For the second year in a row, the Florida Panthers were represented at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase.

Sporting his Panthers sweater while surrounded by some of the best young hockey talent in the word was 20-year-old Gracyn Sawchyn.

Florida’s second-round selection, 63rd overall, at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Sawchyn has wrapped up his junior hockey career and will play as a professional for the first time in 2025-26.

He signed his entry-level contract with the Panthers last November and is expected to join the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers this season.

Sawchyn was a standout performer during his time in the WHL, which was split between the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Edmonton Oil Kings.

In 166 games over three WHL seasons, Sawchyn racked up an impressive 67 goals and 200 points, adding another five goals and 19 points in 24 postseason games.

Say cheese 🧀

Your 2025 @NHLPA x Upper Deck Rookie Showcase Day 2 group photo 📸 pic.twitter.com/f4AcL05JT6

— Upper Deck (@UpperDeckSports) September 3, 2025

At last year’s rookie showcase, it was Florida prospect Marek Alscher representing the Cats.

Like Sawchyn, Alscher was preparing for his first season as a pro, which he spent with the Checkers last season.

The young defenseman played in 53 AHL games, scoring two goals and adding eight assists. He also played in 17 of Charlotte’s playoff games, notching a pair of helpers.

Florida having players at the showcase in consecutive years is significant, because before Alscher in 2024, the last Panthers player to appear at the annual preseason gathering was Henrik Borgstrom in 2018.

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Photo caption: Florida Panthers prospect Gracyn Sawchyn speaks after a 2025 Development Camp practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. (Florida Panthers)

There are many signs that the NHL season is just a few weeks away. The players have returned to Brossard in droves, the radio stations are launching their Fall programs, and the Montreal Canadiens’ communication department has sent an email to the media covering the team, which includes key dates for the upcoming weeks.

Firstly, on September 10, the rookie camp will kick off with the usual physical and medical tests for the team’s brightest young players. They will all hit the ice the next day to get ready for the Prospect Showdown, which will take place on September 13 and 14.

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Then, on September 15, the team will hold its traditional golf tournament at the Laval-sur-le-Lac golf club. As always, the Habs’ brass and the players will be meeting the media before teeing off. Last year, that day was all about being “in the mix.” It’s going to be interesting to find out what the theme will be this season.

On September 17, the Canadiens’ camp will officially kick off with the physical and medical tests. The players should therefore hit the ice for the first time on September 18, just four days before the first exhibition game, which is scheduled for September 22nd against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This year, Montreal will play six exhibition games, including four at home, one in Toronto, and one in Quebec City against the Ottawa Senators. The last preseason game is scheduled for October 4 and will give Martin St-Louis and his men three days before the season officially kicks off on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 8.

The first regular-season game at the Bell Centre will take place on October 14 against the Seattle Kraken. This was followed by a visit from the Nashville Predators on October 16 and another from the New York Rangers on October 18.

Hockey is right around the corner. Can you smell it? The Canadiens’ players certainly can, as the CN Sports Complex in Brossard was very busy this morning. Faceoff specialist Marc Bureau was on hand, working on draws with Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky, Zachary Bolduc, Oliver Kapanen, Joe Veleno, and Alex Newhook. As for Lane Hutson and Arber Xhekaj, they were the last two on the ice, working on their shots.

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NHL Offseason Recap: Marner to Vegas, Big Trades, Key Moves Unveiled

The long wait is finally coming to an end. Hockey season is almost upon us. Rookie camps and training camps open this month, and for those who detach from everything to focus on soaking up the summer sun or turn attention to their favorite baseball or WNBA team, a lot has happened since the Florida Panthers captured the team's second-straight Stanley Cup by defeating the Edmonton Oilers, this time in six games.

