The Columbus Blue Jackets have 24 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #24. 

Let's take a look.

Mike Gaul - 2001 - Drafted by Los Angeles in 1991. 

Played two games for Columbus during the franchise's first season in 2000. He didn't score a point and never played another NHL game.

He left for Europe in 2001 and played in Switzerland until 2004. After retiring from professional hockey in 2004, Mike took a position as a senior partner at an Investment Bank, Vires Capital VII, where he is currently developing and overseeing a portfolio of infrastructure projects totaling over $80B.

Hannes Hyvönen - 2003 - Drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1999. 

He played 36 games for the Jackets in 02-03, totaling 9 points, after the CBJ claimed him off waivers. He never played another NHL game after Columbus loaned him to Färjestads BK in 2003. 

He would go on to play in Finland, Switzerland, Russia, and Norway. He retired in 2016 and went into coaching in 2019.  Hyvönen is currently an asst. coach for Ässät of LIIGA. 

Todd Rohloff - 2004 - Undrafted out of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

Played 24 games for the Jackets in 03-04, getting two points. The defenseman also played four years at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, before turning pro. 

Rohloff retired after the 2005–06 season after never playing another NHL game. 

François Beauchemin - 2006 - Drafted by Montréal in 1998.

Beauchemin only played 11 games as a Jacket before being traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Sergei Fedorov trade of 2005. Had he stayed a Jacket, he could've easily been listed as the best player to have worn #24, and possibly one of the best defensemen to ever wear a CBJ uniform.

He went on to play 903 NHL games, score 288 points, and win a Stanley Cup in 2007. He returned to Anaheim in 2017, where he would play his last NHL season before retiring. 

Cam Severson - 2006 - Drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1997. 

After his trade from Calgary to Columbus, Severson played four games in 05-06 and had 0 points. 

He left for Europe in 2006 to play in Germany, Poland, and Romania, and would never play another NHL Game. He retired in 2010. 

Kris Beech - 2008 - Drafted by Washington in 1999. 

After being claimed off waivers, Beech played 16 games for Columbus in 07-08. He had 9 points in those 16 games. and would leave for Europe in 2009, where he would play until 2016. 

After playing for Columbus, Vancouver, and Pittsburgh in 07-08, he left for Europe and played in Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Germany, Austria, and England. He retired in 2016. 

He is now an assistant coach for HV71 of the Swedish Elite League. 

Aaron Rome - 2009 Drafted by LA in 2002. 

Rome played 25 games for Columbus and had three points over two seasons, after being traded from the Anaheim Ducks. 

After playing for a few different teams, he would retire in 2015. 

Derek MacKenzie - 2010-2014 - 2008-2009 - Drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999.

MacKenzie played 279 games over the course of seven seasons for Columbus. He signed in Columbus in 2007 and made his debut in December of that year. 

He left for the Florida Panthers in 2014 and would play there until he retired in 2019. Later that year, he was named an asst. coach for Florida. He's spent the last two seasons as an asst. coach for the Nashville Predators.

Nathan Gerbe - 2018-2021

If this were a popularity contest, Gerbe wins by a landslide. He only played 41 games over three seasons, but it felt like he played a decade. Gerbe spent much of his five seasons with the organization in Cleveland, where he was the Captain for two seasons.

He retired in 2022 and joined the Nashville Predators as a development coach. 

Mathieu Olivier - 2023-2025  

Olivier is entering his fourth season in Columbus and is a fan favorite. He has played 202 games and has 59 points. He also has 290 PIMs and is considered the team's enforcer and authoritarian.

Last season, he set career highs in goals, assists, points, and PIMs. For his efforts, he was awarded a 6-year, $18,000,000 contract, keeping him away from free agency. This is one of the best signings in team history, if you ask some people. 

There are 24 days until opening night at NWA. 

Next up is training camp, which kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Camp will run until the pre-season begins and then transition directly into the full pre-season schedule. Here’s what the Blue Jackets have lined up so far.

After the first few days of camp, most rookies who received an invite will be cut and sent back to their junior teams. From there, the cuts will come more often as pre-season play gets underway.

The pre-season schedule is as follows:

Sunday, Sept. 21 vs. St. Louis Blues, 5 p.m. ET

Monday, Sept. 22 vs. Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. ET

Wednesday, Sept. 24 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m. ET

Saturday, Sept. 27 at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Sept. 30 vs. Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. ET

Saturday, Oct. 4 at Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. ET

* Games in bold are home games * 

After that, the Blue Jackets will open the regular season on the road against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

Let us know what you think below.

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The New York Islanders could be in the Matt Grzelcyk market, per The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. 

"The Ottawa Senators, Colorado Avalanche, New York Islanders, and Ducks would be other potential situations to monitor for Grzelcyk depending on how camps and the preseason go for those teams and their younger defensemen," LeBrun wrote in his latest. 

Fresh mini Rumblings — Suter, McTavish, Evangelista, Roslovic and more in my latest for ⁦@TheAthletic⁩ ⤵️ https://t.co/weq9HYO1VV

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 19, 2025

Grzelcyk, 31, has 593 total games of NHL experience, 511 of them over an eight-year career with the Boston Bruins. He played all 82 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25, recording one goal and 39 assists for a career-high 40 points in a career-high 20:37 minutes of ice time. 

So, why should the Islanders be interested?

The answer: experience. 

The Islanders are a veteran team with experience up and down their lineup. However, when it comes to the left side of their defense, that position is lacking the big league experience. 

Outside of Adam Pelech and Alexander Romanov, no other left-side defenseman in the entire organization has a full seaosn of NHL experience under their belt -- let alone half of a season.

The closest is 21-year-old Isaiah George, who played 33 games in 2024-25. 

After George, the left-side defense depth looks like this: Calle Odelius, Marshall Warren, Travis Mitchell. 

