NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 9, 2026
Sidney Crosby is interested in re-signing with the Penguins; Jets believe Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request won’t be a distraction; Alex DeBrincat defends teammate Dylan Larkin’s trade request; and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
TSN: Sidney Crosby said contract extension talks are underway with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 39-year-old center is in the final season of his two-year contract. He admitted his age makes it “a little bit more difficult” to project where he’ll be.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).
“I’d like to continue playing for a number of years,” Crosby said. “It’s just I don’t know what that number is. I guess your mind and body tell you that eventually. Right now I feel pretty good, though.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby and the Penguins management aren’t in a rush to get a deal done, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they agree to another two-year extension.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Jets captain Adam Lowry and veteran defenseman Dylan DeMelo don’t believe that teammate Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request will be a distraction. The 33-year-old goalie recently revealed he requested a trade earlier this season and believes it’s in his best interests to move on.
Lowry believes the trade request is a personal decision by Hellebuyck that won’t create a great divide with the Jets’ dressing room. DeMelo said the focus will be on preparing for the upcoming season regardless of what happens with Hellebuyck.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jets will put a brave face on this situation, but there’s no denying that Hellebuyck’s trade request will affect the club’s performance whenever management moves him. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner was expected to play a large role in their efforts to rebound from last season’s disappointing performance. Losing him will adversely affect those plans.
DAILY FACEOFF: Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat said he understands how awkward and disappointing it is that teammate Dylan Larkin requested a trade, but he claimed it doesn’t change what he and his teammates think about him.
“He’s still a great player. He’s been a great friend and a great teammate to me, and we obviously love him here,” DeBrincat said. “That’s kind of for him to answer, what’s next for him. But for us, I think it’s all the same. We’re happy to see him at the rink and happy to get started.”
TSN: Simon Edvinsson intends to attend training camp despite lacking a new contract with the Red Wings. The 22-year-old defenseman is a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level deal. He’s reportedly waiting patiently for the Red Wings to hire a new general manager.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Larkin’s trade request and Edvinsson’s contract negotiations remain in limbo until the Red Wings find a new permanent GM. Training camp opens on Sept. 17. Tick-tock….
THE PROVINCE: Vancouver Canucks co-president Daniel Sedin said there is no timeline for Thatcher Demko’s return. The 30-year-old starting goaltender had season-ending hip surgery in January. He’s been skating on his own, but hasn’t participated in the informal workouts leading up to the start of training camp on Sept. 17.
OTTAWA SUN: Tim Stutzle brushed off Florida Panthers pest Brad Marchand mocking the possibility of the 24-year-old center being among the candidates for the Senators’ captaincy. “I really don’t care, to be honest,” Stutzle said. “I don’t care about that at all.”
Senators winger Drake Batherson was taken aback by Marchand’s reaction. He trains with the Panthers’ winger during the offseason. “I texted him. I’m like, ‘Marchy, what are you doing?’ That’s just Marchy. He’s been doing that for years. I told Timmy. It’s all good,” Batherson said.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Marchand missed his calling as a WWE heel.
Speaking of the Senators, the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports general manager Steve Staios said Artem Zub is still rehabbing the injury he suffered during the playoffs. The defenseman is expected to be ready for training camp, but if not, Staios would consider signing a player or two to a professional tryout offer.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: The Bruins signed center Fraser Minten to a seven-year, $50.4 million contract extension. Minten, 22, is in the final season of his entry-level contract. His new deal carries an average annual value of $7.2 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Like the Canucks with Zeev Buium, the Bruins are making a big bet on Minten reaching his potential as a top-six center. He had a promising rookie season in 2025-26 with 17 goals and 35 points in 82 games and a team-leading plus/minus of plus-21.
THE MERCURY NEWS: Veteran goaltender Ilya Samsonov is returning to the NHL after a one-year stint in the KHL, signing a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level. The Sharks now have four goalies with NHL experience, as Samsonov joins Yaroslav Askarov, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Eric Comrie.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Samsonov is expected to start this season with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Carolina Hurricanes signed defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to a one-year, $850,000 contract.
DAILY FACEOFF: Forward Tyson Jost will attend the Nashville Predators’ training camp on a professional tryout offer (PTO).
TSN: For a third straight year, the NHL Draft will be decentralized. It will be held on June 25-26, 2027.
The draft needs to go back to the previous format. Nothing good about the new setup.
Agree. Boring to a fault! Rather than waste time watching (and I turned it off in June about half-way through) I’d rather just read the results the next day and pick up “highlights” on YouTube.
I’d argue it was always boring. Seeing the floor filled with team execs didnt make for better TV.
Big day for the kids but seeing an 18 yr old asked about their plans for the next season or the team that drafted them or their thoughts on playing with so and so is not at all riveting media to me lol.
Whether i tune in or not has always been more about what plans I do or dont have that evening.
For example i watched this past draft’s 1st 20 picks or so, but I didnt watch when mcdavid went 1 overall even as an oiler fan.
