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Leon Draisaitl Will Be Game-Time Decision For Game 2

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Sportsnet is reporting that Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl will be a game-time decision tonight when the Oilers take on the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 of their second-round series. The report comes one day after Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told the media that Draisaitl was day-to-day after he’d missed practice. The 28-year-old left halfway through Game 1 but ultimately returned for the third period in the Oilers 5-4 loss. After the game, Knoblauch told reporters that Draisaitl had been dealing with equipment issues and cramping that caused him to miss significant time.

The Cologne, Germany native is once again playing dominant hockey in the playoffs and his injury comes at a time when the Oilers haven’t been able to generate much offense at even strength. Draisaitl has five goals and seven assists in six playoff games thus far and has carried the scoring for the Oilers alongside Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard.

Draisaitl will take the warm-up with the Oilers and a decision will be made afterward on whether he can play. Some pundits have speculated that he suffered an injury when he took a shot to the back from Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers. The hit didn’t look like much as Draisaitl was able to maintain possession of the puck, but it could have him in a spot where he didn’t have padding.

It’s not the first time he’s dealt with health issues in the playoffs, two years ago Draisaitl played through a high-ankle sprain that he suffered in the first round. He continued to play through the pain and was dominant offensively, although his defensive game fell off as he struggled to keep up with the play in the defensive zone.

Afternoon Notes: Hedman, Landeskog, Reilly

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Joe Smith of The Athletic writes that Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois plans to re-sign defenseman Victor Hedman before the end of his current contract which expires on July 1st, 2025. The Lightning reportedly started engaging in contract talks with the 33-year-old last week but can’t officially sign a new deal until July 1st, 2024.

Hedman remains one of the NHL’s elite defensemen coming off another strong season in which he posted 13 goals and 63 assists in 78 games while averaging just a tick under 25 minutes of ice time per game.

The Lightning are no longer the perennial Stanley Cup contender of a few years ago but they remain a strong team with a very good core and have been aggressive in extending their group long term having locked up six regulars to contracts beyond the 2028-29 season.

In other afternoon notes:

  • Ryan Boulding of NHL.com tweeted that Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters that forward Gabriel Landeskog is increasing the time he’s on the ice, and increasing the repetition in his workouts but he isn’t close to practicing with the team. Landeskog had knee cartilage surgery exactly one year ago today, and while the projected recovery time for that type of procedure is usually one year, it doesn’t appear as though he will return anytime soon. Bednar remained non-committal when pressed by reporters, simply saying that the team doesn’t know a timeline for a return.
  • Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News writes that New York Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly is hoping to sign an extension with the team before his contract expires on July 1st. Reilly has played with six different NHL teams in his short career and it’s not surprising to see him looking for the stability of an extension. Reilly was bought out last summer by the Boston Bruins but then signed a one-year, $1MM contract with the Florida Panthers before he was acquired off waivers in November by the Islanders. He played 50 games for New York, notching five goals and 14 assists during that time and providing the Islanders with a lot of good work in their transition game. The Islanders don’t have much in the way of cap space this summer but would have room to fit Reilly in, should they want to keep him with the team.

Atlantic Notes: Peeke, Heinen, Bennett

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Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke is available to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last two and a half weeks with a finger injury (via Conor Ryan of Boston.com). The 26-year-old hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Bruins first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and played just 38 games in the regular season. Peeke dressed in 15 games for the Bruins down the stretch tallying just two assists. He finished the regular season with a single goal and nine assists in 38 games and saw his average ice time for the season drop by almost five full minutes.

Boston acquired Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Jakub Zboril and a 2027 third-round pick. Zboril was a former first-round pick of the Bruins who was selected during Boston’s disastrous 2015 draft.

No word yet on who Peeke could replace if he does dress for Game 3.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that forward Danton Heinen remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury (via Conor Ryan). Heinen has missed four consecutive games and hasn’t scored a goal since April 13th, a span of seven games. The 28-year-old bounced back this year in Boston after a down year with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Heinen posted 17 goals and 19 assists in 74 games after signing a one-year, $775K contract on October 30th. When Heinen is ready to return, his spot in the lineup may not be guaranteed after the emergence of young forward Justin Brazeau who has made an impression the past few weeks.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett will be a game-time decision tonight for Game 3 against the Bruins. The Holland Landing, Ontario native hasn’t played since April 23rd when he took a Brandon Montour shot off his left hand in the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bennett would be a big boost for the Panthers after he posted 20 goals and 21 assists in 69 games during the regular season. Besides the boost to their depth scoring, Bennett would also add a physical element to the Panthers lineup should he return, something that Florida would certainly welcome after the theatrics of Game 2.

