With a maximum of just two games remaining in the playoffs, activity around the NHL is set to pick up considerably in the very near future. In the meantime, there was still some news of note over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.
Calling It A Career: After missing all of the 2024-25 season due to a lingering back injury, veteran winger T.J. Oshie has officially announced his retirement at the age of 38. A first-round pick by St. Louis back in 2005, he spent the first seven years of his career with the Blues before being traded to the Capitals back in 2015. From there, Oshie became a long-term fixture of Washington’s top six, spending a lot of time on their second line. Overall, he played in 1,010 career regular season NHL games between the two teams, scoring 302 goals and 393 assists. Oshie picked up 69 points in 106 playoff contests while winning a Stanley Cup with Washington back in 2018.
Stars Shopping A Star? One of the themes of the week was the potential availability of Stars winger Jason Robertson. With Dallas having less than $5MM in cap space per PuckPedia with several key players on expiring contracts, there were reports that they were at least exploring what Robertson’s market might look like although going this route is not their preference. Robertson has had at least 79 points in each of the last four seasons and has one year left on his contract with a $7.75MM price tag. At this point, GM Jim Nill’s preference is believed to be trying to move more intermediate contracts like Mason Marchment, Mathew Dumba, and Ilya Lyubushkin, incrementally opening up spending flexibility along the way.
Kreider To Anaheim: There was one trade of note in the NHL this week. The Rangers had been trying to move winger Chris Kreider dating back to early in the season but with their cap situation requiring more flexibility, time was more of the essence. They were able to find a move for him, sending the veteran along with the 104th pick in the draft to Anaheim for prospect forward Carey Terrance and pick 89. Kreider had been a key part of New York’s forward group for more than a decade and has reached the 20-goal mark in 10 of the last 11 seasons. However, with GM Chris Drury wanting to shake up his core group, Kreider’s $6.5MM cap charge (of which the Ducks are picking up in full), and his drop to just 30 points this season, the decision was made to move on from him.
Awards Week: The majority of the end-of-season awards were handed out this week. First, Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson took home the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie following a 66-point effort that broke multiple franchise records. Colorado’s Cale Makar won the Norris Trophy after being the first defenseman to reach 30 goals and 90 points in the same season since 1988-89. Los Angeles center picked up the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player in a particularly close race over several other contenders. Then, it was Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck winning a pair of awards, collecting the Vezina Trophy for being the top goaltender along with the Hart Trophy for the player deemed to be the most valuable player to his team.
Sabres Listening On Peterka: Sabres winger JJ Peterka has always had plenty of suitors but Buffalo had been rejecting those overtures. However, as his first foray into restricted free agent approaches, it appears the team is now more open to listening to offers for the 23-year-old amidst the belief that Peterka’s preference would be to move on. He had his second straight 18-point jump this season, tallying 27 goals and 41 assists in 77 games and has established himself as a capable top-six player. A long-term deal for Peterka this summer could push past the $8MM mark, a price tag that Buffalo can afford to give him but if they do opt to move him, they’ll command a significant price tag to part with his rights as well.
Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.