Maple Leafs Hire PBI Sports & Entertainment To Support GM Search
The Toronto Maple Leafs face a pivotal decision as the off-season approaches. They are in the midst of searching for their first general manager hire since 2023. To help make sure their decision works out, the Maple Leafs have hired Neil Glasberg’s PBI Sports & Entertainment to support their search per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. The firm represents many coaches and executives in the NHL – including Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman, New Jersey Devils senior advisor Chuck Fletcher, and Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta as pointed out by Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
Toronto will move forward targeting mid-May as when they’d like to have a decision made per Johnston. Some have expressed concerns about Glaser’s involvement in the search as he represents potential candidates for the role – but PBI Sports & Entertainment’s involvement does not violate any league rules and the firm has previously been used by the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Seattle Kraken.
Still, Mehta could be a top candidate for the Leafs’ key role. MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley stated that the next Leafs GM will need to be data-centric, with an understanding of the importance of analytics in building a roster. Mehta served as an analytical consultant in the NHL and MLB prior to his role with the Panthers. He even spearheaded the first full-time analytics department in NHL history with the 2014-15 New Jersey Devils. Mehta was hired as the Panthers’ Vice President of Hockey Strategy and Intelligence in 2020 and promoted to the assistant GM chair, in addition to his role as Director of Analytics, in 2023. Florida won back-to-back Stanley Cups on the heels of that promotion. In addition to his track record in hockey and baseball, Mehta was also once a professional poker player and co-authored a top-selling gambling book.
Mehta will be one of many names considered for the Leafs GM chair. Other names who could be involved includes former NHL GMs John Chayka, Peter Chiarelli, and Kevyn Adams per Johnston.
Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin, Nicolas Roy Back From Injury
The Colorado Avalanche will have to shake up their lineup in Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Nicolas Roy are both set to return from their upper-body injuries per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Roy was knocked out of the lineup before March 24th’s win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was not clear when he sustained the injury, though head coach Jared Bednar emphasized that the team was being careful to not rush him back. Nichushkin sat out of Sunday’s loss to the Blues but has otherwise had a healthy stretch as of late.
The pair of additions will bring Colorado up to a fully healthy roster, except for one crucial piece. Star defenseman Cale Makar isn’t expected to return for “a few more games” Bednar told Masisak. Makar is still expected to return before the end of the season, which would set his return as one of Colorado’s three games next week.
Colorado will wield a fully-healthy offense, plus Trade Deadline additions Nazem Kadri and Roy, for the first time with this news. The top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen is likely inseparable, which would leave Colorado’s middle-six as the housing for Roy and Nichushkin. The latter has spent much of the year alongside Gabriel Landeskog and Brock Nelson. The trio have recorded nine goals-for and six goals-against in their time together – but Kadri’s recent run of seven points in his last 10 games could force Colorado to bump him into the top-six. If it does, Nichushkin will move to Roy’s wing on the third line, likely across from Ross Colton.
That would bring some serious firepower to the Avalanche’s bottom-six. Nichushkin has scored 15 goals and 45 points in 66 games this season. That is a 56-point scoring pace across 82 games, a mark that would narrowly beat out Nichushkin’s career-high 53 points set in 54 games of the 2023-24 season. Roy has notched three goals, 13 penalty minutes, and a minus-two in nine games since joining the Avalanche at the Trade Deadline. The combination of skill and aggression between the pair could be a secret weapon as Colorado looks to make another deep run in the playoffs.
Senators’ Thomas Chabot Could Return Ahead Of Schedule
The Ottawa Senators’ injury situation turned from bad to worse when Thomas Chabot was sidelined with a broken arm six games before Jake Sanderson returned from his own month-long absence. Chabot underwent surgery to address the injury and was expected to be out six-to-eight weeks, which would have placed his return in the Eastern Conference Finals if the Senators were still playing. Roughly two weeks later, it appears Chabot’s recovery is going better than expected. He has already returned to practice and could return ahead of his original window, head coach Travis Green told TSN’s Bruce Garrioch.
