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Denton Mateychuk, Four Others Injured To Start Blue Jackets Training Camp

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have plans to ease top defense prospect Denton Mateychuk up to speed at the start of training camp as he recovers from a groin injury, per general manager Don Waddell in a recent conversation with Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Portzline added that forwards Jordan Dumais (lower-body) and Max McCue (undisclosed) will both be day-to-day with injury, forward Owen Sillinger (knee) will be held out of contact all camp, and defenseman Luca Marrelli (shoulder) will be out until December. All five players are listed on Columbus’ training camp roster.

This news will make Mateychuk worth that much more attention at this year’s camp. He was generally injury-free during his first pro season, which spanned 27 AHL games and 45 NHL games last season. Mateychuk posted four goals and 13 points in a Blue Jackets jersey, along with 25 points in the minor-leagues. It was an incredibly productive year for the 2022 12th-overall selection, and one that sets him up well to break into the NHL full-time this season. Mateychuk will boast clear top-four upside when he lands with the Blue Jackets, after averaging 18 minutes of ice time last season. He should be a strong option to play behind top defender Zach Werenski, and next to shutdown defender Ivan Provorov.

Columbus’ remaining injuries will help shape the minor-league roster to start the year. Sillinger held a prominent role in the AHL and seems near the top of Columbus’ call-up sheet entering the new year, though he’ll need to fully recover from a late-season injury before he can prove his NHL worthiness. Marrelli and Dumais have each signed their entry-level contracts, though only Marrelli will be eligible to return to the CHL. That will be his likeliest outcome, while Dumais will look to fully stride into the pro ranks after netting 11 points in 21 AHL games last season. Dumais should sit atop the AHL lineup next season, while McCue – another first-year pro who recorded eight points and 122 penalty minutes in 46 AHL games last season – will sit near the bottom of the lineup.

Canadiens Discussing Extension For Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton

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The Montreal Canadiens are working on contract extensions for general manager Kent Hughes and executive vice president Jeff Gorton, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Gorton’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, while Hughes is signed through the 2026-27 season, per reports from Sportsnet.

The duo has led Montreal down the course of a rapid rebuild, from the point of three last-place finishes in the Atlantic Division to a surprise playoff bid at the end of last season. That surge has been entirely driven by the additions Hughes has made to the Canadiens lineup. Emerging star defenseman Lane Hutson and 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky – both brought in by Hughes – ranked third and fourth on the team in scoring last season. Hutson even earned the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, after becoming just the second rookie defender to ever reach 60 assists. One of the two players to outscore the young stars was top winger Cole Caufield, who Hughes inked to a lucrative eight-year, $62.8MM contract extension in the summer of 2023.

Solidifying the core pieces of a lineup capable of a playoff push would be enough to earn any rookie GM a new deal. But it’s Hughes’ brazen confidence in making moves that’s truly stood apart from the rest. He continued to make notable additions throughout this summer, on the heels of a big year. Hughes acquired top defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in June, and acquired former first-round pick Zachary Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues on the heels of a 19-goal season. Both additions could have major ramifications on the Canadiens’ lineup next season. Dobson – who posted 70 points in the 2023-24 season – should find a comfortable role at the top of Montreal’s depth chart; while Bolduc will offer a reliable goal-scoring punch from the third-line.

Hughes’ sheer confidence is most readily apparent in the draft. He’s already landed a draft-day steal for the ages in the young Hutson, who fell to 62nd-overall in 2022 despite being lauded as a first-round talent to many public scouts. Hughes also drafted highly-acclaimed goalie prospect Jacob Fowler, NHL legacy centerman Aatos Koivu, and highly-skilled but undersized dynamo L.J. Mooney in the middle-rounds of the last three drafts. He also landed superstar Russian scorer Ivan Demidov with the fifth-overall pick in 2024. Many fans have already questioned how Demidov slipped to the end of the top-five, and he’ll be a front-runner for the Calder Trophy this season, after posting 49 points in 65 KHL games last summer.

No matter how the 2025-26 season goes, it seems hard to deny that Montreal is headed for a bright future. The Canadiens’ roster is expected to enter the season with the youngest average age in the league after having the second-youngest team last year. Despite that, they’ll be popular underdog candidates to break into the postseason once again next summer. A big year out of Hutson, Demidov, and even AHL starter Fowler could go far in showing Hughes what pieces he’ll be working with throughout the next decade. Then, a hardy extension from the Montreal ownership will ensure he stays connected to what he’s built. So long as they stay at the helm, Hughes and Gorton will face the difficult task of extending Hutson, Kirby Dach, and Patrik Laine among others next summer.

