Author: NHL Hockey News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Edmonton's Connor McDavid is expected to take lead on offence and score more goals with Zach Hyman out and a rookie left winger. 

The NHL season will be here in no time as we look ahead to some regular season player props that we look to take advantage of just like we did last off-season. We were very successful at finding great values in these player props with some sportsbooks not fully looking into the background or history of some players besides the stats of the prior season. 

We took advantage of the sportsbooks not knowing anything about Connor McDavid and that he's not a goal scorer and easily hit the under for his goal total last season, which was at a shocking 51.5 when he scored more than 44 goals just once in his nine prior NHL season. We also hit on nearly all of our other player prop picks like Mitch Marner, Mark Scheifele, Wyatt Johnston, Rasmus Dahlin, Teuvo Teravainen and Connor Hellebuyck to hit his over in wins plus take home the Vezina trophy.

It was a very successful season for us on that front and we hope to continue the good times heading into this next season. With our first pick being one that we feel very confident in, we look to take the opposite of what we took last summer and instead ride with Oilers captain Connor McDavid to score over 34.5 goals (-115 on BetMGM). 

All betting lines are from BetMGM Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly. 

Sign up with BetMGM, make a deposit, and place your first wager on any game using your First Bet Offer token. If that bet with the token applied loses, you’ll get your original stake paid back in Bonus Bets, up to $1,500! Get in the game today with BetMGM. 

More NHL: Growing Case for Backing Golden Knights' Pavel Dorofeyev

Although we don’t think he will score 50 or more goals, McDavid should be in a role this season where he will be forced to produce a lot of the offense like he already does. The biggest change for him to start the season is he will be without his partner-in-crime and the finisher to all of McDavid’s passes in Zach Hyman. He will be sidelined with a wrist injury that required surgery in the off-season. We still don’t know when Hyman will return or who will fill at right wing spot for the start of the season but we do know his left winger will be a rookie in Isaac Howard. 

The production out of the young 21-year-old Howard will likely be top end compared to the other rookies in the league but he will still be a rookie and could take some time to adjust to the NHL. Betters should expect McDavid to take on a bigger role because of these circumstances and could make his season long numbers look like they did during the 2022-23 season when he scored 64 goals.

Unless they slot Leon Draisaitl on the top line with him, McDavid will have no one to pass the puck to and will likely have to do the bulk of the work himself. It should lead to him shooting more than his normal passing tendencies. 

In terms of this marker being doable, McDavid has scored 35 or more goals in just four of his 11 NHL seasons. However, the upcoming season could push him over the top, as it marks a contract year for the Richmond Hill native. Following Mitch Marner’s career-best performance during his own contract year, it’s reasonable to expect McDavid will be similarly driven to showcase his value. With several other stars like Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov also heading into contract negotiations, McDavid will likely aim to set himself apart, as he so often does.

More NHL: Division Odds Breakdown: Panthers, Canes, Golden Knights Lead Pack

It would appear that the Ottawa Senators will begin the 2025-26 season with a legitimate NHL Rookie of the Year candidate. That candidate is goaltender Leevi Meriläinen, who just turned 23 last month.

While most goalies that young are generally just happy to make the NHL, Merilainen isn't 'most goalies'. And, by the way, for those of you ready to flood the comments with, 'There goes the media again, heaping unnecessary extra pressure on the kids,' remember that the young Finn has already had his NHL baptism-by-fire and came through it without a single burn.

With Anton Forsberg allowed to walk into free agency this summer—eventually signing with the Los Angeles Kings—it left a vacancy in Ottawa behind starter Linus Ullmark. If you had asked the Senators a year ago who would fill that role, they would have confidently said Mads Søgaard, their 6-foot-7 goaltender drafted in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft. That's why they agreed to a one-way NHL contract for this season. They were pretty sure that Søgaard was the next man up.

But as often happens in the NHL, things can change quickly.

Søgaard’s development has been slowed by injuries, while Meriläinen was unexpectedly thrust into NHL duty at just 22 last season. And in the heart of a playoff chase, Meriläinen played completely out of his mind for the Senators.

In 12 appearances, Meriläinen allowed only 22 goals, posting three shutouts, a 1.90 goals-against average, and a .925 save percentage. Small sample size? Yes. But those numbers were significantly better than those of either Ullmark or Forsberg.

