Category: Sports News

The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers are currently dealing with the same problem, and a K'Andre Miller trade might be the easiest way to resolve the issue.

Miller, 25, is a pending restricted free agent whose name has been dangled in trade rumors for a long time now, dating back as far as last season.

According to Cam Robinson of EliteProspects, the Rangers are letting other NHL teams know that Miller is available via trade at this week's scouting combine ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft.

As a restricted free agent, of course, the Flyers and other teams can simply bypass a Miller trade altogether and instead opt to sign the former first-round pick to an offer sheet when free agency opens on July 1.

At the same time, if the Flyers wanted to guarantee Miller's signature, they can beat other teams to the punch with a trade. In that case, they would have to weigh their trade offer against the compensation they would pay the Rangers from an offer sheet, which depends on Miller's salary from the offer sheet.

The Flyers have a similar situation growing in their hands, as an RFA defenseman of their own, Cam York, is in need of a new contract.

The issue is that, according to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff, York's camp and the Flyers have yet to make meaningful progress on a contract extension.

One thing the Flyers and Rangers can offer each other that few other teams can is a direct swap of their two disgruntled defenders, who come with different sizes and skillsets.

York, 24, was drafted 14th overall by the Flyers in the 2019 NHL Draft with the intention of developing him into a premier two-way defenseman with high-end offensive chops. To this point, though, York's best season has seen him produce 10 goals and 30 points while operating primarily as a safety valve for the buccaneering Travis Sanheim, who's scored 18 goals and 74 points over the last two seasons.

Miller, on the other hand, already has a 40-point season under his belt, scoring nine goals and 43 points in the 2022-23 season. At 6-foot-5, Miller is much larger than York and would be a much better alternative to a bottom-pairing player with little scoring upside like Nicolas Hague.

The former 22nd overall pick has played his best hockey alongside Adam Fox, a heady, highly intelligent puck-mover with an elite offensive skillset.

So, while the Flyers don't have an Adam Fox on their team, it's possible Miller could unlock a player like Jamie Drysdale.

Among all defense pairings that played 300 minutes together, Miller and Fox led the NHL with an expected goals percentage of 66.7%. In terms of generating offense, the duo led the league with 4.11 expected goals for per 60 minutes, per MoneyPuck.

If you're the Flyers, and you consider how average the team has been in the scoring department, trading Miller has to be intriguing, to say the least.

Another thing to consider: in 2024-25, the Flyers were 30th in the league in scoring from defensemen with just 132 points coming from the blueline. Only San Jose and Boston were worse. Just 25.1% of the Flyers' assists came from defensemen this season, which was 31st in the NHL ahead of only Dallas.

With John Tortorella and Brad Shaw out of town, and with Rick Tocchet building an entirely new coaching staff, there are no guarantees York will continue to insulate Sanheim on a regular basis.

That change alone could further drive Sanheim's scoring down and force the Flyers to deploy a more traditional partnership between left- and right-shot defenders. And Miller's size and skill are things the Flyers don't have on their defense aside from Sanheim.

If management insists on having a hulking cast of rearguards for future playoff runs, Miller is a great place to start if changes are made.

A trade between division rivals is hard to come by these days, but perhaps the Flyers and Rangers could find some motivation to find an agreement ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft later this month.

It's worth noting, too, that Miller and Flyers trade target Marco Rossi share an agent in Ian Pulver. It would be worth Philadelphia's while to consider killing two birds with one stone and address two big roster holes before free agency even opens.

As one of the most disappointing teams in the NHL for many seasons now, the Buffalo Sabres need to make extensive roster changes this summer. And an intriguing target for the Sabres could be an Anaheim Ducks youngster in need of a change of employer -- left winger Trevor Zegras.

