NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 19, 2025
Kings captain Anze Kopitar to retire, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin uncertain if this season is his last, and the latest on Predators captain Roman Josi, Panthers winger Brad Marchand, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
LOS ANGELES TIMES: King captain Anze Kopitar announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.
The 38-year-old center is entering his 20th NHL season, all of them spent with the Kings. He helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2011-12 and 2013-14, and is a three-time winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and a two-time winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy.
Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar (NHL Images).
Kopitar is the Kings’ all-time leader in games played (1,454). He can surpass Marcel Dionne as the franchise points leader (1,307) with a 30-point performance this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kopitar became one of the best two-way forwards in the league over the past 25 years. He was chosen in the first round (11th overall) in the 2005 NHL Draft, becoming their foundation player as they rose from being an also-ran into a two-time Cup champion and one of the dominant teams in the league between 2010 and 2015.
Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty are the only players from those championship years still with the Kings.
DAILY FACEOFF: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said he doesn’t know yet if this season will be his last in the NHL. The 40-year-old is in the final season of his five-year contract. He believes there’s plenty of time to discuss that with Capitals management.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin left practice during the opening day of training camp with a lower-body injury, but the move was for precautionary reasons and is considered to be a minor ailment.
TSN: Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi was among the first players on the ice for training camp on Thursday. The 35-year-old defenseman had been sidelined since Feb. 25, and in June was diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
Following a long rehab, Josi doesn’t believe that his health will be an issue now that he has the tools to manage the issue. “I’m more so relieved and really excited just having a plan,” Josi said. “I feel great. I feel 100 percent. I feel good on the ice and so I’m not concerned at all.”
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Brad Marchand said contract term was one factor that led to his departure from the Boston Bruins. He indicated he wasn’t interested in a short-term deal, while the Panthers were willing to give him a long-term contract.
According to Marchand, being in a non-tax state played a significant role in the Panthers’ efforts to retain some of their key players. “If we were not in a non-tax state, it probably wouldn’t have worked out for two guys,” he said.
Marchand added that the Panthers’ no-tax advantage wouldn’t have been as big a factor if they weren’t as competitive or well-run.
“That is the main thing. You care about the hockey. You care about the organization. You’re not going to walk into a non-tax state if the team’s not run well or if they’re a bad team. That’s just not the case anymore. These non-tax state teams are some of the best-run teams in the league.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers have had a non-state tax advantage since their inception in 1993-94, but it didn’t help them during their first 25 years. They were a laughingstock during that period, reaching the playoffs only five times while going through 10 general managers and 15 coaches.
It wasn’t until they hired Bill Zito as general manager in 2020 that they finally turned things around. Stability in the front office is the primary reason behind their current success and why players like Marchand want to play for them now.
CONTRACT UPDATES
THE ATHLETIC: Artemi Panarin said he’s focusing on hockey and won’t publicly discuss his contract situation with the New York Rangers. The 33-year-old winger is in the final season of his seven-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $11.6 million.
Panarin declined to comment about a report by The Athletic claiming he and Madison Square Garden Sports paid financial settlements to a Rangers employee in August 2024 after she alleged he sexually assaulted her.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said contract extension talks have begun with Jacob Markstrom. The 35-year-old goaltender is in the final season of his six-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $6 million.
Fitzgerald also said that he’s disappointed the contract talks with Luke Hughes remain unresolved. The restricted free-agent defenseman seeks a five-year contract, while the Devils prefer a bridge deal or a long-term contract. The two sides continue to negotiate.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: Alex Tuch said he loves Buffalo and hopes to stay with the Sabres for the long term. The 29-year-old forward is in the final season of a six-year deal with an AAV of $4.75 million.
THE SCORE: It was recently reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anthony Stolarz are in talks about a contract extension. However, the 31-year-old goalie is unwilling to continue negotiations during the regular season. He’s in the final season of a two-year deal with an AAV of $2.5 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s been reported that the two sides could have a deal in place before the start of the regular season.
DAILY FACEOFF: Alexander Holtz still lacks a contract for this season, but the restricted free agent forward will attend Vegas Golden Knights training camp on a professional tryout offer (PTO) until a deal is reached or the two sides part ways.
INJURY UPDATES
TSN: Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman will remain sidelined by a wrist injury until early November.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Golden Knights center Jack Eichel left practice yesterday for precautionary reasons. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said Eichel “tweaked something” but remains hopeful that he could return to practice on Friday.
DAILY FACEOFF: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin said winger Mats Zuccarello (undisclosed) could miss the start of the regular season.
TSN: Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Laurent Brossoit remains sidelined long-term following offseason hip surgery. He missed all of last season after undergoing knee surgery in August 2024.
New Jersey Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic is sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury. Forward Stefan Noesen is expected to miss some time with a groin injury stemming from a pre-existing one that he suffered last season.