Ottawa’s blue-line has faced a long string of injuries since the start of March. The Senators were forced to lean on their few healthy veterans – Tyler Kleven, Jordan Spence, and Artem Zub – in the few games where both Chabot and Sanderson were out. They didn’t leave that plan unscathed, with Kleven sustaining a potential season-ending injury of his own. Sanderson has averaged over 25 minutes of ice time in his two games since returning to the lineup, similar to the deployment Chabot carried before his injury.
Ottawa has fought a war of attrition in their attempt to seal an Eastern Conference Wild Card. Battling through injuries, the Senators have managed the sixth-most wins in the NHL (11) since March 1st. That comes largely thanks to the offense’s scoring ability, with Ottawa also ranked eighth in total goals in that span (61). Even then, the Senators have totaled a measly 10-11-1 record in games without Chabot this season. His absence leaves a major hole in Ottawa’s top-four. He has 31 points in 55 games, second-most on the Senators’ blue-line behind Sanderson’s 49 points. He has also kept up his strong play away from the puck while usually facing opponents’ top players.
Adding Chabot back into the lineup will reinstill the Senators’ one-two punch on defense, no matter when it happens. While news of a quick recovery is an exciting boost, it seems Ottawa may still have to finish the season down a top defender. The Senators currently hold onto the second Wild Card spot with 90 points and five games left. They sit one point ahead of the New York Islanders, with a game in hand, and two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Capitals Recall Ilya Protas
The Washington Capitals have recalled top center prospect Ilya Protas from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. It is a headline that Capitals fans have waited all season for and comes just two days after a six-point night in the AHL. Protas leads Hershey, and all AHL rookies, with 28 goals and 62 points in 66 games this season. He could make his NHL debut as soon as Wednesday per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
Washington could give one of their top prospects a look with four games left in the season. All four games are against Eastern Conference and will be must-win contests with the Capitals sat one point outside of the second Wild Card. Protas could be an X-factor addition at the perfect time. He has continued a breakout performance that began with a move to the OHL in 2024.
Protas moved from his home country of Belarus to the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers for the 2023-24 season. He was an immediate, top-six impact and finished the year with 51 points in 61 games. The majority of that scoring came late in the season, helping the 6-foot-5 Protas slide under the radar enough to land in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He followed the selection with a move to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, where his offensive skill quickly boomed next to New York Rangers prospect Liam Greentree. Protas led the Spitfires, and ranked second in the OHL, in scoring with an incredible 50-goals and 124 points in 61 games. His scoring was the second-most ever recorded by a European in the OHL behind compatriot and six-year NHL veteran Sergei Kostitsyn, who scored 131 points in 2006-07.
That hot scoring hasn’t left in Protas’ first pro season. Neither has his talent for creating chances, made evident by his five-assist performance in Hershey’s Saturday night win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Protas has shown a strong ability to drive the puck into the slot. He offers an impressive amount of stickhandling ability and playmaking focus in a big frame. They’re the same traits that have helped his older brother, Washington’s Aliaksei Protas, notch a career-high 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games last season. The older Protas has 49 points in 72 games this year.
Now, the brothers could seek to make one final heave towards the playoffs together. It is not clear where the younger Protas will line up if he does make his NHL debut. He could step onto the third-line left-wing over Anthony Beauvillier or take on a center role and bump Justin Sourdif to the wing. Either move would likely bump Ethen Frank out of the lineup, after he posted no scoring and a minus-one in his last two games.
Canucks Recall Jiri Patera, Kevin Lankinen Out Day-To-Day
The Vancouver Canucks have recalled depth goaltender Jiri Patera under emergency conditions. His recall comes after Kevin Lankinen sustained a day-to-day, upper-body injury during Monday’s morning practice per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. Patera will likely backup Nikita Tolopilo in Tuesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights if Lankinen is not ready to return.
Lankinen has been Vancouver’s de facto starter since usual starter Thatcher Demko sustained a season-ending injury in January. Lankinen recorded just one win to go with a .885 save percentage in 11 games during the month of March. That performance brought his year-long totals up to nine wins and a .875 Sv% in 44 appearances. It is the second-most Lankinen has ever played in a single NHL season after he posted 25 wins and a .902 Sv% in 51 games last season. Tolopilo hasn’t yet topped Lankinen’s performance from the backup role, with only five wins and a .880 Sv% in 18 games this season.
