The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the NHL's biggest surprises this season. After having a cold start to the campaign, the Sabres now have a 29-17-5 record and are third in the Atlantic Division standings.
There are many reasons for the Sabres being in this good of a position right now, and goaltender Alex Lyon is undoubtedly one of them. The 33-year-old goaltender has been fantastic for the Sabres this season and is only getting better as the campaign rolls on.
In 23 games on the season so far with the Sabres, Lyon has recorded a 12-6-3 record, a 2.70 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage, and has tied his career-high in shutouts with two. With this, he has certainly been making a big impact for the Sabres this campaign.
Lyon has also won each of his last nine appearances for the Sabres, which has tied him for the longest winning streak in franchise history with Gerry Desjardins. That is incredibly impressive stuff.
When noting that Lyon has a bargain $1.5 million cap hit until the end of the 2026-27 season, it is absolutely clear that he has been a complete steal for the Sabres.
The Islanders came into Philadelphia on Monday night outmanned and reeling, having lost their past two games by a combined score of 9-1.
For a team that hadn’t lost three straight games in regulation since the first three games of the season, and for a team that would have gone below the playoff cutline with a defeat, this was a game they needed in the worst sort of way.
Down Simon Holmstrom, Cal Ritchie and Ryan Pulock with a combination of illness and injury, the Islanders showed their resilience anyway, defeating the Flyers 4-0 at Wells Fargo Center.
“We approached the game like it was a playoff game,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau told reporters after a two-goal performance. “And I thought we played an extremely solid game. Of course, when your goalie gives zero, it helps a lot.”
This performance had so much of what the Islanders have lacked recently.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau #44 of the New York Islanders celebrates his first period shorthanded goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with Casey Cizikas #53 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on January 26, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NHLI via Getty Images
The Islanders dominated on special teams. They held the puck in the offensive zone and played off the cycle. They cut down on high-danger chances around Ilya Sorokin’s crease, helping him to a 21-save shutout.
That is what they will need to do, again and again, if they are going to stay above the playoff cutline and make some noise in the tournament itself.
Coach Patrick Roy’s constant reshuffling of the lines finally seemed to land on some combinations that did the trick here. Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair had exactly the right response to their third-period benching on Saturday, playing most of the night up ice on a line with Jonathan Drouin. The trio produced a goal when Barzal tipped Isaiah George’s shot from the right point past Sam Ersson to make it a 2-0 game 5:41 into the second.
That was sandwiched between a pair of special teams goals, the first of which came from Pageau shorthanded at 14:29 of the first. Pageau took Casey Cizikas’ expertly spun feed off the wall and went bar-down to open the scoring.
Barzal then got his second point of the night on the power play, assisting Tony DeAngelo off the rush to make it 3-0 at 12:50 of the second. Ironically, that counted for DeAngelo’s first power play goal as an Islander. And, as Roy noted, the play was sprung by an active backchecking effort from Duclair.
Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) in action against the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Flyers didn’t come up with much as far as a potential comeback, and Pageau’s second goal of the night made it a 4-0 game at 13:38 of the third. Maxim Tsyplakov’s feed off the wall to set up Pageau was just his second point and first assist of the year.
The reunited fourth line of Marc Gatcomb, Cizikas and Kyle MacLean did its usual good work, while Emil Heineman and Bo Horvat clicked well on the second line. Max Shabanov got better alongside them as the game went on, as did Tsyplakov with Pageau and Anders Lee. The Islanders will hope that Tsyplakov — filling in for Holmstrom, who was a late scratch with illness — gets a much-needed confidence boost from putting a point on the board.
“That’s one of his best games this year,” Roy told reporters of Tsyplakov. “… Might not be easy at times, but he played really well.”
Sorokin, for once, was not under fire all night. His sixth shutout of the year required just 21 saves for comparatively little stress.
Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin (30) makes a save against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The injuries are starting to pile up for the Islanders, who pulled the trigger on reinforcements in the form of Carson Soucy. The Islanders officially announced the deal after the game which sent a 2026 third-round pick down 495 and across the East River to the Rangers in exchange for the left-handed defenseman.
If Pulock’s upper-body injury has him miss serious time, though, Soucy won’t be enough. And Ritchie, who was called day to day with a lower-body injury, is suddenly a concern as well.