Matthew Schaefer went No. 1 overall in an NHL Draft that featured few surprises, and the subsequent opening of NHL free agency was more of the same. It was highlighted by one big decision, Mitch Marner, but was relatively quiet aside from that. With the NHL salary cap jumping from $88 million in 2024-25 to $95.5 million in the upcoming season, an increase of $7.5 million, teams had the ability to maintain their pending free agents in ways that they haven't been able to in years prior, and, for the most part, took full advantage of the newfound flexibility. 

With free agency being a bit of a dud, trades were where most of the action happened, and there were certainly a couple of big names that have new homes for the upcoming season. 

Here's a full recap of the big moves made over the doldrums of the summer months:

Mitch Marner's Big Move to the Vegas Golden Knights

After a nine-season tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, in which he had 741 points in 657 career regular-season games, Marner is officially moving on from his hometown team. The 28-year-old, who has 13 goals and 50 assists in 70 playoff appearances in his career, is off to the Golden Knights, acquired with an eight-year, $96 million extension in a sign-and-trade for Nicolas Roy. He joins an already stacked forward group that includes established NHL stars Mark Stone, Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl, along with last year's breakout star, Pavel Dorofeyev. The Golden Knights currently sit over $7 million clear of the salary cap, but the news that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will miss at least the entirety of the upcoming season, and potentially more, will likely take care of that overage. 

Marner was undoubtedly the biggest fish available in an otherwise underwhelming group of free agents. As previously mentioned, the class was severely weakened by players re-signing with their current teams ahead of the opening of free agency. Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett, all key pieces of the Panthers' Cup run, are all back in Sunrise on long-term deals. Brock Nelson, a big acquisition at the trade deadline last year by the Colorado Avalanche from the New York Islanders, re-signed with the Avalanche. The Maple Leafs may have lost Marner, but they re-signed John Tavares to an extremely team-friendly contract. Ivan Provorov, Patrick Kane, Trent Frederic, Kevin Bahl, Ryan Donato, the list goes on and on. So who did end up moving? 

Well, two high-end wingers did wind up making it to July 1: Nikolaj Ehlers and Brock Boeser. To keep on theme with this year's free agency, Boeser ended up re-signing with the Canucks on a seven-year, $50.75 million deal. Ehlers, however, is switching teams, going from the Winnipeg Jets to the Carolina Hurricanes with a six-year, $51 million contract. Carolina needed a boost to the top six and will get it with Ehlers, who has scored over 20 goals in all but two of his 10 NHL seasons, as long as he can remain healthy. 

Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov is also on the move, joining the New York Rangers on a seven-year, $49 million deal. He fills a hole on the left side for the Rangers after the departure of Ryan Lindgren, who signed with the Seattle Kraken in free agency, with the hope being that Gavrikov can be the long-term defense partner for star Adam Fox. Mikael Granlund decided not to re-sign with the Dallas Stars and is off to the Anaheim Ducks on a three-year, $21 million agreement. Other notable players on the move include Dmitry Orlov to the San Jose Sharks, Christian Dvorak to the Philadelphia Flyers, Pius Suter to the St. Louis Blues and Cody Ceci to the Los Angeles Kings. 

Defensemen Dominate NHL Offseason Trade Market

While free agency may have been disappointing, the trade market certainly tried to help make up for it, highlighted by some big-time defensemen switching clubs. 

Noah Dobson, a 6-foot-4 blueliner one year removed from a 70-point season, was traded on the day of the NHL Draft to the Montreal Canadiens for two first-round draft picks and forward Emil Heineman. The trade gives the Canadiens two major offensive pieces to work with on the blue line between Dobson and returning rookie sensation and Calder Trophy winner, Lane Hutson. 

Montreal also grabbed some headlines with a one-for-one trade of defense prospect Logan Mailloux for forward Zachary Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues. Bolduc, a 2021 first-round draft selection, put up 19 goals and 17 assists in his first full NHL season last year at the age of 21. After making the playoffs for the first time since being the league runner-up in the strange 2021 season, the Canadiens and GM Kent Hughes have certainly not been shy about trying to improve the team, making big, bold moves to try and go further than just getting a ticket to the dance. 

