Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Los Angeles.
The Kings have been in the mushy middle, so to speak, for the last few seasons and 2025-26 was no exception. While they were able to pick up enough points down the stretch after making a coaching change to squeak into the playoffs, they once again went out in the first round, although not to Edmonton this time, at least. Instead, they were swept by Colorado. Now with a full year under his belt with the team, GM Ken Holland has some work to do this summer if he wants the Kings to take a step forward.
Hire A Head Coach
When Jim Hiller was let go late in the season, D.J. Smith moved up to the top role but only on an interim basis. They were respectable down the stretch, picking up points in 17 of 23 games. On the flip side, they lost more games than they actually won with an 11-6-6 record. But while they were swept by the Avs, the series was more competitive than a lot of people likely expected.
Their season has been over for more than a month and a half now but no decision has been made on the head coach. Will Smith be the full-time bench boss next season? If not, will he even be on the staff, or will the new head coach want a clean slate when it comes to filling out the rest of the group? At some point, a decision will need to be made.
Clearly, the Kings would like to speak to Bruce Cassidy about the role; they’ve been linked as one of the two teams that were denied permission to talk to the former Vegas bench boss. The line has been that they don’t want any distractions during the playoffs and if that’s the case and Holland is willing to wait things out, it might be a couple more weeks before he’ll get that opportunity.
Failing that, it appears the rest of the shortlist is, well, pretty short. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Holland is believed to be down to two candidates, Smith and Jay Woodcroft. Holland has plenty of familiarity with Woodcroft from their days in Edmonton together and if he’s looking for more firepower from his group (more on that later), the former Oilers bench boss could get an edge.
Either way, with the draft only a few weeks away and free agency coming soon after, this search will need to wrap up before too much longer.
Re-Sign Clarke
One of the more intriguing players coming off their entry-level contract this summer is defenseman Brandt Clarke. His numbers, though certainly improved, don’t necessarily stand out. But that’s what makes his case a little more intriguing. Thus far, he has shown flashes of the offensive upside that made him a top-10 pick back in 2021. However, the playing time hasn’t been all that high for the most part. That makes trying to find the right price point a little tougher.
Clarke’s first two seasons saw him play sparingly. One yielded a return to the OHL, the other saw him in the minors for the bulk of the campaign. In 2024-25, he played a regular role, albeit on the third pairing but still managed a respectable 33 points in 78 games. This season, he was able to up his point total to 40 to lead all Los Angeles defenders. While his ice time jumped up by over three minutes per night, he was still under 20 minutes per game. Notably, his ice time on the power play was largely split with Drew Doughty despite Doughty managing just one power play point all season. Had Clarke played more like a true top-unit option, he likely would have had a few more points.
On the surface, this appears like one of those cases where the team would probably want to do a long-term deal while Clarke’s camp might prefer a short-term one. A long-term agreement would involve a lot of projecting as Clarke wouldn’t be signing a contract that views him as a 40-point player; he’d need more incentive than that to sign. Holland would need to be confident that Clarke has another level to get to, perhaps the 50-point plateau. That’s when the bigger money would start to come in, potentially in the $8MM to $9MM range.
On the other hand, going with a short-term deal would provide some more certainty in the long run (which is probably more appealing to Clarke if he things he has another gear offensively and can handle a bigger role) with a bit more cap flexibility in the short term as well. AFP Analytics projects a two-year pact to run somewhere in the $5MM range. Clarke would be giving up some short-term earnings with the hopes of a bigger payday a couple of years from now but the potential reward could outweigh the risk. Holland may be trying to convince him otherwise in the coming weeks.
Add A Top Center
For a while now, one of the bigger weaknesses the Kings have had is finding a high-end second center to play behind Anze Kopitar. Now, the need is intensified. Not only do they not have the second pivot still, but now they don’t have Kopitar either after the Slovenian announced his retirement after 20 seasons with the franchise. Now, instead of needing one impact center, they arguably need two in a market that doesn’t have a lot available.
I say arguably as Quinton Byfield has spent a lot of time down the middle in recent year. It stands to reason that they’ll be counting on him to take a step forward next season and be entrenched as one of those two while hoping that he can get better at the faceoff dot to become more reliable. That’s the easy one.
Replacing Kopitar, a legitimate two-way presence, isn’t going to be anywhere near as easy. The UFA market doesn’t have any middlemen of that caliber and there aren’t many top centers available for trade. Dylan Larkin is someone Holland is quite familiar with but while he may want out, there’s no guarantee Detroit will deal him. Robert Thomas was in play at the deadline but the asking price was too steep for anyone to meet. If he doesn’t sign an extension, perhaps Nico Hischier would be in play but again, the price tag (acquisition and extension) would be hefty.
One of the challenges Holland will face on that front is that they don’t have a ton of notable trade chips. They moved one of their top trade chips in Liam Greentree to the Rangers as part of the Artemi Panarin trade, weakening an already weaker prospect pool. They at least have all of their first-rounders available but there’s a very good chance that teams with deeper systems get into the bidding, ones that can probably put together better packages than the Kings can.
