Category: Ice Hockey

The yearly EA (Electronic Arts) NHL video game is just a month away, and with the start of the 2026-27 NHL season alongside it, ratings for a large number of players were revealed Tuesday, including a handful of Avalanche players.

This year, the biggest news in the game is that Connor McDavid has been revealed as a 99 overall, the first player ever to reach that ranking (though I think it's a bit late and should have been a 99 overall when he scored 64 goals and 89 assists for 153 points during the 2022-23 season while taking home the Art Ross and Rocket Richard trophies, but better late than never?)

While McDavid stands alone at 99, right behind him is Nathan MacKinnon at 97 overall, tied alongside Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikita Kucherov as the only 97 overall in the game. 

Most notably, his top stats include his acceleration at 96, only behind McDavid's 98. His speed is 95, which is behind McDavid at 98, and his passing is 95, with guys like McDavid, Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl, and Sidney Crosby, along with a few others, whose passing stats rank higher than his.

Coming off an impressive season in which he scored a career and league-high 53 goals and took home his first-ever Rocket Richard Trophy, his stats have been boosted to reflect his successful season. Ninety-four slapshot accuracy with a 91 slapshot power, alongside a 92 wristshot power and a 96 wristshot accuracy.

Nathan MacKinnon Wins The 2025-26 Maurice "Rocket" Richard TrophyWith a career-best 53 goals, Nathan MacKinnon has won the 2025-26 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.

Alongside MacKinnon is Martin Necas, who has cracked the top 30, coming in as the 28th highest overall player with a 92 overall stat. Coming off a career season that saw him finish with career highs across the stat sheet of 38 goals and 62 assists for 100 points, Necas earns himself the highest overall he's ever been in the game, and the stats have bumped up dramatically to highlight it.

His offensive stats rival some of MacKinnon's stats in certain areas. Ninety-five offensive awareness, slapshot power of 92, and a slapshot accuracy of 94. With a wristshot power of 90 and wristshot accuracy of 93. While his skating and puck handling are in the high 80s and low 90s, his physicality and general stats (durability, faceoffs, discipline, and poise) don’t rank as high as MacKinnon's.

THROWBACK: When Martin Nečas Became A Stone-Cold KillerA throwback look at the moment Jared Bednar’s message finally clicked for Martin Nečas—and the talented forward began turning hesitation into a stone-cold scoring instinct.

In addition to those two, they also revealed four other forwards. Those being Nazem Kadri, ranked 173rd with an 86 overall. Brock Nelson has a rank of 192 with an overall of 85. Gabriel Landeskog ranked 248th with an overall of 85, and Artturi Lehkonen ranked 267th with an overall of 84.

The biggest outliers on the team that haven't had their overall released yet are the goaltenders and the defensemen, who will likely be released at a later date. While it will be interesting to see how they rank Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood for the success they had last season, it's going to be obvious how high Cale Makar will rank, but just how high among the rest of the forward skaters and matched up with other defensemen.

The full ratings can be found here.

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There are still a good amount of unrestricted free agents (UFAs) still looking for their next contracts. 

When looking at the UFA defensemen still available for the taking, a former Columbus Blue Jackets defender is arguably the best of the bunch: Nick Blankenburg. 

It is a little surprising that Blankenburg has still not been signed at this point in the summer. The former Blue Jackets defenseman just had the best season of his NHL career so far. In 61 games split between the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche, he set new career highs with eight goals, 16 assists, and 24 points. 

Teams looking for a puck-moving defenseman could very well consider signing Blakenburg to a short-term deal or a professional tryout (PTO) agreement before training camp. He would have the potential to be a solid addition to a team needing more defensive depth and offense from the point. 

Overall, with Blankenburg being a top UFA defenseman left, it would not be surprising if he lands a new home soon. 

Blankenburg spent each of his first three NHL seasons from 2021-22 to 2023-24 as a member of the Blue Jackets. In 55 games with the Metropolitan Division club over that span, the 5-foot-9 defenseman posted six goals, 12 assists, 18 points, and 101 hits. 

Every August, the NHL and NHL.com take a deep dive into each NHL team as part of their "32-in-32" series, highlighting 32 teams across 32 days.

Today, NHL.com took a look at the New York Islanders and highlighted several different pieces of the organization.

The most exciting of those deep dives has to be their ranking of New York's top five prospects entering the 2026-27 regular season.

On the flip side, Corey Pronman of The Athletic also released his annual ranking of all 32 NHL teams' prospect pipelines and then individually ranked each prospect.

Both took time to rank the Islanders' top prospects, and both came away with extremely different lists and rankings.

First, NHL.com and Jon Lane ranked New York's top five in this order: 1. Victor Eklund, 2. Malte Gustafsson, 3. Kashawn Aitcheson, 4. Dmitry Gamzin, and 5. Cole Eiserman.

Eklund, seen by many as New York's top non-NHL prospect, is fighting for his spot in the NHL this fall after making his NHL Debut in Game #82 this past season.

Where he might fit in the lineup remains to be seen, but anywhere in the top nine could work:

Eklund will have every opportunity to make the #Isles out of training camp.

If he does, how the Islanders handle him will be one of the more interesting things to watch early this season.

And his initial role may not be what you expect @TheElmonters ⤵️https://t.co/sLeEULjRIx

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) August 18, 2026

The Islanders just selected Gustafsson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, while Aitcheson had a standout year one season after New York used the 17th overall pick on the defenseman.

