The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled forward Vinni Lettieri and goaltender Artur Akhtyamov ahead of their matchup against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
This will be Lettieri's first NHL game since April 2025, and his debut with the Maple Leafs since joining the organization in 2025-26.
Akhtyamov has joined the NHL club for the first time this season. He made his NHL debut last season, playing three games for the Maple Leafs. But in this stint, there's no guarantee that he'll see the ice for this upcoming back-to-back.
Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller explained what Akhtyamov's role will be to start the week and why he was called up.
"We got a back-to-back," Hiller said after morning skate. "So he'll back up the next couple nights, and then we'll give (Sergei Bobrovsky) the start tonight, and (Anthony Stolarz) will play tomorrow, and they'll get some rest."
Akhtyamov, 24, hasn't had the hottest start in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies. In three games, he's posted an .822 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average with a 2-1-0 record.
As for Lettieri, he's been excellent for the Marlies in the first five games of his campaign. In that stretch, he scored three goals and nine points. The 31-year-old also had 14 goals and 42 points in 55 American League games last season.
Hiller hasn't known Lettieri for very long, given this is his first season behind the bench for Toronto, but the AHL veteran made a lasting impression on him at training camp.
"Lettieri, I think we talked about him a little bit in training camp, really impressed me," Hiller said. "I remember being on the ice with the second group, and he was just working. It really, really caught my eye right away. I'm sure he wanted to be with the big group and feel like he had a fair chance of making the team. Terrific attitude, skilled, but just his work ethic and his passion really caught me."
The Leafs are looking to snap a three-game losing streak, coming off a 4-1 defeat against the New York Islanders on Saturday. With that in mind, Lettieri slotted in as the right winger on the third line with Colton Sissons and Gavin McKenna.
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
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.
SAN DIEGO, CA — When a car's tires start balding, it’s prudent to replace them, or at least get a comprehensive check, since alignment could be the issue. Well, for an NHL franchise, the diagnosis could be either that easy or rather complicated. It seems rather layered, but not that complicated at all for the Los Angeles Kings. They hired Peter Laviolette, a legitimately good signing, to take the helm for a team needing a first-year boost from an new NHL bench boss, and promised an offense that opens up from the back end despite the same set of faces. The team then sold fans on Artemi Panarin and Kevin Fiala sharing a roster and a powerplay unit for a full year.
Six games in, the Kings are 0-4-2 and the only team in the NHL without a win. Saturday's 4-1 loss to Boston gave them their longest winless start since the 1984-85 team opened 0-6-3. Oh, and by the way, Fiala hasn't played a game yet.
The details are actually much worse than the record. The Kings have scored exactly one goal in each of their last four games after their track meet show-and-tell road opener against the Avalanche. Over the five games after their licking to the Avs, they have averaged 2.2 goals for and 4.2 goals against, killed 57.9 percent of their penalties, and got sub-.860 save percentages from both Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg.
The optimism here can boil down to the fact that six games out of 84 don't decide a season. This start is not a slump, though the signs of damming the bloodshed don’t look promising. It is the logical output of roster management that never got fixed, and the question it forces is simple: how deep does the hole get before the individuals at the very top who dug it admit they are in one?
A team that played not to lose
Last season already told a not-so-compelling story. The Kings finished 35-27-20 and set an NHL record for losses past regulation, which doesn't sing the praises of an elite club, even though Vegas nipped at the heels of that record last season. Despite a DJ Smith interim session that became more bearable to watch in the final stretch, strip out the loser points and you're left with a 35-47 team nowhere near the playoffs.
An incessantly weak Pacific Division handed them the second wild card despite calls for a potential rebuild, or at least a heavy retool. Then the Presidents' Trophy Colorado Avalanche swept them in four games, outscoring them 13-5. It was the fifth straight first-round exit for this ‘contender’.
That team played like it was trying not to lose, and it got exactly the results that approach earns. Management looked at that season and called this roster a contender, echoing past seasons of being ‘close’ despite never being in the same air as that term.
The coaching lever is already pulled
When a team stalls this hard and if it prolongs, the typical first move is usually behind the bench. But in this instance, the Kings already made it. Jim Hiller lost his job last season, DJ Smith finished it as interim, and Peter Laviolette arrived this summer.
That leaves management without its easiest scapegoat. Laviolette has coached six games. Firing him now would not only be disastrous, but would also admit the problem was never the coach, and the Kings are locked into his plan whether it fits this roster or not.
Laviolette said the Kings would open up offensively from the back end. Holland inherited a poor schematic, but that doesn't excuse him for handing Laviolette the same back end that became dead weight last season. The system changed, but the personnel running it did not.
Inherited mistakes, compounded
Rob Blake left Ken Holland a roster layered with bad decisions. Blake paid real assets for Pierre-Luc Dubois and gave him an eight-year deal, then had to swap him for Darcy Kuemper a year later, a previous theme he relied on: making recuperation-style moves to fix his poor ones (see Cal Peterson’s). He held Matt Roy at the deadline and watched him walk for nothing, since, once again, the team built that season was ‘right there’.
