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The Montreal Canadiens are enjoying a renaissance season, putting together a 13-7-3 record to sit in second place in the competitive Atlantic Division. And things got even better on Friday when the Canadiens signed veteran defenseman Mike Matheson to a five-year contract extension with an average annual salary of $6 million. 

Matheson’s extension solidifies Montreal’s defense corps for the foreseeable future, as their top-four blueliners – Matheson, Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle are all under contract at least through the 2030-31 season, at a total combined annual cost of $29.9 million. With the rising salary cap ceiling, this quartet could be one of the better-bargain groups of D-men in the league.

But what is equally compelling is the potential to add more pieces to the competitive puzzle for the Habs. As it stands, Montreal currently has $3.61 million in cap space – a number that rises to $11.97 million by this season’s March 6 trade deadline. As of next season, the Canadiens project to have $20.1 million in space. Some of that will have to go to RFAs Zack Bolduc, Kirby Dach and Arber Xhekaj, but that still leaves more than enough space to bring some veteran help aboard.

And with Matheson now locked up, there’s only one place Montreal needs help with: at forward. It’s unlikely the Canadiens re-sign often-injured winger Patrik Laine – at least, if he doesn’t take a major hometown discount to stay a Hab. So Montreal is going to need a bona fide point-producing forward – most likely, a second-line center to take some of the heat off of top-line center Nick Suzuki. 

Those types of players don’t grow on trees, but the great thing about where the Canadiens are in their competitive cycle is that above-average free-agent centers will be encouraged by the team’s ascent in the Atlantic standings and happily sign up to play in Montreal. Or if they are already a part of another team, they could waive any no-trade or no-move clause to be a Canadien. 

Who could that be? It’s difficult to pinpoint one single NHLer who would be ideal for the Habs, but a player similar to Nashville Predators pivot Ryan O’Reilly would be the kind of player Montreal GM Kent Hughes is looking for. Of course, O’Reilly probably wouldn’t want to play in the high-pressure environment of Montreal, as a short stretch as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs a couple of seasons ago didn’t end with O’Reilly choosing to stay in Toronto when he became a UFA. 

That said, a player like O’Reilly – someone with Stanley Cup-winning experience, and someone who can play hard-nosed defense while chipping in with some secondary scoring, would fit the bill rather well in Habs Land. Montreal’s strong start to the current season gives Habs management the leverage to not overpay on the trade or free-agent front to acquire that kind of veteran.

Regardless of what the Canadiens do with their cap space, it’s clear with every passing game that Montreal is turning a corner in their development. Keeping Matheson is an endorsement of the Habs’ current core, and as the Canadiens grow as a group, it will become much easier to be a destination for veterans seeking a legitimate shot at winning a championship. So while things look great right now, even better days are ahead for this organization. 

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Winnipeg Jets rookie goaltender Thomas Milic experienced a true mixed bag in his NHL debut on Saturday, turning aside 30 of 34 shots in a 4–1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. The 21-year-old delivered several impressive moments and helped stabilize the Jets during extended stretches of pressure, but also showed areas that will need sharpening at the NHL level.

Milic was tested immediately as Carolina controlled the early pace and outshot Winnipeg heavily in the opening minutes. The rookie responded with eight saves in the first 11 minutes, including key stops on two Hurricanes power plays that prevented the game from slipping away. Winnipeg briefly gained momentum, but Carolina struck first when defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere carried the puck deep before feeding Winnipeg-born forward Seth Jarvis in the high slot. Jarvis released a low wrist shot that slipped just past Milic for the opening goal.

Milic continued to impress in the second period with ten more saves while helping kill off three additional Hurricanes power plays. One of those penalties came from a rookie mistake when Milic played the puck outside the crease behind the net. After discussing the call with the officials, he returned to the crease and delivered several calm, composed stops to erase the mistake.

