By the analytics, the Philadelphia Flyers haven't been too wise with how they've spent their money in recent years. But that isn't a bad thing... yet.
To kick off free agency at the start of last month, the Flyers went out and signed goalie Dan Vladar, now the highest-earning goalie on the team, center Christian Dvorak, and defensemen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert.
Based on the expected positive value, The Athletic gave the Dvorak and Vladar contracts C- grades, but, comparatively, Ivan Fedotov and Trevor Zegras's contracts also got C- grades.
For different reasons, these grades are off base.
Vladar, unlike Fedotov, has proven to be a serviceable NHL goalie, albeit in a backup role. The bar is quite low, yes, but Vladar makes only $75k more against the cap.
The Flyers are hoping that, by adding the former Calgary Flame, they'll start to win more games, which in turn rewards their young players for their efforts and expected positive development.
Ditto for Dvorak, who is only under contract for one season and can be moved (with salary retention) at the NHL trade deadline if the right deal hits the Flyers' inbox.
As for Zegras, the Flyers traded for him with the hope the 23-year-old can become a long-term piece for them offensively and return to the 60-point form that made him one of the NHL's hottest talents only two seasons ago.
The former No. 11 pick has struggled a lot defensively, at least according to most analytics, which likely factors into such a poor contract grade, but, like with Vladar, it's a bit overstated.
Juulsen and Gilbert didn't even factor into the equation, which is to be expected. It's unclear if Juulsen is fully recovered from a season-ending hernia, while Gilbert is a long shot to make the NHL roster at this time.
The good news is that Flyers GM Danny Briere signed most of the best contracts on The Athletic's list, with Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Nick Seeler, Egor Zamula, Cam York, Sam Ersson, and Noah Cates leading the way with B- grades or better.
Plus, the Flyers didn't benefit from having Matvei Michkov, who was excluded, on his entry-level contract.
But, overall, the Flyers haven't done anything that inhibits them from making an important move in the future, even if they really did overspend on players like Dvorak and Vladar. And even then, their value relative to other roster players is higher.
What happens next offseason, and even the offseason after that, will tell the full story. This is just the intro.
We’re not here to sell you a gallon of green Kool-Aid. The Boston Celtics’ 2025-26 season will feature more bumps in the road than recent years and the margin for error for this talent-depleted team is razor thin, especially as Jayson Tatum rehabs from Achilles surgery.
But one thing is certain: The Celtics are approaching the obvious uncertainty ahead with remarkable vigor and an utter refusal to put a ceiling on what’s to come.
Where will that lead this team? We won’t suspect to know for sure. But we do believe the 2025-26 season will be far more enjoyable than most seem to be predicting (though we’ll also relent that there are obvious weak spots in Boston’s overhauled depth chart and an injury to any member of the remaining championship core could change the outlook of the season in a hurry).
Good luck trying to get anyone inside the Auerbach Center to buy into a so-called “gap” year. While the team endured painful-yet-inevitable changes in order to open avenues toward building the next championship-caliber roster, those in green universally refuse to put a ceiling on what’s possible for the 2025-26 squad.
“I said this when I was coaching all the time, I never put a ceiling on any team,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in July. “We were fortunate to have a number of teams there, as we led up to this kind of [championship] window, that were really fun, and that I thought never really cared about ceilings and had a chip on their shoulders. I expected this team will, too.
“The last time that Jaylen Brown was on a team that was doubted was a long time ago. The last time that Payton Pritchard’s been on a team that was doubted — he probably hasn’t been. I mean, you go down the list, Derrick White and all these guys. I’m excited to see what this team has in store. I know [coach] Joe [Mazzulla is] excited.”
“We’re definitely trying to be a playoff team. We’re trying to win a championship,” said Pritchard. “It’s not even about playoffs; we have one standard in Boston and it’s to win a championship. Everybody in that locker room will have the goal of competing for a championship. And we will do everything in our power necessary to go for that. That’s what [fans] should know.”
