The Toronto Maple Leafs want help on the back end, but the math is working against them. They’re trying to find a defenseman for one of their top two pairings, yet next year’s salary cap picture is already jammed up. Before they can even think about adding, they have to clear room, and that means moving contracts out first.
Dakota Joshua and Miles Wood are among the names on the list to go, but that doesn’t mean a clean deal is waiting around for Toronto. David Pagnotta said the Leafs are stuck if they can’t dump any contracts, and if they want to move money, they may have to attach a sweetener to get it done. The message is pretty clear: nobody is lining up to rescue them from their cap situation.
While Toronto is trying to solve its roster puzzle, Connor McDavid is making the rest of the league look slow. He has 49 points in 20 games and is tracking toward 206 points, a number that has people talking about a 200-point season.
That’s territory only Wayne Gretzky has reached. Even McDavid’s teammates are trying to explain it, and defenseman Mattias Ekholm pointed to the Oilers not having a long playoff series last season as one reason McDavid may be fresher right now.
Then there’s Erik Karlsson, who looks like a name to watch as the Penguins head toward seller mode. He’s on an expiring contract, and Pittsburgh doesn’t appear to have a playoff-calibre team. Pierre LeBrun said the Carolina Hurricanes are the most interested club, especially after they couldn’t land John Carlson in a trade.
But Karlsson isn’t just a piece the Penguins can move wherever they want. He has a no-trade clause, which gives him the final say on where he goes.
Kyle Dubas said the Penguins will handle any Karlsson trade, and that they’ll only move him if both sides are agreeable. And because Karlsson hasn’t won a Stanley Cup, there’s a real chance he’d prefer a team with a legitimate shot to go all the way before he retires.
In Other News...
WBS Penguins Let Rivalry Milestone Slip Away In Brutal Collapse
The 300th regular-season meeting between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey had all the markings of another hard-nosed chapter in a long rivalry, and for most of the night the Penguins looked ready to make it their own. They carried a 3-1 lead into the third period and had the game in hand before the Bears started clawing back, turning what should have been a landmark win into a tense finish.
Hershey finished the rally in overtime to steal a 4-3 victory, leaving the Penguins to sort through a collapse that will sting for a while. Taylor Gauthier was busy throughout the night, and Cal Petersen held up his end for the Bears as they found a way to turn a milestone game into a memorable comeback, one Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would have liked to close out much differently. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Practice Sent A Clear Message About A Roster Shakeup
Dan Muse used practice to reshuffle the Penguins lines, and the message from the morning skate was hard to miss. Rookie Sergei Murashov was being singled out as having secured a roster spot, giving the club a little clarity at a time when the lineup has been in flux and every adjustment feels like it carries a little extra weight.
Elsewhere on the ice, Bryan Rust and Elmer Soderblom were both on injured ice before practice, with Rust skating but not at full intensity. The broader picture around the Penguins is still changing too, with trade chatter continuing to swirl around Erik Karlsson and other names around the league, leaving the roster conversation very much alive even as one young player appears to have carved out his place. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins May Be Headed For A Reset Faster Than Fans Expected
The early weeks of the 2025-26 season have done little to calm concerns around the Penguins, who have looked inconsistent and short on answers as the losses and flat stretches pile up. What is starting to matter now is not just the on-ice frustration, but the direction behind the scenes, where general manager Kyle Dubas is said to be weighing a much bigger reset than many around the team expected this soon.
That kind of pivot gets complicated quickly in Pittsburgh, especially with veteran contracts and movement clauses shaping what can actually happen. Sidney Crosby remains the center of everything, but the rest of the roster is no longer being viewed as untouchable, and the next stretch could determine whether the Penguins try to patch things up or begin reshaping the group around younger talent before the season gets away from them. [Read more 🡒]