The way everything was piling up, a loss Monday would have felt like a crisis point in the season.
Turning in an all-around performance and a commanding win over the team directly below them in the standings instead was certainly a good way to take the pressure off.
“I thought we had a really good process,” Tony DeAngelo told reporters. “That’s how you win games: process. It was probably our best 60-minute game from start to finish in a little while here.”
The Montreal Canadiens have one of the most exciting prospect pools in the NHL. Among their notable promising youngsters is defenseman Adam Engstrom, as the 2022 third-round pick has the potential to emerge as a solid NHL defenseman.
Engstrom played his first American Hockey League (AHL) season with the Laval Rocket during this past campaign. In 66 games with the AHL club, he posted five goals, 22 assists, 27 points, and a plus-14 rating. Overall, the left-shot defenseman demonstrated plenty of promise with Laval this past season but has been taking another step forward with his play so far in 2025-26.
In 28 games so far this season with Laval, Engstrom already has seven goals, 15 assists, and 22 points. With numbers like these, there is no question that the young defenseman has provided Laval with some solid offense from the point this campaign.
Engstrom is continuing to make an impact with Laval as the season rolls on, too. Over his last nine games with Laval, he has two goals and six points. This included him recording a goal and an assist in Laval's Jan. 24 contest against the Calgary Wranglers on Jan. 24.
The Canadiens will be hoping that Engstrom can continue to impress as the season rolls on. If he does, he certainly has a chance of getting another look on the NHL roster soon.
There were some lineup swaps tonight with Cal Ritchie (lower body injury) and Simon Holmstrom (illness) out. Max Tsyplakov and Marc Gatcomb drew into the lineup, giving both of them an opportunity to make an impression after a tough game for the Islanders against Buffalo.
The Islanders bounced back tonight in Philadelphia, with JG Pageau scoring twice, including one shorthanded goal, Mat Barzal responding well to his third-period benching with a goal and an assist, and Ilya Sorokin recording his league-leading sixth shutout this season.
Early on in the first, though, Tsyplakov’s impact was just a hooking penalty, which the Islanders killed.
Noah Cates went to the box for holding, and we were treated to two very bad mixed up power play units, which bumped Barzal to the second unit, separated from Bo Horvat and Matthew Schaefer. That power play went poorly, and the Flyers killed it.
Then, the other swap in the lineup, Gatcomb, went to the box as well, but JG Pageau scored short handed, assisted by Casey Cizikas.
In the second period, the Flyers got an early power play after Adam Boqvist was called for high sticking. Before that started, Ilya Sorokin was down in the crease, but seemed to shake it off, after a Matvei Michkov shot hit him in the back of the leg and went in after the whistle blew.
With 30 seconds left on that power play, Scott Mayfield and Owen Tippett were both sent to the box for slashing and crosschecking respectively. The Islanders killed all of that, despite being down two defensemen.
Later, Barzal got a tip on an Isaiah George shot, putting it past Samuel Ersson after some cycling in the Flyers zone.
Cam York was called for tripping, and the Islanders took advantage of a shorthanded turnover at the blue line and Anthony Duclair passed the puck to Barzal who set up Tony DeAngelo to make it 3-0.
At the end of the second, Jonathan Drouin took a puck to the face and went right down the tunnel. Drouin came back for the third with some stitches, but otherwise was fine.
Emil Heineman collided with a ref behind the play and labored to the bench, but it wasn’t anything more serious as he played his normal shifts the rest of the game.
Schaefer drew a high sticking penalty, sending Tippett to the box, but the Isles couldn’t convert on the man advantage.
Tsyplakov then set up Pageau for his second of the night (and Tsyplakov’s first assist of the season!) to make it 4-0 and entirely bury any chance of a comeback from the Flyers.
The Islanders closed out the game and Ilya Sorokin picked up his sixth shutout of the season and extended his franchise record total, while Barzal, Duclair, and Pageau each scored two points (1G/1A, 2A, 2G respectively) and Isaiah George got his first assist of the season in just his second game back up in the NHL.
