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A Flip Of The Subban Switch—Aug 20, 2018 - VOL. 72, Issue. 02 - Matt Larkin
IT’S A SLEEPY, SUNBAKED morning in Las Vegas, hours before the 2018 NHL Awards, where P.K. Subban will be unveiled as the cover model for EA Sports’ new video game, NHL 19. He saunters into the lobby of the Encore Tower Suites, shorts and T-shirt, wide-brimmed hat covering his eyes, the kind of outfit famous people wear to avoid detection. But that’s impossible for Subban. He’s unmistakable, and not just because he’s one of the NHL’s few black stars. It’s the smile, the raspy voice and, of course, the league’s most gregarious personality that make Subban pretty much allergic to hiding.
And so, when he enters the lobby, it takes about 0.4 seconds for a kid to notice him. He’s scheduled for hours of interviews upstairs to talk about the video game, and he’s arrived early to take a breath and prepare, but that opportunity disappears. Subban flicks the virtual “on” switch. He gives the youngster several minutes of his time, cracking jokes, taking selfies. Soon after that, he’s sprawled on a couch in a suite, snapping off one-liners, claiming he’s the best-looking guy to grace the video-game cover, sharing memories of cheating at PlayStation as a kid, hitting his brothers Malcolm and Jordan with pillows and mini-sticks.
THERE AREN’T A LOT OF PLAYERS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH THE GAME THAT WANT TO BE THEMSELVES
– P.K. Subban
He’s built such a brand as the game’s most interesting talker that people have grown to expect that out of him. It seems Subban never gets a chance to just…be. Table that idea to him, though, and he quickly fires it back, like he’s clearing a puck from his zone while patrolling the Nashville Predators’ blueline. “People who maybe aren’t like me might see it that way, but everyone’s got to be themselves,” he said. “So, what would be ‘on’ for someone is just normal for me. If I need a break from people, I take a break. If I don’t want to post something on social media, I don’t. But when you are with me, you’re going to get P.K.”
The whole world gets P.K. – not just his Predators teammates or fans watching him play Norris Trophy-caliber hockey year after year. If one word defines his personality, even more than funny, it’s “giving.” In a literal sense, he’s peerless in his philanthropic efforts, having famously pledged to donate $10 million to the Montreal Children’s Hospital while he played for the Canadiens. He’s also generous with his time every day. As Predators coach Peter Laviolette explains, he wants his troops at the rink ready for game-day preparations by 5:00 p.m., and Subban arrives at Bridgestone Arena at 4:45 p.m. on the nose to run Blueline Buddies, a program he created to unite an underprivileged youth and a Metro Nashville police officer before every home game in the hopes of building a positive relationship between at-risk kids and law enforcement. In addition to giving them tickets to the game and a meal, Subban carves out time to chat with the kid and the cop. He never misses it.
He’s a charitable man yet also a highly public man, and that doesn’t jive with typical hockey culture. No matter how beloved Subban is by people who watch the game from afar, snippets of evidence pop up throughout his career suggesting the old-guard inner circle rejects him. He was a much louder leader than Max Pacioretty in Montreal, but the majority of teammates voted Pacioretty over Subban for the captaincy in 2015. Less than a year after Subban’s pledge to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin traded him – two days before his no-movement clause kicked in July 1. After a game between the Predators and Habs this past season, former teammate Brendan Gallagher ripped Subban for always “trying to make it about P.K. Subban.” After Subban joked about Sidney Crosby telling him he bad breath and tweeted a picture of a Listerine bottle during the 2017 Cup final, Subban was infamously unavailable to media before Game 6, prompting accusations the Predators had gagged him.
He’s a fun guy who loves to show his personality, and not everyone in hockey is comfortable with that yet. “Look at Jeremy Roenick, a guy who had a ton of personality, but he’s one of the best American-born players to ever play the game,” Subban said. “But people talk about his personality all the time. Maybe that’s just hockey. There’s not a lot of players that have come through the game that want to be themselves. It’s very easy to fall into the culture of how everybody talks and the way they walk. It’s a great culture, by the way, I love the game of hockey, but I’ve chosen to be myself.”
Subban believes NHLers are starting to show more exuberance. He singles out Connor McDavid’s on-ice displays of emotion as a sign that players are cracking open their shells. And if you talk to anyone from the Predators, who have one Cup final appearance and one Presidents’ Trophy since Subban arrived in the 2016 one-for-one Shea Weber trade, they have no problem accepting his grandiose presence because it doesn’t get in the way of his play. “You always hear P.K. talking,” said Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne. “But through the game he’s very focused, and he’s a very driven person. He’s not the loudest guy during the game, but in the locker room or anywhere like that before the game, he likes to stay loose and keep everybody else loose and have fun. So, he has a positive effect on us.”
For Laviolette, no one is immune to criticism, and that includes Subban. Protective of his player, he won’t reveal exactly what he and Subban talk about, but Laviolette insists it’s just standard hockey stuff, no different than what he discusses with any of his players about what they can do differently, how they can improve their game-to-game play and so on. There’s no sense he views Subban as a distraction. “He’s done a really good job of trying to manage his life, and it’s a busy life,” Laviolette said. “The things he does are different from other people. But for me, it always comes back to: Is he putting the time in during practice? Does he practise hard? Does he play hard? Is he a good teammate? And he’s been all those things in Nashville.”
