The Buffalo Sabres have little room for error next season as they attempt to end a 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought -- and that means they need to beat above-average teams. That includes the Dallas Stars, who the Sabres will take on twice this coming year. 

The Stars are one of the deepest, most well-balanced teams in the NHL, and while they haven't made a slew of changes after falling in the Western Conference final once again, Dallas is going to be a handful for any opponent, including the Sabres. And as part of THN.com's "Know Your Enemy" series, we're looking at every Buffalo opponent next year. We've been moving through the highly-competitive Central Division, and in today's file, we're breaking down Buffalo's chances against the Stars. Let's get to it:

BUFFALO SABRES VS. DALLAS STARS

NEW STARS PLAYERS: Radek Faksa, C

2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 1-1-0, Stars 1-1-0

2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER:  December 31 at Dallas; April 15 at Buffalo 

CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM?  The Sabres and Stars faced off twice last season, with both games coming by the end of the calendar year 2024.  The teams split the series, with Buffalo winning the first game by a 4-2 score, then Dallas winning the second game by the same score. But with the Sabres' struggles, there was no sense these two teams were as good as each franchise was when the Sabres and Stars squared off in the 1998-1999 Stanley Cup final. 

Indeed, the Stars have been one of the top franchises in the league in recent years, even if they haven't been able to get back to the Cup final since they won it in '98-99. And of course, the Sabres have been one of the worst organizations in the league for nearly a decade-and-a-half.

This season, though, presents a fresh start opportunity for Buffalo. And unlike last season, when the teams were done with each other early on, the Sabres and Stars won't have their first game until New Year's Eve in Texas. Then, their second showdown comes in mid-April, in the Sabres' final regular-season game of the year.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Central Edition: Does Buffalo Have Any Hope To Beat Powerhouse Colorado Avalanche?The Buffalo Sabres play in the NHL's toughest division in the Atlantic Division -- but the 2025-26 schedule isn't going to do them any favors. THN.com's Sabres site has been publishing a team-by-team look at Buffalo's opponents next year -- and in today's file, we're continuing our look at the Sabres' chances against the Central Division-juggernaut Colorado Avalanche.

That could mean a couple of things: first, the Stars and Sabres may be significantly different between that first game and the second tilt. If both teams have positive results during the season, that second game could spell the difference between Buffalo making and missing the playoffs. And it could also mean the difference between the Stars securing home-ice advantage and finishing third or fourth in the Central.

If we're being honest, we have to say we see the Stars as the superior team next year. Dallas' balance of young stars still approaching their prime and veterans intent on a deep playoff run makes the Stars one of the most dangerous squads in the league. But Dallas is exactly the type of team Buffalo needs to conquer if the Sabres are going to rise out of the bottom of the Atlantic Division and carve out a post-season berth for themselves.

The Sabres have to prove to skeptics they're ready to take the next competitive step before anyone actually believes they're capable of doing so. That may sound cynical, but talk to any of Buffalo's long-suffering fans, and you'll see exactly why Sabres fans are so cynical.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Central Edition: Will Blackhawks Stun Buffalo In Their Showdowns Next Year?The Buffalo Sabres' schedule has been out for some time now, and it's always fun to examine the Sabres' opponents by breaking down their showdowns against each of the NHL's 31 other teams.

We're not here to tell you the Stars will walk all over the Sabres next season. Hope springs eternal, and there is a world in which Buffalo grows into an elite team.

But the Sabres have two chances to send a message to the Stars. And if they don't take advantage of those opportunities and they wind up missing out on a playoff berth by one or two standings points, their play against Dallas could prove to be a difference-making factor in their season -- and they could be looking at another year lost.

Ottawa Senators fans love Brady Tkachuk, but his long-term contract is probably rolling along a little too quickly for their liking.

Tkachuk is entering year five of a seven-year deal that pays him $8.2 million per season. When examining the Senators’ current Stanley Cup window of opportunity, some observers tend to track it right alongside Tkachuk’s contract, because of the chance he may decide to follow in his brother's footsteps.

