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What New Features Would You Like To See At PHR?

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As the new regular season approaches and we add to our staff at Pro Hockey Rumors, we’re looking to expand our slate of features, originals, and trackers in 2025-26.

In doing so, we’d love to get some reader input. Were tools like our Active Roster Tracker from the 2024-25 season useful? What other features do you wish PHR had to make it a more immersive home for everything related to hockey transactions?

If there are certain features you find valuable or there are things you’d like us to implement, let us know in the comment section below, use the Contact Us page on our website, or email us directly at prohockeyrumorshelp@gmail.com.

International Notes: Smith, Yip, Josefson, Barron

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As the Shanghai Dragons begin their first season in the KHL under their new name, they’re parting ways with a pair of longtime fixtures under the club’s former moniker, Kunlun Red Star. Former NHL winger Brandon Yip and goaltender Jeremy Smith will not return to the club in 2025-26, the league announced today.

Both Smith and Yip played long enough for Kunlun to earn Chinese player licenses and suited up for the country in top-level competition when they hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics. Yip served as captain and also helped them gain promotion from Division 2A to Division 1B of the World Championship that same year.

Yip continued to serve as Kunlun’s captain until last season, but injuries limited the former Avalanche and Predators forward to two assists in eight games. He played parts of seven seasons for Kunlun since joining the club in 2017, and the 40-year-old now presumably ends his professional career as the franchise’s all-time leader in goals (92), assists (93), and points (185).

As for Smith, the former ECHL MVP and longtime NHL farmhand had been Kunlun’s starter since he first headed overseas in 2019. The 36-year-old Michigan native was arguably one of the league’s best netminders, considering the often porous defense in front of him, logging a respectable .912 SV% in 184 games for the club despite holding an overall record of 53-103-12.

Elsewhere from around hockey:

  • Ex-Devils forward Jacob Josefson’s attempted comeback after three years away is successful, at least for now. After skating for SHL club Djurgårdens IF on a tryout basis during the preseason, he’s landed a full contract with the club for the upcoming regular season, the team announced today. The 34-year-old, who has only played for Djurgården in his home country, dating back to his youth hockey days, has not played a professional game since 2021 and has served in their front office for the past three seasons. He had a 20-44–64 scoring line in 315 career NHL games with New Jersey and Buffalo from 2010 to 2018.
  • After spending the last four seasons with AHL Tucson in the Arizona and Utah organizations, power winger Travis Barron is headed to Austria on a one-year deal with Black Wings Linz of the ICEHL. He was a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer and turned 27 last month. He was previously pursuing KHL offers but was evidently unsuccessful, leading to him signing in a less competitive but still premier European league. A seventh-round pick by the Avalanche back in 2016, Barron has 43 goals and 93 points in 305 career AHL games.

Snapshots: Price, Prokhorov, PHR Chat

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The Canadiens are reportedly intent on moving the contract of LTIR-bound goaltender Carey Price as it enters its final season, a feat that becomes astronomically more achievable after they pay out a $5.5MM signing bonus today. Today, Marco D’Amico of RG confirms that the Sharks are the most likely trade partner for Montreal, but that a move would require some maneuvering on San Jose’s behalf since they’re one contract shy of the 50-player limit. Given that, the framework of any deal would involve the Sharks sending a few AHL depth pieces back to the Canadiens to free up some flexibility, while taking on Price’s deal to ensure they stay above the salary cap floor throughout the season. Montreal still has seven open contract slots, per PuckPedia, so it’s a non-issue for them to take some two-way deals on in a Price trade.

More things to keep an eye on throughout the hockey world:

  • Late last month, Islanders 2025 second-rounder Daniil Prokhorov signed a two-year contract with Dynamo Moscow in his native Russia to continue his development. Unlike with other Russian players, though, that won’t necessarily delay his North American arrival until 2027, Stefen Rosner writes for The Elmonters. His deal has a formal out-clause that could allow him to report to the Islanders or their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport if he’s offered an entry-level contract before his KHL obligation ends. The gargantuan 6’6″, 218-lb power winger scored 20 goals in 43 junior games for Dynamo St. Petersburg’s MHL club last year.
  • With preseason looming, PHR’s Josh Erickson will host a holiday edition live chat today at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live when the chat begins, or stick around to read the transcript when it’s finished.