No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer is likely to win the final LHD spot alongside Scott Mayfield, while Adam Boqvist is likely to serve as the club's seventh defenseman. He can play both sides, which is a luxury. 

Patrick Roy To Use Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon Approach With Islanders No. 1 Pick Matthew SchaeferWESTBURY, NY -- At the New York Islanders charity golf outing on Monday, head coach Patrick Roy was asked about his plan when it comes to evaluating No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer.

But again, Grzelcyk brings experience, which will only benefit Schaefer.  

So, what would happen if the Islanders signed Grzelcyk?

Ideally, most teams carry 14 forwards and seven defensemen to complete their 23-man roster, but if the Islanders were to sign the veteran defenseman, he wouldn't be able to boost Bridgeport. 

The Islanders would then likely carry only 13 forwards, rocking eight defenseman instead. 

With Pierre Engvall two to three weeks away from even participating in a team practice after offseason hip surgery, the Islanders may have to choose between Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb if they go this route. 

Grzelcyk's next deal will likely be a one-year contract worth $755,000, a deal that would likely contain some bonuses. 

The vibes are high as the Philadelphia Flyers kicked off their 2025 training camp Thursday, and for good reason. The atmosphere seems to be totally different.

Given the nature of the split-group methodology, there isn't an awful lot to come away with, especially from the first day.

New head coach Rick Tocchet, running his first training camp as the Flyers' bench boss, did offer some insight into his coaching philosophies, though, which will help us identify the things we need to look for during camp.

For example, Tocchet shared Thursday that he likes Scotty Bowman's method of running "pairs" in the forward lines.

"I think Scotty Bowman was a genius behind the bench. He was the pair guy. You have pairs and you can always rotate a guy in and out as the third guy," Tocchet said. "I do like having two guys that work well together. You can always put a third guy in one or two nights, then put another guy.

"We did it, actually, in Pittsburgh a little bit, and it creates energy. As a coach, you got to be careful that you're not doing it too much and pulling the plug all the time."

So, why is this important? For two reasons, actually.

Flyers Training Camp 2025: Top 3 Roster Battles to WatchThe Philadelphia Flyers are looking to ratchet up the competition for NHL roster spots this year, and that starts with the beginning of training camp on Thursday.

According to Moneypuck, there were 82 forward combinations that played 201 minutes or more together last season, and the Flyers accounted for only two of those.

Those lines were Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink, and Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Matvei Michkov.

Tocchet's Vancouver Canucks did not have a single trio play 201 or more minutes together, and many of the NHL's worst teams (Chicago, Calgary, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Nashville, etc.) had two or fewer such combinations.

In simple terms: finding chemistry is important for finding success in the NHL. Shocker!

During Thursday's practice session, Tocchet enacted this philosophy across the two main groups, Group A and Group B.

Here are some forward line combinations that may pique your interest:

Nikita Grebenkin - Sean Couturier - Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump - Trevor Zegras - Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey - Christian Dvorak - Tyson Foerster
Foerster - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink
Owen Tippett - Jett Luchanko - Alexis Gendron

Obviously, some of these lines are incomplete due to the groupings of players, but we can identify a few "pairs" right away.

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Couturier and Michkov, Zegras and Konecny, Foerster and Dvorak, and Cates and Brink all stand out. Tippett and Luchanko make a lot of sense, assuming the latter makes the Flyers' NHL roster out of training camp as he did last year.

On defense, Cam York and Helge Grans were paired up, as were Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale. Travis Sanheim skated alongside Spencer Gill (placeholder for Rasmus Ristolainen?) while Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae worked with each other.

With the exception of Gill, this should be the Flyers' main defense group going forward.

When I look at players like Andrae and Grans, I recognize that Ristolainen is going to be out until November, most likely. At what point are the Flyers going to find a better time to get a look at these players?

Developing the young players appears to be a priority, so Grans and Andrae should get priority over veterans like Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert, at least in training camp.

If they don't earn their places with the Flyers, that's another thing, but Tocchet's first day indicates he's giving the new guys and the young guys every opportunity to earn a place that suits them and their skills.

Flyers: Aleksei Kolosov's Official Role, Getting a Second NHL ChanceThe 2025-26 season represents a fresh start for a number of Philadelphia Flyers, but goalie Aleksei Kolosov may have the biggest opportunity of all.

It helps, too, that the first day included work on systems and practicing actual hockey rather than skating around in circles all day, hoping that professional athletes indeed showed up to work in shape.

The weekend and the preseason will tell us more, but it's an encouraging start for Tocchet's new-look, good-vibe Flyers in training camp.

Toronto Maple Leafs training camp officially kicked off on Thursday morning, and there was no shortage of newsworthy items.

The 73-man camp was divided into three groups to begin: the first two groups featured NHL and NHL/AHL bubble players, while the third group included players solely destined for the AHL, ECHL, or their respective junior squads.

Matias Maccelli begins camp on top line

Matias Maccelli stepped out onto the ice at Ford Performance Centre on Thursday, skating alongside Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews. Max Domi was set to start camp on that line, but is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury after tweaking something in the summer skates.

“(Domi) was obviously a guy that I was going to put there [with Matthews and Knies],” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said on Thursday afternoon. “Max should be back pretty quick, and then we'll go from there.”

'(Max) Domi Was A Guy I Was Going To Put There': Craig Berube Was Reluctant To Start Matias Maccelli On Top Line At Maple Leafs CampIn a perfect world, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube would’ve had Max Domi begin on a line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies at training camp.

Maccelli looked timid early on, though his play ramped up as the session continued. The 24-year-old hasn’t been in Toronto for long, so it might take a bit of time for him to get used to everything, from the city, the Maple Leafs staff and his teammates.