Hall Of Fame Goaltender Ed Giacomin Passes Away At 86

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Legendary New York Rangers goaltender Ed Giacomin has passed away at the age of 86. He blazed through a highly-successful NHL career from 1965 to 1978, split between 10 years with the Rangers and three years with the Detroit Red Wings. Giacomin was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1987. The Rangers’ retired his jersey number, No. 1, two years later.

Giacomin began his professional career in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) in 1959, and more formally in the early days of the AHL in 1960. He earned the Providence Reds’ starting role in his very first season, and quickly took on a full workload – up to 69 games in the 1963-64 season. After four years of successful play in the minors, Giacomin joined the New York Rangers for the 1965-66 season, and became an NHL standout nearly right away.

He posted an 8-19-7 record and .883 save percentage in his NHL rookie season – his only negative record in a Rangers jersey. New York offered him a brief stint as the starter from November to January of his first year, a role that Giacomin would take over fully in the 1966-67 campaign. He led the league with 68 starts that season, and earned an All-Star bid on the back of a 30-27-11 record and .917 save percentage. Those marks, complimented by an incredible nine shutouts, earned Giacomin a second-place finish in Hart Memorial Trophy voting in 1967. He was only beat out by Stan Mikita, but still became the first goalie to rank in the top-three of Hart voting since Terry Sawchuk finished third in 1963, and Jacques Plante won the award in 1962.

A near-MVP finish cemented Giacomin as a pillar of the Rangers lineup. He rivaled 70 games a season through 1970. He posted wins in at least half of his games and a save percentage north of .910 in every year. Those numbers held high even as his starts began to dwindle entering his 30s. Giacomin posted a 27-10-7 record, .922 save percentage, and eight shutouts in the 1970-71 season – enough to win the Vezina Trophy alongside batterymate Gilles Villemure. His role would continue to dwindle through 1975.

New York opted to place him on waivers ahead of the 1975-76 season. The Red Wings, looking for a backup to fellow Hall Of Fame goaltender Jim Rutherford, placed a claim. With that, Giacomin wrapped up his career with three seasons in a menial role in Detroit.

Giacomin retired in 1978. He concluded with a 290-209-96 record and .902 save percentage through 610 games, and 13 seasons, in the NHL. Despite multiple years of Hart Trophy votes, and five years of All-Star bids, Giacomin’s Vezina win marked the only hardware of his career. He did, however, leave behind a lasting legacy on the scoresheet – boasting the second-most shutouts (54) and third-most wins (290) of any goalie between 1960 and 1980. His only rivals in the  record books were Tony Esposito and Bernie Parent. Chants of “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie” rang loud through the early days of hockey at Madison Square Garden. His brazen athleticism and steady focus were the calling cards of a career later enshrined by the NHL.

Giacomin continued to fill roles in the hockey world after retirement. He served as the New York Islanders’ broadcaster for the 1978-79 season, and spent multiple years as an assistant coach and goalie coach for both the Rangers and Red Wings. He was only the second player to have his number retired by the Rangers.

Evening Notes: Evangelista, Canadiens Rookies, Cootes

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Negotiations between winger Luke Evangelista and the Nashville Predators have begun to stall per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, who reports that yearly salary is what’s created the wedge. Evangelista is one of the top unsigned restricted free agents after players like Connor Zary and Marco Rossi both found new deals. The 23-year-old Evangelista posted an impressive 10 goals and 32 points in 68 games last season. It was a suitable encore to the 16 goals and 39 points he posted in 80 games of the 2023-24 season.

A pair of successful scoring seasons would surely make the player’s camp confident in earning a hardy salary. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger recently signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract extension, while New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer recently signed a three-year, $12MM contract. Those could be the boundaries for a short-term, bridge contract for Evangelista, who has certainly proved he can stick in Nashville’s top nine. Should contract talks continue to stall, the Predators could opt for a one-year, sub-$1MM contract and kick negotiations back to next summer.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Montreal Canadiens have assigned a group of rookies back to their respective leagues after rookie camp came to a close. In turn, Montreal assigned defensemen Carlos Handel to the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, Andrew MacNiel to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, and Bryce Pickford to the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Goaltenders Arseny Radkov and Mikus Vecvanags will return to Russia and Latvia, respectively. The team has also returned a handful of rookie camp invites. All of the moves come as expected, though it rings as exciting news for fans of Medicine Hat and Halifax, as their top defenders return for another season.
  • Top Vancouver Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes was absent from the team’s final rookie camp scrimmage on Sunday, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. Drance later added that Cootes was held out for precautionary reasons and will still attend training camp next week. That will keep the reigning 15th overall pick on track to take his first crack at breaking into the NHL. Cootes had a strong season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds last year. He dominated the middle of the ice with quick plays all year long, working up to 63 points and 60 games in total. Cootes seems most likely set for a return to Seattle next season, though a strong training camp could earn him the chance at sticking in the pros for nine games.