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes continued their busy offseason and cashed some of the draft capital from the blockbuster Mikko Rantanen deal to acquire defenseman K'Andre Miller from the Rangers, trading a conditional first-round pick, a second-round pick and defenseman Scott Morrow. Miller joins a stacked left side of the Carolina defense corps, also featuring shutdown star Jaccob Slavin, top prospect Alexander Nikishin and offensive threat Shayne Gostisbehere. 

In the Western Conference, the Utah Mammoth made their first major trade since relocating from Arizona, acquiring young forward JJ Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres for forward prospect Josh Doan and right-shot defenseman Michael Kesselring. Peterka scored 27 goals and added 41 assists last season and should add some much-needed scoring punch to the Mammoth top-six. 

The Ducks were probably the most active team in the league when it came to working the phones, pulling the trigger on a multitude of notable trades. First, they got Chris Kreider from the Rangers for a minimal net loss in compensation. Then, they executed a bit of a surprising move, sending the talented Trevor Zegras to the Flyers in exchange for forward Ryan Poehling, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick. Zegras has one year remaining on his contract that pays him $5.75 million annually, and he'll look to revitalize his career in Philadelphia. Finally, there was a resolution to the ongoing John Gibson trade rumors; he was moved to the Detroit Red Wings for goaltender Petr Mrazek, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick. Gibson will battle it out with 38-year-old Cam Talbot for the starting job in Detroit as they continue to buy time for their top goalie prospects. 

Finally, the Edmonton Oilers were able to pry Isaac Howard away from both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Michigan State University, where Howard was set to play his senior season. In a swap of late first-round draft picks, the Oilers sent forward prospect Sam O'Reilly for Howard's services and signed him to his entry-level contract. He figures to make an instant impact with Edmonton, perhaps on the wing of either Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. 

While this offseason might not have been as eventful as some others, there was still some significant movement to speak of. Coming out of the flat cap era, there was bound to be an adjustment period, and that's where we seem to be now. As teams get more acquainted with the new environment, there should be more offseason drama in seasons moving forward. 

Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.

With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years - and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft - top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News - Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization. 

For No. 7, we turn our focus back to the forward front, where a second-round pick from 2024 - currently on the shelf with a long-term injury - has plenty of raw potential. And that is Tanner Howe.

#7: F Tanner Howe

Howe, 19, hit some pretty unfortunate injury luck during 2024-25, as an ACL tear ended his season prematurely and will keep him out through the end of 2025. 

But despite the injury, there is nothing to suggest that it will be anything more than a minor setback for Howe, who continued to impress the Penguins' organization last season. The 5-foot-11, 182-pound left wing is speedy, versatile, and has a lot of potential to develop a formidable two-way game.

Selected 46th overall by the Penguins in 2024 and subsequently signed to an entry-level contract, Howe began the 2024-25 season with the Regina Pats of the WHL, registering six goals and seven points in 10 games. He was then traded mid-season to the Calgary Hitmen, where he amassed 12 goals and 39 points in 37 games, and he spent a good chunk of time playing with eventual Penguins' 2025 11th overall pick Ben Kindel.

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He fit in with the Pats right away, and the progress he made throughout the season should pick up right where it left off when he tore his ACL.  Howe's defensive game is still a work in progress, but he has the hockey sense, the motor, and the edge to keep improving upon it. Offensively, he's great around the net front, has some craftiness to his game, and has displayed a finishing touch and a lethal shot that could very well translate to the NHL level.

It seems that there are a lot of forwards with "middle-six potential" in the Penguins' organization, but Howe is one of those players with a higher ceiling. He may not be on the same level as Rutger McGroarty or Ville Koivunen, but there is a lot of room for him to continue climbing Penguins' prospect charts if he can lean into that 200-foot game and situational versatility.

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The 2025-26 NHL season will be a pivotal one for many teams.

