The Pittsburgh Penguins had their schedule finalized for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday. 

Fans already knew they would be starting the season on the road against the New York Rangers on October 7, but were waiting for the rest of the schedule so they could plan which games to attend. The Penguins will have their home opener two nights later, on October 9, against the New York Islanders, before playing the Rangers in Pittsburgh on October 11. 

That second Rangers game will feature Mike Sullivan’s return to Pittsburgh for the first time since being named the head coach of the Rangers. He and the Penguins parted ways on April 28, paving the way for the Rangers to hire him on May 2. According to Bob Grove, this marks the first time the Penguins will open a season with three straight games against New York-based teams since the 1998-99 season.

Now that the full schedule is out, here are some quick miscellaneous thoughts on it. 

March is a gauntlet

The Penguins will have a super busy March once the NHL players return from the Winter Olympics at the end of February. They will play 17 games in 31 days and face some of the top projected teams in the league, including the Vegas Golden Knights (twice), the Carolina Hurricanes (twice), the Colorado Avalanche (twice), the Winnipeg Jets, and the Dallas Stars. It’s going to be a brutal stretch of games, and it may feature a short-handed Penguins team, as they will likely be sellers at the 2026 trade deadline. 

The California trip is early

This season’s California trip is beneficial for the Penguins because they will be able to complete it relatively quickly. After opening the season with three games against two of the New York teams, they will head to California to take on the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks. The road trip will take place during the second week of the season in October before the Penguins come home to play the Vancouver Canucks. They will start in Anaheim, then proceed to Los Angeles, and conclude in San Jose. It’s never too early to start planning to drink some coffee or your beverage of choice for those late-night matchups. 

16 back-to-backs

In addition to the Penguins’ busy March, they’ll have 16 back-to-back games throughout the season, the most since the 2017-18 season. Penguins fans should be used to a good amount of back-to-back games in the Sidney Crosby era, since this is the ninth time that the team has had at least 16 during his tenure. One of the back-to-backs that stands out on the schedule is when the Penguins host the Florida Panthers on April 4 and 5. Although this type of scheduling occurred frequently during the 2020-21 season due to pandemic restrictions, it hasn’t happened much since. It at least helps the travel for the Panthers while also allowing Penguins players to sleep in their own beds both nights. Get ready for the goalies to split most, if not all, of these back-to-backs when they come up on the schedule. 

Get ready to wake up early!

November will feature the NHL’s annual Global Series, with the Penguins taking on the Nashville Predators in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 14 and 16. The game on the 14th will start at 2 p.m. ET, but the game on the 16th will begin at 9 a.m. ET. It’s even worse for Penguins fans who live in California, as the game will start at 6 a.m. PT. Be sure to set your alarms to avoid oversleeping!

NHL Opening Night Features Poetic Reunion Between Mike Sullivan, PenguinsThe NHL announced the schedule for the 2025-26 season's opening night on Monday. The Florida Panthers will raise their second-straight Stanley Cup banner against the Chicago Blackhawks, followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins traveling to New York to take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Opening night will conclude with the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Los Angeles Kings.

Only one trip to D.C. 

The Penguins and Washington Capitals have had a bitter rivalry during the Crosby and Ovechkin era, and it will continue for at least one more season. The two teams will play three times, with two of the games at PPG Paints Arena. That means the Penguins will only go to the D.C. once, but there’s a catch. The Penguins will play at Capital One Arena on April 12 in their second-to-last game of the season, right after they play the Caps on April 11 in their final home game of the season. If this is Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin’s final NHL season, we could see quite a sendoff for two of the best players in NHL history. Both players have yet to decide if this will be their final season. Their contracts are set to expire at the end of this upcoming season. 

Each NHL season is unique, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the Penguins deal with some of these factors on their schedule when they come up. The season may still be a little more than two and a half months away, but it’s going to be here before you know it. 

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Featured Image Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Start marking your calendars and budgeting for those parking garage fees on Broadway because the Nashville Predators have announced their 2025-26 regular season schedule. 