Could it be that many of these injuries are from overtraining. By that I mean overuse of certain parts of the body and to many reps on these same parts.Or is it that many teams are just using extreme caution in dealing with these injuries?
Usually the over training injuries occur in the off-season when guys blow out things from weight training and such I think a lot of these early season injuries are from guys who didn’t continue to train in the off-season so now some of their muscles have not been used for a few months. Takes a lot of different muscles to skate hard let alone the other things those guys do out there. And you can tell the guys that continue to train/skate all off-season from those that don’t.
Could it be that many of these injuries are from overtraining. By that I mean overuse of certain parts of the body and to many reps on these same parts.Or is it that many teams are just using extreme caution in dealing with these injuries?
So. The Canucks can’t get their Hughs signed…and the Devil’s can’t get their Hughs signed. (eye roll)
The Canucks can’t start contract extension talks with Quinn Hughes until next July. He is two years away from UFA eligibility.
Re Marchand and ““If we were not in a non-tax state, it probably wouldn’t have worked out for two guys,””
Non State Tax is an advantage for teams
Certainly NOT the only advantage; but an advantage and one could argue, a significant advantage
Teams in non state tax franchises can retain a player and attract UFAs more so than the heaviest taxed places (Sens, Habs, Leafs).
If all else in your decision tree (current team, possible new team, coaching; team-mayes; friends; uprooting/staying; city climate/weather; city amenities; family considerations, etc etc) more or less balances out ; and/or if the above considerations are not paramount to your decision; then considerable take home pay will be a key (most NHL players only have a career NHL earning until mid 30’s; so lifetime earnings is heavily dependant on what they can “bank” pre mid 30’s
Again; definitely not the only reason for UFAs to sign or current players to re-up; but definitely a factor
I get your argument Lyle re Panthers and looking as far back to early 90’s and turning things around since King Zito came on board
That’s True
I am talking about overall (looking at whole NHL) advantage that non state franchises have
For that argument; we should only look at Cap era where bank accounts for each team had limits (so called “even playing field)
Cap came in in 05/06 and it took 1/2 a decade for the nuances to have teams figuring things out; and planning towards the end game (SC)
Now look at recency
7 of last P SCFs, and 9 of last 11 SCFs had AT LEAST one team from a Non Tax State Franchise
Exceptions were
Pens beat Sharks : ‘16. Note Lightning got to ECF vs Pens
Blues over Bruins (‘19)
So 10 of last 11 Conference Finals had AT LEAST 1 Non State Tax Franchise in it
My argument is that there IS an advantage.
Actually Quantifying how much of an advantage is difficult (perhaps nigh impossible to determine accurately).
Only six teams – Florida, Tampa Bay, Vegas, Nashville, Seattle and Dallas – are non tax state team, with Nashville being the most recent in 2021.
However, it’s only been an advantage because of their management, especially when it comes to managing the salary cap.
As I previously noted, Florida was a laughingstock through its first 25 years. It wasn’t until Zito took over that they became champions. However, at some point, it will catch up with them, as their rivals in Tampa Bay can attest.
The Lightning’s solid record between 2015 and 2022 was because of their management. They drafted and developed well. Without it, their record before 2015 indicates they made the playoffs only six times from 1992-93 to 2013-14, including their Cup run in 2004.
The same goes for the Stars since Nill took over, though it took some time to get there. They missed the playoffs four times since he became GM in 2013, but three straight Conference Finals appearances speaks to his management skills. Prior to Nill, they missed the playoffs five straight times.
Vegas has had shrewd, aggressive management since their inception in 2017-18. However, their constant trading away futures for immediate gains is already starting to squeeze them, which explains why they haven’t reached the Cup Final or the Conference Finals since 2023. They are running out of tradable assets.
As for Seattle, they’ve only made the playoffs once, so being in a non-tax state has provided no advantage. The Predators were well-managed for years under David Poile, but their sole trip to the Stanley Cup Final was in 2017, four years before their state became a non-tax state. It hasn’t helped them since, as proved by Barry Trotz’s signings of aging stars Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.
Being in a non-tax state is an advantage, but it is not the guaranteed key to Stanley Cup glory. And the salary cap ultimately becomes the great leveler. The Lightning have been bounced from the first round in the last three years because the cost of maintaining their club has grown expensive, forcing them to make cost-cutting moves that depleted their roster.
Being in a non-tax state doesn’t mean those players are keeping all their money. The states they live in may not have a state income tax, but they fund their respective governments through sales taxes, property taxes, and various other fees.
