Rangers Expected To Consider Coaching Change
Without any coaches on expiring contracts without club options, it’s likely to be a quieter summer than normal on the coaching carousel. The one name on most radars is Rangers bench boss Peter Laviolette, who has one year left on his deal. Speaking on Insider Trading yesterday, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic called Laviolette’s future “low-hanging fruit,” adding, “The expectations from a lot of people I’ve talked to is that Peter Laviolette could get fired.”
There’s no denying New York’s nightmarish season. After a 55-win 2023-24 campaign that saw them win the President’s Trophy, they’re just two games over .500 with three contests remaining on their schedule and have just a 0.3% chance of leapfrogging the Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the East, per MoneyPuck. Goaltending certainly isn’t to blame – star starter Igor Shesterkin ranks fourth in the league with 21.9 goals saved above expected. Nor is poor finishing luck – the Rangers’ 10.7% shooting rate this year is 0.1% above the league average.
A limping power play and poor team defense jump out as the Rangers’ limiting factors this season. The latter could certainly be attributed to the team’s blue line overhaul, but the same issues persisted before New York’s midseason retool on defense. It’s easy to see why, with limited roster maneuverability available this summer, the Rangers might view a coaching change as their best chance to return to postseason action in 2025-26. Barring another cap-clearing trade, the club won’t be a major player in free agency – they have just $9.67MM in cap space for next year with pending RFAs William Cuylle and K’Andre Miller in need of new deals.
That means Laviolette’s seat is the hottest of them all as the end of the regular season draws nigh. The same can’t be said for general manager Chris Drury, whom LeBrun expects to remain in his post. “My sense there is that he should be okay. I think there’s a lot of loyalty from Jim Dolan, the owner,” LeBrun said. “He was pretty busy out of the trade deadline, too, really kind of setting up his offseason with a lot of moves he made. I think he plans to be aggressive in trying to retool the Rangers again here this summer.”
There won’t be many recently-fired options for the Rangers to choose from, unless they’re interested in pursuing a reunion with John Tortorella. In terms of high-profile names who spent this year on the sidelines, Bruce Boudreau could be a realistic option. The veteran bench boss expressed an interest in taking over the Devils last year but was passed over for Sheldon Keefe.
Looking internally would risk digging their hole of being a non-dominant possession team even deeper. Associate head coach Phil Housley would theoretically be next in line, but his previous shot as an NHL head coach didn’t go well. He posted a 58-84-22 record over a pair of seasons with the Sabres from 2017 to 2019.
Blackhawks Reassign Ethan Del Mastro
The Blackhawks are reassigning defenseman Ethan Del Mastro to AHL Rockford for the balance of the season, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720 reports. Doing so gives the rookie some extra tune-up time before kicking off the Calder Cup Playoffs with the IceHogs later this month.
So ends a promising rookie season in the NHL for Del Mastro, whom Chicago selected in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. The 6’4″, 210-lb lefty skated in a pair of games to end last season but only got an extended look in the Blackhawks lineup this year. He didn’t make the opening night roster and needed to wait until January for his first recall, leapfrogging Wyatt Kaiser on the depth chart after a strong start to the season in the AHL.
While he’s never likely to put up flashy point totals at the professional level, he’s not a pure defensive specialist. He’s a good outlet passer and will get involved in rush plays, evidenced by a promising 2-4–6 scoring line in 24 showings in Chicago this year. He averaged 18:19 per game and was among the Hawks’ more physical players, ranking eighth on the team with 5.46 hits per 60 minutes.
Possession-wise, Del Mastro looked promising – and that may be an understatement. He had the best outright and relative shot attempt impacts at even strength of any Blackhawks skater, controlling 47.4% of shot attempts. In contrast, Chicago only controlled 42% of shot attempts without Del Mastro on the ice in games he played. That’s excellent work for a 22-year-old and goes a long way toward vaulting him into consideration for their 2025-26 opening night roster.
