Stars Rumors & News

Faceoff Circle "As you’ve probably noticed over the past few days, I’ve by and large put hockey content on the back-burner. This site has been more or less silent, and very little of my social media content has anything to do with the sport. Instead, I’ve largely used my Twitter account to..." June 05

The Score "The NHL will initiate Phase 2 of its Return to Play Plan on June 8, meaning teams will be permitted to reopen training facilities and host up to six players and limited staff for voluntary individual workouts, the league announced Thursday. "The various measures set out..." June 04

The Hockey News "If you still think this year’s Stanley Cup winner should have an asterisk beside its name for all of eternity, then you’re probably one of those people for whom nothing is good enough. You’re probably not the kind of person with whom most people would want to be stuck in an..." June 04

New York Post "We don’t know when, we don’t know where, and we still don’t know whether it will even be possible to play hockey through a pandemic, but we do know the format of the NHL’s imagined summer Stanley Cup tournament. Following talks between the league and the..." June 04

The Big Lead "On Thursday, Max Kellerman took to First Take and claimed, "nobody cares about hockey." He further stated that hockey isn't one of the four major team sports. Our question is what does Kellerman think the four major team sports are? Here's the..." June 04

TSN "While CBA talks have been included in discussion between the NHL and NHLPA, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports talks on extending the CBA have intensified as of late. " June 04

Sportsnet "The NHL playoffs will be re-seeded after every round instead of using a bracket system, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. " June 04

Edmonton Journal "It might be a lot of fun right now to dial into a Zoom meeting between the creative minds of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet, NBC Sports and NHL Productions. It would be excellent entertainment and an education, I believe, to watch them spitball ideas on how to present empty arena..." June 04

Lighthouse Hockey "The NHL Players Association plans to take action on behalf of several free agents looking to start their NHL contacts as soon as possible. One of which being the Islanders star goalie prospect, 24-year-old Ilya Sorokin, along with a “handful” of other guys that NHL..." June 03

Pro Hockey Talk "During the latest episode of “Our Line Starts,” Keith Jones and Patrick Sharp argued that the 2020 Stanley Cup might just be the toughest to ever win. However you feel about that, others argued similarly. Back in mid-April, Golden Knights forward Max..." June 03

Ottawa Sun "Earlier this week a friend who bleeds the blue and white of Toronto’s NHL team typed out a text while no doubt shaking his head in dismay. “No Maple Leaf has won the scoring title since the early 1940s,” it read. I didn’t have the heart to tell him..." June 03

The Score "With 16 teams now set to compete for the final eight postseason spots during the play-in round if the 2019-20 NHL campaign resumes this summer, some clubs will surely be leaning on a netminder to help secure a playoff berth. Let's take a look at five goalies who can steal a..." June 03

Sportsnet "If the NHL is able to resume this summer it’ll do so with a 24-team playoff format that includes a 16-team “play-in round” before the standard 16-team Stanley Cup Playoffs get going. Whenever that begins, we wonder what we’re in for here. The NHL has been on..." June 02

The Score "The NHL's 2019-20 postseason will feature even more superstars than usual thanks to an expanded field. But there are also several less heralded players who are primed to make an impact for their respective teams. Here are five key contributors who have a chance to be the..." June 02

Pro Hockey Rumors "The Dallas Stars have signed prospect Fredrik Karlstrom just before his draft rights expired, inking him to a two-year entry-level contract. Karlstrom could have become an unrestricted free agent had he failed to sign today, but he will join the organization that drafted him back..." June 01

Sportsnet "Teams and players across the National Hockey League are speaking out against racial injustice in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death while in police custody last week in Minneapolis. On Sunday, the NHL put out a statement that read: “As protests in both the United States..." June 01

New York Post "We’re not suggesting that an MLB-type public squabble is going to break out during the NHL’s negotiations with the NHLPA as the parties attempt to craft a safe, sane and equitable way to put hockey’s 24-team tournament on the ice this summer, but no one..." June 01