A new general manager inherits those decisions. His job is to correct them and instead, Holland compounded them.
Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence were moved out of a blue line that needed both; then the holes were patched with Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin. Phillip Danault, one of, if not the most important, pieces that pulled the Kings out of purgatory in 2021, asked out and returned to Montreal. The Kings walked away from Andrei Kuzmenko.
This summer Holland doubled down on age. He signed Erik Haula at 35, Mats Zuccarello at 39, and gave Corey Perry a second stop at 41. These moves typically boost a roster on a contender run, not integral roster pieces. The Kings are now amongst the oldest rosters in the league. Every move, with some limited exceptions, threaded a small needle. None of them changed the team's shape.
The blueline Holland kept
Kings defensemen scored 23 goals last season, last in the NHL, and their 133 points ranked 30th. It is the clearest weakness on the roster, and it is the one Holland touched least while bringing on Laviolette to attempt to pry more out of an outdated group.
His answer was Erik Gustafsson, a 34-year-old on a one-year, $1 million deal who spent most of last season with AHL Grand Rapids and played two NHL games. Gustafsson moves the puck, and he has history with Laviolette. But again, the solution is a seventh defenseman profile, not a fix. The core personnel remains unchanged from the season before.
So the Kings keep trusting the Drew Doughty factory. Doughty is the 15th captain in franchise history, and none of this knocks on him wearing the C. Change the captain and the problem stays the same: Laviolette runs a system built on mobility and creation with the league's least mobile, least creative D corps. It is a listless sail on a ship that will not move.
Panarin and a closing window
Holland's best move fell into his lap. Artemi Panarin asked out of New York and made it clear Los Angeles was the only place he would go. That narrowed the market to one buyer and handcuffed Rangers GM Chris Drury. Holland did not have to outbid anyone. The Kings landed Panarin in February for prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick, with New York retaining half his salary. Holland then extended him two years at $11 million per season, through 2027-28.
That trade bought a window, not a solution. Panarin is approaching 35. Players at that age depreciate faster, and the risk of a drop-off climbs sharply starting next season. This season and last were supposed to be the best of his time in L.A for the Panarin show. He is the only Kings skater with more than one goal this year.
The compounding poor decisions over time has an already fringe franchise in a spotlight for league’s worst.
Even worse, top down, there is almost a benign sense of urgency/ownership over this.
The rest of the roster has not met him there. The Panarin-Fiala power-play pairing that headlined the offseason hasn't happened in a single regular-season game. Anze Kopitar retired, and the Kings have no succession plan at center. I still stand by Quinton Byfield as the center to build around, but his two points against San Jose are his only production so far, which has soured my previous outlook on his runway this season. One young center and some quality wingers do not make a contender.
Is Connor Hellebuyck the answer?
The newest idea swirling around social media was a goaltender. Seravalli reported on Oct. 15 that the Kings kicked the tires on Connor Hellebuyck, that Holland at least understands Winnipeg's price, and that Hellebuyck would accept a trade to Los Angeles. He carries an $8.5 million cap hit with five years left.
Since last season, the goaltending has become a real problem. Kuemper sits at an .847 save percentage, and Forsberg at .853. A three-time Vezina winner might boost those numbers even while icing a slow defensive corps in front of him.
What he wouldn’t fix is the rest. He doesn't score the goals the Kings cannot score, and he certainly doesn’t move the puck out of the zone, rescue the league's worst combined special teams, or make the roster younger. Seravalli himself notes that if the slide continues, putting a 2027 or 2028 first in the package gets hard to justify. Trading futures for a 33-year-old goalie to prop up one of the league's oldest rosters isn't a correction. It is the same reflex that built this team: spend to contend, and never ask whether you should.
How deep is the hole?
It seems to be a recurring theme over the last four seasons, but the Kings sit at an inflection point, and it can still be a good one. A franchise only changes course when the evidence becomes impossible to explain away. Six games, one goal a night, and a historic winless start is that evidence.
Management, from the top down, will not entertain the word rebuild. So it keeps pushing the same buttons: a coaching change, a veteran signing, a star on a short window, and now a goalie with five years left. Each one treats a symptom, but none of them treats the roster as it should.
The team says it is here to contend, but in every literal sense of inverse opposition, the standings say last place. At some point those two statements cannot both stand, and someone in that front office has to look down and measure how deep the hole really is. How bad does it need to get for things to change?
In his first three games with the Montreal Canadiens this season, Jacob Fowler was beaten by a few close, deflected shots, and the coaching staff didn’t miss it. On Saturday morning at the Bell Centre, goalie coach Marco Marcianno worked with his goalies on screened shots, explaining the theory before putting it to the test with help from some players. Meanwhile, Martin St-Louis, who generally doesn’t get involved with the goaltenders’ training, stood close by at their end of the ice and watched Fowler and Jakub Dobes be put through their paces.
