Former Florida Panthers goaltender Brandon Bussi has signed a three-year contract extension with the Carolina Hurricanes. 

The 27-year-old will earn $1.9 million annually starting in the 2026-27 season. Bussi has been one of the best stories of the season so far and has earned the job as the No.1 goaltender in Raleigh.

Bussi started the season with the Panthers, signing a one-year deal with the Panthers in the off-season. The goal was for Bussi to serve as the third-string goaltender and spend most of the season with the Charlotte Checkers. 

Unfortunately, as pre-season concluded, the Panthers attempted to send Bussi to the AHL via waivers, but the Hurricanes claimed him. He remained with the Hurricanes’ NHL club because of injuries to Frederik Anderson and Pyotr Kochetkov, and won the role as the starting netminder.

This season, Bussi had posted a .908 save percentage and a 2.16 goals-against average in 27 games. Additionally, he’s posted a 23-3-1 record with two shutouts. 

'It's A Great Day To Say The Least.': Brandon Bussi Talks New Deal, Extending In Raleigh And MoreRecord-shattering goalie Brandon Bussi inks a three-year Carolina extension, ready to chase championships and celebrate big moments in Raleigh.

Although the Panthers would have loved to see him remain with the organization, there wasn’t going to be much of an opportunity for Bussi to make such a lasting mark. With Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov remaining relatively healthy through the season, the Panthers would have seen no purpose in recalling Bussi to the NHL. 

In all, it’s a happy moment for Bussi, who is a perfect example of never giving up on your dreams and of hard work helping you accomplish what you desire.

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With a little bit of help and guidance from Vladislav Gavrikov, Artemi Panarin pinpointed the Los Angeles Kings as the team he wanted to be traded to.

Panarin and his agent, Paul Theofanous reportedly, spoke to multiple teams about a potential contract extension as the New York Rangers made their intentions not to re-sign Panarin public with the hope to trade him before the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline.

It was Panarin's full no-move clause that allowed him to dictate exactly where he wanted to play and treat this process almost as if he were already a free agent.

Eventually, Panarin gave the Rangers the green light to trade him to Los Angeles, and a deal was finalized with the Kings on February 4. 

It’s unclear exactly why Panarin specifically wanted to play for the Kings, but he admitted that conversations with Gavrikov, who played for the Kings from 2023-2025, helped sway his decision. 

“I tried to find a team for myself, where I want to be, so it was kind of about feeling,” Panarin said. “Obviously, you look at the players, and then I spoke with Gavrikov the last couple days a lot. 

Mike Sullivan Praises Jack Hughes As One Of The Best Players America Has To OfferAs coach of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Olympic Team, New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">Rangers</a> head coach Mike Sullivan gets to work alongside some of the team’s top players from a different perspective.&nbsp;

“He introduced me to a great organization, great teammates in there and obviously a great spot to live. I just want to play for these guys, for that organization. Other teams were on the list too, but I actually never wanted to go anywhere else.”

While Gavrikov’s high praise of the Kings organization may not have been the deciding factor in Panarin’s ultimate choice to sign a two-year, $22 million contract extension with the Kings upon being dealt, it certainly helped guide the 34-year-old forward in the direction of Hollywood.

According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the San Jose Sharks have placed forward Jeff Skinner on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

If Skinner passes through unconditional waivers unclaimed, he will then become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) and have the chance to look for a new home elsewhere. 

Skinner had become the odd man out in the Sharks' forward group, as he has been the subject of several healthy scratches. His last appearance as a member of the Sharks was back on Jan. 11 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Sharks signed to a one-year, $3 million contract during this past off-season. This was after the Toronto, Ontario native posted 16 goals, 13 assists, and 29 points in 72 games during this past season with the Edmonton Oilers. 

In 32 games with the Sharks this season, Skinner recorded six goals, seven assists, 13 points, and a minus-8 rating. Overall, the six-time 30-goal scorer had a pretty quiet stint with the Sharks. 

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Fans of the Detroit Red Wings have every reason to feel excited about what lies ahead, thanks to their intriguing tandem of goaltending prospects, Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine.

Augustine, who is playing in his junior season with the Michigan State Spartans, ranks near the top of the NCAA in all major goaltending statistical categories, including wins, goals-against average, save percentage, and shutouts. 

Meanwhile, Cossa continues to have a stellar campaign for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL, helping them set multiple records for the best start in AHL history. 

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Their most recent victory, a 5-0 shutout over the Texas Stars, improved their record to 37-7-2-1. 

Cossa made 26 saves to pick up his fifth shutout of the season, and in doing so, he matched a record that had stood for 10 years in Griffins history. 

