Big questions facing the Islanders, the Canadiens to honor Carey Price, the latest on Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: Who replaces Anders Lee as captain and whether Semyon Varlamov will be healthy enough to back up starting goalie Ilya Sorokin are among the big questions facing the New York Islanders in 2026-27.

New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (NHL Images).

Lee captained the Islanders from 2018-19 to 2025-26 before signing with the Utah Mammoth in July. It’s expected they’ll name a new captain before the end of September. Bo Horvat and Brayden Schenn are possible options, having served as captains with their previous clubs. Promising defenseman Matthew Schaefer is another possibility to fill that role.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Horvat seems the most likely candidate given he’s been with the Islanders for the past four seasons. Schaefer is coming off an impressive rookie campaign, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy in a unanimous vote, but making him captain as a sophomore could put too much pressure on the youngster’s shoulders.

Varlamov hasn’t played since November 2024, and has had both knees replaced since then. He looked good during a brief conditioning stint with their AHL affiliate at the end of last season. The Isles signed veteran Vitek Vanecek as insurance.

THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: The Canadiens will honor former goaltender Carey Price a day after he is officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Price will be added to the Canadiens’ Ring of Honour on Nov. 10 at the Bell Centre. He played his entire 15-season NHL career with the Habs, becoming their all-time leader in wins by a goalie with 361. Price is only the fifth goaltender in NHL history to win the Vezina Trophy and the Hart Trophy in the same season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Price should have his No. 31 retired by the Canadiens. That honor is reserved for multiple Stanley Cup winners, but they should make an exception in his case given how much he meant to the franchise during his career.

Price is the greatest Canadien never to win the Stanley Cup, but that’s because the club’s previous management failed to build the kind of roster that could become a serious contender during his tenure. Had he had a team in front of him like the current incarnation, perhaps he’d have a couple of Stanley Cups on his resume.

TORONTO STAR: Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly is happy that he wasn’t traded this summer. The 32-year-old blueliner was the subject of trade chatter earlier in the offseason, reaching the point where he reportedly submitted a list of four preferred destinations to management.

However, a trade never emerged, and Rielly is now featured prominently in the club’s social media posts about the coming season. He acknowledged that there was uncertainty about his future, but he considers Toronto his home now and is excited about the upcoming season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was rumored the San Jose Sharks were interested in Rielly, but they acquired Darnell Nurse from the Edmonton Oilers instead. Given how much the trade speculation about Rielly has dried up, it’s a good bet that he’ll be starting his 14th season with the Maple Leafs.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Sammi Silber reports the Washington Capitals have started contract extension talks with Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif. The young forwards are slated to become restricted free agents at the end of this season.

Silber believes the Capitals’ urgency to re-sign them now is because the Philadelphia Flyers signed Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson to an expensive offer sheet earlier this summer, which the Ducks matched at great cost.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Leonard, 21, is in the final season of his entry-level contract. The 24-year-old Sourdif is on his second contract and is eligible for salary arbitration.

Leonard and Sourdif are coming off promising campaigns. If they build on those performances this season, they could command more lucrative new contracts, which could lead to one of them signing an offer sheet with another club. It makes sense that the Capitals want to avoid that situation.

RG.ORG: Marco D’Amico looked at the major changes coming to the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement on September 16.

The biggest change will be the end of eight-year contracts for restricted free agents and seven-year contracts for unrestricted free agents. Those maximum terms will be reduced to seven years for RFAs and six years for UFAs.

There will be tighter rules for how money is distributed through the term of a contract. “Teams will have less flexibility to create large salary swings from one season to the next, with a 20 percent limit tied to the first year and a 71 percent minimum compared to the contract’s highest-paid season.”

Signing bonuses will be restricted to no more than 60 percent of the total value of an NHL contract over the life of the deal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Those changes will affect contracts signed after Sept. 15, 2026.

NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: The Flyers signed defenseman Hunter McDonald to a two-year contract worth $1.825 million. McDonald, 24, was a restricted free agent. It’s a two-way deal for the first year and becomes a one-way deal in the second year.