In the game against the Buffalo Sabres, Fowler performed better on screened shots; somehow, he managed to remain square to the shot despite not necessarily being able to see the puck. His positioning and instinct did the rest; at times, he was so well positioned that the puck hit him, and when he couldn’t freeze it right away, someone was always there to clear the front of the net.
He improved from that standpoint; of course, his game wasn’t perfect, and a couple of instances could have been stopped with an active stick, but as Martin St-Louis often says, perfection is not possible. In the end, Fowler made 20 saves on 23 shots, for an .870 save percentage. While he found a way to win, that may allow St-Louis to put Dobes in net against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, although the Czech netminder has lost his two career games against them.
The coach may decide to wait until the Canadiens are on their four-game road trip to give Dobes another game. Montreal will play in Chicago on Friday, Winnipeg on Sunday for the Heritage Classic, St. Louis on Tuesday, and Dallas on Thursday. Both goalies will need to play during that span, and it’ll be interesting to see who gets the nod for the outside game, since players generally like playing in those games.
With injuries quickly beginning to pile up, the Philadelphia Flyers have turned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, tapping two exciting forward prospects for NHL call-ups ahead of Monday night's game against the Colorado Avalanche.
On Sunday, the Flyers made an interesting roster move, shorting themselves a healthy forward by sending center Jack Studnicka down to the AHL and re-calling defenseman Hunter McDonald, rather than another forward, while also placing Cam York on injured reserve and assigning Helge Grans to the Phantoms.
To solve the puzzle, though, the Flyers made the state of the roster clearer on Monday, as they re-called wingers Alex Bump and Cole Knuble from the Phantoms, filling the two vacant roster spots left by the demotions of Studnicka and Grans.
Bump and Knuble are both expected to play against the Avalanche on Monday night, with the latter in line to make his NHL debut having just over a dozen games of professional experience.
Knuble, 22, has a goal, three assists, and four points in six AHL games this season, featuring as a top-line winger for John Snowden's Phantoms.
Bump, who started the season on the Flyers' roster, has scored a goal in each of the five AHL games he's played this season, erupting for a total of seven goals, an assist, and eight points.
The 22-year-old last played for the Flyers in their third game of the season, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 3. Prior to that, though, Bump had been benched by Tocchet in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 1.
But, with Travis Konecny still on injured reserve and Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster nursing upper-body injuries, the Flyers are in desperate need of healthy wingers with scoring talent, and they've made their moves, replacing Studnicka.
It is also currently unclear if Sean Couturier will play against Colorado on Monday, which could make for even more opportunities for Bump and Knuble if the Flyers' captain has to sit out.
These moves come as Toronto is in the midst of a three-game losing streak, with a 4-1 defeat to the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The San Jose Sharks are in town for a Monday night clash. It's possible that Lettieri makes his debut for the Maple Leafs, which would be his first NHL appearance since April 2025.
The 31-year-old has had a great start to the AHL season with the Toronto Marlies. He's notched three goals and nine points in five minor-league games.
As for Akhtyamov, appearing in the NHL this season was inevitable given the Calder Cup run he had in the American League last year.
The 24-year-old netminder played 22 games and registered a .923 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average. That performance earned him the title of AHL playoff MVP.
The Russian goalie hasn't been off to such a great start this season, numbers-wise. In three games for the Marlies, he's posted an .882 SP and a 2.94 GAA while earning a 2-1-0 record. He's been splitting starts with the other goaltender, Samuel Hlavaj, who also has a 2-1-0 record, but with a .870 SP and a 3.01 GAA.
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
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.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 07: Trevor Zegras #46 of the Philadelphia Flyers takes a shot on goal against Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on December 7, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
After a weekend off, the Colorado Avalanche embark on another back-to-back on a brief two-game road trip to begin the week.
Their first stop takes them to Philadelphia to meet a Flyers team that’s having some early season struggles to say the least.
Colorado Avalanche (5-2-1)
The Opponent: Philadelphia Flyers (1-6-3)
Time: 5:00 P.M. MDT/7:00 P.M. EDT
Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Local Broadcast Area), NBCSP (Philadelphia Local Broadcast Area), ESPN+, NHL Center Ice (Outside Regional Broadcast Areas – US), SN+, NHL Centre Ice (Outside Regional Broadcast Areas – Canada)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs head into today’s game fresh off clearing one of their biggest hurdles of the young season. They earned three of a possible four points in a split of a home and home set against Dallas, and put together an unanswered five-goal rally to defeat the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. Mackenzie Blackwood earned wins in Dallas and at home against Pittsburgh, while Scott Wedgewood couldn’t prevail in the shootout versus Dallas in Denver.
Martin Nečas helped provide the offense in Dallas with a pair of goals, while two goals from Artturi Lehkonen sparked the comeback effort against Pittsburgh. T.J. Hughes also scored his NHL career on Friday, which he scored after Nathan MacKinnon fed him a perfect pass to redirect past Pittsburgh goaltender Artus Šilovs.