The 24-year Zegras has stuggled to live up to expectations in Anaheim since signing a three-year contract extension in 2023 that pays him an average annual value of $5.75-million. Zegras posted two consecutive seasons of 23 goals and at least 61 points from 2021-23, but injuries limited him to only 31 games in 2023-24 (when he posted only six goals and 15 points), and last season, he generated only 12 goals and 31 points in 54 games.

But now that he's entering a contract year, Zegras will have all the motivation in the world to rebound and prove himself at least worthy of the same salary moving forward. And that's where the Sabres should be looking to pounce. Buffalo can offer Zegras a golden opportunity to rebound, and given that Zegras doesn't have any no-move or no-trade protection in his current deal, he wouldn't have any say in where the Ducks deal him.

Zegras hasn't become an ineffective NHLer because his skills have suddenly left him. But like more than a few young players, a change of teams could be just the thing he needs to revitalize his career. And while the Sabres wouldn't get Zegras on the cheap in any trade, the risk-reward involved in acquiring him would work in Buffalo's favor.  And the Sabres have long been rumored to be interested in landing Zegras.

Indeed, if Buffalo trades for Zegras and he doesn't pan out, they're under no contractual obligation to him beyond the coming season. He's going to be an RFA at the end of next year, so he's still under team control for some time to come. And if things go really bad for him, the Sabres could look to deal him at next year's trade deadline.

Sabres Should Be Focusing On Trading For This Veteran Stanley Cup-WinnerThe Buffalo Sabres are in need of many things this summer -- but more than anything else, they need some veterans to come in and establish a winning standard for a new era for the franchise. And while it won't be a cakewalk to acquire the type of talent that can change things for the Sabres, that doesn't mean Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams shouldn't be swinging for the fences in trades and free agency. 

Zegras wouldn't be the first youngster to bounce around early in his playing days, but we're getting too far ahead of ourselves. The main reason Buffalo needs to explore acquiring him in a trade is because there's still plenty of time for him to salvage a reputation as someone who can be a key long-term component on a team with legitimate playoff aspirations.

We can debate who the Sabres would have to trade to land Zegras in a deal, but some combination of young player and draft pick would probably accomplish the goal of satisfying Ducks Gm Pat Verbeek's asking price. And really, the goal for Verbeek should be to get out from under the final year of Zegras' contract. They can't expect Buffalo to trade them an elite player, because they're not necessarily getting one back in Zegras.

Sabres Won't Land Maple Leafs' Marquee Free Agents -- But They Can Set Their Sights On This Young Leafs Player Via TradeThe Buffalo Sabres have $23.2 million in salary cap space to play with this summer.  But for reasons we've covered in this THN.com article, Sabres fans can forget about acquiring Toronto Maple Leafs star and UFA right winger Mitch Marner. It's just not happening, folks. Marner probably isn't coming back to Toronto, but he's damn sure not coming to a team that hasn't made the playoffs in nearly a decade-and-a-half. And the same goes for Leafs UFA center John Tavares, who is going to happily accept a major pay cut from the $11-million he made this year if it means staying with his beloved hometown Leafs. 

In any case, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams needs to be a busy guy on the trade and free-agent front this summer, and pinpointing players who are achievable targets should put Zegras on their radar. He may no longer be the surefire difference-maker many believed he'd be when he had his breakout seasons, but Zegras still has enough upside to merit the investment Buffalo would have to make to make him a Sabre.

It's a matter of making a deal that limits the risk for Buffalo and maximizes the opportunity for a player who has already had a decent deal of success. If Adams can do that and Zegras becomes a player the Sabres can build with, the price Buffalo pays to acquire him will be well worth it.

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers in seven games in EA SPORTS NHL's simulation of the Stanley Cup Finals in NHL 25. 

The Oilers fell down 3-1 in the series after dropping games one, three and four before roaring back to win games five, six and seven by one goal, including a game five overtime win. 

Leon Draisaitl took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in the simulation. 

