Ducks’ Radko Gudas Ruled Out Of Game 2
The Anaheim Ducks will be without their captain in Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. Defenseman Radko Gudas has been ruled out with an undisclosed injury per Jason Gregor of Sports 1440. Gudas will be replaced by Drew Helleson making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut.
Gudas played under 10 minutes of ice time in Game 1. He was also held out of Anaheim’s season finale for maintenance reasons. Gudas battled a lower-body injury sustained in a win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday, March 26. He went on to miss nine of the final 10 games of Anaheim’s season. While no connection between that injury and Gudas’ current absence was made, it seems likely that he is still working his way back to 100 percent. He will move forward with a day-to-day designation, per Zach Laing of Oilers Nation.
Gudas has recorded two points and 39 penalty minutes in his last 13 games, including Game 1 of the postseason. Those stats bring him up to 13 points, 67 penalty minutes, and 164 hits in 56 games this season. He has slowed down both his scoring and aggression in his age-35 season, after reaching 18 points, 128 penalty minutes, and 232 hits in 66 games just two seasons ago. Still, Gudas will be a valuable, physical addition to Anaheim’s playoff race when he is back to full health.
Helleson will look to make up for Gudas’ physical presence from Anaheim’s third pair. The 24 year old notched 15 points, 63 hits, and 79 shot blocks in 60 gamse this season. Much of his action came in relief of Gudas’ injuries. He brings a thin amount of championship experience to the Ducks lineup, having won a Gold Medal at the 2018 World U17 Hockey Challenge and 2021 World Junior Championships. Helleson won’t bring the aggression or hitting that Gudas does but should play responsibly enough to compliment rookie defender Tyson Hinds.
Bruins Sign Billy Sweezey To One-Year, Two-Way Extension
The Boston Bruins have re-signed pending unrestricted free agent Billy Sweezey to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $850K in the NHL. Sweezey has spent the last five seasons in the AHL. He joined the Providence Bruins in 2024 and serves as an alternate captain for the club.
Sweezey has racked up 17 points, 84 penalty minutes, and a career-high plus-21 in 69 games this season. His single goal on the season gave Sweezey three consecutive seasons with only one score – a pattern he repeated in the first three seasons of his career at Yale University. Sweezey has continued to offer the chippy, defensive style that he took on way back with the USHL’s Chicago Steel in 2015.
Sweezey signed his first pro contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2020, after racking up 29 points and 159 penalty minutes in 127 games at Yale. He only reached four assists in 22 games in the AHL’s shortened 2020-21 season. He left the Penguins and signed a deal with the Cleveland Monsters in the following summer. A move to Ohio proved to bring much more action, pushing Sweezey to 11 points and 114 penalty minutes in 70 games of his first season in Cleveland.
His 2021-22 performance was such a pleasant surprise that the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Sweezey to a two-way NHL contract in March 2022. The Blue Jackets vindicated that deal roughly one year later, when Sweezey made his NHL debut on February 26, 2023. He would go on to play in nine games with Columbus marked by one assist, nine penalty minutes, and a minus three. Sweezey has since spent the last three seasons in a full-time, AHL role – though the Boston Bruins kept him on an NHL contract when they signed him out of free agency. Sweezey has already recorded 27 points and 151 penalty minutes in 133 games with the Providence Bruins and will stay on a two-way NHL deal next season.
Canucks Granted Permission From Leafs To Speak With Shane Doan
The Vancouver Canucks are continuing to seek out new names for their front office. Their latest candidate could come from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Vancouver has requested permission to speak with Toronto special advisor Shane Doan position per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It was later reported that permission was granted per John Shannon of 100% Hockey.
It is not yet clear what position Vancouver sees Doan stepping into. Doan has filled a GM advisory role in Toronto for the last three seasons, after three seasons as the Director of Hockey Administration with his alumni Arizona Coyotes.
Doan has not yet filled a GM role at the NHL or AHL level but the job is not unfamiliar. He served as Team Canada’s GM at the 2022 Winter Olympics, World Championship, and Spengler Cup. Canada won a Silver Medal at the World Championship but did not reach the podium at the other two events . Doan was also an assistant GM at the 2019 Spengler Cup, 2021 World Championship, and 2023 World Championship. Canada won the Spengler Cup and two Golds at the World Championship in those tournaments.
