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Spencer Carbery Wins 2025 Jack Adams Award

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In recent days, the NHL has been revealing some of its end-of-season award winners heading into next week’s NHL Awards show.  Today, the league announced that Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery has won the 2025 Jack Adams Award as “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success,” as selected by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.

Carbery recently wrapped up his second season behind the bench in Washington and it was a very successful one.  After the Capitals put up 91 points in 2023-24, they were 20 points better this year, good for tops in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference while finishing second overall to Winnipeg.  They improved significantly offensively with a jump of 68 goals compared to the year before while being one of the top squads in goal differential and penalty killing.  While voting was done before the playoffs, Washington made it to the second round before being ousted by Carolina.

With that improvement, Carbery was the runaway winner for the award, finishing with 81 first-place votes out of 103 and appeared on all but one ballot, good for 464 voting points.  He becomes the fourth Washington coach to win the Jack Adams, joining Bryan Murray (1984), Bruce Boudreau (2008), and Barry Trotz (2016).  Carbery also becomes the first head coach to win Coach of the Year at all of the ECHL, AHL, and NHL levels.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel finished second in the voting, garnering a total of 16 first-place selections while being on 81 ballots overall, earning him 249 voting points.  Canadiens bench boss Martin St. Louis was the other finalist but came a distant third with just two first-place selections and 66 voting points while being picked on 34 ballots.  Jim Montgomery (Blues) and Dean Evason (Blue Jackets) rounded out the top five.

The NHL Awards show will run prior to Game 4 of the Oilers/Panthers series at 5 PM CT on Thursday with the full list of all award winners being revealed at that time.

Penguins Notes: Free Agency, Leone, Novak

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The Penguins will enter this summer with around $24.5MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.  At first glance, given their veteran core, it could be inferred that Pittsburgh could be active on the open market to try add a couple of pieces to boost their chances of getting back to the playoffs next season.  However, speaking with reporters Friday including Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Kyle Dubas indicated that he doesn’t expect to be particularly active in free agency unless they’d be getting one of the younger players who deserves some term on a contract.  Instead, he noted that Pittsburgh is likely to be more active on the trade front and that discussions on that front have picked up recently.  No team has more draft picks over the next three years than the Penguins so it wouldn’t be surprising to see some of them converted into players or prospects who are closer to being NHL-ready in the coming weeks.

More from Pittsburgh:

  • In a recent episode of The Sheet (video link), Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek suggested that Mike Leone could be a candidate to join Dan Muse’s coaching staff. Leone spent this season as head coach of the Sabres’ AHL affiliate in Rochester, leading them to the North Division Final.  However, Leone’s professional coaching experience is rather limited with just this season and one year as an ECHL assistant after retiring in 2017.  He has, however, also worked at the NCAA and USHL levels along with USA Hockey at the junior level and would be an intriguing addition as a coach to help in player development.
  • Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review previews the upcoming year for center Thomas Novak. Acquired from Nashville near the trade deadline, this season was a bit underwhelming for the 28-year-old who managed just 22 points in 54 games after passing the 40-point mark the previous two campaigns.  Novak only played twice after being acquired before sustaining an undisclosed injury but it’s fair to say that the Penguins will be counting on him to get back to that 40-point range as a key secondary scorer, an element that was a little hit-or-miss for Pittsburgh this year.

Aaron Ekblad Hoping To Stay With Panthers

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While Aaron Ekblad and the Florida Panthers are in the midst of their second consecutive Stanley Cup run, the star defenseman isn’t shying away from thinking about his future with the franchise.

According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the pending unrestricted free agent has expressed strong interest in resigning with the Panthers.

“I live and breathe for the Florida Panthers. I bleed for the Florida Panthers. I’ve given my body and everything to this team, and I want to keep doing it… forever, for as long as they’ll let me come to the rink,” he said.

Ekblad has spent his entire 11-year career in Florida after being selected first overall by the team in the 2014 draft. As an 18-year-old, Ekblad burst onto the scene in his rookie season, posting 12 goals and 29 points on his way to the Calder Memorial Trophy. In the years since, he has established himself among the elite defenders in the league. Through 732 career games, Ekblad has posted 380 points, 793 blocked shots, and 839 hits.

He is second all-time in games played for the franchise (behind teammate Aleksander Barkov), 10th in goals, third in assists, fifth in points, third in plus/minus rating, third in shots on goal, and first in defensive point shares.

