What started as an opportunity for the Philadelphia Flyers to change the narrative on their awful season ended in brief but noticeable chants for the club to fire head coach Rick Tocchet, following an uninspired 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes that set a most undesirable franchise record.

Now 0-5-2 with no silver lining or signs of hope, Tocchet's Flyers are now winless through their first seven games of the season, marking the first such instance in franchise history.

This would be a different story, contextually, if the Flyers kept each of those seven losses close, but the two overtime losses are disservices to how badly New Jersey and Carolina outplayed them in those games.

The reality is that, outside of the 2-1 loss to Ottawa on Thursday night, the Flyers have been smacked around the rink on a nightly basis. Effort and "compete" have been constant talking points discussed by the players, Tocchet, and even general manager Danny Briere himself.

That shouldn't happen two weeks into a season, if at all, and it follows a season where the Flyers made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

As much blame as the players should get, as the ones playing the game, equal blame should fall on the shoulders of the coaching staff and front office.

For instance, prospect defenseman Oliver Bonk, who played on Saturday night for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, was called up and immediately pressed to action, getting a jarring wake-up call having to play against the Hurricanes on Sunday.

Placed on the top defense pairing next to Travis Sanheim, the pair was torched for three of the Hurricanes' four goals, with Bonk also getting whistled for two penalties in the first period.

With Helge Grans still on the roster, it was just plain unnecessary to throw Bonk to the wolves in the manner the Flyers did, even if they do feel he deserves to play games for them going forward.

David Jiricek had given the power play some spark, aiding the team to man-advantage goals in two straight games, but the Flyers again went 0-for-3 against the Hurricanes. The Flyers make scoring goals in the NHL look like a miraculous feat, and their defending and shot suppression are virtually non-existent.

Outside of Joseph Woll, who was in net for all four Hurricanes goals on Sunday, there is not a single bright spot for the Flyers through their first seven games, and that is not hyperbole.

At some point, the Flyers are going to feel even more pressure to make a significant, meaningful change that goes beyond the faint "Fire Tocchet" chants heard hurtling down from the few remaining fans in the building on Sunday night.

Flyers fans are chanting "Fire Tocchet" as the arena is clearing out.

— Haley Taylor Simon (@Haleytsimon) October 12, 2026

Signing Michael Bunting to play him 11:39 a game isn't one of those moves, but it is a move that took NHL reps away from a young Alex Bump, who is supposed to be an important prospect for this team.

And Bump has two goals and an assist in his two games for the Phantoms since returning to the AHL, for what that's worth.

Somehow, some way, the Flyers have to do something, because carrying on like this clearly is not working.

If they don't, they'll subject their building block veterans and youngsters to another losing, meaningless season, which will assuredly have downstream effects when it comes to wanting to compete for a Stanley Cup in the future.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jared McCann broke a tie with 5:27 left and the Seattle Kraken overcame NHL career leader Alex Ovechkin’s first goal of the season to beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Sunday night.

Jordan Eberle, Frederick Gaudreau, Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Winterton also scored to help the Kraken improve to 4-2-0. Joey Daccord stopped 33 shots.

On the deciding goal, McCann cut to the middle and beat goalie Logan Thompson on a quick shot. Ryan Winterton iced it with 2:40 left.

Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner also scored for Washington as the Capitals dropped to 3-2-0. Thompson made 22 saves.

After back-to-back penalty kills, Seattle got off to a quick start, with Kakko sneaking in a rebound just 6:06 minutes into the game.

The Capitals responded with two goals in a 5:06 span. First, Kyrou buried a cross-ice feed from Cole Hutson for his first with Washington. Then, after a strong forecheck and forced turnover from brothers Aliaksei and Ilya Protas, Ovechkin got the puck alone in front and sniped a quick shot past Daccord for his 930th NHL goal.

RANGERS 6, CANUCKS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Ty Kartye and Will Cuylle scored two goals each and Dylan Garand made 19 saves as New York beat Vancouver in their first game since losing goaltender Igor Shesterkin for the season with a knee injury.

Kartye snapped a 2-2 tie with his second goal of the game at 18:25 of the second period and the Rangers went on to win their fourth straight at home to start the season.

Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault also scored for the Rangers, while J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists.

Kartye opened the scoring 27 seconds into the contest. Vancouver’s Jake DeBrusk tied it at 17:04 of the first before Cuylle put New York ahead with his first at 2:09 of the second.

Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson scored short-handed at 16:56 of the second to tie the contest again before Kartye’s go-ahead goal.

