Predators make free agency splash by signing 2023 playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault
The Nashville Predators made a huge splash when NHL free agency opened Monday by signing Stanley Cup champion forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault as part of a jaw-dropping series of moves topping $100 million that made Smashville the center of attention across hockey. Stamkos left Tampa Bay after 16...
Tampa Bay Lightning acquire the rights to Jake Guentzel on the eve of free agency
The Tampa Bay Lightning got a head start on free agency by acquiring the rights to high-scoring winger Jake Guentzel on Sunday. The Lightning sent a 2025 third-round draft pick to Carolina. The move allows the Lightning to sign Guentzel before he hits the open market on Monday. Guentzel is...
Lightning, Capitals make significant trades on NHL Draft’s 2nd day
It is retooling time around the NHL before the start of free agency, and a handful of teams in the Eastern Conference used the second day of the draft to shake up their roster for next season and beyond. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals were the most active,...
Utah Hockey Club makes splash, trades for for Mikhail Sergachev, John MarinoVideo
LAS VEGAS — Whether it’s owner Ryan Smith’s contagious drive, the excitement of adding two centers in the first round of the NHL Draft, or the new blue suit, tie and Utah Hockey Club pin on his lapel he wore, general manager Bill Armstrong woke up energized Saturday. “I woke...
Avalanche draft Peters Township’s Christian Humphreys in 7th roundVideo
LAS VEGAS — Christian Humphreys wasn’t at the NHL Draft in Nevada. There were profound reasons to be elsewhere. He was on vacation with his family in the Turks and Caicos. “Whatever happens, happens,” Humphreys said by phone earlier this month. “It’s going to be great to spend family time....
San Jose Sharks select Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini with No. 1 pick in NHL Draft
LAS VEGAS — Macklin Celebrini headlined an NHL Draft by going first overall to the San Jose Sharks on a night hockey and Las Vegas royalty mixed company under the visual spectacle the Sphere on Friday night. French-Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion and longtime boxing announcer Michael Buffer shared the stage...
Stars, Flyers buy out Suter, Atkinson as NHL teams clear space for offseason moves
Buyout season is underway around the NHL as teams clear salary cap space for upcoming moves. The Dallas Stars on Friday bought out the final year of veteran defenseman Ryan Suter’s contract after his disappointing playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers are moving in the same direction with underproducing winger Cam Atkinson,...
Mark Madden: As always, NHL fails to recognize the value of star power
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final drew 7.7 million TV viewers in the U.S., the NHL’s biggest audience in five years. The WNBA game between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese this past Sunday, thought of as a breakthrough for women’s pro basketball, was watched by 2.3 million. It was...
Intrigue of NHL Draft expected to begin after top pick
LAS VEGAS — San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier is trying to keep whom he’s selecting with the first pick in the NHL Draft on Friday a mystery, even after he more than hinted at his intentions last month. After excitedly noting the big opportunity it was for a...
Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon wins Ted Lindsay Award for 1st time
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was the big winner at Thursday’s NHL awards show, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as decided by the NHL Players Association. MacKinnon, who helped lead the Avalanche to the...
Oilers, GM Ken Holland part ways after 5 seasons, Stanley Cup Final
EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers said Thursday general manager Ken Holland will not have his contract renewed, calling it a mutual decision between the veteran executive and the NHL club. Holland spent the past five seasons as the Oilers’ GM and built a team that advanced to Game 7...
Oilers coach: Stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl played through injuries in playoffs
EDMONTON, Alberta — Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Wednesday that some of the team’s top stars were playing through injuries during their Stanley Cup playoff run. The Oilers lost 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers on Monday night. “It’s obviously disappointing. It’s...
Hall of Famer Glen Sather retires after 6 decades highlighted by Oilers dynasty
NEW YORK — Hockey Hall of Famer Glen Sather, who built and coached the NHL’s last great dynasty with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s and helped resurrect the New York Rangers in the early 2000s, is retiring after six decades in the sport as a player, coach and executive....
NHL, Fanatics unveil new jerseys for 2024-25 season
Fanatics and the NHL on Wednesday unveiled new on-ice player jerseys for the 2024-25 season, which officials say have been tested and refined well before making their debut in games this fall. It is the first time the company has designed and made in-game uniforms with its own branding for...
First Call: Looming questions about Penguins goalies, Mike Tomlin’s player appeal, Steelers radio play-by-play job
Aside from posting “U mad, bro?” on Thursday morning, “Breakfast With Benz” is taking a quick break for a few days. This will be the final “First Call” for the week. We’ll get back in gear Monday. For Wednesday’s “First Call,” I thought I’d do something different and address a...
The Panthers took a long road to the title. The Stanley Cup proves the path was right
SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk decided to go for a little swim as his offseason was beginning Tuesday morning. The Florida Panthers forward took a few steps off the sand and into the water of Fort Lauderdale Beach, then dove in while hanging onto his new best friend. The Stanley...
No time for a Stanley Cup hangover as the NHL offseason is already here
The Stanley Cup was still on the ice when Patric Hornqvist offered a sobering thought surrounded by former teammates and other family revelers holding cans of beer during the celebration. The newly crowned champion Florida Panthers had work to do already because the offseason already is here for them and...
Paul Maurice, a hockey lifer, now has a Stanley Cup. And it was worth the wait
SUNRISE, Fla. — Paul Maurice was once the last player picked in the NHL draft. An afterthought, almost. He never made it to the league as a player. And there were many times when he wondered if his name would ever be on the Stanley Cup. Wonder no more. It...
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid wins Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in losing cause
SUNRISE, Fla. — Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP on Monday night despite Edmonton’s Stanley Cup Final loss to Florida, a nod to one of the greatest postseason performances in NHL history. McDavid, who was held without a point the final two games of the final,...
Florida Panthers stop Edmonton in Game 7 to win Stanley Cup
SUNRISE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov put his hands at either end of the Stanley Cup and began skating away to start the celebration that the Florida Panthers have wanted forever. And as he began to hoist hockey’s chalice for the first time, he had one thought. “It’s heavy,” he said....
Tij Iginla embraces family name, eager to follow his dad’s footsteps entering NHL Draft
Tij Iginla doesn’t shy away from his famous last name, instead embracing the expectations that come with being the son of a Hockey Hall of Famer. The 17-year-old is so comfortable being former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jarome Iginla’s son, he welcomes the possibility of following his father’s footsteps should he...
For Panthers, Game 7 of Stanley Cup Final will bring immortality or ignominy
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It’s very simple for the Florida Panthers now: Win Monday, and you’re Stanley Cup champions. Lose Monday, and you’re the first team since World War II that blew a 3-0 lead in hockey’s title series. Either way, the outcome will last forever. “It’s probably the biggest...
Connor McDavid, Oilers can make history in Stanley Cup Final Game 7 vs. Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. — Connor McDavid admired and looked up to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby as the kind of player he wanted to become one day. But when McDavid was pretending as a kid to score the goal to win the Stanley Cup, he always imagined himself being in that...
Top Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov could join team soon after release from KHL team
Matvei Michkov is being released by his club in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, the first step toward the Philadelphia Flyers’ top prospect joining them in the NHL next season, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday...
Basketball ties aside, top prospect Macklin Celebrini focused on hockey as NHL Draft nears
Having a father working for the Golden State Warriors and former NBA star Steve Nash for an uncle, college hockey player of the year and the presumptive No. 1 NHL draft pick Macklin Celebrini, likes to think he’s got game. “I think it’s pretty good,” Celebrini said, referring to his...
