PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 20: Pittsburgh Penguins fans cheer against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Two of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 20, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be getting new “Hometown Remix” uniforms this fall — with details expected after the upcoming NHL season gets underway.
The NHL announced Wednesday that the Hometown Remix program, through the league’s partnership with Fanatics, will be kicking off later this year.
Something new is coming to all 32 NHL cities this season. 👀
The countdown is on for the first-of-its-kind Hometown Remix program by the @NHL and @Fanatics. More details to come after the puck drops on the 2026-27 season next month. pic.twitter.com/zX1uBNLNZn
“More details to come after the puck drops on the 2026-27 season next month,” the NHL said.
The league gave a brief description of what fans can expect from the Hometown Remix uniforms, saying that the special edition jerseys will “uniquely and authentically” celebrate the city and local culture of all 32 NHL teams.
There’s no clear design that Penguins fans can expect to see yet, but the rumor mill has been churning over the past couple of months will many expecting that Pittsburgh will wear a blue uniform, similar to the Winter Classic uniforms the team wore during the 2010-11 season.
The New York Rangers have re-signed defenseman Scott Morrow to a one-year contract extension.
It’s a two-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level and $125,000 at the American Hockey League level.
The Rangers acquired Morrow from the Carolina Hurricanes last summer as part of the K’Andre Miller sign-and-trade package.
Despite coming into the 2025-26 season with some promise and expectations, the 23-year-old defenseman was unable to carve out a consistent role with the Rangers, bouncing between the NHL and the American Hockey League.
Morrow played in 29 NHL games this past season, recording six points while averaging 15:40 minutes.
In 34 games with the Wolf Pack, Morrow tallied five goals, 14 assists, and 19 points.
With the additions of Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, as well as the re-signing of Braden Schneider and the emergence of Matthew Robertson, it will be an uphill battle for Morrow to carve out a roster spot with the Rangers out of training camp.
On Tuesday, the rankings and overalls for forwards were released for NHL 27, which included Nathan MacKinnon tied for the second-highest overall at 97, and four other Colorado Avalanche forwards with their ranks and overalls shown.
Today, the overalls for both defensemen and goaltenders were revealed, leading to the final rankings among all top players, including Cale Makar and Avalanche goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and MacKenzie Blackwood.
Makar In A Three-Way Tie For First
Makar, Zach Werenski, and Quinn Hughes have all been revealed to be 95 overall this season. The only advantage Makar has is that he is the highest-rated right-shot defenseman, with the second-highest overall going to Evan Bouchard at 91 overall. Both Hughes and Werenski are left-shot defensemen and are tied, with second place also being a tie with Rasmus Dahlin and Miro Heiskanen at 93 overall.
Though, according to the EA Sports NHL 27 Player Ratings, Makar is ranked the fifth-highest player, only behind Leon Draisaitl at four, Nikita Kucherov at three, MacKinnon at two, and Connor McDavid at 1. Behind him are Werenski at six and Hughes at 9.
Makar is coming off a season in which he finished with 20 goals and 59 assists for 79 points in 75 games played, earning him All-NHL Second Team honors and finishing second in Norris Trophy voting behind Werenski. Obviously, comparing last season to his 2024-25 season, which saw him score 30 goals and 96 points, it's a “down” season, but really, you can say it was.
While he played five fewer games, he also shot the puck less, dropping from 246 shots on goal to 199, and his shooting percentage from 12.2 to 10.1. He wasn’t a liability on the ice and still created so many scoring chances like usual, but alongside some cold streaks and the power play not helping the team out, it really hurt his production, which is still crazy to say when 29 of his 79 points came from the power play.
The Lumberyard Cracks The Top-20
The goaltender rankings have also been revealed, and both Wedgewood and Blackwood have cracked the top 20 list of goaltenders. Wedgewood has been given an 87 overall, which is a good ninth, just above guys like Lukas Dostal, Dustin Wolf, and Spencer Knight, but right behind guys like Jesper Wallstedt, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman.
Blackwood was revealed with an 86 overall, ranking him 17th among goaltenders. That puts him above guys like Jet Greaves, Linus Ullmark, and Karel Vejmelks, but behind guys like Filip Gustavsson, Jakub Dobes, and Brandon Bussi.
It's a fair ranking for both goaltenders. It rewards and highlights the excellence Wedgewood showed last season, finishing with career stats across the board, including a 31-6-6 record, a .921 save percentage, and a 2.02 goals-against average in 45 games played. Both of those stats were the best among all qualified goaltenders last season.
Even for Blackwood, who started the season hurt and didn’t have a great season overall, but still managed to finish with a 23-10-2 record, with a .904 SV% and a 2.51 GAA, helping Wedgewood secure the William M. Jennings Trophy.
While Florida doesn’t have anyone in the prestigious 99 Club (congrats, McJesus), there are three Panthers forwards whose overall rankings are in the 90s, and two just outside, coming in at 89.
Leading the way for the Cats is their captain, Sasha Barkov, whose overall ranking was 95, which placed him as the 8th forward on the list. This comes as no surprise, with Barkov known far and wide as arguably the best two-way forward in the world.
While Barkov missed the entirety of the 2025-26 season after tearing up his knee during training camp, the Finnish superstar took the ice during May’s IIHF World Championships and looked like he never missed a beat.
Barkov led Finland to a gold medal while pacing the team with 11 points in 10 games.
Next up on EA’s list is Florida’s scoring specialist Sam Reinhart. His overall ranking is 91, closely followed by Matthew Tkachuk at 90 overall, then his brother Brady Tkachuk and Brad Marchand, each with 89 overall rankings.
Last season, it was Reinhart and Marchand who kept the Panthers afloat scoring-wise while both Barkov and Tkachuk, among others, were out with injuries.
It’s not hard to see any of those players reaching or exceeding point-per-game status next season.
Getting back to the NHL 27 rankings, you don’t have to look much further down the list to find the next group of Panthers players.
In fact, there are four more Cats who are all ranked in the 80s.
They are Sam Bennett, coming in with an overall ranking of 86, Anton Lundell, also at 86, Carter Verhaeghe overall ranked 85 and Eetu Luostarinen at 84.