If they aren’t able to land an impact center, the next best option would probably be to try to re-sign Scott Laughton. Acquired at the trade deadline from Toronto, he impressed down the stretch in a bigger role, picking up eight points in 21 games while logging over 15 minutes per night. Laughton isn’t a big scoring threat but would give them a stable third-line pivot and essentially fill most of the role they brought in Phillip Danault to do several years ago before moving him earlier this season. AFP Analytics projects that Laughton could land a three-year pact worth around $4.1MM per season. If Holland thinks Laughton can be the solution on the third line, shoring up the depth isn’t a terrible backup plan if they can’t trade for a key center.
Bring In More Firepower
As much as their record was nothing to get overly excited about, the Kings allowed the seventh-fewest goals in the league this season. Their goaltending was quite sharp, to say the least. But while there is certainly a case to make that they need to upgrade on the back end, the biggest priority is to add more scoring. They didn’t score under Hiller and didn’t score much more under Smith. The end result was a 29th-place finish in goals scored with the lowest 82-game total they’ve had since 2018-19.
A full season with Panarin should certainly help things, no doubt. But among players to spend the full year with the Kings, they had just one player reach the 50-point mark, Adrian Kempe (who was rewarded with an eight-year, $85MM deal for his efforts). Needless to say, that’s not good enough for a team that views itself as one that should be able to do a bit of damage in the playoffs instead of being first-round fodder.
Andrei Kuzmenko was supposed to help in that regard but wound up underachieving, getting injured, and then being scratched in the playoffs. A third of their double-digit goal-scorers are now out of the organization. Basically, they need top-six scoring help and bottom-six offensive upgrades as well.
Getting into the playoffs on the back of 20 overtime or shootout losses probably isn’t going to be sustainable as a long-term strategy. But the fact they lost a lot of close games means that some extra firepower could swing some of those losses the other way. Perhaps a coaching change (or Smith changing their system somewhat) brings more offense around but some boosts up front will also be needed.
Photo courtesy of Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images.
Pacific Notes: McNabb, Heise, Guite
Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb appears to be questionable for tonight’s third game against Carolina. Speaking with reporters this morning including ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, head coach John Tortorella declined to provide an update on his availability. McNabb exited Thursday’s contest after taking a shot near his visor, resulting in a brief hospital trip to be evaluated. Kaedan Korczak briefly skated with the reserves before exiting early, suggesting that there’s a chance he’ll be called on if McNabb is unable to suit up. The veteran has seven points in 17 games so far this postseason while averaging 19:59 per night of ice time.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Sharks prospect Max Heise will be one-and-done in the WHL. Earlier this week, he revealed on his Instagram account that he will suit up for the University of Denver next season. He was selected 150th overall in the draft last month and had been playing in the BCHL to keep his college eligibility intact under the old rules. But when major junior players became NCAA-eligible, Guite made the jump to Prince Albert and had a productive year, picking up 63 points in as many games to finish third on the Raiders in scoring.
- Ducks prospect Emile Guite has decided to leave the QMJHL to move to the NCAA next season. He announced earlier this week on his Instagram page that he will play at the University of New Hampshire next season. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick a year ago, going 159th overall and opting for the college route will extend his signing rights from two years to four. Guite spent the last three years with Chicoutimi and had his best showing this season, tallying 65 points in 59 games during the regular season while adding 14 more in 20 playoff contests, helping lead the Sagueneens to the Memorial Cup.
PHR Mailbag: Larkin, Trocheck, Salary Cap, Wild, Canadiens
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Dylan Larkin’s trade request from Detroit, a discussion about the implementation of the salary cap and how it could relate to MLB’s CBA talks, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back for it in one of our next two columns.
Johnny Z: Where does Larkin go and will his leaving spark a retool with more Detroit vets being traded. I don’t see Kane coming back either, now.
GBear: Simply, who makes the deal for Larkin?
Let’s jump right in with the big news of the week with the news of Dylan Larkin’s trade request getting leaked out. By all accounts, this wasn’t from his agency and we know it wasn’t the Red Wings who put this out there as that’s the last thing they’d have wanted. I note this as it’s quite possible that the request was made a little while ago and just got out now.
GM Steve Yzerman is known for his patience (sometimes to a fault) and also for not having his hand forced into doing things. He had Jonathan Drouin in Tampa Bay who wanted out. It took quite a while before that actually happened. The scenario that no one is talking about is that Yzerman doesn’t budge and keeps Larkin in the fold. This isn’t just a 1% chance thing; I think this is a legitimate option on the table here.
Look at how Detroit operated at the trade deadline, adding Justin Faulk and shoring up their veteran depth with an eye on making the playoffs. That’s not the doings of a manager who is thinking about a retool. He wants to win now and that’s much easier to do with Larkin on the roster than off of it. Would it be a difficult situation? Sure. Might they have to take away the captaincy? Perhaps. But I suspect Yzerman would much rather do that than have his hand forced into a trade.
Now, having said that, the demand for impact centers is so high that Yzerman should be able to generate a substantial trade return for Larkin’s services. The only way that doesn’t happen is if Larkin provides a very small list of teams that he’d waive his no-trade clause for. And if that happens, Yzerman will tell him to expand the list or be ready to report for training camp in Detroit in September.
The types of offers that Yzerman receives over the next three-plus weeks will ultimately dictate if they stay the course or take a short-term step back. I agree with the use of the word retool here and not rebuild as they’re not looking to start all over again. Is there another disgruntled high-impact top liner out there looking for a change of scenery that forms the basis of a swap? If so, they’re probably staying the course in terms of trying to make the playoffs. If there’s an offer that features a quality veteran and some ready (or close-to-ready) youngsters, they’re again probably staying the course with the hopes of nabbing a free agent or making another trade to bridge the gap. But if it’s more of a futures-based return, then the step back to try to take two steps forward later approach makes more sense.
