NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 6, 2025
Check out the latest news on Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, Maple Leafs winger William Nylander, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: From Aug.7 to 15, I’m taking a much-needed vacation while the site undergoes maintenance for several days. Barring the unforeseen, I’ll return with regular updates on Aug. 16.
TSN: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has partnered with Russian tech company Yandex and its streaming platform Kinopoisk to produce a movie, series, or documentary about his life.
Ovechkin has granted the rights to adapt his career to Yandex’s production label, Plus Studio. In return, he is expected to participate in commercials and serve as a Yandex ambassador.
TORONTO SUN: Maple Leafs winger William Nylander received the Guldpucken (The Golden Puck), awarded annually to Sweden’s top hockey player by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and newspaper Expressen.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (NHL Images).
Nylander scored a career-high 45 goals and had 84 points with the Leafs in 2024-25. It’s the first time he’s won this award.
DAILY FACEOFF: Forward Jack Roslovic remains the top player remaining in this summer’s unrestricted free-agent market.
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, forwards Max Pacioretty, Victor Olofsson, Luke Kunin, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and goaltenders James Reimer and Ilya Samsonov are among the other notables still available.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Roslovic reportedly has half a dozen teams interested in him, but he’s taking his time deciding which one to sign with.
Friedman also suggested some UFAs haven’t signed yet because they don’t want to ink contracts that would be considered too much of a bargain for the teams. Those players may be hoping the offers improve as training camp approaches.
DAILY FACEOFF: Former NHL goaltender Anton Khudobin announced his retirement from pro hockey. The 39-year-old spent 14 seasons (2009-10 to 2022-23) with the Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, and Chicago Blackhawks.
Khudobin spent most of his NHL career as a backup. The highlight of his career came during the 2020 playoffs with Dallas. Replacing sidelined starter Ben Bishop, he carried the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final before falling in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In 260 regular-season games, Khudobin had 238 wins, 114 losses and 33 overtime losses, with a 2.52 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and 11 shutouts. In 27 playoff contests, he has a record of 14-10 with a 2.63 GAA, a .919 SP, and one shutout.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dan Kingerski recently listed the top five most under-appreciated Penguins of the Sidney Crosby era. They include active players Bryan Rust, Olli Maatta, and Brian Dumoulin, as well as former players Carl Hagelin and Rob Scuderi.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rust has frequently surfaced this summer as a trade candidate as the Penguins rebuild their roster by peddling veterans for younger talent.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: George Richards makes the case for the Panthers to create a “Den of Honor” to celebrate the top players in the franchise’s 32-year history. He suggested the initial honorees could include retired players like Pavel Bure, Olli Jokinen, and Scott Mellanby.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Richards recommends this honor for former Florida players who will not have their numbers retired. Goaltender Roberto Luongo is the only player whose number is retired by the Panthers. Those on the current team, such as Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, and Sergei Bobrovsky, will likely have their numbers retired once their playing careers come to an end.
THE PROVINCE: The Vancouver Canucks are bringing back Vitali Kravtsov, signing the 25-year-old winger to a one-year, two-way contract. Kravtsov spent the past two seasons in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
FLO HOCKEY: The Hershey Bears named Derek King as their new head coach. King played 830 games in the NHL and spent the past four seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, including time as an interim coach and coaching their AHL affiliate in Rockford.
Enjoy your vacation Lyle. You’ve earned it.
DItto. Enjoy and thanks for all that you do.
And as for the Ovechkin movie I’ll wait for the book. And i won’t get that either.
LoL! My thoughts exactly.
Have a blast on your Vacation Lyle
Gotta join in wishing you a refreshing break, Lyle.
Lyle, have a great time away from the doldrums of the hockey 🏒 world.
Enjoy the vacation.
In other news, Jagr suited up for the preseason game vs. Litvinov.
I’ve been able to take in Kladno games during the past 3 seasons, and at the end of the 23-24 campaign, I thought I’d watched Jagr’s last game.
He looked better (and lighter) now than in any of the past 2-seasons. He moved better, and seemed a hair quicker! Not bad for a 53-year old!
His vision and play making skills are still incredible.
While I knew, of course, that Ottawa does not have a 1st Round pick in 2026 (so far, anyway, unless Bettman changes his mind on that Dadonov trade clerical error, as he did once with NJ, albeit for a different reason), I was somewhat taken aback when scanning the list to see that no less than these 7 others do not have one either – all through previous trades: Vegas, Florida, Edmonton, Dallas, Tampa, Toronto and Colorado.
Meanwhile, these 7 are the ones to have benefited by accumulating 2 each: NYR, NYI, Boston, Seattle, Calgary, Chicago and San Jose, and y ou have to wonder if any will factor into future trade (lottery-protected, of course, as are those extra ones already obtained, I assume.
Dallas has signed 6′ 4″ 205lb UFA RW Nathan Bastian to a one-year $850,000 deal. Last season he played in 59 games with New Jersey, with 4g 6a 10pts.
That puts the Stars currently over the cap by $464,916 with 24 committed to (15F 7D 2G) – obviously with a F to be optioned at some point.
Well, that didn’t take long – this afternoon Puckpedia is showing Dallas with a + reserve again – this time $405,084 with 23 committed to – 14F 7D 2G, so someone was dropped to the minors.