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Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz Ruled Out For Game 2

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May 7th: According to a report from Sportsnet, Stolarz will unfortunately be absent from the Maple Leafs’ lineup in Game 2. There’s reportedly no timeline for his recovery, but this could be purposefully vague gamesmanship from Toronto.

May 6th: Anthony Stolarz’s status for Game 2 of the Maple Leafs’ series against the Panthers is uncertain, David Alter of The Hockey News relays from head coach Craig Berube.

That’s better news than most everyone was expecting after reports surfaced last night that Stolarz was taken to the hospital after leaving the game in the second period following multiple instances of head contact. Berube confirmed he was taken to the hospital but is doing well and had breakfast with the team after being discharged overnight. Stolarz was seen vomiting on the Leafs’ bench before being relieved by Joseph Woll, exiting the eventual 5-4 win after taking a puck to the mask in the first and an elbow/forearm from Panthers center Sam Bennett shortly before his departure. Bennett won’t face a suspension for the play, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic relayed this morning.

Berube wouldn’t confirm when asked if Stolarz had been diagnosed with a concussion. While Stolarz may be healthy enough to dress for Game 2, rushing him back from an otherwise exhausting ordeal to start seems unlikely. Woll is among the more formidable backups still alive in the postseason. He allowed three goals on 20 shots in relief but still has a sparkling .924 SV% in eight career playoff appearances for Toronto, including four starts. Woll started 41 of Toronto’s 82 regular-season games and, while his numbers weren’t in Stolarz’s stratosphere, still managed a .909 SV% and saved 16.8 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck.

In any event, simple news of Stolarz’s discharge and a long-term absence not guaranteed is great news after last night’s concern. The 31-year-old has a .901 SV% and a 2.19 GAA through seven games for Toronto in his first postseason (and regular season) as a No. 1 option.

Morning Notes: Pietrangelo, Jankowski, Robertson, Heiskanen

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The Vegas Golden Knights were without alternate captain Alex Pietrangelo is Game 1 of the Second Round on Tuesday due to illness. The Golden Knights fell to the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 4-2 without their top-pair defenseman. Pietrangelo played tough minutes for the Golden Knights through the first round, even recording 28:48 in ice time in their overtime win in Game 4. He’s totaled three points in six playoff appearances, while averaging roughly 22:30 in nightly ice time. That mark makes Pietrangelo the second-most utilized defenseman in Vegas’ postseason behind Noah Hanifin, who also has three points. Pietrangelo’s plus-two leads the club in playoff plus-minus, and makes him one of just two defenders with a positive mark, beside Nicolas Hague (plus-one).

The Golden Knights turned towards Kaedan Korczak is Pietrangelo’s absence. Korczak received a sheltered role and under 14 minutes of ice time in what was the first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance of his career. He played through his sophomore season in the NHL this year, netting 10 assists in 40 games after posting nine points in 26 games last season. Korczak is a young, lumbering defenseman who fits Vegas’ M.O. when it comes to shutting down the back-end. But it seems the Golden Knights will need more than that to get around Edmonton and superstar Connor McDavid, who had a point on all four of the Oilers’ goals in Game 1. With a pair of days to rest, Pietrangelo should at least be questionable for Game 2.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Carolina Hurricanes forward Mark Jankowski left the team’s Game 1 matchup early on Tuesday after sustaining an undisclosed injury. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour shared that Jankowski’s injury wasn’t serious and that he’ll be a gametime decision for Thursday’s Game 2, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. Jankowski was red-hot in the back-half of Carolina’s regular season after joining the team at the Trade Deadline. He scored eight goals in 19 games with the ’Canes, while shooting at an incredible 38.1 percent success rate. Those numbers have cooled down significantly in the postseason, though Jankowski does have one assist through three appearances so far. He’s been demoted to a seldomly-used, bottom-six role over the start of the postseason, and should be easy to replace if he’s forced to miss time.
  • Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer has shared that forward Jason Robertson will be a game-time decision for Wednesday night’s Game 1, while defenseman Miro Heiskanen will continue to sit out, per Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News. Getting Robertson back would be an incredible boost for the Stars roster. The winger led the team in goals (35) and ranked second in points (80) through 82 games this season. He continues to stand as a pillar of goal-scoring for the Stars, even as he falls short of reaching the 46 goals and 109 points he posted two seasons ago. Robertson has a pattern of producing in the postseason – with 38 points in 45 career games compiled between 2022 and 2024. Heiskanen will be much of the same upgrade when he’s back to full health. He again served as Dallas’ top defenseman this season and managed 25 points in 50 games before going down with injury. Heiskanen has 61 points in 85 career playoff games, including 16 points in 19 games last season.

