The Buffalo Sabres are facing enormous pressure to end their 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought next season, and it's not hyperbole to say that the Sabres can't afford so much as a single off-night if they're going to be a playoff team. Every game really counts, and Buffalo needs to beat many above-average squads if they're going to earn a playoff berth in the highly-competitive Atlantic Division.

As such, the Sabres will be worth watching every game, because every game matters. And so we're examining each of Buffalo's opponents next year -- who each team has added, when they'll square off this year, and other relevant info -- and we're now well into the Central Division, witht the St. Louis Blues. The Blues are a strong team that didn't play well against Buffalo last year, but with some notable changes, that could change in the Blues' favor this time around. So let's get down to business, and break down the Sabres/Blues rivalry.

BUFFALO SABRES VS. ST. LOUIS BLUES

NEW BLUES PLAYERS: Pius Suter, C, Nick Bjugstad, C; Logan Mailloux, D

2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 2-0-0, Blues 0-1-1

2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER:  November 6 at Buffalo; December 29 at St. Louis

CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM?  There's a neat sense of deja vu when it comes to the Sabres and Blues playing each other this year and last year. On Dec. 29, 2024, Buffalo played St. Louis in St. Louis for their final game against each other. And on Dec. 29, 2025, the Sabres will be playing the host Blues. for their final game of next season. You don't see that every year.

In any case, the Blues came on strong late in the season last year to earn a Western Conference wild card playoff berth, but when they did get to the post-season, the Blues blew a late lead and lost Game 7 to the Winnipeg Jets, ending St. Louis' season in the first round. For as great a story as they were on that late-season run, the Blues showed their deficiencies in falling to the Jets.

So, armed with as much salary cap space as he could muster, Blues GM Doug Armstrong set out to bolster his lineup this summer. And he did just that, strengthening St. Louis down the middle, and giving an opportunity to a young defenseman he acquired at a fairly high price.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Central Edition: Will Buffalo Sweep Series Vs. Sub-Par Nashville Predators Next Season?The NHL's 2025-26 schedule has been out for a while now, and THN.com's Buffalo Sabres site has been analyzing every team the Sabres will take on next season. We've worked our way through the Eastern Conference teams, and we're currently focusing on the Central Division teams. And in today's file, we're turning our attention to the Nashville Predators.

At center, Armstrong added two veterans -- first and foremost, former Vancouver Canuck Pius Suter, and then, journeyman Nick Bjugstad. Both players combined cost Armstrong $5.875-million -- not bad at all, especially given how this year's market for centers was a seller's market.

Elsewhere, Armstrong added 22-year-old defenseman Logan Mailloux in a trade with Montreal that sent 22-year-old winger Zac Bolduc to the Canadiens. Mailloux will start the season on the Blues' third defense pair, but he has the chance to work his way up the depth chart by quickly adapting to the NHL level.

So, the Blues team the Sabres will face this year is going to be much tougher than the one Buffalo faced in December of last year. Indeed, while the Sabres handled their business against St. Louis last year, the Blues were a tale of two teams -- one that was inconsistent early in the year, and the other was a legitimate powerhouse that bulldozed its way into the playoffs. The Sabres managed to avoid that powerhouse Blues team, and this time around, they won't be so fortunate.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Central Edition: Will Superstar Kaprizov And Minnesota Wild Roll Over Sabres?The NHL's 2025-26 season is nearly here, and here at THN.com's Sabres site, we've been examining every one of the Buffalo Sabres' opponents next year. Earlier, we looked at the Atlantic Division's seven teams, followed by the Metropolitan Division's eight teams, and now, we're four teams deep in the highly-competitive Central Division. 

What we're ultimately saying here is that Buffalo will have a tall task trying to win both games against St. Louis next season. It's not out of the question that the Sabres can beat the Blues twice -- and to be sure, that's exactly what Buffalo should be aiming to do -- but if this St. Louis team is properly motivated, they're a handful for every NHL team, the Sabres included.

The Blues' many veterans won't forget that Buffalo beat them twice last year, and they'll want to avenge their losses to the Sabres. For that reason, St. Louis should expect to bounce back against Buffalo, and the Sabres need to prepare for a much tougher battle against the Blues next season.

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:

Canucks Höglander Helps Open Ice Rink In Sweden

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. 

The Montreal Canadiens are one of the NHL's most intriguing teams, as they have several promising young players who have the potential to become big parts of their future. However, they also have some veterans on their roster to watch in 2025-26, and forward Brendan Gallagher is certainly one of them.

While Gallagher's role has changed in recent years with the Canadiens, he is still an important part of the club's roster due to his leadership. With the Canadiens looking to continue to trend in the right direction, having Gallagher around as a mentor for their several youngsters is undoubtedly a good thing. 

Gallagher also showed this past season with the Canadiens that he is still capable of providing decent secondary scoring at this point of his career. In 82 games with the Habs during the 2024-25 season, the veteran winger recorded 21 goals, 17 assists, and 38 points. He also made an impact with his physicality, as he finished the year 92 hits. 

The Canadiens will now be hoping for Gallagher to continue to give them solid depth offensive production, leadership, and grit during this upcoming season. He makes the Canadiens a more difficult team to go up against when he's playing at his best, and it will be fascinating to see what kind of year he can put together for the Habs in 2025-26 from here. 

Canadiens Defenseman Is Interesting Breakout CandidateEarlier this off-season, the Montreal Canadiens re-signed defenseman Jayden Struble to a two-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $1.4125 million. Getting this deal done with Struble was important for the Canadiens, as he is among their most promising young defensemen.

