NHL

4:49 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The New York Rangers agreed to terms Thursday with goaltender Alexandar Georgiev on a new contract. Georgiev was a restricted free agent. The 24-year-old is expected to back up Igor Shesterkin next season after the Rangers bought out longtime face of the franchise Henrik Lundqvist. Georgiev went

4:41 PM ET Unrestricted free agent Joe Thornton has taken his talents to Switzerland while he doesn’t have an NHL contract and everyone waits to see when the season will begin. HC Davos announced that they have signed the 41-year-old, and he could play for them as soon as Saturday. His deal does not preclude

2:12 PM ET The Ottawa Senators have landed one of the last big-impact free agents, signing forward Evgenii Dadonov to a three-year contract with an annual average value of $5 million. Despite the pandemic-shortened regular season, Dadonov tallied his third straight 25-goal season for the Panthers. He did it with a career-high 15% shooting percentage

10:20 AM ET The biggest lie NHL free agents tell themselves is that their team is their family. The dressing room can be a band of brothers. Lifelong friendships are forged through daily routines and long playoff runs, through wives and children bonding with others in the organization. All of this is true, and all

8:00 AM ET The 2020 NHL free-agent frenzy has started to mellow out. The flat salary cap had teams scrambling to find the right fits under less-than-ideal financial conditions, leaving some free agents waiting to see if lucrative opportunities would still materialize. Here are the top 10 unrestricted free agents still on the market as

6:29 PM ET Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley said he believes the 2020-21 NHL season will begin on Feb. 1, a full month after the NHL’s current “target date.” Foley told KSHP’s Vegas Hockey Hotline that he expects the season will be less than 60 games, saying it could be “48 or 56 games.”

6:23 PM ET The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward Brendan Gallagher to a six-year contract extension that averages $6.5 million per season. The deal keeps him in Montreal through 2026-27. Gallagher, 28, had 22 goals and 43 points in 59 games this past season with Montreal. His 2020-21 cap hit is $3.75 million in the

7:15 AM ET The NHL free-agent frenzy was unprecedented this offseason — and not just because it took place when the regular season is usually scheduled to start. The new collective bargaining agreement kept the salary cap flat at $81.5 million. Otherwise, it would have plummeted, just as team revenues have during the COVID-19 pandemic.

4:22 PM ET Boston Bruins stars Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak underwent offseason surgeries that could have them out of the lineup for the start of the 2020-21 NHL season. The team announced that Pastrnak underwent a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on Sept. 16. He’s on target to make a full recovery in

7:30 AM ET The dust has finally settled on the 2020 NHL draft. We know the Ducks, Kings and Rangers, in particular, did really well in their selections. But what next for this class? Grading each team’s haul aside, what do the new draft picks mean for each team’s system and future? After gathering my

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

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