Category: Ice Hockey

After being selected eighth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2010 NHL Draft, Russian center Alexander Burmistrov is making his return to North America 16 years later, signing an ECHL deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization that will see him join their affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Years ago, the now 34-year-old was considered one of the Winnipeg Jets' best and brightest prospects once the franchise relocated from Atlanta to Winnipeg. 

As the eighth overall pick, Burmistrov went ahead of a long list of names who went on to have notable NHL careers, including Mikael Granlund, taken one pick later by the Minnesota Wild, Cam Fowler, who went six picks after him to the Anaheim Ducks, and others from that same draft class like Brock Nelson, Vladimir Tarasenko, Justin Faulk and Charlie Coyle.

By the 2016-17 season, though, it was clear Burmistrov wasn't going to be the impact player the franchise once envisioned. He had settled in as roughly a 20-point player, more of a depth forward than a player taken in the top ten, and Winnipeg ultimately let him go, with the Arizona Coyotes claiming him off waivers.

The following season, he played 24 games with the Vancouver Canucks before heading back home to Russia. Over his six NHL seasons, Burmistrov finished with 37 goals and 64 assists for 101 points in 348 games.

From there, he spent the better part of the last 12 seasons in the KHL, most recently with the Shanghai Dragons, remaining largely a depth forward at that level as well, totaling 46 goals and 108 assists for 154 points in 423 KHL games. He did get a brief taste of North American pro hockey along the way, posting 11 points in 22 AHL games back in 2012-13.

Now, more than a decade later, Burmistrov will look to find that familiar form again, this time a level down from where his North American career began, as he begins a new chapter in the ECHL with Cincinnati.

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The Buffalo Sabres could go a number of different ways as the NHL is in the midst of trade season following the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency on July 1. With the departure of winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Bowen Byram, GM Jarmo Kekalainen is expected to seek out offensive reinforcements to make up for the 44 goals lost by their departures. 

We are continuing to look at potential options for the Sabres, now that veteran Patrick Kane has returned with Chicago.  Some of the possibilities are not going to match Tuch’s stats, but any additions could provide some relief to the pressure that youngsters Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, or Noah Ostlund will be under to make up the deficit.

Other Sabres Stories

Sabres Emotionally Devastated By Game 7 Overtime Loss

Kekalainen ideally is looking for someone who could make up as much of the 60-to-70 point production that he lost with Tuch, or someone who can fill the leadership gap and/or add some snarl and sandpaper to the middle-six, with the trade of Jordan Greenway to Chicago.  

Perron is a well-travelled winger (seven clubs, including three stints with St,. Louis, and two with Detroit) over his 19-year career, who has played over 1200 games and scored more than 20 goals seven times. Last season, he was scoring at over a 40-point pace with the Ottawa Senators, when he was dealt back to the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline. 

The Wings slumped at the end of last season, as they have tended to do in recent years, and that slump included the 38-year-old, who scored only three goals in 16 games. Perron’s best years have been with the Blues, where he scored 23 goals in 57 games in their Cup winning season in 2019. 

The veteran winger is not the scorer he was earlier in his career, but most of the veteran forwards still available, he could still play a middle-six role, similar to Jason Zucker and provide double figures in goals, and some insurance if some of the Sabres youngsters are not ready for prime time. 

This late in August, with less than a month before training camp, it is possible that someone with the resume that Perron has would not be open to a PTO, but if he wants to continue his career, he likely would have to sign a one-year deal for significantly less than the $4 million AAV he made last season.  

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On Thursday, The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn released his annual survey grading the confidence NHL fans have in each team's front office.

Some results were predictable, with the Carolina Hurricanes topping the list after their Stanley Cup win, while the Detroit Red Wings landed in a spot that surprised no one. They fell all the way down to 30th out of 32 teams, after missing the playoffs for a tenth straight season and firing longtime general manager Steve Yzerman this offseason.

The lack of faith in the franchise's direction is backed up by the numbers. Over the last decade, Detroit has gone 319-366-98, the third-worst record of any franchise that's existed over that stretch. 

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

How confident are you in your team’s front office?

We check on each team’s management group and how their decisions are perceived by not only their own fan base, but the public at large. pic.twitter.com/VRmOzoGWhW

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 20, 2026

During that span, the Red Wings have allowed the third-most goals in the league at 2,574 against, while scoring the second-fewest at 2,114 scored, ahead of only the Anaheim Ducks. The rebuild has been long and difficult for Detroit, and entering the 2026-27 season, the team doesn't appear meaningfully closer to ending its playoff drought.

