NHL Metropolitan

Three decades after helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cups, Jaromir Jagr had his jersey retired on what the city has officially been declared Jaromir Jagr Day.

Jagr, the second all-time leading scorer in NHL history and a key member of the Penguins' 1991 and 1992 championship teams, was in Pittsburgh to see his No. 68 jersey raised to the rafters prior to the Penguins' Sunday game against the Los Angeles Kings.

He is the third Penguins player to see his jersey retired after Mario Lemieux and Michel Briere.

The Penguins began the ceremony with a video honoring Jagr's accomplishments in Pittsburgh.

Jagr finished his Penguins career with 1,079 points and 439 goals, fourth only to Lemieux and future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the most in team history.

Lemieux was present for the 40-minute ceremony, during which Jagr told fans the 11 years he played in Pittsburgh were "probably the best years of my life."

"Today, all the highlights, videos, goals, even the hair, great memories," Jagr said.

After participating in Penguins practice Saturday, Jagr joined the current team for warmups before Sunday's contest against the Kings.

The rest of the team celebrated the temporary addition to the roster with wigs honoring Jagr's iconic mullet.

After joining the rest of the Penguins for a team photo, Jagr left the ice after a solo lap and a salute that earned him a standing ovation from the crowd at PPG Paints Arena.

Jagr spent 24 years in the NHL, a span over which he played for the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames.

But four of his five career 100-point campaigns, and both of his Stanley Cups, came in Pittsburgh.

"You ask anybody in the world, Czech, Europe, and you say 'Jaromir Jagr.' They're going to say Pittsburgh Penguins," Jagr told the crowd at PPG Paints Arena.

Jagr, 52, is still an active hockey player in the Czech Republic, where he plays for the hometown team he owns, the Kladno Knights.

The 2026 NHL All-Star Game will take place at the New York Islanders' UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

This will be the first All-Star event hosted at UBS Arena, where the Islanders moved in 2021.

"We have been looking forward to UBS Arena playing host to one of our major League events since before construction of this wonderful arena began," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

The Islanders last hosted the All-Star Game at Nassau Coliseum in 1983. Wayne Gretzky earned his first NHL All-Star MVP Award during the event.

The news was announced on Sunday's ABC broadcast by Islanders alumni and Hockey Hall of Famers Dennis Potvin and Brian Trottier.

Although the dates of the 2026 All-Star weekend have yet to be announced, the event will take place before the 2026 Winter Olympics, which are scheduled to begin in Milan on February 6.

The Games will feature NHL players for the first time since Sochi 2014 thanks to an agreement brokered between the league, the players' association, the International Ice Hockey Federation, and the International Olympic Committee.

Marty Walsh, NHLPA Executive Director, called the upcoming All-Star Game "an exciting lead-in to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games."

The event at UBS Arena will also mark the first NHL All-Star weekend in two years after the league skips the event during the 2024-25 season.

Next season, the All-Star weekend will be replaced by the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, which is set to take place from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20. The seven-game tournament will take place in two host cities, one in the United States and one in Canada, that have yet to be announced.

The 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend took place at the Toronto Maple Leafs' Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario from Feb. 1-3 as Mathew Barzal represented the Islanders. The event featured an expanded three-day schedule revamped skills competition designed with input from Connor McDavid.

For the 2026 event, the league is considering "a format with more international emphasis," according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.

The Philadelphia Flyers are more than ready for their Stadium Series matchup against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at MetLife Stadium.

The team pulled up to the matchup wearing "Rocky" sweatsuits, sending a clear message that they're ready to go to battle:

Saturday's tilt marks the sixth outdoor game for the Flyers and the first since they played the Boston Bruins in the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe. They also played in the 2017 and 2019 Stadium Series matchups and the 2010 and 2012 Winter Classics.

The Flyers have been one of the NHL's biggest surprises this season following a disappointing 2022-23 campaign. They sit third in the Metropolitan Division with a 29-19-7 record.

The team has seemingly embraced the "Rocky" mindset under head coach John Tortorella, so their arrival for Saturday's matchup couldn't have been any more perfect.

As for the Devils, they arrived to the Stadium Series dressed in Sopranos-inspired outfits:

This is New Jersey's first outdoor game since the 2014 Stadium Series and second overall. The Devils sit fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a 27-22-4 record.

The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Thursday they fired Jarmo Kekalainen as general manager.

President of hockey operations John Davidson will assume interim GM duties for the time being.