Del Mastro was on the AHL roster on deadline day, though, making him eligible to play in the minor-league postseason. He has eight assists and a plus-five rating in 42 AHL appearances this year. That’s not the offensive production he flashed in his rookie year, putting up 7-30–37 in 69 games for Rockford in 2023-24, but he’s continued to log heavy minutes while showing his strengths as a physical, intelligent, smooth-skating defender.
As for Chicago’s final few regular season games, the demotion indicates either Wyatt Kaiser or Connor Murphy should be returning tomorrow against the Jets after sitting out of last night’s win due to illness. Del Mastro appeared in that win, posting a plus-one rating in over 20 minutes of ice time after serving as a healthy scratch for the previous three.
Maple Leafs Sign Blake Smith To Entry-Level Deal
The Maple Leafs announced they’ve signed defenseman Blake Smith to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in the 2025-26 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Smith arrives in Toronto as an undrafted free agent through the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League. The 20-year-old lefty has been passed over in two straight drafts but is coming off an offensive breakout campaign in Flint, posting a career-high 10-22–32 scoring line with a +15 rating in 64 games in his final season of junior hockey.
Standing at 6’5″ and 225 lbs, Elite Prospects described Smith as an “overpowering physical presence” with good skating ability. Evidently, he didn’t do enough with the puck on his stick until this season to warrant NHL interest. Across his first 180 OHL games from 2021-22 through 2023-24, Smith had just three goals and 22 assists for 25 points with a -10 rating.
Now, the Leafs take a flyer on the Oshawa native following his fourth junior season. He turns 21 in October and is ticketed to spend 2025-26 either with AHL Toronto or ECHL Cincinnati, depending on how his training camp performance rubs the Leafs’ front office. He’s the second foray Toronto has made into undrafted free agency in the past few weeks out of the CHL, joining 21-year-old forward Borya Valis.
Smith is too old for his entry-level deal to be slide-eligible, so the contract will run from 2025-26 through 2027-28, regardless of how much NHL action he sees. He will be a restricted free agent upon expiry. Toronto now has 30 of their 50 contract slots filled for next season.
Avalanche Notes: MacKinnon, Lindgren, Girard, Coyle
The Avalanche will be giving franchise center Nathan MacKinnon some rest as the postseason nears. He’s dealing with a minor injury and may not play again in the regular season, Corey Masisak of the Denver Post was first to report. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed MacKinnon won’t play tonight against the Canucks and called him doubtful for their other two remaining contests (via Masisak).
That will mean extended rest for MacKinnon ahead of the first round. Colorado is the first team in the league to end their regular season schedule, playing Game 82 on Sunday. They’ll have at minimum six days of rest before Game 1 of their first playoff series.
It’s virtually confirmed that MacKinnon will be ready to go when the postseason starts, and today’s absence is more precautionary. Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now wrote, “It sounds like he’d be playing if the Avs were still fighting for something to close out the regular season.”
If that’s the case, MacKinnon ends his season with 32-84–116 in 79 games, along with a +25 rating. On a goals-per-game basis, it’s his worst showing in eight years, and his 1.47 points per game are his lowest since the 2021-22 season. That doesn’t mean much in a season where high-end scoring has regressed heavily. MacKinnon still enters game action tonight leading the league in assists and points, and could very well capture his second straight Hart Trophy in a few weeks’ time.
Unfortunately, there’s a more legitimate upper-body injury holding defenseman Ryan Lindgren out of tonight’s game, Bednar told Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. The 27-year-old complementary defender, acquired from the Rangers in March, had gone without a point in his last eight games and has 2-1–3 in 18 contests since the swap, averaging 19 minutes per game with a minus-one rating. His second-pairing role will be filled by Samuel Girard, who Bednar confirmed returns tonight after a four-game absence due to an undisclosed injury (via Deen).