When diving into the breakdown of each player, some interesting tidbits jump out.
First, of all the aforementioned Panthers on the list, the ones with the highest rated speed at 89 were Marchand and Verhaeghe, followed by Bennett at 88 and Barkov at 87.
Marchand was also an 89 at acceleration, as was Bennett, followed by Verhaeghe at 88 and Reinhart at Brady Tkachuk at 87. For those wondering, Matthew Tkachuk was given an 85 for both speed and acceleration.
In the deking category, which is kind of important for forwards, Barkov came in highest with a 93 ranking. Next-highest was Reinhart at 91 and Marchand at 90.
Barkov and Marchand led the way with 94 rankings in the passing category, but also in the 90s were Matthew Tkachuk (93), Reinhart (92) and Brady Tkachuk (90).
The Panthers player deemed to have the hardest, or best I suppose, slapshot was Brady Tkachuk, the only player ranked in the 90s in that category (right at 90).
Brady Tkachuk also had Florida’s highest wrist shot ranking (91), followed by Reinhart at 90.
To check out the full Panthers forward rankings for NHL 27, click here.
This year’s version of EA Sports’ NHL game has fans excited for some new features, including a brand-new broadcast duo of John Buccigross and Darren Pang.
It’s always been a cool feature of playing videos games when you can lead your team to a championship, but that must have a different feel for Panthers fans lately.
You know…now that they know what it feels like to have the Panthers win the actual Stanley Cup.
Let us know what you think of Florida's NHL 27 rankings in the comments below.
Photo caption: Dec 5, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Florida Panthers center SamReinhart(13), center AleksanderBarkov(16) and left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. (Eric Hartline-Imagn Images)
It’s that time of year when every publication is scratching its head to find hockey content to discuss, and, as is often the case, multiple prospect rankings are coming out. In an earlier article, I discussed Corey Pronman’s take on Jacob Fowler, and in this one, I will take a look at NHL.com’s top five Montreal Canadiens prospect rankings.
Last Saturday, Adam Kimelman, NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor, published the list of what he believes to be the Canadiens’ top 5 prospects right now. To be honest, it was a surprising one, as it went like this:
First and foremost, I cannot agree with the idea of having Reinbacher as the organization’s top prospect right now. Back when he was drafted fifth overall in 2023, maybe, but since then, he has lost some of his shine. When the Habs selected Reinbacher with that pick, they hoped he would be a top-pairing defenseman and Lane Hutson’s partner, but three years on, it seems highly unlikely. It’s not Reinbacher’s fault, but he's suffered a few injuries that have slowed his development, and as things stand right now, he’s not the Habs’ top prospect. While the organization hasn’t given up on him, I believe they have revised their expectations, given not only his injury history but also what he's achieved so far in Laval.
Right now, for the Canadiens, an organization that desperately needs a top-six center, Michael Hage must be the top prospect. He’s the one who could fill a pressing need and the one who Kent Hughes is probably asked about most often. Even though he passed on making the jump to the NHL at the end of last season, the organization’s enthusiasm for the youngster hasn’t wavered, and Jeff Gorton made that clear by discussing his situation and trying to keep the hope of his arrival this season alive.
Fowler would be a worthy choice as the second-place prospect. The netminder has already proven that he can perform well at the NHL level, and the calm and technique he displays in net are already making him look like an NHL pro. Whether it’s in Montreal or not, it seems clear to me that Fowler will one day be an NHL starting goaltender.
In third place, I would put Zharovsky. He may only have been picked in the second round, but the Canadiens had him down as a first-round pick and judging by the chatter around the league, he was a real steal. He was the rookie of the year in the KHL last season, and he looks set for a bright future. He’s still raw, but he showcased some great ends at development camp, and while his skating wasn’t all that impressive, the Canadiens have the right personnel to work on that with him. Even Ivan Demidov’s skating wasn’t great when he joined the Habs; he had a very strange skating stance, but that’s now been fixed, and he’s improved by leaps and bounds in that department.
Reinbacher’s right spot is in fourth place, not because he is a bust or anything of the sort, but because he has simply been overtaken by other members of the organization. It will be up to him to prove me wrong at training camp, but I believe that, when all is said and done, he’ll spend yet another season in Laval. He’s missed so much time over the last few years that it only makes sense.
Finally, I would put Pugachyov in fifth place, not only because he’s the youngest of the bunch, but also because we’ve been told he projects as a middle-six forward, which means that he’s not labelled as a definite top-six forward and he has yet to play a full season against grown men. His season in the MHL was good, but before he can be parachuted up in the prospect rankings, he needs to show more.
On Tuesday, EA Sports started to give out more information on their upcoming release and newest addition to the NHL video game series with NHL 27 and the biggest tidbit of news was the released ratings for each player.
This particularly surprised fans of the Detroit Red Wings and where they saw some of their best forwards listed. The defense and goaltender ratings have not yet been released but will likely be released in the coming days.
Detroit's leading top line center in Dylan Larkin did not crack the top ten at the position when it came to the ratings but he did find himself in elite company. Sitting at an 89 overall, EA has Larkin tied with other standout centers around the NHL like Tage Thompson, Nick Schmaltz and Evgeni Malkin, all listed at 89 overall.
Also listed at 89 but finding themselves much higher at their position was Lucas Raymond, who also was listed with an identical 89 overall that had him listed in the top ten at right wing and is tied with fellow Detroit teammate Alex DeBrincat as well as Adrian Kempe, Kirill Marchenko and reigning Stanley Cup Champion Seth Jarvis.
The top of the forward rankings is set in #NHL27 🔥
99 OVR Connor McDavid leads the Centers. Nikita Kucherov leads the Right Wings at 97. Kirill Kaprizov on top the Left Wings at 94.
The trio of Detroit standouts at forward all sit with an 89 overall rating and likely means that defenseman Moritz Seider will garner the top rating on the team in NHL 27.
Also likely to get strong ratings when the rest of the ratings are to be released will be goaltender John Gibson after a strong season as well as rookie breakout Emmitt Finnie, who will likely see a decent rating following a solid 30-point rookie campaign.
