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Oilers Extend Calvin Pickard, Cam Dineen

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4:40 p.m.: Pickard’s deal is now official, with the Oilers confirming the terms as reported.

2:18 p.m.: The Oilers are finishing up on a two-year contract extension for backup netminder Calvin Pickard, reports ESPN’s Kevin Weekes. It’s a $2MM deal ($1MM cap hit), according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. He was slated to become a UFA on Monday.

They also have a piece of completed business done for depth defenseman Cam Dineen. The pending Group VI UFA has been retained on a two-year, two-way deal, per PuckPedia. It’ll pay him $775K NHL/$275K AHL ($325K guaranteed) in 2024-25 before bumping to $775K NHL/$350K AHL ($400K guaranteed) in 2025-26.

The extension marks a return to consistent NHL time for Pickard, a 32-year-old journeyman who’d largely been a minor league option since 2019. But a stretch of poor play from Jack Campbell to open Edmonton’s season caused them to waive him and assign him to the AHL early on, paving the way for Pickard to earn his keep as a backup to Stuart Skinner.

At the time, it was an easy decision. Campbell had struggled ever since signing with the Oilers in free agency in 2022, and sending him down opened up $1.15MM in cap space. Meanwhile, Pickard had gotten off to a strong start on the farm, putting up a .939 SV% in his first four outings for the Bakersfield Condors.

Pickard didn’t blow the doors off in his first extended NHL chance in a while, nor did anyone expect him to. But he was a much more stable option to insert in relief of the developing Skinner, and did manage to give the Oilers some above-average play with a .909 SV% and 2.45 GAA in 23 appearances. The Avalanche 2010 second-round pick also made his playoff debut in relief of Skinner in Game 3 of their second-round win over the Canucks, also starting Games 4 and 5 before Skinner returned after a much-needed reset for Game 6. Pickard held his own with a .915 SV%, helping Edmonton recover and advance all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

A $1MM cap hit is still fully buriable in the minors if the Oilers fail to find a way to move on from the remainder of Campbell’s contract this summer and he fights for a spot in training camp, but it’s a good indication they envision Pickard seeing NHL time for the next two years. His 23 outings this season were his most since being forced into starting action for the Avalanche during their last-place finish in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, Dineen is expected to reprise a top-four role in Bakersfield after spending all of this season in the minors. Since acquiring the 26-year-old via trade from the Coyotes in March 2023, he’s put up seven goals and 30 assists for 37 points in 77 games with the Condors while logging a -3 rating. He has seven assists and a -16 rating in 34 career NHL appearances, all of which came in Arizona in 2021-22. Dineen was a third-round pick of the Coyotes in the 2016 draft.

NHL Announces 2023-24 All-Star Teams

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The NHL announced their annual season-ending All-Star teams as part of last night’s award festivities. The rosters, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, are as follows.

First All-Star Team

LW: Artemi Panarin (Rangers)
C: Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche)
RW: Nikita Kucherov (Lightning)
D: Quinn Hughes (Canucks)
D: Roman Josi (Predators)
G: Connor Hellebuyck (Jets)

Second All-Star Team

LW: Filip Forsberg (Predators)
C: Connor McDavid (Oilers)
RW: David Pastrňák (Bruins)
D: Adam Fox (Rangers)
D: Cale Makar (Avalanche)
G: Thatcher Demko (Canucks)

The First Team nod caps off quite a successful 24 hours for MacKinnon, who also swept both media-voted and player-voted MVP honors with the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. It’s his third All-Star nod, although his two prior ones were both Second Team honors in 2018 and 2020. The 28-year-old pivot led the Avs in scoring with 51 goals and 140 points this season and recorded a league-high 405 shots on goal.

Notably, the voting ledger (available in the league’s announcement) indicates Kucherov was the unanimous First Team selection at right wing. That’s the first time that’s happened since 2002, when the Flames’ Jarome Iginla was the across-the-board pick after also winning the Richard and Art Ross trophies. Like Iginla, Kucherov was crowned this year’s Art Ross winner after recording 144 points in 81 games. He tied with McDavid for a league-leading 100 assists, becoming the first winger in NHL history to hit the mark.