Who Will Be The Odd Man Out Among The Panthers’ Depth Forwards?

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It’s long been expected that the Panthers will be without star winger Matthew Tkachuk to start the season as a result of the adductor injury he played through in last year’s postseason en route to his second straight Stanley Cup. Late last month, that was essentially confirmed with reports indicating Tkachuk’s surgery will keep him out past New Year’s, making him eligible to begin the season on long-term injured reserve and, at least for now, solving Florida’s cap woes. They likely won’t care too much about optimizing their LTIR pool since they’ll need flexibility to activate Tkachuk before the trade deadline, meaning they’ll only get about half the potential relief, but won’t need to make any other changes to their roster as the trade-off.

The Panthers did well to retain virtually their entire forward group, including their fourth-liners and press box fixtures, keeping the would-be free agents on deals close to or at the league minimum. They’ll still need to shed north of $4MM worth of cap hits from their roster when Tkachuk is ready to return, which should inform their early-season strategy in how they go about replacing his top-six minutes.

Long speculated as a trade candidate this offseason was Evan Rodrigues, at least until Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet threw cold water on the idea of them moving him before the start of the season a few weeks ago. Understandably, they wouldn’t want to be down a serviceable, versatile veteran with Tkachuk unavailable, but the reality stands that he’s a $3MM luxury they likely won’t be able to afford when he’s ready to return.

That could result in him seeing some consistent top-six deployment in Tkachuk’s absence to boost his trade value for when general manager Bill Zito’s hand is inevitably forced. The 32-year-old has two years left on the four-year commitment he signed with the Cats in 2023, and he’s coming off his worst offensive season since the pandemic on a per-game basis. His 0.39 points per game still worked out to a fine 15-17–32 scoring line in 82 games, but he’d been on pace for at least 40 points over a full schedule in each of the past few seasons.

That production dip came despite him spending most of his ice time in the regular season with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart at even strength. It’s worth noting he was coached into far more of a checking role than he was previously used to as the third wheel on that top unit, ending the season with a career-high 128 hits. That likely offers some explanation for the diminished offensive production, but it’s worth wondering if he might get some of Tkachuk’s vacated power-play time as well to boost his numbers and maximize his value if they do end up needing to put him on the block.

Mackie Samoskevich, their 2021 first-rounder, isn’t going anywhere this season. He projects to be their most cost-effective player this season after signing a one-year, league-minimum deal as a 10.2(c) RFA this summer and will get every chance to build on his 15-goal, 31-point performance in 72 games during his rookie season last year. He got reps in second-line duties when Tkachuk was out of commission for the last few months of the regular season and is the odds-on favorite to hold down that spot alongside Sam Bennett again when the new season opens next month.

He stands to be the most significant long-term beneficiary of Tkachuk’s absence. He’ll have infinitely increased negotiating leverage next summer with his newfound eligibility to receive and sign offer sheets, positioning himself to land a lucrative contract if he breaks out – one that the Panthers will have to do serious math to determine if they can afford.

Shedding Rodrigues won’t be enough to make Florida cap-compliant when Tkachuk comes back, though. They’re at a projected cap excess of $4.5MM with a full roster, per PuckPedia, leaving a $1.5MM balance to make up for. That would suggest Jesper Boqvist, who makes exactly that against the cap and served as the Cats’ 13th forward for a good portion of last season, will be on his way out as well. The team recently brought in free agent Luke Kunin to serve a similar role on a league-minimum salary, offering them another safeguard. Subtracting from their already thin defensive depth behind their elite top-end group isn’t a likely option.

