The New Rangers have re-signed defenseman Vincent Iorio to a one-year contract extension.
The contract is reportedly a two-way deal worth $850,000 if he’s in the NHL and $125,000 in the American Hockey League.
The Rangers claimed Iorio off waivers from the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 31.
Iorio stuck around with the Rangers for the remainder of the season, but he was scratched for a handful of games.
The 23-year-old defenseman posted three points in 27 games for New York while averaging 13:05 minutes.
Before being claimed by the Rangers, Iorio played for the Washington Capitals and Sharks.
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 Iorio to carve out a roster spot with the Rangers out of training camp.
By many metrics, the Buffalo Sabres had a solid 2025-26 season. They won first place in the highly-competitive Atlantic Division, and they won their first Stanley Cup playoffs series in 15 years, beating the Boston Bruins in the opening round before the Montreal Canadiens beat them in Round 2.
The Sabres’ success last season means that TheHockeyNews.com’s annual grades for Buffalo players will be mostly positive. And in this “Sabres Grades” file, we’re focusing on Sabres goalie Alex Lyon. The 33-year-old posted a .907 save percentage and 2.77 GAA in 36 appearances this past season, and he posted a career-best three shutouts for Buffalo last year.
Lyon’s current contract has one season left on it at $1.5-million, so he’s delivering great results given his financial impact. But let’s explore what Lyon needs to do with the Sabres in 2026-27, and see why we’ve given him the grade he deserves:
Alex Lyon
Position: Goaltender
Grade: A-
The Skinny: Lyon not only gave the Sabres a strong regular-season, – he also gave Buffalo good performances in the post-season, putting up a .904 SP and 2.59 GAA in 10 playoff appearances. Lyon had only four games of NHL playoff experience prior to the 2025-26 post-season, and you have to give Lyon credit for being a battler between the pipes – and for doing it at a bargain price.
Lyon will be 34 in December, which means he’s running out of opportunities to win a championship. Lyon doesn’t have to put the Sabres on his back to earn an ‘A’-level grade. But if he can continue putting in good work in Buffalo’s tandem with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Lyon is going to either earn himself a contract extension with the Sabres, or he’s going to get another chance with a different team.
That said, while Buffalo has youngster Colten Ellis in their depth chart for goalies, they’ve been getting great results from Lyon, who is one of the reasons why the Sabres chose to trade former goalie-of-the-future Devon Levil to the Edmonton Oilers this summer. Lyon isn’t the goalie-of-the-future, either, but he and Luukkonen are the goalies-of-the-now.
And if Lyon gives the Sabres the same caliber of netminding he gave them this past season, Buffalo management will be delighted – and he might just earn himself an extension to keep him in Western New York for the foreseeable future.
Lyon isn’t going to win a Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie, but he is competent enough to be one-half of a competitive tandem. And as the Sabres prepare to push further next season than they pushed last year, Lyon’s contributions could prove crucial to Buffalo’s Stanley Cup hopes.
We’re now about three weeks away from actual hockey, and one of the most interesting stories at Senators training camp this year will be Carter Yakemchuk’s attempt to make the full-time NHL roster.
To some degree, he's paid his dues the past two seasons, developing in both the WHL and AHL, and there now appears to be a spot waiting for him among Ottawa’s top seven defencemen.
But is he actually ready?
Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss Jake Sanderson's ranking among top NHL defensemen.
At the moment, Yakemchuk and Nikolas Matinpalo look like the primary candidates for the opening on the right side of Ottawa’s bottom D pairing. Matinpalo has considerably more professional and NHL experience and has played in every Sens playoff game the past two years.
At worst, Matinpalo will be the Senators' seventh defenseman. But if he outduels Yakemchuk for the sixth spot, there's a good chance the Senators' prized rookie might then head back to Belleville.
But that's a bridge to be crossed at the end of camp after the Senators decide on their final cuts. Yakemchuk has made it to that point in each of the past two years, and the team is hoping this is the year he clears that last hurdle.
He certainly provided some highlights in his brief time with Ottawa last season.
He appeared in four regular-season games with Ottawa and added one playoff appearance. Both his NHL regular-season debut and his Stanley Cup playoff debut resulted in two-point performances.
So the offensive ability appears to be NHL-ready. As for the rest, time will tell.
Yakemchuk spent Friday at Sensplex visiting with local kids and signing autographs, and says he likes where his game is heading.
"I think it's been a good summer for myself," Yakemchuk told Sens social media host Jackson Starr. "And I'm just excited for camp. I wanna go in there and do my best and put my best foot forward. So I'm excited for it.”