The #NHL25 simulation predicts Oilers in 7 — now it's time to finish the job and:

"DIG IN!!!!!!!!!!" 🗣️🏆🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/qxrP3xBq28

— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) June 5, 2025

Prior to round one EA SPORTS NHL's simulation predicted the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.

The Hockey News' simulation predicted the Florida Panthers to win in five games after losing game one.

We will see which simulation is more accurate in a few weeks.

For more NHL 25 news make sure you bookmark The Hockey News Gaming Site or follow our Google News Feed.         

Photo Credit: EA SPORTS NHL 

It was a rough ending to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final for the Florida Panthers.

As the first overtime session was winding down, Panthers forward Tomas Nosek was called for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass from inside Florida’s defensive zone.

Now, there may have been contact with the stick of Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin, who was trying to deflect the puck as Nosek shot it, but nevertheless, the penalty was called and Nosek was sent off.

A few moments later, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl sent the Oilers faithful into a frenzy when he scored the game-winning overtime goal.

The situation is about as rough as you can get for an athlete, and nobody in the building probably felt worse than Nosek.

That’s where his teammates come into play.

Florida is known throughout the league as having one of the best, tightknit locker rooms, full of genuinely good men with exceptional work ethics.

“That stuff happens in the game of hockey, it’s a bad break,” said Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “He’s been a great player for us all year, all playoffs, so we have his back with that one.”

While the penalty proved to be costly for Florida, they full expect the Stanley Cup Final to be a long series.

As such, there will likely be situations where Nosek will have to show up and provide the kind of steady, reliable play that he’s been bringing all season.

After Game 1, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice explained that at times like this, you don’t let your player wallow in sorrow or self-pity. You surround them with love and find ways to lift them up.

“You just remind him after the game of being down 0-2 to Toronto and that line came in and changed everything for us, and how we're not here without Thomas Nosek,” Maurice said. “It’s a tough break, so we just make sure he doesn't get eat alone tonight. He's got lots of people sitting at his table and reminding him how good he's been to us.”

Indeed, Nosek played in 59 regular season games for Florida, and in addition to adding nine points and a plus-four rating while primarily centering the fourth line and playing regular minutes on the penalty kill, he was also one of the best even strength defenders on the team.

That has remained true during the playoffs, where he’s added three assists and a plus-five rating in 11 postseason games so far.

Wednesday night was likely not the best for Nosek, but he’ll get plenty of positivity and reminders of all he’s done well for the team in the time they’re together before Game 2 arrives.

“It's going to be a tough one,” Maurice said. “He's going to eat that one for a day, but, from his penalty kill to, again, that line really changed the flow of that Toronto series, (so we’ll) just remind him about that a whole bunch of times before the puck drops.”

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Photo caption: Feb 25, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Tomas Nosek (92) awaits the face-off against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. (Steve Roberts-Imagn Images)

It’s no secret that the Vancouver Canucks’ 2024-25 season was tumultuous and disappointing. Entering a new chapter after Rick Tocchet’s departure, stability and calm should be the team’s watchwords.

To that end, the Canucks elected to promote assistant coach Adam Foote to take Tocchet’s place. That sits well with right winger Conor Garland.

“I’m really excited about it,” Garland said last week, shortly after earning gold with Team USA at the 2025 World Championship. “I loved having him as an assistant. It's obviously going to be a little different now. I’m assuming as the head, we won’t be able to talk and hang out as much at the rink. But he was a lot of fun, and he's a very smart guy.”

When former Canucks bench boss Bruce Boudreau guested on The Hockey News’ Big Show earlier this week, he warned that the transition from fun-loving assistant to hard-nosed head man can be tough.

“The head coach is like the father, the disciplinarian,” Boudreau said. “The assistant coach is the guy that the players all come to and ask questions… Now, all of a sudden, you change the role. You’ve got to be the a------, and you’ve got to be the guy that comes down with the hammer.”

