NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 25, 2026
The regular-season schedule resumes on Wednesday. Check out the latest on the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid, the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
ESPN: Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will be presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for backstopping the United States to its first gold medal in Olympic Men’s hockey since 1980.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (NHL Images).
Hellebuyck and several of his Team USA teammates, including Jack and Quinn Hughes, and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, attended the annual State of the Union address to Congress in Washington on Tuesday at the request of President Donald Trump, who met with the players in the Oval Office earlier in the day.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hellebuyck is believed to be the first hockey player to receive this award.
THE ATHLETIC: Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is expected to rejoin his teammates for Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He will fly from Washington to Tampa Bay following a visit to the White House and celebrations with Team USA. Matthews was the captain of the United States Olympic Men’s hockey team.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers captain Connor McDavid will be a game-day decision for Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. McDavid is with the team as they begin their post-Olympic road trip. The club would like to rest him from this game as it is the first of a back-to-back with the second game being against the Los Angeles Kings, but the decision will be up to him.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Oilers want to ensure McDavid is well-rested and ready to return to action after the Olympics and the long journey from Italy to rejoin his teammates. They sit second in the Pacific Division with 64 points, but are only four points ahead of the Kings, who sit just outside the final Western Conference playoff berth.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars winger Mikko Rantanen is expected to miss the next two weeks due to the injury he suffered during the Olympics. He was placed on injured reserve on Monday.
The Stars also placed winger Radek Faksa on injured reserve. He suffered an upper-body injury during the Olympics.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neil Pionk and winger Nino Niederreiter will be sidelined for roughly two weeks. Pionk suffered an undisclosed injury during practice, while Niederreiter aggravated an undisclosed injury that he was dealing with before the Olympics.
The Jets are also dealing with the absence of defenseman Josh Morrissey, who was injured playing for Canada in the Olympics.
They did get one piece of good news, as winger Kyle Connor skipped the invitation to the White House and the State of the Union to rejoin the injury-depleted Jets.
THE ATHLETIC: Speaking of the Jets, Jonathan Toews shot down any notion that he might be willing to move at the trade deadline.
“I wouldn’t consider going anywhere,” Toews said. “I want to keep playing for this team.” The 37-year-old winger has a full no-movement clause.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Given the Jets’ fading playoff hopes, some pundits floated Toews as a trade candidate. There was no indication that he would request to be moved to a contender, nor were there reports of serious inquiries about his availability.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW/PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: The Colorado Avalanche traded defenseman Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This is the first significant post-Olympic trade. It could set the ball rolling for more moves with the March 6 trade deadline fast approaching.
This is a tidy piece of work by Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas. He flipped Kulak, a 32-year-old shutdown defenseman who is UFA-eligible on July 1, for the speedy, puck-moving, 27-year-old Girard, who is signed through 2026-27.
This deal reflects Dubas’ ongoing efforts to make the Penguins competitive while building up for the future by adding younger players. It could also reflect the need to address the decline in Kris Letang’s performance.
The Avalanche is in “win-now” mode. Kulak’s physical defensive style and playoff experience should make him a good rental addition as they push for the Stanley Cup this spring.
This trade gives them over $10 million in projected trade-deadline cap space, so they’re not done making trades before next Friday’s deadline. Their next target could be an experienced third-line center.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The New York Islanders acquired forward Matt Luff from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Julien Gauthier.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Seattle Kraken signed depth centers Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton to two-year contract extensions.
NEW YORK POST: The family of former NHL star Ron Duguay announced he’s battling cancer. His daughters have launched an online fundraiser seeking $50,000 to deal with his rising treatment costs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow this link if you’d like to contribute.