When Forsberg returned to health, GM Steve Staios was clear about wanting to protect his goaltending depth. So Staios farmed out Meriläinen because he was waiver-exempt and could be sent down without incident. If the decision had been based strictly on merit, Meriläinen wouldn’t have gone anywhere. In fact, after putting up a record of 8-3-1, it would have been fascinating, in hindsight, to see how the kid might have fared in the postseason.

Ottawa Senators Sign Goaltender Leevi Meriläinen To New One-Way ContractThe Ottawa Senators have signed goaltender Leevi Meriläinen to a one-year, one-way contract extension worth an average annual value of $1.05 million.

Now, with Forsberg gone to Los Angeles, Meriläinen will be Ottawa’s full-time backup. And if he comes anywhere close to last season’s level, his name will undoubtedly enter the Calder Trophy conversation. First-year goalies don’t often get enough starts to generate Rookie of the Year buzz. In fact, it's been 16 years since a goalie won it (Columbus' Steve Mason in 2009).

But Ullmark’s career history leaves that door open.

Even in his Vezina Trophy-winning season with Boston in 2023, Ullmark’s career high is 49 games, thanks to injuries and platoon usage, so there should be plenty of starts available for Meriläinen. There's a chance he plays half the schedule, plus any games where Ullmark gets an early hook.

Among NHL goalies who played at least 10 games last year, Meriläinen was the youngest. A glance at the stats of his peers in their early 20s shows why most clubs hesitate to lean on goalies that young. It’s not a position where players are expected to thrive early.

But again, there’s something different about Meriläinen.

It isn’t just his poise, fundamentals and uber-quiet movement in the crease. It isn't exclusively his excellent run last season—one that arguably saved Ottawa’s playoff hopes. It’s also his mindset. Ask him one of those standard media questions—“How are you doing this at such a young age?”—and he’ll probably respond matter-of-factly, with a shrug, without even a hint of nerves or arrogance, and say something like:

I don’t know, I guess because it’s my job?

Maybe, as a policy, he doesn’t want to engage in armchair psychology or overthink it, or maybe he genuinely doesn’t see the big deal. Maybe he sees it as the children's game it's supposed to be. Either way, as Senators fans will come to learn, he's just a calm, steady person who's here to do his job.

That's part of why he may emerge this season as more than a kid who's just happy to be here.

Meanwhile, it Meriläinen truly breaks into the Calder Trophy discussion, it could get expensive for the Senators. He’ll not only be a restricted free agent again next summer but also arbitration-eligible. And as the team is well aware, arbitrators tend to notice that stuff, those little things like winning major individual awards.

That, however, is a bridge Ottawa will happily cross if it means they’ve found another gem between the pipes.

By Steve Warne
This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa

More Sens Headlines at THN:
Four Major Storylines This Month At Ottawa Senators Training Camp
Senators Still Own Formenton's NHL Rights – What's Next?
Our One-On-One With Drake Batherson
Senators Confirm Extension For Pinto Won't Happen Until After Season Starts
Staios: 'We're Not Dismissing That Yakemchuk Makes Our Team Out of Camp'
Ottawa Senators: Ranking The Six Best At Each Position

The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results. 

Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games. 

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Projecting Sabres Trade Cost - Lawson Crouse 

Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere

#11 - Nikita Novikov - Defense (Rochester - AHL)

Novikov was the Sabres sixth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft after playing in the junior level MHL in the Moscow Dynamo system and an impressive performance for Russia at the 2021 IIHF Under-18s. The 6’4″, 218 lb. blueliner is physical and plays well positionally, which enabled him to play 94 KHL games over two seasons as a teenager. 

After signing his entry-level deal with the Sabres, the 21-year-old came to North America and adjusted to the AHL game fairly quickly, putting up 23 points (3 goals, 20 assists) in 65 games as a rookie. In his second season, the 22-year-old put up nearly identical stats (20 points in 68 games) but doubled his goal-scoring output to six. 

Former Amerks head coach Seth Appert said that Novikov’s offensive instincts are underrated, but that he will have to build on his large frame and get stronger to make the NHL down the road. The hurdle he will have to jump is that he is likely fifth or sixth on the Sabres depth chart in terms of left-handed defenseman, behind Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, Mattias Samuelsson and Ryan Johnson, which could mean that his path to the NHL may require a trade out of Buffalo. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

Chicago Blackhawks legend Jonathan Toews has been out of the NHL for a couple of years now, but he is set to return with his hometown Winnipeg Jets in 2025-26. He signed a one-year deal with them early in the off-season. 