Doan is much more known for his accomplishments as a player. He was originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets and played his NHL rookie season in the team’s final season before moving to Phoenix. Doan became a star in the desert, routinely rivaling 50 points and 50 penalty minutes each season. He was quickly one of the team’s most reliable forwards and took on a top-line role next to hockey legends Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk in his early career. He did not leave that role through the final 20 years of his career, all spent with the Coyotes franchise. Doan was awarded the Coyotes’ captaincy in 2003 and carried it until he retired in 2017. He called his career to a close with the most games (1,540), goals (402), assists (570), and points (972) in Coyotes history. Doan’s son, Josh Doan, was drafted by Arizona in 2021 – but has since been traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Doan’s wife, Andrea Doan, was named to the Phoenix Hockey Exploratory Committee – a group geared towards returning NHL hockey to Phoenix – in September.
How the Vancouver Canucks see Doan fitting in is not clear but there is no doubt about his rich experience in NHL and international hockey. He has now served six seasons in NHL front offices and could fit in a variety of assistant, advisory, or development roles. Before they can brainstorm around a job title, Vancouver will first need to get permission from the Maple Leafs, who may see Doan as a helpful support to their own search for a new GM.
Blackhawks’ Anton Frondell Among Six Prospects Named To Team Sweden
Top Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell is set to head back overseas after joining Chicago for the final 12 games of the regular season. He will join Team Sweden at the 2026 World Championships set to take place in Switzerland per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Frondell is one of six players named to Sweden’s roster who also played for the country in the 2026 World Junior Championship.
Also named to the Swedish roster are top draft prospects Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Bjorck, Philadelphia Flyers prospect Jack Berglund, St. Louis Blues prospect Love Harenstam, and Winnipeg Jets prospect Sascha Boumedienne.
Frondell could be a star addition to the Swedish roster. He scored 20 goals and 28 points through 43 games in Sweden’s SHL this season. It was a standout performance that led Djugardens IF in goals just one year after Frondell formed a dynamic duo with New York Islanders prospect Victor Eklund to help Djugardens earn a promotion from Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan. Frondell continued to prove his worth as a high-end scorer in his move to the NHL. He finished Chicago’s season with three goals and nine points. That is the highest per-game scoring in the NHL of any player on Sweden’s roster this season – though the Tre Kronor roster is younger than usual.
Usual batterymate, Eklund, may not be able to join Sweden in time to make the roster. He is set to play in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs with the Bridgeport Islanders, where he has already racked up 10 points in nine games. Bridgeport faces a perennial Calder Cup threat in the first round – the Hershey Bears. That will make for a competitive series that could lead Eklund to the World Championships with an early exit – though the Islanders are a formidable lineup of their own with the additions of Eklund, Cole Eiserman, and Calum Ritchie
Frondell will likely line up on Sweden’s top-line alongside two of Stenberg, Bjorck, Jakob Silfverberg, Nils Hoglander, or Linus Karlsson. The latter two spent their seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and scored five and 35 points respectively. Canucks defense prospect Tom Willander was also invited to join Sweden’s roster but declined to focus on his off-season training per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. Willander broke into a routine NHL role this season and finished the year with 21 points in 70 games.
Even with a young roster and rejections from some potential difference-makers, the Swedes will still enter the 2026 World Championship as favorites to earn a medal. Their top competition will be Team USA, Canada, Finland, and Czechia – as has become the case in recent years.
Kings’ Trevor Lewis Announces Retirement
Two-time Stanley Cup champion Trevor Lewis has announced the end of his playing career. Lewis played 17 seasons and 1,034 games in the NHL between 2008 and 2025, including 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. He filled an important, depth role in the Kings’ race to the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cups. Lewis also holds the honor of most NHL games played by a Utah-born player.
Lewis’ hockey career began with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers in the 2004-05 season. He quickly stood out as a grinder for the Buccaneers. After a quiet rookie season, he exploded in his draft season of 2005-06. Lewis finished the year with 35 goals and 75 points in 56 games. His ability to bring tempo to his shifts helped Des Moines blaze their way to the 2006 USHL Clark Cup Championship. It also earned Lewis a string of individual awards, including the USHL’s MVP and ‘Gentleman of the Year’ awards, as well as the USA Hockey Player of the Year award.