As for where he goes, I’ll say Minnesota. There’s a connection with GM Bill Guerin and USA Hockey. Guerin, meanwhile, is under pressure to secure that elusive impact center to help his team try to take the next step forward in a crowded Central Division. He’d likely be hoping that securing Larkin would make a contract extension for Quinn Hughes look more palatable for the defender as well. There’s a lot of motivation to get things done. I suspect a deal would be in the second category of the three I mentioned (a quality veteran plus some near-ready or ready youngsters like Danila Yurov, for example) so Detroit’s offseason approach will be to try to add to the roster, not subtract more veterans.
lgr34561: Will Larkin requesting a trade affect the Rangers on trading Vincent Trocheck and trying to maximize on a deal in a negative way?
I’d say no but it certainly doesn’t help either. It’s a supply-and-demand thing and generally, more supply isn’t good. But with the supply of impact centers being limited to only a handful of players and the number of potential suitors representing more than half the league, the demand for Trocheck’s services is still going to be really high. Larkin being there isn’t going to make the quality of the offers drop.
But where it might hurt is that it takes GM Chris Drury out of the control seat on the market. Maybe Nico Hischier becomes available but until contract talks reach a breaking point, he’s not in play. Maybe Robert Thomas is still in play but that seems unlikely. Without them, Trocheck was the top center available until this got out. Now, if Yzerman is going to go ahead and make a trade, Larkin becomes the prized pickup, the one that teams will prioritize first.
Teams aren’t going to want to make their best offer for Trocheck in case those pieces are needed for a Larkin trade. Eventually, if a deal gets done, there will be one less suitor for Trocheck but one less player available, potentially upping the desperation level from other general managers. But they’re no longer necessarily in control of the timing. If Drury wanted this done by the draft, for example, that might not happen if Larkin’s situation drags out. And when you no longer control the timing, it has the potential to affect the rest of the offseason planning as one move typically leads to another. If that first move is delayed, it could mess up the rest of the planning.
To be clear, this sounds more doom-and-gloom than it probably should be. At the end of the day, the Rangers were poised to get a significant return for Trocheck before the Larkin news. I still think they’re going to get one after this news. From that standpoint, I wouldn’t worry. But the timing of such a move gets a little trickier now and that’s where this news could wreak some havoc.
highflyballintorightfield: For a mailbag or even a separate post…how did the NHL handle the transition to a hard salary cap in 2005 (compliance buyouts, etc.)? This will be a helpful reference for the baseball side as commenters there argue about the upcoming MLB CBA negotiations.
Spending in the NHL wasn’t anywhere as prolific then as it is in MLB now so it’s not necessarily a great comparison. A few teams had to trim some salaries but while there were compliance buyouts that were exempt from the cap, only 13 were utilized league-wide. Everyone else was able to trade their way back into compliance or were already under the then-$39MM cap. By comparison, when the 2012-13 lockout prevented the cap ceiling from reaching its projected amount, there was another round of compliance buyouts (over two seasons) where 28 were utilized.
Having said that, there are some other elements that came in with the NHL cap that I’d be intrigued to see if MLB puts in its offers as we settle in for what sure feels like a long battle.
One of those is the maximum salary. It’s set at 20% in the NHL and when the cap first came in, the $7.8MM maximum was hit a couple of times. Going off of MLB’s $245MM initial offer, 20% of that is $49MM which is well below what Juan Soto makes, for example. Obviously, their Upper Limit is going to go higher in subsequent offers and there’s no guarantee they try to put in a maximum salary (or tie it at 20%) but that’s something to keep an eye on. I’m also a little intrigued to see if anything happens with salary deferrals, something that was allowed when the cap came in but was actually outlawed this summer as part of the latest CBA agreement.
Another big element that could help the transition to a hard cap in MLB should one get done is the treatment of bonuses. One of the things that’s allowed for cap creativity is the bonus cushion. Only the base AAV of a contract is guaranteed to count against the books for any given season. If bonuses are achieved on a contract, they apply against the current-year books but if not, they roll over and are charged against the following season.
I’ll use Max Scherzer’s contract with the Blue Jays as an example. He gets a $3MM base salary with $10MM of incentives, plus $1MM at 65 innings pitched with $1MM extra every 10 innings after that until 155 innings. So, with the way the NHL structures their cap, only $3MM is guaranteed to count against the cap this season. If Toronto has additional cap space after the season, any reached bonuses count until they hit the ceiling, then the rest roll over to 2027. Let’s say Scherzer pitches 100 innings, giving him $4MM in earned bonuses. Toronto finishes $1.5MM under the hypothetical cap. $1.5MM of his bonuses would count against the 2026 cap and the other $2.5MM would come off their 2027 spending limit.
To get around teams abusing this, there are restrictions on who can have performance bonuses in their contracts. For the NHL, players on entry-level deals get them, as do players over 35 if they sign one-year agreements (multi-year pacts are ineligible). There is also a provision for 400-game players who spent 100 days or more on injured reserve who aren’t 35 to receive a one-year deal with incentives. For MLB players, I imagine it’d be a little more restrictive, something like 10-year veterans or 35-plus players (I know there’s not always a difference between the two) being eligible.
