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Jaroslav Chmelar earned his position with the New York Rangers through hard work and exceptional play in the American Hockey League for the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Despite not necessarily being on anybody’s radar to play for the Rangers going into the 2025-26 campaign, that quickly changed. 

The 22-year-old forward was called up early in November by the Rangers, as Mike Sullivan said he was told that Chmelar was the Wolf Pack’s best player through the early stages of the season. 

He played in two games before being sent down to the AHL, headlined by a fight in his NHL debut against Travis Hamonic. 

Chmelar was recently called back up and has carved out a fourth-line role. 

Chmelar’s rise to the NHL is a lesson that if you perform well at the AHL level, no matter how highly touted you may be, it’s always possible to earn a spot in the big leagues. 

“It feels great. I try to put everything on the line every game, and to be rewarded for it feels amazing,” Chmelar said. “I don’t want to get it into my head that someone rewarded me for something. Just keep doing it consistently, that’s the key.”

While Chmelar hasn’t recorded any points through four games, his play has been noticeable and impactful. 

Standing at 6-foot-4, the 2021 fifth-round pick plays a physical brand of hockey and is surprisingly quick for someone of his size. 

It’s not about flash for Chmelar. It’s all about the basics and doing the little things right.

“I have felt pretty good out there,” Chmelar said of playing in the NHL. “I just need to stick to my game, the basics that I do, hit people. Be hard on the forecheck. As the game develops, they know I'm coming. That's what I want to do, take pucks to the net and be hard to play against.”

More importantly than just his game on the ice, Chmelar seems to bring a positive and joyous spirit to the Blueshirts. He’s always smiling in the locker room, and his wide-eyed, happy energy is infectious. 

“He’s a great kid, first and foremost. He’s a really likable kid. I think his energy is so great,” Sullivan said of Chmelar in November. 

The Evolution Of Alexis Lafrenière's Game Starting To Take Shape Under Mike Sullivan Alexis Lafrenière is buying into the brand of hockey that Mike Sullivan wants to play, and it’s beginning to pay dividends. 

It’s really a feel-good story to see someone work their way up from being drafted with the 144th overall pick to playing in the NHL. 

Chmelar has enjoyed every moment of it and certainly does not take this opportunity for granted. 

“It’s amazing. It’s everyone's goal to get up here,” Chmelar said. “Getting my first game and the couple of games afterwards, it feels amazing. I'm super pumped to be around these guys, to see how they perform in practice, how they think about the game, and trying to see like in the details, what they do, so I can pick up something. I want to learn from them and aspire to be like them.”

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Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane spent plenty of time at United Center, both for practices and games during his tenure with the club. 

Not only did he raise the Stanley Cup for the third time in his career at the venue, but he also gave scores of Blackhawks fans countless memories from throughout the first part of his Hall of Fame career.

Kane, who spent a brief stint with the New York Rangers in 2023 after being dealt at the NHL trade deadline, is now in his second full season with the Detroit Red Wings.

Saturday evening will mark his third return to United Center with the Red Wings, the second of which was in November of last season as part of a 4-1 Detroit victory. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

Following their morning skate on Saturday, Kane admitted that it's still a bit strange suiting up in the visiting dressing room at the venue he called home from late 2007 through early 2023. 

"A little different, obviously," Kane said about the opposition dressing room. "I spent so much time here, usually you're walking past it to the Hawks locker room, and I never really saw this one until a few years ago. It's always fun to come back." 

Perhaps the most notable moment of his time in Detroit came during his initial return to Chicago in February 2024, during which he was honored with a lengthy video tribute and a minutes-long standing ovation from the crowd, and then capped the night in classic Kane-like fashion by scoring a dramatic overtime game-winning goal on a breakaway.

Since then, Kane has agreed to one-year contract extensions to remain in Detroit, signing deals on June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2025.

He is on the precipice of two major career milestones: he sits at 497 goals, just three shy of 500, and is only 10 points away from tying Mike Modano as the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history.

While Kane’s place as perhaps the greatest U.S.-born player in NHL history is already secure, another American-born player who could one day lay claim to the title of the greatest U.S.-born defenseman is Quinn Hughes.

Hughes was traded on Friday evening to the Minnesota Wild, ending speculation that he could land with Detroit given his multiple connections to the metro-Detroit area. Like the rest of his teammates, Kane had been following the progress of where Hughes would ultimately wind up. 

