Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander is in Milan,  as part of the NHL and NHLPA's European media tour , which is being held in Italy for the first time. This event is a result of a strategic partnership formed earlier this year between the NHL, NHLPA, and top-flight Italian soccer league Serie A. The collaboration is seen as a way for both leagues to showcase themselves, particularly with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on the horizon. It's a big deal for the NHL, as it's the first time since the 2014 Sochi Olympics that its players will be participating in the Games.

Before attending a soccer match, Nylander spoke with reporters, including Mike Zeisberger from NHL.com, about his former teammate Mitch Marner's recent trade to the Vegas Golden Knights. Marner's departure was a sign-and-trade deal that landed him an eight-year, $96 million contract. Nylander called Marner a "great teammate" and an "incredible person". 

Following the press obligations, Nylander headed to the Serie A season opener, where AC Milan hosted Cremonese. It was there that Nylander and New Jersey Devils star Nico Hischier exchanged jerseys with AC Milan's Rafael Leão, who was out of the game with a calf injury.

An interesting detail of the exchange was that both the Milan and NHL jerseys had the NHL players' numbers on them, but neither had Leão's. This viral jersey swap with Leão and Hischier follows another high-profile exchange in March 2025 when New York Rangers star Mika Zibanejad met with Serie A legends Andrea Pirlo and Marco Materazzi at Madison Square Garden. That meeting acted as a catalyst for the current partnership between the leagues.

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It was a busy Saturday around Montreal, while Montreal Victoire star winger Laura Stacey was holding her Sticks In For Charity Event, Montreal Canadiens super fan and Habs cave owner Sunil Peetush organized a fundraiser for the Liam Foundation with a bit of help from his friends.

Peetush invited Habs fans to drop by his house, where they could buy lemonade made by his two children and enjoy some barbecue food while waiting to meet two former Canadiens and the vice president of hockey communications for the team, Chantal Machabee. The former journalist was happy to sign autographs as she met fans, just like former defenseman and current player development coach Francis Bouillon and fan favourite enforcer turned media personality Chris “Knuckles” Nilan. GM Collection was on hand to provide items to be autographed and helped make the day a big success.

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Peetush was also ready to do his part and let the attendees dunk him with water for a donation. That worked out quite well for him, given how hot the day was. In the end,  $6265.00 were raised for the Liam Foundation. 

The Liam Foundation, one of the Montreal Children's Hospital foundations, aims to finance research and clinical trials to find a cure for mitochondrial disease, specifically POLG disease, a genetic disorder that causes balance and gross motor issues, epilepsy, and autism. Liam, who suffers from the disease, is now eight, and when he was diagnosed, doctors told his family he had a life expectancy between three months and 12 years.

It’s great to see members of the Canadiens’ organization working hand in hand with fans toward worthy causes, even in the dog days of summer when they could just be enjoying the sun. It also says a lot about this city’s love story with hockey that on August 23, in over 30-degree weather, there are two hockey-related events taking place.

Hang in there, Canadiens fans. In just three weeks, the Bell Centre will be ready to welcome you back, starting with the Prospect Showdown, which will feature the Habs, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Winnipeg Jets' brightest young players.

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It looks like one of the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2025 unrestricted free agents is heading overseas. 

Former Penguins' forward Emil Bemstrom - who ended up third on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins of the AHL in scoring last season with 23 goals and 48 points in 48 games - signed a one-year contract with SC Bern of the Swiss NL. The 26-year-old Swedish forward is set to play in Europe for the first time since 2020-21, when he played with HIFK Helsinki of SM-Liiga. 

Bemstrom was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth round (117th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. He debuted with Columbus in 2019-20, registering 10 goals and 20 points in 56 games that season.

He was dealt to Pittsburgh during the 2023-24 season, and he put up three goals and five points in 24 games with the Penguins that season. He spent some time in the NHL last season as well but put up just one point in 14 games. 