Gamzin, a 2024 fourth-round pick, continues to shine brightly in Russia, but is locked up long-term there with CSKA Moscow and isn't expected to be in the NHL for multiple seasons. However, his skills look unbelievable, and it's very easy to see him as a starting goalie in the NHL at a minimum.

Lastly, Eiserman, a first-round pick from 2024, enters his first professional season, and will likely start with the Hamilton Hammers as he gets set to polish his game around his game-breaking shot.

Not one of those rankings from NHL.com can be considered too shocking, as it features all the big names and showcases them in what's the consensus ranking of them, though Aitcheson likely figures above Gustafsson at this point.

Then came Pronman's ranking with The Athletic, where he goes off the board with his Top 5:

1. Kashawn Aitcheson, whom Pronman lists as a "Bubble Top, Middle of the lineup player," giving him a ceiling as high as a top-pairing NHL Defenseman.

2. Malte Gustafsson, who finds himself in that same tier as Aitcheson, but for very different stylistic reasons.

At this point, you might be shocked to see Eklund slip down below both defensemen, but there are people who are extremely high on both players, which Pronman is. 

Both are going to be factors soon for the Islanders, and both have elite skill sets at what they excel at.

Eklund, meanwhile, is far more well-rounded and has fewer holes in his game, hence why he's the most NHL-ready of the trio.

But Pronman doesn't have him as New York's top forward prospect.

"3. Daniil Prokhorov, 2025 second-round pick. Middle-of-the-lineup player"

Pronman goes way off the board and shows huge love for Prokhorov, the very raw, but physically massive Russian winger, who stands at 6'6 and has impressed at consecutive Islanders' development camp.

Prokhorov surprised some when he came to North America after just one season, but he figures to be a big piece for the Hammers, and his NHL future may not be so far off.

Pronman is the only spot to have Prokhorov above the NHL-ready Eklund, and it's due to perceived ceilings alone.

"4. Danny Nelson, 2023 second-round pick. Middle-of-the-lineup player"

Nelson, who was reportedly highly-coveted by other teams in trade talks, has seen his stock explode in the last two years. 

Once thought of a future 4C, his future looks to be that of a great third-line center who is responsible on both ends of the ice, and can be depended on by their teams.

Nelson is set to play one more year in college before turning pro in the 2027 Spring.

"5. Victor Eklund, 2025 first-round pick. Middle-of-the-lineup player"

Pronman is not as low as it may seem on Eklund as it appears. Rather, he seems to be just that high on Nelson and Prokhorov's potential.

Maybe Pronman doesn't see a first-line winger, which many disagree with, but based on his breakdown, he very clearly sees a reliable, point-producing second-line winger who can play in all situations.

It's a shocking sight to see Eklund below Prokhorov and Nelson nonetheless.

Eiserman came in sixth on Pronman's rankings, just missing out on the top 5 of the non-NHL guys.

Last off-season, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed winger Anthony Mantha to a one-year, prove-it deal. This move certainly paid off for Pittsburgh, as the 6-foot-5 winger set new career highs with 33 goals, 31 assists, and 65 points in 81 games. He also played a role in Pittsburgh getting into the playoffs.

While Mantha had a very good year for the Penguins, they decided not to re-sign him. Although this is the case, they did bring in an interesting winger to replace him in Andrei Kuzmenko. 

The Penguins signed Kuzmenko to a one-year, $5 million contract earlier this off-season. This comes after he posted 13 goals, 12 assists, and 25 points in 52 games last season with the Los Angeles Kings.

Overall, Kuzmenko had a decent year offensively for the Kings, but there is reason to believe that he could be another success story for the Penguins next season, just like Mantha was in 2025-26. 

Kuzmenko has shown at points during his career that he can produce like a true top-six winger. During his rookie year with the Vancouver Canucks, he posted 39 goals, 35 assists, and 74 points in 81 games. He also recorded 14 goals and 25 points in 29 games with the Calgary Flames during the 2023-24 season after being acquired from Vancouver mid-season. He posted 17 points in 22 games with the Kings when they acquired him from the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2024-25 campaign as well.

With numbers like these, Kuzmenko has undoubtedly had some success in the NHL. With this, it would not be surprising if he puts up good numbers for the Penguins next season. He tends to have strong starts when he joins new teams, and that could end up being the case with Pittsburgh.

It will be interesting to see how well Kuzmenko performs for the Penguins next season. He certainly has the chance to be Pittsburgh's next Mantha. 

As the anticipation for the 2026-27 NHL season grows, TheHockeyNews.com will be taking a look at the top 10 prospects in the St. Louis Blues' system, kicking off our list with Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, who comes in at No. 10.

The players in this ranking do not have extensive NHL experience and are all 23 and under. Therefore, players like Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Logan Mailloux, among others, won't feature in this ranking for those reasons.

The order of these rankings reflects a mix of their ceilings and potential, as well as how they've performed over the past year with their respective clubs. 

Kaskimaki is a 22-year-old, left-handed Finnish center who occasionally plays on the wing as well. Drafted by the Blues in the third round (73rd overall) in the 2022 NHL draft, Kaskimaki is a reliable two-way forward with a strong shot that he demonstrated plenty in his sophomore season in the AHL.