Blue Jackets Will Re-Invite A Few Rookies To Training Camp

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The good times will keep on rolling for a select few prospects invited to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ rookie camp. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic relays that the team is planning to invite three to five non-roster, rookie camp invitees back to their training camp when it begins this week. The team’s hockey operations department will make decisions on who those few players will be on the bus ride home from the Buffalo Sabres’ Prospects Challenge.

Columbus’ rookie camp roster contained 10 invitees who weren’t previously drafted by the team. The list is led by high-impact collegiate prospects, including Wisconsin Badgers forward Rylan Mosley and Denver Pioneers defenseman Boston Buckberger. Mosley scored at a point-per-game pace through 37 games last season, while offering the prerequisite two-way, physical play required in a Mike Hastings lineup. Buckberger was equally as impactful for his squad, netting 30 points in 41 games while serving as the downhill punch behind the Pioneers’ star defenders. Both players could reasonably carve out low-grade, pro roles as soon as next season. Columbus also invited Michigan forward Joshua Eernisse, Michigan Tech forward Isaac Gordon, and Union forward Tom Richter, who achieved varying levels of college success last season.

The Blue Jackets also invited former scout’s favorite Pano Fimis, who went unselected through eligibility in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 drafts. Fimis was a focal point of the Erie Otters’ offense over the last two seasons, and managed encouraging results – including 32 goals and 86 points in 68 games this season. But he could never prove dynamic enough away from the puck to wow NHL scouts. His rookie camp showings couldn’t be categorized as disappointing, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Columbus gauge the 21-year-old’s AHL-readiness after scoring 253 points in 245 games and five seasons in the OHL. Fimis was the second-overall pick in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection Draft and is currently committed to attend the University of Notre Dame next season.

Capitals’ Mitch Love Placed On Leave

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The Washington Capitals have announced that assistant coach Mitch Love has been placed on “team-imposed leave” pending the results of an investigation conducted by the NHL. The Capitals added that they would refrain from commenting further on the situation until the league’s investigation is complete.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported that the NHL “began to investigate” the matter earlier in the offseason, “around the time” Love was interviewing with other NHL clubs about available head coaching roles. Love was a reported contender for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coaching job, but the Capitals’ longtime rival ultimately elected to hire Dan Muse from the New York Rangers.

Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post provided additional context on the situation. Citing a person in the league familiar with the matter, Johnson reports that the league’s investigation began during this past summer, “when the NHL received a letter that contained allegations relating to Love’s personal conduct.” She added that both the league and a team that was at the time considering Love for its head coaching vacancy received the letter.

Johnson also reports that the NHL has not shared details on the situation with the Capitals “beyond the existence of the allegations and the subsequent investigation.” Love was also not present for the team’s development camp in July, and Johnson reports that he was instead “engaged in interviews with NHL personnel as part of the investigation.”

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported that the letter that prompted the investigation details “a situation that predates his tenure with the Capitals,” while The Athletic’s Josh Yohe added that “NHL teams were aware of this possibility in April and May,” and that he believes it is a “good reason why” Love was not hired as a head coach anywhere despite being in the mix for so many of the vacancies.

Former NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow Passes Away At Age 72

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Bob Goodenow, the leader of the NHLPA from 1992 to 2005, has passed away at the age of 72, according to an announcement from the players’ union. In their statement, the NHLPA wrote:

Bob was an exceptionally influential leader whose unwavering commitment to the players helped shape the modern era of the NHLPA. He joined the NHLPA in 1990 as Deputy Executive Director and transitioned to Executive Director in 1992, stabilizing the Association during a tumultuous time. Bob quickly put his stamp on the organization by elevating the level of representation provided by the NHLPA’s staff, tirelessly working to educate the players, strengthening the membership and building trust in the office’s work on behalf of the players.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman issued his own statement, offering his condolences and speaking on Goodenow’s legacy within the game:

The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Bob Goodenow, a hockey man to his core who was a captain of the team at Harvard and played professionally in the IHL before serving as a player agent and as Executive Director of the NHL Players’ Association for 14 years.

Bob was a skilled attorney and tenacious advocate for the players he represented as an agent and as the head of the Players’ Association. We send our deepest condolences to his wife, Wendy, their three children, Joe, Katharine and Kerry, and his many friends and admirers throughout hockey.