Other franchises that started their own rebuilds around the same time have already come out the other side and are competing again, most notably the Ducks and Montreal Canadiens, both of whom made the playoffs this past season and look to be trending toward genuine Stanley Cup contention.

The lack of trust in Detroit's front office has been building for years without many clear answers. But with the organization now turning the page to a new man in the GM chair, there's a belief that the franchise's luck could finally be shifting. 

With prospects like Nate Danielson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard beginning to make their way to the NHL, there's at least a case that the end of the rebuild is finally within sight.

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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, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.  

Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 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 82 NHL games. 

Other Sabres Stories

Sabres Emotionally Devastated By Game 7 Overtime Loss

19. Simon-Pier Brunet – Defense (Victoriaville – QMJHL)

Brunet was the Sabres fourth-round pick at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas. A junior teammate of Rochester Americans defenseman Vsevolod Komarov, the 6’2” 205 lb. defenseman has not shown much of an offensive side thus far in his junior career in the normally high-scoring QMJHL.  

In four seasons in the Q, the defensive-minded Brunet has 77 points (15 goals, 62 assists) in 218 career games. He served as team captain of the Victoriaville Tigres last season, and posted 26 points (2 goals, 24 assists) along with 61 penalty minutes,   

Elite Prospects Draft Guide described the right-handed Brunet as someone who “motors up and down the ice with a sound skating posture for a player of his 6-foot-2 size. With his skating and reach, he denies space from the opposition, closes on them in transition, and guards the front of the net. Attackers can’t go through him. He walls them off from high-danger areas.”

Normally, the Sabres would have had to sign the 20-year-old by June to avoid losing his exclusive rights, but the new CBA allows them to retain his rights if he goes to the NCAA. This fall, Brunet will play for Merrimack College in Massachusetts.  

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On Thursday, the NHL announced a partnership with the league that had never been seen before, one with immediate ties to the Detroit Red Wings. 

The league, unveiled at FC Bayern's Säbener Straße training facility, includes creating a platform for cross-sport collaboration, community engagement, youth outreach and original content development as part of a multiyear agreement designed to accelerate the growth of hockey in Germany and the development of FC Bayern in North America.

The announcement was accompanied by a press conference featuring German NHL stars Leon Draisaitl and JJ Peterka, but notably not Red Wings star Moritz Seider, another prominent German player who captained his country at the recent IIHF World Championships.

Although he wasn't in attendance, the hope is that the partnership brings more German fans into the sport, even if Seider might have preferred a partnership tied closer to his own hometown club FC Zell rather than Bayern. 

Just one minute into the game, Moritz Seider gets past Devin Cooley and scores the opening goal for Germany against Team USA! 🇩🇪🔥#MensWorldspic.twitter.com/4v15lBsdNP

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 20, 2026

The two NHLers who did appear were likely there in connection with a related announcement as the Global Series will take place in Cologne and Munich during the 2027-28 season, with the Edmonton Oilers set to play two regular-season games in Draisaitl's hometown of Cologne, while the Boston Bruins and Peterka head to Munich for a two-game set of their own. 

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The 2026 Global Series will already head to Germany in December, with the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators playing two games in Düsseldorf, the first NHL games in the country since 2011.

Rounding out the press conference was FC Bayern and Canadian international Alphonso Davies, who grew up playing hockey in the Edmonton area and cheers for the Oilers. Davies has experienced the passion Canada has for hockey during his years around Edmonton and has seen the excitement soccer brings to Germany, and he expressed excitement about linking back up with Draisaitl through the new partnership.

Not much else is known about the scope of the NHL's relationship with Bayern beyond what's already been announced, but with the league taking an increasingly aggressive approach to growing the game in Germany, it's not out of the question that Seider could see his brand continue to grow and could even see him eventually play a Global Series game closer to his own hometown of Zell down the line.

The Red Wings have only played in Europe once in recent memory, back in November 2023, when Detroit faced its rival Toronto Maple Leafs in Stockholm, a game that doubled as a homecoming for Swedish-born Red Wings winger Lucas Raymond.

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In a yearly exercise done by The Athletic, the St. Louis Blues ranked 14th in the latest edition of front office confidence rankings.