🔊 Celtics Talk Podcast: Payton Pritchard on Celtics’ summer changes, NBA’s new heave rule and Kyrie wanting to swing on him | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
We’ve spent a lot of this offseason thinking about the radical shift in expectations for these Celtics. A championship-or-bust mentality is inevitable for a team with 18 banners hanging above its court, but it also made it hard to savor the small wins along the way. Every bump in the road hit like plane turbulence while you sometimes had to remind yourself to savor the little victories.
One of our favorite seasons covering this team was the magical 2016-17 campaign when Isaiah Thomas thrust himself into the MVP conversation while carrying a hard-playing, mentally-strong group straight to the Eastern Conference Finals. Watching that team exceed expectations — with Thomas routinely making fourth-quarter magic — made that season almost as endearing as some of the championship seasons.
Can history repeat itself with this group? If you’re looking at Boston’s frontcourt depth chart after the summer changes and scoffing, we get it. But we’re strangely excited to simply see where this goes.
This season is going to answer a whole bunch of questions about individual players and who will be key pieces to Banner 19. Instead of fretting who’s not on the floor, it’s OK if you simply want to embrace who is. Whatever ceiling you perceive for Jaylen Brown or Derrick White or Pritchard, that might just change during the 2025-26 season.
We subscribe strongly to the notion that you don’t even consider putting Tatum back on the court until he is at full health. And given the history of Achilles injuries, it’s easy to suspect Tatum probably wouldn’t return until the start of the 2026-27 season.
But we also know Tatum is a maniac who has relentlessly attacked the first three months of his rehab. The Celtics put him in the best position to expedite his recovery by getting him into surgery just hours after the devastating injury. Spend even a little bit of time reading about the rehab of NFL running back Cam Akers, and it’s hard not to envision Tatum potentially ramping up activities early in calendar year 2026.
Again, that’s not to suggest the team ought to consider bringing him back expeditiously. But we believe the major parties involved when they suggest that there is no timeline, and that they will simply cross each medical bridge as they cross them.
The Indiana Pacers were quick to rule out Tyrese Haliburton for the 2025-26 season after a torn Achilles in the NBA Finals. The Celtics have resisted doing the same with Tatum. Our read is that Boston chose that approach so as to not put a ceiling on what’s possible.
If Tatum is hell-bent on attacking his rehab — even if just for the possibility of returning quicker than most who have navigated the same injury — then whey take away any bit of hope? The focus right now is on putting one good day in front of another.
If the season goes sideways and the Celtics are not as competitive with this new-look roster, then maybe that allows Tatum and Co. to take a longer view on his return. If Boston exceeds expectations and plays beyond mid-April, then the player, front office, and medical staff can assess the value in an earlier return.
After Tatum made an appearance at a community event in Providence on Thursday, Celtics team president Rich Gotham offered the latest glimpse into that no-ceilings mentality when asked about the possibility of Tatum attempting to return this season.
“[Tatum is] going to do everything he can to put us in a position to make a decision,” said Gotham.
Even that reads like Celtics catnip. The “Jay Watch” on its own will help navigate the season. Tatum’s eventual return offers hope of a brighter future regardless of how the 2025-26 season plays out.
The Celtics have spent much of the summer getting their finances in order. The departures of championship pieces like Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet, and (presumably soon) Al Horford, have not been easy for fans to endure. The team could shed even more money in a quest to get below the tax. Splurging to build a championship roster is a heck of a lot more fun than shedding to avoid the tax and aprons.
It’s on Stevens and his front office staff to put this team in position to start adding again soon. Having to navigate some of these financial pain points in a season where Tatum will miss time makes it slightly easier to endure.
But our advice is not to get too hung up on the big picture. Embrace the steps on the journey back to being a title contender. Embrace Tatum’s progress. Embrace the possibility that players like Brown, White, and Pritchard will get every opportunity to show their full potential.
The Celtics are not putting a ceiling on this year’s team. They’re just focused on each day. We’ll see where that takes them.
Rangers are unbeaten in their past 17 meetings with Dundee in all competitions (W14 D3) since a 2-1 league defeat in November 2017 under Graeme Murty.
