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

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks have signed center Macklin Celebrini, the first-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, to a three-year, entry-level contract, starting a new era for the franchise.

“Macklin is not only a special player on the ice, but he is a poised, confident and intelligent young man off of it,” San Jose Sharks ...Read more

SEATTLE — There’s a clip from the iconic 1977 satirical hockey movie “Slap Shot” that briefly forced Kraken draft pick Nathan Villeneuve to stop using his cellphone.

“I was tired of opening my phone and seeing the same meme texted to me a thousand times,” Villeneuve, 18, said this week at the Kraken’s annual development camp after...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Golden Knights fans, it’s completely fine to be all in your feelings this week about the departures of some beloved players.

At the same time, it’s OK to acknowledge the organization probably made the right decision on most of those contracts, even if it feels like you are betraying people you have come to love cheering for ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Next season just became important for the Golden Knights’ goaltending department.

Not just for 2025, but beyond.

The Knights shook up their netminder situation in the span of 48 hours, starting with the trade of Logan Thompson to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

They followed that by signing former Toronto Maple Leafs ...Read more

DETROIT — The Red Wings missed out on the playoffs on the final night of the regular season on a tiebreaker, after finishing with the same number of points as Washington.

The Wings certainly had the look of a playoff team, the feel of it. And heading into this season, after the first week of unrestricted free agency, general manager Steve ...Read more

SEATTLE — Refs? Check. Front office? Indeed. Scouting, skating coaches, video work — those boxes are a long way from blank.

But a woman behind the bench? A female assistant coach with no caveats? That's an NHL first.

And it happened here in Seattle.

That's a necessary introduction, because this is history. We've seen women break through ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Here's a hot take: The Pittsburgh Penguins could actually be pretty good this season.

Here's a hotter one: Given the pedigree and paychecks of their top eight players or so, plus the pedigree and paycheck of their head coach, they should be pretty good. They do not deserve the benefit of low expectations.

What if their best ...Read more

DETROIT — Sometimes, Red Savage will see Trey Augustine trudge along around Michigan State's Munn Arena and just shake his head.

"We call him Gramps sometimes because he's always waddling around the rink," said Savage, a Red Wings prospect talking about his MSU teammate and fellow Wings prospect. "You forget he's just a little 19-year-old. I ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. – During the first two days of the San Jose Sharks’ development camp this week, center Will Smith displayed the kind of skating, puckhandling, and vision that helped make him the fourth overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft.

But as he enters his first pro season after signing an entry-level contract with the Sharks in ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Danny Briere wasn’t too worried about keeping Bobby Brink in Orange and Black. Every time he was asked, the Philadelphia Flyers general manager said “something will get done.”

And now it is.

The Flyers have re-signed Brink to a one-way, two-year contract with an annual average value of $1.5 million. Brink, who turns 23 ...Read more

DETROIT — The Red Wings headed into the long holiday weekend adding some needed offense — then traded some of it away.

The Wings signed free-agent forward Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million ($4.75 annual average value), then announced shortly afterward that they traded forward Robby Fabbri and a conditional 2025 ...Read more

SEATTLE — Newest Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell has long said she feels she’s been treated no differently by the men working around her as she continued to break hockey barriers.

That sense of belonging should serve Saskatchewan, Canada, native Campbell, 32, well in her most groundbreaking role yet — announced Wednesday ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — We fall in love easily.

That’s what a sports fan does. Every new prospect is a potential romance, and every season’s end is another round of heartbreak. It’s not that we’re difficult, we just have certain qualities we demand of our athletic idols.

Like dignity. Loyalty and humility. Persistence, heart and a scorer�...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins front office and ownership group are in a tough spot, so I understand what they are trying to do.

They are trying to have their cake and eat it, too. They are trying build for the future and win now. Kyle Dubas said as much Monday when he met with the media.

"We're not looking to simply squeak into the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Penguins on Tuesday signed Sebastian Aho — no, not that Sebastian Aho, but the veteran NHL defenseman with the same name — to a two-year deal.

The contract carries an average annual value of $775,000 at the NHL level.

Aho, 28, is a lefty who has played 190 career games over five NHL seasons, all with the New York ...Read more