A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. It’s hotter than the Team USA group chat out there.
1. Heading into training camp, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t have a single player entering a contract year. Everyone on the roster was locked up through 2027-28 at minimum.
(Since then, PTO Nick Blankenburg inked a one-year prove-it pact, and Kirill Marchenko cashed in via trade-and-sign.)
But for the most part, new GM John Chayka avoided a mad summer of spiking salaries. Suddenly, the re-signings of Matthew Knies (a deal that helped facilitate the Marchenko trade), Jake McCabe, John Tavares, William Nylander, and (health pending) Anthony Stolarz by former GM Brad Treliving look like fine value.
When the cap soars to its projected $127.5 million in 2028-29, the Leafs are on track to already have six everyday forwards (Nylander, Tavares, Marchenko, Gavin McKenna, Nick Paul, Brandon Duhaime), both goalies (Sergei Bobrovsky, Stolarz), and their current top four defencemen (Darren Raddysh, Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, McCabe) all signed for $71 million total.
(Whether Toronto should keep all those aging D-men is a column for another day.)
That leaves $56.5 million to pay Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid? and fill in the gaps. The theory of hedging bets and paying emerging talent before it emerges is a hot topic in Chayka’s front office.
“I love financial theory as a concept. It’s shifting. And as things shift, people are trying to forecast and project growth. And in any business, you try to get ahead of it, and there’s certain elements of being proactive,” Chayka said.
“Managers are just trying to find a competitive edge, and they’re viewing this as an opportunity to create some stability and security in terms of their economic planning, and the trade-off of that is risk. I think we're in the risk-mitigation business. And so, how much is speculation?”
In his first stab at managing a cap, with the Arizona Coyotes, a twentysomething Chayka locked in Clayton Keller, Jacob Chychrun, and Christian Dvorak for long terms at young ages. That thinking was bold at the time; it’s fast becoming convention. Or, at least, trendy.
Still reeling from the Leo Carlsson offer sheet, Pat Verbeek’s signing of Tristan Luneau to six years and $43.2 million this week after the Ducks defenceman played all of 14 NHL games is the most extreme example.
But we’ve never seen so many unproven names (Buffalo’s Louis Crevier, Vancouver’s Zeev Buium, Washington’s Justin Sourdif and Ryan Leonard, et al) get the bag.
This is the anti-Vladdy model: These guys are absolutely getting paid for what they’re going to do, not what they’ve done.
“Probably with some of these, we’re going to look back and teams are going to be really happy and excited. Some of them will be OK. And probably some that you regret. And who’s done a good job or not will probably dictate the success of their team moving forward,” Chayka said.
“For me, I was comfortable to sit that one out.”
Funny: The Maple Leafs are the team generally cited as hindered most by the pandemic-forced flat cap. Their willingness to spend to the limit should set them up well in this new spike-cap era.
2. Even at $18.8 million a year, Macklin Celebrini’s contract won’t fall under the “regret” column in San Jose. While the Sharks would’ve gladly maxed out the superstar’s term, Celebrini set himself up for an even greater payday with a five-year term that takes him to UFA at age 26.
Why not sign for more money and term right away?
“Just flexibility and just the way it works,” Celebrini told me. “I mean, there’s no real serious reason to it. Just having that flexibility. I mean, I’m committed to San Jose and what we’re building and what we have there, so that’s not really in the question.”
Celebrini could’ve re-signed on July 1, so it was shrewd to wait until July 29 — after the Carlsson offer sheet.
“Yeah, (Kirill) Kaprizov, Carlsson — I think those kinds of contracts helped everyone. You know, Cale (Makar). It’s just gonna help everyone get a little bit more,” said Celebrini, thrilled to see Team Canada mate Makar ($20.4 million) surpass him for the richest AAV.
“Oh, I was happy for him. I mean, no one is more deserving. He probably could have waited until next year and got a lot more.”
Canada’s Tom Wilson was quick to text Celebrini and congratulate him on the big ticket.