Over the course of his NHL career so far, Bemstrom has amassed 34 goals and 75 points in 242 games.

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NHL fans have been counting down the days to the 2025-26 season ever since the Florida Panthers raised the Stanley Cup for a second consecutive season back in June.

Some offseasons - like that of the Panthers - have been quite short, while others have been two months longer. And in many ways, that longer wait has added even more anticipation.

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, there may still be a lot of summer business left. But, no matter what happens the rest of the summer, there are going to be several storylines to be on the lookout for once the puck drops on their regular season on Oct. 7 against the New York Rangers.

Here are five of those storylines to watch for during 2025-26 season:

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1. How high can Crosby climb?

Given the fact that the Penguins are in a period of transition, one of the main events for folks to look forward to - as always - is watching their captain take the ice on a nightly basis.

And he has the chance to reach some pretty big heights this season on the all-time scoring list.

Right now, Sidney Crosby sits ninth all-time in scoring with 1,687 points - just 36 points behind fellow Penguins’ legend Mario Lemieux at 1,723. But Crosby has an opportunity to climb even higher than that as long as he remains healthy and assuming he doesn’t experience a significant dropoff in production in his age 38 season. 

Ahead of Lemieux at 7th and 6th, respectively, is Steve Yzerman (1,755) and Marcel Dionne (1,771). He would need 85 points to pass Dionne and sit sixth all-time heading into 2026-27 - which seems entirely reasonable given his straight-line production the last several years. 

Penguins: Where Sidney Crosby Ranked On New Top Centers ListPittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby may be entering his 21st NHL season, but he is still a legitimate superstar. He had another fantastic season in 2024-25 for the Penguins, as he recorded 33 goals, 58 assists, and 91 points in 80 games. This was the 20th season in a row that Crosby produced at an over a point per game pace, which is an NHL record.

If Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell stick around - and Crosby shows the same kind of chemistry with youngsters Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty that he did at the end of last season - 85 should be attainable. Next up would be Ron Francis at 1,798.

Crosby should also pretty handily enter the top-15 all-time in goal-scoring, as he is just 15 shy of Dave Andreychuk (640 goals) - who sits directly at No. 15.

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2. Who takes the net?

WIth the newly acquired Arturs Silovs in the mix, the goaltending battle should be one of the most intriguing stories to keep an eye on this season. Presumably, it will be Silovs and Tristan Jarry jockeying for positioning at the NHL level.

But, even the tandem at the NHL level is not guaranteed. And the battle at the AHL level is wide open.

Joel Blomqvist, 23, made his NHL debut last season and had two shorter-term NHL stints with mixed results. He should, presumably, be in the mix for an NHL spot as well, but it’s unlikely that the Penguins carry three goaltenders, especially with the logjams they already have at forward and defense.

Penguins Facing Uncertain Goalie Split Entering 2025-26 SeasonOnce again, the Pittsburgh Penguins face goaltending questions heading into a season. 

If he isn’t in the NHL mix, he will be added to an AHL battle with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) that also includes Filip Larsson, Taylor Gauthier, and the raw but high-upside Sergei Murashov. All four goaltenders certainly belong at the AHL level - and Gauthier, interestingly, signed an AHL contract despite being in Wheeling the past two seasons.

The Penguins have a lot of young goaltending depth, and it will be interesting to see how everything shakes out following camp and throughout the season.

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3. Where will the kids call home?

It’s been discussed at length that the Penguins got pretty good looks at defenseman Owen Pickering and forwards McGroarty and Koivunen last season. All three showed that they should probably be playing in the NHL full-time next season, and they all seem ready to take the next step in their development.

But - again, as we’ve discussed at length - it’s not that simple.

According to PuckPedia, the Penguins currently have 13 forwards and eight defensemen on their active roster - which doesn’t include any of those three. The fact of the matter is that Pickering, McGroarty, and Koivunen will all need to put together standout camps in order to break the NHL roster and force Kyle Dubas’s and the Penguins’ hand with some of their veterans. 