“He’s a little spark plug out there,” Anthony Stolarz smiled. “He’s shifty, but he’s actually got a really heavy shot, too. I’m excited to see him work with our top six. I think we got some guys that’ll complement each other really well.”

Bobby McMann gets a look with John Tavares and William Nylander

As much as it might be a surprise to some, Bobby McMann beginning training camp with William Nylander and John Tavares isn’t a shock to me.

The 29-year-old didn’t finish the season the way he wanted to. After tallying his 20th goal of the year on Mar. 25 against the Philadelphia Flyers, McMann went dormant for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.

He scored three assists in the 13 games, which was his first-ever taste of the NHL postseason. And what caught his eye most in the playoffs was how much the competitiveness ramped up.

“Making sure that even when you're not contributing offensively, there's a lot that you can be doing to contribute. Those are long series, and you can really wear a team down if you're doing the little things right, so just trying to focus on that.”

Bobby McMann is beside John Tavares and William Nylander. pic.twitter.com/lhVMZ0XGON

— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) September 18, 2025

Despite the Domi injury, which shifted players around, McMann was always going to begin training camp with Tavares and Nylander, Berube said on Thursday.

“I played them last year. They were together for a significant amount of time, and they always did well together, I thought. There's always production,” the head coach added.

“I think Bobby could take another step in his game, doing some things a little bit differently, especially playing with those two guys, getting those guys the puck more, getting to the net more, things like that.

“I like a big guy with those guys to forecheck, get in there and create loose pucks, help out JT in that situation and things like that. Willy's going to do his thing, we all know that. But Bobby, I feel, can take another step in his game. It's going to the net, being hard and physical and just understanding that that's his job and he's going to get points from it because you're playing with two pretty good players that, eventually, the puck's going to get there.”

Calle Jarnkrok left his stamp on opening day

When approaching a new season, there’s always going to be a few players circled to watch for in camp. I’ll admit, Jarnkrok wasn’t one of those I was eager to get an eye on early, but he stood out on day one.

The 33-year-old played just 19 games last year after recovering from sports hernia surgery. And despite returning towards the end of the regular season, Jarnkrok still looked like a player who was a step behind.

'I Don't Have To Hear Core Four Anymore': Craig Berube Excited Mitch Marner’s Departure Puts More Focus On Maple Leafs' TeamCraig Berube is itching to see where players fit in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup with the NHL camp set to begin on Wednesday.

His game progressed in the final portion of the year, which was enough to keep him in the lineup for the postseason. He played alongside Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz on the fourth line, tallying just one assist in 12 games.

However, there were plenty wondering in the summer if Jarnkrok would be a player dealt to make room for a top-six forward. They might need him now more than ever, though.

Looking at the top half of their lineup, there’s really only three players who can play alongside Knies and Matthews: Domi, Maccelli, and I’d put Jarnkrok in that conversation too. After all, Jarnkrok has gotten time alongside Matthews before, and among the three players, he is the most defensively responsible.

It’s only one day of camp, however, I’d look at Jarnkrok being a wildcard to watch out for as the preseason continues.

Easton Cowan looks more comfortable

When remembering back to Toronto’s last training camp, Cowan looked timid. There were glimpses of the player in junior, but for the most part, he struggled against stronger competition.

Just as I mentioned for Jarnkrok, it’s only one day of training camp, so take things with a grain of salt, but there’s a glaring difference in his game from last year to this moment in time.

'I Think He's Ready To Push To Be On The Team': 'Can Easton Cowan Crack The Maple Leafs Roster This Season?With Toronto Maple Leafs training camp set to open on Thursday, a lot of eyes will be on 20-year-old Easton Cowan. After accomplishing a historic list of achievements at the major junior level with the London Knights, including winning the 2024 Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's Most Outstanding Player and winning the Memorial Cup in 2025, the only remaining question is if the player has a shot at making the Maple Leafs lineup this season.

He’s stronger, more confident in his game, and as he mentioned last week, will be in Toronto for the entire year, which puts him at ease. Cowan dealt with the size and physicality better on Thursday, playing beside Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua.

It appears the Maple Leafs are setting him up for success early on.

“I think players will show what they can do in camp and in the exhibition games. If Easton or another player is the best fit for the team and helps the team, then we'll put them in that position,” Berube said on Wednesday.

Other noteworthy early impressions

- Philippe Myers and Marshall Rifai had strong opening days. Both defensemen were physical and didn’t give an inch to any of the players they were going up against. Remember back to this time last year when Matthews mentioned Rifai as a player who stood out.

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- I briefly mentioned Joshua earlier, but there’s no doubt he’ll be an intriguing player to watch as camp progresses. What immediately stuck out about the 29-year-old was his ability to use his size to overpower opponents. He’s quicker than I thought, too, and that gives me reason to believe he’ll be an important checking player for Toronto this year.

- Landon Sim isn’t going to make the Maple Leafs as he’s on an AHL deal, but he’s a much-needed body in the top two groups at training camp. He was consistently engaged at the Prospect Showdown and did the same on day one of camp. Sim was going against others — including Cowan, his Knights teammate — as if it were the biggest game of his life, and I’m sure the club was impressed. I’m curious to see if he keeps that energy for the entirety of Maple Leafs camp.

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By the time day one of Pittsburgh Penguins' training camp concluded, new head coach Dan Muse had nearly lost his voice. 

And based on the energy and noise in all three practice sessions on Thursday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, it's not really a surprise. 

"I think it was loud," captain Sidney Crosby said. "It was pretty loud out there. There was a lot of stick banging, that sort of thing. I don't think that was just Dan. That was just, I think, the group bringing a lot of energy.

"That's what you want. You want the enthusiasm and passion. I thought the pace of practice was really good, and a lot of competition within that, so that's what you expect from training camp."

Enthusiasm and passion certainly seem to be early themes for the first-year NHL head coach, but perhaps the biggest theme is competition. It's no secret that there is a plethora of competition at camp this season between youth pushing for roster spots and veterans trying to secure their place on the roster. 