Also playing is pivot Charlie Coyle, who was banged up while recording two assists in Tuesday’s shootout win over the Golden Knights. That’s important with MacKinnon out to reduce the load increase on names like Jack Drury and Brock Nelson down the middle. Coyle has 1-7–8 in 16 games since being acquired from the Bruins for Casey Mittelstadt at the trade deadline.
Islanders Recall Tristan Lennox On Emergency Basis
The Islanders are tracking to be without star netminder Ilya Sorokin as they try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive tonight against the Rangers. Head coach Patrick Roy told reporters today that Sorokin sustained a lower-body injury in Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Predators. The team announced they’d recalled Tristan Lennox from AHL Bridgeport on an emergency basis; he’ll back up Marcus Högberg tonight (via Stefen Rosner of NHL.com).
Sorokin sustained the injury when Nashville forward Michael McCarron fell onto him while scoring a goal in the second period. He stayed in the net but didn’t come out for the third, relieved by Högberg. Roy declined to confirm whether the team expected Sorokin back for its four remaining games after tonight’s tilt (via Rosner).
If it’s the end of the year for Sorokin, he closes the book on a mixed 2024-25 campaign. He recorded a career-low .905 SV% over 59 appearances, logging a 29-23-6 record. He still performed quite well compared to the quality of the team defense in front of him, with MoneyPuck estimating he’s saved 13.7 goals above expected. That’s a major improvement on last year’s 1.4 figure.
While the recall is unlikely to yield Lennox’s NHL debut, it’s still his first stint on an NHL roster. The Islanders’ 2021 third-round pick is in his second professional season but has made just 17 total appearances at the ECHL and AHL levels since the beginning of 2023-24. He started this season on the non-roster list with an undisclosed injury and was only sent to Bridgeport to begin his campaign in early February. Since making his AHL debut for the B-Isles, he’s yet to record a win and has a 4.44 GAA and .832 SV% in four showings, uninspiring numbers behind the worst club in high-level minor hockey.
The 22-year-old has faced an uphill battle, losing his draft year to the COVID-19 pandemic at a crucial time in his development. He looked solid in ECHL action last year, putting up a .909 SV% in 13 games for the Worcester Railers, something both he and the Isles will hang their hat on as they try to assess his long-term ceiling.
Bruins Recall Riley Duran
The Bruins announced they’ve recalled forward Riley Duran from AHL Providence while sending depth veteran Patrick Brown down in a corresponding transaction. Duran will make his NHL debut if he enters the lineup tonight against the Blackhawks.
Boston selected Duran, now 23, in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. The Boston-area native is in his first full season of professional hockey after signing out of Providence College last year. The 6’1″, 174-lb forward can play both center and wing and revolves his game around physicality, although he does have an intriguing release. He’s scored 12 goals in 58 games with the P-Bruins but has managed only four assists for 16 total points.
Given what Duran managed in college, it’s a slightly underwhelming offensive performance on the whole. He scored 27-28–55 in 102 games for the Friars over four seasons, including a career-high 20 points in 29 games in his junior season. He still has more room to grow in the minors, but he’ll need to carve out a niche as a bottom-six role player if he wants a long-term NHL role with Boston. He’s the No. 9 prospect in a weak Boston pool, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opines, writing he has “the tools to become a call-up option/bottom-line forward” but that his game “lacks dimension.”
Nonetheless, Duran could get a chance here to taste NHL action with one season still to go on his entry-level contract. While a long shot at best for next fall’s opening night roster, there’s an opening for him to prove initial value in a fourth-line role and vault him up the list of potential call-ups next year.
The 32-year-old Brown heads back to Providence after spending the last month on the NHL roster. Boston passed him through waivers in late March but declined to reassign him immediately. Since that was less than 10 games and 30 days ago, they can still send him down without having to waive him again. He’s been scratched for the Bruins’ last three outings and has one assist and a minus-two rating in 15 NHL games this year as he hurtles toward unrestricted free agency.