Morning Notes: Marchment, IceHogs, Kuznetsov

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Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News is reporting that Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment will be back in the lineup for Game 2 against the Colorado Avalanche and Radek Faksa will be the healthy scratch. Marchment has been out of the Stars’ lineup since Game 2 of their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights and should give the Stars a boost after the club blew a three-goal lead in Game 1.

Marchment tallied a goal in two playoff games against Vegas and registered 11 hits in just under 28 minutes of playoff action. His return is sure to make life more difficult for the Avalanche as Marchment had another terrific regular season, posting 22 goals and 31 assists in 81 games, along with 108 hits. The 6’4” 210 lbs Marchment is built for playoff hockey and will give them a physical threat in the lineup after they looked to be in control of the series early on.

In other morning notes:

  • The Rockford IceHogs announced today that they and the Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to terms on an affiliate extension with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. The deal is a three-year agreement that also contains an option to further increase the pact for two years. Indy has been the ECHL affiliate for the organization for over ten years since they joined the ECHL back in April 2014. The team has had moderate success during their run, including appearances in the Kelly Cup Playoffs in three of the last four years.
  • Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer tweeted that Carolina Hurricanes forward Evgeny Kuznetsov will go back into the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch for Game 2 of their best-of-seven series against the New York Rangers. Kuznetsov’s scratch seemed puzzling at the time as the Hurricanes opted to use Max Comtois in his place. However, Comtois played just 6:19 and was largely ineffective as the Hurricanes struggled to control the play when he was on the ice. The 31-year-old Kuznetsov has been solid in the playoffs for Carolina, posting two goals and two assists in six games while averaging less than 12 minutes of ice time per game.

Maple Leafs Fire Sheldon Keefe

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have relieved head coach Sheldon Keefe of his duties this morning after their latest first-round exit in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team will begin a coaching search immediately and has not named a replacement. Toronto was eliminated by the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in a 2-1 overtime loss after they had finished the regular season 46-26-10.

Keefe coached the Maple Leafs for five seasons and reached incredible levels of regular season success with the team but was never able to get the group over the hump, winning just one playoff round during his term behind the bench. Keefe’s firing comes before his extension from last August has even started. Keefe signed a two-year deal with the Maple Leafs last summer and coached this season under his previous contract. Keefe finished his career with the Maple Leafs as the fifth-winningest coach in team history with a record of 212-97-40 record. Despite their playoff failures, the Maple Leafs are currently tied for the longest active playoff streak in the NHL, and while that is an accomplishment in a vacuum, the Maple Leafs have lost in the first round in seven of the eight playoff appearances.

Keefe first began working with the Maple Leafs in the AHL eight years ago becoming the head coach of the Toronto Marlies. Then under Kyle Dubas, Keefe took over after the firing of Mike Babcock in 2019. Keefe and Dubas were intertwined throughout their respective careers having worked together for the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds. His departure marks a second massive move in consecutive summers for Toronto. The Maple Leafs let Dubas go last May and brought in former Calgary general manager Brad Treliving. Despite the change in management, it was more of the same for Toronto this season, as the core remained largely intact under Treliving and the team bowed out of the playoffs early.

The Maple Leafs announced on Monday that Brendan Shanahan, Treliving and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley will have an end-of-season press conference tomorrow, after originally saying that management would speak today. The delay in the media appearance led to speculation this week as to what management would do with Keefe going forward, with many predicting that the Maple Leafs would move on and find a new bench boss, despite the term left on Keefe’s contract.

Patrick Brown Returned To The AHL

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The Boston Bruins have sent rugged forward Patrick Brown back to their American Hockey League affiliate the Providence Bruins (according to AHL Transactions report). The 31-year-old was recalled on an emergency basis back on May 5th after he hadn’t played in an NHL game since January 27th. Brown signed a two-year, $1.6MM deal with Boston on July 1st, 2023, and it was a return of sorts after he’d spent four years with Boston College during his NCAA career.