Kaskimaki was one of the driving forces of the Springfield Thunderbirds' offense last year, posting 20 goals and 44 points in 64 games, ranking second in goals and points. 

Kaskimaki is at his best with the puck on his stick in transition. He utilizes shot angles and uses the defenders as screens to put the puck on net. His strong second AHL season earned him a call-up to the NHL, where he skated in five games.

St. Louis Blues NHL Prospect Rankings: Honorable MentionsBefore we count down our top 10 St. Louis Blues prospects, we take a look at five honorable mentions who just missed the cut.

The Blues were at a low point in their season, playing poor hockey and dealing with a plethora of injuries, resulting in Kaskimaki not standing out and failing to record any points in those games. But earning the call-up was the goal Kaskimaki needed to achieve at that point in his career. Now, it's to earn another and force the coaching staff to keep him up in the NHL. 

Kaskimaki's chances of earning a roster spot out of pre-season and training camp are very slim. The team's center depth is projected to be Robert Thomas, Mason McTavish, and Dalibor Dvorsky in the top nine, with Pius Suter and Dillon Dube battling for the fourth-line role. 

With injuries throughout an 84-game season, there could be opportunities for Kaskimaki to earn a call-up. 

The Espoo, FIN native likely won't ever amount to more than a bottom-six NHLer, but those are still valuable pieces to winning hockey teams. With a six-foot frame, positional versatility, and a trustworthy game, Kaskimaki could be a valuable piece of the Blues lineup very soon. 

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On Monday night, the Victoriaville Tigres announced that winger Alexey Vlasov had been invited to the Montreal Canadiens’ rookie camp. The 5-foot-9, 176-pound left winger is 18 years old and has played two seasons in North America. In 2024-25, he skated in the USHL, scoring 23 points in 51 games with the Sioux Falls Stampede before moving to the QMJHL for 2025-26. With the Tigres, he put up 80 points in 64 games.

While Vlasov doesn’t have the size element the Canadiens desperately need, it’s an interesting invite from the Habs. The youngster is talented, has a knack for scoring goals, and was ranked 102nd among North American skaters ahead of the 2026 draft. With 44 goals, he was the highest-scoring rookie in the QMJHL this past season. He was a constant scoring threat, skating on an all-Russian line completed by Egor Shilov and Kornei Korneyev.

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It’s not hard to know why he was passed over in the draft, given his size and the fact that his skating isn’t quite up to par. However, the Canadiens have excellent development coaches, and he could greatly benefit from rookie camp. This will be an exceptional opportunity for the youngster to show he can measure up to drafted players.

Rookie camp invites do not always lead to contract offers, of course. Still, some players seize the opportunity and turn it into something more, like Arber Xhekaj, who was undrafted but forced the Canadiens to offer him an ELC in October 2021.

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Despite the Montreal Canadiens desperately in need of depth forwards and scoring, they have remained very patient in negotiations with former St. Louis Blues first-round pick Zachary Bolduc.

Bolduc was dealt to the Canadiens last off-season in a one-for-one deal that sent Logan Mailloux to the Blues.

Both 23-year-olds have had up-and-down seasons, but they occurred at different points. For Mailloux, the season started very poorly and resulted in a brief stint in the AHL. Upon returning, Mailloux was a different player and locked down a role on the top pairing alongside Philip Broberg. 

The goal for Mailloux is to start the season strong and prove that he is worthy of keeping his role on the top pairing.

For Bolduc, he started his Habs career with a bang, scoring in three consecutive games and finding time on the top line and top power play unit. That scorching start faded relatively quickly, resulting in a 12-goal, 30-point season in 78 games.

Both his goals and points were down from his previous season with the Blues, where he posted 19 goals and 36 points in 72 games. 

In the playoffs, Bolduc's ice time dipped further down to 11:23, compared to the 13:38 he averaged during the regular season. 

Is Blues' Logan Mailloux Entering Make-Or-Break Territory?Logan Mailloux was among the best players on the St. Louis Blues during the final third of the 2025-26 NHL regular season, but he must show he can do it for a full campaign, or he risks entering make-or-break territory.

But despite his inconsistencies, Bolduc has the tools to be an effective middle-six winger, capable of bringing a physical edge and winning his minutes. With players like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov leading the front lines, and soon-to-be-added Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky, the Habs need players like Bolduc who will bring depth scoring while understanding their role.

The expectation remains that Bolduc and the Canadiens come to an agreement before the season starts, but the clock is ticking.

"I'd love to play in Montreal for several seasons," said Bolduc to RDS. "But on the other hand, management has to make their own decisions too. Like I said, I'm not going to get ahead of myself on anything, but I trust my agent on that end and I'm confident that good things are coming."

The Canadiens have been almost scarily quiet this off-season. Could that mean a bigger move is on the horizon, and Bolduc could be going the other way? Time will tell, but what remains is that Bolduc will be a solid winger for any NHL club. 

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In one of the 2025 offseason’s biggest surprises, the Anaheim Ducks parted ways with then-head coach Greg Cronin after just two seasons on the job and improving by 21 points in the NHL standings between years one and two.

Less than one month later, the Ducks hired the second-winningest head coach in NHL history, Joel Quenneville, with a mandate to qualify for the 2026 playoffs. With Quenneville inserted behind the bench, the Ducks achieved their goal, improving from 80 points in 2024-25 to 92 in 2025-26 and finishing third in the Pacific Division.