"Each front office is graded in six categories: roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision," started Dom Luszcyszyn.

"This is the 11th annual version of this project, with this year’s edition seeing over 10,000 responses from fans grading their own favorite team and nearly 500 responses grading every team. The contrast between the two is always fascinating."

In last season's edition, the Blues ranked 10th, dropping four spots heading into the 2026-27 season. 

The drop-off makes sense, as last year's rankings came after the Blues ended the season as one of the hottest teams in the NHL and nearly upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the playoffs.

This time around, the Blues were one of the more disappointing teams in the NHL, missing the playoffs but not poor enough to land a top-five pick in the draft. Despite the disappointment, the Blues made several interesting moves, adding young, established forwards to their lineup. 

While the Stanley Cup might not be an attainable goal this year, the Blues will be far more competitive as they continue building towards the future. 

Will The St. Louis Blues Be Forced Into Exploring A Pavel Buchnevich NHL Trade?St. Louis Blues winger Pavel Buchnevich has struggled the past two seasons, and in the midst of an $8 million AAV contract, is it time for the organization to begin considering trading him away?

The Blues front office received an overall grade of B-, but the fanbase is far more confident in it than the public is. The public gave the Blues a B- grade and is 23 percent less confident than it was last year. The fanbase gave the Blues a B and is only 16 percent less confident. 

In the individual rankings, the fanbase agreed on cap management, giving the Blues' front office a B- grade. The only category in which the public was more confident than the fanbase was free agency, where the public gave a B- grade, and the fanbase gave a C+. 

The fanbase was higher than the public in roster building: C+ from the public and B- from the fanbase; draft and development: B- from the public and B+ from the fanbase; trading: B- from the public and B from the fanbase; and the team's vision: C+ from the public and B- from the fanbase. 

When this exercise is done next year, it'll be very interesting to see where the Blues land. If they bounce back, make the playoffs, and even win a round or two, they'll rocket up the rankings. If they miss the playoffs again, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Blues fall towards the 20s.

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The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by Mile High Hockey staff members. Seven writers have ranked players under the age of 25 in the Colorado Avalanche organization as of September 1, 2026. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked.

Is there a player with more intrigue for the Colorado Avalanche heading into the 2026-27 season than newly acquired forward Zach L’Heureux? He could either end up spending the majority of the season in the AHL, like he did last year, or he could end up solidifying as one of the missing pieces on the Avalanche roster in a middle-six scoring role. The range in our voting reflects this uncertainty as L’Heureux’s value to the organization is up in the air.

There also isn’t a player in the entire Avalanche organization with a more complicated past than L’Heureux now with Val Nichushkin jettisoned. The 23-year-old has been suspended at every level he’s played including on nine occasions in the QMJHL including once for 10 games, three times in the AHL and one three-game suspension in the NHL for slew-footing Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon. It’s no secret that the Avalanche lack a little bite in their game and could use someone who toes the line, but is Jared Bednar going to put his trust in that type of player, especially someone who is still trying to establish themselves in the league? The mantra always is it’s better to reign in passion than try to encourage it, but we’ll see how that goes in reality.

L’Heureux brings a reasonable resume and pedigree with him to Colorado as a former first round pick taken at 27th overall in the 2021 draft by the Nashville Predators. After finishing his junior career in the QMJHL, he spent his first pro season in 2023-24 entirely in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals. There L’Heureux put up 48 points including 19 goals in a 66 game rookie season. The next year “Happy” as they call him only played four games in the AHL and was with the Predators for 62 games where he scored 15 points. He also led all NHL rookies with 198 hits that season showing the physical bite to his game.

The following year Nashville put L’Heureux back in the AHL for the bulk of the season and did well scoring 28 points in 30 games, but the move called in question his future in the NHL. The left winger played 25 games in Nashville, all at the end of the season, and only put up five points with four goals and an assist. It makes sense why a change of scenery was the move now especially with L’Heureux’s waiver exemption having expired. He is signed for two years, though, one-way for $875K cap hit per year, which gives the Avalanche an incentive to make it work. It will be fascinating to see where the experiment goes from here.

