Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan provided an injury update during a press conference on Monday afternoon.

On Monday, Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Todd McLellan provided an injury update when speaking to the media in the afternoon ahead of their preseason matchup versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Some notable names that are already listed as not available for the time being are defenseman Simon Edvinsson with a lower-body injury and winger James van Riemsdyk, who has been dealing with a family issue. A new addition to the list that wasn’t expected was top prospect Nate Danielson, who suffered an undisclosed injury in a recent preseason game. 

McLellan started his press conference by talking about Edvinsson and how he practiced on Monday but not at full capacity. Despite this, McLellan still believes the breakout blueliner from last season will be back in the lineup for opening night. 

"We'll see how his practice went today, he was fully involved, It wasn't a pregame stake, a lot of walk-through, not a lot of action,” McLellan explained “Obviously I'm not out there to see it, but we'll get an update, he's getting close opening night, I don't see any reason why he isn't playing, and we'll make smart decisions with him this week.”

He continued by confirming Edvinsson won’t be in the lineup for Monday’s matchup versus the Penguins and Tuesday’s exhibition game on the road versus the Blackhawks. The 22-year-old Swedish defenseman hasn’t been ruled out for Detroit’s final two preseason games against the Toronto Maple Leafs but the team will likely hold him out until they believe he is feeling fully healthy. Edvinsson is coming off a solid rookie season with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points while carrying an average ice-time of 21:07 through 78 games. 

Red Wings Aim For Bounce Back in Preseason Clash With Penguins On MondayThe Red Wings aim to bounce back against the Penguins in exhibition play, following a dramatic 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh last Friday.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

For van Riemsdyk, it sounds like the 36-year-old veteran may not be ready in time for the start of the regular season as he still hasn’t joined the team yet after taking a leave of absence to deal with a family matter and will take time to adjust to the new system in Detroit. 

"He needs to be here as soon as he can be but again, we're not on the phone saying, hey, drop what you're doing, because that's not what this is about,” McLellan said “So can he be ready to play on in game one, even based on today, I don't know until he gets here and then we got to get him caught up, and we got to get him skating so, you know, he's going to be part of our team, just whether he can play right off the bat or not but that's okay, we'll deal with him."

After a solid 36-point campaign last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, van Riemsdyk was brought in by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman with the hopes that he would add some much needed scoring depth into the bottom six of the lineup. The New Jersey native is a reliable source for points since hitting the back half of his career with 99 goals and 125 assists for 224 points in 407 games since turning 30 years old. His 0.55 point-per-game average over this span projects out to roughly 40 points over 71 games, which he has played in each of the last two seasons. 

"Found My Game Faster": Red Wings' Lucas Raymond Beaming With Confidence After Camp It was decided by Detroit Red Wings general manager that Lucas Raymond, whom he drafted with the fourth overall pick in 2020, is a foundational building block. 

Danielson was a surprising addition to the injury report as many were expecting the 21-year-old center to continue battling for a main roster spot but McLellan explained that he suffered an injury in a preseason game, potentially versus Buffalo. 

“Nate Danielson got injured in Buffalo the other night and he'll be out for a little bit,” McLellan commented “I don't have a time frame whether it's long or short term, but we'll figure that part out over the next few days."

McLellan seemed uncertain when he said the injury occurred during a game against Buffalo, likely because the team played the Sabres last Thursday, then faced the Penguins on Friday. Danielson did not play in Saturday’s preseason rematch against Buffalo, suggesting he may have been injured earlier and tried to play through it on Friday before ultimately sitting out. He logged 19 minutes of ice time and recorded an assist against Pittsburgh, indicating he was playing a significant role, likely too demanding for someone merely testing an injury.

Exclusive: Red Wings Top Prospect Nate Danielson Focused on Cracking NHL RosterRed Wings top prospect Nate Danielson explains main goal is to make main roster in exclusive interview with The Hockey News. 

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made another big wave of roster cuts on Monday morning. The team is not practicing, but the Rockford Ice Hogs camp is getting a boost.  

Drew Commesso, Ashton Cumby, Nick Lardis, Samuel Savoie, Aidan Thompson, & Mitchell Weeks have all been assigned to the AHL squad in Rockford. Some of them have had really good showings and will continue their development in pro hockey down there. 

The Blackhawks have also assigned AJ Spellacy to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. After some injury trouble during camp, his development should go there and continue working on his game. Spellacy has the potential to be an impactful player in an NHL lineup if he keeps working the way he does. 