Subban won the Norris Trophy in 2013 as the league’s top defenseman and has been a finalist two other times, including this past season. He’s a two-time first-team all-star, and he’s played in three All-Star Games. Yet most conversations about Subban concern who he is off the ice. It’s easy to forget what he’s capable of on it.
Since 2010-11, his first full NHL season, Subban is fifth among blueliners in points, trailing only Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Dustin Byfuglien and Keith Yandle. He ranks seventh in goals and eighth in points per game, too. This past season, Subban finished top-three in the league in primary points per 60 minutes 5-on-5. That’s particularly remarkable considering Ryan Ellis’ injury meant Subban played the first half of the season without his regular partner, Mattias Ekholm, and instead had to drag around a significantly older and slower Alexei Emelin. Those words may seem harsh, but the truth is right there in the numbers. Emelin’s 5-on-5 Corsi was three percentage points higher with Subban than without. He takes real pride knowing Laviolette can look at the whiteboard and pair him with anybody, whether it’s Emelin, the 32-year-old banger, or Ekholm, 28, the talented, rangy shutdown defender who forms a truly elite tandem with Subban.
YOU ALWAYS HEAR P.K. TALKING, BUT THROUGH THE GAME HE’S VERY FOCUSED, AND HE’S A VERY DRIVEN PERSON
– Pekka Rinne
Subban is known as an offensive juggernaut, but, among the 133 defensemen who played at least 1,000 minutes 5-on-5 in 2017-18, he had the 11th-highest defensive-zone start percentage and ranked in the top third for quality of competition. He generates tons of chances but also battles the opposition’s scoring lines. “For me, what has been really great about him has been his ability to defend, his ability to go back under pressure and break out pucks, his ability to take on other teams’ top performers and shut them down,” Laviolette said. “Defensively, he’s been a huge part of our team, and that’s probably a little underrated for what it is. He’s a terrific offensive defenseman, but his game on defense is equally good.”
The new guard, the millennials, the fancy-stats advocates know that about Subban, and the Norris Trophy voting tells us his excellence isn’t exactly overlooked. But there’s no denying conversations about him usually nudge aside his play and focus on his antics, like his trademark bow-and-arrow goal celebration. He’s a rare high-end player for whom the analysis doesn’t always involve actual hockey, and he notices it. “I would have to agree with that,” he said. “There are times when people like to talk about the personality and the celebrations and stuff like that, but before you can be that way, you’ve got to be able to back it up. We’re not talking about celebrations if I’m not scoring. A lot of times, when people pay attention to that, those people are just sloppy and don’t do their research. It’s very easy to say, ‘LeBron James has got to control his emotions.’ Well, yeah, but he’s getting emotional at a crucial point in the game, and he already dropped 44 points, so maybe you should talk about the fact he has 44 points, and he’s complaining to the ref because he hasn’t been on the foul line once the whole game.”
Attention anyone not doing homework on Subban: he’s doing homework on you. He reads what people write about him. He respects some of his detractors and dismisses others. Whether he takes criticism to heart depends on who it comes from. “It’s very easy to know people who do their research in the media and people that don’t,” he said. “You can just follow the trend of what people are saying, or you can actually do your research, get to know someone, follow their career, look at the numbers. The numbers don’t lie.”
So Subban will keep burying pucks with his heavy slapshot and rubbing it in haters’ faces, pulling arrows from his imaginary quiver. He knows he’s one of the sport’s highest-impact players on the ice. At the same time, he realizes he’s different. As he said, “on” is his normal. He follows more of an NBA athlete template, not because of the color of his skin but because he’s willing to build a brand for himself.
Subban takes that part of his career seriously. When Nashville’s season ended with a second-round Game 7 home loss to Winnipeg, he headed to Harvard University for a course called The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports. Also present for the class: Boston Bruins’ Zdeno Chara, ex-NBA star Chris Bosh, former NFL defensive end Michael Strahan and U.S. Olympic gold-medallist skier Lindsey Vonn, who happens to be Subban’s girlfriend. They met at the ESPY Awards a year ago, “and the rest is history,” as he puts it.
The Harvard course is aimed at anyone in the talent industry looking to grow a business across multiple digital platforms, from actors to musicians to agents to athletes, and it introduces students to various case studies showing why some ventures succeed and others fail. A star-studded class roster spawned some fun photos and Instagram videos, naturally, but Subban was committed. He recognizes his potential for a long post-hockey career. Strahan, who became an analyst and talk-show host after retiring, is a great example to follow. “In today’s world, with pop culture, everything crosses now,” Subban said. “Nothing is in a specific lane. Unless it’s television for children and television for adults, everything else is sort of crisscrossing, and even that does, too. So, in the world of business, the more you know, the better, and I just had the opportunity. Hopefully for the next couple years in the off-season, I don’t have as much time to do things like that, but it was really, really good. I’m glad I did it.”
That statement is quintessential contradictory Subban. He’s devoted to having fun but obsessed with pursuing the Stanley Cup. He’s carefree and fun-loving while understanding his personality is a commodity he can market. He clowns around in the dressing room but also sacrifices his free time for noble causes. There’s no other P.K. Subban. Maybe that’s why he refuses to flip his ‘off’ switch. Being anything less than special would make him someone else.
