Goaltending is arguably the most important position in hockey, and every successful team likely has a goaltender or two who performs well.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they've made some changes in the crease this off-season, across a few different transactions by GM John Chayka.

It's not just the NHL tandem that has seen a shift going into the 2026-27 season, but the team's goaltending youth and depth have seen some change as well. After these adjustments in Chayka's first summer as the Leafs' GM, where does Toronto's goalie blueprint stand against the others in the Atlantic Division?

Off-Season Subtractions And Additions

With Chayka's first trade as the GM of the Maple Leafs, he made a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers. That trade saw defenseman Simon Benoit and goaltender Joseph Woll sent away in exchange for goaltender Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae and a 2026 third-round pick.

They did get Ersson in return to fill the void of Woll, but Ersson hasn't performed well in the NHL so far, posting an .870 save percentage and a 3.12 goals-against average this past year. In the end, Ersson was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft.

On free agency day, Chayka filled Woll's hole in the roster and acquired Sergei Bobrovsky, signing him to a three-year contract at $7 million per season. Now, the Maple Leafs' goaltending tandem is made up of Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz, two netminders who won a Stanley Cup together with the Florida Panthers in 2023-24.

Where Does The Maple Leafs' Forward Group Rank In The Atlantic Division?The Toronto Maple Leafs executed a near-overhaul of the forward group going into next season. Where does the team stand in terms of its offense on paper in comparison to the rest of the Atlantic Division?

Toronto wasn't done making moves in the crease there, as later that day, the Leafs traded Dennis Hildeby to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Hildeby, 24, was showing great promise with the Maple Leafs and with the AHL's Toronto Marlies. In 20 NHL appearances, the Swede registered a 2.86 GAA, a .914 SP, and earned his first career shutout against the Lightning in December of the past season.

Moving the young 6-foot-7 goaltender was a sacrifice to continue to improve the team's forward group, as they acquired Nick Paul from Tampa in that trade.

So now, Toronto will be rolling with Bobrovsky, Stolarz, and Artur Akhtyamov as the team's third goalie, who has been a star in the AHL, coming off an MVP-winning Calder Cup championship.

Why The Maple Leafs’ AHLers Will Have A Hard Time Getting A Deserved Opportunity In The NHL Next SeasonWith all the activity around the Toronto Maple Leafs this off-season, here's why the Toronto Marlies' core players will have a hard time getting into the NHL roster for next season, even if they deserve the opportunity.

Where Do The Leafs Rank In Division?

There are some superstar goaltenders in the Atlantic Division that the Leafs will need to face. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman of the Lightning and Boston Bruins, respectively, were finalists for the Vezina Trophy this past season, with the Bolts netminder taking home the trophy.

Nonetheless, Toronto's tandem isn't anything to be dismissive of, with a total of three Stanley Cups between Bobrovsky and Stolarz. Not to mention, Bobrovsky has two Vezina Trophies himself, and while Stolarz has an injury-plagued history, he's also shown signs of being an excellent goaltender, with the 2024-25 campaign being a prime example of that.

How Could The Maple Leafs Utilize Their New Goaltending Tandem Next Season?The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a new goaltending tandem for next season with the addition of Sergei Bobrovsky. How will the Leafs utilize both netminders?

A few teams that the Leafs certainly have the goaltending edge over are the Senators, the Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres.

The Senators do have a Vezina-Trophy-winning netminder in Linus Ullmark, but since he won that award in Boston, he hasn't been the same since arriving in Ottawa.

This past year was Ullmark's worst campaign yet of his NHL career. He recorded a 2.73 GAA and an .891 SP. 

To Ullmark's credit, he had an excellent post-season in Ottawa's first-round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, putting up a .932 SP and a 2.03 GAA. However, he wasn't able to earn a victory.

Now, going into the new campaign, his supporting tandem member is going to be Ersson, or  Leevi Merilainen, who also struggled in 2025-26 with a .860 SP and a 3.51 GAA in 20 games.

Detroit will be rolling with John Gibson and Daniil Tarasov next season.

Gibson was a star goaltender earlier in his career, but lately he's fallen into the category of an average starter.

He's still a solid netminder, but isn't so much a game-changer for his team, putting up a .901 SP this past year. The Red Wings also show no signs of improving the roster, particularly the back end to support their goaltenders.

Tarasov spent the past year as a backup to Bobrovsky with the Panthers, earning an .895 SP. It's hard to see this tandem thrive in this division and with the roster in front of them.

For Buffalo, their goaltending has been slightly chaotic to a certain degree lately. The big name in the Sabres' crease is 27-year-old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was great in the regular season with a .910 SP. However, that was only across 35 appearances.

Then, there's Alex Lyon, who played 36 games and recorded a .907 SP. And to finish the trio, Colten Ellis, who debuted in the NHL this past year, put up a .903 SP in his first 16 appearances of his NHL career.

A three-goalie tandem isn't typically the greatest method, nor do any of these three names scare an opponent on the scouting report.

 Luukkonen is the best goaltender on Buffalo's list, given the fact that he has posted a pair of campaigns with a .910 SP. But he does lack the consistency of being a true star or elite No. 1 goaltender.

Where Does The Maple Leafs' Defense Rank In The Atlantic Division?With some tweaks to the blueline this off-season, where does the Toronto Maple Leafs' defense rank in the Atlantic Division on paper going into next season?

Moving on to the other clubs in the Atlantic, Toronto has a case to make against any goalie tandem in the division.

The next team that the Maple Leafs could hang around with in the crease is the Montreal Canadiens and their duo of Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler. Although Samuel Montembeault is on the roster, he sits behind the other two goalies on the depth chart and wasn't particularly impressive in 2025-26.

There's no doubt that Dobes had some heroic and unforgettable moments for the Habs in their most recent playoff run. But the truth is, the Czech goaltender isn't all that consistent between the pipes.

Even with him being the highlight for multiple Montreal victories in the 2026 post-season, he posted a .908 SP, with half of his appearances in the playoffs finishing under a .900 SP.

Not much can be said about Fowler, as he made his NHL debut just this past year. He performed well, posting a .908 SP in 17 NHL contests, but that's not enough to change the overall perspective on where the Canadiens' tandem stands in the Atlantic.

With the experience and proven numbers from recent seasons, Toronto's netminders can be trusted more going into 2026-27.

NHL Reveals Maple Leafs' Season Opener For 2026-27 SeasonThe NHL has revealed its opening night schedule for the 2026-27 regular season. Here's who the Toronto Maple Leafs will be facing, and a little history of how they perform on opening night.

It's hard to compete with the Panthers in any category, but when it comes to their new-look tandem, the Maple Leafs could have the edge over them, too.

They lost Bobrovsky and replaced him with Jacob Markstrom in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. Lately, Markstrom hasn't been great as a starting goaltender, with his past four seasons finishing with a .905 SP or worse.

Indeed, Bobrovsky is at an age where a dip in performance would be expected, and that happened in 2025-26, but replacing him with Markstrom doesn't guarantee improvement in goal.

