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Detroit's young defense is the reason why Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman believes the Red Wings likely won't make the playoffs this upcoming season. 

As the regular season fast approaches, more and more season long predictions are coming out with insiders and hockey outlets beginning to make their call on who wins the cup, makes the playoffs and who will breakout in a big way. 

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, who is known for his insider reports, has finally announced who he is backing going into the 2025-26 season. Last year, Friedman notably picked the Ottawa Senators as a surprising pick to make the playoffs and was correct with his prediction. When asked about who he's liking this year he mentioned several teams but not the young Detroit Red Wings. 

NHL Insider Says Cap Could Hit New Heights, Boosting Red Wings' OptionsNHL Insider Elliotte Friedman reports the salary cap could rise more than expected in the coming seasons, potentially giving the Detroit Red Wings significantly more flexibility to make future roster moves.

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

As the Motor City hockey club hopes to snap their near decade-long playoff drought, Friedman explained he thinks their team is still too young. Defenseman Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson being placed on waivers likely to clears room for 20-year-old Axel Sandin-Pellikka, which could mean they start with a very young defense to start the season.

"They put Holl and Gustafsson on waivers, which is totally fine, but that says to me, they're thinking about doing a really young defense to start the year, like a really young D, we talked about this at the year end last year how Yzerman didn't give out term to veterans because he's like, the young guys need to play and I will bet on these young players, I wonder if that bet really starts right now, I just I don't think that they're ready," Friedman said. 

With Sandin-Pellikka projected into the Red Wings defense, that would give their top six, an average age of 24.8 which would be very young with Ben Chairot being the only player on their backend older than 25 years old. The lack of experience would put added pressure on young players like Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider to carry the load. The signing of Travis Hamonic ruffled some fans feathers as they didn't want the 35-year-old veteran to get in the way of some of the young prospects on the rise but his experience may be needed. 

Depending on how Detroit is positioned heading into the trade deadline, they may need to bolster their blue line further if they're in playoff contention. With $13.2 million in available cap space, this could be the year they finally address the long-standing defensive issues that have kept them in the league’s bottom 12 for goals against per game average in nine straight seasons.

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NHL Opening Night Betting Angles: Panthers Struggle Against Blackhawks, High-Scoring StartsThe NHL season opens Tuesday with three high-scoring games featuring key matchups between playoff teams and strong betting trends favoring the Avalanche, Rangers, and Blackhawks. 

The Winnipeg Jets are nearing final cuts. 

Over the weekend, the team set for Thursday's season opener began to take shape. A number of cuts have been made, with youthful players sent back to Junior and more veteran pieces loaned to the AHL's Manitoba Moose. 

With Adam Lowry and Dylan Samberg beginning the season on the injured reserve, some opportunities have opened up for both newcomers and youth. 

Further injuries to Cole Perfetti and Jonathan Toews have allowed lengthier tryouts to pieces not previously expected to last this long at training camp.

The Samberg injury opens a spot within the top-four defencemen for the first month or two of the season, on what is already a very crowded blueline. 

With Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo and Neal Pionk already cemented as the team's top-3 outside of Samberg, Luke Schenn, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Logan Stanley and Ville Heinola were always in the mix for the final few spots. 

But on Sunday, the Jets opted to make their move, cutting Ville Heinola and placing him on Waivers with the hope he clears and can resume his season with the Moose.

News on Heinola will come mid-day on Monday, but a claim via Waivers may be the best thing for Heinola's development. 

Selected 20th overall in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, the now 24-year-old cracked the Jets out of camp that fall following the retirement of Dustin Byfuglien. He became the first player born in the 21st century to score on NHL goal, and had a goal and five points in eight games to start that rookie season prior to being sent home for further development.

He never made the Jets out of training camp again. 

In 53 games over five seasons, Heinola has that single goal and 12 points to his name. The majority of his time has been spent with the Moose, where he has played 154 games over parts of seven seasons. He has 23 goals and 103 points over that lengthy time spent in antlers. 

Waiver claims will be announced at 1:00 PM central time on Monday. 

Two recent contract signings could factor into determining Lane Hutson's next contract with the Montreal Canadiens. 

On Oct. 1, the New Jersey Devils signed defenseman Luke Hughes to a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $9 million, ending a standoff that dragged on throughout training camp and the pre-season.