Lafreniere extended New York’s lead to 4-2 with his team-leading fifth of the season on the power play at 1:04 of the third. Perreault made it 5-2 at 5:57. Cuylle scored again with less than five minutes to play.

HURRICANES 4, FLYERS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho each had a goal and an assist and Carolina beat Philadelphia, handing the Flyers their franchise-record seventh straight loss to open the season.

Flyers rookie defenseman Oliver Bonk had a rough second period in his season debut and was a factor in three Carolina goals.

Svecnhikov scored his fourth goal of the season at 10:16 of the second period to open the scoring. Bonk turned it over to former Flyer Sean Walker at the blue line, and Walker fed Svechnikov, who skated into the slot and snapped a wrister past goalie Joseph Woll.

Aho fed a pass through Bonk, who turned around at the side of his own net, to another former Flyer, Shayne Gostisbehere, who banged home his second goal of the season to make it 2-0. Both of Gostisbehere’s goals this season have come against his former team.

Aho later netted his sixth goal of the season on a pass from William Carrier. Svechnikov stripped Own Tippett in the neutral zone and fed Carrier, who blew past Bonk and slid the pass to Aho, who had an open net to shoot and score the Hurricanes’ third goal.

There is something to be said about the way the Rangers have responded in the face of adversity so far this season. 

Last season’s Blueshirts crumbled nearly every time a game got hard, revealing a debilitating mental fragility in the wake of any game-tying goals against, erroneous officiating or their own costly turnovers. 

So far in this new campaign, however, the Rangers have done just the opposite. 

After hearing the most devastating injury news possible about star goalie Igor Shesterkin, who will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, these Rangers took a 6-2 win over the struggling Canucks despite giving up an equalizing short-handed goal late in the second period. 

“This is a situation I feel like not a lot needs to be said,” captain J.T. Miller said Sunday morning. “Everybody in here knows what needs to be done. Everybody’s got to pull a little more weight around here. I said the other night: [Shesterkin] is one of the pillars of our organization and this hockey team and a leader for us. It’s devastating to lose a guy like him, outside of how elite he is as a goalie. … There’s a lot to be pulled from every guy in here right now to make up for what we’re losing.” 

It’s been a couple of years since the Rangers were described as resilient, but there have been flashes of the trait this season. 

After the Rangers gave up two second-period goals to tie the Oct. 6 game against the Islanders, Mika Zibanejad said it himself that last year’s team probably would’ve collapsed in that position. 

Not this time. Not this year. Not if the Rangers and their intentions for the season have anything to say about it. 

Similarly to that Isles game last week, the effort by the Rangers never faltered after the momentum swung in favor of the Canucks following a short-handed goal from Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson. In fact, the home team was able to respond before the period was even over, just as it did against the Islanders. 

It would’ve flatlined the Rangers in the past, but Tye Kartye recorded his second goal of the night off a beautiful shot from the left circle to regain a 3-2 lead for his team. 

“I think there’s a maturity to this group,” head coach Mike Sullivan said after the win. “I think these guys, they haven’t lost any level of enthusiasm. I think they believe in the team game that we’re trying to build here.” 

Rookie goalie Dylan Garand, who took the ice as the Rangers starting goalie for the foreseeable future, rebounded as well. Stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced, Garand has limited every opposing team he’s faced to two goals or fewer over his six NHL games. 

The Rangers scored three more times in the third period while limiting the visitors to just four shots on goal, continuing a trend of dominance in third periods that’s beginning to develop. 

“I feel like all the games we’ve been playing a pretty good 60 minutes, for the most part,” said Will Cuylle, who scored his first two goals of the season. “I feel like it helps, too, that’s the first first-period goal we’ve given up all year.” 

Birthday boy Alexis Lafrenière, who turned 25, kicked off his new second-line assignment with a slick pass in the neutral zone to spring Miller for a partial 2-on-1 opportunity with Kartye. Miller extended his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists) as Kartye buried the rebound off his shot to put the Rangers up 27 seconds into the game. 

Sullivan said he was hesitant to swap Lafrenière and Pavel Dorofeyev since both lines in the top six have looked good so far, but the Kartye-Miller-Dorofeyev unit wasn’t finding the back of the net. 

“It seemed to work on the very first shift,” Sullivan said with a smile. “I think when you look at the growth of Laf’s game, Laf is creating offense in numerous ways now. He’s multidimensional. He creates off the rush. You can see what he does off the rush. But his down-low game and hanging on pucks and creating offense from below the goal line, I think that aspect of his game has really grown.” 