But that competitiveness is also manifesting in how the coaching staff - and the organization - want to approach the day-to-day with this team. In a period of transition and change, the one constant is that players never lose their desire to win. And, given the crowdedness of the training camp roster, players maintaining a high level of compete is a requirement.

"You could feel it. The energy is through the roof," Kris Letang said. "Obviously, we're a team. We're in a situation where every spot is [up] for grabs. The young guys are ready. They want to battle. They want to make a name for themselves. You kind of see the emphasis on what we're trying to do out there, is battle and play a game situation in every single drill. So, it was pretty intense out there. It was pretty hard."

'The Young Guys Are Coming': 3 Observations From Dubas's Pre-Season Press ConferenceOn Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their 2025 training camp with a few words from general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas. 

Muse emphasized that the staff wants this team to be "competitive in nature."

"I think everybody's competitiveness is going to look a little bit different," Muse said. "There's got to be purpose to what you're doing. This isn't just a run-around, anything like that, and I don't think that was the case if you look at the three practices. I think there was purpose to what guys were doing, and we're asking guys to show the best version of their compete, whatever that is. And that's not going to change."

The players were certainly cognizant about the emphasis on competition and the importance of establishing good habits early on, too. 

"Practice was great. I think it was about establishing an identity and a work ethic," Bryan Rust said. "You saw the battle drills out there, a lot of competing. Keeping score pretty much every drill, just kinda trying to get that mindset that we're going to compete every day.

"And I think the energy out there was great. It was contagious. [The coaches] were all very vocal, they were all banging their sticks, they were all trying to motivate guys, trying to get guys going. I think everybody out there - from the old guys like me to the young guys - were out there working hard." 

Penguins' Training Camp: Observations From Day OneThe Pittsburgh Penguins had their first training camp practice on Thursday after the team announced their 69-player training camp roster on Wednesday.

Muse, 43, is in his first season as an NHL head coach. He previously had stints as an assistant with the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers, and although former Predator Philip Tomasino's NHL stint didn't exactly align with Muse's time there - Muse's stint ran from 2017-20 - he had a positive experience with Muse through some conversations during his time with the organization.

"A first-class individual, first and foremost," Tomasino said. "Same goes for the whole coaching staff as well. But I just really like his attitidue towards everything. He always seems to find a way to push guys to be their best, so I'm really happy. He's been awesome so far, and I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to work with him for much longer here, hopefully."

Tomasino, like pretty much everyone else, echoed sentiment about the level of competition that Muse has brought to camp. But it's not a one-way street. Muse marveled at the competitive nature of all of the guys in the room, whether they're a 20-year veteran or a player entering his first camp.

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"I love competition. I think everybody loves competition. It just drives things," Muse said. "I believe in it. I think these are all competitive guys. It's all of them. They want to win, and I've always found it to be just awesome seeing it at this level, how it doesn't matter what's on the line. If something's there, if it's, like, one push-up, they'd be all-in to not have to do that one push-up. This group here, I think if I put, like, a cold cheeseburger for the winner, they would be all-in to get that cold cheesebuger. Like, everything, they'd be all in. That's in the nature. 

"You never know until you're actually there. It's the hope that you're going to see the group be all-in, but I wasn't surprised they were all in there on the competition. I think it's a big part of it, though. It's a big part of what our coaching staff believes in."

---

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There are few better problems for an NHL team to have than the presence of two starting-calibre goaltenders on the roster. 

For the Detroit Red Wings, that's their situation. At 38 years old, Cam Talbot remains sharp and often turned back the clock to his days as a workhorse with the Edmonton Oilers during his first campaign with the Red Wings. 

General manager Steve Yzerman then went out and acquired John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks in a trade that sent Petr Mrazek the other way; Gibson has the chance in front of him to grab firm hold of the starter's reigns. 

Both goaltenders took the ice in Traverse City on Thursday for the opening day of Red Wings Training Camp. Talbot stuck with the classic, clean mask design he wore last season but debuted a brand-new Bauer setup, the equipment brand he has used for several years.

Meanwhile, Gibson arrived with a simple TRUE gear setup and a fresh mask paint job, the first artwork of his NHL career not featuring Ducks imagery. 

First look @DetroitRedWings goaltender John Gibson in his new gear on the opening day of 2025 Training Camp. #LGRWpic.twitter.com/rZNX6hz3Kt

— Michael Whitaker (@mwhitaker_89) September 18, 2025

Don't expect head coach Todd McLellan, who coached Talbot as head coach of the Oilers and faced Gibson many times as the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, to settle on a starter just yet. 

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

"I don't know who our starter is," McLellan responded when asked if he believes either goaltender has an edge. "Obviously, Gibson is really important, but teams are proving year after year now that you need two guys to get the job done, and it's hard to stay at the top of your game over and over and over again if you're just a single entity. We've got Talbs, we've got Gibby, we plan on playing them both and we expect a lot from both of them." 

The crease for the Red Wings has largely been a rotating carousel over the last several years, with names like Alex Nedeljkovic, Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, James Reimer, and Petr Mrazek all seeing action. 

The 2024-25 campaign was the first in the career of Talbot in the Winged Wheel after he agreed to a two-year contract last offseason. He won 21 games and posted a .901 save percentage. 

Conversely, Gibson arrives in Detroit having spent the last 12 seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, who selected him in the second round (39th overall) in 2011. He's won 204 regular season games, while adding another 11 wins in 26 playoff appearances. 

Talbot proved that he's capable of shouldering a considerable load of playing time last season with 47 total games, but Yzerman is likely hoping that Gibson can become the first true starter in the Detroit crease since the days of Jimmy Howard. 