The only reason this became an issue is because some fans and pundits couldn’t stand the fact that the Panthers, a former league doormat, actually had shrewd management that built and maintained a contender. Before that, LTIR was the supposed unfair advantage behind the Lightning’s and Golden Knights’ championships, even though that loophole was available for every NHL team. Indeed, the case can be made that the Panthers probably don’t win the Stanley Cup last season if Matthew Tkachuk doesn’t go on LTIR, giving them the cap space to add Brad Marchand and Seth Jones.
Marchand was right that being in a non-tax state is an advantage, but his remarks about those teams being well-run that is the real advantage. As he said, if they were poorly run, like the Panthers were for years, nobody is going to want to come there. And for decades, few players wanted to join the Panthers. It’s a different story now.
As one who has posted numerous and probably too many times on the non state tax advantage debate, IMO Lyle’s answer is as good as it’s going to get. I called it a tipping point advantage yesterday and that’s how I interpret what he has said. A, not the, factor.
My quibble is that the debate on this issue did not arise solely because of the Panthers. It arose because the Panthers were the latest of several non tax states to win. It started in 2020.
Unlike the easy fix to the LTIR issue for the playoffs, even if non tax state teams continue to dominate any fix would be extremely difficult to fix. Like it or not, we’ll have to live with it.
The debate arose soon after the Panthers won their first Stanley Cup, and accelerated when they were on route to their second straight Cup. Few people raised the state tax issue when the Lightning and Golden Knights won their championships.
Back then, the pitchfork brigades had their knickers in a twist over those clubs using LTIR to load up at the trade deadline, though in the Lightning’s case, the only player of consequence they received was David Savard, who played a third-pairing role. If anyone believes he’s the reason the Lightning won the Cup in 2021, you either are ignorant of the Lightning’s roster depth in that season or just refusing to admit you’re wrong.
But when the former laughingstock Panthers went to the Final in 2023, there was scarcely a peep about them being in a non-tax state. That only arose in 2024. They used LTIR at last year’s deadline to add Marchand and Seth Jones, but that point was drowned out by the “non-state tax!” cries.
Marchand hit the nail on the head. Yes, being in a non-tax state is an advantage for the Panthers, but the real reason players like him want to play for them is they’re a competitive, well-run team. They’re a two-time Cup champion and three-time Cup finalist and is a favorite to win it again this season.
If this were 2015, when the Panthers were badly managed and a bottom feeder, I guarantee you that Marchand wouldn’t have asked to be traded to them, and wouldn’t have wanted to sign with them.
Every NHL market has its advantages, but the No. 1 advantage is a well-managed, well-coached team with a championship pedigree.
The debated did not start with the acquisition of David Savard.
It started when Kucherov was placed on LTIR during the entire 2020/21 regular season and the Bolts were able to add a# of depth players because of that relief.
Then Kucherov was activated to start the playoffs and played like he hadn’t missed a beat. After winning the Cup Kucherov wore a tee shirt that said 18 million over the cap.
That’s where the LTIR issue caught fire.
Clearly the LTIR/no cap during the playoffs was a legitimate problem, or the league would not now have changed the rule so the cap does apply to playoff rosters.
I wasn’t saying that the debate started with the acquisition of David Savard, LJ. I was indicating that it started because teams were using LTIR to load up at the trade deadline. If you want to split hairs, the debate actually started in 2015, when the Chicago Blackhawks placed Patrick Kane on LTIR and used the savings to acquire Kimmo Timonen, Antoine Vermette, and Andrew Desjardins, all of whom played contributing roles in their march to the Stanley Cup.
The debate on Tax advantage may have started here on this site after Panther’s won; but the overall debate has been around much longer.
Again, it is somewhat biased to use the Panther’s example (of mediocrity at best for close to 2 1/2 decades starting in the mid 90’s) of countering the tax advantage argument.
The tax advantage/no tax advantage debate should only look at last 19 years at MOST (Cap era where spending accts were equalized) ; and I would argue that you have to disregard the first 1/2 decade of Cap era; as it took time for roster adjustments to happen and for GMs to learn how to get the most out of the same level of Cap
7 of last 9 Cups; and 9 of last 11 Cups had AT LEAST 1 team from a Non State Tax location
GMs in these states can (and have gotten) get UFAs at a lower Cap hit than in non State free tax locations.
Again; it is certainly NOT the only factor in attracting UFAs and/or being able to re-up current players.
Even if it just lets that GM keep just 1 player that they would have lost out on (exiting or outbid on a UFA their trying to sign)—- just one —-is an advantage
Per Marchand; he was eluding to at least 2
The argument I’m making is not the magnitude of the advantage so much (as quantifying it [NOTE my doctorate is not in Economics] is difficult at best) but more so that it IS an advantage
Every player wants to win a Cup. I’m sure most, if not all players, would like to play for a team that has players and coaching staff that they enjoy being around. I would think most also consider the City itself; it’s amenities and it’s overall fit with themselves and their families when deciding to stay or to sign there as a UFA.