And the start of the final push finally kicks in tonight. Barring (more) key injuries and/or total collapse in % pace by teams currently holding down a playoff spot, mixed with sudden and consistent surges in % pace by teams trying to get in, the final standings SHOULD look something like this
(potential points left – current points – % pace – final probable points – % pace change needed over the final games for each of the top 8 to drop out and the bottom 8 to get in):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Tampa 54 78 .709 116 – .333
Carolina 50 78 .684 112 – .360
Montreal 50 72 .632 104 – .480
Pittsburgh 52 70 .625 103 – .500
Detroit 48 72 .621 102 – .500
Buffalo 50 70 .614 101 – .520
Boston 50 69 .605 99 – .540
NY Islanders 48 69 .595 97 – .563
Columbus 52 65 .580 95 – .615
Ottawa 50 63 .553 91 – .680
Toronto 50 63 .553 91 – .680
Washington 46 65 .551 90 – .696
Philadelphia 52 61 .545 89 – .692
Florida 50 61 .535 88 – .720
New Jersey 50 58 .509 84 – .780
NY Rangers 50 50 .439 72 – .940
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Colorado 54 83 .735 123 – .130
Dallas 50 77 .675 111 – .260
Minnesota 48 78 .672 110 – .250
Vegas 50 68 .596 98 – .440
Utah 50 64 .561 92 – .520
Seattle 52 63 .563 92 – .519
Anaheim 52 63 .563 92 – .539
Edmonton 48 64 .552 91 – .542
Los Angeles 52 60 .536 88 – .597
San Jose 54 58 .527 87 – .611
Nashville 50 59 .518 85 – .640
Chicago 50 53 .465 76 – .760
Winnipeg 52 52 .464 76 – .750
Calgary 52 52 .464 76 – .750
St. Louis 50 49 .430 71 – .840
Vancouver 50 42 .368 60 – .980
With 97 in the East and 91 in the West continuing to be the apparent cut-off for a WC playoff spot, I’d say that the only 2 teams in the East that could realistically see their % pace lower enough to drop out would be Boston & the NYI, while Columbus stands the best chance of raising theirs sufficiently to pass either one. Ottawa or Toronto would need to go on extended winning binges to sneak in. Out West, 4 teams could realistically drop enough to put themselves in peril – Utah, Seattle, Anaheim and Edmonton – but just 3 – L.A., San Jose and Nashville – have much of a chance of increasing their % pace sufficiently to get in.
Good work, George. Appreciated.
Boston and Columbus play a huge 4 pt. game tomorrow night.I hope Sweeney holds on to his 4 first round picks this year and next. If they trade for anyone I hope they move roster players instead of draft picks. With the condensed schedule injuries of course will play a big part.
I was very disappointed to hear Team USA laughing at the notion that the women’s hockey team was a joke for the President. It was also disappointing to see our clown of an FBI director partying with them in the locker room. I’m glad that at least 5 players stayed away from the White House for whatever reason. Folks want to keep politics out of the conversation here, but, as an American, I cheered for Team Canada because I knew a USA victory would be a chance for Trump to grandstand, and that’s exactly what he did.
Can’t stand YOUR country entering the Golden Age even at the Olympics eh! Take a chill pill, Karen.
Johnny, disagreeing with Rock’s opinion is one thing, and you’re entitled to that opinion. You didn’t need to stoop to a misogynistic slur.
A man stated his opinion and instead of a thoughtful rebuttal he just gets called a name in response.
Cool.
I apologize, Lyle. I should not resort to name calling.
However, there is a bit of information missing in Rock’s statement because many news channels do not report much of the news.
Kash Patel and his contingent were in Milan advising Italian security on real time terror threats to the games.
Austin Matthews and Kyle Conner stayed away from public gatherings with the President because of the backlash they would receive being on Canadien teams and from their fans. Which is happening anyway right now.
Championship teams have always been invited to the White House regardless of which political affiliation…….and I hope they always will. Celebrating victory in sport and cheering on one’s country in sport is not only a fan’s joy, but in this case a national triumph. I do not understand a person’s poop on a national team because of politics. These Americans have achieved a very great thing by defeating a team that was superior to them in a lot of metrics and that were favored to win it all. Their accomplishment should not be diminished by political nay-sayers.
I enjoy this forum and all hockey knowledge I have witnessed here. Thanks to Lyle and all of this forum’s contributors. Peace.
Now that was a well articulated response!
Good response Johnny Z. Hard to figure, though, why Matthews and Connor would be concerned about backlash from fans in Toronto and Winnipeg.
I seriously doubt we’ll see much – if anything – like that develop on any large scale, and it didn’t stop Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson from attending and they play in the center of Canadian politics here in Ottawa.
That’s not to say there won’t be the odd boor here and there mouthing off, but generally speaking, such crap will be in the minority.
Was happy to see the women’s team politely decline the invite using carefully-worded language foreign to him.
TDS
That’s really messed up.