Absent from either team is Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, whose 69 goals this season were the most of anyone since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. He also fell short of being a Hart Trophy finalist behind Kucherov, MacKinnon and McDavid. He was third in All-Star voting among centers, though, and did receive nine First Team and 55 Second Team votes out of 187 ballots. The only other center to receive consideration was the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, who only appeared on four ballots.

Oilers Won’t Renew Ken Holland’s Contract

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10:32 a.m.: The Oilers won’t be renewing Holland’s contract, CEO of hockey operations Jeff Jackson confirmed. The organization didn’t say when the search for his successor would begin, nor did they name an interim GM ahead of tomorrow’s draft.

8:17 a.m.: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Edmonton Oilers will likely allow general manager Ken Holland’s contract to expire on June 30th. Holland would become a free agent at that point, and the expectation is that multiple teams will pursue him to gauge his interest in hockey operations positions. Holland and the Oilers came within one win of the Stanley Cup, which would have been Holland’s fifth had they been successful.

If the Oilers let Holland walk, they will be without a general manager at the most critical time of the year, and as Friedman points out in his article, they could choose to go without a GM in the interim.

Holland has his detractors and had a very uneven run in Edmonton, signing several questionable contracts with Jack Campbell, Darnell Nurse, and Cody Ceci. However, Edmonton never missed the playoffs during Holland’s five-year run and made two Western Conference Finals appearances and one Stanley Cup Final. Holland also made some very savvy moves, notably the signing of 50-goal scorer Zach Hyman, trading for defenseman Mattias Ekholm, and the trade deadline move for Adam Henrique.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported earlier this week that Holland would have a role in Edmonton if he wanted it, but it remains to be seen if he will look for new challenges or simply retire. If this is the End for Holland in Edmonton, he will finish his time there with a 220-121-32 record.

Offseason Checklist: Edmonton Oilers

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After this year’s Stanley Cup champion was crowned, the offseason has arrived for everyone. It’s time to examine what teams will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Oilers.

A horrid 3-9-1 start to the season had the Oilers in dangerous territory in November, leading them to be the first team to make an in-season coaching change. They were raucous after replacing Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch behind the bench, rebounding to go 46-18-5 the rest of the way and finishing second in the Pacific Division with 104 points. Their star-studded roster got within one goal of their first Stanley Cup since 1990 but ultimately fell short in an incredible 2024 Stanley Cup Final that saw them erase a 3-0 series deficit to force a Game 7. Now, the focus quickly turns to next season, with the draft and free agency less than a week away.

Find Holland’s Successor

The 2024 NHL Draft is in just three days, but the Oilers won’t have a full-time general manager at the table, it seems. Ken Holland’s contract is up and he won’t be returning in the role next season, as he’s headed for something between pseudo-retirement and full retirement. There’s a sense Holland may still remain affiliated with Edmonton in 2024-25, but it won’t be as GM, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports.

That leaves Edmonton with some choices to make, both short-term and long-term. In terms of who will run the draft on Friday night and Saturday morning, that’ll likely fall on the shoulders of assistant GMs Keith Gretzky, Brad Holland and Bill Scott. Director of Amateur Scouting Bill Pracey and Chief Amateur Scout Bob Green will also likely have more increased responsibility than normal. One thing is for sure, though – Ken Holland won’t be on the floor in his former capacity.

They haven’t been linked to any external GM candidates yet, but they’ll need to conduct a search. Brad Holland, who holds a director of professional scouting specification under his AGM title, seems to be the likeliest candidate to take over as the de facto interim GM when free agency begins if Edmonton doesn’t name a permanent replacement in the next week.

Draisaitl Extension Talks

German superstar Leon Draisaitl has more than solidified himself as a top-five forward in the league, giving the Oilers a one-two punch down the middle only rivaled by the prime of the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in recent memory. He’s done so on an absolute steal of an $8.5MM cap hit that’s served them well over the last seven seasons, but he’s now hurtling toward unrestricted free agency in 2025 and will require a hefty raise.

It doesn’t help that his deal is expiring at a time when the salary cap is seeing hefty 5% raises annually, and the top end of skater contracts is seemingly moving north every summer. As Chris Johnston pointed out in his latest for The Athletic, Draisaitl is surely in line to at least match or exceed the $13.25MM cap hit that’s kicking in for Leafs star Auston Matthews next season. That would at least temporarily have him eclipse Connor McDavid as Edmonton’s highest-paid player. Is that something the organization is comfortable with?