Those performances will set a low bar for Patera if he needs to fill out Vancouver’s roster. The 27 year old has appeared in nine NHL games before, including one this season – his only appearance with Vancouver. He has three wins and a .892 Sv% in those appearances. Patera has also recorded 11 wins and a .907 Sv% in 29 AHL games this season. He has planted his feet as a career minor-league goalie after being drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the sixth-round of the 2017 NHL Draft. Patera’s stint on Vancouver’s roster will likely be limited to backup duties until Lankinen is back to full health.
Blues’ Doug Armstrong Won’t Be Available For Maple Leafs GM Search
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the midst of a full-scale search for their next general manager after dismissing Brad Treliving last week. Their list of candidates is growing quickly, but isn’t expected to include current St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. The Blues have no plans to allow Armstrong to interview for Toronto’s GM vacancy, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Armstrong is set to become St. Louis’ President of Hockey Operations while Alexander Steen steps into the GM role on July 1st. Pagnotta’s report was echoed by Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast.
It seems St. Louis has no interest in letting Armstrong walk after 16 years in the Blues’ GM chair. That tenure has spanned some transformative years in Blues franchise history. Armstrong took over a squad with only one playoff appearance in their last five seasons. With quick and crafty moves, such as bringing in a new goalie tandem in Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott, Armstrong pushed St. Louis to the Central Division championship in just his second season. That postseason appearance kicked off six consecutive playoff berths for the Blues. They were briefly interrupted with a miss in 2018 but returned in full force with a Cinderella-story Stanley Cup win in 2019.
Along the way, Armstrong made clear his willingness to put the team’s overall performance above any one player. He parted ways with all four captains under his reign, including moving on from Alex Pietrangelo just one season after he became the first Blue to lift the Stanley Cup. The results of those changes have ebbed and flowed, with St. Louis now boasting a strong prospect pool and only one playoff berth in the last three seasons.
In the midst of a rebuild, St. Louis will also turn over their top management position. Steen joined the Blues’ management staff as a team consultant and development coach in 2023. He was promoted to a ‘Special Assistant to the GM’ role in 2024 and is now preparing to take one more step this summer. His path has been largely untraditional, but also well supported by his leadership role during 13 seasons as a Blues player and his close connection with Armstrong. Those factors have helped St. Louis hone Steen into a manager capable of filling their top chair, while Armstrong will still have a say in hockey ops decisions. The tandem between Armstrong and Steen has grown strong, and St. Louis will ensure it sticks even as their roles shift.
Not even a GM opening in Armstrong’s home province will be enough to knock the Blues’ plan off-course. Armstrong has held a management position in the Midwest since 1992 and has taken steps to reduce his workload since managing Team Canada to a Silver Medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Unless St. Louis changes its mind about supporting an upcoming rookie GM, Armstrong will continue with the city where he won his latest Stanley Cup. That will give him a chance to see out many top Blues prospects, including defenseman Adam Jiricek and whoever the club reels in with a top pick in 2026.
Avalanche Still Big Winners In Martin Necas Acquisition
True NHL dynasties are often defined by more than their roster. It takes confident management decisions to stick at the top of the NHL year-over-year. The Colorado Avalanche proved their willingness to make a big swing in their handling of Mikko Rantanen‘s trade ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. Facing a costly contract extension, Colorado opted to trade Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in late-January. The sudden deal wouldn’t stick for Carolina – who flipped Rantanen to Dallas. The fruits of the move were much more direct for Colorado, who took a homerun swing on Martin Necas‘ ability to replace Rantanen’s role. One season later, as Necas rivals the first 100-point season of his career, it seems the Avalanche hit it well out of the park.
Necas was an instant impact for the Avalanche in the second-half of last season. He scored 11 goals and 28 points in 30 games to close out the regular season, bringing his year-long totals up to 83 points in 79 games. Even through a cloud of trade drama, that performance was a career-year for Necas, whose previous career-high was 71 points. A full summer to adjust to Colorado’s system has quickly made both of his previous heights look slim.
