Five Key Stories: 9/15/25 – 9/21/25

Training camps are up and running and the preseason is now underway.  Understandably, that led to plenty of news around the NHL, including the top-scoring blueliner in free agency having to settle for a PTO deal and a pair of Hall of Fame netminders passing away.  Here’s a rundown of the key stories from the past seven days.

Blackhawks Sign A Blueliner: The Blackhawks took care of their last restricted free agent, signing defenseman Wyatt Kaiser to a two-year, $3.4MM contract.  The 23-year-old got his biggest NHL look yet last season, getting into 57 games with Chicago where he had eight points and 93 blocked shots in over 18 minutes per night.  He also got into 17 games with AHL Rockford and it looked like Chicago was trying to highlight the fact that he wasn’t a full-time regular into their offer but ultimately relented with this contract.  His $1.7MM AAV will stand as his qualifying offer with arbitration rights in 2027.

Waiver-Bound: The 2025-26 waiver period still hasn’t opened up yet but we know of one veteran who will be hitting the wire as Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong revealed that they will be waiving goaltender Connor Ingram in the hopes of getting him a fresh start.  The 28-year-old took over the number one role in 2023-24 but struggled considerably last season before stepping away from the team to return to the Player Assistance Program.  Utah added veteran Vitek Vanecek this summer and it appears their plan is to have him back up Karel Vejmelka.  Ingram has one year left on his contract with a $1.9MM cap charge and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.  With a goalie market that doesn’t have a lot of options left, there could be teams that consider taking a one-year flyer on him when he hits the wire.

Hanging Them Up: Thursday was an interesting day in Los Angeles when it came to their sports icons.  Long-time Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw announced that he’ll be retiring at the end of the season and hours later, long-time Kings fixture Anze Kopitar revealed that the upcoming season will be his last as well.  Drafted 11th overall by Los Angeles in 2005, Kopitar was the first Slovenian first-round pick and the first to reach the NHL, which he did in 2006.  Since then, he has been a high-end two-way pivot for the majority of his 19-year career, one that has seen him amass 1,278 points in 1,454 games, all with the Kings.  Kopitar has a pair of Stanley Cup titles to his name and is only 30 points away from being the highest-scoring player in franchise history.

Two More Years: One veteran who won’t be retiring after the season is Flames center Mikael Backlund.  Instead, he’ll stick around for at least the next three years as he signed a two-year, $6.25MM contract extension that runs through the 2027-28 campaign.  The captain is entering his 18th NHL campaign this season, all with Calgary after they drafted him 24th overall back in 2007.  Backlund has taken pay cuts on his two most recent contracts now, a reflection of his reduced offensive role moving forward but his defensive game remains strong, meaning that he should still be a contributor throughout this new deal.

Injury News: As is often the case as training camp gets underway, there was plenty of injury news around the league.  Lightning center Nick Paul underwent upper-body surgery that will cause him to miss at least the first month of the season.  He has been a key secondary scorer over the last couple of years, notching more than 20 goals and 40 points in each of those.  Penguins center Kevin Hayes suffered an upper-body injury early in camp and will also miss at least a month.  The veteran could be a trade chip for Pittsburgh later in the year while a delayed start won’t help his cause in free agency.

Meanwhile, the Oilers are hoping that winger Zach Hyman will be back at the start of November as he works his way back from a wrist fracture.  That timeline will make him LTIR-eligible although Edmonton’s LTIR pool will be capped at the average salary (around $3.82MM, not his $5.5MM cap charge) thanks to the new rules in place.  Lastly, Laurent Brossoit’s debut with Chicago will have to wait even longer.  After missing all of last season due to continued knee issues, it was revealed that the goaltender is out indefinitely after having hip surgery earlier in the offseason.  Suffice it to say, the two-year, $6.6MM contract they gave him last summer has not worked out well for the Blackhawks.

Photo courtesy of Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images.