2026 Top 25 Under 25

#25 Nikita Novosyolov

#24 Axel Eloffson

#23 Teddy Lechner

#22 Ivan Yunin

#21 Luka Cloutier

#20 Matthew DiMarsico

#19 Shawn Carrier

#18 Domenick Fensore

#17 Tory Pitner

#16 Jake Fisher

#15 Beckett Hamilton

#14 Linus Funck

#13 Alex Gagne

#12 Egor Shilov

Zach Benson had a very good 2025-26 season with the Buffalo Sabres. In 65 games with Buffalo, he set career highs with 13 goals, 30 assists, 43 points, and a plus-27 rating. He also made a big impact during the playoffs, posting five goals and nine points in 13 games for the Sabres. 

Overall, Benson took a nice step in the right direction with his development this past campaign. However, he is now being predicted to be even better in 2026-27. 

NHL.com recently ranked Benson as one of the league's top breakout candidates to keep an eye on during this upcoming campaign.

When noting that Benson just turned 21 years old in May, there is no question that he has the potential to become an even better for the Sabres. It would not be too surprising if his offense went up this season, as he has shown a lot of promise. This was especially the case during the playoffs. 

It will now be interesting to see what kind of season Benson can put together for the Sabres in 2026-27. If he can hit the 20-goal and 60-point marks, it would be huge for a Buffalo team that is looking to have another successful season. 

Colton Sissons is one of the newest members of the Toronto Maple Leafs going into this coming season. He was a part of GM John Chayka's haul on July 1, signing a two-year contract with the Maple Leafs for $4.250 million per season.

Sissons, a right-handed and veteran center, is the type of player that you'd imagine would have some interest from other teams when the NHL's free agency period opened. The 32-year-old has played 756 regular-season games across his 12-year NHL career.

With two Stanley Cup final appearances and a specialty in the faceoff dot and penalty kill, many teams would love his services. In the end, the Vancouver native decided to take his talents north of the border.

"I mean, obviously the opportunity to put the Maple Leafs sweater on is probably No. 1," Sissons said on Thursday's edition of TSN OverDrive. "That's a pretty special experience for any player, and it's tough to pass off an opportunity like that and speak with (Chayka) and just hearing what their plans were and the conditions that they were making and saw some of those come across in the morning there. And so that was really exciting too."

As mentioned, July 1 was an incredibly busy day for the Maple Leafs and Chayka. Sissons was one of multiple additions to the roster that day, including Sergei Bobrovsky, Jack Roslovic, Nick Paul, and others.

Jack Roslovic Excited To Reunite With Auston Matthews After Choosing Maple LeafsJack Roslovic is already skating in a Leafs practice jersey and leaning on old friend Auston Matthews for housing tips and locker-room intel ahead of his August arrival in Toronto.

There will always be a challenge to joining a new team, especially for Sissons, who, before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for 2025-26, played 11 straight years with the Nashville Predators. 

But with Toronto's unique off-season, the difficulty of getting accustomed to new surroundings and teammates naturally grows. And that's not just the case with the roster, when even the coaching staff and front office have seen overhaul changes.

Morgan Rielly Expected Major Change, Anticipates Big Presence From Gavin McKenna At Maple Leafs Training CampToronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly will have several new teammates heading into the 2026-27 NHL season, and he expected as much. With 2026 first overall pick Gavin McKenna among those new teammates potentially next season, he anticipates a big presence from him at training camp.

“Yeah, obviously it's a challenge with all the newness coming in and a lot of new players in the locker room," Sissons said. 

However, with his experience and the veteran that Sissons is, it won't be hard for him to find his role and ways to contribute to his new team on and off the ice during his Maple Leafs tenure.

"I think just coming in, I'm just going to be myself and try to bring guys together and kind of establish just a good vibe in the locker room and obviously put in the work and try to be a leader for us," he added. "Just keep it simple and just try to get everybody on the same page as fast as possible because camp's going to be pretty quick this year and it's going to be a lot to sort out and new systems and all that.

"I think we're going to be able to turn this thing around pretty quick and have a solid year.”

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The Winnipeg Jets are coming off a disappointing season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022, and according to one prominent prospect evaluator, there may not be a quick fix coming through the pipeline.

The Athletic's Corey Pronman ranked Winnipeg's collection of prospects and players under the age of 23 as the 28th-best in the NHL this week, placing the Jets ahead of just four organizations.

Winnipeg fell three spots from Pronman's 2025 ranking, when the organization came in at No. 25.