Of course, injuries are inevitable, as are changes. Even if none of the three break camp, they will almost certainly be the first to get called upon when the need arises. Still, where they call “home” for most of the season is very much up-in-the-air, even if it should be a relatively obvious conclusion.

What Are Realistic Expectations For McGroarty And Koivunen This Year?The Pittsburgh Penguins have a pretty decent forward group entering the 2025-26 season, especially if they don’t make any trades between now and October 7, when they open the regular season against the New York Rangers. 

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4. Who will be on borrowed time?

If one thing is for certain - especially if there is no movement prior to the start of training camp - all eyes will be on the trade board throughout the season.

Dubas got the ball rolling early last season when he traded center Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals in November, so it’s reasonable to expect he won’t be trigger-shy if the right offer comes about for any player of value. This will be especially true if the Penguins start off as poorly as many expect their season to go.

If all of Rust, Rakell, and Erik Karlsson are on the roster to begin the season, it’s safe to bet that all three won’t be on the roster by the end of it.

Do The Penguins Need To Make A Trade Before Training Camp?The date is Aug. 21, and the Pittsburgh Penguins still have not traded Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, or Erik Karlsson.

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5. Can they tank hard enough for McKenna?

Well this is the ultimate storyline, isn’t it?

What is the plan for next season? Are the Penguins trying to tank, or are they okay with being in the mushy middle again?

At this point - with the roster as-is - it’s hard to say they’re going full-tank. But that may change quickly depending on how the team starts. Either way, watching Dubas's approach to the roster and to the trade market should say a lot, regardless of how the team ends up performing.

Do The Penguins Have A Legitimate Shot At McKenna In 2026?WIth the 2025-26 NHL season just around the corner, teams are looking ahead to their respective training camps beginning in mid-September.

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The  Buffalo Sabres will need all hands on deck this season if they're to end their Stanley Cup playoff drought at 14 years. And this is why THN.com's Sabres site is beginning a new series in which we analyze every player on the roster and what we should expect from them in the 2025-26 NHL regular-season.

We began the series Friday with a look at veteran goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and in the latest file, we turned our attention to first-year Sabres goalie Alex Lyon. The former Detroit Red Wings goalie signed a low-cost, two-year contract, and  he's essentially netminding insurance for Luukkonen. 

But we want to hear from you -- what should the expectations be for Lyon next year? Weigh in through the comment section below. And feel free to register as a community member.

There is no player on the Detroit Red Wings who more badly wants postseason hockey to return to the Motor City than Dylan Larkin, the longest-tenured member of the team.

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Larkin also is the only Red Wings player left from the 2015-16 roster that most recently played beyond the 82nd game of the regular season; it was also his rookie campaign. 

Larkin was recently challenged by NHL Network Insider Mike Rupp, who said that he needed to essentially put the club on his back and "drag them" to the playoffs.

Will this be the season that the Stanley Cup Playoffs come to Little Caesars Arena for the first time in the venue's existence? 

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Give Credit To Detroit's Foot Soldiers - May 5, 2000 - Volume 53, Issue 34 - Chuck Carlton

All the Detroit Red Wings understand is everybody plays and everybody contributes and that’s why they win. Stars know their roles and role players can become stars.

Consider the first round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings and how the stats turned upside down.

Martin Lapointe scored as many goals as Sergei Fedorov. Kris Draper finished with more goals than Brendan Shanahan. And Tomas Holmstrom got one more than Steve Yzerman.

“Whoever wins in the playoffs gets goals from everybody,” Yzerman said. “You don’t rely on one line or one individual. When we won the two (Stanley) Cups, everybody was successful. If you want to go far, you have to have the depth.”

The Kings concur. They shut down all the marquee names and got burned by the supporting actors. In Game 1, Darren McCarty returned from missing 16 games with a groin pull to register a game-high 10 hits and set the early tone by plastering Garry Galley against the end boards.