Goodenow succeeded Alan Eagleson as the head of the NHLPA in 1992 after Eagleson resigned his position. Goodenow instantly made his leadership felt, leading the players on a ten-day strike that resulted in league president John Ziegler being removed from his position by the league’s owners. The NHLPA credits Goodenow with negotiating “landmark gains in salary, free agency, pension, and health benefits,” and for leading the players to ultimately take “control of their name, image and likeness rights.”

He is also credited by the union with helping to establish pioneering programs such as player salary disclosure, the second medical opinion program for players, and the union’s agent certification program. Goodenow is also remembered for greatly modernizing the NHLPA’s operations by, per the union, growing “the NHLPA’s professional staff from only three people to more than 50 employees by the end of his tenure.”

The final stretch of Goodenow’s tenure was marked by the league’s infamous 2004-05 labor dispute, wherein bitter disagreements between the NHL and NHLPA ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season. Goodenow led the NHLPA through that battle, and then ended his tenure with the organization shortly after the new collective bargaining agreement was ratified.

Goodenow had a presence in the game outside of his leadership of the NHLPA – he was a three-year player at Harvard and both captained his team and was named to the All-ECAC second-team in his final year with the program. Goodenow also played two seasons of professional hockey with the Flint Generals of the IHL.

All of us at PHR send our condolences to Goodenow’s family and friends, as well as the NHLPA.

Metro Notes: Sillinger, Foerster, Flyers Rookies, Kolosov

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Columbus Blue Jackets center prospect Owen Sillinger is expected to return from a February knee surgery early into the 2025-26 season, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The Blue Jackets will hold him out of contact throughout the preseason to help ensure that target, general manager Don Waddell told Portzline.

Waddell’s wording suggests that Sillinger will begin ramping up his contact at practice beginning in the regular season. That timeline could make a return in the final week of October, or early November, a feasible target. He is almost certain to start the year on the AHL roster, after potting 11 goals and 29 points in a top-six role with the Cleveland Monsters last summer. That will be no slight to Sillinger though. He has served an important role on the Monsters throughout the last three seasons – and scored 11 goals in each year, despite fewer games every seasons. There will be a spot in the top-six held for Sillinger when he returns, and a hot return could quickly push him up Columbus’ call-up chart. If he gets moved to the NHL, he’ll regroup with younger brother Cole Sillinger, who has filled a role in the Blue Jackets’ top-nine for the last four seasons. Owen made his NHL debut last season, in a game that Cole sat out of due to injury.

Other notes from around the Metropolitan Division:

  • Philadelphia Flyers forward Tyson Foerster is still on pace to be ready for the start of the season, president of hockey operations Keith Jones shared with Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. Foerster sustained an elbow injury that got infected and required surgery while playing for Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championship. He was the second-highest goal-scorer on the Flyers last season, with his 25 goals in 81 games falling one short of Matvei Michkov’s team-leading total. Foerster seems set to return to a top-six role throughout Philadelphia’s 2025-26 season. With this news, the Flyers can rest assured that he’s tracking to begin making that impact right out of the gates.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers are confident that rookies Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and Jett Luchanko will be ready for the start of training camp despite summer injuries, per Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Spiegel points out that Luchanko faced a groin injury, Barkey faced a high ankle sprain, and Bonk faced bumps and bruises after a long 2024-25 season. All three players could have shots at making the 2025-26 roster. Luchanko made the Flyers out of training camp last season before returning to the OHL, while Barkey and Bonk went on runs to a Memorial Cup championship with the London Knights last season.
  • During his press conference, “Jonesy” also shared that the Flyers are confident they’ll have goaltender Aleksei Kolosov at training camp this year, again captured by O’Connor. Kolosov spent the 2024-25 season split between the NHL and AHL rosters, after playing through his fourth and final season in the KHL in the year prior. Kolosov posted an .867 save percentage in 17 NHL games, and an .884 in 12 AHL games. He posted five wins in both leagues. It seems he’d be a reasonable bet to start the season as the AHL starter, though O’Connor points out that there’s no telling where his camp performance could land him. He’ll likely be competing with Samuel Ersson and Daniel Vladař for NHL minutes.

Blues’ Zach Dean Enters NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program

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St. Louis Blues prospect Zach Dean has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player’s Assistance Program and will be out indefinitely, per a release from the NHL Public Relations department. The announcement mentions that Dean will not be eligible to return to the ice until he is fully cleared by program administrators. This will likely hold him out of the duration of St. Louis’ training camp and the start of the regular season.

