Scott Gomez, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Tara Mounsey and Bruce Bennett will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the Class of 2025.
"The collection of talent that is part of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025 is truly remarkable," said Mike Trimboli, president of USA Hockey. "Their extraordinary contributions have positively impacted our game and continue to do so today."
Here's more on each inductee.
Bruce Bennett has been a photographer in hockey for over 50 years. He has photographed more than 5,300 NHL games throughout his long career.
Bennett has an archive of more than 2.5 million images including 45 Stanley Cup deciding contests, six Olympic Winter Games and more than 470 international games.
"His work has appeared in virtually every major hockey publication and broadcast, helping bring the beauty, intensity and emotion of the sport to millions of fans," said the Hall of Fame's news release.
Gomez played a total of 16 seasons in the NHL for the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators.
With the Devils, Gomez won two Stanley Cup championships. In 1,079 career games, he recorded 181 goals, 575 assists and 756 points.
Gomez was a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team. He also was part of Team USA for the IIHF World Junior Championship in 1998 and 1999 and at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
Mounsey was one of the most effective players to play for the U.S. women's national yeam that won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's ice hockey in 1998.
She also helped the U.S. earn silver at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, 1997 and 1999 IIHF women's World Championships.
For her contributions to USA Hockey, Mounsey has already been enshrined in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the 1998 Olympic team. Now, Mounsey gets inducted individually.
Parise played in 19 seasons in the NHL for the Devils, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche.
During the 2011-12 season, Parise served as the Devils’ captain. In 1,254 career games, he tallied 434 goals, 455 assists and 889 points.
Parise was a member of the silver medal-winning 2010 Olympic team, served as captain of Team USA at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and also represented the U.S. in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Pavelski played in the NHL for 18 seasons, spending 13 years with the Sharks and five years with the Dallas Stars.
From 2015 to 2019, Pavelski served as the Sharks’ captain, establishing himself as one of the influential players in franchise history.
Pavelski recorded 476 goals, 592 assists, and 1,068 points in 1,332 career games.
He helped the U.S. to a silver medal at the 2010 Olympics and was also a member of Team USA for the 2014 Winter Games. Pavelski even served as captain of Team USA at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and skated for the Americans at the 2009 World Championship.
The inductees are expected to speak on the honor in a virtual media availability on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for updates.
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This off-season, the Vancouver Canucks signed winger Vitali Kravtsov to a one-year contract. The 25-year-old has spent the last two seasons in the KHL with Traktor Chelyabinsk, where he posted 92 points in 121 games. While his contract is a two-way deal, the Canucks, as well as Kravtsov, are hoping he can secure a roster spot and play a role in the NHL next season.
Recently, former assistant coach Sergei Gonchar spoke with Russian media outlet Match.tv about Kravtsov's return. While Gonchar was only a part-time coach with Vancouver, his and Kravtsov's paths would have passed during the 2022-23 season. As Gonchar explained in the interview, which has been translated from Russian to English using Google Translate, Kravtsov has the skills to compete in the NHL but needs to work on some areas if he wants to play full-time with the Canucks.
"You can tell from Kravtsov that he has everything — good skating, technique, everything else. He needs to be more persistent, get on the goal more often, adapt his game more to the North American style. A little more shooting, fighting. These components need to be developed to fit into the Canucks team. Then it will be easier for him."
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This season may very well be Kravtsov's final chance at a career in North America. As Gonchar pointed out, he is a talented player, but needs to continue working on certain aspects of his game. With training camp just a few weeks away, all eyes will be on Kravtsov as he attempts to make a comeback to the NHL.
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.
The Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers are set for what could be their fifth consecutive playoff meeting, according to a recent projection from JFreshHockey.
This recurring matchup has quickly become one of the most intense rivalries in the NHL playoffs, with both teams battling it out every year, and fans getting in on the action.
small tweak to the projection based on updated depth charts. will answer any question on these projections (which i'll post updated the day before the season and hope, as every year, will be among the least incorrect ones) pic.twitter.com/1s1qwMKIc7
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 27, 2025
Who has the Edge?
When it comes to which team has the star power, the edge goes to the Oilers. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to be a problem for the Kings' defense to find any way of containing both stars.
Those two alone make the Oilers so tough to beat in any series and always have the edge because of that, which is the reason why they’ve been in the last two Stanley Cup Finals.
On the other hand, the Kings lack a big star name or a superstar like the Oilers. LA has solid veterans and young stars on the rise, including Anze Kopitar, Brandt Clarke, Quinton Byfield, and Darcy Kuemper.
Kings may have the edge in depth and defense because they have more players that could attack and defend on the ice, but when it comes down to significant moments in the series, the Oilers own LA.
