NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 12, 2025

by | Sep 12, 2025

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – September 12, 2025

The league will reinstate five former Hockey Canada players on Dec. 1, the latest on the Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen and the Jets’ Adam Lowry, the Sabres sign Alexandar Georgiev, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: The five former Hockey Canada players who were acquitted of sexual assault charges will be suspended until Dec. 1.

Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod are eligible to sign with NHL teams as early as Oct. 15.

Following their acquittals, the league conducted in-person interviews with each player, who each expressed regret and remorse over the incident. The Dec. 1 date would bring their total time away from the league to two years.

THE CANADIAN PRESS (via COAST REPORTER): Sports lawyer Greg Gilhooly, who is a survivor of sexual abuse by infamous hockey coach Graham James, said NHL clubs must weigh talent against potential backlash when deciding whether to sign those players.

“I think what’s going to happen here is that there are going to be different amounts of justice and retribution kneaded out depending upon how good a hockey player you are,” said Gilhooly. He believes Hart will be the first to be signed, and the team that signs him will take some abuse for it. Gilhooly thinks teams will shy away from the marginal players.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The report received a mixed reaction on social media. Some considered the suspension a public relations move, while others believed the players should have been reinstated following their acquittals, and still others criticized hockey culture.

This situation puts the NHL in a difficult spot. Gilhooly thinks they’re doing their best to be seen as doing the right thing and sending the right message.

CBS SPORTS: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen skated Thursday in a non-contact jersey. He underwent surgery in March to repair a torn right triceps. His recovery timeline was six months, which could put him back in the lineup for the start of the season, though the Flyers won’t rush the process.

THE WINNIPEG SUN: Jets captain Adam Lowry is hoping to return to action by the end of October or early November. The 32-year-old checking-line center underwent hip surgery on May 27, with a recovery timeline of five to six months.

THE BUFFALO NEWS: The Sabres signed unrestricted free-agent goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to a one-year contract worth $825,000. Georgiev, 29, is a nine-year NHL veteran who split last season between the Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Georgiev is trying to get his NHL career back on track after leading the league in wins in 2022-23 (40) and 2023-24 (38) with the Avalanche. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is the Sabres starter, meaning Georgiev will be jockeying with Alex Lyon for the backup job.

Speaking of the Sabres, they placed Adam Mair on administrative leave following his arrest for drunk driving last week. Mair is their director of player development.

SPORTSNET: Zayne Parekh was not on the Calgary Flames rookie-camp roster for precautionary reasons. The 19-year-old defenseman is still working through an injury suffered during the summer, but is expected to be a full participant in their main training camp that opens on Sept. 18.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Golden Knights prospect Trevor Connelly is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered while playing for Team USA in the World Junior Summer Showcase in July. He will likely miss the Golden Knights’ training camp, which begins on Sept. 18.

NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: Flyers prospect center Jett Luchanko was held out of the club’s rookie camp for precautionary reasons stemming from a groin issue suffered in July. The 19-year-old is expected to be available for the start of the Flyers’ main camp next week.

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Former Blues broadcaster John Kelly will be calling Los Angeles Kings games for FanDuel Sports Network this season. He will call 60 regular-season and two exhibition games, and the first round of the playoffs if the Kings qualify.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 2, 2020

by | May 2, 2020

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 2, 2020

Details on the league’s proposal to stage the 2020 Draft next month before a potential resumption of the schedule, the Bruins re-sign Jaroslav Halak, an update on Brent Seabrook and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

NHL’S PROPOSED PLAN FOR THE 2020 DRAFT

SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports the NHL issued a position paper Friday on the possibility of staging the draft next month. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly authored the report. Despite earlier pushback against a June draft before the resumption of the season, there’s a sense of resignation among the teams that this will happen.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly (Photo via NHL.com).

Daly indicated the league needs a month to prepare. It’s rumored the target date is June 5, meaning a decision will have to be reached by next week. Daly also said the broadcast networks are on board with the plan.

If the draft isn’t moved up, the best-case scenario would be a short window following awarding the Stanley Cup in September and before the start of 2020-21. The worst-case scenario is canceling the remainder of this season, after which the draft lottery and the draft itself would be held at an uncertain time before next season.