Now, hockey is slowly starting back up as players are starting to publicly take the ice in preparation for the 2025-26 season. Toews was one of the players to hit the ice with his new team's colors in Manitoba on Tuesday.

You can see Toews wearing Jets gear for the first time, which is also the first NHL gear he’s worn as a professional since the Chicago Blackhawks took him 3rd overall in 2006. 

Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) on X📣 WE PLAY HOCKEY THIS MONTH 🤩Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) on X📣 WE PLAY HOCKEY THIS MONTH 🤩

Although seeing Toews in other NHL colors can bring somber feelings to Chicago sports fans, it is great that he’s healthy enough to come back and play in the best league in the world. His health was always of the utmost concern, and he seems to be doing well. 

Toews and the Jets will come to the United Center on January 19th. This will be his first career appearance in Chicago as a road player. That promises to be an incredibly emotional day for hockey fans in town. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

With the Chicago Blackhawks now being a few years into their rebuild, they have a very strong prospect pool. They have plenty of exciting youngsters in their system, and a good chunk of them have the potential to be regulars in their lineup in 2025-26. 

Among the Blackhawks' most exciting prospects heading into the new season is defenseman Sam Rinzel. The youngster left a solid first impression with the Blackhawks this past season after signing his entry-level deal in March, as he recorded five assists and a plus-1 rating in nine games. 

Now, Rinzel's strong start has garnered him some praise, as The Hockey News' Eric Cruikshank listed the Blackhawks prospect among the NHL's top under-the-radar Calder Trophy candidates for this upcoming season. 

Given how well Rinzel played immediately after joining the Blackhawks' roster, it is understandable that Cruikshank sees him as a Calder Trophy candidate to watch. The potential for the 2022 first-round pick to become a very good NHL defenseman is there, and it would not be surprising if he broke out in a big way next season because of it. 

Rinzel's play at the collegiate level only creates more excitement about his future. During his freshman year with the University of Minnesota, he recorded two goals and 28 points in 39 games. He then followed that up by taking a big step forward this past campaign, posting 10 goals and 332 points in 40 games.

Now, it will be interesting to see what Rinzel can do during his first full season with the Blackhawks in 2025-26 from here. 

Blackhawks Forward Named Potential Target For CanadiensIt is not exactly a secret that the Montreal Canadiens want to improve at the center position. Due to this, during a recent episode of The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro, TSN's Travis Yost discussed a few potential center targets for the Canadiens. One name brought up by Yost was Chicago Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson.

The Montreal Canadiens are one of the most-talked-about teams in the rumor mill right now. This is especially the case when it comes to the possibility of the Canadiens trading away Carey Price's contract. 

During a recent episode of NHL Insider Notebook for Bleacher Report, Frank Seravalli provided the latest on the Price trade rumors. 

"I think there is a door open to the Montreal Canadiens to move it (Price's contract)," Seravalli said. "There are only so few teams that actually want to acquire it. The benefit would be if you're a team that is already operating in LTIR space, you can continue to work that around."

However, Seravalli then shared a different take by adding that he believes the Canadiens successfully being able to trade Price's contract is a "long shot."

"We'll see if anyone steps up and trades for it, but it's probably a bit of a long shot, but I know that the Canadiens are open to do it."

The Canadiens are open to trading the remainder of Carey Price's contract, but they may have a hard time finding a trade partner (w/ @frank_seravalli) pic.twitter.com/5tJqIYW8uo

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 2, 2025

This is certainly an interesting update from Seravalli on the Price trade rumors. Time will tell if the Canadiens will find a way to move out his contract, but it is certainly a storyline to pay attention to from here. If they do move out of his contract, it would certainly open the door for the Canadiens to make potential moves elsewhere. 

Canadiens: New and Improved Joshua Roy Is An Intriguing Breakout CandidateWhen St-Georges native Joshua Roy turned up at the CN Sports Complexe in Brossard for training camp last season, he was pencilled in to make the Montreal Canadiens’ roster. But when the players hit the ice, it became apparent that the likes of Emil Heineman and Oliver Kapanen were outperforming him. A couple of weeks later, he landed in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, where he spent much of the last season, putting up 35 points in 47 games. In the 12 games he played in the NHL, he added two goals and failed to make much of an impact.