Dundee have lost each of their past 19 away games at Rangers in all competitions, a run that began in 2001. Only against five sides have Rangers ever won 20+ consecutive home matches in their history, most recently an ongoing run of 21 against Dunfermline from 1999 to 2021.
Rangers drew 1-1 with Motherwell on matchday one but haven't failed to win both of their opening two matches of a Scottish Premiership campaign since 1989-90 under Graeme Souness (lost to St Mirren and Hibernian).
In their opening-day defeat to Hibs, Dundee managed just two shots, their fewest in a Scottish Premiership home game since October 2018 vs Celtic (2). The Dark Blues did, however, win three of their final five away league games last term (L2), as many as across their 17 matches prior.
Joe Rothwell has recorded three assists across his past eight league appearances, with each assist coming from a set-piece (2 for Leeds, 1 for Rangers) – the midfelder created the joint most chances (3) of any Rangers player against Motherwell, including his assist via a corner for James Tavernier.
American fourth seed Ben Shelton battled from a set down to clinch his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open on Thursday, defeating Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3).
The world No 7 capped off an impressive week that saw him beat Italian 13th seed Flavio Cobolli, Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur and American second seed Taylor Fritz on his way to achieving his first Masters 1000 title and the biggest title of his career.
Spencer Jones is the hottest name in the Yankees' farm system at the moment, and the outfielder showed what he can do at the plate, without the need of his prodigious power.
In Thursday's game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Jones went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Jones' first hit came in the fourth inning after striking out in his first at-bat. Leading off, Jones smacked an 81 mph knuckleball in the dirt into center field. He would score on T.J. Rumfield's homer to put the RailRiders up 2-0.
Jones was called out on strikes in his third at-bat in the fifth inning but made up for it in the eighth. With the RailRiders still up just two runs, Jones came up with Jorbit Vivas on second and no out. Jones to a 2-0 hanging curveball and deposited it into right field to drive in the RailRiders' third run of the game. Some much-needed for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate. Jones would steal second base and eventually score on a J.C. Escarra sacrifice fly.
Jones has really picked it up since being promoted to Triple-A earlier this season. In 29 games, he's slashing .348/.426/.750 with an OPS of 1.176 to go along with his 13 home runs, 29 RBI and 14 stolen bases.
Now, while he hasn't homered since returning from a sore back in late July, he's still 7-for-32 with a double, four RBI and eight stolen bases in that span.
Other notable hitters from this game include Vivas going 2-for-4 with a run scored and Escarra going 1-for-2 with a walk and his lone RBI.
But all of that was in support of Allan Winans. Winans, who has had only a handful of appearances with the Yankees this season, pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out seven batters. He now boasts an impressive 10-o record and a 1.16 ERA this season with Triple-A.
Down with the Somerset Patriots and George Lombard Jr. continues to excel. The Yankees' No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, showed off his power in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
Lombard's homer came in the first inning when he launched a R.J. Gordon pitch over the right field wall to give the Patriots an early 1-0 lead. It would be Lombard's only hit of the night (1-4)
In 75 games in Double-A, Lombard is hitting only .208 with six home runs, 23 RBI and 16 stolen bases as the 20-year-old continues to make his way through the Yankees system.
Fresh off being named International League Pitcher of the Month for his incredible July, Mets top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat kept things going by starting his August with another terrific performance.
Facing the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate for the Chicago White Sox, Sproat began his outing by filling up the strike zone and pitching a quick 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. He went back out for the second inning and kept pumping strikes while getting around a two-out double.
Sproat needed just nine pitches (all strikes) to get through the third inning. In fact, in the first three innings he threw just five balls.
The right-hander's command got away from him a little bit as he walked his first batter of the game on four pitches leading off the fourth. He got to three-ball counts on his next two hitters, but retired them both on groundouts before ending the frame with another ball on the ground.
In the bottom half of the inning, Syracuse's offense erupted for six runs while batting around. The Mets began the inning with eight straight hitters reaching base, including seven consecutive hits against reliever Chase Plymell.
