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.
Lyle I think Johnny is saying the video itself if fake news or maybe he’s saying the source of the deep fake is not from the White House, the same ones who posted the Obama clips maybe?
I don’t know for sure because it’s a pretty silly argument to make any way you look at it.
Ron: The video is directly from the White House TikTok account. It also says at the bottom of the video that the original sound is from “The White House”. In other words, they made this video.
I’ve attached the link below.
https://www.tiktok.com/@whitehouse/video/7609740037386702093
Ol 82nd guy, I’d trust those two news outlets one helluva lot more than some Tik-Tok manufactured horse-s&^t.
The video was posted by the White House. simple fact. Deny it all day, it won’t change it.
It doesn’t rally matter if they made it or not, they are sharing it on the official account of the executive branch of the United States government. What’s the difference.
And yes you can trust CNN, they actually employ a multitude of fact checkers and lawyers and still practice historical journalistic standards. Somebody gave this the thumbs up before it was reported. The reason is they can still get sued, unlike the BS streamed onto feeds on places like Facebook, Youtube etc. It’s called section 230. CNN does have bozo’s on in the evening talk shows giving opinions, that isn’t news.
News organizations aren’t perfect, and when they screw up they correct it and get it right, and sometimes they pay, big time.
I can think of 3 over the last 10 years or so at CNN. People got fired. They are global, so likely more.
I’ll bet anyone on the site $100, that does not happen to whoever sent that out from the WH.
Trying not to enter political discussion. Regarding CNN, they were just acquired by Larry Ellison (Republican big donor) and Paramount. They will follow the CBS game plan which is fawning praise for Dear Leader. Once respected news organizations now spewing propaganda. Sorry to intrude on any hockey talk
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.
They have the assets too
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.
HF30: I appreciate the love and it’s a good quote. But I can’t take credit for it.
Heh. Good advice!
The Tkachuk boys mom is a Canadian. I’m pretty sure one set of grandparents are as well. Cousins also, perhaps?
I’d bet they respect the heritage on both sides of the old family bush.
I feel bad for these players actually. They accomplished something that hast been done in nearly half a century and come home to this BS.
This is a time where all of us ought to be proud and happy to see these guys accomplish what they did but instead have the orange cancer unnecessarily creep in and tarnish it.
I’m not allowing that to happen and want everyone to be reminded these hockey players are stereotypical hockey players who grew up just like we did dreaming of beat the big bad (Canadians, Americans, Russians) and did it in the most dramatic fashion.
Anyone that wants to drum up BS needs to be simply dismissed and ignored.
Ron Moore👍
I did not know their mom was Canadian. Thanks, that is an interesting detail to know and keep in mind.
Tage Thompsons dad is from Calgary.
P. Bergeron lived with his family when he was breaking into the pros.
There’s a host of other American players with one or both parent hailing from Canada.
I’m fairly certain there’s a lot with ties to Saskatchewan. Tons of guys from there played in the various minior pro leagues Stateside.
Many stayed.
Simple solution is to make it illegal to use someone’s image without permission. Fake AI vids of people will be almost non existent if law has any teeth to it
Well, it already is to some extent, that’s why you see blurred faces on say reality type cop shows and the like. There are different standards when it comes to public personalities. That’s how the TMZ’s of the world can photo/video celebrity types and publish images. I would bet if you read the fine print on the back of a hockey ticket(ha) or on ticketmasters site it says the NHL and its agents can use your image as they please, which is why yhe crowd is not blurred out.
None of this matters anyway when AI becomes self aware and comes back in time to find Sarah Conner.
Thanks y’all
Now the ONE site that was talking about hockey stuff, has allowed politics in.
I’m sure I won’t be missed but I’m gone.
Says an individual who posted political flavored comments on this board. But it’s only ok if you do it. Adios amigo!
elements of hockey itself allowed politics in ,,, Lyle didn’t … and he would not be true to himself if he did not at least cite the various reports.