NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 16, 2026
The Ducks re-signed Cutter Gauthier, the Blackhawks name Connor Bedard captain, the Red Wings make Shawn Horcoff interim GM, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: The Anaheim Ducks re-signed Cutter Gauthier to a six-year contract worth an average annual value of $13.5 million, making the 22-year-old winger the second-highest-paid player on the team.
Anaheim Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gauthier completed his entry-level contract last season. He’s coming off a breakout performance in which he led the Ducks with 41 goals and 69 points.
After matching Leo Carlsson’s five-year contract offer ($18 million AAV) from the Philadelphia Flyers in July, the Ducks had little choice but to pay Gauthier a substantial raise. However, they had to terminate the final year of veteran winger Chris Kreider’s contract ($6.5 million AAV) to free up the necessary cap space, which could adversely affect their top-six forward depth this season.
The Ducks got Gauthier signed for slightly less than expected. Projections had him receiving between $14 million and $15 million after he reportedly rejected a four-year offer worth $13 million annually.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: The Red Wings named assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff as their interim GM while they continue their search for a permanent one. Horcoff has been handling day-to-day operations since Steve Yzerman was removed as GM in mid-July. He can now make personnel decisions and negotiate contracts.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s puzzling why the Wings didn’t do this earlier, considering that team captain Dylan Larkin’s trade request had to be addressed, and restricted free-agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson had to be re-signed. Those two factors should be Horcoff’s priority with training camp opening on Thursday.
CHICAGO HOCKEY NOW: The Blackhawks named Connor Bedard as team captain. He’s the 37th captain in franchise history and the second-youngest behind Jonathan Toews.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Patrick Kane and Tyler Bertuzzi will serve as alternate captains. Bedard is currently recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and will be sidelined until November.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Washington Capitals responded to requests for comment regarding team captain Alex Ovechkin’s appearance in an ad video for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party.
In a statement, the team said that Ovechkin is a Russian citizen who lives in Moscow with his family during the offseason and will continue to do so when he retires. They claimed he was asked by his country to appear in the video. The statement cited Ovechkin as the longest-serving pro athlete in Washington and a pillar of the community before concluding that the team is focused on the upcoming season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin was getting roasted on social media for his appearance in the video because of Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, with Hockey Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek among those leading the charge. The Capitals’ “word salad” statement only intensified the criticism.
Speaking of the Capitals, winger Ryan Leonard was signed to an eight-year contract extension with an AAV of $10.5 million. They also signed forward Justin Sourdif to an eight-year extension worth $6.35 million AAV.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Yesterday was the final day for teams to re-sign eligible players to eight-year maximum term contracts. As of today, the maximum term for re-signings is seven years and six years for unrestricted free agents.
The Capitals are betting that Leonard and Sourdif will build on the potential they showed last season. Both are coming off promising rookie seasons, with Leonard scoring 20 goals and 45 points while Sourdif had 15 goals and 35 points.
SPORTSNET: The Carolina Hurricanes signed team captain Jordan Staal to a one-year, bonus-laden contract extension. Staal, 38, won the 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy leading the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup. The deal carries a base salary of $900,000, with a $4 million signing bonus and other bonuses that could take him up to $5.1 million.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: The Devils signed winger Luke Evangelista to a five-year extension worth an AAV of $7.25 million. Earlier this month, the 25-year-old Evangelista was acquired from the Nashville Predators
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Evangelista had a career-best 56-point performance with Nashville last season.
MONTREAL HOCKEY NOW: The Canadiens signed winger Alex Newhook to a four-year contract extension ($5.5 million AAV) and inked defenseman Arber Xhekaj to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Xhekaj was the subject of considerable offseason trade speculation. This signing should silence the conjecture for now, but it’s also a “show-me” contract as the big defenseman must prove he can play a larger role on the Canadiens’ crowded blueline.
TSN: The Minnesota Wild signed head coach John Hynes to a multi-year contract extension. He was set to enter the final season of his current deal.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers invited forward Nathan Bastian to training camp on a professional tryout offer.
Perfect timing for all the young guys in the NHL. All the league is handcuffed with the salaries awarded this summer. Good for the sport which still is way behind the NFL,NBA and MLB for obvious reasons!Wonder how all the old timers feel about this!
The owners spend to the cap, a fixed percentage of revenues. This only changes the difference in salary between the top and bottom. Next year, Makar will earn 20x the minimum salary players.
Anaheim’s top 6 (3 forwards, 2 D and 1 goalie) will earn approx 61 million this year, almost 60% of the cap. Difficult to build a Cup contender when the average salary for 3/4 of the team is 2.5% of the cap.