Next to Markstrom will be Akira Schmid as the backup goaltender, and he is exactly that and nothing more. Schmid played 34 games for the Vegas Golden Knights this past year and posted an .893 SP. The 26-year-old also has just 82 games played in his NHL career.

It doesn't take much of an argument to understand that the Leafs should have the edge over the Cats when it comes to goaltending.

For the final two teams remaining, Boston and Tampa Bay, it's tough to say Toronto has better goaltending than they do, simply because of the No. 1s they both possess. Swayman and Vasilevskiy are two of the best goalies in the NHL.

But where the Maple Leafs can make an argument is about the depth they have in the crease between those two franchises.

Could Bruins Assistant GM Evan Gold Be Joining The Maple Leafs' Front Office?Boston Bruins assistant GM Evan Gold is on his way out. Could he end up with the Toronto Maple Leafs?

With the Bruins, behind Swayman is Michael DiPietro, with Joonas Korpisalo being shipped to the New York Rangers this summer.

It's been a long time coming for DiPietro, as a 27-year-old, and he is finally projected to have a regular NHL role next season. In four separate campaigns, he's made a total of four appearances, and only in two did he feature for the whole contest.

He's spent most of his time in the AHL, and to his credit, he has dominated at that level. This past year, he recorded a .930 SP and a 1.91 GAA in 45 contests. So his jump to the NHL is deserved, but there isn't much sample size to base how he'll perform at this next level.

Similar can be said about Tampa and Hildeby. Though Hildeby has stepped up for Toronto in the NHL before, he's in a different and unfamiliar environment, with just 26 games played at this level.

So while the Leafs don't have a Swayman or Vasilevskiy, at least, going off of how the past season went, the depth is what really gives them a boost among their divisional peers.

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Now that the NHL schedule has been released, fans can start planning which games they’d like to attend and find out when interesting foes are dropping by. Here are five occasions Montreal Canadiens’ fans should consider putting on their calendar.

Home Opener

It’s always a treat to be amongst the first 21,000 people to see the Canadiens’ new opening montage and the light effects. This year, as a bonus, fans will also get an Eastern Conference Final rematch since Rod Brind’Amour and his Carolina Hurricanes will be in town to kick off the Bell Center’s season on October 6.

The Big Return

I’ll admit it, as soon as I saw the schedule I looked for one game: Brendan Gallagher’s homecoming. Fans will have to be patient for that one. The Habs will face the Vancouver Canucks on February 1, but that will be in British Columbia. Gallagher’s new team will only come to Montreal on March 6. Fingers crossed that the veteran hasn’t been traded to a contender by then; it would be a shame if fans didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. The trade deadline is on March 8, 2027; hopefully Gallagher will be fit as a fiddle and still play for Canucks.

Un coéquipier sans pareil et notre éternel guerrier. Merci à Brendan Gallagher pour tout ce qu’il a fait pour la ville de Montréal, tant sur la glace qu’à l’extérieur, et on lui souhaite le meilleur à Vancouver ❤️

The ultimate teammate and forever our warrior. Thank you for… pic.twitter.com/hvJqTor3sy

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 29, 2026

Canadiens and Dach Avoid Arbitration - Explaining The Cap Hit
Canadiens’ Fowler Tops The Rankings
The Answer To A Couple Of The Canadiens’ Big Issues Could Be Internal

A Christmas Double Header

Normally around Christmas and the New Year, it’s impossible to catch a game at the Bell Centre because the Canadiens are always on the road. Not this year. Forget about Disney on Ice; this time around, the Habs will be hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Boxing Day and the Dallas Stars on December 27- talk about a great present idea.

Ringing In The New Year

In recent years, the Canadiens have played on New Year's Eve either at 5:00 PM or 7:00 PM; this year, you won’t have to fight with your family for the remote if they want to watch the end-of-year TV specials. The Habs will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at 2:00 PM on December 31st in Florida.

The Final Countdown

If there’s a tight race to the finish, whether it’s for the playoffs or for the right spot in the standings, the end of the season could be very exciting for the Canadiens, who will play their last three games against divisional rivals and on the road. They’ll take on the Florida Panthers on April 6, the Lightning on April 8, and the Ottawa Senators on April 10.

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Here are your links for today:

Devils Links

Anthony Mantha is a Devil:

Anthony Mantha to the New Jersey Devils

2 x $4.75M

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 15, 2026

“Mantha is coming off a career season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, totaling 33 goals and 64 points in 81 games. He is due to regress from those numbers, but he should still be a productive winger for the Devils. Let’s look at what he offers and why the Devils should be a better team with him, even though regression is likely next season.” [Devils on the Rush]

“The New Jersey Devils today announced that the club has named Leo Luongo Director of Goaltending while adding Ted Donato and AJ MacLean as assistant coaches and Dan Stewart as a goaltending coach to complete Sheldon Keefe’s coaching staff.” [Devils NHL]

We have a schedule:

Gird your loins. The 2026-27 schedule is here. pic.twitter.com/G8QMmIasKa

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) July 16, 2026

Hockey Links

The NHL’s 1,344-game, 2026-27 regular-season schedule is out: [NHL.com]

Some analysis of the most compelling games on the schedule: [Sportsnet]

Connor McMichael get a six-year deal:

Connor McMichael has signed a 6×6.75M with the Blues 💰

He broke out in 2025 with 26G & 57P, but then only had 14G & 46P this season before being included in the Kyrou package pic.twitter.com/zKexgy71FH

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 16, 2026

Steve Yzerman is out:

In a major development, the Red Wings announce Steve Yzerman is stepping down as the team’s head of Hockey Operations and becoming an advisor to Chris Ilitch.

A search for the team’s next President/GM is underway https://t.co/fPwD8KbqVq

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 15, 2026

“While there are still some interesting names out there, we’ve reached the point of the offseason where player movement slows to a crawl. Some things can still change, but a majority of teams are what they are at this point — for better or worse. That makes it a good time to check in on which teams improved (or declined) the most this summer.” [The Athletic ($)]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Is Sharks' revamped defense better than before for the 2026-27 NHL season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

The Sharks have remade their defense. But how much better than before is it?

San Jose Hockey Now spoke with four NHL scouts, none with the Sharks, for their assessment.

Do they think the Sharks have a playoff-caliber blueline now?

So far this summer, the Sharks have signed Jacob Trouba to a four-year, $33 million pact. They also traded for Darnell Nurse, sending out defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin and prospect Zack Sharp, and Michael Kesselring (and 2026 draft’s No. 27 pick), sending out the No. 20.

They’re adding this trio to incumbents Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson.

Prospects Luca Cagnoni, Eric Pohlkamp, and Nolan Allan are also waiting in the wings.

Realistically, the Sharks could also add another veteran depth defenseman to this mix.

So how much better is this blueline, considered around the league, for years, to be one of the worst in the NHL?

“It’s a big improvement compared to last year,” Scout No. 1 said. “Closer to average.”

“Significantly improved,” Scout No. 2 said.

Good enough for the playoffs? The Sharks have missed the post-season for seven straight years.