Yakemchuk has also spent plenty of time around his future teammates this summer. He's been staying at Ridly Greig’s house and has been glad to regularly train with the boys, which should make main camp more comfortable, providing a real sense of belonging..
“Yeah, I mean, everyone's great, so it's nice to catch up with them. I haven't seen them in a couple of months, but yeah, just hanging out with them at the gym and at the rink and then also away from it, it's been awesome.”
Before the battle for NHL jobs really gets underway, Yakemchuk could get an early opportunity for something a little more challenging than summer shinny.
The Senators’ rookies and prospects will be in Gatineau for the NHL Prospect Challenge at the Slush Puppie Centre on September 12 and 13, with Ottawa facing prospects from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
Then comes the bigger test.
Yakemchuk has been one of Ottawa’s most closely watched prospects since being selected seventh overall in 2024. His size and offensive instincts were NHL-ready on day one.
Now the question is whether the rest of his game is ready for full-time duty.
The NHL/NHPA European Player Media Tour is off and running in Munich, Germany, at the moment, with a select number of players speaking to journalists.
Among those players is Ottawa Senators star center Tim Stutzle.
Unsurprisingly, former Senators captain and now current Florida Panthers winger Brady Tkachuk was brought up during Stutzle's availability, fielding all sorts of questions about Tkachuk's departure.
"I feel like you’re always surprised over a big move like that," Stutzle told The Hockey News' David Alter during the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour in Munich on Friday.
"Yeah, we’re going to miss him, but at the end of the day we have to focus on what’s ahead and what we have in Ottawa. We have a lot of guys who love being in Ottawa — and I’m sure he did too. It was just time for him to move on and we’ve got to accept that."
Tkachuk was the fourth overall pick of the Senators in the 2018 NHL draft. He went on to play eight seasons with the Senators, five of which he served as an assistant captain. In 572 games with the Senators, Tkachuk scored 213 goals and 473 points. No player on the Senators recorded more goals or points since Tkachuk made his debut.
Tkachuk was as important to the Senators franchise as any player had been in their history. Still, as the disappointing seasons mounted and the fans' frustration following the 2026 Olympics grew, it reached a point where the Senators and Tkachuk agreed it was time to move on.
The Senators would trade Tkachuk to Florida on June 21 in exchange for the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the 2026 NHL draft, as well as a conditional first-round pick in the 2029 NHL draft and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft. The Senators then flipped the No. 9 pick to the San Jose Sharks for forward William Eklund and selected Jonas Lgerberg-Hoen with the No. 25 pick.
Teammates and fans were shocked by the move, but a select few, including Stutzle, were appreciative of what Tkachuk had done for the franchise.
"I want to thank 'Chucky' for what he’s done for me, for my teammates," said Stutzle. "He took me in when I was younger and did everything in a possible way to make me feel welcome and he was always a good teammate and obviously a really, really good player."
The Senators are hoping to remain a playoff team in the highly competitive Atlantic Division, but it won't be easy. They are hoping the additions of Eklund and Andre Burakovsky, and the promotions of some of their young prospects, will help them remain competitive, but losing their leader and one of the NHL's premier power forwards is a major blow.
As for the Panthers, they are hoping Tkachuk brings his physical nature, dominant net-front presence and goal-scoring abilities to a lineup that dealt with numerous injuries last season.
Time will tell how this deal works for both sides.
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Since the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, the Detroit Red Wings have been at the center of two of the NHL's biggest storylines, neither of which was optimistic for the organization.
First, captain Dylan Larkin shocked fans by requesting a trade and further complicated matters by reportedly limiting his preferred destinations to only three teams, tying Detroit's hands.
Then, in mid-July, GM Steve Yzerman vacated his role and transitioned into a senior advisor to team owner Chris Ilitch. As of Aug. 21, the Red Wings remain without a general manager, though the organization has hired a search firm and reportedly cast a wide net in its search for Yzerman's successor.
Until recently, no current Red Wings players had publicly commented on the uncertainty surrounding the organization. That changed Friday, when defenseman Moritz Seider addressed the situation during the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour in Munich.
Seider acknowledged the elephant in the room without specifically mentioning Larkin or Yzerman, making it clear he understands the organization has plenty to address, but said those decisions are ultimately above his pay grade and will be up to Detroit's next management group to sort out.
“Obviously everyone knows what's going on with our team,” Seider said. “But I'm just excited to jump on the plane and represent this organization, see my teammates, see all our staff, all the people in the front office.
“It's just up to management,” Seider added. “I'm a player and don't have to decide all those things. I think there's a big list of things that need to be addressed, and whoever's going to be the new person, I think will guide us in the right direction.”
Seider, who was the first draft selection that GM Steve Yzerman made upon his return to Detroit in April of 2019, also said that the players have to accept their share of blame for their last three March collapses.
