When the curtain fell on the 2024-25 NHL season, the Florida Panthers skated away with the Stanley Cup for a second year running, which consolidated their status as the best team in the league. Still, during the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens played them four times and won every single one, which is no small feat. When Patrik Laine went to the Cup Final and celebrated the Cats’ victory with captain Aleksander Barkov, he was teased about joining them and simply replied he was fine in Montreal, having beaten the Panthers at every turn this season.

The two sides met for the first time at the end of December in Florida, after the Christmas break, and rookie netminder Jakub Dobes had just been called up following Cayden Primeau's demotion. Coach Martin St-Louis wasted no time testing the young netminder and threw him straight in the deep end against the reigning champions. The youngster performed exceptionally well, stopping the 34 shots he received. Meanwhile, Kirby Dach took matters into his own hands and scored Montreal’s first two goals in a 4-0 win.

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In mid-March, the Panthers rolled into town looking for revenge but were denied by Samuel Montembeault, who was named the third star of the game thanks to 21 saves on 22 shots. Meanwhile, the Canadiens scored three goals despite taking only 15 shots on net. This wasn’t Sergei Bobrovsky’s best game of the season, far from it.

Two weeks later, the Canadiens were back in Sunrise and grabbed another win, this one by a score of 4-2. The win was the result of two power play goals and a lot of tenacity. Montreal took the lead twice and let the Panthers come back each time, but when they took their third lead, they held on and shut down the Cats in the third period. Captain Nick Suzuki led the charge with a pair of assists and the game-winning goal.

The fourth and final meeting was the closest one, the Habs skated away with a 3-2 overtime win on April 11th when the Canadiens needed the win to qualify for the postseason, and the Panthers were without a few regulars. Despite only shooting 21 times on Vitek Vanecek, Suzuki (twice) and Josh Anderson found the back of the net. The captain scored the game-winning goal less than 30 seconds into the extra frame.

Throughout the four duels, the Canadiens outscored the Panthers 14-5, and despite not bombarding the Panthers’ net, they found a way to be opportunistic and get the eight points that were up for grabs. A big part of the Habs’ success was being able to contain Florida’s best players; Barkov only got two points in the series, while Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett only had one. Of course, the fact that Bobrovsky had an .838 save percentage, Spencer Knight .840 SV, and Vanecek .833 SV didn’t hurt either.

On the Canadiens’ side, rookie blueliner Lane Hutson was the ringleader with seven points in the series, closely followed by Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, who both had five points. Of course, Montembeault’s .935 SV and Dobes’ shutout were also essential keys to the Canadiens’ success.

Will Montreal be able to replicate the same success against the Florida outfit this season? It’s hard to predict, but one thing’s for sure: Bill Zito did everything he could to keep his championship roster together, and he succeeded. He kept all of his pending free agents, somehow managing to retain Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand. Florida even managed to add some depth on defense, signing former Hab Jeff Petry at a team-friendly price for one year. The 37-year-old veteran wants one last opportunity to win the Stanley Cup, and he believes that Florida might just be able to go for a three-peat, something that hasn’t happened since the New York Islanders won four Championships in a row at the start of the 1980s.

In net, it looks like Bobrovsky will be backed up by free agent signing Daniil Tarasov after the Panthers traded away Spencer Knight last season to add Seth Jones to their already impressive blueline. Tarasov has only 65 games of experience in the NHL, with a 3.44 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage.

If the young Canadiens can replicate their performance against the Champions this upcoming season, it will be another confidence builder for the Habs. They’ll have their work cut out for them, though. Montreal’s penalty kill was exceptionally efficient against the Cats last season, only allowing one goal on eight opportunities, and now that Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak have left, the Canadiens will have to replace them on the special team units.

Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

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There is no denying Florida Panthers are one of, if not the deepest team in the NHL.

As they enter the 2025-26 season, Florida will be looking to become the league’s first back-to-back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions since the New York Islanders in the early 1980s.

Panthers General Manager Bill Zito went to work this summer with the intention of keeping the band together and seeing if this elite squad he’s built has what it takes to become the NHL’s next dynasty.