Necas has racked up 36 goals, 94 points, and a plus-46 through 72 games this season. All three of those stats are new personal-bests – eight goals, 11 points, and plus-21 higher than his previous bests. That success comes alongside a league-best performance from the Avalanche roster, led by superstar Nathan MacKinnon, Necas’ new batterymate. MacKinnon’s all-out energy and control over play has allowed Necas to focus on his strengths – but his improvements stand out apart from the top-tier support. Necas has looked explosive off the rush and added a goal-scorer’s ability to bury chances through traffic. He has been there to finish the chances that MacKinnon creates, one of the roles that Rantanen filled in his back-to-back 100-point seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24. With only four games left on Colorado’s schedule Necas likely won’t reach the 105 points that Rantanen scored in his best year – but he nonetheless brings century-scoring capability to the lineup.
The near-seamless replacement can make it easy to forget the rest of Colorado’s return. The Avalanche also brought in feisty, depth forward Jack Drury and draft capital from the Rantanen trade. They packaged one of those picks – a 2025 second-round pick – alongside William Zellers and Casey Mittelstadt to acquire Charlie Coyle and a pick from the Boston Bruins at the 2025 Trade Deadline. Colorado went one step further after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, trading Coyle and Miles Wood to the Columbus Blue Jackets for prospect Gavin Brindley, a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2025 third-round pick used on defense prospect Francesco Dell’Elce. Drury and Brindley have already shored up Colorado’s depth chart, while the additional capital boosted a bare Avalanche prospect room.
Reliable depth and future upside are fantastic additions to the value that Necas has brought to the top-line. Colorado also signed Necas to a deal $500K cheaper, and one year longer, than Rantanen landed in Dallas. The Avalanche have won every bet they made in a confusing, and surprising, trade of a top-line star. Even if the 2025-26 season stands as Necas’ career-year, his impact next to MacKinnon could help Colorado stick in Stanley Cup contention through the end of the 2020’s. The Avalanche sit confidently on top of the league – six points ahead of the second-place Hurricanes – with the end of the season nearing. They will enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the favorite out of the Western Conference, offering a chance to build on their 2022 Cup win.
Ducks Assign Damian Clara, Lucas Pettersson To AHL
The Anaheim Ducks have announced a pair of additions following the end of Brynäs IF’s season in the SHL. Anaheim has assigned forward Lucas Pettersson and goaltender Damian Clara to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. The duo will join San Diego as they make a final push for the 2026 Clarke Cup playoffs with six games left on the schedule. The Gulls currently sit in the final spot of playoff contention in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
Clara served as Brynäs’ starter for much of the year. He finished the year with17 wins and a .887 save percentage in 33 games. The performance was a slight uptick from the .879 save percentage he posted in 21 SHL games last season. He boosted his stat line with a transfer to Finland’s Liiga at the end of last season, where he posted one shutout and a .910 save percentage in 10 games.
Clara garnered plenty of attention while starting for Team Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He played in four games before sustaining a leg injury that knocked him out of the rest of the tournament. Clara faced an average of 33 shots per game at the Olympics and still left the tournament with a .911 save percentage. That is the fourth-highest save percentage ever recorded by a U22 goalie with three-or-more appearances in an Olympic tournament.
Pettersson rotated throughout Brynäs’ middle-six this season and finished the year with 20 points in 41 games. He was a red-hot scorer in tournament play this season, netting four goals and six points in six games at the 2026 World Junior Championship and seven points in 10 games during the Champions Hockey League tournament. The 2024 second-round pick has long been praised for his confident puck-movement and strong shot. He racked up 57 points in 44 U20 games during his draft year but had a slow start to his pro career last year. Pettersson racked up 19 points in 26 HockeyAllsvenskan games and one assist in 29 SHL games as a first-year pro. He vastly improved on that production this year and could bring an interesting boost in skill to San Diego’s lineup.
