The last of the Originals to win the Stanley Cup was Chicago. The once-mighty, mighty Blackhawks in 2015 wrapped up their third title in six seasons.

Get Starting Point

A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.

What we have today is by far the longest Original Six Cup drought (11 years) in league history, nearly twice as long as the two previous six-year dry spells (1980-85 and 1987-92). In the word of the late/great Ned Martin: Mercy!

The 32-team NHL has proven to be no country for old franchises.

Since 2016, the Bruins (2019) and the Canadiens (2021) have been the lone two Original Six clubs to reach the Cup Final.

As for total games among Original Six clubs over the last 11 playoff seasons, the Bruins top the charts with 99, followed by the Maple Leafs (70), Rangers (63), Canadiens (62), Blackhawks (20), and the woeful Wings (five). Gentle reminder to those vocal Bruins fans who live to grouse about their favorite team’s failures: the Habs, Blackhawks, and Red Wings combined have appeared in a dozen fewer playoff games than the Bruins these last 11 years.

So, yeah, things can be way worse.

The growing narrative around Detroit is that it was Larkin’s urge for going that finally prompted Ilitch to ditch Yzerman. Ilitch’s ideal hire now would be a GM proficient in first aid, someone who could stitch up the talented pivot’s feelings and convince Larkin, at age 30, to stay aboard for the five remaining years on his deal (average annual payout: $8.7 million).

Admittedly, that task probably would fall more to a miracle worker than, say, a Red Cross emergency medic. Even with Larkin aboard it’s not a roster able to dream of competing for a Cup soon (3-5 years). Now 11 seasons into Larkin’s Red Wings residence, could anyone convince him that there’s a legacy play, a statue to be erected one day outside Little Caesars Arena, by staying put?

True, Larkin remains fast and productive (average 71 points over the last five seasons), but Father Time keeps the clock. At his age, he’s reached the “diminishing asset” turn in his career arc. His best fit now is to join an upper-echelon franchise (Dallas? Tampa Bay?) as that missing piece that helps it win a Cup.

Helene St. James, longtime Detroit Free Press reporter on the Red Wings beat, reported in recent days that the Wings have retained a search firm to identify the next GM. St. James also noted that ownership prefers the new boss to be well versed in data and analytics. Five games across 11 playoff seasons have a way of underscoring the importance of numbers. Meanwhile, interim GM Shawn Horcoff minds the store, his finger pressed on the “HOLD’ button when other GMs call to put in bids for Larkin. The franchise center’s trade value, already high, only rose in July, thanks to the gargantuan payouts, ranging $15 million-$18.8 million, lavished on emerging franchise pivots Leo Carlsson (Anaheim), Connor Bedard (Chicago), and Macklin Celebrini (San Jose).

Larkin today, by virtue of those deals, is a humongous bargain, a franchise pivot capable of solidifying a club’s top-six offensive corps at a price some 50 percent below current pay rates for centers yet to reach his performance results. Oh, and with the right club, he’s possibly the guy who helps clinch a couple of Cup titles over the remaining five years of his contract.

The new GM, handed that hand, will be positioned to make or break his career as an executive, and do the same for a franchise that opened its doors for business 100 years ago this fall.

Quiz No. 1: Name the Bruin who has a Stanley Cup ring from each of the Blackhawks titles in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Charlestown native Matt Grzelcyk, who spent eight years with the Bruins, played for the Blackhawks last season.Julio Cortez/Associated Press

EMPLOYMENT WANTED

Grzelcyk still available

As summer pushes toward the finish line, and training camps prep for mid-September openings, ex-Bruin defenseman Matt Grzelcyk remains without a deal in hand for the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Now 32 years old, and 10 years removed from the Boston University campus, Grzelcyk has become well versed in the waiting game. He signed a one-year deal with the Penguins two summers ago, then turned a tryout last September in Chicago into a one-year deal with the Blackhawks for the 2025-26 season.

Ideally, he hopes the next stop leads to more than a single-season career patch as he approaches his 10th NHL season. But for now, he waits.