Penguins Recall Emil Bemström, Vasiliy Ponomarev, Valtteri Puustinen
The Penguins announced today they’ve recalled forwards Emil Bemström, Vasiliy Ponomarev, and Valtteri Puustinen from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. Their roster size now stands at 28 ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Devils, including a remarkable 19 forwards.
Recalling three players indicates they’re dealing with more new injuries on offense than just rookie Rutger McGroarty, who did not return to Tuesday’s win over the Penguins after blocking a shot with his left foot in the second period. He was in a walking boot postgame, per Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The team has yet to update his status, but Vensel adds that McGroarty is absent from today’s practice. Veteran winger Matthew Nieto was also not practicing today after being promoted from WBS on an emergency basis Tuesday and suiting up against the Blackhawks. It’s unclear if he sustained an injury in the win or was returned to the minors in a corresponding transaction.
Injuries are taking a significant toll on the Penguins, who are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, in the season’s final weeks. In addition to McGroarty and Nieto, they’re also without Bokondji Imama (biceps surgery, out for the season), Blake Lizotte (lower body, day-to-day), Thomas Novak (lower body, indefinite), and Philip Tomasino (concussion, day-to-day).
Up comes reinforcements from the Baby Pens, who have already clinched their place in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The 25-year-old Bemström has been a key part of their success, checking in as the only WBS player with over a point per game (21-25–46 in 45 GP). His availability has been limited due to a few late-season NHL call-ups, resulting in him posting one assist in 13 games for Pittsburgh since making his season debut in February.
The former Blue Jacket continues to serve as a dominant minor-league force without being able to force his way into a consistent NHL role. While he posted 10 goals and 20 points in only 56 games for his rookie season in Columbus back in 2019-20, his offense has been spotty since – especially since Pittsburgh acquired him last season. He’s posted just 3-3–6 in 37 NHL appearances since the swap.
Ponomarev, 23, was a key piece of the return from the Hurricanes when Carolina acquired Jake Guentzel at last year’s trade deadline (along with Ville Koivunen, who has three assists in his first five NHL games since being called up late last month). He’s appeared in four games for Pittsburgh this year across a pair of call-ups in November and February but has yet to record a point while averaging 9:13 per game. His lone career goal and assist came during his NHL debut with the Hurricanes in January 2024. The Russian pivot ranks fourth on WBS in scoring, posting 15-25–40 in 54 games with a plus-six rating.
Puustinen splits the difference between Bemström and Ponomarev in terms of big-league experience. The 25-year-old frequently participated in NHL matchups for the Penguins last year, recording 5-15–20 in 52 games in a primarily bottom-six role. However, he’s not commanded the same deployment this year and has spent most of the campaign in the minors. He has a goal and an assist in 10 showings, all of which came in the season’s first two months. He’s done well in Wilkes-Barre, posting 16-19–35 in 47 games, but he’s undoubtedly disappointed not to see more NHL minutes after signing a two-year, one-way extension worth $1.55MM last May.
Flyers Reassign Rodrigo Abols
The Flyers reassigned center Rodrigo Abols to AHL Lehigh Valley before Wednesday’s win over the Rangers, per a team announcement.
Abols will finish the season in the minors unless injuries over Philadelphia’s final four regular season games necessitate a recall. The 29-year-old has been up with the big club since the trade deadline, his second recall of the year after signing a two-way deal with the Flyers as a free agent last summer.
The former Canucks draft pick has been serviceable in a fourth-line role for Philly. He’s scored 2-3–5 through 22 appearances, his first in the NHL, with a -10 rating while averaging 9:11 per game. He’s been good on draws, winning 58.4% of his faceoffs. The 6’4″, 205-lb pivot has also added 12 blocks and 25 hits, and his possession metrics (49.0 CF%, 46.0 xGF% at even strength) are passable on a subpar Flyers squad.
Abols has spent the overwhelming majority of his professional career in the Swedish Hockey League, including the last four seasons, before making a return to North America in the summer of 2024. He’d previously spent a year in the Panthers system (2019-20) without seeing an NHL call-up. While on assignment to Lehigh Valley this year, Abols has 12-15–27 in 44 games with a minus-three rating.
