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Morning Notes: Marner, Stars, Buium, Lindholm

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The Toronto Maple Leafs were without star winger Mitch Marner at Sunday morning’s practice, as Marner attends to the birth of his first child. He isn’t expected to miss any time, helped along by Toronto’s second round matchup against the Florida Panthers beginning at home on Monday. Marner finally broke through the 100-point glass ceiling this season, scoring a career-high 102 points in 81 games played. He also recorded just 14 penalty minutes – a career-low. Those marks have carried into the postseason, with Marner netting one goal, eight points, and no penalties in six games of the first round. He is notably just under two months away from hitting the open market, unless Toronto can manage an eight-figure contract extension before July 1st. Marner is performing at a top mark at the perfect time – but he’ll have to hold onto the scoring role if Toronto wants to get by a Panthers lineup that averaged the fifth-most goals-per-game in the first round.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Dallas Stars head coach told the media on Sunday that it is still unlikely Jason Robertson or Miro Heiskanen are ready for the start of the second round, per Lia Assimakopoulos of Dallas News. DeBoer did share a glimmer of hope, though, adding that both players should be good to go at some point during round two. The Stars lineup will undeniably improve when they receive their top goal-scorer and top defender back from prolonged injury – an exciting thought to consider after they beat the Colorado Avalanche in a seven-game series. Robertson and Heiskanen – who both have returned to skating at optional practices – will have at least four more games to work their way back into the lineup.
  • Star prospect Zeev Buium only appeared in four games before the Minnesota Wild were eliminated from playoff contention. He performed well in those appearances, netting one assist and four penalty minutes from a depth role, and now faces the a transitional summer as he moves from college to the NHL full-time. Buium hasn’t shared too many details of what the summer will look like, but he did announce that he’ll join Team USA at the World Championship, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Buium represented his country at the World U18 Championshp in 2023 – netting six points in seven games – and at each of the last two World Juniors – where he combined for 11 points in 14 games. Now, he’ll get to join the Americans at the top flight – stepping onto a blue-line full of young-and-upcoming defensive talent. Buium will fight for a role over Mason Lohrei, Jackson LaCombe, and Michael Kesselring.
  • Speaking of Worlds, the Boston Bruins have shared that centerman Elias Lindholm will join the Team Sweden roster immediately. Lindholm hasn’t played at this tournament since 2019, when he scored six points in eight games. That was Lindholm’s third-consecutive season joining the Swedes at the World Championship. Across the trio of years, he combined for 19 points in 26 games. Lindholm’s only opportunity to represent Sweden since 2020 came earlier this year, when he participated in three games of the 4-Nations Face-Off and managed no scoring. Lindholm totaled 47 points in 82 games of the NHL season, his lowest scoring pace since he recorded 21 points in 58 games as a rookie.

Jets’ Mark Scheifele To Miss Game 7, Logan Stanley Questionable

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The Winnipeg Jets received grim news to start their Sunday, as it’s been revealed that star center Mark Scheifele won’t be health enough to dress for Game 7, per Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press. Both players were absent from Winnipeg’s morning skate. The details of Scheifele’s injury haven’t been disclosed. He exited Game 5 in the first period a few shifts after receiving a big hit from St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn. Scheifele sat out of Game 6 but took the ice at Saturday morning’s practice, donning a track suit. Wiebe also shares that defenseman Logan Stanley will be a game-time decision.

Scheifele will stick in the track suit as Winnipeg faces a must-win game on Sunday. He’s been a true star for the Jets all season long, having appeared in all 82 games of the regular season and scoring 39 goals and 87 points – both second on the team behind Kyle Connor’s 41 goals and 97 points. Scheifele’s strong scoring carried nicely into the postseason, where he managed two goals and six points in five games, or 13 periods, of action.

The Jets offense simply doesn’t function the same without their high-motor, high-speed center leading the charge. Winnipeg turned to Vladislav Namestnikov and Adam Lowry to fill the roles of top-six center in Game 6, which added plenty of pressure to the shoulders of top wingers Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, and Nikolaj Ehlers. The Jets only managed two goals with that makeup – both coming on the power-play, where they had the clearest advantage over the Blues. That could be Winnipeg’s silver lining, as St. Louis has recorded the second-most penalty minutes in the postseason so far, with 148 through six games. Unfortunately, the only team above them is indeed the Jets, who have recorded seven more penalties than St. Louis.

