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Blackhawks Trade Rights To Victor Soderstrom To Bruins

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The Chicago Blackhawks have traded the rights to Swedish defenseman Victor Soderstrom to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defense prospect Ryan Mast and a seventh-round pick, per Scott Powers of The Athletic. Soderstrom made a return to Sweden’s SHL this season, after spending the last four years muddling through the Arizona Coyotes depth chart. Chicago acquired his rights alongside the rights to depth forward Aku Raty and retired defender Shea Weber at the 2025 Trade Deadline. In return, the now-Utah Mammoth received a 2026 fifth-round pick.

It’s an apt time to buy high on Soderstrom’s NHL rights. He had a true breakout year in the SHL, netting nine goals and 37 points in 49 appearances. Those marks ranked Soderstrom second on the Brynas IF blue-line in scoring, two points behind Charle-Edouard D’Astous. Soderstrom had no shortage of flashy plays over the course of Brynas’ season, using deceptive stickhandling and instinctive offense to blow by opponents and set up his teammates. One of his favorite targets was former Anaheim Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg, who led Brynas in scoring with 47 points in 52 games.

But despite the strong return to Swedish pros, Soderstrom’s tenure in North America is still one to forget. He was originally drafted 11th-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, but quickly struggled to find a role in the Arizona pipeline. He joined the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners in 2020-21 and scored 10 points in 32 games played, good enough to also earn the first four games of his NHL career, where he potted two points. But Soderstrom then ran cold, and didn’t manage any scoring through 16 NHL appearances in the following year. He did bolster his minor-league scoring, though, with 19 points in 32 games – just enough to earn another trip to the NHL in 2022-23. That tenure proved a bit more promising – headlined by nine points in 30 games – but Soderstrom again struggled to make it stick. He completed two more productive seasons in the minors, but closed his trip through North America with a measly 11 points in 53 NHL games, despite 82 points in 170 AHL games.

A move to Boston will mark another potential home for the flashy puck-handler. The Bruins could sorely use a right-shot defender after trading shutdown man Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Deadline. Soderstrom is still only 24-years-old and could reasonably spend a few more years in Sweden before offering Boston his prime years. That will be the upside Boston hopes for, at least – though it’s a shrewd bet at the cost of just a depth prospect and fifth-round pick.

The other focal piece of the move, defender Ryan Mast, played through his rookie year in the AHL this season. He recorded just five points, 19 penalty minutes, and a plus-seven through 37 games with the Providence Bruins – quaint totals after he posted 16 points in 47 ECHL games last year. Mast is 6-foot-5 and plays his best hockey on the defensive side of the puck, where he uses a long and effective reach to force opponents into the corners and away from the puck. Hot scoring won’t be what many fans remember Mast for, but he could find his way into a small NHL role with a few more years of learning to handle pro offenses. He’ll be a low-risk, low-reward addition to a Blackhawks’ pipeline geared firmly on the future.

Penguins Sign Melvin Fernstrom To Three-Year, Entry-Level Contract

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom to a three-year, entry-level contract. Fernstrom was originally drafted in the third-round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. He was traded to the Penguins ahead of this year’s Trade Deadline, alongside a first-round pick and two depth pros in the deal that send Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to Vancouver.

Fernstrom spent the bulk of the 2024-25 season with Orebro HK of Sweden’s SHL. It was his first full year of professional hockey and he dotted it with eight goals and 17 points in 48 appearances. That stat line doesn’t jump off the page, but Fernstrom’s scoring did lead all U19 skaters in the SHL. In fact, his scoring total falls closely in line with current and former NHL fixtures like Magnus Paajarvi, Adrian Kempe, and Alexander Holtz — who all managed either 16 or 17 points in their own U19 seasons in the SHL.

For his part, Fernstrom earned his pro role on the back of responsible and smooth hockey across the board. He’s a strong skater even despite a lanky frame, and uses that to find his spots and weave between his teammates well. When he can’t, he has a laser wrist-shot that’s dangerous anywhere below the tops of the circles. He may not fall into the clear category of playmaker, but showed an abundance of confidence in handling the puck around pro defenders and finding ways to set up his teammates.

