With it now being August, many of this year's notable unrestricted free agents (UFAs) have found their new homes. While this is the case, there are still some UFAs with plenty of experience who have yet to get signed.

Among the top UFA defensemen still on the market is former Chicago Blackhawks blueliner Jan Rutta. 

Given Rutta's resume, the possibility of him landing another contract in the NHL should not be ruled out. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has been a steady stay-at-home defenseman throughout his career, and he could be a nice pickup for teams looking for more depth on their right side of their blueline because of it. 

Rutta played this past season with the San Jose Sharks, posting three goals, six assists, nine points, and 81 blocks in 54 games. Overall, while his offense was down in 2024-25, he still made an impact with his defensive play. Perhaps this could lead to landing a one-year deal or professional tryout (PTO) before training camp gets here.

Rutta played the first two seasons of his NHL career with the Blackhawks. In 80 games as a Blackhawk, he recorded eight goals, 18 assists, 26 points, 36 penalty minutes, and 85 blocks. His time with the Blackhawks ended when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2018-19 season. 

Blackhawks Made Good Move Bringing Back Key ForwardDuring the 2024 NHL off-season, the Chicago Blackhawks brought back Teuvo Teravainen on a three-year, $16.2 million contract. With this move, the Blackhawks expected him to be a key part of their top six as they look to take that next step in their rebuild. 

Photo Credit: © Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Nick Robertson's camp are reportedly $1.05 million apart in their arbitration filings.

The Maple Leafs are looking for $1.2 million on Robertson's next contract, while the left winger filed for $2.25 million, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday. Their arbitration hearing is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 3.

Toronto has about $2.93 million in available cap space, according to PuckPedia.

Robertson, who elected for arbitration in early July, is the only player left who could be headed to a hearing. The 10 other RFAs who filed for arbitration and two whose teams filed for arbitration signed new deals, including the Seattle Kraken's Kaapo Kakko, Buffalo Sabres' Bowen Byram and Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi.

In 69 games this past season, the 23-year-old recorded 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points. In 2023-24, Robertson played more than 15 NHL games for the first time, putting up 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 56 games.

Robertson averaged 12 minutes of ice time under first-year Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, a career high. But in the playoffs, he only appeared in three games: Games 1 and 2 in the first round against the Ottawa Senators, when he had one assist, and Game 5 against the Florida Panthers, when he scored. He averaged 9:59 of ice time in the post-season.

The Maple Leafs lost right wingers Mitch Marner and Ryan Reaves and left winger Pontus Holmberg in free agency, while Max Pacioretty remains a UFA.

That said, Leafs GM Brad Treliving added Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua and Michael Pezzetta to the wings this off-season.

Toronto also still has Calle Jarnkrok, Steven Lorentz and David Kampf as bottom-six options, while either Bobby McMann or Max Domi will likely be on the third line with the other on one of the top two lines.

Regardless of the contract Robertson signs, he could face competition in earning a spot on the second or third lines. He has proven at times to provide solid secondary scoring, with an average shot speed of 62.73 mph that ranks in the 89th percentile of NHL players, according to NHL Edge.

As Friedman mentioned when reporting arbitration filings for the Jets' Dylan Samberg, who since signed a three-year contract worth $5.75 million annually, these filings are strategic. An arbitrator will often award a contract in between the two filings, leaning toward the team or player's filing.

More to come.

It has been two years since the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and the Chicago Blackhawks are fortunate of the result. They drafted 11 times; two in the first round, three in the second round, two in the third round, and once in each of the final four rounds. The team got some good young players.

There have only been 19 players from the 2023 draft to appear in an NHL game over the first two seasons. The Blackhawks have two of them, Connor Bedard and Oliver Moore.

Bedard ranks first amongst all players drafted in 2023 in points with 128, and even though he played two full seasons, he missed 14 games as a rookie. Moore only just left university at the end of last season and played nine games for the Blackhawks, recording four points.

There are only five players in between Bedard and Moor in points from the 2023 draft, and every one of them have played over 70 games. Only six total players from this draft have even played 10 games. The group of young players separating Bedard and Moore are Adam Fantilli (81 points), Lucas Carlsson (71), Matvei Michkov (63), Zach Benson (58), and Will Smith (45).

Bedard remains the top player on the Blackhawks and that should continue to be true, but Moore took a different path as a later first-round pick and will have to work his way up from a bottom-6 role he will likely start out in next season.

This draft will start to blossom even more in 2025-26 with players starting to break into the NHL and earning more full time roles. Three 2023 draft picks to still watch, not next season, but beyond, are Adam Gajan, Roman Kantserov, and Nick Lardis. All should be able to find their way to the NHL.

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

In an X post yesterday, BarDown asked which of the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, or San Jose Sharks had the best 25-and-under core. In less than 24 hours, the post received nearly 200 replies, with not everyone picking the same team. Let’s take a closer look at those three teams’ young core.

