NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 3, 2026
Mika Zibanejad had a record-setting performance at the 2026 Winter Classic. The Winter Olympics men’s hockey rosters for the United States, Sweden, and Finland were also announced, along with other notable developments, in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF FRIDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick and collected two assists in a 5-1 victory over the host Florida Panthers at the 2026 NHL Winter Classic before a sellout crowd of 36,153 fans at loanDepot Park in Miami.
New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad (NHL Images).
Artemi Panarin tallied twice and had an assist, Alexis Lafreniere picked up three assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the Rangers (20-18-5), who ended a three-game winless skid. Sam Reinhart replied for the 21-16-3 Panthers, who have one win in their last four games (1-2-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a record-setting game for Zibanejad. He netted the first hat trick and the most points (five) in an outdoor NHL game. He also tied the Rangers’ record for the most power-play goals with 116.
Panarin is in a four-way tie for the most points (seven) in outdoor NHL games. The Rangers are 6-0-0 in outdoor NHL games, and 3-0-0 in the Winter Classic.
Panthers defenseman Seth Jones left this game in the first period with an upper-body injury.
St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn snapped a 3-3 tie late in the third period to lift his club over the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4-3. Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist each had a goal and an assist as the Blues held a 3-1 lead before the Golden Knights rallied on goals by Mark Stone and Pavel Dorofeyev. The Blues improved to 16-18-8 while the 17-11-4 Golden Knights have one win in their last seven games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights center Jack Eichel returned to action after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. However, teammate Brayden McNabb is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes tied his career high of four assists as his club rolled to a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Danila Yurov scored two goals for the 25-10-7 Wild, who extended their points streak to five games (3-0-2). Beckett Sennecke and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks (21-17-3), who have dropped five straight games and have two wins in their last 11 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: On Dec. 9, the Ducks led the Pacific Division (19-10-1, 39 points) and had the third-best record in the Pacific Division. They had avoided the struggles that plagued other rising young clubs such as the Montreal Canadiens, Utah Mammoth, and Chicago Blackhawks through the opening two months of this season. However, it appears they were not as immune to growing pains after all.
A shootout goal by Matty Beniers lifted the Seattle Kraken over the Vancouver Canucks 4-3. Jake DeBrusk had a goal and two assists for the Canucks, who are 16-20-4. The Kraken improved to 18-4-2.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Canucks placed center Marco Rossi (lower body) on injured reserve, and signed forward Linus Karlsson to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $2.25 million.
HEADLINES
The United States, Sweden, and Finland officially unveiled their men’s rosters for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina in February.
TEAM USA
Forwards
Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild)
Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights)
Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
Clayton Keller (Utah Mammoth)
Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs)
J.T. Miller (New York Rangers)
Brock Nelson (Colorado Avalanche)
Tage Thompson (Buffalo Sabres)
Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators)
Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers)
Vincent Trocheck (New York Rangers)
Defensemen
Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild)
Noah Hanifin (Vegas Golden Knights)
Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild)
Seth Jones (Florida Panthers)
Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins)
Jake Sanderson (Ottawa Senators)
Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes)
Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)
Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars)
Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Four notable players who weren’t chosen were Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson, Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, New York Rangers defenseman Alex Fox, and Toronto Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies.
By the way, I’ve noticed that the players who weren’t selected are considered “snubbed”. The dictionary defines a snub as an act of showing disdain or a lack of cordiality by rebuffing or ignoring someone or something.
That’s not what happened here. There were only so many roster spots, and the management and coaching staffs made difficult choices after careful consideration. It’s fine to disagree with their decisions or try to make the case why the players who didn’t make the cut should be there, but they weren’t snubbed.
TEAM SWEDEN
Forwards
Jesper Bratt (New Jersey Devils)
Leo Carlsson (Anaheim Ducks)
Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota Wild)
Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators)
Pontus Holmberg (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche)
Elias Lindholm (Boston Bruins)
William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks)
Rickard Rakell (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings)
Alexander Wennberg (San Jose Sharks)
Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers)
Defensemen
Rasmus Andersson (Calgary Flames)
Philip Broberg (St. Louis Blues)
Jonas Brodin (Minnesota Wild)
Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Gustav Forsling (Florida Panthers)
Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Erik Karlsson (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Goaltenders
Filip Gustavsson (Minnesota Wild)
Jacob Markström (New Jersey Devils)
Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota Wild)
TEAM FINLAND
Forwards
Joel Armia (Los Angeles Kings)
Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
Mikael Granlund (Anaheim Ducks)
Erik Haula (Nashville Predators)
Roope Hintz (Dallas Stars)
Kaapo Kakko (Seattle Kraken)
Oliver Kapanen (Montreal Canadiens)
Joel Kiviranta (Colorado Avalanche)
Artturi Lehkonen (Colorado Avalanche)
Anton Lundell (Florida Panthers)
Eetu Luostarinen (Florida Panthers)
Mikko Rantanen (Dallas Stars)
Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago Blackhawks)
Eeli Tolvanen (Seattle Kraken)
Defensemen
Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars)
Henri Jokiharju (Boston Bruins)
Mikko Lehtonen (ZSC Lions, Switzerland)
Esa Lindell (Dallas Stars)
Olli Maatta (Utah Mammoth)
Nikolas Matinpalo (Ottawa Senators)
Niko Mikkola (Florida Panthers)
Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia Flyers)
Goaltenders
Kevin Lankinen (Vancouver Canucks)
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
SPORTSNET: New York Islanders center Bo Horvat is out for at least a week with a lower-body injury.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: The Avalanche placed goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood on injured reserve.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Columbus Blue Jackets activated defenseman Zach Werenski from injured reserve.
