Welcome back everyone, it’s been a busy week in the hockey world, and if you are like me, you have a good cup of coffee in your hand and spend most of your time watching game to game, excited to see how teams are doing, given that the 4 Nations is coming up soon. Some of the news from the past week is:
- The NHL has suspended Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild for 10 Games for his roughing actions against Tim Stutzle, after a faceoff draw. It is the fifth suspension in Hartman’s career, so he is considered a repeat offender and will have forfeit $487,804.90 of his salary but can appeal with the league. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Ottawa went on to win that game 6 to 0 and is now sitting 3rd in the Atlantic.
- In other Minnesota news, they have also traded forward Sammy Walker to the Utah Hockey Club for future considerations. Walker has been with the Wild organization since signing as a free agent in August 2022, and he was initially taken in the 7th round of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has now been assigned to play in the AHL, the Tucson Roadrunners. The Minnesota Wild have also claimed forward Vinnie Hinostroza off of waivers, who was previously playing for the Nashville Predators. In 13 games Hinostroza has 2 assists this season. They also are getting healthier again, as defenseman Jonas Brodin has been pulled from the LTIR, and forward Marcus Johansson from the IR. They will face the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow.
- Speaking of other big trades, the Calgary Flames have traded Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2028 Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Kuzmenko, 28, this season has put up 4 goals and 11 assists in 37 games this season, and is in the final season of a two-year, $11 million contract (with an AAV of $5.5 million), while Pelletier has 4 goals and 7 assists) in 23 NHL games this season. He is a good young prospect who has gone in and out of the lineup. On the other side, Morgan Frost has 11 goals and 14 assists in 49 games for the Flyers this season, who was selected by Philadelphia in the 1st round in the 2017 Draft, who often plays centre, while Joel Farabee has 8 goals and 11 assists in 50 games for the Flyers this season. Farabee, was selected in the 1st round in the 2018 Draft. It was noted that Craig Conroy went himself to get the players to make them feel welcome.
- The IIHF have announced that they have extended the ban to Belarus and Russia for the 2025-2026 season, from competing in international competition. The IIHF council said it will next assess the issue in May 2026 which is odd given that the 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled for February 2026 next year in Milan and Cortina.
- There has also been an announcement for the cap to go up in the coming 3 years after some good years of business for the league. Right now the league’s current cap ceiling of $88 million, but people are speculating that it can rise to $95.5 million in 2025-26, and then to $104 million in 2026-27 season, and finally to $113.5 million in 2027-28. This is a huge increase (a total increase of $25.5 million) which can have a big impact on some markets, including the Canadian teams, which are working with a weather Canadian dollar currency right now, but relief for some teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are hoping to sign Mitch Marner long term.
- The Dallas Stars have traded their 1st round pick and conditional 3rd round pick in exchange for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci to boost their depth on their team. The conditional pick is from Winnipeg’s fourth-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft (acquired in a trade with San Jose on June 19, 2024) if the Stars make it to the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Ceci, 31, has 4 goals and 11 assists in 54 games for the Sharks this season, while Granlund, 32, has 15 goals and 30 assists in 52 games for the Sharks this season. This is after the defenseman Miro Heiskanen, had to undergo knee surgery in New York and is trying to recover for the postseason, after his collision with Mark Stone. He will be out of the 4 Nations tournament.
- In other news, the P.E.I. Premier has noted that he may scrap a multimillion-dollar NHL deal as the province fights U.S. tariffs in their own way, after it was planning to host the NHL Awards. The 2024 NHL Awards show was held at the BleauLive Theater, a glitzy 3,800-seat venue in Las Vegas, but they were still considering this, but with the recent geo-political landscape between Canada and the USA, this may be on pause.
- Speaking of politics, the Florida Panthers celebrated their win by being hosted by President Donald J. Trump at the White House this past Monday. Fun fact, this tradition of winning sports teams visiting the White House goes back all the way to the 19th century, but for the NHL it is a more recent tradition, with the 1991 Stanley Cup Champions the Pittsburgh Penguins were the first to do so.
- As always, there is a lot more news so make sure to tune in for our aired Season 6, Episode 21 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’