San Jose

BarDown identified the six following players as part of the Sharks’ young core: Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson, and Yaroslav Askarov. One thing jumps out at you right away: the presence of a generational talent in Macklin Celebrini. Some stopped their analysis there, saying that settled the debate; San Jose was the best because of his presence. That to me is a bit shortsighted; a great individual does not make a great team. If that were the case, Conor McDavid would have won multiple Stanley Cups already.

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I remember one year, when Russia was still allowed to play in the Olympics. They were hosting the games in Sochi, and they lost to Finland in the quarter-finals despite having what could only be described as an All-Star team with Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin, Andrei Markov, Alexander Radulov, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Semyon Varlamov.

It doesn’t come down to just having the best players; it comes down to having great players who complement each other well. The six players identified as the Sharks’ young core by BarDown have a total of 334 NHL games under their belt and are far from done developing.

You have to pick ONE of the league’s three brightest cores for the next decade… Who are you rolling with? 👀⤵️ pic.twitter.com/vvIegAcyRa

— BarDown (@BarDown) August 1, 2025

It's worth noting that it includes three centers, and if they all do pan out, that will give them tremendous depth at center, which is generally a must to build a perennial contender. Right now, however, at 22, Eklund is the oldest of the group, and the most points he has gotten in a season so far are 58 points. Celebrini had 63 in his only season so far.

The one defenseman they’ve included in the Sharks’ core has yet to play a single game in the NHL. Granted, he was great in the juniors, scoring 91 points in 55 games. At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, he certainly has the shape of an NHLer, but will he adapt well to the top league? It’s a bit too early to say.

As for the goaltender, there’s a lot of hype around Askarov, and when he was available for a trade, many teams came knocking, but so far, he only has five wins in 16 NHL contests with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. His stats are better in the AHL, but there’s a significant gap between the difficulty level in the AHL and the NHL, as the Cayden Primeau experiment showed in Montreal recently.

Columbus

The six players identified as the Jackets’ young core are Adam Fantilli, Cole Silinger, Kiril Marchenko, Dimitri Voronkov, Cayden Lindstrom, and Kent Johnson. These are all forwards. There are no defenseman and no goaltender.

This group has 854 games of NHL experience, making them much more seasoned than the Sharks’ core. Columbus seems to have all of its chips on their forward group, and experience tells us that overlooking the other positions is not a recipe for success. The Edmonton Oilers, with their numerous first-round pick, spent years going all in on forwards and eventually realized they needed more than that to win. The other extreme isn’t better, though; the Canadiens also failed to put all their chips on goaltending with Carey Price and invest heavily in their blueline while neglecting the offense.

For a team that is so invested in the attack, it’s interesting to see that they’ve only got 526 points in those 854 games of NHL experience. Marchenko had their most productive season with 74 points. As things stand, Voronkov and Silinger are third-line players, and I’m far from convinced they both have top-six potential.

If these youngsters cannot take over Sean Monahan and Boone Jenner’s roles sooner rather than later, this is not a very convincing core if you ask me. Monahan is only 30 years old, but he has a well-documented injury history. Last year, he could only skate in 54 games. The last time he played 82 games was in 2016-17. As for Jenner, he’s 32 and has never reached the 50-point mark, and yet, he plays on the Jackets’ top six rather than some of their young talent.

This group has more experience than the Sharks’, but despite being all about the attack, they fall short of firepower and real top-six talent. If I had to choose between the two, San Jose would get my vote, even with their inexperience.

Montreal

Like San Jose, Montreal boasts a more diverse core than Columbus, featuring players like Ivan Demidov, Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Nick Suzuki. This group is by far the most experienced, with 1,297 NHL games under their belt, but an argument could be made that Dach shouldn’t be in the group, as he hasn’t yet proven himself worthy.

The main weakness here is the lack of depth at center; the Canadiens need to find a second-line center before they can even think about depth at that position. The upcoming season will be a big one for Dach, who’s playing the last year of his contract.

The presence of Lane Hutson on the blue line is a massive plus for the Canadiens; they are the only one of the three teams with a proven points producer on the blueline. He might have only played one season, but Hutson improved as the year went on. Proof that even though the teams started knowing him more, they couldn’t find a way to keep him in check, the elusive blueliner just kept finding ways to keep going.

The Canadiens also boast a pure sniper in their group in Caufield, even though he’s yet to hit the 40-goal mark. I firmly believe that he’ll get there this upcoming season. He would have done it last season had he not lost his favourite power play spot to Laine. The experience was beneficial, however, and contributed to making him a more well-rounded player.

Montreal also has a power forward in the making in Slafkovsky. He’s yet to find the consistency to be a fully fledged power forward, but he knows what he has to do to get there, and it appears to be coming.

Overall, this six-player group has put up 896 points, showing great offensive potential. While the lack of a goaltender can somewhat hurt their nomination as best young core, that’s easily solved by replacing Dach with Jacob Fowler. The netminder has yet to play an NHL game and, therefore, is even less proven than Askarov, but he still would have deserved to be included in that group. Even Kaiden Guhle and Noah Dobson would have belonged in the group before Dach.

