Projecting the Blue Jackets’ 2025-26 Power Play Units
The Columbus Blue Jackets finished the 2024–25 NHL season with a power play success rate of 19.5%, placing them 22nd overall in the NHL. The power play struggled in the…
Monthly Archives: August 2025
2 Areas of Improvement for the Bruins Entering the 2025-26 Season
It’s August, and that means football is almost in the air. Once that kicks off, ice will be ready and hockey will be played. For the Boston Bruins, there will…
Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – August 3, 2025
Canadiens 2025-26 Player Previews: Lane Hutson
The offseason leading into the 2025-26 season continues, and with the major events such as the NHL Entry Draft and free agent frenzy completed, the dog days of summer wear…
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 3, 2025
Canadiens: On The Season Sweep Of The Sabres
If the Montreal Canadiens struggled against the Boston Bruins last season, the same cannot be said about the Buffalo Sabres. The Habs faced the Sabres four times last season and swept the season series with three regulation wins and an overtime one. In the four games, Montreal outscored Buffalo 21-11.
The Initial game between the two teams was an entertaining one. Twice, the Canadiens took the lead, but the Sabres pushed back before taking the lead in the second frame. Captain Nick Suzuki took matters into his own hands and scored a pair of goals to tie the game back before giving the Habs the lead once again. Buffalo came out strong in the third, scoring two quick goals to take a 5-4 lead, but Montreal rallied, scoring three goals in the last 10 minutes to win 7-5. This was an important game for the young Canadiens, one in which they learned it wasn’t over until the final buzzer and they had the talent to fight blow for blow on the scoreboard.
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The Canadiens' most dominating performance against their divisional rival came in the second meeting of the season when they scored a 6-1 win on the back of Patrik Laine’s hat trick, with the three goals coming on the power play. While Buffalo’s lack of discipline was costly, since the Habs scored three goals on six opportunities, the Habs' discipline wasn’t much better since they served five penalties, but their penalty kill was flawless.
March saw the two teams battle it out in a home-and-away series, and the Canadiens won both matches, even though they needed overtime to seal the deal in the final meeting of the season. Mike Matheson scored the overtime winner just 1:21 into the extra frame.
The Sabres have undergone significant changes since those four wins; however, the question remains whether these changes were for the better. It’s hard to give a positive answer to that question. Two of their best scorers against the Canadiens, Dylan Cozens (4 points) and J.J. Peterka (5 points), have been traded away.
Cozens was traded to the Ottawa Senators in return for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. The latter signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent this offseason. Meanwhile, Peterka was sent to the Utah Mammoth for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring. Doan is a former second-round pick with NHL bloodlines, but he remains an unproven commodity in the NHL, having played only 62 games and accumulated 28 points. As for Norris, he is a solid addition who has 239 NHL games and 158 points to his name.
Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 years, and it appears to be tough for them to retain their biggest names. They did manage to sign Bowen Byran to a two-year deal and Ryan McLeod to a four-year pact and did bring in veteran netminder Alex Lyon, but that won’t be enough to turn the team’s fortune around.
Unless Kevyn Adams and co. make other moves, it will be another tough season in the state of New York for Sabres fans. If Devon Levi lives up to his potential and has a breakout year, the Sabres may show some signs of progress, but otherwise, we could be in for more of the same from the Sabres. As things stand, they shouldn’t even be part of the playoff race conversation, and, on paper at least, the much-improved Canadiens should dominate the match-up this upcoming season.
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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Canada Takes 6-2 Win Over USA in World Junior Summer Showcase
The second and final game of both the day and the World Junior Summer Showcase brought in just over 2,100 fans, was between the United States and Canada on Saturday,…
One-Time Former Red Wings Forward Earns Swiss MVP Award
While the National Hockey League career of former Detroit Red Wings forward Austin Czarnik may not have been anything record-breaking, he's proving to be one of the most valuable players of his new club in Switzerland.
Czarnik, who played in 63 combined games for the Red Wings from the 2022-23 through 2023-24 NHL seasons, was recently named the regular season MVP in the Swiss National League, the country's top professional league.
Suiting up for SC Bern, Czarnik tallied 20 goals and 36 assists in 49 games played, good for first overall on his team and first overall among all players in the NL.
#SwissIceHockeyNight2025
— National League (@NLch_official) July 31, 2025
Next up for MVP Regular Season 🏆
Austin Czarnik @sc_bern_official - Congrats 🥳 pic.twitter.com/KR7tJmWpiT
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Czarnik is moving on from SC Bern, having signed a contract with Lausanne HC for the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season.
During his time with the Red Wings organization, he also saw ample time in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins, tallying a total of 24 goals with 41 assists in 81 total games.
Originally from Washington Township, Michigan (about a 40 minute drive from downtown Detroit), Czarnik played for the Detroit Compuware minor ice hockey team and first began his NHL career with the Boston Bruins in 2015, with whom he signed an entry-level contract after missing out on being drafted.
He would also see time in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, New York Islanders and Seattle Kraken before joining the Red Wings organization head of the 2022-23 NHL season.
He managed three goals with two assists with Detroit in the 2022-23 campaign, and would play in 34 games the following season but managed a single assist.