Of the AHL guys, Drew Commesso and Nick Lardis could be the first to see NHL time in 2025-26. For Commesso, he will be the third-string goalie behind Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom. All of them had a magnificent preseason, and they will all be needed at different points. 

For Lardis, his NHL debut is very likely to happen this season. He scored 71 goals in the OHL last year, had a solid camp, and now will get his first taste of pro hockey with Rockford. If he produces a lot of points early, he could be put on the Frank Nazar plan. 

Now, the Blackhawks roster is at 31 players, including 17 forwards, 11 defensemen, and 3 goalies. Their next preseason game will come on Tuesday evening when they return to the United Center for a match against the Detroit Red Wings. Following these cuts, you can expect a lineup close to what they will have on opening night. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are set to play the Detroit Red Wings for a second time during the preseason on Monday. 

The Penguins played them in Pittsburgh on Friday and came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. Forwards Connor Dewar, Robby Fabbri, and Philip Tomasino scored in the contest. 

Monday's game will take place in Detroit and will feature a similar lineup to the one that was on the ice on Friday. 

Benjamin Kindel, Avery Hayes, Filip Hallander, Ville Koivunen, Robby Fabbri, Boko Imama, Matt Dumba, and Jack St. Ivany are just a few of the players who will play in this game. There are spots available up front and on the backend, and this is another opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate players competing for those positions. 

Head coach Dan Muse confirmed after the morning skate that Tristan Jarry will play the entire game in net. 

The Red Wings will play some of their veteran players in this game, including Patrick Kane, JT Compher, Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider, and Justin Holl. 

Puck drop from Little Caesars Arena will be at 7 p.m. ET and fans can watch the game on the Penguins' official website or listen to it on 105.9 'The X.'

 

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The Buffalo Sabres made a significant roster reduction a on fter a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. The club’s roster was decreased to 31 players after the club waived  Zach Jones, and forward Jake Leschyshyn on Sunday. Jones and Leschyshyn will be demoted to AHL Rochester if they are not claimed by another NHL club by Monday afternoon. With two preseason games remaining and a week remaining in training camp, GM Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff will need to make some choices before the roster is set at 23 players early next week.

Goaltender - With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen practicing on Friday and Saturday, it appears the Sabres starter is on schedule to play at least one and perhaps both of the games against Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Friday. There is not really a battle between Alex Lyon and Alexandar Georgiev, as Lyon will be the primary backup to Luukkonen. The question is whether Adams chooses to carry three goalies or place Georgiev on waivers to send down to the AHL. Buffalo lost James Reimer when they attempted to do that at the end of camp last season and it could occur again with the NHL goaltending market so thin. 

 

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Defense - The injury to Mattias Samuelsson was not described as being serious in nature by Ruff late last week, but durability has been an issue with the veteran blueliner throughout his career. The top four is set with Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram on the top pairing, Owen Power and Michael Kesselring on the second pair, and Conor Timmins playing the right side on the bottom pairing. If Samuelsson is unavailable, then Ryan Johnson, who had a solid defensive season in Rochester, would be the leading candidate to step in over Jacob Bryson. 2025 first-rounder Radim Mrtka is still with the club, but the only drama with him is whether he will be assigned to AHL Rochester or back to his WHL junior club in Seattle. 

Forward - The assumption at this point is that Buffalo will carry 13 forwards, but the goaltending scenario and carry eight D could augment that. Jordan Greenway has been out with a recurrence of his mid-body injury all training camp, so it is likely he will start the season on injured reserve. With Alex Tuch back, the top three lines appear to be set, with Josh Norris centering Zach Benson and Tage Thompson, Ryan McLeod up the middle with Jason Zucker and Tuch, and Jiri Kulich centering Josh Doan and Jack Quinn. Kulich has an upper body that has kept him out of the last few practices. 

The fourth line appears to be Justin Danforth and Beck Malenstyn centered by Peyton Krebs, leaving one spot that could be occupied by Tyson Kozak or enforcer Mason Geersten.     

 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram  @MikeInBuffalo

Chicago Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel has been the subject of trade rumors for quite some time. There were questions about his future in Chicago during this past season, and they carried over to the summer. Yet, even with the trade rumors surrounding him, he is still with the Blackhawks. 

Yet, even with the 2025-26 season just about here, a Reichel trade appears very possible.

In a recent article for The Athletic, Scott Powers reported that the Blackhawks are continuing to inform teams that they are willing to move Reichel. 

"It’s no secret the Blackhawks explored trading Reichel and, even in the last few days, let teams know he’s available," Powers wrote. "What happens over the next week is anyone’s guess. He could be traded. He could make the Blackhawks roster out of camp. He could be placed on waivers, and that could mean either being claimed by someone else or reassigned to the AHL."