CBS SPORTS: San Jose Sharks blueliner John Klingberg is doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Looking at the Finnish team one name that interests Boston fans is Jokiharju. He has been hurt and out of the lineup. Hopefully he recovers and has a good Olympics so Boston can use him in their sell off before the trade deadline. RHD are in short supply,especially if they could play on a second pair.
Another potential 3-peat got clipped with Finland’s 4-3 OT win over the U.S. at the World’s Juniors in Minnesota.
Still a few months to go before we find out if Florida can do it.
George O
Fun game, I hate 3 on 3 overtime, especially in an elimination game. Shootouts are bad enough but I understand not wanting a game to go 2 or 3 extra periods. But 3 on 3 is cringe, as the kids say…or use to say…who knows what kids say nowadays
It was that, 1Oilerfan. And I agree re 3 on 3 OT in elimination games. Play a full period first, then if it’s still tied a 3 on 3.
That Finnish team looks opportunistic-dangerous. Hard to believe just 2 are ranked in the top 32 of he 2026 draft – D Juho Piiparinen 22nd and C Oliver Suvanto 29th.
First OT, full lines. Second, 4 on 4. Third or more, of needed, 3 on 3.
Even better
GeorgeO, I thought the US was very weak on their defensive corps. Other than Hutson who plays as a rover I thought their defensemen were weak. Can t understand why Zellers did not see the ice in overtime. He was the best forward on the US team!
We’ve seen this repeatedly over the years, Sr, both at the pro level and in development levels like Major Junior. When a key game is turning out to be a lot tougher and intense than anticipated (the U.S. was HEAVILY favoured), coaches tend to shorten the bench and essentially ride who they consider their best players, especially on D, and so bottom-pairing D sit more than they skate.
Same with the Fs … human nature. It would take a coach with steel you-know-what to buck the trend and if any ever did that and rely more on the bottom half of their roster AND lose, they may as well pack their bags.
Fox might end up on roster. Jones left game after getting hit with shot. Appeared to catch him right on collarbone. Have to wait and see. As a Ranger fan, I felt Fox should’ve been on roster. I also don’t believe either Trochek or JT Miller should’ve made the cut.
Yeah, Slick62, I was kind of surprised to see Trochek selected (9g 15a 24pts) and someone like Cole Caufield (2-g 2-a 40 pts) not. I suppose it came down to “size matters” … but Caufield is a LOT more dangerous out there at any time than is Trochek, despite his size.
And if size was indeed a factor, how could they pass over a big power F like Knies?
Even so, all together that’s a pretty impressive U.S. team.
20g 20a …. sheesh
Debrincat: 21g 20a …. sheesh
Not even mentioned! I call “snub” 🫤
To quote Jon Cooper when discussing Canada, if you don’t check, this is not the tournament for you.
Guessing the US MGT and coaching staff have a similar opinion. And ya, size obviously helps with that. As does skating.
I’m far from a Debrincat or Caufield expert, but ya they’re small and neither one kills penalties.
Trockek has a rep as being very good defensively, drawing tough competition. Also plays big minutes on the PK. Which you need someone to do and will be super important in this tourney. It’s why Canada has guys like Hagel, Cirelli and Horvat vs Bedard.
Both the US and Canada have plenty of scoring and PP guys. Competition is pretty tough for those spots.
Good points, Ray.
Ray, no team has a roster full of penalty killers and defensive players. Team USA has some but goal scores are needed too. Caufield is one of the top US born natural goal scorers.
Ray, Cat’s line has not been scored on in the month of December. He does his job defensively.
As much as I like Fox, he wasn’t particularly good (to say the least) in the 4 nations tournament. Now I do believe he was nursing an injury, but he was highly criticized for his play in that tournament. Probably more so than any other player on the US squad.
To the point where it was addressed by the US team as not being the sole reason for this years “snub”.
Jt’s fight @ 4N cemented his spot…one of him or Trocheck as an extra forward was fine but not both. and Brock is also an extra guy. Robertson’s speed is needed imho…. also in 2030 most of this forward group is 35 or older. Robertson needed to be included now
There may be a conspiracy to not have Robo add to his resume thus adding to his new contract demands! 🤔😉
Definitely disappointd that Robo was left off team USA, but as someone who watches him every night, I get it. Guerin has said he wanted a heavy team. Jason is the opposite of that. He is not tough in the corners or on the boards, and very slow to get back on the back checking.If you’re looking for pure goal scoring, there are plenty of those and they’re already on the team. Gotta be honest, as a Stars fan, I’m rooting for Finland this year!
Lyle, five notable omissions. Add Lane Hutson to the list.
There is still over a month before the Olympic games begin. People get injured so just because one is not named on a roster today does not mean they might not be named to replace an injured player.