Articles for author: EdgeHockey Staff

September 19, 2025

Mikael Backlund’s Extension with the Calgary Flames is About More Than Just a Contract

In an NHL era defined by salary cap gymnastics and player transience, loyalty can feel like an antiquated concept. For fans in Calgary, who have watched franchise cornerstones pack their bags for greener pastures with painful regularity, the idea of a player committing for the long haul has become a scarce commodity. That’s what makes the recent announcement of Mikael Backlund’s two-year, $6.5 million contract extension so significant. Also on the EDGE – Flames Training Camp: Can Youth and a Star Goalie Navigate a Season of Uncertainty? On the surface, it’s a smart, team-friendly deal ($3.25 million AAV) for a

September 18, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs’ High-Stakes Contract Negotiations for Goalie Anthony Stolarz

The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the preseason with Stanley Cup aspirations shimmering on the horizon, but a crucial piece of their foundation remains unsettled. While the skaters are dialing in their systems, General Manager Brad Treliving is locked in a negotiation that will define the team’s financial flexibility and goaltending stability for years to come. The man at the center of it all, Anthony Stolarz, is coming off the best season of his career and is looking to cash in. The question echoing through the halls of the Scotiabank Arena is simple, yet profound: What is a league-leading save percentage

September 17, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

New York Rangers

5 Burning Questions for the New-Look New York Rangers

As the New York Rangers faithful prepare to celebrate the franchise’s centennial, the team itself faces a far more urgent task: atonement. The champagne from the 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy victory feels like a distant, hazy memory, completely overshadowed by the “complete and utter disaster” of the 2024-25 season. Missing the playoffs a year after being the league’s best regular-season team wasn’t just a failure; it was a franchise-altering cataclysm that prompted a sweeping and necessary cultural reset. Now, with the doors set to open on training camp this week, the winds of change have blown through Madison Square Garden. A

September 17, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Winnipeg Jets

High Stakes & Burning Questions at the Winnipeg Jets Training Camp

As the Winnipeg Jets open their 2025 training camp this week, they do so not as scrappy underdogs, but as the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners. A franchise-record 56 wins and 116 points last season rewrote the narrative around this club. The question is no longer if they can compete, but whether they can handle the immense pressure that comes with being the team to beat. Last year’s incredible run has established a new standard. Now, General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and Head Coach Scott Arniel face the unenviable task of piloting this group through the turbulent skies of a title-contending season,

September 17, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins at a Crossroads: 5 Burning Questions Heading Into Training Camp

The air is getting crisp, the skates are being sharpened, and for the Boston Bruins, the winds of change are blowing with the force of a nor’easter. After a season that saw the club miss the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, culminating in a trade deadline “firesale” and a mid-season coaching change, this is no ordinary training camp. This is a reckoning. As 50 players descend upon Warrior Ice Arena for medicals on Sept. 17, they aren’t just competing for roster spots; they’re fighting to define the next era of Bruins hockey. The stakes are immense.

September 17, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Montreal Canadiens

Centre of Attention: The Battles That Will Define the Montreal Canadiens’ Season

The faint chill in the air and the smell of freshly scraped ice can only mean one thing: training camp is upon us. For the Montreal Canadiens, this isn’t just a tune-up; it’s the proving ground. After a surprising and exhilarating run to a playoff berth on the back of a 91-point season, the narrative has shifted. The team is no longer a plucky underdog happy to be in the conversation. Now, expectations are real, and the next step in this rebuild is the most difficult one to take. With 60 players descending on camp—42 of them on NHL contracts—roster

September 17, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Edmonton Oilers

All Eyes Are on the Edmonton Oilers’ High-Stakes Training Camp

Another season, another autumn of hope and anxiety descends upon the city of Edmonton. But this year feels different. For the Oilers, the chill in the air isn’t just a sign of changing seasons; it’s a palpable tension that has settled over a franchise standing at a monumental crossroads. After two consecutive, gut-wrenching losses in the Stanley Cup Final, this is no longer just about making a run. It’s about finishing the job. As players report for medicals and fitness testing, they aren’t just entering another training camp. They are walking into what one senior NHL writer has dubbed “the

September 17, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators Enter Training Camp with a Stanley Cup Mindset

The air in Ottawa feels different this September. The usual pre-season optimism, often tinged with a healthy dose of hope and prayer, has been replaced by something more substantial: expectation. After an eight-year drought, the Ottawa Senators are no longer the league’s plucky upstarts just happy to be invited to the dance. They are a playoff team. And as players report for medicals this week ahead of Thursday’s first on-ice sessions, the message from the top down is unequivocal: last year was the appetizer, and now it’s time for the main course. Also on the EDGE – Six Storylines That

September 14, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Toronto Maple Leafs

The End of the Line: Why Nicholas Robertson’s Days as a Maple Leaf are Likely Numbered

For years, Nicholas Robertson has been the Toronto Maple Leafs’ tantalizing ‘what if’. A second-round pick who exploded in his final year of junior, scoring goals at a torrid pace and promising a future of dynamic, top-six offence. He possesses a shot that’s undeniably NHL-caliber—quick, deceptive,rainand lethal. Yet, as we head into the 2025-26 season, the ‘what if’ has soured into ‘what now?’. The runway has gotten shorter, the cockpit is crowded, and the flight plan has been completely rewritten. For Robertson, the future in blue and white looks less like a promise and more like a dead end. The

September 14, 2025

EdgeHockey Staff

Chicago Blackhawks

Spencer Knight’s Kingdom: Chicago Blackhawks Cement Their Future in the Crease

In the often-tumultuous world of a full-scale rebuild, moments of genuine clarity are rare and precious. They are the signposts that tell you the long, winding road is actually leading somewhere. For the Chicago Blackhawks and their fanbase, one of those signposts was firmly planted this weekend. The team announced a three-year, $17.49 million contract extension for goaltender Spencer Knight, a move that does more than just secure a player; it solidifies a foundational pillar for the franchise’s future. This isn’t just another contract. It’s a statement of intent from General Manager Kyle Davidson. It’s a reward for a player