Sabres Hire Eric Staal As Special Advisor

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The Buffalo Sabres have hired former NHL forward Eric Staal as a special advisor to general manager Kevyn Adams. Staal’s role will involve supporting multiple aspects of the hockey department, including scouting and direct involvement with players and prospects. That could mean supporting the team’s pre-season rookie or training camps, which would offer invaluable experience to a young Sabres playerbase.

Staal brings 18 years of NHL experience, and a 2006 Stanley Cup win and Finals appearances in 2021 and 2023, to the Sabres organization. He only played in 32 games with the Sabres over his extensive career – coming at the start of the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Staal recorded 10 points and a minus-20 with the Sabres, before being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens mid-season, where he finished the year with 11 points in 42 games, between the regular and postseason.

The bulk of Staal’s career was spent across the Eastern Conference with the Metropolitan Division’s Carolina Hurricanes. He was drafted second-overall in the 2003 NHL Draft and moved to the NHL right away. He was immediately impactful and scored 11 goals and 31 points in 81 games of his rookie season. But that was only a glimmer of Staal’s upside and, after spending the lockout 2004-05 season in the AHL, he posted a true breakout campaign in the 2005-06 season. Staal led the Hurricanes in scoring with an incredible 45 goals and 100 points in the regular season, then added 28 points in 25 postseason games to push Carolina to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Staal never topped his performance in 2005-06, but he did continue to rival 30 or 40 goals and/or 70 or 80 points throughout the next 10 years in Carolina. That scoring stuttered when he left Carolina for the New York Rangers partway through the 2015-16 season, but Staal rediscovered it by joining the Minnesota Wild from 2016 to 2020. He added two more seasons of 65-or-more points, and one 40-goal campaign in his age-33 season, during his time in Minnesota. Staal left for the Sabres in the 2020 off-season, and lost his grip on top scoring soon after that – though he had a pair of final hoorays as the 2021 Canadiens and 2023 Panthers carried him to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Both teams lost, but the experience gave Staal a hint of the Cup-winning heights he reached early in his career. He’ll now turn his attention towards the operational side of hockey, looking to bring a habit of Cup pursuits to a desolate Sabres squad. With the right momentum, this could be the move that sparks a long managerial career for Staal.

Lightning Sign Jonas Johansson To Two-Year Extension

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed depth goaltender Jonas Johansson to a two-year, $2.5MM contract extension. Johansson was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Instead, he’ll re-up with the team after spending the full season on the NHL roster.

This season marked Johansson’s second consecutive season serving as Tampa Bay’s full-time backup. He seemed to find a bit more comfort in the role this year, recording a 9-6-3 record and .895 save percentage through 19 games – slightly better than his 12-7-5 record and .890 Sv% in 26 games last year. The boost in ice time last season came largely as a result of superstar starter Andrei Vasilevskiy missing nearly two full months to start the season due to injury. Vasilevskiy returned with vigor this year, recording a .923 Sv% through 63 games on the season. Those numbers are certainly strong enough to keep his feet planted in the high-usage role, while Johansson should gain clear control of the backup role now on an NHL salary. Johansson has totaled a 21-13-8 record and .892 Sv% in 45 career games with Tampa Bay.

Prior to his time in Tampa Bay, Johansson went through stretches with in the Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers organizations. He struggled to earn NHL minutes at every stop, and often found himself rotating between the major and minor lineups, serving as a fill-in for injuries or absences. Johansson did have a hardy stretch as an ECHL and AHL starter from 2016 to 2020, and even posted a career-year in 2019-20 with a 14-4-3 record and .921 Sv% in 22 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Through his career, he’s totaled 32 wins and a .890 Sv% in 80 NHL games; and 39 wins and a .911 Sv% in 69 AHL games.

Utah Hockey Club Announces Mammoth As Team Name

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The Utah Hockey Club has finally revealed their long-anticipated team name. For the 2025-26 season and onwards, they will be known as the Utah Mammoth, with a logo depicting the Wasatch Mountain range in the head of the Mammoth and a tusk that will also be used in other branding and logos. The club’s search for a team name involved a 13-month process and 850K fan votes, per ESPN.

Utah owners Ryan and Ashley Smith shared their excitement for the new name in an NHL.com press release. They shared, “When it came to naming the team, we did something unprecedented – going through four rounds of community voting, including getting feedback not only on potential names but also on potential logos. We love the passion of the people of Utah and the way they showed up for the team during its inaugural season and the energy they brought to voting on its permanent identity.” The Smith family will stay dedicated to bolstering the presence of Utah hockey throughout the summer, with plans to both renovate the Mammoth’s home arena, Delta Center, as well as hopes of building new ice rinks across the state of Utah.