“The trend is kind of toward the bigger defenseman,” noted the 5-foot-10-inch Grzelcyk, long successful in compensating for his lack of size with his speed, mobility, compete level, and game sense, “someone who can skate and has a long stick … so the league’s all about trends, I feel. But as long as you can still skate and enough teams still need puck-moving … it’s more about finding the right spot and what makes sense. Hopefully, that will happen soon.”

The versatile Tomas Nosek, who got his name on the Cup in ‘25 with the Panthers, is another ex-Bruin who remains without a contract for the upcoming season. Now 33, the 6-3 left winger was a solid bottom-six performer, particularly at the faceoff dot, during his two seasons in Black and Gold. Injury limited him to 21 games last season in Sunrise.

Other ex-Bruins still without 2026-27 landing spots as the weekend approached: James van Riemsdyk, Mike Reilly, Curtis Lazar, Colin Miller, and Derek Forbort.

Ex-Harvard winger Jimmy Vesey, one of Grzelcyk’s best pals in their days growing up as Charlestown rink rats, left the NHL last season for Switzerland. He’s slated to begin his second season with Geneve Servette in the coming weeks.

Grzelcyk remains committed to extending his stay somewhere in they NHL, but he understands the allure of enjoying a late-career twirl in Europe, particularly in the world capital of chocolate.

“From what I’ve gathered from [Vesey], he’s actually loved it,” said Grzelcyk. “I remember playing a few tournaments there when I was with the US [Development] Program, and that was the one place where I went that I can remember calling home to my parents saying, ‘You know, if my flight got cancelled for the next month, I think I’d be OK here.’ Switzerland’s pretty great.”

Grzelcyk is closing in on 600 NHL games and 200 points. He has never been a big point producer, in part because most coaches placed him in lower-pairing roles and rarely offered him sustained power-play time. When given the chance on the advantage, he can be effective.

Consider: 42 of Grzelcyk’s career 161 assists (26.1 percent) have been via the power play. As a comparison, 83 of Charlie McAvoy’s 290 assists (28.6 percent) have been on the advantage. No one is going to mistake Grzelcyk for Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes or McAvoy as a power-play quarterback, but he too often has been overlooked for the role.

Meanwhile, the search for his next NHL stop continues. He has not spent much time on the subject of life after his playing days.

“In college, I always figured I’d play in the NHL and when it was over, that would be it,” Grzelcyk mused following a recent morning workout at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, where he continues to skate four days each week this summer. “But I never had a Plan B. Not that I’d be opposed to staying in the game, too, because I love it … the routine, the preparation, the camaraderie, all of it. But I always thought it would be a clean break, and on to a new challenge.”

The next step, though it’s only a vague idea at the moment, could be related to fashion, noted Grzelcyk, clearly cut from a different bolt of cloth than most kids who grew up in Charlestown around the turn of the millennium.

“I’ve always been into fashion,” he said. “I love dressing well, or trying to, or just being around that environment — especially now with the NHL dress code relaxed. It would be fun to blend the two … I’ve given that some thought. But you never know if that’s something that can turn into an actual profession or just a hobby type of thing.”

The Bruins acquired JJ Peterka from the Mammoth for a pair of first-round draft picks.Melissa Majchrzak/Associated Press

ETC.

Mammoth think big with Cossa

Utah acquired a pair of first-round draft picks from the Bruins in the JJ Peterka trade. The Mammoth then immediately flipped the first of those (No. 23 in June’s draft) to the Red Wings for goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa.

Utah also received a Round 1 pick from the Bruins for 2028, though there’s nothing preventing GM Bill Armstrong from wheeling it in the meantime. By the time that pick is pinned to an 18-year-old hopeful, the Bruins hope Peterka, then age 26, will have collected, say, 55-60 goals and solidified his standing at the top of Boston’s forward corps.

Such is the projection game anyway. Watch this space for frequent updates the next two seasons.

The 6-6 Cossa, now 23, was selected 15th in the 2021 draft — rare first-round turf for a goalie. He turned pro after one more year of major junior (WHL Edmonton) and now, five years after the Wings made him the first goalie selected in the ‘21, he’s Utah’s No. 1 goalie prospect.

