Subban keeping ultra-busy with ‘Screech Owls,’ work as ESPN analyst

Welcome to the NHL Chat Room, NHL.com's weekly Q&A feature where we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. This week, we feature P.K. Subban, the 2013 Norris Trophy-winning defenseman who today is an ESPN analyst, star and executive producer of two TV series and, through a foundation he established in 2014, an energetic philanthropist.

P.K. Subban seems unlike the mere mortals who have 24 hours in their day. A high-wattage Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils defenseman from 2010-22, Subban squeezes every drop out of every second of every minute, then wrings out a few drops more.

The 37-year-old has more irons in the fire than a cattle rancher. Subban’s most visible gig is as a gregarious, free-wheeling, sartorially unique ESPN studio analyst as part of the network’s NHL coverage. He pops up elsewhere to offer commentary on hockey and subjects well beyond the arena, and through his production company is always hip-deep in the projects that land on his desk, taking on anything that piques his interest no matter their time and energy consumption.

On Oct. 6, Subban was announced as the star and executive producer of the upcoming CBC-TV series “Screech Owls,” 26 animated shorts of 11 minutes each based on the popular young reader’s hockey adventure/mystery series of the same name, written between 1995-2015 by legendary journalist Roy MacGregor.

P.K. Subban with the WWE Stanley Cup Championship and Carolina Hurricane belts on the set of ESPN’s The Point on the Sept. 29, 2026, opening night of the NHL season.

Subban is also executive producer of “Junior,” another CBC production that also will debut in 2027. Eight episodes of 60 minutes each will look at Black hockey player Marcus Hill and his bid to make it to the NHL, the series inspired by Subban’s own journey from junior hockey to the Canadiens and beyond.

Through his P.K. Subban Foundation, his philanthropy has had a profound impact on the lives of needy children and their families. His 2015 pledge to help raise $10 million for the Montreal Children’s Hospital, described by the hospital as the largest philanthropic commitment by a professional athlete in Canada, came to fruition this past May, having aided about 100,000 children. From New York this past Friday, in a 50-minute stream of consciousness, the talkative Subban typically spoke in chapters, not sentences, about the “Screech Owls”; the first few weeks of the NHL season; his take on the Montreal Canadiens, with whom his career began; the growth of hockey; and a “normal” day in his life.

“I’ve had a pretty hectic week, actually,” Subban said, laughing. “I had a chance to go home to Toronto for Canadian Thanksgiving (Oct. 12), then the (16-game Oct. 13) Frozen Frenzy was a long night at ESPN (in Bristol, Connecticut). There’s a lot of hockey at the start of the season, a lot of great stuff going on. I have ‘Screech Owls’ with my production company, I’ve been doing some voice-over work with that. I’m definitely breaking records, nowadays, in a different way.”

A CBC promotional image of the upcoming animated series Screech Owls. P.K. Subban stars in and is executive producer of the project.

How did the “Screech Owls” project come to be, and what was it about the concept that appealed to you?

“I always have a million things going on in my head, at all times. That’s just me. I’m a thinker, a processor, that’s what I do. I remember years ago, pre-pandemic, when my agent mentioned a Screech Owls project to me. It kind of rang a bell but it didn’t really stick right away. I thought, ‘It’s a book, right?’ Two weeks later, an email came through and then I saw the name Roy MacGregor. I thought, ‘Hey, I know that name.' I went back and looked at the title and realized I’d read Screech Owls as a kid.

“Kids shows should be meant to expand your imagination, help you to dream and visualize. It occurred to me that this project was something we had to do -- to help take kids on an adventure and connect them to hockey, to sports, technology, learning. … This will be about provoking the imagination. It’s a fun project for me. I don’t have kids yet, but my sister does, and every kid now is on their phone or iPad. 

"I’m thinking, ‘If I’m going to create something that someone’s going to watch, they have to take something from it.’ You have to influence them the right way. Doing the voice-overs for ‘Screech Owls,’ I’m beyond excited about it. I think it’s super funny, super modern and I think adults will get a kick out of it as well. I really hope kids enjoy it, I hope it hits and that we can continue to do it for years.”

P.K Subban (r.) and ESPN colleague Kevin Weekes on the network’s set for NHL Frozen Frenzy on Oct. 13, 2026.

How do you find the time for all of this, with ESPN, two major CBC projects and many other things that appeal to you, often out of the blue?

(Laughs) “These are what my days are: from Monday through almost Saturday, I’m up at 5:45 a.m. and I go to the gym with my trainer. I also walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps every morning. I do an activation stretching session and take an hour-long Epson salt bath. That’s usually when I start watching hockey.

“I take all my work calls, production calls and have any meetings that are on the schedule. Usually my day concludes around 4, 4:30 p.m. I eat my meal then I get ready for whatever games are coming on that night to watch and I’m in bed as soon as the games are over. That’s what I’ve done every single day for the past four, five years.

“If you could see my fridge right now, I have prepped meals, I eat salmon for lunch and dinner every day with veggies, I eat 22 pounds of tomatoes a week, I train six times a week, I’m as active as you could possibly believe, probably in better shape than when I played. The thing about playing is the travel. I’m able to go to bed now at a regular time pretty much, other than Tuesday night when I work in the ESPN studio in Bristol.”

It seems that you have little spare time…

“You’d think I have a lot of time but I have none. Pretty much my whole life, I’ve thought there’s more time when in fact there isn’t. I tell people I’m a start-up business -- PKSS Management is a start-up company but this start-up has been going for 20 years now. It continues to grow but what I enjoy the most about it is there’s a purpose to it.

“The game is growing at a rapid pace. As the media we play a role in that -- the exposure, how many eyes we can bring to it. Being a player recently removed from playing gives a fresh appeal to everything we’re doing. Every day there are more projects and adventures and an opportunity to move the needle in the right direction, just to bring more people into our game to experience what I have and what my family has.”

