NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 7, 2026
Recapping Friday’s games, fallout from the trade deadline, contract signings, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF FRIDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Anaheim Ducks winger Chris Kreider had a goal and three assists as his club nipped the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 on a shootout goal by Alex Killorn. Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, and Jackson LaCombe each had a goal and an assist for the 35-24-3 Ducks, who took over first place in the Pacific Division with 73 points. Cole Caufield had two goals and an assist, and Lane Hutson had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens (33-18-10), who hold the first Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 76 points.
Anaheim Ducks winger Chris Kreider (NHL Images).
The Golden Knights (29-20-14) dropped a 4-2 decision to the Minnesota Wild, slipping one point behind the Ducks. Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves, and Michael McCarron had a goal and an assist in his debut with the Wild after being acquired from the Nashville Predators. Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev had two points, including his 30th goal of the season. The Wild sit third in the Central Division with 84 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights captain Mark Stone missed this game with an upper-body injury, but he’s not expected to be sidelined for long.
A shootout goal by Valeri Nichushkin lifted the Colorado Avalanche over the Dallas Stars 5-4, snapping the latter’s 10-game win streak. Nichushkin also scored the tying goal that sent the game to overtime and the shootout, while Martin Necas had a goal and three assists for the Avalanche (42-10-9), who remain atop the overall standings with 93 points. Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen, and Justin Hryckowian each had a goal and an assist for the 38-14-10 Stars as they sit second in the Western Conference with 86 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars center Roope Hintz left this game after injuring his left leg following a collision with Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon during the second period. There was no postgame update on his condition.
The Carolina Hurricanes got two goals from Jackson Blake in a 6-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. K’Andre Miller collected three assists for the 40-16-6 Hurricanes, who hold first place in the Eastern Conference with 86 points. Zach Hyman tallied twice for the Oilers (30-25-8) as they cling to third place in the Pacific Division.
Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk’s hat trick gave his club a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers (31-29-3) as his club ended a four-game losing skid. Alex DeBrincat replied for the 35-21-7 Red Wings, who hold third place in the Atlantic Division with 77 points, but have dropped seven of their last 10 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin left this game with a lower-body injury in the third period. Head coach Todd McLellan doesn’t believe Larkin will be sidelined long-term, but he must have his injury attended to.
St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas scored twice, including the winner in overtime, in a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. Dylan Holloway collected three assists for the 24-29-9 Blues. Macklin Celebrini and Kiefer Sherwood replied for the 30-25-5 Sharks (65 points), who sit two points behind the Seattle Kraken for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Sharks signed goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to a two-year, $6 million contract extension.
The Vancouver Canucks ended a seven-game losing skid by downing the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3. Brock Boeser scored twice for the 19-36-7 Canucks. Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev each had a goal and an assist for the 23-29-10 Blackhawks.
TRADE DEADLINE FALLOUT
THE ATHLETIC: Blues general manager Doug Armstrong expressed his displeasure regarding leaked reports of a proposed trade involving Colton Parayko to the Buffalo Sabres before the blueliner was approached about waiving his no-trade clause. Parayko ultimately refused to waive his clause, killing the deal.
Armstrong was adamant that the leak didn’t come from the Blues. He ordered a thorough examination of his staff’s phone, text, and email records. “Everyone passed the test, not surprisingly,” Armstrong said. “I knew it didn’t come from us.”
However, Armstrong is not pointing the finger at the Sabres. “There’s so many people involved in things that go on: family members, agents. It’s a never-ending cycle of people that get talked to.”
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Washington Capitals players were shocked and saddened by the trade of long-time Capitals defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks.
Team captain Alex Ovechkin said hearing the news was the toughest day of his career. “We’re very close, and it’s hard,” Ovechkin said. “We’ve been together since his Day 1 on Caps, and we’re growing up together as a person, families. It’s hard and it’s a sad day.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Getting traded is part of the business for professional hockey players, but it still takes an emotional toll, especially when they’ve spent years together as teammates.