Cossa's five shutouts are the most by any Griffins goaltender since Jared Coreau in the 2015-16 season.

Cossa is a brick wall 🧱

Cossa’s five shutouts are the most by a Griffin since 2015-16 (Jared Coreau) #GoGRGpic.twitter.com/bFhGrcb5TO

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) February 16, 2026

Coreau, who previously played at Northern Michigan, signed with the Red Wings as an undrafted free agent and spent several seasons with both the Griffins and the ECHL affiliate Toledo Walleye before making his NHL debut with Detroit during the 2016–17 season.

He would ultimately post a record of 5-4-3 with a 3.46 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage, along with two shutouts in his first taste of NHL action. 

He appeared in just 21 NHL games during his career, which continued primarily in the AHL with multiple clubs before he eventually moved overseas to play in Austria, Slovakia, and Sweden.

While Coreau was not viewed as a potential long-term goaltender of the future for the Red Wings, both Cossa and Augustine carry that potential, and their performances could be a strong indicator of even greater things ahead.

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With the preliminaries now over and the number one seed secured, Team Canada will now sit back and watch Czechia and Denmark duke it out on Tuesday in the Olympic Qualification Playoff round.

The good news for the winner of that game? They get to advance to the quarterfinals, where they'll be one win away from the semis and a chance to play for an Olympic medal. The bad news? They'll have to play the very next day against a well-rested, powerhouse Canadian team.

But lest we forget, Czechia and Denmark have both given Canada trouble in the recent hockey past.

At the World Juniors, Czechia has been up in Canada's face for three years now, eliminating them in each of the last three tournaments, while the Czechia men's national team won the World Hockey Championships in 2024.

And don't sleep on Denmark either.

Many of the current Canadian Olympians, like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini and Jordan Binnington, were on the Canadian team that fell to the Danes 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2025 World Hockey Championships. 

Ottawa Senators veteran Lars Eller wasn't a member of that Denmark team, but as the only Danish player ever to win a Stanley Cup, he knows a thing or two about big games.

Eller was also Denmark's captain during Olympic qualification in 2024 when they defeated Norway, Great Britain and Japan to get to Milan for just the second Olympic appearance in their history. Eller led the Danes with two goals and two assists through those three games. In these games, he has one assist, along with 4 penalty minutes and a -2 rating.

The 36-year-old was joined on the team by Belleville Senators goalie Mads Sogaard, who played 51 minutes against the Americans before leaving the game with an injury. He made 33 saves on 38 shots in a 6-3 loss. 

He and Eller are two of only six players on Denmark's roster who've played NHL games this season. The others are Nikolaj Ehlers, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Oscar Moelgaard, and starting goalie Frederik Andersen.

Frank Dichow has never played in the NHL, but he was in goal for last spring's quarterfinal shocker against Canada, and is also available for what the Danes hope will be a back-to-back situation this week. 

If they do get to the quarters, the Danes will be badly outmatched, playing on short rest, and because of last spring's historic upset, there won't be a single player in Canada's locker room looking past them. Being on the wrong end of one of the greatest upsets in hockey history isn't something you soon forget.

As he prepared to make his Olympic debut earlier this month, Eller fondly recalled his childhood, watching the NHL's return to the Olympics in 1998 all the way to the 2010 games in Vancouver, when he was breaking in with the AHL's old Peoria Rivermen.

“Every Olympics is pretty memorable," Eller said in an interview with Senators writer Andrew Wilimek. "You remember flashes and players from those eras, so that’s pretty cool to think back on that, and now you’re going to be on that stage yourself.”

Meanwhile, if Canada's opponent is to be Czechia (1-1-1), which will be the favourite in Tuesday's Qualification Playoff matchup with Denmark, the Czechs bring a lot more NHL experience to the table, not to mention two former Senators.

Filip Chlapik, Ottawa's 2015 second-round draft pick, is Czechia's second-leading scorer with two goals and an assist. They also have forward Dominik Kubalik, one of the players acquired from Detroit in the Alex DeBrincat trade. Kubalik was ineffective in his one season in Ottawa and hasn't done much yet in his two games.

But the Czechs, despite their 5-0 loss to Canada, do have serious NHL game breakers in David Pastrnak (3 pts) and Martin Necas (5 pts). They also have Tomas Hertl, Ondrej Palat, Filip Hronek, Radko Gudas, and a solid goaltending tandem of Dan Vladar and Lukas Dostal.

On paper, Canada should be able to handle either nation in Wednesday’s quarterfinal (10:40 a.m. ET), but single-elimination hockey has a way of ignoring the script.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa. Read more Senators features and articles from THN Ottawa here:

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