P.K. Subban on ESPN’s set for NHL Frozen Frenzy, Oct. 13, 2026.

The NHL has never had a broader appeal, from its 32 markets in North America to its exposure enjoyed and games played in Europe…

“I grew up in Canada but my parents aren’t from Canada. Many people living in North America who aren’t from Canada or the U.S., they may not know a whole lot about our game but I think we’re so far past that now. People are aware of our game, they’re learning it more every game, the more that we push. The projects I’m working on with my production company or the NHL or ESPN are all about bringing eyes to our sport, bringing people in, understanding who the players are, who to look for, what we’re all about it. That’s important.

“This is also about the guys who are playing now. When their careers are over as a retired player, whether it’s me, ‘Mess’ (ESPN analyst Mark Messier), the guys on TNT like ‘Gretz’ (Wayne Gretzky), we’re examples to the players of things they can potentially be part of when their careers are over.

“When I played, all these things weren’t talked about as much, but I was someone who had an interest in them. It’s put me in a position to be able to help influence building the game. Not only do I benefit from it personally, but everyone around me benefits. Kids in diapers today are going to benefit from what we’re doing. Waking up every day and having that purpose is enough of a reason to continue doing it, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it. It’s been great. I’m excited about the future and that of the game.”

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson in action against the Buffalo Sabres at Bell Centre on Oct. 13, 2026.

Your first NHL team is making a bit of noise following their three-round run in last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. What do you make of the Montreal Canadiens?

“I think that every year from here on in, they’re expected to contend. Things can change quickly in this League, you don’t have time to say, ‘next year or the year after.’ That’s what I love about the NHL now. There are no guarantees that with a good draft, you’ll be a competitive team in even the next 10 years. It’s very difficult to be a competitive team and a contender. Montreal is a competitive team now and depending on how the season shakes out, they definitely could be a contender come playoff time.

“They’re a fast, quick team. They can check. They’re on their game when they’re quick to end plays. When they do, they can play with anyone in the NHL. You can say that goes for 32 teams but for them, they can turn checking into offense instantly. Before you blink, the puck can be in the back of the net. 

"When you have that ability and skill, you have to commit to playing the right way. Marty St. Louis is the right coach. If they don’t get better and progress, you have to look objectively at the players and their commitment to how they need to play. They have all the talent in that room, we know that, they have speed, they have size now, even if I’d like to see them a bit bigger and stronger down the middle of the ice.”

P.K. Subban receives the 2015-16 Jean Beliveau Award for his charitable activities and community involvement, presented by Elise Beliveau, the late Canadiens captain’s wife, on March 10, 2016.

Weren’t the Canadiens built somewhat similarly during your time with Montreal?

“We were. The Canadiens have always been able to play with the puck, they’re exciting to watch down the middle but they’re not traditionally a big team. When we had success in Montreal, we were quick to check. We had a good mix of size and skill. But with (coach) Michel Therrien, we were always a good checking team. When we won, we had to commit defensively. It’s going to be the same with this team.

“I’m not worried about (star defenseman) Lane Hutson. He’s going to make mistakes but I know he’s going to compete on the defensive side. Everybody has to have that same competitive drive when it comes to playing defense. If they do that, the game is going to get a whole lot easier for them. Goaltending will be great because they won’t be giving up all these Grade-A scoring chances. We know that Jakub Dobes and their guys can make those saves if they have to.

“If Montreal can really hone in on that A game and what that identity looks like and to a man everybody understands what they have to do to win, I think they’re right where they need to be. And they’re learning that. It’s a good thing to learn it now. Go through your growing pains now.”

Between 1955-2013, six Canadiens won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman a total of 12 times. You were No. 12 in 2013. Can Hutson, voted Calder Trophy winner in 2024-25 as the League’s best rookie, be the seventh and No. 13 to win the Norris?

“He’s going to be up against some great competition. The competitive balance in the League is very, very high. But with these awards, some of it is subjective. How long has a guy played? I don’t get too caught up with where the awards go. We know Lane is a Norris Trophy guy. We know what Norris defensemen look like, we know what his game needs to look like to be in that conversation.

“He shows up that way every night. That’s all that matters to me. He’s just as valuable to his team as (Colorado’s) Cale Makar, (Minnesota’s) Quinn Hughes, (Buffalo’s) Rasmus Dahlin or any of those guys. It’s going to be up to him and how he plays. Would you have taken any other defenseman over Cale Makar the last five years? No. But he hasn’t won the Norris five years in a row (voted the award in 2021-22 and 2024-25).

“It’s a regular-season award. Lane is going to have to put together a substantial season to win the Norris. He’s going to have to be in the top two or three guys. If he is, I think he’ll find himself holding some hardware. And if he’s in the top three guys, Montreal is having an outstanding year.”

P.K. Subban on ESPN’s set for NHL Frozen Frenzy, Oct. 13, 2026.

There’s a lot of hockey to be played, but what has surprised you the most this season, a few weeks into the schedule?

“Winnipeg (4-2-2) is off to an amazing start. Consider that (suspended goalie Connor) Hellebuyck hasn’t been in the lineup. A three-time Vezina Trophy winner (2019-20, 2023-24, 2024-25) hasn’t been in the net. The way they’ve played so far has shown how great a team and how well coached they are. Winnipeg is my biggest surprise so far.”

It’s early, but a Stanley Cup pick?

“I’d like to see Montreal win the Stanley Cup but I have to look at Washington, Carolina, Florida, Vegas, how those teams are built. They’re built to last through an 84-game season… and then some.”

Top photo: P.K. Subban on the set of ESPN’s The Point during Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.