Avalanche Notes: Bednar, Makar, Practice Facility
With Colorado President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Joe Sakic addressing the media today, several topics emerged as the team looks ahead to the future. First off, Sakic confirmed that head coach Jared Bednar will return to the bench in 2026-27, along with his entire staff, speaking to continuity.
Falling flat in the Western Conference Finals to Vegas and being swept was a brutal ending from a Presidents’ Trophy-winning 121-point campaign; enough to at least sprinkle some speculation on if the Avalanche would make a bold move. No news yet slowed any momentum of such talk, and sure enough Sakic emphasized his belief in Bednar today. With a .617 win percentage in 10 years with the Avalanche, and dropping just 16 games in regulation this year, it’s not hard to see why.
Bednar’s club approaches an offseason where they’ll be dead last in cap space ($2.97MM) and needing to round out their defense corps. Still, the roster is largely intact in an attempt to run it back.
Also in Colorado:
- 27-year-old superstar Cale Makar approaches free agency after next season, but Sakic didn’t offer up any changes on the horizon there either, saying he will “end his career here”, relayed by Vic Lombardi of Altitude TV. Coming to the end of his six-year pact worth $9MM per season, the sky is the limit in terms of what his next contract could look like. Projected by AFP Analytics to command eight years with an AAV north of $15 million, it’s already evident that cap trouble is brewing just one year after dealing Mikko Rantanen, sooner than initially hoped. Sakic’s comments today help quash any thought of the top player hitting the open market next summer. Yet even if not, the question that remains is what it will take for Makar finish his career in Denver. Expected to become the highest paid defenseman in league history, naturally there will be ramifications on the rest of the roster.
- A brutal playoff run which left Makar banged up along with others, Sakic says that all players who were injured during the 2026 playoffs are set to be healthy and good to go for training camp next fall, reported by Bailey Curtis of DNVR Avalanche. Besides the player they’ll hope to lock up for the rest of his career, center Nathan MacKinnon was also far from full strength, along with the key Artturi Lehkonen missing time, and finally, Valeri Nichushkin. All but Nichushkin were in the lineup for the deciding fourth game against Vegas, but that’s not to say they were healthy by any means.
- Joining Sakic on the podium today was President Josh Kroenke of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. The executive spoke on the latest developments for a new practice facility for the Avs, also shared by Curtis. His comments suggest that an official deal with the city is “very close”. Currently practicing at the Family Sports Ice Arena in Centennial, Colorado, Kroenke envisions a new state-of-the-art facility for both the Avalanche and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets to share.
Canucks Hire Richard Seeley As Assistant General Manager
This evening the Vancouver Canucks shared that Richard Seeley has been named Assistant General Manager of the team as well as General Manager of the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
The 47-year-old British Columbia native had spent the past decade with the Los Angeles Kings organization, following an unlikely path which began as head coach of their ECHL affiliate the Manchester Monarchs. After three seasons behind the bench, also serving as Director of Hockey Operations, Seeley jumped up to the scouting suites. Promoted to General Manager of the Ontario Reign of the AHL, he’d held the title since 2018. This year was one to remember for the Reign, winning the Pacific Division regular season title with a 47-20-3 record which was their franchise’s best.
He caught the eye of new Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson as a cross-divisional rival of the Pacific in the AHL. Winning the Calder Cup in 2025, Abbotsford regressed this season and missed the playoffs, and now they’ll look to replicate Ontario’s success from Seeley as the best in the division. If the past few weeks have been any indication, it’s a great starting place on the way to the NHL, as the Canucks have promoted both Johnson as well as their new head coach Manny Malhotra to the big club from their work in Abbotsford.
