Bob Duff at FEATURD lists Detroit's most important players: Andreas Athanasiou, Filip Hronek and Jimmy Howard. Read all about them.

from Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com, The New Jersey Devils were among the most aggressive teams remaking their roster this offseason, adding several high-profile players, including Jack Hughes and P.K. Subban. The Devils selected Hughes, an 18-year-old center, with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft on June 21 and acquired Subban in a trade with the Nashville Predators on June 22. New Jersey signed right wing Wayne Simmonds (one year, $5 million) on July 1, and acquired left wing Nikita Gusev in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on July 29. The Devils are looking to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in the past eight seasons. Hughes, who gives the Devils depth at center, joining Nico Hischier, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, had 112 points (34 goals, 78 assists) in 50 games for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-18 team last season. "Jack has physical tools that are elite," Devils coach John Hynes said. "But the thing that really separates guys with physical tools is their love and passion for the game, the desire to get better. Jack has that component in spades in his personality." continued Watch the season preview below.

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, - How have NHL stars been penalized by the league’s salary cap? Before the cap, 15 years ago, Peter Forsberg was the NHL’s highest paid player at $11 million a season. Now, it’s Connor McDavid at $12.5 million. That’s less than a 1% increase per year increase for the sport’s greatest player. Over the same period of time, the value of the Maple Leafs as a franchise has gone from $265 million to $1.4 billion. Up more than 500%. In other words, ownership wins once again. - The NHL must be just a little concerned that Pittsburgh Penguins majority owner, Ron Burkle, is being mentioned as a former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, the scandal ridden American who apparently killed himself behind bars. a few more hockey blurbs...

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, Be it in the studio alongside Keith Jones in Stamford, Conn., or in a broadcast booth with the likes of Mike Emrick, ex-Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury is about to embark on his 13th season as part of NBC’s NHL coverage.... The ever-blunt Milbury, 67, fills a more versatile broadcast role than the more narrowly defined life he led on the Boston blue line for a dozen seasons (1975-87), which had him cast in a stay-at-home and slug-it-out role (1,552 penalty minutes in 754 games). During his tenure with NBC, Milbury has been the guy in the cast most likely to say whatever pops into his head, albeit with a tiny bit more self-restraint and censoring than his ex-coach, Don Cherry, who made a fortune the last 30-plus years as Canada’s premier loose cannon during NHL broadcasts. For the upcoming season, the NHL plans to mine a massive amount of player data through its new Puck and Player Tracking system. Just how NBC or any of the league’s other broadcast entities plan to integrate the data treasure trove remains to be seen. Milbury sounds like a guy who still would prefer to wrap his hands around an opposing forward’s neck than to, say, dive into a fresh load of numbers about puck possession or speed of the puck as it rockets off a player’s blade. “I have zero interest in it,” Milbury said this past week, reached by telephone at his home in the Boston suburbs. “I know they’re counting on it, but I’ve made my feelings known. No thanks. I mean, every move measured and calculated . . . what the [bleep] is the fun in that?! I guess I could be wrong, and there’ll be something in all of it that will catch my eye, but..." more plus other hockey topics...

from Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Al MacIsaac first heard of analytics approximately 4,500 miles away from his spacious United Center office. Shortly before the Blackhawks’ 2009-10 season opener in Finland, MacIsaac sat down alongside Stan and Scotty Bowman to meet a stranger in Helsinki’s grand Hotel Kamp for a brief presentation.... “It started as a project that we were going to build on,” MacIsaac told the Sun-Times this week. “Now we have analytics for everything. ... It’s evolved from that first chance meeting in 2009 to something that we feel proud of and that our staff have come to embrace.” The term ‘analytics’ itself is mentioned nowhere in MacIsaac’s job description, and it takes quite a bit of scrolling down the Hawks’ front office directory to find Andrew Contis, the lone listed member with it in his title. But MacIsaac will disclose there’s a whole team of employees — “young people,” he calls them — who compose the Hawks’ analytics department, collecting and analyzing data and looking for new areas to explore. “Our ideas can’t be cascading down from the senior guys like me and Stan,” MacIsaac said. “We want ideas cascading upwards, and that comes from guys like Andrew Contis and a number of others.” read on

from Robby Stanley at NHL.com The Nashville Predators hope bolstering their forwards will be enough to win the Central Division for a third consecutive season and make a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Predators signed center Matt Duchene to a seven-year, $56 million contract (average annual value $8 million) on July 1. In order to clear space under the NHL salary cap and sign Duchene, Nashville traded defenseman P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils on June 22. "Let's call it like it is: If we don't make the Subban trade and get rid of his money ($9 million AAV), it's going to be much more difficult to get into the Duchene sweepstakes, if you will," Predators general manager David Poile said. "Maybe we could have, and we'd be over the [salary cap] today and we'd being having a player or players that we'd have to move. That really, I guess you would say, took the pressure off in terms of doing this. "So Subban for Duchene sounds like a reasonable way to say it. The good news is with [defenseman Dante Fabbro] coming in, that we feel like maybe he can't replace [Subban] right away but he certainly has the potential of being a top-four defenseman. With [Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis] there as our top three, I think we still have a really good defense." continued Watch the season preview on the Preds below.

Kris Draper, has indeed been promoted to the Red Wings’ director of Amateur Scouting. Ryan Rezmierski, formerly of Nashville, and Jesse Wallin, formerly of St. Louis, are the new Chief Scouts. — Max Bultman (@m_bultman) August 16, 2019   The Wings' website has Draper listed as Director of Amateur Scouting too.

from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Patrik Laine says contract talks with the Winnipeg Jets have been non-existent all summer and he isn’t sure what it means for his future with the team. As one of several prominent NHL restricted free agents still without a new deal, the sniper is currently entering the late stages of summer training under a cloud of uncertainty. Speaking before the Finnish Alumni All-Star Game about an hour north of Helsinki, Laine told Sportsnet that he’s confident he’ll playing "somewhere" next season. He just doesn’t know if that somewhere will be Winnipeg. "Well you never know. It’s still business, you’ve got to be prepared for anything," Laine said Friday. "But yeah, you never know where you’re going to play next year so I’m just prepared for anything." continued

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, ... It’s coming back from that injury, having gone through the long, tedious rehabilitation, that’s pushing and motivating Svechnikov. Hearing the doubters say that maybe Svechnkov will not be able to come all the way back, maybe will not ever be the same player again – that’s what stirring him. “I just want to go out there and show my name,” Svechnikov said. “I’m Evgeny Svechnikov, I was drafted for a reason and I’m here for a reason. I want to be part of the future, and I want to do that for myself and the fans and for everybody. “I’m looking forward to doing it.” Svechnikov appeared to be headed toward fulfilling his goal of reaching the NHL full-time, showing why he was a first-round draft pick, last training camp. Svechniko was one of the better Red Wings through camp and had two winning goals during the exhibition season before tearing his knee in a puck battle along the boards against Toronto. more

from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, The Buffalo Sabres have dubbed it the Golden Jersey. The team announced its alternate jersey for the 2019-20 season through a Twitter video Friday morning, and the white sweater with gold striping will be worn for 13 dates during the 50th anniversary season. The crossed swords crest will be displayed in fluorescent gold and navy blue, rather than white and blue. Five stripes -- one representing each of the franchise's decades -- are embroidered on both sleeves as well as the jersey's bottom. Four are gold and one wider one is in blue. Two unique features of the uniform is an inner neckline to the sweater that features logos from throughout the team's history, and white gloves that will be worn for the first time in franchise history and look similar to those that have been worn the last two years by the Vegas Golden Knights. continued, includes pictures and below, watch a video from the Sabres on the sweater...

"Maybe in the past people overlooked us, but right now, I would say we go into this year as the team to beat. With the players we've brought in and the core we have established, I mean, if we don't (win), you know things are going to go sideways pretty quick. We have to realize and know if we want to stay together, we have to win." -Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers.  NHL.com has more.

from Andrew Gross of Newsday, “You know how big it is,” Lamoriello told Newsday on Thursday. “Without a new arena, there would not be the Islanders on Long Island. I think that says it all.” Lamoriello was able to re-sign the team’s key unrestricted free agents this offseason except for goalie Robin Lehner and third-line center Valtteri Filppula. The previous summer, former captain John Tavares left for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs for a seven-year, $77 million deal that was less than the Islanders offered. The Islanders will continue to split games between NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a second straight season. Their new building is scheduled to open for the 2021-22 season and Lamoriello knows uncertainty about the Islanders’ arena situation was a factor when talking to free agents. “I think that’s always something behind someone’s mind, including our own free agents,” Lamoriello said. “But they have the confidence in believing in our ownership’s commitment to getting the arena.” read on

from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Deputy commissioner Bill Daly says he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the direction of collective bargaining talks with the NHL Players’ Association and believes the sides are committed to staging the next World Cup in February 2021 if they can extend or renew the current agreement before it expires. The league and players have met regularly throughout the summer and are due to sit down together again next week. The discussions are being held with each side facing a decision inside the next month about whether to trigger an early termination to the current CBA. However, it remains to be seen if either will pursue the reopener option at a time when there appears to be much more labour harmony than strife. “The general state of things, there seems to be a lot of agreement on,” Daly told Sportsnet during the NHL’s European player media tour. “It’s very kind of amorphous right now but there doesn’t seem to be like a huge sticking point on the issues we’ve talked about. I think there’s general agreement kind of directionally. Where we should be going. “I think both sides have been open that the agreement’s not a perfect agreement and could be improved, but nobody’s holding out for a home run.” continued

from Sean Farrell at NHL.com, The Montreal Canadiens are confident they can make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016-17 with largely the same lineup that narrowly missed out last season. The Canadiens finished with 96 points, after they had 71 in 2017-18, but wound up two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. "I think this is a team that is trending towards the playoffs and was very close last year," said defenseman Ben Chiarot, who signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract (average annual value of $3.5 million) with Montreal on July 4 after playing 305 games with the Winnipeg Jets. "All the pieces are here and a little bit reminds me of where we were in Winnipeg a few years ago with some of the young pieces and the leadership of guys like [defenseman Shea] Weber and [goalie Carey] Price. I think all the pieces are here for us to be successful, and I'll bring what I bring and I think we should be trending in the right direction." continued Below, wateh the preview for the Habs....

from Ansar Khan of Mlive, 2019-20 outlook: Hronek was expected to win the competition between young defensemen and earn an NHL roster spot out of training camp but wasn’t ready, so he was demoted after playing six games as an injury replacement. He returned to Detroit in mid-December and was sent back to Grand Rapids for a couple of weeks in February before joining the Red Wings for good on Feb. 17. He improved defensively during his time in the AHL and was much better the final seven weeks of the season. He cut down on mistakes and odd-man rushes against by not stepping up as much in the neutral zone while still contributing offensively. Injuries forced the Red Wings to play the rookie more than they would have preferred – he logged more than 22 minutes in a stretch of 13 out of 15 games. He saw more time on the penalty kill. He played against top lines more often. Barring a significant regression, Hronek will start the season in the Red Wings’ top four, paired with either Danny DeKeyser or (more likely) Patrik Nemeth. The club would like to keep him around 20 minutes per game while having him man the point on one of the power-play units and still see some time on the penalty kill. more

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, ... But after participating Thursday in the PEP Power Edge Pro Camp at USA Hockey Arena, Larkin was already thinking ahead to camp, and his anticipation surrounding this Red Wings' season. “You get to the dog days of August where you’re sick of being in the gym and you want to be back with all the guys,” Larkin said. “More guys are coming back into town and it’s good seeing them. "It was a good break. But with our finish to last season (8-2-0) fresh in the mind, gaining confidence winning games, plus we added some good pieces – it’s exciting.”... Larkin believes there’s much hope for this season, as well. “We can be very competitive every night and go on hot stretches,” said Larkin, adding there’s one important ingredient: “Get off to a good start.” more

New season. New numbers. pic.twitter.com/GRWeGS1FpH — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 15, 2019

from NHL.com, The NHL hopes to announce preseason games in China for next season soon, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said Thursday. "We hope to be in a position to announce the game earlier than we have in prior years, coming up in the next couple of months," Daly said during the NHL European Player Media Tour in Stockholm. "Hopefully we continue to develop and deepen our ties in China, and that means more games, more players, more teams, more League activities in China." The NHL will not be sending teams to China this fall because of logistical issues with booking arenas. The NHL had two preseason games in China each of the past two seasons. continued

from Max Bultman of The Athletic, Svechnikov said he has met new general manager Steve Yzerman only briefly, and that he mainly just wanted to know about the knee. But he’s not concerning himself much with what exactly the team’s brass is expecting or looking for from him when Traverse City arrives. His goals are singular. “I have no idea,” he said. “I don’t really care what they’re looking at (with) me, you can put it that way. Because I just want to go out there and take my spot. That’s really it. Doesn’t matter last year if I was hurt or (not). And I don’t really expect, from them, anything. Obviously they want to expect from me, they want to see what it’s like, but at the same time they know I was injured. To me, it doesn’t matter. I just want to go out there and take my spot and make the team.” more (paid), he has been living with Larkin over the summer...

