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Atlantic Notes: Peterka, Kostadinski, McCue

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The NHL has ramped up its visits overseas coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, they often make an effort to reunite foreign-born NHLers with their home countries and, even in some cases, their former teams.

That’ll be the case for emerging Sabres winger John-Jason Peterka, who spoke to NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika about getting the chance to suit up in his native Germany and play a preseason game against EHC Munich of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, where he played in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

“I was always there with my parents cheering for the team,” Peterka told Cotsonika. “We were in the stands all the time. It was so special for me to play for Munich because I’m from there [and grew] up there. Yeah, having the chance now to go back there, play against them, play in front of all the fans again, yeah, it’s going to be really special.”

After their exhibition game in Munich, the Sabres will open the regular season with a back-to-back against the Devils in Prague, Czechia. It’s the start of a crucial campaign for Peterka, who’s entering the final season of his entry-level contract after scoring a career-high 28 goals and 50 points last season.

Other items of note from around the Atlantic:

  • Bruins defense prospect Kristian Kostadinski has committed to Boston College, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com. Boston drafted the 6’6″, 220-lb stay-at-home defender in the seventh round of the 2023 draft. The Gothenburg, Sweden native spent last season at home with Frölunda HC’s U20 club and will touch down in the North American juniors circuit this season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. The 19-year-old will head to BC for his freshman campaign in 2025-26.
  • Maple Leafs seventh-rounder Sam McCue has a real chance to outperform his draft slot, opines Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff for The Leafs Nation. McCue, 19 next month, was taken 216th overall a few months ago after posting 37 points in 68 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes and Owen Sound Attack last year. But despite those conservative point totals, Ellis believes McCue has NHL upside in his game as a “high-motor winger.”

Atlantic Notes: Swayman, Stützle, LeBreton Flats, Leenders

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Speculation floating around that Bruins RFA netminder Jeremy Swayman wants a $10MM average annual value on his next deal is likely unfounded, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said on SN960 The FAN’s Big Show on Wednesday.

Swayman’s camp is holding out for an AAV in the $8.5MM range on a long-term deal, while the Bruins are holding firm just north of $6MM per season, per Seravalli. He adds there hasn’t been much progress toward a resolution since those numbers were first exchanged earlier this summer.

“I think that’s a pretty sizeable gap that hasn’t been bridged yet and with the trade of Linus Ullmark, it’s obvious that Swayman is such a big part of what the Bruins’ future looks like and the stability of their core because the goaltending has been the backbone of that team,” Seravalli said. “But if you have a philosophical difference on what you think your goaltender should make, and if you thought that with the numbers he’s posted that he was going to be in that range, I can understand why there’s been a disconnect there.”

Swayman, 26 in November, posted a .916 SV%, 2.53 GAA, and three shutouts with a 25-10-8 record last season in 44 appearances (43 starts).

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

  • Senators star center Tim Stützle has changed agents, per PuckPedia. After signing his eight-year, $66.8MM extension in 2022 under Octagon’s Ben Hankinson, he’ll now be represented by longtime NHLer Claude Lemieux of 4sports Hockey. He becomes Lemieux’s second client on the Sens, joining goaltender Mads Søgaard. Lemieux’s notable body of work includes Timo Meier’s eight-year, $70.4MM deal with the Devils, Hampus Lindholm’s eight-year, $52MM deal in Boston, and Joel Eriksson Ek’s eight-year, $42MM deal with the Wild.
  • Still with Ottawa, the franchise is still in negotiations with the National Capital Commission on a memorandum of understanding regarding their plan to build a new arena in the LeBreton Flats neighborhood downtown, team president Cyril Leeder said (via Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet). They’ve got less than a month to complete them with their temporary agreement with the city expiring on Sep. 20. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun said in April that public parking was the largest concern with the current plan.
  • Sabres goaltending prospect Ryerson Leenders will have a new home for junior hockey this season. The Ontario Hockey League’s Brantford Bulldogs acquired him from the Brampton Steelheads today for a whopping eight draft picks, per a team announcement. Buffalo selected Leenders, 18, with the 219th overall pick in this summer’s draft. He had a .909 SV% in 46 games for the Steelheads last season, the best in the league.