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Anaheim won their opening round of the playoffs against the defending Western Conference Champion Edmonton Oilers in six games but were defeated in the second round by the eventual Conference Champion Vegas Golden Knights, again in six games.

After finishing among the final eight teams in the NHL playoffs, the Ducks are expected to build off their performance and continue their evolution into sustainable Cup contenders. With several of their young players having solidified themselves as NHL stars and foundational pieces, coupled with veteran experience on the roster, the Ducks’ contending window could be considered presently open.

The Ducks were unable to make many significant moves to improve the roster in the 2026 offseason due to sudden, unexpected salary cap constraints and parting with several key roster pieces such as Mason McTavish, Jacob Trouba, John Carlson, Radko Gudas, and Olen Zellweger.

Quenneville (67) will have his work cut out for him in the upcoming 2026-27 season to build on his club’s efforts from a year ago and return to the playoffs while continuing to develop the Ducks’ core and secondary young pieces.

An interesting wrinkle to Quenneville’s short tenure thus far in Anaheim is the fact that he’s now on an expiring contract, per reporting from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

To Anaheim, Quenneville brought with him a resume that included 1768 games as an NHL head coach, 969 wins, three Stanley Cup rings, and (to some) a stained reputation due to his role in the scandal surrounding the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks.

He’ll be 68 years old when the 2026-27 season starts. The upcoming season will be his 27th as an NHL head coach, he’s now the second head coach in history to eclipse the 1000-win mark, and his reputation seems to have rebounded as much as it possibly could have. The questions now become: how much longer does he want to coach? And what more does he have to prove?

Quenneville brought the Ducks back to the playoffs on the backs of a young core that includes Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Jackson LaCombe, and Lukas Dostal, and in theory, they’ll only continue to grow and improve. However, expectations of truly competing for a Stanley Cup seem multiple years down the road, beyond the length of Quenneville’s current contract, at least.

It’s clear Quenneville’s passion for the sport and coaching remains. To the Ducks locker room and bench, he’s brought an even-keeled demeanor throughout the highs and lows of an 82 (soon to be 84) game schedule, but he also outwardly displays fiery emotions behind the bench, “going to bat” for his players and pressing proper buttons when needed.

For the most part, he’s done well to nurture and guide his most talented young roster players, coaching them through and eventually erasing predictable mistakes while allowing them to grow and flourish on their own without fear of elongated time on the bench or healthy scratches. That area of his coaching prowess will continue to be ever-important in the upcoming season, where the Ducks will rely on an even greater influx of youth on the roster in prominent roles.

Quenneville has a lot left to give the Ducks organization and roster as their head coach, and with another successful season, it can be expected that a contract extension would be on the horizon. However, at the start of the 2026-27 season, he’ll be the second-oldest in the NHL, three years younger than Rick Bowness of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he’d be 69 years old at the start of his potential new contract. The Anaheim job seems to be his as long as he wants it, especially if he repeats or improves on the successes of a year ago.

The Ducks are in a position of luxury, as despite the ever-circulating NHL head coaching carousel, they maintained the services of their offense/power play assistant coach and one of the most sought-after candidates for the past two summers: Jay Woodcroft.

In less than three seasons as the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, Woodcroft was let go after posting a 79-41-13 record and three NHL playoff series wins. With two seasons in the Ducks organization and a deep familiarity with the roster, Woodcroft seems the heir apparent if Quenneville were to call it a career or exit for greener pastures following the upcoming season.

The Hockey News ranked Quenneville as the NHL’s fifth-best current head coach, and the work he’s done to overhaul the systems, on-ice philosophy, and off-ice philosophy in Anaheim cannot be understated. His current contract is yet another layer to yet another all-important transition season for the Anaheim Ducks franchise in 2026-27.

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Connor Hellebuyck has fallen one spot in the NHL Network’s annual ranking of the league’s top goaltenders.

But by the time the Winnipeg Jets open training camp in less than a month, where he ranks might be considerably less important than where he physically is.

Whether he will remain the Jets' No. 1 backstop much longer is the million-dollar question.

NHL Network unveiled its annual list of the league's top goaltenders this week, with Tampa Bay Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy overtaking Hellebuyck for the No. 1 position.

Hellebuyck, who topped the list one year ago, fell just one spot to second, ahead of Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin and Jeremy Swayman.

On its own, the change isn't particularly surprising.

Hellebuyck endured one of the most difficult statistical seasons of his NHL career in 2025-26, going 23-23-11 with a 2.86 goals-against average and career-worst .895 save percentage.

Vasilevskiy, meanwhile, captured his second Vezina Trophy after going 39-15-4 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .912 save percentage for Tampa Bay.

But Hellebuyck's placement at No. 2 is another reminder of the enormous question hanging over Winnipeg with training camp now less than a month away.

The Jets have one of the two best goaltenders in the NHL, according to NHL Network. They just don't know whether he'll be there when camp opens.

Hellebuyck's future has remained uncertain since Winnipeg's disappointing 2025-26 season came to an end.

The 33-year-old made no secret of his frustration following a year in which the Jets missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs, just one season removed from winning the Presidents' Trophy.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff later acknowledged publicly that the Jets were willing to listen to trade offers for their longtime starter, although he stopped short of saying Hellebuyck had formally requested a trade.

The situation has gone relatively quiet since the NHL Draft and opening of free agency, but that shouldn't necessarily be mistaken for a resolution.