It's an assessment that comes at an interesting time for the Jets. After years of regular-season success and three consecutive playoff appearances, Winnipeg took a significant step backwards in 2025-26. The Jets finished 35-35-12 and 12th in the Western Conference, just one season removed from winning the Presidents' Trophy.

With much of the team's established core still built around veterans including Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck, the development of Winnipeg's next wave has become increasingly important. Pronman's ranking suggests there are some legitimate pieces on the way. The question is how many.

At the top of the group is 2026 first-round pick Viggo Björck. Winnipeg selected the Swedish centre eighth overall in June, giving the organization the kind of high-end prospect it hasn't had the opportunity to draft in quite some time. Pronman views Björck as an intelligent, highly competitive centre with legitimate top-six NHL upside.

The 18-year-old immediately became one of the most important pieces of Winnipeg's future.

Sascha Boumedienne is another. Selected 28th overall by Winnipeg in 2025, Boumedienne spent the past two seasons at Boston University and helped Sweden capture gold at the 2026 World Junior Championship.

The mobile defenceman has shown an ability to create offence from the blue line, although his development remains a longer-term project. Pronman identified his mobility as one of the stronger attributes within Winnipeg's young group.

Beyond those two, things become less certain. Brayden Yager remains one of Winnipeg's most recognizable prospects after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Rutger McGroarty trade in August of 2024. The former 14th-overall selection made the jump to professional hockey last season and remains a potential NHL centre for the Jets.

Elias Salomonsson, meanwhile, has already begun making that transition.

The 21-year-old Swedish defenceman appeared in 32 games for Winnipeg last season, scoring one goal and five points. A second-round selection in 2022, Salomonsson has steadily climbed through the organization after playing professionally in Sweden and spending parts of two seasons with the Manitoba Moose. He could be in position to take another step with the Jets in 2026-27.

There are other intriguing names further down the pipeline. Brad Lambert, Colby Barlow and Nikita Chibrikov have all spent time developing with Manitoba, while Kieron Walton, Kevin He and Alfons Freij represent younger projects still attempting to establish themselves as legitimate NHL options.

But that is where Pronman's primary concern with Winnipeg lies. There is potential at the top of the system, particularly following the addition of Björck, but considerably less certainty behind the organization's best young players.

It's also important to put a bottom-five ranking into context. Winnipeg spent much of the past several seasons operating as a contender, which meant drafting late and occasionally moving future assets to improve the NHL roster.

The Jets traded their first-round picks in both 2024 and 2025 before eventually getting back into the opening round of the 2025 draft, acquiring the 28th selection from Carolina and using it on Boumedienne.

Missing the playoffs last season provided an unusual opportunity. For the first time since selecting Patrik Laine second overall in 2016, Winnipeg held a top-10 pick. Björck was the result. Now comes the important part. The Jets need more of their young players to turn potential into NHL production.

Winnipeg still has one of hockey's premier goaltenders in Hellebuyck, a 100-point centre in Scheifele and an elite scorer in Connor. The veterans at the top of the roster give the organization reason to believe it can rebound quickly. But that core won't remain in its prime forever.

For a franchise that has historically needed to draft and develop its own talent, The Athletic's No. 28 ranking serves as a reminder of just how important the next few years of development will be.

The Jets have some promising young pieces, but they could certainly use a few more.

We are starting to get into the top young players in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, and we continue today with one of the three first-round picks from the 2025 NHL Draft, forward Will Horcoff as he comes off a monster season at the University of Michigan.

Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25: Graduates and Departed players in 2025
Top 25 Under 25: The best of the rest
#25: Chase Pietila
#24: Ryan Miller
#23: Finn Harding
#22: Peyton Kettles
#21: Zam Plante
#21: Brady Peddle
#20: Melvin Fernstrom
#19: Tanner Howe
#18: Tomas Galvas
#17: Pierce Mbuyi
#16: Jake Livanavage
#15: Owen Pickering
#14: Tristan Broz
#13: Avery Hayes
#12: Ville Koivunen
#11: Hendrix Lapierre
#10: Markus Ruck
#9: Mikhail Ilyin
#8: Joel Blomqvist
#7: Liam Ruck

#6: Will Horcoff, RW

2025 Ranking: #5

Age: 19 (January 23, 2007)

Acquired Via: 2025 NHL Draft, 1st round, 24th overall

Height/Weight: 6’5”, 203 pounds

Elite Prospects resume:

If the Penguins are able to rebuild themselves into a contending team at any point in the near future, the 2025 NHL Draft class might be one of the biggest reasons why.

