As is normal, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a topic of discussion right now – specifically, when it comes to potential trades the Maple Leafs might be involved in. However, from this writer’s perspective, the Leafs can’t afford to throw in their remaining top young prospects in any trade. They’ve already mortgaged the future in recent years by parting ways with youngsters in their system, and they’re nearly completely bereft of high-end up-and-coming talent. And if that means they don’t go out and get a veteran like Calgary’s Nazem Kadri, so be it.

Indeed, the Leafs have said goodbye to many prospects of late: center Fraser Minten was dealt to the Boston Bruins for defenseman Brandon Carlo last season, and winger Nikita Grebenkin was shipped to Philadelphia for center Scott Laughton. While neither Minten nor Grebenkin will be all-stars anytime soon, they were valuable components of Toronto’s future.

And now, whether it’s OHL star winger Easton Cowan, defenseman Ben Danford or center Tyler Hopkins, the Leafs need to say “no” to including their top prospects in any deal. And that goes no matter what short-term fix we’re talking about for Toronto. Sure, you can probably get a few years out of 33-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust or 32-year-old Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, but is that worth losing out on a decade-and-a-half of a crafty performer like Cowan? We don’t think so.

Similarly, the Flames are going to want an arm and a leg for Kadri, who we still see as a good fit for Toronto. But Leafs GM Brad Treliving has to keep in mind the long-term good of the franchise, and that means holding hard to at least a handful of talents their scouting department has hit home runs with.

That’s certainly the case with Cowan, who may not be the next coming of former Leaf Mitch Marner, but who nonetheless has more skill than most Leafs prospects, if not all Leafs prospects. Trading him should be a non-starter for Leafs management. Because before you know it, Toronto will be at the end of its competitive cycle, and at that point, Leafs fans will be crying out in agony if the Leafs’ cupboard is basically bare.

Thus, there has to be some restraint on Treliving’s behalf when it comes to trading away prospects. The Maple Leafs are indeed built to win now, but it doesn’t make sense to knowingly abandon Toronto’s chances of staying competitive regardless of where they are in any particular season. Treliving has to draw a line somewhere, and we’re at that point where the line has to be drawn.

The Leafs are almost assuredly going to be a playoff team next season. But giving away everything in their prospect drawer just isn’t good management. There needs to be at least a few solid young players in Toronto’s system – and that can’t happen just to acquire the veteran-of-the-moment.

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Welcome back to another Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 season series preview. In this article series, The Hockey News - Canucks site previews Vancouver’s team series matchups for the season in chronological order. Last time, we looked at what the Canucks will face in the Washington Capitals. Today, let’s preview their season matchups against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  

2024–25 Season Stats 

Team Stats: 

Record: 34–36–12

Points: 80

Standings placement: 7th in Metropolitan Division

PP%: 25.8% (6th) 

PK%: 77.8% (18th) 

Goals: 

Rickard Rakell (35)

Sidney Crosby (33)

Bryan Rust (31)

Evgeni Malkin (16)

Kevin Hayes (13)

Assists: 

Sidney Crosby (58)

Erik Karlsson (42)

Rickard Rakell (35)

Evgeni Malkin / Bryan Rust (34)

Kris Letang (21)

Points: 

Sidney Crosby (91)

Rickard Rakell (70)

Bryan Rust (65)

Erik Karlsson (53)

Evgeni Malkin (50)

Goaltenders: 

Tristan Jarry

Record: 16–12–6

GAA: 3.12

SV%: .893

SO: 2

Points: 1A 

Joel Blomqvist

Record: 4–9–1

GAA: 3.81

SV%: .885

SO: N/A

Points: N/A

Artūrs Šilovs

Record: 2–6–1

GAA: 3.65

SV%: .861

SO: N/A

Points: N/A

2025 Free Agency Rundown 

The Penguins are in a curious position as a team, as they still have members of their Stanley Cup runs of the 2010s but don’t look to be contenders anytime soon. Canadian icon Crosby has expressed his desire to stay in Pittsburgh, and as a result, veteran players such as Letang and Malkin have been kept by the organization. Even so, the Penguins haven’t made the playoffs since 2022, and their free agency moves seem to indicate that this will continue to be the case. They signed forward Connor Dewar, Caleb Jones, and Anthony Mantha, as well as acquired Calder Cup Playoff MVP Šilovs in exchange for prospect Chase Stillman. 

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site:

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Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 Player Preview: Nils Höglander

Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 Season Series Preview: Washington Capitals

2025–26 Season Series Preview

As mentioned, the Penguins are one of those teams who are currently leaning towards the draft pick category rather than the playoffs. If not for the presences of Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Rust, it wouldn’t be surprising if Pittsburgh was in the bottom pool of the league where the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are likely to be. One thing that makes Pittsburgh a bit less competitive is their question mark in the crease. Jarry will likely do the heavy lifting as a starter, which comes as a result of the team parting ways with Alex Nedeljkovic. While the Penguins do have options in Blomqvist and Šilovs, it’s undetermined whether either is ready for a full-time backup role in the NHL. 