Even with those accolades, Lewis was ranked as a third-round talent by The Hockey News headed into the 2006 NHL Draft. That low rank didn’t stop the Kings from going out on a limb for Lewis in the first-round. Los Angeles traded away forward Pavol Demitra, fresh off a 62-point first season with the team, to acquire depth winger Patrick O’Sullivan and the 17th overall pick, used to select Lewis.
Lewis was originally committed to the University of Michigan following his draft but decided to sign an entry-level contract with Los Angeles instead. That left him ineligible for college – and prompted to sign with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. By location, the Utah-born Lewis was eligible for the WHL, not the OHL – but the CHL Board of Governors decided to allow Lewis to move to the Ontario league. He went on to nearly match his scoring from the prior year, with 73 points in 62 games.
Lewis moved to the AHL at the end of the season and scored six points in his first eight games. His scoring cooled down in his rookie AHL season but Lewis heated up with his footing under him. He began his second pro season with 19 points in the first 28 games of the AHL season. That prompted the first NHL call-up of his career, a move he rewarded with three points in his first four games. He played two additional, scoreless games before being reassigned for the remaining season. His 2008-09 season ended with 51 points in 75 AHL games.
A taste of NHL hockey helped Lewis break camp with the Kings for the 2009-10 season. He wound up as a healthy scratch after five scoreless games to start the season and was reassigned to the minors before the calendar turned over. He finished the year with just seven points in 23 AHL games. It was a muted season but didn’t knock Lewis off-course. He earned a full-time role with the Kings in the 2010-11 season and quickly settled into a bottom-six role that he would fill for the next 10 seasons.
Lewis’ scoring never flashed too bright. He scored only 20 points across 144 games between 2010 and 2012. Despite that, he seemed to have a knack for showing up in must-win games. Lewis scored four points in six games of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, then returned with nine points in 20 games of the Kings’ Cup-winning 2012 run. That scoring included two goals in the Cup-winning Game 6 of the Cup Finals. He combined for 25 points in 121 games across the next two seasons, backed by eight points in 44 playoff games. While again quiet scoring, Lewis did rack up 216 hits in 70 playoff games between 2010 and 2015 – the ninth-most of any NHL skater in that timeframe, and second on the Kings to Dustin Brown‘s league-leading 330 hits.
Lewis proved capable of filling a depth, grinder role on a championship roster twice over in his time with the Kings. His career continued to follow the path of low-scoring, high hit totals, and depth minutes. He scored a career-high 14 goals and 26 points in 68 games of the 2017-18 season, narrowly beating out 25 points scored in the 2014-15 season and 24 points scored in 2016-17. Two years later, the Kings opted to leave Lewis in free agency after 12 seasons with the team. He signed a one-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets after attending training camp on a professional try-out. Lewis turned that deal into 10 points, just two penalty minutes, and a plus-seven in 56 games with Winnipeg.
Lewis was again left in free agency in the following summer and, at the age of 35, decided to sign a one-year deal with the Calgary Flames for the 2021-22 season. That deal reunited Lewis with head coach Darryl Sutter, who led the Kings’ Cup runs. He scored 16 points in 80 games of his first season with the Flames, enough to earn another one-year deal that he marked with 16 points in 82 games of the 2022-23 season. That year was just the second time that Lewis played every game of the season, joining the 2016-17 season.
The Kings brought Lewis home for the final two seasons of his career. He was slower and less-involved than he looked in the prime of his career but still managed a commendable 28 points in 142 games from a fourth-line role to close things out. Lewis, now 39, did not re-sign for the 2025-26 season and will now move his career forward on the other side of the season.
He calls things to a close with the fourth-most hits (1,429), the sixth-most playoff games (86), and the seventh-most regular season games (816) in Kings franchise history. His all-three zones energy and grit are traits teams still search for as they hope to build Cup-winning depth charts. He is a Utah-great and could find the next steps of his career in supporting the burgeoning Utah hockey scene.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports.
Flyers Recall Five Players
The Philadelphia Flyers have shored up their depth with a series lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Philadelphia has recalled forwards Oscar Eklind and Jacob Gaucher, defensemen Helge Grans and Hunter McDonald, and goaltender Carson Bjarnason to serve as black aces. The five will join the Flyers roster following the end of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms’ season in the AHL.
Gaucher is the only call-up who played multiple NHL games this season. He stepped into four games with the Flyers, split between a three-game call-up in January and a one-game stint earlier this month. Gaucher posted no scoring, no penalty minutes, and a minus-one in those appearances. He was a fixture of Lehigh Valley’s middle six and finished the AHL season with 20 goals, 36 points, and 44 penalty minutes in 69 games. His scoring ranked second on the Phantoms in goals and third in points.
