Nosek, 33, is from Pardubice and has been playing in the team’s system since 2007, when he started with the HC Dynamo Pardubice U18 squad.
During his two seasons with the Panthers, Nosek played a total of 80 regular season games, accumulating three goals and 13 points while winning 49.9% of his faceoffs, primarily centering Florida’s fourth line when in the lineup.
He suited up for 16 games during the Panthers run to the 2025 Stanley Cup, logging three assists and laying out 44 hits.
When the time came for Nosek to spend a day with the Stanley Cup, he brought the trophy back to Pardubice, visiting his childhood rink and former high school before sharing the Cup with thousands of fans at the town’s historic Pernštýnské Square.
For a man who clearly has a lot of love for his hometown, it’s very cool to see him take advantage of an opportunity to potentially finish his career there.
If you’ve taken a closer look at the Montreal Canadiens schedule for this season, you might have noticed that two of the 84 games will be played on a Monday afternoon. One is on January 18 against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center, and the other is on February 22 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena. There is also a Thursday afternoon game, played on New Year's Eve at 2:00 PM against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The game against the Sabres falls on Martin Luther King Day, which is a bank holiday in the USA but not in Canada, but the ones against the Flyers and the Bolts are not bank holidays in North America.
So why would the NHL schedule afternoon games then? NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly explained the reasoning behind it in the latest edition of The Eye Test Podcast hosted by Pierre McGuire and Jimmy Murphy. Essentially, the league has decided to design a package of weekday games to air at prime time in Europe without competition from European football, particularly on Monday nights.
If you’re not keen about missing a couple of your favorite team’s games, you might have to get used to it, as Daly also stated that he thinks it’s inevitable that at some point, the NHL will expand to Europe. If that’s the case, there will be more weekday games for every team. Daly does acknowledge that there are still obstacles to making that happen in an 84-game season, but it’s interesting to hear that the League is studying the possibility.
— The Sick Podcast - The Eye Test (@sickpodnhl) July 30, 2026
Of course, should that happen, it would mean that every team has to travel to Europe during the season, and it’s hard to imagine them doing that to play a single game against one team. From a financial standpoint, it would make more sense to have at least a couple of teams overseas. However, for those teams, they would have to be on the road for months at a time to visit the league’s other franchises. It’s hard to imagine any player being keen on leaving their family behind for months…that’s no doubt one of the obstacles Daly was referring to. If players are reluctant to come to cities like Montreal because of the language, the weather and the taxes, I can’t imagine life on the road for months being a big selling point.
Of course, the impact could be diminished if the league were to create a whole division in Europe, but would that be a viable idea? What would it do to the quality of the on-ice product? An expansion with that many teams at once could really have a negative impact; the PWHL is doing a four-team expansion this season, and that’s a real concern. Hopefully the NHL takes notes.
For now, though, it may be time to look at your team’s schedule closely and start booking some days off if you don’t want to miss anything. On Monday, October 12, the Sabres and the Florida Panthers are playing at 1:00 PM in Buffalo. On Thursday, November 12 at 12:00 PM, the Carolina Hurricanes are playing the Seattle Kraken as part of the 2026 NHL Global Series. On Monday, November 30, the Ottawa Senators are visiting the Nashville Predators at 1:00 PM. On Monday, December 7, the Colorado Avalanche are visiting the New York Islanders at 1:00 PM. On Monday, December 14, the Sabres are visiting the Senators at 2:00 PM. On Monday, December 21, the Washington Capitals visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at 1:00 PM. On Monday, December 28, the Vegas Golden Knights are visiting the Minnesota Wild at 2:00 PM. On Thursday, December 31, there are five afternoon games featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Senators, the Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings, the Canadiens and the Lightning, the Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the St. Louis Blues and the Golden Knights. It may be New Year’s Eve, but it’s not an official Bank Holiday in North America, and the list goes on in the New Year. Whichever team you support, be sure to plan ahead.
In the summer of 2025, the New York Islanders signed highly-coveted Russian free agent forward Maxim Shabanov to a one-year deal.
Shabanov, who turned 25 early in the 2025-26 season, came in with a ton of promise and excitement, with some thinking he could become a clear top-six forward with electric skill.
The Islanders, however, had a crowded forwards room to begin the year, and Shabanov started hot.