In 85 days, on Oct. 9, the Predators will open up their season against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena. 

Looking for a sound response after last season's disappointing finish, here are five things to know about the Predators' upcoming 2025-26 campaign.

3 players return to Nashville, 4 Predators face former teams on road 

There's going to be a lot ot tribute videos at home and on the road this season.

Three former Predators will return to Bridgestone Arena for the first time since being dealt or signing with their current team. Four current Nashville players will make a return to their former teams. 

The first of these homecomings of sorts starts with Thomas Novak, who was traded to Pittsburgh in March in a three-player exchange. While he won't be playing at Bridgestone Arena this season, he will face the Predators for the first time since being traded on Nov. 14 at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of the NHL's Global Series. 

On Nov. 29, Luke Schenn, who was traded to the Winnipeg Jets at the deadline, will return to Nashville for the first time. The 17-season veteran played two seasons in Nashville from 2023 to 2025, recording `12 points in 94 games. 

Defenseman Nicolas Hague makes his return to Vegas on New Year's Eve against the Golden Knights. He was acquired via a three-player trade on June 30. He was drafted by the Golden Knights in 2017 and spent six seasons there, winning a Stanley Cup in 2023. 

About a month later, Erik Haula makes his return to New Jersey on Jan. 29. He returned to Nashville on June 18 in a steal of a trade that sent Jeremy Hanzel to the Devils. Haula played the last three seasons in New Jersey, scoring a combined 97 points. 

Late March will a busy month when it comes to these returns. 

Longtime Predator and fan favorite Colton Sissons, alongside Jeremy Lauzon, return to Nashville with the Vegas Golden Knights on March 21. Sissons was drafted by the Predators in 2012 and spent 11 seasons with the team, scoring 221 points in 690 games. 

Sissons also played a major role in the Predators run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. Lauzon spent the last four seasons in Nashville, scoring 28 points. 

A week later, former defenseman Marc Del Gaizo could make his return to Nashville with the Montreal Canadiens. He is projected to play with the Laval Rockets after splitting last season between Nashville and Milwaukee. 

Lastly, Nick Perbix will return to Tampa on March 29 after signing as a free agent with the Predators in July. He was drafted by the Lightning in 2017 and spent the first three seasons of his career there. 

Compressed schedule for Olympics has Predators on 7-game road trip, 13 sets of back-to-back games 

Similar to the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Winter Olympics are not doing any favors when it comes to a comfortable schedule. 

League play will take a 19-day break from Feb 6 to 24, once again shoving a handful of games into a small window. 

From December 23 to January 6, the Predators will embark on a seven-game road trip, starting in Minnesota and concluding in Edmonton. Including the break for Christmas, that's 15 days on the road. 

Nashville had a similar road trip last season, from Dec. 27 to Jan. 7, but it was 12 days and six games, and it was after Christmas. It didn't fare well for Nashville as it went 2-4, losing its first three games of the trip. 

To add to the difficulty, the Predators will be facing four teams on this trip that were in the playoffs: Minnesota (Dec. 23), St. Louis (Dec. 27), Vegas (Dec. 31) and Edmonton (Jan. 6). They will also face Utah (Dec. 29), Seattle (Jan. 1) and Calgary (Jan. 3). 

In addition, the Predators will play a whopping 13 pairs of back-to-back games, with the first set scheduled for October 13 and 14. 

While these players are familiar with what it takes to play an 82-game schedule, the compressed format is new to them. Last season was the first time players saw play pause for a mid-season tournament since 2014, the last time NHL players were allowed to compete in the Winter Olympics. 

More games, less time off, and another international tournament increase the risk of fatigue and injuries. It's going to be a grind for every team in the league.

On the bright side, two Predators are already confirmed for the Olympics: Roman Josi (Switzerland) and Juuse Saros (Finland). The Predators' final game before the break will come against the Capitals in Washington on Feb. 5. 

Global Series, facing defending Stanley Cup champs, trade deadline 

Four games jump out on the schedule for various different reasons. 

