BRENT BURNS

The Columbus Blue Jackets made the biggest splash in NHL free agency, stunning the league by landing Johnny Gaudreau with a seven-year contract for $68.25 million.

The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche have brought back defenseman Josh Manson with a four-year deal worth $18 million.

The NHL is following other leagues and the CDC by cutting COVID-19 isolation times to five days under certain conditions and where it is allowed by local laws.

Jordan Greenway scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 for their eighth straight win.

Some of the NHL's stars are not on the ice for the start of training camps.

San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, center, celebrates with teammates Patrick Marleau (12) and Mario Ferraro (38) after scoring a goal against Minnesota Wild during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The San Jose Sharks have returned to practice and are set to play the St. Louis Blues as scheduled on Saturday night after having one game postponed because a player tested positive for the coronavirus. Tomas Hertl was placed on the COVID-19 list on Wednesday, leading to the team canceling practice that day and postponing Thursday’s game against Vegas. With no other players or staff testing positive since then, the Sharks were allowed to return to practice Friday and will host St. Louis the next night. ___The Atlantic Coast Conference will expand use of KINEXON SafeTag contact tracing devices by equipping players, coaches and Tier 1 personnel for its upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

San Jose's Erik Karlsson (65) handles the puck against Minnesota Wild's Nick Bjugstad (27) in the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in St. Paul, Minn. San Jose won 5-3. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)With an outbreak delaying the Dallas Stars' opener, Rick Bowness got to watch a lot of hockey in the first couple of nights of the NHL season. “It was entertaining hockey, but it was a little sloppy,” Bowness said. “We’re staying in 5-star hotels, get to play hockey, so I can’t complain,” defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. Ad___Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson formally retained Boughner as San Jose's coach Tuesday, removing the interim tag to make him the ninth full-time head coach in franchise history. He’s very open-minded in looking to find solutions.”Boughner also hired Rocky Thompson as his associate coach and John Madden as an assistant coach. Mike Ricci, the former Sharks forward who became an assistant under Boughner, will be an NHL development coach. Thompson succeeded Boughner as the head coach at Windsor in 2015, and he won the Memorial Cup in 2017. He spent the past three seasons as head coach of the AHL's Cleveland Monsters, Columbus' top affiliate.

The former Red Wing scored many of his 243 goals in front of the net, redirecting pucks past goaltenders. He played in the NHL from the 1996-97 season through the 2011-12 season. Net-front play is critical in every NHL game simply because goalies tend to stop shots they can see. They're going to dig their edges in and not going to move. Goalies, while the puck travels from stick to stick, stay on the move ever so slightly so that they can see what they're trying to stop.