The NHL’s salary cap also brought on the concept of Long-Term Injured Reserve, or LTIR. For players out long-term, the general concept of LTIR allows teams to exceed the cap by up to the amount of the player’s salary less any existing cap room. For example, a player making $4MM lands on LTIR on a team that has $1MM in cap space. They can then exceed the cap by the difference of $3MM. If the injured player returns, the team then has to get back into cap compliance. This has long been a contentious subject with loopholes that an 18-wheeler could drive through, leading to some pretty significant controversies and rule changes. But the concept of that would likely appear, giving some teams near the cap ceiling some potential flexibility if injuries arise.
aka.nda: I wanted to ask about the Wild’s goaltending situation when it appeared Gustavsson and Wallstedt were both healthy because Hlavaj looked very good in the Olympics and the Wild were keen on a few costly moves. I was going to ask what you think Gustavsson would fetch, but I guess now I’m wondering if they’re going to “show their hand” more with Hlavaj by needing someone to pair with Wallstedt, and if you think they’ll get less of a return because other GMs will become more acutely aware that Guerin is trying to sell from a surplus rather than negotiate from a more “even” pool? Or am I just way overvaluing Hlavaj based on my Olympic viewing, or as some might suggest, under-estimating the stupidity of 50+% of the league’s GMs?
I’ll answer the last bit first. You’re overvaluing Samuel Hlavaj. He does well when he plays for Slovakia internationally but it has failed to translate to success in the pros. My understanding is that he wants a change of scenery and that Minnesota tried to give it to him at the trade deadline but trade interest was basically non-existent. A pending RFA, I suspect he’s hoping for a non-tender and that if Minnesota qualifies him, he’ll probably go back overseas. If he gets non-tendered, he’ll hope to land in another organization but still might not be valued more than as a fourth option.
Filip Gustavsson’s injury complicates things for the Wild as he or Jesper Wallstedt could have plausibly been trade candidates this summer. Now, it’d be hard to part with one unless Gustavsson’s post-surgery rehab is going really well. So, for this summer, I suspect their goalie plan will be to add a James Reimer-type of veteran, one who could start in the NHL if Gustavsson isn’t ready to start the year, could stay as a serviceable enough backup if one of the two incumbents are traded, or serve as a viable third-string option in the minors. But I’d be very surprised if Hlavaj is in their plans.
hasamadsnarl666: So Kent Hughes decides to attack the Leafs, hmm what has his teams ever won?? He hasn’t won anything; it’s been five years before his team made the ECF, but didn’t show up in ECF but he has something to say? Keep in mind that the East had a shift; NY was out, Islanders were out, Leafs out, Buffalo in. Not a year to attack other teams. Didn’t they “own” the Canes in the regular season??
For those who didn’t see this, during his end-of-playoffs presser, Montreal’s GM awkwardly referenced Toronto’s top players not necessarily being their top players in the playoffs in the past. It came as a random add-on to a comment about the marketability of the Montreal market, a high-pressure one like Toronto. Montreal’s top players weren’t their best in the playoffs either but the narrative around them feels different than it did when Toronto’s top players underperformed. That happens when one team is just starting out while the Maple Leafs kept stalling out early; they haven’t been to a Conference Final since 2002 in large part due to their top players underachieving. I think he was maybe going for something about the narrative being more forgiving and that patience is needed but yeah, it was a little odd.
Part of me wonders if he just saw an opportunity to take a shot at Toronto given the now-leaked details of the failed trade at the deadline that would have seen Matthew Knies in Montreal had then-GM Brad Treliving filed the paperwork on time. Or that president Keith Pelley randomly name-dropped (and butchered) Michael Hage’s name in one of his press conferences earlier. But yes, this was clumsy at best and probably unnecessary altogether.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Alexandar Georgiev Terminates KHL Contract, Seeking NHL Return
Earlier this season, Alexandar Georgiev found himself in the minors with Buffalo and decided to ask for his release to sign a two-year deal in the KHL. Now, he has requested and was granted his release from KHL Spartak, per a league announcement. His agent Stanislav Romanov told Hockey News Hub (Twitter link) that Georgiev’s intention is to return to the NHL next season.
There was a time early in his NHL career when Georgiev was viewed as a high-end backup with the potential of being a starter. He ultimately received that opportunity in Colorado and while the first year in 2022-23 went well, things went downhill after that. He was eventually sent to San Jose in the 2024-25 campaign and hit the open market last summer.
But even though he had been a starter in recent years, Georgiev’s struggles ultimately resulted in him having to settle for a one-year, $850K pact with the Sabres just days before training camp started. He ultimately wound up passing through waivers in training camp and then terminated his deal after just two appearances with AHL Rochester.
Georgiev put up respectable numbers with Spartak overall, posting a 2.37 GAA with a .918 SV% in 24 appearances, numbers that were around the middle of the pack for starters. With that in mind, it’d be surprising if his chances of securing an NHL backup job are any better than they were a year ago.
This year’s UFA crop of goaltenders is headlined by veteran Sergei Bobrovsky and Stuart Skinner with the rest of the options being backups in all likelihood. Georgiev will join them now but it wouldn’t be surprising if his market winds up being like last summer’s, one that sees him having to wait for a while before accepting what’s likely to be more of a third-string role.