With Reichel being a former first-round pick and still being only 23 years old, there certainly could be a team out there willing to take a chance on him. He is still young enough that he could become an impactful NHL player, but he may need a change of scenery to do just that.

In 169 games over four seasons with the Blackhawks, Reichel has recorded 20 goals, 34 assists, 54 points, and a minus-61 rating. He played in a career-high 70 games this past season with the Blackhawks, where he posted eight goals, 14 assists, and 22 points. Overall, he has shown promise at times, but he has yet to break out. 

It will be very interesting to see what happens between the Blackhawks and Reichel from here. 

If you weren’t paying attention to the larger sports picture last week, you may have missed the significant changes two prominent pro sports leagues made to their product.

The first was MLB’s decision to finally employ video review of balls and strikes calls. The second was the CFL’s move to radically alter the dimensions of their playing surface and the changes to their goal-post locations.

“Tradition Meets Innovation” was how the CFL painted its changes. That was a smart way to put it, because all leagues absolutely should be using technology and thinking outside the box when it comes to changing the way they provide entertainment. This is why the NHL needs to be equally brave when it comes to changing the way its game functions.

For a while now, we’ve argued that the NHL should be employing a third referee – an off-ice official who serves as an “eye-in-the-sky” referee who can buzz down to the two on-ice referees and get a stoppage in play to make a call the two on-ice refs have missed.

Yes, it would be a significant change for the NHL, but the decisions made by the MLB and CFL are equally huge, if not even more so.

When you change the size of your playing field, you’re making a big move. When you use video replay to challenge balls and strikes, you’re making a big move. But there’s only one real question you should be asking – does this move lead to a fairer, more entertaining game? Clearly, the CFL and MLB believe that’s the case. A system that leads to fewer missed calls is absolutely a system the NHL should be employing.

Anyone who’s watched an NHL game in recent years knows the action has gotten nearly impossibly quick, and the two-referee system can’t help but miss out on a penalty call or get it wrong here and there.

But at a time when parity has never been greater, one or two blown calls can decide how a game or series plays out.

So while it might feel foreign at first to see an on-ice sequence stopped out of nowhere, if an eye-in-the-sky referee makes a call, they’d do so knowing the call will be watched and re-watched over and over again. It’s paramount they get the call right. But if we’re giving the off-ice referee final say in calls – and that’s the idea here, so as not to have endless delays and debate waiting for calls to be finalized – then we have to be assured the off-ice referee knows what they’re doing.

But the bottom line isn’t about the particulars of a three-referee, eye-in-the-sky official to be added to the mix. The bottom line is that calls are being made that would have otherwise been missed. That’s what MLB is doing with its new video replay rule changes. And that’s a noble reason for the NHL to reconsider its officiating system.

The whole idea is that no team or fan base should be able to point to a blown call as the reason their team didn’t succeed. (Of course, we’ll never get to 100 percent satisfaction with every call that’s made, but that’s something we should aspire to nonetheless.)

How would this type of change come about? Well, the NHL would have to run it by the competition committee and the Board of Governors, but the league has shown in the past it can pass any change it likes in short order, depending on the urgency behind it. For full proof, search up “the Sean Avery Rule” and see for yourself the speed at which the league can change a rule when it really wants to.

In any case, we will continue to discuss the three-referee system, as we believe it has value. If we accept the officials as human-and-therefore-flawed actors in this sports business, finding a way to cover off some of the calls they’ll inevitably miss is what they should be doing all the time, over and over, until they get close to total success in that regard.

Remember, it wasn’t all that long ago that the NHL had only a one-referee system. Can you imagine all the calls they’d have missed if they stubbornly stuck to their one-ref system because of hollow notions of “tradition?” The mind truly boggles at the thought. 

So yeah, the NHL should follow the lead of the CFL and MLB and do what’s within its power to change the game for the better. A static league is not always a successful one, and the NHL needs to bear that in mind when the notion of change arises again.

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Before the Toronto Maple Leafs headed to Gravenhurst, Ontario, for a team-bonding trip, they practiced at Ford Performance Centre with a trimmed-down group of players.

There aren't many surprises as we cross the midway point of Maple Leafs training camp. Max Domi remains with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. Bobby McMann is with John Tavares and William Nylander. Matias Maccelli is beside Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua. Easton Cowan is with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz.