Efforts to balance out penalties could be made a bit easier if hard-hitting defender Logan Stanley is forced to sit. He leads the entire postseason with 42 penalty minutes in five games played, and has no scoring and a negative plus-minus to show for it. Stanley is an imposing six-foot-seven and capable of squaring up opponents seemingly every time they try to break into Winnipeg’s zone. That will be a tough role to fill should Stanley indeed be forced out of the lineup. Winnipeg’s next man up would likely be Haydn Fleury, who recorded seven assists and a minus-12 in 39 regular season games.

Stars’ Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen Remain Day-To-Day

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5:30 p.m.: Per head coach Pete DeBoer, neither Heiskanen nor Robertson will play for the Stars in Game 7 against the Avalanche (via Lia Assimakopoulos).

10:38 a.m.: The Dallas Stars were without star forward Jason Robertson and defenseman Miro Heiskanen in their Game 6 loss to the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night. Head coach Pete DeBoer shared minimal updates for the pair of lineup pillars – noting that Robertson had returned to skating and remains day-to-day to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News. Heiskanen carries the same day-to-day designation, per Sam Nestler of All Dallas.

Robertson played through all 82 games of the regular season and once again served as Dallas’ premier scorer, with a team-leading 35 goals and second-ranked 80 points on the full year. It was yet another impressive performance from the 25-year-old winger – a nice step up from his 29 goals and 80 points last season, but still short of his 46 goals and 109 points in 2022-23. Robertson is progressing towards a return and will bring a major boost in firepower over top-six winger Mikael Granlund, who has just two points in his last 10 games.

Heiskanen’s 25 points in 50 games this season don’t jump off the page quite like Robertson’s scoring – but the Finnish defender was leaned on heavily when healthy. He led all Stars skaters in ice time per game this season with a nightly average north of 25 minutes. The Stars have been forced to make up that ground with Heiskanen missing the last three months of action, prompting bigger roles for Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley. Both have performed well, which could lead Dallas to try and use Heiskanen on their right-hand side when he’s back to full health. An off-hand Heiskanen would surely outperform Cody Ceci, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Alexander Petrovic – the current makeup of Dallas’ right-side.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Gabriel Landeskog, Sean Monahan Named Masterton Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has announced the three finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is presented each year to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” This year’s finalists are Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan.

The race for the sportsmanship title may be closer than ever this season. Leading the back is the 40-year-old Fleury, who played the last game of his illustrious career on Tuesday night. Fleury is one of just three goaltenders to ever be drafted first overall, and he’s the only one of the trio to play through a full career in the NHL. He amassed 1,051 appearances and ended his career on a strong note this season, posting a satisfactory 14-9-1 record and .899 save percentage while serving as Minnesota’s backup. Fleury went through a true farewell tour this season, facing standing ovations and long hand-shake lines in many of his final stops around the league. A Masterton win would acknowledge the 21 years of formidable hockey and warm personality that Fleury offered the league.

While Fleury stands for achievement, Landeskog will represent true perseverance on this year’s ballot. The Avalanche captain made his long-awaited return to the ice this postseason, finally marking the end of his recovery from a skate-cut injury suffered in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Multiple surgeries and extended absences marked his 2021-22 campaign, though he stayed together long enough to net 22 points in 20 playoff games en route to Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup win.

But Landeskog fell completely out of the lineup after he lifted the Cup, and has spent the last three years fighting to return to game shape. His journey to recovery was outlined in the ’A Clean Sheet’ documentary, hosted on HBO Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. After three years of dedication, Landeskog has looked back to form in his return to the ice. He has four points in four playoff games and helped will a Game 7 when Colorado faced elimination on Thursday night.

For Monahan, Masterton recognition will mean something else entirely. The 30-year-old centerman signed a five-year, $27.5MM contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer, intent on joining close friend Johnny Gaudreau on the team’s top line. But tragedy struck when Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed by an alleged drunk driver in the weeks leading up to the season.

It was Earth-shattering news for much of the Columbus organization and fanbase, especially Monahan, who now lives two doors down from the Gaudreau family in Columbus. He channeled any emotions into incredible hockey to start the year, netting 41 points in 41 games to start the season. But Monahan sustained a right-wrist injury on Jan. 7 that forced him to miss nearly 10 weeks of action. He stayed hot when he returned, finishing the year with 16 points in 13 games, but the surge fell just a little short, and Columbus ultimately missed the postseason by just one win. Even then, Monahan’s season was a deep show of the resilience, community, and compassion that exists in the hockey world – all attributes that seem aptly summarized by the Bill Masterton Trophy.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports.

Rangers Hire Mike Sullivan As Head Coach

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May 2, 12:49 p.m.: It’s a five-year contract for Sullivan with an undisclosed AAV, per Emily Kaplan of ESPN. While the exact number isn’t known, the deal includes the highest annual salary for a coach in NHL history.

