Hired as the skating coach for the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, Dawn Braid became the NHL’s first female full-time coach. As a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Manon Rhéaume made history in 1992 by being the first woman to compete in a game within any major North American sports league, where she successfully stopped seven out of nine shots during a preseason match against the St. Louis Blues. In response to numerous serious injuries, including one to Hurricanes’ defenceman Joni Pitkanen, the league implemented hybrid no-touch icing for the 2013–14 NHL season to help reduce high-speed collisions during icing situations.
While Alex Ovechkin pursues 1,000 career goals, is it feasible for the Capitals to realistically pursue another Stanley Cup?
Many of the league’s top players since the 1990s have come from these European countries.needs update The number of American players increased over time, and by the 1987–88 season, for example, 15% of NHL players were from the United States. From the league’s inception until the 1960s, almost all players in the NHL were Canadian. Players cannot enter until three years have passed since their last professional game, currently tied with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for the shortest such time period of any major sport. Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In addition to the regular season awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Canadiens have extended a one-year contract worth $3.6 million to restricted free agent Dach.
The team with the most goals during the three-round shootout wins the game. Also, unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play. The rule is unofficially nicknamed the “Martin Brodeur rule”; Brodeur at the time was one of the best goaltenders at getting behind the net to handle the puck.

- The second was held in 1937, in support of Howie Morenz’s family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game.
- Extensions for Matvei Michkov and 2025 first-rounder Porter Martone loom over the next two summers, making cost certainty on Zegras a meaningful piece of the longer roster puzzle.
- After being traded to Kitchener in January, O’Reilly advocated for a physical, aggressive defensive style that characterized their squad’s play.
- The rights to national television and digital broadcasts are currently held by Rogers Communications, which first entered into a 12-year agreement starting in the 2014–15 season, later renewing the deal for another 12 years to extend it until 2037–38.
- During playoff overtime periods, the only break is to clean the loose ice at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished.
In 1948, Asian Canadian Larry Kwong became the first Asian player in the NHL by playing for the New York Rangers. The second was held in 1937, in support of Howie Morenz’s family when he died of a betting previews coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game. The NHL embarked on a rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons and the Boston Bruins in 1924, the latter being the first American team to join the league. Following the conclusion of the regular season, 16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, a four-round tournament that runs into June to determine the league champion. Salt Lake City was awarded an expansion franchise in 2024; it acquired the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes, which were deactivated, and established the Utah Hockey Club (now the Utah Mammoth), thus maintaining the total number of teams at 32.
The rising-salary-cap world has diluted the UFA pool but forced teams to control their destinies with foundation-shaking trades. Parting ways with Hayley Wickenheiser may have been Leafs GM John Chayka’s 1st mistake this summer Five potential trade destinations for Kraken center Shane Wright The five worst contracts signed in 2026 NHL free agency so far Who is the Maple Leafs’ ideal defensive partner for Darren Raddysh? The five best contracts signed in 2026 NHL free agency so far
Even after locking up Zegras, the Flyers retain ample flexibility, with roughly $30MM in projected space before this deal. Zegras played primarily on the wing, with some looks at center, and helped drive Philadelphia’s push into the playoffs down the stretch. The Philadelphia Flyers will not require arbitration to get a new deal done with star forward Trevor Zegras. The Sabres are trying to remain competitive after making the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.
This has significant effects on the league, as elite players have suffered from the aftereffects of concussions (such as Sidney Crosby being sidelined for approximately ten and a half months), which adversely affects the league’s marketability. The league’s post-lockout agreement with NBC gave the league a share of revenue from each game’s advertising sales, rather than the usual lump sum paid up front for game rights. With no new agreement in hand when the contract expired, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and closed the league’s head office for the 2004–05 season. A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. In 1958, Willie O’Ree became the first black player in the league’s history when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins.

After a long professional hockey career, it feels very fitting to see this scenario play out where Kane ends it where it all began. The Sabres lost a hometown kid in Alex Tuch to the Capitals, who was the key return in the Jack Eichel trade a few years ago. He was also a nine-time all-star, along with accolades like a Calder Memorial Trophy win in 2008, an Art Ross Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy, and Ted Lindsay Award in 2016. A three-time Stanley Cup Champion in 2010, 2013, and 2015, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013. His previous 7-year deal only took up 8.63% in 2016; he won the Cup in the second-to-last year of that contract, making $6.3MM annually.
Two games have reached six overtime periods, but none have gone beyond six. Instead, multiple sudden-death, 20-minute five-on-five periods are played until one team scores. Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. If the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout.
During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, three-on-three sudden-death period, in which whoever scores a goal first wins the game. At the end of regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. The ninth overall pick in 2019 and the Calder Trophy runner-up as a rookie, he posted back-to-back 60-point seasons in Anaheim before injuries and a fractured relationship with the Ducks’ front office derailed the early part of his career. Perhaps after failing to get to the dance with Detroit, he can help his childhood team, which ideally is a better playoff bet than Chicago, to make a Stanley Cup push in his latter career years.
Brady Tkachuk’s return to Ottawa on Oct. 21 headlines NHL’s 84-game schedule releaseOpens in new window
Kane, who was dealt to the Rangers in 2023, never got to play a game with the 2023 first-overall pick, Connor Bedard. He won the Stanley Cup in that deal’s first year, notably passing the 100-point threshold for the third time in his first four seasons, and scored 31 points in the ’09 playoffs. It now shifts to first and third overall picks from 2023 in Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli, who both would ideally see their draft class colleague’s situation and view themselves receiving significant paygrades as well. He has one year remaining on his entry-level contract, a three-year, $2.93MM ($975K AAV) deal signed back in 2024, after being the No. 1 overall selection in the NHL Draft in that year. He turned pro with the AHL’s Texas Stars in 2023 – but only appeared in 44 games before he was included in a three-team trade in February 2024 deal that sent Chris Tanev to the Stars.
The league’s American broadcast partners had been in flux for decades prior to 1995. Games that are not broadcast as part of the national rights deal are broadcast by Sportsnet’s regional feeds, TSN’s regional feeds, and RDS. Quebecor Media held national French-language rights to the NHL, with all coverage airing on its specialty channel TVA Sports. CBC maintained Rogers-produced NHL coverage during the regular season and playoffs. European players were drafted and signed by NHL teams in an effort to bring in more “skilled offensive players”.