“That first one feels incredible to get that first one in,” Hughes said in postgame comments. “I think the power play just expired […] Great pass by [MacKinnon], just nice to finish it off.”
In another first, Friday’s game marked the debut of new Avalanche assistant head coach Brett McLean. McLean, who replaced David Hakstol, will face the challenge of revamping a power play that has been woefully anemic over the past couple of years. As McLean acclimates to his new role with his one-time former club, changes that go beyond simple personnel swaps like we’ve seen implemented over the past couple of games leading up to Hakstol’s departure (exchanging Nečas for Jaden Schwartz on the top unit, for example) should be on the horizon.
Head coach Jared Bednar highlighted the struggles his team has had in putting together a full sixty minute effort over the past few games. “We’re having a tough time putting together a full sixty,” he said in postgame comments on Friday. “I look at Toronto; I didn’t like a period against Toronto. I didn’t like the first in Dallas. I didn’t like the second at home against Dallas. But, when we decide to play, and play the right way with the right level of—you know, for me, it’s intensity and discipline—then we’re a really good team, and we’re playing well. We have to find a way to just get it there for sixty minutes.”
Gavin Brindley was called up from Loveland on Wednesday to take the place of the injured Zachary L’Heureux. While Bednar said Brindley has showed well since being called back up, he pointed to Brindley’s performance prior to the start of the season which earned him his call-up. “The reason he’s up is because he had a great training camp and a great exhibition,” Bednar explained on Saturday, “and we have the leeway with him to be able to send him down. That’s just the situation he’s in, and we’re going to do what’s best for our team long term, not just for the right now.”
Bednar also stated that L’Heureux and Nicolas Roy were considered “week-to-week”, but indicated that both will not be on the road trip. Logan O’Connor also will remain in Denver, but Bednar indicated that he was much closer to returning to the lineup and will be working through on-ice drills while the team is on the road.
Minnesota’s victory over Columbus on Sunday has them occupying first place in the Central Division, but a win in Philadelphia coupled with a Pittsburgh victory over Utah tonight could put the Avs in front of Minnesota.
MacKinnon still leads all skaters in points (16) and assists (10), and is tied with Lehkonen for the team lead in goals (6). Defenseman Noah Juulsen spent the 2025-2026 season with Philadelphia prior to signing a two-year contract with the Avs this off-season.
The Avs split the season series against Philadelphia last season, with both teams winning as the road team.
Projected Lineup
Forwards: Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri Jaden Schwartz – Fedor Svechkov – T.J. Hughes Parker Kelly – Gavin Brindley
Defense: Devon Toews – Cale Makar Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski Josh Manson – Brent Burns Noah Juulsen
Between the Pipes: Mackenzie Blackwood Scott Wedgewood
Philadelphia Flyers
Coming into this season, the Flyers had every reason to feel optimistic. They returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in five years this past spring and eliminated their archrival Pittsburgh in the first round. They fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in a four game sweep in the second round.
Flyers general manager Daniel Brière spent his off-season revamping his goaltending platoon in the hopes of building on that playoff appearance. On June 16, he acquired goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae (later traded to Columbus for Kirill Marchenko), and Philadelphia’s 2026 third round pick.
At the start of free agency, he also signed goaltender Dan Vladar to a five-year, $27.5 million dollar contract. Brière also signed right wing Noel Acciari to a two-year, $5.6 million dollar contract the same day. Garrett Wilson and Michael Bunting were late additions to Brière’s roster: Wilson signed a one-year, $850,000 contract, on September 27, while Bunting signed his one-year, $1.2 million dollar contract, on October 06.
Brière also triggered what became an unprecedented spike in player salaries when he tendered a five-year, $90 million dollar offer sheet to restricted free agent center Leo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks on July 03. Although Anaheim matched the offer sheet, this move was a clear statement to the rest of the League: the Flyers were on the way up, and Brière was willing pay a significant price to build on what he believed was a franchise on the rise.
The assumed ascent for the Flyers became a calamitous crash right from the opening puck drop. Philadelphia lost their home opener in a rematch with Pittsburgh by a humiliating 7-0 outcome on September 30. They followed this performance up with eight consecutive losses—a new franchise record—before finally recording their first win of the season, a 3-1 decision against the visiting Ottawa Senators this past Saturday.
To add insult to injury during the losing streak was actual injury: right winger Nikita Grebenkin underwent back surgery on October 10 following a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, and is expected to miss four months of action. The following day, fellow right wing Travis Konecny was placed on injured reserve with a lower body injury. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was also placed on injured reserve on October 14 following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken the previous evening.
Even the win against Ottawa was costly: forwards Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, and Flyers captain Sean Couturier are now considered day-to-day.
