NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 21, 2025
The Stars defeat the Blues as preseason action begins, plus the latest on Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, Canucks netminder Thatcher Demko, Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: A shootout goal by Sam Steel lifted the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues as preseason play began on Saturday.
Justin Carbonneau opened the scoring for the Blues 50 seconds into the second period, but Mavrik Bourque tied it for the Stars later in the period. Jordan Binnington and Colten Ellis combined to make 33 saves in regulation and overtime for the Blues, while Stars goaltenders Remi Poirier and Antoine Bibeau made 14 saves.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: 15 preseason games are on tap for Sunday.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy skipped practice on Saturday to undergo treatments. Head coach Jon Cooper wasn’t concerned, saying it was “player management” and he’d likely miss a few days.
THE PROVINCE: Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko credits fatherhood with giving him a new outlook on life. After struggling with a rare knee injury during a tumultuous season for his teammates, the 30-year-old netminder is healthy and looking forward to the coming campaign.
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A return to the form that made Demko a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2023-24 will be crucial to the Canucks’ plans to rebound from last season’s disappointing performance.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW’s Aarif Deen reports Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Brent Burns won’t play in any of the club’s two preseason games on Sunday. The veteran defenseman tweaked something, but it’s not considered serious.
NEW YORK POST: Islanders captain Anders Lee doesn’t expect to have a contract extension in place before the start of the regular season. The 35-year-old winger is eligible for unrestricted free-agent status next July.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Both sides appear willing to wait and see how the season unfolds.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour is impressed by Logan Stankoven’s willingness to learn and adapt to the center position. The 22-year-old forward was part of the return from the Dallas Stars in the Mikko Rantanen trade last March.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Brind’Amour is trying to find a suitable second-line center. He’s previously used Seth Jarvis in that role, but could prefer keeping him at right wing alongside center Sebastian Aho on the first line. Stankoven had nine points in 19 regular-season games and eight points in 15 playoff contests for the Hurricanes.
CALGARY SUN: The Flames hired Marcus Nilson as a European pro scout. He spent the final four seasons of his NHL career (2003-04 to 2007-08) with the Flames.
THE ATHLETIC: The Chicago Blackhawks settled a second lawsuit filed by a former player who sued them for failing to act when informed of sexual assault allegations against former video coach Brad Alrich.
The club previously settled a case with former player Kyle Beach when similar accusations were made against Aldrich and the organization stemming from the 2010 playoffs.
If you Google “has Jack Roslovic been offered an NHL contract yet” here’s what pops up
“NHL insider Pierre LeBrun reported that Roslovic turned down an offer from the Edmonton Oilers at some point during the summer. Reports indicate that Roslovic is holding out for a multi-year contract, which is proving difficult to secure this late in the offseason as most team rosters are already finalized.”
If he thinks some team is going to sign him long term, he has a really over-inflated view of himself. He turns 29 in January and if he signed with other than Winnipeg, Columbus, NYR or Carolina he’d be joining his 5th team in 5 years. With those facts in mind, if any GM thought he was worth a long term deal he’d have been signed by now.
The same question regarding 33 y/o Evgeni Kuznetsov results in
“As of September 21, 2025, Evgeni Kuznetsov has not yet signed a contract but has narrowed his options down to two NHL teams. His agent, Shumi Babaev, announced the decision in early September and stated that both clubs are working to free up salary cap space to accommodate the signing.”
If that is indeed the case, and depending upon what he thinks he can get in terms of a per-season cap hit, that would SEEM to narrow it down to two of these teams which are currently the leanest when it comes to cap reserve, showing probable or possible LTIR application:
those over the cap
FLORIDA $4,500,000 – Tkachuk LTIR $9.5 mil; VEGAS $7,638,571 – RFA RW Alexander Holtz to sign – Pietrangelo LTIR $8.8 mil;
those with less than $1 ml
NYR $777,976; ST. LOUIS $625,151 – Krug LTIR $6.5 mil; DALLAS $405,084; TAMPA $405,001; EDMONTON $225,834 – Hyman LTIR $5.5 mil;
those with $1 to $2 mil
TORONTO $1,919,721; NYI $1,625,000; COLORADO $1,325,964;
Roslovic has all the tools except consistency and a next level compete. I think he scored most of his 22 goals in the first half of last season where it at first looked like the Rangers made a mistake not resigning…..
Everyone seems to be looking for a second line center. Montreal,Carolina,and Calgary come to mind right away.Boston who is embarking on a rebuild has several players to offer. Zacha,Middlestadt and Poitras are there for the taking.With 2 first round picks in the 26 and 27 drafts hopefully they are headed in the right direction,although it will take time.