He scored in his NHL debut and the Islanders' first game of the season, and played the first six games of the year, totalling three points.
Then, Shabanov suffered an injury and missed 12 straight games. In his third game back from injury, Shabanov torched the Detroit Red Wings for two goals and three points in a statement 5-0 win, playing over 14 minutes.
That moment felt like a breakout moment, and one he could springboard into future success:
One game later, Shabanov played a hair over 10 minutes in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Shabanov played a total of 17 straight games after injury, posting two goals and seven points, including that Detroit game.
The Russian forward received inconsistent ice time and line mates, and couldn't establish a rhythm.
After that 17th straight game, then-Islanders' Head Coach Patrick Roy opted to scratch Shabanov for one game, hoping to light a fire in his player.
Two games later, Shabanov started a three-game point streak, and put up five points in five games.
As the Islanders struggled in January, so too did Shabanov. Shabanov went eight straight games without a point, to go with a -3 and a lousy 3-4-1 record for the Islanders. Shabanov was scratched once in the middle of that stretch, and then once after.
Immediately after Shabanov got scratched for a third time, Islanders' General Manager Mathieu Darche went out and acquired Ondrej Palat, replacing Maxim Tsyplakov who had spent the year as the Islanders' 13th or 14th forward.
Palat entered the lineup regularly, and Shabanov exited. Later, at the NHL Trade Deadline, the Islanders acquired Brayden Schenn, adding another forward to an already crowded mix.
Before the acquisition of Palat in late January, Shabanov played 38 of the 52 games, missing 12 to injury and getting scratched twice.
Of the final 30 games the Islanders would play, Shabanov played just six games, scoring once and adding two assists.
Ilya Sorokin pointed out in an interview after the season that Shabanov needed more positivity and to work more to earn his place, and it's hard not to think he was speaking of this period.
Nonetheless, Shabanov ultimately became an unrestricted free agent after the Islanders did not tender him a qualifying offer, ending his time on Long Island.
The Minnesota Wild swooped in and gave him a one-year deal.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK - JUNE 4: Tobias Tvrznik poses for a portrait during the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine at Harborcenter on June 4, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by Mile High Hockey staff members. Seven writers have ranked players under the age of 25 in the Colorado Avalancheorganization as of September 1, 2026. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked.
A robust list of 35 players for this year’s ranking led to many more candidates than usual for honorable mention. It wasn’t an easy choice to identify who deserved special mention with what was a wide range of opinions on players from our voters which gave some top 25 support to each and every one of those 35 eligible names. Narrowing it down to just three who just missed the cut comprise a forward, defenseman and goaltender, showing there’s budding organizational depth at all positions.
Forward – Nolan Roed – St. Cloud State (NCAA)
Former seventh round pick from the 2025 draft Nolan Roed missed out on the top 25 by just one point after landing at #21 on our list last year. Roed had a good freshman year at St. Cloud State where he scored 18 points and five goals in 36 games. It was a hot start to his season which led to Roed getting named NCHC rookie of the week in late October but he cooled off a bit once conference play started in the new year. Roed has some versatility in his game with tenacity to get to the net front and scoring ability, which Colorado looks for in both Avalanche and Eagles forwards. The 20-year-old still has a long collegiate career ahead of him in hopes of impressing the Avalanche enough for a contract offer in the future.
Goaltender – Tobias Tvrznik – Wenatchee Wild(WHL)
The newcomer of our honorable mentions is one of the new goaltenders to the organization. Tobias Tvrznik was selected at 126th overall in the fourth round of the 2026 draft in his second year of eligibility after spending a year in the WHL with the Wenatchee Wild. There the 6-foot-four goalie put up respectable stats of 16-18-4, 3.10 goals against average and .913 on a not very good team and caught the eye of the Avalanche. He possesses the enticing qualities of size and athleticism that Colorado looks for in a prospects. Previously Tvrznik was playing in Czechia junior leagues and didn’t get enough exposure but was ranked eighth for North American goaltenders and was invited to the NHL draft combine in 2026. Colorado has added a lot of goaltending talent lately so it will be interesting to see where the 19-year-old goalie goes from here both literally and figuratively.