The NHL's 2025-26 schedule has been out for a while now, and THN.com's Buffalo Sabres site has been analyzing every team the Sabres will take on next season. We've worked our way through the Eastern Conference teams, and we're currently focusing on the Central Division teams. And in today's file, we're turning our attention to the Nashville Predators.

To say the Predators had a disastrous season would be an understatement. The Preds plummeted down the Central Division standings, eventually landing in seventh place in the division -- their worst finish since the 2013-14 season. Let's look at their record against the Sabres, their new players, and more in our analysis below:

BUFFALO SABRES VS. NASHVILLE PREDATORS

NEW PREDATORS PLAYERS: Erik Haula, LW; Nicolas Hague, D; Nick Perbix, D;  

2024-25 SERIES: Sabres 1-1-0, Predators 1-1-0

2025-26 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER:  January 20 at Nashville; March 7 at Buffalo 

CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM?  The Predators were brutal last season, despite bringing in stars including wingers Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, and defenseman Brady Skjei. Nashville GM Barry Trotz began his tenure running the team with multiple stumbles, but the good news is that the Preds at long last got a high-end draft pick out of it -- fifth-overall pick Brady Martin. 

In any case, we're going to be serious skeptics about the Predators in 2025-26. Adding Haula is a fringe move. A more meaty move was adding two veteran defensemen in Hague and Perbix, although neither blueliner will be the reason why Nashville suddenly turns into a playoff team. At their peak, we think the Preds are a mushy-middle team -- not bad enough to get a No. 1-overall draft pick, but not good enough to make the playoffs.

And that's why the Sabres need to sweep their two-game series against the Predators next season. Buffalo has to take care of business against teams that on paper the Sabres absolutely should beat. No more split seasons of 1-1-0 hockey, as was the case when Buffalo took on Nashville last year. The Sabres need to go 2-0-0, and add the standings points they earn against the Predators in the effort to end Buffalo's 14-year playoff streak.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Central Edition: Will Superstar Kaprizov And Minnesota Wild Roll Over Sabres?The NHL's 2025-26 season is nearly here, and here at THN.com's Sabres site, we've been examining every one of the Buffalo Sabres' opponents next year. Earlier, we looked at the Atlantic Division's seven teams, followed by the Metropolitan Division's eight teams, and now, we're four teams deep in the highly-competitive Central Division. 

The Sabres can't afford to be swept by any opponent next season. Even if they only get an overtime-or-shootout-loss point against a few teams, that will be an improvement for Buffalo. But ideally, the Sabres have to be thinking bigger than that. And that's why making statements against weak teams like the Preds is incredibly important for Buffalo. 

And can you imagine if lowly Nashville wins both games against the Sabres? It will be lost opportunities of that nature that sink Buffalo's playoff hopes next year. The Sabres simply cannot afford to lose in regulation time, twice, against any opponent in 2025-26. But in particular, when it comes to bottom-shelf teams like the Predators, it's an absolute must that Buffalo at least gets one point in the series.

And really, even then, you'd have to consider a 0-1-1 record against the Preds not good enough for the Sabres. The reality is that Buffalo fans, media and management all believe the Sabres should be winning this series outright. The Predators still have too many question marks to put them at the level the Sabres should be performing at, and Buffalo has to put its foot on the gas when they're playing vulnerable teams like the Preds.

Know Your Enemy, Sabres Central Edition: Can Sabres Keep Up With First-Rate Dallas Stars?The Buffalo Sabres have little room for error next season as they attempt to end a 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought -- and that means they need to beat above-average teams. That includes the Dallas Stars, who the Sabres will take on twice this coming year. 

So, to answer the question, "should the Sabres beat this team?", we say a hearty "yes". Buffalo should absolutely knock the Predators around and take their lunch money. Nasvhille still has some proud players who won't lay down for any opponent, but the Preds' depth is sub-par, and their ability to play at a high level should be questioned by all who have yet to see that from them. The Sabres need to dominate the Predators, as any lost opportunities could come back to haunt Buffalo.

Ilya Mikheyev was among the Chicago Blackhawks' bright spots from their 2024-25 season. After being traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Blackhawks in a cap dump move, Mikheyev proved to be a nice fit on the Blackhawks' roster. In 80 games on the year, the 6-foot-2 winger scored 20 goals and recorded a career-high 34 points. 

Besides providing the Blackhawks with solid secondary scoring, Mikheyev was also impactful due to his solid defensive play and penalty killing. Due to this, he ended up being a strong addition to the Blackhawks' roster during his first year with the team, and they will be hoping for more of the same from him in 2025-26. 

Yet, the Blackhawks will also have a decision to make with Mikheyev in the coming months. The veteran forward is entering this upcoming season as a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA), so the Blackhawks will need to decide if he is a player that they plan to keep around or not.

With Mikheyev fitting in so nicely with the Blackhawks, they could consider signing him to a contract extension. This is especially so if he continues to perform well for them in 2025-26. However, with the Blackhawks having several promising youngsters in their system, it is certainly possible that they could decide to move on from him, whether that is at the 2026 NHL trade deadline or when his contract expires next summer.

Nevertheless, it is going to be interesting to see what ends up happening between Mikheyev and the Blackhawks. 

Ex-Blackhawks Forward Among Remaining Free AgentsThe Chicago Blackhawks moved on from multiple players this off-season. One of them was forward Andreas Athanasiou, as he became an unrestricted free agent (UFA) on July 1 after the Blackhawks did not re-sign him. Now, with the halfway point of August almost here, the 31-year-old is still looking for his new home.