The Florida Panthers sent shockwaves across the NHL on Sunday when they acquired Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.
Adding Tkachuk to Florida’s already deep and skilled roster puts them squarely back into place as one of the league’s elite teams and Stanley Cup contenders.
There is still one glaring hole on the roster that needs to be filled, though, and it comes at perhaps the most important position in hockey.
Of course, we’re talking about the goaltender.
At the moment, the Panthers do not have any NHL goalies signed for the 2026-27 season.
That will change in the coming days and weeks, but after acquiring Tkachuk, it puts Florida in a more precarious spot in terms of the amount of money they have to spend on their goaltending.
With longtime Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and the two sides reportedly far apart on contract negotiations, Florida General Manager Bill Zito may have to look outside the organization to fill the team’s need.
The good thing for Zito is that he’s got an ace up his sleeve: Florida’s Goaltending Excellence Department.
Headed by Roberto Luongo, Florida’s goalie guild has helped the team find several solid tendies who have either played well in the team’s systems or turned into a valuable trade asset, including Alex Lyon, Anthony Stolarz, Devon Levi, Vitek Vanecek and Daniil Tarasov.
They also targeted Brandon Bussi last summer, but the Panthers lost him to the Carolina Hurricanes after trying to sneak him to AHL Charlotte on waivers.
So what will Zito and his goalie experts choose to do with the team’s need between the pipes and relatively limited resources?
It’s been widely reported that a pair of high-end netminders may be available by trade: the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck and St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington.
Hellebuyck’s contract pays him an average annual value (AAV) of $8.5 million through 2030-31 and Binnington makes a $6 million AAV, though he’s entering the final year of his deal.
After using their first-round picks to acquire Tkachuk, it’s unlikely the Panthers would be willing to part with the kind of NHL-level assts it would take to pry Hellebuyck away from Winnipeg.
Depending on the price, Binnington may be a possibility, though Florida would likely need to shed some additional salary in order to leave room for any addition depth adds or call-ups, and/or have St. Louis retain some of his salary.
Another potential trade target that would be more in-line with a team looking for a bargain in goal could be Devin Cooley of the Calgary Flames.
In addition to being Calgary’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy last season, the 29-year-old enjoyed his longest stretch in the NHL of his career, posting a 2.69 goals against average and .909 save percentage for a Flames team that wasn’t particularly good defensively.
Cooley also features the kind of size (6-foot-5, 192 pounds) and agility that Florida has appeared to target when shopping for goalies, and he makes a very reasonable $1.35 million AAV through the 2027-28 season.
There is also the likelihood that the Panthers take a good look at this year’s class of expiring contracts, with several interesting names set to hit free agency, including the aforementioned Vanecek and Tarasov.
Don’t be surprised to see Florida take a good look at another familiar name who will be looking for a new contract on July 1 in former Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner.
Aside from his playoff experience and reputation as a positionally sound goaltender who moves well laterally for someone with his size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds), Skinner would also likely come on the inexpensive side.
If Florida’s goalie guild signs off on Skinner or Cooley or any other goaltender’s ability to perform, the way they had previously with Vanecek and Tarasov, it would make sense that a Panthers team operating at full strength would be comfortable with either of those gentlemen stopping pucks for the Cats.
It would also allow Zito and his staff some additional financial flexibility under the cap, which is never a bad thing.
We’ll see how things play out over the next week, as the NHL Draft is set for Friday and Saturday in Buffalo, and free agency set to open four days later on July 1.
Photo caption: Nov 22, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) defends his net against Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
In a stunning move on Sunday, June 21, the NHL team that just had its two-time defending champion status revoked reloaded in a big way.
The Florida Panthers, who missed the Stanley Cup playoffs this past season in a year riddled with injuries, have reportedly traded for Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, uniting him with his brother Matthew — undoubtedly a special Father's Day gift for their dad Keith, a U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer.
Brady and Matthew Tkachuk won gold together at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina in a stunning upset of Canada.
The Senators will reportedly receive a plethora of picks in the blockbuster deal, including two in the upcoming NHL draft.
According to Elliotte Friedman, the return is the No. 9 and No 25 picks in the 2026 NHL draft — the latter of which was acquired earlier on June 21 by trading Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken — a 2029 first-round pick and a second in 2030. Tkachuk waived his no movement clause to allow the deal to happen.
Per reports from the Ottawa Citizen, Tkachuk had indicated to the Senators he would not re-sign in Ottawa when his contract expires in two years, upping the urgency to make a move. It's the second time in the past 12 months an American player muscled his way off a Canadian roster, with Quinn Hughes doing something similar with the Vancouver Canucks partway through the 2025-26 season when he was traded to the Minnesota Wild.
The Senators did not get any players in dealing Tkachuk, instead landing two first-round picks in the 2026 NHL entry draft (Nos. 9 and 25 overall), a first-round pick in 2029, and a second-round pick in 2030.
Brady Tkachuk contract
Tkachuk is on the back end of a seven-year, $57.5 million contract with an AAV of $8.2 million. He has two years remaining on the deal and is anticipated to become a free agent in the 2028 offseason unless he signs an extension with the Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk, for his part, is on the fifth year of an eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 million AAV), and is slated to become a free agent in 2030.