It has been an interesting three years for Saige Weinstien since he was one of the rare rookie camp invitees who got offered a contract by the Avalanche at the conclusion of training camp in 2023. From there the six-foot-one left handed defenseman spent the next two seasons finishing his junior career in the WHL with Spokane and then he finally started playing pro hockey last season. There weren’t plans for Weinstien with the Colorado Eagles, therefore he was sent to the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL and spent 30 games there and chipped in two assists. He did see three games of AHL action and scored his first professional goal in January, which was fun to see the more defensive oriented defenseman score. Weinstien didn’t play much in the spring and also dealt with an ankle injury.
The 21-year-old landed at #17 on our ranking last season but dropped out of this year’s version of the Top 25 Under 25 due to a lot of new faces added to the organization but also the uncertainty in Colorado’s commitment to and path to get Weinstien a job in the NHL. It’s a critical year ahead for him to make an impact in the AHL and hopefully get a look with the Avalanche in order to move up the organizational depth chart, which could get him back on our list.
The other seven players in the Avalanche organization are worth a mention include defensemen Gustav Stjernberg and Cole Tuminaro, goaltender Alexandre Raymond, forward Cooper Gay and defensemen Nikita Ishimnikov, Ondrej Ruml and Chris Romaine.
Former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Louis Domingue is taking his talents overseas.
Italy's HC Bolzano of the ICEHL has announced that they have signed Domingue.
Domingue heading to Italy comes after he split last season between the KHL and the AHL. In 11 games with Sibir Novosibirsk of the KHL, the former Penguins goalie had a 0-9-2 record, an .892 save percentage, and a 3.83 goals-against average. In the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers in 2025-26, he had a 9-4-0 record, an .896 save percentage, and a 2.21 goals-against average.
Domingue spent the 2021-22 season as a member of the Penguins organization. He spent the bulk of the season in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he had a 10-9-2 record, a 2.41 goals-against average, and a .924 save percentage.
Domingue also played in two games for Pittsburgh in 2021-22, posting a 1-1-0 record, a .952 save percentage, and a 2.02 goals-against average.
In 144 career NHL games over 10 seasons split between the Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Penguins, and New York Rangers, Domingue had a 61-60-10 record, a .906 save percentage, and a 3.01 goals-against average.
26 years ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning put pen to paper with an undrafted player who had just been bought out by the team that had given him a chance, the Calgary Flames. The man who would become the Montreal Canadiens’ coach some 22 years later, Martin St-Louis, signed his first deal with the Bolts on July 31, 2000.
He would end up playing for Tampa for the next 13 seasons, and within four years he would win the Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Trophy and the Bud Light Plus-Minus Award after a season in which he gathered 94 points in just 82 games in the regular season.
That year, in the playoffs, he put up 24 points in just 23 games as he guided the Lightning to the first Stanley Cup in their history. To make things even sweeter for the winger, the Bolts beat the Flames in the final, in a thrilling 7-game series. St-Louis didn’t win the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP that year, but he trailed Brad Richards, who did win it, by only two points.
The future Canadiens’ coach would go on to play 1,134 games in the NHL, putting up 1,033 points (391 goals and 642 assists) over the course of 16 NHL seasons. What we didn’t know back then was that, as he played, he was also starting to learn the ropes of coaching, being a keen student of the game and often taking charge of explaining plays to his teammates.
St-Louis really has come a long way from being undrafted to desperately trying to hang on to an NHL roster spot before being bought out and finally finding the right chair for himself in Tampa; it’s easy to see how every single player on the team can relate to him. Whether you are the star player or the fourth-line grinder trying to hang on, St-Louis knows what they are going through.
While he still has plenty to learn behind the bench, he’s done spectacularly well taking the Canadiens from a team struggling through a rebuild to an Eastern Conference Final. Sooner or later this summer, we should get news of a contract extension for the Canadiens’ bench boss. It would be surprising if he were to start the season without a new contract in his back pocket.
In fact, he has been a key part of their center group since he was first acquired from the Nashville Predators, along with defenseman Luke Schenn, for forward Michael Bunting and a fourth-round pick on Mar. 5, 2025.
The decision by Dubas and the Penguins to re-sign Novak is a relatively low-risk move, especially since the cap hit will be just a $1.15 million jump from his current contract in a rapidly rising-cap environment. The team will bolster its center depth for the next few seasons, and it allows 19-year-old Ben Kindel to ease into the transition of, presumably, taking on top-six center duties.