Head coach Rick Tocchet said this after the win on Saturday. “It was a gutsy effort. We have a lot of guys hurt. Some guys stepped up. […] It was nice to see some resiliency, you know? It was good. We saw a lot of compete tonight. Better execution. There was some stuff we really liked tonight, and hopefully we can carry it on.”
When asked about the contributions from the lineup, Tocchet said, “I think, honestly, to a man, everyone contributed something. It wasn’t pockets of people. That’s the way we’re built. We need everybody. We just can’t have everybody on the sidelines.”
Matvei Michkov leads all Philadelphia skaters in points (5) and goals (4), while the injured Konecny and Couturier currently share the team lead in assists (3). Porter Martone leads all Philadelphia skaters in penalty minutes (14). Vladar and Woll have a combined nine (9) losses in goal, with Vladar holding the single win.
Although Philadelphia is last in the Metropolitan Division, they sit one point behind Columbus, who lost to Minnesota on Sunday night.
Philadelphia heads to Buffalo on Wednesday before beginning a two game home stand at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday against Anaheim.
Projected Lineup
Forwards: Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Tyson Foerster Porter Martone – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Michael Bunting Garrett Wilson – Jack Studnicka – Noel Acciari
Defense: Travis Sanheim – Oliver Bonk Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale David Jiříček – Simon Benoit
PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 03: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins moves the puck against the Montréal Canadiens during the first period at PPG PAINTS Arena on October 3, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The October schedule has turned out to be a brutal one for the Pittsburgh Penguins, full of some big tests against some of the NHL’s best teams.
So far, they are struggling with that test.
It is not going to get any easier at the start of this week.
The Penguins enter Monday’s game at the Utah Mammoth on a three-game losing skid, currently 0-for-3 on their four-game road trip, and have lost six of their past seven games since a 2-0 start.
Nothing is going well.
The power play? An absolute mess that is struggling to do anything right.
The penalty kill? Starting to become a little leaky.
The defense? Struggling to cleanly exit their own zone, handling the puck like it’s a tennis ball and leaving people all alone for scoring chances.
The goaltending? Not up to the early challenge.
Combine all of that with games against teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights, and you have some ugly results and losses starting to pile up.
Unfortunately for the Penguins, it is not going to get much easier this week. That includes Monday’s game against a Utah team that is starting to emerge as an early season contender in the Western Conference.
The Mammoth enter Monday’s game with a 6-3-0 record, and boast one of the league’s best offenses early in the season. They are sixth in the NHL in goals per game (3.67), already have four players averaging at least a point per game (Clayton Keller, Mikhail Sergachev, Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther) and have a power play unit that is clicking at a whopping 35.3 percent, the highest mark in the NHL through the first three weeks.
Not exactly a great opponent for a team that is struggling to defend right now.
If there is a silver lining in that matchup, it’s that Utah’s goaltending has been sub-par through the first nine games, while their penalty kill is working at only a 73.9 percent success rate.
Maybe this is a chance for the Penguins power play to break out of its slump, or for the offense to score more than two goals, which has kind of become their number over most of the past seven games. The Penguins also just need to salvage something from this road trip.
Whether they do or not, their return home is going to put them up against yet another contender when the Florida Panthers make their way into Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Even though they missed the playoffs a year ago, the Panthers still entered the 2026-27 season as one of the top betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and that was largely due to the return of top center Aleksander Barkov and the addition of winger Brady Tkachuk.
Well, Barkov is sidelined again (but not for the entire season this time) and will not be available on Thursday. Or for several more weeks.
But that has not really slowed down the Panthers offense.
They enter the week on a three-game winning streak and have scored at least seven goals in two of those games. Even more eye-opening: They have four hat tricks over that stretch, including a natural hat trick in three consecutive games (two from Brady Tkachuk, one from Carter Verhaeghe; Sam Benntt had the fourth hat trick in that stretch, though it was not a natural hat trick).
Not only do the Panthers have plenty of depth, they are also one of the most physical teams in the league with a lineup that thrives on creating chaos.
The Penguins do get a little bit of a scheduling break here as they will be home, and rested for a couple of days, while Florida plays the night before in Ottawa.
This week’s schedule concludes on Saturday with a home game against the Nashville Predators. Nashville is a team in a similar boat as the Penguins, trying to orchestrate a version of a rebuild with a roster that still has a lot of veteran pieces on it. On paper, this is the most winnable game of three on this week’s schedule.
Even more than getting wins (which they need), I really just want to see the Penguins start to figure some things out this week.
The top line is starting to show some signs of life. That’s … something.
But they need Rickard Rakell to find the net. They need the power play to look like a functioning unit. They need the defense to stop stepping on a collection of rakes in their own zone. I basically just want to see a better, more consistent process, especially against good teams. Show you can at least hang with them, or at least avoid the five-to-ten minute meltdowns that seem to happen every game that put them out of reach. There have been some stretches of good hockey this season. They have carried games for significant stretches, and outplayed teams for significant stretches, only to have everything get completely undone by a handful of mistakes that unravel everything and always seem to end up in the back of their net.