Brady Tkachuk stats
Tkachuk, who has served as Senators captain since 2021, logged 59 points last season with 22 goals and 37 assists. He played in 60 games, the lowest total in a full season in his career, and had 221 shots with a shot percentage of 10%.
In his career, Tkachuk has scored 213 goals and has 250 assists. He has spent his entire career in Ottawa to date and leaves with the fourth-most goals in Senators history.
Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk on the ice during the second period at Madison Square Garden in March.
Brady Tkachuk will play alongside his brother next season after a blockbuster NHL trade.
The Senators agreed to send the 26-year-old veteran winger to the Panthers for Florida’s two first-round picks this year (ninth and 25th), their first-round pick in 2029 and second in 2030, according to multiple reports.
Brady, a three-time All-Star, will join his brother Matthew Tkachuk with the Panthers.
The duo won a gold medal together with Team USA earlier this year at the Olympics.
Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk on the ice during the second period at Madison Square Garden in March. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Earlier in the day, the Panthers dealt Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2026 first and a 2027 second-round pick, which ultimately set the stage for this blockbuster deal afterwards.
Brady Tkachuk had 22 goals and 37 assists for Ottawa this past season, which saw the club swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
Brady Tkachuk has two seasons left on his seven-year, $57.5 million deal, which he originally signed with the Senators in 2021.
The contract does have a full no movement clause, but according to The Athletic, he provided Ottawa a four-team list of preferred destinations, including Florida, the Golden Knights, Hurricanes and Wild.
Brady Tkachuk seen against the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 1, Game 4 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 25, 2026, in Ottawa, ON, Canada. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
He is contract extension eligible next summer.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
The Senators are coming off a disappointing playoff run, in which they were swept by the Hurricanes in the first round, which followed a 4-2 opening round loss to the Maple Leafs the season prior.
The Panthers finished a disappointing 40-38-4 and out of the playoffs last season after winning two straight Stanley Cups.
What was expected to be a busy week for the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft got off to an early start.
On Sunday, with many celebrating Father’s Day, the Panthers made a pair of significant moves.
First, Florida traded young forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick (25th overall) and a conditional 2027 second-round pick.
The condition on the pick is that Florida will receive either Columbus’ or Winnipeg’s second rounder, via Seattle, depending on which one ends up being a higher selection.
That leaves the Panthers with two first-round selections and two second-round selections at this week’s draft, which is pretty remarkable for a team that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025 and that still features a loaded roster full of talent locked up to long-term, team-friendly deals.
With his newfound riches in the form of draft capital, Panthers General Manager Bill Zito turned around and swung a blockbuster.
Florida sent both 2025 first-round picks, along with a 2029 first-round pick and a 2030 second-round pick to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for their captain Brady Tkachuk.
Tkachuk is under contract through the 2027-28 season, making an average annual value (AAV) of $8.2 million.
This teams Brady up with his older brother Matthew in South Florida.
Over the past several years, the Tkachuk brothers have gradually but increasingly received a taste of what being teammates would be like, starting with the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Sunrise.
After the experience the two shared at the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off in February of 2025, followed by helping the United States win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, it started to feel like the brothers teaming up as professionals was a foregone conclusion.
The two elite forwards will only add to the Panthers incredibly talented and deep roster that includes Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Gus Forsling, Aaron Ekbald, Carter Verhaeghe, Seth Jones and Anton Lundell, just to name a few.
Following the trade, Florida now has 13 forwards and six defensemen under contract for next season, not including any players like Sandis Vilmanis, Marek Alscher or Jack Devine, all of whom played in the NHL last season and are on two-way deals.
After acquiring the younger Tkachuk, the Panthers will be left with just over $7 million in cap space for next season, according to PuckPedia.
They still need to sign a pair of NHL goaltenders and any depth pieces they’d like to add, so we’ll see how things play out for Zito and his staff in the coming days.
The NHL Draft is set for this Friday and Saturday from Buffalo, with the new league year and free agency arriving a few days later on July 1.
Photo caption: Apr 18, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) reacts against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)
Victor Olofsson has become one of those quietly useful NHL forwards who never quite stays in one place long enough to settle in, but keeps finding ways to contribute wherever he lands.
Soft-spoken and understated, he doesn’t draw attention off the ice—and he doesn’t need to on it. His calling card is simple but dangerous: a quick, punishing release that punishes even the smallest defensive lapse.
Olofsson isn’t going to blow by defenders like a Connor McDavid-type skater, nor does he create offense through elite separation speed. But give him half a step in the offensive zone, and the puck is gone—often before a goaltender has time to react. That split-second trigger is what makes him so difficult to contain.
The 30-year-old Swedish winger spent the first 60 games of the season with the Colorado Avalanche, finishing with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points. He quietly provided value in key moments, with three of his goals standing as game-winners and two coming on the power play. He also recorded the first hat trick of his NHL career on Oct. 28 in a win over the New Jersey Devils at Ball Arena.
Olofsson was originally acquired as part of the Nazem Kadri trade that sent the veteran center to the Calgary Flames in exchange for prospect Max Curran, a conditional 2027 second-round pick, and a conditional 2028 first-round pick. In 18 games with Calgary, he added two goals and four assists.
