Two players seeking bounce-back campaigns headline the list of four former University of Maine players who are on NHL rosters as the season gets underway on Tuesday night.
Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and Winnipeg Jets winger Gustav Nyquist are looking to erase the memories of last season and put together a strong 2025-26 season. Veteran defenseman Ben Hutton has returned to the Vegas Golden Knights and winger Ryan Lomberg is back with the Calgary Flames.
The 26-year-old Swayman missed training camp due to a contract holdout a year ago and then had the worst year of his pro career, turning in a 22-29-7 record, a 3.11 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage.
But he got rejuvenated by leading Team USA to its first gold medal in 92 years in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championships. He went 7-0 with a 1.69 GAA and a .921 save percentage including a shutout overtime win over Switzerland in the gold medal game.
Swayman will come into the season with a career record of 101-62-22, a 2.58 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
The 36-year-old Nyquist signed a free-agent, one-year deal worth $3.25 million with the Jets, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season for accruing the most points during the regular season (116). He played for Nashville and Minnesota last season and had just 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 79 games after posting a career-high 75 points (23 goals, 52 assists) the previous year in Nashville.
Nyquist is in his 15th NHL season and has tallied 209 goals and 322 assists for 531 points in 863 regular season games. Winnipeg is his sixth NHL team.
Hutton appeared in only 11 games for Vegas last season due to an early-season upper body injury and a deep Golden Knights defense corps that left him as a healthy scratch on most game nights.
The 32-year-old Hutton has appeared in 520 career games for five teams and has produced 24 goals and 100 assists for 124 points.
The 30-year-old Lomberg notched three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 80 games for Calgary a year ago. He has 337 NHL regular season games to his credit and has 31 goals and 32 assists.
Swayman told reporters in September that he is a “completely different human being” entering this season.
“I’m in a great spot and I’m really excited about that. To have that approach of creating the culture, creating my self-culture to be elite and, hopefully, it’ll bleed into this [Bruins dressing room] and have guys follow that way.
In a story in NHL.com, Nyquist said he had several options “but this was a great opportunity for me to come to a great team.” He has never been on a Stanley Cup-winning team and he feels he will have that opportunity in Winnipeg.
Other former Black Bears have shots to appear during the year. Despite leading the Carolina Hurricanes in scoring during the preseason with three goals and two assists in five games, Bradly Nadeau was sent down to the American Hockey League Chicago Wolves.
He had 32 goals and 26 assists for 58 points in 64 games for Chicago last season. He was just the sixth teenager since 1940 and third since 1950 to score 30 or more goals in the AHL.
Another former Black Bear, Jim Montgomery, is returning to coach the St. Louis Blues after guiding them to a Stanley Cup playoff berth a year ago. After being fired by the Bruins, Montgomery was hired by the Blues and he led them to a 35-18-7 record after they had gone 9-12-1 to start the season under Drew Bannister, who was fired.
The former NHL coach of the year (2022-23) has compiled a career record of 215-102-40 between Dallas, Boston and St. Louis.