"I think Quinn's a great player, he's one of the special players in the League that can take over a game individually, and there's only a handful of those," Kane said of Hughes. "You hear a lot of rumors, and the Red Wings were part of that, too. I was definitely following to see what was going to happen. He's a great kid and a great player, I'm sure he'll do well in Minnesota." 

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Florida Panthers prospect Simon Zether has reportedly signed a two-year contract extension with his SHL club, Rogle BK, according to Swedish outlet hockeynews.se. 

The 20-year-old is playing in his third season in the SHL with Rogle. Through 22 games, he's scored one goal and four points. Last season, he was loaned to Västerås IK in Sweden's second division, HockeyAllsvenskan. He posted four goals and 12 points in 25 games. 

He returned this season and has been an influential part of Rogle's success, and it's why he's earned a two-year extension.

The Panthers drafted Zether in the fourth round, 129th overall in the 2024 NHL draft. Standing 6-foot-3, 186 pounds, the right-handed center has a great frame that he is beginning to learn how to utilize. 

Zether was drafted as a long-term project, so the Panthers won't be too alarmed that he wants to take his time developing in Sweden, rather than coming over to North America. He'll be 22, turning 23, when his SHL contract expires, and then he'll be eligible to make the leap to the AHL or NHL. 

Zether is a two-way forward who excels in small areas of the ice. As he develops, he's rounding out his game and becoming a better offensive threat. 

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

Flyers finish homestand 2-2-2 after suffering shootout loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Rick Tocchet warned against the Hurricanes’ relentless pressure.

“Full-out blitz,” the head coach said. “It’s the way they play.”

The Flyers didn’t handle it well enough Saturday night, especially when trying to protect a lead, as they lost to Carolina, 4-3, in a shootout at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

“There are positives, I’m going to take the positives,” Tocchet said. “I think we’ve just got to start to learn when teams put pressure on us, we’ve got to find the pressure; we can’t back off. That’s what I believe in.”

Jackson Blake scored the lone tally in the skills competition.

Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov, Travis Konecny and Bobby Brink came up empty for the Flyers.

Samuel Ersson suffered just his fourth career shootout loss in 16 opportunities.

Tocchet’s club relinquished a 2-0 lead in the second period. The Hurricanes turned up the dial and had the Flyers defending a lot. Seth Jarvis then handed the Flyers their first deficit when he scored on a breakaway with 7:34 minutes left in the third period.

Brink, Zegras and Carl Grundstrom provided the Flyers’ goals. Grundstrom answered Jarvis’ goal just 23 seconds later.

Zegras and Konecny had a chance to win it in the final minute of overtime, but couldn’t convert on a 2-on-1 rush.

The Flyers (16-9-5) went 2-2-2 on their season-long homestand. Three of the losses came against top-10 teams — this one to Carolina, a 3-2 regulation decision to the Avalanche and a 3-2 overtime decision to the Golden Knights.

Tocchet’s club dropped to 7-4-5 in games decided by one goal. It has gone to overtime 12 times. It’s now 5-1 in the shootout.

The Flyers are 0-0-2 in their four-game regular-season series with the Hurricanes (20-9-2). They’ve lost 15 of their last 17 games against Carolina(2-9-6).

• In the first game of a back-to-back set, Ersson made 18 saves on 21 shots for the Flyers.

The 26-year-old had a massive stop on Jordan Staal in the final seconds of overtime.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Alexander Nikishin erased the Flyers’ 2-0 lead in a span of just over five minutes. Ehlers scored six seconds after Ty Murchison had a pass get picked off in the neutral zone. Nikishin then had a shot go off Noah Cates’ skate and past Ersson.

Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 15 of the Flyers’ 18 shots.

Brink and Zegras gave the Flyers their 2-0 lead in the first period. Brink made a sharp move before sniping one past Kochetkov. Zegras scored off a very good feed from Konecny.

“I thought we got off to a good start,” Zegras said. “Kind of expected a big push [from Carolina], I think we just kind of got on our heels a little bit instead of playing that same game. They’re a real good team, we kind of expected that. I thought we responded and made some adjustments in the third. Obviously a tough one in the shootout.”

