NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 13, 2026
The Canadiens sign Chris Kreider, the Golden Knights extend Mark Stone’s contract, Mason McTavish hopes to reset with the Blues, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
MONTREAL HOCKEY NOW: The Canadiens signed left wing Chris Kreider to a one-year contract.
Montreal Canadiens sign winger Chris Kreider (NHL Images).
Kreider, 35, became an unrestricted free agent last week after he and the Anaheim Ducks agreed to terminate the final season of his contract. His deal with the Canadiens is a $2.15 million base salary, with performance bonuses that could take him to $5.4 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’m surprised Kreider signed with the Canadiens because he reportedly wanted to be closer to his family in the New York area. I expected him to sign with an American-based team, like the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, or Philadelphia Flyers.
Kreider’s ties with Canadiens hockey ops president Jeff Gorton, head coach Martin St. Louis, and director of sports medicine Jim Ramsay factored into his decision. It also suggests that Montreal could become a prime destination for stars who want to play for a potential Stanley Cup contender.
Some Canadiens fans might be uncomfortable with signing Kreider, given his accidental collision with goaltender Carey Price in the 2014 playoffs resulted in the knee injury that eventually shortened the Hall of Famer’s career. However, Price said last year that he doesn’t blame Kreider for the incident, and Canadiens fans will likely forgive him if he plays well this season.
Once again, Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes’ patience has paid off. Kreider is an affordable addition that doesn’t require giving up any roster players or prospects in return. He should be a solid, short-term solution to bolster their second-line depth, bringing size, scoring experience, leadership, and physicality.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: The Vegas Golden Knights signed right winger and team captain Mark Stone to a two-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $9 million. The deal also has a full no-movement clause.
Stone, 34, is in the final season of an eight-year contract with a $9.5 million AAV.
“I think it’s reflective of what we think of Mark, and how much Vegas means to Mark and his family,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “It’s a peace of mind for Mark so it’s not hanging over him as the season starts. Same for the hockey club.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stone is among the longest-serving active players on the Golden Knights. He leads the club with 396 points since joining them in 2019. Despite being hampered by injuries since 2021-22, he led them to the Stanley Cup in 2023 and remains among the league’s best two-way forwards.
Given Stone’s age and injury history, that contract extension probably won’t age well. Nevertheless, the Golden Knights are comfortable taking that gamble, especially with the salary cap expected to rise rapidly in the coming years.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Lou Korac reports center Mason McTavish hopes to have a bounce-back performance with the St. Louis Blues after struggling through his final season with the Anaheim Ducks.
The Ducks traded the 24-year-old McTavish to the Blues this summer, leaving him with something to prove this season.
“Yeah, I think I have a chip on my shoulder, for sure,” McTavish said. “I’m not happy with the way things went in Anaheim. I mean I enjoyed my time there, it was awesome, guys were great, but at the same time, they traded me, and that’s something I’m passionate about and want to get better. I’m looking forward to doing that here.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McTavish is projected to be the Blues’ second-line center. If getting traded provides additional motivation to improve, it could put his career back on track and perhaps push the Blues into playoff contention this season.
TORONTO SUN: Lance Hornby reports the Maple Leafs invited defenseman Nick Blankenburg to training camp on a professional tryout offer.
Blankenburg, 28, was among the few notable players remaining in what was a thin free-agent market. The 5’9”, 177-pound blueliner split last season between the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hornby believes Blankenburg will have a difficult time earning a roster spot when the Maple Leafs already have a comparable player in Emil Andrae, whom they acquired from the Flyers earlier this summer. However, a solid performance in training camp and preseason play could earn him a contract with another club.
The Kreider signing still gives the Habs all the assets needed to land that elusive 2C!
There’s a lot of buzz amongst bloggers and beat writers that Mtl has the assets to put forward for another addition. Namely Larkin or Marchenko.
With Kreider in the fold they have a surplus of fwds and they already had a surplus of D and goalies. A deal involving some combination of Kapanen, Dach, Bolduc, Beck, Engstrom, Struble and Montembault is looking like a possibility.
Even if Hage is untouchable (as their future 2C) then they still have other highly regarded prospects in Zharovsky, Pickford and Mooney to draw from.
If Mtl doesn’t make a move then they have to send goalie Fowler, defensemen Engstrom and Reinbacher, and forwards Beck, Berard and F Xhekaj to play in Laval. I don’t think the administration or obviously the players want that scenario to happen.
The just re-signed Bolduc to a 4-Year extension at a $4.2 mil AAV ($16.8 mil total).
With 14F 6D and 3G (Puckpedia), they now have $3,433,924 in he kitty with which to extend Arber Xhkekaj.
Keep the pressure on Detroit to sign a GM.