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman recently reported that there has been little movement on the Hellebuyck front of late, while maintaining his belief that the three-time Vezina Trophy winner will eventually be traded.

There also remains an expectation around the situation that Hellebuyck may not be present when the Jets gather for training camp next month.

That would turn what has largely been an offseason storyline into an immediate problem for Winnipeg.

The Jets have already provided themselves with some insurance in goal.

Winnipeg signed Stuart Skinner to a two-year, $7.5-million contract on July 1, giving the club an experienced NHL starter should Hellebuyck ultimately be moved. A move that Skinner surely wouldn't sign up for if he anticipated serving solely as Hellebuyck's backup (15-20 games a season maximum) for the next two years.

Oh, and Skinner also shares an agent with Hellebuyck and former Jets backup Eric Comrie. So he clearly has some inside info on the situation. 

Cheveldayoff has maintained that Hellebuyck's uncertain future was not the reason for Skinner's addition and, technically, there is nothing forcing Winnipeg into making a deal.

Hellebuyck has five years remaining on the seven-year, $59.5-million contract he signed with the Jets in October 2023.

That contractual control gives Winnipeg considerably more leverage than it had during the last round of Hellebuyck trade speculation three summers ago, when he was approaching unrestricted free agency.

But there is a difference between having contractual control and having certainty.

The Jets are coming off a 35-35-12 season in which they finished seventh in the Central Division. They have made changes around the edges of the roster this summer and have repeatedly maintained that the goal remains to win.

Doing so becomes considerably more difficult without Hellebuyck.

Even following the worst statistical season of his career, NHL Network still considers him the second-best goaltender in the sport. One year earlier, Hellebuyck captured both the Hart and Vezina trophies after a remarkable 2024-25 campaign.

Across his back-to-back Vezina-winning seasons, Hellebuyck went 84-31-7 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

That is not a player Winnipeg can simply subtract and expect to replace. It also justifies why Cheveldayoff can afford to remain patient.

If the Jets ultimately move their franchise goaltender, the return will need to help reshape a roster that still intends to compete. Winnipeg has long sought additional help among its top-six forwards, and a Hellebuyck trade represents its most significant opportunity to acquire an impact player (preferably a centreman) without entering a full-scale rebuild.

The difficulty is finding a team with the need, cap flexibility and assets required to make such a massive deal work.

For now, Hellebuyck remains a Winnipeg Jet. On paper, anyway.

NHL Network's latest ranking confirms that his standing among the game's elite hasn't disappeared after one down season.

Whether the No. 2 goaltender in hockey actually takes the ice with the Jets when training camp opens is another matter entirely.

But for those keeping score back home, Hellebuyck has been wearing his Winnipeg Jets branded practice gear while skating during the offseason back home in Michigan. And to no surprise his Lake of the Woods Sports Headquarters outdoors gear.

Does it mean anything substantial? No. But it doesn't scream, "I'm ditching this place forever," either.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have 44 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today we look at the history of jersey #44. 

Let's take a look.

Rostislav Klesla - 2001-2004 - Klesla was drafted 4th overall in the 2000 NHL Draft.

Klesla's scouting report went like this: "Klesla is a very physical, defensive defenseman. Has solid hockey sense and positional skills. Doesn't score as many points as he possibly could. Also, he is rather prone to injury." Despite that last part about injuries, former GM Doug MacLean drafted Klesla at #4 anyway.

Klesla made his NHL debut in 2000 before he was sent back to Junior. He would come up in the next season and be there full-time. He would then go on to play in 515 games for the Jackets over the course of 10 seasons. On February 28, 2011, he was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes and played the next four years. 

In 2014, he would return to his home country of Czechia and play the next two years for HC Oceláři Třinec. After a four-year break from playing to coach for HC Vítkovice, he would play a season in Czechia's fourth-tier league before finally retiring. 

Peter Sarno - 2006 - Sarno was drafted in the 6th round of the 1997 NHL Draft by Edmonton

Sarno played a single game for the Blue Jackets during the 2005-06 season. He also played 39 games for the Syracuse Crunch that season. 

After his year with Columbus, he left for Europe, where he would play until 2010. 

Aaron Johnson - 2003-07/2011-12 - Johnson was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

Johnson played 172 games for the Jackets over two stints. Scouts said of Johnson was "A puck-moving defenseman, Johnson is a very good skater. Has good offensive instincts and can quarterback the power play. Can play a tough and physical game. Needs to improve his play in his own end."

During his time with Columbus, he also spent three years with the AHL Syracuse Crunch, where he had 73 points in those three seasons. 

In 2016, he left North America and signed on with Adler Mannheim of the DEL in Germany. He then left for England, where he played for the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL. In 2021, he became a Player-Asst. Coach for a season.

He came back home to Columbus in 2021 and joined the Jackets as a Team Consultant. He's been the Team Relations Specialist for the Jackets for a few seasons now. 

Aaron Rome - 2008 - Rome was drafted by the LA Kings in the 2002 NHL Draft. 

Rome played 25 games over the course of two seasons for Columbus after being traded from the Ducks on November 15, 2007. He totaled 1 goal and 3 points. He spent most of his time in Syracuse that season, playing 41 games. Rome would leave for the Vancouver Canucks in the summer of 2009 as a free agent. Rome would retire in 2014. 

