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When Pittsburgh Penguins' defenseman Chase Pietila was around the age of 10 and beginning his road to professional hockey in Michigan, he was choosing his future career path and making friends with some of his very first teammates.

One of those teammates, as it turns out, was another kid aged 10-ish named Rutger McGroarty.

Back then, both played for Honeybaked and overlapped time on the same team in the Detroit area, and they went on to face each other as part of the U.S. National Team Development Program throughout junior hockey.

Now, they're playing in the same organization and sitting in the same locker room suiting up for the same NHL team.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s amazing," Pietila said. "It’s crazy just to see things go full-circle. You know, my first year in AAA, like, when I was really trying to say, like, “Ok, I really like hockey,” he was one of my first teammates. So, being able to play against him when he was at the program and I was in junior, and then never played against him in college, but then to meet here at the pro level, it’s super cool, and he’s an amazing guy.

"He’s a great friend. So, it makes it easy having him here. I always have someone to talk to, someone to ask questions. It’s been great.”

Of course, a lot has happened in the time since Pietila and McGroarty were teammates as kids. McGroarty went on to play for the University of Michigan and subsequently got drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, while Pietila played collegiate hockey at Michigan Tech, was selected 111th overall by the Penguins in 2024, and earned CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year honors for his 2024-25 NCAA campaign.

Both also experienced a pretty long Calder Cup Playoff run for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins in 2026. Pietila, 22, learned a lot from that experience.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pound right blueliner has always taken pride in the defensive side of his game, as he's solid and steady in his own zone and isn't afraid to play a physical brand of hockey. But from college, to the ECHL, to the AHL, and now to the NHL, he has come to understand that, in order to stick at the NHL level, versatility is paramount.

So, he has been working to add more offensive dimension to his repertoire.

"I’ll always say that my game starts from the net out, but being able to add offense and kind of be able to add to that part of my game will make me more valuable," Pietila said. "So, just working with all the skills coaches here, they’ve been great. Just trying to add more versatility to my game goes a long way."

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And while that versatility is key, perhaps the most important lesson he learned during his first full AHL season last year and throughout the 14 games he played in the Calder Cup Playoffs is that consistency matters.

“I mean, it’s obviously the best league in the world," Pietila said. "[Consistency is] one of the things that I really tried to focus on last year that I struggled with a little bit, just being consistent and doing it day in and day out - practice, games, everything.

"If you want to play with the best, you have to be able to do it every day. So, I think that’s the biggest thing I’m trying to do and work on.”

Pietila is in the second season of the three-year entry-level contract he signed prior to the 2025-26 season, and he was recalled by the Penguins Saturday due to injuries piling up on both the forward front and the defensive unit at the NHL level. It has been a bit of a whirlwind, as has navigating fatherhood for the first time right when he is on the borderline of the NHL.

Luckily, sleep has not yet been an issue with his newborn son, but notwithstanding, there has been a lot of change. Something that has brought comfort, though, is the fact that, when he looks around the Penguins' locker room right now, there are some familiar faces in his old friend McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Sergei Murashov, and Ville Koivunen.

At the NHL level, the Penguins are in a bit of a transitional period with their roster. They have held onto some veterans but understand the need to inject youth.

Pietila knows firsthand how close this group of young players is and that the organization is largely counting on them to make somr degree of impact on the future.

He is the only one of the five to have not played an NHL game yet, but he hopes to be part of the group for a long time.

“I think it just helps with the youth that we have. We’re all similar ages and stuff, so we all like the same things," Pietila said. "Going to battle for one another for so long and just having that long of a playoff run, that just builds bonds you’ll never forget.

"So, being able to watch them succeed and being able to succeed with them is pretty special. It’s really fun, and we’re all enjoying it.”

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In recent weeks, the Philadelphia Flyers have finally found their way into the win column, led by their growing youth movement, though not all contributions have been equal.

By and large, forwards Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov, and Porter Martone have led the way offensively, while Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald have impressed replacing the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York.

But, aside from the top dogs, and Cole Knuble, who scored his first two NHL goals in a 3-1 win over Buffalo last week, the Flyers could find themselves interested in getting more out of their middle six.

Although he made the NHL roster out of training camp, Alex Bump was a healthy scratch by the fourth game of the season, earning himself a demotion to the AHL before exploding for seven goals, an assist, and eight points in just five games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Bump, 22, returned to the Flyers in short order amid a rash of injuries, with Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, and Travis Konecny all going out of commission.

Despite his individual skill, which is at times electrifying, and accurate shot, Bump has yet to record a goal or assist for the Flyers in six games this season, regressing quite a bit from his nine points in 17 games in the regular season last year.

Without consistency and end product, it's hard to envision Bump's role at the NHL level in the long-term.

And if Bump has found himself in the background of the Flyers' short- and long-term plans, there is another young winger in the Metropolitan Division worth adding for some competition, so long as the price is right.

Why Ivan Miroshnichenko fits the Flyers

Elsewhere in the division, the Washington Capitals have given 2022 first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko and his camp permission to seek a trade in search of a greater NHL opportunity, though the team won't trade him away for pennies or place him on waivers, either.

Given that the Flyers are on the upswing, even with all their youth, they're a logical landing spot for the talented Russian winger, who doesn't quite fit on a Capitals team that has been trying to compete for a Stanley Cup in the twilight years of Alex Ovechkin's legendary career.

As mentioned above, Bump's game at the NHL level has been a slow burn despite a strong start, and maybe his style of play doesn't quite mesh with the higher difficulty compared to the AHL.