Up Next
Next, the Islanders have a home-and-home back-to-back with the New York Rangers starting Wednesday at UBS Arena. There’s been a rare trade between these two teams (not yet officially-official at time of posting, but Carson Soucy to the Islanders for a 2026 3rd round pick) so Soucy will likely debut against his old team and become the stable bottom pair defenseman this team has been missing almost all season.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ilya Sorokin stopped 21 shots for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored two goals to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Mathew Barzal and Tony DeAngelo also scored for the Islanders. The Islanders scored power-play, short-handed and even-strength goals.
A game after they were shut out for the first time this season, Pageau snapped the scoreless streak with his ninth goal of the season on a short-handed shot past Samuel Ersson.
The Flyers allowed their fifth short-handed goal of the season.
Pageau smashed home his second goal late in the third to finish off a listless Flyers team.
Barzal tipped-in Isaiah George’s shot for his 12th of the season at 5:41 into the second and DeAngelo — a former Flyer — added a power-play goal later in the period to help send the Islanders to their first win over the Flyers in three games this season.
The Flyers’ surprising season that had them in a playoff spot just three weeks ago took a detour with a six-game losing streak. The Flyers rebounded to win two of three on the road — including a 7-3 stunner at Colorado, who boast the best record in the NHL — but failed to carry that momentum with them home.
The Flyers never made Sorokin work with tough shots on goal and were just flat in front of a sparse crowd largely affected by a massive winter storm.
The few Flyers fans that stayed until the end chanted “at least get one!”
No luck. Sorokin earned his third shutout this month and second in four starts.
The Islanders snapped a two-game losing streak and kept third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Up next
Islanders host the Rangers on Wednesday, and the two teams play the next night at Madison Square Garden.
The New York Islanders rebounded after a 5-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on Monday night.
They scored a shorthanded goal, added two 5-on-5 goals, and got a power-play goal in the win. Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves for his sixth shutout of the season. Flyers netminder Sam Ersson made 19 saves.
With the win, the Islanders extended their lead on the Flyers to four points as they sit third in the Metropolitan Division, just two points back of the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Islanders are acquiring LHD Carson Soucy from the New York Rangers for a 2026 third-round pick, per Emily Kaplan and Vince Mercogliano.
Here's how the game unfolded:
After a failed power play, the Islanders found themselves on the penalty kill. That's when a basic dump-in by Jean-Gabriel Pageau made its way back to him courtesy of a no-look pass from Casey Cizikas to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 14:29 of the first:
That was Pageau's ninth goal of the season and third shorthanded goal of the 2025-26 campaign.
Mathew Barzal extended the Islanders' lead to 2-0 at 5:41 of the second period after he deflected an Isaiah George point shot past a screened Ersson, who had Jonathan Drouin stationed right in front of him:
Barzal and Anthony Duclair each recorded their second points of the night.
The Islanders added a fourth goal, as Pageau scored his second of the game and 10th of the season off the rush after finishing a feed from Maxim Tsyplakov at 13:38 of the third:
Notes: Forward Calum Ritchie did not play as he is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Forward Simon Holmstrom missed the game due to illness. Defenseman Ryan Pulock, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, missed his second straight game.
Up Next: The Islanders battle the Rangers at UBS Arena on Wednesday before heading to Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Soucy was held out of the lineup on Monday night against the Boston Bruins due to roster management.
This would mark the first trade between the Rangers and Islanders since 2010, when the Rangers acquired defenseman Jyri Niemi in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
The Rangers acquired Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks ahead of the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline in exchange for a third-round pick, so this reported trade essentially nullifies what they gave up.
In 46 games this season, the 31-year-old defenseman has recorded three goals, five assists, and eight points, while averaging 17:13 minutes.
By all indications, the Michigan State Spartans are set to welcome a highly touted goaltending prospect to their crease, which could have major implications for the career trajectory of one of the most exciting prospects for the Detroit Red Wings.
As reported by current NHL Insider (and longtime former NHL goaltender in his own right) Kevin Weekes, the Spartans are expected to welcome 2025 first-round (30th overall) pick Joshua Ravensbergen to the club next season.
This opens the door for Trey Augustine, Detroit's second-round (41st overall) pick from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, to begin his professional career next season, likely with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Augustine has enjoyed a spectacular season in East Lansing, having gone 17-5 with a sparkling 1.73 goals-against average, a .938 save percentage, and three shutouts.