In my book, Montreal is the winner here for now, at least. Perhaps the Sharks’ group will mature very nicely as it picks up more experience, but as things stand, the Canadiens have the best young core.

Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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New York Islanders prospect Victor Eklund will not be attending rookie camp or training camp this fall, The Hockey News has learned. 

Eklund, selected 16th overall in this past draft, did attend development camp, sharing at the draft and on Long Island that he would be heading back to Sweden for the 2025-26 season to play for Djugardens, which had been promoted to the SHL after winning the HockeyAllsvenskan championship. 

After attending #Isles dev camp, I'm told Victor Eklund (No. 16) will not be attending rookie camp or training camp this fall.

If he did, he'd miss around 6 games for Djugardens, which would jeopardize his position on their roster & ability to prepare for the SHL season.

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) July 31, 2025

The Islanders were on board with this decision. 

Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks, No. 4), Eklund's buddy and Djugarden's teammate, will also be following this path. 

Eklund, 18, did sign his entry-level contract back on July 14. The first year of the deal will slide if the Swedish forward does not play in 10 or more NHL games in 2025-26, which he won't. 

Djugardens opens their season on Sept. 13 vs. Skelleftea. 

PHOTO: David Reginek-Imagn Images

According to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline, former New Jersey Devils forward Stefan Matteau is being hired as an assistant coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

Matteau announced his retirement from hockey back in May after spending each of the last two seasons with the Monsters. Now, based on Portzline's report, Matteau will be an assistant coach for the AHL squad.

Sounds like Stefan Matteau, 31, is making an immediate leap from player to coach with AHL Cleveland, replacing Mark Letestu behind the bench.

Matteau had a 13-year pro career w New Jersey, Montreal, Vegas, Columbus and Colorado. He's on Trent Vogelhuber's staff. @monstershockey

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) July 31, 2025

Matteau was selected by the Devils with the 29th overall pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. In 44 games over three seasons as a Devil, he recorded three goals, two assists, five points, and 83 hits. His time with the Devils ended during the 2015-16 season when he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Devante Smith-Pelly. 

In 92 NHL games over seven seasons split between the Devils, Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, and Blue Jackets from 2012-13 to 2021-22, Matteau recorded six goals, five assists, 11 points, and 181 hits. 

Devils Have Intriguing Free-Agent Target To ConsiderThe New Jersey Devils have made some new additions to their roster this off-season, but it would be understandable if they tried to make more before the 2025-26 campaign is here. When looking at their roster, it is fair to argue that they could use a bit more forward depth, especially. 

Photo Credit: © Andy Marlin-Imagn Images

The Ottawa Senators' Ring of Honour was established to recognize players and team personnel who served the organization with distinction but don’t quite fit into the categories of team jersey retirement or the Hockey Hall of Fame.

There are six men in the Hockey Hall of Fame who once wore the centurion crest: Daniel Alfredsson, Tom Barrasso, Zdeno Chara, Dominik Hasek, Marian Hossa, and former coach Roger Neilson.

The Senators' retired numbers are Chris Phillips, Daniel Alfredsson, and Chris Neil. When the modern-day expansion Senators returned to the ice, they tipped their cap to the original Senators by retiring the number 8 of Frank Finnigan, a star player in the 1920s and ’30s who helped owner Bruce Firestone and his crew with the Bring Back the Senators campaign in the early '90s.

As an aside, I'm not sure why having your jersey retired should remove you from Ring of Honour contention.  To me, that's like making a defenseman ineligible for the Norris Trophy because he won the Hart.

Who Are The Top Five Fighters In Ottawa Senators History?My old pal, Liam Maguire, the greatest hockey trivia mind in the world, was making the rounds in Renfrew last Friday, roughly an hour west of Ottawa. Along with Liam's passion for NHL trivia, I've never met a man who likes seeing a good hockey fight more than he does.

Ironically, the Ring of Honour is the easiest of the three accolades to achieve, and yet it has the fewest members. Currently, it includes just three: former head coach and general manager Bryan Murray, longtime defenseman Wade Redden, and team doctor Donald Chow.

With new ownership and management focused on being "Best in Class," it might be time to throw a few more hats in the Ring. We can't put Brady Tkachuk or Erik Karlsson up there right now. But here are five retired players who wouldn’t look out of place right now on the Sens' R.O.H.

1. Craig Anderson

This one feels like a no-brainer. Anderson is the franchise leader in almost every goaltending stat and metric. He backstopped the team to the Eastern Conference Final in 2017, coming within a single goal of the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, the image of him vainly trying to see through J.G. Pageau as a flutter puck from Chris Kunitz found its way past him will be burned into our memories forever. But the good times were many. The undisputed greatest goalie in team history deserves a spot in the Ring of Honour.