Despite Milic’s efforts, defensive breakdowns around the crease created ongoing challenges. Winnipeg struggled to clear traffic from the front of the net and Milic was often forced to make stops through heavy screens. Midway through the second, Carolina capitalized when Logan Stanley and William Carrier battled for position in front and Jordan Martinook snapped a shot through the crowd that beat Milic for the Hurricanes’ second goal.

Marty with the quick release 💪 pic.twitter.com/VUVZFwdrtf

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 29, 2025

The defensive issues resurfaced minutes later. Jarvis found space in the high slot and fired another quick shot over Milic’s glove for his second of the night against his hometown team. Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey drifted across Milic’s line of sight, making the save even more difficult. All three goals to that point beat Milic on the glove side, a weakness Carolina appeared to identify early as they repeatedly targeted that area.

Milic’s most concerning moment came in the final seconds of the game when Alexander Nikishin launched a point shot from the boards that beat him clean on the blocker side. It was a stoppable shot from distance and marked the lone goal of the night that did not involve traffic or a defensive lapse.

Alexander Nikishin - Carolina Hurricanes (3) pic.twitter.com/wSscbt2Opl

— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) November 29, 2025

Milic’s debut showcased both promise and growing pains. He was composed, competitive and strong on the penalty kill, yet the Hurricanes exposed technical areas that will need refinement. With 30 saves behind a defense that struggled throughout the night, the young netminder showed he may have the tools to build on this first NHL appearance as he gains more experience.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Hagel scored twice and Jonas Johansson made 11 saves as the Tampa Bay Lighting beat the New York Rangers 4-1 Saturday to extend their winning streak to seven games.

Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel also scored and Nikita Kucherov had three assists as the Lightning ended New York’s three-game winning streak. Tampa Bay is 7-0-0 since Nov. 18 and has outscored opponents 30-10 in that span.

The Rangers heard boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd as they fell to 2-8-1 at home where they have been shut out five times and scored once on three other occasions. New York is 11-4-1 on the road.

Hagel scored at 10:53 of the opening period as his shot deflected off Rangers defenseman Carson Soucy’s skate. He made it 2-0 with his team-best 15th goal at 8:57 of the second when he slid his own rebound past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

Defenseman Darren Raddysh and Kucherov assisted on both goals.

Kucherov has a nine-game points streak of four goals and 14 assists. He leads the Lightning with 32 points. Raddysh has 11 points in his last seven games.

J.T. Miller ruined Johansson’s shutout bid with his seventh goal at 17:31 of the second. Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad assisted.

Paul scored at 2:02 of the third to make it 3-1. Rookie defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous also assisted.

Guentzel added an empty-netter at 19:41.

Fox left the game at 7:03 of the third after he was checked hard into the boards by Hagel. Fox’s left arm appeared to absorb the brunt of the hit.

Shesterkin made 31 saves.

The Lightning outshot the Rangers 11-2 in the first. New York didn’t register its first shot on goal until the 9:29 mark.

The Lightning were missing injured defensemen Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, as well as forward Brayden Point, out for a fourth-straight game.

Up next

Rangers: Hosting the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

Lightning: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Flyers show guts in back-to-back spot, go 3-1-0 on road trip originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEWARK, N.J. — The Flyers played a commendable game on the second night of a back-to-back set to beat the Devils, 5-3, Saturday at the Prudential Center.

Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov had multi-goal games for the Flyers. Tippett was awarded his second because of a tripping call when the Devils’ net was emptied and finished with three points on the night.

Trevor Zegras also had a goal and an assist, while Travis Konecny had two helpers.

Dan Vladar made huge saves for the Flyers (14-7-3), who are 8-2-2 in their last 12 games and went 3-1-0 on their road trip, which spanned only six days. They’re now in third place of a crowded Metropolitan Division.

“I don’t want to say it’s a measuring stick for us because I think we deserve to be talked about with the teams that we’re playing right now,” Konecny said of the road trip. “I think it just shows that we have some depth, we’re all contributing in different ways. If it’s your turn to be on the score sheet, that’s what you do. If it’s your turn to have a big block or big save from the goalies, everyone’s just stepping up. We love this group.”

