Flames winger Martin Pospisil said last week that he’d be representing Slovakia in this month’s Olympic qualifying tournament, but that may no longer be the case. Pospisil recently told Slovak outlet Dennik Sport that he’s reconsidering his decision after the country’s hockey governing body invited Slovak players from Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League to suit up for the tournament.
“I was surprised by the news, we’ll see how it all develops,” Pospisil said. “It’s hard for me to comment on that, because I found out everything just a while ago. I have to process that information first… It is still an honor for me to wear the national jersey. Sometimes, however, one has to put sports aside, but it’s hard for me to talk about it now. I will decide in the next few days.”
His potential departure from the national squad would be a large blow, as he was one of the few NHL-contracted players who were willing to participate for their respective countries during what’s otherwise the final ramp-up period to training camps. Pospisil finished third on the Slovak team in scoring at the World Championship earlier this year with seven points in seven games, his first appearance for the senior national team. The Slovak roster will still have a decent amount of big-name talent at the tournament and is a favorite to land one of the three spots remaining in men’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics, namely Devils Simon Nemec and Tomas Tatar and Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary.
More from around the league today:
- Flyers defense prospect Austin Moline announced his commitment to Colorado College today, per an announcement from his junior team, the USHL’s Madison Capitols. Moline, 18, was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft out of Shattuck St. Mary’s, where he had 41 points (11 goals, 30 assists) in 71 games for the prep school. The Las Vegas native already has immense size at 6’5″ and 201 lbs, which will be one of the biggest factors in getting him to the NHL someday. He’ll make the jump to Madison this season before heading off to Colorado Springs for his freshman year in 2025-26.
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Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot is reportedly healing well from off-season wrist surgery (as per Steve Warne of The Hockey News). Warne spoke with Senators forward Drake Batherson earlier this week who told Warne that Chabot has been skating nearly every day and looked great when he saw him. Chabot missed 31 games last season and saw his name become a constant in trade rumors, but with Jakob Chychrun’s departure, the Senators need a big season from the 27-year-old. Chabot has four years left on his eight-year $64MM deal and had nine goals and 21 assists in 51 games last season.