The NHL has come down on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, fining the veteran forward the maximum $5,000 for slashing Winnipeg Jets defenceman Logan Stanley. Stanley, who is a towering blueliner who loves to play physical, had cross-checked Malkin a couple of times in the back, and was battling with him behind the net, when Malkin had enough, snapped, and chopped Stanley with a stern slash. NEWS: #LetsGoPens F Evgeni Malkin has been fined $5,000 (max allowable under CBA) for slashing ...
about 1 month ago
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A scary scene in Philadelphia as Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev was stretchered off the ice after a scary hit. The good news is that Tanev is feeling much better and was discharged from hospital on Sunday morning in Philadelphia. He is returning to Toronto over the weekend and will likely going under a few more tests before his timeline to return is determined. The play happened around the halfway mark of the third period, Tanev was on the penalty kill and collided with Flyers forw...
about 1 month ago
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The Boston Bruins aren't exactly playing a lot better than last season, but they are .500 on the season and Pavel Zacha, a previously thought to be trade candidate, is having a big bounce-back offensively. The 28-year-old, in the third year of a four-year, $4.75 million AAV deal, already has two goals and 12 points in 14 games as the second line center. Zacha plays the third-most among forwards on the Bruins and logs a lot of minutes on the power play and penalty kill. He is also in his prime,...
about 1 month ago
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The St. Louis Blues are a struggling team right now. There were pretty high expectations after making it into the playoffs last season and taking the Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets to Game 7 of the first round. Not a lot was done in the offseason, but not much has gone right for a team somewhat stuck in the middle. The Blues don't exactly have superstars, even though Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou are very good. Other pieces that are expected to perform, just haven't so far, like Dyl...
about 1 month ago
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There have been plenty of big contracts signed by star players to begin the 2025-26 season. It has really cut down the potential free agents for next summer, but the teams that have locked up their players long-term aren't worried about that. The two most recent big contracts signed have been Logan Cooley and Martin Necas, but the Necas deal only got done so quickly because of the shift after Cooley signed for $10 million AAV with the Utah Mammoth. Pierre LeBrun said, "Not too long after that ...
about 1 month ago
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Now that Logan Cooley got his massive extension from the Utah Mammoth, it begs the question as to what that means for Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks . Cooley, 21, in his third NHL season, landed an eight-year, $10M AAV long-term deal after two terrific years to begin his career. Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick the year after Cooley's draft, is also in his third campaign, and had similar numbers over his first two years. Insider Pierre LeBrun brings us up to date on the Bed...
about 1 month ago
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The New York Rangers are in an interesting position where they should still be at the top of the standings with the talent on their team, but have once again struggled and are 5-5-2 on the season. An injury to Vincent Trocheck hasn't helped them, but this is a team that may need to go through a bit of a transformation to get back to the top of the mountain. To this point, David Pagnotta said, "Braden Schneider is another guy that a lot of teams were poking around on. He's an RFA next summer, a...
about 1 month ago
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The Nashville Predators have been trying to get things back on track for a couple of seasons now, and after GM Barry Trotz spent a ton of money two summers ago, it appears he's going to have to move in another direction. The Preds have started the new season 4-6-2, they're among the league's worst with just 29 goals scored, and they have plenty of expensive contracts on the books that Trotz and company are going to need to find new homes for. Here's three trade candidates for the Predators, as...
about 1 month ago
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The Boston Bruins have been inching towards a collapse like the one they had last season for years. The retirement of key veterans who were there for a long time and the eventual trade of Brad Marchand solidified it. There was a little more hope coming into this season with a healthy team, but the lineup still looked weak up front. The Bruins started 3-0-0 and confidence built, but that quickly fell right off and the team sits at 6-7-0, out of a playoff spot early. That can quickly change, but...
about 1 month ago
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At just 2.58 goals per game thus far, the Minnesota Wild have been struggling on the offensive side of the puck this season, despite the full-time return to the lineup of their $136 million man, Kirill Kaprizov. The Wild rank 27th in the NHL in goals per game. With that, insider Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff confirms that GM Bill Guerin is not content sitting around waiting for the trade deadline. Speaking with a team source earlier this week, the Wild are in the market to bols...
about 1 month ago
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A free agent after six seasons in the National Hockey League, 28-year-old goaltender Ilya Samsonov did not receive any firm offers this offseason from an NHL club, so he has decided to head back to a familiar place to continue his career, signing with Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League. After seven seasons in North America, 28-year-old Ilya Samsonov returns to the KHL! pic.twitter.com/wGtT7I4KNp — KHL (@khl_eng) November 1, 2025 Samsonov began his career in North America with a seaso...
about 1 month ago
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Ever since the start of training camp, we'd been hearing that the New Jersey Devils were looking to sign goaltender Jacob Markstrom to an extension. That has come to fruition on Friday night, as the sides have agreed on a two-year, $12 million extension ($6M AAV). The New Jersey Devils have agreed to a two year extension with goalie Jacob Markstrom, sources told ESPN. — Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) November 1, 2025 The Devils acquired Markstrom in a trade with the Calgary Flames after th...
about 1 month ago
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It's not new to see Evan Bouchard taking the brunt of the blame for an Edmonton Oilers loss, but the vitriol is reaching epic proportions in Oil Country after his disastrous game in their 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers Thursday night. Let's start with Oilers beat writers, who are once again questioning the beleaguered defenseman's performance, and the lack of a benching. Epic night for Bouchard, who goes minus-3 with the primary giveaway on two Rangers goals. He goes to ...