Rick Tocchet’s club was coming off a 4-3 shootout win Friday over the Islanders. Entering this one, the Flyers were just 1-12-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets since last season.

Make that 2-12-2 now.

“I’m really proud of the group, how they played the second night of the back-to-back,” Vladar said.

New Jersey also played Friday, rolling the Sabres on the road, 5-0.

“From my experience, on the back-to-backs, I call it a professional game — good angling, short shifts, don’t put yourself in bad positions, use the bench,” Tocchet said before the game. … “They’re playing a back-to-back, too, so there’s no advantage tonight, there’s no excuse for tired teams. They played in Buffalo last night, so it’s an even game when it comes to energy.”

The Flyers are 2-0-0 in their three-game regular-season series with the Devils (16-8-1). They beat New Jersey a week ago when they scored three goals in 26 seconds en route to a 6-3 decision at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The Devils have been without star forward Jack Hughes, who’s recovering from finger surgery.

• Vladar was really good with 29 saves on 32 shots.

The 28-year-old had a brilliant stop with 16 seconds left in the first period to keep the game tied at 1-1. The Flyers were on the penalty kill and Vladar denied Nico Hischier’s backdoor tip-in attempt.

The Flyers rewarded Vladar with a fast start after intermission. Michkov popped out of the penalty box and scored off a 2-on-1 with Konecny just 53 seconds into the second period.

Michkov then cushioned the Flyers’ lead to 3-1 a little under two and a half minutes later. Cam York made a nifty move at the blue line to set up Konecny for a shot, which Michkov got a piece of in front.

Vladar also delivered a big-time save with 2:33 minutes left in the second period when the Flyers were up 4-1 and New Jersey had a 2-on-1 shorthanded chance.

“He’s ridiculous, he’s unbelievable,” Zegras said. “I feel like he’s unbelievable every single time he’s in there.”

The Devils trimmed the Flyers’ lead to 4-2 with a power play goal in the final minute of the middle stanza. Dawson Mercer then made it very interesting when he dangled around the Flyers’ defense in the third period to draw New Jersey within 4-3.

But Vladar and the Flyers held on.

“In times where maybe they came at us a little bit, Vladdy kind of kept us rolling,” Tippett said. “It’s easy for us to kind of get a jump and get playing in front of him when you see him on his head like that behind us.”

Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom stopped 27 of the Flyers’ 31 shots.

• After being shut out by the Lightning, 3-0, to open the road trip, the Flyers scored 12 goals over the final three games.

“That Tampa game was tough, we did not play great,” Zegras said. “We had a big meeting on things that we wanted to do to get better, to play tighter, to play more connected. And I think the last three, we did that.”

Tippett opened the scoring against New Jersey just 5:18 minutes into the action with his 100th career goal and 200th career point. He made a nice move at the doorstep off a feed from Christian Dvorak, who finished November with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 14 games.

Zegras also recorded an assist on the play and then added his goal in the second period to make it 4-1. After Jesper Bratt hit iron on a breakaway, the Flyers immediately countered with a 3-on-1 rush and Zegras capitalized.

The Flyers improved to 12-2-2 when the 24-year-old trade acquisition records a point.

• Tyson Foerster and Nick Seeler had tough blocked shots on the same shift in the second period as the Flyers were protecting a 3-1 lead.

The Flyers also had two key penalty kills in the third period as the Devils were pushing for the game-tying goal.

“The one thing I love about this group is they always want to learn,” Tocchet said. “Whether we win or lose or it’s a bad period or it’s a good period, they’re asking questions, they’re trying to learn. That’s what we’re doing every day and we’re trying to build some blocks here.”