It's not shocking to see Cowan remain with Toronto's fourth line. But it's telling that he stayed there while Nick Robertson, David Kampf, and Calle Jarnkrok skate as a line wearing grey jerseys, usually designated for scratches.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube doesn't want to set anything in stone yet, though.

"I mean, I don't ever count anything out, and I don't want to do that. I don't think it's fair," Berube said on Monday. "Camp's still on. Camp's still going. There's people staying here and training, working, so we'll see how it goes. I'm not going to count anything out."

Maple Leafs lines in practice:

Knies - Matthews - Domi
McMann - Tavares - Nylander
Maccelli - Roy - Joshua
Lorentz - Laughton - Cowan
Robertson - Kampf - Jarnkrok
Pezzetta

McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Ekman-Larsson - Benoit (non-contact)
Thrun - Myers
Mermis

Stolarz
Hildeby

— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) September 29, 2025

Despite not giving any information on who might make the team for opening night (which is nine days away), Berube's answer on how Cowan has surprised him at this training camp was rather interesting.

"I think the detail of his game. We talked about before camp, him and I, about what he needs to do to play in the NHL right now. What's going to get him to the NHL right now, and I think he's done that," Toronto's head coach said.

"He's taken that, and he's done what we asked him to do. The hounding part of the game. Just the work ethic and the compete, playing predictable, playing direct, and for me, he's done that so far in camp, and he's done it in the games too."

Has Easton Cowan’s Previous Experience As A 4th Liner Set Him Up For Similar Role With The Maple Leafs?Easton Cowan is doing everything he can to make the Toronto Maple Leafs out of training camp, and it’s showing.

Even Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has been impressed with the 19-year-old.

"You can see the confidence has always been there. He's a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger (this year). It looks like the pace doesn't really affect him. He's keeping up with the pace really well," Matthews said.

"He's the kind of player that I find can slow the game down as well and speed it up when he has to. When he's on the ice and he has the puck on his stick, he can make a lot happen and can kind of do a lot of different things to control the game...

"He's had a great camp so far. It's been a lot of fun to see and just kind of see him progress over the last three years from when he was first drafted to see kind of where he is at now. And obviously his ceiling is going to continue to grow."

Simon Benoit skated alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson during practice on Monday despite wearing a red non-contact jersey. He's been dealing with an upper-body injury since the opening days of training camp.

Henry Thrun, Philippe Myers, and Dakota Mermis appear to be the three players who'll battle to become Toronto's seventh defenseman. Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby were the two goaltenders on the ice with the main group.

Maple Leafs Officially Sign Anthony Stolarz To 4-Year, $15 Million Contract ExtensionThe Toronto Maple Leafs have signed goaltender Anthony Stolarz to a four-year contract worth $15 million, the club announced on Sunday afternoon.

Stolarz, who signed a four-year, $15 million extension with the Maple Leafs on Sunday, received an ovation from his teammates before practice, and even led the club in stretches at the conclusion of the skate.

"It was good. It's a long process. I'm happy with it," Stolarz said. "I got to a number that my family, agent and I felt comfortable with, and obviously (Brad Treliving) felt comfortable with as well. So looking forward to being in Maple Leaf for this year and four more years."

Latest stories:

Maple Leafs Officially Sign Anthony Stolarz To 4-Year, $15 Million Contract Extension

Has Easton Cowan’s Previous Experience As A 4th Liner Set Him Up For Similar Role With The Maple Leafs?

'I Haven't Had That Much Fun In A Long Time': James Reimer Reflects On First Maple Leafs Practice in 9 Years And When He May Play

The Pittsburgh Penguins trimmed their training camp roster again on Monday. 

Before the morning skate, they announced that they have reassigned Cal Burke, Finn Harding, Atley Calvert, Nolan Renwick, and Aaron Huglen to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins training camp. The WBS Penguins training camp will start at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Monday before moving to Northeast Pennsylvania at a later date.

Cal Burke, Atley Calvert, Finn Harding, Aaron Huglen, and Nolan Renwick have been assigned to @WBSPenguins training camp (AHL).

Details: https://t.co/vtIldjfScZpic.twitter.com/od2GLPouPM

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 29, 2025

The Penguins' training camp roster is now down to 43 players heading into Monday's preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings. There will likely be more cuts coming later in the week before the Penguins' final preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. 

Puck drop for Monday's preseason contest will be at 7 p.m. ET and fans can stream the game on the Penguins' official website or listen to it on 105.9 'The X.'

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For the first time since they skated on the ice with the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers will be back playing hockey in Sunrise on Monday.