Even though the Penguins did not have a top-five pick that year, they still came away with three of the top-24 picks in the draft thanks to a series of trades, and they might come away with a couple of NHL players as a result.

They already look to have one NHL player in No. 11 overall pick Ben Kindel, while there is a lot of hope for picks No. 22 (Bill Zonnon) and No. 24 (Horcoff). The other two are still ahead in the top-25 under 25 rankings, and now Horcoff is the first of that group to appear on the list.

He does drop one spot from where he was a year ago, but do not take that as a sign of him regressing. It is actually a sign of the improvement within the Penguins farm system and how they actually have some real prospect depth at the moment. It is a night and day difference from where they were even just two years ago.

There was always a lot to like about Horcoff as a prospect, ranging from the fact he is the son of an NHL player (long-time NHL forward Shawn Horcoff), to his massive size, to the fact he is a smart player with a great defensive awareness. He had shown some flashes of goal production going into his draft year that he split between the U.S. National Development Team and the University of Michigan, and he really started to build on that during the 2025-26 season.

In his first full season at the NCAA level, Horcoff absolutely took off offensively, scoring 25 goals in 40 games. That goal total put him into a tie for second place in the entire country, trailing only the 29 goals scored by Dartmouth’s Hayden Stavroff.

That production really stood out to Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza, who had this to say about Horcoff’s emergence during the season.

Via The Athletic:

“We were attracted to the qualities that are giving him success now, so I’m not shocked, but I’m also pleasantly surprised,” Spezza said. “It’s a hard league to come into and do what he’s doing at that age. For a big man, he gets inside, but he also knows how to find the quiet areas in the slot. He’s got a nice release. He’s got a natural goal-scoring touch. And I just think he’s a student of the game. He spends a lot of time working on his game, thinking on his game and he’s benefiting from that.”

Along with the 25 goals in the NCAA, he also made the United States World Junior team and scored a goal with an assist in his five games at the tournament.

The big questions around Horcoff now become a matter of upside, and how repeatable his 2025-26 performance may have been.

The other aspects of his game (the size, the physical play, the defensive play) have always been there, and always gave him a chance to be an NHL player, at least in a depth role. But when he adds 25 goals in 40 games at the NCAA level to that package it starts to open your eyes a little bit more. It makes you think there might be a little more potential in there than “just a guy” at the next level.

But he has to show he can not only do that again, but also build on it.

If there’s a potential red flag or “prove it” thing with his performance, it’s that he went on an early season shooting bender that resulted in him scoring on more than 23 percent of shots for the season. That’s a high number. A really high number. And it might not be totally repeatable. The projection around him changes a lot if he’s not scoring goals at that rate on a consistent or even consistent basis.

He is going to have another year at the University of Michigan to prove himself and probably will not become a potential factor in the NHL until 2027-28. If he even comes close to repeating his 2025-26 performance offensively, the Penguins quickly go from having an intriguing prospect to having a very serious power forward prospect.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have 41 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #41. 

Let's take a look.

Matt Davidson - 2000-03 - Davidson was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 4th round of the 1995 NHL Draft. He is a native of Flin Flon, Manitoba, the same town as CBJ bench boss Dean Evason. 

Davidson was traded to the Blue Jackets as part of an expansion draft deal in 2000. He played parts of three seasons for the Jackets, totaling 56 games, and had 12 points. He spent most of his time with Columbus playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. 

He left North America in 2004 for Europe. He played in Germany, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden before retiring in 2011.  

Brad Moran - 2001-04 - Moran was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 7th round of the 1998 NHL Draft. 

The Jackets signed Moran as a free agent in 2000. He only played in 5 games as a Blue Jacket and had 2 points. He spent most of his time playing for the AHL Syracuse Crunch. In his final year with the Crunch in 2004-05, he played in 80 games and had 72 points. 

Moran left for a second stint in Europe in 2011 and played the last six years of his career there. He would retire after playing two seasons in the EIHL in 2017. 

Moran would be the GM and HC of the Calgary Canucks in the Alberta Junior Hockey League from 2018 to 2025. For the 25-26 season, Moran was an Asst. Coach of the WHL's Calgary Hitmen. 

Ben Simon - 2005-06 - Simon was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1997 NHL Draft. 