We’ll find out soon enough. If Draisaitl signs an extension for the same cap hit percentage as Matthews, 15.87%, that would work out to $13.97MM per season with an $88MM upper limit. Evolving Hockey has a slightly more conservative extension projection for Draisaitl at eight years with a $13.54MM cap hit. It would still give him the largest cap hit in the league for a brief period of time – he’d surely be eclipsed by McDavid when his deal runs out in 2026.

Getting cost certainty on Draisaitl long-term is necessary for the Oilers’ planning this summer as they look to make commitments in free agency and offload some bloated deals. They’re likely not very comfortable with extension discussions drawing out into the season, either – letting him potentially walk for nothing next summer isn’t something they’re even entertaining, per Johnston.

Replenish Scoring Depth

The Oilers have a bevy of forwards who were regulars in postseason play hitting free agency this summer, headlined by 20-goal man Warren Foegele and trade deadline pickup Adam Henrique. Their penalty-killing duo of Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark, who had a strong playoff and an incredible breakthrough Cup Final against Florida, are also both up.

As it stands, four forwards who spent most or all of last season in the AHL (Xavier Bourgault, James Hamblin, Raphael Lavoie, Lane Pederson) are slated for their 2024-25 opening night lineup if they don’t sign any UFAs. That’s not a realistic scenario. Anyone who can be had for a relatively affordable price will likely brought back – after all, their scoring behind McDavid, Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and company was strong enough to get them oh-so-close to a championship. Foegele especially was a crucial depth piece throughout the season, not just the playoffs, with his career-high 41 points.

But with only just over $10MM in projected cap space with nine open roster spots, that’s going to be an extremely tough ask. Money will need to be moved out no matter who they retain, which brings us to our next point…

Offload Campbell

Ridding themselves of or significantly reducing Jack Campbell’s $5MM cap hit is a much higher priority for Edmonton than its fourth-item placing in this article indicates. He’s taking up nearly 6% of their cap space and still costs $3.85MM when buried in the minors. While he did have a strong campaign in AHL Bakersfield, posting a .918 SV% in 33 games, the uncertainty of what you’re getting from him if you promote him back to the NHL is simply too great to stomach for a championship-caliber, cap-strapped team like Edmonton.

Whether that’s a trade or a buyout remains to be seen. He does have some trade protection, but a 10-team no-trade list isn’t absurdly difficult to deal with. A buyout would reduce his cap hit to $1.1MM next season, saving them $2.75MM in cap space compared to burying him in the minors. That’s enough for a pair of serviceable depth scorers in free agency.

Campbell had a .873 SV% in five NHL appearances to begin the season before being waived and sent to Bakersfield, where he spent the rest of the campaign. They would still need to find a backup for Stuart Skinner if they buy Campbell out or move him, but that can be done for a league-minimum contract (or close to it).

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Panthers Win Stanley Cup, Connor McDavid Wins Conn Smythe

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The Florida Panthers are your 2024 Stanley Cup champions, recovering from blowing a 3-0 series lead by taking Game 7 at home by a score of 2-1. The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP is going to a skater from the losing club for the second time in NHL history, though. Oilers superstar Connor McDavid receives the honor after recording a postseason-leading 34 assists and 42 points in just 24 games, the former of which is an all-time record.

Among the notables for Florida is captain Aleksander Barkov becoming the first Finn to lead his team to a Stanley Cup. Head coach Paul Maurice, who’s second all-time in games coached with 1,848, also wins for the first time.

The Cup-winning goal came off the stick of Sam Reinhart, who beat Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner for the go-ahead goal with 4:51 left in the second period. He has less than a week to negotiate a contract extension with the Panthers to avoid hitting the open market as the top right wing available next Monday.

Reinhart finishes the postseason second on Florida in goals with 10, one behind Carter Verhaeghe’s 11. He netted the game-opening goal after going scoreless in Games 2 through 6.

