TAMPA, Fla. — It’s easy to pick on NHL executives when it comes to player safety.

The issues, after all, are complex. The fans, without a doubt, are partisan. The stakes, everyone knows, are high.

Also, and this is likely the most important factor, league executives are a bunch of cowards.

None of this should come as a surprise after the ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — Beware the champion that is wounded, and doubted. You have given that team another layer of hunger, an element of underdog motivation — ill-fitting as that seems.

The Florida Panthers opened their 32nd NHL season Tuesday afternoon-into-night (an odd 5 p.m. puck drop) as a two-time defending Stanley Cup champ.

“We want ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Dan Muse era began Tuesday with a 3-0 win for the Penguins.

In Muse’s first game as an NHL head coach, the Penguins won their season opener against Mike Sullivan and the rival New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

It was probably happenstance that Muse’s first game as a head coach came against his previous team. He ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — Aaron Ekblad brought the Stanley Cup to the ice pregame Tuesday. Moments later, the Florida Panthers watched as their second championship banner rose into the rafters at Amerant Bank Arena.

“We want three!” the sold-out home crowd chanted.

Their quest to do just that is starting on the right note.

Jesper Boqvist scored ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — The final piece of the Florida Panthers’ emotional 24-hour reflection of their latest championship run is complete.

The team raised its second Stanley Cup championship banner on Tuesday ahead of its season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena.

It was a relatively subdued pregame ceremony. ...Read more

MIAMI — Go ahead and doubt the Florida Panthers if you wish.

They know that the tough road ahead of them has gotten even tougher.

They don’t have Aleksander Barkov, their captain and arguably the NHL’s best two-way center, for at minimum the regular season and most likely beyond as he recovers from surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Luc Robitaille knew his hockey playing career was over when it took him longer to get his battered body ready for a game than it did to play it.

"It became harder and harder physically," said Robitaille, whose next stop was the hall of fame. "I think I knew at that point."

And once his mind was made up, there was no turning ...Read more

DENVER — The ghost in the stall meant one thing: Nathan MacKinnon isn’t done haunting the NHL yet.

As the Colorado Avalanche locker room opened for media a few Fridays ago during training camp, the big names crisscrossed, de-taped and unwound. Captain Gabe Landeskog held court at one end. Newbie Brent Burns grinned toothlessly at the other...Read more

DENVER — Everything in place and a place for everything.

What began with team bonding at the captain’s house, the annual golf outing and spirited workouts at Family Sports Center, can end only in one place for the Avalanche's season to be a success.

With Gabe Landeskog raising the Stanley Cup on the ice.

This expectation was a burden for ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — It wasn't quite as newsworthy as Alex Ovechkin setting the NHL's all-time scoring record, but last season Sidney Crosby also had an unprecedented accomplishment that spoke to both his brilliance as a hockey player and his remarkable longevity.

The Penguins' superstar center and captain became the first player in NHL history to ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Kyle Dubas was hired to be the Penguins' president of hockey operations and general manager in 2023 and has guided the Penguins through two mostly forgettable seasons. Their futility, however, hasn't been his fault, as the team was mostly a crumbling dynasty still trying to hang on to their glory years and hoping for one last ...Read more

BRANDON, Fla. — The length of Jon Cooper’s contract with the Lightning has been a mystery in recent years, as the team has chosen not to disclose the terms of their head coach’s deal.

At the end of last season, general manager Julien BriseBois would only say that Cooper’s contract term included the upcoming 2025-26 season. But Cooper ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marc-Andre Fleury is officially retired.

Just ignore that final trip down memory lane.

After the goaltender’s final appearance for the Wild and then one last hurrah with Team Canada at the World Championships in May, Fleury started to figure out what his role would be in the Wild front office.

Then Pittsburgh general ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — If you are surprised that the Carolina Hurricanes may offer a contract to a player who is currently suspended by the NHL for his role in a sex scandal, you just haven’t been paying close enough attention.

And not to Michael McLeod and the crimes of which he was accused and found not guilty — which have kept him out of the ...Read more

The Wild have signed Kirill Kaprizov to the richest contract in NHL history.

They finally agreed to an extension with their superstar, an eight-year, $136 million pact that starts next season. Kaprizov’s contract includes a no-movement clause and an unprecedented payout: He’ll make $1 million a year in salary with the rest annual signing ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Grant Watson was 6 when he started to watch Penguins games with his father.

Jim Watson figured Grant would gravitate toward Sidney Crosby, one of the greatest players and winners in hockey history, or Sid's superstar sidekick, Evgeni Malkin.

Instead, almost instantly the boy became fascinated with the flamboyant French Canadian ...Read more

Many players are important, some even indispensable. But Aleksander Barkov is that rare, irreplaceable player who the Florida Panthers look like they’ll somehow have to replace.

The Panthers captain underwent surgery for a knee injury suffered after a common collision on his first practice Thursday had an uncommon outcome. The Panthers ...Read more

MIAMI — The Florida Panthers’ climb to the NHL’s first Stanley Cup three-peat in more than 40 years just got higher, steeper. The team lost its guide and sherpa on Friday, the player the others follow.

There is no understating the size and weight of the Panthers losing team captain Aleksander Barkov to knee surgery expected to be season ...Read more

If the Florida Panthers want to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup, they will likely have to do so without their captain on the ice.

Panthers center Aleksander Barkov on Friday underwent surgery to repair injuries to the ACL and MCL in his right knee. His timeline for recovery is between seven and nine months, all but ensuring he will miss the...Read more

PITTSBURGH — It will indeed be a “full circle” moment, as Marc-Andre Fleury describes it, when the beloved goaltender takes the ice for the Penguins one last time Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Fleury, 40, will play one period of an exhibition game against the Columbus Blue Jackets before officially ending his 21-year NHL career.

...Read more