National Hockey League

National Hockey League

In 2024-25, Haymes' final season before signing the deal with the Maple Leafs the forward posted 12 goals and six assists across 22 games, before joining the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies on an amateur tryout. In nine games with the Marlies, Haymes recorded two goals and four assists. Through 42 games this season, the 22-year-old has scored seven goals, while chipping in nine assists, tied for the eighth-most points among all Marlies skaters.

With the Olympic roster freeze ongoing, GMs around the league continue to have constant dialogue, as they work on the parameters of deals, and search the market for the most appealing package. Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky is notoriously aggressive on the trade market, and this season's going to be no different, so there's a very good chance the 'Canes and Leafs could be doing business together ahead of the Mar. 6 deadline.

The game was somewhat reminiscent to Sweden's 5-2 win over Italy earlier in the week, with the States dominating on the shot clock but suffering from some less than stellar goaltending to keep the game tight headed into the final frame. The Danes pushed the States to the point where they trailed 4-3 going into the third period, but the States kept the pressure up and eventually scored two goals to ice the game and take the 6-3 victory.

Entering Saturday's action, Sweden needed to win by three goals or greater to secure the top place in Group B. Slovakia won its previous two games, and held a commanding divisional lead. Dalibor Dvorsky scored for Slovakia with 39 seconds left, to preserve its entry into the quarterfinal. If Finland defeats Italy in regulation, Slovakia will capture Group B. Any other result, and Sweden will win the group.

"I can play as much as I want," Kuznetsov said, as translated via Google Translate. "The main thing is to have fewer idiots around."

Team USA men's hockey easily handled Latvia in their opening game of the 2026 Winter Olympics, securing a 5-1 victory. The focus now turns to their second round-robin game against Denmark on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. ET. Denmark lost their opener 3-1 to Germany but played better than the scoreline suggests. They outshot the Germans 38-25 but struggled to contain the star power of Leon Draisaitl and Tim Stutzle.

The Washington Capitals' number-one netminder has been tabbed to start for Team Canada in their second game at the 2026 Winter Olympics against Switzerland. Former Caps goalie Darcy Kuemper will back Thompson up. Thompson gets the nod after he backed up Jordan Binnington in Canada's 5-0 win over Czechia on Thursday. Binnington made 26 saves in the shutout victory, rewarding head coach Jon Cooper for his predetermined faith in the St. Louis Blues backstop.

They are just comfortable with each other. Everything that we've been doing - it is a year later, but the guys remember, obviously. It was a pretty complete effort. I thought every line contributed: the defense, right through to the goalie. It was one of those games where you weren't sure what was going on early, and then a couple of the big boys - Wilson and Bennett - really kind of physically pushed that game a bit in our direction.

For the first time since 2014, NHL players from the United States will be competing at the Olympic Games. Team USA's opening matchup of the 2026 Milan Cortina Games is against Latvia, a team that features several current and former NHL players as well. The U.S. is led by arguably the strongest collection of talent to ever represent the country in international best-on-best competition, including a 1-2 punch of Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel at center, do-everything defensemen like Quinn Hughes,

The handful of times Binnington got tested, he was there to make the save. Before Celebrini scored, Binnington kept it 0-0 by making a left-pad stop on Michal Kempny and reaching out to smother David Kampf's rebound attempt. At the other end of the ice, Dostal played well but was helpless to slow down much of the onslaught. There was nothing he could do on the Sidney Crosby to Connor McDavid to Nathan MacKinnon tic-tac-toe power-play goal in the third period.

Live From the Blue Seats is back at it tonight as Dave and Producer JL (and maybe Rob?) will talk trade rumors regarding Vincent Trocheck and the Minnesota Wild, where we think Braden Schneider will end up, and who else might be moved by the trade deadline. Sam Carrick's name has been mentioned, as has Jonathan Quick's name. Will the Rangers move on from both?

This should not just make Team Canada fans happy, but New York Islanders fans. It shows that taking off the past few games has not stopped his hot streak. It also does not seem like he will need an adjustment period to get used to playing with his new teammates. But will he be able to keep this up for the rest of the tournament, and will he be able to keep it up when he returns to Long Island?

The Maple Leafs will be tight against the cap, so moving out a cost-controlled defender with term doesn't make much sense if they want to maintain flexibility. At this point in time, Benoit will not be able to get you a large return worth taking. This alone should provide enough for the Maple Leafs to keep his rights, and at the very least, ride out his contract. Lots of injuries come up throughout the season, and having cheap, reliable depth players is essential.

The contest was not without some drama, as the first period included two successful coach's challenges from Latvia that wiped U.S. goals off the board. After that, however, the ice seemed to tilt the Americans' way, and goals from Tage Thompson, Auston Matthews and a pair from Brock Nelson were the difference. Here's what we learned in the opener, along with an overall team grade and big questions to ponder prior to Team USA's matchup against Denmark on Saturday.

Thursday marks the second day of the men's ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Milan Cortina. On Wednesday, Slovakia stunned the hockey world by defeating Finland 4-1 in the first game of the tournament. Then, Sweden survived a spirited effort from the host Italians, winning 5-2 after allowing the opening goal in the first period. With four games on the schedule on Thursday, that means eight teams are in action, consisting of all four from Groups A and C.

Last week we discussed potentially trading Alexis Lafreniere and Braden Schneider as part of the Rangers' ongoing retool. Much of the recent media focus has centered on who might be leaving New York, but far less attention has been paid to what could come back in return. Today begins a look at potential trade partners, starting with scouting the Detroit Red Wings. The fit in Detroit for Braden Schneider, Vincent Trocheck, and/or Alexis Lafreniere is an interesting one.

Tavares was granted exceptional status into the Ontario Hockey League as an underage forward, after a prodigious minor hockey career with the Toronto Marlboros. He was the best player in Ontario, playing 18 months up and was selected first overall by the Oshawa Generals in the 2005 OHL Priority Selection. Tavares spent parts of four seasons with the Generals, before being traded to the London Knights in his final OHL campaign during the 2008-09 season.

GROUP PLAY (Feb 11-15): The 12 countries play a round-robin within their respective groups, with three games per team. Teams earn three points for a regulation win, two points for overtime or shootout wins, one point for overtime or shootout losses, and zero points for regulation losses. GROUP A: Canada, Czechia, France. Switzerland GROUP B: Finland, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden GROUP C: Denmark, Germany, Latvia, United States

When the Toronto Maple Leafs management prepared for the 2025 National Hockey League entry draft, they did so without a first-round draft pick. The Maple Leafs first scheduled draft selection was in the second round, pick 64, the final selection in round two. With that draft pick, the Maple Leafs selected forward Tinus Luc Koblar from Leksands IF of the Swedish Junior League.

Offensively, Finland will have one of the deeper units in the tournament. From the Dallas Stars, Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz will look to translate their ability to score at will and in the biggest moments towards the Olympic stage; the former was able to score a Game 7 hat trick in the first round of the 2025 playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche.