Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner opened up about his decision to block a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Carolina Hurricanes at last season’s NHL trade deadline.

Towards the deadline, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving approached Marner about a trade to the Hurricanes in exchange for Mikko Rantanen, who, at the time, had just been traded to Carolina by the Colorado Avalanche.

Marner, however, declined the move (which was his right) and remained with Toronto for the rest of his contract. Following the Maple Leafs’ elimination by the Florida Panthers in the playoffs, Marner and his family convened to discuss his future.

Ultimately, the 28-year-old wanted a fresh start and opted for a sign-and-trade with the Golden Knights. Marner signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with Toronto before being shipped to Vegas in exchange for Nicolas Roy.

Amidst Team Canada’s Olympic orientation camp in Calgary, Alberta, last week, the forward spoke with NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest about why he blocked a trade to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline.

“The last two years there were a lot of rumors going on, a lot of different stuff swirling around. You didn’t know what was going to happen,” Marner said. “Then the whole Carolina thing comes up in the middle of the season. It’s a bit of an awkward one. My wife was six or seven months pregnant, we really didn’t want to be a deadline player.

“I would have had to leave and go back to Toronto because my wife wasn’t coming down with me, so I was moving into Carolina myself if I did that. The logistics of it and everything, it just didn’t make sense and then from that point on, we told [the Maple Leafs] we were committed to [Toronto] and we were going to play it all out.”

This was Marner’s second major interview at Canada’s Olympic camp. The forward also spoke with TSN’s Mark Masters and revealed that his address was leaked after the Panthers eliminated Toronto from the playoffs in May.

“We play Game 7 as we do in a non-enjoyable way of all time, probably. You get home, you're pretty disappointed, you're pretty devastated. The thought also that it was my last Maple Leaf game at home,” Marner said. 

“And then I get a phone call probably about five or so minutes after from, I think it was my wife's father and goes, ‘I just want to let you know we've got people sending us screenshots of a guy posting your address online saying that if people want to come pay us a visit and say their goodbyes (in quotations), here’s the address.’ It was a little tough.”

The Maple Leafs drafted Marner with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Since then, the Markham, Ontario-born forward is fifth on the Maple Leafs’ franchise points list (221 goals and 741 points) and fifth all-time for playoff points with Toronto.

Latest stories:

'I've Been Stopped At The Airport': Maple Leafs' Chris Tanev Reveals Moment Fans Thought He Was Blue Jays' Kevin Gausman

Mitch Marner Reveals Intense Backlash And Had 'Full-Time Security' At His Home Following Maple Leafs’ 2025 Playoff Exit

'I Don't Think About What Other People Say': William Nylander Not Worried About Pressure Ahead Of New Maple Leafs Season

The Colorado Avalanche have been blessed with talented stars among their ranks of athletes in the last thirty years: Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Milan Hejduk, just to name a few.

Tyson Barrie is among the names of recognizable talent who have called Colorado home during their career. On August 25th, 2025, Barrie made the decision to hang up the skates professionally.

After 822 NHL games, Tyson Barrie is calling it a career. 👏

Best of luck in retirement! pic.twitter.com/3lcarmiaZw

— NHL (@NHL) August 25, 2025

Drafted by Colorado 64th overall in the third round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Barrie finished his NHL career with a total of 822 games played, tallying 508 points (110g/398a). 307 of those points, including 75 goals and 232 assists, were scored with the Avalanche. 

In the 13 seasons he played in the NHL, eight of those were spent in Denver. The remaining seven were spent among the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, and, most recently, the Calgary Flames.

In 2019, Barrie was an instrumental piece in a trade with Toronto that brought Nazem Kadri to Colorado. He was sent with forward Alex Kerfoot to the Maple Leafs in return for Kadri and defensive prospect Calle Rosen. Kadri played a crucial role in Colorado's Stanley Cup run in 2022.

"It's probably a decision in tandem with the 32 National Hockey League teams," Barrie said on Hockey Today via SiriusXM NHL when asked why he made the decision when he did. "It felt pretty organic. There was probably a little bit of opportunity out there for me to go and take a [professional try out] and take another crack at it, but I kinda put my heart and soul into that last year and this season didn't go as I'd hoped in Calgary. So, it felt organic to roll over into the next chapter of my life. Like I said in my Instagram post, I'm just super grateful for the time I did get to spend in the league. The hockey family is a special thing, and to be a part of it for that long and I know it doesn't end when you retire, so I'm just super grateful for the life I got to lead thus far."

Tyson Barrie Retirement Post via Instagram.

---

Bookmark THN's Colorado Avalanche site so you never miss the latest news surrounding the burgundy and blue!