Snapshots: Tuch, Jones, Lehkonen

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Both Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News expect Sabres winger Alex Tuch to sign a contract extension immediately upon becoming eligible to do so on July 1, 2025, they said in their latest mailbag. Tuch, a New York native, is entering the final two seasons of a seven-year, $33.25MM extension he signed while with the Golden Knights back in 2018.

“For all of [general manager Kevyn] Adams’ talk about looking for players who want to be Sabres, there is no one who wants to be here more than No. 89,” Harrington wrote. “What kind of message would it send if they don’t go long-term with him? While I expect Rasmus Dahlin to be named the captain at some point, make no mistake that Tuch might be the foremost leader in the dressing room now that Kyle Okposo is gone.”

Tuch, 28, was a first-round pick of the Wild in 2014 but was traded to Vegas for expansion draft considerations in 2017. He developed into a top-nine fixture in Nevada before being included as one of the core pieces in the trade that sent former Buffalo captain Jack Eichel to the Knights in 2021. Since then, he’s been a staple on the Sabres’ top line alongside Tage Thompson. He’s recorded 70 goals, 106 assists and 176 points in 199 games in a Buffalo sweater.

After routinely averaging over 19 minutes per game and recording over a point per game, Tuch will be in line for a significant raise on his $4.75MM cap hit. A long-term deal could easily cost north of $8MM per season for his 0.88 points per game average since arriving in Buffalo.

Here’s more from around the NHL:

  • Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette praised young defenseman Zachary Jones in a profile for NHL.com’s Dan Rosen last week, suggesting the 23-year-old is set for a regular third-pairing role in the Big Apple to begin the season. “Jones got better every single time he played for us,” Laviolette said. “He had to bring that out in himself every time we called his number, and it wasn’t on a consistent basis. When he got the opportunity, he was fantastic.” Jones, a Rangers third-rounder in 2019, has appeared in NHL games in each of the last four years but has been used sparingly, only appearing a career-high 31 times last season.
  • Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen appears to be recovering well from offseason shoulder surgery, per Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. Head coach Jared Bednar said last week that he wasn’t sure if the top-six fixture would be medically cleared for the beginning of the regular season, but video captured by Rawal the past few days shows “encouraging signs that he’ll be good to go when the Avalanche open their season.” However, it’s certain that he won’t be a full participant when training camp opens in a few weeks.

Filip Zadina Linked To Sabres, In Talks With Other Teams

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9:45 a.m.: There are as many as three clubs in discussions for Zadina’s services, Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports.

8:34 a.m.: It appears the Buffalo deal may be a fallback option for Zadina. His agent, Darren Ferris, tells Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that he’s “in the process of completing a contract for Zadina with another team.”

8:24 a.m.: Right-winger Filip Zadina is expected to attend training camp with the Sabres on a professional tryout agreement, reports Pavel Barta of Deník Sport.

Zadina, 25 in November, has never made the impact most expected when the Red Wings selected him sixth overall in the 2018 draft. Until 2023, Zadina had mediocre results in a bottom-six role with Detroit, consistently shooting well below 10% and posting average possession metrics. Over those five seasons, he made 190 appearances for Detroit with 68 points, 0.36 per game. His -51 rating, 7.4% shooting rate and 0.62 hits per game were nothing to write home about, although he did manage to keep his head above water defensively with a 0.2 relative CF% at even strength.

After being released by the Red Wings last summer via a mutual contract termination, walking away from over $4.5MM in salary, he landed a one-year, $1.1MM deal with the Sharks. Nothing changed for the Czech winger in San Jose, though. Without much of a supporting cast, he did manage to score a career-high 13 goals in 72 games, but his 23 points fell one short of his best mark with Detroit, and his -44 rating was the worst of his career while averaging a conservative 13:20 per game. Most blame can be placed on the team’s porous defense and inconsistent goaltending, but Zadina’s 43.3 CF% and 39.0 xGF% at even strength was below the team average.

As such, the Sharks opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his deal expired this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent for the second year. Still, without a contract, Zadina isn’t giving up on an NHL dream, fishing for PTO offers rather than heading to Europe.

