NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 24, 2026
Recapping Wednesday’s preseason games, injury updates, plus the latest on Dylan Larkin, Logan Cooley, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S PRESEASON ACTION
NHL.COM: The Toronto Maple Leafs swept the Ottawa Senators in split-squad games on Wednesday.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews (NHL Images).
Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Jack Roslovic each had a goal and two assists, leading the Maple Leafs to a 6-1 win over the Senators in Toronto. Tim Stutzle replied for the Senators.
Anthony Stolarz stopped 19 shots, and Ryan Tverberg snapped a 2-2 tie as the Leafs doubled up the Senators 4-2 in Ottawa.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Ottawa Sun’s Callum Fraser reported Senators defenseman Carter Yakemchuk had a “disaster performance” in the 6-1 loss, which didn’t help his efforts to clinch a roster spot this season. Fraser felt the same about Sens goalie Leevi Merilainen, who didn’t get much help from his defense, but still could’ve played better.
Senators defenseman Artem Zub remains sidelined and is expected to miss the start of the regular season. Maple Leafs forward Nick Paul left this game with an undisclosed injury. It’s not expected to be serious, but he will be re-evaluated on Thursday.
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg made 24 saves to hold off the Anaheim Ducks 2-1.
Alex Laferriere and Joel Armia scored for the Kings. Ethan Procyszyn replied for the Ducks.
The Dallas Stars blanked the Minnesota Wild 2-0. Remi Poirier made 24 saves for the shutout, and Matthew Seminoff and Esa Lindell scored for the Stars. Jesper Wallstedt turned aside 22 shots for the Wild.
HEADLINES
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: Dylan Larkin returned to the ice with his Red Wings teammates on Wednesday. He’d been sidelined for a week with an upper-body injury.
Larkin won’t be playing in Thursday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres in Detroit. He could be in their preseason finale at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
RG.ORG: Marco D’Amico interviewed Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley, who discussed his club’s push to become a true Western Conference contender.
Cooley said that making the playoffs last year, and the realization of how difficult it is to win a postseason series, has raised the intensity level in training camp for the Mammoth. He’s also thrilled with the addition of fellow Pittsburgh native Vincent Trocheck, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers in July.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Mammoth’s improvement last season didn’t result in increased coverage of the team. Despite having established talent like winger Clayton Keller and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, rising stars like Cooley and Dylan Guenther, and a deep prospect pool, they don’t receive the same attention as other up-and-coming clubs in Anaheim and San Jose. People should pay attention to the Mammoth because they could make some noise in the West this season.
NEW YORK POST: Rangers prospect forward Adam Sykora will miss the next four to five months with a lower-body injury suffered during Monday’s preseason game against the New Jersey Devils.
BUFFALO HOCKEY BEAT: Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered during Tuesday’s preseason match against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Blueline Olen Zellweger is in concussion protocol from a hit he received later in that game.
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro will likely miss the start of the season with an undisclosed injury that could sideline him for weeks. Meanwhile, blueliner Damon Severson hasn’t been cleared to play yet as he works his way back from the shoulder surgery he had in April. He’s been skating in practice with a “no-contact” jersey.
THE SCORE: Philadelphia Flyers starting goalie Dan Vladar is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered during Tuesday’s preseason game against the Boston Bruins. Head coach Rick Tocchet said Vladar “dodged a bullet” and is in good spirits.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers fans are exhaling in relief as there was concern that Vladar may have been seriously hurt.
DAILY FACEOFF: Florida Panthers winger Brady Tkachuk is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury but is expected to be in the lineup for their season-opener. It’s uncertain when Tkachuk was hurt.
TSN: Hall of Famer and ESPN hockey analyst Mark Messier said he’s “horrified” and “shocked” by the Edmonton Oilers hiring Mike Babcock as head coach.
Messier believes there must be a separation of powers on the structural level of the team, suggesting the players had too much of a say in the decisions being made at the management level, including the hiring of management and coaches.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Messier makes a good point, but as some on social media noted, he’s not in the best position to level criticism over players influencing coaching hires. After Messier signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 1997, he was reportedly directly responsible for the club hiring Mike Keenan as head coach.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: Former Canadiens owner George Gillett Jr. died on Tuesday at age 87. He was owner of the club from 2001 until 2009.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gillett purchased the Canadiens and their arena at a time when no potential Canadian owner could be found. That led to concerns that the American owner might have designs on relocating the storied franchise to the United States, but he instead brought stability to the club during a period of uncertainty that included the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
My condolences to Gillett’s family, friends, and the Canadiens organization.
Regarding Carter Yakemchuk, I did not watch the game, but checked the box score. He played 25:29, was even for +/- in a 6-1 loss, and only one of those 6 goals was on the power play. His stats look a lot better than most of his teammates. Did anyone watch the game and can illuminate what was so disastrous?
Those aren’t terrible numbers.
I watched some of the game in Ottawa where both Cuzens were determined to be punched in the face. With Nick continuing to get all his penalties out of the way before the season starts.
only 11K there to watch half the Leafs. Curious.
watched the 6-1 beat down game. It was Toronto’s full line-up against Sens top line and a bunch of AHL’ers and they got owned. Sens had a tough time getting it out of their zone and putting passes together. Yak did struggle like everyone, but yes, his skating is a concern. Hard to really see where the Sens are at, as most of the players will be playing in Belleville.
Don’t put too much on pre-season scores. It’s like Grapefruit baseball. The scores mean absolutely squat.