The Vancouver Canucks fell 6-2 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Jake DeBrusk scored his third of the season while defenceman Elias Pettersson found the back of the net shorthanded. As for Kevin Lankinen, he allowed six goals on 25 shots and finished the night with a save percentage of .760. 

Sunday's matchup was close until the third period. New York scored three times in the final frame, which pushed their one-goal lead at the second intermission into a four-goal advantage. Ultimately, the Canucks looked like they ran out of gas in the third, as they were outshot 10-4 in the final frame by the Rangers. 

"Obviously, when you start a game down 1-0 30 seconds in, it is not an ideal start," said Manny Malhotra post-game. "The resiliency we showed throughout the course of the period just to get ourselves back into it. In the second, I felt we started to swing the momentum at them. Just didn't sustain it long enough to have a lasting impact."

The biggest storyline from this game was the play of Lankinen. He allowed six goals for the third time this year and was caught out of position several times. Even though this team is in a rebuild where wins and losses are not the most important thing, this team needs to get better goaltending from Lankinen so they do not have to try to outscore their issues on a nightly basis. 

This game was not all doom and gloom, as Pettersson, or D-Petey, had a strong performance. He was tied for the team lead with four hits and, as mentioned, scored shorthanded. Pettersson looks to be taking positive steps from a development perspective, which is good news for the rebuild. 

As for the other feel-good story, Guillaume Brisebois returned to the NHL for the first time since January 11, 2025. The 29-year-old was able to fill the stat sheet as he recorded two shots, two hits, a blocked shot and a penalty. Although he struggled defensively at times, it is nice to see Brisebois getting chances in the NHL after all the injuries he's dealt with over the years. 

Ultimately, there are plenty of learning lessons Manny Malhotra and his staff can take away from this game. Vancouver's defensive coverage was all over the place at times while the team failed to create any form of pushback in the third period. With three more games on this road trip, the Canucks will need to regroup quickly if they want to avoid a lengthy losing streak. 

Stats and Facts:

• Defenceman Elias Pettersson records his first career shorthand goal
• Canucks are the first team this year to allow 30 goals against
• Vancouver has been outscored 17-5 through three games of this current six-game road trip
• Elias Pettersson and Elias Pettersson led the Canucks in hits with four each

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

00:27- NYR: Tye Kartye (1) from J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafrenière

17:04- VAN: Jake DeBrusk (3) from Jonathan Lekkerimäki

2nd Period:

2:09- NYR: Will Cuylle (1) from Noah Laba

16:56- VAN: Elias Pettersson (2) from Brendan Gallagher and Drew O'Connor (SHG)

18:25- NYR: Tye Kartye (2) from J.T. Miller and Vladislav Gavrikov

3rd Period:

1:04- NYR: Alexis Lafrenière (5) from Gabe Perreault and Mika Zibanejad (PPG)

5:57- NYR: Gabe Perreault (3) from Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad

15;22- NYR: Will Cuylle (2) from Eeli Tolvanen and Braden Schneider

Up Next: 

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In their first five games of the NHL’s 2026-27 season, the Buffalo Sabres have lost three games – all in regulation time – by a combined score of 14-4. And in their past two games – both defeats at the hands of the Dallas Stars and Utah Mammoth – the Sabres have been outscored 8-1. It doesn’t take an advanced analytics expert to recognize that Buffalo’s offense is not getting the job done in the ‘O’ zone.

And if you go through the list of the Sabres’ point producers, you see very quickly that a slew of veterans need to ratchet up their offensive numbers, and they need to do it in a hurry.

For instance: star center Josh Norris has exactly one point in five games. So does center Ryan McLeod, and so does star winger Zach Benson. These three players combined to produce 131 points in 190 games last season, so they’re clearly capable of generating more offense.

But Norris, Benson and McLeod at least have gotten onto the scoresheet in one game this season. You can’t say the same for Josh Doan, Justin Danforth and Olen Zellweger. Danforth and Zellweger haven’t played the full five games, but Doan in particular has been a significant disappointment. We’re talking about a 21-year-old player who had a breakout year for the Sabres last season, posting 25 goals and 52 points in 82 games. So having no points in five games is a major problem for Doan.

It’s no wonder, then, that Buffalo has the sixth-worst offense in the league thus far this year, averaging only 2.20 goals-for per game. Lindy Ruff can’t hop over the boards and produce goals and assists to help the Sabres’ goaltending – and you’d better believe Buffalo’s goalies need all the help they can get.