Three years ago, his older brother Matthew forced Calgary to trade him after he let the Flames know he wasn't planning to re-sign there.

So this past season, not surprisingly, the Brady rumours started. The New York Post reported in December that the Rangers had made Brady one of their primary trade targets. 

The Senators vehemently denied it, and when owner Michael Andlauer arrived at the NHL’s Board of Governors’ meeting in Florida, he described it as soft tampering. Andlauer also said that Brady and his wife Emma had just had a child and didn’t need something like this in their lives.

The Rangers denied the soft tampering and described the accusation as irresponsible.

And so it began.

It only stands to reason, with Tkachuk being such an impactful player, that this kind of dialogue will continue to float out there over the next three years. But in an interview this week with ESPN and Greg Wyshynski, Brady’s father, Keith, had some thoughts on the matter that Sens fans will surely applaud.

By the way, for you kids out there, you may recognize Keith Tkachuk as the new cover boy for EA Sports' NHL 26 Deluxe Edition.

When Wyshynski asked about those rumblings out of New York last season and people who think Brady might want out, Keith suggested that Brady's situation is different than Matthew's.

“I wouldn’t believe everything you hear," Tkachuk told ESPN.com. "I think after what happened with Matthew in Calgary, everyone just assumes that’s going to happen with Brady [in Ottawa].

"But Brady loves it there. Brady has really cemented himself in the community. They’re a team on the rise. They got a great bunch of young players. They’re core players. The fans and the city itself treat him so well. He wants to be a big part of that moving forward.

"So I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”

That’s not exactly having Brady’s signature on the dotted line of an extension, nor is it something they’re even allowed to do for two more years, but it is some extremely encouraging insight from the head of the Tkachuk family.

After all, considering the past exits of Daniel Alfredsson, Erik Karlsson, and Jason Spezza, local hockey fans would like nothing better than to finally see a beloved captain go wire to wire as an Ottawa Senator.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

This article originally appeared on The Hockey News website: Keith Tkachuk On Brady's Future In Ottawa: 'I Don't Think He's Going Anywhere'

More Sens Articles:
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The Ottawa Senators' 2025-26 Lineup Is Probably Already Set
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Five years ago today, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild 5–4 in overtime to officially clinch their spot in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This marked the first time since 2015 that the team had made the postseason. Prior to their series-clinching victory, Vancouver lost Game 1 by a 3–0 score, but later took Games 2 and 3 to push the Wild to the brink of elimination. 

One of the most memorable moments from this playoff run actually came before the match itself. In a video posted to the Canucks’ social channels, forward J.T. Miller was seen reading the night’s starting lineup, injecting energy into every name. The room was very clearly fired up after his lineup read, with this setting the tone for a back-and-forth game that would eventually end in Vancouver’s favour. 

Game 4 started off negatively for the Canucks, as the Wild scored a power play goal less than three minutes into the first period. The lead was quickly erased by a tally from Tanner Pearson a little over halfway through the frame, though Eric Staal gave Minnesota the lead again less than a minute later. The score at the end of the first period was 2–1 for Minnesota, with both teams taking a combined five penalties throughout the frame. 

Offence flew during the second period. Joel Eriksson Ek brought the lead up to 3–1 for the Wild five minutes in, but Brandon Sutter cut this back to 3–2 two minutes after. Quinn Hughes scored his first career NHL playoff goal, evening the score up 3–3 on the power play. While it looked as though the teams would be leaving the second period tied at three goals each, Nico Sturm found the back of the net with less than a minute to go to give Minnesota the lead once more. 

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While Vancouver still had the series lead, a loss in Game 4 would send the series to a sudden-death Game 5. Trailing by only a goal, the Canucks stormed into the third period and got their equalizer from none other than Bo Horvat. The former captain would later score eight more goals in the postseason to grab the league lead for at least a series after Vancouver’s elimination. 