On Nov. 14 and Nov. 16, the Predators will play overseas for the second time in franchise history, facing the Pittsburgh Penguins at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, in the NHL Global Series.

The last trip they made to Europe was in the 2022 NHL Global Series, where they played SC Bern and the San Jose Sharks at O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia. They narrowly defeated SC Bern 4-3 and picked up a pair of wins over the Sharks. 

This will also be a homecoming for Filip Forsberg, Andreas Englund, and Adam Wilsby. Englund and Wilsby are both from Stockholm, while Forsberg is from Östervåla, located in eastern Sweden. 

Returning to the U.S., the Predators face the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers at home on Nov. 24, which will be a great measuring stick to see where the Predators stack up against the league's best. 

Lastly, Nashville is playing a game on the trade deadline, at Buffalo on March 7. Depending on where the Predators are in the standings —toward the bottom, pushing for a playoff spot, or competing for a top spot in the Central Division —this could be a significant day. 

A former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending prospect has re-signed with the Anaheim Ducks.

On Wednesday, 23-year-old netminder Calle Clang signed a one-year, two-way contract to remain with the Ducks. Clang was sent to Anaheim on Mar. 21, 2022 - along with forwards Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon and a 2022 second-round pick - in the trade that brought scoring winger Rickard Rakell to Pittsburgh.

Clang - a third-round pick (77th overall) of the Penguins in 2020 - posted an 11-13-4 record with a 3.17 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage last season for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound goaltender has a 3.16 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in 68 career AHL games.

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Featured image credit: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's been an interesting last few months for former Detroit Red Wings forward Joe Veleno, whom they selected in the opening round of the 2018 NHL Draft but never truly broke out offensively. 

He was traded by the Red Wings to the Chicago Blackhawks on March 7, where he would remain for the rest of the regular season. Chicago then flipped him to the Seattle Kraken as part of a package to acquire Andre Burakovsky. 

Now, Veleno is going home. 

After the final season of his contract was bought out by the Kraken shortly after he was acquired, the Kirkland, Quebec-born Veleno became a free agent and has since agreed to a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens worth $900K.

Pen to paper! The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a one-year, one-way contract with forward Joe Veleno.

News release ↓ #GoHabsGo | Montblanc Boutique Montréalhttps://t.co/CUE2zccT15

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 16, 2025

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

Veleno has already been making himself at home, taking selfies inside of the Montreal dressing room at Bell Centre: 

Joe Habs Joe pic.twitter.com/uMa16b7rqd

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 16, 2025

Ironically, Veleno's first regular season game as a Canadien will come at Little Caesars Arena against the Red Wings, who are hosting Montreal in their 2025-26 home opener. 

Veleno disappointed in what was his final one and a half seasons with the Red Wings, particularly in the absence of the injured Dylan Larkin in March 2024 when he was given multiple chances to center Detroit's top line.

From March 2 through April 1, a span of 15 games, Veleno scored zero goals and had zero assists. 

Before being traded this most recent season to Chicago, Veleno had scored just five goals with five assists in 56 games, but would score a modest three goals with four assists in 18 games in a Blackhawks jersey. 

Now, Veleno has the chance to try and salvage his NHL career by playing with his hometown club.

As previously stated, Veleno will make his return to Little Caesars Arena with the Canadiens on October 9, which will be followed by games against Detroit on January 10 in Montreal, and then again in Detroit on March 19.

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A new report shared by Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos states that Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk could be out of the lineup through the Christmas break.

Tkachuk will undergo corrective surgery after suffering an adductor injury and a hernia. Despite nursing those injuries, the 27-year-old scored eight goals and 23 points in 23 postseason games. It's not Tkachuk's first time battling through a major injury in the playoffs, as he dealt with a broken sternum in the 2022-23 Stanley Cup finals when the Panthers lost to the Vegas Golden Knights. 

"I tore my adductor off the bone and then had some hernia thing all on the same side. I wanted to throw in the towel a bunch of times," Tkachuk said. "I gotta thank a bunch of people for getting me healthy enough. I'm sure I wasn't the easiest to deal with. My fiancee did a great job with that on days when I probably wasn't in the best mood coming to the rink. My trainers, maybe when I wasn't in the best mood, when I was in pain. I just owe them so much."