While Ekblad is coming off of an odd season that included injuries and a 20-game suspension for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance (that he said he unknowingly took while recovering from his injuries), Ekblad still posted 33 points in 56 games.

With a projected $19 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), the Panthers should have the flexibility to bring their alternate captain back into the fold. However, they must also address the futures of several other key pending free agents, including Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Tomas Nosek. Ekblad’s expiring eight-year contract carried a $7.5 million AAV.

 

Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson Previews Draft

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In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic’s Scott Powers, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson discussed the team’s offseason plans, draft strategy, and excitement surrounding the franchise’s younger players.

With the third pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, Davidson didn’t name any specific players the team is targeting, unwilling to tip his hand. He did, however, discuss the team’s decision not to participate in the tradition of taking draft prospects to dinner, noting that those types of events do not provide the team with much information.

“We didn’t do any dinners this year. It was much more doing it in the room. I think it’s probably born out of, we don’t learn anything. We haven’t learned much new in those interviews in the past. … It’s funny because there’s no place to hide here either, right? There’s only so many (restaurant) options, and everyone’s bopping around to the same spot. I don’t know if I’ve ever really drawn any connection between dinners to list/ranking or anything like that,” he said.

Davidson added that the team is prepared to take the best player available with the third pick. While Davidson avoided names, Powers believes the Blackhawks are likely considering Anton Frondell or Caleb Desnoyers, unless Michael Misa slips to three.

While Davidson was cautious to provide details on the draft, he did open up more about what the team may look to do in free agency. With a potential generational talent like Connor Bedard, Davidson understands that the fanbase expects significant additions to support the team’s young core. With that said, Davidson believes that big moves cannot be made without strategy.

“Look, we’re always open to exploring these things, but it’s got to be right. It’s got to make sense. We can’t do something that’s going to be counter to the path that we’ve set out on. If there is a big move that presents itself, that makes sense, then I’m all for exploring that and pursuing something that does make sense. But to say we’re going to do something just to say we did something, and then it doesn’t make sense with where we’re at or where we’re going, then I don’t think we can do that. That would be irresponsible,” he said.

Davidson acknowledged that the team would be willing to trade draft capital to acquire the right NHL player. However, he cautioned that quality NHL players may be harder to come by. With the salary cap rising, Davidson noted that teams have a better chance of retaining their own players. He said, “Normally, the No. 1 motivator of movement is salary-cap constraint, and a lot of teams have been relieved of that this year.”

A.J. Greer Out For Panthers In Game 2

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As the Florida Panthers look to even the Stanley Cup Final in Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers, they’ll have to do so without forward A.J. Greer. According to team reporter Jameson Olive, coach Paul Maurice announced today that Greer will continue to be sidelined with an injury he sustained in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Hurricanes.

In his first season with the team, Greer has made an impact despite averaging just 9:36 of ice time per game. He appeared in 81 regular-season games, posting 17 points while leading the team with 222 hits. The physical forward has added two goals and three points during the playoffs. Maurice did, however, note that Greer is trending in the right direction and could be available for Game 3 back in Florida, according to Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.

“He’s on track but he won’t go tonight. But we think if he tracks out, he could be available for Game 3,” he said.

Maurice noted there would be no lineup changes for Game 2, meaning wingers Jesper Boqvist and Jonah Gadjovich will slot in alongside center Tomas Nosek. Despite Game 1 going deep into overtime, Boqvist logged just 7:58 of ice time, nearly five minutes below his regular-season average over 78 games. In 12 playoff games, Boqvist has posted five points to go along with 38 hits.

After briefly exiting Game 1, Gadjovich returned to the ice, and Maurice confirmed yesterday that he’ll be available going forward. Through 11 playoff games, he has recorded two goals and three points.

 

Kraken Fire Coaches Dave Lowry And Steve Briere

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New Seattle Kraken head coach Lane Lambert is taking time to reevaluate the team’s coaching staff. As such, the Kraken have relieved assistant coach Dave Lowry and goalie coach Steve Briere of their duties with the club. It appears Seattle will retain Jessica Campbell and Bob Woods as assistant coaches, and will move forward looking to fill only two vacancies behind the bench. Both Lowry and Briere joined the Kraken in the 2022-23 season.