Rome went on to spend three seasons as a skills coach for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. 

Grant Clitsome - 2010 - Clitsome was drafted in the 9th round of the 2004 NHL Draft by the CBJ.

Clitsome played in 93 games and had 36 points for Columbus. In 2012, he was placed on waivers in order to be sent to Springfield of the AHL. But he was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets and would play the next three seasons for the Jets. 

He announced his retirement from professional hockey on June 1, 2016, after undergoing back surgery.

Justin Falk - 2015-2016 - Falk was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the 4th round of the 2004 draft.

Falk played 29 games for the Blue Jackets and totaled 6 points.  On March 2, 2015, Falk requested a trade that sent him and a fifth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jordan Leopold.  The following summer in 2016, he would sign with the Buffalo Sabres. 

After retiring in 2019, Falk went into coaching and is a scout for the Sabres.

Taylor Chorney - 2018 - Edmonton drafted Chorney in the second round of the 2005 draft.

Chorney would play a single game for Columbus after being picked up on waivers on February 21, 2018. After that one game, he left for Europe, where he played until 2021. He retired after the 2021 season. 

Vladislav Gavrikov - 2019-2022 - Gavrikov was drafted in the 6th round of the 2015 NHL Draft. 

Gavrikov played 256 games for the Jackets over 4 seasons. He totaled 15 goals and 73 points. Gavrikov is widely considered one of the best late-round picks to ever play for the Jackets, despite his short time in Columbus. He played great defense and would always seem to show up on the scoreboard. 

After he signed a three-year, $8.4 million contract extension with the Blue Jackets in November of 2020, former GM Jarmo Kekäläinen decided to trade Gavrikov to the LA Kings in March of 2023. A decision that a lot of CBJ fans hated and wondered why it happened. Kekäläinen knew Gavrikov was going to want a hefty raise and didn't want to pay him. 

Gavrikov signed a two-year extension with LA just a couple of months after the trade. In the summer of 2025, Gavrikov would get his big contract. He signed a 7-year, $49 million deal with the New York Rangers, which will take him into his mid-30s. 

Erik Gudbranson - 2023-2025 - Gudbranson was drafted 3rd overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers. 

Gudbranson is more than just a defenseman; he's a protector and intimidator. Gudbranson rarely fights but will when he has to. Mainly, he'll just stare at guys until they back down from him. 

Gudbranson just finished a 4-year deal he signed with Columbus back in July of 2022. He has played 201 games and has 46 points. Despite his final two seasons with Columbus being riddled with injuries, Gudbranson was re-signed to a one-year contract for the 26-27 season. 

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On Monday, exciting news dropped ahead of the release of the newest entry in the EA Sports NHL series, with NHL 27 set to arrive in early September.

The new game brings back several fan-favorite elements, including the return of GM Connected franchise mode, along with more detailed, customized arena presentations across all 32 NHL teams, meaning Canada Life Centre will finally look and feel more like the true home of the Winnipeg Jets.

The bigger headline, though, is that the NHL series is borrowing a concept from other EA Sports franchises like Madden and EA FC. NHL 27 is introducing a 99 Club, reserved for the handful of players considered the very best in the sport, distinguished by a perfect 99 overall rating.

EA announced the first member of that club on Monday with Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who becomes the first player in the history of the NHL video game series to carry a 99 overall.

The news kicked off plenty of speculation, including who might become the first player in Jets history to crack the 99 Club. McDavid is the first to join the list, but more additions are expected to follow, and it would make sense for Winnipeg's superstar goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, to be next in line. 

Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner and a recent Olympic gold medalist, is coming off a season that fell well short of the standard he set in his back-to-back Vezina-winning campaigns. He finished 2025-26 with a 23-23-11 record, a 2.86 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage, a career-worst mark, while trade speculation followed him for much of the summer.

Even so, Hellebuyck has already proven he belongs in 99-overall territory, especially over the two seasons prior, when he won back-to-back Vezina Trophies. During that stretch, he went a combined 84-31-7, posted a 2.19 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage, and led all goaltenders in wins by a wide margin. 

If anyone joins the 99 Club after McDavid, there's a strong case that Hellebuyck will be the next name called.

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The Penguins’ already stacked forward group could be getting even deeper with potential options. Filip Hallander lost most of the 2025-26 season due to a puck strike causing a blood clot in his leg. A translated Swedish interview (shoutout Reddit) gives an update for how he’s doing, titled “Hållander on the tough year: “I thought I’d be doing something else”. We ran it through a google translator so we won’t take every word for gospel, but one can kind of get the general point.

First, he suffered a blood clot in his leg. Then, something was discovered in one of his lungs. Now, Filip Hållander is back on the ice and opening up about the tough year he endured.

“Right then and there, I just felt: ‘Damn, maybe there won’t be any more hockey for me?'” he tells ST. Filip Hållander is back home training with Timrå IK, following a difficult season in the US with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Filip Hållander suffered a blood clot In November 2025, he received the news that he had a blood clot in his leg. He returned in February but managed only a few games in the AHL before being sidelined again.

“I played a few games and picked up some minor issues. We ran some new tests as a precaution. Some of the readings weren’t quite right, and they wanted to play it safe. So, I went back to Pittsburgh for more tests, and that’s when we found something in my lung,” says Hållander.

