EAST MEADOW, NY -- After finishing the 2024-25 NHL regular season 31st on the power play (12/6%) and penalty kill (72.2%), New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche elected to relieve John MacLean and Tommy Albelin of their duties. 

Darche, in tandem with head coach Patrick Roy, hired Ray Bennett, the Colorado Avalanche's power-play coach, and Bob Boughner, the Detroit Red Wings penalty-kill coach. 

Bennett & Boughner Join Islanders As Assistant CoachesThe Islanders have their coaching staff.

On Saturday, the Islanders practiced special teams for the first time, as there will be an added emphasis on these two units at training camp.

“I feel like [we] should have spent more time on the PK and power play in training camp,” Roy said last November when both units were struggling. “I’ll take part of the blame on this because maybe I could have put more emphasis on the power play and PK during the training camp, but here we are.”

There were three different variations of power-play units who hit the ice:

#Isles PP: QB-LW-RW-B-Net

PP1: DeAngelo-Barzal-Drouin-Horvat-Lee

PP2: Schaefer-Shabanov-Duclair-Pageau-Palmieri
PP2: Boqvist-Shabanov-Duclair-Holmstrom-Tsyplakov

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) September 20, 2025

As for the penalty kill, there were different variations as well, with some guys playing on both special-teams units. 

#Isles PK1: Pageau-Holmstrom-Pelech-Pulock

PK2: Horvat-Palmieri-Romanov-Mayfield

Pk3: Cizikas-MacLean-Schaefer-George

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) September 20, 2025

If the Islanders are going to get back into the playoffs after missing a season ago, both special teams units will need to improve.

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Training camp is still in its earliest phases for the 2025-26 Anaheim Ducks, who will begin preseason games on Sunday when they’ll take on their rival Los Angeles Kings, in Ontario, CA.

Barring injury, the majority of the Ducks' opening night roster seems somewhat set between players with experience, pedigree, and/or lacking waiver exemption.

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Still, there are some lineup spots up for grabs between a relatively inexperienced blueline and a vacancy left in the top nine of the forward group due to Mason McTavish’s ongoing contract negotiations that are keeping him from participating in camp.

The most glaring position battle to focus on at Ducks camp is on the right side of the blueline, where three players of similar age and draft pedigree will be vying for regular playing time: Drew Helleson, Ian Moore, and Tristan Luneau.

Drew Helleson

Helleson (24) has the inside track, as he’s the oldest and has the most professional experience, with 153 games of AHL action over two-plus years with the San Diego Gulls on top of 59 career games in the NHL, where he spent most of the 2024-25 season.

“I think that’s a good way to look at it. You don’t want to be too comfortable,” Helleson said when asked about having to potentially compete for regular ice. “You want to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward out there and try to play as good as you can. There are a lot of guys; it’s a competitive position. So, just keep playing as good as you can; that’s all you can really do.”

Helleson provides a stable brand of defense and has the capability of killing penalties at the NHL level. Early in camp, he’s been paired with long-time friend and 2024-25 breakout star defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who elevated his offensive involvement and activations last season.

His spot next to LaCombe, the team’s current number-one defenseman, is a good early sign for Helleson, and he could be a quality long-term fit next to LaCombe, as their styles complement each other well and they fill in gaps in each other’s games.

Helleson was also awarded the opportunity to change his jersey number from his high rookie number (43) to a lower one (14).

“I always liked the number four, but obviously I’d never wear it after Cam wore it, with what he did here,” Helleson said of the number switch. “I was just kind of hoping to get a four in there and maybe a little lower number. That’s all I was looking for.”

Tristan Luneau

Luneau (21) had an extremely successful rookie campaign in the AHL with the Gulls in 2024-25, earning All-Rookie honors while scoring 52 points (9-43=52) in 59 games, and after coming off a significant knee injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2023-24 season.

Luneau had made the Ducks’ opening night roster out of camp in each of the previous two seasons, but has only totaled 13 NHL games between those stints.