Boudreau was a head man for almost his entire coaching career, which spans more than three decades. While it’s not especially common to see assistants step into head jobs on the same NHL team, Foote is following three others who have recently made the same jump in the Pacific Division: Ryan Huska in Calgary, Jim Hiller in Los Angeles and Ryan Warsofsky in San Jose. 

While Garland is disappointed that Foote’s new position will cut into their 1-on-1 time, he is confident in his new coach’s abilities.

“When I get older, I’d love to coach,” Garland said. “A lot of the stuff he’d say, I’d make mental notes of – the techniques he talks about and how to win a playoff series, and what plays are important. I think he is one of the smarter guys when it comes to defensive hockey and winning games.”

The stats seem to bear that out.

During Boudreau’s 103 games in Vancouver, the Canucks logged an expected goals share of 47.83 percent at 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com. In 200 games under Tocchet and Foote, they improved to 50.58 percent. 

Over the same time frames, Boudreau’s penalty kill ranked 31st with a success rate of 73.7 percent. Under Tocchet and Foote, the Canucks improved to 80.3 percent over the full 200 games and 82.6 percent in 2024-25 – third-best in the NHL.

One of the key cogs in that penalty-killing machine was veteran defenseman Derek Forbort. A new arrival last season on a one-year deal at a $1.5-million cap hit, the 33-year-old elected to bypass free agency and return to Vancouver. On Tuesday, he signed a new one-year contract worth $2 million.

As someone who has only known the Canucks through their challenging ’24-25 season, Forbort’s decision to return can be seen as a vote of confidence for Foote, who he worked with closely as part of the blueline.

It’s also one UFA back in the fold in Vancouver. It’s unclear whether forwards Pius Suter or Brock Boeser will follow suit or if they’ll test the open market on July 1. 

Of course, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin and hockey ops president Jim Rutherford must scrutinize each one of their roster decisions in terms of how it will impact Quinn Hughes’ desire to stay with the Canucks beyond the two-year term remaining on his contract.

“If you’re going to trade Quinn Hughes, you’d better get a whole team back,” Boudreau said. “He’s that good.”

Meanwhile, Foote filled out his coaching staff.

He replaced himself as Vancouver’s defensive assistant with Kevin Dean – another bruising defenseman in his playing days, who is of similar vintage.

As a player, Dean won the Stanley Cup as a rookie with the New Jersey Devils in 1995. Recently an assistant with the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, he coached Forbort in Boston and just worked with Garland as part of Warsofsky’s U.S. staff at worlds.

Brett McLean and Scott Young also became assistant coaches. 

McLean coached AHL’s Iowa Wild for the past two seasons and was an assistant coach on Minnesota before that. He played 385 career NHL games and recorded 162 points.

Young was the Canucks’ director of player personnel for the past three seasons and was the Pittsburgh Penguins’ director of player development for five years beforehand. He won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 1991 and the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 during his 1,181-game career.

Canucks assistant Yogi Svejkovsky, who handled the special teams duties in Vancouver last season, joined Tocchet in Philadelphia. Defensive development coach Sergei Gonchar and video coach Dylan Crawford also won’t return to the Canucks next season, but Henrik and Daniel Sedin will remain player development coaches, with Marko Torenius keeping the goalie coach role.

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.

Swedish defenseman Gustav Lindström, 26, has signed a five-year contract with Djurgården, the Stockholm-based SHL club announced on Thursday.

“I’m so incredibly happy and proud to have signed for Djurgården,” said Lindström. “I remember when I was younger and watched hockey at Hovet (Djurgården’s home rink) with my friends. Every now and then, we would just look at each other and say, ‘Imagine playing here one day.’ Now that day is here.”

“Gustav is a very exciting player who has experience from international hockey at all levels,” said club sports director Niklas Wikegård. “At the same time, he’s still at an age where we feel that with him, we will have something to build around over time. We are very happy that Gustav has finally found his home in his beloved Djurgården.”

Lindström was picked in the second round, 38th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He played the 2018-19 season in the SHL for Frölunda and then went overseas.