Overtime was on the horizon for the Canucks. Many expected a long sequence of extra periods. However, it only took 11 seconds, and an unlikely hero, for Vancouver to take the final lead and officially punch their ticket to the playoffs. A shot from the blueline taken by grizzled veteran Chris Tanev flew past Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock, ending overtime and sending the entire Canucks team off the bench and onto the ice in celebration. Even the occasionally stoic head coach Travis Green was seen raising his arms in excitement. 

With the win, the Canucks moved on to the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, matching up against the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. While this proved to be a daunting task, their efforts in this series were driven by a healthy locker room culture and a persistent drive against adversity. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

The Hockey News’ summer splash series continues as we go team-by-team and evaluate the off-seasons of every NHL franchise. In these exclusive rankings, we’ve debated and discussed each team’s additions, departures, hirings and firings. 

And in the final rankings, we’ve slotted in each of the league’s 32 teams into one of three categories – teams that have improved this summer, teams that have regressed, and teams that essentially stayed the same. 

We’re heading into the home stretch of these rankings, but we’re still in a tier where the teams we’re currently focused on have more or less stayed the same. That will change soon enough, as we eventually move into discussing teams that have improved the most. But right now, we’re at position No. 11 – the Detroit Red Wings. Let’s look at how the Red Wings’ off-season has unfolded, and where they project to be headed next season:

Additions

John Gibson (G), Mason Appleton (RW), James van Riemsdyk (LW), Jacob Bernard-Docker (D)   

The Breakdown: Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman came into the off-season with a boatload of salary cap space, but even after adding the above four veterans, the Wings still have approximately $12-million in cap space. In a sense, it’s like Yzerman couldn’t convince any player of consequence to come to the Motor City, and while salary cap flexibility is always a good thing, Detroit’s lineup as currently constituted doesn’t match up with the Red Wings’ Atlantic Division rivals.

Now, the reason why Detroit is relatively high in our summer splash rankings is that their biggest move was the trade acquisition of former Anaheim Ducks star goalie John Gibson, who has been in trade rumors for years before Anaheim shipped him to the Red Wings. Gibson’s arrival turns what had been a weakness into a strength, as Gibson and fellow veteran Cam Talbot are a promising goalie tandem.

Otherwise, while former Winnipeg Jets winger Mason Appleton isn’t a terrible player, he’s not a needle-mover, either. And greybeard winger James van Riemsdyk and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker are strictly depth acquisitions. The big prize for Yzerman was Gibson, who now comes into Detroit knowing full well the pressure is on him to prove the Wings were smart to acquire him.

Departures

Vladimir Tarasenko (RW), Alex Lyon (G), Jeff Petry (D), Craig Smith (C), Tyler Motte (C) 

The Breakdown: The Red Wings’ most high-profile departure is Vladimir Tarasenko, who was dealt to the Minnesota Wild after one year in Detroit, where he produced only 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games. The 33-year-old’s 2025-26 salary of $4.75 million was a price Yzerman no longer wished to pay, and the addition of Appleton essentially replaces Tarasenko on Detroit’s third line.

Otherwise, the name-brand departures for the Wings are goalie Alex Lyon, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres, and veteran D-man Jeff Petry, who signed with the Florida Panthers. But to say the Red Wings will miss any of the players who’ve left them this summer is an overstatement. 

Indeed, this Wings team wasn’t nearly good enough to be a Stanley Cup playoff team last year, so roster turnover was going to be unavoidable. But the changes Yzerman has made outside of his goalie tandem are only going to make the Red Wings slightly better.

The Bottom Line

Let’s be clear – the Red Wings are where they are in our summer splash rankings primarily because of the Gibson move. Goaltending had been an issue in Detroit for a long time, and Yzerman finally found the big fish in net that he and Wings fans have been aching for.