Game 2 saw Lapointe net his first playoff hat trick. Draper, with just nine goals in his past 141 games counting the playoffs, added two more.

Holmstrom personally decided Game 3 in less than seven minutes of ice time. He drew Kings’ captain Rob Blake into a penalty with the Kings already down a man to set up the first goal and deflected a Nicklas Lidstrom shot past Stephane Fiset for the winner in a 2-1 victory.

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“I look at this team and say openly, ‘What team in the NHL can match them with skill, scoring, grittiness and tenacity up front?’ And I can’t come up with a team,” said ESPN analyst Darren Pang. “Depth-wise, I think this team is as confident and as good as ever. When you have a fourth line consisting of a Draper, a Lapointe and a (Kirk) Maltby, that’s just remarkable.”

As expected as the contributions have become for the Red Wings, they relied more than usual on the top scoring line of Yzerman, Shanahan and Pat Verbeek in the regular season as injuries and slumps ate away at the depth.

McCarty missed 24 games this season because of groin problems and managed just six goals. A contract holdout saw him miss training camp and the death of his father, Craig, made for a trying regular season.

“Everything that has happened, no matter what, is rubbed clean; this is like a new season, a fresh start,” McCarty said. “Everything is behind me. I’ve come to grips with everything and accepted everything. Now it’s time.”

The challenge was different for Lapointe.

He weighed 234 pounds after last season on a 5-foot-11 frame. He joked that he would “look at a bag of potato chips and gain five pounds.” Room service wasn’t a convenience, it was a way of life.

Now he’s down to a chiseled 210, still as physical and strong, but quicker. He looks more like the guy who scored nine playoff goals in 1998.

Draper might be the best fourth line center in hockey, but was worried about his position just before the playoffs, especially after a broken wrist earlier this season.

Then there’s Holmstrom, who doesn’t enjoy the pain that comes with assuming personal residence in front of the opposing goalie, as much he accepts it. He not only takes one for the team, he takes two or three or four.

Like early in the season against Vancouver, when a Donald Brashear check left him with a sprained knee. Or March 29 against Vancouver, when Holmstrom got cross-checked in the mouth and took a puck in the cheek, suffering a concussion. Or Game 1 of the playoffs, when Blake played target practice with his head. Or Game 3, when Blake cross-checked him in head instead. Holmstrom’s smile looks like the grill of a Plymouth Fury after a demolition derby.

“He’s a beauty, isn’t he?” McCarty said. “How can you not love that guy? Everybody thinks he’s Swedish, but he’s actually Canadian, he’s up from the Arctic or somewhere like that. He’s got a heart the size of Sweden. He’s a valuable guy on our team. You talk about unsung heroes, he’s definitely one of them with the abuse that he takes.”

But he’s not alone.

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The NHL’s 2025-26 season is just around the corner, and here at THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’ve committed to analyzing every Sabres player and the expectations on them next season. Every Buffalo player has the pressure to get this Sabres team into the playoffs for the first time in a decade-and-a-half, but every player’s outlook is at least a little bit different. 

We began the series with this look at Sabres presumptive starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen,and today, we’re moving along to the veteran netminder signed by the Sabres this summer – Alex Lyon.

Player Name: Alex Lyon

Position: Goaltender

Age: 32

2024-25 Key Statistics: 30 appearances, 14-9-1 record, .896 save percentage, 2.81 goals-against average

2025-26 Salary: $1.5 million

2025-26 Expectations: Lyon has spent the past two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, but he failed to make the starter’s job his own each year. Still, Lyon did enough this past season to merit a $600,000 raise from the $900,000 he earned last year.

But Lyon – who has never made more than 44 appearances in a single season – may be called into action for significantly longer if Luukkonen spirals and fails in the starter’s role for a second straight year. And if Lyon does struggle along with Luukkonen, the Sabres may turn to 23-year-old Devon Levi, who will almost assuredly begin the season with Buffalo’s American League affiliate. 

Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: What's In Store For Goalie Luukkonen The NHL’s 2025-26 season is now only a handful of weeks away, so it’s as good a time as any for THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site to break down expectations for every Sabres player next year.

In the past two years with the Detroit Red Wings, Lyon did show more promise in the first year, posting a .904 SP and 3.05 G.A.A. But consistency has been a problem for him – and if the Sabres are turning to Lyon in any meaningful way, it’s because the defense corps in front of Luukkonen is also under-performing. So Lyon may be on an island unto himself depending on how the year unfolds.

Lyon’s contract runs through the 2026-27 campaign, and the investment the Sabres have made in him limits their moves if things don’t turn out particularly well. Buffalo doesn’t want to pay anyone other than Jeff Skinner to not play for them multiple years from now. So, for better or worse, Lyon is likely to be a fixture for Buffalo. And buying out the final year of his deal just doesn't make sense for the Sabres.

Still, we’ve already said we like the Lyon signing for the Sabres. They’re not breaking the bank for Lyon, nor are they committing two or three more years to him. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams needed to bring in goalie insurance, and at a cost that wouldn’t harm the Sabres’ chances to improve the roster in other areas. He did that with Lyon.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Pacific Edition: Will Improved Golden Knights Be Too Hard To Handle For Sabres?The Buffalo Sabres know when and where every game they'll play in the 2025-26 season will take place. And as part of THN.com's Sabres site's "Know Your Enemy" series, we've been focusing on every one of Buffalo's 31 opponents next year.

Lyon isn’t being asked to be a world-beater. He’s there to provide support to Luukkonen and perhaps Levi, and be a professional whose consistency is something on which the team can rely. 

And if he can do those relatively modest things, Lyon will be considered a successful Sabres signing.

The back-to-back Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers got some unfortunate news on the injury front with the revelation that star left winger Matthew Tkachuk will be sidelined for approximately the next six months with an adductor injury. Tkachuk is an integral component of Florida’s well-oiled machine, and while the Panthers have the type of depth other teams strive to match, Florida clearly will be a lesser team without him.

In addition, what happens if Tkachuk’s absence leads to a significant drop in the Panthers’ performance next year? We all know teams can’t win a playoff spot in November or December, but they sure can lose a playoff spot with terrible showings in the early months. That brings up an intriguing angle to this discussion: namely, forget about clearing cap space right now – should the Panthers add a rental player with the cap space Tkachuk’s injury frees up? And what could happen if they don’t do that and Florida stumbles out of the gate?

According to David Pagnotta, Tkachuk is sidelined until January, so that’s basically half the season that Florida will be without him. But seeing that Panthers GM Bill Zito has shown repeatedly he’s willing to double down on his players, why not help the players out and get back into the trade market to make the team better right away? Even if the player you acquire is a rental under contract for only the 2025-26 year, you’ve protected your long-term picture while still managing to add talent. Thus, it makes sense for the Panthers to bring in another proven commodity, and worry about the cap situation that will come to a head when Tkachuk is ready to play.

Florida is currently $4.5 million over the salary cap, according to PuckPedia. If the Panthers were to place Tkachuk on the long-term injured reserve list, they'd have $5 million in cap space to work with.

When Tkachuk does become healthy, Zito is going to have to move out some bodies. But that shouldn’t scare away Zito from making moves like the one he made last season with the mid-season addition of star defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Since Jones' arrival from the Blackhawks, he recorded two goals and nine points, while averaging 24:55 of ice time in 21 regular-season appearances for the Panthers. Jones played a huge role when D-man Aaron Ekblad faced a 20-game suspension for violating the NHL's performance-enhancing drug policy.

Remember, the addition of Jones caused some to speculate that Ekblad wouldn’t get a decent new contract from Florida and wind up playing elsewhere next season. But lo and behold, Zito found a way to not only re-sign Ekblad, as well as fellow UFAs Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett.

