NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 25, 2025
Recaps of Monday’s games, uncertainty over future 4 Nations tournaments, updates on Matthew Tkachuk, Trevor Zegras suspended, the Ducks and Red Wings make a trade, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
JETS DOWN THE SHARKS, KINGS RALLY OVER THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
NHL.COM: An overtime goal by Mark Scheifele lifted the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Josh Morrissey tied the game for the Jets in the third period after Sharks forward William Eklund opened the scoring in the first period. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 17 shots for the Jets, while Vitek Vanecek kicked out 33 for the Sharks.
Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Scheifele scored his franchise-record 329th regular-season goal, surpassing Ilya Kovalchuk. The Jets picked up their 10th straight win to regain first place in the overall standings with 85 points.
Meanwhile, San Jose is 0-4-1 in their last six games, with only one victory in 13 contests. Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren missed this game with an upper-body injury.
Los Angeles Kings forward Quinton Byfield collected a career-high four assists as his club defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2. Trevor Moore tallied twice as the Kings scored four third-period goals. Brayden McNabb and Mark Stone replied for the Golden Knights.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights remain atop the Pacific Division with 74 points, while the Kings are third with 69 points.
HEADLINES
YAHOO! SPORTS: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told Rich Eisen that the league must consider where any future 4 Nations Face-Off tournament would fit into a busy schedule of international tournaments.
The league is riding high following the success of the 4 Nations tournament, which garnered millions of viewers. Bettman admitted the event’s success was “so quick and overwhelming”, saying they have a lot to consider and sort out, including what the All-Star Game will look like going forward.
Bettman said the 4 Nations was meant as a “quick appetizer” for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, followed by the return of the World Cup of Hockey in 2028 and every four years thereafter.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’ll be difficult for the NHL to return to its previous All-Star Game format. Fans want to see more meaningful best-on-best international play rather than a gloried no-contact game where the players are just going through the motions.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Panthers head coach Paul Maurice insisted that sidelined winger Matthew Tkachuk will play again this season, though he admitted he didn’t have a timeline for his return. Tkachuk suffered a lower-body injury playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off. TVA Sports Renaud Lavoie claimed the Panthers were concerned that Tkachuk’s season could be over as they awaited his medical results.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Tkachuk appeared on The Tonight Show on Monday to discuss how much it meant to represent his country alongside his brother Brady.
DAILY FACEOFF: Speaking of the Panthers, forward Eetu Luostarinen will miss Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators as he and his wife are expecting a child.
NHL.COM: The department of player safety handed down a three-game suspension to Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras for interference on Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen on Sunday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Zegras leveled Rasmussen with a blindside hit to the head. The latter left the game and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: The Red Wings made a trade on Monday, shipping goaltender Ville Husso to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations. The 30-year-old Husso is in the final season of a three-year contract with an average annual value of $4.75 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The report suggested that the future considerations could be the Red Wings eating part of Husso’s cap hit, but PuckPedia shows no indication of salary retention on their part. This trade frees up cap room for the Wings to add a player or two by the March 7 trade deadline.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports this move doesn’t mean the Ducks are planning to trade goalie John Gibson. He says it provides experienced depth to their AHL affiliate in San Diego as that club pushes for a playoff spot.
NHL.COM: League commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the suspension levied on Minnesota Wild center Ryan Hartman for roughing Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle on Feb. 1. However, he reduced the suspension from 10 games to eight, making Hartman eligible to return to action on March 4.
THE TENNESSEAN: Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos is mired in the worst slump of his NHL career. He’s gone nine consecutive games without a point.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stamkos’ production this season is well below his usual standards. He has 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points in 56 games, well below last season’s 40-goal, 81-point performance.
SPORTSNET: Montreal Canadiens center Kirby Dach will miss Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes with a lower-body injury.
DAILY FACEOFF: Legendary New York Rangers broadcaster Al Trautwig has died at the age of 68. He’d reportedly undergone recent treatments for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Trautwig hosted USA Network’s NHL coverage in the 1980s and on Versus Network for several seasons. He covered the Rangers on MSG Network from 1989 to 2021. He also covered MLB’s New York Yankees and the NBA’s New York Knicks. Trautwig won numerous broadcasting awards, including national Emmys and a New York Sportscaster of the Year Award.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Trautwig’s family, friends, broadcast partners and the Rangers organization.
Zegras: he deserves the 3 games for his head shot on a player without the puck. Having said that, I’ve seen worse go unpunished by people who are repeat offenders or bigger stars. The NHL has to get consistent with how they give out suspensions otherwise the head shots will never stop.
Gibson: Seems he’s been on the tradeblock for 4 years, and just when his trade value is rising, Anaheim sits on their hands hoping it will go higher, only to be followed by another injury to bring them back to square 1. At some point, I hope Gibson gets to move on.