McDonald received his NHL debut near the end of Philadelphia’s regular season. He recorded one assist, four penalty minutes, and a plus-three while only playing in 15 minutes of ice time. It was a high-energy performance from a player who seemed to only find the penalty box in the minor-leagues. The second-year pro racked up just six assists to go with 92 penalty minutes in 65 AHL games this season. That mark fell just under his rookie AHL season last year, when he notched 18 points and 99 penalty minutes in 71 games.
While the big presence of Gaucher and McDonald earned an NHL look, Philadelphia’s remaining call-ups spent the season in the minor-leagues. Eklind racked up nine goals and 15 points in 49 games with Lehigh Valley. It was his second season in North America after rising the ranks of Sweden’s pro leagues over the last eight seasons. Grange scored 14 points in 61 games, a step down from his 23 points last season. Grange also played the first six games of his NHL career last season, marked by one assist and two penalty minutes. Bjarnason played through his first pro season this year. He split results in two ECHL games, with a .881 save percentage, and recorded 14 wins and a .877 save percentage in 32 AHL games.
Philadelphia will also bring up an overwhelming amount of size in these recalls. The 6-foot-3 Gaucher is the only one of the five under 6-foot-4. Where he brings an impact in front of the net, Eklind offers shooting from the flanks, and both Grange and McDonald bring imposing physicality on the blue-line. In the mix, Bjarnason will stand as the young prospect with upside. Even with that range of talent, it is unlikely any of the five will step into Stanley Cup Playoff action unless Philadelphia faces multiple injuries.
Predators Reassign Brady Martin To AHL
The Nashville Predators have reassigned top prospect Brady Martin to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals for the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs. Milwaukee is set to face the Manitoba Moose in the first round of the postseason. Martin’s season in the OHL came to an end with a loss to the Kitchener Rangers on Friday.
Martin broke camp with the Predators to start the season after being selected fifth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. He scored one assist in three games with Nashville before being reassigned to the OHL. He took on the Soo Greyhounds’ captaincy upon his return and scored 11 points in his first five games back in the league. Martin continued to score at a point-per-game pace through December, then joined Team Canada for the 2026 World Junior Championship. His imposing, physical presence made Martin a pillar of the Canadian lineup. He proved as much with eight points in five games to start the tournament – but that hot run came to an end when Martin sustained an injury on a hit from Czech defenseman Matyas Man.
Martin went on to miss a month with the injury. The Greyhounds continued to watch his workload upon his return, which ultimately capped Martin to only 24 regular season games. He scored as many points, then added 10 more points in 10 playoff games. After overcoming an up-and-down season, Martin will now face his first test in the AHL. He should bring another game-changing impact to an Admirals lineup that has already added Reid Schaefer, Ryan Ufko, Zachary L’Heureux, and Joakim Kemell from the Predators lineup. The reinforced lineup should pose a tough challenge for the AHL’s Western Conference.
Ducks Sign Ethan Procyszyn To Entry-Level Deal
The Anaheim Ducks have signed 2024 third-round pick Ethan Procyszyn to a three-year, entry-level contract. Procysyn has captained the OHL’s North Bay Battalion for the last two seasons. The Battalion’s season came to an end with a round two sweep against the Brantford Bulldogs. The details of Procyszyn’s first pro deal are as follows, per PuckPedia:
| Year | NHL Salary | Signing bonus | Potential performance bonuses | Minors salary |
| 2026-27 | $850K | $102.5K | $72.5K | $85K |
| 2027-28 | $935K | $107.5K | $32.5K | $85K |
| 2028-29 | $1.0125M | $112.5K | $85K |
Procyszyn played through his fourth OHL season this year. He led the Battalion across the board, with 31 goals, 59 points, 94 penalty minutes, and a plus-32 in 65 games. Procyszyn also led North Bay in goals, points, and penalty minutes in the 2024-25 season.