However, when you look at the big picture in the Atlantic, the Red Wings are still going to face a hellacious battle just to land a wild card playoff berth, let alone contend for a top-three spot in the division. Yzerman didn’t do much to address his team’s defense corps, and at forward, Yzerman is still banking on a group of young players rising and justifying Yzerman’s belief in them. 

The Wings are still in the mid-tier of our summer splash ranks because, even with Gibson in town, they’re not quite a top-10 team in terms of summer improvements. Yes, they’re technically better, and that’s why they’re not 15th or 20th in these ratings. But looking at Detroit as a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference is a major-league stretch. 

By season's end, it would surprise no one if the Red Wings were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in for the 10th consecutive season. Gibson will have to steal a lot of games just to keep them fighting for a playoff spot, and of course, that’s not guaranteed. And if the Wings falter yet again, Yzerman’s job security will be in jeopardy.

Summer Splash Rankings

11. Detroit Red Wings

12. New Jersey Devils

13. St. Louis Blues

14. Pittsburgh Penguins

15. Colorado Avalanche

16. Ottawa Senators

17. Boston Bruins

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.

The Buffalo Sabres should be in the market for an impact top-six forward after dealing winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan, but the opening weeks of free agency did not provide GM Kevyn Adams with an opportunity to replace Peterka’s production, and with the two-year deal signed earlier this month with defenseman Bowen Byram, Adams will have to try to acquire a scoring forward with younger players, prospects, and/or draft picks. 

Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zacha, after a pair of 21-goal campaigns and signing a four-year contract extension, dipped last year to 14 goals. The 28-year-old was a sixth-overall pick of the Devils in 2015 and played his first six seasons in New Jersey and two years under Lindy Ruff before being dealt to Beantown for Erik Haula in 2022.  

Part of Zacha’s success in Boston has been playing on a line with countryman David Pastrnak, but the Bruins appear to be undergoing a transition after dealing veterans like Brandon Carlo, Brad Marchand, and Charlie Coyle at last year’s deadline. Although GM Don Sweeney has made efforts to remain competitive with the signings of Tanner Jeannot, re-signing former Sabre Henri Jokiharju, and trading for Viktor Arvidsson, many believe that the glory days in Boston are over with and the reset may continue with moving players like Zacha out.   

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What Would It Cost?

The Bruins are weak up the middle after the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, along with the underwhelming performance of Elias Lindholm, which is one of the reasons why they have played Zacha up the middle. If Boston falls out of playoff competition early, Sweeney will probably try to continue the reset. They would likely want a young center like Konsta Helenius in a Zacha deal, but the Sabres probably would balk at that and instead prefer to give up Noah Ostlund.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

NHL training camps begin in a little over a month, and while teams and players are gearing up, important business still needs to be handled by several teams.

Many of the teams with business left to deal with are clubs with RFAs without contracts. In the past, we've seen RFAs sign contracts just before training camp, during training camp and even on the eve of opening night. In other cases, like the infamous William Nylander and Toronto Maple Leafs holdout, we've seen players wait until the season has begun to sign a contract. 

No team wants this to happen, and players especially don't want it to happen, but at the end of the day, the NHL is a business, and the players and organization will do what they believe is best. 

There are a plethora of RFAs at the moment without a contract, and recently, news on many of these players' extensions is radio silent. 

Luke Hughes, New Jersey Devils

Luke Hughes feels like the least likely of any of the remaining RFAs to get traded, yet no deal between the club and player has formulated. Jack Hughes signed his eight-year, $8 million contract well before his entry-level contract ended, and although the situation is different for his brother, it's quite surprising that he signed. 

In his first 155 games, the 21-year-old has scored 17 goals and 93 points, while making improvements defensively and averaging over 21 minutes of ice time. Hughes, alongside Simon Nemec, project to be the catalysts of the Devils' blueline for the foreseeable future. According to Sportsnet's Luke Fox, Hughes isn't interested in a bridge deal, and he has discussed a long-term deal with the Devils, a contract the Devils are reportedly interested in. As of now, the only factor separating the two teams is the dollar amount. 