For the Sabres, it’s a sensible low-risk option for some depth scoring with professional experience. He has strong numbers in the minors, last posting 16 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in 2019-20. He also had a strong showing with Czechia’s HC Oceláři Třinec in 2020-21 while on loan during the pandemic, scoring eight goals and 14 points in 17 games. His shooting percentage continuously drying up upon reaching the NHL remains an enigma.

If Zadina lands a deal out of camp, it’ll likely be a two-way pact. After the Sabres reshaped their forward corps this summer with a specific eye on filling out their bottom six, there isn’t a clear roster spot for him if he signs. He’ll likely land on waivers and begin the season with their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. There, he’ll play alongside Buffalo’s crop of next-wave players and compete for call-ups with other depth wingers like Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen and Lukáš Rousek.

Buffalo's Non-Standard Development Strategy For Levi

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  • Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News examines how the Sabres aren’t taking the normal development path when it comes to goaltender Devon Levi. Generally speaking, netminders are developed at a more gradual pace with many seeing 100 or more AHL appearances before becoming a full-time NHLer.  However, Buffalo tried to bring Levi directly to the NHL from college before opting for a brief stint with AHL Rochester partway through last season.  Even after adding James Reimer in free agency, it appears that Levi is expected to be Buffalo’s second goalie behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, meaning they will be attempting the rarer development path for him once again.

East Notes: Suzuki, Falk, Pulkkinen

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The Canadiens essentially picked up two new top-six forwards, which should give them the offense they need to challenge for a playoff spot this season, captain Nick Suzuki told Arpon Basu of The Athletic.

“I think we can beat anybody,” Suzuki said. “I thought last year we competed against really good teams all the time. We’re still a young group, but with the addition of (Patrik Laine), and (Kirby Dach) coming back up front, it makes our forward unit look pretty scary.”

Montreal’s offense is largely headed in the right direction, especially with the emergence of 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky as a legitimate top-six option. But last year, especially with Dach sustaining a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the campaign, their top unit of Slafkovsky, Suzuki and Cole Caufield was their only true impact line. As Basu points out, a more legitimate secondary attack spearheaded by Dach and Laine should force defending teams to spread their matchups, alleviating some defensive pressure against the Suzuki line.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Former Sabres depth defenseman Justin Falk has returned to the team as a scout, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Falk, 35, retired after splitting the 2019 season between the Avalanche and Senators organizations and has spent the last three years as the general manager and head coach of Manitoba’s Winkler Flyers, a Junior ’A’ club. He spent two years as a Sabre, posting a goal and nine assists with a -19 rating in 98 games in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns. He made 279 NHL appearances over a 10-year career, also suiting up for the Avs, Blue Jackets, Rangers, and Wild.
  • Defenseman Jesse Pulkkinen became the first member of the Islanders’ 2024 draft class to put pen to paper on his entry-level contract last month, but his on-ice debut with the team may have to wait. The 19-year-old has sustained a lower-body injury that may prevent him from participating in training camp, as relayed by Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. The overage 6’6″, 220-lb blue liner was the No. 54 overall selection earlier this summer and will be loaned back to his Finnish club, JYP, in the fall.

Morning Notes: Maple Leafs, Andersson, Sabres

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Unlike other teams that have recently claimed their offseason checklists are complete, the Maple Leafs are still open for business, general manager Brad Treliving said on TSN 1050 last week. “To me, we’ve still got five weeks or so till camp,” Treliving said. “And, you know, we’re not set yet. We continue to look at ways to make our team better.”

It’s more like four weeks now, but Treliving’s right in that there are still multiple minor moves Toronto intends to make before veterans roll in for training camp. Chief among them is likely finding a home for disgruntled winger Nicholas Robertson, who remains an unsigned RFA after reportedly requesting a trade in June. The 2019 second-round pick finally broke into an everyday role with the Leafs last season after a few years of being relegated to minor-league roles, producing well in a depth role with 14 goals and 27 points in 56 games. That was good enough for 39 points over a full 82-game sample, but his ice time remained limited at 11:23 per game. Going pointless and averaging less than 10 minutes per game in six playoff contests against the Bruins didn’t boost his stock.