TORONTO SUN: Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving shouldered the blame for his club’s poor performance this season. He made the remarks after trading forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton before Friday’s trade deadline. Treliving also acknowledged that more changes could be coming for the struggling Maple Leafs in the offseason.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Treliving could be among those changes. His three-year contract expires at the end of this season.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said his club’s decline after winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season starts with him. Cheveldayoff admitted that his offseason acquisitions were past their prime. He intends to play more of their younger players for the remainder of this season and is looking toward resetting in the offseason.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Unlike Treliving, Cheveldayoff won’t lose his job over this season’s disappointing effort. However, he must replace some of those aging players with younger talent for the Jets to bounce back next season.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Carolina Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky was expected to make another big trade deadline move after doing so the last two years. However, his only move was acquiring rugged depth forward Nic Deslauriers. Tulsky explained his quiet trade deadline, claiming his club didn’t find any deals that made sense for them.
IN OTHER NEWS…
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Penguins center Evgeni Malkin received a five-game suspension from the league for slashing at the head of Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin.
THE SEATTLE TIMES: The Kraken signed captain Jordan Eberle to a two-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $5.5 million.
NEW YORK POST: The Islanders re-signed center Jean-Gabriel Pageau to a three-year extension with an AAV of $4.85 million.
DAILY FACEOFF: Speaking of the Islanders, goaltender Semyon Varlamov is not expected to return to action this season. He’s been sidelined by a knee injury since November 2024.
TSN: Free-agent forward Mathieu Joseph signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings worth a prorated $900,000.
BUFFALO HOCKEY BEAT: Sabres forward Jiri Kulich will likely miss the remainder of the season. He’s been sidelined since November with blood-clot issues.
Kadri trade was huge for Colorado so they stay ahead of Dallas and Minnesota who are headed for a first round slugfest. Like what Buffalo did getting 2 veteran defensemen without surrendering a first round pick!
Sabres don’t get a defenseman who is on the backside of his career with years left on his current deal.
And, they keep their number one pick and their top defensive prospect. I say they are better now than if they got Parayko. Carrick and Stanley are both physical, which is what the team needs.
DETROIT is well into their annual March melt-down. I don’t think Perron and Faulk are going to save them from a decent in the standings. 😣
But the expense of acquiring better talent at the expense of your long-term future is a fine line to tread.
Johnny Z, their next 10 games will certainly go a long way to determining their playoff fate:
@ NJ, @ Florida, @ Tampa @ Dallas home to Calgary, home to Montreal, home to Boston, home to Ottawa, @ Buffalo home to Philadelphia.
But given their fine .609 road and .613 home % paces established over 63 games played, there’s no reason to think they can’t get 7 or 8 points out of those 5 home games and at least 5 of 10 points on the road/ That would give them 89 or 90 points with 9 games left in their season – or 18 potential points – and a .500 record in that stretch will easily land them a playoff spot.
Relax.
Perfect timing for Armstrong and Trotz to retire after leaving their teams in a mess to be cleaned up by their next GM!
Now that all the deals have been concluded/confirmed we should soon begin to see evidence as to which teams best solved their weakest components – and which did not:
10 most in need of offensive boost (current goals scored): Calgary (150), New Jersey (160), Los Angeles (160), St. Louis (162), Vancouver (163), Chicago (166), NYR (166), Seattle (173), Winnipeg (175), Philadelphia (177)
10 most in need of defensive structure shoring up (current goals against): Vancouver (233), Toronto (221), Anaheim (217), Edmonton (216), Nashville (213), St. Louis (212), Florida (210), San Jose (210), Montreal (206), Vegas (201), Chicago (201)
10 worst road records: Calgary (.350), St. Louis (.383), Toronto (.433), Winnipeg (.436) Vancouver (.438), Boston (.448), Chicago (.450), Nashville (.466), San Jose (.466), Anaheim & Washington (.467)
home records needing improvement: Vancouver (.283), NYR (.379), Los Angeles (.436), Chicago (.453), St. Louis (.531), New Jersey (.533), Calgary (.548) – N.B. some may question the inclusion of teams in this category with home % records above .500 – but if these teams want to get back among teams toughest to beat in their home barns, compare to some of the best in that regard: Colorado (.800), Boston (.734), Carolina (.727), Anaheim (,703), Minnesota (.672), Buffalo (.672), Dallas (.670), Detroit (.609).
16 of the 32 teams – or 50% of the league – currently have goals differentials in the minus category – some minor that can be relatively easy to turn around – others not so easy: Detroit -2), Seattle -6, Anaheim -6, Winnipeg -12, Philadelphia -14, Florida 19, Toronto -21, San Jose -22, Los Angeles -22, New Jersey -26, NY Rangers -26, Nashville -28, Calgary -35, Chicago -35, St. Louis -50, Vancouver -70.