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Back in January, Winnipeg Jets defenceman Logan Stanley appeared to be playing his way toward the biggest payday of his NHL career.
Now, with September fast approaching, the 28-year-old remains unsigned.
And at this point of the NHL offseason, the conversation surrounding unrestricted free agents begins to change. Multi-year contracts are largely replaced by one-year deals, league-minimum offers and, eventually, professional tryouts.
It's quite the fall from where Stanley's stock stood midway through last season.
Photo by Matt Krohn/USA Today
In January, NHL insider Chris Johnston reported that Stanley was in position to cash in as an unrestricted free agent with a contract that could be worth $25 million or more. Other reporting at the time suggested a deal could stretch as long as five years and reach $5 million annually.
It wasn't necessarily as outlandish then as it may sound right now.
Stanley was in the midst of easily the finest season of his NHL career. After scoring just four goals through his first five seasons, the towering six-foot-seven blueliner suddenly found the back of the net nine times in 2025-26 - bringing fans to their feet at Canada Life Centre by using more than just his fists.
His size had always made him something of a unicorn, but for the first time in his career, Stanley was adding legitimate offensive production to the package.
Through 59 games with Winnipeg, Stanley had nine goals and 21 points, both career highs. He was averaging more than 17 minutes per game and had become a regular on the Jets' blueline.
For a pending unrestricted free agent in a relatively thin defensive market, the timing couldn't have been much better. But most who had followed the Jets for some time knew better. Kevin Cheveldayoff sure did. Winnipeg opted to sell high at the deadline.
With the Jets out of the playoff picture, Chevy sent Stanley and veteran Luke Schenn to the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline in exchange for forward Isak Rosén, defenceman Jacob Bryson, a 2027 second-round pick and a conditional fourth-round selection in 2026 - what a haul!
The Jets also separately sent Tanner Pearson to Buffalo for a seventh-round pick.
Three pending Winnipeg unrestricted free agents headed to a Sabres team preparing for the postseason for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Five months later, the deadline dealings look awfully good from the Jets' perspective.
Stanley's offensive surge didn't follow him to Buffalo.
He went goalless in 17 regular-season games with the Sabres, recording five assists while primarily serving in a third-pairing role. His final totals: nine goals, 17 assists and 26 points in 76 games still represented career highs across the board, but the momentum he'd built in Winnipeg had slowed considerably.
Then came the playoffs. Stanley initially remained in Buffalo's lineup, but appeared in just eight of the Sabres' 13 postseason games.
By Game 5 of Buffalo's second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, with the series tied at two games apiece, Stanley was a healthy scratch. So was Pearson.
Schenn, meanwhile, had dressed for just four regular-season games after the trade before eventually working his way into Buffalo's playoff lineup.
For three veterans acquired from Winnipeg to bolster a playoff push, none became an indispensable piece for the Sabres.
For Stanley specifically, it was a difficult way to enter what was supposed to be the most lucrative summer of his career.
July 1 came and went. Then the first week of free agency. Then the first month. Now, officially seven weeks into free agency, Stanley remains without a contract.
It's a remarkable development for a player who was once projected to potentially command upwards of $25 million on the open market. There are still reasons to believe Stanley can help an NHL team.
He's only 28. He's six-foot-seven and 231 pounds. He's physical, can kill penalties and just demonstrated that there may be more offensive upside in his game than previously thought. Those players generally find work.
But Stanley's continued availability also suggests NHL teams may have viewed his breakout season with considerably more caution than anticipated.
Nine goals certainly jumped off the page, but Stanley had never scored more than one in an NHL season prior to 2025-26. His foot speed and defensive limitations have long been points of criticism and his reduced role in Buffalo - culminating in healthy scratches during the postseason - didn't exactly provide the strongest final audition before free agency.
Whatever market Stanley and his representatives envisioned earlier in the year clearly hasn't materialized. And the longer he remains unsigned, the fewer options remain.
By mid-August, most NHL teams have their rosters largely assembled and much of their available cap space committed. Players still searching for work increasingly have to decide whether to accept less money, less term or simply an opportunity to earn a contract in training camp.
That doesn't mean Stanley is destined for a PTO. But we are entering the time of year when it becomes a legitimate possibility.
For Winnipeg, meanwhile, the sequence represents an impressive bit of asset management.
Chevy and the Jets resisted the temptation to commit long-term money to a player enjoying an unexpected offensive breakout. Instead, they moved Stanley at what may have been the absolute peak of his value and turned him and Schenn into Rosén, Bryson and two draft picks.
Stanley could still sign tomorrow. He could land a perfectly respectable one-year contract, re-establish himself as an everyday NHL defenceman and take another run at unrestricted free agency next summer.
But whatever happens from here, it's difficult to imagine his market returning to where it appeared to be in January. Let's re-phrase that: his market will never return to the height it reached midway through the 2025-26 season.
At one point, Logan Stanley was staring down the possibility of a $25-million payday. Now seven months later, he's simply looking for a place to play. Talk about fumbling the bag.
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 31: Rickard Rakell #67 of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores against the Detroit Red Wings at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 31, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
There is still a debate raging as to whether or not the Pittsburgh Penguins are actually trying to rebuild, or if they are instead trying to maintain some level of competition as long as Sidney Crosby is still on the roster. I am still of the belief that they are, in fact, rebuilding, and they are very clearly telling you that with how they are doing business at the moment.
I have made this argument here before, and for the purposes of this article, will make it again.
It’s not a full-scale, tear it all down to the ground tank-job of a rebuild, and maybe you disagree with that and think that it should be. I have grown far more skeptical of those sorts of rebuilds in the current NHL landscape and how successful they can actually be, but that’s another argument for another day.
But it is still very much a long-term approach and rebuild happening right in front of you.
Teams that are not rebuilding do not go into a season with around $10 million in salary cap space. The only teams in the league with more salary cap space this season, as of this moment, are the Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken, and Detroit Red Wings. The Blue Jackets are going to blow past them in the coming weeks when Adam Fantilli signs his new deal.
The Flyers would have blown past them had they successfully pulled off the Leo Carlsson offer sheet.