It was quite remarkable that he was able to retain a trio of high-end unrestricted free agents – Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand – while also extending Tomas Nosek, acquiring Daniil Tarasov and signing Jeff Petry.

But all those moves, along with giving a one-year extension to restricted free agent Mackie Samoskevich, has left the Panthers in a bit of a pickle.

Currently, Florida is over the over the NHL salary cap, which rose to $95.5 million this summer, by $3.725 million, according to PuckPedia.

Matthew Tkachuk, who played through a torn hip abductor and a hernia during Florida’s run to their second straight Stanley Cup, may still end up having surgery, which he said following the playoffs was a 50-50 option.

Now that he’s gotten married and had his day with the Stanley Cup, perhaps that surgery could be forthcoming.

If that’s the case, Tkachuk’s contract carries a $9.5 million average annual value (AAV), all of which would be removed from Florida’s total under the cap if he were to be placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR).

One of the rumors that has floated around in recent weeks was that Evan Rodrigues could be a casualty of Florida’s salary cap situation.

Rodrigues has two years remaining with a $3 million AAV on his deal.

In his latest edition of 32 Thoughts, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman gave some insight into Florida’s roster situation, and specifically the Rodrigues rumors.

“I don’t believe that’s going to be happening,” Friedman said of a potential trade, adding that Florida considers Rodrigues a “really important player.”

Friedman went on to say that Tkachuk is expected to miss the start of the season, but should be back in time for the Winter Olympics in February.

That kind of timeline implies that Tkachuk will be placed on LTIR.

Friedman did not, however, say what Florida will do to get under the salary cap when Tkachuk does come off LTIR.

Eventually, Zito and the Panthers are going to have to address the issue, but it doesn’t sound like Friedman, or anyone else outside the organization, has gotten wind of what Florida’s plan is.

Time will tell.

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Photo caption: Mar 15, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Florida Panthers center Evan Rodrigues (17) looks on in warm-up before the game against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images)

The Pittsburgh Penguins have their training camp and preseason coming up, and so does their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 

The baby Penguins announced their preseason schedule on Monday and it consists of two games. They will play the Hershey Bears on October 3 at 10:30 a.m. ET as part of their school day game and STEM workbook giveaway before playing the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on October 4 at 7:05 p.m. ET. 

Schools in the Northeast Pennsylvania area are invited to the game, marking the fourth consecutive year the WBS Penguins host a school day game. They have won the previous three and will try to make it four in a row. 

The Penguins have announced their 2025 preseason schedule, starting with the team's 'Learn With Hockey' School & STEM day game on Oct. 3!https://t.co/8e2JriVw0Rpic.twitter.com/2XIyVYObmb

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) August 4, 2025

They will start the regular season on October 11 against the Hartford Wolf Pack at 6:05 p.m. ET. It will be the first of 72 regular-season games before the Calder Cup Playoffs commence. 

The WBS Penguins are coming off their second-straight playoff exit at the hands of the Phantoms. 

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Featured Image Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

We’re just 64 days away from the San Jose Sharks kicking off their season against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center.

The number 64 has only been worn twice in franchise history. The first was from 2009 to 2012 by Jamie McGinn, then again by Mikael Granlund during the 2024-25 season.

McGinn spent four years with the Sharks after being drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Draft. During his time in San Jose, he scored 27 goals and added 22 assists for 49 points in 204 games. After his time with the organization came to an end, he went on to play for the Colorado Avalanche. He wrapped up his career after 11 seasons, finishing with 117 goals and 103 assists for 220 points in 617 games.

Granlund, meanwhile, spent parts of two years with the Sharks. He was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the Erik Karlsson trade. In his two seasons with the club, he recorded 27 goals and 78 assists for 105 points in 121 games. He was a very productive player during his time in San Jose, and at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, he was dealt to the Dallas Stars. In his 13-year career so far, he has tallied 610 points in 902 games.

We’re slowly making our way through the dog days of summer. August is the final month without hockey, which should have NHL fans counting down the days.

Despite making the cut last year, Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny is no longer a top 20 winger in the NHL in the eyes of the NHL Network.