Between 2019 and 2024, Lindström played 174 NHL games for the Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Ducks, recording 35 points and 80 penalty minutes. He returned to the Montreal organization in 2024-25 but spent the entire season in the AHL with the Laval Rocket.

Lindström joins a Djurgården team that just earned a promotion from the HockeyAllsvenskan and is in the process of building a competitive SHL roster. The team will have the consensus top-two ranked European draft prospects in 18-year-olds Anton Frondell and Victor Eklund, as well as veteran center Marcus Krüger, who was a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks, and Finnish right winger Jesse Ylönen, who like Lindström, is also returning from North America.

Photo © Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images

Ex-Hab Signs Two-Year Deal In Sweden American-born Finnish right winger Jesse Ylönen, 25, has signed a two-year contract with Djurgården IF, the Stockholm-based SHL club announced on Tuesday.

Prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final, longtime Winnipeg Jets head coach and current bench boss of the Florida Panthers, Paul Maurice opened up on his thoughts for his former club.

After making the bold statement to which he indicated his hopes that the Jets would win the 2025 Stanley Cup, Maurice doubled down on his claim, suggesting that the team is close to the top.

"Yeah, getting rid of your last coach was the right thing to do, won the Presidents' Trophy,” Maurice laughed when asked what he thought Winnipeg needed to do to get to the Stanley Cup.

“I cheer for three teams, basically,” he added. “I cheer for the Vancouver Canucks because of Jim Rutherford. I cheer for the Winnipeg Jets, because, well, because of Winnipeg. And I was cheering for the Dallas Stars for Pete DeBoer.”

Earlier, the NHL released footage from an interview between lifelong friends Maurice and DeBoer in advance of the third round, to which the video indicated their love for one another. 

But Maurice also continued in his answer to the question about the Jets, indicating his deeper connection to the people and the city of Winnipeg.

“If you’re good at it, you put everything into this and you’re not cheering for the other team, you’re cheering for your own team. But if you’re going to lose, I’d want to lose to one of those three groups. That’s kind of the idea. Now, my cheering for the team hasn’t really done them much good, it seems. But they’re just the right story in Winnipeg for the National Hockey League and what’s right about the game. 

"We saw it in the connection with what Mark Scheifele did to play in that game, the connection to his brothers, but that's not just a one-off, that starts at the top of that organization. And it fits very well with the fanbase there. They won the presidents’ trophy. I think the Florida Panthers did that a couple years before they got to the Final, so I think they’re right there.”

Maurice's Panthers trail the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final. Game 2 is set to be played on Friday.

The Philadelphia Flyers have officially announced the additions of two new assistant coaches as Rick Tocchet's first iteration of his Orange and Black coaching staff takes shape.

On Thursday, the Flyers officially announced the hiring of former Vancouver Canucks assistant coach and skills coach Yogi Svejkovsky, a former teammate of Tocchet's who once played for former Flyers interim head coach Brad Shaw.

During his playing days, Svejkovsky, 46, was teammates with Tocchet, former Flyers head coach Craig Berube, Flyers president Keith Jones, Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette, and New Jersey head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Svejkovsky, a former first-round pick of Washington in 1996, is expected to work with Tocchet in coaching the Flyers' power play, among other responsibilities.

Joining Tocchet and Svejkovsky in Philadelphia is former Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Jay Varady, who was one of Tocchet's assistant coaches in Arizona in the 2020-21 season.

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Prior to that, Varady, 47, was the head coach of the AHL Tucson Roadrunners, overseeing the development of players like Adin Hill, Calvin Pickard, Michael Bunting, Christian Dvorak, Ilya Lyubushkin, Barrett Hayton, Ivan Prosvetov, and Conor Garland.

According to Bill Meltzer of the Flyers' official website, the Flyers would like to make one more coaching hire this offseason. The exact roles for Svejkovsky and Varady have not been officially assigned by Tocchet at this time.