Miroshnichenko, who has played just 55 career NHL games and scored only six goals, eight assists, and 14 points, is in a similar boat, though he brings a package of skills and traits to the table that make him more suited to a middle-six role than Bump.

A buccaneering right-shot left winger, Miroshnichenko is at his best going north and south, attacking downhill with his speed and blistering shot while threatening opponents with heavy hits on the other side of the puck.

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Despite being a somewhat modest 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Miroshnichenko embraces the physical, more competitive side of the game, and he's got some offensive talent to boot. The 22-year-old has done what he can in a limited role, having played his career-high 21 NHL games way back in 2023-24, when he was a teenager on opening night.

With further development and a bigger opportunity, though, Miroshnichenko can establish himself as a workhorse checking winger with scoring upside, especially as a weak-side trigger man on a power play unit.

Naturally, the Flyers would more than likely have to pay the Capitals a tax for a potential in-division trade, but a pair of early Day 2 draft picks and a similar fringe NHLer could do the trick. Notably, the Flyers have their second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, as well as two third-round picks and two fourth-round picks.

Even if and when Tippett and Konecny return, Miroshnichenko would give the Flyers an injection of speed, and perhaps more importantly, physicality in addition to his untapped scoring potential.

And even when the Flyers had Tippett and Konecny, their transition and rush games were lacking, and it's an area the Flyers should consider investing in going forward, with or without Bump, Tippett, or Konecny.

Former Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie is going to miss some time with the New York Islanders.

The 21-year-old was placed on injured reserve Monday with a lower-body injury. He’s expected to be out for four to six weeks. The Islanders announced the injury last week, and the IR move is retroactive to Oct. 17.

Colorado selected Ritchie 27th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. He appeared in seven games with the Avalanche early in the 2024–25 season, scoring his first NHL goal against the New York Islanders before being reassigned to the OHL’s Oshawa Generals.

A few months later, Ritchie was on his way to New York. On March 6, 2025, Colorado traded him, defenseman Oliver Kylington and two draft picks to the Islanders for Brock Nelson. Forward William Dufour was also part of the deal and went to Colorado.

The Avalanche brought in Nelson to help with another Stanley Cup run. He scored 33 goals during the regular season, but his playoff production dropped off. He scored twice in the postseason, with both goals coming into empty nets. Nelson also won Olympic gold in Milan.

Ritchie had a good first full season with the Islanders, putting up 13 goals and 17 assists in 65 games. He started this season with one goal and one assist in eight games before the injury. Mitchell Chaffee is expected to get a bigger role while Ritchie is out.

Ritchie spoke with The Hockey News in November before the Islanders played Colorado at Ball Arena. Asked if playing against his former team gave him extra motivation, he made it clear he wasn’t spending much time looking back.

“I’m just trying to focus on myself and stay present,” Ritchie said. “I mean, I’m with the Islanders and not focusing on the past and what happened there. I’m just really excited to be a part of the Islanders, like I said, and staying present.”

The Islanders will have to wait a few weeks to get him back. Until then, Ritchie’s focus will be on getting healthy and returning to the lineup.

The seasonlong layoff ex-Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette had after he was relieved of his duties in New York in April 2025 was the longest he’d spent away from the NHL since the lockout season. 

He went to Scotland to watch his daughter Elisabeth’s fiancé play golf. He visited the historic coastal university town of St. Andrews and attended a couple of weddings he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. 

The 61-year-old spent time with his wife Kristen and his family, and was able to watch his son Peter play in his final season in the East Coast Hockey League. 

It was obvious how much Laviolette relished that time as he reflected on it from outside the visitors locker room in his return to Madison Square Garden as head coach of the Kings on Monday. 

The whiplash of his first season to his second in Manhattan — going from winning the Presidents Trophy and losing in the conference final to missing the playoffs — certainly required some recovery. 

“It was kind of a tale of two years,” Laviolette said of his tenure with the Rangers ahead of his new team’s clash with the Blueshirts on Monday night. “The first year was really good, I mean, most wins and most points and a very storied franchise. Took it to three rounds to Florida and lost in Game 6, and that was disappointing. Not to win a couple more games and get that chance to play for the Cup. But, overall, looking back at that year, it was a year that was really good. It was something that I’ll remember being here in New York. Obviously, the second year was not as smooth and had problems inside of it.” 

Los Angeles hired Laviolette in June after relieving D.J. Smith of his interim responsibilities behind the Kings bench. 

The hiring ensured a Rangers reunion out West between Laviolette and Artemi Panarin, who decided he wanted to go to LA after he was informed by president and general manager Chris Drury that he wouldn’t be re-signed in January. 

Drury eventually traded Panarin to the Kings in exchange for prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional 2026 third-round pick that became Slovakian center Tomas Chrenko. 

In addition to former Rangers associate coach Phil Housley joining Laviolette on the West Coast, one-time Ranger Erik Gustafsson also signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Kings on July 1 to play under the veteran coach for a third time. 

“I really enjoyed being here,” Laviolette said. “I love being at Madison Square Garden. I mean, the New York fans were just awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I was around the country and somebody would come up to me and say, ‘I’m the biggest Rangers fan ever.’ And I’m like, ‘They’re all the biggest Rangers fans ever.’ And I think they are. They talk about the history of how their grandfather took them to a game like 50 years ago, and they’re 60 years old and now they’re taking their grandkids. Because it’s been around for 100 years, you get stories like that. 

“You can feel the passion from the people and the fans, and it’s pretty cool to be in a city like this. It’s one of the greatest cities in the country. It’s a huge sports market. It’s Madison Square Garden. It’s the New York Rangers. There was a lot of things that I loved about being here and part of New York.”