Projecting The Potential Bounce Back Players For 2025-26 Season

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Every NHL season has its fair share of surprises, whether it’s the underdog team that makes it to the playoffs against all odds or the player bouncing back from a down season who turns back the clock and rediscovers his game. Even proven NHL players can stumble through a season or two and eventually return to their usual level of play, contributing as they are accustomed to. Sometimes injuries cause a player to lose their edge; for others, it could be bad luck, switching teams, or a system that doesn’t suit their skill set. In many cases, talented players find a way to recapture their form, while for others, a prolonged slump can spell the end of their NHL careers. As the 2025–26 season approaches, these players might be ready for a redemption tour.

We’ll start with a couple of goaltenders, the first being Tristan Jarry of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jarry has struggled over the past two seasons since signing a five-year contract with the Penguins on July 1, 2023. That deal firmly established Jarry as Pittsburgh’s starter for years to come, but he has lost the net in each of the last two seasons. So why is he on the list then? Well, quite frankly, it’s nearly impossible to have a worse season than being demoted to the AHL twice and passing through waivers unclaimed. However, there’s another reason why the 30-year-old is on the list. Jarry returned to the NHL for the final weeks of the season and played well, finishing the year with an 8-4-2 record and two shutouts.

Some folks might point out that Jarry had no expectations when he returned to the Penguins at the end of last season, which is why he played well. However, that is the same situation he will face this season. In fact, there are low to no expectations on the entire team, meaning Jarry shouldn’t feel much pressure coming into the year, which could actually work to his advantage. Anyone who has watched the Penguins closely understands the challenge that is the Tristan Jarry Experience—he has plenty of talent, but tends to melt down whenever the game gets tough. Jarry may do what he did as a rookie and find his form at a time when his career is on the line.

Our next goaltender, St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington, struggled at the start of last season, posting a .891 SV% in the first month and a half before a coaching change brought in Jim Montgomery. Binnington then turned his season around with a .905 SV% the rest of the year. He will have added motivation to prove he deserves to be the starting goaltender for Team Canada at the upcoming Olympics. Binnington performed extremely well in the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this year. Still, after Canada general manager Doug Armstrong stated last week that the battle for the goaltending spots will be an open competition, Binnington may have the inside track, but he still needs to prove he belongs. He should also have a strong start to the season.

Moving up to the blueline, only one defenseman makes the list: Rasmus Andersson of the Calgary Flames. Andersson had a challenging 2024-25 season, posting his lowest point total in four years and finishing with a negative shot attempt differential for the first time since the shortened 2020-21 season, with an even-strength CF% of just 49.1. However, Andersson has a history of bouncing back after tough seasons, as he was excellent in the 2021-22 season following the pandemic-shortened year.

There is cause for optimism with Andersson, as he played part of the season with a broken fibula, which likely affected his performance; however, he should be healthy to start the season. He will also be highly motivated this year, as it is his last contract year and unrestricted free agency is approaching. If he can return to his previous level of play, he will secure a lucrative long-term deal. If not, he might face less money or a prove-it contract.

Moving to the forwards, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews experienced a down year last season, with his goal-scoring production dropping by a significant 36 goals. The 27-year-old still tallied a solid 33 goals and 45 assists in 67 games, but he shot over three percent below his career average and is unlikely to replicate that number in the upcoming season. Matthews wasn’t nearly as dangerous last year as in previous seasons and admitted after the season that he played the entire year through an injury. If he is back to 100% this season, it isn’t unreasonable to expect the three-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner to return to form and compete for the league’s goal-scoring title once again.

Another star who experienced a significant drop in production last season was Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson. The 26-year-old saw his offensive output nearly halve, dropping from 89 points in 2023-24 to just 45 points last season (15 goals and 30 assists in 64 games). Pettersson had a well-documented rift with his former teammate, J.T. Miller, which likely impacted his performance on the ice considerably. It’s unlikely that Pettersson will match his career highs set in 2022-23 (39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games), but it’s not hard to envisage a scenario where his numbers revert to his career average. The Canucks really need the old Pettersson to re-emerge, as they are committed to another seven seasons at $11.6MM annually.