A full season with the Flames in 2026-27 would almost certainly allow Olofsson to settle into a defined power-play role, where his shot remains his most valuable asset and an underrated weapon.
There’s also another detail that often gets overlooked, but matters to coaches: discipline. Olofsson is not an undisciplined player by any means. In 60 games with the Avalanche, he logged just six penalty minutes, and in 18 games with Calgary, he didn’t take a single penalty. For a coaching staff that values clean, mistake-free hockey while still needing a player who can provide offense at a low cost, that combination carries real value.
There’s also a human element that can’t be ignored. Olofsson and his family have been living out of suitcases for stretches over the past two seasons. After six years in Buffalo, he’s bounced from Vegas to Colorado to Calgary in quick succession—and his wife, Taylor, gave birth to their second child during the Olympic break. That kind of instability adds up.
At some point, hockey fit and life fit start to overlap. For Calgary, the decision becomes fairly straightforward. With the salary cap continuing to rise, a deal in the $1.75–$2.25 million range feels like solid value for a player who can still change a game with a single clean look at the net.
If the Flames are looking for continuity and a low-risk scoring touch, this is the type of player you don’t overthink. You keep him, you stabilize the role, and you let the shot do the talking.
While the majority of the hype in the Bay Area later this week will be focused on the San Jose Sharks’ second overall pick, assuming nothing changes, the Sharks will enter the 2026 NHL Draft with a total of seven picks, five of which will take place on the second day of the annual event.
The first pick they hold on the second day will be the 62nd overall pick, which originally belonged to the Colorado Avalanche. The Sharks acquired the pick as part of the trade that sent MacKenzie Blackwood to Denver.
Throughout the years, a number of successful players have been taken with the 62nd overall selection, which for quite a while was a part of the third round.
There have been two players drafted 62nd overall that went on to play 1,000 or more games in the NHL, one of which is still active. Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins is the all-time games played leader amongst 62nd overall picks, with 1,235 games played, all with Pittsburgh. The first player drafted 62nd overall to hit the 1,000 game threshold, though ironically had the same first name as Letang, Kris Draper. Despite being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1989, Draper played the majority of his career with the Detroit Red Wings.
Eight players drafted 62nd overall have reached the 500-game threshold, including long-time St. Louis Blues captain David Backes and former Sharks Jeff Norton and Paul Martin. At this point, only 11 total players drafted 62nd overall have appeared in 200 or more games, though.
More recently, Lane Hutson was drafted 62nd overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, and after a couple of seasons with Boston University, he stepped into the NHL and made an immediate impact. The 62nd overall pick in 2023, Felix Unger Sorum, has already made his NHL debut as well for the Carolina Hurricanes. The 2024 and 2025 picks, Jacob Battaglia and Ivan Ryabkin, have yet to make an appearance in the NHL, but there’s still plenty of time.
Based on historical precedent, it seems that the Sharks likely won’t get an NHLer with the 62nd overall pick, but if they do, odds are they’ll be getting an impact player for quite a while. Of course, every player and every draft are different, so only time will tell how the pick pans out for the Sharks.
If there is any silver lining for the Colorado Avalanche following a disappointing end to their season, it’s the strength of the message coming from inside the room: this group still wants another run at it.
A season that concluded with a Presidents’ Trophy, 121 points, and a Western Conference Final sweep that left more questions than answers nonetheless produced a clear organizational throughline — belief in Jared Bednar remains intact. That confidence isn’t limited to the front office, either, with Joe Sakic, the club’s president of hockey operations, standing firmly behind his head coach.
That stance comes with context that extends beyond public opinion. While segments of the fan base and portions of the media called for a coaching change in the wake of the playoff exit, Sakic ultimately leaned on the group that carries the most weight inside the building: the players. In a locker room built around a championship core and still viewed internally as being within its contention window, that voice carries significant influence. Moving against it would risk introducing the kind of internal fracture that can derail even the most talented roster.
But perhaps the strongest endorsement came from within the dressing room itself.
Superstar defenseman Cale Makar, who appeared in just two games during the series while managing a shoulder injury, was among the most vocal in support of Bednar. As outside observers questioned whether a decade behind the bench had dulled the coach’s message, Makar offered a firm rebuttal in the immediate aftermath of the Avalanche’s sweep at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
“Coaches are coaches. He means so much to this team and he’s allowed us to play our games,” Makar said via The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. “He deserves a lot of credit for getting us to this point. He’s not playing the game, he’s not out on the ice. He’s giving us everything he possibly can, information-wise, to go out there and be the best we can be.”
For Makar, the relationship with the coaching staff extends beyond tactical decisions or in-game adjustments. It is rooted in accountability — a shared responsibility that carries through both success and failure, particularly in a postseason where injuries limited his own ability to contribute.
“You feel like you let people down, and he’s one of those guys,” Makar added. “You feel like he works so hard, the whole coaching staff, everybody, you just feel like you let them down a little bit.”
That sentiment reflects what Sakic ultimately gathered from within the locker room: a group that still favors continuity despite a playoff finish that fell short of expectations.
That context carries weight in Colorado.
Bednar has now spent a decade behind the Avalanche bench, guiding the franchise through multiple division titles, a Stanley Cup championship in 2022, and sustained regular-season success that has kept Colorado among the league’s elite. However, the postseason trajectory since that title — first-round exits, a second-round loss, and now a sweep in the Western Conference Final — has naturally prompted external questions about whether the message has begun to lose its edge.