The Latvian national team fixture has likely done enough to earn another two-way deal this summer from an NHL club, whether that ends up being the Flyers or somebody else. Still, he may prefer to return to more familiar pastures in Sweden or another European league instead of toiling in the minors again. Abols’ demotion should mean a guaranteed spot in the lineup for recent undrafted free agent signing Karsen Dorwart in the Flyers’ final games.
Wild Activate Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek; Reassign Two
3:00 PM: Minnesota has made the activation of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek official. Both players could have a chance to play as soon as Wednesday night’s game against San Jose. To make space for this move, the Wild have reassigned forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore to the minor leagues. Shore has been a frequent part of Minnesota’s lineup as of late, but has no scoring and a minus-two through his last five games. Gaunce hasn’t been in the lineup since March 25th and recorded his only point of the season – through 12 games – on March 22nd.
8:00 AM: The Wild could activate star winger Kirill Kaprizov and top matchup center Joel Eriksson Ek for tonight’s game against the Sharks “if today’s morning skate goes well,” Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. They won’t require a corresponding move for the latter’s activation, but they will for Kaprizov since his $9MM cap hit is on long-term injured reserve. They’re currently short $1.32MM in space and will need to remove two skaters from their active roster, likely meaning depth forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore will be on their way down to AHL Iowa.
Minnesota gets key reinforcements at a pivotal time. They’ve fallen behind the Blues and now sit in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild still have a decent cushion, leading the Flames by four points with four games remaining, but Calgary has a game in hand. MoneyPuck still gives them 91% odds of outlasting the Flames and Canucks for the final berth, but having a pair of lineup pillars available undoubtedly boosts that number to a more certain degree.
The Wild have been without Kaprizov, still their third-place scorer, for over half the season. After dominating with 23-27–50 and a +21 rating through his first 34 games, he exited the lineup with a lower-body muscular issue in late December. He returned for three games in January, posting two assists and a minus-two rating, before aggravating the injury and opting for surgery.
That procedure was expected to keep him sidelined for at least four weeks. Instead, he’s been unavailable for over two months as Minnesota slipped from a top-three spot in the Central Division to fighting for their wild-card lives. Since Kaprizov went for his first extended absence around Christmas, the Wild are 21-19-3 while scoring 2.51 goals per game. Through their 35 prior contests, they were 21-10-4 while scoring 2.97 goals per game.
Of course, they’ve also been without the minute-munching Eriksson Ek for a good portion of that time. He’s been limited to 42 showings this season with multiple lower-body injuries, and his current one has kept him out since Feb. 22. The nagging issues have contributed to a down season offensively for Eriksson Ek, whose 0.57 points per game are his worst since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign. They’ll also likely keep him out of the top 10 in Selke Trophy voting for the first time since 2020.
If they’re both fully healthy and the Wild secure a playoff berth, that dramatically changes Minnesota’s outlook. The Wild were one of the league’s best teams in the early going until injury issues derailed their season. They’ve gotten solid goaltending throughout from a resurgent Filip Gustavsson and remain one of the league’s staunchest defensive teams (2.31 xGA/60 per Natural Stat Trick, fifth in the NHL). Special teams, however, remain a significant concern and hinder their chances of an upset, even with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek healthy. A matchup with the Jets in the first round and their league-best power play could prove futile with Minnesota’s penalty kill operating at just 72.7%, 30th in the league.
Nonetheless, even if one of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek isn’t quite ready to return tonight, having this discussion now almost certainly ensures they’ll be in the Game 1 lineup for a first-round series. Minnesota hasn’t won a playoff series in the Kaprizov era and has lost seven straight series dating back to their first-round win in 2015.
PHR Live Chat: 4/9/25
Start submitting your questions for today’s PHR Live Chat with Josh Erickson using this link. The session will begin at 2:00 pm Central.