Sticking with centers, we have Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Malkin isn’t likely to rediscover his game next year at the age of 39; however, he was relatively productive last season, given the cast of characters he played with. Malkin had very little help on the Penguins’ second line last season, playing with Philip Tomasino, Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, and Michael Bunting. Now, he did get a good chunk of time on Sidney Crosby’s wing (and was quite productive), but when tasked with running a line on his own, he wasn’t given much in the way of help. Much of Malkin’s production next season will hinge on who he is set up with; if he gets solid linemates, he will produce. If he is given the likes of Danton Heinen, Connor Dewar, or Kevin Hayes again, it will be a long season.

Malkin is entering what could be his final NHL season, and he will be motivated to prove he still belongs in the league. It’s hard to imagine the Penguins not giving Malkin more support this season, especially since they currently have an improved forward core.

Next, we head to the wing and go west to Los Angeles, where Kings forward Andrei Kuzmenko might be back to his best form. Kuzmenko will likely never shoot 27.3% again, as he did as a rookie in 2022-23, but he played well after being traded to the Kings and should be able to improve on that with a full season in Los Angeles. The 29-year-old finished the year with five goals and 12 assists in 22 regular-season games and then added six points in six playoff games. Kuzmenko isn’t a great skater and won’t provide much defensively, but if he can get pucks to the right spots and regain some of his scoring touch, he could put up solid numbers in Los Angeles next season.

The bounce-back season is generally difficult to predict, but there are usually warning signs that a player’s drop in production is a temporary dip rather than a trend. With Matthews and Pettersson, there are obvious factors at play, but they are young enough to rebound and return to their best. With a veteran like Malkin, regression is always possible, which should make for an interesting season.

Photo by Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Five Key Stories: 8/25/25 – 8/31/25

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The month of August is in the books which means training camps are getting a lot closer now.  It was a relatively quiet week around the hockey world which isn’t uncommon for this time of year but there was still some news of note which is recapped in our key stories.

Calling It A Career: Veteran defenseman Tyson Barrie has hung his skates, announcing his retirement at the age of 34.  When asked why now by NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy (Twitter link), Barrie jokingly said it was a decision made in tandem with all 32 teams, suggesting his desire was to keep playing but no offers were coming.  He was once a premier offensive defenseman but had struggled in recent years, only getting into 13 games with Calgary last season.  Barrie ends his career with 508 points in 822 games over 14 NHL seasons, including four 50-point campaigns, a very solid career for a player drafted in the third round by Colorado back in 2009.

A Case Of When, Not If: Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been in trade speculation for a while but there remains the possibility of a contract extension as well.  Some cold water was poured on that by team captain Mikael Backlund who indicated that after talking to the blueliner, he’s going to get traded with Andersson hoping that his situation won’t become a distraction.  The 28-year-old has been a top-pairing defender for Calgary for several years now while averaging 42 points over the last four seasons.  That has him in position for a significant increase on his $4.55MM AAV and it appears that contract will be coming from somewhere else.

Still Lots Of Work To Do: Devils defenseman Luke Hughes is one of the top remaining restricted free agents.  Usually, there’s a lot of haggling still to do with money in these situations.  However, on top of that, it appears as if the sides are far apart on term as well.  New Jersey’s preference appears to be either a short-term bridge deal or a long-term one while Hughes would prefer a five-year pact that takes him to free agency at the same time as his brother Jack Hughes.  Notably, he has five RFA-eligible years remaining, meaning such a move wouldn’t gain the Devils any extra years of control which is the exact situation they want to avoid.  Clearly, there’s a long way to go before the two sides reach an agreement.