Internally, however, the conclusion remains unchanged — at least for now.
The Avalanche enter the offseason with the sting of an abrupt playoff exit, but also with recent organizational history serving as a reminder of how quickly trajectories can shift. The last time Colorado captured the Presidents’ Trophy, in 2021, they were eliminated in six games by the Vegas Golden Knights despite taking a 2–0 series lead. The following season, they responded by winning the Stanley Cup.
Whether this group can replicate that response will ultimately define how this core is judged when the stakes rise again.
One change from last year’s roster is already confirmed. Ross Colton will not return after being traded to the Nashville Predators alongside goaltender Isak Posch in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a third-round selection in 2027 — the latter originally owned by Colorado.
Nearly three weeks ago, news broke from NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman that Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, whom the club selected in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft, had requested a trade.
Larkin's reported trade request is a change in tune from what he had to say in April following the conclusion of Detroit's season, which unfortunately resulted in falling short of earning a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 10th straight season.
Further complicating things was Larkin's reported initial trade list that included only the Vegas Golden Knights, the Minnesota Wild, and Florida Panthers - all teams who have one or more teammate of his from Team USA in last year's Four Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics earlier this spring.
While reports have emerged that Larkin and his representatives are willing to expand his limited trade list, did one of those teams just reveal its hand in what could be the first step toward pursuing the Red Wings captain?
Earlier on Sunday, the Panthers dealt forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for the No. 25 pick in the NHL Draft, and a second-round pick in next year's Draft.
We have acquired Tampa Bay’s 2026 first-round selection (previously acquired by Seattle) and a 2027 second-round selection (conditional) from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Mackie Samoskevich.
A pending restricted free agent, Samoskevich counted $775,000 against the salary cap and also played college hockey at the University of Michigan.
To date, there have been no official statements from Larkin, his agent Pat Brisson, or Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman regarding the reported trade request.
The Panthers, who are in the Atlantic Division with the Red Wings, advanced to the Stanley Cup Final three straight seasons from 2023 through 2025, and won consecutive titles.
They weren't able to defend the Stanley Cup this season, as their roster was decimated by injuries. But by most projections, they should be right back in the mix of things in 2025-26.
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Dustin Wolf is one of the pillars of the Calgary Flames rebuild. As a former two-time AHL Goalie of the Year and one-time MVP, he's yet to duplicate that level of success in the NHL. In the minors, his record was 97-32-10, and through 128 games with the Flames, he's 60-52-12.
According to Wolf's career splits at Hockey Reference, he's already secured a victory against 24 NHL teams. Still, he has yet to pick one up against some of the league's heavyweights, including several Western Conference powerhouses.
For the Flames to take the next step in their rebuild and become serious contenders, Wolf is going to need to slay some past demons and start piling up victories against these clubs.
Which NHL teams has Wolf not beaten yet?
Detroit Red Wings (0-2-0)
The Detroit Red Wings haven't been to the playoffs since 2016-17, when Wolf was still playing U16 AAA hockey. During their meeting on Feb. 1, 2025, he allowed two goals in a 2-1 loss, and last year, Wolf allowed four goals in a 5-1 loss on Mar. 16, 2026. Heading into next season, the Red Wings remain one of two Original Six franchises he has yet to beat.
Ottawa Senators (0-2-0)
Since becoming the Flames' number one goalie in 2024-25, the Ottawa Senators have been a playoff team, losing in the first round in each of the past two seasons. Interestingly, Wolf's first NHL loss (4-1) came against the Senators on Nov. 11, 2023, and then Ottawa defeated him a year later on Nov. 25, 2024. They didn't play against one another in 2025-26.
Tampa Bay Lightning (0-2-0)
In the past two seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had the NHL's fourth-best record at 97-53-14, including two wins over Wolf in his only appearances against the club. The Lightning shut out the Flames, 3-0, on Feb. 27, 2025, before defeating them 5-1 on Nov. 26, 2025. Surprisingly, in their last meeting, Wolf played a career-low 5:52, allowing three goals on just four shots.
Washington Capitals (0-2-0)
Against the NHL's all-time leading scorer, Wolf has given up two goals to Alex Ovechkin, while the Washington Capitals remain a perfect 2-0-0 against the young netminder. He lost a 5-2 decision on Mar. 18, 2024, the night Ovechkin had two, and they followed that up with a 3-1 victory at the Saddledome on Jan. 28, 2025.
Dallas Stars (0-3-0)
The Dallas Stars are one of the top teams in the Central Division and in the Western Conference. Since Wolf's debut on Apr. 12, 2023, the Stars are 6-1-2 against the Flames, while their star has remained winless in three games. During their first meetings in 2024-25, Wolf gave up ten goals in 6-2 (Dec. 8) and 5-2 (Mar. 27) losses. In their only meeting last season, the Stars walked away with a 6-1 win, chasing Wolf after four goals and 26:02 of ice time.
St. Louis Blues (0-4-0)
Over the past three seasons, the St. Louis Blues are 124-96-26, good enough for the 16th-best record in the NHL. However, they are 4-0-0 against Wolf and are 8-0-1 overall against the Flames. In their meeting, St. Louis picked up a 5-3 victory on Mar. 28, 2024, and followed that up with a 4-1 win on Jan. 16, 2025. Last season, Wolf gave up seven goals over two meetings, losing 4-2 on Oct. 11 and 3-2 on Nov. 11.
