NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 24, 2025
Check out the latest on Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, Jets center Jonathan Toews, Blues defenseman Torey Krug, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
TSN: Darren Dreger reports that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo’s recent comments about a possible return with the Vegas Golden Knights were met with “too much optimism”.
Pietrangelo, 35, is expected to be placed on long-term injury reserve this season with a lingering hip injury. Earlier this week, he left the door open for a possible return with the Golden Knights later in the season.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (NHL Images).
Dreger stated that those close to Pietrangelo claim it was difficult for him to play last season. “Now, he’s just trying to get a place, lifestyle-wise, where he is a healthy and happy husband and father. He is not playing this year, and as we know, he’s got two years remaining on his contract.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pietrangelo mused about possibly returning in time for the 2026 playoffs. Dreger’s report suggests that could be wishful thinking.
SPORTSNET: Jonathan Toews made his debut with the Winnipeg Jets in preseason action against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The 37-year-old center played 18:36 and finished minus-one with no shots on goal.
It was Toews’ first game since Apr. 23, 2023, with the Chicago Blackhawks. “I felt like I made some plays and, as the game went on, just relaxed a little bit,” Toews said. He admitted he was still getting used to playing with a different team and getting his conditioning and timing back, but he’s happy to be back in action again.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s unlikely that Toews will regain the form that made him one of the best two-way centers in the league. Nevertheless, the Jets hope that he’ll play well enough to fill the second-line center position.
THE ATHLETIC: Jeremy Rutherford did a feature on Torey Krug, who underwent career-ending ankle surgery last year. The 34-year-old defenseman is now at peace and getting on with his life.
A 13-year NHL veteran with the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, Krug had to adjust to no longer being a player over the course of last season as he recovered from surgery. He is considering coaching, but for now, he’s easing into retirement and enjoying time with his family as his health improves.
Krug has two years remaining on his contract. He will be placed on long-term injury reserve this season. He thanked the Blues’ organization for their support and their belief in him when they signed him in 2020.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: The Oilers signed winger Vasily Podkolzin to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value (AAV) of $2.95 million.
Podkolzin’s offensive numbers aren’t great (eight goals and 16 assists last season), but head coach Kris Knoblauch and center Leon Draisaitl praised his versatility, his defensive play, forechecking, and physical style.
TORONTO SUN: Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll has taken a leave of absence to attend to a personal family matter. There is no timetable for his return.
Dennis Hildeby is expected to fill in for Woll during his absence.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood engaged in a light workout on his own with some of the coaches on Tuesday. He’s week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, and it’s uncertain if he’ll return in time for their season opener on Oct. 9.
Defenseman Samuel Girard remains sidelined but is expected to be in the lineup for their first game of the season.
TSN: Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson left practice early on Tuesday with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Travis Green said that he “pulled something” and provided no update on his status.
DAILY FACEOFF: San Jose Sharks forward Colin White will be out “a couple of weeks” with an upper-body injury. Defenseman John Klingberg (upper body) is listed as day-to-day.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: The Penguins will enshrine Scotty Bowman, Ron Francis, Kevin Stevens, and Eddie Johnston in their restarted Hall of Fame on Oct. 25.
THE ATHLETIC: James Mirtle looked at possible loopholes in the NHL’s new playoff salary-cap system.
One could be replacing the backup goaltender with a more affordable third-string netminder. Mirtle doubted that this move would cost a team a playoff game, since second goalies are rarely used in those games, and when they are, it’s in a game that’s already lost.
Another option could be sitting an overpaid player who is underperforming. He cited New Jersey Devils forward Ondrej Palat as an example, noting that his AAV is $6 million but the aging winger’s performance is well below that pay level.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: NHL general managers and capologists have always found ways to circumvent salary-cap rules legally. Don’t be surprised if they employ some of the potential tactics mentioned by Mirtle.
Looks like Petro is struggling with his forced retirement due to injury. Should contact Krug to see how he came to the realization that physically your body tells you when you have had enough. Outlines the warrior mentality and grit that NHL players have in their DNA.
Interesting playoff cap loophole possibility raised by James Mirtle where a team could replace their backup goalie with one in their system costing a lot less off the cap. Obviously, such a move would
benefit those whose backup costs the most off the cap, so here’s a look at what each team spends in that regard – most to least in each grouping:
$2 mil and up
Seattle – Joey Daccord $5,000,000; Vancouver – Kevin Lankonen $4,500,000; Anaheim – Petr Mrazek $4,250,000; St. Louis – Joel Hofer $3,400,000; Boston – Joonas Korpisalo $3,000,000; Washington – Charlie Lindgren $3,000,000; New York Islanders – Semyon Varlamov $2,750,000; Chicago – Arvid Soderblom $2,750,000; Toronto – Anthony Stolarz $2,500,000; Detroit – Cam Talbot $2,500,000; Los Angeles – Anton Forsberg $2,250,000; Minnesota – Jesper Wallstedt $2,200,000; San Jose – Yaroslav Askarov $2,000,000; Carolina – Pyotr Kotchetkov $2,000,000;
Between $1 mil and $2 mil
New Jersey – Jake Allen $1,800,000; New York Rangers – Jonathan Quick $1,550,000; Colorado – Scott Wedgewood $1,500,000; Utah – Vitek Vanecek $1,500,000; Philadelphia – Samuel Errson $1,450,000; Buffalo – Alex Lyon $1,500,000; Tampa – Jonas Johansson $1,250,000; Montreal – Kaapo Kahkonen $1,150,000; Florida – Daniil Tarasov $1,050,000; Ottawa – Leevi Merilainen $1,050,000; Edmonton – Calvin Pickard $1,000,000; Dallas – Casey DeSmith $1,000,000;
Below $1 mil
Vegas – Akira Schmid $875,000; Pittsburgh – Arturs Silovs $850,000; Nashville – Justus Annunen $837,500; Winnipeg – Eric Comrie $825,000; Columbus – Jet Greaves $812,5000; Calgary – Devin Cooley $775,000
George O – you are wise enough to know dressing a 3rd string as back up is playing with fire. I doubt any team tries that. Still an interesting point of discussion though.
It may have cost the Oilers the 06 cup as they had Conklin…for reasons unknown dressed as back up and not Jussi Markannen. Mactavish went back and forth between the two.
Maybe they still lose the game with Jussi but I am pretty certain it wouldn’t be on the gaft like play that Conklin gifted.
Yeah, it is a risk, but I agree with Mirtle’s take that such a move would “cost a team a playoff game, since second goalies are rarely used in those games, and when they are, it’s in a game that’s already lost.”
If the starting goalie can’t continue due to a serious injury (e.g., of the calibre of a Bobrovsky or a Vasilevsky) that team is likely in big trouble anyway regardless of who has to take over.
Last year didn’t the Panthers injure 2 first string goalies?
Wasn’t the Habs goalie pulled out of game 3 and the backup finished and played the last 2 games?
How many times did the Oilers pull the starter last year.
Jets and Stars pulled their starting goalies.
That was just these past playoffs so it isn’t all that rare.
Pulling them for the back-up certainly didn’t translate into wins for the Oilers, Jets and Stars.
Is it me or is everyone looking for a second line center? It used to be a Right Handed Defensemen but lately that has changed! George O in your next assignment if time allows and your interested,how about listing everyone’s anticipated 2nd line center?
Sr, lines are going to be juggled by every team throughout a season due to things like injuries and quality of 2-way play, so trying to pinpoint who on each roster is THE 2nd line C is really an exercise in futility when you boil it all down.
Right now you can go to various sites and there will be projected variations. For example, check out these two
https://puckpedia.com/lineups
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams
Only issue you’re leaving out is the actual player being sat. It’s bad enough to not really helping your team win on the ice but now don’t let them dress lol guys will not like that and would most likely not be interested in signing with teams that would use that
If a GM the calibre of Zito sees the benefits as outweighing the risks, he won’t care about “feelings.”
You do what you think gives you the best chance at winning and if that somehow involves applying a loophole, you do it.
No different, in the final analysis, than sitting at the end of the bench any player perceived to be not pulling his weight on the ice.
Any Winnipeg fans around? I would think Toews ceiling would be as a number 2 c on the team but was wondering if fans seem that as both likely or ideal at this stage in his career.