Carolina Tryouts: The end of August and early September is often colloquially known as PTO season in the NHL.  With guaranteed deals less likely, players will start settling for tryouts with the hopes of landing a full-season contract from there.  The Hurricanes are the latest team to go that route, reaching PTO deals with defenseman Oliver Kylington and winger Givani Smith.  Between injuries and a personal leave, Kylington hasn’t played much in recent years and only got into 19 games between Colorado and Anaheim last season where he had five points in a little over 12 minutes a night of ice time.  He could find himself battling for a reserve spot on the back end.  As for Smith, he got into just 13 NHL games last season, logging barely six minutes a night in those outings while being in the minors the rest of the way.  Speculatively, he’ll be vying for a two-way deal that would have him likely starting in the AHL and hoping for a recall.

Off To Switzerland: One player who looked like he’d be involved in PTO season was veteran blueliner Jan Rutta.  However, instead of going that way, he has decided to play in Switzerland, inking a two-year contract with Geneve-Servette.  He didn’t make his NHL debut until his age-27 back in 2017-18 with Chicago and leaves with 417 outings over parts of eight seasons.  Rutta had 98 points and 479 blocked shots in those outings along with a pair of Stanley Cup victories from his time with Tampa Bay.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Snapshots: Samsonov, KHL, Evason

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Nearly two months into free agency, veteran goaltender Ilya Samsonov finds himself still looking for a team to play with this season.  It appears at least one KHL team investigated the potential of bringing him back home as KHL Metallurg Sports Director Evgeny Biryukov told Match TV’s Nikita Maximov that he talked to the 28-year-old about playing for them but Samsonov’s intention is to remain in the NHL for the upcoming season.  Samsonov posted a 2.82 GAA and a .891 SV% in 29 starts last season with Vegas, numbers that weren’t too much of an improvement over 2023-24 when he was in Toronto.  At this point, he may have to settle for a training camp PTO and hope to land a second-string option from there.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Still with the KHL, player agent Darryl Wolski relayed (Twitter link) the top-five KHL salaries for the upcoming season. Long-time AHL winger Rocco Grimaldi has the highest base salary, checking in around $1.19MM US.  Meanwhile, winger Daniel Sprong has the highest potential pay day when factoring in performance bonuses.  After making $975K last season, his base salary this year is close to that while if he reaches his incentives, he could ultimately wind up with a raise compared to a year ago.  Former NHL winger Dmitrij Jaskin is the only other player with a seven-figure USD salary in that league this season.
  • Dean Evason had a solid first year in Columbus, helping lead the Blue Jackets to an improbable late-season playoff push that ultimately came up just short. It turns out he very nearly didn’t have the opportunity to join them as Michael Arace of The Columbus Dispatch noted in a thorough profile of the bench boss that it looked like he was going to land the head coaching job in Seattle until they decided to promote Dan Bylsma from the AHL to the top job instead.  Bylsma, of course, was let go back in April after just one season behind their bench.

PHR Originals: 8/25/25 – 8/31/25

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With the end of August typically being very quiet around the NHL, we had plenty of original content here at PHR over the past seven days.  Here’s a recap of those columns.

When July 1st came, the unrestricted free agent defenseman with the most points was Matt Grzelcyk.  He was coming off a career-best 40 points while also logging more than 20 minutes a night for the first time.  In a market bereft of top-four defenders, he was an exception.  And yet, nearly two months into free agency, he’s still looking for a contract.  Josh Cybulski examined Grzelcyk’s situation, noting the rarity of a player coming off a “show me” contract, performing better than expected, and remaining in free agency this late.  While his play was worthy of a raise from the $2.75MM he made last season, it’s looking less likely that he’ll actually beat that.

Our Summer Synopsis series continued with our writing team taking looks at Toronto, Tampa Bay, and St. Louis.  The Maple Leafs lost one of their top players this summer with Mitch Marner heading to Vegas while the team added some extra grit and defensive acumen up front.  Meanwhile, the Lightning largely had a quiet summer with their biggest move being the re-signing of 33-year-old center Yanni Gourde to a six-year contract, one that carries a team-friendly $2.33MM AAV.  Meanwhile, the Blues had plenty of trade speculation over the summer but made just one move, a swap of 2021 first-round picks while they shored up their center depth in free agency.