While he lost out to McDavid for the Conn Smythe, Panthers star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky isn’t complaining about his first Cup win, either. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is up for the award again this year, and with a championship ring, he’s all but solidified his candidacy for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

With the Cup Final over, attention now turns toward an incredibly busy opening to the offseason. The first buyout window opens Wednesday, the NHL Awards are Thursday night, the 2024 NHL Draft is Friday and Saturday, and the qualifying offer deadline is Sunday. That’s a major calendar event for five days in a row before the opening of free agency and the technical start of the new league year on Monday, July 1.

Snapshots: Bobrovsky, Ekblad, Nugent-Hopkins, Smith

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Florida Panthers fans are breathing a big sigh of relief this morning, with both star defender Aaron Ekblad and Vezina-finalist goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky good to go after missing the team’s Sunday morning practice, per Colby Guy of Florida Hockey Now (Twitter link). Neither player were limited in the team’s Game 6 loss – with Bobrovsky facing 19 shots and Ekblad playing 21:37 in ice time – suggesting that their absences were merely for maintenance. Still, every update matters as the Panthers look to skid three straight losses in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Edmonton Oilers have outscored Florida 18-t0-5 over that stretch, with Bobrovsky posting a collective 0.793 save percentage. The Panthers will now return home for a winner-takes-all Game 7, seemingly still at full strength.

Other quick notes from around the league:

  • In the name of fairness, the Oilers are facing an injury scare of their own, with former-100 point forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missing the team’s Sunday practice with illness, per Jim Matheson of NHL.com (Twitter link). Nugent-Hopkins has been one of Edmonton’s top contributors this postseason, recording 22 points in 24 playoff games. That includes two points in Edmonton’s three-game win-streak – so far his only scoring in the Stanley Cup Finals. Nugent-Hopkins would leave a major role vacant should he be unavailable for Game 7, though there’s been no indication that Edmonton is expecting him to sit.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins winger Reilly Smith has changed agencies ahead of the final year of his contract, now represented by CAA Hockey, per PuckPedia (Twitter link). CAA is the choice agency of many NHL stars, including Sidney Crosby, Matthew Beniers, Mathew Barzal, and Cole Caufield. It’s also the agency most akin to changing scenery – representing the recently-traded Pierre-Luc Dubois, rumored trade chip Rutger McGroarty, and hardened trade rumor veteran Jack Eichel. Smith takes on the new representation while looking to vindicate his final year at a $5MM price tag, though his 13 goals and 40 points last season fell short of expecations.

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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Free agency is now just a bit more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Oilers. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Dylan Holloway – Dylan Holloway has spent most of the last three seasons posting high scoring in the minor leagues but failing to follow up in NHL call-ups. That seemed to come to a peak this year, with Holloway netting 10 goals and 16 points in 18 AHL games but then totaling just nine points in 38 NHL regular-season games. It was looking like another disappointing year until Holloway stepped up in the postseason – tallying a handful of timely goals and putting in the work to make an impact even if his name isn’t on the scoresheet. Still, he has just seven points in 23 playoff games, not doing too much to warrant a prime contract next season. There are reasons for Edmonton to hold onto faith with the 2020 14th-overall pick, though he’s likely set for a short-term ‘prove it’ deal before anything substantial.

D Philip Broberg – Broberg’s career has followed a very similar track record to Holloway’s, featuring strong minor league scoring followed by weak performances at the top level. That has equated to 13 points in 81 NHL games for Broberg – though, like Holloway, he’s earned some stake back with strong appearances in the postseason, though he’s only played in eight games. The Oilers have been publicly shopping Broberg around for some time now, and seem destined for a breakup this summer – with a looming change of scenery hopefully sparking some offense in the former eighth-overall pick.

Other RFAs: F James Hamblin, F Raphael Lavoie, F Carter Savoie, D Noel Hoefenmayer, G Ryan Fanti

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Warren Foegele – The Oilers are facing a massive outflux of depth forwards this summer, headlined by Warren Foegele, who posted a career-high 20 goals and 41 points this season. Foegele has always found a way to be impactful but he seemed to find an added gear this year, fighting his way to confident third-line minutes and strong scoring amidst an Oilers bottom-six that was otherwise fairly tame. Foegele chose to have a career year at the right time, and will likely vie for a respectable price tag this summer with teams looking to prioritize depth scoring. But there’s no question that his strength shined best in the Oilers lineup, and he should be a popular candidate to re-sign.