2. Marian Hossa

Some argue Hossa wasn't in Ottawa long enough to be considered Ring-worthy, but he played 467 games here and was emerging as one of the NHL’s truly elite players. He scored 390 points as a Senator and ranks 14th all-time in games played for the club. He didn’t ask out. He signed a contract in good faith, only to be immediately traded by GM John Muckler in a package deal for Dany Heatley. Doesn't that make you want to extend an olive branch to one of the most skilled players to ever wear a Sens jersey?

3. Alexei Yashin

Don't start throwing tomatoes at me. Yashin is the only Senator ever considered for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. He sits 13th in games played with 504 and racked up 491 points. Yes, his contract holdouts were fiercely frustrating at the time, but few players have ever been more talented in a Sens uniform. I've always felt like this was just a kid getting some really bad advice from his agent.

4. Jason Spezza

Spezza ranks sixth all-time in games played (686) and scored 251 goals and 687 points, nearly a point per game. Yes, some were disappointed that he was named captain in 2013–14, only to request a trade by the end of the season. But his behind-the-scenes exhaustion during the Eugene Melnyk years surely played a big role in that. If you believe that, then Spezza deserves a little grace. He was an excellent Senator for a long time and absolutely belongs in the Ring of Honour.

5. Dany Heatley

You could definitely make a case against this one because Heatley only played four seasons for the Senators. But the only 50-goal scorer in club history (he did it twice) will never look out of place on the Ring. Heatley was part of the most entertaining line in team history with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza. The Senators took the first step by publicly reuniting the Pizza Line last year. Why not complete the tribute?

You could also twist my arm on Zdeno Chara or Mike Fisher, by the way.

I get it. Some of these options are borderline for varying reasons. But frankly, I'm willing to be flexible right now. Because for an NHL team that's 33 years old, having a ring of honour with just one player on it isn't a very good look.

It's time to get some star names up there and beef this thing up. 

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images

More Sens Headlines:
Sens Rewind: The Year Jason Spezza Became Ottawa Senators Captain
Formenton's Lawyer: 'The Crown Knowingly Forged Ahead With A Hopeless Prosecution'
Mark Stone Jokes That It Wasn't Always Easy Playing On Brady Tkachuk's Line
2018 World Junior Trial Ends: Former Senator Alex Formenton Found Not Guilty
Two Sens Prospects Set To Shine At World Junior Summer Showcase
Croatia's NHL Trailblazer: Sens Prospect Bruno Idžan Takes NHL Road Less Travelled

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15 Years Later: The 2008 Red Wings, a Retrospective - June 14, 2023

(Original author: Sam Stockton) 

Fifteen years ago this month, the Detroit Red Wings lifted the Stanley Cup for the eleventh time in franchise history. It was the team’s fourth title in eleven seasons. If you are the kind of person who is stringent in their application of the label “dynasty,” perhaps believing that a minimum of three consecutive championships is an essential criterion, then you might not count the Red Wings from the late nineties through the late aughts, but you couldn’t put any other hockey team in front of them during that span. In the nascent days of the NHL’s salary cap era, the ‘08 Wings provided the league with an aspirational gold standard.

In June of 2008, you would be in rare company if you suspected that the end of a golden age was imminent, but with the benefit of hindsight, maybe it wasn’t so surprising. To be sure, there was one more big run left—the following season’s journey to a Cup Final rematch with the Penguins, a home defeat in Game 7, and symbolic torch-passing to Sidney Crosby, but beyond that, precious little.

In the four seasons spanning the NHL’s 2005 return from another lockout and that 2009 Game 7 loss in Detroit, the Red Wings won nine playoff series.  They twice won the Western Conference and took home the big prize in 2008.

From the 2009-10 season to the present, the Wings have won just two playoff series, both of them prior to joining the Eastern Conference before the '13-14 season. 

In 2017, Detroit missed the playoffs for the first time since 1990—a streak generally accepted as a core cause for the depth of the ensuing and ongoing rebuild.

In other words, at the rate of a trickle, the band broke up, and, within a decade, the notion of the Detroit Red Wings as a standard for excellence around the league was laughable.

Yet the legacy of the 2008 Red Wings could not be so easily forgotten. With the possible exception of Darryl Sutter’s Cup-winning LA Kings, they remained the supreme example of possession-based hockey in the NHL. Conveniently, the ‘07-08 season is the first for which we have (mostly) reliable shot data and thus a sort of year zero for modern analytics. With those tools at our disposal, we can better express the extent of those Red Wings’ dominance.

At fifteen years' remove, it’s striking that this wasn’t a team of preposterous talent up and down the lineup, layering one scoring line on top of another in the style of the ‘15 Blackhawks or the ‘16 and ‘17 Penguins.  To be sure, they weren't bereft of talent, but you wouldn't confuse the lineup for an all-star team.

At the top of the lineup, there was glimmering skill: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidsrom, Rafalski. But from a depth perspective, these Wings were more dependent on brawn than skill. Up front it was Draper, Maltby, and Drake. Along the blue line, Lebda, Lilja, and whatever remained of Chris Chelios.