It is game 10 of the season. There are 74 games remaining after Monday. There is still time to fix things. But you have to start making some progress on that. Start showing a better, more consistent process and let the results take care of themselves after that. That’s the thing I want to see this week. Just play better. Play more consistently. Even if it doesn’t translate into immediate wins yet, just show you are capable of it for more than short stretches.
Chaffee, 28, signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Islanders on July and has recorded six points (three goals, three assists) through six games with Hamilton.
The Michigan native has 109 games of NHL experience with 16 goals and 10 assists over that span.
He last played in the NHL for the Tampa Bay Lightning, recording one assist in 11 games during the 2025-26 season.
The New York Islanders have suddenly and quickly played 10% of their season, with the exact figure sitting just over 9.5%.
As soon as the first period Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks is concluded, that'll be 10% of the season done and dusted.
Through eight games, the Islanders are 4-3-1, good for nine points. That leaves the Islanders one point adrift of both the Washington Capitals for third in the Metropolitan Division and the Buffalo Sabres for the final wild-card playoff spot.
Washington has only played eight games, same as the Islanders. Buffalo, however, sits with nine played.
By points percentage, if the season ended today, the Islanders would be headed to the playoffs for the first time in three years.
Moneypuck.com makes it all look rather simple by their odds.
That's the Islanders' competition right there, point-blank.
The Pennsylvania teams, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins, both are well below .500 and have had big trade rumors swirl around their clubs two weeks before Halloween.
The Columbus Blue Jackets remain wildly inconsistent, and look further from a playoff spot than they were last year.
That then leaves the Islanders, Devils, and Rangers.
The Islanders have an extremely clear X-factor:
Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov, emphasis on Sorokin.
The Devils goaltenders? Jake Allen and Nico Daws. The Rangers lost Igor Shesterkin for the year due to a lower-body injury. Right now, they've got rookie Dylan Garand and journeyman Spencer Martin as their duo, with Joonas Korpisalo expected back from injury in mid-November.
Ilya Sorokin is the standout goalie in the Metropolitan Division, with Logan Thompson the only healthy goalie that comes anywhere close.
It's the Islanders' biggest X-factor against any team, and it's plain to see, especially when you look at the state of the Devils' goaltending. It's hard to see a path to true contention for the Devils unless they make a massive in-season trade for a goalie.
That leaves the Islanders and the Rangers for the final playoff spot. The Rangers hold a four-point edge over the Islanders right now.
Had the Islanders beaten the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the second week of the year, the Islanders would sit tied for second in the Metropolitan Division, with the Rangers.
That's how narrow the gap is right now, with Washington in the middle but expected to finish second behind the perennial division champs, the Carolina Hurricanes.
The next six months look set to become an incredible chapter in the Islanders and Rangers rivalry.
DENVER, COLORADO - OCTOBER 16: T.J. Hughes #13 (left) celebrates with Nazem Kadri #91 of the Colorado Avalanche after Hughes scored his first NHL goal in the second periodof the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ball Arena on October 16, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Three Avalanche forwards will miss upcoming two-game road trip. [Colorado Hockey Now]
The Avalanche are rolling offensively, while the Flyers just snapped their winless start—now Philadelphia gets to find out whether one win can fix all its problems. [The Hockey News]
The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that Brett McLean has been named Assistant Coach, replacing Dave Hakstol who accepted a head coach position with the NCAA’s Arizona State University men’s hockey program. [NHL]
T.J. Hughes scores his first goal at a key moment. [Denver Post]
‘My decision’: Why Gavin McKenna was benched in Maple Leafs’ loss to Sabres. [Sportsnet]
Brady Tkachuk’s return to face Senators recalls some the NHL’s most hostile homecomings. The former Ottawa Senators captain has tried to tell anyone who will listen that Canada’s capital will always mean a lot to him. [Ottawa Citizen]
Still awaiting trade, Connor Hellebuyck could rejoin Jets when suspension end. [ESPN]
‘Like a big brother’: Austrian duo makes history with Halifax Mooseheads. [CBC]
Sunday Scramble: Will thousands of empty seats at Rogers Place get the Oilers attention? [Oilers Nation]
Ilya Solovyov is back in Pittsburgh, hoping his latest call-up leads to something more than a short stay in the NHL.
The Penguins recalled the 26-year-old defenseman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday, Oct. 18, after sending Ryan Johnson to the AHL earlier in the day. Solovyov started the season on Pittsburgh's roster but didn't play in any of its first five games. He cleared waivers and was sent down on Oct. 10, picking up one assist in three games with the AHL club.
Now he's back, although it's still unclear when he'll get his next chance to play.
Solovyov speaks with The Hockey News shortly after being claimed off waivers by Colorado last season.
Solovyov should be a familiar name to Colorado Avalanche fans. The team claimed him off waivers from Calgary on Oct. 3, 2025, and he made a brief stop in Denver before being traded to Pittsburgh in January.