In fact, he was recently suggested as a prime candidate for consideration for the Mike Richter Award, given to the best goalie in NCAA Division I men's hockey, by NHL.com correspondent Mike Divver.
He's also enjoyed success on the international stage by backstopping the United States to consecutive gold medal victories in 2024 and 2025.
This past summer, he was listed as fifth overall in an NHL ranking of the best goaltenders aged 25 or younger.
Speaking of goaltenders within the Red Wings' system, Sebastian Cossa has made the most of what he described before the season as an important opportunity with the Griffins.
His 18-2-2 record for the Griffins this season is the best of any starter in the American Hockey League; he's also posted equally impressive stats of a 1.77 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage, along with four shutouts.
Widely regarded as Detroit's goaltender of the future, Cossa could conceivably begin next season as the backup to John Gibson in the Red Wings' crease, which would also clear the way for Augustine to begin getting starts in the AHL.
Playing in the final season of his current contract with a $863,333 cap hit, Cossa will be re-signed and will challenge for the backup position at the NHL level in the fall when Training Camp begins.
The future of 38-year-old veteran Cam Talbot, who is in the second and final year of his deal with the Red Wings, remains to be seen.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
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.
Alex Lyn (left); Auston Matthews (right) -- (Timothy T. Ludwig USA TODAY Images)
After their 10-game win streak ended on New Year’s Eve, the Buffalo Sabres could’ve gone in one of two directions – either down the standings by going on a losing streak, or by pushing further up the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division standings and moving into a top-three spot in the division.
To the utter elation of Sabres fans, Buffalo has risen to third place in the Atlantic with a 29-17-5 record. And since that 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets ended their 10-game win streak, the Sabres have gone 8-2-1. It’s now clear that initial surge was no fluke, and that Buffalo is a legitimate Stanley Cup playoff contender.
"The Big Show"
But that sustained excellence still needs to be sustained the rest of the way this year. And that’s why Buffalo’s next game – against the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Tuesday night in Toronto – feels like a must-win.
For one thing, the Sabres need to win this game to send a message to the sputtering Leafs, who trail them by six points. You want to snuff out any possibility of a resurgence by Toronto, and the way you do that is by beating the Leafs on Tuesday.
Thus, the Sabres can’t take their foot off the gas. If they are going to end their playoff drought at 14 years, Buffalo has to assert themselves in the coming days, weeks and months. And beating a longtime rival in the Leafs would send a message to Toronto and the rest of the NHL.
That message: “We didn’t get where we are this season by a fluke. We’re good because we’re good.” And losing to Toronto, which has been absolutely terrible in recent days, would send another message – “We can’t be relied on to put our foot on the necks of our opponents”.
The Leafs game will be a great metric of where the Sabres are. Toronto is desperate for a win, and if Buffalo beats them, it’ll be another nail in the Leafs’ coffin.
That would send Sabres fans over the moon with glee. But it’s up to Buffalo whether they pounce on a weak opponent. The Sabres have to be the alpha-dog, and that process has to be continuing against a wobbly Leafs team.
BOSTON (AP) — Bruins forward David Pastrnak became the sixth Boston player with 900 career points when he picked up his third assist in Monday night's game against the New York Rangers.
The 29-year-old Pastrnak assisted on Elias Lindholm's goals in the first and second periods at Madison Square Garden and reached the milestone on Morgan Geekie's score at 8:52 of the second that gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead.
Pastrnak, from the Czech Republic, was the 25th overall pick by the Bruins in the 2014 draft. He joins Ray Bourque (1,506), Johnny Bucyk (1,339), Patrice Bergeron (1,040), Phil Esposito (1,012) and Brad Marchand (976) in Boston's 900-point club.
In 48 games this season, Pastrnak has 21 goals, 46 assists. In 804 career games, he has 412 goals and 488 assists.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks added two more names to their extensive list of injured players.
Vancouver on Monday placed winger Brock Boeser and defenseman Zeev Buium on injured reserve after getting hurt in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Boeser caught an elbow to the head from Pittsburgh's Bryan Rust in the final seconds of the game while stationed at the top of the Penguins' crease and crumpled to the ice.
