National Hockey League

National Hockey League

"He's a significant challenge," Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery said. "He's having a phenomenal season. ... He changes his shot angle as good as anybody in the world. When he gets in tight spaces and you think you've got him stick on puck, he's able to just move it six inches more to get a real clean look off when he gets into that dangerous scoring area. And frankly, that's a little bit larger for him than it is for most players."

Roy has had a strong campaign with the Maple Leafs; while he won't show up on the scoresheet, he provides a strong center with defensive structure and a bit of playmaking ability. The Quebec native has led the Maple Leafs' penalty kill to third best in the NHL, a far improvement from years past, and is very effective in the faceoff circle.

Just over half of the 2025-26 season has been completed, and the Los Angeles Kings are sporting an 18-14-10 record with 46 points, good enough for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. Looking at that from an outside lens, most would come to the conclusion that sitting in a wild card spot at the halfway mark of the season is a positive sign and one that would equate to a successful season if the trend continued.

If the Flames want to be buyers and try to go all-in on a playoff push, they do have the means to try and make it work. According to PuckPedia, the Calgary Flames are currently sitting on nearly $10 million in cap space, making a move for a veteran piece extremely plausible. In this case, teams like the Winnipeg Jets could be potential trade targets.

Week 7 of the 2025-26 NLL season is set to take place Friday and Saturday, with eight games across the two nights. That number of games means two teams -- the Halifax Thunderbirds and Rochester Knighthawks -- have double duty. The Thunderbirds take on the Ottawa Black Bears Friday then the Oshawa FireWolves Saturday, while the Knighthawks visit the Philadelphia Wings on Friday before hosting their Western New York rival Buffalo Bandits on Saturday.

A former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie looks to be getting one more crack at the NHL. That shot will be coming with a division rival, however. On Thursday night, Darren Dreger reported the Ottawa Senators would be signing former Maple Leafs netminder James Reimer to an AHL Professional Tryout contract. The news comes as no surprise following the Senators' debacle in Colorado. The @Senators have signed veteran goalie James Reimer to an AHL PTO. Expect Reimer to report to Ottawa in a few days with an NHL contract. Ultimately, the hope is Reimer will provide good backup to Linus Ullmark when he returns from Personal Leave.- Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 9, 2026

📸: RMNB Justin Sourdif gave Capitals fans one of the most fun individual efforts of the season, recording five points and scoring his first career hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks. Sourdif had fantastic chemistry with Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard in their first game together. Now the question becomes - Can the Young Guns 2.0 keep it up against a usually-stingy defensively Dallas Stars team.

The decision reportedly came from Quinn Hughes himself, with him not wanting to sign a contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks this summer. Canucks' 2024-25 season had sharply declined, and the organization needed to make changes. By trading Hughes, they received a massive package of prospects and a high draft pick (forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren, defenseman Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-round pick).

After that shorthanded goal, we just seemed to not be able to recover, for whatever reason. We started pressing. We are not the type of team that can press like that. That's not how we have success, and it just got away from us. The one thing is that when things didn't go our way, we kind of stopped playing. We let guys beat us up ice, and that stuff just shouldn't happen.

Morgan Rielly has become the latest Toronto Maple Leafs lightning rod, with his play under intense scrutiny after being on the ice for all four goals against in a recent overtime loss to the New York Islanders. The latest defensive hiccup from the Leafs' longest-serving player made Rielly the target of familiar fan frustration, even as a more consequential issue lingers beneath the surface.

Wilson took to the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in a light blue, no-contact jersey, skating for a second straight day as he makes his way back from a lower-body injury. The 31-year-old winger did not stick around to join the rest of his teammates for their practice, but head coach Spencer Carbery was still encouraged by Wilson's progress. "Yeah, he's getting there," Carbery said. "Skated on his own this morning, so it was a good sign."

It's unfortunate the fans ran Marner out of town, that's a huge impact for their group. He's a point a game player, that hurts.

Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Hage and top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna finished the game with four points apiece and helped Canada pull away after the game was 3-2 for them following the first period. Los Angeles Kings prospect Carter George impressed in his return to the net after a couple of rough games early in the tournament, stopping 27 of 30 Finnish shots in the win.