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Poll: Who Wins The 2022 Stanley Cup Final?

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With the only multi-day break in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final occurring between Games 1 and 2, both the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning have plenty of time to process the events of a tight first game and adjust for the rest of the series. The Colorado Avalanche took a crucial overtime win at home to kick off the series, but both teams had their own flashes of brilliance to open the series.

As the Lightning have shown so far in these playoffs, though, no series lead against them is safe. One thing they can count on is the improvement of two important players: Brayden Point and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Point had an assist in 17:59 of ice time in Game 1, his first game in over a month and first game since the First Round. As he gets back to game speed, his ice time and compete level will only go up throughout the series, making the matchups tougher for the Avalanche and Jared Bednar. Vasilevskiy was also noticeably off his game at points on Wednesday, having issues tracking some pucks early in the game. He settled in, though, and as he has throughout these playoffs, will only get better as the series goes on.

The Avalanche are still waiting on Nazem Kadri to return to the lineup, who continues to practice and improve as he battles a thumb injury. Even if/when Kadri returns, he won’t be at 100%, and with how well the unit of Valeri Nichushkin, J.T. Compher, and Andre Burakovsky performed in Game 1, it might be better to try Kadri in a more limited role regardless. That would surely help the matchup game for Bednar, who would suddenly have a huge weapon to throw out with his depth forwards. Andrew Cogliano was also a full participant in today’s practice and could return for Game 2 on Saturday.

The question remains: will the Avalanche be able to hold onto their series lead and end the Tampa Bay run of championships despite their injuries and disadvantage in the crease? We ask you, PHR readers, to give us your take. Vote who you think will win the 2022 Stanley Cup Final in the poll below.

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Colorado Hoping Kadri, Cogliano Will Return During Stanley Cup Final

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The Colorado Avalanche could have to wait nearly two weeks to resume their postseason run, after defeating the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. The Stanley Cup Final is expected to start on either June 15 or 18 and with the Tampa Bay Lightning pulling even with the New York Rangers, the latter seems more likely at this point.

Outside of the normal rest versus rust debate, you probably won’t hear the Avalanche complaining very much. The team is hoping that both Nazem Kadri and Andrew Cogliano will be able to return at some point during the Final, after both underwent a similar surgery. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that Kadri was back in the gym today, doing “everything he can” to get back in time.

The 31-year-old Kadri was having a strong playoff run with 14 points in 13 games before suffering a broken thumb against the Oilers, on a play that resulted in a suspension for Evander Kane. The pending free agent Avalanche forward has been on a tear all season, setting a career-high with 87 points during the regular season and generally playing the best hockey of his life. It has set him up for a huge summer, where he could be looking at a massive raise on the $4.5MM cap hit he has carried since 2016.

A return just in time to play for the Stanley Cup would only help Kadri’s legacy in Colorado if he does end up leaving the team at the end of the year. Cogliano would also be a bonus, though the trade deadline addition doesn’t have quite the same impact as his teammate. The 34-year-old is averaging just over nine minutes a game in the playoffs, though both of his goals have been game-winners.

For the goaltending discussion, Bednar wouldn’t give anything up, saying it is a tough decision between Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz.

Darcy Kuemper Out; Pavel Francouz Likely Starter

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Darcy Kuemper wasn’t on the ice for the Colorado Avalanche at morning skate according to Gene Principe of Sportsnet, as Pavel Francouz and Justus Annunen occupied the nets instead. The veteran netminder was pulled from game one with an upper-body injury, and head coach Jared Bednar wouldn’t comment on the specifics yesterday, other than to say “we’ll see” if he would be ready for game two. Bednar confirmed following the skate that Kuemper is indeed out for tonight’s match.

Kuemper, 32, has dealt with injury issues his entire career and already had a bad-luck incident in the playoffs that took him out for a few games. Against the Nashville Predators in the first round, a stick came through Kuemper’s mask and hit him in the eye, forcing Francouz into the net for a game and a half. While the Avalanche had no trouble finishing that series, they’re in tough against an Edmonton Oilers team that has had no trouble scoring goals.