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The NHL’s 2025-26 regular season is almost upon us, and here on THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’re close to the end of our player-by-player series in which we break down the expectations for every Sabres player during this coming season.

We’ve worked our way through Buffalo’s goalies, blueliners, and most of the Sabres’ top-four lines of forwards. And in this file, we’re looking at the expectations for right winger Josh Doan, who was picked up from the Utah Mammoth in the trade that sent winger J.J. Peterka out of Buffalo.

But let’s focus on Doan, who at age 23 has barely scratched the surface of his potential as an NHLer:

Player Name: Josh Doan

Position: Right Winger

Age: 23

2024-25 Key Statistics: 51 games, seven goals, 19 points, 13:31 average time on ice

2025-26 Salary:$925,000

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2025-26 Expectations: As the son of longtime NHL star Shane Doan, Josh Doan knows what it means to have high expectations hanging over his head. But to be honest, Josh Doan’s early individual numbers don’t make you think he’s as effective as Shane Doan was in his stellar NHL prime.

Still, Josh Doan’s size at 6-foot-2 makes him out to be a big-framed individual, and he’s going to work his tail off in training camp and come out of the chute to force the hand of Sabre coach Lindy Ruff. Doan has to ensure one part of him stands out for the Sabres. And if he can do that, Buffalo management will get a standing ovation for bringing Doan aboard.

Doan’s career-highs as a Utah Mammoth organization member were very modest, but in Buffalo, he could quickly make himself a highly-valued member.  Doan is still in a “show me don’t tell me” mode, but he’s going to have every opportunity to succeed.

Sabres 2025-26 Player Expectations: Newcomer Winger Danforth A Role Player At Best For Buffalo In '25-26The NHL’s 2025-26 season is about to begin, and on THN.com’s Buffalo Sabres site, we’re approaching the end of our player-by-player series in which we analyze every Sabres player’s expectations for the coming season.

Doan is still finding his legs at the NHL level. He’s also got a chip on his shoulder given that he’s quick been traded early in his career. And given his genetics, Doan has the innate skills teams are looking for in a young player.

If he can harness the snub from Utah and help Buffalo get into a playoff berth this year, Doan will be a fixture for years to come in Buffalo. And the Petterka trade will look much better than it may look early on him Doan’s career.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had their first training camp practice on Thursday after the team announced their 69-player training camp roster on Wednesday.

The players were split into three groups, with Group A practicing from 8:45 to 10:15 a.m. ET, Group B practicing from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, and Group C practicing from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET. 

It was only the first day of camp, but there were still some positive developments from practice. Here are some notes and observations from day one. 

Group A

Ville Koivunen shines

Koivunen stood out the most during his practice session in the morning. He was knifing through players left and right, and showed a ton of improvement in his skating. His skating had gotten better towards the end of the 2024-25 season and during the Prospects Challenge, but has been taken up a notch to start camp. 

Here's a prime example:

Koivunen scores a goal and celebrates accordingly. #LetsGoPenspic.twitter.com/4nuXuZpFVU

— Kelsey Surmacz (@kelsey_surmacz4) September 18, 2025

He had an eight-game sample with the Penguins to end the 2024-25 season and finished with seven points. He got 5v5 ice-time with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and never looked out of place.

As long as he keeps it up at camp, he'll likely be a lock for the opening-night roster. 

Erik Karlsson starts fast

Karlsson missed all of training camp last year due to an injury and didn't look like himself for the first several weeks of the season. He eventually settled in a bit, and ended up playing in all 82 regular-season games. 

The Penguins' No. 1 defenseman is fully healthy at this year's camp and looked the part on Thursday. His skating and playmaking were very noticeable throughout the session, and he even got to up against Penguins top prospect Harrison Brunicke in some 1v1 situations. 

Karlsson has a lot to play for this year since he's trying to make Sweden's Olympic team after playing in the 4 Nations Face-Off. There's a chance that he really improves this year since he'll be under a new system. 

Group B

Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Mantha skate together

Malkin and Mantha were in a lot of drills together and were feeding off one another during 2v2 drills.

It looked like head coach Dan Muse was trying to test them on the same line since there's a good chance he's looking at giving them top-six minutes together to start the regular season, and he was probably happy with the results. 

Malkin was scoring some nice goals off the rush during drills and Mantha's skating looked to be fully back after suffering a torn ACL last November. 

Jack St. Ivany is back healthy

St. Ivany is a dark-horse for the right side of the Penguins' defense, and he got off to a solid start on Thursday. He was showcasing his release and scored a few goals during some drills, and also skated really well. 

St. Ivany was banged up for a good chunk of last season, but is back healthy and pushing for a spot on an already-crowded right side. Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are locks for top-four minutes, but after that, it's anyone's game for the bottom-pairing spot. St. Ivany is going against Matt Dumba, Connor Clifton, and Harrison Brunicke, who had a five-star camp last year. 

This is going to be a fun battle to watch over the next two weeks. 

Group C

Kevin Hayes

Hayes was the best player during Group C's session before going down with an injury. Defenseman Ryan Graves hit him along the boards, and Hayes stayed down for a few moments before some trainers helped him skate off the ice. 

Muse told reporters after practice that Hayes is being evaluated for an upper-body injury, so we'll see if he's on the ice for Friday's practice. 

Before the injury, Hayes was playing like someone who knows there's a lot of competition for a roster spot. He was protecting the puck beautifully and being a pest defensively during 2v2 drills. 

He's heading into his second season with the Penguins after finishing the 2024-25 season with 13 goals and 23 points in 64 games.

'The Young Guys Are Coming': 3 Observations From Dubas's Pre-Season Press ConferenceOn Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their 2025 training camp with a few words from general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas. 

Sergei Murashov dazzles in net

Murashov had a great Prospects Challenge for the Penguins and is riding that momentum into training camp. He was paired with fellow goaltender Joel Blomqvist in Group C, and was the better goalie.