The Sabres have to figure out a way to produce points, but they won’t come easy. In fact, Buffalo’s next four games come against strong teams – the Montreal Canadiens (twice), Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. Those teams aren’t registered charities, so the Sabres will be up against it trying to drum up offense.

Granted, we’re still talking about a small sample size here. There’s plenty of time for Buffalo to start posting more offense. But if the aforementioned Sabres players fail to get on the scoresheet sometime soon, the repercussions are going to be dramatic.

Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen can’t allow his team to backslide to the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings. So if the Sabres continue to struggle on offense, a notable roster shakeup could be very soon to follow.

Cole Beaudoin skated in his third professional hockey game in three days against the Canucks on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. 

Amid Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury, the Rangers sent Beaudoin to Hartford and recalled Juuso Parssinen on Saturday to maximize their long-term injured reserve pool. Assigning Parssinen to the Rangers roster over Beaudoin added $308,000 to their cap and brought the organization closer to its optimal LTIR capture. 

The new paper transactions rule in the collective bargaining agreement requires players sent down to appear in one game before they are eligible for a recall. 

Beaudoin only took one shift for Hartford on Saturday night, but evidently it was part of the game plan. 

“He played very little,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of Beaudoin before the Rangers beat the Canucks 6-2 at Madison Square Garden. “He’s a young guy. He has tons of energy. He didn’t play very much [Saturday] night, so that was by design. Cole’s a good player. He’s played very well for Hartford to this point. He’s deserving of the opportunity he has with us. We like his potential and where it could go. 

“He’s a young guy; he’s going to make mistakes along the way, but we’ll help him through that process. Overall, we really like his game.” 

The 20-year-old Beaudoin appeared unfazed by his fluctuation between the AHL and NHL. 

Describing the back-and-forth as “crazy,” Beaudoin said he was happy to be back with the varsity group and that he is trying to enjoy the process of it all. He once again centered the Rangers fourth line between Jaroslav Chmelar and Oliver Bjorkstrand. 

In his second NHL game Friday in Washington, the Ottawa native had a “Welcome to the NHL” moment. 

Beaudoin committed the turnover along the wall in the defensive zone that led to Boone Jenner’s game-winning goal in a 3-1 Capitals victory. 

“It’s obviously tough,” he said of the sequence. “You never want to do that, obviously. Coming in your second NHL game, and then you do that, you feel bad for the group and [I] felt really bad, but going out in the third, just kind of trying to wash it down and still have confidence in myself to make plays. 

“Obviously, it’s an unfortunate bounce there, but I have confidence in myself to make plays and know that I’m capable of playing at this level.” 

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The six goals the Rangers scored Sunday night marked a season high. 

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Registering his 287th career power-play point — and his 250th as a Ranger — with an assist on Alexis Lafrenière’s second-period score, Mika Zibanejad became the third Rangers skater in franchise history to do so. 

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The Rangers are scheduled for a day off Monday before returning to game action Tuesday against the Lightning at home. 

The Calgary Flames dropped their fifth straight game to open the season, falling 4-2 to the Anaheim Ducks at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night.

At 0-5-0, the Flames are still searching for their first win, but there were some encouraging signs offensively. Calgary scored a pair of quality goals to battle back into the game before Anaheim pulled away in the second period.

The Ducks brought plenty of offensive firepower into Calgary and made the most of their opportunities. Ryan Lacombe opened the scoring on the power play in the first period before Morgan Frost answered with a highlight-reel goal for the Flames.

Matt Coronato set up Frost with a pass that sent the forward in alone on Ville Husso. Frost made a smooth backhand-to-forehand move before tucking the puck into the net to even the score.

Calgary found itself trailing 2-1 in the second period before Coronato picked up his second assist of the night. Working from behind the Anaheim net, he found Aydar Suniev, who wasted little time getting a shot away from a difficult angle to tie the game.

However, the Ducks responded with goals from Ryan Poehling and Nikita Nesterenko in the third period. Those two markers proved to be the difference as Anaheim held on for the win.

Dustin Wolf stopped 24 of 28 shots for Calgary, but the young goaltender remains in search of his first victory of the season.

Three Takeaways

1. Aydar Suniev Scores First NHL Goal

After scoring three goals during the preseason, Aydar Suniev finally found the back of the net in the regular season. The Flames forward scored his first career NHL goal in his second game since being recalled from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

Suniev showed off his shooting ability and offensive awareness on the play, getting the puck away quickly from a tough angle before Husso could react. It was a positive moment for the young forward as he continues to adjust to the NHL level.

2. Matt Coronato Continues to Produce

Coronato was named the game’s second star after recording two assists against Anaheim. He has been one of Calgary’s more consistent offensive threats through the opening five games, finding ways to create chances even when the results have not always followed.

With two assists on Saturday, Coronato now has three points, one goal and two assists, through five games. As the Flames look to turn their season around, his ability to generate offence will remain important.

3. Dustin Wolf Still Searching for First Win

Wolf remains winless through his first three starts of the season after allowing four goals on 28 shots against Anaheim.

The Flames goaltender has now surrendered 16 goals across those three appearances, posting a 5.42 goals-against average and a .816 save percentage over that span.

Those numbers reflect a difficult opening stretch for both Wolf and the Flames. Calgary will need to find more consistency defensively while giving its goaltender better support as it looks to get into the win column.

The Buffalo Sabres made a major move this off-season when they trade defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks in a multi-player deal.

Byram quickly signed a six-year, $75 million contract extension with the Blackhawks after the trade. With this, he will have a massive $12.5 million cap hit starting next season.

Now, after landing his big payday, Byram is having a nightmare start to his tenure with the Blackhawks.

In five games so far this season with Chicago, the former Sabres defenseman has zero points to go along with a minus-8 rating. With this, there is no question that Byram is not leaving a great first impression with his new team.

While Byram has struggled early on with the Blackhawks, he has plenty of time to heat back up. Sometimes it takes players time to adjust to their new teams when traded, and this could very well end up being the case with Byram. 

Byram spent three seasons with the Sabres from 2023-24 to 2025-26. In 182 games with the Sabres over that span, he posted 21 goals, 68 assists, 89 points, and a plus-25 rating. This included him scoring 11 goals and recording a career-high 42 points in 82 games last season for Buffalo.

Former Montreal Canadiens goalie Jake Allen has reached a very impressive career milestone. 

Allen appeared in his 500th career NHL game in the New Jersey Devils' 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. 

Allen certainly put together a solid performance in his milestone game. This is because the former Canadiens netminder saved 20 out of 21 shots he faced. With this, he finished the contest with a strong .952 save percentage. 

An NHL goalie reaching the 500-game mark is always impressive. Allen has had himself a solid career, and he will now be looking to continue to have success as it carries on. 

In 500 career NHL games split between the St. Louis Blues, Canadiens, and Devils, Allen has a 227-202-45 record, a .907 save percentage, and a 2.75 goals-against average. He also was a member of the Blues' 2019 Stanley Cup winning team. 

Allen spent four seasons with the Canadiens from 2020-21 to 2023-24. In 127 games over that span with Montreal, he posted a 41-68-15 record, an .899 save percentage, and a 3.30 goals-against average.

Kent Hughes began to break the logjam on the left side of the Montreal Canadiens’ blueline on Friday night by sending Jayden Struble to the Nashville Predators. For the last four seasons, Struble had been competing for a roster spot with Arber Xhekaj for the last three seasons and was poised to do it again this season. This time, however, Adam Engstrom had joined the fight, and with Kaiden Guhle ready to jump back into action, something had to give.

Fans have generally welcomed Struble being dealt, even though the 25-year-old sometimes partnered with Lane Hutson; he wasn’t the fan favourite, but Xhekaj and his gritty side were. This past offseason, Xhekaj took some time to sign his new deal, likely because the blueline was so crowded.

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This season, Xhekaj has seen more action in four games, though that's a small sample. In all but one game, he played 12 or more minutes. He’s been used on the penalty kill, and after getting hit with a ten-minute misconduct on Thursday night, he wasn’t benched. Martin St-Louis still used him. Granted, as Lane Hutson said after the game, it was a questionable call, one that might not have happened had he not been called Xhekaj, but still. In game five, he only had 7:30 of ice time, but there were seven defensemen in the lineup, meaning less ice-time to go around. 

The Hamilton native seems to have a longer leash this season, and he might have been craving that last year; at the smallest mistake, he was stapled to the bench. Still, Xhekaj doesn’t see Struble being traded as a vote of confidence from the organization to him:

I don’t look at it that way really. There are still a lot of guys, still a lot of good prospects, so I still have to earn my spot every day, work on my game. I don’t look at it like that.