That means there’s still an unknown ripple effect on the Leafs’ forward depth. They’ll undoubtedly replace Robertson’s role one way or another, either by recouping a similar player in a swap or making a UFA signing to avoid putting too much pressure on rookies Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten to crack the opening night roster. Doing so would be a tricky fit with the salary cap if injured defenseman Jani Hakanpaa ever puts pen to paper on his reported two-year, $3MM deal, though. As things stand, they only have $1.275MM in space with a roster size of 21, per PuckPedia, which is not enough to be cap-compliant with Hakanpaa on the roster to start the season.

More from around the league:

  • The Flames have been on a major selling spree for the past year, shedding a multitude of veterans as part of a significant roster overhaul. Top-four staple Rasmus Andersson was among the players Calgary was getting calls on before last year’s trade deadline, but they ultimately opted to keep the 27-year-old while trading away Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev instead. Nothing’s really changed on that front this summer, The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie said in a recent mailbag. Andersson isn’t off the trade block entirely, but it’ll take an overwhelmingly valued offer to pry him out of Alberta. He still has two years left on his deal at $4.55MM against the cap and has a six-team no-trade list.
  • Even with the Sabres entering training camp with Bowen Byram in tow for the first time, expect head coach Lindy Ruff to deploy Mattias Samuelsson on the team’s top pairing alongside Rasmus Dahlin to begin the season, writes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. It’s a pairing that previous bench boss Don Granato used with aplomb when Samuelsson was in the lineup, but the promising stay-at-home defender has missed significant chunks of the past two seasons with injuries. With Byram then expected to slot in alongside Owen Power on their second pairing, the Sabres may be the only team in the league without a right-shot defenseman in their top four.

Summer Synopsis: Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres haven’t played in a playoff game in more than a decade even though they have drafted in the top 10 on almost an annual basis. Despite the Sabres being a mess for much of this time, there have been a few instances where it seems like the team is ready to turn the corner and get back into the postseason. Last year it felt like the team would remain in contention for a wild card spot but once again they exited the playoff picture early. This year it is hard to gauge whether or not Buffalo will be in the mix as an uneven summer has left some fans scratching their heads and wondering when this team will once again be a contender in the Eastern Conference.

Draft

1-14: C Konsta Helenius, Jukurit (Liiga)
2-42: D Adam Kleber,  Lincoln (USHL)
3-71: F Brodie Ziemer, USNTDP
4-108: D Luke Osburn, Youngstown (USHL)
4-123: D Simon-Pier Brunet, Drummondville (QMJHL)
6-172: D Patrick Geary, Michigan State University (NCAA)
7-204: F Vasili Zelenov, RB Hockey Juniors
7-219: G Ryerson Leenders, Mississauga (OHL)

The Sabres don’t have a ton of recent experience drafting outside of the top 10 but this year they picked Helenius with the 14th overall pick. The youngster from Ylojarvi, Finland played at home last season in the top league and registered a respectable 14 goals and 22 assists in 51 regular season games which isn’t far off of the 48 points Aleksander Barkov’s scored in the league as an under-18-year-old. Helenius plays a high-energy game and plays much bigger than his size, he is a good forechecker and is responsible defensively. Helenius does everything pretty well and should be a good two-way player in the NHL.

Buffalo selected Kleber in the second round after he helped Team USA earn bronze at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer. The massive 6’6” defenseman is committed to playing next season at the University of Minnesota Duluth and should continue to develop into a strong defensive defenseman. Kleber isn’t the prettiest skater, but he gets around the ice well for a big man which allows him to cover a lot of ground in the defensive zone. His offensive instincts aren’t strong, nor is his ability with the puck but he does offer a solid breakout pass which should aid him in his defensive work.

The Sabres used their third-round pick to draft another undersized forward in Ziemer who had a solid season with the U.S. National Team Development Program tallying 27 goals and 43 assists in 61 games which was good enough for fourth on the team in points. Ziemer has a good shot and is good in tight spaces around the net, his offensive instincts allow him to find soft areas on the ice to capitalize on breakdowns in coverage.