“100 percent in the playoffs discussion,” Scout No. 2 said.

“Borderline playoff corps,” Scout No. 3 said.

There are obvious question marks surrounding Nurse and Trouba, because they’re 30-something’s signed for four more years.

But league-wide, they’re still considered legitimate top-four defensemen, and generally thought to be upgrades over Orlov and the departing Mario Ferraro. Between Nurse and Trouba and Orlov, the Sharks have three consensus top-four defenders for the first time in a long time. Nurse and Trouba should also take on the penalty-killing minutes that Ferraro and Vincent Desharnais vacate.

“Trouba is a defensive defenseman,” Scout No. 1 said. “Puck game is limited but can still shoot the puck. And obviously a big, heavy, and physical defender. Plays to his identity.”

“Nurse isn’t as physical as he should be and is prone to mental errors with the puck,” Scout No. 1 said. “But can rush the puck and add some offense though.”

“Both men are solid citizens and leaders,” Scout No. 2 said. “High-end level of toughness and respect [around] the league.”

Scout No. 1 added, “Orlov played higher in the line-up than he should and was exposed.”

Nurse and Trouba will help with that.

“Hopefully, Dickinson can take a step too,” Scout No. 4 said about the 2024 No. 11 pick.

So while the four-year commitments to 31-year-old Nurse and 32-year-old Trouba aren’t ideal, which top-four blueliners were the Sharks going to add this off-season with shorter contracts? And at a reasonable acquisition cost, in a seller’s market for defensemen?

Kesselring also didn’t cost the Sharks much, and while he’s not proven like Nurse and Trouba, is 6-foot-5 and mobile and just 26.

“Has top-four potential,” Scout No. 4 opined.

“Have guys who can do a much better job getting the puck to the forwards or skate it themselves,” Scout No. 1 said of Nurse, Trouba, and Kesselring.

How about the Sharks’ blueline prospects, Allan, Cagnoni, or Pohlkamp — who’s the most NHL-ready?

“They need a top power-play guy,” Scout No. 1 said. “None of [Nurse or Trouba or Kesselring] are close to top PP guys. Gives Cagnoni an edge.”

“Cagnoni can run a power play,” Scout No. 2 said. “I would think he would get a look in that role.”

Of this trio of prospects, 5-foot-9 Cagnoni is the most offensively gifted, Pohlkamp projects to the most well-rounded long-term, and 6-foot-2 Allan is more defensive.

It is worth noting that Cagnoni and Allan have a lot more pro experience than the recently signed Pohlkamp. Speaking of Allan, the 23-year-old is not waiver-exempt, while the younger Cagnoni and Pohlkamp still are.

In the end, the Sharks aren’t likely to be carried into the playoffs by this defense. Macklin Celebrini is already a superstar, but can another young forward or two become a star too?

“Will all depend on how quickly their top-end young guys mature,” Scout No. 2 said. “Not Celebrini, but Smith, Chernyshov, Misa, et cetera.”

If Celebrini gets some help up front, and the Sharks’ defense is at least average, that could be enough to get them into the post-season dance.

“[The defense is] a bit of a mixed bag,” Scout No. 4 said. “Older and some questions. But if everything works, could be decent for next season.”

Download and follow the San Jose Hockey Now podcast

Even if the news doesn't come as a surprise, the Pittsburgh Penguins officially terminated the longest-standing ECHL affiliation in the NHL.

On Thursday, the Penguins announced that they ended their 29-year affiliation with the Wheeling Nailers and subsequently named the Florida Everblades as their new ECHL squad. The news comes a few weeks after the Penguins sale to the Hoffmann Family of Companies became official, when they publicly shared their intention to switch the affiliation to their already-owned franchise in the Everblades.

The Nailers are now without an NHL parent club, while the Everblades were not affiliated with an NHL team at the time of the switch.

The Pittsburgh Penguins announce end to long and successful ECHL affiliation agreement with the Wheeling Nailers. pic.twitter.com/i4QigXbJWO

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 16, 2026

End Of An Era: 29 Year Affiliation Has Ended With The Wheeling NailersA shifting ownership landscape severs the longest active NHL-ECHL partnership, ending a historic developmental pipeline that fueled Pittsburgh’s championship legacy and defined hockey identity in West Virginia.

Wheeling first became the affiliate of the Penguins in 1996, and since then, it helped develop multiple NHL players as well as several top prospects, including goaltender Sergei Murashov, defenseman Finn Harding, and forwards Avery Hayes and Atley Calvert currently. Pittsburgh has long-considered its ECHL affiliate to be a developmental league, and that has only become more true under the current front office regime under president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas.

But, despite the developmental angle, Wheeling's proximity to Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (the organization's AHL affiliate), and the relatively small but cult following Wheeling has, the Hoffmann family made it clear from the jump that Florida was always the endgame.

"100 percent," David Hoffman said of their intention to make the Everblades the ECHL affiliate during the family's introductory press conference on Jun. 25. "I think they would run me out of Naples if they're not. We already have people wearing Penguins' jerseys at our games, so I think there's a high expectation level that's going to happen. We want to do that."

Three Takeaways From Thursday's Hoffmann Family Press ConferenceThe Hoffmann Family held their introductory press conference on Thursday after buying the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here are a few takeaways from it.

The Everblades have been a highly successful ECHL franchise in recent years, as they have won four of the past five Kelly Cup championships, including the 2026 title over the Kansas City Mavericks. They have won more Kelly Cup Championships than any team in ECHL history with five. 

Any player in the Penguins' organization signed to an NHL or an AHL contract can now be assigned to the ECHL affiliate in Florida, if eligible as far as contract terms. Any player signed to ECHL agreements will remain with their current club, meaning any ECHL-signed Penguins' prospect will remain in Wheeling. 

Penguins Netminder Named Among NHL's Best Goalie ProspectsSergei Murashov has received some praise.

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Trevor Zegras is getting rewarded for a career season. 

Zegras inked a four-year deal to stay in Philadelphia, the team announced Wednesday. 

The 25-year-old center, who spent the first five years of his career with the Ducks before getting traded to the Philadelphia last offseason, will earn $36.5 million ($9.125 million average annual value) to become the Flyers’ highest-paid player. 

The center was a restricted free agent who had filed for arbitration, which can now be avoided. 

“We’re thrilled to have Trevor committed to our organization for the next four years,” Flyers general manager Danny Briere said in a statement. “The growth he showed this past season, proving that he is the skilled player he entered the league as, reinforced our belief that he will be an impact player for the Flyers for the years to come. He’s the type of player who can help take our team to the next level, and we’re excited to continue building alongside him.”

Zegras, the ninth pick in the 2019 draft, scored 67 goals and tallied 119 assists in five years with the Ducks before joining the Flyers. 

In his first season with Philly, he scored a career-high 26 goals while adding 41 assists, which was one shy of his career best set in 2022-23.

In eight playoff games, Zegras notched two goals with four assists. 

In addition to locking up their core after an overachieving season, Briere has focused on retaining veterans, as he’s signed goalie Dan Vladar and right wing Tyson Foerster to extensions this offseason. 

