NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – July 29, 2025
The latest on Mario Lemieux’s attempt to repurchase the Penguins, an update on Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg’s arbitration filing, the Canadiens avoid arbitration with Jayden Struble, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
THE ATHLETIC: Josh Yohe provides more details behind the attempt to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins by a group led by Mario Lemieux.
Lemieux was co-owner of the franchise with partners Ron Burkle and David Morehouse from 1999 until 2021, when they sold the majority stake to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) for $900 million.
Former Pittsburgh Penguins captain and co-owner Mario Lemieux (NHL.com).
The Lemieux group has not yet made an offer or discussed one with FSG. Yohe anticipates those talks could be coming soon.
FSG is reportedly only seeking a minority investor to join in its ownership of the Penguins. However, the Lemieux group prefers a majority stake in the team.
According to Yohe, expansion is one reason behind the Lemieux group’s interest in buying back the Penguins. The NHL is expected to add two new teams within the next couple of years, with Houston and Atlanta mentioned as potential destinations. Each team could pay as much as $2 billion in expansion fees, which would be evenly split among the existing 32 franchises.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Yohe anticipates FSG’s asking price for the Penguins will be much higher than the $900 million they paid for the franchise.
Sportico had the Penguins’ value at $1.47 billion last October. Statistica has its current value at $1.75 billion.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported Dylan Samberg and the Jets have filed their arbitration numbers for the 2025-26 season.
The Samberg camp set their number at $6 million, while the Jets settled at $2.5 million. His arbitration hearing is set for Wednesday, July 30.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s a significant gap between the two sides. Nevertheless, they could reach an agreement before Wednesday’s hearing.
Samberg completed a two-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $1.4 million. If this goes before an arbitrator, he will receive a one-year contract, making him eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next July.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: The Canadiens avoided arbitration with defenseman Jayden Struble as the two sides agreed to a two-year, one-way contract worth an AAV of $1.412 million. Struble, 23, was slated to have an arbitration hearing on August 3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Samberg and Toronto Maple Leafs winger Nick Robertson are the only players with scheduled arbitration hearings. Robertson’s is slated for August 2.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Aaron Ekblad remains pleased that he and the Panthers were able to get a contract extension done. The 28-year-old defenseman was eligible to become a UFA on July 1, but the two sides agreed to an eight-year, $48.8 million extension on June 30.
Some insiders reported there was a sense that Ekblad and the Panthers were far apart in contract negotiations, sparking speculation he’d end up on the open market. He admitted the signing was a huge weight off his shoulders that he’d been carrying last season, but he wasn’t close to leaving the Panthers.
“It was always Florida,” Ekblad said. “I don’t think you guys understand; Florida is home.” He added that it meant the world to him to spend his entire NHL career with one team, adding that he has a lot of pride and expectations for his career over the next eight years.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ekblad has been the linchpin of the Panthers’ defense corps. His contract could become burdensome to their salary cap over the final years of the deal, as could those of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand, who the Panthers also re-signed.
Nevertheless, the Panthers felt it was worthwhile to keep their Stanley Cup window open, especially with the salary cap projected to rise significantly in the next several years.
RG.ORG: Anaheim Ducks prospect forward Beckett Sennecke had a big season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Chosen third overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, he had 86 points in 56 regular-season games in 2024-25, followed by 32 points in 18 playoff games as the Generals reached the OHL Finals.
The Ducks have maintained close contact with Sennecke, helping him improve his strength and puck protection. He will remain patient, saying he’s open to whatever path they believe is best for his development.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sennecke, 19, could make the jump this season if he has a strong training camp and preseason.
Re the Samberg arbitration … Lyle today is July 29 – is the hearing today or Wednesday July 30?
Whatever the case, as I alluded to in a response to Dave, perhaps the delay in settling all along has been related to his reaching UFA stat us sooner rather than later, and he simply wants to get out of Dodge.
At first I thought the underlying factor in the delay might be related to term, with he and his agent preferring a short term to that end, but getting an arbitrator’s award for one season puts him in the driver’s seat by this time next year.
Might all this lead to a trade?