NHL Player Safety posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Rust will have a hearing Tuesday about the hit to Boeser’s head.
Buium was hit in the face with a puck in the first period, but returned wearing a bubble visor on his helmet and finished with 15:41 in ice time in the game.
Boeser and Buium join goalie Thatcher Demko (undisclosed), defenseman Derek Forbort (undisclosed) and center Marco Rossi (lower-body injury) on the injured list.
Vancouver recalled forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki and defenseman Victor Mancini from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League on Monday.
Injured Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander flashed his middle finger during Sunday's game when he noticed a TV camera was filming him and other non-playing teammates in the press box.
The gesture cost him $5,000 on Monday, Jan. 26.
The NHL said he was fined the maximum amount because he violated a policy that "prohibits inappropriate and offensive remarks, and the use of obscene, profane or abusive language or gestures in the game."
“This serves as a reminder the code of conduct governing players extends throughout the arena at NHL games and in public game situations," NHL disciplinarian George Parros said in a statement.
Nylander suffered a groin muscle injury on Jan. 15 and went on the injured list on the 19th. Sunday's game was the fifth one he missed. The last four have been losses.
He apologized on social media on Sunday for his "moment of frustration" and also Monday in person during a meeting with reporters.
"I'm just not playing," he said of why he's frustrated. "I just want to be out there with the guys."
He said he received a text message right after the gesture was shown on the TV broadcast.
"I was like, 'Not a good idea, not a good thing to do,'" he said. "Like I said, I apologize about that."
Nylander, who sat out 10 other games with injury this season, said he hopes to return to action during the team's upcoming road trip, which runs from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3.
ST.
LOUIS – It
happened in an instant and wasn’t even something that Steve Ott
wanted to consider.
One
moment, the then-St. Louis Blues associate coach was with the team in
Edmonton when he was asked on a dime if he’d like to take on the
role as head coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League, some
2,500-plus miles away.
“It
happened after the Edmonton game and was asked if I would consider
taking this job and after speaking with my family, my wife right
after the meeting, we talked for about two minutes and I thought the
decision was an easy one,” Ott
said via Zoom on Monday.
“It’s a great opportunity for myself, but not only that, I get to
stay in an organization that I truly love and to help develop our
young guys with the development side of the coaching, it’s really
exciting for myself. It’s a great opportunity.”
Two
minutes. That’s it.
A
career that lasted into a ninth year as an assistant and ultimately,
an associate coach in a place the Summerside, Prince Edward Island
native would call home, suddenly picks up and embarks on a new
challenge.
But
ultimately, the 43-year-old Ott’s goal is to become a head coach,
and although this may have been a ‘Whoa’ moment, it’s one that
came with no regrets and no time to ponder.
“It
is quite a change,” Ott
admitted.
“First of all, Mr. (Tom)
Stillman,
‘Army’, ‘Steener’, the fans, the players have been so special
to me for overall these years. When you get asked if you’d consider
that opportunity, I take it as a big honor. It’s not an easy lift
for everybody. It’s a situation that I love being a part of
obviously the NHL club but to stay here and be a part of the growing
of the future, I think that’s a job I don’t take light or easy.”
Ott
feels the time was right. He’s been working with and under a number
of coaches in St. Louis who have been successful and/or won, like
Craig Berube (2019 Stanley Cup champions), Claude Julien and now Jim Montgomery, who traded
messages with Ott after his first win with the Thunderbirds, a
come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win on Friday against Toronto in which
Springfield trailed 3-1 after two periods.
“I’m
really excited for him,” Montgomery said. “You can tell he’s
jacked up. The text messages are flying back and forth. That’s
natural. He’s going to be an excellent head coach. He has all the
qualities of understanding the feel for the dressing room, the feel
for the players, understanding the Xs and Os of the game and
understanding momentum in a game, the players that create momentum
and players that don’t.
“I
just told him how much I believe he’s ready for this and how good
he will be at it because that’s what I truly believe in my heart.”
Ott
has interviewed for vacant head coaching positions in the NHL in the
past but felt he wasn’t ready for those challenges … until now.
But this steppingstone will serve its purpose in getting him ready
for it when the opportunity arises again.