Toronto Maple Leafs (0-4-0)
The Toronto Maple Leafs, along with the Red Wings, remain the only Original Six franchises Wolf has yet to beat, with a 0-4-0 record against them. In their first two meetings, on Feb. 4, 2024, and Mar. 17, 2024, Wolf surrendered five goals in each contest on the way to 6-3 and 6-2 losses. Despite being the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference last season, Toronto put eight goals past Wolf, picking up a 4-3 victory on Oct. 28 and a 4-2 win on Feb. 2.
Colorado Avalanche (0-5-0)
Over the past two seasons, no other team has won more games than the Colorado Avalanche, who are 104-45-15 and won the Presidents' Trophy in 2025-26. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are just one of two teams to collect 17 points against the Flames since 2023-24, with an 8-0-1 record dating back to the year Wolf first faced them.
His first appearance against the club was a no-decision, on Mar. 12, 2024, a 6-2 loss. In 2024-25, Wolf went 0-2-0 with seven goals against, losing 4-2 contests on both Feb. 6 and Mar. 14. Meanwhile, last season, he was 0-3-0, losing 9-2 on Mar. 30, finishing the night with a .750 SV%, his fourth-worst total of the campaign. He then lost two games 3-1 within seven days of one another on Apr. 9 and Apr. 14.
23 years ago today, the NHL held its annual draft, and it was one for the ages. One of the most spectacular crops of first-round talent seen in years. That year, the Montreal Canadiens had the 10th overall pick, and they opted for Belarus-born forward Andrei Kostitsyn.
While he was no doubt a talented player, Kostitsyn played only 398 NHL games, during which he recorded 222 points. When the Canadiens gave up on him and traded him to the Nashville Predators for a couple of draft picks at the 2011-12 deadline, he finished the season with them, then headed to the KHL and never looked back.
In an average draft year, taking the Belarusian might not have been a bad pick, but in 2003, when the Canadiens drafted him, there were plenty of highly talented players still available. At number 11, the Philadelphia Flyers picked Jeff Carter, who would go on to play 1321 games in the NHL, putting on 851 points and winning two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings.
Speaking of the Kings, at number 13 they picked Dustin Brown, who played 1,296 NHL games, scoring 712 points, and led them to two Stanley Cups as team captain, with Carter as a teammate. In 2023, Los Angeles installed a statue of Brown outside its arena.
Just after the Kings, at number 14, the Chicago Blackhawks grabbed Brent Seabrook, who spent his whole 15-season career in Chicago, playing 1114 games, and was an integral part of the core that netted the Hawks two Stanley Cups.
At 17, the New Jersey Devils picked Zach Parise, another member of the 1,000 games club. At 19, the Anaheim Ducks selected Ryan Getzlaf, and they made out like bandits when they also picked up the almost immortal Corey Perry, who has yet to retire at 28th overall. The pair would lead them to a Stanley Cup win a couple of years later. The list goes on and on. Brent Burns, Ryan Kessler, Mike Richards, and Brian Boyle were also picked in the first round.
But the steal of the draft was the Boston Bruins, who selected Patrice Bergeron with the 45th overall pick, straight out of the Canadiens’ system. The elite two-way center became a regular Frank J. Selke trophy winner, led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup, and will likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame shortly. The Nashville Predators are a close second, though, as they acquired Shea Weber with the 49th overall pick. It’s also worth mentioning that in the seventh round, the San Jose Sharks landed Joe Pavelski, while the Hawks also landed Corey Crawford in the second round and Dustin Byfuglien in the eighth round.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens also added Cory Urquhart, Maxim Lapierre, Ryan O'Byrne, Corey Locke, Danny Stewart, Christopher Heino-Lindberg, Mark Flood, Oskari Korpikari, Jimmy Bonneau, and Jaroslav Halak, who can probably be seen as their best selection, in the ninth and final round.
Hindsight is always 20/20, as they say, but it’s hard to fathom how the Canadiens could leave so much talent on the table when it was right there ripe for the picking.
For well over a century now, the sport of hockey at its various levels has helped galvanize the bonds between fathers and their children. Whether it's playing on an outdoor rink, at the local arena, or just watching on TV, when a game of hockey breaks out, even the grumpy or stoic tend to open up with the people around them.
Not a single player in the NHL, including the Senators, would be where they are today without the support of at least one of their parents or guardians. But quite a few current Senators had a little extra nudge, with fathers who actually played in the NHL.
As kids, they heard all the NHL war stories from their dads, who coached them and shared what it takes to play in the league.
The list has grown smaller over the past few years with the exits of Josh Norris, Jakob Chychrun, Mark Kastelic, Patrick Brown, and Roby Jarventie, who all had Dads who played in the league.
Here are the current Ottawa Senators who grew up completely immersed in NHL hockey before stepping out of their father's shadow and into the limelight.
Drake and Norm Batherson
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Okay, we're taking liberties. Drake's father, Norm, never actually played in the NHL, but since he was briefly part of the Senators organization, playing for their top farm club in PEI, we're going to make an exception. Former Senators enforcer Dennis Vial is Batherson's uncle.