Having spent so much time in the dugout during the big inning, Sproat looked a little off in the fifth and was dinged for three runs after a walk, wild pitch, double and two-run homer.
The 24-year-old righted the ship the following inning and only needed 11 pitches in a clean sixth that ended his night.
Overall, Sproat went six innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four on 84 pitches (53 strikes).
After clearing 100 innings (he now sits at 101 IP), Sproat's season ERA rose a tick from 4.07 to 4.10, but it was still another impressive start for the Mets' No. 5 prospect, per SNY's Joe DeMayo, as he continues to try and earn a big league promotion this season from his club.
Although it was a tough pill to swallow for fans of the Detroit Red Wings, it was the Atlantic Division rival Ottawa Senators who returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season, thanks to a late-season surge that included two crucial victories over Detroit.
Ottawa complied a record of 45-30-7 for a total of 97 points, 11 more points in the standings than Detroit's 86.
Adding insult to injury was the fact that former Red Wings forward David Perron, who played such an important leadership role in the Detroit dressing room, scored in both games for his new team.
David Perron is up to seven goals since March 1st. 😳
While the Senators would ultimately fall short in the opening round of the postseason against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they did manage to make life uncomfortable for them and appear poised to take another step in their rebuilding process this season.
Meanwhile, the Red Wings missed out on claiming a postseason spot for the ninth consecutive season thanks in large part to yet another prolonged losing streak in the month of March.
If the Red Wings are to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, they'll need to improve their fortunes against the Senators, who have had their number over the last few campaigns.
Ottawa has been on a remarkable run of success against the Red Wings in their last 10 matchups, winning eight of them.
Additionally, the core of Ottawa is just getting started. They have a solid foundation led by forwards Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle, while their top-six is rounded out by Dylan Cozens (who was linked to the Red Wings in the weeks leading up to last season's NHL Trade Deadline) and Drake Batherson.
Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot anchor the Ottawa defense, while Linus Ullmark holds down the fort in the crease.
With veterans Perron and Claude Giroux returning for next season, the Senators appear poised to not only build off their success last season but to take another step toward once again becoming a major problem in the Eastern Conference for their opposition.
The Red Wings won't face the Senators until after the calendar has changed to 2026, a matchup on January 5 in Ottawa. This will be followed by matchups on January 18 at Little Caesars Arena, February 26 in Ottawa, and Mach 24 back in Detroit.
All four games will have a valuable two points up for grabs in the standings, points that the Red Wings will need to accumulate to help increase their chances of ending their playoff drought.
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Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko completed a dream run to the National Bank Open title Thursday night, overcoming a slow start to beat Japanese star Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
The 18-year-old Mboko – ranked 85th in the world – won her first WTA Tour title and joined Faye Urban in 1969 and Bianca Andreescu in 2019 as the only Canadians to win the home event in the open era.
PITTSBURGH — Ke’Bryan Hayes said he thought he might be in Pittsburgh to stay before the Pirates traded him July 30 to NL Central rival Cincinnati.
He returned to Pittsburgh on Thursday for the first time since he was dealt, with the Pirates opening a four-game series against the Reds.
Hayes’ future with the Pirates looked secure after he signed a $70 million, eight-year contract in 2022.
“The reason I signed the contract here in Pittsburgh, I wanted to be here and maybe play here my whole career,” Hayes said. “But baseball’s a business at the end of the day.”
The Pirates played a video tribute to Hayes when he came to bat in the third inning. As the crowd cheered, with many fans standing, Hayes doffed his batting helmet.
The Gold Glove third baseman went from an organization that was well outside the playoffs race to a Reds team competing for a wild-card spot. Pittsburgh was 49-66 heading into Thursday’s game and last in the division; Cincinnati was 60-55 and three games out of a playoff spot.
“It’s been great over here,” Hayes said. “They’ve welcomed me with big arms. We’re in playoff contention.”