But all else considered; so is take home pay a consideration
It’s a factor
Not for all. Even possibly we can stretch it and say most don’t care at all about take home pay( I don’t believe most don’t care about take home pay; but let’s use that just for argument sake)
Lets say magically only 6 of potential 736 players (32*23) ; ONLY 6, actually care anything at all about take home pay
6! That’s one for each of the 6 non state tax teams
So each of those 6 teams has the ability to sign 1 player for a cheaper Cap hit than the non free state tax teams
Whatever the amount (less) is; that’s effectively more Cap room. That’s an advantage plain and simple
They are literally getting more “bang for the Cap buck”
Even if it is but $500 K extra in Cap space; that’s an advantage!
It is certainly not THE reason that Panthers are on a roll; but Zito (and the other 5 ) does/do have an advantage.
Zito and Brisbois are excellent GMs
The greater Miami and the Greater Tampa areas are fantastic
Great weather; almost as many Golf courses as Starbuck’s
All excellent draws
You can only have 23 on any roster
If you get a player for less Cap than they require elsewhere; you have a Cap advantage
BrisBoise, Zito; Nil; McCrimmon; Trotz, Botterill all do have an advantage
Their biggest advantage is over Hughes, Treliving; Staois
No one’s saying the non-tax states don’t have an advantage. The argument that critics have of the success that some of them have had is that it is THE advantage they have in building Stanley Cup contenders. It doesn’t, as Marchand pointed out. Players want to go to teams that are well-run where they have a chance to win. Being in a non-tax state won’t help you if the players don’t want to come there because it’s poorly run. That’s why the Panthers were a joke for 25 years before they finally hired someone who knew how to build and maintain a competitive franchise.
The last six Stanley Cup Finals featured at least one team from a non-tax state (Florida, Tampa Bay, Vegas and Dallas). All well-run organizations. However, between 1992-93 (when Tampa Bay became the first team from a non-tax state in the NHL) to 2018-19, only six Cup Finals in 26 years featured teams from non-tax states (Florida in 1996, Dallas in 1999 and 2000, Tampa Bay in 2004 and 2015, and Vegas in 2018).
So why didn’t those teams during that period have more success if being a non-tax state gave them all such an advantage? Why were the Panthers so awful for over two decades? Why did the Lightning have more seasons outside the playoff picture than inside during that period? Why didn’t the Stars have greater success given their non-tax state advantage?
The answer is simple: they weren’t as well-run as the clubs in other states. Be in a non-tax state doesn’t automatically assure a club that they’ll be a Stanley Cup champion, or a Cup contender, or even a playoff team. You don’t get there unless you’ve got savvy management that knows how to build and maintain a winner, that builds a winning culture that make the club enticing to players to stay and for those from other teams to want to join them.
Yes, the Panthers have had a great run, and it could continue for another year or two. But, like every great team before them (like your Penguins, 8787), they’re making big investments in retaining aging talent on long-term contracts that usually don’t age well, and they’re sacrificing their futures for quick fixes to keep their championship windows open. Combine that with the salary cap, and inevitably, their non-tax advantage won’t be enough to help them avoid the inevitable decline. Tampa Bay is experiencing it, Vegas is feeling the pinch, and in a few years, so will the Panthers.
There are too many teams in other markets that are building up rosters that could become winners. We could soon see an era where Canadian clubs start winning Cups again, or maybe California could again regain its place among the hottest hockey markets as the Sharks and Ducks emerge from their rebuilds. The Blackhawks and Red Wings could regain their former championship forms one day. Maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets have their day in the sun at last. Maybe Utah becomes a championship team.
Teams in the non-tax states will always have that advantage. But other teams will inevitably overtake them, and that advantage won’t be as big an issue as some make it out to be.
Anne Kopitar is as solid as they come. Being out west and seeing this guy quite a bit over the years was special. I know people out East may not know too much about him, although this guy is as classy as they come.
Here’ Here’ !
I watched him as a youngster i Swedish 2:nd leauge. You could already their se a franchise player in the making. Both on and off the ice.
If Bergeron wasn t in the league the same time,Kopitar would have won 3-4 more Selke s!
Kopitar would’ve won at least one more for sure. In 2013-14, he was runner-up to Bergeron. The following season, he was second runner-up behind Bergeron and Jonathan Toews.
https://records.nhl.com/awards/trophies/frank-j-selke-trophy
Just a great pro and, from all accounts, a good man as well. His team-mates must love the guy.
That was a good read Lyle, excellent and good view points.
The news on Chicago goalie Brossoit is bleak – headed for “permanent” LTIR. His $3.3 mil per cap hit ends at the conclusion of this season … so does his career.
https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/goaltender_out_permanently_for_the_chicago_blackhawks/s1_16454_42763330