“Yes
to be honest with you, I’ve had multiple NHL head coaching job
interviews and I thought they went extremely well,” Ott
said.
“I think there’s one part of the puzzle piece that’s missing is
the head coaching experience. You get down and you do well in these
interviews and you’re right down to the end and that final card is
something you need to have, that last feather in your cap. It’s
something that you have to earn it as well. That’s where my mindset
is, is earning those opportunities and definitely want to be a head
coach in the NHL someday.
“It’s
something that I’ve kind of been growing as an assistant to an
associate coach. I watch obviously the head coaches very closely over
these last (nine)
years in St. Louis, how they deal with their staff. Not only that,
but the medical and training staff as well and the managers. I’ve
kind of just been observing for a long time waiting for this type of
opportunity so that when I have it now, I would be ready for it. To
be honest since I’ve got here, it’s been a great energy around
the dressing room, it’s an exciting place right now. Everybody’s
on the same page of what the expectations are from the organization
from top down, especially where we are down here. We want to make
sure our players are looked after.
“I’m
very thankful for ‘Army’ giving me those opportunities over the
years to take those interviews. It was more the experience that you
were getting from those interviews. They’re likely Zoom calls with
the preparation of your systems, how would you run the team, the
communication, your culture aspects. They’re very, very detailed
and when you present those, you’re just continuing to grab this
valuable experience. I’m lucky for those opportunities. It wouldn’t
have happened without the leadership from the top allowing me to do
that. When you get those opportunities, you just continue to build
yourself as a coach. When those moments come and it is your turn to
be a head coach, that you’re ready. I wasn’t ready the first few
years for that opportunity even after winning, wasn’t even close.
It’s the 10 years later to get your opportunity to know that when
you do, you want to be very thorough and extremely ready to seize
that moment.”
Learning
from Montgomery has been a great experience, and now that Ott serves
as the voice of the next generation of Blues players, there will be a
great pipeline of communication there.
“’Monty’
has been a mentor to me,” Ott
said.
“I’ve taken a lot of great aspects from him. He’s a Jack
Adams-winning coach and I’m lucky enough to work beside him. For
the most part, I think we see the game very similar and it makes it
very easy to talk hockey. It’s a constant talking, text messaging,
phone calls, picking each other’s brain on situational play. Not
only that, it’s great because I can give the development of the
young guys down here.”
So
who will the Thunderbirds be getting after Steve Konowalchuk?
“I
wanted to be open and honest with them from the get-go,” Ott
said.
“There was a feel in the room no different when you’re struggling
in the standings, it’s a tough place sometimes to want to come to
the rink, you want to continue to get better and you just want
information and why and how can we help. I wanted to make sure that
we were going to focus on the details of our game without the puck
first and that was the first week. This upcoming week is not going to
be a training camp but a teaching camp. It’s things that our young
players and
depth players need to learn. It’s the game management, it’s not
going around pylons, it’s the experiences that I’ve learned
throughout the game is line changes, is setting up the next shift.
All those little areas of the game that go unnoticed is something
that I want to really help with them. So when they do get that
opportunity, it’s seamless towards the NHL.”
There’s
no telling at the moment where this will lead after the season ends,
Ott said. They’ll revisit things in the summer, but for the time
being, Ott, whose family will stay behind in St. Louis with kids in
school and playing hockey, just wants to focus on the here and the
now, and that’s trying to get the Thunderbirds back on track.
“The
goal is to get this team and prospects playing as good as we can,
including with that if we do so and sneak into a playoff spot here in
the next little while, I think that would be a great ending to this
season if we can continue to get as many games as we can here,” Ott
said.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
The 2025–26 season has been a bit of a weird one for the Vancouver Canucks. Injuries forced multiple players into roles they probably didn’t expect themselves to be in at the start of the year, while a couple of big trades resulted in Vancouver’s D-core getting shaken up a bit mid-season.
One of the players most impacted by these changes is Canucks defenceman Elias Pettersson. While the defender was one of a couple expected to push for a full-time roster spot at the start of the season, changes throughout the year resulted in him being sent down to the AHL for a couple of stints. He spoke a bit about the changes that have occurred this season after Vancouver’s practice on Saturday.