According to a report, the Philadelphia Flyers are one of several teams interested in free agent goalie Carter Hart.

On Tuesday, David Pagnotta, an NHL insider for NHL Network and The Fourth Period, reported that "There are several teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, interested in goaltender Carter Hart, but they continue to wait on the NHL’s decision to determine when he is eligible to play."

Hart, 27, was found not guilty of the sexual assault charge levied against him, stemming from the 2018 Hockey Canada case, on July 24, though his reinstatement into the NHL is pending the league's decision.

The Flyers' former second-round pick hasn't played competitive hockey since his last appearance for the Flyers, which saw him cede five goals on 15 shots in a 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 20, 2024.

Ex-Flyers Goalie Carter Hart Not Expected to Join OilersAccording to a new report, the goalie-needy Edmonton Oilers are not expected to target former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart at this time.

Hart and Alex Formenton were the only players in the Hockey Canada case to have not played competitive hockey since being charged; Michael McLeod and Dillon Dube each played in the KHL last season, while Cal Foote played in Slovakia.

A potential Hart return makes for an interesting situation for the Flyers, given that they went out and signed Dan Vladar to a roster that already features Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov.

Plus, Carson Bjarnason is turning pro this year, and Aleksei Kolosov is expected to be back in the fold as well.

It could make for a crowded goalie room, but if the Flyers' reported interest is true, they must have some kind of contingent plan of action.

Perhaps the wisest move for Hart is to attempt return to game form playing in the AHL without any significant contractual commitments from the Flyers.

This situation is very fresh and there are still many moving parts, but this report is certainly fascinating with such little time before the start of training camp.

The NHL’s 2025-26 season is almost upon us, and it’s a great time here at THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, as we’re working through a player-by-player series breaking down expectations for each Sabres player in 2025-26.

Each of these files are written with the base knowledge that every Buffalo player has one goal – getting the Sabres into the Stanley Cup playoffs. But as individuals, each Sabre has their own expectations. 

That said, in recent days, we’ve been moving through Buffalo’s goalies and their top defensemen. And in this file, we’re focusing on veteran defenseman Conor Timmins – the blueliner the Sabres picked up in an off-season trade that sent veteran D-man Connor Clifton to the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Timmins is well-traveled for good reason – he’s not a top-four defender, at least, not at the NHL level. But he clearly has value for Sabres GM Kevyn Adams. So let’s explore the Timmins acquisition and see what, if anything might be there beneath the surface for him as a Sabre.

Player Name: Conor Timmins

Position: Defenseman

Age: 26

2024-25 Key Statistics: 68 games between Maple Leafs and Penguins, 12 assists, 15 points, 15:46 career average time-on-ice

2025-26 Salary:$2.2 million

2025-26 Expectations: In his five seasons as an NHLer, Timmins has shown flashes that make you want to believe he can be a top-four defenseman. For example, the Toronto Maple Leafs were enamored of him when he put up 12 assists and 14 points in just 25 games in 2022-23.  The love, though, didn't last.

The Leafs eventually moved on from him when they dealt him to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And this summer, he was traded to the Sabres, ostensibly to serve as a third-pair D-man and insurance if Buffalo suffers an injury to a legitimate top-four D-man.

Timmins is never going to make life tough on opponents in a physical sense. He’s also not a shutdown artist. But he can skate, and he can find some seams and chip in an assist now and then. But if he’s playing in your top-four, we’re guessing this would be Plan B or Plan C in your blueprint for success.

The Sabres’ defense corps on the whole is one of the better groups in the league. But they’re not there because Timmins is going to take them to a new level. He’s not going to make highlight-reel plays, and he’s not going to knock his opponent’ block off. He’s a well-paid third pair guy, so he has to deliver solid results.

Timmins is nearly the archetype of the NHL footsoldier player. If he’s on your team, it had better be on the third pair. Otherwise, you’re going to ask too much of Timmins, and you could wind up disappointed. And time will tell whether the Sabres did the right thing in trading for him and signing him to a two-year deal. 