Clara will offer another starting option while Ville Husso is on the NHL roster. He will compete with Calle Clang and Tomas Suchanek for minutes. Clang has notched 17 wins and a .896 save percentage in 33 games this season, while Suchanek has five wins and a .883 save percentage in 14 games. Meanwhile, Pettersson will look to pull some minutes away from Judd Caulfield and Sam Colangelo in the Gulls’ middle-six.
Senators’ Tyler Kleven Out Indefinitely
The Ottawa Senators added top defenseman Jake Sanderson back to the lineup on Saturday – but their luck with injuries isn’t on the upswing yet. Sanderson’s return filled in for Tyler Kleven, who is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen. This is the sixth injury that Ottawa’s blue-line has faced in the last month.
Kleven sustained the injury while blocking a shot just seven minutes into Thursday’s win over the Buffalo Sabres. The puck appeared to hit him in the face. Kleven will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis, a designation that could end his season with only six games left on Ottawa’s schedule.
Kleven stepped into a major role while Ottawa looked to make up for injuries to Sanderson and Thomas Chabot. He has averaged nearly 24 minutes of ice time over the last eight games, supporting Ottawa to a 4-3-1 record in that stretch. Kleven has contributed five assists, four penalty minutes, and a plus-three across that stretch. It has been a clutch performance from the usual third-pair defenseman as Ottawa fights to hang onto an Eastern Conference wild card. Kleven is up to 18 points, 53 penalty minutes, and a plus-two in 70 games this season. All three of those stats are new career-highs after Kleven posted 10 points, 27 penalty minutes, and a minus-11 in 79 games as a rookie last season.
Cameron Crotty stuck in the lineup in Kleven’s absence. Saturday marked the fifth NHL game of his career, and the second of his season. He has failed to score at the top level yet. Crotty has found a bit more production with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, where he has recorded 10 points, 29 penalty minutes, and a minus-four in 49 games this season. The 26 year old is in his sixth season in North American pros and could hang onto a bottom-pair role for the rest of the season if he can stick in Kleven’s spot.
Mammoth’s Jack McBain, MacKenzie Weegar Out
The Utah Mammoth announced two changes to the lineup just before Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. Center Jack McBain missed the game with a lower-body injury that has him designated out week-to-week. Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar is also out as he nurses a day-to-day, upper-body injury. The pair of injuries prompted a few lineup moves, including Liam O’Brien and Nick DeSimone coming down from the press box.
McBain leaves behind an important hole in Utah’s bottom-six. He leads the Mammoth with 271 hits – 73 more than Lawson Crouse in second place. McBain has also notched 25 points, 84 penalty minutes, and a 51.3 faceoff percentage. He brings a physical presence and two-way impact that will be tough to replace.
The Mammoth promoted Alexander Kerfoot to the third-line in McBain’s absence, a nice reward after Kerfoot scored five points in his last five games. O’Brien will make up for some of McBain’s physical presence. He has racked up 93 hits – fourth-most on the team – in just 32 games, despite averaging only nine minutes of ice time a game. His physical presence, across from Brandon Tanev on the fourth line, could help balance a Mammoth third line that will be more geared towards speed with a tandem of Kerfoot and JJ Peterka.
Weegar has stepped into a top-pair role since joining the Mammoth at the Trade Deadline. He has scored four points and averaged 21 minutes of ice time in 13 games with the Mammoth. That scoring brings Weegar up to 25 points in 73 games on the year, well below the 47 points he put up in 81 games last season. Sean Durzi moved up Mikhail Sergachev‘s flank in Weegar’s absence. Durzi has 25 points in 54 games this season, including three in his last six games. While he looks to spark his scoring in elevated minutes, DeSimone will look to build on seven points in 37 games, both career-highs.
Utah also recalled top prospect Dmitriy Simashev before Saturday’s game. He could be an option should Utah need a spark with Weegar out of the lineup. The AHL rookie ranks second in scoring among Tucson Roadrunners defensemen with 35 points in 40 games. That scoring hasn’t yet translated to the top flight, though, with Simashev only boasting one point in the first 25 games of his NHL career. He will fill the role of extra defenseman on Saturday night and will compete with Ian Cole and DeSimone if he sticks on the roster through Utah’s upcoming three-game homestand.