The regular season has come to an end with half the teams going home and half going on to the playoffs, which are now underway. As a result, there was plenty of notable news over the past seven days, which is recapped in our key stories.
Hanging Them Up: A pair of veterans are calling it a career. Sharks captain Logan Couture revealed that he will be ending his playing career after being unable to return from Osteitis Pubis. He wasn’t able to play this season and was limited to six games in 2023-24 because of the issue. Couture, who won’t officially retire until his contract expires in 2027, will hang up his skates with 701 points in 933 games, putting him fourth in franchise history in scoring. Meanwhile, Canadiens blueliner David Savard indicated that he will retire after Montreal’s playoff run. The 34-year-old was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer but will instead call it a career following 870 regular season appearances and a 2021 Stanley Cup title.
Jets Extend Two: Following winning the Presidents’ Trophy for the team with the best record in the regular season, the Jets took care of a pair of pending unrestricted free agents. First, they re-signed winger Alex Iafallo to a three-year, $11MM contract, representing a small cut in pay from the $4MM he made on his current deal. The 31-year-old had 15 goals and 16 assists in 81 games during the regular season. Second, they took one of the top pending UFA defensemen off the market, signing Neal Pionk to a six-year, $42MM extension. The 29-year-old tied his career high in goals this season with 10 while surpassing the 30-point mark for the sixth straight season. He had 39 points in 69 games while logging over 22 minutes a night, earning himself a raise from the $5.875MM he made since 2021-22.
Laviolette Fired: After winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season, the Rangers were widely expected to be a strong team again this year or at least be in the playoffs once again. However, things went off the rails early and they never got back on track. That has resulted in a coaching change as head coach Peter Laviolette was fired along with associate coach Phil Housley. New York had 29 fewer points in the standings this season, ultimately missing the playoffs by six points. Laviolette departs the Rangers after just two years behind the bench but he has plenty of head coaching experience as his 1,594 regular season games coached rank ninth in NHL history.
Ducks Also Make A Change: Despite a 21-point improvement from last season, the Ducks are making a coaching change as they’ve dismissed head coach Greg Cronin after just two years with the franchise. This was Cronin’s first NHL head coaching job after a long career at the college and AHL levels along with time as an assistant with the Islanders and Maple Leafs. Brought in to work with a young roster, Anaheim struggled mightily last season, recording just 59 points but jumped to 80 this season, good for sixth in the Pacific Division. But goals were hard to come by with the Ducks ranking 30th each season in that department; GM Pat Verbeek listed improving the offense as a priority in searching for his new bench boss.
Injury Updates: A pair of Central Division rivals received injury updates on their wingers. In Colorado, Gabriel Landeskog was recalled from his conditioning stint and has been cleared to play in their first-round series against Dallas. The 32-year-old hasn’t played in an NHL game since June 2022 due to continued knee trouble. On the other side of the series, the Stars will be without winger Jason Robertson on a week-to-week basis due to a lower-body injury. That’s a key loss for Dallas with the 25-year-old leading the team in goals with 35 while finishing second in points with 80. They at least got Tyler Seguin (hip) back from LTIR for the final game of the regular season. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh blueliner underwent successful surgery to repair a hole in his heart, a procedure that carries a recovery time of four to six weeks. Letang has missed time due to strokes in the 2013-14 and 2022-23 seasons and the hope is this procedure will help reduce the risk of more moving forward.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
May want to state which Pitts blueliner underwent surgery to fix his heart. Most fans know its KL but not stating his name in the article is kind of insulting.