On Seeley, Johnson said “Rich understands our values and vision, and I believe his mindset and mentality will fit in nicely with what we are trying to establish with our organization in both Abbotsford and Vancouver”. In terms of what they are trying to establish, Seeley will likely seek out some higher impact veterans for the farmhand Canucks. This past season their leading scorer Nils Åman had 41 points in 55 games, nice production for the 26-year-old but nowhere near what it takes to be among the league’s best teams. They finished dead last in the AHL with just 173 goals scored. Widely considered as a middle-ground prospect pool, that’ll change later this month with the third overall selection having bottomed out after years of being intent on contention.
Seeley was a defenseman himself, selected in the sixth round of the 1997 draft by Los Angeles on the way to an AHL career which included stops in Manchester, Bridgeport, and Norfolk. He was a captain for three seasons, but never was able to crack the highest level as a player. Now he’ll do so with a well deserved promotion to his home province club.
Nikita Kucherov Wins 2026 Hart Trophy
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has been named the 2026 Hart Trophy winner, the annual award for the top player in the National Hockey League. The honors were announced this evening on ESPN’s “The Point” prior to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Awarded to the player selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers Association in all NHL cities upon the end of the regular season, Kucherov takes home the MVP for the second time in his career, the first coming in 2019. The soon-to-be 33-year-old beat out other finalists Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid.
Final voting totals were revealed by The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, with Kucherov’s 1,436 points just ahead of McDavid’s 1,426, a razor thin margin. His four more first-place ballots over the Edmonton captain were the difference. MacKinnon came away with 1,297 points, while San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini finished fourth (625 points, five first-place votes) and Montreal’s Nick Suzuki rounded out the top five (102 points), netting one first-place vote.
Kucherov continues to produce at an incredible level, coming away second in the league with 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists) in 76 regular season games. Dishing out an absurd number of helpers, he always evoked fear in goaltenders when looking toward the net instead, shooting at a 19.0% clip, with 44 goals as eighth highest in the NHL. The Russian winger’s 1.71 points-per-game stands out as the league best out of qualified players, and on that rate, had he not missed six contests Kucherov would have been on track to surpass the first ranked McDavid’s 138 points in 82 games. The fourth straight season in which he recorded at least 80 assists, the winger came away second behind McDavid in that statistical category.
Based on those metrics, Kucherov stood out to voters after a 2025-26 where he helped carry the Lighting through what was an injury-riddled campaign along their way to 50 wins. He wasn’t the only Tampa Bay star to take major honors, as Andrei Vasilevskiy won the 2026 Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. As if that wasn’t enough, head coach Jon Cooper received honors as the 2026 Jack Adams Award winner for best coach. Despite the regular season hardware, the Lightning’s season ended in a Game 7 defeat of the opening round at the hands of the tenacious Montreal Canadiens.
The unceremonious ending aside, Kucherov’s tremendous campaign adds to an already deep trophy shelf, with two Stanley Cups and three Art Ross trophies as top league scorer. Even at age 32, he beat out point totals from his 2018-19 Hart-winning season, going nuclear then in year six of his NHL career with 128 points in 82 games.
An award reserved for the best of the best, Kucherov is in an exclusive company for his position. Only he and Corey Perry (2011) are forwards who won the award in the past 20 years who were not chosen in the top three selections of the NHL draft. A heist by the Lightning at 58th overall in 2011, one has to look back to 2004 as the last time a non-first round forward won the Hart besides Kucherov, that being fellow franchise legend Martin St. Louis.
An unrestricted free agent after 2026-27, Kucherov needs just 13 more points to beat out Steven Stamkos as #1 all time in Tampa Bay franchise history. At the pace he’s going, that should be another accolade in his pocket very soon next fall. From there, he’ll look to lead the Bolts back into a deep playoff run for the first time since 2022, as there’s little doubt they’ll continue to be among the NHL’s best teams next season, boasting the top head coach, best goaltender, along with the most valuable player.
Image Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Amir Miftakhov
According to the AHL transactions log, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled netminder Amir Miftakhov from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The roster move comes a few hours before the Hurricanes play the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, and a day before the Wolves begin the Calder Cup Final against the Toronto Marlies.