Hammer_of_the_Gods, Anaheim is right on top in terms of % of the cap spent on their top 6 cap hits, tied with Dallas. For what it’s worth to anyone reading, here’s the complete 32 in order of most to least spent on their top 6:
59% – Anaheim $61,700,000; Dallas $61,337,000;
57% – Vegas $59,725,000;
54% – NYR $56,017,857;
53% – Edmonton $54,875,000; Colorado $54,854,000; Minnesota $54,725,000; Toronto $55,500,000;
52% – Los Angeles $54,150,000; Tampa $54,000,000;
49% – Florida $51,330,714; Boston $50,950,000;
48% – New Jersey $49,925,000; Winnipeg $49,750,000;
47% – Buffalo $48,892,857; Washington $47,665,000;
46% – Chicago $47,933,324; Montreal $47,675,000. Carolina $47,316,149;
45% – Ottawa $47,250,000; Utah $47,042,875;
44% – *Detroit $46,100,000; Nashville $45,799,000; St. Louis $45,625,000;
43% – Vancouver $45,100,000; San Jose $44,750,000; Philadelphia $44,575,000; NYI $44,300,000;
41% – Calgary $42,850,000; *Columbus $42,458,334;
40% – Pittsburgh $41,675,000;
38% – Seattle $39,535,714.
*Both Detroit and Columbus have key players yet to sign so, if and when that happens both will move up. There could also – of course – be other moves between now and the start of the season that also have an impact.
Here’s where the 10 teams 59% up stand in terms of current cap space (according to Puckpedia) – least to most:
Vegas – $8,661,183 OVER – LTIR candidate Pietrangelo’s $8.5 mil
Toronto – $2,820,471 OVER – LTIR candidade Domi’s $3,750,000
Dallas – $389,667;
Colorado – $404,159;
NYR – $995,476;
Edmonton – $1,978,334;
Minnesota – $1,152,504;
Los Angeles – $1,775,000 – LTIR candidate Kevin Fialas’ $7,875,000;
Anaheim – $2,073,395 – LTIR candidate Troy Terry’s $7 mil;
Tampa – $2,353,334 – LTIR candidate Yanni Gourde’s $2,333,333.
50% up – not 59
Hey George, typo alert. EDM has $5.9M is space for this season.
Ray, then someone ought to point that out to Puckpedia.
https://puckpedia.com/team/edmonton-oilers
They don’t have them anywhere near that until Trade Deadline Day.
Great Summary George.
Wow I just can’t agree with the amount of money being tossed around. Pretty soon most teams will have two players making about a trillion dollars each and bunch of supporting players making the league minimum.
I agree completely, John. Meanwhile, us normal fans can’t afford the extra channels to watch our team, nor can we afford to go to games with Ticketmaster scalloping the hell out of prices. Back to the radio days for us old timers!
For the ones who’s greed exceeded their team in a team first sport. Well I hope you enjoy never getting your name on the cup. There is no shame only leadership in taking less and letting the team be built well around you. An extra 5 mill a year when you already have generational wealth? There is a guy from a different league with a history of that and more rings than 1 hand can hold because the team came first and that is in a sport few can play more than a few years. To each their own. Me i would ra5ger have a few cups than some extra mo ey when i already have more money than my folks made in their lifetimes.
AZ now your speaking my language I agree with you love my hockey but how many of these guys after awhile of mediocrity will be screaming trade me while their team struggles to make the playoffs?
I’m surprised Staal extended for one more year. He plays a consistent heavy high energy game that is hard on a 38 year old body. Finding the player or players to replace Staal when he retires has to be Tulsky’s biggest concern.
I’ve met the staals a couple of times they are all huge I’m six feet 195 lbs. I felt like a midget
around those guys. What a talented and giving family. I always wanted Eric to be on the bruins they were all good but Eric was the best out of the three.
What does Xhekaj have to prove?
He’s a big physical 3rg pairing D who skates better and faster than a number of forwards and a few defensemen on the team.
He has a very good first pass, the hardest shot on the team and lives up to his name The Sheriff.
As I have mentioned before the Habs multiple SC run in the 70’s including arguably the best NHL team in history had the “Big Three” of course, but also had Bouchard, Chartraw and Lupien playing defense.
Xhekaj has to be judged as a role player and he fills it well, making his teammates feel 2″ taller and 10lb. heavier. He has a protective mean streak that can’t be taught and enough skill to go with it to be a hockey player not a goon or a pylon like so many slow, clumsy 3rd pairing D.
Habfan30
Sadly, he has to prove that to St Louis, who seems to understand some parts of the game, but oblivious to other parts of the game.
Arber will never be a 1st or 2nd pairing damn, but a very good 3rd pairing.
And I completely agree, he does a lot of things well and can skate. We got our arses kicked in the last 2 yearseor the playoffs. The Habs need more truculence, especially in the playoffs.
I don’t think it’s so much about proving. It’s about…is he actually an NHL defensman. Reminds me a lot of Matt Carkner. Are you a goon? Can you actually defend? If you get stuck on a defensive zone draw will the other team load up and try and score. He’s consistently been a minus player. Be impartial. You said he skates better? Does he really? He has one good burst and then he’s slow. He has a good first pass cause nobody wants to go near him and pay for it. But he gets walked around and turned around in his own end.