On Wednesday, the NHL Network revealed its rankings of the top 20 wingers in the NHL, and we came to find a few newcomers jumped Konecny, 28, in rankings over the last season.

Konecny (20), Steven Stamkos (13), Brad Marchand (18), and Zach Hyman (11) made way for newcomers Matt Boldy (19), Adrian Kempe (20), Jesper Bratt (12), and Brandon Hagel (13).

Konecny's 76 points did see him finish 30th in the league in scoring amongst all forwards, placing ahead of Alex Ovechkin (ranked 17th by NHL Network), Boldy, and Kempe, but those three all made the playoffs while Konecny and the Flyers finished with the fourth-worst record in the league.

Plus, it doesn't help that the 28-year-old ceded some of the limelight to rookie Matvei Michkov, who will be on this list in no time at all.

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Adding to that, Konecny did finish the season with 34 points in his last 44 games, but only seven of those points were goals.

For a player who, right or wrong, is seen as the guy who has to carry the Flyers, Konecny fell short down the stretch, and NHL Network likely punished him for that.

Overall, the Flyers star finished the 2024-25 season with 24 goals, 52 assists, and 76 points while playing in all 82 regular season games for just the second time in his career, and for the first time since 2018-19.

The Edmonton Oilers could be exploring a move to bolster their goaltending depth, and recent comments from team insider Bob Stauffer have sparked speculation that Detroit Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa might be a target.

To be clear, Stauffer didn't say Cossa's name. He left it open-ended and for fans to guess. Still, it didn't take long for several fans and analysts to put two and two together. 

On a recent episode of Oilers Now, Stauffer hinted the organization is looking at a goalie who “hasn’t gained a lot of traction” with his current team, but noted there’s a “connection” to Edmonton. He added that the player’s team also has “another really good goaltending prospect,” leading many to believe he was referring to Cossa, who once starred for the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings.

Think Bob is talking about Sebastian Cossa here. Detroit has Trey Augustine passing him in rankings now, Cossa is a former Oil King. pic.twitter.com/HRkQIX5r8C

— OilersDaily (@alloilersdaily) August 2, 2025

Cossa, 22, was a first-round pick by the Red Wings in 2021. It's not entirely clear where he sits in the eyes of GM Steve Yzerman and the coaching staff. That said, it appears he's lost ground on the depth chart to Trey Augustine.

He posted a solid .911 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average in the AHL last season, but it's unclear if he's got the makings to be a steady NHL starter. He has just one NHL game under his belt.

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As for what the Oilers would be willing to offer, if Stauffer is suggesting a trade is being discussed, the details remain a mystery. It's hard to imagine Edmonton giving up much for an unproven goaltender who isn't likely to do much on a Red Wings team that may not be playoff bound. If Cossa has fallen out of favor in Detroit, it's logical to assume a draft pick or a different prospect might get the deal done. 

It seems unlikely the Oilers would trade a roster player, unless the Red Wings were willing to take on a contract like Mattias Janmark. While the deal would free up cap space and address a long-term organizational need, it may not be a move the Oilers are ready to make this summer. Janmark might not be a regular in the team's lineup this season, but he's likely to offer more game time in a Stanley Cup window than Cossa would. 

Acquiring Cossa might be appealing, but there is no guarantee he’s NHL-ready.

The Detroit Red Wings have made numerous additions to their lineup in the offseason through both free agency and trade, though none of the moves could accurately be described as a major "splash" acquisition. 

While there is still well over a month between now and the start of Red Wings Training Camp in mid-September, doubt is beginning to creep in on whether they'll ultimately pull the trigger and acquire a new, high-profile figure. 

While the Red Wings have re-signed their restricted free agents in Albert Johansson, Jonatan Berggren, and Elmer Soderblom, one team that still has a notable RFA yet to be locked down is the Anaheim Ducks. 

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The Ducks haven't had any luck re-signing Mason McTavish, who recently completed his three-year entry-level contract and scored a career-high 22 goals in 76 games for the Ducks last season. 