Simon, a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, played 13 games for Columbus during the 2005-06 season. He totaled zero points. He left for Europe and played one season in the EIHL in England. He retired in 2011. 

Simon moved into coaching almost immediately after retiring. His first head coaching job was for the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2013-14 for one season. He spent 5 years as the Head Coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. He has been an assistant for the Iowa Wild for the last three seasons. 

Adam Pineault - 2007-08 - Pineault was drafted by Columbus in the 2nd round of the 2004 NHL Draft.

Pineault played only 3 games for the Jackets and had 0 points. He spent most of his time playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. On January 10, 2009, Pineault was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Chicago Blackhawks for Michael Blunden.  

After playing two years in Europe, he returned to North America and would play three more seasons before retiring in 2014. He suffered a jaw injury that ultimately ended his career. After retiring, he moved into pharmaceutical sales after his wife was diagnosed with Leukemia.

Allen York - 2011-12 - York was drafted by Columbus in the 6th round of the 2007 NHL Draft. 

York played in 11 games and started 5 of those for the Blue Jackets. He went 3-2 with a .920 SV%. He signed with the Nashville Predators on a PTO but was never signed. 

York would never play another game in the NHL after his time in Columbus. He spent time playing in the AHL, ECHL, and other lower leagues around North America. He also spent five years as a goaltending coach in various leagues. 

He retired on March 4, 2016.

Alexander Wennberg - 2014-20 - Wennberg was drafted in the 1st round of the 2013 NHL Draft as the 14th overall draft pick. 

Wennberg came to North America and made his NHL Debut in 2014. After having three decent seasons, including a 59-point year in 2016-17, Wennberg was signed to a six-year deal on September 1st, 2017. 

Tom Wilson would seemingly derail Wennberg's career in the 2018 playoffs when he laid a devastating check on him. The next two seasons, Wennberg would only total 47 points. In October of 2020, the CBJ would buy Wennberg out, making him a free agent. The Jackets are finally about to make the final buyout payment to Wennberg this year. 

In addition to playing with the Florida Panthers since leaving Columbus, he's played for the Seattle Kraken, New York Rangers, and San Jose Sharks. After the 59-point season he had in 2016-17, Wennberg hadn't scored more than 38 points in a single season. That was until last season playing with Macklin Celebrini. He scored 18 goals and totaled 55 points.

Hunter McKown - 2022-23 - McKown was an undrafted free agent out of San Jose, California. 

McKown has played 12 career games with the Jackets, all in 2022-23. He has spent the majority of his time playing for the Monsters. In the last three seasons, he has played in 184 games and has 81 points. 

This summer, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Luke Tuch. 

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With it now being late August, former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Hayes remains a free agent. 

Hayes still being a free agent comes after he was a depth forward for the Penguins during this past season. In 28 games for Pittsburgh during the 2025-26 season, the 6-foot-3 forward posted four goals and eight points. This was after he recorded 13 goals and 23 points in 64 games for Pittsburgh during the 2024-25 season.

While Hayes had a quiet 2025-26 season, the possibility of him getting another chance from an NHL team should not be ruled out. He has had a strong career and could be a solid pickup for a team needing more forward depth, given his leadership qualities and experience.

With the Penguins having a surplus of NHL-caliber forwards already, a return to Pittsburgh seems unlikely for Hayes. Yet, with training camp starting to get closer, it is fair to wonder if the 34-year-old forward can land a PTO from another club. 

Over the last two seasons as a member of the Penguins, Hayes recorded 17 goals, 14 assists, 31 points, and 84 hits in 92 games.

A new Florida Panthers hockey season is right around the corner.

Over the next few weeks, Panthers players will continue to migrate down to South Florida ahead of the team’s annual training camp, which will be held at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale.

Every year during camp, the Panthers host a Training Camp Fan Fest, and this year’s event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 19.

The fun will begin at 10 a.m. and last throughout the afternoon.

Florida’s Training Camp Fan Fest is open to the public and free to attend, with all seating and parking available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Fans will have the opportunity to watch the Panthers during the day’s on-ice workouts and interact with mascots Stanley C. Panther and Viktor E. Ratt and the Florida Panthers Dance Team.

Additionally, there will be family-friendly games and activities for fans to enjoy, public skating sessions at 2:15 p.m. and 7 p.m., new items for sale in Pantherland and more.

For more info on the Panthers’ Training Camp Fan Fest, click here.

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