6:21 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Sam Poulin is taking a leave of absence from the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Penguins general manager Ron Hextall announced on Wednesday that the 21-year-old Poulin, Pittsburgh’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft, is stepping away due to “personal reasons.” “The

7:00 AM ET With a few exceptions, NHL coaches are hired to eventually get fired. It’s the circle of life, the way of the world. It’s understood and just a matter of “when.” Teams generally aren’t shy about making alterations behind the bench. Last season, the NHL saw four coaching changes by this point in

2:22 AM ET SEATTLE — There’s scoring your first NHL goal. Then there’s scoring your first NHL goal against the team that could have taken you with the No. 1 pick. That’s what Shane Wright did Tuesday, scoring his first goal in the Seattle Kraken‘s 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Climate Pledge Arena.

2:00 PM ET As we here at ESPN.com pump out daily looks at the NHL slate and will continue to do so, it struck me that we didn’t provide a user’s guide for our work. Sure these daily notes can be viewed through a daily fantasy lens, but that isn’t our primary focus here: ESPN.com

8:10 AM ET Welcome to December in the NHL, where parity reigns more than ever and no lead is safe. And while I’ve heard plenty of theories on why — defense taking a backseat, special teams mattering more, a rash of injuries, the rebuilding teams improving faster than expected — do we really care to

10:39 PM ET ESPN News Services BOSTON — The Vegas Golden Knights made former Boston coach Bruce Cassidy’s return a success, as Reilly Smith scored in the fifth round of the shootout to beat the Bruins 4-3 and end their NHL record for home victories to open a season at 14 games Monday night. The

2:00 PM ET While they all probably deserve a deeper dive than the space I can afford them here, let’s take a moment to collect and group the underachievers of the season for future analysis. Injuries don’t count, so Zach Werenski and Josh Norris get a pass. Rookies don’t count either, so we aren’t bothering

7:50 AM ET Welcome to December. It’s that portion of the NHL calendar in which teams have a sample size of more than 20 regular-season games. There are some teams that will be in the playoffs. There are some who are trying to get there, and there are others who might be looking ahead to

8:48 PM ET Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner set a franchise record in extending his point streak to 19 games Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The winger scored a short-handed goal early in the second period against the Lightning to reach his milestone and give Toronto a 1-0 lead. He later scored

7:00 AM ET We’re into a new month of the 2022-23 NHL season, and for the first time ever there’s a World Cup (of soccer) going on simultaneously! In keeping with the international spirit of the big event, this week for the power rankings we’ve broken down the roster of each club in terms of