Sabres Notes: Byram, Malenstyn, Krebs, Meloche
Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram is eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st when he officially begins the final year of his contract. Inked to a two-year deal after the club filed for arbitration last summer to prevent an offer sheet, the downside to that was that it set the 24-year-old up to hit unrestricted free agency in 2027.
After a prolonged state of uncertainty with winger Alex Tuch who played his walk year without an extension, it appears GM Jarmo Kekalainen is hoping to avoid that this time around. Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic reports that the GM met with Byram’s agent, Darren Ferris, at the NHL Combine this week, a discussion that likely conveyed interest in discussing a new deal over the coming weeks.
Byram had his best season yet in 2025-26, picking up 11 goals and 31 assists while playing in all 82 games, a mark he has now reached for the second straight year. Given his long history with concussions (or concussion-like symptoms), not missing a game in back-to-back seasons is particularly notable. He also logged more than 22 minutes per night of ice time for the second straight year.
Given his performance and the big jumps coming to the Upper Limit of the salary cap, Byram is going to be in line for a significant increase on his current $6.25MM price tag. AFP Analytics pegs a seven-year extension in the $9.5MM range but that might ultimately be on the low end, especially depending on what some of the contracts for unrestricted free agent defenders check in at over the next month or so.
Staying on the UFA front, Fairburn adds that the team met with the representatives for winger Beck Malenstyn this week as he gets set to test the open market for the first time. The 28-year-old has impressed on the fourth line over his two seasons, providing plenty of physicality (including a career-high 282 hits in 2025-26) while taking a regular turn on the penalty kill. Coming off a deal that paid $1.35MM per season, Malenstyn could plausibly double that in free agency. But with only $11.9MM in cap room per PuckPedia and others to sign (including Tuch and RFA Zach Benson), spending that much on a fourth liner might not be the most advisable route to take.
Buffalo has another RFA of some significance this summer in center Peyton Krebs. Fairburn noted that initial discussions on a new deal started this week though no meaningful progress has been made. Krebs is coming off a career-best 39 points this season and is arbitration-eligible while being owed a $1.45MM qualifying offer. Realistically, he should easily more than double that on his next deal, especially if he’s tendered the qualifying offer that then allows him to file for a hearing. With the tender deadline coming up on June 29th, this will need to be a priority for Kekalainen as if they’re too far apart in talks, a trade or non-tender would become a real possibility.
Meanwhile, on the prospect front, goaltender Samuel Meloche was on the move earlier this week as QMJHL Saint John announced that they had acquired him. Meloche was a fourth-round pick back in 2025, going 116th overall. The 18-year-old posted a 2.75 GAA and a .897 SV% in 50 games during the regular season with Rouyn-Noranda but was better in the playoffs, putting up marks of 2.52 and .905, respectively. Meloche is committed to play for Northeastern University but evidently, he won’t make the jump to the college ranks for another year as a result of this move.
Andrei Vasilevskiy Wins 2026 Vezina Trophy
While the playoffs didn’t end the way that Andrei Vasilevskiy would have liked, there was no questioning his strong regular season performance. He was recognized for those efforts on Saturday as the league announced that Vasilevskiy is this year’s Vezina Trophy winner. The award is given to “the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position,” as voted on by NHL General Managers.
It’s the second time that the 31-year-old has won the award but it has been a while since his victory, one that came back in the 2018-19 season. Since then, he had been a top-three finalist three other times (finishing in the top six in two other years) but had been unable to pick up this second win until now.
Vasilevskiy posted a 2.31 GAA along with a .911 SV% and two shutouts in 58 games during the regular season while finishing fourth in Goals Saved Above Expected with a mark of 24.7, per MoneyPuck. He also led the league with 39 victories, leading in that department for the sixth time in his career. A big chunk of those wins came from a very impressive 17-0-1 run that spanned more than two months, beginning in late December and ending shortly after the Olympic break, one that helped vault the Lightning back into contention for the Atlantic Division title.
Vasilevskiy took home 17 of 31 first-place ballots to give him a comfortable margin of victory over Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders and Jeremy Swayman of the Bruins, who were the other finalists for the award. Their combined vote point totals (97) came in below Vasilevskiy’s (114). Capitals netminder Logan Thompson and Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood also received first-place votes while three other netminders had down-ballot consideration as well.
With the award, Vasilevskiy is now the third active goaltender with multiple Vezina Trophy wins, joining Sergei Bobrovsky and Connor Hellebuyck. He is also now the fifth netminder in NHL history to have multiple Vezina Trophies and multiple Stanley Cup championships. Bobrovsky is still playing while the other three, Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek, and Patrick Roy, are all in the Hall of Fame.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images.
Morning Notes: Poile, Kings, AHL Playoffs
Nashville Predators Assistant General Manager and Director of Hockey Operations Brian Poile is departing the organization. Son of Hall of Fame GM David Poile, Brian had held the role since 2018, a step up from his director of hockey operations position assumed in 2010. The news was shared by Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean.
Even though former Kings GM Rob Blake was hired yesterday as executive vice president of hockey operations, Daugherty emphasized that the two roles are different, and a replacement for Poile will be found by the team. Meanwhile, his father will stay in the mix as an advisor.