Trade Acquisitions

F Ryan McLeod (Edmonton)
F Tyler Tullio (Edmonton)

Buffalo traded Matthew Savoie to the Edmonton Oilers for McLeod and Tullio in what many analysts felt was a sell-low move by the Sabres. Savoie was drafted ninth overall by the Sabres in the 2022 NHL entry draft and many believed he would be a huge part of their core moving forward. But with the trade to Edmonton, all of Savoie’s upside goes out the door and Buffalo makes the move for the player who is a safer bet but has a much lower upside.

McLeod is a proven NHL player, and at just 24 years old he has improved in every NHL season. Last year he tallied 12 goals and 18 assists in 81 regular season games but had just four goals in 24 playoff games. McLeod has some upside of his own and is a bit of an analytics darling, but if his finishing abilities remain the same, Buffalo could end up coming out on the bad end of the trade.

UFA Signings

F Nicolas Aube-Kubel (one-year, $1.5MM)
F Josh Dunne (two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Dennis Gilbert (one-year, $825K)
F Mason Jobst (one-year, $775K)*
F Sam Lafferty (two-year, $4MM)
F Brett Murray (one-year, $775K)*
D Jack Rathbone (one-year, $775K)*
G James Reimer (one-year, $1MM)
D Colton Poolman (one-year, $775K)*
G Felix Sandstrom (one-year, $775K)*
F Jason Zucker (one-year, $5MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

The Sabres bought out Jeff Skinner this summer and opened up a significant amount of cap space which excited Sabres fans that the team would make some big moves to try and get back into the playoff picture. Ultimately the team whiffed in free agency and settled into a series of underwhelming signings that appeared more like panic moves than pieces of a plan falling into place.

Zucker is a solid NHL veteran who has been a 20-goal scorer in the NHL on multiple occasions. However, the fact that he was the Sabres big splash certainly alarmed some fans. Zucker can still play but is overpaid at this stage of his career and isn’t much of a playdriver. Zucker has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career but could provide the Sabres with solid veteran minutes if he can remain in the lineup.

Lafferty is another former Pittsburgh Penguin who is a solid depth forward. He finally had a breakthrough in recent seasons and was terrific last year for the Vancouver Canucks posting a career-high 13 goals and 11 assists in 79 games. While Lafferty has firmly established himself as a regular NHLer, he isn’t going to move the needle offensively or offer a significant improvement on some of the Sabres departures from last season.

Aube-Kubel is another fourth liner that the Sabres brought in to try and improve their bottom six. The 28-year-old has been a solid pro for several years but is a few seasons removed from being a good fourth-line scoring option and a $1.5MM AAV feels like an overpay given the players that remain on the free agent market who are still looking for work and are likely to sign for league minimum.

RFA Re-Signings

D Jacob Bryson (one-year, $900K)
D Kale Clague (one-year $775K)*
D Henri Jokiharju (one-year, $3.1MM)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (five-year, $23.75MM)
F Beck Malenstyn (two-year, $2.7MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

Buffalo’s big RFA signing was locking up netminder Luukkonen to a five-year deal. UKL could be poised for a breakout season and the Sabres opted to lock him up and avoid having to dish out a more significant extension in the near future. The 25-year-old’s new deal does come with a significant amount of risk though as last year was his first season as a starter and his sample size beyond that isn’t overly big.

Buffalo also acquired Malenstyn in a trade with the Washington Capitals that was received with lukewarm reviews at best. Malenstyn then signed a two-year extension with the Sabres and will most likely be counted on to play fourth-line minutes. He plays an honest game, gets around the ice well and should open up room for his teammates but given what the Sabres gave up getting him, they better hope that the 26-year-old has more to his game than what he showed in Washington.

Departures

F Brandon Biro (Seattle, one-year, $775K)*
D Joseph Cecconi (Minnesota, one-year, $775K)*
G Eric Comrie (Winnipeg, one-year, $825K)
D Jeremy Davies (Ottawa, one-year, $775K)*
F Zemgus Girgensons (Tampa Bay, three-year, $2.55MM)
C Tyson Jost (Carolina, one-year, $775K)
F Victor Olofsson (Vegas, one-year, $1.075MM)
F Justin Richards (signed with Düsseldorfer EG of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga)
F Eric Robinson (Carolina, one-year, $950K)
F Matthew Savoie (traded to Edmonton)
D Calle Sjalin (signed with Rögle BK of the SHL)
F Jeff Skinner (Edmonton, one-year, $3MM)
D Riley Stillman (Carolina, one-year, $775K)*
G Dustin Tokarski (unsigned UFA)
F Linus Weissbach (signed in SHL)

* denotes a two-way contract

Buffalo’s biggest departure was Skinner who left the team after a volatile six seasons. Skinner was a 40-goal scorer in Buffalo in his first season but never lived up to expectations after signing his eight-year $72MM extension in June 2019. He did score 30 goals in three of his six seasons in Buffalo, but his shortcomings defensively became too much to ignore, particularly when he went into scoring droughts.