Rock
You should be glad and support both sides. I fully support grown adults making choices for themselves whether declining to go or accepting. What I don’t support are fans judging them for their choices period. If you felt that strongly you wouldn’t have watched either and been upset they all didn’t refuse to play for tge US. They are athletes not political pawns that need to do what you say you would. They aren’t there to speak for you or anyone else.they didn’t go to support Frump they went to put the last touches on childhood dreams.but because of your personal politics they shouldn’t lol did you support Tim Thomas in 2011 when he refused to go? Elaine Hughes was a women’s trailblazer in Olympic hockey. She raised her kids to be high level hockey players and hopefully suit up for their nation someday. They did it and deserved to make their own choices for themselves period. And I’ll say before I don’t top my childhood dream off because of someone else it’d be a cold day in hell.I would’ve made a face at him when he shook my hand and went about my business.
This site has lately become more and more political to its detriment as far as I’m concerned. Politics is a fools game because no matter what side you are on two things never change, war and excessive taxation. Everything else is a distraction to keep people at conflict with each other. A wise man once told me political opinions are like butt holes everybody has one nobody needs another one.
I come here everyday to read and talk about hockey nothing else. I don’t follow the news or engage in politics. If you live long enough you realize it’s a waste of time since nothing changes it simply gets recycled. Find things that you enjoy in life and leave the rest behind life’s too short to waste it aggravating yourself over things you have no control over.
I think Lyle does a good job of not making things political on this site. But for better or worse our president thrust hockey into the political discussion last night. Not sure how a legit hockey discussion board threads that needle successfully. Probably impossible.
Chrisms, Presidents have been using sports teams as props since the days of Richard Nixon, they all do it for show. Most of them, if not all, have no clue about the team or the sport they are acknowledging.
No argument there skold. But in general I don’t know how a writer like Lyle dodges this because even if he didn’t acknowledge the event and tried to ignore it that would be perceived as a political statement in itself. As far as this site staying apolitical you can’t win for losing today.
It ain’t easy, Chrisms, that’s for sure.
I don’t think TDS. Has any place on this hockey site Nothing wrong with FBI director getting invited to team USA to celebrate as he is a huge hockey fan
Love it when people show their patriotism for the country they represent USA. Canada etc etc . If you don’t have it maybe time to find a country you can have it with
The beautiful thing about this country is if you don’t like what’s happening you can actively work to change it. The single most un American thing anyone can say is the whole love it or leave it thing.
Love it or change it.
Yeah, when you look at the standings, there’ll be a few of those “4-pointers” over the next couple of days, as well as 8 playing back-to-backs … further enhanced by some sure-to-be OT/SO losses and that 1 point.
It’s a shame politics creeped into the US win. Having FBI director in locker room living out his sports fantasy and getting President on phone Imo was unfortunate. I don’t blame players. White House visit probably should’ve been put off until after season. A lot being made of who went and who didn’t but, not a lot of mentions of scheduling issues. Curious to see how rest of season plays out.
Happy for Kulak that he’ll have a chance to go on another deep play-off run and may be win the cup. There is obviously a gm not named Bowman that believes the guy can help his team.
Who would not rather have emberson, stastney, or regula 😉
oh people love going down the opinion super highway
lyle probably doesn’t.
Lets keep it on the hockey rails here folks.
happy Wednesday
Canada is so in Trumps head! I love it. To think that a president gives a goalie a medal because he back stopped a national team to a gold medal. To me that is hilarious, You kind of want to win with a bit of humility, but I guess that’s not his way.
I think all this stuff will just add fuel to Canadians.
Sorry to hear about Crosby, but when so originally saw the injury, it looked like a significant injury. Hope he heals quickly.
An example for our American friends of our differences on this hockey/political thing.
In Canada most people don’t even know Daniel Rogers (Director of CSIS) or Mike Duheme (Commissioner of the RCMP) but would be shocked to see them acting like Patel in the locker room with Team Canada.
We have a Prime Minister who says thank you to Olympic athletes for taking the time to talk to him.
It brings to mind the classic line ” you are not serious people”
Owen. Total class act to do that as without him. No gold medal for USA. He pretty much did the impression of Roy in 83 for habs. Sorry no goals for you
Incredible to watch. I think it is funny Canadians think they have something over Trump only wishful thinking. Team USA has not won since 1980. Was best Olympic hockey I have ever seen in my life time And no I’m not American
Corrected was 93 for Roy. Dam fat fingers. Or is it small iPhones