Im with Oilerfan. I don’t know how to make it better. But honestly the interviews are the worst. They ruin the draft and the all star game for that matter. Let them just be natural and film them in their moments. With their parents. With the team who pic them. And leave them the hell alone and move on to the next pick. Shorten the time. “on the clock”.
I disagree. When cameras picked up a member from one team approched another teams table, things got interesting.
Much better with the team reps in the floor. Talking to each other and making deals. If it’s not a deal made draft day, it could be one made down the road.
Got back to the way it used to be and take less time between picks. It’s a draft not a fashion show.
Tick tock is right … you have to think that, whatever else is going on in that asinine “search” for a new Detroit GM, EVERY candidate has been asked the same basic 2 questions: “immediately upon being hired, what is the upper limit will you agree to in terms of salary and term when it comes to re-signing Edvinson, and how do you propose to handle the Larkin situation?”
I mean, just looking at the situation, if Illich has no idea as to his new GM’s concrete plans, both could drag on well into the season. Surely they’re not THAT dense!
(sorry LJ – but it’s still the # 1 topic 🙂 ).
It still baffles me where things are with the wings.
If anything I am becoming more and more sympathetic to Larkin. If these last few months are an indication of how the club has been run of late, id be wanting out as well.
As I’ve more or less said all along, under the rules it’s indeed a player’s right to ask to be dealt.
BUT, in doing so, it’s not their right to then hamstring the GM by giving him severely limited options as to who he must try and deal, with … and then stubbornly cling to that limitation even when it became obvious that his destinations of choice won’t do what is necessary to clear the requisite cap space, short of unloading expensive contracts they couldn’t otherwise give away.
I get why the Larkin deal hasn’t happened yet, what is there to do other than wait for Larkin to make a decision?
I sort of understand why they don’t have a new GM in place due to when Yzerman was fired/move upstairs, most asst GM’s are already committed to where they are. This should have happened no more than a week after Larkin requested the trade, on June 4, they didn’t do the Yzerman thing until July 15. If that was the reason and it sure looks like the reason.
Now if it was the team’s performance, they could have done that mid April, when the regular season ended. So this was probably about Larkin.
Hiring a big role like this does take time as it is a big decision. A role like this in the real world can take months as well. But out here in the real world if a guy like that retires he is giving at least 6 months notice. If a guy like that gets canned, they will have been planning it for months and already have a replacement ready. That’s tough to do in the NHL due to the constant media coverage.
My question is why can’t AGM Horcoff get the Edvinsson deal done? Yzerman is still there if he needs a sounding board.
Is the agent deciding to wait for the new GM? Or is this Illich? If Illich, why is Horcoff still employed if he can get an RFA deal done?
Then again, there are still a few higher end RFA’s unsigned. Agents wait for the pressure to mount as the season approaches, only real leverage they have other than offer sheets.
IMO this all comes back to Larkin. Yzerman would still be there if a reasonable deal was there to be had.
You can let Larkin make you make a rushed decision, or you can fight the chaos, calm down and do what is best for the team.
And let Horcoff make the Edvinsson deal and everyone can take a deep breath.
My response in following up to a response from George yesterday about Larkin limiting the number of teams he can be traded to is that we don’t know if he really wants out or just wanted to call out the BS in motor city.
By limiting the teams they could trade him to Larkin put maximum pressure on management to make changes. If they are able to make a trade to those teams he can live with it, but, it also gives him a high chance of remaining in Detroit with changes made in management.
Interesting slant 2.0.
IF Staios does opt to go the P.T.O. route should Zub not be ready to start camp, there isn’t a whole lot out there that inspires confidence in a good start out of the gate.
However, without bringing in a try-out, it would mean Spence moving up to the 1st pairing alongside Sanderson, with Matinpalo and the rookie Yakemchuk filling the right-side 2nd and 3rd pairings. That’s not ideal either.
makes me even more annoyed they didn’t somehow figure out how to keep lassi
I guess the best “hope” is that Zub will be ready to start camp … with recent blurbs indicating he will
https://www.rotoballer.com/player-news/senators-expect-artem-zub-to-be-ready-for-training-camp/1926619
Thanks for writing plus/minus of plus-21, Everyone usually writes plus/minus of -21, which to a european means minus 21 which isnt always the case when reading NHL writers
I think one of the interesting topics to come during training camp and perhaps even now is who are the interesting players that teams will try to sneak through waivers.
There are frequently goalies, young players on the bubble, bottom 6 role players, 3rd pairing D. I’m sure we all know of waiver pickups that made the team and contributed in a big way.
Given Habs needs I’ve looked around and have seen about 5 guys who will probably waived that are of interest.
Montembeault was taken on waivers.
Bussi was taken last year
Look at who didn’t get claimed last year
Michael DiPietro
Jonathan Aspirot
Pavol Regenda
Hunter Skinner
Curtis Douglas
Not household names but can play a role.
This year we’ll have more interesting ones as the rebuilding teams have choices to make on who stays and who goes.
Edmonton Oilers continue with the weird moves… signing Alex Formenton? okay….
Not sure I’d categorize it as weird, theSaint. For the rock-bottom 2-way cap-hit they get to see if the speedy LW can resurrect his North American career with their AHL affiliate.