Fernstrom recorded 63 points in 45 games in Sweden’s U20 league – and added eight points in seven games at the World U18 Championship – in his draft year last season. That stat line, and his smooth style, led to a confident third-round selection, though some public scouts like Craig Button had him ranked as a second-round talent. Fernstrom was a priority addition to the Pettersson trade, and Pittsburgh will now take the first step in trying to bank on the upside he offers. Fernstrom is expected to return to the SHL next season, but could be a candidate to join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins when Orebro’s 2025-26 campaign concludes.

Update On Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi

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According to a new article from Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic, the trade market for the Minnesota Wild’s Marco Rossi may have already come and gone. The two argue that Brock Nelson’s new three-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche took Rossi’s best replacement off the table, and any trade involving Rossi would ultimately make the Wild worse off.

The pair of writers gave arguments against nearly every available free agent center, admitting that John Tavares, Sam Bennett, and Claude Giroux want to stay with their respective teams, while Jonathan Toews and Matt Duchene don’t serve as obvious upgrades despite the latter’s friendly past with Wild head coach John Hynes.

Furthermore, on the trade market, teams have preemptively taken top center targets off the table. The Vancouver Canucks no longer feel comfortable moving Elias Pettersson given the status of the rest of the team’s middlemen, the New York Islanders have shared that they are uninterested in moving Bo Horvat or Mathew Barzal, the Vegas Golden Knights feel the same with William Karlsson, and New York Ranger Mika Zibanejad, and Calgary Flame Nazem Kadri have fairly heavy trade protection.

Minnesota’s remaining available avenues have seemingly narrowed over the last few weeks, and the team may take a note out of the Carolina Hurricanes’ playbook moving forward. The Hurricanes were in a similar situation last summer with forward Martin Nečas.

After several failed attempts to trade him last offseason, Carolina signed Nečas to a two-year, $13MM contract, and traded him six months later to the Avalanche in a blockbuster trade for Mikko Rantanen. That would require a major gamble for the Wild, given there’s no guarantee a player of Rantanen’s ability rarely becomes available on the trade market.

Rossi and his representation haven’t shown much interest in a short-term offer either. Reports from earlier in June indicated that Rossi was demanding a seven-year deal from the Wild and wasn’t interested in the team’s offer for a five-year deal.

Unless another center becomes available in the next few weeks, it’s beginning to make little sense for the Wild to part ways with Rossi. As the summer drags on, the odds of him signing a shorter-term pact become likelier, as it outweighs the idea of not starting the season on time, or holding out for much of the season.

Friedman: Kings Could Consider Trading Jordan Spence

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Although he didn’t specify a specific rumor, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman opined on 32 Thoughts that he believes the Los Angeles Kings could look to move defenseman Jordan Spence this offseason.

Friedman believes that the Kings want to give Brandt Clarke a larger role and do not see the need for three top-four defenders on the right side. Spence should be easy to move if they’d like to, given he’s coming off back-to-back quality years and is making a modest $1.5MM salary.

Los Angeles was able to get away with having Clarke and Spence in large roles for much of the 2024-25 campaign, given regular top-pairing blue-liner Drew Doughty was injured for most of the year. Still, with Doughty entering his age-36 season, and only having two more years on his contract, one could rationalize the Kings retaining Spence and Clarke for when he ultimately retires.

As a counterpoint, and this isn’t a knock on Spence, the Kings shouldn’t have much difficulty finding a similar defenseman in a few years when Doughty hangs up his skates, giving credibility to moving him now for an improvement. Over the past two years, Spence has scored six goals and 52 points in 150 games, averaging 15:40 of ice time per game, registering 132 blocked shots, and racking up 147 hits.

Much of his value can be explained via advanced analytics, as Spence led all Los Angeles defensemen with a 57.1% CorsiFor% and finished third behind Michael Anderson and Doughty in on-ice save percentage with 92.1%. Given his age and relatively low salary, Spence should have a robust market, and allow the Kings to improve their team via trade, especially if they strike out on some of their free agent targets.

