NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – August 5, 2025
Check out the latest on Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk, Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, Islanders prospect Matthew Schaefer, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: On Monday, the NHL announced that Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk will be on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL26 videogame.
Tkachuk is the second Panther to be on the cover of EA Sports’ hockey game. Goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck graced the cover of NHL97, following Florida’s surprise run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow this link to see the complete list of every EA Sports NHL cover star.
NHL.COM: Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said he’s fully recovered from his knee injury and is looking forward to the coming season.
Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (NHL Images).
“I’m 100 percent back to normal after the surgery,” Heiskanen said. “I’ve been able to practice all summer as usual.”
The 26-year-old defenseman said his knee got some rest following last season, adding that his confidence has returned to where it used to be now that he can practice as he used to.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: As the article suggests, that’s good news for the Stars and Finland’s 2026 Men’s Olympic hockey team. Heiskanen is currently participating in Finland’s Olympic orientation camp.
DAILY FACEOFF: New York Islanders prospect Matthew Schaefer signed his three-year entry-level contract on Monday. The 17-year-old defenseman was chosen first overall by the Isles in the 2025 NHL Draft.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: cited a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicating the bid by a group led by Mario Lemieux to repurchase the Pittsburgh Penguins is well below what the current ownership group wants.
Lemieux and his business partners sold the Penguins in 2021 to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) for a reported $900 million. Friedman speculates their asking price would be around $1.8 billion.
TSN: Former NHL forward Jimmy Vesey signed a two-year contract with Geneve-Surette HC in Switzerland.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was reported last week that Vesey was considering offers from several teams in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. The 32-year-old forward spent last season split between the New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche. He has 101 goals and 194 points in 626 NHL regular-season games.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: The Anaheim Ducks signed 23-year-old forward Sam Colangelo to a two-year contract extension. It’s a two-way deal for the coming season and a one-way deal in 2026-27 with an average annual value of $850,000.
NEW YORK POST: Seattle Kraken forward John Hayden and team mascot Buoy were filming a promotional video while fishing in Alaska when a grizzly bear charged them and the film crew.
“I want to blame it on Buoy,” joked Hayden. “They (the bears) were pretty interested in his whole look. We got out of it OK, but it was a close call.”
THE SEATTLE TIMES: Speaking of the Kraken, they announced the hiring of Ryan Jankowski as their new assistant general manager. Jankowski has spent several years with the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Utah Mammoth in various front-office roles, including four seasons as assistant GM with the Islanders.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: recently reported that the Sabres hope to stage an outdoor game at Highmark Stadium. One date they could consider is Jan. 1, 2028, which would be the 20th anniversary of the first NHL Winter Classic, held at what was then Ralph Wilson Stadium between the Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.
As I posted late yesterday, Colangelo’s “new” deal pays him $75,000 less per than his expired contract, which is kind of strange given that they still have $20.5 mil in reserve and just RFA McTavish to re-up. It’s not like they’re squeezed for cash or anything, and while some will no doubt point to the 10g 2a 12 pts season as the likely underlying factor, the 6’ 2” 210lbs C did do that in just 32gp while averaging 12.5 minutes of ice-time. That’s 82-game averages of 26g 5a 31pts, and likely mostly 4th line-minutes.
It’s a two year deal, with one being a one-way deal.
4th liners tend to be interchangeable.
Take the security, Kid. Well done.
Well, clearly he’s happy with it … or likes living in smoke-filled, earthquake prone California!
That’s what happens when you put a woman in the mascot uniform. Bears. They put the whole crew in jeopardy.
And not just any bear! You do NOT screw around with grizzlies in the area.
Even more so if Kodiacs are in the area!
Having seen some videos….including a couple with bears running for their lives…..I’d be more worried about moose in the area.
If bears are running from moose…you probably should too
Heh, no doubt about that Dark G. A full-grown male moose can weight upwards of 1,800 lbs.
But a full-grown make Kodiac can reach a full ton – or 2,000lbs.
Either way, you’re better off finding somewhere else to do a promotional video than areas where they both dominate.
If we’re wagering, I’ll take the grizzly! A big bull moose with a full rack in rutting season might chase one away as it isn’t worth it for the bear, but I’ll take the grizzly to win the majority if they actually get into it. They are the predators and have the tools, moose are not, they herbivores. Check out the video below for how most of these battles end I would think.
Moose everywhere around here. More dangerous when they cross a highway or the freeway then coming across one in the wild, I’ve seen at least 2 dozen of them over the years. Used to be just up north when fishing or out in the Rockies, not anymore. Better swimmers than one would think too. I have seen just 3 grizzlies, and just a couple that got the heart racing a bit because it’s a grizzly and it saw us too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7rNuujdybU
By the way, turning your back and running from a grizzly is the opposite of what your supposed to do. So don’t. Unless this one charged them before they ran, due the weird looking mascot and protecting his fishing area. Get the hell outta here!
If it’s rutting season put all your money on the moose. They put their heads down and charge look out
No chance Yogi, and at the risk of overthinking this, how does the moose finish off the grizzly bear? Stomp him to death? Gore him like a bull on a matador? Doubt it.
Grizzlies do this for a living. Think Tanner Jeannot vs big beer league guy.
I would guess both animals would prefer to avoid it it, but the bull moose loses this death match 9 times out of 10.
Ray a moose in rutting season is running on pure adrenelin. Working for CN doing the double tracking between Edson and Prince George we got to see a few examples of what a Moose in heat will do. We heard a moose charging through the brush one night, not sure why, but the next morning we went and took a look. 4 inch trees snapped like twigs. It was like somebody took a lawnmower for a spin in the forest. If you think a moose can’t kill a bear, think again. Bears like every other animal steer clear in rutting season
I’ve heard that sound myself Yogi, it’s something isn’t it.
Bear might avoid it, agreed, usually they’re looking for food not a fight. Unless pups or calves involved, which what the grizz will target and they do.
But this is a hypothetical, or at least I thought it was, still don’t get how a moose kills a grizzly?
Regardless, I won’t lose any sleep not knowing the answer to that question.
The hockey news this summer is great! We hear how Cali is full of smoke (weed?) and earthquakes. How bears are dangerous followed by most wild animals are…wild?
Fun to read nonetheless.
PS: my summer hockey hot take….
I am convinced that Matthews was talking about Mitch when he made his comment regarding “too many passengers”.
I think you’re right Ron, I know Willie was when he told him to quit whining it’s playoff hockey
A hockey buddy used to head north after the ice went out to fish for steelheads.
One time, he said he was casting in the river and he saw a brown bear further along the shoreline. He left immediately and, when he mentioned the incident to another fisherman that night, the guy said, “Don, we don’t have brown bears here.”
I had literally no idea that a Grizzly could take a Kraken
If this happened in water I’ callin’ liar liar pants on fire
BTW
say yes to Mario