News staff and wire services
The Montreal Canadiens have signed former Detroit Red Wings forward Joe Veleno to a one-year, one-way contract.
Veleno, 25, an unrestricted free agent who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on June 21 by the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Andre Burakovsky, was bought out eight days later with one-year left on his deal.
He finished the season with the Blackhawks after he was acquired from the Red Wings in exchange for goaltender Petr Mrazek and forward Craig Smith prior to the trade deadline.
The 6-foot-1 centre recorded eight goals and 17 points in 74 games split between the Red Wings and Blackhawks last season.
He was entering the final season of a two-year, $4.55 million deal he signed with the Red Wings in July of 2024. The Blackhawks are expected to receive $1.48 million of cap relief after the buyout.
Drafted 30th overall by the Red Wings in 2018, Veleno has 38 goals and 81 points in 306 career games split between the Red Wings and Blackhawks.
The Montreal native represented Canada at the 2023 World Championship, taking home a gold medal.
Zadina stays in Switzerland
Former Detroit Red Wings forward Filip Zadina is staying in Switzerland.
Zadina agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain with Davos through the 2027-28 season.
Last season, Zadina, a first-round draft choice of the Red Wings in 2018, had 21 goals and 13 assists in 43 games for Davos.
In five years with Detroit, Zadina had 41 goals and was -95 in 262 games.
NHL releases the 2025-26 schedule
The NHL released the full 2025-26 schedule on Wednesday, the final 82-game season before the new collective bargaining agreement kicks in and increases it to 84.
The league’s 32 teams will combine to play 1,312 games between Oct. 7 and April 16 with the playoffs to run from the following weekend through much of June. Beginning in 2026-27, there will be 1,344 games – the most in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin begins his 21st season on Oct. 8 when he and the Washington Capitals host Boston. Ovechkin is at 897 career goals after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record and can add to his total at age 40.
It’s even plausible Ovechkin gets No. 900 in the same arena on Long Island in which he scored his 895th to pass Gretzky. The Capitals visit the New York Islanders in their second game on Oct. 11, before playing the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 12.
After raising their second consecutive Stanley Cup banner on opening night Oct. 7 against Chicago, the back-to-back defending champion Florida Panthers continue their threepeat bid two days later when they host Philadelphia.
Utah plays its first game as the Mammoth on Oct. 9 at Colorado. They were known as the Utah Hockey Club during the first year in Salt Lake City after relocating from Arizona.
For the first time in more than a decade, the league is pausing in the winter to send players to the Olympics. The Milan break runs from Feb. 6-24, with play resuming Feb. 25.
The NHL’s last participation in the Games was 2014 in Sochi, though the new CBA provides for players to also go in 2030, pending another deal with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Ex-NHL goalie Thomas dies at 77
Former NHL goaltender Wayne Thomas, who went on to have a lengthy career in hockey as a coach and an executive, has died from cancer. He was 77.
A spokesperson for the San Jose Sharks confirmed the team learned of Thomas’ death Wednesday from his family. The spokesperson said Thomas died at his home in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
An Ottawa native, Thomas tended goal for Montreal, Toronto and the New York Rangers from 1973-80. He immediately went into coaching and spent time as an assistant with New York, Chicago, St. Louis and San Jose, with stints running the bench in the International Hockey League for teams in Salt Lake City and Peoria.
Thomas spent nearly two decades in the Sharks’ front office from the mid-1990s through 2015, a vast majority of the time in which he served as assistant general manager and vice president of hockey operations and oversaw their American Hockey League club.
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