They found a way to make it work with everyone they wanted to, and as a result, the Panthers are once again the odds-on favorite to win their third straight Cup. Sportsbook BetMGM has the Panthers at 7.00 odds (+600), the highest odds in the NHL. 

This is why the Panthers should be adding talent with their soon-to-be-freed-up cap space when they likely place Tkachuk on LTIR. Because if they slip down the Atlantic Division ranks and wind up fighting for a wild-card spot all season long, they may have other injuries and/or sub-par play that could combine to result in them finishing ninth or worse in the Eastern Conference next year.

That's not a far-fetched potential situation. As we saw with the New York Rangers' disastrous season last year, a once-productive team can go from winning the Presidents’ Trophy and a conference final appearance one year to falling out of the playoffs completely the next year. Even the best teams can be in trouble if they're not firing on all pistons, and while it may be a long shot that Florida misses the playoffs, they wouldn’t be the first team to fall so far so fast. 

We’re not suggesting the Panthers are definitely going to falter significantly next season. But there’s every reason to capitalize on the cap space freed up by Tkachuk’s absence. Florida already has an embarrassment of riches that can still be made better by bringing in another proven veteran, and though Tkachuk will be a key player once again when he returns next year, Zito can figure out how to get out of cap trouble once the 27-year-old is ready to play again.

Really, anything can happen between the start of the season and the midpoint of the year. Some Panthers players might get injured, and other Panthers players may make themselves expendable. Zito has got a lot of time to figure that part out, but right now is the time for him to take advantage of an opportunity and acquire someone else the team can lean on.

Stars And Slugs: How NHL Teams Copied The Florida Panthers This SummerFielding questions from the media in the aftermath of his second consecutive Stanley Cup, Florida coach Paul Maurice had praise for all of his Panthers in their six-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

The Panthers are fallible like every other team, so Zito has every reason to strengthen his roster as soon as he can. When you’re a GM who takes big swings, you instill confidence in your group. And the misfortune of Tkachuk’s injury can be converted into more talent in the room. Indeed, no Panthers player will be complaining about having another skilled player on board.

Zito can seize the moment and take control of the opportunity birthed by Tkachuk’s injury by landing another above-average player between now and the point Tkachuk returns. Given their druthers, the Panthers would want Tkachuk in the lineup from opening night through the last game of the year. But they have no choice in that matter, and Zito would do well to turn the issue in his favor by swinging for the fences on the trade front.

It’s easy for Florida to panic because of cap concerns and start trading players they’d otherwise want to retain, but Panthers management isn’t going to be that knee-jerk about it. Better to breathe, exhale, and see how things develop in the time between now and the time they’d be forced to make a decision.

If you do that, you just might make your team a championship-calibre squad once again.

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The NHL Network recently ranked the top 25 players born during the 2000s. Without any surprise, Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard made the cut.

Bedard landed the No. 8 spot on the NHL Network's list, where he ranked ahead of other notable young stars like Adam Fantilli, Matt Boldy, Lucas Raymond, and Cole Caufield. A few players who were ranked higher than Bedard on the NHL Network's list were Wyatt Johnston, Thomas Harley, Macklin Celebrini, and Jake Sanderson.

With Bedard being one of the NHL's most exciting young stars, it is certainly understandable that he has made the NHL Network's list. The 20-year-old center has played very well early on in his career, recording 45 goals, 83 assists, and 128 points in 150 games over his first two seasons. This includes setting new career highs with 23 goals, 44 assists, and 67 points in 82 games this past season.

Overall, Bedard has shown plenty of promise early on his career, and there is no question that he should only continue to get better as he gains more experience. It is going to be very fascinating to see what kind of season he can put together in 2025-26, but it would not be surprising in the slightest if he puts together a big breakout year for Chicago.

