Welcome back everyone to another week of news from around the world of hockey and around the league. Some of the new happening right now is:
- We have now learnt that the game tonight between the Calgary Flames and LA Kings has been postponed due to wildfires in the Los Angeles area. A make-up game will be announced at Crypto.Com Arena but we do hope that everyone, including all hockey fans in that area, are okay.
- In other news for the Calgary Flames, there was a scary moment for their young player Connor Zary, 23, who was injured following a knee-on-knee collision with Anahaim’s Drew Helleson. It looks painful (if you see the video online) and according to Frank Seravelli, the Flames are waiting for inflammation to subside before checking on it tomorrow will to determine full extent of damage (@frank_seravalli on Twitter/X)
- The NHL also announced that they will host 2 outdoor games in Florida next season. The Tampa Bay Lightning will face the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium for the stadium series on February 1, 2026, while the Florida Panthers will take on the New York Rangers, LoanDepot park on January 2, 2026. This should be a fun experience given how well both teams have been doing in the past few years.
- The New York Rangers claimed winger Arthur Kaliyev off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. This comes after they trade Kappo Kakko, and are looking for wingers. Kaliyev has yet to play in the NHL this season after breaking his clavicle during training camp in September 2024. We wish him all the best on a Rangers team that is working on trying to get themselves back into the playoffs.
- The Anaheim Ducks has re-signed Frank Vatrano to 3-year, $18 million contract extension but will only have a the 4.5 million per year AAV, given that there will be deferred money in the agreement later on for him. Vatrano, 30, is in his third season with Anaheim and has put up 70 goals and 54 assists in 201 games for the Ducks, including 11 goals and 12 assists this season alone. He is a good piece and he seems to like the team and believes he has the best opportunity here.
- We also saw the end of the World Juniors where Team USA won back to back goals, and Ryan Leonard was named MVP of 2025. This was a fun tournament with the game going to overtime against team Finland 4 to 3 in overtime. Leonard, 19 had 5 goals and 5 assists in 7 games and is a draft pick for the Washington Capitals. There were some other great storylines, but none bigger than Team Canada who again lost early on and weren’t able to compete for a medal. There will be some changes coming to the team in order to be competitive when it takes place next year in Minneapolis st. Paul.
- The Boston Bruins have re-signed Mark Kastelic to a 3-year, $4.7M extension (with an AAV of $1.567 million). Kastelic, 25, has four goals and seven assists in 39 games this season. He ranks second in the NHL in hits and tied for first in penalty minutes and was part of the trade last summer in the Ottawa Senators in exchange for goalie Linus Ullmark. We wish him all the best as the Bruins try to find their footing and try to stay in a playoff spot.
- Finally, viewership hits a record low for the Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks versus the St. Louis Blues’ game after it was moved to New Year’s Eve instead of New Year’s Day and hosting two teams who aren’t top in their respective divisions. The other issue is that there were other games on that day so hockey fans’ focus was on other games, along with College Football in the US, which took away eyes, but I will say the look of the rink at Wrigley Field looked amazing. With the recent announcement, hopefully the NHL can go back to what made it successful in the first place.
- As always, there is a lot more news so make sure to tune in for our aired Season 6, Episode 17 of Two Guys & Hockey Talk next Wednesday. We dive into some of these great topics, and so much more.
Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Then remember to tune in each week to get all the latest news in the world of hockey. For more hockey news, different takes or if you want to chat about anything hockey give me a follow @hockey_two on TWITTER and give us a follow on YouTube, or at https://twoguysandhockeytalk.com/.
- Pawel ‘The Cat’