Once again George, you have provided great team information. These details confirm where most teams are in the standings.
Well done
Thanks Toronto St Pats … I just find that, when you lay out the various – and comparative – worst and best in stark black and white so to speak, it certainly provides a better understanding as to why some teams are where they are, and not always attributable to one so-called “weakness” … or “strength.”
For example, one question that jumped out to me right away – and perhaps the least easiest to explain – is the situation the Bruins find themselves in as we head into the home stretch after all the wheeling and dealing.
They sit just 1 point up on Columbus and 4 on Ottawa & Washington – despite having one of THE best home % pace records in the entire league at a sparkling .734 (second only to Colorado’s .800!
And you need look no further than than their road record which, at .448, is the 6th worst in the league!! If that were up to even a moderate .550, instead of being in the last WC slot, they’d be sitting 4th with 79 points ,just 1 b/o Buffalo.
And it immediately raises the question “how can a team so difficult to beat at home be just the opposite on the road?” The arena? The crowd?
Maybe some of the Boston fans can offer some plausible explanation.
Leafs blame can be assigned evenly:
(1) Treveling 25%
(2) Berube 25%
(3) Toronto media 25%
(4) Fans 25%
The media and fans drove Marner away from the team, convincing the management and the player to move on (even though they didn’t want to). Marner is such a great 2-way player and exposed the rest of the players on the team
Treveling wasn’t prepared on how to replace him
Berube is just such an unnatural fit for the roster
The Leafs need a clean sweep of management/coaching staff, and the new management needs to re-evaluate the team core and how to proceed
You know Mike, I cannot blame the fans or the media for the current situation. I have been watching g Leaf hockey since the late 60’s. Toronto has always been a tough town to play or manage in. There are expectations that differ fro most other markets – it’s the culture of the Leaf Nation.
You have to tune that out as a manager. You don’t have to worry about fan support because the house is always full. Support is there 24/7, 365 days of the year.
Management is to blame for the current situation. They are the ones that build the club, plan for the present and the future.
Get a GM that has vision, one that can handle the pressure that comes with dealing with the Leaf Nation. Just like Punch Imlach was to do.
Your last paragraph can be applied to the Vancouver Canucks as well. Why should the management team that created the mess be trusted with the rebuild?
Applies to all teams. Whether you are in NY, Toronto or Vancouver. Get people with vision, usually from organizations that are already success.
You forgot (5). Players. 25%
Chrisms, you are 125% correct! Lol!
Everything hockey is magnified in Toronto!
Mike P. I’m surprised you are giving Dubas and Shanahan a pass here. The core 4 plan did not work. Had they stayed they would have been under the same pressure to let Marner go. Marner did not waive his no trade for Treliving and wouldn’t have for Dubas either so regardless who the GM was, they would have lost him to free agency.
The easy step now is to fire Berube and hope another coach can get more out of Mathews and Nylander. If not, then this idea of trading bottom 6 players and replacing them with new bottom six players hoping that is what will get you into the playoffs next year is flawed. And even if they were to get you in next year, do you still think you have a contender? I think it’s time to start over.
“Ducks, who took over first place in the Pacific Division with 73 points.”
Utah 3 points less is a WC team. Dallas 86 points. Minnesota 84.
Seriously need to go back to 1 vs 16 playoff format.
Couldn’t agree more on that score!
Watched the Oil vs Canes last night. Now I did have a few beer and the wife and dog did pry my attention away but I thought all 3 of the new players showed well.
Dickinson between Podz and Kapanen looks like a line and if knucklehead leaves it alone i think he has 4 stable lines that has chemistry.
The Pk was spot on not giving up anything.
I dont recall any brutal goals or dumb defensive mishaps. They lost, so obviously there were a couple breakdowns but not the throw your beer at the tv type. The 4th Carolina one was a tad lucky in that they got set up in the zone and there was an oiler without a stick that was exposed.
They were badly outshot…but thatnis kinda what Carolina does.
Add in a couple of empty letters to make it look bad…but as a fan it did look like a more structured and better defensive game all around against a top team in the league. If they can build off the good things last night they may just turn a corner.