“It’s the same mindset. You’re always trying to make a name for yourself and trying to learn the ways on how to defend like a pro,” Luneau said of his mindset and trying to make the team again out of camp. “It’s a little tougher for a defenseman to be reliable on both sides of the ice. That’s still the main focus.”

Luneau’s game is the most dynamic, and he’s the most offensively talented of the group he is in with Moore and Helleson. However, that makes his skill set the most redundant, by default, if he were to be paired with one of the dynamic left-shot defensemen currently on the roster: LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, or Pavel Mintyukov.

To this point in camp, he’s been paired with Moore, perhaps indicating they’re the two players who are most vying for the role of “seventh defenseman” when opening night comes.

Ian Moore

Moore (23) had a long road to professional hockey since he’d been drafted in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft, which included a season in the USHL during the ECAC Covid-canceled 2020-21 season, followed by four full seasons playing NCAA hockey.

Moore captained the 2023-24 and 2024-25 iterations of Harvard’s teams before making the jump to the professional ranks, where he scored five points (1-4=5) in nine games for the Gulls and played the final three games of the season for the Ducks, where he tallied his first career assist.

“Just trying to do my best, just trying to do the things that I know I can do well. Play to my strengths,” Moore said, with a more wide-eyed approach to training camp. “And just trying to enjoy it as well. This is my first experience at training camp, so it’s been a lot of fun, and I’m just trying to soak it all in, but work every day.”

For having the least amount of NHL experience among the three, Moore is relatively polished and can use his outstanding four-way mobility and powerful stride to impact plays on both sides of the puck and in all three zones.

Between these three right-shot defensemen and the plethora of talent they’d project to be paired with on the left, the Ducks have an embarrassment of riches on their present and future bluelines.

This will be one of the most entertaining and intriguing battles to monitor as camp rosters thin out and the landscape of the team becomes clearer.

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Longtime Los Angeles Kings star center and captain Anze Kopitar revealed this week what many presumed was coming sooner than later – namely, that the 2025-26 NHL season would be the final season in what will be a 20-year NHL career. As we’ll explore below, Kopitar is clearly headed straight to the Hockey Hall of Fame when he’s finished playing, and he’ll be rightfully regarded as one of the greatest Kings of all time and as an iconic contributor at the highest levels of the sport.

The 38-year-old Kopitar enters the 2025-26 campaign with 1,454 games of regular-season NHL experience with the Kings, posting 838 assists and 1,278 points in that span. Equally importantly, Kopitar has played 103 Stanley Cup playoff games, generating 62 assists and 89 points in the post-season while leading L.A. to two Cup wins. And those are just Kopitar’s team achievements.

Indeed, as an individual, Kopitar was just as decorated: he played in five NHL all-star games, he twice won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward, won three Lady Byng Trophies as the league’s most gentlemanly player, and he won the Mark Messier Leadership Award recognizing individuals as superior leaders within their sport and as contributing members of society. 

All things considered, Kopitar has been one of the most consequential competitors of his generation. But as the start of this final season looms, people are wondering what they can expect out of Kopitar, and specifically, whether he’s going to be part of a Kings team that can go deep in the playoffs. 

There’s good news and bad news on that front. The good news is that Los Angeles has enough depth and skill to be a virtual lock to make the post-season. The Kings have retooled on the fly this summer, with new GM Ken Holland coming in and making a slew of veteran additions. Expectations are high for them. And given that Kopitar has scored at least 21 goals and 67 points in each of the past three seasons, it's fair to presume he's still going to get his share of offense this year.

However, whether the Kings are a legitimate Cup threat is another story altogether. Los Angeles has failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs since 2013-14 – the season in which L.A. won its most recent Cup. And with Pacific Division powerhouses Edmonton and Vegas looking like solid bets to go far this year, L.A. is going to be in tough to break the streak of first-round futility and do some real damage in the 2026 post-season.