Regarding conditional trades, the league would propose solutions, such as both teams reforming the terms of the deal or accepting the league’s proposals. Team point percentage would be used to determine the order of selection, as well as changing the draft lottery format for this year only by picking just one winner and limiting any move-up to a maximum of four spots.

Friedman and Chris Johnston detailed potential lottery outcomes under that scenario. “Detroit would pick no lower than second. Ottawa (with San Jose’s top selection), could do no worse than three and four. New Jersey, Buffalo, Montreal, and Chicago couldn’t jump above two, three, four, and five, respectively.” A June draft would prevent teams from trading players they’ll need if the season resumes.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun took to Twitter reporting the league reviewed 15 trades involving conditional picks with playoff implications and would be ready to suggest solutions to each trade or have both teams agree to reform the terms of the trade that would be acceptable to both parties.

The league memo acknowledged most NHL general managers would prefer maintaining the status quo, meaning holding the draft after the season. The league will decide either way next week. There is a Board of Governors’ conference call slated for Monday.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: When Bettman and Daly first floated this idea last month, LeBrun was the first to say this would be something the teams should prepare for because it was likely going to happen. Unless the board of governors rejects this plan, or the league decides to scrap the season, we’ll see a modified virtual NHL draft sometime next month.

NHL headquarters want to hold the draft in June to drum up fan interest before resuming the season in July. Part of the fun of the draft for hockey fans is the possibility of established NHL players getting traded. Without that buzz, I’m not sure how long casual NHL fans will stick with following this year’s draft beyond the opening round.

LATEST ON THE NHL’S PLANS TO RESUME THE SEASON

NHL.COM: Daly indicated coronavirus testing is a key part of any plan agreed upon by the league and the NHL Players’ Association to resume the season. “We’re going to need to have access to testing, and we’re going to make it a point that we’re not accessing testing, even in a private way, if testing availability is an issue in the community,” he said. The actual protocol testing has yet to be determined.

The deputy commissioner said several NHL clubs have offered to host games if the league decides to play in centralized locations. He admitted Edmonton is among those in the mix.

He also indicated this situation could provide an opportunity for the league and the PA to resume negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. “While we’re not there substantively yet because we have a lot of other things we’re working on, I think there’s a willingness and an interest on both sides to pursue that.”

Daly said the league has told the players it understands their concerns about the possibility of long family separations if teams play in centralized locations. “We understand the importance of kind of family interaction, and we’ll find a way to accommodate that,” he said.

NEW YORK POST: Larry Brooks cites sources claiming the league could be pivoting away from its centralized locations plan and is investigating the possibility of resuming games in its teams’ home cities after the players expressed their concerns about lengthy family separations.

“(This) would create an entire new set of issues for the league and union to confront and solve, most notable of which would be travel considerations and the means with which to test players and attendant personnel who live in disparate locations under divergent coronavirus-related government policies,” wrote Brooks.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The best plan to resume the season remains four regionalized host cities in areas where COVID-19 cases are low and suitable testing protocols are in place. Trying to reopen the season in all 31 cities will be too difficult to pull off right now. 

 

IN OTHER NEWS…

NBC SPORTS BOSTON: The Bruins re-signed goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a one-year, $2.25-million contract extension.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Looks like the Bruins want to keep their roster intact as much as possible for another shot at the Stanley Cup next season. The 34-year-old Halak has formed a solid goaltending tandem with starter Tuukka Rask. Without any suitable replacements within their pipeline, it made sense to keep him around for another season on an affordable deal.

The Bruins have over $63.5 million invested in 18 players for 2020-21. Defensemen Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, and Kevan Miller are their notable unrestricted free agents, while their restricted free agents include Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk, and Anders Bjork.

NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook claims he’s feeling great after recovering from surgeries on both hips and his right shoulder earlier this season. He said he’s looking forward to skating again.

THE TENNESSEAN: The Nashville Predators re-signed defenseman Ben Harpur to a one-year, two-way contract.

NBC SPORTS: St. Louis Blues broadcaster John Kelly is donating plasma in hopes his antibodies will help other battling COVID-19. He contracted the illness in March but has been symptom-free for over five weeks.