NHL News

7:15 AM ET The 2021 NHL rookie class is really fun — but also really complicated. The introduction of taxi squads and delayed starts to Canadian junior hockey has given NHL teams more roster flexibility than they often have at this stage of the season. And the rollout of the flat salary cap has placed

9:43 AM ET Everything you’re about to read can change in a cough. That’s the reality of the 2021 NHL season, which is being played inside (mostly) empty arenas during the COVID-19 pandemic. The league released the names of 27 players who began the season with a “COVID Protocol Related Absence,” and that’s not including

7:00 AM ET NHL Insiders The puck drops on the 2020-21 NHL season this week, a season that will be unique in a great many ways: new divisions, a new playoff format, ads on helmets and much more. But we’re looking way ahead, answering the big questions: Who will win the Stanley Cup? Who are

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NHL season is here! After awarding the Stanley Cup in September following a most unusual 2019-20 season, we’re back on the ice again. Four new divisions, 56-game schedules and, most importantly, 116 consecutive nights of NHL games, beginning Wednesday. For our first week of power rankings, we offer a reason

7:21 PM ET The NHL announced that 27 players had confirmed positive COVID-19 tests during training camps, which concluded Tuesday. Of those players, 17 were members of the Dallas Stars, who shut down their training facilities last Friday after an outbreak. Dallas’ first three games — at Florida on Thursday and Friday and at Tampa

9:40 AM ET It’s challenging to keep up with the news during a typical NHL offseason. It’s doubly challenging to do so when that offseason begins in late September, ends in mid-January and every day in between presents another focus-devouring distraction from pressing issues like which team signed Radko Gudas. (Spoiler: It was the Florida

6:05 PM ET NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league and its clubs will lose billions of dollars to stage an abridged 2021 season largely without fans, but he felt it was critical to play through the pandemic anyway. “Let me make something really clear: We’re coming back to play this season because we think

9:00 AM ET NHL Insiders The 2021 NHL season is set to start on Wednesday, with the Tampa Bay Lightning beginning their Stanley Cup defense. Senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski, NHL writer Emily Kaplan and ESPN’s Arda Ocal are here with their best futures bets before the pucks drop. Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook by

7:08 PM ET ESPN News Services NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils have re-signed restricted free agent forward Jesper Bratt to a $5.5 million, two-year contract. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the deal on Sunday, four days before the season opener at home against the Boston Bruins. The 22-year-old Bratt will make just

2:16 PM ET Associated Press The NBA’s Toronto Raptors and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning won’t have fans at home games in Tampa, Florida, until at least Feb. 5. Vinik Sports Group, which owns the Lightning and Amalie Arena, announced Saturday that the organization wouldn’t admit fans because coronavirus cases in the area have “risen

7:46 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings claimed defenseman Christian Djoos off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. The Red Wings announced the move. The 26-year-old Djoos played 11 games for Anaheim and Washington last season, finishing with a goal and two assists. He has five goals and 22 assists

6:55 PM ET Associated Press Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame radio play-by-play announcer Mike Lange is taking an early intermission before starting his 46th season in the booth. The team announced Friday that the 72-year-old Lange will sit out the beginning of the 2021 season as a precaution due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’ve decided

7:15 AM ET We’re just days away from embarking on a very different kind of NHL season, and it was fascinating to see how this year’s NHL Rank — our predictive ranking of the top 100 players for 2020-21 — played out. But it also got me thinking: How different will this list look in

7:00 AM ET The NHL drops the puck on the 2021 season on Jan. 13, and things are going to look different. It’s not just the abridged 56-game season length and temporary divisional realignment. The league also instituted several new rules. There’s one big on-ice change, which could simplify one of hockey’s most controversial rules

10:28 AM ET From Jan. 13 through May 8, there are NHL games scheduled every night as part of its truncated 56-game 2020-21 season. Every. Single. Night. On some nights, there’s just one game. If you’re itching to watch an NHL game on Jan. 25, for example, your option is the Ottawa Senators at the

7:15 AM ET On Wednesday, we released our NHL Rank for the 2020-21 season — a predictive list of the top 100 players for this coming season. A panel of 11 ESPN NHL experts (it wasn’t just the two of us!) graded players based on how good they will be in comparison to their peers

12:09 AM ET The United States upset heavily favored and undefeated Canada 2-0 in Edmonton to win the gold medal in the first ever World Junior Championship played in a bubble. In a defensive special, Boston College goaltender and Florida Panthers prospect Spencer Knight stopped all 34 shots he faced to secure USA’s first gold

7:00 AM ET The 2020-21 NHL season is finally almost here, with the puck set to drop in one week. So we look ahead to the 56-game slate and projecting who will be among the 100 top players. We asked a panel of 11 ESPN NHL experts to grade players based on how good they