Calgary and Vancouver are very much deep into rebuilds.
Seattle and Detroit are both just a mess. I’m not sure what either of those teams are doing, and I’m not sure they know, either.
Teams that are not rebuilding do not make 19 draft picks over the most recent two-year stretch, including seven in the first two rounds and six within the top-40.
Teams that are not rebuilding do not have 10 picks in the first two rounds over the next three years.
Do you know how many other teams in the NHL have 10 picks in the first two rounds of the next three drafts right now?
The answer is zero.
The only other teams that have even as many as eight picks in those rounds are the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils. All three of them have exactly eight picks, while Calgary and Vancouver are, again, very much deep into rebuilds.
The players they are acquiring are either short-term reclamation projects on one-year deals (Anthony Mantha, Andrei Kuzmenko types), veteran players that come with additional draft picks (think Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba type trades), or younger players in their early-to-mid-20s that need a change of scenery or have not yet fully reached their potential. They are lottery tickets.
They are telling you what they are doing without actually coming out and saying it.
One of the most important rules in sports is to believe what teams do, and not what they say.
But the big question that remains with all of this is this: If they are rebuilding, why are there still so many older players on the roster?
As is the case with a lot of situations in life, the most likely explanation is also probably the simplest explanation.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are still here largely because they are legacy players and franchise icons. Whether it’s right or wrong, whether you agree with it or not, the Penguins have decided as an organization that it is important to keep them here. It certainly makes it harder to bottom out for draft position, but as noted above, it does not stop them from focussing on the future in literally every other area.
Even that doesn’t really explain why players like Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are still here.
That also (probably) has a very likely, and very simple explanation — nobody else wants them.
More accurately, nobody else wants the type of players they are, that are signed to the type of contracts they are currently signed to.
Are they still good players, and productive players? Absolutely they are. Could either one of them help a lot of teams right now? Absolutely they could. If I were a floundering team full of losers and underachievers that can’t break through, I’d probably love to have a guy like Bryan Rust on it given type of player he is and the type of winner he’s been.
But I’m not an NHL general manager.
The problem is that when you trade for a player, or acquire a player, you are not just acquiring their current level of play and current level of production. You are acquiring their age, their injury history, their position, their future production and, perhaps even most importantly out of all of that, their contract. It is the total package.
And that is where I see an issue regarding the trade values for Rakell and Rust.
As good and productive as they still are, look at the type of players they are. Look at where they play. Look at their contracts.
They are fringe first-second line wingers, in their mid-30s, with term remaining on their contracts.
That is not the type of player that teams are trading for right now. It is not the type of player teams are trying to jump through hoops to acquire. And my argument for that is everything we have seen happen across the league over the past two years.
I went back to the 2024-25 trade deadline, up through the current point of this offseason, and looked at every NHL forward that has been traded over that time, and specifically looked for forwards age 32 or older.
Players that fit Rakell and Rust’s player profiles are almost non-existent on the list.
Some numbers and names:
There have been 31 forwards age 32 or older traded over that time period, which does seem like a lot, and should indicate some sort of market for players like Rakell and Rust. But….
Of those 31 forwards, 21 of them were either entering the final year of their contract as an offseason trade, or were already in the final year of their contract as a pending unrestricted free agent or rental. There was no long-term commitment with them. Rust and Rakell both have two full years remaining, and had even more going into last season and into the previous trade deadline. Teams don’t want term on older players.
Of the 10 forwards in that group that were traded, only 10 of them had multiple years of term remaining on their contract. Which, again, might indicate some sort of value. BUT…
Here are the names on that list: Vincent Trocheck, Nazem Kadri, Fredrick Gaudreau, Charlie Coyle, Brayden Schenn, Ryan Strome, Nic Dowd, Nick Bjugstad, Ondrej Palat and Chris Kreider.
Think about that list of names.
Look at them.
Study them.
Picture them in your head.
Imagine for a second where they are playing on the ice.
Find the common denominator.
Look them up if you want to confirm it.
Or just let me tell you that EIGHT of them are primarily … centers.
The only two mid-30s forwards, with term remaining, that are primarily WINGERS, that have been traded over the past two-plus years are Palat and Kreider.
In Palat’s case, it was a strict salary dump that saw the Islanders trade third-and sixth-round picks along with him to get his contract off the books. Is that what the Penguins should be doing? That’s not a rebuilding move.
In Kreider’s case, the Rangers traded a fourth-round pick along with him to acquire a third-round pick (they basically moved up 15 spots in the draft) and a mid-level prospect. Not exactly a meaningful return or one that is screaming with value. That’s probably the type of return you’re looking at here. Is that worth it? Does that make sense?
Positional value matters, and it matters a lot. It’s a lot easier for a contending team to find a veteran player on the wing that can score you 25 or 30 goals than it is to find a center that can play meaningful minutes. You don’t need to trade assets for the former. Or take on term. Not when you can sign a player like, say, Anthony Mantha for two years and keep your other assets.
The center market is dramatically different, both in terms of the impact they can make, and the availability of them.
Looking back at everything regarding Rakell specifically in hindsight, and I would argue they might have given him such an extended run at center this season not only because of injuries on the roster, but also as a means of trying to boost his trade value. Especially when he started getting work at center in training camp and the preseason before the in-season injuries at the position started to build.
It’s a young man’s game, and teams clearly value younger players in trades, whether they are fully proven or not. Just because teams are throwing around multiple first-round picks for players like Mason McTavish or Simon Nemec does not mean they are going to value players like Rakell or Rust the same way, even if the latter players might be (or are) better right now. You’re just not going to get much in a trade for a mid-30s winger signed for multiple years. Nobody is. Nobody does. You can not force another team to take your player just because you might want to move them.
You might not be able to move them until next year.
If at all.
That might just be the nature of the beast in the NHL right now. It might have to be the reality of the Penguins rebuild.
The Calgary Flames were one of the NHL's worst teams last season, finishing near the bottom of the standings and ultimately retaining the sixth overall pick in the NHL Draft. Still in the early stages of a rebuild, Calgary lacks the star power needed to score goals and win games consistently.