May 2, 8:00 a.m..: As expected, the Rangers will make Sullivan’s hire official on Friday morning, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The team released a formal announcement a few moments after Friedman shared the news.

May 1: The New York Rangers are expected to hire Mike Sullivan as the 38th coach in franchise history, per Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. Sullivan spent the last 10 seasons as the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 – his first two seasons as Pittsburgh’s head coach.

Pittsburgh missed the postseason for the third-straight season this year – but even despite that, news of Sullivan’s mutual departure sent shockwaves around the hockey world. He was the second-longest tenured head coach in the league at the time of his dismissal, behind only Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In March, Sullivan reaffirmed his desire to stick in Pittsburgh long-term, telling Josh Yohe of The Athletic that he didn’t wish to coach anywhere but Pittsburgh. That sentiment seemed to hold true through the end of the season, with Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas even sharing that Sullivan was expected to return for 2025-26 just one week before he left the team. When all was said and done, the 57-year-old bench boss opted to explore free agency for the first time since 2015.

Should the news hold true, Sullivan will be returning to old roots by rejoining the Rangers organization. He served as an assistant coach to John Tortorella in New York from 2009 to 2013. His presence helped New York push back into the postseason in three straight seasons, after missing the playoffs in 2010. Sullivan parted ways with the Rangers before their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014 – instead joining the Vancouver Canucks as an assistant for the 2013-14 campaign, then heading to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for an AHL role in 2015-16.

Sullivan coached in just 24 AHL games before being promoted to the top flight, following the dismissal of Mike Johnston. What Sullivan was able to create in Pittsburgh over the subsequent 10 seasons was nothing short of incredible. Pittsburgh had no shortage of playoff experience when Sullivan took over – having made the postseason for nine-straight seasons. But aside from a Cup final loss in 2008, and a Cup win in 2009, the squad had fallen into a deep rut of dazzling regular season success followed by quick playoff exits. Sullivan was the one to change that, pushing the Penguins to the fourth and fifth Cup wins in franchise history and prolonging their playoff streak to an impressive 16 seasons – before they finally missed out in 2023. With Sullivan’s help, Pittsburgh’s playoff streak lasted longer than the Buffalo Sabres’ ongoing playoff drought – 16 seasons to 14 seasons – and the Rangers are certainly hoping he can continue that success across the Metropolitan Division.

The 2024-25 season was a historic low for the Original Six club. In front of Peter Laviolette, in his second year at the helm, New York posted a bleak 39-36-7 record – their worst win percentage since posting a 32-36-14 record in the 2018-19 season. The season was disappointing in every aspect, undercut by the fact that the Rangers posted a franchise record 114 points (55-23-4 record) last season. Career-long goal-scorer Chris Kreider managed just eight assists and 30 points in 68 games, while Alexis Lafreniere continued to underperform and the defense looked lost at sea. They were just three of the many headlines to pour out of New York over the course of the year – which culminated in New York missing the postseason for the first time since 2021.

But even on the heels of a bad year, the Rangers will offer Sullivan plenty to work with. They have franchise cornerstones locked up for the foreseeable future in former Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. Star forwrad Artemi Panarin is also under contract through the 2025-26 season, while Kreider and Mika Zibanejad are signed through at least 2027. That forward group will look to lead an otherwise very young corps, headlined by top pick Lafreniere, emerging pieces like William Cuylle and Adam Edstrom, and top prospects Gabriel Perreault, Brennan Othmann, and Brett Berard. That should be more than enough firepower to make a playoff champion, especially under the guide of a head coach who got the most out of scorers like Rickard Rakell, Michael Bunting, and Philip Tomasino.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Jets Recall Brayden Yager From WHL

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The Winnipeg Jets have assigned top prospect Brayden Yager to the NHL roster after the end of his season with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. Yager will join the club ahead of a potential series-clinching Game 6. He finished the WHL playoffs with eight goals and 14 points in 16 games.

Winnipeg acquired Yager in a one-for-one swap that sent Rutger McGroarty back to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The move helped keep the Saskatoon native in western Canada, after growing up in Martensville and spending the last five seasons in the WHL. Yager was drafted 14th-overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by Pittsburgh, following a dazzling age-18 season with the Moose Jaw Warriors. He scored 28 goals and 78 points in 67 games of his draft-eligible campaign, and earned a confident hold over Moose Jaw’s top center role. Yager has continued to match that mark in the years since, with 95 points in 57 games last year and a combined 82 points in 54 games this season – split between Moose Jaw and Lethbridge. He has also been a dominant force for Canada internationally, scoring five points in five games at the 2024 World Juniors and returning to captain the lineup and net three assists in five games this year.

Yager is a playmaker through-and-through, with strong control over the middle lane and an impressive ability to keep his poise at top speeds. He has a slight frame – six-foot tall and 170-pounds – that’s worried some scouts in the past. But the right-shot centerman has shown a consistent ability to play above his size and bully his way into the dirty areas of the ice. It’s unlikely that he sees any NHL action in the coming days, though a first-round could have Winnipeg excited to test their top man in round two.

Team Canada Announces Initial World Championship Roster

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Hockey Canada has followed up news of their World Championship coaching staff by announcing the first 15 players on their tournament roster. The team is a healthy mix between veteran NHL experience and burgeoning stars. That includes reigning first overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini, who will receive his first chance to join Canada’s Men’s team. Celebrini will operate down a loaded center depth chart, behind NHL stars Bo Horvat and Ryan O’Reilly.

Celebrini is the headliner, but Canada will embrace a major youth movement with this lineup. They’re also bringing young forward Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson, as well as defenseman Ryker Evans. All three players proved their worth as everyday NHL talents this season – Fantilli with a 30-goal season, Johnson with 57 points, and Evans with a routine top-four role in Seattle. Interestingly, the roster does not yet contain 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard, who scored eight points in 10 tourney games last summer.

Team Canada has also invited 22-year-old goaltender Dylan Garand – the only invitee to not spend the entire season in the NHL. Garand instead served as the starter for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, where he managed a .913 save percentage and 20-10-8 record. He’ll likely be the third-string goaltender once Canada adds more experienced pros currently in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Evans’ role on defense will be sheltered by major supports in the form of MacKenzie Weegar, Noah Dobson, Brandon Montour, and Travis Sanheim. All four players are top defensemen for their NHL clubs and collectively form a very experienced blue-line for the international lineup. None of Canada’s first five defense invites were on the World Championship roster last year.

The current roster is as follows:

F Macklin Celebrini (Sharks)
F William Cuylle (Rangers)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Tyson Foerster (Flyers)
F Barrett Hayton (Hockey Club)
F Bo Horvat (Islanders)
F Kent Johnson (Blue Jackets)
F Travis Konecny (Flyers)
F Ryan O’Reilly (Predators)

D Noah Dobson (Islanders)
D Ryker Evans (Kraken)
D Brandon Montour (Kraken)
D Travis Sanheim (Flyers)
D MacKenzie Weegar (Flames)

G Dylan Garand (Rangers)

Ducks Linked To David Carle, Jay Woodcroft, Joel Quenneville

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Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek is in the midst of his second search for a head coach after just his third full season in the club’s top role. After failed tenures with Dallas Eakins and Greg Cronin, Verbeek is pulling out all of the stops. Anaheim reportedly interviewed top coaching prospect David Carle and former Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft recently, and plan to also hold a second interview with record-holding head coach Joel Quenneville, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. LeBrun added that the trio of heavy-hitters aren’t the only names on Anaheim’s list.

Whoever lands in the Ducks’ head coaching vacancy will have one clear goal for next season: making the postseason. Verbeek put heavy emphasis on that goal in Anaheim’s final press conference of the season, and said he would be aggressive in the coaching circuit and free agency to achieve that goal. The Ducks haven’t made the postseason since 2018, when they closed a six-year run of playoff berths by getting swept by the San Jose Sharks. That Ducks squad leaned on clearly aged veterans – including a 32-year-old Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and a 33-year-old Ryan Kesler. Kesler retired and Perry left after the subsequent season, while Getzlaf hung up the skates in 2022. Those departures thrust the Ducks into a rebuild that Verbeek hopes to end with a return to the playoffs in 2026.

Anaheim will have some dazzling coaching candidates to choose from. Leading the pack is the coach with the second-most wins in NHL history. Quenneville hasn’t been deemed as a clear front-runner for the vacancy, but a second interview is a mighty bode of confidence for a man who was barred from coaching from 2021 to 2024, due to his involvement in assault allegations from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. There was only one coaching vacancy by the time Quenneville was reinstated late last summer, and he reportedly wasn’t considered for the role. That makes attention from Anaheim particularly notable, marking Quenneville’s first chance to prove himself after not coaching a full, 82-game season since 2019-20. He won three Stanley Cups with the dynasty-era Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Two strong candidates will headline the competition for Quenneville’s bid. Carle has gained plenty of acclaim from the hockey world after leading the University of Denver to two national championships in 2022 and 2024. Those rings have been intercut by a conference final loss in 2023 and a frozen four loss this season. He also won back-to-back World Juniors gold medals in each of the last two seasons. Carle has staked his claim as one of the most accomplished coaches in college hockey – a remarkable feat considering he is still only 35-years-old, with just seven years of head coach experience under his belt. Carle did withdraw his name from consideration for the Chicago Blackhawks coaching vacancy, and is expected to return to the Denver Pioneers next season – but a strong pitch could convince the burgeoning coach to move to Southern California.