Timmins isn’t just a warm body, but in six NHL seasons including the upcoming season, Timmins will have played for five different teams. There’s a reason why he’s been move so often – he hasn’t made himself indispensable. And until that happens, Timmins will likely continue to bounce around. 

The Ducks have announced their roster for rookie camp and the 2025 Golden State Rookie Faceoff, which takes place from Sept. 12-14 at Great Park Ice and FivePoint Arena in Irvine, Calif.

Anaheim’s 23-player roster is highlighted by 2024 first-round picks Beckett Sennecke and Stian Solberg, who were both unable to participate in last year’s rookie tournament. This year’s roster is a bit smaller than previous years due to the minimal amount of games and many players opting to play in the NCAA this season. Collegiate players rarely, if ever, participate in this event.

Only four of the Ducks’ 10 draft selections (Noah Read, Alexis Mathieu, Émile Guité, Brady Turko) from the 2025 NHL Draft will be participating, as rest of them, including 10th overall pick Roger McQueen, are either playing in the NCAA or in Europe.

Chatting With the Ducks’ 2025 Draft ClassThe Ducks selected 10 players in the 2025 NHL Draft, though only three of them attended the draft. All 10 were at development camp the following week though, going through rigorous drills and testing.

Aside from Sennecke and Solberg, players like Yegor Sidorov and Ian Moore should be expected to play big roles. Sidorov participated in last year’s tournament, holding down a spot in the top-6. His scoring prowess makes him a dangerous offensive player. How he handles physicality and making himself less of a predictable player to defend should be targeted areas of improvement for him.

Moore played three games for the Ducks last season after signing his entry-level contract (ELC) in April. He showed poise with the puck and used his skating to escape dangerous areas in his own zone. He even picked up his first NHL point on Troy Terry’s game-tying goal in the final game of the season. With just two right-handed defensemen on the roster, Moore will likely be tasked with top pair minutes alongside Solberg. The duo played together briefly as a pair in the AHL and didn’t look too out of sorts.

With five left-handed defensemen on the roster, ant least one player will have to be utilized on their off-hand. Tarin Smith played his off-side while with Canada at the World Juniors Summer Showcase and could do so again.

Despite a smaller roster than previous years, Anaheim still has three camp invites on their roster this year. Forwards Ryan Lautenbach and Owen Lindmark signed amateur tryouts (ATOs) late last season with the San Diego Gulls and will be looking to make an impact—and possibly earn a contract—with their play. Forward Ruslan Gazizov did just that last year with his strong performances.

This will be the third consecutive camp that goaltender Mike McIvor has been invited to after he was a 2024 rookie camp invite and 2025 development camp invite. A teammate of Ducks draft pick Ethan Procyszyn with the North Bay Battalion, McIvor isn’t the tallest goalie at 6-foot-1. But he uses his athleticism well to get himself into the right position. Catching with his right hand, his unorthodox style may initially throw opposing players off too.

The Ducks rookie faceoff roster will be led by the San Diego Gulls’ coaching staff, with head coach Matt McIlvane being supported by 50/50 new/old coaching staff in Dave Manson, Michael Babcock, Jeff Glass and Lucas Hurtt. This will be McIlvane’s third time coaching the rookie faceoff team.

The Ducks will play the San Jose Sharks on Friday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. PST and play the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. PST. Single-game tickets will be available to the general public at $15 per game.

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With the calendar flipping to a new month and the kids trudging back to school, we're officially now in NHL preview season as hockey fans across the nation ravenously get up to speed on what to expect this year.

NHL teams and players, on the other hand, generally have little interest in such things as they begin to gather and focus on informal skates, team fantasy football, and full training camps. But if they're being honest, there's one preview that holds some annual interest for a lot of NHL players, and that's their personal overall rating when the preview for the new EA Sports NHL game comes out.

This year's game is available on September 12, but can be pre-ordered now. In the meantime, the players' ratings – based on several things, including acceleration, speed, deking, passing, slapshot, and wrist shot – have been published, along with the various teasers and trailers. Of the over 300 players whose ratings were revealed, 10 play for the Senators, but no one in the local glory made the league's top 40.

To put things in perspective, when the preview recently came out, the freakishly excellent Connor McDavid checked in at number one with an absurd 97 rating.