“Obviously you never want anything like that to happen, but then you also start questioning yourself,” Seider said. “Did the team do enough to make us a proud franchise?’ I think that's where we can take a little bit of blame.”
In the meantime, Seider reiterated his commitment to making the Red Wings one of the NHL's top-tier franchises again while praising the loyalty and passion of Detroit's considerable fan base.
“There's so much about this club that makes it so special,” Seider said. “You get reminded every time you walk into that precious building playing in front of great fans that are dying for that sport. I think that's what I'm most excited about coming back, is playing in front of the fans.
“Obviously, they've been with us through good and bad, and hopefully we can continue to do some good.”
Seider, who has never missed a game in his NHL career, registered career-bests in goals (10), assists (50), and ice time (25:39 per contest) this past season, while also garnering consideration for the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player.
Following a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on April 9, in which Larkin scored a hat trick to keep Detroit's faint playoff hopes alive, Seider made it clear that he and his teammates support their captain.
"He's our leader; we believe in him," Seider said. "We don't really care what you guys say about us outside of this locker room. We always trust him.....we're a better team with him in the lineup than without."
With each passing day, the likelihood of Larkin reporting to Red Wings Training Camp, which begins Sept. 17, increases. Naturally, that could make for an awkward return to the dressing room he requested to leave.
However, there's nothing to indicate that Seider, along with the rest of his teammates, would be anything less than professional if Larkin were to return despite his public trade request.
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Saku Koivu has made his mark on the Montreal Canadiens’ history, but he hasn’t done enough to see his number 11 go up to the rafters. Still, he did enough for TPS Turku in Finland for the SM-Liiga team to announce that it will retire his number on October 24.
Koivu was playing for TPS Turku when the Canadiens drafted him in 1993. In his first season with the Finnish side, he put up only 10 points in 47 games, but his progression in year two was spectacular. In the 1993-94 campaign, fresh off being drafted, he put up 53 points in 47 games before making another formidable jump in his final year with 74 points in 45 games.
He made the jump to the NHL at the start of the 1995-96 season and immediately made an impact with the Canadiens, putting up 45 points in 82 games in his rookie season. When the NHL lost a season to a lockout in 2004-05, Koivu headed back home and skated in 20 games for TP Turku, scoring 16 points.
In 13 seasons with the Habs, Koivu put up a total of 641 points in 792 games before joining the Anaheim Ducks as a free agent in the 2009 offseason. That summer, then Montreal GM Bob Gainey decided to give the Habs a facelift ahead of their centennial year, bringing in Scott Gomez, Mike Cammalleri, and Brian Gionta, to name a few.
More than the points he put up, though, Koivu will always be remembered in Montreal for his courage in the face of adversity. Six years into his NHL career, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and after winning that battle, he returned to the ice on April 9, 2002 and was given an ovation for the ages by the Canadiens faithful.
You can see Koivu learn about his number retirement in a TPS Turku social media post, and even if you don’t speak Finnish, it’s easy to see how much the decision meant to the former Canadiens captain. The former Hab may have more good news in the future if son Aatos Koivu, who was drafted 70th overall by the Canadiens at the 2024 draft, makes the NHL.
Former members of the Vancouver Canucks will take the spotlight in this off-season article series. From those skating with new NHL teams heading into the 2026–27 season to those who are now playing for international clubs, these featured players have skated in at least one game at the NHL level as a member of the Canucks.
Today’s segment will take a look at the former Canucks that are expected to play in the AHL’s Western Conference during the 2026–27 season.
As it stands, 20 ex-Canucks are projected to be playing in the AHL for the 2026–27 season. The Central and Pacific Divisions are each expected to have four ex-Canucks in them.
Sheldon Dries: Skated in 74 games for Vancouver from 2021–22 to 2022–23 but played the bulk of his time with Abbotsford. Set a new franchise-high in goals scored for Abbotsford with 65. Signed with the Detroit Red Wings in 2024 and has remained a part of the Red Wings organization since.
Kyle Burroughs: Signed with Vancouver in 2021 and played in 42 games through his first year with the Canucks. Skated in 48 games with Vancouver in 2022–23, signing with the San Jose Sharks in free-agency the season after. Signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Stars for the 2026–27 season.
Ashton Sautner: First joined the Canucks organization via the Utica Comets in 2015–16. Made his NHL debut for Vancouver on March 25, 2018, and skated in a grand total of 23 NHL games for the Canucks throughout his tenure. Departed from the organization via free agency in 2022, signing a deal with the Winnipeg Jets.