F Connor Brown – Connor Brown was signed to replace Klim Kostin’s role of rough-and-tumble bruiser lined up next to Connor McDavid. But Brown couldn’t fill the role, managing just 12 points in 71 games this season and seeing his role dwindle from top-line minutes to healthy scratches. Brown has earned some merit back with six points in 17 postseason games, though he’s still filling a role much less than originally designed. That fact could make him expendable come the summer, among a long list of depth options hitting the open market.

F Adam Henrique – The Oilers must make judgment calls on multiple veteran forwards, including Henrique, Corey Perry, Sam Gagner, and Mattias Janmark. Of the bunch, it appears Henrique would have the best case to return. He posted a measly nine points in 22 games – and six points in 15 playoff games – after joining the Oilers at the Trade Deadline, but has still found a way to offer prominent depth at both wing and center. Flexibility and leadership are Henrique’s defining traits and it could prove invaluable as the Oilers look to turn a one-season run to the Stanley Cup Finals into a routine spot among the NHL’s top teams. At 34, it’s likely Henrique has a few years left in the tank without being able to command too pricey of a cap hit.

D Vincent Desharnais – Desharnais has filled the important role of team-bruiser for the Oilers, leading him to 78 appearances during the regular season, even though he potted just 11 points. He’s a hefty 6-foot-7, 226lbs, and knows how to throw around his weight without racking up the penalty minutes – totaling just 85 across his first 114 NHL games. Desharnais has distinctly shown what kind of player he is and will likely be due a cheap contract as a result, but his ability to serve as the brawn behind the skilled Oilers lineup sets him up to become a consistent of the team’s bottom lines.

Other UFAs: F Sam Carrick, F  Sam Gagner, F Mattias Janmark, F Corey Perry, F Adam Erne, F Greg McKegg, D Troy Stecher, D Cam Dineen, D Markus Niemelainen, G Calvin Pickard

Projected Cap Space

The Oilers are entering the summer with just $10.03MM in projected cap space. That’s likely enough to bring back a few depth pieces – and both of their notable RFAs – but it won’t be enough for the team to make any notable improvements after making a run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. They’ll have to hope their current makeup can find similar success next season – and will soon need to lean on young depth pieces like Xavier Bourgault and Beau Akey as they continue to be priced out of consistency down the lineup.

Afternoon Notes: Clune, Devils, Kane, Holloway

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The Anaheim Ducks have hired former player Rich Clune as an assistant coach, shares Chris Johnston of The Athletic (Twitter link). Clune has spent the last two seasons as a development coach with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, joining the team he once captained immediately following his 2022 retirement. Clune added a role behind the bench last season, and will now get a chance to do the same at the NHL level.

Clune was a career minor-league bruiser, who played in just two full NHL seasons as part of his 15-year career in North American pros. He scored a career-high nine points in 47 games during the 2012-13 season, swapping record stats in the following year with seven points and a career-high 166 penalty minutes in 58 games. Clune would go on to play just one more NHL game in his career, though he did total an impressive 593 career games in the AHL – recording 151 points and 1,607 penalty minutes.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The New Jersey Devils have signed a two-year extension with ECHL affiliate the Adirondack Thunder. The two teams have been partnered since 2017-18, following a brief connection between Adirondack and the Calgary Flames. The Thunder have only missed the playoffs once in their six-year connection with New Jersey, though they’ve failed to make it past Divisional finals.
  • The Edmonton Oilers could welcome winger Evander Kane back to the lineup on Friday, with head coach Kris Knoblauch designating him a game-time decision to Dan Rosen of NHL.com (Twitter link). Kane hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and hasn’t scored since Game 5 against the Dallas Stars. In total he has just eight points in 20 games this postseason, though his aggression and grit will be a welcome boost over Dylan Holloway, who’d stand to lose his role should Kane step back in, shares Renauld Lavoie of TVA Sports (Twitter link).

Andrew Cogliano Announces Retirement

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2022 Stanley Cup champion Andrew Cogliano is retiring after a 17-year NHL career. The Avalanche announced the news regarding their pending free agent forward in an announcement Friday. He’ll stay in Denver in a wide-spanning player development and scouting role. Cogliano released the following statement through the team:

The game of hockey has given me and my family so much and I am grateful for every moment. I am blessed to have played for so long with some great organizations and amazing teammates. I will miss being with the guys in the dressing room and battling for each other on the ice every night but it’s time to move on. Thank you to everyone I ever played with, played for and all the great fans for all of their support. I am excited to start my new chapter in the front office.