Florida will welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to Amerant Bank Arena as they begin their preseason home stretch.

Starting Monday, the Panthers will play their final four exhibition games over a six-day stretch that includes games in Sunrise, Orlando and Tampa.

The expectation, according to Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice, is that Florida will run veteran lineups – meaning you’ll see the majority of the expected NHL roster – in their final two preseason games.

To a lesser extent, that also includes Monday night against the Hurricanes, which will be the first time some of those veteran players have a chance to play in the preseason.

Maurice has been taking it easier with his vets, holding much of Florida’s expected Opening Night roster out of the grueling elements of training camp during the first week, but now they’re all in the thick of it.

We still won’t be seeing the likes of Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekbald, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Seth Jones, Brad Marchand, Evan Rodrigues, Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola or Eetu Luostarinen on Monday, though.

The veteran players who will take the ice against Carolina will be Sergei Bobrovsky, Jesper Boqvist, Jeff Petry, A.J. Greer, Uvis Balinskis, Jonah Gadjovich, Luke Kunin and Mackie Samoskevich.

Florida will be facing a Carolina squad that, at least in a preseason context, will be looking for a smidge of revenge.

Last week, a Panthers roster full of prospects, young pros and a couple NHL hopefuls traveled to Raleigh and earned a comeback victory over a Hurricanes group full of veteran stars that will be on their Opening Night roster.

Now the tables will be somewhat turned.

While the Panthers aren’t exactly throwing out starts that compare with Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov, the Hurricanes aren’t bringing their big guns to Sunrise, either.

A much more watered-down Carolina group, in terms of NHL regulars, will face the Cats on Monday, as none of those aforementioned Hurricanes who played in the previous meeting are on the game roster.

Face-off from Amerant Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m.

It will be the first time Panthers fans will get a look at the brand-new scoreboard hovering above the ice, and the LED boards that wrap around the seating bowl, all of which were installed over the summer.

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Photo caption: Sep 24, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Ronan Seeley (91) can’t get to the puck against Florida Panthers left wing Nolan Foote (25) during the second period at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)

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Loose From The Moose - Mar. 21 2022 - Vol. 75 Issue 13 - Jared Clinton

(JONATHAN KOZUB/MANITOBA MOOSE)

COLE PERFETTI WOULD BE QUITE ALL right with never having to pull on a Manitoba Moose jersey ever again. It’s not that he won’t. This isn’t some prima donna, too-good-to-ride-the-bus thing, nor is he going to put up even an ounce of fight should the Winnipeg Jets brass decide to send him back to the farm club. He’ll be the first to tell you he has faith in what the Jets have planned for him, so it has nothing to do with that, either. No, at its root, this is a matter of not only seeing the grass is greener but being able to enjoy what the pasture has to offer.

“The NHL lifestyle, the dinners, the private planes, playing in front of 20,000 people, everything about it is just everything you dream of and as advertised,” Perfetti said. “It really is. It’s unbelievable. And as much as I love the Moose, love the guys, had a great opportunity, great chance, and great time there with them and learned so much and am grateful for everything I had with the Moose, once you’ve had that taste of the NHL, you never want to go back to the ‘A.’”

Inextricable from Perfetti’s story, however, will be what the league will have meant to his career. He was among the rare few who could be used as case studies for what elevating top-tier prospects to the AHL instead of relegating them to an additional season of pounding on their junior peers can do for a player’s development. As a result of the OHL’s initially postponed and later cancelled 2020-21 campaign, and thanks to the AHL opening its doors during the pandemic-shortened season to prospects orphaned by league shutdowns, Perfetti had the opportunity to spend last year getting a grasp on what life was like at the next level.

Jets Make Four Cuts - More to ComeThe Winnipeg Jets have made four subtractions from their training camp roster. 

“To get the chance in the AHL and to do the same the first half of this year has helped so much with the little things,” he said. “Playing the right way, learning both sides of the puck, all that kind of stuff. Learning the man’s game is a big difference. When most kids were taking a step back and not getting any better, I was fortunate enough to take a step forward in my hockey career. So, to learn the pro style, that was huge for me.”

WHEN MOST KIDS WERE TAKING A STEP BACK AND NOT GETTING ANY BETTER, I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO TAKE A STEP FORWARD IN MY HOCKEY CAREER– COLE PERFETTI

It was also a crash course. Selected 10th overall by the Jets in 2020 on the heels of an outrageous 111-point season with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, Perfetti couldn’t have had any reasonable expectation that he’d be spending the following season playing against the pros. That’s particularly true given the Jets’ model of development is one that distinctly takes its cues more from the tortoise than the hare. Yet there was Perfetti, a little more than a month after helping Canada to silver at the 2021 World Junior Championship, lining up in the AHL.