Mason McTavish, Anaheim Ducks

It's quite odd that the Ducks are willing to part ways with Mason McTavish, who is just 22 years old with 229 games of NHL experience under his belt. The former third overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft scored a career-high 22 goals and 52 points in 79 games this season, continuing to round out his game on the defensive side of the puck.

McTavish slots in perfectly in their top six, complementing Leo Carlsson, the Ducks' other young center. Cutter Gauthier looks to have transitioned into a winger in the NHL, and their top prospect, Beckett Sennecke, is also a winger. Outside of Roger McQueen, viewed as a project, there are no other young Ducks center's who play at the level McTavish does.

Either way, the Ducks' 6-foot-1, 219-pound center has garnered interest from a multitude of teams, including the Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens, among many others. 

Marco Rossi, Minnesota Wild

Like McTavish, Marco Rossi's name repeatedly percolating in trade rumors is shocking. The 23-year-old scored 24 goals and 60 points this season, showcasing strong chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov and Matty Boldy when paired. Although he's a bit undersized, Rossi is a smart two-way player who could be sheltered against physical matchups with Joel Eriksson-Ek playing up the middle for the Wild as well. 

In an article by Laola,Rossi said he has already added 14 pounds to his frame. If the Wild aren't interested in keeping a young center with a strong work ethic, several teams are willing to take on that 'burden'.

Outside of these three big names, Luke Evangelista, Ryker Evans and Connor Zary remain without contracts, all of whom have been steady contributors to their teams. 

Evangelista looks to be a solid middle-six forward with a career-high of 16 goals and 39 points. Evans took a noticeable jump in his first full season with the Seattle Kraken, but after signing Ryan Lindgren to a four-year contract, his role in the top four looks non-existent. Zary is an immensely skilled winger whose season was shortened by a pair of major injuries. The 23-year-old possesses silky hands and could become a 20-goal and 50-60-point scorer in the NHL if he can stay healthy. 

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.

The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the best deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results. 

Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games. 

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#36 - Ashton Schultz - Center (Chicago - USHL) 

 The Sabres continued their practice of selecting players with longer development windows, since they do not have to sign them within two years, as they do under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement with players selected out of the CHL. In the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Draft, Buffalo selected center Auston Schultz. 

The Victoria, MN native is a product of the vaunted Minnesota high school system and played 11 games in the USHL in 2023-24 before playing a full season for the Chicago Steel, where he scored 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 57 games. The 18-year-old is slated to play at the University of North Dakota this fall. The 5’11”, 181 lb. center is described by Elite Prospects as “an intelligent two-way center with impressive details. Skill comes and goes, but he could fill a bottom-six role with added intensity and playmaking.” 

  

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

NHL expansion fees have come a long way since the humble beginnings of the Ottawa Senators. When the Sens entered the league in the early '90s, the cost for an entire franchise was reported at the time as $50 million.

Today, Auston Matthews will make that over the next three and a half seasons.

Analyst John Shannon said this week he believes the NHL will soon become a 34-team league, with two more franchises added within the next five years. Sportico reported in late June that the new NHL expansion fee is expected to be a staggering $2 billion.

To put that in perspective, that’s 40 times more than the Senators paid in 1992. And it’s 1,000 times more than in 1967, when the modern NHL first expanded beyond the Original Six.

That 1967 expansion doubled the league’s size, adding six new teams: the California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues. The entry fee? Just $2 million per team.

In 1970, the NHL welcomed the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks, with their expansion fee jumping to $6 million each.

Two more teams joined in 1972–73: the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames. The fee stayed at $6 million, partly due to the NHL’s competition with the new rival league, the WHA. The Islanders, though, paid a little extra — $5 million — for stepping into Rangers territory.

In 1974–75, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts joined the league, again paying $6 million. The WHA was still around, and the NHL didn’t want to push its luck.