Vancouver faces off against the Penguins for the first time this season on October 21, with the Canucks visiting Pittsburgh for a 4:00pm PT matchup. Pittsburgh is one of the potentially easier opponents they will face on this road trip, as Vancouver will also take on the Dallas Stars and the Capitals during this stretch. Their next matchup isn’t until January 25 back in Vancouver.  

2025–26 Games Against Vancouver

Game 1: October 21, 4:00pm PT @ PPG Paints Arena 

Game 2: January 25, 3:00pm PT @ Rogers Arena 

Season Series Preview Articles  

Washington Capitals

Chicago Blackhawks

Dallas Stars

St. Louis Blues

Edmonton Oilers

Calgary Flames

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. 

How Jamie Drysdale plays in the 2025-26 season will, for better or worse, alter the path of this rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers team.

Drysdale, 23, was drafted sixth overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2020 NHL Draft with the expectation that the Erie Otters would eventually blossom into a franchise defenseman.

After all, Drysdale was blessed with elite skating ability, and his strong (relative) hockey IQ allowed him to use that skating to his advantage to dominate the junior ranks.

At the NHL level, though, there's been little to write home about so far.

Traded to the Flyers alongside a second-round pick (Jack Murtagh) for Cutter Gauthier in Jan. 2024, Drysdale has played more than 34 games in an NHL season just twice since 2020-21.

In his only two full seasons, the 23-year-old has finished the year with plus-minus ratings of -26 and -32, respectively. Excelling defensively has, unfortunately, proven to be as great a challenge as staying on the ice for the young Drysdale.

His -32 rating last season was the seventh-worst in the NHL, ahead of only Steven Stamkos, Connor Bedard, Barclay Goodrow, Rasmus Andersson, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Mason Lohrei.

For reference, the closest Flyers player was Matvei Michkov at -18, and the closest defenseman was Egor Zamula at -14.

One Flyers Prospect Nobody Is Talking About Ahead of 2025-26 SeasonThe Philadelphia Flyers have quite a few roster spots ready to be filled by up-and-coming prospects next season, but there's one prospect who should be talked about much more.

And, for the sake of further comparison, a rookie defenseman like Emil Andrae finished with a -5 in 42 games, even with all the struggles he endured towards the end of his time in the NHL last season.

If Drysdale continues to struggle to this degree defensively, his career-high 32 points, as a watermark reference, won't be good enough to erase those crucial deficiencies.

There's hope, though, starting with an improved power play.

Drysdale played 152 minutes on the power play for the Flyers last season; Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim, and Andrae each played between 54 and 65 minutes, comparatively.

In those 152 minutes, Drysdale was second to Ristolainen in on-ice shot attempts for per 60 minutes (84.87 for Drysdale, 93.71 for Ristolainen), and narrowly led all Flyers defensemen in expected goals for per 60 minutes  (6.57 expected goals to Sanheim's 6.47), per Natural Stat Trick.

The key is that Drysdale is far younger than both Ristolainen and Sanheim and a much more fluid skater.

It should be noted that, in all scenarios, Drysdale finished the 2024-25 season with just 63 shots on goal in 70 games, despite scoring 7 times (11.1% shooting percentage).

To become the most effective proprietor of offense he can be, the former No. 6 pick must become more aggressive and decisive and continue to work at getting pucks through traffic if he isn't using his legs to create for himself as he should be.

Drysdale, like Cam York and Andrae, tends to defer. A more aggressive approach and an improved shot would do wonders for his offensive production.

Away from the power play is where Drysdale must improve the most, however.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Drysdale allowed 2.52 expected goals per 60 minutes. For comparison, Luke Hughes (2.53), and Roman Josi (2.54) were in that same neighborhood.

The difference is that Drysdale was on the ice for 54.81 shot attempts per 60 minutes and 63.77 shot attempts against per 60 minutes.

For Hughes, it was 60.51 shots per 60 and 54.06 shots against per 60, and for Josi, it was 68.22 shots per 60 and 56.15 shots against per 60.

Hughes is no finished product, either, but for Drysdale to even reach that level, he must improve as a shot-suppressor and as a shot-creator.

Philadelphia Flyers Must Avoid This Trevor Zegras MistakeIf the Philadelphia Flyers are hoping to get the absolute most out of important trade acquisition Trevor Zegras, they need to avoid the mistake the Anaheim Ducks made in each of the last two years before dealing him away.