(JAMES CAREY LAUDER-USA TODAY SPORTS)

Statistically, the early returns weren’t bad. He scored his first pro goal in his first pro game. Through seven games, he had two goals and four points. Pretty good for a kid who describes himself as “not the biggest, not the fastest,” and said he needed to find a way for his game to translate. But to Jets assistant GM and Moose GM Craig Heisinger, the middling offensive production masked some larger deficiencies. “He was able to contribute somewhat on the power play early on in the AHL season last year,” Heisinger said. “The struggles at 5-on-5 continued.”

Perfetti can agree with that assessment. He’ll even add things didn’t really start to click until about his 10th game, which is a sentiment Heisinger readily echoes. Perfetti was beginning to figure out how to see soft spots in coverage, how to create offense from defense and the necessity of being on the right side of the puck. It added up to a sizable leap in the back half of the season. His point-per-game performance – 22 points in his final 22 games of 2020-21 – is enough to bear that out, and Heisinger noted a marked change in Perfetti’s ability to contribute at five-a-side. It was much of the same when Perfetti landed back in the AHL early in this season, too.

Revisiting the Creation of the Winnipeg Jets 'Whiteout' TraditionRevisiting how Winnipeg Jets fans invented the “Whiteout” in the 1980s, uniting the city with an all-white playoff tradition that was revived in 2011.

(JAMES CAREY LAUDER-USA TODAY SPORTS)

“He was able to pick that up at the start of this year and nothing was a surprise,” Heisinger said. “And the (AHL) certainly stepped up a notch, because it was back to where it normally is with no taxi squads. He was able to be a factor, and being able to do that as a 19-year-old is really, really challenging and a credit to him.”

His play didn’t go unnoticed or unrewarded, either.

When the Jets found themselves in need of reinforcements as injuries and ailments took a bite out of the squad, Perfetti was among the first plucked from the AHL, on Dec. 31, the day before he turned 20. On Jan. 18 – five games into his NHL career – he was raising his arms and drifting face-first into the glass celebrating his first NHL goal, a well-placed wrister fired home on a 2-on-1 against the Washington Capitals. “I’ve never anticipated scoring a goal more than that,” he said. “Dreamed of it since I was two years old. To have that come true, to score, it’s relief, joy, happiness. You work so hard and your family puts so much time and effort in, it’s almost like a celebration. Scoring that first goal was like, ‘Wow, I’m here now.’”

Just being there isn’t enough, though. Perfetti wants to be there to stay. And to make that a reality, Perfetti knows he needs to take a page out of his time in the AHL. That means getting that little bit better with each passing game until he gets to the point he feels he’s finally starting to break through. He’s done enough to impress the Jets. He’s been with the big club throughout 2022, which resulted is his shift from Future Watch “prospect” to “21-and-under NHLer” (see pg. 79). Before the status change, he was easily Winnipeg’s No. 1 prospect and would’ve ranked among the top 10 in our league-wide rankings.

What's The Winnipeg Jets Biggest Need Left Unattended?Evaluating what's the Winnipeg Jets biggest area of need heading into the upcoming season. 

ELMONT, NY -- The New York Islanders hit the ice on Monday for morning skate ahead of their second-to-last preseason game, as they host the cross-town rival New York Rangers. 

Islanders captain Anders Lee, who did take part in Sunday's skate, was out of his red non-contact sweater but will not play. 

David Rittich will start, which makes sense as the No. 1 netminder. Ilya Sorokin will get the preseason finale against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. 

 By going that route, Sorokin will only have a week between starts, as opposed to 10 days, with the season opening on Oct. 9 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Here's the lineup:

#Isles lines at Monday's morning skate:

Drouin-Horvat-Heineman
Duclair-Barzal-Palmieri
Holmstrom-Pageau-Shabanov
Cizikas-Ritchie-Tsyplakov

Romanov-DeAngelo
Pelech-Pulock
Schaefer-Mayfield

Rittich
Sorokin
Hogberg

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) September 29, 2025

One thing to note here is that Calum Ritchie is centering the fourth line, moving Casey Cizikas to wing. Ritchie played all seven NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche on the wing, but Roy likes him down the middle. 

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Despite Luke Hughes' contract standoff with the New Jersey Devils, the two sides are expected to agree to a long-term deal.