The Flyers also recently tried to reel in Leo Carlsson of the Ducks with a record-setting offer sheet.

But Anaheim matched it and made him the league’s highest-paid center at $18 million AAV. 

The Flyers are coming off a resurgent 2025-26 season in which they made the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and won a first-round series against the rival Penguins.

On Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights released the schedule for the 2026-27 regular season, which will have 84 games after a shortened preseason. The regular season begins on September 29th at home against the Chicago Blackhawks and ends on April 10th at home against the Los Angeles Kings.

Every game is important in its own right, but certain ones certainly stand out for their narratives and entertainment value. So, without further ado, here are the five biggest matchups for the Golden Knights during the 2026-27 regular season.

December 21st @ Carolina Hurricanes

Every year, as soon as the NHL releases the regular season schedule, neutral fans scramble to circle the rematch of the most recent Stanley Cup Final. After a truly dominant run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Golden Knights exited the postseason with a whimper on the back of a 22-save shutout from Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi. They’re desperate to get the taste of defeat out of their mouths, and this is the first chance to do so. 

While winning the rematch won’t fully erase the sting of defeat, it might be critical to do so to set the tone for the new season. There’s no question that the Golden Knights will give this game everything they’ve got, and the Hurricanes will as well. 

January 2nd vs Colorado Avalanche

While the Stanley Cup Final rematch promises emotional fireworks, it’s possible that the Western Conference Final rematch could threaten to steal the spotlight in terms of entertainment. And how could it not, after what the Golden Knights did to the Avalanche during those six days in late May? Make no mistake, the Golden Knights thoroughly embarrassed the Avalanche, and their opponent will likely be out for blood. 

The Avalanche are a high-flying offensive team, and after getting shut down for four straight games, they’ll be chomping at the bit to prove it. And, hey, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are always worth the price of admission. This has the potential to be one of the best matchups of the season. 

February 15th vs Detroit Red Wings

The Golden Knights will host several return games during the 2026-27 regular season, but two will stand out from the rest in terms of emotional impact. The first return game will be for Keegan Kolesar, a fan favorite known for his physicality, who was traded to the Red Wings at the start of the offseason. 

Kolesar embraced the Las Vegas community, and they embraced him right back. He’s sure to get a warm welcome from the fans in T-Mobile Arena ahead of what will be an emotional game.

February 19th @ Dallas Stars

Few things are more compelling than an outdoor hockey game. The actual hockey itself is often quite sloppy because of the weather conditions, but we love these outdoor games anyway because of the spectacle they offer. The two teams walk out in themed outfits, there’s usually a musical entertainer, and nothing makes athletes happier than an opportunity to take the game back to the way they played it as kids.

On February 19th, the Golden Knights will play their second outdoor game— and first Stadium Series game— in franchise history against the Dallas Stars at AT&T Stadium. They already used the Elvis outfit back at the 2024 Winter Classic against the Seattle Kraken, so it’s anybody’s guess what they’ll walk out in this year.

March 13th vs New York Rangers

The second and final return game of the season features a rare home-grown talent: Pavel Dorofeyev. Vegas selected Dorofeyev in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, and he developed into a dangerous scoring winger. But all good things come to an end– because they couldn’t afford his looming payday, the Golden Knights traded the pending Restricted Free Agent to the New York Rangers during the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Because they prioritize staying in win-now mode, the Golden Knights haven’t made many draft picks and have hit on very few of them. Dorofeyev was perhaps their greatest success story, as he led the team in goals for the past two seasons. Hockey is a business, and there are no hard feelings between the two parties, but the two-time 35-goal scorer’s return game is sure to include some fireworks.

The NHL released its 2026-27 schedule on Thursday, July 16.

There's no midseason international tournament, but the All-Star Game will return and have an international theme.

There will be 84 games, not 82, to create a balanced division schedule, and the season will start on Sept. 29 instead of early October. There will be fewer preseason games, always a plus.

The opening game will be a good one with the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes raising the banner before playing the 2024 and 2025 champion Florida Panthers.

Here are some of the winners and losers of the NHL's 2026-27 schedule release:

WINNERS

Washington Capitals fans

The NHL has a nice sense of symmetry this year. The Capitals play their home opener against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins and their home finale against the same team. That's two more times to watch the Alex Ovechkin-Sidney Crosby matchup if Ovechkin doesn't play beyond this season. This is also the final year of Crosby's contract.

The season finale

All 32 teams will play on the season finale on April 10 − the second 16-game day in 2026-27. It's heavily division-oriented, so final playoff spots could be determined during the busy schedule.

European NHL fans

The NHL is increasing the number of Monday afternoon games so they can be watched in prime time in Europe and build the audience there. There will be two games in Finland (Hurricanes vs. Kraken) and Germany (Senators vs. Blackhawks). Finnish fans get to see countrymen Sebastian Aho and Kaapo Kakko, and German fans get to see Tim Stutzle.

Brady Tkachuk

The Florida Panthers offseason acquisition gets a great first test against the Hurricanes on opening night. Does he fight playoff MVP Jordan Staal as he did with the Ottawa Senators at the start of the playoffs? Plus, Tkachuk gets his return to Ottawa out of the way early with an Oct. 21 game.

LOSERS

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks weren't going to be a playoff team and even less so with Connor Bedard out for all of October and into November after shoulder surgery. But the schedule makers did them no favors. They face 12 playoff teams through the first week of November, including two meetings with the Hurricanes. Among the non-playoffs teams are two meetings with the recent champion Panthers.

Winter Classic timing

The Colorado Avalanche visiting the Utah Mammoth, good. Beautiful setting, good. New Year's Eve, meh. At least the game starts at 4 p.m. local time, so the Wasatch mountains will be visible before the 5:09 p.m. sunset.

Calgary Flames fans

Remember the symmetry for Capitals fans? NHL schedule makers didn't do that in Calgary. This is the final season for the Saddledome. The final regular season opponent is the Vancouver Canucks, not the archrival Edmonton Oilers.

NHL shares the spotlight

There wasn't much time to digest the NHL schedule before Major League Baseball said its 2027 season would start on March 24. That assuming, of course, that they get a collective bargaining agreement done in time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL schedule winners, losers: Chicago Blackhawks get no favors

Original author: Ken Campbell: Jul. 17, 2017

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When he coached the Pittsburgh Penguins, Dan Bylsma regularly referred to Evgeni Malkin as the smartest guy in the room. On this night, he was probably also the happiest. And that’s saying something because it was a very big room. There was Yevgeni Vladimirovich Malkin, son of a steelworker from working-class Magnitogorsk, standing at center ice of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, basking in the glow of winning his third career Stanley Cup and the Penguins’ second straight, cementing the team’s and the player’s places in the annals of the game.