“Honestly in Italy, you had guys come in, it feels like they were looking up to Macklin. Like, he just has that presence. So, it doesn't surprise me that he got paid,” Wilson told 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
Wilson is a fierce advocate for juicier direct deposits.
“Hockey players truly leave so much on the line every single night,” he said. “It’s one of the craziest, most savage sports you can play. It’s just a fact. I mean, for guys to make a little bit more money, you know, guys in our sport really care. They put their body through it. Some of the other sports are making way more money.
“So, if I see a guy make a little bit more money, I'm like, ‘Good on you.’ Guys deserve it. They play the right way. They care a ton about their sport, their teammates, their organization. But, yeah, it was the Wild West for a little bit and creates a good amount of drama.”
3. Interesting to hear Gary Bettman chime in on the trend of star players wielding their no-trade clauses — negotiated in good faith — to orchestrate trades to a desired locale.
Brady Tkachuk is a Florida Panther. The Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck stalemates linger, despite each player owing five more seasons of service to their current clubs.
The commissioner told The Fan Hockey Show that no-moves were intended as a mechanism to give a player with leverage security with the team he signed, not as a trade-demand tool.
“I don’t think one off-season a problem makes. But if this becomes a problem, it’s something we’re going to have to discuss with the Players’ Association,” Bettman said.
“It’s something we’re going to keep an eye on, but I think we’ve gotten past the way no-trade clauses were originally intended.”
4. So, Stan Bowman had five months to weigh his options, make trades and signings, and he really went into Opening Night with Tristan Jarry as the Edmonton Oilers’ starting goalie?
Ridiculous.
Equally ridiculous: The Oilers gave up 13 goals in two games to the 32nd-best team in hockey and still snatched three of four points.
5. One fast thought on all 10 captaincy changes, which feels like some kind of record.
Mikael Granlund, Anaheim Ducks: Biggest surprise on the list. Granlund takes over for Radko Gudas and should celebrate 1,000 games played this season. Quiet leader. Understated career.
David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins: No question, the roster’s most talented and important player, but I thought the more accessible Charlie McAvoy was a serious contender here.
Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks: No-brainer. The Blackhawks have been Bedard’s team since May 8, 2023, the date Chicago won the draft lottery. The monster extension sealed it.
Vacant, Columbus Blue Jackets: Zach Werenski is the de facto captain and the only Jacket who will wear an A every night. If management felt confident that Werenski was willing to re-sign, he’d be wearing a C.
Vacant, Detroit Red Wings: No way you can stitch a C on a player who publicly wants out. Is Moritz Seider the incumbent?
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings: Bit of an odd situation, slapping a C on a player entering a contract year when the front office is noncommittal on an extension. But Doughty is the most respected and most accomplished (and most interesting) voice in the room. Letter or not, the Kings are his team until they’re not.
Bo Horvat, New York Islanders: The former Canucks captain is a fine pro who plays responsible hockey and says all the right things. Solid choice. That said, dynamic forward Mathew Barzal was drafted 11 years ago. The Isles aren’t his team yet?
Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators: “The clear-cut guy for us,” according to GM Steve Staios, can lead in both languages. Claude Giroux is year-to-year and prefers a low profile. Jake Sanderson was a worthy candidate, but the Sens might be gun-shy to anoint another American. And Tim Stützle dives too often to be their spokesman to referees.
Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks: Like Bedard in Chicago, this one is a no-brainer.
Vacant, Vancouver Canucks: You know the old saying: If you have six captains, you don’t have one captain. Honestly, we don’t mind this at all. Filip Hronek doesn’t want to talk to reporters every day, and this rebuilding squad needs to let leadership emerge organically.
6. File under: “It’s early, but…”
The Maple Leafs registered the NHL’s worst shot differential in 2025-26, posting an atrocious minus-501 in an important category. For comparison’s sake, the Presidents’ Trophy–winning Avalanche were a plus-622.
Last year’s Leafs also registered minus-34.8 expected goals.
Through two games this season, Toronto has outshot its opponents 54-51 and is plus-1 in expected goals. A positive early sign in the personnel and Jim Hiller’s new system.