Ridly and Mark Greig
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Ridly Greig's father, Mark, played nine seasons in the NHL, suiting up for the Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers. Ridly's late uncle, Bruce, briefly played for the California Golden Seals. Greig's sister, Dara, will play for the Ottawa Charge this fall.
Jake and Geoff Sanderson
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With Geoff having eight different NHL stops in his career, the Sanderson family moved around a lot. Geoff had 700 points in just over 1100 NHL games, with stops in Hartford, Carolina, Vancouver, Buffalo, Columbus, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Edmonton. The Sandersons may have chosen to play different positions, but they share the gift of phenomenal skating ability.
Brady and Keith Tkachuk
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Keith had an outstanding NHL career with Winnipeg, Phoenix, St. Louis, and Atlanta. He's one of the NHL's few 500-goal scorers not in the Hall of Fame. It will be interesting to see if he gets the call on Monday to be part of the 2026 class.
Jorian and Shean Donovan
Imagn Images
The Donovans hold the distinction of being the only father-son team to both play for the modern-day Senators. With the wild number of injuries on Ottawa's blue line, Jorian got into his first two NHL games this season. Shean had a well-travelled NHL career, playing 951 games with seven organizations. His final three seasons were in Ottawa.
With the emergence and success of the PWHL, it won't be long before we can do this list on Mother's Day, making a list of Senators whose moms played pro hockey.
For now, whether you're celebrating your dad or you're the one being celebrated (or both), we wish you a Happy Father's Day.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was published first at The Hockey News, read more at THN at the links below:
Zakhar Bardakov’s exit from the Colorado Avalanche wasn’t a surprise inside the organization. It was a path that had always been on the table.
When the Avalanche signed Bardakov out of Russia, his contract included a clause allowing a return to the KHL if he was assigned to the American Hockey League — a detail that quietly shaped the ceiling of his NHL opportunity from the start.
When he arrived in Denver ahead of training camp, his struggles in defensive-zone drills were noticeable. Still, he gradually adapted to the North American game and earned praise from captain Gabriel Landeskog for his work ethic and physical tools.
"He's a really good skater, a powerful guy, and he continues to adapt to this game here," Landeskog said following a December win over the Vancouver Canucks. "I thought he's done a great job. Training camp, he earned that spot, continues to work well and work hard, and it's not easy for anybody."
That early progress, however, never fully translated into a consistent role.
Bardakov scored his first career goal in an 8-4 win over the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 28 and finished the season with one goal and nine assists in 60 games. While he showed flashes of effectiveness, his role remained limited throughout the year.
For much of the season, he averaged roughly six minutes of ice time per game, often buried near the bottom of Colorado’s forward rotation. There was a late-season bump in usage, with his average climbing to just over seven and a half minutes per night down the stretch as injuries and lineup adjustments created additional opportunity, but it didn’t meaningfully change his standing within the group.
The Avalanche also briefly assigned Bardakov to the Colorado Eagles, where he scored a goal in his lone AHL appearance. Under normal circumstances, that assignment would have marked the beginning of a longer developmental stretch in the minors. Instead, it became a turning point.
Because Bardakov wasn’t a traditional prospect.
At 25 and already established in Russia’s top league, he wasn’t arriving in North America as a long-term project meant to spend extended time in the AHL. And with a contractual clause allowing him to return to the KHL if that scenario came into play, the framework of his decision was already in place.
Most players in Colorado’s system work through the AHL to earn NHL opportunity. Bardakov’s path was built differently from the start.
With no clear route to a larger role in Colorado and the option to return home still available, he ultimately chose to continue his career in the KHL.
For the Avalanche, it’s another roster departure in a season defined by turnover. For Bardakov, it’s a return to a league where a more defined role — and more consistent ice time — already awaits.
Bardakov’s departure also doesn’t necessarily close the door on a future NHL return. In most cases involving European signings, the organization retains the player’s NHL rights for a set period of time, meaning the Avalanche would still control his path back to the league if he chooses to revisit North America later.
For now, however, the forward shifts his focus back to a more familiar environment in Russia after a brief and limited stint in Colorado.
SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Kraken acquired young forward Mackie Samoskevich from the Florida Panthers for the No. 25 pick in the NHL draft on Friday and a second-rounder next year, the teams announced Sunday.
Samoskevich is a 23-year-old with 64 points in 160 regular-season and playoff games who gives the Kraken a much-need infusion talent after they missed the playoffs for the fourth time in their five years of existence. He is a restricted free agent who needs a new contract.
“Mackie is a talented young player who we are excited to bring into the fold,” Seattle general manager Jason Botterill said. “He has speed, skill and scoring ability. A Stanley Cup champion with the Panthers in 2025, Mackie’s a player who can contribute offensively and add a spark to our lineup.”
Trading Samoskevich for picks clears space as the Panthers retool following a season that got derailed by injuries after they won the Stanley Cup back to back in 2024 and ’25. The 25th pick, a late first-rounder, originally belonged to rival Tampa Bay, while the second will be the higher of Winnipeg's or Columbus'.
Samoskevich was the No. 24 pick in the 2021 draft who then played at Michigan alongside new Kraken teammate Matty Beniers.
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