NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 7, 2026
Men’s Olympic hockey begins on Feb. 11, the league’s three stars of the week, the felony assault charge against prospect Gavin McKenna is withdrawn, Henrik Zetterberg talks about life after hockey, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Men’s Olympic hockey schedule begins on Feb. 11 with Slovakia facing off against Finland (10:40 AM ET), and Sweden taking on Italy (3:10 PM ET).
On Feb.12, Switzerland meets France at 6:10 AM ET. Czechia goes against Canada at 10:40 AM ET. Latvia plays the United States, and Germany faces Denmark, with both games at 3:10 PM ET.
The following day, Finland takes on Sweden, and Italy faces off against Slovakia (both games start at 6:10 AM ET), France squares off against Czechia (10:40 AM ET), and Canada meets Switzerland at 3:10 PM ET.
Minnesota Wild winger Matt Boldy (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow the link above for the full schedule. I will provide recaps following each day’s action throughout the Olympics.
NHL.COM: Minnesota Wild winger Matt Boldy, New York Islanders center Bo Horvat, and Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka are the league’s three stars for the week ending Feb. 5.
WJAC TV: Prosecutors in Centre County, Pennsylvania, have withdrawn the felony aggravated assault charge against NHL prospect Gavin McKenna. The 18-year-old Penn State forward was arraigned earlier this week following an incident outside of a pub in downtown State College.
McKenna is accused of punching another male in the face twice, resulting in the victim suffering multiple jaw fractures that required surgery. Upon further review of the evidence, prosecutors believed McKenna didn’t act with intent to cause serious bodily harm nor recklessly acted with extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
McKenna still faces a misdemeanor charge of simple assault, and summary offenses for harassment and disorderly conduct.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The felony assault charge was the most serious. Earlier reports indicated that it carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
RG.ORG: Andrew Knoll recently interviewed former Detroit Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg, who discussed his life after the NHL, the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the current state of the modern game.
Zetterberg said he felt today’s NHL game is faster and less structured, with fewer deliberate plays. He believes elite players, such as Edmonton Oilers stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, stand out for their ability to slow down the pace of the game and control possession.
Zetterberg is impressed that former opponents such as Pittsburgh Penguins stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are still playing well. He credits the work they put in off the ice year-round for their ability to adapt to today’s faster-paced game.
HOCKEY 24/7: Frank Seravalli reports the 2026 first-round pick that the Florida Panthers sent to the Chicago Blackhawks in last year’s Seth Jones trade is top-10 protected.
If that pick ends up among the top 10 following the 2026 Draft Lottery, the Panthers will retain it, and the Blackhawks will receive the Panthers’ 2027 first-round pick.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: If the regular season ended today, the Panthers would be 22nd in the standings, putting them one point outside the bottom-10 clubs. Assuming they finish at their current position in the standings, they could end up with a top-10 pick if the lottery balls bounce their way.
DAILY FACEOFF: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Curtis Douglas was fined $2,018.23 for “serving as the aggressor in an altercation” with Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola.
Looks like 4 top centers are being talked about as trade candidates.Rank these centers for trade purposes. Thomas, Trocheck,Kadri,O Reilly? If traded,where do you think they will end up?
SR.
I don’t think Thomas gets moved the other 3 are 50-50 and will need to overpay to get them
The only one that interest me among those three is Robert Thomas.
I’d be willing to overpay.
Zacha ruled out of the Olympics.Good news for Boston. Has the break to recuperate and get healthy for the final push or the potential trade market.
Purely on the basis of teams playing their final games at – or close to – the % pace developed over 56 to 58 games (a pretty good barometer to determine likely % finish), here’s the way the bottom 11 teams would end up in the potential draft order – showing possible points still available – current % pace – probable final points. Position & lottery-winning odds:
Vancouver – 50 .368 60 pts 1st 25.1
St. Louis – 50 .430 71pts 2nd 13.6
NY Rangers – 50 .439 72pts 3rd 11.6
These 3, projected to wind up tied in points, would have their final positions from 4th to 6th decided in that event by tie-breaker formulas – with the lottery odds ranging from 7.5 to 9.5:
Calgary – 52 .464 76pts
Winnipeg – 52 .464 76pts
Chicago – 50 .465 76pts
New Jersey – 50 .509 84pts 7th 6.5
Nashville – 50 .518 85pts 8th 6.0
San Jose – 54 .527 87pts 5.0
These 2, projected to wind up tied, would also be subjected to tie-breaker formulas – with lottery odds of 3.0 or 3.5:
Florida – 50 .535 88pts (Florida would retain any lottery-finish and their traded pick to Chicago would defer to 2027)
Los Angeles – 52 .536 88 pts
Of course those % paces could be altered significantly – one way or another – by trades and/or key injuries, or even if some simply falter down the stretch or, conversely, get hot. That’s why they play the games 🙂 . Something else to consider is Olympics fatigue – especially for those teams with upwards of 7 to 10 players participating.
But with so many close races, it should be an exciting final stretch.
George … question
In that Ullmark to OTT trade do you think OTT forced the Bruins to take Korpisalo and his 3 million cap hit or they would’ve called trade off if the Bruins said no …
Joe, at the time of the trade on June 24, 2024, Ottawa had decided that, if the deal went down, they were going to go with Anton Forsberg as the back-up to Ullmark, and so had to move Korpisalo.
So, yes, his move to Boston had to be part of the deal, along with Mark Kastelic and that 2024 1st Round pick.
Not so much as a “force” as a simple condition of the deal.
So just suppose the Bruins said no to Korpisalo then you think the trade wouldn’t have happened
What I think is, when the talk began between Staios and Sweeney, the Bruins GM, in addition to asking fr the 1st rounder and Kastelic, wanted one of Ottawa’s 2 goalies as back-up to Swayman, so Staios offered him his choice and he picked Korpisalo.
Using the same formula as above, these 10 that would be picking in the 12th to 21st spots, and so outside the lottery, would come from this group of 10:
Philadelphia – 52 .545 12th 89pts 12th
Washington – 46 .551 13th 90pts 13th
These 2, projected to wind up tied in points with Ottawa, whose pick is forfeited, would have their final positions at 14th and 15th decided by tie-breakers:
Boston (a pick from Toronto, so showing the Leafs’ projection of 50 .553 91pts)
San Jose (pick from Edmonton, so showing the Oilers’ projection of 48 .552 91pts)
These 3, also projected to finish tied in points in the 16th to 18th spots (factoring in Ottawa’s forfeiture), would be subjected to tie-breakers)
Utah – 50 .561 92pts
Anaheim – 52 .563 92pts
Seattle – 52 .563 92pts
Columbus – 52 .580 95pts 19th
NY Islanders – 48 .595 98pts 20th
Given that there have always been upsets in the Olympics, you have to wonder when it will happen again and the countries involved.
Switzerland over Canada 2-0 in Turin in 2006 wh en Martin Gerber kicked out 49 shots in the Swiss nets;
Slovakia over the U.S. 3-2 in a SO at the 2022 Bejing quarter-finals;
Canada’s loss to Germany in the semis at PyeongChang in 2018;
Denmark over th e Czech rep 2-1 in Beijing in 2022;
Slovenia over the U.S. 3-2 in OT at PyeongChang in 2018.