7. With Fraser Minten joining Elias Lindholm as Boston centres making $7.2 million plus next season, we wonder what this means for Pavel Zacha.
Zacha, 29, is coming into his contract season hot off his first 30-goal, 65-point campaign and is far and away the best centreman under 30 on pace for UFA status this summer.
Think of how guys like Charlie Coyle got paid.
Zacha has serious leverage. The Bruins will be in tough to return to the post-season with Atlantic rivals Florida and Toronto aggressively improving their rosters over the off-season.
Fascinating situation to monitor.
8. Quote of the week.
“Relax a bit. Play with my cat.” —Kirill Marchenko, on how he spent his first day off after getting traded to Toronto, sorting out his work visa, and playing back-to-back games as a Maple Leaf.
9. When Colorado got swept by Vegas in the conference finals, some in the industry wondered if Jared Bednar, the NHL’s second-longest-tenured coach (to Jon Cooper), had run his course.
Time for a new voice?
Nah.
Bednar, about to head into a contract year, was blessed with a four-year extension by GM Joe Sakic.
At a time when coaches are fired on a whim, how has Bednar been given 15 years of security?
“His experience with our group. We’ve kinda grown up together and matured together into the NHL,” captain Gabriel Landeskog told me. “He’s poised. He’s calm. Doesn’t overreact to things. Analytical, as well as he can be fiery when he needs to be. So, he has a very good balance of which buttons to push with our group. And he’s a really smart coach. Easy coach to deal with.
“There’s no mind games. There’s no emotional roller coaster that you dragged on through the course of the season. That’s what players want: consistency. And Bedsy, that’s what he brings.”
Bednar joins Minnesota’s John Hynes, Montreal’s Martin St. Louis, and San Jose’s Ryan Warsovsky among coaches who extended prior to puck drop.
That leaves Anaheim’s Joel Quenneville, Winnipeg’s Scott Arniel, Columbus’s Rick Bowness (who signed a one-year deal after jumping in late 2025-26), and Nashville’s Andrew Brunette (the Predators can exercise a team option for 2027-28) as the only head coaches entering contract seasons.
10. Aleksander Barkov missed the entirety of last season after tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee during training camp.
The frustration the Panthers captain displayed in leaving the ice Thursday with a left-leg injury suggests another setback. Sickening stuff. You feel for the player.
Florida is conducting more tests, so the severity isn’t yet known.
If Barkov is out long-term, the divisional consequences could be dramatic.
11. The only highlight more exhilarating than a goalie fight might be a goalie goal.
Well, Igor Shesterkin has now enjoyed both in his past seven games, completing the career Gordie Howe hat trick with a beautiful 200-foot, empty-net sifter Thursday.
“Everyone started jumping on me,” Shesterkin told reporters. “Unbelievable feelings.”
12. For three days in September, a Sportsnet crew sat in an interview room out in Henderson, Nev. We ran through 32 sit-down interviews with star players from around the league, for this website, Saturday Night Hockey, and 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
Only one of those players made a point of approaching every single audio tech, cameraperson, set designer, producer and interviewer in the room. He looked us in the eyes and shook our hands, all nine of us, before and after his Q&A.
He was also the youngest (and least jaded?) player to do the rounds.
Matthew Schaefer.
“You just got to keep being yourself. Keep being the fun, outgoing person that I hopefully grew up to be. Hopefully, I’m fun and outgoing,” Schaefer chuckled. “I know my dad's definitely a big talker, so I try to learn from my mom a little more. But, yeah, you should always be yourself. Just be humble. Be your person.
“I want to be a good person. Obviously, hockey’s my thing, but I want people to know me as just an amazing guy that you know gives time to kids or fans or people. The one thing I love doing is hospital visits and just being involved in the community. Because when you have a little bit more of a spotlight, you can use it in different ways that are impactful to hospitals and kids and that are going through rough timing. You know, sometimes life isn't easy, and if you can be there for people… it helps.”
The man is 19. He already gets it.