He had a cut across the bridge of his nose that was leaking slowly, not a battle scar but an accidental nick from a teammate’s visor that hit him during the celebration, a touch ironic considering Malkin was the postseason leader in penalty minutes. He didn’t have it moments before when he was jumping around like a little kid on the bench with Phil Kessel to celebrate Carl Hagelin’s empty-net goal. “It’s like, it’s crazy, you know,” Malkin said. “It’s not a penalty for sure.”

Then, like Adrian did in the first Rocky movie, Anna Kasterova made her way through the mass of humanity and jumped into her husband’s arms. He twirled her around on his skates and they kissed. But this wasn’t one of those ‘we-did-itand- look-how-happy-we-are’ pecks for public consumption. No, Kasterova took her husband’s sweaty, bearded face in her hands and the two of them went all Bogie and Bacall. It was the kind of kiss that makes people start looking down at their shoes after a while, the type of PDA (Public Display of Affection) that makes someone want to wisecrack, “Hey, get a room!”

The record shows Malkin received only three first-place votes for the 2017 Conn Smythe Trophy, despite being the playoff scoring leader, once again usurped by the omnipresent Sidney Crosby, who unseated Malkin by putting the Penguins on his back in the last two games of the Stanley Cup final. Until then, it looked as though Malkin was going to win his second Conn Smythe and become only the second player in history to go at least seven years between being named playoff MVP, joining Patrick Roy. After the game, the Penguins were talking about Crosby earning his place as one of the greatest NHL players of all-time (more on that on page 66). Malkin, meanwhile, couldn’t even get his name on the league’s list of the top 100 players of all-time earlier this season.

We’re going to assume he was No. 101. We’re also going to assume it doesn’t bother him in the least. As teammate Ian Cole said, “Do I think he’s broken up over it? No. I don’t think he’s constantly going home and crying himself to sleep that he wasn’t part of the top 100.”

Looking at Malkin that night in Nashville, beaming with his beautiful wife, you’d have to think the lack of recognition was the furthest thing from his mind. Nobody looked happier than he did. A lot of people in Pittsburgh were upset he wasn’t on the NHL’s top 100 list, but he wasn’t one of them. As he said on Media Day before the Stanley Cup final, in what was probably the longest interview of his career, “No, I don’t care. My record is Cups.”

And now he has three of ’em, the third as part of the first team to win two in a row in the salary cap era. Add that to his Calder Trophy – something Crosby never won – a Hart Trophy, two Art Ross Trophies and a Conn Smythe Trophy, and you have a player who has managed to carve out his legacy while skating in the shadow of one of the greatest players ever. Perhaps that’s why Malkin was so happy standing there at center ice in Nashville. But maybe it was because the 30-year-old was looking at his life and realizing things may never be better than they were at that precise moment. Since May of last year, he has won two Stanley Cups, become a father for the first time and married the woman he fell in love with after seeing her on TV. “He’s a very romantic man,” said Kasterova with the help of an interpreter, “and he loves me very much.”

It was five years ago that Malkin was watching television in Moscow during the off-season and was instantly smitten by the woman doing sports. He frantically began his quest to find her, including getting in touch with every Russian journalist he knew in an effort to get her phone number. “He see me on television and, ‘Wow!’ ” Kasterova said. “He text me and say, ‘I’m Malkin, can I text you maybe sometimes because you’re very nice.’ For two years we text as friends, and after two years we are together.”

They went on their first date to a sushi restaurant in Moscow and fell in love almost instantly. And now with Nikita, they are three. When he talks about his son, you can see the pride on Malkin’s face, and Kasterova lauds him for being a loving and caring father. For all he’s done in the game, Malkin wants to make sure he does right by his children. Fatherhood has been a life-changing experience for him. He kisses his boy every day before he goes to the rink and takes an immense amount of joy in his son’s milestones, proudly declaring Nikita recently learned to walk.

“This year I go out zero times,” Malkin said. “I stay home and when we have an extra day in New York, I tell coach, ‘Let’s go home.’ I was so excited when my wife was pregnant. I can’t wait to see my son and now I want more. He’s not my last for sure. I try to be good dad, not just good hockey dad. Hockey life is short, like 20 years, but after it’s, like, be a good dad.”

Until then, though, Malkin will try to be a good NHL player, too. He has at least five more years to do so before his current contract expires. By that time he’ll be 35, and he’ll have made slightly more than $131 million. The Hall of Fame will wait three more years for him if that’s when he decides to retire. He’ll have more babies by then, and maybe one or two more Cups, as well as a few more individual honors. Who knows? He may even have made his way into the top 100 players of alltime by then. But even if none of that happens, Malkin has built a legacy in Pittsburgh behind Crosby, forming a 1-2 punch at center that rivals Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.

“I really believe in just my time here with both guys, they’ve grown to be appreciative for one another and how they help each other have success and this team,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “And so when there are nights when maybe Sid might not have his ‘A’ game, that Geno steps up and helps this team win, and vice versa. There are other nights where Geno might not have his ‘A’ game and Sid steps up and makes a big play to help this team win. They’re two players of a very select few in the league that singlehandedly have an ability to change the outcomes of games. That’s how good they are. I think I termed it a 1-2 punch maybe, but it’s really a 1 and 1A. These guys, they’re elite players. They’re great people, and I don’t know that you could find two better people to build a team around than these two guys.”

Like those other great tandems, Malkin and Crosby are two entirely different players, but they complement each other perfectly. If Malkin harbors any resentment from the lack of recognition he gets because of Crosby, there’s no indication of it. In fact, you could argue that as Crosby sits at his stall after every practice and game and handles the crush of questions with aplomb and patience, he’s actually helping Malkin, who gets to go about his business quietly and without distraction. He can go out to the back and work on his sticks with a smile on his face and not a care in the world. If Malkin were the alpha dog somewhere else, that wouldn’t be the case.

“I don’t want to be like No. 1 in Carolina or something,” Malkin said. “I feel like the guy here, too. I come to a restaurant and people want to shake hands and it’s fun for me. I sign a big deal here because I feel we can win every year here. I want to play with Sid a long time. It’s good competition between me and Sid. Sid score, I want to score, too. Sid score one more, I want to score one more, too. Sid score a hat trick, I stop.”

Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. Malkin is a funny, engaging guy, as he proved on Media Day, taking questions for nearly half an hour and discussing everything from hockey to fatherhood to dealing with people throwing octopi and catfish on the ice. Sitting over at the next pod, Crosby took notice, saying it was nice to see Malkin under the spotlight for a change.

“He does a pretty good job of staying away,” Crosby said. “He and Phil (Kessel) usually throw it on me and on my stall and head out of there. You guys probably fired him up with some good questions, and I’m sure he loved it.”

When Bylsma was coaching in Pittsburgh, he got to see that dynamic closer than anyone. He’d watch as he gave instructions, and it’d look as though Malkin wasn’t paying attention. Bylsma would then test him, asking what should be done in a specific situation, and Malkin would answer perfectly every time. He’d watch Malkin play cards with Sergei Gonchar on the plane and beat him nine out of 10 times. He saw him read complex books that were written in both Russian and English and saw a player who was reclusive for public consumption but one who spoke freely and wisely among his teammates.

