National Hockey

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo is on track to report for the start of training camp in September in recovering from an undisclosed illness that placed his future in question two months ago.

MONTREAL — General manager Marc Bergevin couldn't pass up a chance to bring one of the most talented French-Canadian players in the league to the Montreal Canadiens.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Phil Housley still remembers high-fiving Sabres fans at Memorial Auditorium in opening his Hall of Fame career in Buffalo during the 1980s.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenceman Erik Gudbranson to a one-year contract extension worth US$3.5 million, the club announced Thursday. The 25-year-old was set to become a restricted free agent on July 1.

The prospect of losing talent to Vegas is keeping a lot of NHL general managers up at night. "Sometimes at 3 in the morning I wake up and remind myself of that: 'You can only lose one player. Go back to sleep,'" Minnesota's Chuck Fletcher said.

PITTSBURGH — Marc-Andre Fleury knew this day was coming, though the winningest goaltender in Pittsburgh Penguins history did his best to push the idea of his inevitable departure to the back of his mind.

CHICAGO — Former NHL defenceman Ulf Samuelsson and Don Granato are joining coach Joel Quenneville's staff in Chicago, giving the Blackhawks a fresh perspective after they were swept in the first round of the playoffs this year.

ST. LOUIS — Former NHL winger Craig Berube has been hired as an associate coach in St. Louis along with two others, completing the staff under coach Mike Yeo.

NEW YORK — The Islanders will start the 2017-18 preseason with a game at the scaled-down Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders will host the Flyers on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.

Team president Glen Sather said Dan Girardi's contributions to the New York Rangers were "immeasurable" as the club announced the impending buyout of his six-year contract.