A look at the big questions facing the Kraken, several stars could reach significant individual milestones this season, Anze Kopitar has no regrets about retiring, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: The Seattle Kraken face questions about their offense, their penalty kill, and their young players as they prepare for the coming season.

Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann (NHL Images).

The Kraken acquired promising forward Mackie Samoskevich from the Florida Panthers earlier this summer, and they’re hoping for a healthy season from leading scorer Jared McCann. They also re-signed winger Bobby McMann, who tallied 10 goals in 18 games after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the March trade deadline.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Kraken’s limited scoring punch has been their downfall in recent years. A full season with Samoskevich, McMann, and a healthy McCann should help, but they’re still lacking a scoring superstar.

The Kraken have attempted to address that need. They tried to acquire Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers before he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in February and made a trade offer to the Dallas Stars for Jason Robertson in June. Barring one of their prospects emerging as a scoring star, they’ll likely keep pursuing one through a trade or free agency.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Several major individual career milestones could be achieved this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby could move into sixth place on the overall points list. With 1,761 points, he needs only 11 more to pass Marcel Dionne. He’s also within reach of 1,800 career points, which would vault him past Ron Francis into fifth place overall.

Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane could reach 1,400 career games and 900 career assists. Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is 80 points away from the 1,300 career-points plateau.

Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak could reach 1,000 career points, 900 career games, and the 450-goal plateau. Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele is in range of 1,000 games and 1,000 points.

Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper is 11 games away from the 500-game mark. He also needs 22 wins to reach 250 for his career.

NHL.COM: Anze Kopitar said he’s very happy in retirement after a 20-season career with the Los Angeles Kings. He is looking forward to spending more time with his family.

The 39-year-old center announced his intention to retire at the start of last season. He finished as the Kings’ all-time leader in games played (1,521), assists (864) and points (1,316). Kopitar won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy three times, the Selke Trophy twice, and helped the Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kopitar was the rare superstar to spend his entire career with one team. He was one of the greatest players in Kings’ history. Best of luck to him in his future endeavours.

NHL.COM: Simon Nemec believes he has something to prove after the New Jersey Devils traded him to the Calgary Flames on June 23.

The 22-year-old defenseman said he’s looking forward to the challenge of playing for a new team. “I didn’t ask for a trade, but there were some conversations that didn’t work out for me, for the team,” Nemec said. “New Jersey got a new GM, and he decided to go this way, and I’m totally fine with that.”

Nemec said he was happy with the trade, claiming that he didn’t have an easy time in New Jersey. He believes he’ll be a good fit with the Flames. “I feel like they need a player like me. I can play a lot of minutes there and be one of the leaders of the team.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Nemec could be a key piece of the Flames’ rebuilding plans. If he can build on his offensive game while improving his defensive play, he could become one of their top blueliners.

DAILY FACEOFF: Matt Larkin recently listed five teams that he feels look noticeably weaker heading into 2026-27. They included the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Vegas Golden Knights.

The Ducks’ matching Leo Carlsson’s expensive offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers leaves them with limited cap space to re-sign Cutter Gauthier. They’ll eventually have to make a cost-cutting move or two that weakens their roster depth.

The Sabres could struggle to adjust after trading power forward Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals and defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks. Meanwhile, the Avalanche traded away several veteran depth players, replacing them with lower-cost players.

Re-signing Jason Robertson to a one-year, $12 million contract left them with limited salary cap space, forcing them to trade young center Mavrik Bourque. It also prevented them from adding another top-four defenseman while Robertson’s future remains in question.

Limited cap space proved costly for the Golden Knights, forcing them to trade scoring winger Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Do you agree with Larkin’s assessments of those five teams? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.