One of his highlights with Colorado came on Jan. 10, when he scored his first NHL goal in a 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was a memorable moment for a defenseman still trying to establish himself in the league.
The Avalanche traded Solovyov to Pittsburgh just 10 days later, receiving forward Valtteri Puustinen and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Colorado eventually used that pick to select Shawn Carrier.
Solovyov found some opportunities with the Penguins after the trade, recording five assists in 14 regular-season games. He also appeared in three playoff games before Pittsburgh was eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers.
He finished last season with one goal and seven assists in 30 NHL games between Calgary, Colorado and Pittsburgh.
The production isn't eye-catching, but Solovyov has shown he can contribute when given the chance. Getting that chance consistently has been the bigger problem.
For now, he's back with Pittsburgh. Whether he can earn a regular spot remains to be seen, but he'll have another opportunity to make his case when the Penguins need him on the blue line.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to take on the San Jose Sharks on Monday for the first meeting between the two teams this season. It'll also be the first time that Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg will face each other in the NHL since they were drafted first and second overall in the 2026 draft, respectively.
With the two teams seeing each other at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night, the discussion of that 2026 draft is only natural, and Stenberg was asked about what his meetings were like with the Maple Leafs and the process of potentially being selected first overall instead of McKenna.
McKenna was the projected first overall pick of the 2026 draft, and that remained true through the official selection by the Leafs. But regardless, Stenberg felt that he didn't have a chance at being taken by Toronto back in June.
"I had met with (the Maple Leafs) during the year, but I don’t know," Stenberg said. "They wanted another guy, and I accept that. But I’m super happy I’m with the Sharks.
"You kind of feel when a team wants you or not, or how interested they are," Stenberg said. "You get a feeling, and I think that feeling was pretty (accurate)," the Sharks rookie added.
So far in Stenberg's rookie season, the 19-year-old has scored two goals and six points in eight games and averaged 15:51 of ice time per game. He's coming off a two-point performance against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, which saw him score his second goal of the year.
In comparison, McKenna has two goals and five points in the first nine games of his young NHL career, logging 14:23 of ice time per game. In the last two games, the 18-year-old hasn't gotten on the scoresheet, but had just come off a four-game point streak prior to that.
Playing in different conferences and on opposite sides of the continent, McKenna and Stenberg won't get to see each other often with their current teams. But San Jose's rookie recalls meeting Toronto's rookie multiple times before the season.
"I met him at the combine and at the draft," Stenberg said of McKenna. "He’s a good guy, really good on the ice, too."
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
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.
There’s
something about Cole Caufield and Saturday nights. Once again, in the Montreal
Canadiens’ 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres, the sniper scored two goals,
including the overtime winner. The game didn’t start well for the trigger-happy
forward, though; in the first frame, he went in alone on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
and, instead of showing off his smooth hands, wound up taking a slapshot in
motion that missed the net entirely. Seeing a Canadiens player miss an
opportunity on a breakaway isn't rare, but seeing the Mosinee, Wisconsin,
native do it is quite out of the ordinary.
The
diminutive winger didn’t wait long to make up for the mishap; 14 minutes in, he
got a close-range chance when linemate Juraj Slafkovsky poked the puck away
from Olen Zellweger and straight onto Caufield’s stick. The puck was buried instantly,
giving the Habs a 2-1 lead. That was his 65th Saturday night goal, and before
the night ended, he added a 66th, the overtime game-winner. It stood as his
first game-winner of the season and, of course, his first overtime goal of the
new campaign. Last year, he led the league with 12 game-winning goals and five
overtime goals.
While some
do not like the pressure of playing in a market like Montreal, Caufield revels
in it:
“Saturdays
are great here. I think the other crowd, the building, the city, you can just
feel it,” Caufield said. “I like being in those moments. I think those are the
ones that you want the puck on your stick, and you want to make a difference
and be that guy, so I get excited for those.”
The
Canadiens have a couple of players like that, guys who live for those moments,
Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov, for instance, but with the young Russian on IR at
the start of the season, Caufield’s contribution becomes even more important. Coach
Martin St-Louis thought all hope was lost when he saw the Sabres get a
three-on-one in overtime:
“You look
at that sequence, they’re going on a three-on-one, and I’m like, no way,’” he said, laughing. “They miss the net; it’s a
breakaway. You talk about the emotions of a game. I mean, I was happy it was on
his stick.”
With the
game on the line and coming in hot in front of Luukkonen, Caufield made no
mistake; he picked his spot and sent a quick wrist shot right by the masked man
to the back of the net, sending an already buzzing Bell Centre into a frenzy. He
was understandably named the first star of the match, and as he came on the ice
for an interview, the 21,000 Habs faithful assembled for Saturday mass chanted
his name in unison.