When he signed I anticipated him being the 3c with special team time and as someone that could move up and down as needed.
Just wondering what fans anticipated.
I don’t see Toews being a 2C either. He’s done incredible things in his career, but at his age, with all that time away from the game, my bet is on 3C. I would also be pleasantly surprised if he can play 70 games.
Pete – games played will be interesting to see for sure. Regardless of where he is slotted 70 games and healthy to start the playoffs should be seen as a win
I am (blindly?) optimistic that Toews will be a 2a/2b centre with Lowry being the other. Lowry, though he is a traditional 3rd line style player, will get ice time more akin to 2nd liner. Toews will play somewhat protected minutes when Lowry returns.
Toews will play at a relatively high level, will win big faceoffs, play 2nd pp better than Lowry. I am fine with his age. Though he had a lot of miles on his frame in the early part of his career the time away will have erased much of the ailings. I would be very happy if he plays 70+ games – this is comparable with what Ehlers will play. He is fit, motivated and appears healthy. The competitiveness and hockey sense will be there.
Overall the Jets lineup is considerably deeper than last years lineup, a little less dynamic with Ehlers’ departure but expect more offense from Perfetti and with Nyquist replacing some of Ehlers 65pts and Toews adding more offense than Namestnikov did at 2c.
Toews was barely playing at 2nd line center level when he left the game.
Chrisms – Toews played his last couple of seasons while dealing with long covid and CIRS. He is healthy now and his performance history when healthy makes this a fantastic low risk / high reward signing for the Jets.
Seems to this distant observer that what the Jets need to do is worry less about more offence and much more in seeing their team play tighter defense and their regular-season Vezina-winning goalie play more like that in the playoffs – or a combination thereof:
Last 3 regular seasons and playoffs compared
2022-2023
64gp 37 wins 25 losses 2 OT/SO losses 2.99gaa 0.920 save %
5gp 1 win 3 losses 1 OT loss 3.44gaa 0.886 save %
2023-24
60gp 37 wins 19 losses 4 OT/SO losses 2.39gaa 0.921 save %
5gp 1 win 4 losses 5.01gaa 0.870 save %
2024-25
63gp 47 wins 12 losses 2 OT/SO losses 2.00 gaa 0.925 save %
13gp 6 wins 6 losses 1 OT loss 3.08 gaa 0.866 save %
Over the regular season career games played, he has face an average of 30.05 shots against per game.
In his career playoff games that drops to 22.3 per game.
You are right George – what you describe is the Jets biggest disappointment in the past few seasons. It is not hard to see the numbers but it is difficult to quantify the reasons WHY this is happening.
I am old school enough to believe that this has a lot to do with the physicality of the team, especially on defense. While the player bios will tell you that the team has good size on paper this includes mostly paper tigers who aren’t hitting often enough or vigorously enough. Players like Scheifele, Connor, Vilarde, Appleton, Pionk, Demelo, Morrissey, Ehlers, Namestnikov, (and more) all have ok size and bigger however none have the bite to keep a determined forechecker from winning prime ice realty. The shots Hellebyck is facing in the playoffs are coming from scorers who are more motivated than in regular season. They are getting to better spots and faster.
Schenn and Stanley don’t move the needle much and you certainly don’t want them on the ice as much as the others. Samberg is the lone physical defender who earns more icetime.
The injury Lowry played through didn’t help as he was the only forward out of the 12 that fights (do Tanev and Ehlers count? lol) and he couldn’t offer that threat in the spring.
Can I hope for a different outcome next spring? I’m not sure I can, but I am pretty sure it is not Hellebyck’s fault – the team isn’t built for Central Division playoff hockey.
2.0. you are certainly right about the need to try and quantify the reasons for the combined (team defense-goaltending) playoff drop-off evident in the last 3 seasons.
Heck, if you go back to the same comparisons from 2017-18 to 2020-21, his gaa/save % were every bit as good – and at times better – than his regular season stats.
Someone needs to analyze the overall performances of those years compared to the last 3 and try to determine the root cause. Has coaching been a factor?
Whatever the case, it’s really a shame because, in some of those earlier years and even in recent seasons, I had hopes before the playoffs got under way that Jets would be the one to break the long Canadian Cup drought.