Winnipeg Sun "Nick Foligno outlined it best last week when he signaled the possibility of a fight at some point between players and the National Hockey League. For context, the Columbus Blue Jackets captain was speaking along with his general manager Jarmo Kekalainen about the league’s..." June 01

The Score "Evander Kane is pleased with what he's seen so far from a growing number of prominent white figures in the NHL after he called upon them to speak out against racial injustice and anti-black racism in the wake of George Floyd's death. "For me, it's been …..." June 01

ESPN "Angela Ruggiero is a Hockey Hall of Famer, a successful businessperson and a respected former member of the International Olympic Committee. She will add "head coach" to that biography next summer as one of the inaugural group of eight bench bosses for 3ICE, an innovative 3-on-3..." June 01

Yardbarker "If and when the NHL season resumes, the league will have many different safety protocols in place, and many players have expressed their desire for the league to have COVID-19 testing available to all athletes and staff participating in the return to the ice. It seems their request..." May 31

The Score "The NHL clarified its plan for processing conditional trades involving 2020 draft picks in a memo sent to teams this week, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. With the NHL and NHLPA agreeing upon a unique 24-team playoff format, the league has ruled teams must advance..." May 30

The Score "MGM Resorts International has submitted a bid to the NHL showcasing Las Vegas' ability to serve as a hub city for the expanded postseason, sources told The Athletic's Jesse Granger. Exact details of the proposal are currently unknown, but it reportedly highlights the..." May 30

Sportsnet "“There’s no magic to starting in October,” Gary Bettman said this week, but there may be some found in finishing then. For it looks increasingly like that’s when the commissioner will be handing over the Stanley Cup if health conditions allow the NHL to go..." May 29

Sporting News "The NHL released a comprehensive 21-page memo Monday detailing the next phase of what will hopefully lead to the resumption of the 2019-20 season — and a Stanley Cup champion being crowned — sometime this summer. Tuesday Gary Bettman went on network television..." May 29

The Score "There's plenty wrong with the NHL's seven non-playoff teams - that's why they're at the bottom of the standings. None of them are a fix away from winning the Stanley Cup. The climb to the top will be a marathon, not a sprint. That said, aside from winning the..." May 29

Sportsnet "The NHL informed its players on Thursday that Phase 3 of the league’s return-to-play plan, which includes training camps, will not start before July 10, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Players informed today Phase III (training camps) won’t start before..." May 28

ESPN "The conversation I've been having inside my head this week: Hockey Brain: "Hooray, hockey's comin' back!" Cynical Brain: "This 24-team tournament and elaborate draft lottery are merely the framework for a possible..." May 28

TSN "The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association are expected to push back the June 1 entry-level contract signing deadline by one month, according to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger. Both parties need more time to negotiate on the..." May 28

Toronto Star "What, you wonder, can the NBA take away from the NHL’s big return to play plan laid out yesterday by Gary Bettman? Nothing. I know we up here tend to use one sport as a point of reference against the other and that’s so dead wrong it drives me..." May 28

Pro Hockey Rumors "With the league announcing their return to play format, the regular season is now over. Though we don’t know exactly when the Stanley Cup will be handed out, we do know who has won several regular season awards. The league officially announced the winners of the Art Ross,..." May 28

The Score "The U.S. Center for SafeSport is investigating USA Hockey president Jim Smith's handling of sexual misconduct and abuse allegations against a youth coach, The Athletic's Katie Strang reports. Smith is being investigated for turning a blind eye when Tom..." May 28

Yardbarker "As part of the 24-team format to crown a Stanley Cup champion amid the coronavirus pandemic officially announced on Tuesday by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman , clubs will be limited to 50 personnel at hub cities for round-robin seeding games, all best-of-five play-in series,..." May 28

Pro Hockey Rumors "When Scott Perunovich agreed to terms on two different contracts with the St. Louis Blues back in March, it led to plenty of confusion around the league. The plan was to have Perunovich sign a contract for 2019-20 if the season returned, allowing him to step right into a spot on..." May 28