Hayes, the son of former major leaguer Charlie Hayes and a first-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2015, struggled to find consistency at the plate following his splashy debut during the final month of the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020. He hit .376 with five homers in 24 games immediately after being called up, numbers that he didn’t come close to matching while playing a full 162-game schedule.
Hayes hit .236 with two home runs and 36 RBIs this season for the Pirates. Through six games with the Reds, he was batting .211 with a homer and three RBIs.
The Buffalo Sabres have little room for error next season as they attempt to end a 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought -- and that means they need to beat above-average teams. That includes the Dallas Stars, who the Sabres will take on twice this coming year.
The Stars are one of the deepest, most well-balanced teams in the NHL, and while they haven't made a slew of changes after falling in the Western Conference final once again, Dallas is going to be a handful for any opponent, including the Sabres. And as part of THN.com's "Know Your Enemy" series, we're looking at every Buffalo opponent next year. We've been moving through the highly-competitive Central Division, and in today's file, we're breaking down Buffalo's chances against the Stars. Let's get to it:
BUFFALO SABRES VS. DALLAS STARS
NEW STARS PLAYERS: Radek Faksa, C
2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 1-1-0, Stars 1-1-0
2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: December 31 at Dallas; April 15 at Buffalo
CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The Sabres and Stars faced off twice last season, with both games coming by the end of the calendar year 2024. The teams split the series, with Buffalo winning the first game by a 4-2 score, then Dallas winning the second game by the same score. But with the Sabres' struggles, there was no sense these two teams were as good as each franchise was when the Sabres and Stars squared off in the 1998-1999 Stanley Cup final.
Indeed, the Stars have been one of the top franchises in the league in recent years, even if they haven't been able to get back to the Cup final since they won it in '98-99. And of course, the Sabres have been one of the worst organizations in the league for nearly a decade-and-a-half.
This season, though, presents a fresh start opportunity for Buffalo. And unlike last season, when the teams were done with each other early on, the Sabres and Stars won't have their first game until New Year's Eve in Texas. Then, their second showdown comes in mid-April, in the Sabres' final regular-season game of the year.
That could mean a couple of things: first, the Stars and Sabres may be significantly different between that first game and the second tilt. If both teams have positive results during the season, that second game could spell the difference between Buffalo making and missing the playoffs. And it could also mean the difference between the Stars securing home-ice advantage and finishing third or fourth in the Central.
If we're being honest, we have to say we see the Stars as the superior team next year. Dallas' balance of young stars still approaching their prime and veterans intent on a deep playoff run makes the Stars one of the most dangerous squads in the league. But Dallas is exactly the type of team Buffalo needs to conquer if the Sabres are going to rise out of the bottom of the Atlantic Division and carve out a post-season berth for themselves.
The Sabres have to prove to skeptics they're ready to take the next competitive step before anyone actually believes they're capable of doing so. That may sound cynical, but talk to any of Buffalo's long-suffering fans, and you'll see exactly why Sabres fans are so cynical.
We're not here to tell you the Stars will walk all over the Sabres next season. Hope springs eternal, and there is a world in which Buffalo grows into an elite team.
But the Sabres have two chances to send a message to the Stars. And if they don't take advantage of those opportunities and they wind up missing out on a playoff berth by one or two standings points, their play against Dallas could prove to be a difference-making factor in their season -- and they could be looking at another year lost.
Ottawa Senators fans love Brady Tkachuk, but his long-term contract is probably rolling along a little too quickly for their liking.
Tkachuk is entering year five of a seven-year deal that pays him $8.2 million per season. When examining the Senators’ current Stanley Cup window of opportunity, some observers tend to track it right alongside Tkachuk’s contract, because of the chance he may decide to follow in his brother's footsteps.
Three years ago, his older brother Matthew forced Calgary to trade him after he let the Flames know he wasn't planning to re-sign there.
So this past season, not surprisingly, the Brady rumours started. The New York Post reported in December that the Rangers had made Brady one of their primary trade targets.
The Senators vehemently denied it, and when owner Michael Andlauer arrived at the NHL’s Board of Governors’ meeting in Florida, he described it as soft tampering. Andlauer also said that Brady and his wife Emma had just had a child and didn’t need something like this in their lives.