Hearing is tomorrow George
So, if the pattern continues to avoid the hearing at all costs, we should expect to hear if a settlement today.
On the other hand, reading the difference in offer and demand, and the fact he can be a UFA next year if he goes before the arbitrator, looks like both he and Robertson may go that route.
Samberg could take the 1 year deal and pursue a team that is willing to pay him what he is worth in FA next year!
And since he’s from Michigan, queue the Detroit rumors.
He is from MN, Minnesota.
Then somebody ought to clue in NHL DB.com
https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=202503
Hockey DB lists him as being born in Saginaw Minnesota. Though it’s not as well known as the one in Michigan there is a Saginaw in Minnesota
The link you provided George , does say he’s born in Minnesota
LOL. Hey, I’m Canadian – who’da thunk they’d name TWO places “Saginaw” – and as for state abbreviations, to this uninitiated not-yet-American “Saginaw , MN” could just as easily have been interpreted as “Michigan” as it is Minnesota!
Learn something new every day.
OK, so queue the Wild rumours (and yeah, that’s the way we spell it with the King’s English) 🙂
George there 34 towns or cities in the US called Springfield. Imagine the confusion that would cause here if a free agent was from one of them.
Well, I know Homer Simpson lives in one of the Springfields – lol
Say YES to Mario Part Deux
Say NO to 3-Peat Nightmare in Atlanta
With you on Atlanta, 8787. As they say the surest sign of insanity is doing something repeatedly and expecting a different result. It’s just not a hockey town. And spare the Nashville comparisons. There’s a lot less competition for the sports fans dollar there than in Atlanta, which has teams in the NBA, NFL and MLB. And even if a billionaire owner checks things out before investing, it doesn’t mean he won’t screw up.
Absolument !!! (not sure if I spelled that correctly)
The problem with the current Atlanta idea is the location of the proposed arena. The barn needs to be closer to the 285 and MARTA stations. The Braves struck gold getting out of the city and closer to their fan base. The north edge of Fulton County is where the hockey arena needs to be, not downtown where nobody wants to go.
A team in ATL will also have to deal with drawing during the HS and college football seasons through the end of each season.
8787
Atlanta not guaranteed new expansion team as other cities Indianapolis, New Orleans and Austin are confirmed candidates too. Austin could be good choice considering growing city with no professional sports teams, and easily develop rivalries with Dallas and Houston.
All 3 of those and s few more would do better than Atlanta
Ironic considering Pittsburgh has been bankrupt twice and were given a 3rd shot.
Why not Atlanta? As the old saying goes “3rd time’s the charm.”
Besides, you have to seriously doubt that any owner putting up $2 billion is not about to embark upon that without a very in-depth analysis of what went wrong the first two times and is not going to repeat the roots of those fiascos.
Like it or not, the area is one of the most populous in the country, and a natural rival to Nashville and the two Florida teams.
On the other hand, the owners of the previous expansion teams paid what was, at the time, quite high expansion fees. There were those, here in Columbus, who wondered if the fee back then was too high for the fourth most popular sport in America. And just because an area is populace doesn’t translate into fans in the seats. Remember hockey’s Colorado Rockies? Hockey teams make their bucks by having butts in the seats. Does Atlanta have enough hockey fans for a team to survive? The closest NHL team is nearly half a day’s drive away. Expanding to Atlanta might simplify mean a team stays there for a few years before becoming the Quebec Nordiques 2.0.
Fully agree Paul
Paul, the entry fee for both the Atlanta teams was $6 mil – a far FAR cry from $2 billion – even factoring in the differences in the value of a dollar from those days to today.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=6610414
That’s the equivalent of 333 franchises in the days of the Atlanta expansions.
Not at all saying they won’t do research; just saying that it IMHO will fail AGAIN
The hinted $2 B expansion fee is being circulated by just a few
Knight’s $500 M, Krakken $650 M.