Utah will maintain the same colors they rolled out in their inaugural season – Rock Black, Salt White, and Mountain Blue. They will also maintain the same Away jerseys, with ’Utah’ depicted across the chest in bold font. The home jerseys will have the same striping and details as the inaugural set, though they’ll now depict the Mammoth logo, as well as new secondary logos for each shoulder patch. Apparel and accessories with the Mammoth logo will go live at Noon M.T., or 2 P.M. E.T., on Wednesday.

Pacific Notes: Gavrikov, Kuzmenko, Jeannot, Dorofeyev

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Yesterday, the Los Angeles Kings mutually parted ways with their former General Manager, Rob Blake. Despite this change, the team is reportedly looking to secure contract extensions for defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and forward Andrei Kuzmenko, who are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer (Tweet Link).

Gavrikov has emerged as a top-four option in the Kings’ defense, especially during the Kings’ period without Drew Doughty during the 2024-25 season. In early January, the Kings’ defensive leader in +/- and blocked shots expressed his desire for a long-term contract, saying, “When I got to L.A., I needed time to decide if my family and I wanted to stay. That’s why we agreed on a short-term contract with the Kings. Now we know what we want, and we can sign a long-term deal here.” The most recent comparable for Gavrikov is the six-year, $33.3MM contract extension defenseman Kaiden Guhle signed with the Montreal Canadiens last July. 

Meanwhile, Kuzmenko was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in March 2025, with the Flyers retaining 50% of his salary. Known for his net-front presence and power-play contributions, he performed positively in Los Angeles, scoring five goals and 17 points in 22 games. Due to his inconsistent play over the past year, it is challenging to estimate Kuzmenko’s asking price for his next contract.

Other Pacific Division notes:

  • According to John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor, the Los Angeles Kings have not yet initiated extension negotiations with forward Tanner Jeannot. Despite facing injury concerns, Jeannot had a better season than the previous year, scoring six goals and recording 13 points in 67 games, along with 211 hits. If he requests a salary close to his current $2.665 million or lower, there should be mutual interest between him and Los Angeles for an extension in a fourth-line role.
  • Pavel Dorofeyev will not be in the lineup for the Vegas Golden Knights tonight due to an injury sustained in Game 5 of their opening-round matchup against the Minnesota Wild, causing him to miss the remainder of that game and Game 6 (Tweet Link). His status is considered day-to-day as the team monitors his recovery. Despite losing their fourth-highest-scoring forward from the regular season, the Golden Knights still possess ample depth on the wing.

Central Notes: Bennett, Bednar, Wild, Predators

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At least one change is coming to the Colorado Avalanche’s bench for the 2025-26 NHL season. President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic and General Manager Chris MacFarland (via Meghan Angley of Guerrilla Sports) shared that the team is moving on from assistant coach Ray Bennett.

Bennett had been an assistant coach for the Avalanche since the 2017-18 season, primarily running the team’s power play. It’s somewhat of a surprise, given Colorado’s powerplay never finished outside the top-10 (outside of the 2019-20 season), and finished their Round One loss to the Dallas Stars with a 30.4% success rate. Given his success with the Avalanche, the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and Anaheim Ducks could all look to Bennett for additional help with a man advantage.

Bennett is likely the only coach departing Colorado’s bench this offseason. Surprisingly, the pair of front office leaders were asked about head coach Jared Bednar’s status, to which MacFarland replied, “100% confident Jared (Bednar) is our head coach.” Bednar has managed a 390-246-64 record in 700 games as the Avalanche’s head coach, including a Stanley Cup championship in 2022.

Other notes from the Central Division:

  • Although the Minnesota Wild became the first professional team in North American sports to lose in the opening round of the playoffs for the eighth time in ten years, no changes are coming to their coaching staff. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, General Manager Bill Guerin doesn’t expect any coaching changes for the Wild this offseason, which extends to their head coaching situation for their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
  • Passing along a statement from their Director of Scouting, Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean, reiterated that the Nashville Predators want to select one or two goaltenders during this summer’s draft. The news is surprising, given that Nashville relatively recently extended starting netminder Juuse Saros to an eight-year extension and traded heir-apparent Yaroslav Askarov to the San Jose Sharks. Although some netminders could be taken in the first round, any of them would be a reach for the Predators with the fifth overall selection.

Blues Notes: Fowler, Holloway, Faksa

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If he has his way, defenseman Cam Fowler won’t let the expiration of his current contract be the end of his time as a St. Louis Blue. Earlier today, Fowler told Lou Korac of NHL.com that he’d be interested in signing a contract extension with the Blues this offseason.