• Through 30 games with the Flyers, Zegras has already matched his goal total from all of last season.

He had 12 in 57 games with the Ducks. He’s at 12 goals and 30 points for the Flyers.

Talk about a change of scenery doing wonders. Tocchet has raved about how coachable the 24-year-old has been. General manager Danny Briere has to be thrilled about the return on the trade so far.

• The Flyers’ struggling power play was costly two nights ago in the team’s overtime loss to Vegas.

And against Carolina, they didn’t go on a single power play.

Tocchet has harped on the Flyers needing to generate more through the middle to create second and third opportunities on the man advantage. They’ve gotten away from that and entered Saturday night 5 for 38 over their last 16 games.

“I think we revert to bad habits,” Tocchet said after morning skate. “We need a chunk of guys to take ahold of it. We talked about it at the start of the year, it’s going to be a work in progress.”

• Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen remained out, but both defensemen will be on the Flyers’ four-game road trip and are close to returning, Tocchet said after morning skate.

York has been out the last four games with an upper-body injury.

Ristolainen is nearing his season debut. Has been recovering from surgery in March on a second triceps tendon rupture.

• The Flyers and Hurricanes are right back at it Sunday when they meet at Lenovo Center (5 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

It has been a whirlwind of a season for Pittsburgh Penguins' young defenseman Harrison Brunicke.

After making the NHL roster out of training camp, Brunicke played in only a few games before finding himself a frequent healthy scratch, with his most recent NHL game coming in a Nov. 3 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was then sent on an AHL conditioning loan to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) for five days, where he showed well. And - most recently - he was loaned to Team Canada for World Junior Camp.

Now, he finds himself likely slotting in a prominent role for Canada.

On Saturday, during the first day of World Junior camp, Brunicke was on a top-four pairing with 2025 first-round pick Kashawn Aitcheson, who was selected 17th overall by the New York Islanders. Aitcheson, a big, hard-hitting blueliner, has 19 goals and 32 points in 27 games this season for the Barrie Colts of the OHL.

Brunicke, 19, was loaned to the WJC by the Penguins in order to give him some big, meaningful minutes on what is presumed will be a stacked Canada roster for this year's tournament. The decision to pair Brunicke with Aitcheson - one of the CHL's best defensemen - indicates that he will probably be in a lot of high-stakes situations, should the pairing stick.

What Brett Kulak Brings To The Penguins After Trade From EdmontonThe Pittsburgh Penguins got Brett Kulak back in the Tristan Jarry deal, and he has the tools to help this team.

Canada's lines for camp today.

Brady Martin is expected to join the team later today. #WorldJuniorspic.twitter.com/uPEH8ooeDc

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) December 13, 2025

Brunicke is also expected to be in the mix for Canada's leadership group, assuming he breaks camp.

Canada's World Junior camp runs from Dec. 13-23 before a brief holiday hiatus. Final rosters are due Dec. 24, and the World Junior Championship will take place in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn. on Dec. 26 - Jan. 5.

'It Just Made Sense For Us To Do It At This Time': Penguins' GM Kyle Dubas Gives Insight On Jarry TradeIt's safe to say that <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/breaking-penguins-deal-tristan-jarry-to-edmonton-oilers">the trade sending Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday</a> - which returned goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick - surprised a whole lot of people, fans and players alike.

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!    

The Buffalo Sabres have made some roster moves.

The Sabres have announced that they have called up forward Noah Ostlund from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. The Sabres also shared that they have assigned forward Trevor Kuntar back to Rochester. 

Ostlund has played in 20 games so far this season with the Sabres, where he has recorded three goals, three assists, 12 blocks, and a plus-1 rating. Down in the AHL with Rochester this season, he has recorded three goals, seven assists, and 10 points in seven games.

With Ostlund being a former first-round pick and one of the Sabres' most promising prospects, fans will naturally be keeping a close eye on him during his latest call-up. 

Kuntar, on the other hand, just made his NHL debut during the Sabres' Dec. 11 contest against the Vancouver Canucks after landing an NHL deal with Buffalo earlier this week. During his debut, Kuntar recorded one hit and a minus-1 rating in 5:12 of ice time. 

Down in the AHL this season with the Amerks, Kuntar has posted nine goals, four assists, 13 points, and 43 penalty minutes in 24 games.