So, there’s a good chance Kopitar’s final year will end in disappointment and heartbreak. But Kopitar wouldn’t be the first star to have difficulty replicating their greatest successes year in and year out. And if he winds up with his career ending unceremoniously, Kopitar would go out the way most NHL icons go out – humbled as a competitor, but grateful for what they were able to do with the opportunities they did get along the way.

So while this year will be Kopitar’s final year, we get the next 10 months or so to celebrate what will end up regarded as one of the most decorated and successful careers of his generation. Kopitar is already regarded as an all-time great and the best-ever Slovenian player. 

And even if his NHL days end in a way he wouldn’t choose them to end, Kopitar is still on the fast track to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame and stand out as a Kings legend that all L.A. fans can take pride in.

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After two on-ice sessions, the Toronto Maple Leafs are already running into some early injury trouble. Before the club hit the ice at Ford Performance Centre for Day 3, the Leafs announced that forward Nicolas Roy (lower-body), defenseman Simon Benoit (upper-body), and goaltender Joseph Woll (illness) would be out.

The following Maple Leafs players will be absent from today’s practice:

D Simon Benoit (upper body)
F Nicolas Roy (lower body)
G Joseph Woll (illness)

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) September 20, 2025

No further update was provided as players hit the ice. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is expected to address the players missing in action at the end of Saturday's session, which is set to include the first scrimmage at training camp.

Benoit is no stranger to sustaining upper-body injuries at Leafs camp. After signing with Toronto in 2023, he suffered from back spasms for most of camp and eventually started his season with the Toronto Marlies. He later earned an everyday spot on the Leafs' third defensive pair, which he occupies today. Given his history, this new injury could potentially affect his roster spot, especially with the increased competition.

Toronto Maple Leafs' Simon Benoit Is Their Unlikely Hero: How He Earned His RoleIf you told Toronto Maple Leafs fans their sixth- or seventh-best defenseman would be significantly responsible for two straight overtime goals in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, you would’ve been asked to immediately take a sobriety test. 

Roy, acquired in the sign-and-trade that sent Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, sustained an upper-body injury last season that limited him to 71 games.

Report: Maple Leafs And Golden Knights Discussing Mitch Marner Sign And Trade, Could Include Nic RoyThe Mitch Marner sweepstakes could end before free agency begins.

Joseph Woll was a full participant in practice on Friday, as were Roy and Benoit. The latter two players join forward Max Domi, who is also on the shelf with a lower-body injury he sustained before camp began. Domi has been working on the ice individually with the development staff, but there is no timetable for his return.

To be updated...

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As NHL training camps opened this week, the Ottawa Senators are returning with largely the same roster that earned the club's first playoff appearance since 2017. Obviously, the brain-trust, led by GM Steve Staios, feels that salvation lies within and that the key to getting this group to the next level is in the untapped potential of its existing roster.

Unlike previous seasons, this appears to be strictly a training camp rather than a tryout. Does that mean that players on the cusp have nothing to shoot for? Of course not. However, barring injuries, the roster would seem to be set.

That said, there are some interesting story lines as the team hits the ice at the Bell Sensplex. Here are five:

1) The Crease

Obviously, Linus Ullmark will lead the charge in goal. The Senators, however, come to camp with two other goalies who are on one-way contracts.

Staios has all but officially declared Leevi Merilainen will be the backup, but head coach Travis Green had a different view this week.

“There's competition for every position on the team, so if it's Leevi, we'll see,” Green told the media.

One can’t forget that 24-year-old Mads Sogaard is also on a one-way deal, and if he figures it out in camp and gives Merilainen a run for that backup position, what then? Merilainen is still waiver-exempt, and from an asset management perspective, carrying Sogaard into the season could be an option – but only if his performance warrants it.

The contention has long been that bigger goalies take longer to develop. Ben Bishop was drafted in 2005 and didn’t emerge as a full-time NHLer until 2012. Before the Sens expose Sogaard to the waiver wire, they want to be good and sure he isn’t another Bishop in the making.

2) The Blueline

Everyone from last spring's playoff run is still in the fold, and they've been joined by right-shot defenseman Jordan Spence.