The news is surprising for several reasons. For one, Carolina already has three goaltenders on the active roster, without any public injury updates.
Carolina had been using Frederik Andersen for most of the playoffs, and for good reason. The 36-year-old netminder was nearly unbeatable through the Eastern Conference Final, managing a 12-1-0 record in 13 games with a .931 SV%. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case in the Stanley Cup Final, with Andersen owning a 1-1-0 record through three games with a .815 SV%.
In Game 3, Andersen was hit in the head by Ivan Barbashev, causing him to miss Game 4 entirely. Carolina indicated that Andersen was being held out for “maintenance”, but there’s some belief that he’s dealing with a concussion. Today’s recall of Miftakhov strongly suggests that this is the case.
Bussi wasn’t sensational in Game 4 by any stretch, though it was enough to earn the win. Assuming the status quo remains the same, Bussi will be in the starter’s crease tonight, with Pyotr Kochetkov backing him up. If Andersen is dealing with a concussion, Miftakhov would presumably be the emergency backup netminder.
Darnell Nurse Requests Trade To Move On From Oilers
4:30 p.m.: According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Nurse has submitted a list of three to five teams that he would accept a trade to. Pagnotta added that the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins are believed to be on that list.
1:10 p.m.: According to a report by Elliotte Friedman, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has gone to the organization to request a trade out of Edmonton, as first reported by Marc Spector.
Friedman also reports that Nurse has a 3-5 team list that he would consider. He also has the right to limit the number of legit destinations. Originally, it was said that Oilers GM Stan Bowman would be speaking with Edmonton’s alternate captain within this timeframe to discuss his future; however, if he said he wants to be an Oiler for another season, then trade talk would be halted, and the team would welcome him back for one more year.
Nurse, who currently holds a full no-movement clause on his contract until the end of the 2026-27 season before it moves to a 10-team no-trade list in 2027-28, is ready to be dealt away as soon as possible by the Oilers. The 31-year-old finished his 2025-26 season scoring seven goals for 24 points in his fifth 80+ game season of his NHL career. He amassed over 100 penalties in minutes, by far the most in his career, and a 32 PIM increase from last season. Nurse also finished with the worst goals percentage of his career since exiting his entry-level contract at 44.4%.
Edmonton originally extended Nurse for the start of the 2022-23 season to an eight-year deal at $74MM ($9.25MM AAV) when he was 26, coming off a career-high 43 points in 82 games in 2020-21, which saw him rank second in goals by a defenseman in the NHL that season, with his 16 tallied only two behind Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun. Entering year five of eight, he has three years left before the deal expires, when he will be 35 years old. While they’re set to bring in a potential new head coach in Mike Babcock, they’ll have to part ways with one of their longest-tenured players ever, who’s seventh in all-time games played, with 798.
The former seventh overall pick by the Oilers in the 2013 NHL Draft has never inked a contract elsewhere. Nurse signed his entry-level contract in July of 2013, with a salary of $863.3K a season starting in 2015-16, when he saw his first full season of NHL play. After those five years, he signed a two-year, bridge deal at $6.4MM ($3.2MM AAV). Ending as an RFA in 2020, he kept the years the same on his next deal, with an increased value of $11.2MM ($5.6MM AAV) before signing his current contract that the Oilers appear eager to get off their books.
Even with the NHL cap hit rising to $104MM, Nurse’s payment, similar to that of a top-pair defenseman, hasn’t proved worthy of that cap hit. His hockey sense has seen a lack of translation to some notably questionable reads in high-pressure situations. Having made back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2024, the coaching staff had slowly dropped Nurse’s ice time and considered scratching him, per Spector’s report. So much so, he ranked last among the seven Oilers defenders who played in that series, averaging just 15:51 of ice time per game.
In a trade, it’ll be likely that teams will look for the Oilers to take on a portion of the $9.25MM cap hit that he’s owed for four more years in the event a deal is agreed upon. Regardless, Edmonton will free up more money that will add to the team’s current cap space of around $14.6MM as it stands this summer with eight unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents, notably from the team’s main roster.