Dean is a former first-round pick, hearing his name called by the Vegas Golden Knights with the 30th pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. He was coming off a promising, albeit shortened, QMJHL season that he spent the next two years vindicating. Dean graduated from the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques after the 2022-23 season, having accrued 188 points in 177 games, and four seasons, in the league. By that time, Vegas had traded Dean to the Blues in a one-for-one exchange for NHL winger Ivan Barbashev.

That move pushed Dean to start his career in the Blues’ minor-league system. He joined the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds for the 2023-24 season, and began a slow process of climbing his way up the organization’s depth chart. He only scored one point in his first 11 pro games, but managed to pull things together enough to total 14 points in 49 games by the end of the year. That was just enough to push the Blues to call-up Dean for the first nine games of his NHL career towards the end of a lost season. He didn’t manage any scoring in the spot starts, and returned to the minors for the 2024-25 season.

Dean seemed ready to repeat his climb towards an NHL call-up, but ended up outside of the lineup after just three games due to a nagging, undisclosed injury. He returned in late-January, after a three-month absence, but was reinjured after just six games back. That forced Dean out until late-April, and ultimately limited his season to just four points in 11 games. The uptick in scoring was an encouraging sign, but it now seems Dean will need a little longer to get back into the right mindset after a difficult season. He’ll have all the time he needs in the NHL/NHLPA Player’s Assistance Program, and will look to show St. Louis the responsible, two-way playmaking style that earned him a first-round selection on the other side. Dean should return to Springfield’s middle-six at some point this season.

Blackhawks At Comfortable Spot In Connor Bedard Extension Talks

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Despite little mention of a new deal, it doesn’t seem Chicago Blackhawks fans have any reason to worry about not landing an agreement with their lineup star. Connor Bedard shared that he and the Blackhawks have mutual interest in getting a multi-year extension done with NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika during the NHL Media Tour. The young sniper said:

We’re both comfortable with where we’re at. They know I want to be there; I know they want me. So, it’s really not on my mind that much, and I just think when it happens, it’ll happen.

It’s fair to say that Bedard’s extension will have to be unique. The 2023 first-overall pick has filled a distinctly difficult role through two seasons in Chicago. He’s unequivocally the Blackhawks’ top forward, though adapting to a do-it-all role has proven lofty for the 5-foot-10 centerman – especially after two years on a sluggish Regina Pats team. But just like he did in the WHL, Bedard has found his scoring through the struggles. He’s surpassed 60 points in each of his first two seasons, a feat that only two other teenagers – Sidney Crosby and Patrik Laine – have accomplished since 2000.

Reaching further into the bag of superlatives, Bedard’s 128 points in his first 150 games is the third-most recorded by a teenager in the last 10 years, behind Laine and Connor McDavid. He ranks just ahead of Nathan MacKinnon (101 points) and Nico Hischier (99 points). That fact paints a sign of relief for Blackhawks fans worried that Bedard hasn’t broken into the top echelon of scoring just yet. He’s still many, many years away from his prime – and performed at a supreme level for a teenager in the NHL.

But how will that reflect in contract negotiations? Laine opted for a bridge deal after his entry-level deal came to a close, inking a two-year, $13.5MM contract that’d prove to be a proper amount of risk-avoidance. But Laine’s lineup standing, as a goal-dependent winger, can hardly be compared to the firm role that Bedard has already carved out. His standing is much more in-line with players like Hischier or MacKinnon, who each signed seven-year contract extensions after their entry-level deal that carried a cap hit equivalent to 8.9 percent of the salary cap. Using that same marker for Bedard, Chicago could be set to begin negotiations with their young center at a seven-year, $64.8MM contract – which would carry a yearly cap hit of $9.256MM.

On a long-term contract, that deal could be more than worth it. Bedard spent the 2025 summer working alongside many of the NHL’s top emerging youngsters, including Macklin Celebrini and Kent Johnson. While training video is often not an indicator of game performance, it was hard not to notice Bedard’s patented snappy wrist-shot looking a bit stronger, and more deceptive, as he played around some great peers. A summer of honing skills, and a few more years of strength-building, could easily place Bedard in the position of electric goal-scorer that many expect him to fill. He’s already posted two 20-goal seasons in his campaign, and will eye the next rung up the ladder – a 30-goal campaign – next year.

In the meantime, Chicago will sit patient on a deal. Bedard said that he could sign an extension before the season, but may not. If he doesn’t, he’ll have a great chance to a heftier payday on a Blackhawks roster ever so slightly better than their 2024-25 group. Whether it’s sparked by a hot start to the year or a warm reception at training camp, running Bedard’s stay in Chicago through the 2030’s seems to be a matter of when – not if.

Photo courtesy of Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports.

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