“I almost felt like he was ahead of everyone else in the room,” Bylsma said.

Jim Rutherford scanned up and down the list the first time and frowned. Picture him with an index finger on his chin, the other hand lifting his glasses to his forehead and back down to his eyes a couple times, lurching ahead to get a closer look at the screen. He looked again, this time a little more closely, and couldn’t believe what he wasn’t seeing. He realized the players were listed in alphabetical order and zoned in on the M’s. Now imagine Rutherford taking off his glasses and breathing on both lenses before wiping them clean with the cuff of his shirt. As the reality dawned on him that Malkin wasn’t on the NHL’s list of the top 100 players of all-time, Rutherford tried to put aside his biases as Penguins GM. He considered the body of work and came to the only logical conclusion he could.

“I looked at the list,” Rutherford recalled, “and I’m thinking to myself, ‘This can’t be right.’ ”

Rutherford did come to accept the reality, but it stung. And it was made all the more awkward by the fact Rutherford was part of the “blue-ribbon” panel that had input into the final list. Hall of Fame defenseman Pierre Pilote would also have been on his list, but it was Malkin’s omission that had him feeling so conflicted. As his GM, Rutherford would have loved to come out swinging and defend his player. Yet as a part of the group that chose the players, he had to tread softly.

“Yeah, I had to be careful because I was part of the panel, and I didn’t want to say a whole lot at the time because I was upset for Geno and I didn’t want to go against the panel,” he said. “But yeah, I was upset.”

For Rutherford, it’s not about the here and now. It’s about 50 or 100 years down the road when someone who never saw Malkin play looks at that list and doesn’t see his name on it. “People will look back on history and they’ll look at the top 100 and they won’t find a player who, in my opinion, you could make an argument should be in the top 50, let alone the top 100. And that’s where you get disappointed about it.”

Bylsma watched Malkin play for five years, which were the most productive of his career. Bylsma witnessed greatness. He saw a player who elevated his game when Crosby was out of the lineup. He saw a player who rehabbed three times a day from knee surgery during the first round of the playoffs in 2011, watching while his team lost in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Malkin had been told his season was over, and there was no way he was going to play regardless of how far the Penguins advanced, but he kept working out in the hopes of coming back early. He apologized to then-GM Ray Shero for getting injured at such a crucial time of the year.

“It’s certainly hard to pick the best 100 in the game, and there are people who, without question, should be in the top 100,” Bylsma said. “But Evgeni should be in the top 100.”

Almost everyone who knows Malkin claims that being left off the list doesn’t matter to him. Bylsma often heard Malkin say that he honestly cares about nothing more than winning the Stanley Cup, so we’re going to take them at their word and Malkin at his. But everyone has at least a bit of an ego, no? We all want to be recognized for what we have accomplished. Gonchar, who is now the Penguins’ defensemen development coach, might know Malkin better than anyone else, and he’s not so sure Malkin didn’t care about the snub.

“I think pissed off probably wouldn’t be the right word,” Gonchar said. “He was probably more motivated and that gave him an extra push. He’s a very competitive guy, and people might not notice that about him.”

When the Penguins won their second of two straight Stanley Cups in 1992, they had seven future Hall of Fame players (that includes Jaromir Jagr) and a blueline that featured Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and Ulf Samuelsson. This year, Crosby and Malkin were the only surefire Hall of Famers, and the back end looked nothing like it did 25 years ago. With Kris Letang out with an injury, Pittsburgh won with six nondescript defensemen, led by Brian Dumoulin, who seemed to be held together with balls of string, wire and duct tape while averaging almost 22 minutes a game. Ron Hainsey, who turned 36 just before the end of the regular season and went into the playoffs with 907 games of NHL experience without a single post-season appearance, combined with Dumoulin to be the team’s shutdown tandem.

The Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cups couldn’t have been more impressive given the adversity and injuries they faced this season. They won games they shouldn’t have – some on sheer talent, others on the strength of their goaltending, guile and grit. They were outshot regularly and confounded the analytics community. They were hardly the perfect champions, but in the end they had a parade in Pittsburgh that, like back in the day in Montreal, followed the usual route.

This was indeed a special group. It was led through the first two rounds by a veteran goalie with a checkered playoff history, a guy who already knew he wouldn’t even be in Pittsburgh next season. In the hours after the Penguins’ victory, it was reported Marc-Andre Fleury had waived his no-trade clause and would be available to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, giving Pittsburgh the luxury of protecting its goalie of the present and the future, 23-yearold Matt Murray.

The Penguins faced a Columbus Blue Jackets team in the first round that tried to run them out of the rink. They failed. Then came the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals, who executed their annual second-round choke job but not before wearing Pittsburgh down over seven games and dealing a blow to Crosby, a “hockey play” in which he was double-slashed by Alex Ovechkin before being cross-checked in the face and drilled in the knee by Matt Niskanen.

Then came another seven-game series, this time against the Ottawa Senators, who ground their way to double overtime in the deciding game. Before the final, Malkin acknowledged that penetrating the Predators’ vaunted defense corps “is going to be the hardest challenge of my life,” and after it was over, it looked every bit that difficult. By the time the Penguins faced the Predators, many thought they were running on fumes, and in the first four games, it looked as though they were doing just that. But those were powerful fumes, and the extra day off between games energized them.

When Nick Bonino went down in Game 2 with what was later disclosed as a broken leg – though not before returning to finish the game a la Bobby Baun – Pittsburgh was limping its way to the finish line. When the Penguins won their first Cup in 1991, Mario Lemieux had to have the trainers tie his skates for him because his back was in such bad shape that he couldn’t do it himself. The team had to build him a special bed in his hotel room on the road just so he could get some sleep. So, this Penguins group didn’t have the market cornered on overcoming adversity.

Any team that plays 82 games in a season and 25 more in the spring has to navigate any number of obstacles. But what this team did and how it managed to win the war of attrition was something to behold.

“I always use the phrase that I think we’re a scrappy group,” Sullivan said. “It’s not always pretty, but this group is resilient. We’re scrappy, we’re competitive. We just stay with it. There’s a stick-to-it-iveness that this group has, and they believe in one another. This team, I think, has a unique chemistry. They’re a great group of people, and they enjoy playing for one another. These guys are a privilege to coach. We push them so hard because we think so highly of them.”

There were many times the Penguins could have withered. They looked dead in the water after blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Capitals and appeared almost on life support after being blown out in Games 3 and 4 against Nashville. In Game 2 against the Senators, Malkin and Kessel grew frustrated with each other and it boiled over on the bench, forcing Sullivan to come over to Malkin and calm him down.

Kessel later scored the pivotal goal to deliver a victory, and everyone brushed it off afterward. But it also went a long way to proving that Crosby isn’t the only player on the team whose competitive fires burn white hot. It turns out Kessel gets amped up on occasion, and Malkin’s emotional well runs deeply, too. Consider that Malkin has been in a total of seven fights in his career, with more of them coming in the playoffs (four) than the regular season (three).

From The Archive: PEN DEMICWhy the Pittsburgh Penguins will be sick for years.

