NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 23, 2025
Recaps of Wednesday’s action, the latest injury updates, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Buffalo Sabres goaltender Colten Ellis stopped 27 shots in his NHL debut as his club doubled up the Detroit Red Wings 4-2, snapping the latter’s five-game win streak. Jack Quinn had a goal and two assists for the Sabres (3-4-0), who’ve won three of their last four contests. J.T. Compher and Emmitt Finnie replied for the 5-2-0 Red Wings.
Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Quinn (NHL Images).
The Montreal Canadiens (6-2-0) picked up their sixth win in their last seven games by nipping the Calgary Flames 2-1. Mike Matheson tallied the winner in overtime on a beautiful set-up from rookie winger Ivan Demidov. Zack Bolduc also scored, and Jakub Dobes kicked out 37 shots for the win. Dustin Wolf made 28 saves and Adam Klapka tied the game for the Flames, who have lost seven straight (0-6-1) since their season-opening win over the Edmonton Oilers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lighting issues in the aging Scotiabank Saddledome delayed the start of the game by 10 minutes. With the win, the Canadiens sit atop the Atlantic Division with 12 points.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that sidelined Canadiens winger Patrik Laine was seeking a second opinion for a lower-body injury, raising questions over whether he reinjured the knee that sidelined him for over two months early last season.
New Jersey Devils goalie Nico Daws turned aside 29 shots, and teammate Dawson Mercer collected two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Brenden Dillon scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as the Devils extended their win streak to six games (6-0-1). Matt Boldy scored for the 3-4-1 Wild, who have dropped four of their last five contests (1-3-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Devils hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 12 points. Devils forward Stefan Noesen made his season debut after undergoing a procedure for a groin injury that he re-injured during the offseason.
HEADLINES
OTTAWA SUN: Senators captain Brady Tkachuk spoke to the media on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb last week. He was non-commital about when he’ll return to action, but remains confident he’ll be back within the six to eight-week recovery period.
VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill is week-to-week after suffering an injury to his left leg during Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The club also placed defenseman Noah Hanifin on injured reserve. He has been out since October 8 with an undisclosed injury. Sidelined forward Brett Howden (upper-body injury) will travel with the team and could return to action on Saturday.
SPORTSNET: Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser returned to the team after missing their last two games for personal reasons.
TSN/ESPN: New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing ankle surgery. The Islanders also announced they fired goaltending coach Piero Greco, promoting Sergei Naumovs from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. Naumovs worked with Isles starter Ilya Sorokin during their years with KHL club CSKA Moscow.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: The Bruins placed defenseman Jordan Harris (lower body) on injured reserve.
TSN: The Nashville Predators returned forward Brady Martin to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. The 18-year-old center was chosen fifth overall by the Predators in the 2025 NHL Draft. He had one assist in three games.
Who is going to be the first team to start moving players? Calgary and SJ. Seem like obvious choices. The flames have some interesting pieces and I wonder how long SJ is going to go with their youth movement.You read that Carolina is going big name hunting again after the failed Rantanen move last year. With Boston being stuck in neutral and not heading to a rebuild and Pasta close to reaching 30,is he a player to inquire about?
This Rangers fan is concerned in typical fashion they will go after vets and Calgary has a handful…
Rangers are already SLOW
I said that when the Rangers were looking to move K’Andre Miller that they will regret it. With 6gp, 2 goals and 4 points in Carolina and some really good looking advanced stats, I would say the Rangers are regretting it now.
Also acquiring JT Miller looked good at the time, but it’s not going to age well. Naming him captain will make it worse.
I don’t look at the Miller trade as a regret. For whatever reason, he just didn’t work in NY and had regressed a lot over his last 2 years. The return was spectacular. A 1st, a 2nd and Scott Morrow who is ranked around 50 in most prospect rankings.
His short sample size aside, I don’t think you’ll get many Ranger fans to see his departure as a regret.
Scott Morrow will soon to be 23 and has only 16 NHL games played. His time as a prospect has passed. That 2026 1st is going to be a late round pick at best.
Millers regression started with Drury’s dismantling of the Rangers, and that all started with trading Brett Howden for Nick DeSimone. Miller wasn’t the only Rangers player to regress and wasn’t the worst of them either.
I think KA Miller will be a solid top 4 Dman for the next decade but he did need a change of scenery….maybe Sullivan’s system he would of blossomed?
Rangers Dcore right now is not the issue… they lose games because the old forwards losing 2 steps
Miller’s regression started the year they won the presidents trophy. Howden? Howden was nothing more than a bottom 6 forward when they traded him. Not exactly like the Trouba trade, Kreider trade or Goodrow waiver thing. This didn’t send shockwaves through the locker room.
Also, Miller had his career year AFTER Howden was traded? Not sure how he made any difference 3-4 years after that?
Regardless of his age (which 23 isn’t that old for a defensive prospect drafted in the 2nd round) he still ranks around 50 among this years prospects. There’s a lot of players drafted in the 2nd (2021) round not playing in the NHL.
I wouldn’t put this in the Kakko category. Who was never really given the opportunity to blossom in NY. Miller was given every opportunity for years. And again regressed.
As a Ranger fan, I was thrilled when he was traded. Not alone there. What he does have n Carolina? That’s anybody’s guess. But I’m not going to be too upset about it either way. He flat out didn’t work in NY. And it’s a bit early to tell anyway. I’m sure he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder at the moment.
When he starts pinching down like he’s a right winger and getting caught (on his offside as well) leaving his partner and goaltenders out to dry, I won’t be thinking about his stats after a handful of games. I’ll be thinking I’m glad Drury didn’t get stuck with a 7 million dollar offensive defensemen… that couldn’t produce offense in NY.
Ds,
Their defensive play and goaltending is spectacular. Their offense ? Not so much. But with Panarin and Miller missing camp preseason, lineup changes, coaching / system changes. I didn’t expect much early in the season.
If the offense figures it out and Shesterkin continues what he’s doing, which has been remarkable. This team will be fine.
@Captain Obvious
agree on those guys getting in game shape will help but they traded their 2 fastest forwards in Kreider+Chytil(dont regret either move)
They do need to add a speed element…..not sure how
Flames/Habs game last night was interesting, 2 young goalies playing really well, Wolf keeping the game close.
Analytics folks get a dose of reality from the Flames. Their offense numbers are terrible but are obscured by the crazy low team shooting %.
On the flip side, the Flames outshot the Habs but they had way less real scoring chances. Dobe was solid in the net but Wolf made ridiculous stops.
As per Natural Stat Trick they had the scoring chances for at 5on5, Flames 28 and Canadians 25. And the high danger chances for 5on5 Flames 13 and Canadians 5. It looks like Dobe had a better game than Wolf.
Looking at it on TV, it seemed that Wolf made the bigger saves especially in the 1st.