When the
media got to speak to the man of the hour in the dressing room, he was
understandably all smiles and bore an uncanny resemblance to the smiley face
embroidered on the socks he wears post-game. He got the socks in a golf shop, and they are a bit longer than the others he has, so they're more comfortable, which is why he wears them; the smiley faces are just a lucky coincidence, but he wears them well.
38 of his
66 Saturday night goals came since the start of the 2024-2025 season, and in that
season and the following one, he set near-career marks for game-winning goals,
with 8 in 2024-25 and 12 last season. How many will he add this year? It
remains to be seen. But it's fascinating that 36 of his 174 career goals are
game-winners, and that 14 came in overtime. That, right there, is being a
gamer, a player that delivers when it’s most needed. The Canadiens can thank
their luck star: at the 2019 draft, the Florida Panthers chose Spencer Knight
and the Philadelphia Flyers chose Cam York, leaving them with an incredibly
talented winger who was thought to be too small for the league at number 15,
but has delivered big performances ever since.
PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 05: Kaedan Korczak #6 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates during the game against the Winnipeg Jets at PPG PAINTS Arena on October 5, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Here are your Pens Points for this Monday morning…
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang recently marked 20 years since they first played together on Oct. 18, 2006. Twenty years later, the partnership—and friendships—still endure. [Post-Gazette]
Defenseman Kaedan Korczak is embracing a fresh start in Pittsburgh after spending the first several years of his NHL career with the Vegas Golden Knights, where he struggled at times to secure a consistent role. [Trib Live]
Penguins prospect Tanner Howe is entering his second professional season healthy and focused on earning a future NHL opportunity after injuries delayed the start of his career. [Trib Live]
The Penguins recalled defenseman Ilya Solovyov from the team’s AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, on Sunday evening. The team also reassigned defenseman Ryan Johnson to the AHL in a corresponding move. [Trib Live]
News and notes from around the NHL…
The Florida Panthers made NHL history Saturday, becoming the first team to record natural hat tricks in three consecutive games during an 8-3 win over the Seattle Kraken. Carter Verhaeghe scored three straight goals to extend the streak after Brady Tkachuk accomplished the feat in Florida’s previous two games. [Sportsnet]
The Toronto Maple Leafs are willing to trade a premium asset to acquire a difference-making defenseman as they deal with injuries and struggles on the blue line. [Sportsnet]
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck could rejoin the team this Friday, Oct. 23, when his team-imposed suspension for failing to report to training camp is expected to end, according to reports. Hellebuyck requested a trade in the offseason and reportedly informed the Jets before their season opener that he intended to return, but his future with Winnipeg remains uncertain. [ESPN]
After some proper Sunday rest following the Ontario road trip, the Islanders return to work to prepare for this week’s visits form the SoCal teams, and we’ll learn what adjustments they’ll make with two regular forwards out with injuries.
Islanders News
From Saturday’s injury-depleted win in Toronto: Takeaways…“We stuck to our systems. We trusted each other. There were a lot of great things,” said DeBoer. [Isles] Running mates Holmstrom and Pageau as players of the game. [Isles]
The injuries to Cal Ritchie and particularly Matias Maccelli will force some lineup decisions. Kyle MacLean, we can’t quit you. [Newsday]
The situation should present some opportunity, as well as pressure on Kyle Palmieri and Anthony Duclair to produce. [Post]
In praise of Ondrej Palat having a good, turn-back-the-clock game. [Post | THN]
Matthew Schaefer continues to be the sweetest human in the NHL. He brought a very young cancer sufferer to the game in Toronto and for the pre-game, rink-side interview. [NHL]
Elsewhere
The Flyers finally got a win, sadly, against the Senators, but took some more injury hits. [NHL] Prior to the Flyers winning, Kurtz checked in with a “this probably ends with Tocchet fired” piece. [Athletic]
In which the Jets players are asked about Connor Hellebuyck, who reportedly was ready to return as of Oct. 2 but was told, “not so fast, holdout” by the Jets. [Sportsnet]
The Stars are ready to talk contract, again, with Jason Robertson. [NHL]
Having full-time, dedicated EBUGs seems popular with NHL goalies, who could use the rest during drills and practices of an 84-game season.
Kyle Okposo is working with the NHLPA to help players have more…non-player identity, or something. [Athletic]
Maple Leafs Recall Artur Akhtyamov In Pair Of Roster Moves Ahead Of Hosting The SharksThe Toronto Maple Leafs made a pair of roster moves going into their meeting with the San Jose Sharks. Vinni Lettieri's call-up was deciphered on Sunday, but the Leafs also add Artur Akhtyamov to their roster.
'I Didn’t Have Good Meetings With Toronto': Sharks' Ivar Stenberg Didn't Feel Interest From Maple Leafs In NHL Draft MeetingsAhead of the first matchup between Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg - the first and second overall picks from the 2026 NHL draft, respectively - Stenberg reveals that he didn't feel that the Toronto Maple Leafs were interested in selecting him with the No. 1 pick in June.