The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan native did play during his call-up, dressing for Boston’s 5-1 victory in game 1 over the Florida Panthers on Monday. However, he was scratched last night and sent back to Providence this morning. Brown played 8:27 of game 1, registering a whopping nine hits, while winning 71.4% of his faceoffs and taking a minor penalty.

Despite throwing his weight around, Brown’s scratch last night wasn’t a big surprise as the Bruins were dominated while his line was on the ice. Brown’s Corsi For % in game 1 was just 27.3%, meaning that Florida controlled the puck for the majority of Brown’s shifts.

Boston will need to adjust after last night’s 6-1 loss to the Panthers. The Bruins registered just 15 shots on goal, their lowest in a playoff game in 35 years. With Brown being sent back to the AHL, Boston could be opting to incorporate more skill into their lineup, although, given the physicality of this series, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Brown called up in the next week.

NHL Announces Ted Lindsay Award Finalists

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The National Hockey League has announced the three finalists for the 2024 Ted Lindsay Award given to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted on by the players. The finalists are Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Connor McDavid was last year’s winner and Matthews previously won the award in 2022. Kucherov and MacKinnon are both finalists for the Hart Trophy as well.

Kucherov was the NHL’s leading scorer this season, tallying 44 goals and 100 assists in 81 games. His 144 points were the highest total ever for a Lightning player surpassing his own record of 128 points in 2018-19. Kucherov has already taken home the Art Ross Trophy for the most points in an NHL season and previously won the Ted Lindsay Award back in 2019, along with the Hart Trophy.

MacKinnon’s presence was of massive importance to the Avalanche this season as they dealt with a slew of injuries to key players. MacKinnon played in every regular season game and finished with 51 goals and 89 assists for 140 points, all of which were career-highs. It was the second consecutive season that the 28-year-old has topped 100 points.

Finally, Matthews had an incredible season leading the league with 69 goals and setting a career high with 107 points. On top of his goal-scoring prowess, Matthews also took on increased responsibility on the penalty kill playing nearly 58 minutes of short-handed ice time compared to just 3:29 for the whole season a year ago. Matthews increased defensive awareness led to him also being nominated as a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, given to the League’s best defensive forward.

The winner of the award will be announced in late June.

Maple Leafs Notes: Samsonov, Giordano, Brodie

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David Alter of The Hockey News writes that Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov is looking for stability on his next contract after working under a one-year deal for the last few seasons. The 27-year-old is an unrestricted free agent this summer and will be seeking a multi-year commitment on his next deal. Whether or not he will command more than one year remains to be seen as his body of work was unsteady in 2023-24. While he did rebound towards the end of this season from a poor start, he’s just a few months removed from passing through waivers unclaimed.

Samsonov didn’t have a great year despite what his record will tell you. He posted a 23-7-8 record but his save percentage was just .890 and his goals-against average ballooned almost a full point to 3.13.

The goaltending market is weak this summer and this will work in Samsonov’s favor, making it unlikely that he will return to Toronto, particularly after the Maple Leafs were unwilling to commit multiple years to Samsonov last summer after he had a strong first year with the team.

In other Maple Leafs notes:

  • Pending free agent defenseman Mark Giordano is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to his future plans (according to Joshua Kloke of The Athletic). The oldest active player in the NHL last season wouldn’t fully comment on Kloke’s questions about whether he plans to retire or keep playing, instead, he simply stated, “It’s a pretty great lifestyle.” Giordano became the eighth defenseman for Toronto and was a healthy scratch for a big portion of the season, dressing in just 46 games and not seeing the ice in the playoffs. Luke Fox of Sportsnet writes that he believes Giordano will announce his retirement this summer, but that remains speculation at this point.
  • Sportsnet’s Luke Fox doesn’t believe that the Maple Leafs will try to retain defenseman T.J. Brodie as he approaches unrestricted free agency. Brodie started the season near the top of Toronto’s depth chart but slid down the list as the season wore on and became a healthy scratch towards the end of the year. General manager Brad Treliving reportedly didn’t engage in extension talks with Brodie and seems primed to let him walk into free agency for a second time after he let Brodie go while he was the GM of the Calgary Flames. At 33, Brodie is not the defender he once was, but he could still be an effective player in the right situation as a bottom-pairing defenseman. Brodie had a goal and 25 assists in 78 games last season while averaging almost 22 minutes a game. His even-strength analytics fell off considerably, particularly his high-danger chances against. Brodie spent roughly 40% of his shifts against opponents’ top lines and struggled in those minutes but could still fair very well against mid-tier opponents or the bottom of opposing teams’ lineups.

