Daily Faceoff

Fanbases who support bad NHL teams are a prospect writer’s dream. We tend to get well-acquainted when a team flat-out stinks. That’s why fans of bottom-feeders tend to love prospect pool rankings – they want something, anything to get them pumped for the future. We’ve spent the summer looking at every team’s prospect pool, ranking the top 10 players in each pipeline. We’ve also looked at the strengths and weaknesses, which can change year to year depending on how many players get sent to the NHL.

It was a tumultuous offseason for the 2025-26 Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman in the NHL, as Columbus Blue Jackets superstar Zach Werenski, who was nearly traded earlier this summer. As fellow American Olympic gold medalists Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck requested trades from their respective NHL teams this summer, rumors surfaced that Werenski, too, was not content with the state of his team and was open to exploring a new opportunity.

Hockey will still be front and center on Saturday night in Canada, even after Sportsnet and CBC ended their partnership to use the Hockey Night in Canada brand for NHL games, ending 95 years of the brand showcasing Canadian NHL teams. On Wednesday, Rogers unveiled its 2026-27 NHL broadcasting plans, revealing that Hockey Night in Canada’s old spot on the schedule will be “Saturday Night Hockey,” with the focus remaining on the seven Canadian NHL franchises.

Last year’s Norris Trophy voting showed just how gridlocked the upper echelon of NHL defensemen is today. While Zach Werenski cruised to his first Norris, it was the rare reveal where a trophy’s finalists could have gone a lot of different ways. Seven defensemen earned at least three first-place votes – a result that hadn’t occurred in 44 years. There’s a wealth of talent roaming NHL bluelines right now.

It’s finally happened. On Wednesday, the Professional Women’s Hockey League and Scripps Sports announced a television deal in the United States. The contract, currently set for the 2026-27 season, is the first U.S. national broadcast rights deal that will carry for an entire campaign.

LAS VEGAS – No general manager. Your captain wanting out. One of your team’s top defensemen unsigned. Pretty much nothing is on solid ground for the Detroit Red Wings right now. It thus couldn’t have been an easy assignment for the team’s leading goal scorer, Alex DeBrincat, to sit down with reporters Tuesday evening for the 2026-27 NHL Player Media Tour in Vegas. But he gutted it out while doing his best to shine a positive light on the team’s situation, even if his uncertainty was transparent.

Unrestricted free agent center Tyson Jost will attend the Nashville Predators‘ 2026 training camp on a professional tryout opportunity (PTO), PuckPedia reported Tuesday afternoon. Jost, 28, spent the entirety of the 2025-26 season with the Predators, collecting eight goals and 16 points in 69 games while playing in a bottom-six role. The 5’11”, left-handed forward also racked up 30 penalty minutes and posted a minus-21 rating with Nashville while averaging 12:25 of ice time per game.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year, $21 million contract this offseason, the reviews were mixed. Sure, the Leafs are getting a two-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Vezina Trophy winner, but committing three years to a 37-year-old goalie coming off a down season comes with its fair share of risk. If Leafs fans are still looking to feel better about the deal, perhaps a testimonial from one of Bobrovsky’s former teammates would do the trick.

LAS VEGAS – Gee, what should we talk about? A tip of the cap to new Florida Panthers left winger Brady Tkachuk for dispensing with the small talk pretty much the moment he sat down with a small group of reporters Tuesday morning at the start of the 2026-27 NHL Player Media Tour. No need to waste time on what he did for summer vacation. There was simply too much to discuss. Heck, his now-former teammate, Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, was due up next to be interviewed.

The annual event where the top youngsters in the game will hear their names called is set for next summer. It was reported on Tuesday that the 2027 NHL Draft will be held on June 25-26. The first round is expected to be held on Friday, the 25th, with the remaining six rounds taking place on Saturday, the 26th. The NHL also confirmed that the draft will be decentralized, meaning the 32 front offices won’t be in one place for the third year in a row.