EDMONTON -- Edmonton Oilers right wing Nail Yakupov is hoping a strong finish to 2014-15 carries over into this season.

Yakupov excelled after Edmonton made a coaching change Dec. 15, replacing Dallas Eakins with Todd Nelson, and showed the attributes that made him the No. 1 pick of the 2012 NHL Draft.

"It's good to finish the season pretty well," Yakupov said this week during Perry Pearn's 3-on-3 Hockey Camp in Edmonton. "I was really excited to play hockey again and to come to the rink every day. I was really excited about that and I'm glad I was able to get back on track. I was also happy to be asked to play in the [2015 IIHF] World Championship at the end of the year, even though I couldn't play because [of an injured hip]."

Yakupov scored 14 goals and established NHL career highs with 19 assists and 33 points in 81 games last season. He had four goals and four assists in 31 games playing for Eakins, then had 10 goals and had 15 assists in 50 games under Nelson.

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward said Thursday he wants a new contract, but the top priority for the 31-year-old entering training camp is helping his team win as many games as possible this season.

"I'm just kind of going about my business and making sure that I'm ready to go," said Ward, who is entering the final season of the six-year, $37.8 million contract he signed in September 2009. "Obviously it's no secret that I love playing here and this is where I want to be. Yeah, in a perfect world it'd be great to have something done. But there's no pressure. Obviously I need to prepare myself and go out there and have a great year, not only for myself but for the Hurricanes. It's about the team first."

Ward is 246-191-58 in 512 regular-season games in10 NHL seasons, all with the Hurricanes.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are expecting plenty of offense from forward Brandon Saad, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on June 30 and is likely get a chance to play on the first line.

But coach Todd Richards said Monday that he expects the two-time Stanley Cup winner, who's 22, to provide leadership in the dressing room as well.

"I just want him to come in here and be Brandon Saad, first and foremost," Richards told the Blue Jackets website. "There are things he can add to this team on the ice in game situations and practice, but there's also a lot he can bring to our room. A winning attitude, confidence, knowing that you've won and know what it takes. There will be some leadership there.

Center Shawn Matthias is excited to play for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs this season.

"Any new team you come to, you want to do your best," Matthias told the Toronto Sun on Friday. "But for me to come here and play in front of friends and family ... I don't want to play awful because there will be lots of people critiquing my game. In the other markets, you wouldn't have had all these cameras here today, (reporters) asking me questions. But it's special to be home. I don't take it for granted. I have to be responsible and accountable."

Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby played goalie for the Penguins' front office dek hockey team Tuesday and helped Team Iceland to a 4-3 shootout victory at Cranberry Dek Hockey in Cranberry, Pa.

About 50 friends and family attended the game. Crosby shared coaching tips and got the win, although it's not known how many saves he made.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Among his list of accomplishments gained through the course of 17 years in the NHL, one that Daniel Briere cherishes greatly is the one that hits closest to home for the native of Gatineau, Quebec.

"I leave the game now and for the rest of my life now I can say I was a Montreal Canadien," Briere said Tuesday during his retirement press conference at Virtua Flyers Skate Zone, the practice facility of the Philadelphia Flyers. "When I go back home, I can say that I've played for the Montreal Canadiens, which is pretty cool, for me personally."

Briere played for the Canadiens for one season (2013-14), and it wasn't even a good season by his standards; he scored 13 goals and had 25 points in 68 games after signing a two-year, $8 million contract with Montreal after getting bought out by the Flyers in the summer of 2013. The Canadiens traded him to the Colorado Avalanche last summer.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Daniel Briere made his decision to retire from the NHL for two reasons: realism and selflessness.

After 17 seasons in the NHL, Briere couldn't convince himself to train this summer and get his mind and body ready for another season, just so he might be able to sign with a team willing to give him a minor role such as the one he had last season as a minimally used forward with the Colorado Avalanche.

"That's about all I was going to get, and I'm realistic with that," Briere said Tuesday during his retirement press conference at the Virtua Flyers Skate Zone, the practice facility for the Philadelphia Flyers.

TERREBONNE, Quebec -- Alexandre Burrows watched from his suburban Montreal home as his Vancouver Canucks underwent a bit of a makeover this offseason, and he never questioned it.

Now, with training camp about a month away, Burrows said he sees no reason Vancouver can't remain competitive in a tough Western Conference while in the midst of what Canucks president Trevor Linden has called a transition period.

"I put my confidence in our management group of [general manager] Jim Benning and Trevor Linden," Burrows said Tuesday at a charity golf tournament hosted by Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. "They're obviously intelligent people with a plan, and last season was the first year of their plan."

TERREBONNE, Quebec -- On July 2, one day after NHL free agency opened, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin met with the media to discuss their moves.

Bergevin was asked about the defensive style of play employed by Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. In response, Bergevin got, well, defensive.

Bergevin fired back at the reporter to identify one aspect of the Canadiens system that makes it so defensive, and claimed the style they play is not much different from the one used by the majority of teams in the NHL.

"What do we do differently than other teams that makes us a defensive team?" Bergevin asked, annoyed with the line of questioning.

During the press conference, Bergevin said he did not feel the Canadiens would be any better off if they allowed 20 more goals in order to score 20 more; he said he feels the lack of offense could be addressed if the power play were to improve on its 16.5 percent success rate of last season.

But at the core -- and Bergevin has repeated this on numerous occasions -- the Canadiens' strength lies in goal with Carey Price and, to a slightly lesser extent, on defense with P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov and Jeff Petry.

If the Canadiens finish 20th in scoring but first in goals allowed, as they did last season, they should be on the winning side more often than not.

The concern is whether Price will be able to repeat the historic season he just completed. If not, will the Canadiens' lack of offense come back to bite them?

This is why the perception the Canadiens use a stifling defensive style persists in Montreal, and six weeks after his general manager faced questions on it, it was Therrien's turn to do the same this week.

Brendan Gallagher has high hopes for new Montreal Canadiens forwards Alexander Semin and Zack Kassian.

The Canadiens signed Semin to a one-year contract reportedly worth $1.1 million July 24, a little more than three weeks after the Carolina Hurricanes bought out the final three years of the 31-year-old's five-year, $35 million contract.

"Semin is a guy that other teams have to be aware of," Gallagher said Wednesday at his charity softball game at Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium. "He's dangerous every time he's on the ice. He doesn't need much time and space to put the puck in the back of the net."