The Detroit Red Wings are at a dire crossroads in a nine-year “will they, won’t they” mystery of playoff contention. The Edmonton Oilers have not yet locked up their all-time great talent - a pending unrestricted free agent - entering a season that follows two consecutive Stanley Cup Final losses to the Florida Panthers. The Boston Bruins need to decide whether it’s time to tear things down to the studs and trade their best player or try to rebuild on-the-fly around the few veterans they have. The San Jose Sharks need to figure out whether it’s worth trying to tank one more time for a true generational talent or if they’re better off letting the youth they already have fully take the wheel.

There are many other compelling storylines to follow across the NHL. And one of the most compelling - and perplexing - is that of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Many expected the Penguins to be quite active in the trade market over the summer. Although they made some moves - such as acquiring goaltender Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks and sending Alex Nedeljkovic to the Sharks - they weren’t the Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, or Bryan Rust-type moves that a lot of people anticipated. Yet they also - surprisingly - decided to keep all 13 of their 2025 draft picks instead of leveraging any of them for young talent.

As a result, it’s difficult to tell what exactly the plan is for these Penguins in 2025-26. They have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons - which follows a 16-year postseason streak - and still have a core of 38-year-old Sidney Crosby, 38-year-old Kris Letang, 39-year-old Evgeni Malkin, and 35-year-old Karlsson. They also have what appears to be a bleak defensive corps and questionable-at-best goaltending, with Silovs, rookie Joel Blomqvist, and Tristan Jarry - waived in the middle of the 2024-25 season - presumed to be the frontrunners jockeying for the starting position.

Even if the Penguins are certainly getting younger and more talented on the periphery of their roster - among others, prospects Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Filip Hallander, and Owen Pickering should have a decent shot at making the team out of training camp - they still lack a lot of the younger core pieces needed to sustain contention in the future.

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Penguins’ general manager and president of hockey operations has reiterated that he isn’t just interested in building a short-term winner as quickly as possible. Instead, he wants to build back up a culture of sustained success, which typically takes some time. He even expressed in his post-season press conference that the Penguins making the playoffs in 2025-26 would be an accomplishment.

If this is the case, it is a bit puzzling that the Penguins aren’t making the kinds of moves that indicate they’re going for the full rebuild - especially in a draft year that includes the best talent since Connor McDavid in 2015.

Of course, it’s never clear what is going on behind the scenes with Pittsburgh. Dubas and his staff keep a rather tight-lipped operation, so any number of things could be happening that folks simply aren’t privy to. Perhaps the offers for Karlsson, Rakell, and Rust simply aren’t high enough for Dubas’s liking. Maybe they are actively working on something involving one or more of those players. There could be other moves in the works that have nothing to do with those guys, too.

The Pittsburgh Penguins' Top-Three Trade Candidates For The 2025-26 SeasonWhether they are retooling or rebuilding, the

But it’s also very possible that nothing of the like is happening. After all, the Penguins did just overhaul their coaching staff this summer, and they also made some moves on the forward front to make their roster better than it was last season. 

In other words, there may be a world where Dubas and the Penguins don’t deem it necessary to draft Gavin McKenna in order to contend in the near- and long-term. Perhaps they see a vision of a contending future that includes at least one of Karlsson, Rakell, and Rust. Maybe they’re convinced that the defense and the goaltending is poor enough to put them in lottery contention even if they don’t move any of those guys.

After all, think about it: If the Penguins were to strike lottery gold and have the opportunity to draft McKenna next season - and Karlsson, Rakell, and Rust remain on the roster at that point - it stands to reason that they could turn things around both quickly and sustainably. They already have enough prospect talent and draft capital to target - for example - a young, talented left defenseman that could be part of their contending future. And that prospect talent, again, should begin to fill out the periphery of the roster this season and even more so in 2026-27. They’ll also have near-unlimited spending power in free agency next summer.

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It’s not really that difficult to see that potential vision. It’s still likely that at least one of the “big three” trade candidates won’t be on the roster through the end of next season, but it’s not impossible for the Penguins to compete with one or two of them still around. 