Recently, Bleacher Report examined all 16 non-playoff teams and assessed whether their offseason moves were worth "buying" or "selling." The Flames landed in the "sell" category, and the outlet wasn't convinced Calgary did enough to take a meaningful step forward in 2026-27.
How Can the Flames Change Their Trajectory Next Year?
One of Calgary's biggest long-term challenges remains Jonathan Huberdeau's contract. The veteran forward carries a $10.5 million cap hit through 2030-31, making him the highest-paid player on a rebuilding roster that could once again find itself in the NHL Draft Lottery.
Moving Huberdeau would be extremely difficult without retaining salary or attaching significant assets, but his contract still limits Calgary's flexibility. If the Flames can eventually find a creative solution, it could open both a roster spot and valuable cap space for the next stage of the rebuild.
Connor Zary and Zach Whitecloud have also surfaced in trade rumors. If either player is moved, Calgary could continue reshaping its roster while creating opportunities for younger players management believes can become part of the club's long-term core.
More importantly, the Flames need to support Dustin Wolf more. After emerging as one of hockey's top young goaltenders, Wolf spent last season backstopping a team that struggled near the bottom of the standings. No matter how well he performs, Calgary will only improve if the skaters in front of him generate more offense and the organization's young players take meaningful steps forward.
The End of an Era
The Scotiabank Saddledome is scheduled to close following the 2026-27 season, barring a playoff run that extends its NHL life beyond the regular-season finale. Regardless of where Calgary finishes in the standings, the final season at the Saddledome will carry significance of its own. The rebuild will not be completed overnight, and another difficult season would not necessarily change the organization's long-term direction.
Instead, fans will have one final year to appreciate a building that has housed Flames for more than four decades. There will be a final home opener, a final Battle of Alberta, a final goal, a final save, and eventually a final NHL game in the 43-year-old arena.
For a rebuilding team still searching for its next championship window, the farewell season offers Flames fans something meaningful to embrace even if the climb up the standings remains difficult.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 07: Connor Dewar #19 of the Pittsburgh Penguins is checked by Carson Soucy #24 of the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden on October 07, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Veterans looking to latch on and earn an NHL contract via a pro tryout (PTO) are a hallmark event of the NHL preseason. Some clubs will bring players on to see what they have, some use it mostly to fill out requirements for preseason games to make sure they dress a lineup with enough NHL experience, some have legit chances. Often a PTO can be the end of the road and something of a sad footnote. Remember Bill Guerin going to Flyers camp in 2010? No? Well, that’s probably for the best, he didn’t make the club and would retire soon after.
Last year, the Penguins had Robby Fabbri in camp on a PTO. Fabbri performed very well, hung on to the last cut but ultimately Pittsburgh decided against offering him a contract. That wouldn’t be the end of the line for Fabbri, who went through a whirlwind last year that included signing an AHL PTO with Charlotte, followed by an NHL contract with St. Louis, followed by getting claimed on waivers by Minnesota.
Will the Pens have any PTO’s this year? It’s something to watch in the coming weeks as camp rosters come out and news breaks about which vets will try to catch on across the league. Here’s a list of remaining unrestricted free agents via CapWages (we might be able to throw those projected cap hits out the window in most cases), several of which presumably will need to go the PTO route if they are to continue in the NHL.
The Penguins have 48 of their 50 contracts spoken for next season. Teams usually operate in that range, they technically could add another player (or, of course, even two) and be under the limited but adding more could hinder in-season transactions and might be something they stay away from.
That alone could be a good reason to sit this PTO season out, barring adding a player just to have experience for preseason games. Up front, you would certainly think there would be no interest or ability to tryout new players when the team is already more than flush with candidates for jobs.
Defense, however, is a different story. If Pittsburgh could get a player like Logan Stanley or Carson Soucy in the door, that might be an area where a veteran has a realistic chance to make the opening night lineup given the left side defensive chart is composed of Sam Girard, a player who spent time in the AHL last year (Declan Carlile) and then less from there (Ilya Solovyov, Caleb Jones, Owen Pickering, Jake Livanavage) as well as any possible RD that might get played on the left side.
There is a reason that these players don’t have contracts deep into August.
Soucy, 32, has had a couple of rough seasons but was effective as recently as 2023-24. At this point he doesn’t look like much more than a short-term band-aid for a club that doesn’t have a lot of depth.
Stanley, 28, doesn’t stand out on WAR but did score nine goals and add 17 assists last year between Winnipeg and Buffalo. He’s also 6’7”, 230 pounds and you can’t teach that. Still, Stanley was a player that moved down the depth chart for the Sabres, ending up as a scratch at the end of the playoffs after seeing his ice time cut along the way. His performance last year was still above needing to resort to a PTO level, he may yet find a late contract offer and be able to get in for something more firm than a tryout.
Until that happens though, it’s fair to wonder if the Pens will have any interest in a tryout to round out their training camp. Whether it’s been through waivers or trades, this team has been active at looking to add players and see what they have from fringe players. At this point, they made just decide what is on hand (like Solovyov and Jones) is enough for a quicker preseason but if there’s any area out there that makes sense to add a tryout, the blueline looks to be the spot this year in Pittsburgh.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 18: A general view of the betting odds on the video board at the Westgate SuperBook sports book on November 18, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With the end of the offseason inching closer and training camp now merely weeks away, I can speak for myself when I say that I’m ready to get hurt again by watching another season of our favorite hockey team try to play hockey at the highest level.
The New Jersey Devils rookies will report to camp, followed by the veterans and an abbreviated preseason as this will be the first season of the 84-game regular season schedule under the new CBA. Which means that it won’t be too long before you’re inundated with all sorts of season preview content.
Before the season begins, I do like to take a look at what the sportsbooks think when it comes to the odds. Not necessarily because I’m looking to place a wager as I am a terrible bettor…..my recent excursion to Harrah’s Atlantic City can attest to that…..but because the sportsbooks aren’t typically in the business of trying to be wrong. The old saying is that the casinos in Las Vegas didn’t build themselves, and while there are instances where the sportsbooks completely miss the mark (the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season and the year Leicester City won the Premier League being two of the more prominent examples over the last decade), they’re generally closer to being right more often than not if you want to use it as a sort of predictive market. The books are trying to set the most accurate number they can with the data and information available to them and mitigate risk on their end, and they have all access to all sorts of resources that the general public does not.