If it is Francouz, it’s another chance for him to prove not only that he can handle an NHL playoff game, but that he can be part of a tandem for next season. Kuemper is a pending unrestricted free agent, while the 31-year-old Francouz is signed through 2023-24. To this point in his short NHL career, and despite strong regular season numbers, the Czech netminder has been completely unreliable in the postseason, recording an .891 save percentage in nine appearances. Six of those came in the 2020 bubble playoffs when the team ultimately went with Michael Hutchinson in the deciding game seven against the Dallas Stars.

The Oilers meanwhile had their own goaltending issues in game one, which saw Mike Smith pulled from the net after allowing six goals on 25 shots. Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that there is a “strong indication” that the team will go back to Smith for game two, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise given how much faith they have shown in the veteran netminder thus far.

Through 13 games this postseason, Smith has a solid .917 save percentage and even leads the playoffs with two shutouts. While he can be a bit of an adventure at times, there’s little doubt at this point that he gives them the best chance to win.

Injury Notes: Andersen, Point, Kuemper

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The Carolina Hurricanes were meeting with the media for the final time this season as they cleaned out their lockers, and Frederik Andersen finally answered some questions about the mysterious injury that kept him out of the playoffs. The veteran goaltender revealed that he tore his MCL on April 16, his last appearance of the season and a game in which he allowed seven goals on 33 shots.

With Andersen out, the Hurricanes were forced to use Antti Raanta for the entire playoff run, something that he had never done before. While he had some incredible moments, his performance dropped off at the end of the second round, when he was pulled in consecutive games against the New York Rangers. It was nearly the exact same situation that the Toronto Maple Leafs found themselves in with Andersen a year ago, when he was unable to play down the stretch and in the playoffs due to a mysterious lower-body injury. The 32-year-old netminder has one year left on his deal that carries a $4.5MM cap hit.

  • There was an interesting sight today just after the Tampa Bay Lightning left the ice following morning skate, as reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic spotted Brayden Point doing drills with assistant coach Jeff Halpern. There’s no updated timeline for Point’s return after he left game seven against the Maple Leafs in the first round. The 26-year-old center has led the Lightning in goals during each of the Stanley Cup runs and would be a huge boost if he can re-enter the lineup at some point.
  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar wouldn’t give up any details on the upper-body injury that took Darcy Kuemper out of the game last night, and only said “we’ll see” if the veteran goaltender is ready to go in game two. As Mike Chambers of the Denver Post relays, Bednar refuses to get into the injury at this point in the playoffs. He did indicate the team has full confidence in Pavel Francouz, who has now been forced into game action in two of the three Colorado series.

Nathan MacKinnon Out Indefinitely With Upper-Body Injury

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March 31: So much for that concern. Today on Altitude Sports Radio, Bednar announced that MacKinnon is expected to play tonight for the Avalanche when they take on the San Jose Sharks.

March 29: The Colorado Avalanche will not have Nathan MacKinnon in the lineup tonight when they take on the Calgary Flames, and it’s not clear when he’ll be back. The superstar center has flown back to Denver to have an upper-body injury evaluated, according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, and there is no timeline for his return at this point. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Baugh that it was “possible” that the injury occurred in MacKinnon’s recent fight against Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild and that concern was currently “high” from the team.

MacKinnon took exception to a hit that Dumba laid on Mikko Rantanen the other night, and immediately engaged in a fight with the Wild defenseman. While the Colorado forward didn’t immediately appear to have an injury–he returned to the game for five more shifts after his penalty was served–he now faces an uncertain timeline at one of the worst possible points in the season.

Luckily, the Avalanche have built up quite a lead in the Central Division, as even the surging Wild (currently on a six-game winning streak) are 14 points behind them in the standings. If MacKinnon is out for any length of time, the team should certainly be able to hold onto that lead and still head into the playoffs as the top seed in the Central Division.

The worry obviously is whether the injury will keep him out longer-term, as there are only a little over four weeks left in the regular season. MacKinnon has already missed a good chunk of the season, but has 70 points in 51 games and continues to be one of the most dynamic, valuable players in the entire league.