Photo Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Kings Sign Martin Chromiak To One-Year Extension
According to a team announcement, the Los Angeles Kings have signed Martin Chromiak to a one-year, two-way extension. Los Angeles included that Chromiak will earn an $850K salary at the NHL level.
Chromiak, 23, was a fifth-round pick by the Kings back in the 2020 NHL Draft. He split his draft season between the Slovakian professional leagues and the OHL, scoring five goals and six points in 32 games with the HK Dukla Trencin, and 11 goals and 33 points in 28 games for the Kingston Frontenacs.
During the 2020-21 campaign, he spent the entire year in Slovakia, again with HK Dukla Trencin, improving his output to seven goals and 19 points in 32 contests. The following season, the Kings agreed to a full transition to North America, spending the entire year with the Frontenacs. Chromiak was exceptional, registering 44 goals and 86 points in 60 games.
After that season, Los Angeles felt he was ready to make the jump to the professional ranks, adding him to the AHL Ontario Reign for the 2022-23 campaign. Since then, he’s continued to improve, topping out with a 28-goal, 56-point performance in 71 games for the Reign this past season.
The Kings don’t have a lot of top prospects, but they do have a decent crop of forwards looking to compete for bottom-six roles next season. Several of them are ahead of Chromiak on the depth chart, but he could become the first man up early next season if he continues his positive trajectory.
Updates on Hischier, Gritsyuk From Devils GM Sunny Metha
According to Devils General Manager Sunny Metha, the Devils should feel encouraged about two key players regarding their futures in New Jersey.
Metha, at a season ticket holder Q&A event, was asked for an update on the status of both Nico Hischier and Arseny Gritsyuk and where their extensions were at between both the team and player camps. He established that he is ‘pretty encouraged by developments on both those fronts.’
First off, Hischier, as previously understood by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, was in the right direction regarding the extension of the Devils’ former No. 1 overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft. While he was competing in and for his home country of Switzerland at the 2026 IIHF World Championships, his agent, Allain Roy, made a pit stop to meet with the Devils’ new general manager about Hischier and his future in red and black.
Metha, who had been with New Jersey as their Director of Analytics when the Devils drafted Hischier, revealed he’s spoken with his agent and Hischier himself multiple times in his short tenure as GM since LeBrun’s rumblings. The 27-year-old has a year left on his current contract, which was a seven-year deal signed back in 2020-21, and will ultimately add up to $50.75MM ($7.25MM AAV) in earnings at the end of this upcoming season. He finished last year scoring 28 goals for 66 points in his first 82-game season since his rookie campaign in 2017. Playing 400 games total on this particular contract, he’s amassed 353 points and has seen two playoff runs in 2023 and 2025, adding 11 points in 17 postseason games.
On the subject of Gritsyuk, from a report by James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, both sides are progressing towards a multi-year extension, which, in the case of the rookie, is what his camp prefers.
The 25-year-old Russian finished his first NHL season, giving New Jersey the depth scoring it needed. His 13 goals for 31 points in 66 games nearly produced a half a point per game pace. He was first on the entire 2025-26 Devils roster in cost-per-point, averaging $30K for every tally on the scoresheet, and ended up fourth on the team in relative expected goals for%.
Gritsyuk ideally wants more than two years on his second NHL contract, which comes quickly after his first North American deal as a one-year, entry-level contract paying $925K. The Devils’ forward group has an intriguing future outlook, with mainstay players like Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt all inked to long-term deals through 2031. However, Hischier is a part of six out of the remaining eight forward contracts listed that all end in 2027-28 (aside from Connor Brown, whose $3MM cap hit goes until 2030, and Lenni Hameenaho, a 21-year-old, who has two years on his entry-level contract at $972.5K a season).