That prompted some pundits to ponder Dougie Hamilton's future with the Devils. TSN's Pierre LeBrun last week wondered how many power-play quarterbacks a team needs in today's NHL. With Hughes seen as the Devils' future No. 1 blueliner, Hamilton's role with the club could be in question.

Hamilton told NJ.com's Ryan Novozinsky he has heard the trade rumors but said he's not paying much attention to them. The 32-year-old defenseman acknowledged trades happen, and it's part of the business of hockey. However, he wants to remain with the Devils because he believes he can help them win the Stanley Cup.

Most of the trade conjecture suggested the Devils could move Hamilton to address other roster needs and clear his $9-million cap hit from their books. However, that cap hit would also make it difficult to move him. While the salary cap is rising significantly, teams still must manage their cap space carefully.

Hamilton's no-trade clause also complicates things. PuckPedia indicates he has a list of 10 teams he'd accept getting dealt to, which significantly limits the options for suitable trade partners.

On Friday, we examined recent speculation about the Toronto Maple Leafs, including the possibility of Nick Robertson becoming a trade candidate.

Add David Kampf to that category. Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reported the 30-year-old center believed he would be traded during the off-season. Although that never materialized, his future with the Maple Leafs remains uncertain.

Siegel noted that Scott Laughton has replaced Kampf as the Leafs' fourth-line center. The club could make room for promising right winger Easton Cowan.

Kampf's contract could hinder efforts to trade him. He's signed through next season with an average annual value of $2.4 million. Siegel suggests he could be demoted to the Marlies if he clears waivers.

Turning to the Washington Capitals, ESPN's Kevin Weekes reported last Thursday that goaltender Clay Stevenson's solid pre-season play has drawn interest from a few teams who see him as a future waiver claim.

Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren are locks as the Capitals' goalie tandem, leaving Stevenson as the odd man out.

The Hockey News' Sammi Silber reports Stevenson was projected to be the No. 1 goalie for the Capitals' AHL affiliate in Hershey this season. She believes he's all but certain to go on waivers, where a rival club will likely pluck him away.

Rather than lose Stevenson for nothing, the Capitals could see what he might fetch in the trade market.

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.

The Florida Panthers have made some roster moves as training camp continues.

Monday morning, as Florida prepared to host the Carolina Hurricanes in a preseason matchup at Amerant Bank Arena, the team announced a few changes to their camp roster.

Two defensemen, Ludvig Jansson and Evan Nause, and two goaltenders, Evan Cormier and Kirill Gerasimyuk, are all heading to training camp with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

Jansson, Nause and Gerasimyuk were all assigned to Charlotte, as all are under contract with Florida, while Cormier was on a PTO. He will push for a deal with the Checkers, who are expected to also have goaltender Brandon Bussi on their roster once the season begins.

For now, Bussi remains with Sergei Bobrovsky, Daniil Tarasov and Cooper Black as the remaining goaltenders at Cats camp.

You can check out the updated training camp roster in the images below:

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ST. PAUL, Minn - Training camp and preseason games are a great chance for players to make a good impression and push for spots. It is especially important for the younger players and prospects to showcase their skills.

For the second straight year, Hunter Haight is doing just that.

Haight, 21, impressed in last year's training camp and preseason. Following that he played his rookie season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Iowa Wild.

In his rookie season, Haight recorded 20 goals and 14 assists in 67 games. In the opening preseason game of the year, Haight was the team's fourth line center. Caedan Bankier, Ben Jones and Danila Yurov were ahead of him.

With three minutes left in that game Haight game flying in on the right side before scoring his first goal of the preseason.

HUNTER HAIGHT TIES IT pic.twitter.com/yYEtnGw3c4

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) September 21, 2025

For his second preseason game of the year, Haight was on the third line as the center. He played great against Dallas and was the team's second line center on Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

With the goalie pulled and down two goals, the Wild had Haight on the ice. He was on the ice over Yurov and seemly has been impressing the Wild.

"Yeah, I thought he's had a strong camp," Wild head coach John Hynes said on Sunday. "He's got good hockey sense. I think his competitiveness jumps out at you. He's been able to produce in a couple games and he seems like a pretty versatile player. He's a right-shot center and he's done a pretty good job on the penalty kill. He's had some power play time too, so he's done well."

On Sunday Haight picked up his second goal of the preseason after he finished off his own rebound. Tyler Pitlick made a nice pass to Haight who was streaking in. It was the Wild's only goal on Sunday.