But, still, each time these two teams have met in the playoffs, they’ve been tightly contested games that have come down to the last few possessions.
Each playoff meeting does add more familiarity between the squads, making adjustments and execution even more critical. Many Kings fans argue that the series' last seasons would’ve been there’s.
But if head coach Jim Hiller hadn’t made the obvious coaches' challenge that wasn’t going to go their way, or failed to make any in-game coaching adjustments, maybe LA wouldn’t have blown the 2-0 series lead and three straight game collapses in the second and third periods.
Final Thoughts
If these projections hold, fans can expect another highly contested and intense series complete with high-speed action and scoring.
The Kings will look to finally overcome their postseason hurdle against Edmonton, while the Oilers will aim to continue their dominance, looking at the top of their throne as they dispatch LA.
The loophole that helped the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights earn a competitive advantage and win multiple Stanley Cups is finally closed.
No, we're not talking about removing the tax breaks for teams that play in states with no income tax.
But the NHL and NHLPA's reported decision to immediately implement several new changes to the collective bargaining agreement, including a playoff salary cap, could be just as instrumental.
It's about time. Some would argue, this move took way too long.
After all, how many championships have been won and lost because of a salary cap loophole?
Going back a decade, when Chicago's Patrick Kane broke his collarbone a week before the 2015 trade deadline and then remained out until the start of the playoffs, teams have put an injured player on long-term injured reserve, and they have only returned to action in the post-season so the team could add a player and avoid exceeding its cap space during the regular season.
It was a smart move. It was also not in the spirit of the CBA, which aims to provide a level playing field for all 32 teams. Of course, all rules are meant to be broken, or at the very least manipulated. And it didn't take long for teams to realize that being cap compliant only applied to the regular season. If you had a player who was injured, there was nothing stopping a team from waiting until the playoffs to re-activate him from injury, as many teams took advantage of.
In 2020-21, the Tampa Bay Lightning won back-to-back championships while being $18 million over the cap after Nikita Kucherov returned for the playoffs after sitting out for the entire regular season while recovering from surgery. Kucherov, who later trolled critics for his well-timed return, led the playoffs with 32 points.
Two years later, the Golden Knights exploited the same loophole when Mark Stone took until Game 1 of the playoffs before finally returning from back surgery. The NHL investigated Vegas, which was able to acquire Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger and Jonathan Quick, but found no wrongdoing. A year later, Stone remained out again, allowing the Golden Knights to acquire Noah Hanifin, Anthony Mantha and Tomas Hertl at the trade deadline.
This past season, Matthew Tkachuk curiously also remained out until the very start of the playoffs following an injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off. His long-term absence allowed the Panthers to acquire Brad Marchand at the deadline.
None of that can happen again.
New NHL CBA Changes Take Effect Immediately—How They Impact the Maple Leafs This SeasonEarlier this summer, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to a four-year extension of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The deal included a number of amendments. With the current CBA terms expiring at the end of the 2025-26 season, there was a question as to which changes would apply immediately and which would go into effect a year from now when the extension officially kicks in.
Under the new CBA rules, teams must be under the cap limit of $95.5 million for the playoffs. Previously, the salary cap only applied to the regular season, allowing teams to activate injured players once the post-season began. Now, teams will have to submit a playoff roster, where the aggregate cap hit of all active
players cannot exceed the upper salary cap limit.
Which means, if you had suspicions that Vegas would activate Alex Pietrangelo for Game 1 of the playoffs after having already announcing it's unlikely his body will recover to the standard required to play NHL-level hockey — think again.
Those days are over.
Then again, with one loophole closing, chances are another will open. Just give it time.
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Once again this year, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has released his rankings of under-23 players that are either in the NHL or on the cusp of it. This time around, the Montreal Canadiens have seven players in the 173-player list. To be eligible, a player must be 22 years old or younger as of September 15, 2025.
The young Habs included in the rankings are Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Zack Bolduc, Michael Hage, and Oliver Kapanen. Pronman’s rankings are divided into six tiers; the first one is for elite NHL players, tier two for NHL All-Stars, tier three for bubble NHL All-Stars and top of the lineup players, tier four for Top of the lineup players, tier five for bubble top and middle of the lineup players, and tier six for middle of the lineup players. Let’s have a look at where each Hab stands.
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Slafkovsky gets the seventh spot in the ranking and is considered in the second tier. Pronman deems his skating average, his puck skills above average, just like his hockey sense, and his compete high-end. The journalist praises the youngster’s use of his big frame and concedes that even if he never reaches the highest of tiers in points total, he could be a star because of the special role he plays.