“Last year’s just gone, out of the books, really, except for maybe taking some stuff that I learned. I look forward to dominating. “I’m confident in how I am as a player, so I’m not too worried about it.” -William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Chris Johnston of Sportsnet has more.

from TSN, Joe Thornton announced his intentions to return for a 22nd NHL season in June and according to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, it is only a matter of time before the veteran re-signs with the San Jose Sharks. Kurz writes that "Thornton is not going anywhere and will re-sign with the Sharks at some point in the near future," though he may wait until Sharks general manager Doug Wilson is done shaping his roster for this season. Thornton, who posted 16 goals and 35 assists in 73 games, said in June he believes he could play up to five more seasons. The 40-year-old was pictured in full gear at the Sharks training facility on Monday along with former teammate Patrick Marleau. Marleau, who was bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes in June, has also been linked to the Sharks this off-season, but Kurz reports there's "much more uncertainty" around his future. The 39-year-old desired a move from the Toronto Maple Leafs after last season in order to be closer to his family in San Jose, but Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun wrote last week that the Sharks "don't want" the veteran. continued

from Ansar Khan of Mlive, 2019-20 outlook: Howard posted the worst statistics of his career, due in large part to the weak defense in front of him. He was fairly consistent. Without him, the Red Wings would have finished even lower than 28th, which might not have been a bad thing, giving them a higher chance at the first overall pick. If Howard stays healthy, he can expect another heavy workload. But if the Red Wings are out of the playoff picture midway through the season, Howard could be dealt for a draft pick. The market for goalies likely will be better earlier in the season than at the Feb. 24 trade deadline, when more teams are out of the playoff picture. The Red Wings might also opt to sign Howard to another one-year extension, since Jonathan Bernier might not be capable of handling the starting job in 2020-21 and top prospect Filip Larsson probably won’t be NHL-ready by then. But they could also move Howard during the season and re-sign him on July 1. more

from Jessi Pierce at NHL.com, The Minnesota Wild are a team in transition this season. Not only are they looking to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they're also searching for a general manager. Paul Fenton, the third GM in Wild history, was fired July 30, 14 months after he was hired; assistant GM Tom Kurvers is serving as GM until a replacement is found. The Wild reportedly interviewed Pittsburgh Penguins assistant GM Bill Guerin and former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall for the job. "Our organization and our culture were a little different than the way [Fenton] wanted to handle things," Wild owner Craig Leipold said. "We just felt this was the time to do it and we were going to move forward in a different direction. "We need to get recharged, refocused on who we are as a team and don't let the outside elements distract us." continued Below, watch the season preview on the Wild.

TORONTO (Aug. 14, 2019) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) will host its 11th annual NHLPA Rookie Showcase Sunday, Aug. 25 at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va., with 28 NHL® prospects and rookies scheduled to attend. This unique event provides Upper Deck – the official trading card partner of the NHLPA and the NHL – with an opportunity to capture photographs and videos of many of the game’s top young prospects and rookies in their official NHL team uniforms. The content collected will be used for upcoming Upper Deck trading cards, memorabilia products and digital video posts. The following 28 NHL prospects and rookies are scheduled to be in attendance for the 2019 NHLPA Rookie Showcase:

from Ryan Pyette of the London Free Press, Logan Couture helped San Jose eliminate Vegas with the benefit of an infamous major penalty call in Game 7. Then, his Sharks went up 2-1 in the Western Conference final against St. Louis thanks to a missed hand pass. After that, they lost three straight to the Blues. “I think it probably hurt us in the end,” said the star forward, who plays host to his third All-In for Brain Research charity casino Thursday night at Centennial Hall. “After that hand pass, which was obviously a mistake and the goal shouldn’t have counted, I felt like in the next couple of games if there was a close call, the other team got the benefit of the doubt. “So in that aspect, it went against us. Obviously, it helped us win that game. But the rest of the series — and this is just my personal belief because I know the refs don’t go out to favour any team — when it comes to a 50-50 call, the other team is getting that benefit.”... “You feel bad for the refs because they’re trying to do the best they can,” he said. “The steps the league is taking are going in the right direction. That (hand pass goal) call should have been reviewed. The call against Vegas that made it a major penalty, that’s something that needs to be fixed. “Whatever they can do to make the right call, that’s all you can ask for as a player and fan.” read on