NHL Announces 2024-25 All-Star Teams

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Shortly after announcing this year’s All-Rookie Team, the NHL shared this year’s First and Second All-Star Teams. There are few surprises, with several of the recipients receiving votes for major awards around the league. The teams are as follows:

First Team

LW Kyle Connor (Jets) – Connor arguably completed the best season of his career, scoring 41 goals and 97 points, barely eclipsing his 93-point campaign in 2021-22 (although he did score 46 goals). Being the offensive leader for the Presidents Trophy-winning team made him a lock for All-Star Team honors, and he beat out Hagel by 100 votes.

C Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche) – In the closest vote, MacKinnon nearly beat out Draisaitl as the league’s top center from the 2024-25 season, with Draisaitl receiving more First Team votes than MacKinnon. Still, the 2023-24 Most Valuable Player scored 10 more points than Draisaitl this year, while arguably being a larger part of his team’s success without having Connor McDavid as a teammate.

RW Nikita Kucherov (Lightning) – The reigning Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner was a near-unanimous selection for First Team honors, with only two voters assessing he wasn’t worthy. Although he couldn’t match his 100-assist output from last year, Kucherov was again dominant for the Bolts, scoring 37 goals and 121 points in 78 games.

D Cale Makar (Avalanche) – This year’s James Norris Trophy winner received the most First Team votes of any player on the 2024-25 All-Star Teams with 189. Makar has been on one of the best offensive runs from a defenseman in recent memory, scoring 51 goals and 182 points in his last 157 games, with another six goals and 20 points in 18 postseason contests.

D Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets) – As one of the more unheralded members of the All-Star Team, Werenski came into his own during the 2024-25 campaign. He scored 23 goals and 82 points in 81 games, averaged 26:45 of ice time per game, and finished with 131 blocked shots. Being one of the prime reasons that the Columbus Blue Jackets nearly qualified for the postseason, it’s unsurprising Werenski received so many Norris votes and was named one of the league’s top defensemen.

G Connor Hellebuyck (Jets) – Despite tying with Kucherov with the second-most First Team votes, there was no clearer choice for the league’s top netminder than Hellebuyck. The American netminder secured the Vezina Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy this season, leading the league in wins (47), GAA (2.00), shutouts(8), Goals Saved Above Average (41.6), and Adjusted Goals Against Average (2.13).

Second Team

LW Brandon Hagel (Lightning) – Hagel narrowly beat out Alex Ovechkin for Second Team honors despite the latter receiving more First Team votes. Regardless of Ovechkin’s impressive season, there’s no question the right decision was made with Hagel. The six-year veteran scored 35 goals and 90 points in 82 games for Tampa Bay this season, besting his career-high last season by 15 points. Additionally, unlike Ovechkin, Hagel finished ninth in Selke Trophy voting as one of the league’s top defensive forwards.

C Leon Draisaitl (Oilers) – As previously mentioned, the vote between Draisaitl and MacKinnon came down to the wire. Draisaitl finished with an equally impressive season, scoring 52 goals and 106 points in 71 games, securing the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal-scorer. Furthermore, in a solid argument for Draisaitl, he finished sixth in Selke Trophy voting, far higher than MacKinnon, who placed 29th.

RW David Pastrňák (Bruins) – In another close vote, Pastrňák narrowly bested Toronto Maple Leaf Mitch Marner for the second-best right winger from the 2024-25 campaign. Despite a lackluster year from the Boston Bruins, who finished with the 28th-ranked offense, Pastrňák didn’t notice. The Czech winger scored 43 goals and 106 points in 82 games, and brought up his production over the last three years to 151 goals and 329 points in 246 games.

D Victor Hedman (Lightning) – The captain of the Lightning was also in a close vote, beating Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey by a few votes. There are arguments for both sides, but Hedman finished the year with more goals (15), assists (51), points (66), blocked shots (133), and CorsiFor% at even strength (53.5%) compared to Morrissey.

D Quinn Hughes (Canucks) – Hughes rightfully received the most Second Team votes of his counterparts. As the primary reason the Vancouver Canucks had any sense of competitiveness this year, Hughes scored 16 goals and 76 points in 68 games, averaging 25:44 of ice time a game. Had Hughes remained healthy for the entire 2024-25 campaign, he likely would have presented a bigger challenge to Makar and Werenski as the league’s top blueliner.