Dark G
Does he skate like Fedorov or Paul Coffey, no. But he’s not a pylon of a skater either. He won’t woo you with his edge work. And he’s not as slow as you make him out to be either. Check that preseason game where he skated down the ice to catch up to Stutzle.
Without him, as we saw in last season’s playoffs, we’re small. Heck, petite. Anderson was the only one out there that you had to keep your head up while on the ice.
We were ran over by not only Carolina, but also buffalo.
The Caulfields and Suzuki’s will get you in the picture, but the Anderson’s, wifi’s, stalls, kucherovs will get you to the cup.
I agree. As I posted (late) yesterday, he has the primary tools to be very effective – size, ability to handle matters when necessary, great skater and a sizzling, heavy shot.
He just needs to learn to bide his time rather than instantly retaliate, and also curtail his instinct to make defensive attempts which leave his D partner vulnerable. Those are developed through experience. He’s no dummy, and once those faults are eliminated … and I’m betting they will … look out.
HF30, you nailed it!
Some wild contracts given out yesterday. Ryan Leonard was the guy I hoped the Habs would draft in 2023. I think that deal will prove to be a good one but it makes Demidovs deal look even better. I think Sourdif is an overpayment. I can see Oliver Kapanen using that deal as a comparable.
If Newhook can avoid another injury he can be a solid middle six player with the Habs. Especially if he plays with Demidov. A year ago his deal would have been an overpayment. Now it looks reasonable. And a couple of years down the line it might be a bargain.
Reading about all Montreal these days:
– High end core players signing team friendly contracts.
– A quality top 6 veteran winger comes available and chooses Montreal. Signs a team friendly deal.
– How to deal with the Hab surplus of good young D-men? 1st NHL world problems.
– Too many good young tenders, how do you get all of them enough playing time without sending the most promising one to Laval?
Its like being strapped to a table with the slow, steady drip of water hitting my forehead. Feels like it’s drilling a hole into my F***ing brain.
But really, I luv you guys.
If it makes you feel better just remember that if all these players that took less to build a winning team don’t actually taste that winning there will be trouble in 2-3 years when their top players are making significantly less money than less talented players elsewhere in the league. Hughes better be as all in as his players
I can feel it Ray!!
Ray: Still there?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df9BZMmmB9c
I like the Krieder add by Montreal and the way all there top guys are locked up under great contracts. But to fill out the rest of the cap to sign the same team as last year does not make a tone of sense .
Great top 6 contracts but just to give huge raises to the same bottom 6 makes me confused . I know we have a lot of well informed Hab fans on here . What am I missing
The same team were in the final 4 last season. They are still a very young team with more experience and should compete for the top spot in the division. They still have cap space to add later on in the season if something comes available.
Swany,
Nobody got a huge raise, the money is just spread out better with the core leaving money on the table.
Young teams like Montreal who’s core is years away from peaking get better naturally while the players continue to improve.
Some tweaks to the lineup.
In
Kreider
Reinbacher?
Beck?
Out
Gallagher
Veleno
Laine
The Habs were EC Finalists last year and the tweaks are an improvement, not to mention Hughes has made in season trades to fill gaps that appear.
I don’t think it’s a Stanley Cup winning team yet, but it’s on the track.
Thanks, agree the future is bright but the youth and these great contracts will not last forever .
Yes, they made it to the EFC last year but 2 game 7 victories 1 with 9 shots on goal . Would not want to try that again and expect to win. So Gally and Laine out they set most of the playoffs so no real change there . Just don’t see how we are much better other than the experience of a great run and a pretty good season that we all thought might be a bit early.
I would love to see them make the next step but think other teams have gotten better and we stay basically the same
Swany – that is how I see things as well.
That atlantic division is a gauntlet to try and get through and a lot of things broke right for the canadiens mid season through the playoffs. (Not passing the run off as luck so please dont think i am).
I think there is only going to be a handful of points separating the top team with the 4th or even maybe 5th place in that division. It is going to be fun watching it all shake out.
I think they keep getting better so lean HF30’s way on this one. They will be right up there at the end of the regular season again.
Playoffs is another matter though. Need some playoff draw luck, puck luck, ref call luck, and most of all injury luck.
Carolina has been great during the regular season for years and never broke through all the way. They asked Rod the Bod what the main difference was last season he didn’t hesitate, “we were healthy”.
Gorton and Hughes are doing this right and building a sustainable contender by sticking with the plan of drafting, developing and not chasing the latest shiny UFA. Keeping cap space, young assets and flexibility to take advantage of the rare opportunities like Kreider.
To quote Holland – you need to give yourself as many opportunities as possible to win it.
I like Montreals group of young players but I would beware of an old coaches saying,your never the same team next year,you either get better or you get worse. Interesting to see if they keep trending upward. The pieces are in place.