It wouldn’t surprise me to hear they’ve hired another agency to examine why the first agency is taking so long.
😆☝️
Hahahaha!
Once “AGAIN” I will gladly offer up the GM
of the Edmonton Oilers STAN BOWMAN.
Following up his signing of Mike Babcock
he signed Alex Formenton. 20,000 names
on a petition AGAINST this signing.
NOT TO BE OUT DONE…..To carry on the narrative, KATZ has raised BEER PRICES
At Rogers stadium. DRINK your way out
of that problem.
Thanks, George O, for the most excellent laugh.
Is anyone surprised that Vegas signed Mark Stone? With their depth shrinking to sign him is questionable since he only has averaged about 50 games a year in his Knights career!
Stone is beloved in Vegas and has stated he doesn’t want to play anywhere else. Last season he scored 28 goals and had 45 assists making 73 points in 60 games. Most teams would love to have him…he’s a great captain.
I’m bringing to wonder … after all these years of hearing of that the Bruins are chasing after Kreider and nothing ever happening especially with him being a home town player why he never ended up in a Bruins uniform…I’ve put this out there before that given a choice it seems that players are staying away from the Bruins .. Bruins were in on RR in on Nurse had to be in on Kreider and there’s a center which is a huge need that can be traded for in Larkin and the Bruins end up empty
Joe I guess the North end isn t the destination that it once was!
Joe, it would appear that our general assumption about players like Kreider making home-town proximity THE main criterion when choosing a new team is erroneous. All along after it became known that he and Anaheim mutually agreed to part ways, we also assumed that any Canada-based team was out of the question.
Kreider clearly weighed the best fit to lead to immediate Cup contention, along with “role security,” and determined that teams like the Bruins, Rangers and others in the “vicinity” of home were not even close to the Habs in that regard.
I was surprised Kreider signed a 1 year deal. I thought he would get at least 2 years. With his ties to Habs management this signing shouldn’t have been a surprise. Sometimes it’s not always about the loot.
the Blankenberg invite seems to be cover for Tanev, who isn’t a sure thing to be ready for the season. They are different kind of players but, without Tanev, the Leafs will have a weakness on the backend. NB can block shots and move the puck out.
McCabe-Raddish
Reilly-(Tanev?)
Andrea-OEL
Good signing by the habs . He’s the kind of guy that comes through in playoffs, good around the net and knows how to score when the skilled guys aren’t getting it done. And he is pretty skilled obviously. Good hockey player!!
Interesting how many people put up Buffalo as a destination for Kreider citing proximity to his family. Buffalo is on the far side of NY state basically same distance as Montreal.
I would put both teams in a close tie for contention status but give it to the Habs for having the legacy attached to it.
Plus not knowing him at all I could see the Price incident being something he wants to atone for whether accidental or not he can squash all of that with a couple of timely goals.
When this first came up I found the highlight of that play. Sure seems like an accident to me. He was at full speed cutting the the net with the puck, D-man stuck his stick in his feet. It doesn’t take much to lose an edge when your cutting like that.
I would bet my truck none of the players have given this any thought at all, they know the drill.
I don’t get the attention this has gotten.
Yeah, Ray, you are correct. My assumption is that some (by no means all) Habs fans needed a place to focus their angst over the Habs mediocrity during that stretch. Kreider was convenient.
I had been getting roasted for wanting to go after Kreider by trade, waiver or whatever option and for a long time have said that the fault lies with Emelin and Weise for hacking at his skates.
When your franchise player has his career diminished, pointing the finger is easier than accepting the decade of being in the wilderness.
As I said before Kreider will be getting standing Os for timely goals.
As the rosters are now I would give the advantage to the Habs based on their scoring depth at forward. After Thompson the Sabres score by committee.
There is an argument that both teams overachieved last year. The Sabres aren’t going to win at the pace they did from January onwards, and the Habs won two game 7s and were often badly outshot.
What will change the equation is if the Sabres add Hellybuyck.
Habs have signed Bolduc to 4x$4.2M, nice fit considering the high numbers floating.
I imagine the Kreider signing leaves the Habs the space to sign the last two RFAs and Xhekaj will be announced soon.
Man, Hughes must be a snake charmer to keep signing players at under market prices.
Xhejak is one RFA, who else are you referring to?
I meant that Kreider signing cheap left money to sign Bolduc and Xhekaj.
BTW Kreider’s bonus package
$2M at 10GP, $250K at 10, 20 and 30 Goals, $500K at 40 goals
In essence he gets his $4M and the bonus money is for goals scored.
And, he signed for one season. He can always re-sign with the Habs or someone else, but that and the fact that his agent says he turned down more money elsewhere is something.
https://www.nhl.com/fr/canadiens/video/montreal-canadiens-live-stream-6336965982112
Sens/Habs prospect game