An unlikely first-round pick of the Oilers back in 2005, Cogliano had a peculiar development path as one of the few first-round picks in recent memory to be drafted out of lower-level juniors. After racking up 102 points in 49 games with the OPJHL’s St. Michael’s Buzzers in his draft year, Cogliano walked away from Canadian juniors and embarked on a collegiate career with the University of Michigan, where he again dominated. He turned pro with Edmonton in 2007-08, playing in all 82 games during his rookie season – something that would quickly become a common theme.

That rookie season was a strong one for Cogliano, who finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting after racking up 45 points, a number that would end up standing as a career-high. Suiting up for Edmonton in the early days of their so-called ’Decade of Darkness,’ Cogliano quickly developed into a respected, versatile two-way skater who could play anywhere he was needed, skating on virtually every line and at every forward position. After four years, 146 points and 328 games of service for Edmonton, never missing a contest since making his NHL debut, he was dealt to the Ducks in the 2011 offseason in exchange for a second-round pick.

The offense never popped consistently for Cogliano in Anaheim, although he did notch his only 20-goal season in the 2013-14 campaign. Still, he remained an incredibly serviceable and adept two-way skater, routinely averaging between 14 and 16 minutes per game while contributing solid secondary scoring. Consistency remained perhaps his greatest asset – his career-opening ironman streak didn’t end until a suspension in the 2017-18 campaign, his 11th one in the NHL and his final full season with the Ducks.

Cogliano remained a strong utility forward with penalty-killing upside even as he aged, giving solid showings for the Stars, Sharks and finally Avalanche as he declined into a solely bottom-six role. Colorado acquired him for just a fifth-round pick from San Jose at the 2022 trade deadline, and he went on to contribute three goals and six points in 16 playoff games as he helped the Avs to their first Stanley Cup in nearly 20 years.

Now 37, Cogliano finishes his career with 1,294 games played, tied for 75th all-time. He tallied 190 goals, 274 assists, and 464 points with a +31 rating and 449 PIMs while averaging 14:06 per game. All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Cogliano as he begins his front-office career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

West Notes: Markstrom, Jets, Oilers

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The Calgary Flames aren’t facing much pressure to move top goaltender Jacob Markstrom, with general manager Craig Conroy sharing with Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that the player hasn’t formally requested a trade. Markstrom was wrapped up in trade rumors throughout the season, even continuing into this summer as one of the top options on the New Jersey Devils’ trade radar. Markstrom expressed frustrations with the rumors around the Trade Deadline, bluntly stating that he thought the situation could have been handled differently.

Markstrom’s value as a top goaltender is readily apparent, even through his highs and lows. He posted a stout 23 wins and .905 save percentage in 48 games this year, both improvements from his tallies last year despite playing in 11 fewer games. Last year’s .892 save percentage marked Markstrom’s first time recording a save percentage under .900 across his seven years as an NHL starter. He rebounded admirably this season, bringing his career totals up to 196 wins and a .909 save percentage across 483 games. Markstrom has two years remaining on a six-year, $36MM contract signed with the Flames in 2020 – pricing him in the middle of the goalie trade market, costlier than Linus Ullmark’s $5MM cap hit but cheaper than John Gibson’s $6.4MM cap hit.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Winnipeg Jets have extended their ECHL affiliation with the Norfolk Admirals. The Admirals are coming off their first year partnered with the Jets, seeing historic success as they made the league’s postseason for the first time in their eight-year history. The Admirals were bounced in the second round but still enjoyed a year built around strong goaltending, featuring Carolina Hurricanes prospect Yaniv Perets, on loan, and Jets prospect Thomas Milic.
  • The Edmonton Oilers will, unsurprisingly, be sticking with the same lineup that dominated in Game 4, shares Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Edmonton came back from the brink of elimination with a resounding 8-1 win over the Florida Panthers. The team’s depth bolstered the performance, with Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, Dylan Holloway, and Ryan McLeod each contributing to the record-rivaling win. The Oilers will hope they can catch lightning twice, and avoid gifting the Panthers a Stanley Cup on home ice.

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