Training-camp battles to watch in NHL's Eastern Conference

NHL rookie camps are winding down, soon giving way to full training camps and preseason action. With the regular season nearing, let's examine key position battles for every team in the Eastern Conference.

Boston Bruins: Bottom-six scoring depth

There appears to be a clear pecking order in Boston among its bottom-six forwards. Some combination of Sean Kuraly, Tanner Jeannot, John Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Michael Eyssimont will probably play in those depth forward roles. Center Pavel Zacha is a potential trade candidate, which could open another spot higher in the lineup. For now, it appears that talented, young forwards Matthew Poitras, Marat Khusnutdinov, Fabian Lysell and Fraser Minten will be competing for essentially one spot. 

Buffalo Sabres: Center depth chart

Buffalo's coaching staff moved No. 1 center Tage Thompson to wing last season, and the front office traded No. 2 center Dylan Cozens to Ottawa at the 2025 trade deadline. Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod, Jiri Kulich and Peyton Krebs appear to make up the early depth chart down the middle. The big question: How likely is it that those guys are in those roles when the season starts? Norris' injury history has limited him to more than 60 games over a season just once in his career. McLeod typically plays down the lineup, Kulich is unproven and Krebs has struggled to break through despite once being touted as a big-deal center prospect. 

Carolina Hurricanes: Alexander Nikishin vs. Oliver Kylington and Mike Reilly

One of the more highly decorated defensive prospects in years, Nikishin will push to make the Canes opening-night roster. He joins already established left-handers Jaccob Slavin, K'Andre Miller and Shayne Gostisbehere. Meanwhile, solid veterans Mike Reilly and Oliver Kylington are likely going to push for NHL jobs. Someone isn't making this team, and it seems even more likely that one of the lefties will have to play the right side. 

Columbus Blue Jackets: Elvis Merzlikins vs. Jet Greaves vs. Ivan Fedotov

The goaltending situation is coming to a head. Merzlikins is coming off his third straight season failing to record a .900 save percentage. 24-year-old Greaves' 11-game run last season likely has Columbus hoping he can push Merzlikins into making fewer starts. No one is expecting Greaves to play at .924 (his small sample career save percentage) all season, but something closer to that would likely make Columbus a playoff team. The addition of 6-foot-7 Fedotov from Philadelphia is curious. His sample size in the NHL is small but exceptionally unproductive (.874 save percentage in 29 games). 

Detroit Red Wings: Nate Danielson vs. Detroit veterans

Detroit has many highly touted prospects pushing to break through, so it's challenging for the Red Wings to build a roster. Nate Danielson, a center who went No. 9 overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, will have to really push in camp for an NHL role on opening night. Forwards J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp have both struggled at times for the Wings, but the two make a combined $11.73M against the cap. Danielson unseating one of them will be a challenge unless he's leveled up from his respectable but not outstanding first AHL season.

Florida Panthers: Matthew Tkachuk's job (temporarily)

Winger Tkachuk is not expected to play until early in 2026, which means the Panthers have a pretty important top-six winger job available up in the lineup. Do they break up the highly touted third line to supplement the second line? Could this be where winger prospect Mackie Samoskevich finally sees action? 

Montreal Canadiens: Patrik Laine's power play time vs. Ivan Demidov's upside

Laine is entering the final season of a four-year contract, and he's a major five-on-five liability. (He's minus-16 over the past two seasons.) The Canadiens will have every reason to push talented winger Demidov. His ascent could move Cole Caufield into Laine's current role at the left dot. 

New Jersey Devils: All Tom Fitzgerald's defenseman

The Devils invested heavily on the defense in free agency and draft. They have six locks to make the roster and a bunch of promising, young defenseman with no guarantees of ice time in the NHL. Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey will have to make their cases for playing time in training camp. 

New York Islanders: Matthew Schaefer vs. Adam Boqvist and Ethan Bear

This ties into a much larger question about the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and whether he should immediately play in the NHL beyond a standard nine-game tryout. Schaefer only played 17 games last season because of an injury in the minor leagues, but he'll have a chance to challenge somebody for a roster spot early, particularly defensemen Boqvist and Bear, who are projected lower in the lineup and have little roster protection in their low salaries.

New York Rangers: Defenseman dominos

The third-line center battle is also one to watch, but the Rangers acquisition of right-handed defenseman Scott Morrow in the K'Andre Miller trade could have a huge domino effect on the lineup. If Morrow wins a spot on the third pair, then there could be a battle among Carson Soucy, Braden Schneider and Urho Vaakanainen for a top-four job. 

Ottawa Senators: Carter Yakemchuk vs. Jordan Spence

There's a lack of drama in Ottawa, where many of the most important roles are probably locked in. Yakemchuk, Ottawa's best prospect and a hulking 6-foot-4, 207-pound right-handed defenseman with offensive upside, might be the one surprise in camp. He could potentially get the chance to push newly acquired defenseman Spence, who is in a contract year and isn't breaking the bank at $1.5 million per season. 

Philadelphia Flyers: Dan Vladar vs. Samuel Ersson vs. Aleksei Kolosov

The big question is at goalie, where the Flyers were last in all- situations save percentage. Newly acquired Vladar has historically been more of a backup. Ersson has struggled in the starter's net for Philly. Prospect Kolosov could also push for a role, though he struggled in his NHL debut last season with an .867 save percentage in 17 appearances. 

Pittsburgh Penguins: Tristan Jarry vs. Arthur Silovs vs. Joel Blomqvist

The Penguins have young players (forward Rutger McGroarty and defenseman Owen Pickering) who will start pushing for spots soon, but there's not much drama in this as they could elect to start the season with those players getting big AHL minutes ahead of a likely trade deadline sell-off. The true battle should be in net, where the much maligned  Jarry will have competition from newly acquired Silovs and young goaltender Blomqvist. 

Tampa Bay Lightning: Conor Geekie vs. almost everyone

Tampa acquired Geekie last summer in the Mikhail Sergachev blockbuster. Geekie instantly became Tampa's best prospect, but his first season in the NHL went about as you'd expect for a big forward trying to figure out his role on a veteran team with Cup aspirations. He scored just 14 points in 52 games and was underwater on some key metrics. The first line is probably out of the question, but the hybrid forward could land on any other line or in the AHL if he fails to impress in camp.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Easton Cowen vs. almost everyone

The team's top prospect at forward (and overall) has been an accomplished scorer with some physical snarl at every level of the game, including in the biggest possible moments for the London Knights in back-to-back trips to the Memorial Cup. An undersized center, the 5-foot-11 Cowen will need to blow the Leafs away in camp to make a roster with Stanley Cup aspirations. 

Washington Capitals: Ryan Leonard vs. Ryan Leonard

Leonard is the type of prospect who excites front offices. If the offense he showed at lower levels of hockey translates to the NHL, the team will have an ultra-competitive power forward who will make the lives of the opposition miserable. The offense didn't translate in his 17 total regular-season and playoff games (just two points overall). Leonard could seemingly fit on any line in Washington, but his role is almost entirely going to be determined by what type of performance he has in camp. 

The regular season begins Oct. 7.