- Xhekaj on his reality

Xhekaj isn’t wrong; with Guhle back in action, the Canadiens will dress seven defensemen on Saturday night. When the same question was put to St-Louis, the coach found a nifty way to sidestep the question:

Well, yes, I mean, with Strubs [Jayden Struble] we reached a point where we cannot give him what he deserves a bit more. He’s an NHL defenseman, and I think he’ll get a better opportunity to grow his game. He gave us great hockey; he's a great guy, so we wish him the best.

- St-Louis on Struble

He might not have said that Xhekaj has earned a vote of confidence, but the proof is in the pudding: he’s been using the hulking defenseman more than before and whichever way you look at it, he’s still in Montreal while Struble isn’t. When the bench boss was pushed a bit more about Xhekaj, he explained:

I think he’s – Arber gave us some good minutes. He’s helped us on the kill, in managing ice time. I think he can be dangerous in the offensive zone on the right side. He’s got a big one-timer and stuff. So overall, I’ve liked what I’ve seen.

- St-Louis' assessment of Xhekaj's season start

It remains to be seen whether Xhekaj stays in the lineup when the Canadiens revert to a more traditional six-blueliner, 12-forward formation, but so far, so good for the fan favourite.

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Dealing with a rash of untimely injuries and a woeful, winless 0-4-2 start, the Philadelphia Flyers have made more roster moves in search of a spark for the slumping roster.

On the heels of a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers have re-called top defense prospect Oliver Bonk from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

In a corresponding move, the Flyers placed standout winger Travis Konecny on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 8, ruling him out at least a week from that date. Konecny, 29, has three assists this season, and appeared to have suffered an injury late in Thursday night's game against the Ottawa Senators.

On Sunday night, the Flyers will have the tall task of facing the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes without Konecny and top-four defensemen Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen, and the absence of the latter, in particular, creates the opportunity for Bonk to play.

Defenseman Helge Grans, who remained with the NHL club due to his placement on season-opening injured reserve, was given the chance to play against the Bruins on Saturday, but he and veteran defense partner Simon Benoit were distressfully ineffective.

As a result, the Flyers are going to change things up at the position, re-calling a defenseman like Bonk instead of a forward to replace the injured Konecny.

Grans, 24, will have to pass through waivers in order to be re-assigned to the Phantoms should the Flyers elect to send him down.

This will be a bit of a precarious position for Bonk to be in, having just played for the Phantoms on Saturday and getting thrown right into a back-to-back, but that was also his first game since Oct. 3.

Assuming Bonk's legs are fresh - he had two assists, three shots on goal, and a +2 rating in a 5-4 overtime loss to Cleveland on Saturday - he should be able to help keep the Flyers moving in the right direction going up against a ferocious Carolina forecheck.

The 21-year-old played in two NHL games last season, one in the regular season and one in the playoffs, scoring one goal and one assist.

Here is a quick update of the prospects the Sabres who are not currently in the NHL:

Prokhor Poltapov – LW - 33rd overall in 2021 

The 23-year-old winger slogged through his first two KHL seasons, playing a depth role with CSKA Moscow, but after scoring just 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in 56 regular season games in 2024, Poltapov tripled his career-high with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 68 games in 2025. Poltapov signed a two-year contract extension to remain with CSKA, and finished last season with very similar totals (16 goals, 24 assists in 68 games. 

The Sabres have indicated that Poltapov is in their plans once his KHL deal has elapsed. This season, he is tied for the club lead with seven goals in 14 games. 

Topias Leinonen– G – 41st overall - 2022

The big 22-year-old Finn wallowed at various levels of the pro league in his home country, but improved when he shifted to Sweden and thrived with Mora IK (13-10-0 record, 2.31 GAA, .910 save %, and four shutouts) in 2025. Leinonen was brought over to North America last season and alternated between AHL Rochester and ECHL Jacksonville, putting up subpar numbers. With Devon Levi gone, it was expected that Leinonen would share duties with Scott Ratzlaff with the Amerks, but an injury in off-season training has found the big netminder on injured reserve since the start of training camp.  

Other Sabres Stories

Mrtka Looking To Take The Next Step Towards The NHL 

Vsevolod Komarov D - 134th overall - 2022

The Sabres have a number of right-handed blueliner prospects, including their last two first-round picks, Radim Mrtka and Daxon Rudolph. Komarov’s offensive game from junior did not translate to his first two pro seasons (6 goals, 23 assists in 124 games), but this season the 22-year-old has started well with three assists in four games for AHL Rochester. 

