Zegras played primarily on the wing (with some looks at center), and helped drive Philadelphia’s push into the playoffs down the stretch. The Philadelphia Flyers will not require arbitration to get a new deal done with star forward Trevor Zegras. The Sabres are trying to remain competitive after making the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. After a long professional hockey career, it feels very fitting to see this scenario play out where Kane ends it where it all began. The Sabres lost a hometown kid in Alex Tuch to the Capitals — who was the key return in the Jack Eichel trade a few years ago.
The OHL’s London Knights have landed another big-time prospect (forward Luca Santala), who signed on an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. Sometimes the biggest news in hockey isn’t a trade or a signing. The debut of the Winter Classic, an outdoor regular season NHL game held on New Year’s Day in 2008, was a significant success for the league. Unlike the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Olympic tournament, the World Cup of Hockey is played under NHL rules and not those of the IIHF. The annual Ice Hockey World Championships is held every May, at the same time as the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Expansion era
- In 1992 (Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play a game in any of the major professional North American sports leagues), as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game against the St. Louis Blues, stopping seven of nine shots.
- This has significant effects on the league — as elite players have suffered from the aftereffects of concussions (such as Sidney Crosby being sidelined for approximately ten and a half months), which adversely affects the league’s marketability.
- In the United States — NHL Center Ice and in Canada, NHL Centre Ice serve as the league’s subscription-based sports packages for out-of-market viewers, providing access to game feeds via a cable or satellite provider.
- When the overtime period concludes with a tie, the game proceeds to a shootout.
- The Capitals acquired Alex Tuch, a local player, from the Sabres, who was a significant part of the return in the Jack Eichel trade a few years back.
- He turned pro with the AHL’s Texas Stars in 2023 – but only appeared in 44 games before he was included in a three-team trade in February 2024 deal that sent Chris Tanev to the Stars.
A six-year deal will offer McMichael the security he needs to focus on winning that competition – and could land St. Louis with a high-value contract through his prime years. Buchnevich scored just 48 points in 81 games – and spent time on the fourth line late in the year. He is still a young pro – only 25 years old – and shouldn’t be tasked with playing center on a Blues club that also acquired Mason McTavish. It was on the heels of that performance that Washington offered McMichael a two-year extension – a prove-it deal that offered the young center a chance to earn more once he found his footing. After being selected with the 25th-overall pick in 2019, McMichael turned pro with Washington in 2020 and debuted in the NHL in 2021.
Is it feasible for the Capitals to pursue another Stanley Cup as Alex Ovechkin aims for 1,000 career goals?
The NHL’s rules are the basis for rules governing most professional and major junior ice hockey leagues in North America. The NHL’s rules are one of the two standard sets of professional ice hockey rules in betting and predictions the world, the other being the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), as used in tournaments such as the Olympics. A committee led by Bettman and chairman Jeremy Jacobs is responsible for vetting new ownership applications (collective bargaining), and league expansion. The Eastern Conference consists of the Atlantic and Metropolitan divisions, while the Western Conference consists of the Central and Pacific divisions. Each conference is split into two divisions, with 16 teams per conference and 8 per division.
Grushnikov (unable to advance within Calgary’s roster), is now set to go back to the team where he started his career, aspiring for improved professional opportunities in the KHL. He achieved the finest season of his career, highlighted by a.921 save percentage in 21 AHL games and a.895 save percentage across 11 NHL matches, as a reward for that call. Before launching his professional career with the Arizona Coyotes in 2019, Prosvetov had impressive save percentages in the NAHL, USHL, and OHL.
Canadiens re-sign RFA Dach to one-year, $3.6 million dealOpens in new window
The policy provides for a twenty-game suspension for a first positive test (a sixty-game suspension for a second positive test), and a lifetime suspension for a third positive test. Fighting in the NHL leads to major penalties while IIHF rules, and most amateur rules, call for the ejection of fighting players. Since the 2013–14 season, the league trimmed the goal frames by 4 inches , 10 cm, on each side and reduced the size of the goalies’ leg pads. The goaltender can play the puck only within the trapezoid or in front of the goal line; if the goaltender plays the puck behind the goal line and outside the trapezoidal area — a two-minute minor penalty for delay of game is assessed.
The Everblades (based in Estero), Florida, brought home the 2026 Kelly Cup as ECHL Champions. Often a league for the less-heralded prospects, bright young goaltender Sergei Murashov and 23-year-old forward Avery Hayes form the next wave of younger talent who wore the Wheeling uniform and took to the ice in West Virginia. Last month the Chicago-based Hoffmann Group was granted approval to acquire the Penguins (quite the step up from their only other venture into the hockey world), owning the Everblades. A Finn with a strong pedigree (Santala’s father Tommi had a long and successful professional career as a center across the NHL), Finland, Switzerland, and even a stint in the KHL. Coming along as a product of Kiekko-Espoo (Santala recorded 12 points in 25 games playing alongside skaters three years his senior), good for 12th best on the team.
Penguins Announce ECHL Affiliation Changes
To aid with removing high-speed collisions on icing, which had led to several potential career-ending injuries, such as to Hurricanes’ defenceman Joni Pitkanen, the league mandated hybrid no-touch icing for the 2013–14 NHL season. This has significant effects on the league, as elite players have suffered from the aftereffects of concussions (such as Sidney Crosby being sidelined for approximately ten and a half months), which adversely affects the league’s marketability. The league’s post-lockout agreement with NBC gave the league a share of revenue from each game’s advertising sales, rather than the usual lump sum paid up front for game rights. With no new agreement in hand when the contract expired, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and closed the league’s head office for the 2004–05 season. A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to 48 — with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season.
The U.S. national rights were then held by NBC and OLN (later renamed Versus — then NBCSN) between the 2004–05 NHL lockout and 2021. The NHL primarily was then only available on cable television after 1981, airing on the USA Network, SportsChannel America, and ESPN at various times. The league’s American broadcast partners had been in flux for decades prior to 1995. Games that are not broadcast as part of the national rights deal are broadcast by Sportsnet’s regional feeds (TSN’s regional feeds), and RDS.