However, Novak is 29, meaning that he will be 33 when the deal expires. For perspective, defenseman Ryan Shea, who signed a five-year free agent deal with the Edmonton Oilers at the beginning of July, is also 29, and the Penguins opted to let him walk despite him being a key part of their blue line last season.
It's no secret that Dubas and the Penguins want to take a step toward contention next season, and they have certainly been trying to execute that roster-wise. There were substantiated rumors about them pursuing Dallas Stars superstar Jason Robertson before he signed a one-year deal to avoid arbitration with Dallas, and they have also been loosely connected to Seattle Kraken young center Shane Wright.
Even removing hypotheticals, they continued the "brick-by-boring" brick approach to improving the periphery of their roster. They took bets on Declan Carlile and Kaedan Korczak on the blue line, and the same applies to forwards Andrei Kuzmenko, Nicholas Robertson, and Hendrix Lapierre. They also have a few youngsters in defenseman Harrison Brunicke, goaltender Sergei Murashov, and forwards Rutger McGroarty, Tristan Broz, and Avery Hayes on the verge of what is, hopefully, permanence at the NHL level.
With or without Novak beyond next season, the future is looking much, much brighter for Pittsburgh than it did a few years ago. The system has been injected with some youth talent, and some of these players will phase in as aging veterans phase out. They have some shorter-term solutions and, hopefully, some longer-term ones.
But the decision to sign Novak - even though it helps their stated goal to become sustainable contenders as urgently as possible - also exposes how glaring the need at the center position is for the Penguins. Yes, there is promise in Kindel as a fixture for years to come as a top-six center, but at the end of the day, he's still a bit of an unknown, especially as his role gets bigger.
But beyond Kindel? Obviously, Sidney Crosby is turning 39 in a week. Evgeni Malkin turned 40 Friday and seems to be a full-time winger now. There is Novak, 33-year-old Rickard Rakell, and bottom-six mainstays in Blake Lizotte, Connor Dewar, and Hendrix Lapierre.
Sure, Broz shows some promise, but his ceiling is most likely a solid two-way third-line center. Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff are question marks in terms of whether or not they will be centers at the NHL level - Horcoff being very unlikely, as he's developing into a scoring winger - and guys like Zam Plante and Markus Ruck are either complete uncertainties or much farther out than a couple of years.
If the Penguins want to win in the short- and long-term, they are going to have to acquire a young, elite center talent at some point, whether that's via trade or via the draft. Given the organization's stated goals and the direction they're moving in, it seems unlikely that the draft will bear much fruit until after Crosby decides to call it a career.
So, yes, the signing of Novak is, effectively, a bandage to help cover up a pretty deep-cut wound. If the Penguins expect to reach their desired destination, they will have to pull all stops to get their hands on a dynamic young center who can help them get there.
In other words, don't assume Dubas is done yet. There could be more at work here. But, even if there's not, the signing of Novak at least buys them a little bit more time to weigh their options and, eventually, pursue the right centerman for the job.
Over the years, there have been three players to wear the number 62 for the San Jose Sharks, but for more than half a decade, it belonged to Kevin Labanc.
Labanc originally joined the Sharks organization as a sixth-round pick out of the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts in the 2014 NHL Draft. The Staten Island native then made his professional debuts at both the NHL and American Hockey League level during the 2016-17 season.
Labanc then remained with the Sharks through the 2023-24 season. That summer, he entered unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career and signed a short-term deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
When his stint came to an end, Labanc totaled 478 games played, 82 goals, and 225 points during his time in San Jose.
After one year in Columbus, Labanc went overseas and signed with the Shanghai Dragons of the Kontinental Hockey League. After one season in the KHL, Labanc signed a contract with the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in the Swiss National League earlier this summer.
It remains to be seen if we’ll ever see Labanc back in the NHL, but regardless, he’s continuing an impressive career over in Europe.
Stan Bowman keeps saying the roster is set. Fine. Write it in pen if you want.
But "set" on July 31 and "set" on opening night have never meant the same thing in this league, and the Edmonton Oilers, along with every other team, know this. Injuries happen. Slumps happen. Somebody in the top nine takes a bad step in October and suddenly the guy in Bakersfield isn't a prospect anymore, he's the answer. So while the NHL group looks locked in on paper, the real offseason story is one level down in the AHL: who's actually close enough to matter this year, and who's still doing the work.