By 1979, the WHA stopped being a problem because, well, it stopped being a league. Four of its six remaining teams joined the NHL for $7.5 million each: the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and the original Winnipeg Jets.

The next true expansion wouldn’t happen until 1991–92, when the San Jose Sharks paid $45 million to join the league.

Enter our conquering heroes.

Five Ottawa Senators Who Wouldn't Look Out Of Place On The Ring of HonourThe 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.

A year later, the Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning got going. Ottawa’s expansion fee was $50 million (or $45 million depending on your source), which was money they didn’t have. Owner Bruce Firestone and his team smartly told the NHL everything it wanted to hear, then scrambled to raise the funds and build a rink after the fact.

The next season, the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim joined, each paying $50 million. The Nashville Predators joined in 1998–99, paying $80 million. The Atlanta Thrashers came next in 1999–2000, paying the same. Then came the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild in 2000–01, also at $80 million apiece.

The league growth then remained inactive for a long period, but they made up for lost time in 2016, suddenly charging Vegas $500 million. In 2018, Seattle was awarded the 32nd franchise, set to begin play in 2021–22. The expansion fee? $650 million.

So there it is — your super brief, somewhat random history of NHL expansion in the modern era.

As for the next expansion team, Shannon thinks Atlanta might get another shot, despite the previous failures of the Flames and Thrashers. Both teams eventually moved to Canada — the Flames to Calgary, and the Thrashers to Winnipeg. Shannon also suggests Houston or Phoenix as possible destinations.

Unless you're a fan in one of those potential markets, most NHL fans aren’t clamouring for more teams. Expansion waters down the product, and tracking 32 teams is already exhausting for those who even try. That’s part of why no major pro sports league in North America has yet to go beyond that number. But it's coming.

Now, as we look back to Ottawa’s entry into the league, it’s worth remembering that the franchise was awarded in 1990, just as John Ziegler’s time as commissioner was winding down. Ziegler left in 1992, and it’s more than fair to wonder: would Ottawa have ever made it onto Gary Bettman’s NHL expansion radar once he took over in 1993? 

There have been eight expansion teams during his tenure, with apparently two more on the way, and Canada hasn't been part of any of it.  And now, with the reported franchise fee going from $650 million to $2 billion (USD), how many owners would now be lining up to put a team in Ottawa for $2.7 billion Canadian?

We didn't realize it at the time, but if the league had rejected Ottawa in 1990, there probably wasn't going to be a "next time" to fall back on. The Sens got in just under the wire.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

This article originally appeared on The Hockey News website: Next NHL Expansion Fee May Be 40 Times More Than The Ottawa Senators Paid

More Sens Articles:

The Ottawa Senators' 2025-26 Lineup Is Probably Already Set
Should Batherson Have Been Considered For Team Canada's Orientation Camp?
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2018 World Junior Trial Ends: Former Senator Alex Formenton Found Not Guilty
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Start Your Engines - Feb. 22 2022 - Vol. 75 Issue 11 - Matt Larkin

“WHOOOAAAAA,” BOOMED THE crowd at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019. It sounded like a reaction to the slam-dunk competition at NBA all-star weekend. But fans were actually responding to a jaw-dropping draft pick.

The 2019 NHL draft attendees were justified in their mania. Moritz Seider wasn’t exactly an obscure nobody playing in the Turkish second division when the Detroit Red Wings picked him sixth overall, but every major prognosticator had ranked him outside the top 20. The pick was so “off the board” that Seider himself put his hands to his face when he heard his name called. He was that surprised.

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Making Seider the highest-drafted German defenseman in NHL history launched a new era in Hockeytown. The once powerful Red Wings’ engine had wheezed to a halt in 2016-17, ending a run of 25 consecutive playoff berths. That streak was the third-longest in NHL history. It had started as a source of pride for a franchise that captured four Stanley Cups between 1997 and 2008, but it gradually morphed into a rusty old anchor, dragging the team by its neck into deep, perennial mediocrity, with GM Ken Holland signing any decent veteran to a pricey long-term contract in hopes of keeping the streak alive. 