“I think it’s been a little up and down since I came back from Abbotsford,” Pettersson told The Hockey News on Saturday. “This time I feel like I’m getting more and more into my game and feeling better and better.”
Pettersson stunned many last January when he made his NHL debut against the Washington Capitals and played himself into a full-time roster spot, knocking veteran Carson Soucy out of the rotation and giving the Canucks the freedom to trade him. This was Pettersson’s first full season of playing hockey in North America, and already, it’d seemed as though he was ready to make the jump to the NHL. With more experience under his belt heading into the 2025–26 season, the defenceman made note of one particular thing he’s approached differently compared to the 2024–25 season.
“I say mindset all the time, just trying to get better every day. It’s a lot to learn.”
One player who has found himself in a similar situation to where Pettersson was in 2024–25 is Tom Willander, who made his NHL debut in October and has since stuck in Vancouver’s lineup. Both defencemen have seen the positives and negatives to a full-NHL season as young players throughout 2025–26.
“I think it’s good, [I] think we’re both learning every day and trying to get into the league in a good way,” Pettersson explained. “We’ve got really good sources here with the older guys to coach us, so I think it’s just really good for us.”
Jan 21, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson (25) skates prior to the start of a game against the Washington Capitals at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The ‘older guys’ in question could refer to a few different players around the locker room. From veterans like Marcus Pettersson to younger players who have more NHL experience like Nils Höglander, there’s been no shortage of guys for Pettersson to lean on throughout his first couple of seasons in the NHL.
“It’s always good to have the older guys around you. They help a lot,” he said, particularly of some of the Swedes on the team. “It’s always nice to have those guys around you [to] talk the same language, do something outside the rink. It’s always nice to have those guys around.”
With the Olympic break nearing, there’s always the chance that younger players like Pettersson could end up being sent back down to Abbotsford in order to get some games in while the league pauses for nearly a month. Once the NHL starts back up again, the Canucks will be in a situation that will force them to consider what direction they want to take the franchise in. For Pettersson, the next couple of months will be used to help retain a steady pace of play.
“Just trying to be more steady out there, keep getting better every day.”
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
It was a bruising weekend for the Winnipeg Jets at the NHL level, but their AHL affiliate ensured the organization still had plenty to celebrate.
On Saturday night, the Jets were handed a sobering 5–1 defeat by the Detroit Red Wings, a lopsided loss that underscored Detroit’s sharp form. At the same time, the focus shifted to the AHL, where the Manitoba Moose faced off against Detroit's AHL affiliate in the Grand Rapids Griffins for a compelling two-game series that told a very different story.
Entering the weekend, the Moose were sizeable underdogs against the Griffins, Detroit’s AHL affiliate and the league’s dominant force for much of the season. Grand Rapids had been tearing through opponents, breaking records and posting one of the best starts in AHL history.
The opening contest on Friday suggested the gap between the two clubs might not be as wide as expected. Manitoba pushed the Griffins to the limit in a tightly contested game that was tied after both the first and second periods.
Grand Rapids eventually found the breakthrough in the third period, scoring the decisive goal to secure a narrow 2–1 victory. Despite the loss, the performance gave the Moose confidence that they could compete with a top-tier opponent like the Griffins.
On Sunday, the game was again close throughout as Grand Rapids carried a 2–1 lead into the third period and the Griffins appeared poised to continue their dominance. Instead, Manitoba stunned the league.
The Moose erased the deficit with two late goals, capped by a dramatic game-winning marker from Winnipeg blue-chip prospect Brad Lambert with under 30 seconds remaining. The victory snapped Grand Rapids’ AHL-record 17-game road point streak, ending a historic run. Even with the loss, the Griffins remain atop the league standings with a commanding 32-4-2-1 record.
For Manitoba, the win meant far more than just two points. The Moose have now won three of their last four games and improved to 20-15-3-0, which is third best in the Central Division. Defeating a team of Grand Rapids’ caliber provides a significant momentum boost as Manitoba prepares for a two-game home set against the Rockford IceHogs this weekend.
While the Jets endured a tough night against Detroit at the NHL level, their AHL affiliate delivered a reminder that the organization’s depth and future continue to trend in the right direction.
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.
