NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 26, 2026
Recaps of Friday’s preseason action, the salary cap could rise significantly in 2028-29, Macklin Celebrini is the Sharks’ new captain, the Hurricanes re-sign Pyotr Kochetkov, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING FRIDAY’S PRESEASON GAMES
NHL.COM: Colorado Avalanche prospect T.J. Hughes tallied a hat trick and collected an assist in a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves for the Avalanche. Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov each had a goal and an assist for the Jets.
New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (NHL Images).
The New York Rangers thumped the New York Islanders 6-1. Adam Fox had three assists, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller each had a goal and an assist, and Pavel Dorofeyev collected two assists. Pierre Engvall scored, and Semyon Varlamov gave up six goals on 27 shots for the Islanders.
Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley snapped a 1-1 tie for a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Joel Eriksson Ek replied for the Wild, who also lost defenseman Brock Faber after being struck by a puck off the left side of his helmet in the second period.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Faber was kept out of the remainder of the game for precautionary reasons and will be reevaluated on Saturday. The clubs combined for 86 penalty minutes, most of which occurred in the game’s fight-filled final minutes. Tyler Seguin made his preseason debut in his first game since suffering a knee injury on Dec. 2.
An overtime goal by Jordan Kyrou lifted the Washington Capitals over the Boston Bruins 3-2. Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist, and Pierre-Luc Dubois picked up two assists. David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie scored, and Jeremy Swayman stopped 32 shots for the Bruins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin missed this game with a lower-body injury. He’ll also miss Washington’s final preseason game on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers, but he’s expected to be ready for their season-opener on Oct. 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
HEADLINES
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reported Friday that multiple sources claimed the salary cap for 2028-29 is estimated to reach $127.5 million. That’s $23.5 million more this season’s $104 million cap and $14 million more than the $113.5 million cap for 2027-28.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The final cap number for 2028-29 will likely be announced at the end of this season. Regardless, it’s a substantial increase that continues the cap’s sharp rise since the end of the COVID-induced flat-cap era earlier in the decade.
The effect of that increase was felt this summer, when the Philadelphia Flyers signed Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson to a five-year offer sheet worth a then-record $18 million average annual value. That set the bar for other young talent, with San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini signing a then-record AAV ($18.8 million) on his contract extension in July. It also affected extensions for established superstars with Cale Makar’s record-setting $20.4 million deal in August.
Expect more AAV records over the next two years. Assuming $127.5 million is confirmed for 2028-29, the maximum salary will be $25.5 million.
Players eligible for UFA status on July 1, 2028, include Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, Los Angeles Kings winger Artemi Panarin, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller. RFAs include New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer and Anaheim Ducks winger Beckett Sennecke.
One of them will become the NHL’s first $25 million player, and there will likely be more than one by the end of July 1, 2028.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: The Sharks named Macklin Celebrini as their new captain during a dressing-room ceremony on Friday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The 20-year-old superstar is the youngest captain in Sharks history. He takes over from Logan Couture, who held the role from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
THE NEWS & OBSERVER: The Carolina Hurricanes signed goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov to a two-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $3.95 million.
TSN/THE PROVINCE: The Vancouver Canucks claimed goaltender Leevi Merilainen off waivers from the Ottawa Senators. They also placed center Filip Chytil (shoulder) on injured reserve.
BUFFALO HOCKEY NOW: The Sabres signed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year, $850,000 contract. This move is a result of the Sabres losing blueliners Mattias Samuelsson (lower-body, week-to-week) and Olen Zellweger (concussion protocol) to injuries.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers center Jason Dickinson might not be in the lineup for the Oilers’ season opener next week. He’s still feeling the effects of a broken foot suffered late last season.
CBS SPORTS: Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dante Fabbro (upper body) was placed on injured reserve.
CALGARY SUN: The Flames signed forward Alex Nylander to a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level.