Some responsibility falls on the Flyers' forwards, too, but the fact that Drysdale's plus-minus was so much worse than every other Flyers defender is enough to rule out coincidences and bad luck.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, Drysdale will have, for better or worse, another fresh start under new head coach Rick Tocchet and his assistant, Todd Reirden.

Before their new Flyers venture, Tocchet and Reirden had names like Jakob Chychrun, John Carlson, Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson, John Marino, and Jamie Oleksiak on their resumes.

And, while Tocchet has never directly been involved with coaching defensemen, he ran the power play in Pittsburgh for two Stanley Cup wins.

In Tocchet's two full seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, captain Quinn Hughes erupted for 92 points in 82 games and a Norris Trophy in 2023-24, then followed that up with 76 points in 68 games in an injury-marred 2024-25.

Before Tocchet arrived, Hughes's career-high in points was 68.

Now-departed associate coach Brad Shaw was regarded as a defensive savant during his time in Philadelphia, but I'd be remiss to not note that Sanheim, York, and Drysdale all stalled out or took backward steps last season.

We can't reasonably expect Drysdale to turn into a Hughes brother, Chychrun, or Letang overnight, but there's still hope for further development.

With one year remaining on his contract at a $2.3 million cap hit, the onus is on Drysdale to cement himself in the Flyers' future, or management will be right back to square one on defense.

Is it October yet? 

Unfortunately, no, but we're here to help pass the time. From Aug. 8 to Sept. 1, The Hockey News Nashville Predators will be counting down 24 players in 24 days, profiling every current or potentially rostered player. 

Today's player profile is defenseman Andreas Englund.

24 Nashville Predators in 24 days series 

Adam Wilsby

Jordan Oesterle

As an NHL prospect 

Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, Englund played his junior hockey with Djurgårdens IF in J20 Nationell and moved up to HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden's second-highest hockey league, later that year.

In his draft year, 2014, he played 33 games in the J20 league, scoring 10 points in 33 games and in HockeyAllsvenskan, he scored two points in 19 games.

Enguland was selected 40th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2014 draft, but remained in Sweden for two more seasons. For the 2014-15 campaign, he moved up to the SHL, Sweden's top hockey league, scoring five points in 49 games. The following season, he had six points in 46 games. 

Professional career 

To start the 2016-17 season, Englund split time between the Ottawa and Binghamton Senators. He played 69 games in the AHL, scoring 10 points and logging 82 penalty minutes. It was a relatively uneventful season in the NHL, marked by just five games and no points scored. 

The following season, Binghmaton moved to Belleville, Ontario, and Englund would split time between there and Ottawa from 2017 to 2020. His best season in the AHL, in that stretch, was during the 2018-19 campaign, where he played 68 games, scoring 14 points and logging 77 penalty minutes. 

Englund's best season with the Senators was 2019-20, where he played 24 games and had three points. 

Englund's contract expired in 2020, and due to the delayed start of the 2020-21 season, Englund signed to play a season with Västerviks IK in Sweden; however never played a game due to injury. 

Eventually, Englund would sign as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche to start the 2021-22 season. He'd played the entirety of that season with the Colorado Eagles, logging a career high 103 penalty minutes in 57 games and 12 points. 

During the 2022-23 season, Englund split time between the Avalanche and Eagles, playing a career high 36 games in the NHL, recording three points. 

He was traded midway through the season to the Chicago Blackhawks and played 11 games, recording a point.

His time in Chicago was short-lived as he signed as a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason with the Los Angeles Kings. 

Englund spent a season and a half with the Kings, playing in 93 games, scoring 11 points and logging 93 penalty minutes. The 2023-24 season was the first time in his career Enguland had played a full NHL season. 

In the final year of a two-year contract with the Kings, Englund struggled and was placed on waivers. In February, the Predators claimed him. Nashville offered Englund a 1-year, $775,000 contract. 

What role will he play this season? 

In a little under a month last season, the Predators claimed four players off of waivers, Englund was one of them. 

Nashville needed a defenseman, and Englund is a veteran player who was available to be picked up. However, he has not done much to add depth to the defense, other than fighting. He had 36 penalty minutes in the 24 games he played at the end of last season. 

Similar to Jordan Oesterle, Englund is going to be battling for minutes on the Predators' third pairing, or be the seventh player. 

The Predators have seemingly "fixed" the defense by adding Nic Hague and Nick Perbix, but if that doesn't work out, expect Englund to be thrown back into the rotation. 

Overall, the Predators need their defense to start contributing, and Englund has never been that. He hasn't had more than 14 points in a season between playing in the NHL and AHL. 

If the Predators are looking for an "enforcer," Englund would fill out that role, but right now, the Predators have too many defensemen who aren't doing enough.