NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 28, 2026
Recaps of Friday’s games, Stars forward Tyler Seguin is officially sidelined for the season, the latest on Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING FRIDAY’S ACTION
NHL.COM: Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists to lead his club to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild, snapping the latter’s six-game win streak. Lawson Crouse tallied two goals for the 31-24-4 Mammoth, who hold the first wild-card berth in the Western Conference with 66 points. Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist for the Wild (35-15-10).
Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek left this game near the end of the second period after taking a stick to the face from Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz.
The Buffalo Sabres (34-19-6) moved into second place in the Atlantic Division with 74 points by nipping the Florida Panthers 3-2. Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist, and Alex Lyon made 28 saves. Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist, and Daniil Tarasov stopped 36 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Panthers forward Cole Schwindt missed this game due to a lower-body injury suffered during Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pierre-Luc Dubois tallied twice, and Jakob Chychrun scored what proved to be the winning goal as the Washington Capitals held off the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-2. Braeden Bowman and Tomas Hertl scored for the Golden Knights (28-17-14), who hold first place in the Pacific Division with 70 points. The Capitals (32-17-9, 69 points) picked up their third straight win to move within two points of the Boston Bruins for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
An overtime goal by Chris Kreider lifted the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Beckett Sennecke collected three assists for the 32-23-3 Ducks, who picked up their fourth straight win. Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo each had a goal and an assist for the 23-26-9 Jets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ducks winger Troy Terry missed this game as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov left this game with a lower-body injury. The Jets also played with winger Nino Niederreiter, who is week-to-week with an undisclosed injury.
HEADLINES
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars have ruled out forward Tyler Seguin for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. Seguin, 34, had surgery for a torn ACL on Dec. 2.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Seguin carries an average annual value of $9.85 million. He will now be placed on season-ending long-term injury reserve (SLTIR).
The Stars have $1.4 million in cap space, but TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports they’re already using $3.8 million of his cap hit with other players injured. Nevertheless, this will still give the Stars salary-cap flexibility heading toward the March 6 trade deadline.
ESPN.COM: Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk isn’t happy that he was part of an AI-doctored TikTok video released by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians.
In the video, Tkachuk is made to say, “They booed our national anthem, so I had to go out and teach those maple syrup-eating f**ks a lesson.”
“Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. I know those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.
Asked if he enjoyed the video, Tkachuk said he didn’t because he would never say those things about Canadians. He also denied that he was the person who shouted, “Close the northern border!” during Team USA’s congratulatory call with President Donald Trump.
“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me. But if you watch the video, it’s not my voice or something I would never say.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Tkachuk is a proud American, and he’s obviously overjoyed to have helped the United States win its first gold medal in Olympic Men’s hockey in 46 years. However, he would never make those comments.
Tkachuk has spent the entirety of his eight-season NHL career with the Ottawa Senators, becoming their captain and the face of the franchise. He’s also been active in the local community for years. He signed an eight-year contract with the club in 2021 and denied trade rumors about him that popped up last spring, calling them lies.
TSN: The New York Rangers claimed forward Tye Kartye off waivers from the Seattle Kraken.
DAILY FACEOFF: Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki underwent successful shoulder surgery. He will miss the remainder of this season, but is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in September.
SPORTSNET: Ian (Scotty) Morrison, a former NHL referee and top executive with the Hockey Hall of Fame, died on Wednesday at the age of 95.
Morrison joined the NHL as a referee in 1954. By 1965, he was appointed the league’s Referee-in-Chief. In 1981, he became their vice-president of officiating until 1986, when he was appointed to an executive position in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In 1991, he became the Hall’s chairman and chief executive officer until his retirement in 1998. A year later, he was inducted into the Hall along with superstar Wayne Gretzky and referee Andy Van Hellemond.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Morrison’s family, friends, and colleagues.
“an AI-doctored TikTok video released by the White House”
I would make absolutely sure of the source of this video before commenting. ESPN has been known to pass judgement on things of dubious sources.
“I would make absolutely sure of the source of this video before commenting. ESPN has been known to pass judgement on things of dubious sources.”