Re; Oilers Trade 🍁
Penguins BRYAN Rust to to
The oilers this week for
Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson so they can Trade them at the second round pick in the 226 or 26 or 27 draft..❓
Your thoughts..❓❓
That’s a terrible deal for the Penguins. Why would they, even remotely, consider trading their arguably most productive forward for two underperforming 30+ year old worth very little in return value if Traded again, as you suggest?
Terrible.
Some Old Guy….. Sorry,
What if they through in a 2nd pick the pens would like that better, then they could trade them out for a 2.nd or 3rd picks Jeff Skinner, Viktor Arvidsson
I think i missed that part 2nd round pick the Pen’ s….🙈
what do you think now…❓
Rust would return a 1st plus if traded straight up.
1 billion % agree horrible deal for Pittsburgh !
Oilers jump all over that trade, though the NHL may not approve it.
A hard no from the Penguins…
Ardvisson eeehhhhhh…
Skinner a hell no we already have two goalies who are inconsistent and confidence issues..
I think he said Jeff Skinner
You’ve been wanting to trade Rust now for 3+ years.
Lyle, Morrissey tied the game with about 27 seconds left! Vitek Vanecek held the jets scoreless till then! VV was fantastic!
George & blackngold
both and a 2nd pick then they can trade them both out for picks that gives them a week if they want to…✔️
It might be hard for the league to go back to the meaningless All Star Game but it’ll be even harder to stage a tournament like this every year. The tournament was so special and successful because it’s a rare event. And while no one seems to be saying anything publicly, I’m sure that the several serious injuries that came out of the tournament has more than a few GMs and owners saying that they’d rather not take the risks of injuries to their star players just as the stretch drive is heating up.
Look how the league beat outdoors games into the ground. The league won’t miss an opportunity like this. For better or worse
The outdoor games are basically a game or two played between NHL teams which count in the standings. Quite unlike what was truly an exhibition tournament albeit an exciting one.
It was a comment more on the fact the nhl will double down on anything that brings it positive exposure. Expect to see more of this.
Yikes, if that’s true I hate to see what happens with ads on uniforms ….
So Ville Husso becomes the latest mediocre player to have a breakout season, score a big contract and then see his game collapse. Won’t be the last.
DET is very lucky to get rid of him without adding a 1st Rd pick as a deal sweetener.
They’ll have 14mill to add a couple of players at the deadline. It makes things much easier for them come deadline day.
Re; A Oilers Trade, 🍁 with the with NYI….
Really hoping the Oiler’s can make A Trade for Noah Philips the RD-man from the NYI…
Who looking to get out of there, this could be the Best long term Fit for the Oilers 2nd pairing RD pairing trade maybe a bit steep for the oil but fixes lots…..❓
Just looking whats out there and the Oiler’s biggest need would be a d/man
RD in Age wise
and salary wise at about 5.5M. To $6.5m
for 7-8 years ….🤔
A.- 1st Pick,
A.-2nd pick in 2026 or 2027
-Beau Akie 20yr old RD, ( Oilers top d-Prospect )
–A roster player making $3.M to $4.m to even –Salary cash out
– for Viktor Arvidsson or A Adam Henrique
NYI are looking for Picks and Prospects in return to Start a Re-build as they are to old and now missed the playoffs 3-4 4 years in a row…..??
RD-man like 20 years old -Beau Akie who played for team Canada and is 1 two 2 years away So he he has 28 points in 42 games in Barrie 🤔
What are your thoughts or ideas on trades like that……🤔……………..❓
The Zegras suspension may actually help with Anaheim trying to move him!The knock against him was that he was soft!His hit on Rasmussen,although questionable might change people s minds about him!
Not getting into “political views”… just mentioning that as much as the hockey was fantastic at the 4 Nations, I think that the timing was perfect as well for the USA and Canada to have their rivalry heightened due to the new regime in the US. Lots of US citizens that could care less about hockey, saw this as their opportunity to support the US over Canada and same with Canada. (at least I think) It sucks that politics played into it, but hopefully it made more hockey “fans”.
Starsfan, couldn’t agree more. It was the perfect storm what with rocky US/Canada relations, booing of anthems and a US/Canada final. It all adds up to great ratings. I doubt it would have generated nearly as much interest if Sweden or Finland were in the finals…or Sweden vs Finland in the finals!
The Olympics and World Cup are two years apart so if the NHL scraps the useless All-Star game and just have a trophy night they could run a rotation of :
4Nations
Olympics
4 Nations
World Cup
That shows off best on best in one form or another tat’s competitive, instead of boring gimmicky all star stuff.
Tampa look like geniuses and the Predators look like total fools over Stamkos. Sure, he’s a Hall of Famer but like most great players, they eventually fade. The fact he was -21 last season was clearly a tipping point. Even Gretzky and Lemieux have bad +/- in the later seasons, it’s a clear tell that the road is running out.
For an All-Star game you could have an outdoor game between Team North America and Team Europe. You can have expanded rosters . This would include all the players who were unable to participate this year.3 goalies per team and each plays a period. This would make for a great game on a Saturday night .