He was showcasing his agility in the crease and didn't give up a lot of goals during drills. He was challenging shooters throughout the session and looked calm and composed. 

He's still probably at least a year away from becoming a full-time NHL goaltender, but the talent is very much there. The next step in his development is being the starting goaltender in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this year. 

---

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LAS VEGAS - The Golden Knights opened training camp on Thursday with star center Jack Eichel participating in only the first half of the first of three practice sessions.

Coach Bruce Cassidy said Eichel didn’t skate in the second session because he had "a little tweak," and because it was the first day of camp, they didn’t want to risk it.

Earlier in the day, Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon reiterated his stance that Eichel's contract extension is a top priority.

McCrimmon added that nothing regarding Eichel's deal is contingent on Edmonton's Connor McDavid or Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov, both also in extension talks with their respective teams.

"I think from our standpoint, our situation is independent," McCrimmon said. "And I would say what I said in July - Jack is a priority. I think he feels the organization's been very good for him ... and we'll continue to have dialogue.

"We have tremendous regard for the player, what he's meant to our organization."

What he means is a Stanley Cup in his first full season with Vegas, in 2023, and the team feeling it's a legitimate contender to win another title as long as he's on the roster.

In his three-plus seasons with the Knights, Eichel has 253 points, including a career high 94 last season, to go along with a career-best 66 assists.

Eichel, who finished fifth in voting for both the Hart and Selke trophies, said recently his focus is only what he can control and isn't necessarily concerned with his contract.

"That's sort of been my mindset," Eichel said. "And what are the things that I focus on? Preparing for the season. Getting my mind and body in the best place to be successful and help our hockey team, and that's more so my focus. I think anything else sort of just takes care of itself when you do your job well.

"If contracts happen organically, then it happens. Right now, you're just focused on trying to get yourself in as good of a place as you can be to start the season and help the hockey team."

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- To no one’s surprise, Jim Montgomery saw some good, and some not-so-good to open St. Louis Blues training camp for the 2025-26 season.

The Blues coach, opening his first full camp after he was hired Nov. 25, 2024, and his coaching staff put two groups on the ice for the first time Thursday, will do so again Friday before opening preseason play Saturday against the Dallas Stars.

“Pretty good overall,” Montgomery said. “Intensity was good. Pace was slow in a couple of drills, but really good in other drills when we had to really battle each other. I liked the way our second and third effort is naturally being there on the first day. Execution was not where we would like it, but you kind of expect that on Day 1.”

Montgomery and the Blues went on an unprecedented run last year that saw the team reach the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in three seasons, highlighted by a franchise-record 12-game winning streak to get in as the second wild card before falling to the Winnipeg Jets in seven games of the first round.

“It’s great that ‘Monty’ is going to have a full training camp to get us ready,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said as he enters his final season as GM. “I think one of the things you want to be careful against is when you finish as strong as you did, you think that that is going to be a natural carryover. One of the things you understand over time is like [Logan] Mailloux doesn’t care how we played, [Pius] Suter doesn’t care how we played, [Nick] Bjugstad doesn’t care how well we played at the end. We have to build our own team again. We have to start that foundation. There’s a lot of things that the players can remember and learn from from last year, but to think that they can replicate it by just showing up, hockey doesn’t work that way. The NHL doesn’t work that way. Just the understanding of when I look at the Central Division (and) how strong that is right now, we have to be ready to go at the start of the season. It’s going to be a battle every night. When you’re coming from behind, you can sneak up on teams. This year, hopefully we proved to some teams that we’re a capable opponent and we’ll get their best game and they’ll get ours and we’ll see how we fit.”

For Montgomery, he was able to adjust and implement on the fly in the middle of the season. How he gets to begin fresh, anew in putting in place what needs to transpire.

“Competing is going to be No. 1,” he said. “Playing with pace, being selfless, things that gave us a lot of success, but we need to ramp it up a couple levels. You’ve got to get off to a great start, so camp, if you don’t have a camp, you don’t get off to a good start. Today was a good Day 1. I expect them to be better tomorrow.”

Suter (two years, $8.25 million) and Bjugstad (two years, $3.75 million) were the top two free agent signings this past summer.

Pius Suter #stlblues ... pic.twitter.com/R95rZS8x9X

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) September 18, 2025

“Just the overall depth it gives us, right,” Montgomery said. “Both of them real smart, veteran players. You can tell already they understood how we want to play. They were making good, defensive plays and real good offensive support plays.”

Mailloux, a defenseman acquired from the Montreal Canadiens for Zack Bolduc, will get his first big chance to earn his way onto an NHL roster.

“He was known as an offensive defenseman; that’s what he’s been his whole career, and I can see the shot, I can see the instincts,” Montgomery said. “But what was really impressive was the defensive stick. He got his stick on a lot of pucks, ended a lot of plays, killed plays. That was nice to see.

#stlblues will be working quite a bit with Logan Mailloux (No. 23) in the D-zone. They know what he can do with a puck on his stick ... pic.twitter.com/yQsBZ47e46

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) September 18, 2025

“I think that’s what his role was last year was to work on that (defense) and you can tell. He’s a conscientious, good teammate because he got better. His stick, we watched clips of him and it was very evident in the American (Hockey) League that he was doing a real good job with his stick.”

And veteran Milan Lucic, invited in to camp on a PTO, comes with familiarity and a chance.

Milan Lucic wearing No. 12 in #stlblues camp ... pic.twitter.com/D70TvkGXgC

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) September 18, 2025

“He's got to win a job,” Montgomery said. “I know that sounds simple, but he's got to be good 200 feet, he's got to know what we're doing defensively. There was one rush drill where he took it wide and like that was NHL speed. He took it hard to the net. Those are things that we think, as a team, we need to be better at than last year and maybe he's someone that can help us.”

