluntary workouts. He is expected to be

12:19 AM ET Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic became the first NHL player to opt out of this summer’s restart. Calgary GM Brad Treliving announced Hamonic’s decision Friday night, just hours after the NHL and NHLPA officially agreed to move forward with a 24-team tournament, scheduled to begin Aug. 1. “Earlier this evening Travis called me

7:26 PM ET The NHLPA and the NHL’s board of governors have approved a package that will not only allow the league to restart this summer, but also includes a four-year CBA extension. You read that correctly, the two sides have reached an extension without a work stoppage! We don’t want you to have to

7:11 PM ET The NHLPA and the NHL board of governors announced Friday night that they have approved a package that not only will allow the league to restart this summer but also includes a four-year CBA extension. The NHLPA on Wednesday started a full membership vote on both return to play and the CBA,

5:21 PM ET Associated Press FRISCO, Texas — Longtime Dallas Stars executive Jim Lites is transitioning from his role as CEO to chairman, a move that will lessen his day-to-day duties with the team. The Stars announced the move Friday. Brad Alberts, the Stars president since March 2018, will remain in that role while also

11:34 AM ET ESPN News Services The New Jersey Devils hired veteran coach Lindy Ruff on Thursday to take over one of the NHL’s youngest teams and removed the interim tag from Tom Fitzgerald‘s title as general manager. Ruff, who had been an assistant with the New York Rangers since 2017, replaces interim coach Alain

7:20 AM ET Emily Cave Editor’s note: Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave died on April 11, after suffering a brain bleed earlier in the week. He was 25. His wife Emily shares her story here, as told to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. When the hockey season paused for coronavirus, Colby and I returned to Canada. He

7:00 AM ET My favorite thing about the “return to play” documents released by the NHL and the NHLPA this week — besides the whole “here’s a way to bring hockey back this summer” thing — is the subtle renaming of their “hubs” as the much more heavy metal “Phase 4 Secure Zone,” which sounds

8:35 PM ET The NHL is targeting Dec. 1 as the start of the 2020-21 season, according to a memorandum of understanding obtained by ESPN that is being voted on by NHL players. The NHL’s board of governors also must approve it. The NHL Players’ Association began a full membership vote on a four-year CBA

3:50 PM ET Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres dropped their lawsuit against the federal government after immigration officials reversed course by approving the team’s strength and conditioning coach’s petition for a green card. “The matter has been resolved amicably between both parties,” with Ed Gannon receiving approval for an EB-1 visa, the

1:12 PM ET Associated Press GLENDALE, Ariz. — Oliver Ekman-Larsson had knee surgery last summer, fully expecting it to help him have a healthy 2019-20 season. The Arizona Coyotes captain instead played with lingering pain, never able to fully recover. The NHL’s shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic was a huge letdown, but it at