So to me $2 B is far fetched. Not saying it won’t happen; just far-fetched
That said; whatever the expansion fee is; it’s an investment to get the foot in the door
Once you have a franchise; it can fail in that location; then down the road you can move it to where the true $’s are
I can, in no way (this is MY opinion and NOT a statement of fact) see ANY sort of success (ANY at all) for a 3-Peat in Atlanta
Houston; ABSOLUTELY
Perhaps a multi-multi-billionaire is willing to invest in franchise fees and go to Atlanta , knowing there will be many years of write-off losses; but feeling strongly that they have a shot at moving the Franchise to (a second team) in Toronto where money flows (cascades) down the aisles. By that time Bettman is retired and new franchises in Canada will be allowed again
All I’m saying is that in MY absolute honest opinion; a 3-peat in Atlanta will be just like (at a bigger magnitude) the brutal failure in Arizona
Atlanta Flames had middling success in WHA; huge failure in NHL; quickly shuttled off to Calgary
Atlanta Knights had a middling following/success in the short lived IHL
Thrashers: failure from the get go…. Moved to Winnipeg
Again, it is my opinion (not stating a fact); that a 3rd whack at the NHL in Atlanta will fail; AGAIN, and badly
Many more viable options (locations) for the NHL to expand to.
KC, Portland, San Diego and even Baltimore (believe it or not) would have greater success than Atlanta
Failing to understand underlying factors in previous Atlanta failures. Location of arena and geographic density of population in Atlanta.
Braves did not sell out playoffs when they were a powerhouse, because stadium was in south part of the city. Braves moved to north of the city with new stadium and doing much better.
Flames/Thrasher arenas were in the heart of downtown. Nobody wants to go there for any reason. Nicer suburbs north of the city, with high interest in hockey (all amateur rinks are up there) can definitely support a franchise. Good amount of Canadians there too.
So much of it is winning too. New expansion rules avoid the old days where teams were doomed to be historically bad for a decade, thus can keep fans in the seats if properly managed. Las Vegas is great example. Good owner, good management. Atlanta has more going for it than Vegas.
Don’t be trapped by old, flawed narratives.
Well put, Matt.
And to 8787’s point that the “hinted $2 billion is being circulated by just a few, and that “it’s far-fetched” I seriously doubt the consensus opinion by insiders – which leads to this entry on the Web – is in the realm of far-fetched. Or is his opinion on this right up there with his expertise criticism of Dubas?
“Yes, the NHL’s expansion fee could potentially reach $2 billion. Recent reports and insider information suggest that the league is looking at a minimum of $2 billion for new expansion teams. This is a significant increase from the fees paid by the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken, who paid $500 million and $650 million, respectively.
Here’s why the fee could be so high:
Increased League Value:
The NHL’s overall value has increased since the last expansion, and the league is looking to capitalize on this growth.
Revenue Sharing:
The $2 billion fee would be split among the existing 32 franchises, providing a substantial financial boost.
Strong Market Interest:
Several cities, including Houston, Atlanta, and Austin, have expressed strong interest in acquiring an NHL team.
Bettman’s Strategy:
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has been known to set high expansion fees to ensure the league’s financial stability and profitability.
While no official announcement has been made, the consensus among reports and insiders points towards a $2 billion expansion fee as the likely benchmark for future NHL expansion.”
And why not? it cost Andlauer damned near a billion to purchase the Senators coming on 2 years ago.
And I repeat, NO one is going to fork over that amount without some serious research followed by total commitment. Billionaires don’t get to that level by being stupid.
The reason Atlanta has failed is purely demographics.
Atlanta has a majority African American population. Hockey has a majority of a Caucasian fan base.
I think for Atlanta to succeed with an NHL franchise will take those factors to cross over.
I live in Atlanta, and I am always amazed how few people know this market. The Flames left 43 years ago – how old were most of you back then? The area had little more than a million people back then. Now there are over 6 million people, most of them from the northeast, Midwest and Canada.
Put a competitive team here, the right arena and management and it will sell.
I know Atlanta pretty well.
I’m curious, using Tampa and Florida as examples , their beginnings were both pretty similar. Why did it work in both those markets but not Atlanta?
Similar in a lot of categories. Lots of northern transplants etc.
Well, Toronto St. Pats did point out that the Flames left Atlanta 43 years ago – almost half a century – and that a lot has changed in terms of population and demographics since then. A lot.