Make sure you also bookmark The Hockey News to keep up on all things hockey, from NHL to AHL to PWHL and so much more!

Follow Bailey Curtis on X and stay up to date on live news stories following all things Colorado hockey!

Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.

With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years - and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft - top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News - Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization. 

For No. 9, we highlight the first goaltender on our list - and he's entering a crucial year in his development and with the Penguins' organization. That netminder is 23-year-old Joel Blomqvist.

---

#9: G Joel Blomqvist

Blomqvist had quite the interesting 2024-25 season. Following a stellar 2023-24 campaign at the AHL level - when he posted a .921 save percentage to go along with a 2.16 goals-against average and a 25-12-6 record - the 6-foot-2, 182-pound netminder went into training camp with aspirations of somehow cracking the NHL roster.

As it turns out, he got his wish. Due to a pre-season injury forced former Penguins' goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to miss the first several games of the regular season, an opportunity came for Blomqvist to tandem with starting goaltender Tristan Jarry from the get-go. 

And he did not disappoint. 

Blomqvist impressed so much in his first handful of games that he forced the Penguins' hand into carrying three goaltenders once Nedeljkovic came back into the fold. He had a .912 save percentage through his first seven appearances, and it wasn't until a very human performance against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 11 - when Blomqvist surrendered three goals on just eight shots - that he was re-assigned back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS).

Top-20 Penguins' Prospects 2025: Forward Has Outside Shot At NHL Roster Out Of CampHeading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.

Blomqvist went back down the AHL level, but he was only there for about two months before Jarry was waived in late January, which opened the door for Blomqvist to get some runway at the NHL level a second time. Unfortunately, the second stint didn't go as well for Blomqvist, and he was sent back to WBS before an injury there kept him out for much of the latter part of the season. 

His totals in his first NHL season? An .885 save percentage and a 3.81 goals-against average, neither of which are ideal. But the stats don't tell the entire story, as Blomqvist wasn't exactly garnering consistent playing time in his second stint since Nedeljkovic was playing very well at the time.

But there is still promise in Blomqvist's game. He's athletic, he's quick post-to-post, he plays the puck well, and he has good rebound control. His biggest flaw is high-glove side, which is oftentimes a fatal flaw of young goaltenders.

Blomqvist certainly still needs some refinement, but as of now, he's still a large piece of the Penguins' future. The trouble is that - with several other goaltenders either on his heels or competing with him for NHL and AHL playing time, including Sergei Murashov, Filip Larsson, Taylor Gauthier, and the newly acquired Arturs Silovs - Blomqvist won't have a whole lot of wiggle room to prove himself to the Penguins' organization.

With the departure of Nedeljkovic this summer, that eliminated one of the veterans on the NHL roster. However, the subsequent addition of Silovs further adds to the youth competition that Blomqvist faces in lieu of trying to compete for an NHL roster spot out of camp.

Murashov is the organization's best goaltending prospect and - realistically - should be starting AHL games this season. So, if Blomqvist does not beat out Silovs in training camp, he's likely facing a split in WBS with one of Murashov, Larsson, or Gauthier - which is obviously does much less for his development at this juncture than splitting time with Jarry in the NHL.

Blomqvist has proven enough that he probably deserves a chance to have a lot of runway at the NHL level this season. But, at the same time, the Penguins need to begin figuring out what their future looks like at the position. The reality is that they currently have five goaltenders who should be playing at the AHL level at the very least, but between one spot on the NHL roster and just two in WBS, the math works against all of them.

Even if it's not quite fair for a 23-year-old goaltending prospect, this really is a "make-it-or-break-it" year of sorts for Blomqvist. He needs to earn the other NHL job out of camp, and if he doesn't quite do that, he needs to show that he is the clear man for the job in WBS so he is the first on-call.

Again, there is still a lot of promise to Blomqvist's game, and Penguins' fans will have to be a little bit patient with some of the growing pains that will come with gaining NHL experience. But, unfortunately for him, he has to prove that he's NHL-ready quickly - and he has to continue to show why he still belongs in any top-10 Penguins' prospect rankings.

Who Will Be The Starting Goaltender In WBS This Season?The NHL goaltending situation for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2025-26 already figures to be an interesting one.

---

The list so far:

- No. 10: F Tristan Broz
- No. 11: F Will Horcoff
- No. 12: F Mikhail Ilyin
- No. 13 F Filip Hallander
- No. 14: F Bill Zonnon
- No. 15: F Melvin Fernstrom
- No. 16: D Emil Pieniniemi
- No. 17: F Avery Hayes
- No. 18: F Cruz Lucius
- No. 19: D Finn Harding
- No. 20: D Peyton Kettles

---

Join the THN - Pittsburgh Penguins Community to follow and chime in on the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!