Briere moved to Seattle after serving seven seasons as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goalie coach. He oversaw the most consistent stretch in Toronto’s net in recent memory, presiding over Frederik Andersen in all four of his full seasons as the Leafs’ starter. Andersen fell to injury and only played 24 games in the 2020-21 campaign, opening the door for Jack Campbell to win over the starting role. But after a breakout performance in his spot starts, Campbell quickly began to cede starts to Petr Mrazek, Erik Kallgren, and Joseph Woll in the 2021-22 season. The Maple Leafs let both Campbell and Briere walk to free agency in the following summer.

Briere has since supported Joey Daccord’s takeover of Seattle’s starting role. The Kraken were led by Martin Jones and Philipp Grubauer in Briere’s first season, but Daccord was able to overcome both veterans last year. He cemented his role with multiple strong performances, and finished the year with a stout 19-18-11 record and .916 save percentage. His save percentage slipped to a .906 this year, but he grew his record to 27-23-5, while appearing in seven games. Now, Daccord will look to play his first 60-game season under the guidance of a new coach.

Lowry’s path to Seattle was much less linear. He was once a prominent NHL winger who earned 19 seasons in the league on the back of hefty and physical hockey. En route to a career that spanned 1,084 games, Lowry spent time with the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, and ultimately ended his career with the Calgary Flames. He stuck around Calgary in the years after retiring, and wound up as the head coach of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen in the 2008-09 season. In what was his first notable head coaching role, Lowry took a Hitmen roster led by Martin Jones to the WHL Championship, only to lose out to the Kelowna Rockets.

The run to a championship series earned Lowry a reunion with the Flames in the following year. He spent the next three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary, only to return to the WHL as the head coach of the Victoria Royals in 2012-13. Lowry was again a playoff mainstay in Victoria, though he wasn’t able to push the roster past the second round of the playoffs. He spent five years in Victoria, only to return to the NHL in 2017 for two seasons as an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings. Again finding little success, Lowry returned to the WHL to coach the 2019-20 Brandon Wheat Kings team that ultimately missed the postseason. He’s been back in the NHL ever since that missed performance.

Now, Lowry once again finds himself looking for new work. He’ll seemingly have NHL and WHL roles to choose from moving forward, with little more than personal preference guiding his preference for one league or the other. Lowry has been a prominent NHL name since the 1985 season, and should find ample work wherever he moves to next.

Photo courtesy of Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports

Lightning Sign Maxwell Crozier To Three-Year Contract

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Maxwell Crozier to a three-year, $2.325MM contract. The deal carries a league-minimum, $775K cap hit. It will be a two-way contract in the first year, then convert to a one-way deal for the final two years. Crozier was set to become a restricted-free agent this summer. With a new deal in place, Tampa Bay now has four remaining players headed for free agency.

Crozier spent the majority of his season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. His reputation for always being involved grew louder over the course of the year as he earned career-highs across the board. He recorded nine goals, 25 assists, and 34 points in 52 games. He also added 75 penalty minutes and a plus-16. All five marks beat out his rookie totals from last year, when he managed 21 points, 43 penalty minutes, and a plus-one in 49 games.

Tampa Bay recalled Crozier for the first 13 games of his NHL career throughout the 2023-24 regular season. His performances were modest – headlined by two assists, seven penalty minutes, and a minus-two. The Lightning must have seen a pro-ready through that stat line, and turned to Crozier for three games of a fill-in role during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He earned an additional five NHL appearances this year, but managed no changes to his stat line.

Crozier was originally drafted 120th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He spent four seasons at Providence College after his draft selection, and totaled 71 points in 119 collegiate games. He’s also managed 58 points, 124 penalty minutes, and a plus-18 through 110 games in the AHL. Crozier is a tall, rangy defender who engages opponents with his stick or body checks; and makes smart passes once he pokes the puck loose. The Lightning will give him a chance to earn a full-time NHL-role over the next three seasons, on a deal that comes at little-to-no risk.

Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach

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The Maple Leafs announced today they’ve added former Red Wings bench boss Derek Lalonde to their coaching staff. He replaces associate coach Lane Lambert, who departed last month to accept the Kraken’s head coaching job.

Lalonde, 52, lands his next NHL job less than six months after Detroit fired him over the holiday break. The New York native was midway through his third season as head coach of the Wings, where he posted a 89-86-23 (.508) record but had gotten off to a 14-17-4 start in 2024-25.

Before his time in Detroit, Lalonde worked as an assistant coach under Jon Cooper with the Lightning from 2018-19 to 2021-22, winning a pair of Stanley Cups in the process. He oversaw the team’s defensive units and penalty kill, directly replacing the roles Lambert held in his lone season on Toronto’s staff.