• The Flyers return home for a matchup Monday against the Penguins (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

The Vancouver Canucks are 20 games into the 2025–26 season. After their chaotic 3–2 loss to the San Jose Sharks last night, they currently sport a record of 10–13–2 throughout the season. Here’s how they’re performing compared to the rest of the NHL. 

Team Stats 

Vancouver’s team numbers don’t look fantastic at this particular moment. They’re within the bottom-five in the NHL in four categories: their overall record (10–13–2), points-percentage (0.44), goals-against (93), and penalty kill (70.5%). In three of these categories, they fall within the bottom-three in the league. With that being said, they currently rank 12th in goals-for with 76 and 14th in power play percentage with 21.6% — the only two stats in which they place within the top-15. 

Individual Skaters

The Canucks’ numbers produced by individual skaters are kind of all-over the place. Vancouver’s TOI stats say a lot about how the team has deployed their players throughout the year, as they have placed within the top-10 in overall (Filip Hronek, 609:48), power play (Quinn Hughes, 102:24), and penalty killing (Marcus Pettersson, 89:22) TOI. As well, Kiefer Sherwood still remains within the top-three in the NHL in hits with 103, only 11 away from Yakov Trenin’s league-leading 114. 

Goaltenders

Despite Kevin Lankinen taking the bulk of the games throughout the season, Thatcher Demko still ranks first on the team in the majority of categories such as SV% (.903), goals against average (2.80), wins (5), and high-danger SV% (.837). With that being said, the Canucks’ goaltending group does not crack the top-10 in the NHL in any of these stats. Their highest-ranked goaltending stat is the amount of high-danger shots-faced by Lankinen, who ranks 15th in the NHL in that category.  

Vancouver’s next five games consist of a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings tonight and a game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. Then, the Canucks return home for a weekend back-to-back against the Utah Mammoth and Minnesota Wild, as well as a game against the Detroit Red Wings the week after. 

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.

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Canadian defenseman Calvin de Haan, 34, has signed a two-year contract extension with Rögle BK, the SHL club announced on Friday.

This is de Haan’s first season playing in Europe after a lengthy career in North America, which included over 600 NHL games with six different teams.

De Haan has nine points in 18 games so far for Rögle, who currently sit third in the 14-team SHL with 47 points in 24 games.

“I think Calvin’s game speaks for itself and we obviously want to continue to see in green and white in the future,” said Rögle sports director Hampus Sjöström. “He’s a stable defender and has leadership qualities that are of great benefit to our group. It feels great that Calvin and his family are enjoying themselves so well here in Rögle and Ängelholm and I look forward to continuing our collaboration for another two seasons.”

In addition to de Haan, Rögle’s roster includes ex-NHLers Mark Friedman, Karson Kuhlman and Fredrik Olofsson.

Swedish Club Rögle Signs Another Ex-NHLer American right winger Karson Kuhlman, 29, has signed a one-year contract with Rögle BK, the SHL club announced on Sunday. The signing comes just three days after <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/former-nhl-d-man-signs-two-year-deal-in-sweden">R</a><a href="https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/former-nhl-d-man-signs-two-year-deal-in-sweden">ögle announced the signing of former NHL defenseman Mark Friedman</a>.

Born in Carp. Ont., de Haan played junior hockey for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals and was chosen 12th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Between 2011 and 2025, de Haan played 679 NHL regular-season games for the Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers, recording 149 points and 249 penalty minutes. He also recorded five points in 38 playoff games.

De Haan split last season between the Avalanche and Rangers. The 6-foot-1, 194-pound rearguard was traded to the Rangers along with Juuso Parssinen, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in 2025. In return, the Avalanche received Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey, and Hank Kempf.

Internationally, de Haan represented Canada at one U-18 IIHF World Championship, two World Juniors and at the 2017 World Championship.

American Ex-NHL D-Man Finds Another Swedish TeamFormer NHLer Luke Witkowski returns to Sweden, joining a stacked Brynäs IF squad aiming for a championship rebound.