By contrast, only one Ottawa Senator hit a rating of 90 in the game, and it isn't Brady Tkachuk, the player who's on the cover of this year's deluxe edition of the game. No, it's Tim Stutzle who leads the way with an overall rating of 90, good for 42nd best in the league. Tkachuk is close behind at 89, along with defenseman Jake Sanderson.

Stutzle leads or co-leads his team in every category on the offensive chart except for the ones that involve shooting, which Sens fans would like to see him do a little more of. In 2022-23, Stutzle had 39 goals, which is roughly his total from the past two years combined (18, 24). Last year, Stutzle took 162 shots, the lowest total since his rookie, COVID-shortened season in 2021.

EA Sports believes Thomas Chabot has the team's best slap shot and wrister on the team, which belies his shooting percentage (5%), which was 20th best on the team last season. Chabot is the only Senator on the chart below with 90s across the board, but his physicality and defensive awareness ratings pull him down a rung or two.

Here's the Senators' full list. You can see more details on each player's strengths and weaknesses here.

By Steve Warne
This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa

More Sens Headlines at THN:
Four Major Storylines This Month At Ottawa Senators Training Camp
Senators Still Own Formenton's NHL Rights – What's Next?
Our One-On-One With Drake Batherson
Senators Confirm Extension For Pinto Won't Happen Until After Season Starts
Staios: 'We're Not Dismissing That Yakemchuk Makes Our Team Out of Camp'
Ottawa Senators: Ranking The Six Best At Each Position

The Philadelphia Flyers and top center prospect Jett Luchanko are about to benefit massively from this new AHL rule change, reported to take effect starting this season.

On Tuesday, PuckPedia reported that AHL loans for 19-year-old players, a rule passed in the new CBA with the NHL, will take effect in the 2025-26 season, allowing the Flyers to send Luchanko to the AHL to further develop.

Update: PuckPedia posted the following correction to their X account: " The 19 year old AHL change is not yet in effect. It requires agreement with CHL, & the NHL/NHLPA have agreed to push to get this agreement & change done for this season. However, those negotiations have not started yet & no guarantee it's effective 25-26."

Ordinarily, Luchanko, who turned 19 just over a week ago, would have needed to either make the Flyers' NHL roster outright to play pro, or spend another season in the CHL playing for the OHL Guelph Storm.

And, as we know, the Storm aren't the greatest team in the OHL, and they traded away most of their auxiliary talent last season.

This report has to be a sigh of relief for the Flyers, who saw what their top center prospect can do at the pro level in a small sample size a few months ago.

Luchanko picked up three assists in nine regular season games with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season, then added six more assists in seven postseason contests.

The 2024 first-round pick hasn't scored a pro goal between 16 total AHL games and four NHL games with the Flyers, but shooting and scoring instincts were a generally agreed-upon criticism of Luchanko before he was even selected last June.

Flyers Roster Battles Become Clearer with Porter Martone Taking NCAA RoutePorter Martone's commitment to the NCAA's Michigan State means one less winger is battling for a roster spot with the Philadelphia Flyers this fall.

Considering he only just turned 19 and has succeeded playing against men, there's no reason to believe Luchanko can't develop and build upon the last 12 months in an environment more conducive to growth with the Phantoms.

The 19-year-old's supporting cast in Allentown could shrink slightly after training camp, provided teammates like Alex Bump and Nikita Grebenkin make the NHL roster and stick with the Flyers.

Either way, though, players like Bump, Grebenkin, Devin Kaplan, Samu Tuomaala, Karsen Dorwart, Massimo Rizzo, Denver Barkey, and Alexis Gendron are marked improvements on what Luchanko had in Guelph the last two years.

What the Flyers' prized center prospect achieves next will be exciting to watch.

The news that fans of the Detroit Red Wings had been waiting for was finally delivered last month.

Former Red Wings Hall of Fame forward Sergei Fedorov, one of the greatest players in team history who was an integral part of three Stanley Cup wins, will finally have his iconic No. 91 retired by the club and hung from the rafters at Little Caesars Arena. 

A Red Wing at heart. pic.twitter.com/TqYBHQWi5b

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 19, 2025

The announcement of the impending honor, which was met with overwhelming approval, is also being acknowledged by a former member of the Red Wings who played a lone season in Hockeytown.

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

Daniel Sprong, who suited up for the Red Wings in the 2023-24 NHL campaign and now plays in the KHL for CSKA Moscow, recently disclosed that he chose jersey No. 91 specifically in honor of Fedorov. 