The remaining Sabres departures were of the depth variety, with most of them being players who were playing in the team’s bottom six. Girgensons moved onto Tampa Bay after ten years in Buffalo, and while it is always difficult to see a tenured player leave town, his on-ice production should be easy to replace.

Olofsson is a three-time 20-goal scorer and scored 28 goals just last year but given how little he provides when the puck isn’t going in, Buffalo opted to move on from the player. Olofsson can skate and can create offense with his playmaking as well, but his defensive shortcomings became a problem in Buffalo, and his size created more issues, particularly when contests became physical.

Salary Cap Outlook

Buffalo enters August with just under $8.5MM in projected cap space which is more than enough room to sign their remaining RFA Peyton Krebs. The Sabres are positioned well for the future as most of their core is locked up long-term to reasonable contracts and the cap will be increasing in future seasons. The Skinner buyout will be a burden between 2025-2027, which makes the decision to buy him out this summer all the more puzzling given that they still haven’t utilized that additional cap space to get better.

Key Questions

Can The Scorers Rebound? Almost all of Buffalo’s offensive stars struggled last season, with some of them taking massive dips in production. The hope is that a new coaching staff can spark the offense to get back to their offensive numbers from the 2022-23 season. Buffalo doesn’t have a lot of offensive pieces in their bottom six, which creates additional pressure on the top two lines. Tage Thompson will be counted on to stay healthy and get back to the 40-goal mark as will Dylan Cozens and Alex Tuch who both had 20-point drops last season.

Will Jack Quinn Stay Healthy? Quinn has dealt with a series of injuries in his first two seasons as an NHLer, and while the former eighth-overall pick has been productive when healthy, he still needs to prove he can play for an entire season. The Cobden, Ontario native is likely to be a fixture in the Sabres top-6 for years to come, but first, he must prove he can be a fixture for an entire season. Quinn had nine goals and 10 assists in 27 games last season which averages out to a 58-point pace over an entire season and demonstrates just how effective Quinn can be offensively when he is healthy. Much of the Sabres playoff hopes will rise and fall on the performance of their top-6 and if Quinn can be a regular contributor, it will be huge for Buffalo.

Can Lindy Ruff Change This Group?  Ruff was hired to bring change into the organization by teaching this group structure and how to be accountable to each other. But the biggest thing the Sabres need Ruff to bring is stability given that Ruff was fired by Buffalo during the 2012-13 season and since then the Sabres have had six head coaches and no playoff appearances. The Sabres need Ruff to find a balance between letting the stars play and also having everyone buy into a system that allows the team to win games and get back to the playoffs. Ruff may or may not be the coach to do that and he likely wasn’t at the top of many wish lists in Buffalo, but he will have the team working hard and playing for each other, which might be just the thing to get the team back into the playoff picture.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: Who Will Be The NHL’s Next Captain?

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August is finally here, marking the time of year when teams reconvene at their home rink and begin hardy planning for the upcoming season. That step will come with extra work for the six teams around the league who don’t currently have a captain.

Many of these teams, including Seattle, Anaheim, and Utah, have gone years without a captain – instead opting to disseminate responsibilities among multiple assistant captains. All three teams are amidst staunch rebuilds – with Utah even mapping out relocation – and are likely waiting for their top prospects to take a few more steps before earning the role. The trio of Matthew Beniers, Leo Carlsson, and Logan Cooley seem prime for that ascension with their respective teams, though they each have multiple challengers lining up behind them. The Buffalo Sabres are in a similar grouping, as they transition from a veteran-laden lineup to one of the league’s youngest rosters.