Meanwhile, our Salary Cap Deep Dive series continues its tour through the Central Division as I examined the situations for Colorado and Dallas.  Last season, the Avs weren’t able to re-sign a key pending UFA winger and they could be in a similar situation this year with Martin Necas, especially with Cale Makar due a significant raise two years from now.  Meanwhile, Dallas is a year away from an intriguing summer with both Jason Robertson and Thomas Harley in line for significant raises without a ton of cap room.  This season, both teams have limited room below the Upper Limit so making moves of significance won’t be easy unless they’re sending a key piece out as part of the swap.

With training camps fast approaching, one of the early storylines is always about trophy contenders.  It’s an impressive-looking field for Rookie of the Year, headlined up front by Canadiens winger Ivan Demidov, Capitals winger Ryan Leonard, and 2025 Hobey Baker winner Isaac Howard, acquired by Edmonton this summer, among others.  It’s arguably even more crowded on the back end with the group including Islanders first-overall pick Matthew Schaefer, Minnesota’s Zeev Buium, Chicago’s Sam Rinzel, and Carolina’s Alexander Nikishin.  Will one of them take home the Calder Trophy or someone else?  You can make your prediction here.

While the Flyers haven’t had a ton of success as of late, their latest attempt at rebuilding kicked off a couple of years ago.  Josh took a look at how things have gone so far with a prospect pool that is improved but still not among the NHL’s best while their roster isn’t particularly young for a team that’s in rebuilding mode.  Still, GM Daniel Briere has made some progress as he continues to reshape Philadelphia’s group.

Our latest mailbag was posted, wrapping up the series of questions from a few weeks ago.  Topics in this one included my predictions on some teams who could find themselves back in the playoff picture this season if all goes well, a possible breakout candidate, and rounding out Toronto’s top-six forward group.

Lastly, there was certainly an expectation of a busy summer in terms of transactions.  The increase to the salary cap was supposed to open up more flexibility, leading to an active free agency and trade period.  Instead, it has been much quieter.  Josh looked into why the frenzy that was widely expected turned largely into a flop.  As it turns out, the extra cap flexibility allowed more teams to keep the core they had, leading to less player movement than expected.

Elias Lindholm Poised For Bounce-Back Season

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After an injury-affected first season with the Boston Bruins, center Elias Lindholm is looking forward to a productive 2025-26 season, per Ronnie Rönnkvist of The Daily Faceoff.

Despite playing all 82 games last season, Lindholm revealed during his exit interviews in April that he had been dealing with a back injury since the previous August. The issue caused him to miss time in training camp and limited him offensively throughout the year. After signing a seven-year, $54.25 million contract with Boston last summer, both Lindholm and the team were expecting more than just 0.57 points per game.

“I didn’t get off to a strong start, had problems with my back, and missed the entire camp. To be able to play from the beginning, I had to take an injection, and it took a few weeks before it helped. I couldn’t do anything for a month or two, so I felt behind and had to catch up. It wasn’t a great start, but I hope this coming season can be better,” Lindholm said.

Selected fifth overall in the 2013 draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, Lindholm has long been recognized as a defensively responsible center, earning Selke Trophy votes in five of his 12 NHL seasons, including a second-place finish following the 2021–22 campaign with the Calgary Flames. That same season, he also showcased his offensive potential by recording a career-high 42 goals and 82 points. That is the type of production the Bruins were hoping to get from the 30-year-old native of Sweden. But Lindholm, who noted that last season was full of “distractions,” is confident he can turn things around in year two with Boston.

“We’ve brought in some players, more hardworking types, so the feeling is that we’ve added more of a Boston style to our game,” Lindholm said. “A lot went wrong, but hopefully, things will go better this season and allow us to make the playoffs at least.”

 

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