In 2016-17, Malkin reached another milestone. By winning his third Stanley Cup, he tied Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov for the highest total by a Russian player. He sits seventh among Russian players on the NHL’s all-time scoring list, but there’s no reason why he can’t climb to third, perhaps even second, though that will take some doing since he’s more than 300 points behind Fedorov. It depends on how long Malkin plays or if he continues beyond his current contract.

Being No. 1 will be virtually impossible, since he’s 203 points behind Ovechkin as it stands now. In points and recognition, Malkin will always remain second to Ovechkin among Russian players, even though Malkin’s name is on the Stanley Cup three times while Ovechkin may never get his on the bowl. Of all the Russians who have ever played in the NHL, Malkin leads the pack in points per game at 1.18, ahead of Ovechkin, who sits second at 1.12. Malkin needs 193 assists to become the all-time assists leader among Russian players.

It’s hard to carve out a legacy when a personality as large and dominating as Ovechkin takes up most of the space. Unlike Ovechkin, who grew up in cosmopolitan Moscow, a privileged son of a former Olympic athlete, Malkin grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in a working class city, the son of a laborer. Perhaps that’s why he’s so comfortable in Pittsburgh. Both Magnitogorsk and Pittsburgh forged their identities with steel mills and sweat, even though the booming steel days in Pittsburgh are long gone and it has become one of the Rust Belt cities that has figured out how to survive. It’s an almost perfect spot for Malkin, who gets the benefits of winning championships and being a star player without the responsibilities that come with being the face of a franchise.

So, now Malkin has his Cups. He has his wife, his family and all the money he could ever want. After the Penguins won the Cup, Sullivan said the players didn’t want anyone else writing their story for them because they aren’t finished. Murray has two Stanley Cups, and he’s only 23. Rutherford has rediscovered his mojo in Pittsburgh and, though he faces significant challenges, he has two of the most successful, clutch and decorated players in the game. And for Malkin, the people who matter most to him, his family and teammates, they know what he’s all about. Or they will.

“He has no idea I play hockey,” said Malkin of his one-year-old son. “When he grows up, like two or three years old, I hope he will be proud of me.”

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The Los Angeles Kings are that much closer to returning to the ice at Crypto.com Arena.

The NHL released its 2026-27 schedule for all 32 teams on Thursday, July 16. It's a new look for the league's calendar, with each club set to play 84 games -- four of which will be against each division opponent -- and the season opener scheduled for Sept. 29.

The Kings are coming off an up-and-down 2025-26 season in which they fired head coach Jim Hiller on March 1 after a prolonged slump left them out of the playoff picture. They rebounded under interim head coach DJ Smith with an 11-6-6 record to close out the season and qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs in Anze Kopitar's last ride. They were swept in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche.

This year, the Kings and new head coach Peter Laviolette will open the season how the last one ended -- against the Avalanche. They follow that Sept. 30 game in Denver with a trip to Northern California to face the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 3 before returning to LA to host the Florida Panthers on Oct. 6.

With the full slate of Kings games officially set, here's a look at the top five best matchups on their 2026-27 schedule.

84 games, a green screen, and a dream. @JoshSchaeferPxP breaks down our 2026-27 schedule! 📊

📲 https://t.co/eIHpu4KGuh@VividSeatspic.twitter.com/hgZ8ZVTwrP

— LA Kings (@LAKings) July 16, 2026

Sept. 30 at Colorado Avalanche

What better way to start off this list than with the season opener. The Avs won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and looked to be well on their way to another championship last season as winners of the Presidents' Trophy (best record in the regular season). They made quick work of the Kings in the first round but ultimately suffered the same fate themselves, being swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference finals.

Laviolette will get a chance to start his reign on a strong note if he can lead the Kings to a win in Denver.

Oct. 3 vs. Florida Panthers

The Panthers have been the perennial power in the NHL, winners of back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and '25 though injuries and inconsistent play last season led them to miss the postseason for the first time since 2019. In fact, Florida became the first defending champion to miss the playoffs since ... the 2015 Kings.

Nov. 27-28 vs. Anaheim Ducks

LA has 10 back-to-backs this season in total, though none (at this point in time) carry more weight than their rivalry series against the Ducks in late November. The Kings have had success in the Freeway Face-Off, but that fortune flipped in 2025-26 when the Ducks won three of the four meetings. LA's lone victory was a decisive one -- a 6-1 thrashing on Dec. 27, 2025, in which Alex Laferriere scored his first NHL hat trick.

Dec. 30: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Kings fans should circle this matchup on their calendars for two reasons: It'll mark fired coach Hiller's return to Los Angeles with the Maple Leafs after he was hired on June 17, and it will be their first chance to get a look at 2026 No. 1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna.

Jan. 6: vs. Washington Capitals

From first glances at a top prospect to a potential last glance at a legend. Alex Ovechkin signed a one-year contract extension to stay with the Caps for his 22nd season, but his future after that remains up in the air. This could be the last time fans at Crypto.com Arena get to see the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, who enters the season needing 11 goals to break Wayne Gretzky's record for combined regular season and playoff goals.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ranking the best games on the Kings 2026-27 NHL schedule

Now that the Philadelphia Flyers have finally completed their most important piece of offseason business, they have the clearest picture yet of what they can and cannot do going forward in terms of improving the roster.

On Wednesday night, forward Trevor Zegras finally signed his highly anticipated contract extension with the Flyers, agreeing to a four-year, $36.5 million deal worth $9.125 million annually.

The Flyers give Zegras a pretty good chunk of change for a more modest term than many had expected and/or hoped for, but the 25-year-old top-six forward will remain in Philadelphia until 2030 nonetheless.

At the time of this writing, the Flyers still need to re-sign defenseman Jamie Drysdale, forward Nikita Grebenkin, and prospect Hunter McDonald--all of whom are restricted free agents.

Drysdale, who, like Zegras, filed for arbitration, is set to have his case go before an arbitrator on Monday, though the expectation is that a deal with the Flyers will be struck before then.

Accounting for Zegras, now the Flyers' highest-paid player on a per-season basis, the Flyers have $20.44 million in cap space to fit in Drysdale, Grebenkin, and McDonald, according to PuckPedia.

PuckPedia also has top center prospect Jett Luchanko on the Flyers' NHL roster, so, provided he starts the season in the AHL as general manager Danny Briere expects, that will add another $941k to the table.

Flyers Should Lure Alexander Nikishin Away From Hurricanes with Matvei Michkov's HelpDefenseman Alexander Nikishin is the perfect trade target for the Philadelphia Flyers this late into the offseason.

With Drysdale, reports have indicated that the former Anaheim Ducks rearguard will sign a shorter-term deal, similar to Zegras, with a cap hit expected to be in the range of Travis Sanheim's $6.25 million, which would either tie him with Sanheim, or make him the highest-paid defenseman on the roster outright.

McDonald, 24, figures to sign a one- or two-year deal cheap enough that, when assigned to the AHL, won't count against the NHL salary cap at all.