Jake Richard - RW - 170th overall - 2022 

The Jacksonville, FL, native made impressions at the prospect tournaments and summer development camps the last few seasons, and as a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, where he averaged over a point per game (15 goals, 28 assists) in 34 games. His numbers dropped as a junior (27 points), and Richard signed a pro deal with the Sabres this summer. The 22-year-old is getting a top-six opportunity with the Amerks with most of the club’s forward prospects playing in the NHL, and in four games, the winger has his first professional goal and an assist in four games. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

The Buffalo Sabres dropped under .500 on the season and are having difficulties at both ends of the ice and between the pipes after a 4-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night. Head coach Lindy Ruff shook up his lineup after a shutout loss to Dallas on Thursday, but the tinkering did not help in providing a more consistent effort from his struggling club. 

Unlike the first three home games against Chicago, Minnesota, and Dallas, the Sabres opened the scoring, and ended their lengthy streak of ineptitude on the power play, as Tage Thompson notched his third of the season eight minutes into the game, but the lead lasted all of 2:12 before Kailer Yamamoto tied the game. 

The Mammoth pulled away with a pair of tallies late in the second from Nick Schmalt and Anders Lee, and added some insurance early in the third on the power play from John Marino. Buffalo went 1 for 4 on the man advantage, but surrendered a pair of power play goals on five opportunities. 

" We  haven't  been  connected,  we're  trying  to  find  who  we  are." Ruff said after the game. "We  weren't  able  to  carry  that  momentum. W e  talked  about  power  play.  It  did  a  lot  of  good  things,  even  in  the  third  period.  Could  have  got  a  couple  more.  Our  entries  were  a  lot  better.  That  part  of  the  game  seemed  connected. (We) were  using  some  different  pieces (penalty)  killing.  We  got  to  improve  that  part  of  the  game."

Other Sabres Stories

Mrtka Looking To Take The Next Step Towards The NHL 

Goalie Colten Ellis made 26 saves, but was more steady than Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been in each of his three starts, but more concerning to the Sabres has to be their lack of firepower through the first two weeks of the regular season. The club has 11 goals in five games, and has a -8 goal differential (29th in the NHL). 

The worry going into the season was the overdependency on youngsters like Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund being able to make up the firepower lost by the departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram. Add that to the absence of veteran Jason Zucker (recovering from offseason core muscle surgery) and the Sabres are minus 68 goals from last season. 

Through five games, Ostlund, Helenius, and Kulich have one goal, and Benson and Doan have none. The Sabres finish up their homestand against the Florida Panthers on Columbus Day afternoon. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

News & Notes

Former Blue Jackets Star Scores First Goal With Maple LeafsMarchenko has his first goal as a Leaf.

At the 7:06 mark of the second period, Marchenko scored his first goal as a member of the Maple Leafs. 

Marchenko's first goal with the Maple Leafs was a good one, too, as he beat Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark with a nice backhander.

Weird Scheduling Quirk Could Benefit The Columbus Blue Jackets Columbus is 1-1 through their first two games.

When we first looked at the 2026-27 schedule, we had to look at it sideways because the Blue Jackets had a full 5-day break between games 3 and 4. After what we saw on Saturday, it seems the NHL did the CBJ a favor. They also have two separate three-day breaks sandwiched in between home games. 

Adam Fantilli Has Dominated The Faceoff Circle Through Two Games <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> center Adam Fantilli had a well-documented contract dispute in the preseason, but it seems he came in ready and hasn't missed a beat. 

But where he was most impressive was at the faceoff dot. Fantilli won 16/20, for an 80% win percentage. 

He followed that up in game two on Saturday night against Utah by going 15/20 for a 75% win percentage. It's not like he was facing off against minor leaguers either. 

Rick Bowness Provides Great Injury News Ahead Of This Weekends GamesThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> head coach, Rick Bowness, had some good news regarding his team today after practice. 

Bowness told the media that defenseman Damon Severson is expected to play this weekend. They play the Penguins on Friday, and then travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues on Saturday. 

It's Time To Shut Down The Kent Johnson Trade Talk...For Now<a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> forward Kent Johnson lives in the heads of just about every hockey fan outside of Ohio. Every time there is a player brought up that Columbus should trade, it's him. It's time to stop that. Sure, he's from Western Canada and trains with all of the "B.C. Boys", but that doesn't mean he's up for sale. 

In two games this year, Johnson has two points and 6 shots on goal while averaging 16:04 of time on ice. So far, so good. 

Blue Jackets Place Mikael Pyyhtiä On WaiversThe Columbus Blue Jackets have placed Mikael Pyyhtiä on waivers. If he clears, he'll be assigned to the Cleveland Monsters.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed Mikael Pyyhtiä on waivers. If he clears, he'll be assigned to the Cleveland Monsters.