G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning) – After a down 2023-24 campaign (comparatively to his career), Vasilevskiy returned to form in 2024-25. The former Vezina Trophy winner finished with a 38-20-5 record in 63 starts, with a .921 SV% and 2.18 GAA. It wasn’t enough to beat out Hellebuyck, but Vasilevskiy easily would have been named the league’s top netminder in any other year.

Avalanche, Jets, Lightning Interested In Jonathan Toews

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In today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave a brief update on Jonathan Toews’s market as he attempts to make a comeback to the NHL. Friedman listed the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Winnipeg Jets as likely suitors for the three-time Stanley Cup champion.

Perceived interest in Toews will likely revolve around his salary demands. Toews’ longtime counterpart with the Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings after undergoing a risky hip resurfacing surgery and missing nearly two months of the regular season. Fortunately for Kane, he was able to parlay his 2023-24 campaign into a $4MM base salary with the Red Wings, with another $2.5MM available in performance bonuses.

It’s difficult to make a direct comparison from Kane to Toews, as the latter has missed the last two seasons due to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and long COVID. After missing that much time, any team interested in Toews may only feel comfortable with a bonus-laden league minimum contract.

All three teams connected to Toews have a common denominator: they are all in their competitive window. Surprisingly, the first team listed, the Avalanche, has the lowest need for a bottom-six center at this time. Colorado finished the year with Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury centering their bottom two lines, and Toews doesn’t project as a notable improvement on either unless they’re willing to move Coyle to the wing.

The Winnipeg Jets, Toews’s hometown team, makes more sense at face value. Assuming that Winnipeg is uninterested in removing captain Adam Lowry from the third line, Toews makes more sense than Morgan Barron for the team’s fourth-line center, especially if they move Barron to the wing to replace Brandon Tanev. Barron has been an underrated defensive forward throughout his time in Manitoba, starting more than 65.0% of his shifts in the defensive zone during his Jets tenure and maintaining a positive rating. Barron would be equally capable on the wing, and Toews could comparatively provide more offense with a higher career faceoff percentage.

Arguably, Tampa Bay makes the most sense of the teams listed. The Lightning are expected to enter the offseason with less than $3.5MM in salary cap space and will have to find a replacement for Luke Glendening on the team’s fourth line. The team could conceivably move Zemgus Girgensons to that role, who’s signed through the 2026-27 season, since he spent much of his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres as a center. Still, the Lightning have highly prioritized faceoff success in that role recently, and Toews’ career 57.3% success rate far outweighs Girgensons’ 45.3%.

Aside from missing the last two years, it was apparent in 2022-23 that Toews had entered the twilight years of his career. Although he received Selke Trophy votes toward the end of his time with the Blackhawks, he was no longer considered one of the league’s top defensive forwards, and his offense cratered. However, it seems that competitive teams believe Toews has more left in the tank, and he’s seemingly prioritizing another Stanley Cup ring before he finally hangs up his skates.

Stars Reportedly Dialing Back Efforts To Trade Jason Robertson

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June 13th: According to today’s rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has heard that the Stars are already dialing back their efforts to explore moving Robertson this offseason. Friedman wouldn’t confirm whether it was because Dallas prefers to retain Robertson or if they hadn’t received adequate preliminary offers. Furthering this point, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period spoke on NHL Network, reporting that the Stars prefer to move Mason Marchment, Lyubushkin, or Dumba to alleviate their financial gridlock.

June 10th: It appears there’s some legitimate fire to the smoke that erupted last week when Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek opined the Stars could move winger Jason Robertson to ease their incredibly restrictive salary cap space this summer. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on 590 The FAN yesterday that Robertson’s name has indeed been floated in trade talks around the league, although “it’s not a guarantee that [he] goes.”

Robertson, 26 next month, has had a bit of a winding road since bursting onto the scene at the beginning of the decade. The 2017 second-rounder’s rookie season was the shortened 2021 campaign, scoring 45 points in 51 games to finish second on Dallas in scoring and place second in Calder Trophy voting behind Wild star Kirill Kaprizov. After eclipsing the point-per-game mark the following season, the two sides agreed on a four-year, $31MM deal after a lengthy run on the RFA market for Robertson.