No dig at Poile himself, who is still in his 40s as a bright young mind who played at Boston College in the 1990s, with serious pedigree as a third generation executive. Yet since taking over in 2018, his Predators went from a surprise Stanley Cup contender and Presidents Trophy winner, to a relatively stale roster today which has not reached the second round since. Eight years later, they continue to lack high-end production from anybody recently drafted and developed by the club, but to be fair, they’ve been missing top lottery selections. With 16 years of experience in Nashville, another opportunity will come calling for Poile, but both sides will benefit from a change as the Predators move to a new era under Chris MacFarland.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Kings seem to be zeroing in on a head coaching decision, the first domino of more to fall. On Thursday’s episode of OverDrive, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that Los Angeles could name their head coach next week, and that they won’t be waiting for Bruce Cassidy. Interim D.J. Smith was able to guide the team to the playoffs on an 11-6-6 record, and it’s thought that he’s still a real candidate to stick around. If they opt to start fresh, current Ducks assistant and former Oilers bench boss Jay Woodcroft is a name to watch for the nearby Kings. Woodcroft has a better track record than Smith, although also in a smaller sample size, leading the Oilers on two playoff runs from 2021-23, before things sputtered to a halt early the following season. Whichever decision is made, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported on Thursday’s edition of The DFO Rundown that key free agent center Scott Laughton’s choice to stay or go will weigh on who is named behind the bench, and having expressed a willingness to stick around already, as long as it get the stamp of approval he could be another name off the board come July 1.
- The Toronto Marlies, AHL affiliates of the Maple Leafs, took a commanding 3-2 series lead over the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in the conference finals. They’ll need just one win to advance to the Calder Cup Final, playing whoever makes it out between the Colorado Eagles (Avalanche) and Chicago Wolves (Hurricanes). Another 3-2 series there, the Eagles hold the edge. Top Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is rolling, posting a goal and assist last game with points in each of his last four games, playing alongside former OHL teammate Landon Sim who also notched a key goal, as outlined by Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun. As for Colorado, prospects Gavin Brindley and T.J. Hughes, once collegiate teammates at Michigan, have provided a boost to the Eagles lineup, the latter with 12 points, while Brindley has 8, in 15 playoff games each.
Senators Hoping To Re-Sign Nick Cousins
Nick Cousins had a more impactful second season with the Senators in 2025-26 compared to his first year with the team. As a result, it appears GM Steve Staios would like to keep him in the fold a little longer. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the team has informed Cousins’ representatives that they’d like to re-sign him for next season.
Back in the 2024 offseason, it took until the end of August for Cousins to sign, allowing Ottawa to get him for $800K, only a little above the minimum salary. Given how things went the following year when he had 15 points in 50 games, he ultimately settled for a nominal raise this season, inking a one-year, $825K just before free agency opened up to ensure there wouldn’t be a repeat of the year before.
It wouldn’t be shocking if Cousins has a bit more leverage this time around. The 32-year-old played in all but one game this season, while chipping in with 169 hits and 92 penalty minutes in 11:25 per night of playing time. He remained a regular on the fourth line in the playoffs against Carolina, chipping in with an assist and 16 hits in their four-game series.
Cousins has had success in a bottom-six role for a while now, allowing him to carve out a 723-game career thus far across parts of a dozen seasons. However, he hasn’t stayed in the same place for very long as he has seen action with seven different organizations already.
However, in a UFA market that isn’t the deepest, Cousins should be able to secure a much better contract this time out. AFP Analytics projects that the veteran could land a two-year deal worth a little more than $2MM per season. Even if the Sens aren’t comfortable going that high to a fourth liner, he could still plausibly at least double the AAV of his deal this season and perhaps get more than one season. Given how he has bounced around, a multi-year commitment from Ottawa would certainly have to be appealing.
It took until June 30th last year for a deal between the two sides to get done. We’ll find out soon enough if it will be another prolonged negotiation this time around or if they’ll be able to get something worked out a little earlier this time around.
Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Halpern, McKenna
Maple Leafs GM John Chayka met with reporters today at the NHL Combine (video link). Among the topics discussed was the future of Auston Matthews amid speculation that he might not be ready to commit to signing another deal with the franchise. As expected, Chayka certainly tried to downplay that speculation, suggesting that things are promising on that front:
We’ve had several conversations with him and his representatives. What I saw was a happy captain. Someone who’s got a lot of pride to be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Someone who wants to win in Toronto, which aligns with how we’re thinking about it.
Matthews has two seasons remaining on his contract, one that briefly was an NHL record in terms of AAV at $13.25MM (and has since been surpassed multiple times). The captain has seen his production drop in each of the last two years after a career-best 69 goals and 107 points. This season, he had just 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 games, the lowest goal and assist totals of his 10-year NHL career.
More from Toronto:
- During his presser today, Chayka indicated that he spoke to many candidates with only some moving on to the next stage. One who won’t be doing so is Jeff Halpern. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Halpern did interview with the Maple Leafs for the role but isn’t moving to the next stage. Halpern has been coaching in Tampa Bay’s organization since 2015-16, spending three seasons as an AHL assistant and has been up with the Lightning as an assistant with them since 2018-19.
- Chayka also noted that, as things stand, the likeliest outcome is that Toronto holds and uses the number one selection this month which should come as little surprise. One of the likely players to be selected there is Penn State forward Gavin McKenna. He met with reporters today, including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, and indicated that he’d feel “pretty fortunate” to go there, given that they’re a team that’s likely eyeing a return to the playoffs next season, an outcome that most top picks don’t get to see. McKenna and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg are viewed as the two likeliest options to go first overall on June 26th.