Jared Bednar Signs Two-Year Extension With Avalanche

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Jared Bednar will be sticking around behind the bench of the Avalanche for a little while longer as the team announced that they have signed their head coach to a two-year contract extension.  The deal will run through the 2023-24 season.  GM Joe Sakic released the following statement on the signing:

Jared has established himself as one of the top coaches in the NHL. He is a great leader who has the complete trust of our players and staff. Under his guidance our team has continued to make great strides and improve every year. We know he is the right person to help us take that next step and compete for a Stanley Cup.

Bednar is in his sixth season as Colorado’s bench boss after taking over in a somewhat unique fashion when he was hired late in the summer of 2015 following Patrick Roy’s abrupt resignation.  His first year was a particularly rough one but since then, the Avs have been a consistently strong team, posting a points percentage of at least .549 and have made four straight postseason appearances with the last three resulting in second-round exits, helping lead him to the second-most coaching victories in Avalanche history (third in franchise history dating back to their time in Quebec).

Under Bednar’s tutelage, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have become legitimate top-line stars and the two have anchored a top line alongside captain Gabriel Landeskog for long stretches during his tenure.  They’ve also become one of the stronger defense corps in the league, anchored by young star Cale Makar along with younger veterans Devon Toews and Samuel Girard.

However, it hasn’t been a great start to the season for the Avalanche this season.  They currently sit fifth in the Central Division with a 7-5-1 record although they’ve played the fewest games in the Western Conference so there is room for some improvement on their seeding as they make up their games in hand.

Some had wondered if the slow start coupled with their inability to get over the hump in the postseason would be enough for Sakic to consider a coaching change but clearly, that didn’t happen.  That said, a two-year extension isn’t a significant vote of confidence either.  But it’s enough to get rid of the storyline of being in a lame-duck situation and it should take the heat off for the time being as they look to move up the standings while Bednar takes aim at that Colorado wins record as he’s just two behind Bob Hartley for first.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nathan MacKinnon Out Three Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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The Colorado Avalanche will be without their most explosive offensive weapon for the next little while, as head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today that Nathan MacKinnon will be out “give or take three weeks” with a lower-body injury.

MacKinnon suffered the injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets a few days ago but is set to miss around eight games depending on when he’s able to return. That’s another big chunk of what has been a tough season so far for the Hart Trophy finalist, who already sat out two games while in the COVID protocol. When he’s on the ice he’s been as explosive as ever, with ten points in eight games (though only one of those was a goal), but he’ll now face an extended layoff.

This is a brutal blow for the Avalanche, who are already floundering in the early part of the season. At 4-5-1 the team is eight points behind the Central Division-leading St. Louis Blues and six points back of the third-place Winnipeg Jets for a divisional playoff spot. While they have played the fewest games in the division, they’ve also allowed as many goals or more than every team ahead of them in the Central standings.

That’s not to say Colorado can’t compete without MacKinnon, but as arguably the most valuable contract in the entire league, he gives them a huge advantage every night. The 26-year-old is still carrying a cap hit of just $6.3MM, meaning their funds could be allocated to other places like retaining captain Gabriel Landeskog in the offseason. Landeskog is where a lot of the offensive burden will land in MacKinnon’s absence, as he’ll be asked to do even more to keep the Avalanche scoring.

It’s been a heck of a start for the Avalanche, who have had injuries or illnesses affect nearly every one of their key players. With MacKinnon now out for three weeks, their resolve will certainly be tested even further.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Penguins, Golden Knights, Avalanche, Wood