I thought for this week, it would be worthwhile to take a look at the odds and what they’re trying to tell us about what they think the Devils will be this season. For the purposes of this article, odds are courtesy of DraftKings and are subject to change.
Metropolitan Division Winner Odds
Carolina +100
Washington +370
New Jersey +750
Philadelphia 11/1
Columbus 15/1
Pittsburgh 16/1
NY Islanders 25/1
NY Rangers 25/1
An experienced sports bettor would know to shop around for the best price if there was a particular team they were looking to bet, but going from sportsbook to sportsbook, the general consensus is that Carolina is the team to beat in the division, Washington is the team with the best chance of dethroning them, and the Devils have the slight edge over the rest of the also rans in the Metropolitan when it comes to who will be that third guaranteed playoff team out of the division.
I would agree that Carolina, the defending Stanley Cup champions and the most consistent team in the division over the last decade, deserves the distinction of being the team to beat. They have earned the benefit of the doubt thanks to their body of work over the last several years and suffered no significant losses off of their roster outside of maybe goalltender Frederik Andersen. I would also agree with Washington being the #2 team in the Metro, as I don’t think any team has had a better offseason than the Capitals. Adding two top six forwards in Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou and retaining the services of an all-time great in Alex Ovechkin will earn that distinction.
I’m not entirely sure that I agree that the Devils are the third best team after finishing 7th last year and struggling to put the puck in the back of the net. If anything, I view the endorsement of the Devils as an indictment of everybody else, if that makes sense.
I will say that I do think that outside of Washington and maybe the Rangers, the Devils have done more to improve in the division this offseason than any other team in the Metro. The Flyers did take a big swing with the Leo Carlsson offer sheet, and they did improve their backup goaltender spot with the Joseph Woll trade. But they didn’t ultimately get Carlsson, and would it be all that surprising with how random goaltending is if Dan Vladar took a step back? A full season of Porter Martone should help, and I would say the same for Matvei Michkov if the Flyers don’t run him out of town first, but I do think the Devils and Flyers should probably be closer than they actually are. And that’s not even considering someone else in the division putting together a sustained run during the season to force their way into the playoffs like the Penguins did last year. Columbus made their seemingly annual run but came up short, and the Islanders held a playoff spot for much of the year before a late season collapse.
The Metropolitan Division Point Totals
Carolina – 107.5
Washington – 99.5
New Jersey – 95.5
Philadelphia – 93.5
Pittsburgh – 91.5
Columbus – 91.5
NY Islanders – 88.5
NY Rangers – 86.5
Those point totals might seem high for everyone, but keep in mind. The regular season is now 84 games, so that adds a possible four points to the total that a team can earn over the course of the season.
I will say these numbers being closer than the divisional odds aligns with what I previously said about the gap between the Devils and the rest of the Metropolitan Division being closer than it appears to be.
Will The Devils Make The Playoffs?
Yes -120
No -110
The most obvious playoff teams in either conference are significant favorites, as Carolina is -1100 and Colorado is -1800, just to give context. So the fact that the Devils odds are basically the same either way suggests its probably a coin flip at this point whether or not the Devils were to make it.
The Devils have the 8th best odds in the Eastern Conference simply to make the playoffs. In addition to being behind Carolina and Washington (-235), they’re also behind Florida (-1000), Tampa Bay (-390), Montreal (-180), Buffalo (-125), and Toronto (-125). I don’t know that I agree about Buffalo or Toronto being a playoff team this upcoming season, and full disclosure, I have a bet with our old pal CJ Turturo that Buffalo will NOT be a playoff team again this year, but that’s why they play the games.
What About Winning the Eastern Conference?
Carolina +300
Florida +320
Tampa Bay +600
Washington +900
Montreal 13/1
New Jersey 17/1
Buffalo 17/1
Toronto 18/1
Ottawa 20/1
Philadelphia 28/1
The Devils currently sit tied for 6th in terms of the best odds to win the Eastern Conference, which really only reaffirms a common theme throughout this article that the books expect the Devils to be a borderline playoff team.
Odds to Win the Stanley Cup
Florida +650
Carolina +650
Colorado +700
Edmonton +800
Vegas +850
Tampa Bay 12/1
Minnesota 13/1
Dallas 14/1
Washington 17/1
Montreal 22/1
Anaheim 28/1
Utah, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Buffalo 30/1
Final Thoughts
The purpose of this article isn’t to offer betting advice, although the great thing about this country is that if you vehemently disagree with any of the odds listed, you happen to live in the right jurisdiction, and you’re of legal age, you’re allowed to put your hard-earned money where your mouth is and try to prove the sportsbooks wrong.
The purpose of this article was to come up with a takeaway from the oddsmakers. And what they’re telling you is that they think this Devils team is a borderline playoff team. They think the Devils, assuming things go right, will be the 6th or 7th best team in the Eastern Conference. That would not make them a Stanley Cup contender, but if the Devils play well and look the part, they won’t remain 30/1 either in terms of odds to win the Cup. The odds will likely settle in on a tier closer to where Tampa Bay and Washington are if and when they do that.
Of course, the books can be wrong. The books have generally overrated this iteration of the Devils since their big season in 2022-23.
They likely expect that if Jack Hughes remains healthy, this is a no-doubt about it playoff team. For what its worth, the Devils were 34-24-3 with him last season (.582 point percentage) vs. 8-13 without him (.381). Jack is clearly a difference maker where he makes an impact when he plays, and his absence is felt as well. A .582 point percentage extrapolated over an 82 game season last year would’ve still had them come up short in the Eastern Conference, but adding a healthy Jack probably flips a couple contests in the Metropolitan Division (where they went 7-17-2 last year) and Eastern Conference (20-27-3) that they lost last season. Or if nothing else, it gets them to overtime more often than they did last season (16 times, which was among the fewest in the league).