It was during the 2008 postseason that Johan Franzen, with his eighteen points in sixteen games, emerged as one of the best power forwards in the league. 

THN.com's ongoing series on the Buffalo Sabres and their opponents next season continues with this look at the New York Rangers and the considerable changes the Rangers have made thus far this off-season, as well as their record against the Sabres and their schedule head-to-head this coming season.

The Rangers have a new voice guiding them on the ice in former Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins coach Mike Sullivan. And the Blueshirts were quite active in the trade and free-agency departments, so the Sabres team that mostly stayed the same is going to see a much different Rangers squad. So we're excited to see the way the games between the two teams shakes out this year.

BUFFALO SABRES VS. NEW YORK RANGERS

NEW RANGERS PLAYERS: Vladislav Gavrikov, D; Taylor Raddysh, RW; Justin Dowling, LW; Scott Morrow, D

2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 2-1-0, Rangers 1-2-0

2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER:  October 9 at Buffalo; January 8 at Rangers; April 8 at Rangers

CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM?  The Rangers and Sabres squeezed in their regular-season action last year by the third week of February. which is a bit of a shame, as this rivalry is a favorite of ours and needs more games deep down the stretch of the regular season.

Thankfully, the NHL schedule-maker is giving us this year's three games betweeen the Sabres and Rangers at very different points in the season. First, Buffalo takes on the Rangers in their first game of the year. Then, they meet again in the first week of January. And finally, they wrap things up in a game that's the fourth-to-last on the Sabres' schedule.

That latter game has the potentil to be a powderkeg game, with both teams possibly fighting it out for a wild card berth. But by then, each team will have worked far past the trade deadlne, so we could be talking about two very different rosters.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Are Retooling Islanders A Better Team Than Buffalo?Welcome back to  THN.com's Buffalo Sabres site. In recent days and weeks, we've been focusing on the teams the Sabres will square off against next season. And in today's file, we're turning our attention to a team Buffalo will be taking on in the latest battl(es) of New York (state) -- the New York Islanders.

Regardless, the Sabres will be taking on a Rangers team that said goodbye to longtime cornerstone winger Chris Kreider, as well as veteran defenseman K'Andre Miller. In their place is former L.A. Kings stalwart Gavrikov and...well, a few depth players in Raddysh, Dowling and Morrow. There shouldn't be any sizeable expectations of those three players, but Gavrikov will definitely be an upgrade defensively on Miller.

This Rangers team has essentially doubled down on its core, including star winger Artemi Panarin, blueliner Adam Fox, and goalie Igor Shesterkin. None of those three players had an good year typical of them at the NHL level, but teams and players go through sub-par strethes and rebound from them, and that's what Blueshirts GM Chris Drury is banking on.

If things somehow go right for the Sabres and Rangers next season, there's a possibility the teams eventually meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Granted, that would take a particular game of plinko from the hockey gods to make happen, but again, the Sabres and Rangers have that built-in relationship that should be developed as much as possible. If the teams aren't going to be in the same division anytime soon -- and that's even if expansion winds up having an effect on the current divisional setup -- then the schedule-maker can continue giving us three games in the season. 

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Will Devils Remain Formidable Metro Team -- And Will New Jersey Once Again Beat Sabres In Season Series?The Buffalo Sabres are a team that needs to make a playoff appearance this coming season. But in a continuing series, we're examining each of Buffalo's Eastern Conference-rivals that could be in the way of the Sabres making it into the post-season. And in this file, we're examining the rivalry between the Sabres and New Jersey Devils.

 If Shesterkin in particular can look like his old self, the Rangers should be in the mix for a wild card berth. It's now within the realm of possibility, though, that the Sabres take advantage of their games against the Blueshirts and play a key role in the Rangers missing the post-season for the second straight season. And if that's what happens for the Rangers next year, we can see Drury totally dismantle his core and start with a new group.

Between then, we're going to get three games between the Sabres and Rangers. And while there are some Sabres opponents who don't move the needle as playing especially-intriguing games against Buffalo, the Rangers are not one of those teams. And given the tightness of the playoff race in both conferences, the games between the Sabres and Rangers are likely to be highly-entertaining. 

Who do we like to win those three games? Well, not to be all safe about it, but we see Buffalo -- for the second straight season -- winning two of their three games against the Rangers. It's hard for any team to sweep an opponent given the modern-day parity of the league, but the Sabres have what it takes on paper to beat the Rangers more often than they lose.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Metropolitan Edition: Sabres Could Be Battling Up-And-Coming Blue Jackets For Wild Card BerthThe Buffalo Sabres are one of the teams most desperate to make the Stanley Cup playoffs next season. And one of the teams the Sabres could be battling for one of the two wild card berths next season is another team desperate to end a prolonged playoff drought -- the Columbus Blue Jackets.