The Rangers denied the soft tampering and described the accusation as irresponsible.
And so it began.
It only stands to reason, with Tkachuk being such an impactful player, that this kind of dialogue will continue to float out there over the next three years. But in an interview this week with ESPN and Greg Wyshynski, Brady’s father, Keith, had some thoughts on the matter that Sens fans will surely applaud.
When Wyshynski asked about those rumblings out of New York last season and people who think Brady might want out, Keith suggested that Brady's situation is different than Matthew's.
“I wouldn’t believe everything you hear," Tkachuk told ESPN.com. "I think after what happened with Matthew in Calgary, everyone just assumes that’s going to happen with Brady [in Ottawa].
"But Brady loves it there. Brady has really cemented himself in the community. They’re a team on the rise. They got a great bunch of young players. They’re core players. The fans and the city itself treat him so well. He wants to be a big part of that moving forward.
"So I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
That’s not exactly having Brady’s signature on the dotted line of an extension, nor is it something they’re even allowed to do for two more years, but it is some extremely encouraging insight from the head of the Tkachuk family.
After all, considering the past exits of Daniel Alfredsson, Erik Karlsson, and Jason Spezza, local hockey fans would like nothing better than to finally see a beloved captain go wire to wire as an Ottawa Senator.
Five years ago today, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild 5–4 in overtime to officially clinch their spot in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This marked the first time since 2015 that the team had made the postseason. Prior to their series-clinching victory, Vancouver lost Game 1 by a 3–0 score, but later took Games 2 and 3 to push the Wild to the brink of elimination.
One of the most memorable moments from this playoff run actually came before the match itself. In a video posted to the Canucks’ social channels, forward J.T. Miller was seen reading the night’s starting lineup, injecting energy into every name. The room was very clearly fired up after his lineup read, with this setting the tone for a back-and-forth game that would eventually end in Vancouver’s favour.
Game 4 started off negatively for the Canucks, as the Wild scored a power play goal less than three minutes into the first period. The lead was quickly erased by a tally from Tanner Pearson a little over halfway through the frame, though Eric Staal gave Minnesota the lead again less than a minute later. The score at the end of the first period was 2–1 for Minnesota, with both teams taking a combined five penalties throughout the frame.
Offence flew during the second period. Joel Eriksson Ek brought the lead up to 3–1 for the Wild five minutes in, but Brandon Sutter cut this back to 3–2 two minutes after. Quinn Hughes scored his first career NHL playoff goal, evening the score up 3–3 on the power play. While it looked as though the teams would be leaving the second period tied at three goals each, Nico Sturm found the back of the net with less than a minute to go to give Minnesota the lead once more.
While Vancouver still had the series lead, a loss in Game 4 would send the series to a sudden-death Game 5. Trailing by only a goal, the Canucks stormed into the third period and got their equalizer from none other than Bo Horvat. The former captain would later score eight more goals in the postseason to grab the league lead for at least a series after Vancouver’s elimination.
Overtime was on the horizon for the Canucks. Many expected a long sequence of extra periods. However, it only took 11 seconds, and an unlikely hero, for Vancouver to take the final lead and officially punch their ticket to the playoffs. A shot from the blueline taken by grizzled veteran Chris Tanev flew past Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock, ending overtime and sending the entire Canucks team off the bench and onto the ice in celebration. Even the occasionally stoic head coach Travis Green was seen raising his arms in excitement.
With the win, the Canucks moved on to the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, matching up against the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. While this proved to be a daunting task, their efforts in this series were driven by a healthy locker room culture and a persistent drive against adversity.
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, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.
The Hockey News’ summer splash series continues as we go team-by-team and evaluate the off-seasons of every NHL franchise. In these exclusive rankings, we’ve debated and discussed each team’s additions, departures, hirings and firings.
And in the final rankings, we’ve slotted in each of the league’s 32 teams into one of three categories – teams that have improved this summer, teams that have regressed, and teams that essentially stayed the same.