If the health of Nick Jensen and the development curve of Carter Yakemchuk were clearer, would Spence have been acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the offseason? Spence certainly wasn't expensive. Effectively, Staios got him by moving back two spots in the first round – a smooth piece of business.

Jensen performed above expectations last season until suffering a hip injury, which curtailed his play. Yakemchuk made a nice impression at this year's rookie camp against the Leafs. However, Yak's 2024-25 junior season left something to be desired, with his impressive offensive production declining. Staios suggested this week that it was a result of being asked to focus more on defensive awareness.

Eyes will be on Spence and Yakemchuk at camp this year while Jensen continues his rehabilitation. Could Yakemchuk make a case to break camp and get his first NHL action?

Head coach Travis Green has said, “Carter Yakemchuk will dictate where he plays”.

3) Tyler Boucher

It’s no secret that Boucher’s time with the Senators organization has been underwhelming, largely due to being injury-prone. However, even in large strings of games without injury, Boucher hasn't yet looked like the top 10 pick that the Senators used on him in 2021.

That said, it was noticed by many when he picked up a goal against the Leafs in rookie camp.

As his last entry-level contract season, could this be the year that things fall into place for Boucher, or will he become one of those kernels that never pop?

A good training camp would be a nice start, even if he starts the season in Belleville.

4) Stephen Halliday

Halliday led the offensively-challenged Baby Sens in scoring last season. He was even rewarded with a couple of call-ups, but they never actually led to playing in his first NHL game.

Like Yakemchuk, he made a splash in rookie camp, and it remains to be seen if he can elevate his game and become one of the depth forwards that the team leans on for inevitable injury backfills.

With a 6’4” 212 lb frame, size and compete aren’t Halliday’s issue. Foot speed will likely be something he will need to overcome at the NHL level.

A minus 20 in the AHL will also get people’s attention. If you are going to be a depth player, the coach needs to believe you can at least handle your own end of the rink. Offensive production becomes a bonus.

Barring injury, Halliday will likely start in Belleville this season. That said, he will likely get a good look playing with NHLers to see if he can fit in.

5) Lassi Thomson

The former 1st round draft pick in 2019 led the Malmo Red Hawks in scoring as a defenseman in the Swedish Elite league and had an impressive playoff as well.

Could this kernel still pop? If Yakemchuk isn’t ready and Jensen starts the season on the injured list, the door may be open for Thomson to grab a spot and show he can get the job done.

His frame puts him at a disadvantage to play bottom-pairing minutes. However, no one foresaw what Nicklas Matinpalo became last season.

Good news stories start with an opportunity and Thomson may be in the right place at the right time.

Although this may be more training camp than tryout, there are still potential surprises that could emerge before the opening-day roster is finalized.

By Pat Maguire

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There are only a few players on the Vancouver Canucks current roster who have been with the organization longer than Nils Höglander. The 24-year-old is entering his sixth season and is closing in on 300 games for his NHL career. A versatile winger who can play throughout the lineup, Höglander is projected to play a key role for the Canucks during the 2025-26 campaign. 

At this point in his career, Höglander is looking to gain every advantage he can in order to have a successful season. This includes pushing himself during the off-season and ensuring he is ready physically for the gruelling NHL season. As Höglander explained, he spent the off-season continuing to develop his all-around game, which included plenty of time on the ice. 

"The off-season is always a big part of the season that's gonna be," said Höglander. "I worked out pretty hard during the summer, so I was focused more this summer on the ice than off the ice. I've been skating a lot this year or this summer."

Looking back, the 2024-25 season was a challenging one for Höglander. While he would often dominate from an analytics perspective, he struggled to score, recording just eight goals in 72 games. Heading into this year, Höglander is ready to bounce back and become a more difficult player to match up against.

"I think I learned from last year. I had a little bit rougher start than at the end of the season, I came back with my grit to the game again. So feels like this start, I will have more toughness. Gonna work on my defence part of the game too, and be more comfortable to hold on the pucks and enter the zone with the puck and that style. So, yeah, that's my focus."