Derrick Pouliot: Traded to the Canucks from the Pittsburgh Penguins in October of 2017. Skated in 133 games with the Canucks through 2017 to 2019 before departing in free-agency, signing with the St. Louis Blues. Acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks via trade with the New York Rangers.
Mar 14, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kyle Burroughs (44) blocks a shot as Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston (53) watches in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Riley Stillman: Sent to Vancouver via trade for Jason Dickinson in 2022. Played in 32 games for the Canucks during the 2022–23 season before quickly being traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Skated with the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Wolves, and Edmonton Oilers before ending up in Bakersfield.
Lane Pederson: Acquired via trade with the Hurricanes in 2022–23. Split time with Vancouver and Abbotsford, skating in 11 and 18 games respectively, putting up an impressive 24 points in his time with the AHL Canucks. Claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets in January of 2023. Signed with the Los Angeles Kings during the 2026 free-agency period.
Christian Wolanin: Signed with the Canucks in 2022 and put together a career-high AHL season shortly after with 55 points in 49 games with Abbotsford. Played in 16 games with Vancouver in 2022–23 and spent the rest of his time with the organization in the AHL. Won the Calder Cup in 2025 before heading to the Providence Bruins. Signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche in 2026.
Jayson Megna: Joined Vancouver via free-agency in 2016, playing in 59 games with the Canucks through the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons. Signed with the Capitals in 2018 before heading to Colorado for four seasons. Spent time with the Anaheim Ducks and Boston Bruins organizations before returning to the Eagles in 2024–25 and being named captain.
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The Hockey News
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
The Chicago Blackhawks are coming into the 2026-27 season with mixed expectations. They made some significant additions to their roster through their farm system, trades, and free agency. They are also depending on the development of many young players who already have NHL experience.
Will it be enough to make them a playoff team? That remains to be seen. If they do end up in the dance, it is likely to be helped by players unexpectedly exceeding expectations.
There are plenty of players on the roster with pressure to be one of those players. If they don’t, their trajectory going into future years will trend down. Of all the rostered Blackhawks, these four are facing the most pressure:
Artyom Levshunov
The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of faith in Artyom Levshunov. They selected him with the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. With that comes a lot of pressure, especially when you look at some of the names selected after him.
Levshunov isn’t unlike other first- or second-year defensemen to come before him. There is a lot of skill, especially in terms of skating and overall strength, but there have been issues in the decision-making area of his game.
It is one thing to have all of the talent that earned Levshunov that second overall pick; it is another to use those skills to become a winning player. He is still working on the latter. It isn’t like Levshunov will have no future if 2026-27 isn’t a great year, but there is pressure on him to show improvement.
There are a lot of young players in the organization, or even in future drafts, who will pass him up on the depth chart if he doesn’t take steps in his development.
Bowen Byram
Bowen Byram is coming to the Chicago Blackhawks with a chance to be their number one defenseman. This comes after years of playing in the shadow of elite players like Cale Makar and Rasmus Dahlin.
Now, he has the pressure of being a team's top option in all situations. He should have no problem getting his points on the power play, but impacting the game at even strength from a defensive perspective will be part of his responsibilities as well.
Byram has one year left on his deal that will carry a cap hit of $6.25 million. After that, it jumps to $12.5 million, which is currently slated to be the highest AAV for a defenseman in the league. Others will pass it soon, but it doesn't take away from the financial commitment that the Blackhawks have to him.
With big contracts come expectations to live up to them. The Hawks don't need him to be Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar, but they need him to be a winning player who leads what should eventually be a great young defense.
Teuvo Teravainen
Teuvo Teravainen saw a drop in production last season. Part of that was less ice time as a result of more talent being inserted into the top six, but he mostly didn't play up to par.
His ice time is not going to increase, and he's not getting any younger, but he can be much better in a supporting offensive role.
With one year left on his contract with the Blackhawks, he must have a good year if he wants his next contract (with the Hawks or someone else) to be more lucrative with good length.
Arvid Soderblom
Arvid Soderblom has one year left on his contract. It also lines up with Drew Commesso's deal going from a two-way deal to a one-way deal. If he wants to maintain his spot with the Blackhawks beyond 2026-27, he must take a step.
Even if he does take a step, Spencer Knight is the long-term starter, so they may let him walk if they want Commesso in the NHL.
With that, Soderblom wants to come off a good year so he can use that to get himself another job in 2027-28 with another team. Most of the league is often looking for backup goalies, and sometimes a string of luck can land one of them a starting position. The pressure is on Soderblom to be good for his future's sake.
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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.
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.
Who will pick up the scoring slack after the departure of Alex Tuch?
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.
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.
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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
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.
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.
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
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.
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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"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.
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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