OH, MASON MCTAVISH!! 🥵

That was absolutely gross. pic.twitter.com/4KHDfm2eEi

— NHL (@NHL) April 2, 2025

According to a newly released report from RG.org, an anonymous NHL source has named the Red Wings as a potential landing spot for McTavish if the Ducks can't get him to sign a new deal.

Not only does the source tout the history between former teammates Steve Yzerman and Pat Verbeek, who now serve as the general manager of their respective clubs, but for what McTavish could bring to Detroit's forward units. 

“One team I keep hearing that has continued to show strong interest is the Detroit Red Wings," the source explained to RG.org. "Obviously there’s a history there with Pat [Verbeek] and Steve [Yzerman], and I really think Steve sees McTavish as a player that would clearly change the whole dynamic of his team up the middle there.”

Yzerman and Verbeek do have an extensive professional history together. Not only were they teammates on the ice in Detroit from 1999 through 2001, but they also worked together as executives with both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Red Wings; Verbeek worked under Yzerman in both locations before accepting the role as Ducks GM in February 2022.

McTavish, whom the Ducks selected with the third overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, is known for his offensive flair and often plays in close proximity to the net. He's played in 229 career NHL games, and has scored 60 goals while adding 80 assists. 

As it currently stands, the Red Wings have just over $12 million worth of salary cap remaining, which is more than enough to absorb the contract of a significant potential addition.

The Red Wings and Ducks have already made a pair of trades with one another in just over a full calendar year, as Detroit sent oft-injured forward Robby Fabbri to Anaheim last July while acquiring goaltender John Gibson in late June of this year. 

Detroit has already been linked as a potential landing spot for McTavish if he and the Ducks can't come to an agreement, and his presence in the lineup would give the Red Wings another offensive weapon capable of playing in the top-six and reaching at least 20 goals. 

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New Jersey Devils winger Jesper Bratt has been ranked the 12th-best winger in the NHL right now by NHL Network.

Where's the Bratt Pack at?

Jesper Bratt comes in at #⃣1⃣2⃣ on our Top 20 Wings Right Now list! @NJDevils | #NHLTopPlayerspic.twitter.com/oLFZsxEy7U

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 6, 2025

Unranked last season, Bratt is now earning praise for his standout performance.

The 27-year-old has spent his entire eight-year NHL career with the Devils after being drafted 162nd overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The Swedish forward found his stride this past season, posting 88 points in 81 games.

He also represented Sweden at the Four Nations Tournament, recording two points in three games.

Bratt is entering the third year of his eight-year, $63 million contract, which carries an annual average value of $7.8 million and keeps him in New Jersey until age 32.

Making his debut as a teenager after impressing in the 2017 training camp, Bratt played 74 games in his rookie season (2017–18), tallying 13 goals and 22 assists. Over the years, he has battled through injuries, fracturing his jaw in October 2018 and undergoing shoulder surgery in the 2024–25 offseason. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2025–26 season.

In 2025, Bratt was named to the NHL All-Star Team and now finds himself recognized as one of the league’s elite wingers. Often overshadowed by teammates Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, Bratt has quietly posted back-to-back 80-point seasons, leading the Devils in shot assists and scoring chance assists. His speed, puck-handling, and ability to excel in man-advantage situations make him a constant offensive threat.

Bratt made history in 2024–25, becoming the top-scoring Swedish player in the NHL and setting a Devils record for single-season assists. He is one of only five players league-wide to record at least 20 goals, 50 assists, and 80 points in each of the past two seasons.

Only 11 wingers were ranked higher than Bratt on NHL Network’s list:

1. Jake Guentzel – Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Artemi Panarin – New York Rangers
3. Kyle Connor – Winnipeg Jets
4. Sam Reinhart – Florida Panthers
5. Matthew Tkachuk – Florida Panthers
6. William Nylander – Toronto Maple Leafs
7. Mitch Marner – Vegas Golden Knights
8. Mikko Rantanen – Dallas Stars
9. Kirill Kaprizov – Minnesota Wild
10. David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins
11. Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning

Bratt has firmly established himself among the NHL’s best wingers, and is finally getting the recognition he deserves.

Photo Credit: © Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images