Offseason Checklist: Pittsburgh Penguins
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs, plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Pittsburgh.
No one expected the Pittsburgh Penguins to make the playoffs this year, but thanks to some sly front-office work by Kyle Dubas and company, the team hit on most of their moves and skated into the playoffs. It wasn’t a long playoff run, but it was likely enough to show Dubas and the Penguins’ management team that the roster they have now isn’t far from competing in the Eastern Conference. Despite Pittsburgh being a nice story, the team is still quite old, and most of their key players are on the wrong side of 30, which means they need to find young stars to move into top roles on the roster. With Dubas at the helm, the Penguins could be poised for a big summer.
Add A Top Four Defenseman
Pittsburgh relied on a ragtag top-four defensive unit last year, leaning heavily on Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, and Parker Wotherspoon, occasionally using Ryan Shea, Brett Kulak, and Samuel Girard to close the year. While Wotherspoon and Karlsson were an excellent pairing, Girard and Letang struggled and probably aren’t best suited for second-pairing duty on a team with playoff aspirations. Letang is best suited for a third-pairing role, or, if he is forced into top-four duty, he needs a defensively responsible, safe partner like Kulak was.
It will be interesting to see whether the Penguins circle back on Kulak this summer, but given Dubas’ mandate to build a younger roster, it’s hard to imagine him pursuing a 32-year-old projected to get a three-year deal this offseason. The Penguins need a top-four defender this summer, preferably one in his mid-20s. Pittsburgh management is high on prospect Harrison Brunicke, but it’s tough to envision him taking on that assignment as a rookie.
It’s likely the Dubas will need to look outside the organization for help on this front, and in terms of unrestricted free agents, there isn’t much available that would fit what the Penguins are looking for. Mario Ferraro is an option if Pittsburgh were looking for a defensive defenseman capable of filling a top-four role, but he may not be the optimal choice. Although he is a decent puck carrier and, at 27 years old, fits the Penguins’ timeline, his contract is projected to be north of $5MM annually on a four-year deal, and that number could go up should a bidding war start. The Penguins already have one contract on the books for left-handed defensive defenseman Ryan Graves, and it is arguably the worst deal in Penguins history (although Jack Johnson’s is up there as well). Graves was signed on the first day of free agency in 2023, and Dubas likely learned his lesson from chasing high-priced defensive rearguards in free agency.
All signs point to the trade market as the best option for Pittsburgh, and they have plenty of assets they could move, including draft picks and prospects. Bowen Byram of Buffalo would be a possible target for the Penguins, but he reportedly likes Buffalo, and the Sabres would like to keep him long term. At 24 years of age, Byram is uber-talented and offers many of the intangibles teams are looking for. However, in the years that followed the 2022 Stanley Cup, he struggled to put it all together, leaving a sizeable gap between his skill set and his on-ice play. This past year, he was much better, setting a career high in points with 42 in 82 games. Despite all of this, Byram might be a target for the Penguins to steer clear of given the trade costs and the financial costs of his future contract.
Braden Schneider of the New York Rangers and Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils are two more defensemen who could be on the move this offseason, but it’s hard to envision the Rangers and Devils sending young, emerging defenders to a division rival. The Rangers are the likelier of the two to do so, having sent K’Andre Miller to the Hurricanes last summer in a blockbuster deal. Schneider would be a gamble for Pittsburgh, as he hasn’t quite taken the big step the Rangers were hoping he could take, but at this point, he could probably serve as Girard’s partner on a second pairing. There are major warts to Schneider’s game, and whatever he gets paid on his next contract will exceed his actual impact on the ice. Schneider is neither poised nor skilled with the puck, which is a problem for a team paying him $6MM, which is what a long-term deal will look like right now. That being said, in Pittsburgh, head coach Dan Muse’s style of play might benefit Schneider, as it relies more on short, higher-percentage passing rather than long breakout passes.
Nemec’s warts are on the defensive side, but he has a ton of offensive upside. If Pittsburgh were to acquire him to play in their top four, they would also need to find a defensive left-shot partner to support Nemec as he figures out his play in his own end. Given that Girard and Letang are not that type, the Penguins are unlikely to pursue the 22-year-old.
Finally, there is Olen Zellweger, a fantastic transition defender for the Anaheim Ducks who might fall victim to the numbers game out West. The smooth-skating puck mover is far from a finished product and needs work on both sides of the puck. This leaves him third on Anaheim’s depth chart, behind Jackson LaCombe and Pavel Mintyukov. With a pending cap crunch in Anaheim, he might be squeezed out. The issue for Pittsburgh is that Zellweger is undersized and is almost a carbon copy of Girard, albeit quite a bit younger. It’s possible the Penguins could acquire him and move Girard to the third pairing, but pairing Zellweger with Letang feels like a recipe for disaster, given Girard and Letang’s results from this past year.
Find A 2C
The Penguins have decent depth down the middle of the ice, with Sidney Crosby centering the first line, followed by Thomas Novak, Benjamin Kindel, and Blake Lizotte. The weak link in that chain is on the second line, where Novak isn’t an ideal fit and would be better suited to a bottom-six role. Kindel is probably a bit ripe for a 2C role, but he likely will move into it in the next couple of seasons. The Penguins also have Evgeni Malkin remaining in the fold, but asking a 40-year-old with two bad knees to play second-line center for 82 games is a ridiculous ask. A second-line center would give Pittsburgh a formidable top six and either push Novak into a role better suited to his skill set or allow the Penguins to move him for other assets.