Start with Isaac Howard, because the Oilers already have. The word is he doesn't need a warm-up lap through the AHL. He makes the team as a left wing, full stop, which is a real jump for a player who was raw enough a year ago that scouts were telling people to slow down on him. Somebody clearly didn't listen.
William Nicholl is getting the same kind of treatment, which is rare for a rookie. His skating and his habits away from the puck are advanced enough that he's in the mix for penalty-kill minutes right out of camp, not just waiting his turn on a call-up list. If that holds, maybe he's making a dent in the roster. AHL roster that is.
Owen Michaels signed for two more years this summer, and that's not the kind of deal you hand a player you're planning to bury in the minors. He's not projected to break camp with Edmonton, but the expectation is he sees NHL games this winter, and probably sooner rather than later. The first time somebody in the top six goes down, watch for his name.
Josh Samanski is the one still sweating it out. He's got a real shot at making the Oilers out of camp, but he's fighting for the job rather than being handed it, and there's a big difference between those two training camps.
Then there's Bakersfield, where the more interesting bet is sitting.
Matt Savoie's 20-year-old season is the blueprint: 19 goals, 35 assists, 66 games, a point-per-game pace that puts him in company most Oilers prospects never sniff. The history on skilled forwards at that age says volume matters as much as production. Somewhere around 100 AHL games, which he didn't quite hit, a player either starts pulling away from the league or he doesn't.
Now there's Quinn Hutson, Atu Raty and James Stefan who make up the right-wing depth in Bakersfield, and none of them are pushing an NHL door yet. Viljami Marjala can put up points at the AHL without much trouble (60 in 72 games), but that hasn't translated upstairs. Tommy Lafrenière and the rest of the junior-eligible names are further out still, a year or two from being part of any conversation that matters.
None of this group is walking into an NHL job in September. The roster's full, the cap's tight, and Bowman has made his bet already: spend now, bank the space for next summer, let the kids force the issue if they can. That's just where the organization is.
That's exactly why the Bakersfield roster is worth more attention than usual this year. Because everyone wants to know whether the help is ready the moment the team actually does.
It appears as though the NHL career of former Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Nosek, who began his professional journey with the franchise, has come to a close.
Nosek has signed with HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga. He'll now play in the same city where he was born in 1992 and for the same organization where he began his playing career.
Tomáš Nosek se vrací domů! 🏡
Zkušený útočník odešel z Pardubic do NHL v roce 2014. Od té doby nasbíral v nejlepší hokejové lize světa přes 500 startů. V roce 2025 získal Stanley Cup. Nyní se vrací tam, kde to všechno začalo. pic.twitter.com/dDwixfVJ07
Nosek, who was never drafted into the NHL, signed an entry-level contract with the Red Wings in 2014 and began play with the American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.
He would tally 11 goals with 23 assists in 55 games in his first season in Grand Rapids, later adding another two goals and five assists in 12 Calder Cup Playoff games.
He then appeared in 70 games for Grand Rapids the following season, along with getting his first six games of NHL experience with the Red Wings. In 2016-17, he skated in 11 NHL contests, scoring one goal while adding 15 goals and 26 assists in 51 games for the Griffins.
Left unprotected by the Red Wings in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, he was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights, and would score the very first home goal in regular season history for the franchise against the Arizona Coyotes in October 2017.
Nosek scored four goals with two assists in 17 postseason games that spring, helping Vegas reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inagural season.
Since then, he's played for the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, and Florida Panthers. While with Florida, he won his first career Stanley Cup ring in 2025, registering three assists in 16 postseason games.
This past season, injuries limited him to just 21 games.
Nosek has skated in 514 career NHL games, and has tallied 47 goals with 73 assists. He's also added six goals and 11 assists in 68 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
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The Chicago Blackhawks, for the first time in a while, are going to be a difficult hockey team to make out of camp if you're a bottom-six forward.
This team isn't a lock to get out of the basement of the Central Division, let alone make the playoffs, but the expectation is another year of improvement. The development of their young stars, plus the new additions to the team, will make them much more difficult to beat on a nightly basis.
When it comes to the forward position, additions like Patrick Kane, Roman Kantserov, and Cole Smith, along with a full-time role for Anton Frondell, eliminate multiple spots that might have been available to internal candidates before the off-season moves.
