PITTSBURGH — Grant Watson was 6 when he started to watch Penguins games with his father.

Jim Watson figured Grant would gravitate toward Sidney Crosby, one of the greatest players and winners in hockey history, or Sid's superstar sidekick, Evgeni Malkin.

Instead, almost instantly the boy became fascinated with the flamboyant French Canadian ...Read more

Many players are important, some even indispensable. But Aleksander Barkov is that rare, irreplaceable player who the Florida Panthers look like they’ll somehow have to replace.

The Panthers captain underwent surgery for a knee injury suffered after a common collision on his first practice Thursday had an uncommon outcome. The Panthers ...Read more

MIAMI — The Florida Panthers’ climb to the NHL’s first Stanley Cup three-peat in more than 40 years just got higher, steeper. The team lost its guide and sherpa on Friday, the player the others follow.

There is no understating the size and weight of the Panthers losing team captain Aleksander Barkov to knee surgery expected to be season ...Read more

If the Florida Panthers want to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup, they will likely have to do so without their captain on the ice.

Panthers center Aleksander Barkov on Friday underwent surgery to repair injuries to the ACL and MCL in his right knee. His timeline for recovery is between seven and nine months, all but ensuring he will miss the...Read more

PITTSBURGH — It will indeed be a “full circle” moment, as Marc-Andre Fleury describes it, when the beloved goaltender takes the ice for the Penguins one last time Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Fleury, 40, will play one period of an exhibition game against the Columbus Blue Jackets before officially ending his 21-year NHL career.

...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov, the captain of the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, sustained an apparent right leg injury during training camp on Thursday.

The injury happened during a non-contact drill, with Barkov falling to his knees shortly before a minor collision with defenseman Niko Mikkola. Barkov laid ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jack Gard took off down the stairs to his bedroom at the family home in Winnipeg, Canada, on June 28. Seconds before, the Gard family watched on television as his younger brother, Matthew, was drafted in the second round, 57th overall.

Already wearing his own, he returned with the perfect thing for the moment: a Flyers jersey. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — During his Q&A with The Philadelphia Inquirer in May, Rick Tocchet broke down his defensive zone strategy, revealing he does not use man-to-man pressure in the defensive zone.

“It’s a very aggressive zone,” he said, the day he was hired. “I don’t like a run-around pressure type of system. It’s got to be calculated. ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Sharks’ success was once so constant, so reliable, so predictable, that they ran out of room to hang their accolades.

With twenty playoff appearances in 24 years, the Sharks literally filled up an entire banner at their practice facility, top to bottom, with their postseason berths.

It was such steady excellence that...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The word came down on the afternoon of July 1, while NHL teams were busy splashing out millions on new players and free agents were signing deals in great haste before cap space and roster spots went to other players.

Nik Ehlers would not be moved.

The free-agent forward, late of the Winnipeg Jets and the top winger available...Read more

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — One of Todd McLellan's favorite players to coach was Anze Kopitar, when both were in Los Angeles.

Kopitar, 38, announced Thursday that this season, Kopitar's 20th in the NHL, would be his last in a sure-fire Hall of Fame career.

Which kind of invites a comparison to Patrick Kane.

At age 36 (37 on Nov. 19), Kane is in ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Brad Marchand told our sports market’s dirty, little, wonderful secret. It’s one that, as former Miami Dolphins executive Mike Tannenbaum said, “We brought up all the time when negotiating.” It’s a “possible game-decider if everything else is equal,’’ a long-time agent said.

It’s why Marchand says he ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Anze Kopitar, widely considered the greatest player in Kings franchise history and poised to become the team's all-time leading scorer, announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.

"I just felt this is the time, but saying that, I'm looking extremely forward to this next season," said Kopitar, who added ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— There’s no better place in sports right now to understand the difference between champions and wannabes than the Florida Panthers, and no story better illustrates it than Bill Zito’s interview for the general manager job five years ago.

Zito asked a question inside an organization that had been flailing for decades ...Read more

DETROIT — Red Wings fans are getting frustrated and would like to see the team's nine-year playoff drought end.

They're tired of hearing the word "rebuild" from Red Wings officials.

General manager Steve Yzerman understands that — Yzerman believes this year's team, which begins training camp Thursday, will be better than last year's — ...Read more

SEATTLE — John Hayden, a forward in the Seattle Kraken organization, always hoped he’d wind up on ESPN for a hockey accomplishment. Maybe a slick goal or an All-Star game selection.

“But I guess being chased by bears is my calling,” Hayden joked.

A video of him fly fishing in an Alaskan river alongside Kraken mascot Buoy went viral ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The door is officially closed on Carter Hart’s return to Philly, Danny Brière says.

“The only comment I’ll make on that is that his representative, Judd Moldaver, has reached out and kind of told us that in light of everything that happened in the last year and a half with Carter, they felt, and Carter felt, that it was ...Read more

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Most seventh-round picks in the NHL draft are essentially lottery tickets. If everything goes right in their development, they just might hit. But the Lightning view those late picks in an entirely different way — less about luck, more about projection and even more about process.

In June’s draft, half of the ...Read more

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tristan Broz has shown at every stop on his path to the pros that he is capable of scoring goals. He pumped in two more in Monday’s 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres, giving him three in his three games at the Prospects Challenge.

But heading into this summer, the Penguins told the rising forward prospect that if he wanted ...Read more

CASTLE PINES, Colo. — Brock Nelson was tempted to take a look around, but ultimately decided he had already found his new home.

Nelson could have been the top center available when the free-agent market opened July 1. Given that the salary cap ceiling increased more than in the past five years combined, with more big jumps coming in the next ...Read more