NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 13, 2025
Marc-Andre Fleury to have a last hurrah with the Penguins, Kings winger Corey Perry injured, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Marc-Andre Fleury is returning to the Penguins on a professional tryout contract.
The 40-year-old goaltender will appear in a training camp practice on Sept. 26 and in a preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sept. 27 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Retired NHL goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (NHL Images).
That will be the extent of Fleury’s comeback with his original NHL team. He announced his retirement earlier this year. Fleury confirmed that he will be playing one period against the Blue Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A future Hall-of-Famer, Fleury was drafted by the Penguins first overall in the 2003 NHL Draft, spending 13 of his 21 seasons in Pittsburgh, winning three Stanley Cups. This is a last hurrah as he completes his long career where it began.
MAYOR’S MANOR: Los Angeles Kings winger Corey Perry suffered a possible injury while skating with his teammates on Friday. It’s uncertain if he caught a rut or collided with another player. The 40-year-old Perry was taken off the ice in a wheelchair for further medical evaluation.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Perry signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent earlier this summer. An update on his status could come as early as Saturday.
THE ATHLETIC: Matthew Fairburn reports that an injury to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the reason why the Buffalo Sabres signed free-agent goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year contract.
Luukkonen reported to the Sabres earlier this week, nursing an injury that was described as a “tweak”. The club is unsure of the severity of the injury and is uncertain how long the 26-year-old netminder will be sidelined.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Luukkonen has been the Sabres’ starting goalie for the past two seasons. Losing him for a significant period could be an early setback to their hopes of snapping their league-record 14-year playoff drought.
CBS SPORTS: Calvin de Haan signed a one-year contract with the Swedish Hockey League’s Rogle BK on Friday.
The 34-year-old defenseman spent the past 13 seasons in the NHL, collecting 149 regular-season points in 679 games with the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Rangers.
DAILY FACEOFF: The New York Rangers signed defenseman Andrej Sustr to a professional tryout offer.
Sustr, 34, spent the past three seasons in Europe. Before that, he spent eight seasons (2012-13 to 2021-22) with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Anaheim Ducks.
Another flurry of P.T.O. signings brings the total to 25 with 11 different teams. Aside from the classy initiative with Fleury, most are in the category of training camp fodder, with perhaps a few being assessed for possible depth-type minor league rosters. I would bet maybe 2 at most get major league deals.
Florida LW Noah Gregor 27y/o; C Tyler Motte 30y/o; LD Ben Harpur 30y/o; LD Daniel Walcott 31y/o; C/RW Josh Lopina 23y/o;
NYR LW Connor Sheary 33y/o; RD Andrej Sustr 34y/o
St. Louis LW Milan Lucic 37y/o;
Dallas LW Adam Erne 30y/o; LW Cross Hanas 23y/o; RD Anthony Cristoforo 19y/o; G Antoine Bibeau 31y/o 6’3” 215lbs;
New Jersey C Kevin Rooney 32y/o; C Luke Glendening 36y/o; G Georgii Romanov 25y/o; G Adam Scheel 26 y/o;
Carolina RW Givani Smith 27y/o; LD Oliver Kylington 28 y/o; RW Kevin Labanc 29y/o;
Minnesota LD Jack Johnson 38y/o; RW Brett Leason 26y/o;
Columbus LD Brendan Smith 36y/o;
Nashville C Dylan Gambrell 29y/o;
Montreal G Kevin Mandolese 25y/o;
Pittsburgh G Marc-Andre Fleury 41y/o; LW Brett Murray 27y/o
Best of the rest still seeking opportunities (* Suspended until Dec 1 – can sign with any team on Oct 15)
C – Robby Fabbri 29 y/o; Evgeny Kuznetsov 33 y/o; *Dillon Dubé 27y/o; *Michael McLeod 27y/o;
LW – Max Pacioretty 36y/o; Klim Klostin 26 y/o;
RW – Jack Roslovic 28y/o; Craig Smith 36y/o;
LD – Matt Grzelcyk 31 y/o; Marc-Edouard Vlasic 38y/o; Jon Merrill 33y/o;
RD – *Cal Foote 26y/o 6’ 3” 225lbs;
G – Ilya Samsonov 28y/o; James Reimer 37y/o; *Carter Hart 27y/o.
GeorgeO these players agents should put you on the payroll by keeping these guys names relevant.I doubt anyone who walks by them on the street knows who they are.
If, as anticipated, Toronto moves one of Robertson, Kampf or Jarnkrok over the next week to clear cap space, they’ll likely sign Roslovic.
I see where Chicago has extended goalie Spencer Knight for 3 years at $5,833,333 per to kick in next year. That’s a nominal increase of just $1,333,333 over his current cap hit … which could turn out to be a real bargain over by its conclusion after the 2028-29 season.
https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/release-blackhawks-sign-spencer-knight-to-three-year-contract-extension
Looks like 6 – 8 weeks for Perry who suffered a knee injury which, considering he is 40 y/o, and depending upon when, in those 6-8 weeks. he can resume skating and taking bodily contact, could turn out to be a whole lot longer.
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/los-angeles-kings-corey-perry-injury-wheelchair-help-off-ice
Signed for 1 year @ $2 mil, it will be interesting to see if L.A. just elevates someone from their AHL team to take that roster spot for the first couple of months of the season, or sign a UFA like Klim Kostin or Jack Roslovic.
Also, if they place Perry on LTIR to open the season, his 2 mil cap hit added to their current $2,668,333 in cap reserve would also give them enough to make a deal for a better option.
At the moment, Puckpedia shows them with 22 signed – 12F 8D 2G – and one of those 12F is Perry. They won’t go into the season with just 11F so It’s likely they’ll option D -man Clarke to the AHL since he doesn’t require waivers, and that would also free up his $863,334 2-way ELC.
Stay tuned there. Buffalo has already dipped into the UFA market for similar reasons following an injury to goalie Luukkonen.