Grebenkin's situation is a bit trickier to figure out, knowing that he is coming off a season-ending injury and still rehabbing with the Flyers while he awaits a new contract.

The 23-year-old Russian was arguably the team's best fourth-liner last season before the injury and a slew of lineup changes.

Injury or not, once Sean Couturier, Luke Glendening, and Garnet Hathaway found their mojo together, Grebenkin wasn't getting back into the lineup, for better or for worse.

Hathaway is gone now, though, and Glendening's place has been presumably taken by free agent addition Noel Acciari.

Briere still views Grebenkin as a valuable bottom-six piece for the future, especially as someone well-liked in the team's locker room.

An uneven but promising first full season in the NHL should see Grebenkin get another crack at sticking in the big leagues on a one- or two-year deal worth between $1 million and $2 million annually.

All Roads in Flyers' Bid for No. 1 Center Point Back to Elias PetterssonAt some point, the Philadelphia Flyers may have to make an uncomfortable trade for dimming Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson.

Assuming that Grebenkin gets $1.25 million and Drysdale gets $6.25 million, the Flyers will be allocating $7.5 million to those two players, leaving them with $12.94 million in cap space to operate with after the big Zegras deal.

That, of course, would not have been enough to fit the $18 million cap hit they gave to Leo Carlsson, but it's water under the bridge now.

What this does tell us, though, is that the Flyers are not considering another blockbuster offer sheet of the like at this time, if for no reason other than they cannot reasonably afford it.

To create the requisite cap space, they could always trade Rasmus Ristolainen and his $5.1 million cap hit to one of several interested teams, but those teams would also be aware that the Flyers need to shed his cap hit, destroying all leverage from Philadelphia's side.

The 2026 NHL free agency market remains very thin at all three positions, though the Flyers may want to insure themselves going forward with a power play quarterback, such as San Jose's John Klingberg.

In any case, regardless of what they want to do to add to the team, the Flyers still have a large chunk of cap space to work with.

The Vancouver Canucks are adding another former player to the organization. On Thursday, the Canucks announced that Alex Edler will be joining the player development department. As per the team press release, Edler will be "working closely with prospects throughout the organization."

Also included in the press release was a statement from GM Ryan Johnson, who wrote, "Alex knows first-hand what it means to be a Vancouver Canuck. His past experience in the NHL will really help in our players development, he understands the demands of what it takes to be a good pro both on and off the ice, while his skill set and communication will be a big plus when it comes to coaching and mentoring our prospects. Earlier this month we saw Alex’s hands-on approach at our Development Camp in Abbotsford, and the feedback we received about the job he did was excellent."

Edler played 1030 games in the NHL, which included 925 with Vancouver. He was part of the team's run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final and ranks second all-time in franchise history for points by a defenceman with 409. In addition to his NHL career, Edler represented Sweden multiple times, including winning a Silver Medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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The National Hockey League released the schedules for their teams on Thursday. The World Champion, Carolina Hurricanes, will start things off with a match against the Florida Panthers on September 29, at 5 PM.

The Canes, who year after year need to have several away games during the annual October State Fair, will have four home games before they travel out west this season.

After Tuesday’s home opener, the Canes will face the Capitals at home on Friday night. Then they go on the road to face the Flyers and Habs. Check out the full schedule here:

It has been a quiet time the past week or so with even rumors drying up. In the meantime, Alexander Nikishin still needs a contract or will he be traded?

The team did announce recently that they signed William Hakansson to an entry level contract. The defenseman, who was drafted in the second round in the recent draft, impressed during his visit here while attending Carolina’s prospect camp.

Pen to paper in paradise 🌴 pic.twitter.com/JgxydjREY3

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 15, 2026

The NHL schedule was released Thursday, and Buffalo Sabres fans likely looked at it with one date in mind – the return of now-former Sabres star right winger and new Washington Capitals sniper Alex Tuch. But while Buffalo plays the Capitals in Washington on October 24 and November 19, Sabres fans won’t be able to cheer or boo Tuch in Buffalo until the two teams clash for the third and final time on March 18 – eight full months from now.

That said, it’s this writer’s opinion that, when Tuch does return to Buffalo, Sabres fans should be giving Tuch a warm welcome.

The end for Tuch in Buffalo comes after he’s spent five seasons in Buffalo following a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights. And in those five seasons, Tuch delivered solid results, even when the Sabres team around him was unable to be a Stanley Cup playoff team. He generated at least 33 goals and 66 points in three of the past four seasons, at a very team-friendly $4.75-million-per-season salary. 

While the Sabres team he was part of continued to struggle to make the playoffs, Tuch never complained or big-timed anyone. He was reliable and gave Buffalo a power forward that only a few teams can boast of employing, and he could’ve signed an extension with the Sabres long ago. So now, both the Sabres and Tuch made their own business decisions, and each side had every right to choose to move on. And that’s what’s happened here.

The salary cap is designed to redistribute talent, and that's what the Capitals have done by acquiring Tuch. Tuch gave the Sabres a lot of good years, even when the team has struggled. He could’ve asked out at any point in time, and he didn’t.

And Buffalo could’ve kept him for the long haul by re-signing him before he hit the open market this summer, but the Sabres chose not to. If you’re going to boo Tuch for that, you should be booing Sabres management and ownership just as much. And you can do that starting in Game 1 of their home schedule on October 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

But it’s easier to just lob raspberries at Tuch rather than the bigger picture in Buffalo, isn’t it? You can call a player ‘selfish’ for getting as much money as the market will bear, but we’re not going to do that. The Sabres had a roller-coaster season, but Tuch played his part, putting up 33 goals and 66 points in 79 games. And he deserves credit for that.

The NHL’s salary cap is designed to redistribute talent, and that's what the Capitals have done by acquiring Tuch. He gave the Sabres some of the best years of his career,’and in the end, both the team and Tuch have, of their own volition, chose separate paths. That happens sometimes, even in the best scenarios. And Tuch isn't the villain for making the best business deal he could.

By the time Tuch rolls into Buffalo in mid-March, Sabres fans will have three-quarters of the season to debate and discuss, so we predict that will take some of the anger out of Sabres fans when they see Tuch in person. 

Tuch has accepted a deal that everyone would take were it offered to them. And we don’t believe he should be crucified for that decision. He’s now 30 years old, so Tuch has less road ahead of him than behind him. It’s natural he’d want to go to a team he thinks has the best chance at a championship. And the reconstituted Capitals certainly have an easier road to a Cup final than the Sabres do in the highly-competitive Atlantic Division.

In the end, Tuch took the best deal he could get in a businessman’s decision. You can be upset that he didn’t stay in Buffalo for the rest of his career, but there’s no question that Sabres ownership and GM Jarmo Kekalainen should also be targets of your anger and frustration. 

When Tuch steps on the ice in Buffalo as a member of the Capitals, the right thing to do is to cheer him for the time he spent in Western New York. He didn’t win a Cup with the Sabres, but Tuch fought a good fight for Buffalo, and he deserves a happy sendoff as he and the Sabres move in their own preferred direction.