Exactly what was found in his lung remains unclear, but Filip Hållander feared his hockey career might be over. Today, the 26-year-old is back and 100 percent healthy. Now, he is aiming to secure a spot in the NHL this coming autumn.

“I have one final test when I get there, since I haven’t taken medication for a while, but after that, everything should be fine. Then there’s a month of hard training before camp starts. My goal is to earn a spot and be a key player. After everything I’ve been through this past year, I find it hard to imagine anyone more motivated than me to step out onto the ice,” Hållander says firmly.

This article also goes to give a little explanation for what happened last season. The blood clot treatment routine involves a 90-day cycle of blood thinner medication that takes a person out of a contact sport like hockey, but careful side-training can be conducted while on that treatment. When that first course of medicine was completed to treat the clot, Hallander was eventually cleared to go to Wilkes-Barre and play three games on a rehab stint in the AHL.

After that, Hallander came back from the AHL but quietly was phased down and the Penguins never had much of a substantive comment about his status. From this interview, it seems some complication in the lung was discovered. Obviously that’s never a good thing, and part of what has ended careers for players like Pascal Dupuis (and Chris Bosh in the NBA, though his condition wasn’t caused via injury). Hallander’s season was more or less quietly shutdown at that point with the emergence of the complication, we now have a little more information on exactly what it was.

A blood clot isn’t always a career-ender for high-level sport stars, players like Chris Kreider, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brock Boeser and Kimmo Timonen have gone onto enjoy long careers after dealing with the issue.

Hallander will hope to join that list, but boy it’s going to be a tough climb to get there based on numbers alone. Ironically it could take injuries (to teammates this time) to help clear the path for Hallander to get some NHL games this season. It’s a long year, the Penguins do tend to use a lot of forwards so it is likely Hallander will get a crack at playing time at some point during the season. It would be a great story if he comes all the way back.

This month period could be crunch time, Hallander will need a strong final month of the offseason to prepare. The numbers the Pens have mean there are limited spots right now for a ton of forwards in the realm of the Justin Brazeau, Hendrix Lapierre, Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Ville Koivunen level. In what could be good news for Hallander, as Kyle Dubas has said, the Penguins do like competition and they proved last year they would keep young players who earned it.

Last training camp broke with Ben Kindel, Harrison Brunicke and even Hallander himself on the NHL opening night roster with veterans veterans that didn’t quite have it in Danton Heinen, Valtteri Puustinen and Ryan Graves getting waived and sent to the AHL for the start of the year. The numbers alone make it an uphill climb, and Hallander’s performance to edge out similarly-skilled players is to be determined as well, but the team certainly wouldn’t be upset about another strong performer joining the ranks next month and helping to push the rest of the club to find our who the best bets to keep around will be.

After a tough and uncertain 2025-26, it could be seen as a victory enough that Hallander’s even back in the conversation.

Although it is the middle of August, there are still a good amount of unrestricted free agents (UFA) left. 

A former Montreal Canadiens defenseman is among them, as Jeff Petry is still not signed at this stage of the summer. 

Petry remaining a free agent comes after he split this past season between the Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild. In 67 games last season, he recorded nine assists, 65 blocks, and 66 hits. This was after he posted one goal and eight points in 44 games with the Detroit Red Wings in 2024-25.

Teams looking for more defensive depth and experience could consider taking a chance on Petry. He could be a serviceable pickup for an NHL club as an extra defenseman.

With that, it would be understandable if we saw Petry land a professional tryout (PTO) agreement with an NHL club before training camp. That is assuming that the 38-year-old blueliner wants to continue his career, of course. 

Petry spent eight of his 16 NHL seasons with the Canadiens, where he recorded 70 goals, 178 assists, 248 points, and 1,072 hits in 508 games. It will be interesting to see he can land a new home before the start of the season from here. 

Russian winger Mikhail Ilyin climbs into the Top 10 ahead his fourth year with the Penguins organization as PensBurgh’s annual Top 25 Under 25 countdown continues.

Catch up on the previous entries for this year:

Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25: Graduates and Departed players in 2025
Top 25 Under 25: The best of the rest
#25: Chase Pietila, D
#24: Ryan Miller
#23: Finn Harding
#22: Peyton Kettles
#21: Zam Plante
#21: Brady Peddle
#20: Melvin Fernstrom
#19: Tanner Howe
#18: Tomas Galvas
#17: Pierce Mbuyi
#16: Jake Livanavage
#15: Owen Pickering
#14: Tristan Broz
#13: Avery Hayes
#12: Ville Koivunen
#11: Hendrix Lapierre
#10: Markus Ruck

#9: Mikhail Ilyin, RW/LW

2025 Ranking: No. 14

Age: 21 (February 15, 2005)

Acquired Via: 2023 NHL Draft, 5th round, 142nd overall

Height/Weight: 6’3”, 191 pounds

Elite Prospects resume:

Ilyin is the top remaining player in Dubas’ first draft with the Penguins back in 2023 now that Brayden Yager and Emil Pieniniemi are no longer with the organization.

After seeing his ice time and production steadily increase over his three full seasons in the KHL, Ilyin got his first chance to make a major impact in North America during Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s playoff run.

Ilyin signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins last May before rejoining the Severstal Cherepovets, for which he recorded a career-high 14 goals and 44 points through 68 games in Russia’s top league.

He was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after Severstal was eliminated from the first round of the KHL playoffs.