It immediately looked like one of the best contracts in the league. Robertson erupted for a career-high 46 goals, 109 points, and a +37 rating while playing in all 82 games in the 2022-23 campaign, placing him fourth in MVP voting and tying for sixth in the NHL in scoring. Since then, Robertson has remained a veritable first-line piece but has seen his point production regress heavily, making him more of an ideal No. 2/3 forward instead of a team’s top scorer. He’s continued that ironman streak from the 2022-23 season but has just 80 points in each of the last two years, a 26% decrease in points per game from the heights of his breakout. His average ice time also dipped below 18 minutes per game in 2024-25 for the first time since his rookie season, and he was limited to six points in 11 postseason games after returning from a knee injury sustained in the final game of the regular season.

Aside from Dallas’ current unenviable cap situation, having just under $5MM in space with seven roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia, there are some peculiarities with Robertson’s contract that make him more of an understandable trade chip than at first glance. He’s still under team control as an RFA with arbitration rights when his extension expires next summer, and because his contract was somewhat significantly backloaded, he’s due a $9.3MM qualifying offer that’s much higher than his current $7.75MM cap hit. While Robertson’s upside remains tantalizing, is that QO number one the cap-crunched Stars are willing to even pay for one year, considering his more pedestrian offensive output over the past two seasons?

There are less efficient deals the Stars will presumably try to jettison first before becoming seriously engaged in Robertson talks. 2024 UFA defense pickups Mathew Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin both flamed out and make $3.75MM and $3.25MM against the cap next season, respectively. They’d need to replace them with cheaper UFAs this summer, but packaging some futures to get rid of those contracts would at least open up the cap space to potentially retain two of their three main pending UFAs – forwards Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, and Mikael Granlund. At present, they don’t stand much of a chance of even signing one while being able to fill out the rest of the roster.

If Dallas does structure a Robertson trade, they’ll presumably do so around a cost-effective player who can step into his top-six role directly – potentially a winger still on his entry-level deal – so they can use most of his cap hit to instead commit to extensions for the aforementioned UFAs and potentially pursue a depth defense upgrade.

Updates On Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad

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Although the organization’s main sights are on winning its second Stanley Cup championship in as many years, the Florida Panthers have a few key pending unrestricted free agents to worry about. In an interview on NHL Network, David Pagnotta believes negotiations are going much better with one than they are with the other.

A few days ago, James Mirtle of The Athletic reported that virtually no teams are expecting Sam Bennett to reach free agency, and Pagnotta believes that’s the case. In the interview, Pagnotta shared that Bennett and the Panthers are negotiating a new deal that would pay him approximately $64MM over eight years.

Bennett’s value largely comes from his postseason performances and the intangibles. AFP Analytics projected Bennett’s next deal around the six-year, $40MM range, which is reasonable given he’s only scored more than 50 points in one season. Still, he’s an extremely physical forward, has responded well to Florida’s possession-heavy scheme, and has a unique ability to get under the skin of opponents.

He’s been an instrumental part of the Panthers’ run to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals. Since the start of the 2022-23 postseason, Bennett has scored 26 goals and 50 points in 60 games, and is leading this year’s playoffs in goals. Outside of putting pucks in the net, Bennett has made headlines this postseason for his extracurricular activity, particularly his somewhat egregious physicality toward opposing teams’ netminders.

Unfortunately, negotiations aren’t going as smoothly with defenseman Aaron Ekblad, according to Pagnotta. Despite Ekblad’s public desire to remain with the only organization he’s known, Ekblad and his representation are asking for a similar or increased salary on his current $7.5MM AAV, but the Panthers only feel comfortable paying him in the $6MM range.

In Florida’s defense, Ekblad has had significant injury issues throughout his entire career, only playing in a full campaign in three seasons out of his 11-year career. Still, offering him a 20% pay decrease as the salary cap rises projects as an unbridgeable gap.

Ekblad is only a few weeks away from reaching unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, and he could become more amenable to a lower salary if his comfortability in Florida outweighs his salary demands. Still, as a capable top-four right-handed defenseman, Ekblad should be able to match or increase his salary on the open market.