If Czarnik's career in the NHL is indeed concluded, he finished it by having scored 18 goals with 33 assists in 205 games.
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NHL Summer Splash Rankings: No. 16, Ottawa Senators
We’re now at the halfway point of The Hockey News’ NHL summer splash series with the Ottawa Senators at No. 17.
In these summer splash rankings, we’re looking at every team’s roster additions, departures, hirings and firings to see who improved, got worse and stayed largely the same.
The Senators didn’t make any massive moves this off-season, but they did take care of business by re-signing star center Claude Giroux to a one-year contract at the bargain rate of $2 million. That gives team president Steve Staios a lot more cap space to use, even if he is strategically holding on to his $4.29 million in cap space.
This is a Sens team on the rise, and they helped their depth to a notable degree while still having some cap flexibility. Can’t say that Staios is doing a bad job, that’s for sure.
Additions
Lars Eller (C), Arthur Kaliyev, (LW) Jordan Spence, (D)
The Breakdown: The Senators went out of the playoffs in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, but Sens management is obviously devoted to this core. Staios didn’t make a ton of additions, with greybeard Eller, reclamation project Kaliyev and blueliner Spence being the extent of the newcomers next season.
The Sens probably don’t want you to focus on this off-season, even if they are a slightly-improved squad that almost assuredly will challenge not only for a playoff berth, but to win some series. They want you to focus on Ottawa’s terrific group of young players.
Meanwhile, of the three newcomers, we’re most intrigued by the addition of Spence, a 24-year-old who averaged 16:47 of ice time with the Los Angeles Kings last season. Spence will likely start on Ottawa’s third defense pairing, but we think he’s going to make some notable strides on his way to eventually being in the Sens’ top-four collection of defensemen.
Departures
Adam Gaudette (RW), Cole Reinhardt (LW), Travis Hamonic (D), Dennis Gilbert (D)
The Breakdown: Of all the departures, the one that hurts the most is the loss of Gaudette, who rode a career-best season – with 19 goals in 81 games – all the way to a $2-million contract with the San Jose Sharks. But it’s not as if the Senators desperately needed his offense, even at a time when the Sens averaged only 2.95 goals per game – which ranked 19th overall last season.
The Senators need their big guns to take a step forward if Ottawa is to be a playoff team to reckon with. Acquiring Spence, Kaliyev and Eller will help make the Sens a deeper team, but they need Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk and Dylan Cozens to step up and ease the pressure on the rest of the team.
And while the Sens may have wanted Gaudette back at a less-expensive price, Ottawa can use its cap flexibility to acquire talent either sometime before the season begins, or before the next trade deadline day arrives. Staios is in an enviable position, but Senators fans are still watching every move he makes in an effort to hold management accountable. If Staios swings for the fences, Sens supporters really need a home run.
The Bottom Line
The Senators have an above-average group, a hungry group and a determined group.
And coach Travis Green has to do whatever it takes to instill enough confidence and enough team structure to elevate the games of his best young players.
Another issue for the Senators is that the Atlantic Division they play in is the most competitive division in the game. And that always spells high drama as Ottawa tries as hard as it can to push past playoff regulars in Toronto, Florida and Tampa Bay and establish a new level of competitiveness they believe Sens youngsters can handle.
To be sure, there’s no reason why this Senators team can’t take that next competitive step. Staios will probably always be looking for experience to add to his young core, but with solid goaltending from Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen and the continued development of some of their younger players, the Sens are almost certainly going to be a playoff contender and a team to keep your eyes on.
Staios still has another swing at the plate this year with the cap space he has at the moment. But it says here the Senators should hang onto their cap space as long as possible, because once the season begins, you want to have talent insurance, and that’s what cap space is there for. The injury bug can lay waste to your year, but having nearly $5-million in cap space assures Staios that he can react to any situation that arises during the year.
And while the Sens landed roughly in the middle of the pack of our summer splash, we’re firm believers that Ottawa can make some noise this year. They’re low in our rankings because they didn’t do much to improve, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to disappoint their fans next season. To the contrary – this could be the Senators’ best year in recent memory.
Summer Splash Rankings
16. Ottawa Senators
17. Boston Bruins
18. Edmonton Oilers
19. Minnesota Wild
20. Seattle Kraken
27. Dallas Stars
28. Calgary Flames
30. Winnipeg Jets
32. Buffalo Sabres
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Brent Burns Reveals Why He Didn't Retire
Former Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns will embark on a new opportunity at 40 years old.
After playing three seasons for the Hurricanes, Burns signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche.
Burns still has a desire to play hockey, as retirement is not currently on his mind.
"I just love it. I love coming to the rink every day and working. It really is the best," Burns said after signing with the Avalanche. "There's a lot of different reasons ... obviously, the biggest one for me is there's still something to chase. I'm still super motivated for that and there's one big goal still."
While Burns is no longer the Norris Trophy-winning defenseman he once was, he has adapted and knows the kind of role he needs to play.
“The game's changed. I feel like every year, it's a little different," Burns said. "You play with different people; you pick up different things. You're always adapting, on and off the ice. That's part of what I enjoy, just trying to figure that stuff out and always trying to get better and keep playing.”
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Burns played 246 games for the Hurricanes, recording 34 goals, 99 assists, and 133 points while averaging 21:53 minutes.