The Devils have not had the depth the last few seasons to overcome a Jack Hughes injury. Add on top of that poor goaltending in two of the last three seasons (Vanecek/Schmid/Daws in 23-24, Markstrom last year). Add on top of that that last year’s team was bottom two in terms of shot percentage and finishing their chances. All of that led to the Devils finishing where they did on the outside looking in. Yes, they have ground to make up in a competitive Eastern Conference if they want to get back to the playoffs, but they’ve managed to dig their way out of deeper holes than this before.
Whether or not Sunny Mehta has made enough changes to improve the Devils is up for debate. I wrote this article a few days before the team signed Anthony Mantha, who should help the team finish more of their chances. I do think their depth pieces now are better than what they had in previous seasons, but I’ve also thought that in the past only to be disappointed with late career Evgenii Dadonov, Tomas Tatar, and Tomas Nosek, among others.
The Devils are probably better on paper than they were last year. They’re probably better on whatever spreadsheet and model Sunny Mehta uses, at least compared to last year’s version. And the oddsmakers seem to think they’re better as well. It remains to be seen whether or not they’re actually better or if we’re being set up for disappointment once again.
Next on this list of the top 10 Toronto Maple Leafs prospects is Noah Chadwick, ranked at No. 7.
The players in this ranking do not have extensive NHL experience and are all under 23. Therefore, players such as William Villeneuve, Artur Akhtyamov and Easton Cowan, among others, won't feature in this ranking for either or both of those particular reasons.
In terms of where these players fall in the rankings, it is a mix of their ceiling and potential, as well as how they've performed in the past year with their respective clubs.
Chadwick was a late pick by the Maple Leafs in the 2023 NHL draft, selected 185th overall in the sixth round. Though he was selected late in his draft class, the left-handed defenseman has developed like a player who was taken in the first three rounds.
The season before Toronto drafted Chadwick in 2022-23, his first full WHL campaign with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the blueliner recorded five goals and 20 points in 67 appearances.
But in 2023-24, the season after the Maple Leafs drafted him, Chadwick developed soundly and produced efficiently from the back end. By the end of that campaign, he finished in the top 10 among WHL defensemen in scoring with 12 goals and 56 points in 66 games. His numbers were also good enough to finish fifth on the team in scoring and lead all D-men on the Hurricanes.
The 6-foot-4 Chadwick wasn't only evolving as a hockey player, but also as a leader. He was an alternate captain during 2023-24 and was named captain of Lethbridge the following season.
Chadwick was just as impressive for the Hurricanes with the 'C' on his chest. He registered 13 goals and 53 points in 66 regular-season outings, but really stepped into the light with his post-season performance.
Lethbridge advanced to the third round of the 2025 WHL playoffs, and plenty of that had to do with how Chadwick stepped up. The Saskatoon native recorded seven goals and 14 points in those 16 playoff games. He tied for third in team playoff scoring and was among the league's top scorers in his position. The Hurricanes wound up getting eliminated by Gavin McKenna and the Medicine Hat Tigers.
After his standout performance in his final season of junior hockey, Chadwick joined the Toronto Marlies in the AHL this past year.
Chadwick mostly looked the part in his rookie season in the American League. He ended the year with five goals and 23 points in the regular season, notching a minus-two rating.
He doesn't have the same responsibility as he did with the Hurricanes, of course, meaning he doesn't see the ice as much as defensemen such as Villeneuve, Dakota Mermis or a healthy Marshall Rifai. However, just like in Jr., his role will continue to expand, especially with Henry Thrun now a member of the Winnipeg Jets.
In the midst of all this growth that Chadwick has endured, he is still 21 years old with plenty of room to improve this coming season. A Calder Cup championship could only make this player more confident in his abilities as a defenseman and more comfortable as the leader he's proven to be at previous levels in hockey.
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After re-signing Hunter McDonald to a two-year contract on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers have all of their free agents under contract and accounted for, but for the freshly inked defenseman, time is already ticking.
McDonald, 24, re-upped with the Flyers on a two-year, $1.83 million contract that carries a cap hit of $912.5k, with 2026-27 being a two-way year and 2027-28 being a one-way year.
As an aside to address a common misconception, the only difference between the two-way and one-way years is the amount McDonald gets paid, and not whether or not he'll go to the AHL. This season, McDonald's salary will be $250k in the AHL and $900k in the NHL.
Regardless of that, though, the burly 6-foot-4 defenseman has earned himself another contract with the Flyers, but he'll be under pressure to quickly make an impact.
At the left defense position, McDonald will need to wrest a roster spot away from a veteran like Simon Benoit and Nick Seeler, who have one and two years remaining on their contracts, respectively.
He'll also face some competition from fellow prospect Ty Murchison, who made his NHL debut before McDonald did and is a year younger. Murchison, too, has a lot to play for this year, as he's coming back from a season-ending injury and heading into a contract year.
But, even if McDonald manages to fend off Murchison and pip one of the vets for playing time, 2026 first-round pick Maksim Sokolovskii will be on the way in a few years.
That's all to say that, the sooner McDonald can establish himself and carve out a role, the better it will be for him and the Flyers.
Outside of Sokolovskii, the crop of young players on the left is bare and unremarkable, especially after the departure of Emil Andrae, but a step forward from McDonald can help change that perception.
After all, the former fifth-rounder will be 25 by the end of the new season, but he's managed to appear in just one NHL game thus far, recording an assist in his debut in an insubstantial Game 82 matchup with the Montreal Canadiens back in April, after the Flyers had already secured their place in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
After 147 regular season games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms across parts of four seasons, the time is now for McDonald to take the next step forward for the Flyers, and the short-term, varying-income contract is the organization's way of telling him to go get it.
It's worth noting, too, that if McDonald shows well in training camp and impresses Rick Tocchet and the Flyers, the front office has options.
Seeler, 33, has two years remaining on his contract at a $2.7 million cap hit with his trade protection expiring on July 1, while Benoit, the newcomer, carries a modest $1.35 million cap hit.