At the moment, Tkachuk is destined to land on the long-term injury reserve, which will allow the Panthers to keep their roster intact to start the season. For Tkachuk to rejoin the team either in the regular season or the playoffs, the Panthers will need to trade multiple players to be under the salary cap limit.

The odd men out are seemingly Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, although GM Bill Zito is doing whatever he can to ensure they remain on the Panthers roster. 

Losing Tkachuk for the first three months of the season is a major loss, and the impact without him can't be understated. Since his arrival in Sunrise, he's scored at a 1.20 point per game rate, which tops the team in those three seasons. The Panthers are the deepest team in the NHL and should still find success without him, but they'll be hoping his return doesn't land too far after the Christmas break. 

Does The Increased Cap Hit Come With Added Pressure For Panthers’ Sam Bennett?Sam Bennett has never had any issues improving his play in the playoffs, but now, being paid among the premier players in the NHL, a new challenge awaits the 2024-25 Conn Smythe winner. 

The NHL off-season is in full swing, with most teams making significant moves to improve their organization. This is as good a time as any to identify the NHL’s best teams by position. 

We’ve already looked at the best defense corps and the top groups of forwards. It’s time to look at the five teams with the best goaltending, as well as some honorable mentions.

These are the tandems that either have a superstar starting goalie and a good-enough backup or two strong options, even if they aren’t stars on their own. This past season’s results are a significant factor, but there is an exception for a tandem with subpar results but high potential. Let’s get straight to it.

1. Winnipeg Jets

Goalies: Connor Hellebuyck, Eric Comrie

In Hellebuyck, the Jets have the reigning Vezina Trophy winner for the past two seasons and the 2024-25 Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP. He was especially dominant this past season, in particular, putting up a .925 save percentage and 2.01 goals-against average in a whopping 63 appearances. Nobody was a better workhorse than the 32-year-old veteran, who is a bargain at $8.5 million per season. His playoff performance remains a concern, but he’s undoubtedly a superstar goalie.

Hellebuyck’s dominance means the 30-year-old Comrie hasn’t had much of a workload, appearing in only 20 games this past year. But Comrie’s numbers – a .914 SP and 2.39 GAA – are exactly what Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is looking for in an understudy for Hellebuyck. Comrie also earns only $825,000 this coming season, so paying him and Hellebuyck less than $10 million is quite the coup for Winnipeg. 

The Jets will remain one of the best teams in the NHL, partly because Hellebuyck and Comrie are delivering as advertised.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs

Goalies: Anthony Stolarz, Joseph Woll

In their first season working together, Stolarz and Woll were a smashing success for the Maple Leafs. Stolarz recorded a .926 SP and 2.14 GAA in 34 games for the low cost of only $2.5 million, while Woll had a .909 SP and 2.73 GAA in 42 appearances while earning only $766,667. When factoring in the quality of the shots they faced, Stolarz had 25.8 goals saved above expected, while Woll had 16.8, according to moneypuck.com. That’s good for fourth and 11th among all goalies, making Toronto the only team with two netminders in the top 15. Toronto also had the fourth-best team save percentage in the NHL, according to naturalstattrick.com, and the second-most goals against below expected, per Money Puck.

Stolarz missed time due to an injury, but when he was healthy, he was stellar in his first season as a Leaf. And while Woll’s cap hit in 2025-26 rises to about $3.67 million, you’re still looking at a Toronto goalie tandem that costs a little more than $6 million. Any way you cut it, that’s terrific value at a key position, and Woll and Stolarz can move into next season confident that they’ll be splitting time almost evenly and being fresh once the Stanley Cup playoffs roll around. 

There may be no more evenly balanced tandem than this one, and now, it’s all about reproducing their regular-season success in the post-season. 