HUNTER HAIGHT pic.twitter.com/SoMcuib1ks

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) September 28, 2025

The 5-foot-11 center has impressed the Wild enough to possibly make the team but that opportunity could actually become a reality. Yurov has been given a lot of chances in the preseason. He has centered Kirill Kaprizov and Vladimir Tarasenko for a few shifts and has been on the top power play and penalty kill for every game.

On Sunday those spots were given to Haight. He dropped to the third line and went 2-for-8 on the face-off dot. Haight went 4-for-6 on the dot and had 15 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time.

"Yeah, he's put himself in a position to continue to compete for a spot," Hynes said of Haight after the game.

Nico Sturm was signed this offseason to be the Wild's fourth line center but has now missed some time in camp due to an upper-body injury. His status remains unclear if he will be ready to start the season.

Hynes said after the game on Sunday that Sturm's timetable is a moving target. He said they want to get Sturm into a full hour long practice before coming up with how long he will be out for, if any time.

Sturm could respond really well to that practice and be ready to go or he could miss a little bit of time to start the season. This could open a spot for Haight.

"At the end of the day, that's why I'm here, is to try to find a roster spot and every day try and get better," Haight said after the game on Sunday. "I think I've progressed throughout this camp."

Nonetheless, Haight has impressed the Wild and will continue to push for a spot as training camp begins to wind down.

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.

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When Ottawa Senators prospect Stephen Halliday arrives at a new level, he seems to figure things out quickly. At every level he moves up to — whether it's the USHL, the NCAA, or the AHL — he's found a way to not only stick with the club, but to thrive, moving quickly to the top of his team's scoring list. That's part of what makes the 23-year-old forward so intriguing as he pushes toward the NHL.

Halliday doesn’t come with the prospect status of, say, a Carter Yakemchuk, the Senators’ 2024 first-round pick. But he's not far off. With his size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) and skill, he checks off a lot of boxes, and he's also got a history of quickly figuring things out at each level.

Back in 2021–22, a few months shy of his 20th birthday, Halliday put up 95 points in 62 games for the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints. But because he was an older junior player who had been passed over in two NHL drafts, those were red flags. The Senators' scouting still liked him, though, and by the fourth round of the 2022 draft, they decided to book some Halliday time.

Halliday went on to lead Ohio State in scoring for two straight seasons, then did the same in his first full year with Belleville last season, collecting 51 points in 71 games. Each time he’s climbed a rung, he’s found a way to adjust, then take over.

Now, the biggest challenge lies ahead: carving out a place in the NHL.

Halliday gave fans a glimpse of that potential on Sunday afternoon in Quebec City, when the Senators blanked the New Jersey Devils 2–0 in preseason action. With the game scoreless late in the third period, he broke through with a perfectly placed snap shot that beat Devils goalie Georgi Romanov high to the glove side.

“Yeah, Timmy kind of drove the middle, and I was just kind of trying to be there if there was a rebound. And then a guy poked it to me, and then I just kind of shot it.”

Halliday's Late Power Play Goal Leads Ottawa Senators Past Devils 2-0The Ottawa Senators improved their preseason record to 2–1 on Sunday afternoon with a 2–0 victory over a New Jersey Devils split-squad at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City.

Halliday made it sound like a lucky shot, and maybe it was. But his release was quick and decisive, the kind of finish NHL coaches notice. That said, Senators head coach Travis Green is always careful not to give a player too much public praise.

“He’s a smart player," head coach Travis Green said after the game. "He’s got good hands. He’s big. He’s got good hockey sense.

If you sensed a 'but' coming, you'd be right.

"He’s still adapting to the pace of the league. He’s had a few days where he’s tired. But he’s hanging in there.”

Green’s message was clear: there’s still work to be done. Halliday is aware of that, but right now, he says he feels great.

“I feel like I am making more plays, more confident," Halliday said. "The D-zone, I think, was a big thing for me, just making sure I’m strong on pucks. I’ve been working on that a lot and just kind of taking it day by day. So I’m really happy with my game so far.”

Halliday is still a little shy when the microphones come out, but after Sunday’s win, he lit up when talking about Thomas Chabot, who suited up in his hometown region of Quebec City.

“Yeah, you can just see how cool the city is, and he's been showing us around and taking us to cool spots, and we went golfing on his golf course on our off day. So it means a lot for a guy like me who's just coming up here.

"So it was really cool and we're really happy to get that (win) for Chabby."

Looks like we can check off the "great teammate" box as well.

Halliday's rise to the next level might not happen this fall, but his day is coming. And if the Sens decide to let him cook some more at the AHL level, he's going to be a handful down there, and a nightmare for opposing goalies.

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