8:43 PM ET The NHL and its players are closing in on a new collective bargaining agreement that includes remedies for the league’s revenue losses due to the COVID-19 shutdown, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday. One source indicated that a memorandum of understanding could be announced “as early as Sunday.” But that timing was

8:30 AM ET Associated Press Jason Spezza‘s confidence in the NHL returning has not been shaken by word of 11 fellow players testing positive for the coronavirus. Given his involvement in NHL Players’ Association talks, the veteran Toronto forward knew from doctors’ input there would be positive test results in hockey just as there have

8:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This story was originally published on May 26. It has been updated. The NHL will hold its annual draft lottery Friday. Like in previous years, there’s a top prospect prize for the team that wins the first overall pick: Alexis Lafrenière, the high-scoring left wing from the Quebec Major Junior

8:19 PM ET The Vancouver Canucks announced Thursday that their city will not be a 12-team “hub” if the NHL restarts its season this summer, despite speculation it had been one of the front-runners. “From the beginning, our goal was to help the NHL get hockey back on the ice if we could. Although Vancouver

6:30 PM ET New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin said that if the NHL and the NHLPA can’t agree on a fix for the league’s financial system, then players should not report to training camps this summer. “For nearly two decades, the players have protected the owners’ income with escrow, including throughout this pandemic crisis,

3:49 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Aleksander Barkov started his hockey life as a 4-year-old for the Tappara club in his hometown of Tampere, Finland. Two decades later, Barkov is investing in his roots. The Florida Panthers captain has become the third-largest investor in the Tappara club, a deal that was announced Thursday. The

2:02 PM ET Amazon secured naming rights for Seattle’s downtown arena that will house the new NHL team as well as the WNBA’s Storm, but the company’s name will not appear anywhere on the building. Instead, the arena will be called Climate Pledge Arena and will feature several green initiatives. “I think this is going

10:00 AM ET The most frustrated I’ve ever been with the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee was 10 years ago, when its members snubbed coach Pat Burns. He was dying of cancer. “I know my life is nearing its end, and I accept that,” Burns said in April of that year. The Hall of

10:00 AM ET Any other year, the fantasy hockey crew here at ESPN would conventionally wrap up regular-season coverage by summarizing and highlighting what went down in the previous few months, along with a look ahead to next season. This, of course, has been anything but any other year. Now, months after the NHL abruptly

5:02 PM ET Associated Press Jarome Iginla headlines the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2020 after being elected Wednesday in his first year of eligibility. Iginla will be the fourth Black player inducted after Grant Fuhr, women’s hockey pioneer Angela James and Willie O’Ree. Iginla and Fuhr are the only Black NHL players enshrined