3. Dallas Stars

Goalies: Jake Oettinger, Casey DeSmith

It’s true Oettinger didn’t have the best post-season for the Stars last year, as he had a rough Western Conference final series against the Edmonton Oilers. But by and large, the 26-year-old’s save percentage dropped only slightly, from .909 in the regular season to .905 in the playoffs. Oettinger can also find another gear, as he did in 2022-23, when he had a career-high .919 SP.

Oettinger is still regarded as one of the top goaltenders on the planet, and that hasn’t changed because he slipped a bit this past season. He’s beginning the first year of an eight-year contract extension paying him $8.25 million per year, and the Stars believe Oettinger is worth every penny.

Oettinger’s 58 appearances last season left backup DeSmith with only 27 games played, but DeSmith posted a .915 SP and 2.59 GAA, as well as a team-leading 15.9 goals saved above expected. DeSmith was in the first season of a three-year deal paying him only $1 million annually. 

Together, Oettinger and DeSmith were about as good as it gets for an NHL tandem, and the former can play even better if he returns to the form he had in 2022-23. New Stars coach Glen Gulutzan will rely on Oettinger and DeSmith to stand tall in net.

4. Vancouver Canucks

Goalies: Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen

The Canucks had some bad luck with injuries last season, specifically with Demko, who has been the franchise’s top netminder for four years now. But Demko is now healthy. Combined with Lankinen, who posted a .902 save percentage and 2.62 GAA in a career-high 54 games this past season, he gives Vancouver a one-two punch to rival any other team’s goaltending situation.

When Demko is in form, he’s a Vezina Trophy candidate. He was truly elite in 2023-24, with a 2.45 GAA, .918 SP and five shutouts before his injury troubles began. Being in and out of the lineup in 2024-25 with a 2.90 GAA and .889 SP could be nothing but a blip.

Demko and Lankinen are signed for at least the next four seasons at a combined salary cap hit of $9.5 million in 2025-26, followed by a combined $13-million cap hit for the following three campaigns. That’s good value for what the duo can bring to the table at the height of their potential. The Canucks are almost assuredly going to battle for a playoff spot in large part because of Demko and Lankinen providing stellar play between the pipes.

Could The Penguins' Arturs Silovs Become The Next Dominik Hasek?How's that for a headline, eh? When the Vancouver Canuckstraded 24-year-old Arturs Silovs to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday for a fourth-round pick and a middling prospect in Chase Stillman, they did so with their fingers crossed that he won't make them look ridiculous.

5. New York Rangers

Goalies: Igor Shesterkin, Jonathan Quick

Shesterkin appeared in a career-high 61 games for the Rangers last season, but the 29-year-old had a down year by his standards, putting up a .905 SP and 2.86 GAA. That said, the Rangers’ defense corps was porous, doing no favors for Shesterkin and Quick, who also posted a rough .893 SP and 3.17 GAA. Shesterkin still had the seventh-most goals saved above expected, with 21.6.

The duo is on this list because we expect a better season from Shesterkin, who will have an improved defense corps in front of him. Shesterkin has posted a save percentage of .913 or better in his previous five NHL seasons, and if used sparingly, Quick still has the muscle memory of his best days in the league. So the Rangers will almost certainly get better performances from their netminders, and Shesterkin will underscore his status as one of the NHL’s top five goalies.

Honorable Mentions: Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders and Florida Panthers

It wasn’t easy picking only five goalie tandems, and the Lightning, Islanders and Panthers all had merit to be argued as employing one of the better goalie duos.

The Lightning have superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy, who returned to his dominant form last season by putting up a .921 SP and 2.18 GAA in 63 games. Meanwhile, the Islanders’ duo of Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov has the experience and ability to keep them in games, although the latter missed most of this past season due to injury. And finally, in Florida, Panthers star Sergei Bobrovsky has won back-to-back Cups, has two Vezina wins and is entering the final year of his lucrative contract.

For different reasons, the Bolts, Panthers and Islanders all have difference-making starting goalies, which is why they deserve to at least be in this conversation. If things go well for them during the season, they could move higher on this list. But for now, at least, they’re among the best netminders the NHL has to offer.

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