Blackhawks Keep or Trade: Dickinson, Mikheyev, Murphy, Foligno, MoreThe Chicago Blackhawks should still be considered rebuilders as they haven't proven otherwise yet. They are going to come out of the rebuild, but just not yet. Their core is either very young and inexperienced or pieces haven't even arrived in the NHL.

Undoubtedly, the person who will have the greatest impact on the 2025-26 Philadelphia Flyers will be new head coach Rick Tocchet.

Tocchet, 61, is heading into his 10th season as an NHL head coach having only made the playoffs twice, and that's the level the Flyers are aspiring to reach.

But the Flyers are aspiring to reach that level as a step, not the endgame or ultimate goal. That's winning the Stanley Cup, which Tocchet has done twice as an assistant coach and once as a player.

The former Flyers forward returns to Philadelphia on the heels of a successful but volatile and tumultuous tenure with the Vancouver Canucks, which was, at the end, marred by injuries, locker room issues between star players, and an overarching failure to meet greater expectations.

For better or for worse, right or wrong, it was under Tocchet's guise that the feud between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller blew up, which led to the former suffering a career-worst 45-point season.

Franchise defenseman and Canucks captain Quinn Hughes is now on the verge of leaving if the team doesn't start winning soon, too.

Again, fairly or unfairly, the team reached this condition under Tocchet, even after an exhilarating 50-win, 100-point campaign only a year ago in 2023-24.

Rick Tocchet's Reaction to Matvei Michkov Only Means Good Things for Flyers' FutureBudding Philadelphia Flyers star Matvei Michkov hates the dump and chase, and new head coach Rick Tocchet loves the talented forward's confidence and approach to making plays.

In his official return to Philadelphia with the Flyers, the affable bench boss will be tasked with developing players and winning games, of which Tocchet's history is questionable.

In Vancouver, players like Pettersson, Hughes, and Miller flourished, but the two forwards later crashed and burned at the hands of each other.

Ex-Flyers forward Andrei Kuzmenko was amazing at first, but flamed out under Tocchet. Top prospects like Vasily Podkolzin and Vitali Kravtsov didn't experience much success under Tocchet, either, and ended up leaving the Canucks.

Tocchet's time with the Arizona Coyotes might be his greatest success story in terms of winning and developing simultaneously, but how you take that depends on your own view.

Flyers' Next Rebuild Step Hinges on Jamie Drysdale's DevelopmentHow Jamie Drysdale plays in the 2025-26 season will, for better or worse, alter the path of this rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers team.

For example, Clayton Keller had a 65-point age-19 season under Tocchet, but failed to crack 50 points in the three following seasons. Then, under Andre Tourigny, Keller has had no fewer than 63 points in each of the last four seasons, including a stellar 30-goal, 90-point campaign with the Utah Hockey Club last season.

Keller developed under Tocchet, but he didn't become a star under Tocchet. There's a difference. Just like how Matvei Michkov developed under John Tortorella, but won't become a star under the now-fired Tortorella.

And we can extrapolate this example for many such cases under Tocchet, for names like Jakob Chychrun, Dylan Strome, Lawson Crouse, and Nick Schmaltz.

With the Flyers, Tocchet is tasked with proving he's the guy who can get young players like Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Cam York, and more over the hump, rather than just showing them where the hump is.

Philadelphia Flyers Have a Top 5 NHL Prospect Once AgainNot long after the graduation of Matvei Michkov, the Philadelphia Flyers once again have a top five NHL prospect in their system.

On top of that is the general expectation of winning games and being better than the fourth-worst team in the NHL, which the Flyers were last season.

The bar starts very low, yes, but to which height is the extent of which the bar can be raised?

Viewed as a long-term solution behind the bench by GM Danny Briere and the Flyers, Tocchet must show that he can win, even though extended success historically been far and few between for the 61-year-old when leading the coaching staff himself.

Even with his age, experience, and playing pedigree, Rick Tocchet is effectively starting over and needing to prove himself all over again as the new Flyers head coach.