The following day, the Anaheim Ducks signed blueliner Jackson LaCombe to an eight-year extension, also with an average annual value of $9 million, making it the most lucrative contract in franchise history.

Hutson is in the final season of his entry-level contract. The 21-year-old Canadiens blueliner is coming off a strong NHL debut, winning the 2024-25 Calder Memorial Trophy. 

Like Hughes, Hutson will lack arbitration rights if unsigned at the end of this season. He'll also be ineligible to receive an offer sheet from a rival club. His only leverage will be staying away from training camp next September if he's without a contract by that point.

That has scribes pondering what it will cost the Canadiens to sign Hutson.

The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun felt Hughes' contract sets the bar for young defensemen like Hutson coming out of their entry-level deals.

The Hockey News' Adam Proteau cited several reasons why he felt the young Canadiens star deserves a higher salary than Hughes, pointing to his 60 assists last season, his elevated ice time and 123 blocked shots. 

RG.org's Marco D'Amico believes the Canadiens have the leverage to keep Hutson's cap hit closer to $9 million. He suggested that they could use signing bonuses and retirement compensation agreements through the Canada Revenue Agency, netting Hutson more in real dollars.

TVA Sports' Nicolas Cloutier thinks another dominant performance by Hutson this season will improve the youngster's bargaining position. He recommends the Canadiens sign him as soon as possible or risk having to pay much more by season's end.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Friday that the two sides are already engaged in detailed contract talks. He believes the final price could be closer to what Hughes and LaCombe are earning on their new deals.

Why Canadiens' Lane Hutson Deserves A Higher Salary Than Luke Hughes And Jackson LaCombeThe start of October has been a very good time to be a young, up-and-coming star defenseman in the NHL.

PuckPedia indicates that the Canadiens have a projected $36.7 million in cap space for 2026-27, with 15 active roster players under contract. Management had done a good job getting their best young players signed to long-term deals with reasonable cap hits. Nick Suzuki is earning $7.875 million annually through 2029-30, Cole Caufield's AAV is $7.85 million through 2030-31, and Juraj Slafkovsky's is $7.6 million through 2033. 

Getting Hutson signed to a long-term deal with an AAV of $9 million would be a significant move on their part. It could give them significant long-term savings to put toward maintaining a contender.

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Longtime NHL coach John Tortorella is back in the studio.

ESPN announced Tortorella will be part of its NHL studio coverage as an analyst this season.

"Known for his candid insights and authentic commentary, Tortorella will bring his deep understanding of the game as a veteran coach with 23 NHL seasons behind the bench, including leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship in the 2003-04 season," ESPN said in a news release on Monday.

Tortorella, 67, was part of ESPN's NHL coverage in 2021-22 when he was between coaching jobs. He had coached for the Columbus Blue Jackets for six years before that campaign, and he joined the Philadelphia Flyers for parts of three seasons afterward.

On March 27, the Flyers fired Tortorella, replacing him with Brad Shaw for the rest of the 2024-25 season before hiring Rick Tocchet for 2025-26. Tortorella said two days before his firing that he's not really interested in learning how to coach that type of season, where the Flyers where second-last in the Eastern Conference. But Briere said there was a series of things that happened leading up to the decision to part ways.

In September, Tortorella told NHL.com he loved coaching the Flyers, and he wasn't quitting on the team when he made those comments.

"I think a coach has to change," Tortorella told NHL.com. "A coach has to show the players respect, that you’re not backing off, but you also care about the grind that they just went through, and they’re done in another few weeks. That’s what I was saying. I don’t want to learn how to coach that way. I don’t know how to coach that way, and I don’t want to learn. If you can keep yourself out of those spots of playing to the end, you won’t be good at that."

Tortorella said he wants to continue coaching. He's currently sixth in NHL history for most games coached, with 1,620, and ninth all-time for wins, with 770. He'll also be an assistant coach for USA's men's squad at the 2026 Olympics.

In the meantime, he'll provide insight on hockey in the studio.

Some of Tortorella's highlights from his last time on ESPN include questioning whether then-rookie Trevor Zegras' over-the-net alley-oop assist to Sonny Milano was too showmanlike for the game.