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The Pittsburgh Penguins received some extremely welcome news today, as head coach Mike Sullivan says centers Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter are game-time decisions for tomorrow’s contest against the New Jersey Devils as they begin the journey to full health. That’s only 40% of the key contributors they have currently out of the lineup, however, as Kris Letang remains in COVID-19 protocol and Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are on injured reserve. Still, seeing one of the best players in the world close to full health again and nearly ready to make his season debut is always promising news. The return of Carter shouldn’t be overlooked either, as the veteran forward had four points in four games before entering COVID-19 protocol.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • The Golden Knights, along with the Penguins, have been one of the most injury-affected teams in the NHL this season. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger issued updates on the health of many Golden Knights today, as the team has six regulars currently sitting out with injury. The most notable of those updates is Mark Stone, who is still out indefinitely but skated today for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on October 15. However, it could potentially become seven regulars out of the lineup for tonight’s game as William Carrier suffered an injury Wednesday night against Dallas and is a game-time decision.
  • Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is day-to-day with a lower-body injury per head coach Jared Bednar, but defenseman Devon Toews is expected to make his season debut during the next two games. Rantanen was scratched from Thursday night’s game against the Blues. Toews’ return will give Colorado a fully healthy defense core for the first time this season, as Samuel Girard is also ready to go.
  • Devils head coach Lindy Ruff gave an update today on forward Miles Wood, who he calls “the furthest away” from returning out of all the Devils’ injuries. Considering Jack Hughes was issued a five-week timeline today, that’s not promising news. Wood has not played this season after suffering a lower-body injury just prior to the start of the campaign.

COVID Notes: Blackwood, Bednar, Jarnkrok

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The New Jersey Devils didn’t actually end up playing last night due to an electrical issue in the rink, but there was an issue with the roster even before the scoreboard went dark. Mackenzie Blackwood, who was originally scheduled to play the first two periods for the Devils, didn’t hit the ice with the team for warmup. Corey Masisak of The Athletic reported this morning that it was because Blackwood, one of the handful of players who have decided not to be vaccinated, had inconclusive COVID-19 test results. According to Masisak, the team is expecting to know for sure one way or the other on Blackwood’s status by Sunday.

When both Blackwood and Jonathan Bernier were missing from today’s practice, speculation ramped up that it was because he would be a close contact as the other goaltender. That is not the case, as Bernier was taking a maintenance day, not because of anything to do with Blackwood’s status. While testing positive is certainly a possibility for every player in the league, vaccinated or not, the fact that Blackwood has declined means that should he miss regular season action because of a positive case, the Devils could suspend him without pay.

  • If there was any hope that Jared Bednar would be back quicker than expected from his positive test, it didn’t come true today. Bednar was still absent from Colorado Avalanche practice today according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, with skills coach Shawn Allard leading the drills instead. When the Avalanche announced Bednar’s status earlier this week, they included that he would be out for the team’s final two preseason games. One of those came yesterday, a loss at the hands of the Dallas Stars, and the other comes tomorrow in the back half of the home-and-home.
  • The Seattle Kraken haven’t had Calle Jarnkrok on the ice the last few days, and today head coach Dave Hakstol explained why. Jarnkrok has been put into the league’s COVID protocol, meaning he can’t join his teammates on the ice and is out indefinitely. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times confirms that Jarnkork is vaccinated, meaning that he will be able to return once he registers a confirmed negative test. It is not clear if Jarnkrok tested positive, only that he has entered the protocol for some reason.

Pavel Francouz Out 3-4 Weeks; Bednar To Miss Preseason Games

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The injuries continue for Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz, who will be out three to four weeks with a lower-body issue. Francouz missed all of last season and has played just 36 regular season games since signing with the Avalanche in 2018. The team also announced that head coach Jared Bednar has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the team’s remaining two preseason games. In his absence, assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Nolan Pratt will takeover.

While losing the head coach is a big blow, it’s Francouz’s absence that is the real headline for the Avalanche. The backup goaltender was expected to carry a steady load this season to help new start Darcy Kuemper stay healthy and fresh, but will now once again be out to start the year. When he’s been healthy enough to play, Francouz has been outstanding, posting a .923 save percentage in those 36 appearances. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been available to the team when they’ve needed him most and is now out of the picture.

One positive is the strong goaltending depth that the team has built, with Hunter Miska and Jonas Johansson in the system. Even beyond them, Justus Annunen sits in the minor leagues as the future at the position, though he has played only three games at the AHL level to this point. There will likely be an opportunity for Colorado to claim another goaltender off waivers in the coming days as well if they choose to, as teams try to slide their third-string options down to the minor leagues.

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