Added Blues captain Brayden Schenn on Lucic: “He’s a guy that you want on your team. He can control the bench, control the room. He’s a guy when you have on your team, guys know he’s out there. That’s an important guy you need in your locker room and on your team. I’m looking forward – I think we all are – to have him. Everyone speaks very highly of him. He’s a heck of a teammate.”

As the Blues begin their journey to the Oct. 9 season-opener against the Minnesota Wild at home, does Game 7 against the Jets still sting and should it serve as a motivator?

“I think it’s motivation because we don’t like the way we finished that game,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t advance, we should have advanced, but we’re not laboring it, we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to get better. That’s our mindset and starting off camp right now, we’re not thinking Game 7, we’re thinking about getting off to a great start this year.”

Blues Top Picks Getting Looks With High-End Veterans MARYLAND HEIGHTS. Mo. -- There’s a method to what the St. Louis Blues want to do with some of their young talent – especially first-round talent – that they’ve selected in the past few years. Young Rising Blues Forward: "I Want To Be A Top Player In This League One Day" MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Don’t mistake Dylan Holloway the wrong way. The St. Louis Blues forward is beyond grateful to be healthy and skating 100 percent for the first time since what turned out to be an ugly injury that derailed a fantastic first season in the Gateway City. Blues' Jake Neighbours Set To Miss First Three Days Of Training CampSt. Louis Blues winger Jake Neighbours will miss the first three days of training camp to attend to a personal family matter. 'It's His Job to Lose,' Blues GM Doug Armstrong With A Straightforward Message To Logan MaillouxThe St. Louis Blues' training camp has finally started, but prior to the first practices, GM Doug Armstrong spoke to the media, talking about several topics.

Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar announced the 2025-26 season will be the last of his NHL career. 

“I’ve decided that this year is going to be my last year playing in the NHL,” Kopitar said in a press conference on Thursday.

The Kings captain made the announcement with his wife and two kids sitting next to him at the table. He said it’s time to be available for the family.

“These guys sitting here with me have been with me for the past 20-plus years,” he said. “Now, they deserve a husband and a dad to be home and present.”

The timing for Kopitar to hang up his skates fits with the remaining duration of his contract. This is the final year of a two-year contract he signed in July 2023, earning $7 million per season.

Since the Kings drafted Kopitar 11th overall in the 2005 draft, the Slovenian center has played 19 NHL seasons, soon to be 20. He's feeatured in more than 1,500 regular-season and playoff games, all for Los Angeles.

Kopitar will go down as one of the best Kings in franchise history, if not the best. He already leads the organization in games played (1,454) and assists (838). Furthermore, considering his consistency over the last few years, he’ll likely become the franchise’s point leader as he’s just 29 points behind Marcel Dionne’s 1,307.

Speaking of Kopitar’s consistency, in campaigns where the 38-year-old played at least 50 games, he has never scored fewer than 50 points. His career high came in the 2017-18 campaign when he scored 35 goals and 92 points. He finished seventh in the NHL for scoring that year, alongside Pittsburgh Penguins right winger Phil Kessel.

In addition to his scoring consistency, L.A.’s captain could be counted on to suit up for nearly every contest. In the last eight seasons, Kopitar has only missed four games across the regular season and post-season.

Kopitar has accomplished many great things in his long career. The highlight of it all would be his two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014. To add to that hardware, he has two Selke Trophies, three Lady Byng Trophies and a Mark Messier Leadership Award.

Anze Kopitar, widely considered the greatest player in Kings franchise history and poised to become the team's all-time leading scorer, announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.

"I just felt this is the time, but saying that, I'm looking extremely forward to this next season," said Kopitar, who added the decision was rooted in spending more time with his family. "I still have a lot of motivation. I've got a lot of energy, a lot of desire to compete at the highest level."

Kopitar said he was confident his decision would hold — even if the Kings made it all the way to Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final.

"My mind is made up. It was a hard decision," Kopitar said. "I want to get this out of the way now, to where I’m not a distraction for the team. ... I just felt that this is the best time."

Entering his 20th season with the Kings and the final year of his contract, the decision was somewhat expected from the 38-year-old team captain. He told KCAL News last month he was thinking about retirement and that it could be his last NHL season.

Kings general manager Ken Holland told NHL Network Radio in July that Kopitar indicated he wasn’t seeking a contract extension this summer and was intending to take things a “year at a time.”

Kopitar's announcement came only hours after Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced he would retire at the end of the season.

“Must have been something in the universe for us to decide to do it on the same day,” Kopitar said.

Kopitar’s Hall of Fame credentials have already been established. The greatest player ever from Slovenia, he helped lead the Kings to the franchise’s Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014 as part of a core four that included Dustin Brown, Jonathan Quick and Drew Doughty.

Kopitar is second all-time in franchise scoring, with 1,278 points in a franchise-leading 1,454 games played. He is 30 points away from breaking Marcel Dionne’s team record for most points (1,307). He ranks third all-time in franchise goals (440) behind Luc Robitaille (557) and Dionne (550) and leads in assists (838). He is a two-time Selke trophy winner (best defensive forward) and three-time Lady Byng trophy winner (gentlemanly play).

Ultimately, Kopitar's collective triumphs with the Kings have meant more to him than individual accolades.

"The fact that we were the first team to bring the Cup to L.A., it makes it special," he said. "And then to follow it up with another one, those are the core memories that you can’t just ignore, even sometimes when times were a little bit rough and we didn’t have a very competitive team.

"Those memories, and the guys around you that have won with you before, those are the reasons that I didn’t think about going anywhere else.”

Drafted 11th overall by the Kings in 2005, Kopitar made an immediate impact during his 2006-07 rookie season, finishing with 20 goals and 61 points for a downtrodden team that was in the middle of a six-year playoff drought.