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/brady-tkachuk-addresses-white-house-clearly-fake-ai-video-showing-him-insulting-canadians
https://globalnews.ca/news/11709704/brady-tkachuk-white-house-video/
https://www.bbc.com/sport/ice-hockey/articles/cqj9w4xz1l0o
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/article-senators-captain-brady-tkachuk-unhappy-with-white-house-ai-video-that/
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/26/politics/brady-tkachuk-team-usa-canada-white-house-video
You didn’t site the my pillow guy Lyle. Just poor journalism on your part.
You trust reporting from cnn and bbc? No
Ol 82nd guy: I posted all those links to show how many different news sites were reporting on the Tkachuk story.
The story is real, all sources report it was an AI-generated video that appeared on the White House TikTok account. Tkachuk saw it himself, that’s why he spoke out against it.
Well, the White House has not responded to this video as of yet as stated in these reports. I will wait till they do.
The story is real, Johnny. Tkachuk saw the video, which is why he spoke out against it. Or are you claiming all those different news sources are lying?
I wonder which White House staffer will be thrown under the bus for the latest blunder? Or will they go the fake news route?
The concept of Joseph Goebbels enduring “big lie” approach is to NEVER show any indication that it was manufactured.
No Lyle, I am questioning the actual source of the video. The real White House has not confirmed or denied if they sourced this video. I will wait until that happens. It is not the first time that a widely spread story about this administration has been simply “fake news”.
Johnny: The video is real. It was posted on the White House’s TikTok account. Multiple sources have seen it. It was seen by thousands of people on the White House’s TikTok account. And as I said to you before, TKACHUK SAW IT TOO, WHICH IS WHY HE EXPRESSED HIS DISPLEASURE ABOUT IT.
The Wild looked real flat last night. Credit Utah for taking advantage of the situation and getting the win. Not sure what I think of Utah, they may be active before March 6.
I could see Utah looking for a better goalie to spell Veggie and take workload. Bob would be a great pick up if his team is out. Def an upgrade there and he is UFA. We have seen what a hot goalie can do for a team.
They just got Cooley back and that feels like a big TDL acquisition itself. If they make it they are probably 1 and done but something tells me the GM would be thrilled with that progress.
So, the lesson for some in the U.S. in that Tkachuk obvious BS is to start questioning 99% of the crap being fed to them over TV or the Internet … and not just as it relates to sports.
Hell, not just the U.S., but all of us all over the bloody globe because the tactic of the “big lie” has reached worldwide proportions.
We can either just shrug it off sheep-like or start demanding rigid control and verification of so-called “news” releases.
George. I would like to take this time to deny any participation. As much as I’ve been setting this scenario for months in order to get Brady to NY, I’m too old for learning how to do AI videos. Keeping my fingers crossed for an off season shakeup in Ottawa.
LOL. I’m with you there Slick62. It’s just becoming so difficult these days to separate fact from manufactured crap. Seems like EVERYTHING needs to be clarified and corroborated by any individuals involved before anything can proceed. What a cluster-F!
As to any realistic movement of Tkachuk at some date, I’ll repeat my philosophy on things of that nature …. no one should ever be categorized as “untouchable” when it comes to professional sports. If an offer comes in that is mind-blowing in terms of the overall improvement of the team – in the eyes of the GM whose job it is to always have an eye on doing just that – then he has to pull the trigger.
Would an offer of that nature ever come in for Tkachuk? I have absolutely no idea … but in that event you have to seriously consider it if you’re Staios.
26 1st 27 1st perruet (spelling trbl) and lafreiniere. Trbl again. Both 1sts unprotected. How bout dem apples?
The Olympics are over. Let s enjoy a great slate of games this weekend heading into the playoffs. Stay on the positive side over negative.
Love to Sr … but if you’ll recall there have been repeated questions posed in here about Tkachuk possibly becoming upset if the team misses the playoffs, and even citing some of the crap he’s just vehemently denied as factual and wanting “to go the NYR.”
Bull-s&^t in the extreme … but clearly believed by some.
Remember, Genisys is Skynet
Believe half of what you see and nothing that you hear.
That Sennecke should be a Calder finalist
Yeah, except the whole AI-doctored approach is quickly becoming so refined, which half do you dare believe?
George,
The first lesson is that this potus runs the White House like a Frat House.
The 2nd lesson is a wonderful quote from my dear fellow Hab fan who I frequently share different opinions with (LJ) it’s time to take away the remote from people mentioning Tkachuk on the outs with the Sens.
Heh. Good advice!