The Score "The NHL's return-to-play format certainly hasn't satisfied everybody, but the plan does have its benefits. Fans get to indulge in more playoff hockey than usual after a layoff that has felt like an eternity. The league and its owners get the chance to recoup some lost revenue...." May 28

The Hockey News "Given the circumstances, there was no way the NHL was going to make everyone happy. Is a 24-team Stanley Cup tournament in the dead of summer the ideal solution here? Probably not. But when it comes to what millions of other people are enduring as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic,..." May 27

Yardbarker "The NHL announced its return-to-play plan this week, and that includes two hub cities hosting 24 teams in a rather interesting playoff format. While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman named 10 hub city finalists, things aren't set in stone. There's still a chance..." May 27

The Score "With the NHL officially unveiling its plan to use a 24-team playoff format if it does return to play this season, commissioner Gary Bettman ruled the 2019-20 regular season effectively finished. A number of big trades were made this past year that included conditional draft..." May 27

TSN "In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney asked the federal government to exempt NHL players and personnel from the country's travel protocol to facilitate Edmonton's bid to be a hub city in the NHL's potential return to play. Kenney..." May 27

Bleacher Report "As the NHL turns its attention to a return to play that would feature 24 teams playing in two hub cities in an effort to determine a Stanley Cup champion, the league does not think one positive COVID-19 test would shut down the efforts. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly..." May 27

The Score "NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the league remains keen on having a Canadian city serve as a hub if and when the return-to-play plan is initiated, but he admits that might not be possible. "We would certainly like to have a (hub) city in Canada," Daly..." May 27

USA Today "Palms are slick with sweat and the heart rate is elevated. Breaths are sharp and hurried. Expletives are verbally hurled at the television, quite often. This is the heightened life experience otherwise known as watching playoff hockey. It's a feeling sports fans haven't..." May 27

CBS Sports "NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league's official return-to-play plan on Tuesday afternoon, making the NHL the first of the four major North American sports leagues to officially declare its plans to play following the coronavirus shutdown. Bettman officially closed the book on..." May 27

Pro Hockey Talk "The NHL seeks to hand out the 2020 Stanley Cup despite the COVID-19 pandemic, so with that, Tuesday ranks as a big day. Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league’s return-to-play plan, which includes a 24-team playoff format involving two “hub cities.”..." May 26

Pro Hockey Rumors "NHL commissioner Gary Bettman today explained how exactly the 24-team return to play format will work, a proposal that was submitted to and approved by the NHLPA executive board over the weekend. First and foremost was the announcement that the 2019-20 regular season is..." May 26

The Hockey News "Tens of millions of dollars in costs to the NHL, some 30,000 COVID-19 tests and, unless the Canadian government relaxes its 14-day quarantining requirement for people entering the country, no chance of seeing any live hockey in the best league in the world north of the 49th parallel for..." May 26

Sportsnet "Before NHL players are permitted to step back inside a team facility they must first have a swab inserted roughly four centimetres into their nasal cavity. Laboratory-based RT-PCR testing is used to detect any active or recent infection with COVID-19, and will be administered 48 hours..." May 26

The Score "Baby steps. That's what it's going to take for NHL action to return this summer. The league and the players' association moved ever so slightly in that direction Monday by announcing their intention to transition from Phase 1 (months of..." May 26

Pro Hockey Rumors "When drafting a player out of North America or any European country with a transfer agreement, a team acquires their exclusive negotiating rights for a set amount of time. Each year on June 1, a long list of players see those rights expire and become unrestricted free agents (or choose to..." May 26

TSN "Like everything in Michael Jordan’s orbit, The Last Dance  – a 10-part documentary series that concluded on ESPN and Netflix last week – was iconic and memorable. If not for the fact that it was virtually the only fresh sports content available during a global pandemic,..." May 26