The games are designed mainly to allow the coaches and GMs of some teams to assess the in-game abilities of those in the system hoping to crack the NHL, and to let a sprinkling of vets get the off-season kinks out.
All Larkin has to do is score regularly, especially 5 on 5. It likely will stop fairly early if the wings are winning games. I think most of the people saying they would boo him don’t go to games anyway.
Fred, ALL? In caps no less, because of not hiring a GM?
Larkin’s situation is on Larkin and had nothing to do with not hiring a GM, and everything thing to do with how he went about his trade demand. Specifically where he would agree to be traded to. That deal would never happen unless the Wings gave him away for pennies on the dollar.
Which they can’t and will not do, at least not yet. Absolutely reasonable and the right thing to do.
Simply look at the timeline of events, it’s right there in front of you. Larkin demanded the trade well before Yzerman was sent upstairs. The no new GM thing had nothing to do with it.
Hey if you want out because the team is losing or you hate the GM, fine, it’s his life, his decisions.
But he also decided to sign a long term extension with the same team and organization a few years ago. So now there is another party that needs to make decisions. If he can’t reasonably work with that party to get them to honor HIS request to get out of the agreement he signed, then he is fool or a complete narcissist.
Or he seriously overestimated his value and what he believed these teams would be willing to give up for his services in this type of situation. Then he is arrogant to the extreme.
You can pick which one it is.
IMO he made his bed, and now he gets to sleep in it. The fans will accept him back if he earns it. We will see if he does.
Ray: Couldn’t say it better, or add anything.
RIP George Gillett. A fine man. While there never was any serious concern about the team moving, which the league even under Bettman would have never permitted, molson breweries had let the team slide into neglect. In the late 90s and early 2000s, the lineup was often filled with players who belonged in the AHL. Gillett brought stability and eventually sold a healthy team to Geoff Molson. He deserves some credit for what’s become a strong team.
Ahh, the good old days when Molson owned the Habs.
Nonetheless, Lyle, Messier’s comments are worth considering. His point, how does the player leadership represent the players when they are part of the hiring.
I recall Khadri having the stones to confront Babcock over his treatment of then rookie Marner. If a player not named McDavid or Draisaitl feels he’s getting slapped around by Babcock, where does he get support?
It would be naive to think someone of McDavid’s stature wouldn’t be consulted in a coaching decision, but at what point is he compromised if a coach’s strategy or behaviour is problematic? A fine line …
Agree LJ, Messier is 100% correct.
Want some irony?
McDavid and Draisaitl say they want a coach who won’t let them push the coach around. When they were the ones doing the pushing.
When McDavid wanted to go on the ice last year, he stands up on the bench and turned to Knoblach, and out he went. Idea, don’t do that Conner, problem solved.
Now they are blaming the coach that coached them to 2 cup finals, for listening to THEM!
Best case scenario and blame game aside, they got one who won’t let them decide who plays and when. So just maybe they understand that they were part of the problem and need to be better.
The ironic part is they are the ones who control their own behavior and are blaming someone else for it. The world of a star NHL player sure is different than the one I live in where you are actually accountable for your own actions in your job.
In all do respect, we have to think about where this comment was made. Things said in the US market are blown up to get attention on the NHL. McDavid didn’t interview Babcock. Management went to the players leadership group, asked them what they wanted in a coach. They wanted a coach with high structure. Management went after Gallant and Vegas said no. Tortorella wasn’t available because of Vegas as well. Then Management interviewed Babcock. With this type of hire it was only smart to get the leadership to talk to Babcock and get his side of the whole situation in Toronto and Columbus. It’s a one off situation.
I’m not a betting man, but if I was I would put money on that if Gallant was available management wouldn’t have had McDavid talk to him before hiring Gallant.
I would agree with that KevJam, I just find it a bit rich with the round about blaming of Knoblach. When they are admitting they were part of the problem.
When you say you want a coach who will hold you accountable, your saying your saying you didn’t play the right way for the previous coach. And they’re right they didn’t.
I guess my question is, why didn’t you?
He coached them to 2 cup finals, and now he sucks. They improved dramatically when Knoblach came in. Neither of the 2 big guns were responsible with the puck last year.
Top 3 scorers:
McDavid – +17
MacKinnon, +57
Kucherov – +43
That +/- number needs to improve.
I have to admit and agree with Mark in a few months time both Connor & Leon could be tuning Babcock out. Mike has a brilliant hockey mind. But it’s his personality & Strict guidelines that players don’t particularly gravitate to that would concern me as player and gm.
Some Jets news today…
They FINALLY get their full history back:
https://www.nhl.com/jets/news/jets-and-nhl-announce-consolidation-of-winnipeg-jets-history
So kuzmenkos dad was just killed by a frickin bear! Wtf.
I expect Larks to have a slow start as he missed the routine and pressure of training camp. He will probably be playing slightly less than 100% to ensure he does not get hurt pre trade
Hey George, looks like the Sens have lost any faith in Leevi… he is on waivers.
Which weird… after they just resigned him. But I do not always understand NHL moves.
Yeah, but it only cost them $1.1 mil to re-sign him – barely above the league minimum – and obviously whatever “promise” he showed 2 seasons back has completely evaporated.
Now we’ll see if any organization is ready to commit to that $1.1 mil, regarding him as a reclamation project somewhere in their system.
If he clears they’ll likely give him every opportunity in Belleville to get his act together. If not – see ya.