The Chicago Blackhawks also fall into the aforementioned discussion – not carrying a captain since legendary centerman Jonathan Toews ended his career in 2022. Toews leaves massive shoes as Chicago’s leader, after co-heading three Stanley Cup wins alongside winger Patrick Kane. Naming a successor will formally carry Chicago into a new era – one without many of the faces that came to define Chicago hockey in the 2010s. Teenage phenom Connor Bedard seems like a great option to lead that transition, after netting 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games last season – the most of any rookie Blackhawk since Artemi Panarin in 2016, and Kane before him. But Bedard is still young and was limited to a partial season last year by a jaw injury. Those factors could hold him back from Chicago’s prestigious ’C’. If that is the case, it doesn’t seem any of the team’s veteran leaders, including Nick Foligno and Seth Jones, would inspire Chicago to name a captain too early.

And while Chicago’s next captain will lead the team through new scenery, it’s the Tampa Bay vacancy that headlines the off-season. The Lightning now sit without a captain for the first time since 2002, after franchise icon Steven Stamkos chose to sign with the Nashville Predators in his first trip to unrestricted free agency. Stamkos wore the ’C’ for the last 10 years and established himself as a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in that span, leading Tampa Bay to two Stanley Cups and setting the franchise’s all-time records in both goals and points scored. Like in Chicago, the Lightning will be entering a new era with their next captain – though they’re much more prepared for the vacancy than their counterparts. While forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point could both serve as strong replacements, it’s defenseman Victor Hedman that offers the same rugged veteran leadership brought by Stamkos. Hedman recently signed a four-year extension in Tampa, taking him through his age-37 season and, potentially, the end of his career. He’s already appeared in 1,052 games with Tampa Bay – the most of any Lightning other than Stamkos – and holds the franchise records in all three scoring stats, among defenders. Transitioning from Stamkos to Hedman should prove more of a light handoff than a total change in power, which could be enough to sway a Lightning franchise that hasn’t gone longer than one year without a captain since naming Paul Ysebaert as their inaugural ’C’.

Mapping out when captain announcements will come is often a fool’s bet, but the candidates to earn the NHL’s next ’C’ seem to be becoming clearer. Who will it be? Will Tampa jump to another veteran, will Chicago move into their next step, or will an oft-captain-less team commit to their young guard? Let us know by voting in the poll below and discussing in the comments.

Who Will Be The NHL's Next Captain?
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay 70.38% (625 votes)
Connor Bedard, Chicago 20.95% (186 votes)
Matthew Beniers, Seattle 5.07% (45 votes)
Leo Carlsson, Anaheim 3.60% (32 votes)
Total Votes: 888

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Sabres Likely To Keep Konsta Helenius In North America This Season

at CDT | by 1 Comment

After going 14th overall in this summer’s draft and subsequently signing his entry-level contract, it appears Sabres prospect Konsta Helenius’ time in his native Finland is over for the foreseeable future. Liiga club Tappara, which owns his rights, said Monday that Helenius is “looking for a place to play in the Sabres organization” this season and is unlikely to return to the club (X link).

Helenius, 18, said shortly before the draft that he wanted to move to the NHL as quickly as possible. After Buffalo signed him to his ELC early last month, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported the Sabres’ preference was to have him spend 2024-25 with AHL Rochester.

There’s a clear desire from both sides to have him suit up in North America immediately, and he’s eligible for full-time AHL assignment at such a young age as a first-round pick coming out of a European league. Because he was a first-rounder, he doesn’t need to be offered back to his Liiga team first before being assigned to the minors.

Helenius is in the unique position of already having two full professional seasons under his belt on draft day. Tappara loaned Helenius out to another Liiga club, Jukurit, for most of 2022-23 and all of 2023-24. There, he had 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) in 84 games, including 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 51 games last season. Each year, he led Liiga under-18 players in scoring.

Even if he’s playing primarily in the AHL this season, Helenius’ entry-level contract could still slide to 2025-26 if he plays fewer than 10 NHL games. After consistently averaging top-six minutes in a top-flight European professional league last season, it’s hard to imagine him having too many adjustment pains, regardless of whether his opening night is spent in Buffalo or Rochester.

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