“He is one of the best players. He is special, that is why I chose number 91," Sprong explained via Sport-Express. 

“It is a great honor for me to play under this number for CSKA. I hope that he will be proud of me.”

Not only did Sprong briefly don the Winged Wheel as Fedorov did for so many years, but he also now plays for the same club Fedorov skated for prior to his extremely risky defection to the United States in 1991. 

"Fedorov is strong in his style of play, he could do everything on the ice," Sprong said. "He could gather three people around him and outplay them.”

“My Heart Beat Faster”: Sergei Fedorov Recaps Finding Out Of Jersey Retirement NewsThe iconic No. 91 jersey of former Detroit Red Wings forward Sergei Fedorov will soon be taking its rightful place in the rafters of Little Caesars Arena, and will be displayed alongside the eight previously retired numbers that include his teammates Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Sprong signed with the Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent during the 2023 offseason, and scored 18 goals with 25 assists in 76 games, the second-highest goal output of his NHL career. 

🚨 Daniel Sprong opens the scoring for CSKA in the 2nd period on the powerplay. #KHLpreseasonpic.twitter.com/lb8k2GUNCH

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) August 28, 2025

In Fedorov's honor, CSKA Moscow recently retired his number at CSKA Arena. In Detroit, a special ceremony will be held at Little Caesars Arena on Jan. 12 before a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, a matchup carrying some irony.

It was Carolina who signed Fedorov to the infamous offer sheet in early 1998, which Detroit matched, ultimately paying him $28 million for just three months of play.

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No matter how dominant they may be, veteran NHL players rarely, if ever, get to end their playing careers on a perfect note.

Father Time always catches up, but sometimes, they're just not in a circumstance befitting of the elite place they’ve carved out for themselves.

You can see that with Detroit Red Wings right winger Patrick Kane. At 36, Kane can still be a solid contributor, posting 21 goals and 59 points last season. But Kane signed only a one-year, $3-million contract for this coming year on a middling Red Wings team that will compete hard just to try to make the playoffs. If Kane sticks with the Wings for the rest of his career, it's unlikely he'll have a chance of winning the Stanley Cup for the fourth time.

So Kane’s last chance at hockey glory could come on the international stage, if he makes the U.S. team at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Kane doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. His career totals of 492 goals and 1,343 points in 1,302 regular-season games, on top of his three Cup wins with the Chicago Blackhawks, make him a lock to be a Hockey Hall of Famer when he hangs up his skates.

But given that the Red Wings will be picked by many to miss the playoffs this coming season, you can see how Kane needs to make the most of his status as a U.S. icon and help lead Team America to a gold medal win at the 2026 Games in Milan, Italy.

That said, Kane isn’t guaranteed to make the American roster. Indeed, in this writer’s projected U.S. roster for the Olympics, Kane was not on the team.

“The one thing that's kind of missing is a gold in best-on-best, right?” Kane told NHL.com last week at the Americans' Olympic orientation camp. “It would be fun to have that opportunity.”

U.S. GM Bill Guerin has a very deep talent pool from which to draft a roster, and he may choose to go with a youth movement and select young wingers like Utah’s Clayton Keller, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy, Buffalo’s Tage Thompson and Montreal’s Cole Caufield at right wing. So Kane will have all the motivation in the world to come out of the starting gate strongly this season and nudge one of those aforementioned young players out of a roster spot for the Olympics.

If Kane does make the U.S. roster, who’s to say he won’t have one more place in the sun and one final chapter he can hang his hat on as an all-time great?

The thing about Hall of Famers is that they can rise to the occasion, and Kane may have a couple of tricks still left up his sleeve. Getting to the top of the podium at the upcoming Winter Games would tie a lovely bow on his career, especially if Detroit fails to make the playoffs this year and for however long Kane remains there.

Kane’s experience as a proven winner and needle-mover might be something Guerin particularly values, especially as the U.S. tries to transition into a new era of young, up-and-comers. Kane no longer has to worry about being “The Man” at this stage in his career. So long as he can chip in some offense for the American team, he’ll be worth Guerin selecting him for the U.S. squad.

And if Kane does help America win a gold medal in Italy, it will underscore his status as one of the best and most decorated wingers the modern game has ever seen.

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