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, They are the hope, the beacon of light as the Red Wings dwell in this current rebuild. Young forwards Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha are the foundation the Wings are building around. All four had career-best offensive seasons, and gradually began taking over leadership of the team. If the Wings are headed anywhere this season, or in the near future, this is the core that will likely take them there. “Can they carry a hockey team to wins? That’s a big question they’ll answer on a nightly basis next year,” coach Jeff Blashill said late last season. “It’s a heck of a responsibility. I don’t think there’s very many young players in the league that are able to carry their team. “We’re going to ask that group of four up front to be a huge piece to carrying this team. continued

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today acquired forward Adam Erne from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Detroit’s fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. pic.twitter.com/cbpriv7qvX — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 14, 2019

from Ian Thomas of Front Office Sport, As the NHL continues to build its reach in Europe, 23 players from teams across the league are dropping into the market to help further the cause. On August 15, the league and the NHLPA will hold its third European player media tour. The event is being held in Stockholm, Sweden at the headquarters of Viasat, which holds the NHL’s international media rights in Finland, Norway and Sweden.... When the NHL and NHLPA launched the event in 2017, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly admits that many of the league’s European-based rightsholders and media members – and even participating European-born players – had the same question: “Is this something that will just be one and done?,” he recalled.... Taking part in the event will be some of the league’s biggest European-born stars, such as Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak, Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov and Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom. Those players hail from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland and Sweden, respectively. “If I compare this event [to the one in 2017], there’s almost a night and day difference,” Daly said. “That comes from the fact that it’s well embraced by all the parties, including the players who are taking time from their summer break to be here – they all see that we have an interest in their markets, that we’re engaged and making bigger investments so that we have a regular presence over here.” more

Honestly this is bothering me quite a bit. I’m one of the lucky ones because I’m covered but I just saw the price tag on the 5 medications I’m taking and it’s around 4 k per month. Pure insanity. If countries want a healthy population and less issues they gotta start there! — Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) August 14, 2019

from the Detroit Free Press, "The Russian Five" is headed to Campus Martius. The hit documentary about the charismatic Russian hockey stars who helped propel the Red Wings to back-to-back Stanley Cups will get a free outdoor screening at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the park in downtown Detroit. continued

Dan Rosen of NHL.com answers some fan mail, Who will be the first big restricted free agent to sign? It just seems right now that the RFA market is in a holding pattern waiting for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner to sign. It's as if the top Group 2 RFAs, including Winnipeg Jets forwards Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk, Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser, Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, are content to wait it out because they know Marner is expected to get the highest average annual value in his next contract, and what he signs for could dictate how the rest of the market plays out. I think Marner will eventually be the first of this elite group of RFAs to sign, and when he does you'll see the rest fall in line quickly. The soft deadline now is the first day of training camp. Toronto's players are scheduled to report for physicals Sept. 12. more Q & A...

Not often do I post videos like this, but it has been a long summer.   Frans Nielsen, Dylan Larkin and Evgeny Svechnikiv going through a PEP drill back-to-back-to-back at a camp at USA Hockey Arena this morning: pic.twitter.com/ngvFSjBrHs — Max Bultman (@m_bultman) August 14, 2019

from Ansar Khan of Mlive, 2019-20 outlook: Helm still possesses the elite speed that that broke into the NHL with in 2007, which he uses to get in on the forecheck and create turnovers. He continues to be one of the team’s top penalty-killing forwards. His quickness creates scoring chances, but he doesn’t have the hands to finish most of them. Injuries over the years have contributed to his decline in physicality. He’s not as hard to play against as he was earlier in his career. Where does Helm fit in the lineup? He’ll likely start at wing on the fourth line but could move into the top six as an injury replacement because of his ability to win puck battles with his speed and willingness to go to the net. more

from Brett Amadon of NHL.com, The Los Angeles Kings are out to prove last season was an aberration. After finishing next to last in the NHL with 71 points, their fewest in a full season since they had 68 in 2006-07, the Kings hired Todd McLellan as coach April 16 to replace Willie Desjardins, who took over after John Stevens was fired following a 4-8-1 start in his second season. "I thought our team was not used to losing," Kings assistant Marco Sturm said. "I think last year, it caught them maybe a little bit off guard … and that's why we just couldn't get out of the hole and all of a sudden, the season was over. So I think it's going to be a totally different mindset this season for sure." continued Below, watch the season preview on the Kings...

via Sportsnet's YouTube page, Renaud Lavoie joined Sid and Danielle to talk about all the unsigned RFA's and free agents in the NHL, making for an exciting upcoming season.