If Metha’s encouragement leads to multi-year extensions for both Hischier and Gritsyuk, it would be a huge step forward for the new GM as he enters his first offseason behind the wheel in New Jersey. The Devils hold around $10.9M in cap space this offseason and have around $46MM in cap space to work with on the average salary of Hischier’s new contract, which would kick in next summer before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Afternoon Notes: Tuch, Andersson, Kraken Hires
According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Alex Tuch appears more likely to be heading to the open market.
The 30-year-old winger ended his 2025-26 season scoring 33 goals for 66 points in 79 games played with the Buffalo Sabres. In the final season of his current contract, fifth in Buffalo, the Syracuse, NY native added seven points in 13 playoff games to cap off his seven-year, $33.25MM ($4.75MM AAV) contract. Back at the Sabres breakup day, Tuch said he had an interest in returning to Buffalo, and general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen expressed that he wants him back in exit interviews. Contract talks were put on hold during the playoffs, but it appears as though things aren’t promising for a reunion.
LeBrun referenced two recent eight-year extensions in comparison to this situation with Nick Schmaltz‘s $64MM ($8MM AAV) deal with the Utah Mammoth, which will end when he turns 38, and the $85MM ($10.625MM AAV) deal with Adrian Kempe staying in Los Angeles till he is 37. He thinks the Sabres GM doesn’t see Tuch as a double-digit valued player.
Additional notes:
- Shayna Goldman of The Athletic dissected Rasmus Andersson‘s current situation and his ability to cash in. Goldman referred to other players who have a key similar attribute to Andersson, like Jacob Trouba, Connor Murphy, Andrew Peeke, Connor Clifton, Dylan Coghlan, etc; they’re right-handed. Aside from Darren Raddysh, whose 70 points in 73 games this season had a UFA defenseman’s best $14K cost-per-point, Andersson is listed as the only other shiny option among those rare options within their primes but noted that given Andersson’s lackluster Stanley Cup Final performance, he could be a risky bet for a team to pay for on the open market. His average annual market value is as low as $6.8MM and as high as $9.65MM, per Evolving-Hockey.
- The Seattle Kraken have hired two assistants to the young-franchise’s front office and bench. They announced they’re bringing on former Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin, who was a 2024 finalist for NHL GM of the Year in that role, and Pascal Vincent, who, for the last two years, has been head coach for the Laval Rocket, where he won his second AHL Coach of the Year in 2025. Allvin, 51, joins forces with current Kraken GM and Executive VP of Hockey Operations Jason Botterill. Both spent 10 years together in Pittsburgh, including a Stanley Cup victory in 2009 and back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 while Botterill was assistant GM. Vincent, 54, was an NHL assistant coach for seven seasons, five with the Winnipeg Jets (2011 to 2016), two with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2021 to 2023), where he also served one year as their head coach in 2023-24.
Morning Notes: Larkin, Kuefler, Hurricanes
Dylan Larkin is believed to be entertaining three popular trade destinations after requesting a move from the Detroit Red Wings. Not being on his initial list won’t stop other teams from calling on the top center, though. Always involved in trade buzz, the Dallas Stars are believed to have checked in on Larkin’s trade price per EliteProspects’ Sean Shapiro.
In what would feel like the antithesis to Mike Modano‘s heralded move to Detroit in 2010 in many ways, Dallas could muster a package rich enough to land Detroit’s star forward of the last decade. Larkin has routinely rivaled 70 points, with strong defensive performances, over each of the last five seasons. His consistency – and potential for even more in a strong offense – will make him an expensive asset for the rebuilding Red Wings. Dallas may need to part with promising youngsters like Lian Bichsel, Thomas Harley, or Emil Hemming in the name of bolstering Detroit’s future. In return, they would land a strong successor for the aging Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene. Larkin is signed to a manageable $8.7MM cap hit through the 2030-31 season, which would align with potential-battery mate Roope Hintz‘s contract.
Larkin would need to approve of any trade but Dallas proved their ability to pull off blockbusters with their acquisiton of Mikko Rantanen. They will be a notable team to follow as the saga around Larkin’s move grows.