We'll see how our prediction lands, but it will nonetheless be intriguing to watch the Sabres/Rangers games this season. They've both got some solid components, but there has to be a desperation to both teams' attack. If not, it will be a long season, and an even longer summer next year, for the team that doesn't get into the post-season.

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz appears to be in peak offseason training mode.

The 31-year-old’s goalie coach, George Bosak, shared a video of Stolarz training on Instagram earlier this week. The 6-foot-6 goaltender commanded the crease as players fired shots at him from his left and right sides.

“Anthony Stolarz has been looking very sharp in workouts,” Bosak wrote in the post’s caption. “The first thing he said to me this summer is that there’s unfinished business on the table. I know he is incredibly grateful for all the fan support in Toronto and is motivated to bring home a title for the Maple Leafs faithful.”

It was an up-and-down season for Stolarz, who dealt with two significant injuries throughout the year. After a strong start with Toronto, where he had 10 wins and a .927 save percentage in 17 games, the goaltender picked up a knee injury in December, forcing him to miss nearly two months.

Stolarz returned in early February and finished the season with a .926 save percentage (the best among NHL goaltenders who played 30-plus games) and 22 wins in 34 games. He entered the playoffs as Toronto’s starting goaltender, helping them get past the Ottawa Senators in the first round.

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However, things took a turn when Stolarz took a forearm to the head courtesy of Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett in Game 1 of the second round. He was diagnosed with a concussion and didn’t play another game for the Maple Leafs in the playoffs, only returning to backup Joseph Woll in Game 7 against the Panthers.

Stolarz is entering his second season of a two-year, $5 million contract he signed with Toronto last summer. Last season was the first in which Stolarz was heavily relied upon as a goaltender in the NHL.

He played with the OHL’s London Knights in junior hockey and had Dale Hunter as his coach. The 65-year-old looked back on Stolarz’s time with the Knights on Wednesday while on The Fan Morning Show with Ben Ennis and Brent Gunning.

“Yeah, he had all the makeup for it. Sometimes it takes longer for goalies. He played for us. He brought us to the Memorial Cup. Unfortunately, we ran into this Nathan MacKinnon guy, and he got us,” said Hunter.

“[Stolarz] played very well. He's in a good place right now. Being an ex-London Knight, I watch him a lot. He's confident and he looks like he's ready to roll for the Leafs.”

Stolarz has a .918 save percentage and a 116-64-39 record in 142 games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, Panthers, and Maple Leafs. His 34 games played with the Maple Leafs last season were a career high.

This article originally appeared on The Hockey News: 'There's Unfinished Business': Anthony Stolarz's Summer Training In Full Swing Ahead Of Second Season With Maple Leafs

(Top photo of Stolarz: Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images)

Ottawa Senators defenseman Nik Matinpalo is coming off a rookie NHL season that can best be described as unexpected.

At this time last summer, Matinpalo was a 25-year-old Finnish pro who had gone undrafted in the NHL, and had just completed his first year of pro hockey in North America. That included 67 games for the Belleville Senators, scoring 14 points, and four games with no points for Ottawa.

Very few people thought he was in line to be an NHL regular last season. 

But after starting the year with Belleville again, playing in 24 games for the AHL club, he was able to overtake the injured Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic on the Ottawa depth chart. He went on to play 41 NHL games plus all six Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Senators.

He also represented Team Finland in the NHL's Four Nations Face-Off event in February and at the World Hockey Championships in May. To cap off his turnaround season, Matinpalo signed a two-year, one-way contract with Ottawa, just a few days after the club was eliminated.

The deal will pay him $875,000 for each of the next two years, and because the contract was taken care of so quickly after the season, it looked from the outside like an NHL job was all but assured.

Ottawa Senators AHL Team Signs Owen Sound Attack's Top ScorerThe Belleville Senators announced Tuesday the signing of Landen Hookey to a two-year American Hockey League contract.

Despite giving Matinpalo that two-year contract and a bit of security, the Senators didn’t mince words during exit meetings, making it clear that nothing is guaranteed this fall.

"Yeah, they said that I need to train hard," Matinpalo said on Thursday on the Coming in Hot podcast. "And when I come into training camp, I need to think like I'm not on the team. I need to boost myself to be better every day this summer. So yeah, I think that was the biggest message to me."

That's some tough love. But in hindsight, they may have been preparing him for what was about to happen because Matinpalo's clear path back to his NHL job has been quickly littered with new obstacles.

The club brought back right-shot defenseman Lassi Thomson, a former Sens first-rounder and fellow Finn. Then they went out and acquired LA Kings right-shot defenseman Jordan Spence in a draft-day trade. And of course, their first-round pick from last year, Carter Yakemchuk, is another right-shot who's hungry to reach the NHL as soon as possible, especially after being the team’s final cut last season.

That certainly changes things, especially if Nick Jensen is healthy and ready to start the season.