One area that Höglander continues to develop is the physical side of his game. Listed at 5'9", 185 lbs, he consistently wins battles against bigger defenders and has thrown 176 hits over the past two seasons. As Höglander explained, his ability to play a physical game is important as it allows the coaching staff to play him up and down the lineup. 

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"It's hard to play in NHL if you don't have that skill, I would say if you only have the skill, it's pretty hard to to play in NHL. I would say, for me, it feels like I have that grit to play all over the lines. Like I can play on the fourth line and be like a power forward. Or play top six, and have the same play style. So, I mean, that's a little bit underrated skill to have, I would say."

As for the 2025-26 season, Höglander wants to build off what was a strong end to the last year. He recorded 10 points over his final 12 games while playing consistently in the top six. Ultimately, Höglander is focused on doing everything he can to be ready for the regular season, which includes having a strong training camp here in Penticton. 

Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 Player Preview: Nils HöglanderWelcome to The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks site’s player preview series for the 2025–26 season. In these articles, we’ll preview the players who are expected to play for the Canucks in the 2025–26 season. In this edition, we take a look at winger Nils Höglander, who is entering his sixth NHL campaign. 

"I always want to finish where I left last year at the end of the season. I think I played really good hockey at the end of the year. So just this training camp, be focused. Play hard and be ready every time, and not go up and down all these games. Just have a nice level all the time."

Ultimately, Höglander has the potential to be an X-Factor for Vancouver this season. He is annoying for the opposition to face and plays a style of game that adapts well to all four forward lines. Regardless of where he plays in the lineup, Höglander should find ways to stand out throughout the 2025-26 campaign. 

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, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Coming back for a knee operation is no easy task; coming back from a second one is even worse. Still, Montreal Canadiens’ center Kirby Dach saw his second rehab as an opportunity to do things the right way. On the first day of on-ice sessions in Brossard on Thursday, he faced the media, implying that he had learned his lesson and worked harder this offseason to be fully ready. Teammate Kaiden Guhle spoke about how he worked out with Dach all summer and how he never took days off or made excuses to skip a day. As the center himself said, he stacked the days.

On Friday morning, the former Chicago Blackhawks third overall pick at the 2019 draft was the first forward on the ice, before the kids, before the guys who were in the AHL and who hope to win a spot this season, Dach was on the ice working on his passing skills with a coach.

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When the whistle blew, he took part in all the drills with the pedal to the metal, hustling and battling for every puck. Dach didn’t just say the right things on Thursday; for the last two days, he also did the right things. He’s yet to take part in a scrimmage, but on Friday, his two linemates, Ivan Demidov and Patrik Laine, showed that there was already some chemistry between the two. The way the Russian can dangle with the puck as if it were tied to his stick on an elastic is impressive, and his skating has also improved this offseason. Jeff Gorton said at the end of last season that a winger could drive a line just as well as a center in some cases, and Demidov really looks up to the task.

In past years, Dach was asked to be the driver of the second line. It worked in his first season, and he looked primed for an even better season in year two before he sustained a season-ending injury in the second game of the 2023-24 campaign. Last season, he was slow out of the gate and out of shape, but he still managed to participate in 57 games before the injury struck again. In those 57 games, he put up 22 points and had a minus-29 rating, the worst on the team.

This season, it’s clear that the pressure isn't on him to drive the line or earn the right to center the second line; Martin St-Louis has already said it’s his spot. All Dach has to do is focus on doing things right, and so far, he has. Once he gets to play in a preseason game, he’ll do so with two highly talented players on his wings. There’s no denying that he’s been put in winning conditions as he enters the last year of his contract. Will he be able to convince the organization that he is their second-line center of the future? The answer is unclear, but what’s crystal clear is that the Habs’ brass really wants to be convinced. The ball is in Dach’s hands, and something tells me that he’ll shine with a little bit of help from his friends.

---

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