Predators Notes: Saros, Tomasino, Forsberg

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Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz told reporters today that the team will engage with goaltender Juuse Saros this summer in an effort to ink the netminder to a contract extension (according to Robby Stanley of NHL.com). The 29-year-old has just one year remaining on the four-year deal he signed back in August 2021, that deal turned out to be a massive bargain for the Predators as Saros has been playing under a $5MM average annual value.

Saros is eligible to sign a new deal on July 1st and was the subject of trade rumors for much of this past season. The chatter appeared to get to him as Saros’s save percentage fell to a career-low .906 and his save percentage ballooned to a career-worst 2.86.

In other Nashville Predators notes:

  • Michael Gallagher of Nashville Hockey Now is reporting that Predators head coach Andrew Brunette had harsh words for forward Philip Tomasino saying, “If he continues to have the skill without the work, I don’t think he has a chance to play with us next year.” It’s not the first time that Brunette has been publicly critical of Tomasino’s play as he had strong words in February as well. Tomasino was a healthy scratch frequently this season, at one point sitting in the press box for 11 of 52 games. The 24th pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft has been a decent offensive contributor at the NHL level registering 23 goals and 47 assists in 148 games but his overall game has led to criticism from Nashville’s coaching staff and ultimately caused the 22-year-old to be shuttled back and forth between the NHL and AHL. It will be interesting to see if Tomasino remains with Nashville long-term or if the Predators opt to move on from the talented youngster.
  • Alex Daugherty of The Nashville Tennessean writes that Predators star forward Filip Forsberg has revealed the ailment that plagued him through the second half of the season and into the playoffs. Forsberg reportedly dealt with a bone bruise on his ankle that cut his leg and made it difficult for him to wear skates. The injury happened when the 29-year-old blocked a shot in mid-February, and it required stitches to repair the skin. While the outside of the wound healed, the bruised bone underneath was the issue that caused Forsberg the most problems. The injury was never severe enough to keep Forsberg out of the lineup and he was a key catalyst to Nashville’s 18-game point streak that thrust them back into the playoff picture. Forsberg posted six points in six playoff games and had a career year in the regular season tallying 48 goals and 46 assists for a career-high 94 points.

Golden Knights Notes: Marchessault, Hague, Lehner

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The Vegas Golden Knights met with the media today to discuss their season and the future of the franchise. One player whose future is unclear is Jonathan Marchessault, a player who has been with the organization since the beginning in 2017. According to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Marchessault told the media that he and Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon met earlier in the day with both sides saying that they have a mutual interest in working out an extension to keep the 33-year-old in Vegas.

The Conn Smythe Trophy winner from last year’s Stanley Cup run is one of just five players remaining from Vegas’ inaugural 2017-18 season and he is the Golden Knights all-time point leader with 417 points in seven seasons with the team. While both sides have mutual interest in an extension, the Golden Knights are pushed right up against the salary cap and have several key free agents including Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier, Alec Martinez, and Anthony Mantha.

In other Golden Knights notes:

  • Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague reportedly has a lower-body injury that will not require surgery (according to SinBin Vegas). Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the media that the 25-year-old should be healthy and available for the start of next season. Hague suffered the injury in game 1 against the Dallas Stars and did not play for the rest of the series. Hague took his physicality to another level this season, dishing out 153 hits in just 73 games. The Kitchener, Ontario native doesn’t put up much in the way of offence and struggled down the stretch going scoreless in the final 20 games.
  • SinBin Vegas also reported that Kelly McCrimmon offered an update on the status of goaltender Robin Lehner. McCrimmon told reporters that if Lehner can’t play next season he will remain on the long-term injured reserve. McCrimmon went on to add that it might very well be the case that Lehner can’t play and the news isn’t overly surprising given that Lehner missed the last two seasons and hasn’t played since April 2022 after undergoing hip surgery. Lehner has one year left on his contract with a cap hit of $5MM and if he remains on LTIR it would allow Vegas to exceed the cap by that amount.

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