Outdueling those players may prove to be a tougher challenge than last season’s leapfrogging of two players whose NHL stock has fallen sharply over the past couple of years. But Matinpalo will trust his own game and try to stay in the headspace that worked for him last year, when he didn’t let the stage get too big.

"Yeah, I think I'm not that young anymore. Like, maybe this is the last chance for me to play in the NHL. So maybe that was the one thing. Like, I'm just gonna trust my game and do whatever takes to play."

Ottawa Senators Prospect Piling Up More Penalty Minutes At World Junior Summer ShowcaseOne of the defining traits of the Ottawa Senators' 2024 NHL Draft class was the team's clear preference for size. While amateur scout Don Boyd says the organization didn’t enter that draft thinking they would deliberately go after bigger players, forsaking all others, that's certainly how it worked out.

Matinpalo’s real life has already surpassed his dream, which was about as modest as it gets for an NHL prospect.

"Everybody always thinks they can play (in the NHL). But when you go to training camp, you see there's like 15 D-men already. So I'm not really thinking I'm gonna play in the NHL. But of course, that was the motivation, like, I want to play one game in the NHL. Or that's it. Maybe I wasn't thinking about that too much. But that was the dream, playing that one game."

Times change, and so can goals and dreams.

Matinpalo says he still has a lot of developing to do, and the two-year contract affords him more time to improve. But given his spectacular learning curve from last season, one suspects he might be right back in the thick of things at camp this fall.

You can listen to Matinpalo's full interviewhere.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
Image Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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The Detroit Red Wings may have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2024-25 NHL season, but one of the major positives that they will be taking into the upcoming 2025-26 campaign was the goal scoring output of forward Alex DeBrincat.

DeBrincat, who was acquired just over two calendar years ago from the Ottawa Senators, scored 39 goals in what was his second season with the Red Wings. It was a 12-goal improvement from his output of 27 in 2023-24, and was also the most he'd scored since tallying 41 in the 2021-22 NHL season with the Chicago Blackhawks. 

In fact, DeBrincat's 39 tallies were the most by any Red Wings player in a single season since Marian Hossa lit the lamp 40 times in his first and only campaign with the Red Wings in 2008-09. 

Patrick Kane makes a beautiful pass to Alex DeBrincat in his 1,300th NHL game! 🤩 #NHLStats: https://t.co/tvOJyFYJin

📺: @NHLNetworkpic.twitter.com/oHLiP7zsIY

— NHL (@NHL) April 14, 2025

DeBrincat's 2024-25 NHL season output was the kind of production envisioned by Red Wings fans and management when the Michigan native was acquired, and he attributed his increased production not only to his style of play but to less mental stress. 

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

"There’s a lot of things that contribute to it but overall, I think it's just been a better year," DeBrincat said in April via The Detroit Free Press. "Mentally, a lot less hard on me. I've tried to stay more consistent - that was a goal of mine this year. Overall I feel like I’ve been a lot more consistent, not only with points and goals, but just the way I’ve been playing and being a factor every night."

That being said, DeBrincat also acknowledged his disappointment in the fact that he and his teammates weren't able to secure a berth in the postseason. 

"Overall I think it’s a fine year, but obviously not good enough," he said. "With the position we’re in, everybody in the room wants more, feels like they can contribute more."

Upon his acquisition by the Red Wings, DeBrincat signed a four-year, $31.5 million contract with a reasonable $7.875 million cap hit.

DeBrincat and the Red Wings are aiming for bigger and better things as they begin preparations to enter the crucial 2025-26 NHL season.

If the Red Wings are to challenge for a postseason spot and ultimately get over the hump to bring postseason hockey to Little Caesars Arena for the first time, they'll need DeBrincat to keep the form that made him Detroit's leading goal scorer in 16 years. 

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We’re almost at the halfway point of The Hockey News’ NHL summer splash series, and we’re turning the spotlight on the Edmonton Oilers in 18th place. 

In these summer splash rankings, we judged NHL teams that got better, worse or essentially remained the same. 

We’ve focused on each team’s roster departures, roster additions and coaching and management hirings and firings. Right now, we’re in the thick of examining teams that stayed the same this summer. You’ll find the teams that finished lower than Edmonton at the bottom of this column, but first, we’re breaking down the state of the Oilers.

Additions

Andrew Mangiapane (LW), David Tomasek (RW), Isaac Howard (LW), Curtis Lazar (C)

The Breakdown: The Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup final for the second straight season, but the Florida Panthers grinded them down methodically. Now, Edmonton GM Stan Bowman has done his best to slightly alter the big picture for the team as they try to go on another deep playoff run.

The biggest addition of a proven talent is the free-agent signing of veteran left winger Mangiapane, who produced 14 goals and 28 points in 81 games with the Washington Capitals this past season. But Mangiapane’s individual numbers are likely to improve if he gets slotted in as the Oilers’ second-line winger. He brings two-way ability and recorded a career-high 35 goals and 55 points with the rival Calgary Flames in 2021-22.