Other notes from around the league:
- The New York Islanders have signed AHL forward Daylan Kuefler to a two-year, two-way contract extension per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. The deal will carry an $850K salary in the NHL and $105K salary in the AHL in year-one, then grow to a $900K salary in the NHL and $125K salary in the AHL in year-two per Rosner. $290K of that salary will be guaranteed. This deal marks a tidy bit of assurance for the third-year pro. This year marked Kuefler’s first full season with the Bridgeport Islanders. He finished the season with 25 points and 64 penalty minutes in 67 games. He will likely hang onto a depth role in the AHL lineup as he grows into a leading role on the newly-unveiled Hamilton Hammers.
- Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen took the practice sheet and was announced as “available” for Game 5, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Despite that, the Hurricanes seem set to keep Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov as their tandem after a Game 4 win. Bussi has stopped 36 of the 40 shots he has faced since replacing Andersen partway through Game 3. The decision came after Andersen paved over the first three rounds, marked by 13 wins and a .910 save percentage in 16 games. It seems the hot hand will hold favor in the Hurricanes net, though. Until Bussi struggles, Andersen’s action may be limited to the practice sheet.
Bruce Cassidy Would Entertain Any NHL Head Coach Role
Not even an electric Stanley Cup Finals has been enough to keep the Vegas Golden Knights from pushing for an advantage over the rest of the league. Amid one of the most energetic coaching wires in recent memory, Vegas is exercising their right to prevent recently-fired head coach Bruce Cassidy from interviewing for other jobs. The NHL has raised no issue with Vegas’ approach, pointing out that Cassidy would forfeit the $5MM his multi-year contract with Vegas promised him for the 2026-27 season by interviewing for another role. That money might not be an obstacle for the former Stanley Cup winner, though. In speaking with The Athletic, Cassidy shared that he simply wants to get back to work and would welcome the chance to fill any head coach role.
This will be prominent news for the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL’s only current coaching vacancies. Both clubs are in need of a leader after spinning their tires for the last few seasons. With the pressure of star-studded lineups, both clubs have also turned towards surprising ideas to try and bring in a difference-maker. Edmonton has kicked off a league investigation with their interest in former Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, who resigned from his most recent coaching role before coaching a single practice. The Maple Leafs are looking towards the other side of experience, interviewing 2024 retiree Joe Pavelski who spent last season coaching 15U hockey in Wisconsin. As shocking as both ideas are, they could each have merit, as Edmonton looks to strong-arm a Stanley Cup win while Toronto tries to kickoff a new era.
A free agent like Cassidy may be too great to ignore. The 61-year-old head coach is a two-time Jack Adams Trophy finalist and one-time winner. He has continued to stock his trophy cabinet over the last three years, winning the 2023 Stanley Cup, 2025 4-Nations Face-Off, and supporting a Silver medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. More than his accolades, Cassidy’s proof is in the results. After missing out despite a winning record in his first year coaching in the AHL, Cassidy has led every single team has helmed to the postseason. That includes four trips to the Calder Cup Playoffs and nine trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs – a mark that would have grown to 10 had Vegas retained his role for eight more games.
Cassidy’s clubs have made it by the first-round in eight of those 13 playoff runs. He made his first run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019, only to be disappointed by a fate-struck St. Louis Blues club. That mistake didn’t repeat itself when he returned to the 2023 Finals. Through the regular season, Cassidy has combined for a 373-173-72 record in the NHL – or an 82-game average of 50-23-9. He has reached those marks on strong Boston Bruins and Golden Knights clubs and should only reach higher heights with the strength of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl or Auston Matthews and, potentially, Gavin McKenna.
That potential should be enough to keep both Canadian clubs patient for a few more weeks. The Stanley Cup Finals will end by June 17th, at the latest, and Cassidy could choose to forfeit his promised salary in the name of a new role soon after that. He would be far-and-away the top option on a coaching market pulling in names from hockey past, present, and future.