A backhand-wraparound in OT! Wow, Mikhail Ilyin! pic.twitter.com/ABY0Naw4mz

— KHL (@khl_eng) January 21, 2026

Ilyin contributed in his AHL debut with a secondary assist on Atley Calvert’s goal against the Bridgeport Islanders.

He recorded seven points (one goal, six assists) in his first seven Calder Cup Playoff games.

Often while playing on a line with Tristen Broz and Ville Koivunen, Ilyin went on to tie Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty for second in the team scoring race with nine points (two goals, seven assists) across 15 playoff games.

His playmaking and speed were evident while setting up some key goals for his teammates during the Baby Penguins’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Calvie sends it home!

Donzo hits 40 points with the assist, and Mikhaïl Ilyin collects his first AHL point with the secondary! pic.twitter.com/ZnIcnnAvfg

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 10, 2026

Ilyin’s first goal in North America is a big one!! pic.twitter.com/QbGX05kMjP

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) May 5, 2026

BROZER STRIKES EARLY IN THE SECOND pic.twitter.com/NornaXVXwx

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) May 15, 2026

Mikhail Ilyin gets Game 5 of #WBSvsTOR started👀@WBSPenguins | #CalderCup

📺💻📲: https://t.co/xslzIvekI0pic.twitter.com/swOR6tmxY6

— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) June 6, 2026

Ilyin, who turned 21 in February, already established himself as one of the most productive young wingers in the KHL.

Ranking as one of Wilkes/Barre’s top playmakers during the team’s postseason run indicated he could be ready to make a full-time move to the AHL next season.

As McGroarty told King Jemison of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Ilyin during Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s playoff run, “He makes plays that I don’t even see when I’m watching from the bench.”

Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza said last year the organization expected Ilyin to come to the AHL in 2026, although director of player development Tom Kostopolous noted around the same time Ilyin would need to work on his skating first.

That improvement was seemingly visible in Wilkes/Barre’s playoff run, during which Ilyin was at times one of the fastest players on the ice.

There isn’t a clear path to Ilyin making a jump to the NHL in the near future because of the Penguins’ logjam at forward.

After signing Koivunen to an eight-year deal, the Penguins currently don’t have any immediate spots available for roster hopefuls like McGroarty, Broz, Avery Hayes or Ilyin.

Whether the Penguins make any more moves this offseason will impact the likelihood any of these AHL forwards get called up to the NHL at the start of the season. Until then, Ilyin could expect to start the second campaign of his entry-level deal in Wilkes/Barre.

The start of the NHL season is now just 44 days away, and as we inch closer to puck drop, we’ll take a closer look at each of the Montreal Canadiens’ players and what’s to be expected from them this season. We’ve already covered Nick Suzuki, Kaiden Guhle, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Phillip Danault, Jayden Struble, Cole Caufield, Oliver Kapanen, and Alex Newhook, so today we’ll look at 30-year-old centerman Jake Evans.

Evan will be playing the second year of a four-year contract extension, which carries a $2.85 million cap hit per season. After putting up 36 points in 82 games in his contract year (0.44 points per game), Evans put up 24 points in 68 games last season (0.35 PPG). After playing in all 82 games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, the right-shot pivot was forced to miss four weeks of action after sustaining a knee injury in a December 20 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins when he was the victim of a knee-on-knee collision with Justin Brazeau. Thankfully for the Canadiens, they acquired Danault from the Los Angeles Kings earlier that day.

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Canadiens Can Forget About Hage, For Now

Evans is and has always been a good depth forward for the Habs; when he finds himself playing on the top six, you know things aren’t going according to plan. While he will tell you that he doesn’t mind playing on the top six and that the way he plays doesn’t change when he does so, it’s easy to see that he doesn’t have the offensive instinct and the finishing touch of a real top-six NHL player. He did remarkably well in the postseason, playing alongside Demidov and Newhook, gathering 10 points in 19 games, but don’t expect him to start the season in that spot.

After scoring 22 goals in his rookie season, Kapanen should be given every opportunity to pick up where he left off when he “hit a wall” in the second part of the season, as often happens with rookies. As a result, Evans is likely to land on the third or fourth line, depending on how things play out at training camp. He will be battling it out with Danault for the third-line center role, and he should logically come out on top. Evans still has another two years on his contract, while the 33-year-old Danault is entering the final year of his.

When the Canadiens are a contending team, Evans should be on the fourth line with Kapanen patrolling the third line and Michael Hage pivoting the second line. Since Hage is unlikely to join the Habs until the very end of the season, the Toronto, Ontario native should spend at least another season on the third line, given that he’s likely to still be around for another two seasons, unlike Danault.

As always, Evans will be playing a key role on the penalty kill, but Danault should still be the one tasked with the end-of-game, lead-protecting missions alongside Suzuki, just like he was in the playoffs; that’s how Martin St-Louis will be able to provide both Evans and Danault with sufficient ice time.

It’s hard to project how many points Evans will be able to put up, as his role, providing everything goes according to plan with the Canadiens, should be more of a defensive one, but anything around 30 would be satisfying if he stays in the bottom six.

Last season, he had his best year faceoff percentage-wise, winning 55.9% of his draws, and that’s one area where he’ll be expected to keep on improving or, at the very least, remain as efficient. As the young Habs progress, his role should diminish, but since Hage opted to return to the NCAA for another year, Evans has another year to play an important role.

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