Woodcroft doesn’t have the multiple years of championship pedigree of Quenneville and Carle, though he did lead the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to a Calder Cup in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. He was promoted to the NHL partway through the following season and led the Oilers to a pair of playoff berths before being axed after a 3-9-1 start to the 2023-24 season. He is another young head coaching candidate with 20 years of experience behind pro benches. That could serve him well as Anaheim looks to strike a balance between winning now and building for their future.

Canadiens Recall Cayden Primeau

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The Montreal Canadiens have recalled goaltender Cayden Primeau in the wake of an injury to starter Sam Montembeault. Montembeault left Game 3 during a second-period TV-timeout, after a conversation with Montreal’s director of sports medicine and performance, Jim Ramsay. He has been listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, did not practice on Sunday, and will formally be questionable for Game 4 – head coach Martin St. Louis shared with NHL.com. Montreal will start rookie Jakub Dobes in their next matchup, and now have Primeau as a potential backup option.

Primeau has had a near-perfect season in the minor leagues. He’s posted a dazzling 21-2-2 record, .927 save percentage, and 1.96 goals-against average. In turn, Primeau recorded the fewest losses, the third-highest save percentage, and the highest goals-against average of all qualified AHL goalies. It was a true breakout performance after Primeau posted a .909 save percentage, and varying surrounding stats, in each of the last four AHL seasons.

Primeau was the de facto starter any time he was in the AHL, though he fell three games shy of the Laval Rocket’s lead in games played after spending two months on the NHL roster to start the season. He stepped into 11 games over that tenure and managed a far less encouraging 2-3-1 record, .836 save percentage, and 4.70 goals-against-average. It continued what’s been a string of underwhelming NHL performances for Primeau, who sits with a 13-24-7 record and .884 save percentage through 55 career games. Those numbers were boosted slightly by a .910 save percentage in 23 games last year – numbers that Montreal will hope he can recreate after a flawless season in the minor leagues.

Capitals’ Aliaksei Protas, Logan Thompson To Be Game-Time Decisions

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Sunday’s morning skate was more than encouraging for the Washington Capitals. Starting goaltender Logan Thompson took the ice and practiced in full just two days after sustained a knee injury in the waning minutes of Game 3. Thompson seemed down for the count after an awkward collision with teammate Dylan Strome, and Washington seemed set to turn towards backup Charlie Lindgren for the remainder of the First Round. But after Sunday’s practice, both Thompson and forward Aliaksei Protas – who has missed nine games due to a laceration on his foot – will be game-time decisions for Game 4, per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.

The Capitals will be thrilled at the prospect of getting their hard-nosed starter back. Backup Lindgren has performed well enough when called upon this season, with a 20-14-3 record and .894 save percentage. But his performances have paled in comparison to the breakout season that Thompson managed. He recorded a dazzling 31-6-6 record and .910 save percentage in 43 starts this season. That save percentage ranks as the 11th-highest from any Capitals starter since 2000. He’s ranked behind four Braden Holtby seasons; one season from each of Olaf Kolzig, Tomas Vokoun, and Jose Theodore; and sprinkles of breakout years from Lindgren and Michal Neuvirth.

But Thompson’s seemed to shine just as bright, if not brighter, in the spotlight than many of his predecessors. He’s recorded a .917 save percentage through three playoff games this year – even despite allowing five goals in his last outing – and managed a .921 in four games of the Vegas Golden Knights’ run last season. Holding onto that level of play in the starter’s crease could be pivotal as Washington looks to buck a Game 3 loss and wrap up their first round series.

Protas will be just as dramatic of an addition. The 24-year-old forward had his own breakout campaign this year, scoring a career-high 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games – more than a full lap over the six goals and 29 points he scored in 78 games last season. Protas was the perfect fit in Washington’s top-six, offering a lumbering frame and quick cuts in the middle lane to compliment the fast-moving Connor McMichael or heavy-shooting Alex Ovechkin on the flanks. He will step straight into Washington’s top-six should he return for Game 4, likely bumping Taylor Raddysh or Brandon Duhaime out of the lineup in the process.

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