Perhaps – all told – the area has become closer in that respect to Miami and Tampa.
I’m sure the NHL – if nothing had changed in that time – wouldn’t even consider the possibility.
Pittsburgh Penguins had lower attendance for about 20 years than the Atlanta teams had
There’s an ECHL team not far from Atlanta that drew bigger crowds than the Penguins.
The fanbase is there, good ownership and management is needed.
The Penguins sucked for a long time and were on the verge of moving when Mario Lemeaix fell into their lap.
Now for a comparison. Columbus had minor league hockey going back to the 50’s. Including the ECHL Chill, who set the record for most consecutive sell outs for a minor league team. And many Chill fans, as well as non-Chill fans, were fans of either Pittsburgh or Detroit. Plus fans of Toledo’s and Cincinnati’s minor league teams often became Blue Jackets fans. And (here’s the kicker) while the Jackets have always had good ownership (Nationwide owns about 30% of the team), until John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen were brought in, management sucked (May Doug MacLean rest somewhere very warm.). Yet, the Jackets have always been above 90% capacity per season in attendance. THAT is a hockey market.
Columbus is a great hockey town… but only real competition for serious sports is osu. Unless you count crew. That certainly helps the jackets.
Chrisms, why do you think that the Jackets rarely have home games on Saturday during football season? If it weren’t for that conman, MacLean, the Jackets might have made a few deep playoff runs already. Words cannot express how much I despise that walking pile of excrement.
Yes expansion! It’s not like there’s a shortage of players right? Well, good ones anyway. I guess having teams with large and mostly unfixable problems are just to be expected moving forward.
I look forward to an even more diluted product.
And even higher statistical odds of my team winning the Cup.
Yeah, and adding more teams and going to an 84-game schedule (or more?) and they could be playing the finals in bloody August!
If a new Atlanta team – or one of the Florida teams – and one from Houston were involved in the finals, that ought to be a real hoot!
Shades of the “fog” game! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2F6vCzmYok
Houston in August could challenge even the best air-conditioning systems.
LJ I am thinking the same thing. Just add 2 more teams looking for a second line center, a top goalie and a bunch of top 4 defence.
I hate it but no way to stop it. Owners want in and will pay huge $$ to the other owners and no chance the PA says no to an extra 46 jobs.
And, down the line Swany, even more jobs when you factor in minor league assets (and possibly expansions within the AHL and ECHL). If each signs to the max 50 contracts, that’s 100 new jobs. Which, even at those levels, beats slinging burgers at McDonald’s.
32 teams don’t have 2-3 prospects knocking on the door right now that couldn’t fill 100 player signings and 46 total roster players?
Every time there’s expansion the fear mongering of diluting the product rears its head.
I remember the 6 team NHL days and each expansion that followed, including the WHA. I loved hockey then and I still do now.
Hockey has been getting better and better with bigger, faster, more skilled players per team than ever before.
I never compare players from different eras for that very reason, yesterdays stars would have trouble keeping up today.
Many do but the awful chl transfer agreement prevents some of them from play where they should.
Re your last sentence – so very true. I remember when some reporter asked Rocket – when he was 52 – why he retired when he did, his answer was unequivocal – the league had simply become too fast for me.
When the same reporter brought up the then-perceived watered-down game and asked him how many goals did he think he could score in (the then) today’s game, and Rocket replied “oh … maybe 20” the reporter asked “really? is that all?” his replied with a smile “you have to realize I’m 52.”
The way the expansion raft has been work there are limitations on the number and position of players that can be protected.
The 2 new teams will have decent goaltending since teams can only protect one.
There are at least 5 forwards and 3 defensemen available from each of 32 teams to choose from, that’s a pool of 256 skaters.
That was just for 1 expansion team in the last 2 expansions.
That leaves all of the 32 teams more or less intact, and the 2 new teams well stocked with NHL players.
The actual “dilution” is negligible on top of which there are more and better kids being drafted from all over the world from hockey programs that keep getting stronger.
There are no more automatic wins in WJC anymore.
I look at it as giving some players an opportunity to make a living at a game they love. What’s wrong with that.