7:00 AM ET Professional sports have a peculiar way of glorifying underdogs who win championships while being blasé about teams with all-star rosters that win. The 1980 Team USA hockey “Miracle on Ice” is folklore. Cinderella teams are more compelling than No. 1 seeds in March Madness. Unless it’s part of a dynasty, hearing an
NHL
11:25 PM ET ESPN News Services National Women’s Hockey League founder Dani Rylan Kearney is stepping down as commissioner as part of a restructuring of the league’s governing model, the Associated Press reported. According to the AP, Rylan Kearney will remain involved as president of an ownership group that controls four of the NWHL’s six
10:31 PM ET The Vegas Golden Knights are no longer looking to trade star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Monday. “We see the goaltending position being incredibly important this year. Our goalies will be Robin [Lehner] and Marc-Andre. We all expect a schedule [next season] that’s going to be very compressed. The
12:42 PM ET Alexis Lafreniere, the No. 1 pick of the 2020 draft, signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the New York Rangers on Monday. The deal is for $925,000 annually, the maximum allowed for rookies in the CBA and in line with other recent top picks. Lafreniere is represented by Emilie Castonguay, the first
7:35 PM ET Left winger Taylor Hall has signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres, the team announced Sunday. Hall, 28, was the most coveted unrestricted free-agent forward available this offseason, and he spent the weekend listening to pitches from at least a half-dozen teams. Choosing the Sabres is a surprising move,
5:52 PM ET Associated Press ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues signed free-agent forward Kyle Clifford to a two-year, $2 million contract Sunday. Clifford was a two-time Stanley Cup-winner in spending his first nine-plus seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, before being traded to Toronto in February. Selected by L.A. in the second round
12:49 PM ET Associated Press The Detroit Red Wings signed free agent center Vladislav Namestnikov to a $4 million, two-year contract on Sunday. The Red Wings announced the move on their website. A person with direct knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press the contract’s value on condition of anonymity because it wasn’t revealed
9:12 PM ET Associated Press More than a year after taking a team-friendly contract to help the San Jose Sharks, Kevin Labanc is finally cashing in. Labanc signed an $18.9 million, four-year deal Saturday that carries an annual salary-cap hit of $4,725,000. That’s a significant raise from the $1 million he made last season after
8:12 PM ET ESPN News Services NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils continued their offseason makeover Saturday by acquiring winger Andreas Johnsson from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Joey Anderson. Johnsson, 25, had eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 43 games last season. He is signed for three more years
12:14 PM ET The Boston Bruins have signed winger Craig Smith to a three-year contract worth an NHL cap hit of $3.1 million, they announced Saturday. Smith, 31, scored 18 goals and recorded 31 points for the Nashville Predators last season. He has scored 20 or more goals in five of the past seven seasons.
11:33 PM ET Goaltender Corey Crawford signed a two-year deal with the New Jersey Devils Friday night. The contract carries an average annual value of $3.9 million. The news comes just a day after the Chicago Blackhawks formally parted ways with Crawford, who had been Chicago’s starting goaltender since the 2010-11 season. Crawford, who was
12:45 PM ET NHL Insiders NHL free agency for 2020 is underway! For each key signing, Emily Kaplan, Chris Peters and Greg Wyshynski will be assessing the player’s fit with his new team, weighing whether the terms of the contract make sense, and serving up an overall grade. We’ll be grading the most notable offseason
7:17 AM ET ESPN staff Due to the altered schedule whereby the 2019-20 NHL season was completed quite a bit later than usual — with the Stanley Cup Playoffs lasting until Sept. 29 — free agency will begin on Oct. 9 this year, as opposed to the traditional July 1 starting point. But while the
9:45 PM ET Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils acquired defenseman Ryan Murray from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday for a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft. The 27-year-old Murray, the No. 2 overall pick in 2012, had two goals and seven assists in 27 games last season with the Blue
7:00 AM ET The word that typically defines free agency in the NHL is “uncertainty.” Players with expiring contracts enter a marketplace unsure of what their next deals will look like or where they’ll next call home. But in the 2020 free-agent frenzy, that uncertainty has reached previously unseen levels for players and teams. There’s
10:23 AM ET If I were an NHL general manager, I’d be the loneliest man alive. My colleagues would ostracize me. I would be swiftly deleted from holiday card lists. I’d have to sit near Seattle and Vegas in the annual meetings. This is because, when it comes to free agents, I would not adhere
10:00 PM ET The 2020 NHL draft has finally come to a close. It was a long road to this year’s virtual draft, but all 31 teams walk away with an injection of young talent for their respective pipelines and begin to look ahead to this week’s looming free agency. Surprises hit as early as
7:53 PM ET The 2020 NHL draft is in the books, with 217 selections made over the course of two socially distanced, Zoom-filled days. There were also 27 trades made, although the vast majority were simple pick swaps, as most of the players rumored to be on the trading block remained with their current teams.