NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 23, 2025
Matthew Tkachuk undergoes surgery, William Nylander talks about former teammate Mitch Marner, Marco Rossi’s contract standoff is over, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RDS.CA: cited David Pagnotta of the NHL Network reporting Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk underwent surgery several weeks ago.
Tkachuk, 27, was injured during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February. He sat out the remainder of the regular season before returning for the playoffs.
Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk (NHL Images).
Pagnotta claimed Tkachuk will be sidelined until January, making it likely that he’ll be able to play for Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy in February.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: After the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup in June, Tkachuk admitted he might have to undergo surgery after suffering a torn adductor and a sports hernia.
The Panthers currently sit above the $95.5 million salary cap by $4.5 million. Teams are allowed to be above the cap by 10 percent but must be cap-compliant when they begin the regular season.
Tkachuk earns an average annual value of $9.5 million. The Panthers will likely place him on long-term injury reserve at the start of their regular-season schedule. However, they’ll have to shed salary to get under the cap when Tkachuk returns to action in January.
TORONTO SUN: Maple Leafs winger William Nylander said former teammate Mitch Marner had no premeditated plans to leave the club as a free agent at the end of last season.
“Not sure where that stuff comes from, but I don’t think he was ever thinking of leaving ahead of time,” said Nylander. “I actually asked him during the season, and he said he was concentrating on Toronto. I didn’t want to press him on that and let him be because it was obviously on his mind, but his play was focused on helping us.”
Nylander said he asked Marner again after the season, and he said he wasn’t sure.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Nylander addressed this because there was some media chatter suggesting Marner had made up his mind to leave the Leafs and head to the Vegas Golden Knights months in advance.
THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE: The contract standoff between the Minnesota Wild and Marco Rossi ended on Friday with the 23-year-old center signing a three-year, $15 million deal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The average annual value (AAV) is $5 million, but Rossi will receive $4 million in actual salary this season, $5 million next season, and $6 million in 2027-28. He lacks no-trade protection because he’s ineligible at this stage of his career to have it included in this contract.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports sources claim Rossi rejected a five-year, $25 million contract, countering with a three-year proposal worth more than the $5 million AAV that the two sides ultimately agreed to. He was coming off his entry-level contract, had little leverage in negotiations, and didn’t want to miss training camp or the start of the season.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin told Russo that the Rossi camp re-engaged with them about a month ago. The young center said he’s happy to have a deal done and is looking forward to the coming season.
The Wild got Rossi at their price, but it could cost them considerably more to re-sign him if his performance improves over the next three years.
RDS.CA: A year after being traded to the Washington Capitals, Pierre-Luc Dubois said the entire organization made him feel welcome and comfortable from the start. He responded with a career-best 66-point performance last season.
Dubois said the opportunities he received with the Capitals weren’t the same as those with his previous teams. He claimed that they made him feel like they wanted him to succeed, would give him the chance to do so, and told him to be himself.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Dubois’ performance last season played a substantial role in the Capitals exceeding expectations by finishing first in the Eastern Conference.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Florida Panthers signed forward Luke Kunin to a one-year contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: PuckPedia indicates Kunin will earn $775K for 2025-26. That contract is also easy to bury in the minors as a cost-cutting measure to make room for Matthew Tkachuk’s return to the lineup in January if necessary.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on “X” that it appears the NHL will move ahead with preparations for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey without the International Ice Hockey Federation. “The league has informed the IIHF it intends on working directly with each Hockey Federation in planning the 2028 event.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That could clear the way for Russia to participate in the NHL-sanctioned World Cup. That nation is banned from IIHF-sanctioned events because it invaded Ukraine.
Quote ,the Wild got Rossi at their price,they now have 3 years to trade him before his agent gets in a stand off with Guerin.
exactly
at that cap hit they can trade easily if thats the path and get more for him than as an unsigned rfa
or the Wild get a bargain top 6 forward
Good signing Billy G.
Panthers; at the snip of a blade (sorry had to Tkachuck); Panthers go from close to $5 M over and reports of maybe having to move Rodrigues; to being under by almost $5 M, Cap compliant until Christmastime, maybe January; when possibly another player gets injured and goes on LTIR; and still Cup Favs
Good league min signing on Kunin; just need to ink Samoskevitch
King of the GMs…. Zito!!!
When is the announcement that FSG is paying Vinny $30 M in Gold bars for flipping Dubas for Zito?
Waiting in great anticipation
All Pens fans
Rossi did the smart thing, didn’t lock in for 5, signed for the shortest time to get leverage on his next contract.
some math and hypotheticals.
Rossi wanted 7×7 $49m
Wild wanted 5×5 $25m
Settled on 3×5 15m.
The cap is rising for the next couple of years, after that it’s expected to continue but we aren’t there.
What kind of contract will he sign in 3 years?
His production is drawing 7-8m contracts today so it’s fair to assume if he stays at this level of production , 60 pts., he’ll have a larger contract in 3 years, probably in the $9m +
range.
Rossi will get his money and Wild will be paying him long term for yet more money.
When they look back, 7×7 now would have been the real cost effective move.
He could be traded during those years.
Guerin could be gone during those 3 years.
Three years goes by in a flash, successful GMs and franchises take a long term view and look beyond the tips of their noses.
Admittedly I have bias in my opinion on account of what I consider very poor short sighted moves by the previous Habs administration that just made for a disruptive room.
The present team is rewarding young players for potential based on present production and they are being locked in long term on what will be ridiculously team friendly in short order.
Yeah, no way Rossi was taking 5 for $25 when a LOT of other young players with less experience and less of a resume are making way more.
I’ll bet Rossi is now trying to get to FA without signing away those years.