We’re heading into the home stretch of these rankings, but we’re still in a tier where the teams we’re currently focused on have more or less stayed the same. That will change soon enough, as we eventually move into discussing teams that have improved the most. But right now, we’re at position No. 11 – the Detroit Red Wings. Let’s look at how the Red Wings’ off-season has unfolded, and where they project to be headed next season:
Additions
John Gibson (G), Mason Appleton (RW), James van Riemsdyk (LW), Jacob Bernard-Docker (D)
The Breakdown: Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman came into the off-season with a boatload of salary cap space, but even after adding the above four veterans, the Wings still have approximately $12-million in cap space. In a sense, it’s like Yzerman couldn’t convince any player of consequence to come to the Motor City, and while salary cap flexibility is always a good thing, Detroit’s lineup as currently constituted doesn’t match up with the Red Wings’ Atlantic Division rivals.
Now, the reason why Detroit is relatively high in our summer splash rankings is that their biggest move was the trade acquisition of former Anaheim Ducks star goalie John Gibson, who has been in trade rumors for years before Anaheim shipped him to the Red Wings. Gibson’s arrival turns what had been a weakness into a strength, as Gibson and fellow veteran Cam Talbot are a promising goalie tandem.
Otherwise, while former Winnipeg Jets winger Mason Appleton isn’t a terrible player, he’s not a needle-mover, either. And greybeard winger James van Riemsdyk and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker are strictly depth acquisitions. The big prize for Yzerman was Gibson, who now comes into Detroit knowing full well the pressure is on him to prove the Wings were smart to acquire him.
Departures
Vladimir Tarasenko (RW), Alex Lyon (G), Jeff Petry (D), Craig Smith (C), Tyler Motte (C)
The Breakdown: The Red Wings’ most high-profile departure is Vladimir Tarasenko, who was dealt to the Minnesota Wild after one year in Detroit, where he produced only 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games. The 33-year-old’s 2025-26 salary of $4.75 million was a price Yzerman no longer wished to pay, and the addition of Appleton essentially replaces Tarasenko on Detroit’s third line.
Otherwise, the name-brand departures for the Wings are goalie Alex Lyon, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres, and veteran D-man Jeff Petry, who signed with the Florida Panthers. But to say the Red Wings will miss any of the players who’ve left them this summer is an overstatement.
Indeed, this Wings team wasn’t nearly good enough to be a Stanley Cup playoff team last year, so roster turnover was going to be unavoidable. But the changes Yzerman has made outside of his goalie tandem are only going to make the Red Wings slightly better.
The Bottom Line
Let’s be clear – the Red Wings are where they are in our summer splash rankings primarily because of the Gibson move. Goaltending had been an issue in Detroit for a long time, and Yzerman finally found the big fish in net that he and Wings fans have been aching for.
However, when you look at the big picture in the Atlantic, the Red Wings are still going to face a hellacious battle just to land a wild card playoff berth, let alone contend for a top-three spot in the division. Yzerman didn’t do much to address his team’s defense corps, and at forward, Yzerman is still banking on a group of young players rising and justifying Yzerman’s belief in them.
The Wings are still in the mid-tier of our summer splash ranks because, even with Gibson in town, they’re not quite a top-10 team in terms of summer improvements. Yes, they’re technically better, and that’s why they’re not 15th or 20th in these ratings. But looking at Detroit as a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference is a major-league stretch.
By season's end, it would surprise no one if the Red Wings were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in for the 10th consecutive season. Gibson will have to steal a lot of games just to keep them fighting for a playoff spot, and of course, that’s not guaranteed. And if the Wings falter yet again, Yzerman’s job security will be in jeopardy.
NHL Free Agency: Flyers Won and Lost on Day 1The Philadelphia Flyers were the one team that won as much as it lost on Day 1 of NHL Free Agency.
Flyers Among NHL Leaders in Dead Salary Cap SpaceThe Philadelphia Flyers will head into the 2025-26 season with the third-highest amount of dead salary cap space in the NHL.
