William Nylander should be a Toronto Maple Leafs player for a long time if he signs a contract, coach Mike Babcock said Thursday. "I'll tell you again, this is what I think, and it's just what I think," Babcock said. " [General manager] Kyle [Dubas] and I talk about this every day so I'm up to date on what's going on. There's lots of opinion out there. Let's not confuse opinion and facts; we think Willy is going to be here. We think Willy is going to be here for a long time. We think he's going to be a career Leaf. That's what we think, that's what we believe."
VORHEES, N.J. (AP) — Former Philadelphia general manager Ron Hextall said he was stunned the Flyers fired him this week, despite their losing record. Hextall, a former Flyers goalie, was fired Monday after 4 ½ seasons on the job. "I didn't see this coming in any way," Hextall said Friday. "I was shocked. I was stunned, yeah." The Flyers are 10-12-2 and in last place in the Eastern Conference under coach Dave Hakstol headed into Saturday's game at Pittsburgh. Flyers President Paul Holmgren said he fired Hextall because it had "become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team."
BUFFALO -- Erik Karlsson isn't sure if there will be cheers, tears or a combination of both when he faces his former team for the first time on Saturday.How will the fans react to him? How will he react to them?"It's going to be fun, different, weird, I'm sure," the San Jose Sharks defenseman said Monday about returning to play the Ottawa Senators. "We'll see what the emotions will be.
Connor McDavid has little concern that a focus on flair and offensive firepower appear to be out the window for the Edmonton Oilers under new coach Ken Hitchcock.
Auston Matthews said he's ready to return to the lineup when the Toronto Maple Leafs play the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV), but is awaiting clearance from the medical staff.