Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who underwent left wrist surgery Sept. 8, will make his season debut Saturday night against the visiting New Jersey Devils.

Crosby, 34, had estimated he would miss "at least" six weeks, and it has been a little more than seven weeks since the procedure.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman talked to Kyle Beach on Saturday about what the league can do to better protect its players after the former first-round pick said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach in 2010 and that his allegations were largely ignored by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Susan Loggans, an attorney representing Beach in a lawsuit against the team, said Bettman expressed his "sincere regret" over what Beach had experienced. He also offered the NHL's help with psychological services and anything else that the league had available.

Andrew Brunette has a chance to be an NHL head coach now, taking over a Florida Panthers team that is off to the best start in franchise history.

Brunette debuted as the replacement for Joel Quenneville as Florida's coach Friday, running the Panthers through a gameday practice in Detroit. And he made it clear that the Panthers' on-ice matters are dwarfed by the bigger issue of the sexual assaults reported by former Chicago Blackhawks player Kyle Beach in 2010 and the subsequent cover-up that has engulfed the sport after details came out in recent days.

Joel Quenneville resigned Thursday as head coach of the Florida Panthers following a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about his involvement in the Chicago Blackhawks' sexual abuse case.

Assistant coach Andrew Brunette will take over on an interim basis, an NHL source told ESPN.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby participated in an optional skate Tuesday morning and is nearing a return after undergoing left wrist surgery in early September.

Crosby skated in an individual workout first, then joined his teammates for the morning skate for the second time in four days.

Chicago Blackhawks president of hockey operations Stan Bowman has resigned after investigators released their findings on how the team handled sexual assault allegations against former video coach Brad Aldrich during the 2010 Stanley Cup run.

Senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac is also out, meaning there are no Blackhawks executives involved with the 2010 team remaining with the organization.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby still isn't sure when he will be cleared to return after he had left wrist surgery last month.

Crosby skated with his teammates for more than an hour Friday in the latest step in his recovery from surgery in early September. The team announced at the time of the procedure that Crosby would miss a minimum of six weeks.

Jack Eichel's camp is making one last attempt to convince Buffalo Sabres management to let him get his preferred surgery, sources told ESPN.

Eichel, 24, has a herniated disk in his neck, and there is now urgency to have it addressed as soon as possible. Initially, Eichel was hopeful that the Sabres would trade him to a team that would allow him to get a disk replacement surgery. The Sabres prefer Eichel receive a fusion surgery, as a disk replacement has never been performed on an NHL player. Under NHL collective bargaining agreement rules, teams have the final say on how to treat injuries.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL's most valuable team and the only franchise in the league worth $2 billion, according to data compiled by Sportico.

The NHL welcomes the Seattle Kraken as its 32nd team for the 2021-22 season, but according to Sportico, the league's top five most valuable teams are still Original Six franchises. Following the Maple Leafs are the New York Rangers ($1.87 billion), Montreal Canadiens ($1.5 billion), Chicago Blackhawks ($1.36 billion) and Boston Bruins ($1.31 billion).

The Toronto Maple Leafs sported TikTok decals on their helmets Wednesday night for the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens.

The team's parent company announced a deal with TikTok earlier Wednesday for the social media platform's logo to appear on players' helmets throughout the season.