NHL Announces 2024-25 All-Rookie Team

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Considering the votes for the 2024-25 Calder Memorial Trophy, there weren’t many surprises on this year’s All-Rookie Team, which the NHL announced this morning. There were three unanimous selections, while the other three winners had a closer vote margin. The team is as follows:

G Dustin Wolf  (Flames) – Wolf finished second in Calder Trophy voting after a superb rookie campaign. The 24-year-old netminder finished the year with a 29-16-8 record in 53 starts with a .910 SV% and 2.64 GAA. Furthermore, Wolf finished with 15.1 Goals Saved Above Average according to Hockey Reference, and nearly backstopped the Calgary Flames to the postseason despite expectations of a rebuilding year.

D Lane Hutson (Canadiens) – Joining Wolf as another unanimous selection to the 2024-25 All-Rookie Team, Hutson was this year’s Calder Trophy winner. Scoring six goals and 66 points in 82 games while averaging 22:44 of ice time per game, Hutson joined Bobby Orr, Brian Leetch, and Quinn Hughes as the only defensemen to lead rookies in scoring during their respective inaugural campaigns.

D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets) – Although he didn’t share similar point production to Hutson, Mateychuk had a quietly productive campaign for the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring four goals and 13 points in 45 games, averaging 18:02 of ice time a night. Much of Mateychuk’s value came on the defensive side of the puck, securing a 91.4% on-ice save percentage at even strength despite starting 57.4% of his shifts in the defensive zone.

F Macklin Celebrini (Sharks) – As last summer’s first overall selection, expectations were high for Celebrini this season. He largely lived up to them, scoring 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting. There were some significant defensive shortcomings in Celebrini’s game, but that should improve as he matures and has better teammates around him. He outscored last year’s Calder Trophy winner, Connor Bedard, by two points in two more games played.

F Cutter Gauthier (Ducks) – Gauthier finished with the fewest vote totals for an All-Rookie nod with 79 out of a potential 187. Still, it was enough to earn third place among forwards. Despite being streaky, Gauthier finished fifth in scoring on the Ducks with 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games. Gauthier’s offensive output should improve with increased ice time during the 2025-26 season, as he finished his rookie campaign averaging slightly above 14 minutes a night.

F Matvei Michkov (Flyers) – Although he wasn’t a unanimous selection like Wolf, Hutson, or Celebrini, Michkov finished one vote shy of those honors. He came exactly as advertised for the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 26 goals and 63 points in 80 games, leading the team in goal-scoring and finishing second in total output. Like Celebrini, there were significant defensive shortcomings in Michkov’s game throughout the regular season, but those won’t be as important an issue for a winger.

Longtime Broadcaster Joe Bowen To Retire After 2025-26 Season

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Joe Bowen, the “Voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs”, announced that the 2025-26 season would be his last in a broadcast booth. By his admission, Bowen will finish his broadcasting career with more than 3,800 Maple Leafs games in the booth.

Bowen began his broadcasting career with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, his hometown team, in the mid-1970s. It wasn’t until he made an organizational change to the AHL’s Nova Scotia Voyageurs in 1979 that he would earn a tryout with the Maple Leafs.

He debuted as Toronto’s fifth radio broadcaster in the 1982-83 season, and remained as the team’s main morning anchor and radio broadcaster. In 1995, Bowen almost lost his job when his employer, Telemedia Sports Network, lost the bid to broadcast Maple Leafs games on the radio to Q107.

Bowen eventually joined Q107 to remain in radio and became the organization’s primary radio broadcaster, with mild work in television on regional broadcasts. His work on television ended in 2014, when Rogers Communications purchased all rights to NHL games in the Canadian market.

For those who primarily listen to Maple Leafs games on the radio, many will remember Bowen’s iconic catchphrase, “Holy Mackinaw”, typically reserved for some of the most iconic goals in recent franchise history. Bowen won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his outstanding contributions to broadcasting in 2018 and will likely find a home in the Maple Leafs Hall of Fame once he finally hangs up the microphone.

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