PITTSBURGH — Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas had one clear-cut objective this offseason: Make the team younger.

After the Penguins disappointed and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second consecutive campaign — squandering another spectacular season from Sidney Crosby — many wondered if the rebuild would truly get ...Read more

SEATTLE — The Kraken’s first draft pick is set to stick around for a good, long while.

Matty Beniers, 21, agreed to a seven-year, $50M contract with an average annual value of $7.14M. The deal was announced Tuesday morning, less than a month before the Kraken open training camp.

It was speculated that Beniers’ camp would seek a “bridge...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights announced Friday they will visit Mexico in September as part of their first international trip.

The team will hold hockey clinics and fan activities Sept. 6-10 in Mexico City, Metepec and the Monterrey area.

“In addition to the 225,000 people of Mexican heritage that already live in Las Vegas, our city also ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — History should record that the Carolina Hurricanes were also extremely high on Zach Parise going into that epochal 2003 draft, one of the two or three best in the entire history of the NHL. If they didn’t have the second pick — after a season in which they finished dead last, they lost the lottery, too — they might have ...Read more

CHICAGO — Some people have an admirable capacity to forgive.

Look no further than former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach finding it in himself to have a phone conversation with former general manager Stan Bowman, who by his own admission failed Beach with his silence when Hawks senior management neglected to act on Beach’s sexual ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Put down the tissues and grab your wits. Crying time is over, and you’re going to want to see this.

Two weeks after the saddest goodbye in franchise history, the Lightning are a different team. Less lovable but maybe more formidable. Less recognizable but more rational.

Steven Stamkos and Mikhail Sergachev are gone while ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — This wasn’t the way Victor Hedman envisioned his days playing alongside his best friend ending.

The defenseman joined the Tampa Bay Lightning one year after forward Steven Stamkos, and the two were teammates for 15 seasons. They grew from teenagers into grown men, pillars of the team’s championship success. They loved ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Sergei Gonchar's list of accomplishments is not short.

Twenty NHL seasons and 1,301 games played. More points (811) than any other Russian-born defenseman. Nine times in the top-10 of Norris Trophy voting. Hoisting the Stanley Cup as a player and coach while also winning Olympic medals for his country.

But something Gonchar ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — What Brayden Yager represents for the Penguins took about seven seconds to detect Wednesday in the championship game of their development camp-closing four-on-four tournament.

Their first-round pick in 2023 corralled the puck at the blue line, ducked his left shoulder to gain position and found another gear, flipping a shot past ...Read more

With time winding down and about 10 seconds left Wednesday afternoon in the championship game of the 4-on-4 tournament that closed Pittsburgh Penguins prospect camp, top-billed forward Brayden Yager of Team 3 skated in from the left side and fired a wrister toward the net.

With the score 2-1 and bragging rights on the line, defenseman Owen ...Read more

BRANDON, Fla. — As one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s top prospects, forward Ethan Gauthier has picked up quickly on the importance of learning the ins and outs of being a pro.

He used his second development camp last week as an opportunity to watch everything around him, including the NHL players at TGH IcePlex who were doing informal ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. – With the San Jose Sharks upgrading their roster for the upcoming season and enjoying a newfound excitement around the team, it’s natural to wonder when they might start to become legitimate playoff contenders again.

But Mike Grier, who has taken a methodical approach to rebuilding the Sharks since he was named the team’...Read more

BOSTON — To think the impact of Nikita Zadorov’s signing by the Bruins will be comparable to that of Zdeno Chara 18 years ago would be unfair to both Zadorov and to what Chara accomplished as a Bruin.

Chara’s signing is arguably the best free agent signing in hockey history and, to Zadorov’s credit, the B’s newest blue line beast has ...Read more

The Carolina Hurricanes turned to a familiar face in hiring its new team president.

The team announced Monday that Doug Warf would be president of Hurricanes Holdings, LLC, and would oversee the Hurricanes’ business operations and the operation of PNC Arena.

From 2007-17, Warf served as executive director of the Hurricanes Foundation, ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Owen Pickering looked down at his phone and froze.

Despite having plenty of confidence and a naturally outgoing personality, Pickering really hadn't prepared for this moment — getting a text message from Sidney Crosby shortly after he was drafted in 2022.

Crosby normally goes old school in these settings, opting for a phone ...Read more

Brendan Shanahan was asked when he made the Hockey Hall of Fame how he wanted to be remembered.

“That I was involved,” he told this reporter. Considering he won three Stanley Cups and notched more than 1,300 points during his NHL career, it’s fair to say: mission accomplished.

The players skating at the Philadelphia Flyers development ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. – There’s little question that Macklin Celebrini will provide a significant boost to this season’s San Jose Sharks team.

A tremendously skilled and dynamic two-way center with a nonstop motor and an off-the-charts compete level, Celebrini has the clear potential to be the Sharks’ next franchise player. By all accounts, ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Kyle Dubas was waiting Friday with a message to deliver when the Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospects arrived in Cranberry, Pa., for the Penguins’ annual development camp.

Pittsburgh’s president of hockey operations, who has pivoted into something of a rebuild in his second year on the job, told 48 wide-eyed prospects in the room...Read more

CHICAGO — A crooked smile crept across Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s face as he reflected on his full-circle moment with free-agent “pickup” Teuvo Teräväinen.

“It’s funny, this is way back … I picked Teuvo up from the airport when he first came over,” Davidson said. “I don’t even know if he remembers ...Read more