"This is one of the hardest days I have had in my career as Jarmo is a friend, someone I have a great deal of respect for and someone who has done a lot of good things during his time here," Davidson said in a statement. "While the future of our club is bright, our performance has not been good enough and it is time for a fresh perspective as we move forward."

Kekalainen took over as the GM in February 2013. During his tenure, the franchise achieved a level of sustained success that had been elusive since it entered the league in 2000. The Blue Jackets reached the playoffs in 2013-14 and started a four-year playoff streak in 2016-17.

The 57-year-old's experience as a scout was evident. He built a perennial contender on the strength of some excellent trades and identifying undervalued assets.

However, Kekalainen has been unable to repeat the process after many of the key stars responsible for those multiple postseason trips moved on.

The Blue Jackets are on pace to finish with a points percentage below .500 for the fourth straight season, and they're heading toward a last-place finish in the Eastern Conference for a second successive campaign.

Kekalainen's big gambits to accelerate the rebuild haven't worked out.

Johnny Gaudreau's return (28 goals and 81 assists) on the ice hasn't been terrible so far, but his six-year, $68.3 million contract is a tough pill to swallow on a team this bad. Patrik Laine's four-year, $34.8 million pact also hasn't aged well.

Kekalainen's unwillingness to embrace a full-scale rebuild has left the franchise in a much worse state than if he had just torn the roster down to the studs in 2021 or 2022. Because of that, his departure doesn't come as a huge surprise.

His successor will be left to sift through the damage.

Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin is the new record holder for career empty-net goals.

The veteran scored his 57th career open-net goal, breaking legendary center Wayne Gretzky's previous record. The goal that came in the third period helped the Capitals in a 3-0 route against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Besides Ovechkin and Gretzky, no other players have scored more than 40 empty-net goals. Gretzky reached his number of 56 in 1,487 games, while Ovechkin broke the record in 1,394 games.

The goal also gave Ovechkin his 834th career goal, and he sits 60 goals behind Gretzky, who had 894 in his career. This year, Ovechkin has notched 12 goals after scoring 42 last season.

Ovechkin also leads the NHL in all-time power-play goals with 304 and overtime goals with 26.

The Capitals have struggled this season, sitting in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division at 23-20-7. With Saturday's win over the Bruins, Washington managed to snap a six-game win streak, and the Capitals will be looking to keep the momentum going into a two-game home stand. Washington will take on the Vancouver Cunucks on Sunday.

It's a new era on Long Island.

The New York Islanders announced Saturday that head coach Lane Lambert had been "relieved of his coaching responsibilities" and that the franchise had named Hall of Famer Patrick Roy as the new head coach.

The Islanders are currently 19-15-11 and sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division. Lambert was in his second season as the team's head coach and finished with an overall record of 61-46-20.

Roy is considered to be one of the best goaltenders of all time. He played 19 seasons in the NHL, winning 551 games, five William M. Jennings Trophies, three Vezina Trophies and four Stanley Cups with two franchises.

His experience in hockey doesn't just come from his excellence on the ice as he notably served as the head coach and vice president of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-14 to 2015-16, compiling 130-92-24 overall record and leading the Avalanche to a playoff appearance. He also has had two stints as a head coach within the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Roy provides experience and expertise and will take over a team that has been successful in recent seasons. The Islanders have reached the playoffs in four of the past five seasons while contending in the competitive Metropolitan Division. The highlight of this stretch was the team's run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019-20.

The Islanders currently sit six points outside the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot and will need a spark in order to qualify for the postseason. It looks like the Islanders believe Roy can provide that spark, especially with the All-Star break fast approaching.

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded top prospect Cutter Gauthier for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft, the team announced Monday.

According to the Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, Gauthier, a 19-year old forward, informed the Flyers that he did not want to play in Philadelphia. Gauthier is in his second season at Boston College, where he has 13 goals and 10 assists in 17 games. He helped America win gold just a few days ago at the World Junior Hockey Championship, scoring two goals and picking up 10 assists in seven games.

Drysdale, who is in his fourth season with the Ducks, has scored one goal and has four assists this season. He was drafted by Anaheim with the sixth pick in 2020.

The Flyers sit in third in the Metropolitan Division at 20-13-6. The Ducks have struggled this season, sitting in seventh place in the Pacific Division at 13-25-1.

By trading for the fifth pick in the 2022 draft, the Ducks are planning for the future by picking up a piece that could aid their offense for years to come. That plan was made easier by Gauthier telling the front office he didn't want to play for the Flyers.

The move to trade one young star in Drysdale for a promising prospect in Gauthier could be one that will have a huge impact for years to come.