DAILY FACEOFF: 61 players were placed on waivers on Friday. The notables included Utah Mammoth forward Brandon Tanev, San Jose Sharks goaltender Eric Comrie, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist.
What will the cap be in 27-28 season?
“$113.5 million cap for 2027-28.” – as above.
🫢
Cap mirage? $7 diesel and maybe people won’t be in a rush to buy hockey tickets…
Of course the Rags beat the Isles badly. It was a game of the Rags NHL starters against the Isles Hamilton team. 85% of the roster will not be on NHL roster.
I mean… kinda goes without saying in preseason no? The Rangers lost to the devils in the same situation by one goal. Literally not using a single NHL player vs the devils NHL roster.
It’s preseason…
The possibility that Merilainen might be claimed, thereby depleting their G depth, was not lost on Staios.
Shortly after the claim by Vancouver, he acquired 31 y/o Jonas Johansson from Tampa for “future considerations.” He also still has 25 y/o Vadim Zherenko in camp on a PTO. He was with the St. Louis organization last season, playing for their AHL Springfield club.
There is also the option of a counter-claim on Merilainen should Vancouver try to send im to their AHL affiliate.
Seems like the Sens are one of a few teams in a holding position with what seems to be stop-gap moves instead of solid permanent moves.
That might just be caused by the inability of players that fit the bill. Again this can be said for many teams…I guess this will be the norm for now. Perhaps a result of an already watered down league.
George O, Johansson’s not that bad. Felt as though he didn’t really get a fair shot with the Avalanche? He was spotty but felt the team wasn’t that supportive in front of him which is a trait I don’t care for about the team but what the heck do I know. Maybe he will find success in Ottawa?
Ron, right now Johannson was obtained to fill out the veteran goalie back-up system in Belleville … which is where they had hoped to send Merilainen before Vancouver grabbed him off waivers, as they had no intention of carrying 3 goalies in Ottawa.
In terms of long-range hopes at that position, they have 19 y/o Lucas Beckman, who they drafted in the 4th round in 2025 out of the Q, where he has had excellent marks with Baie-Comeau and Chicoutimi.
He was dealt in that league late last season to the Cape Breton Eagles, currently ranked 3rd among all Major Junior teams and an early favourite for Memorial Cup success. Ottawa re-assigned him there out of camp and he’s won their first game.
The waiver priority ranking till November for anybody interested on why “their” team skipped or missed out on somebody.
For example I expected Winnipeg to actively pick waiver goalies.
1-Vancouver Canucks
2-Chicago Blackhawks
3-New York Rangers
4-Calgary Flames
5-Toronto Maple Leafs
6-Seattle Kraken
7-Winnipeg Jets
8-Florida Panthers
9-Nashville Predators
10-St. Louis Blues
11-San Jose Sharks
12-New Jersey Devils
13-Los Angeles Kings
14-New York Islanders
15-Detroit Red Wings
16-Columbus Blue Jackets
17-Anaheim Ducks
18-Utah Mammoth
19-18-Edmonton Oilers
20-Washington Capitals
21-Vegas Golden Knights
22-Pittsburgh Penguins
23-Philadelphia Flyers
24-Ottawa Senators
25-Boston Bruins
26-Minnesota Wild
27-Tampa Bay Lightning
28-Montreal Canadiens
29-Buffalo Sabres
30-Dallas Stars
31-Carolina Hurricanes
32-Colorado Avalanche
One interesting thing to look at for me at least is prospects that were traded away, are they being kept or just put on waivers.
Did you get something better or just another kid who clears waivers like your “original” player.
In Montreal’s case, Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy and William Trudeau were traded away and have been waived by their new teams.
Sasha Pastujov, Brett Berard, Maksymilian Szuber came in return, they might be waived too.
Will be interesting to see who if any get claimed.
No doubt that Celebrini is reaching superstar status but Don t you think San Jose could relieve some of the pressure on him by naming a veteran like Marchment,Toffoli or Wennberg as their next captain than ease him in later in his mid 20 s!