That said, the biggest addition based on long-term potential is the trade acquisition of former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Howard, who won the Hobey Baker Award last year as the NCAA’s best men’s hockey player. The 21-year-old must earn his keep next year by proving he can hang with the big boys in the NHL, but the Oilers are betting that Howard quickly acclimates to hockey’s top league.

Finally, the Oilers added some veteran experience down the middle with the signing of former New Jersey Devils center Lazar. The 30-year-old had only two goals and five points in 48 games last season, but he’s just two years removed from a seven-goal, 25-point year with New Jersey. 

Bowman needs as much veteran depth as the salary cap will allow, and with just $225,834 in cap space remaining, his work is pretty much done.

Departures

Corey Perry (RW), Connor Brown (RW), Jeff Skinner (LW), Viktor Arvidsson (RW), Derek Ryan (C), John Klingberg (D), Drake Caggiula (LW), Olivier Rodrigue (G)

The Breakdown: The Oilers’ cap constraints forced them to move on from a good number of veterans, most notably crafty winger Perry, solid two-way wingers Brown and Arvidsson, and offense-minded defenseman Klingberg. 

Edmonton isn’t going to lose playoff games next season because they don’t have those players in the lineup, but you’d be kidding yourself if you think Bowman isn’t going to make some deals by or before the next trade deadline to add talent to his roster. And who knows – perhaps Perry, who left for the Oilers’ Pacific Division rival L.A. Kings, may eventually find his way back to Edmonton. Stranger things have happened.

If there’s one player Edmonton probably should’ve held onto, it was Brown, who departed to join the Devils on a four-year contract that pays him $3 million per season. That was too rich a deal for the Oilers to accommodate for a bottom-six forward, but Brown did a lot of little things right. In the playoffs, he had five goals and nine points in 20 games. That’s an excellent depth performance, and Brown is going to be missed in Edmonton.

The Bottom Line

In a couple of regards – in terms of their overall experience and grit – the Oilers have taken a hit. Perry, Brown and Arvidsson all bring a solid skill set to the table, and they leave holes in the lineup that Bowman tried to fill. 

However, with the additions of Howard and Mangiapane in particular, Edmonton may not ultimately be missing those aforementioned departed players for very long. Considering they may also call up Matthew Savoie, the Oilers might even become a faster, younger and more skilled team in the bottom six.

In the end, the Oilers are likely only going to go as far as superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – and goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard – take them.

Of course, the goaltending picture in Edmonton will be a focal point all season long. Many were expecting Bowman to trade for a goalie, but that hasn’t materialized. One of the reasons the Oilers landed near the middle of the pack in our summer splash ratings is that the additions Bowman made were more or less evened out by the departures. 

Edmonton is still going to be a top team in the Pacific. But many Oilers fans were hopeful Bowman would change up the netminding tandem, and Skinner and Pickard remain the duo between the pipes for Edmonton. So for the purposes of the NHL summer splash rankings, the Oilers deserve to be not too high and not too low. But we still expect they’ll eventually make more moves to fortify their attack and give them a better chance to win their first Cup in 36 years.

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Summer Splash Rankings

18. Edmonton Oilers

19. Minnesota Wild

20. Seattle Kraken

21. Columbus Blue Jackets

22. Washington Capitals

23. Nashville Predators

24. New York Islanders

25. Tampa Bay Lightning

26. Toronto Maple Leafs

27. Dallas Stars

28. Calgary Flames

29. Los Angeles Kings

30. Winnipeg Jets

31. Chicago Blackhawks

32. Buffalo Sabres

Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.

Stanley Cup summer celebrations are kicking up a notch this week.

After spending time with Florida Panthers forward Jonah Gadjovich in his hometown of Whitby, Ontario, the Cup moved east to Nova Scotia.

That’s where one of the newest, and arguably most popular Panthers players hails from, and that’s where several non-Panthers NHL stars found themselves this week.

Taking his turn with the Stanley Cup was Brad Marchand, and joining him in his hometown of Halifax were fellow superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.

During Marchand’s party, video surfaced showing him being lifted literally into the Cup by a couple of his buddies.

In addition to his Cup fun with friends, Marchand also loaded himself and the historic trophy into the back of a pickup truck.

The pair then took a ride to a nearby Tim Hortons, where Marchand placed an order from the back of the pickup.

Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard snapped a photo of the iconic donut order and posted it on social media.

Brad Marchand at Tim Horton’s drive thru: “Oh, a Boston Cream donut!…uhh, maybe I better not.” (Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia) #StanleyCup@FlaPanthers@NHL@HockeyHallFame@TimHortonspic.twitter.com/AM4UX99DRy

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 31, 2025

Marchand’s kids also enjoyed their own Stanley Cup feast, filling the silver bowl with some yummy ice cream, according to NHL.com.

I can’t wait to see where the Cup ends up next!

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Photo caption: Brad Marchand poses with the Stanley Cup and fellow Canadian hockey greats Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, who are all from Nova Scotia. (@keeperofthecup on X)