I’m surprised to see the power forward come so high in the ranking and receive a high-end rating for his compete. Personally, I believe this is what Slafkovsky could eventually be rather than what he is at the moment. It’s been written time and time again that the youngster knows what to do to be successful, but he has yet to manage to do it consistently. I do not doubt that it’s coming, but it’s not there yet. Last year, he was 15th on the list.
The second Canadiens player in the ranking is Demidov, who lands in the second tier as well, in 10th place. Pronman rates his skating as below average, his puck skills as elite, his hockey sense, compete, and shot as above average. Unsurprisingly, it’s the winger skating that makes him go down in the ranking, and anyone who’s watched Demidov play last season knows what the writer means when he mentions his “awkward/knock-kneed skating stride. However, this is one of the areas on which the young Russian has focused this summer in Brossard, and while at times he reverts to that particular style, it’s on the verge of being a thing of the past.
It's tough to argue with the rest of Pronman’s assessment, however, and if I were a betting woman, I’d wager that Demidov will be climbing up those rankings next season, and it’s worth remembering that he is still only 19 years old. Regardless of how you look at it, Demidov should be a diamond in the rough at his age, but he’s not that rough and shows a lot of promise. Last season, he was in 17th position and in the third tier, just like Slafkovsky.
The third Hab to feature in the list is Calder Trophy-winning blueliner Lane Hutson, who lands in 34th place and in the fourth tier. This one is puzzling. Pronman rates his skating as above average, just like his puck skills and compete, while he deems his hockey sense high-end. What makes him slip all the way to 34 then? His defensive play.
The Athletic’s journalist argues that he’s a minor defenseman without high-end feet or physicality, which makes him ill-suited to defend against the top players in the league. I disagree with this statement. I can’t deny that Hutson’s offensive game is better than his defensive game, but he can still defend against the best players. To me, his mobility and compete make up for his lack of physicality, and those who have seen him skate in 82 games last season and five playoff games will agree. Last year, Pronman had him as a tier seven player in 87th place, so that’s a healthy jump. However, expect him to move up in next September’s edition of those rankings; he’ll be 22 by then and in his last year of eligibility.
The next Hab is in tier five and comes in 44th place: David Reinbacher. The article describes his skating and puck skills as average, while his hockey sense and competitiveness are above-average. This is probably Pronman’s most accurate assessment, as he explains that the right-shot defenseman won’t be the best in any category, but is a good all-around defenseman.
This is precisely what the youngster showed last season in the playoffs with the Laval Rocket, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does at training camp. Given that he was injured in the previous preseason, he may be a bit behind schedule, but defensemen typically take longer to develop, so that’s not an issue. Last year, he was in 69th place in the rankings.
The next Canadiens on the list are all the way down at spot 100, in tier six. Pronman clearly sees the Habs' new acquisition as average, that’s how he evaluates his skating, puck skills, hockey sense, and compete, but does add that his shot is high-end. Last year, he didn’t even make the ranking.
For Pronman, the deficiencies in Bolduc’s game are without the puck; if that’s the case, he landed in the right place. The winger has a good hockey sense, and under Martin St-Louis, he will be given every opportunity to learn how to make the right reads to improve his play without the puck. We won’t see where he lands in these rankings next season, as this is his last year of eligibility.
Next up is Michael Hage, who has dropped from 118th to 131st place in the sixth tier. Pronman considers his skating and hockey sense to be average, his puck skills above average, his compete level below average, and his shot above average.
Despite conceding that Hage has had an impressive freshman season, the journalist notes that the youngster has a history of inconsistency and streakiness, and that playing too much on the outside could hinder his chances of success in the NHL. If this comes to be, the Canadiens’ need for a legitimate number two center will be even greater.
I had noticed that Hage does pick points in bunches, but he’s still very young and has time to turn things around. Furthermore, the culture being developed in Montreal should also enhance the competitive level. When numerous leaders go all in at all times, it’s challenging for a young player to dip his toe in the water.
Finally, Kapanen comes in at number 139 in tier six. His skating is deemed below average, while his puck skills, compete, and shots are above average, and his hockey sense is average. In a nutshell, it’s his footspeed that drags him down the ranking.
Although Pronman believes Kapanen made significant progress last season as a key player with Timra IK, he thinks the youngster's lower foot speed could be a drawback and might lead to him being shifted to the wing. This is Finn’s first appearance in the rankings, and if he improves on his training camp showing from last season, he could make the team and stick around this year.
Having seven players in this ranking and four in the top 100 is quite an impressive feat; some teams do not even have a single player who cracked the top 100, like the New York Rangers, for instance, and it goes to show just how good a job the Canadiens are doing with their rebuild.
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