To be exact, Korac quoted Fowler saying, “Yeah, absolutely. Those decisions and those conversations will have to be something that we go through over the summer with Doug and the whole group here. I would love to be around as long as they’d like me here.” If he doesn’t sign an extension with St. Louis, Fowler’s eight-year, $52MM contract originally signed with the Anaheim Ducks will expire after the 2025-26 season.

If his production this year is any evidence of what’s to come, there should be mutual interest from the Blues. After being acquired from the Ducks on December 14th for a 2027 second-round pick and a low-level prospect, Fowler scored nine goals and 36 points in 51 games with St. Louis, averaging 21:42 of ice time per game. Furthermore, even though they lost in a hotly-contested opening round matchup to the Winnipeg Jets, Fowler led the way in scoring with two goals and 10 points in seven postseason contests.

Other notes from the Blues organization:

  • In their Round One matchup against the Jets, two of St. Louis’ losses were by one goal, and there’s no denying forward Dylan Holloway could have played a part in rectifying those outcomes. Unfortunately, even though he was given a week-to-week recovery timeline, General Manager Doug Armstrong (via Lou Korac) had little belief Holloway would return for the playoffs. Still, Holloway is expected to fully recover in time for next year’s training camp and look to build upon his 26-goal, 63-point effort this past season.
  • Fowler isn’t the only player interested in an extension with the Blues. According to Korac, there’s mutual interest in extending bottom-six forward Radek Faksa, and St. Louis has already begun those conversations. Although he doesn’t add much on the offensive side of the puck, Faksa has plenty of value defensively. He won 57.0% of 758 faceoffs for the Blues this season and finished the year with a 91.2% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Team Sweden Announces 2025 World Championship Roster

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Team Sweden has announced their roster for the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Championships. The ’Tre Konor’ will look to finish higher than third place in the international tournament for the first time since 2018.

The team will look similar to the one Sweden brought to the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Filip Forsberg, Lucas Raymond, and Mika Zibanejad will reprise their roles as Sweden’s top forwards, while Rasmus Andersson and Jonas Brodin will lead the defensive core.

Unfortunately, the team will be without forward William Eklund for the tournament due to offseason wrist surgery. Sweden is expected to announce Eklund’s replacement in the coming days. The rest of Team Sweden’s roster is as follows:

F Mikael Backlund (Flames)
F Anton Bengtsson (Rögle BK)
F Leo Carlsson (Ducks)
F Christoffer Ehn (Linköping HC)
F Filip Forsberg (Predators)
F Max Friberg (Frölunda HC)
F Jesper Frödén (ZSC Lions)
F Marcus Johansson (Wild)
F Elias Lindholm (Bruins)
F Isac Lundeström (Ducks)
F Lucas Raymond (Red Wings)
F Alexander Wennberg (Sharks)
F Mika Zibanejad (Rangers)

D Rasmus Andersson (Flames)
D Jonas Brodin (Wild)
D Gabriel Carlsson (EV Zug)
D Simon Edvinsson (Red Wings)
D Adam Larsson (Kraken)
D Marcus Pettersson (Canucks)

G Samuel Ersson (Flyers)
G Jacob Markström (Devils)
G Arvid Söderblom (Blackhawks)

Bruins Sign Patrick Brown To One-Year Extension

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The Boston Bruins are getting some of their offseason planning out of the way a few months early. The Bruins announced they’ve signed depth forward Patrick Brown to a one-year extension for the 2025-26 NHL season with a salary of $775K.

Brown’s new salary will be $25K less than he’s been paid in the NHL with Boston over the last two years. He joined the Bruins organization on the opening day of free agency in 2023, signing a two-year, $1.6MM agreement.

The Bruins have used Brown sparingly at the NHL level. Since joining the team for the 2023-24 NHL season, Brown has tallied two assists in 26 games, averaging 9:50 of ice time a night in a fourth-line role. He hasn’t been very noticeable in Boston outside of being a physical depth piece.

Still, Brown has had exceptional value with the Bruins’ AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. The Bloomsfield, MI native scored 11 goals and 32 points in 42 games in his first year with the club before managing 17 goals and 46 points in 56 contests this season as the team’s captain.

Despite having a bye through the first round the last two years, Providence had not won a playoff series since the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs. Fortunately, that reality changed recently, as Brown and the AHL Bruins defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds in the First Round of the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs. Providence will need to mount a serious comeback in the Division Semifinals to knock off the Charlotte Checkers, but the organization is comfortable keeping Brown in place as captain next season, regardless.

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