Divisional Focus: Red Wings Look to Snap Maple Leafs' Series Reign  The Red Wings aim to win four crucial divisional games over the Toronto Maple Leafs next season

By 2019, after three consecutive playoff misses, Holland stepped aside and proudly handed the keys to his friend, his former pupil and one of the top players in franchise history: Steve Yzerman.

Yzerman arrived from his GM job in Tampa ready to transform the Red Wings top to bottom, but doing so required patience. With so many bad contracts tethered to the team, he couldn’t make quick, wholesale changes, but he could let the boat sink to the ocean floor – by holding the team’s best young prospects off the NHL roster and letting a depleted Detroit squad bottom out for a couple seasons until he could throw some veterans overboard, buying out Justin Abdelkader and Frans Nielsen.

The tank job was epic enough to produce, in 2019-20, Yzerman’s first season as GM, the lowest points percentage by any NHL team since the expansion Atlanta Thrashers of 1999-2000.

But Yzerman’s initial brush stroke, before all that, was the first draft pick of his Wings tenure: Seider.

With that shocking selection, Yzerman sent the message he wasn’t confined to conventional thinking. Three years later, he has, in Seider, a future franchise pillar and Calder Trophy candidate. And Seider has company. Two of his teammates may wind up co-finalists for rookie of the year in the same season.

How did three freshman – Seider, right winger Lucas Raymond and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic – become the new faces of a formerly floundering franchise seemingly overnight?

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In a recent interview following a paddle tournament, former New Jersey Devil Ilya Kovalchuk revealed that his official retirement announcement will “be official soon.”

Kovalchuk spoke with Russian news outlet Sports-Express on August 4, 2025, where he was asked about Bob Hartley’s return to the KHL and Spartak’s upcoming prospects.

The interview was pretty standard until Kovalchuk was asked about retirement.

When asked if an official retirement statement was coming and whether he still had the desire to play, Kovalchuk said:

“I think it will be official soon. I have said many times that I am not preparing for the season as seriously as before. I have more free time so I can play paddle.”

The winger’s career began in 2001 when he was selected first overall by the Atlanta Thrashers. He played there until 2009, when the New Jersey Devils acquired him.

On July 19, 2010, Kovalchuk signed one of the most significant contracts in NHL history, a 17-year, $102 million deal that shook the league. The NHL rejected the initial version, ruling it violated the salary cap structure. A revised 15-year, $100 million contract was eventually approved.

He played four seasons in Newark before shocking the hockey world by leaving the NHL to join SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, walking away from 12 years and $77 million remaining on his deal with New Jersey.

12 Years Ago Today: Ilya Kovalchuk Announced His Retirement from the NHL On this day in 2013, New Jersey Devils right winger Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement from the NHL. At the time, Kovalchuk still had 12 years and $77 million remaining on his contract.

Kovalchuk un-retired from the NHL in 2018 and bounced around several teams to close out his career. In total, he played 926 NHL games and recorded 876 points (443 goals, 433 assists).

Had he fulfilled the original Devils contract, Kovalchuk would just now be reaching the end of that deal.

Instead, his career has taken a winding path, from the KHL to the NHL and now, seemingly, toward retirement. At the paddle tournament, he confirmed that the announcement is coming soon.

Similar to players like Vasily Koshechkin, who held farewell matches when ending their careers, Kovalchuk was asked how he envisioned saying goodbye to the game. He admitted he wasn’t quite sure:

“I have said many times that I don’t yet have a clear idea of how it should look, so when I have some thoughts, I will definitely do something interesting.”

After signing the NHL’s largest contract at the time, abruptly leaving the Devils, and returning to the league years later, it finally sounds like the end of a whirlwind career for Ilya Kovalchuk.

Photo Credit: © Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images