Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown and Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews were announced Monday as this year’s finalists for the 2012-13 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award presented by Bridgestone. First awarded following the 2006-07 season, the honor is given to “the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice during the regular season.” Messier [...]

The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed rugged fourth-line forward John Scott to a one-year contract. The team announced the signing on Monday morning. Listed at 6-foot-8 and 270 pounds, Scott had no points and 69 penalty minutes in 34 games last season. The Sabres acquired Scott by signing him to a one-year contract in free agency last summer to add size [...]

Joel Quenneville, Bruce Boudreau and Paul MacLean are finalists for the Jack Adams Award, given to the head coach who has contributed most to his team’s success. The NHL announced the nominees on Friday. The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup final.   Quenneville led the Chicago Blackhawks to a league-best 36-7-5 mark after [...]

New York Islanders forward Matt Moulson, Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis are the three finalists for the NHL’s Lady Byng Trophy, the league’s sportsmanship award. St. Louis has already won the award twice (2010 and ’11), and was a finalist two other times. The 37-year-old ranked second among NHL forwards in total time on ice, but [...]

Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings are finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Bergeron, who won last year, was the NHL’s top face-off man this season at 62.1 percent. He ranked sixth overall and led the Bruins in plus-minus with a plus-24 rating and [...]

Bolstering his corps of bottom-six forwards is thought to be on Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish‘s off-season to-do list. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal suggests two current members of the Chicago Blackhawks, or a member of the Minnesota Wild, may fit the bill. “MacTavish wants to rebuild his bottom six, with presumably bigger and feistier role players, but they [...]

The NHL is in the final planning stages of its much-anticipated series of outdoor stadium games next season with six outdoor contests set to take place in football and baseball stadiums across North America, sources familiar with the plan confirmed to ESPN.com Tuesday. The series will start with the annual Winter Classic, recently confirmed for [...]

ESPNBoston.com’s James Murphy confirms the Swedish Ice Hockey Association has indeed blocked Carl Soderberg‘s deal with the Boston Bruins. Apparently the national association is fairly intent on Soderberg suiting up for Sweden at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. The tournament ends May 19. The Colorado Avalanche will retire the jersey of longtime defenseman Adam Foote in a ceremony next season. The 41-year-old [...]

Per Darren Dreger the Boston Bruins have traded Maxime Sauve to the Chicago Blackhawks for Rob Flick.

Playing catch up on some of the trades and rumors from around the league. The San Jose Sharks have dealt center Michal Handzus to the Chicago Blackhawks for a fourth-round draft pick. The deal Monday is the second the Sharks have made in the past week. San Jose traded defenseman Douglas Murray to Pittsburgh last [...]