Eventually, with Doughty joining the team in 2008 coupled with steady growth from Brown, Quick and Kopitar, the Kings returned to the playoffs in 2010 before capturing the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2012.

Kopitar has stood out on a team that has had many greats, including NHL all-time leading scorer Wayne Gretzky.

“It’s really hard for me to sit here and say I’m the greatest King. That’s just not my personality. Far from it,” Kopitar told The Times’ Helene Elliott in 2023. “There’s been great Kings in this organization, with Marcel, Luc, Dave [Taylor], Wayne, Blakey [Rob Blake]. The list can go on for a little bit. Brownie. Individually, yes, but it’s about collective wins.”

Read more:Kings' Corey Perry to miss six to eight weeks after knee surgery

With Kopitar's decision, the biggest roster question facing the Kings remains whether they can re-sign Adrian Kempe to a long-term deal. Kempe, who has led the team in points the last two seasons, is in the final year of his contract.

The Kings open the preseason Sunday against the Ducks in the Empire Classic at Toyota Arena in Ontario. They begin the regular season against the Colorado Avalanche at Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 7.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

MARYLAND HEIGHTS. Mo. -- There’s a method to what the St. Louis Blues want to do with some of their young talent – especially first-round talent – that they’ve selected in the past few years.

If those players feel they’re ready to break through and become NHL players, they are going to have to A) earn the job, and B) take a job from some else, already an established player.

So for the likes of Dalibor Dvorsky (first round, 2023, No. 10 overall), Otto Stenberg (first round, 2023, 25th overall), Theo Lindstein (first round, 2023, 29th overall), Adam Jiricek (first round, 2024, 16th overall), and Justin Carbonneau (first round, 2025, 19th overall), those players are being given opportunities with veteran, high-end players to see how they fit and fare.

“We want to give everybody the opportunity to play with NHL players, but we also want to give our NHL players and some of the younger ones especially the opportunity to make people better,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said after the first day of training camp. “It’s part of what we want to do as an organization is anytime someone comes into fold, comes into family, we’re going to try and make them better. You had a lot of two veterans with one young guy so that they could talk to them and communicate with them because they know the drills, they know how we want to play, they know our identity so that they can help the young guys you saw out there like Carbonneau and d-men as well.

“They’ve got to show that they can make plays at the NHL level and they’ve also got to show that they’re reliable, trustworthy without the puck, playing the right way, getting above pucks, reloading, knowing where your stick should be knowing where you should stop, all those little things that add to victories.”

On Thursday, Stenberg was skating with Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud; Dvorsky was with Pius Suter and Jordan Kyrou; Carbonneau was with Brayden Schenn and Dylan Holloway; Lindstein was paired with Justin Faulk, and Jiricek was paired with Philip Broberg.

And for Dvorsky, who is open to playing on the wing even though he’s a natural center, he was on Suter’s wing the first day.

“We felt that with the players we acquired in the summer that we got deep down the middle, so this is an opportunity to see the young man … he’s gifted,” Montgomery said of Dvorsky. “He scored two beautiful goals today. So offensively, he’s gifted. It’s easier to focus on what you’re good at as a winger than a center.”

Justin Carbonneau wants to make his living around the net #stlblues ... pic.twitter.com/wpvWmw7JXl

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) September 18, 2025

Make no mistake about it. Management won’t hesitate to give one of these younger players a job out of camp – if they earn it.

“Well, we saw some of that in Minnesota,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said of the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase, getting a leg up in seeing some of these players. “It’s going to be the hockey sense, it’s going to be the competitiveness in certain areas. My expectation is for Jim to have a very good training camp. A lot of battle drills, how they can compete in that. They’re going to get exhibition games. The way we’ve organized the first few days of training camp, we have two veteran players … Carbonneau’s with a good line. All these guys are with first-round picks, these guys that should have the skill level from when they were drafted and we’ll take a look at that with that group, but there’s always someone that pops up underneath that wants to get your attention too.

“Training camp is very important for a lot of guys this year. We have six exhibition games. We usually have a few more than that, so everyone’s going to have to put their best foot forward. If you’re not here on Oct. 9th doesn’t mean you’re not going to be here on Nov. 9th. It’s easy for me to say it’s up for people to accept, but we’re in this for the long haul of continuing to get better. Contracts won’t exclude you from being in the NHL if you’re good enough.”

Young Rising Blues Forward: "I Want To Be A Top Player In This League One Day" MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Don’t mistake Dylan Holloway the wrong way. The St. Louis Blues forward is beyond grateful to be healthy and skating 100 percent for the first time since what turned out to be an ugly injury that derailed a fantastic first season in the Gateway City. Blues' Jake Neighbours Set To Miss First Three Days Of Training CampSt. Louis Blues winger Jake Neighbours will miss the first three days of training camp to attend to a personal family matter.

ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild opened training camp on Thursday and plenty of news came out of it. Kirill Kaprizov talked to the media for the first time since the recent reports and Wild general manager Bill Guerin did as well.

One piece of news that was a bit surprising was another injury. We knew defenseman Jonas Brodin could miss the start of the season and now Mats Zuccarello could join him.

Zuccarello, 38, was not on the ice for the start of the camp and questions started coming up. Before training camp even started the expectation was for Zuccarello to open the season on the top line with Kaprizov.

Guerin said that Zuccarello will be out for "a little while" when he spoke on Thursday. He did indicate that his injury is recent. As for the timetable?

"I don't want to say weeks, but yes," Guerin said. "I guess weeks."

He was then asked if Zuccarello could miss the start of the season and Guerin said he could be.

This has now opened the door for youngster Liam Ohgren to get a crack in the top six. The 21-year-old forward started training camp with Joel Eriksson Ek and Vladimir Tarasenko.

"It's huge. It's up to him to grab it," Guerin said on Ohgren's opportunity. "It's an incredible opportunity for him."

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