It’s easy to talk about acquiring a top-six center, but much harder to do so, especially for Dubas, who isn’t going to target older players and would much rather grab a younger one. The cost to acquire this type of player will be exorbitant, as many teams are trying to beef up the middle of the ice on their own teams. Some folks will float the name of Vincent Trocheck because of his connection to the city of Pittsburgh, but given that he is 32, it doesn’t fit the Penguins’ long-term plans.
Two St. Louis Blues players come to mind, with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou both mentioned in trade discussions. For the Penguins, either player would make sense given their age, contract status, and talent level, but Thomas would probably be the better fit. The 26-year-old has been a point-per-game player for the better part of five seasons and could slot into the Penguins’ depth chart behind Crosby and play with Malkin and Egor Chinakhov. The issue for Pittsburgh would be the cost, which might start with Kindel, a non-starter if you are the Penguins. That makes this trade unlikely, but if Thomas’ market falls and Pittsburgh could use other prospects and draft picks to make a move, you have to imagine that Dubas would be in on Thomas. Kyrou should be easier to acquire, given that he is a few years older than Thomas and struggled last season. But those two years might be enough to push Dubas to look elsewhere rather than pursue an expensive, underperforming 28-year-old.
Speaking of an expensive, underperforming 28-year-old, Auston Matthews is a name forever tied to Dubas after their time together in Toronto. Matthews has had a tumultuous few seasons in Toronto, and it’s fair to wonder whether it’s time for him and the Maple Leafs to get together and find a new place for him to play. For their part, both the team and Matthews have said they want to continue the relationship, but with two years left on his contract and a poor showing last season, things could change in a hurry. If Toronto were to make Matthews available, Pittsburgh would be one of the more logical landing spots for the former Hart Trophy winner. The Penguins have the assets to make a trade and the cap space to absorb Matthews’ $13.25MM cap hit. But does Dubas have the will to give up his best future assets for a player pushing 30? It’s hard to say, but given the past relationship, it’s not completely out of the question. Matthews would solve some problems in Pittsburgh, and becoming just one of the guys might be best for him, but does the team have enough around him to win if they trade away many of their future top picks and prospects?
Figure Out Erik Karlsson’s Future
Last summer, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Karlsson would be dealt, but the Penguins held on to him, and he was their most important player this season, willing them into the playoffs when Malkin and Crosby missed time in late February and March. The 36-year-old has one year left on his contract, counting $10MM against the Penguins cap (and an additional $1.5MM against the San Jose Sharks cap), and will need a new contract if the Penguins hope to keep him beyond this season. What a new contract will look like remains to be seen, but AFP Analytics has him pegged for a three-year extension worth $6.628MM per season. Karlsson had 15 goals and 51 assists in 75 games this year and significantly cut down on turnovers while playing some of the best defense of his career. Pittsburgh may opt to wait things out on an extension, the way they did with Malkin, but there is one other option on the table, although it’s a limited one.
The Penguins could try to shop Karlsson as they did last summer, but given his age, cap hit, and no-movement clause, it will not be an easy trade to make. It’s hard to say how many teams Karlsson would be open to moving to, but it wouldn’t be many, and he appears to enjoy playing with Crosby and company. There is also the fact that Pittsburgh doesn’t have anything close to a Karlsson in the pipeline. Letang is their next-best option, and he struggled last season and probably needs a lighter workload.
The best move for the Penguins this summer is likely to stand pat with Karlsson and look to extend him during the season if his play remains strong. Trading him away would create too big a hole in the lineup, and extending him too soon could lock Pittsburgh into a regrettable long-term deal with a player approaching 40.
Get Younger
The Penguins’ lineup has become considerably younger in recent seasons, but their top players remain on the wrong side of 30. In fact, Pittsburgh’s top six scorers were all over 30, and their seventh-best scorer (Novak) is 29. It’s a glaring issue in the Penguins’ retool that they haven’t found high-end prospects or young players to mix in with their aging stars, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t found talented impact players. Chinakhov looks like a rising star, and if he can build on last season’s success, he could become a cornerstone piece. The same could be said for Kindel, whose abilities seem to have no limits. Those two make up a solid part of the core, but neither has the feel of a franchise player, though their development path will ultimately decide that.
Among the Penguins’ prospects, goaltender Sergei Murashov could become a superstar and is likely to be an NHL regular next season alongside several other Pittsburgh prospects, such as Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes, and perhaps Tristan Broz. That is a nice starting point for the Penguins’ prospect pool, but it’s still missing those top-end options.
Dubas’ biggest long-term need is the one that will be the toughest to acquire: a player he can build his entire team around. It’s going to be difficult because the Penguins are seemingly too good right now to bottom out and get a top draft pick, and other teams are pushing hard to lock up young talent long term. That doesn’t mean future impact players won’t become available; it just means that Dubas, Wes Clark and company will need to do extra due diligence to find a young impact player who has slipped through the cracks at another organization. Easier said than done, but that is why Dubas is one of the highest-paid executives in the NHL.
Photo by Jeff Curry-Imagn Images