about 1 month ago
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The Edmonton Oilers could clean some things up in their game, but are currently over .500 and in a playoff spot. Things could be worse and they have been to start each of the last two seasons, but the team turned it around and has gone to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. Goaltending has been the biggest issue with the Oilers and why many believe they haven't yet hoisted the Cup. On that, Ryan Richaug said, "They're going to let it ride here with Skinner for a little bit...If he's not capable o...
about 1 month ago
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The Edmonton Oilers seem to be in great hands with general manager Stan Bowman as he has made almost all solid moves since joining the team. Nobody can bat 1000, but he also doesn't sit still and let things play out when there are obvious issues. The Oilers don't have much cap space to work with this season, but will have plenty to utilize in the offseason. But that is a long way away and Edmonton is a Stanley Cup contender again, even if they don't look like it quite yet. To get there, some m...
about 1 month ago
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Martin Necas is the latest pending UFA to sign on the dotted line, re-upping on an eight-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche . He joins an ever-growing list of big names dropping off the board for free agency next summer. But there are still some remaining pending UFAs for teams to keep a close eye on. And as insider Elliotte Friedman noted on an appearance on NHL Network, "Whoever's left, their leverage rises and rises and rises." With that, let's have a look at the Top 5 remaining pe...
about 1 month ago
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The Edmonton Oilers have been without Zach Hyman for the entire season thus far and are 5-4-3 on the season. There have already been a ton of line combinations used throughout the lineup this season. When the veteran returns, lines should stabilize a bit, but so should the power play. Surprisingly, yet unsurprisingly, the Oilers have the third-best power play in the NHL at 30.3%, despite the absence of Hyman. David Tomasek has filled in for him, and although Hyman makes more of an impact on th...
about 1 month ago
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The Montreal Canadiens continue their excellent start to the season, tied for the Atlantic Division lead at 8-3-0 and 16 points. But that doesn't mean they've given up on their search for a second-line center. This has been a focus of Kent Hughes & Co. going back to the offseason (and even before), and they are still assembling a list of potential additions. Habs analyst Shaun Starr and insider Marco D'Amico have posited their list of dream 2C targets for the Canadiens... some more dream...
about 1 month ago
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The New Jersey Devils might have a goalie crunch coming, and Nico Daws sits at the center of it. He looks NHL ready and just showed it with a sharp outing against the Minnesota Wild . But with Jacob Markstrom nearing a return and Jake Allen in the mix, Daws could soon head back to the AHL. That is where the calendar starts to matter. Once he is recalled and spends 30 days on the NHL roster or plays 10 NHL games, he will require waivers the next time he is sent down. Lose a young go...
about 1 month ago
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The Montreal Canadiens keep scanning for a true second line center, and insider Chris Johnston of The Athletic views a Pavel Zacha trade as the most realistic path among buzzed names like Matty Beniers and Bo Horvat. Johnston also cautions that the Boston Bruins are unlikely to send a useful piece to a long time rival, which means the fit is real but the route is complicated. League chatter mirrors that split verdict. Teams have been checking on Zacha’s availability while Bos...
about 1 month ago
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The St. Louis Blues have a few significant pending free agents coming next offseason, some of the RFA and some of the UFA variety. As the Blues are off to a disappointing start to the season (3-6-1, last place in the Central Division), it's expected that GM Doug Armstrong may start to shake things up sooner than later and start wading into the trade market. One of the pending UFAs is bottom-six forward Oskar Sundqvist. The 31-year-old veteran is on an expiring $1.5 million cap hit,...
about 1 month ago
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The Colorado Avalanche have locked up Martin Necas for the long term, agreeing on an eight year, $92 million deal at a whopping $11.5 million AAV. According to Elliotte Friedman , the contract is front-loaded with $60M in signing bonuses, and includes a full no-move clause for the first 7 years of the deal. It brings to an end, essentially, the long, drawn-out affair that began with the Avs’ sudden, shocking trade of superstar Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for Necas la...
about 1 month ago
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The New Jersey Devils , despite a stumble against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, are off to a red-hot start to the season, at 8-2-0, leading the Metropolitan Division. So far, particularly with the sizzling performance of Jack Hughes, along with the rest of their top forwards, the preseason need of a top-six boost has fallen by the wayside at this point. But as noted by New Jersey Hockey Now's James Nichols , reinforcements will be needed at some point, and they're still looking for ...
about 1 month ago
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The Seattle Kraken have gotten off to a solid start to the season, anchored by Joey Daccord and a deeper lineup. But the 5-3-2 start might not be fooling management, or organizations around the league that could look at the roster the Kraken have and pick out some valuable pieces they'd like to acquire. Elliotte Friedman said, "I guarantee you there are teams out there looking at all the draft picks the Kraken have and they're saying this is a team that has what we want. Seattle's going to hav...
about 1 month ago
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When the Calgary Flames are ready to trade Nazem Kadri, there won't be a shortage of suitors to take a run at him. Plenty of teams are searching for a top-6 center and Kadri could absolutely fill the void. In Calgary, he is the go-to, but when he takes a little bit of a lesser role, his game elevates to an even higher level. Darren Dreger said, "There are other Canadian markets, namely the Canadiens, Canucks, maybe the Leafs, that could absolutely envision a #2 experienced center like Nazem Ka...
about 1 month ago
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