These players, who all played NHL games in 2025-26, are going to find it difficult to crack the lineup because of the team's newest additions:
Andrew Mangiapane
Andrew Mangiapane came to the Chicago Blackhawks in a 2026 trade with the Edmonton Oilers. The Blackhawks had the cap room (and roster space) to take him on to better their return in the deal.
Magiapane ended up playing 10 games down the stretch with Chicago, but the scoring touch that allowed him to score 35 goals back in 2021-22 seems to be completely gone.
If he wants one more attempt to find his game, it may be best for him to get to another team. It doesn't seem like he is in their plans as they create their NHL forward roster, and he is not even the best option as a 13th forward.
The one thing that Mangiapane did in his career was scoring, so if he doesn't bring that as a smaller forward, there isn't another reason that they have to play him.
Jordan Greenway
Jordan Greenway seemed like a good fit for the 4th line when he was first acquired in the Bowen Byram trade. Since then, however, the organization has added more, which makes it look less and less like a guarantee for him.
Playing Ryan Greene is a better idea than Greenway, and they didn't pay Cole Smith to bench him. Greenway is a great candidate to play while Connor Bedard is absent or as a 13th forward rotating in and out in the early going, but there are 12 better forwards on the team when they are fully healthy.
Landon Slaggert
Landon Slaggert is a solid depth piece who can bring a high-energy game with no warning. However, he had a hard time cracking the lineup in 2025-26, and now the team is even better. He is not considered a prospect anymore, and it's hard to imagine that he does enough to force coach Jeff Blashill to play him.
With the team getting stronger and more experienced with every passing day, Slaggert isn't the guy that they are banking on to be an impactful player out of the gate.
What they do have in Landon Slaggert is a forward who has shown a willingness to be that healthy scratch who comes in now and again.
He, like everyone on the list, may make the team out of camp, but dressing on Opening Night is going to be incredibly difficult. Will playing for the Rockford IceHogs be an option for any of them if they clear waivers? Well, that's up to them.
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As the National Hockey League enters the second month of free agency, a number of former Buffalo Sabres still remain unsigned. At this point of the offseason, players who have not latched on with an NHL club might consider playing in Europe, or taking a short-term deal or professional tryout to earn a one-year deal.
Evander Kane is the most prominent of the unsigned ex-Sabres. The 16-year NHL veteran played three seasons in Buffalo after being the main part of a massive deal with Winnipeg in 2015, but the 34-year-old winger has made a habit of wearing out his welcome for a variety of reasons.
Will the Sabres add some scoring before the start of training camp?
Talent has never been an issue with Kane. He was a fourth overall pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009, and has scored 20 or more goals nine times, but durability has been a problem recently, as he played 43 and 41 games in the first two seasons with Edmonton in 2022 and 2023, and missed the entire 2024-25 season with a series of injuries before returning for a playoff run with the Oilers.
Edmonton traded Kane to Vancouver after their second straight Cup loss to Florida to clear his $5.125 million salary, and for his hometown Canucks, he scored 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 71 games. Having something left in the tank may not be the issue. At this point in his career, most clubs may believe that his talent and contribution would not outweigh the distraction that he could potentially cause.
Outlook
Kane, at most, will get a one-year deal from a team needing to fill out their roster, which might allow them to trade him as a rental before the trade deadline if he has a bounce-back year, but if he hopes to latch on with a contending club, it will likely be on a PTO.
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.
The Sabres have not been really active in adding undrafted college and CHL prospects, since they a pipeline filled with draftees, but the club has found contributors like Zach Metsa, who played a significant chunk of last season in the NHL after joining Rochester on an AHL deal in 2023, and with a number of prospects likely moving from the Amerks to Buffalo full time next season, the club has begun to tap into the free agent market to populate their organization.
Last April, the Sabres signed Western Michigan University center Liam Valente to a one-year AHL deal. The 23-year-old Swede went undrafted through his junior level stint with Linkoping and in 2022 came to North America to play in the NCAA. His first two seasons were uninspiring at Providence, so he used the transfer portal to shift to Western Michigan. In 81 games over two seasons, Valente scored 68 points (34 goals, 34 assists) in 81 games. As a senior he led the club with 20 goals.
The 6’0”, 190 lb center joined the Amerks on a professional tryout contract late in the AHL season, and scored a goal in his first professional game. He also played in two of Rochester’s three games against the Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies.
