NHL notebook: Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher announces retirement

Nashville Predators captain Mike Fisher announced his retirement from the NHL on Thursday.

"This is the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but I know I've made the right one," the 37-year-old Fisher wrote in a letter published in The Tennessean on Thursday. "I've decided to retire from the NHL."

Fisher, who is married to country music star Carrie Underwood, recorded 18 goals and 24 assists in 72 games last season. He added four assists in 20 postseason contests to guide the Predators to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fisher was named Nashville's captain after defenseman Shea Weber was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in June 2016.

--Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun had surgery to repair a knee injury that he suffered this week during offseason training.

Chychrun is expected to make a full recovery, according to the Coyotes, but will be out indefinitely. The team said it would provide an update at the start of training camp in mid-September.

Chychrun, drafted 16th overall last summer, had seven goals, 13 assists and 47 penalty minutes in 68 games as a rookie with the Coyotes last season.

--The Calgary Flames announced several front office moves, the most significant of which was the promotion of Don Maloney to vice president of hockey operations.

Maloney joined the Flames last year as a scout after serving as the Arizona Coyotes general manager from 2007 to 2016.

The Flames also announced they extended the contracts of assistant general managers Craig Conroy and Brad Pascall.

Also, Derek MacKinnon is the Flames new director of pro personnel, Rob Sumner and Fred Parker were named assistant amateur scouting directors under head scout Tod Button, and Chris Snow is the new director of hockey analysis.

--The Florida Panthers reached agreement with defenseman MacKenzie Weegar on a one-year, two-way contract, the team announced.

Weegar, 23, did not record a point while appearing in three games with the Panthers during the 2016-17 season. He made his NHL debut with Florida on April 3 against the Montreal Canadiens.