Truth is, the Mammoth consider Cossa far more than a prospect. Armstrong quickly signed the towering tender to a two-year/one-way deal guaranteed to pay $2 million each of the next two seasons. He’ll enter training camp next month penciled in to back up Karel Vejmelka, who shared the net last season with fellow Czech Vitek Vanecek (now on a one-year deal with the Islanders).

It’s a huge opportunity and a generous deal for Cossa, particularly considering his total NHL experience is the 45 minutes he logged with the Red Wings in the 2024-25 season. Ex-Bruins prospect Brandon Bussi, last seen securing the Hurricanes net in the Cup clincher this June, in February signed a three-year extension in Raleigh that guarantees him a modest $1.9 million payout each season.

As for that No. 23 pick this June that originally belonged to the Bruins … the Wings cashed it in for JP Hurlbert, a 6-foot high-producing left winger for WHL Kamloops. Hurlbert was the Blazers’ leading point scorer (42-55–97) last season and is enrolled to play for the University of Michiganthis fall.

Quiz No. 2: Name the two former Bruins who finished 1-2 in scoring in their final season with Kamloops. Answer at the end.

Hurlbert won’t arrive at the Ann Arbor campus as Michigan’s highest-profile freshman. Big Blue’s incoming class of stick carriers is headed by Landon DuPont, who remains the favorite to be the No. 1 selection in next June’s NHL Draft.

DuPont (no relation to your faithful puck chronicler) is a high-impact defenseman with skills similar to those that the gifted Matthew Schaefer brought to the Islanders blue line last season when he was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year (Calder Trophy).

Like Avalanche superstar Makar, DuPont was born in Calgary. But he lived there only briefly, his family living many of his formative years in Europe. DuPont’s father played 14 seasons in Switzerland and Germany. Micki DuPont, also a defenseman, was drafted by the Flames in 2000 and played 23 NHL games.

Landon DuPont played the last two seasons with WHL Everett, where he scored 35 goals and 133 points. The Silvertips won the WHL and reached the final of the Memorial Cup last season, with DuPont contributing 23 points in 18 playoff games.

DuPont will return to Alberta in December, wearing Team Canada’s colors for the IIHF World Junior Championship (Dec. 26-Jan. 5) to be staged in Edmonton and Red Deer (the midway point between Calgary and Edmonton).

Team USA Olympic coach Herb Brooks (“You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. The moment is yours.”) would have turned 89 on Aug. 5. BU goalie Jim Craig, who backstopped the miracle ‘80 Americans to Lake Placid gold, took to social media Wednesday with this memory of Brooks: “Herb had a vision that few people could see and the courage to stick with it. He had a remarkable ability to see potential where others saw limitations. Happy Birthday, Coach. Thank you for everything.” Brooks, age 66, died in an August 2003 car accident … Netminder Philip Svedeback was selected by the Bruins (No. 117) in the same ‘21 draft in which the Red Wings took Cossa. Svedeback in the spring wrapped up his fourth season with Providence College and now, with no contract from the Bruins, can sign with any club as a free agent beginning Aug. 15. The 6-3 Swedish stopper finished 54-38-17 with the Friars and each season logged a save percentage of .900 or better … Quiz No. 1 answer. Dennis Bonvie, the Bruins’ newly named assistant GM, owns three Cup rings from his six seasons (2009-’15) as a pro scout with the Blackhawks. His name is not on the Cup (“Long story for another day,” he said), but he received the same rings as everyone on the playing, coaching, and management staff. “Loved my time there,” said a sincere Bonvie. “Ownership treated us like gold … they really did.” Bonvie was hired away by Bruins GM Don Sweeney in 2015 and recently moved into the assistant GM role upon Jamie Langenbrunner’s departure from Causeway Street … Quiz No. 2 answer: Ex-Bruins Mark Recchi (61-93–154) and Greg Hawgood (48-85–133) finished 1-2 in scoring for their final season (1987-88) in Kamloops. Recchi’s final NHL game, 23 years later, was back in British Columbia, where he hoisted the Cup the night the Bruins defeated Vancouver in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Hawgood was dealt from Boston to Edmonton in October 1990 for Vladimir Ruzicka. He played his final two NHL games with the 2001-02 Stars.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.