When former Senators GM Pierre Dorion looks back on his tenure in Ottawa, there will undoubtedly be moves he'd like to have back.
Rebuilding an NHL franchise as a first-time GM was never going to be easy. Doing it under one of the league's most hands-on and unpredictable owners was another level altogether. While there were certainly missteps along the way, Dorion deserves lasting credit for a number of moves, including one that continues to age remarkably well.
Selecting Jake Sanderson fifth overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss which players might fill out the Senators top six this fall.
At the time, the pick wasn't universally applauded. Some draft analysts believed that if Ottawa wanted a defenceman that high, Jamie Drysdale was the better option. Six years later, there isn't much debate.
Dorion and his scouting staff got it right.
In fact, they got it spectacularly right when Dorion later signed Sanderson to an eight-year, $64 million contract in a deal that now looks like one of the NHL's best bargains.
Sanderson still has six seasons remaining on that contract, so the Senators have one of the league's elite young defencemen completely locked in as he enters the prime of his career.
His fourth NHL season last year was shaping up to be his best yet until a shoulder injury cost him 13 games. He still put up 54 points in 67 games, putting him on pace to shatter his previous career high.
Most importantly, his all-around game continues to evolve. Whether it's shutting down the opposition's best forwards, logging huge minutes in all situations or leading the charge up ice, Sanderson is regarded by fans and media as one of the league's very best defensemen.
But nothing compares to the praise that comes from your peers, and when it comes from a star division rival who plays your position, that carries even more weight.
Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy appeared on the Wingmen podcast this week and spoke glowingly about Sanderson when he was asked by the hosts which Team USA player impressed him the most among players he didn't know a lot about.
"At the Four Nations, it was Sandy," McAvoy said. "Like, I knew he was a stud, but then it was kind of when he started playing, I was like, all right, Sandy's unbelievable."
McAvoy's comments reinforce what Ottawa hockey fans have known for years. Sanderson has the rare ability to control a game without demanding much attention. He skates effortlessly, defends with poise, moves the puck with precision and makes it all seem so casual.
At just 24, Sanderson is already one of the faces of the franchise. With Brady Tkachuk now gone, a new leadership group will eventually emerge, and it's fair to wonder whether Sanderson will be the next man up to wear the C in Ottawa.
The St. Louis Blues have added plenty of young talent this off-season, and they remain on the prowl for another young left-handed defenseman in the Carolina Hurricanes' Alexander Nikishin.
Rumors began linking the Blues to Nikishin earlier this off-season when the Hurricanes revealed they were willing to listen to trade offers for Nikishin.
The 24-year-old defender is currently a restricted free agent without a contract. The Russian defender made his long-awaited move to the NHL near the conclusion of the 2024-25 NHL season, but played his first full NHL season this year.
In his rookie year, Nikishin scored 11 goals and 23 points in 81 games, finishing seventh in Calder Trophy voting and landing on the All-Rookie first team. He featured in 17 playoff games as the Hurricanes went on to win the Stanley Cup.
But despite all the promise he showed, the Hurricanes are open to moving on from him, largely due to their left-handed defensive depth of Jaccob Slavin, K'Andre Miller, and Shayne Gostisbehere.
With the defensive situation in Carolina and the rumored asking price for Nikishin around $8 million, it makes sense that the Hurricanes are gauging the market. With no resolution in sight, teams will keep calling, and according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford, the Blues remain one of the leading candidates.
Nikishin fits every need of the Blues. He boasts a 6-foot-3, 218-pound frame, is a strong defender, and brings solid offensive instincts. With Nikishin and Philip Broberg as the Blues' top two left-handed defenders, the Blues would be set for the long haul.
The issue the Blues face is determining whether Nikishin is a good fit; it's whether they are willing to pay the price to trade for him, and if they believe he is worth the contract he desires.
What the Hurricanes are hoping to receive in return has not been revealed. Still, the Canes have been determined to move on from Jesperi Kotkaniemi's $4.82 million salary, and some speculation suggests that Carolina might be inclined to include Kotkaniemi in a Nikishin trade.
Adding what could be $13 million against the salary cap is a difficult feat for most teams, especially the Blues, who currently only have about $4.3 million in cap space, according to puckpedia.com.
Nikishin would be a great addition for the Blues and would provide them with a real foundation on the left side of their defense.
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