"If you did that back in 2000, late ’90s, 2000s, you'd get your head taken off," Tortorella said at the time. "It's cool. It's cool to watch, but I'm not so sure it's good for the game, and I stand by that."

Stanley Cup champion T.J. Oshie will also be a studio and game analyst on ESPN. The right winger played 1,010 regular-season NHL games between the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals, recording 302 goals and 695 points. He added another 69 points in 106 playoff contests. He won the Cup with Washington in 2018.

ESPN also announced it re-signed NHL on-air personalities, such as play-by-play commentator Bob Wischusen, analysts Cassie Campbell-Pascall, P.K. Subban and Kevin Weekes and reporter Leah Hextall.

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New York Islanders No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer has made the team. The 18-year-old had his rookie moment throughout preseason, but there's no question his best development path is at the NHL level. 

New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) on XYour 2025-26 New York Islanders.

Schaefer will open the season on the club's third defense pairing alongside Scott Mayfield, while quarterbacking the second power-play unit.  After nine games, the Islanders will have to decide whether or not to return him to the OHL's Erie Otters for the remainder of the OHL season or keep him on the NHL roster. 

Returning to juniors is likely not in Schaefer's future, as long as he can prove he can handle his own out there. 

As expected, Adam Boqvist has won the seventh defenseman job as the Islanders optioned 21-year-old defenseman Isaiah George to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Monday morning. 

For tomorrow morning @TheElmonters: my exclusive interview with George about his camp, what Bridgeport is ready to prove this season & more. #Isleshttps://t.co/inyUGmB8yj

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 6, 2025

With forward Calum Ritchie out 1-2 weeks, that made the Islanders' decision easier when it came to the extra forwards, as Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb will fill those roles. 

Forward Pierre Engvall (offseason hip surgery), Ritchie, and forwards Daylan Kuefler (upper body) and Jesse Nurmi (knee procedure will begin the season on Season-Opening Injured Reserve.

Defenseman Ethan Bear joins Varlamov on IR.  

Explaining Season-Opening Injured Reserve & How That Impacts Islanders EAST MEADOW, NY -- By Monday at 5 PM ET, the New York Islanders and the 31 NHL teams must submit their salary-cap-compliant rosters to the league office. 

Here's the projected opening-night lineup:

Drouin-Horvat-Heineman

Lee-Barzal-Palmieri

Shabanov-Pageau-Holmstrom

Duclair-Cizikas-Tsyplakov

Romanov-DeAngelo

Pelech-Pulock

Schaefer-Mayfield

Sorokin

Rittich

The Islanders open the season on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7 PM ET on MSGSN. 

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In the days leading up to the start of the 2025-26 regular season, various outlets will make predictions on who will win the Stanley Cup or come out of the Eastern Conference to play in the Cup Final. For the Buffalo Sabres, the goal is to make the postseason for the first time since 2011, but according to a pair of prgonosticators, they are a longshot to do so. 

In BetMGM’s future odds prognosticating which teams would reach the 90-point plateau necessary to make the postseason, the Sabres ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference at +165. Florida (+5000), Carolina (-3000), Tampa Bay (-1100), New Jersey (-800), Toronto (-750), Washington (-500), Ottawa (-325), NY Rangers (-285), Montreal (-150), Columbus and Detroit (+160) were all ranked ahead of the Sabres, with the NY Islanders, Philadelphia (+210), Boston (+325), and Pittsburgh (+500) behind them.    

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Since resuming an 82-game schedule after COVID, the final Eastern Conference wild card spot has been 91 or 92 points. In another prediction of their chances, Moneypuck had the Sabres with a 38.3% chance of making the playoffs, 10th in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo’s chances would seemingly rely on a number of factors going right and avoiding injuries to key players, but the injury bug has already been prevelant in training camp. 

Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, defenseman Michael Kesselring, and forward Jordan Greenway may start the season on injured reserve, with Luukkonen’s injury being the most concerning. The 26-year-old goalie has played more than 50 games the last two seasons, but suffered a nagging lower-body injury prior to training camp and missed the first week of practices. The Sabres starter played one period against Pittsburgh last Wednesday before being pulled for precautionary reasons, due to a different lower body injury. 

Luukkonen’s absence will have the Sabres starting the season with Alex Lyon as their defacto starter and Alexandar Georgiev as the backup. 

 

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