The pair of seasons were an impressive breakout for Procyszyn after he put up only 36 points in 62 games of his draft season. He flew under many radars ahead of the 2024 draft, in part thanks to only appearing on the international stage once in his junior career. Procyszyn won a Silver Medal at the 2023 U17 World Hockey Championship, where he racked up three goals and four points in seven games with Team Canada. The all-situations center stood out with his play-driving and physicality through his OHL career. He was a strong leader for a middle-of-the-pack North Bay squad. Procyszyn controlled space with a 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame. An NHL entry-level deal will set him up to test that physical game in the minor-leagues next season.
Oilers’ Adam Henrique Out Day-To-Day
The Edmonton Oilers were able to add star forward Leon Draisaitl back to the lineup before Monday night’s Game 1 against the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately, they did not leave the matchup unscathed, with depth forward Adam Henrique sustaining an undisclosed injury late in the first period. The injury came on a collision with Oilers teammate Kasperi Kapanen. Henrique sat out of the final two periods and will now be unavailable for Game 2, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters including Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
Henrique was filling Edmonton’s fourth-line center role before going down with injury. He also served on the team’s top penalty-killing unit alongside Jason Dickinson. It could be Dickinson picking up the slack at even-strength in Henrique’s absence. The Trade Deadline acquisition fills the third-line center role and scored two goals – the opener and the tying goal – in Monday night’s win. Dickinson also took the third-most faceoffs of any Oilers center, behind Connor McDavid and Draisaitl. He won four of his 10 draws, or 40 percent – a dip from the 48.7 faceoff percentage he recorded in 17 regular season games with Edmonton.
While Dickinson prepares for a bit more trust in Game 2, it will be Josh Samanski stepping into the lineup to fill Henrique’s spot. Samanski made his NHL debut in late January. He went on to tally four points, six penalty minutes, and a plus-two in 24 games – while adding 31 points and 40 penalty minutes in 45 AHL games. Samanski stood out as a do-it-all, utility forward in his small NHL sample – but his lack of scoring could become glaring in must-win games. That is where Dickinson’s hot streak in the bottom-six could buoy the offense, while allowing Samanski to play the hard minutes while stars rest up.
Henrique has racked up 15 points, 18 penalty minutes, and a minus-12 through 65 games this season. On the tail-end of his career, the 1,000-game veteran has fallen into a depth role for the Oilers. He does still offer upside in faceoffs and on special teams, though. Henrique posted a 54.0 faceoff percentage and 104 minutes of penalty-killing time this season, both ranked third among the Oilers forwards. He will be a defense-oriented addition to the Oilers’ playoff lineup if he works back to full health before the end of the first round.
Senators Sign Lucas Beckman To Entry-Level Contract
The Ottawa Senators have signed 2025 fourth-round pick Lucas Beckman to a three-year, entry-level contract set to begin in the 2026-27 season. Beckman is currently playing in the QMJHL Playoffs with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. He has gone undefeated in the postseason, recording an 8-0-0 record, .962 save percentage, and 0.75 goals-against average. The Sagueneens allowed the fewest goals against in the QMJHL this season.
Beckman was a major part of Chicoutimi’s league-best defense. He began the season with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar where he recorded a measly four wins and .905 save percentage in 23 games. That slow start, and a month-long absence due to injury, were enough to prompt Baie-Comeau to sell-high on Beckman before the QMJHL Trade Deadline. That move proved to benefit both sides, as Beckman quickly found his way into a key role for the Sagueneens. He recorded 13 wins and a .940 save percentage in 15 games with Chicoutimi to close out the season – and is now on one of the greatest playoff runs that the QMJHL has seen. Through QMJHL history, only four other goalies have posted undefeated records in at least eight playoff games. Detroit Red Wings prospect Rudy Guimond is the only to join Beckman in doing it this century. Beckman’s .962 save percentage is higher than any of his loss-less peers – as are his two shutouts.
The second-half of the season has ramped up excitement for Beckman’s future outlook. He recorded 31 wins and a .914 save percentage in 52 games with Baie-Comeau last season, playing through what was his first full season at the junior level. Beckman looked poised and confident all season long, flashing a great glove-side and strong ability to stay composed when facing a flurry of shots. His game was still in need of ironing out, which pushed Beckman to the 97th-overall pick in 2025 – a mark that some draft pundits still argued was too high. One year later, he seems to quickly be silencing doubters. An NHL entry-level contract will force the 18-year-old Beckman to either return to the QMJHL, or jump to the NHL, next season. Given his fortunes in Chicoutimi, and his lack of even 100 regular season games of QMJHL experience, a return to Quebec seems to be the likeliest outcome.