Both players are easily tradeable, if necessary, with their reasonable cap hits, and if Benoit hypothetically had no takers on the trade market or waivers, his cap hit is almost fully buriable in the AHL.
The Flyers have generally done well to leave themselves a back-door escape or backup option if someone falters.
A declining veteran always has a fledgling replacement waiting in the wings, and failsafe options are stocked in the cupboard if a young prospect isn't ready for a prominent NHL role with the Flyers.
The Flyers have long been bullish on the physical McDonald's upside as a third-pair bully, and it's up to the player now to gain his wings and take off before time runs out.
The Athletic has published its NHL pipeline rankings, and journalist Corey Pronman ranks the Montreal Canadiens’ pipeline third, behind the league-leading San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. For these rankings, Pronman focused on players 22 or younger as of September 15, 2026.
In his analysis of the Canadiens’ pipeline, he takes a closer look at 19 of the Canadiens’ prospects, including four netminders. The article includes a few surprising takes, but none more than his assessment of Jacob Fowler. Pronman wraps up his write-up on the Florida native with this statement: He projects as a quality backup goalie.
Granted, right now, the 21-year-old is not first on the Canadiens’ depth chart in goal, even though he has long been seen as the Habs’ goaltender of the future. While that may still be true, Jakub Dobes’ playoff performance has reminded everyone that there is a present before that future and that he’s very much in it.
He had such a solid rookie season that the team signed him to a three-year contract extension, which is a testament to the trust the organization has in him. The deal carries a $5,357,575 cap hit and a modified no-trade clause for the last two seasons, in which he can give a list of seven teams he cannot be traded to. Clearly, he has impressed with his performance, but Kent Hughes didn’t sign him to a long-term contract, and that’s in part because the Canadiens also have Fowler.
The 6-foot-1 and 223-pound goaltender was drafted in the third round by the Canadiens with the 69th overall pick at the 2023 draft. Since Montreal selected him, Fowler has impressed at every level. In his first year in the NCAA, he posted a 2.14 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage, and a 32-6-1 record, including seven shutouts. In his second year at Boston College, he went 25-7-2 with a 1.63 GAA, a .940 SV, and seven shutouts. Last season, with the Laval Rocket, he went 19-7-1 with a 2.23 GAA, a .916 SV, and three shutouts. Because of Samuel Montembeault’s struggle, he was given an extended look at the NHL level and went 9-6-2, with a 2.43 GAA, a .908 SV and one shutout.
While Pronman has a point when he says that Fowler is average-sized at best and that he doesn’t have true premier athleticism for the NHL, he may not need it. What Fowler lacks in size and athleticism, he makes up for with strong positioning and nerves of steel. He was more of a " thrown to the lions this past season when the Canadiens found themselves with two goalies who were struggling, and he rose to the challenge beautifully. Despite less-than-ideal circumstances, Fowler looked in full control and not at all out of his depth between the pipes of an NHL net.
Goaltending is a very volatile position, and it’s certainly not easy to predict how a prospect will turn out, but from what Fowler has shown so far, he looks like a future starting goaltender to me. In fact, right now, the Canadiens are in a position of strength in net with two very good young goaltenders in Fowler and Dobes, and I dare say that if Kent Hughes were to dangle Fowler as part of a package to acquire that elusive top-six forward, he could drum up a lot of business. Time will tell how fair Pronman’s assessment was, but right now, I struggle to see how he could turn into anything other than a number one goaltender.
The 2025-26 season didn’t exactly start with a bang for the 2020 draft pick. On Sept. 26, 2025, the Penguins announced that Blomqvist had suffered a lower-body injury during a preseason game and would miss several weeks.
Sidelined until mid-November, he was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Nov. 15 and served as a platoon partner to prized prospect Sergei Murashov as the Baby Penguins marched to a 46-17-7 regular-season record and the Eastern Conference Finals of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Blomqvist compiled a 16-5-6 record over 26 games with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. His goals-against average was the sixth-lowest rate in the AHL last season, while his save percentage was the seventh-best.
For reference, Murashov finished with a 24-9-4 AHL record, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
Blomqvist did not feature in the NHL during the 2025-26 season except for a lone recall as an emergency backup for a Pittsburgh playoff game against the Flyers on April 29. He was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the next day.
Instead, it was Murashov who was called up for five NHL games in early November after Tristan Jarry was placed on injured reserve.
Despite Murashov’s emergence, Blomqvist still possesses a skill set that has made him a highly regarded goaltending prospect. He has been described as a calm, technically sound goaltender known for his anticipation and positioning. His primary strengths lie in his quiet demeanor and efficient tracking, while his physical posture remains a potential weakness at the highest level.
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 7, 2025
The Finn’s immediate future with the organization was addressed last month, when he signed a two-year contract with an average annual value of $875,000.
However, as Hooks dissected the contract structure in the days following the deal, he noted that the two-way contract carries a $300,000 downside guaranteed salary, worth up to $850,000 if he spends the full 2026-27 season in the NHL.
The second year of the deal is more intriguing. The second year switches the contract to a one-way deal that pays Blomqvist a $900,000 salary, regardless of whether he plays in the NHL or the AHL.
All told, Blomqvist is slotted as the organization’s third-string goalie and the WB/S starter heading into this season, with Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov primed to see the bulk of NHL action.
Still, another season in the AHL doesn’t mean Blomqvist has fallen out of Pittsburgh’s plans. He was a relatively high draft pick, named an AHL All-Star during the 2023-24 season, and showed some promise when recalled to Pittsburgh during the 2024-25 campaign, posting a 4-9-1 record over 15 games with a 3.81 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.
All NHL organizations need goalie depth in this day and age. With the league expanding to an 84-game regular season, that depth may be tested in ways it has not been before, making Blomqvist’s presence that much more important heading into 2026-27. He remains one of the organization’s most accomplished young players and its most experienced goaltending prospect.
However, the path to Pittsburgh’s crease is considerably less clear than it appeared a year or two ago. Murashov’s play suggests the Penguins may now view him as the goaltending prospect with the higher ceiling.
Blomqvist needs to establish himself as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s clear No. 1 and make the most of whatever NHL opportunity comes his way, whether that is this season or next.