But, at the end of the day, the Penguins are still too good as of right now to be surefire McKenna contenders. And - if keeping some of their veterans around in hopes of a quick but sustainable turnaround is the plan - they are still banking almost everything on a lottery ball falling the right way next season.

There are many paths Dubas and the Penguins can take from here, and there are still a lot more dominoes to fall. But even if that uncertainty makes the Penguins an interesting story for this upcoming season, it sure doesn’t make things any easier for them looking ahead to the future.

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The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2025 has been announced, and it includes a former Montreal Canadiens forward.

Former Hab Scott Gomez is among the five players who have been elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. In addition to Gomez, Joe Pavelski, Zach Parise, Tara Mounsey, and Bruce Bennett have all been named to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. 

Gomez appeared in 1,079 NHL games over 16 seasons, posting 181 goals, 575 assists, and 756 points. He was also a two-time Stanley Cup winner, two-time All-Star, and the NHL's Calder Memorial Trophy winner in 2000. Thus, he undoubtedly had a strong career. 

Gomez spent three seasons with the Canadiens from 2009-10 to 2011-12, where he recorded 21 goals, 87 assists, and 108 points in 196 games. His time with the Canadiens ended when he was bought out in 2013. 

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Meehan Interested in Winnipeg's Star Center - Jun. 1 1990 - Volume 43, Issue 38 - Jim Kelley

Several general managers have expressed cautious interest now that Winnipeg Jets’ center Dale Hawerchuk has become available on the open market.

But Buffalo Sabres’ general manager Gerry Meehan was anything but cautious.

“We are very much interested,” Meehan said when asked about the six-time 100-point scorer. “He has a reputation in this league as a powerful offensive player, the kind of player every team in the league would like to have.

“We have a top centernan already in Pierre Turgeon, a center who is a potential superstar, and to add a player like this (Hawerchuk) would give us a formidable 1-2 punch.”

Meehan said he had no indications from Winnipeg what price tag might be attached to Hawerchuk. but he expected Hawerchuk’s market value would be determined in the days leading up to the June 16 NHL entry draft in Vancouver. Meehan also said he would “pursue discussion” with the Jets.

It’s not uncommon for a general manager to express interest in a high-quality player when he comes on to the market, even if he has no intention of making a bid. However. Meehan’s interest appeared both genuine and serious and indicated he was at least exploring opportunities to change the mix on a Sabres’ team that had a strong regular season but once again disappointed in the playoff’s.

Naturally, bringing Hawerchuk or a player like him to Buffalo would mean giving up a player or players of similar value, both in terms of talent and expense.

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No one in the Sabres’ organization has publicly singled out players, at least not by name, for Buffalo’s failure to get by Montreal in the first round of the playoffs this season. But the players as a group have certainly taken heat from management and some big names have suddenly shown up in trade rumors.

Defenseman Phil Housley and right winger Mike Foligno recently were linked to a possible trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Christian Ruuttu’s name has also cropped up in some less-known rumors. A solo deal involving Foligno and Toronto was reported.

The Sabres, having again hiked ticket prices, would be hard-pressed to return the same lineup to the ice despite a 98-point regular season. Buffalo fans measure a team’s worth by how well it performs in the playoffs and this team, like almost all the rest of the last decade, has done nothing.

Another reason Meehan might be interested is because Hawerchuk threatens to upset the current balance of power in the Adams Division.

At the general manager’s luncheon at the Stanley Cup final in Edmonton, both Montreal GM Serge Savard and Hartford GM Ed Johnston also expressed an interest in Hawerchuk. Buffalo, Montreal and Hartford finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the Adams last season and all three teams were among the top seven in the NHL. Hawerchuk, with any one of the three, could be enough to push one team past another.

“I’ve already worked up a few charts with Hawerchuk in our lineup and with players we might have to give up coming out,” Meehan said. “It’s something that has to be discussed (and evaluated). Everything is determined by the price, but are we interested? Sure we are. Who wouldn’t be?”

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