Pyyhtiä was placed on IR and Non-rostered on September 25th.

Former Blue Jackets Forward Has Big Game For RangersThis former Blue Jackets forward is making a difference with the Rangers.

Bjorkstrand scored his first two goals as a member of the Rangers in the contest, with his second being the game-winner. With this, there is no question that the former Blue Jackets forward delivered for the Rangers in this matchup. 

January 11, 2006, The Night The Columbus Blue Jackets Took 21 Penalties And Somehow Won 6-1 vs. The Pittsburgh PenguinsWith the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> set to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, we thought we'd reminisce and jump into the way back machine to bring you a little CBJ lore. 

The Jackets took 5 penalties in the 1st period, 9 in the 2nd, and 7 in the 3rd for a total of 21 penalties for 68 minutes. In total, the Pens got 8 power plays out of the chaos. But what's even crazier is that the CBJ went 8-for-8 on the PK. 

A Historical Look At The Damage Sidney Crosby Has Done To The Columbus Blue Jackets The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> will welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to Nationwide Arena on Friday night. The games are usually fun, but too often they wind up in the L column for the Blue Jackets. 

Regular Season

• Games Played: 49  

• Goals: 25
• Assists: 46
• Total Points: 71  
• Plus/Minus: +13  
• PIM: 40
• Power Play Goals: 4
• Power Play Assists: 16
• GWG: 7
• OTG: 2
• Shots: 143

Attorneys For Sean Higgins Throw Accusations At Johnny & Matthew GaudreauAttorneys for Sean Higgins, the New Jersey man accused of killing <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> superstar Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew, <a href="https://www.nj.com/salem/2026/10/defense-expert-says-johnny-gaudreau-and-his-brother-created-the-hazard-that-led-to-their-deaths.html">filed new documents</a> yesterday and accused the brothers of riding in the road at the time of the crash. 

Higgins lawyers said in documents that the Gaudreau's were actually riding in the northbound lane, and not on the shoulder as previously reported by state police. The new report also says that Higgins "could not have reasonably avoided them." The new report comes from an accident reconstruction team hired by the defense.

Kirill Marchenko's Father-In-Law Gives Reason For Not Wanting To Sign With ColumbusKirill Marchenko's father-in-law, Igor Varitsky, gave an interview with <a href="https://www.sport-express.ru/hockey/nhl/reviews/toronto-prislal-za-marchenko-chastnyy-samolet-posle-ego-obmena-iz-kolambusa-intervyu-igorya-varickogo-2461280/">Sport-express.ru</a> and may have just told us why the talented Russian forward wanted out of Columbus. 

In the interview, he was asked what the main reason was for Marchenko wanting out. Varitsky said, "The athletic component. Kirill wanted to play for a big club and make the playoffs. During his four years in Columbus, there was virtually no prospect of making it. Every year, the coaches change, and a new one comes in with their own vision."  

Cam Talbot Sets Two NHL Records With Win Against PittsburghNew <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> goaltender Cam Talbot beat the Pittsburgh Penguins last night in a shootout to pick up his first win in Union Blue. 

With the win, Talbot became the first NHL goaltender to win a game with nine different teams. Yes, NINE different teams. Some people look at this record and think he's bad. I look at this record and see longevity. Will he be able to keep it up this season? Time will tell. 

REMINDER: Dante Fabbro Will Be Grand Marshal For 2026 Columbus Italian Festival ParadeDante Fabbro is confirmed to be still participating despite his injury.

Game Recaps 

Damon Severson Scores In Season Debut, Cam Talbot Wins Columbus Debut In Shootout Win Against Pittsburgh Columbus moves to 2-1-0 on the season.

Damon Severson(1) and Mathieu Olivier(2) scored the goals in regulation, and Kent Johnson scored the only goal for either team in the shootout to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at Nationwide Arena.   

Jimmy Snuggerud Scores Twice, Blues Beat Blue Jackets For First Time In 7 TriesThe Jackets' record now stands at 2-2-0.

Val Nichushkin(1), Kent Johnson(2), and Cole Sillinger(2) scored the goals for Columbus, and Jet Greaves stopped 22 of 26 Blues shots in a 5-3 loss to St. Louis. 

The Jackets held 2-0 lead in the first period and got hammered for the rest of the game. 

This loss halts a 6 game losing streak to the CBJ for the Blues. 

Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are back home on Tuesday to take on the Florida Panthers. 

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