Under Lalonde, the Lightning’s PK clicked at 82.7% during his four-year tenure, third-best in the league over that span. The Leafs will be counting on him to continue the shorthanded improvement Lambert helped usher in, helping boost Toronto’s PK success rate from a 23rd-place 76.9% in 2023-24 to a 17th-place 77.9% in 2024-25.

Notably, Toronto didn’t announce Lalonde with the associate coach moniker Lambert held. He’ll serve on more equal footing with returning assistants Marc Savard and Mike Van Ryn than Lambert did as a result.

Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor Out 5-6 Months Following Hip Surgery

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Avalanche winger Logan O’Connor underwent successful hip surgery Friday morning in New York City, the team announced. He’s expected to miss five to six months recovering, meaning he’ll miss training camp and at least the first month of the 2025-26 season.

This is O’Connor’s second hip surgery in 16 months. He had surgery in March 2024 to correct a hip problem that had caused him to miss short stints of action earlier in the season, ending his season.

That procedure didn’t discourage Colorado’s hopes that O’Connor would be a long-term bottom-six piece for the club. They signed him to a six-year, $15MM extension with a modified no-trade clause last September, days after he stepped back on the ice for training camp.

While O’Connor remained a strong defensive presence on the right side of the ice in 2024-25, earning Selke Trophy votes for the first time in his career, his offensive impact took a hit following the first surgery. He posted 10 goals and 21 points in 80 games for 0.26 points per game, his worst output since the 2020-21 campaign.

There’s optimism that could be a fluky dropoff. For one, the hip surgery didn’t affect O’Connor’s calling card – his speed. He recorded a top skating speed of 23.25 mph this past season, according to NHL EDGE, 0.14 mph more than last season’s peak. He did record fewer speed bursts over 20 mph per game in 2024-25 than he did in 2023-24, but was still in the 91st percentile league-wide for the stat among forwards.

Still, two procedures in such a short time frame are concerning for O’Connor’s availability moving forward. That aforementioned extension kicks in for the upcoming season and runs through the 2030-31 campaign. His $2.5MM cap hit is a reasonable chunk of change for a minute-munching defensive specialist, though, so even if he never rebounds toward producing at a 30-40 point pace, the Avs will still get fine value out of O’Connor’s contract as long as he continues to provide high value from his possession impacts and checking game.

Until O’Connor returns to the lineup sometime around Thanksgiving, he’ll miss enough time for the Avalanche to create some early salary cap flexibility by placing him on long-term injured reserve. They’ll still need to be able to create enough space to activate him when he’s ready to return, though. In training camp, his absence will mean more leeway for names like Ivan Ivan, Oskar Olausson, and Nikita Prishchepov to fight for an opening-night job.

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.

Free Agent Focus: Los Angeles Kings

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

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Alex Laferriere – Not only has Laferriere arrived as a full-time piece for the Kings earlier than expected, but he’s likely been pencilled in as a future top-six piece long term. The 23-year-old cooled off down the stretch after a torrid start, but still saw a 25% increase in average ice time from his rookie season.

He’s shown immense promise as a playmaking right-winger, putting together a 19-23–42 scoring line in 77 games with a +22 rating in his sophomore outing. At Laferriere’s age, there’s still some room to grow, especially after seeing his points per game output jump from 0.28 to 0.55 in his rookie and sophomore seasons.

He’s owed a qualifying offer of $826,875 coming off his entry-level deal that he’ll obviously exceed, and it’s worth noting he’s a 10.2(c) RFA who’s ineligible to receive an offer sheet because he lacks the required professional experience. While he’ll obviously land a seven-figure extension, the question is if the Kings opt for a bridge deal to reserve more cap space for this summer or aim to get him signed long-term now.

Considering they have a few high-cost UFAs to retain, it might make more sense to go for a bridge deal in the $3MM-$4MM range.

Other RFAs: F Jack Studnicka, D Cole Krygier

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Vladislav Gavrikov – The Kings needed Gavrikov to play like a true top-pairing defenseman to begin the season with Drew Doughty on the shelf, and he delivered in spades. Less fortunately for them, Gavrikov’s career-best campaign came in a contract year.

The 29-year-old Russian fell just short of his career high in points but was a dominant two-way force, finishing the year with a 5-25–30 scoring line, a +26 rating, and 140 blocks while averaging a career-high 23:05 per game. Despite seeing the most defensive-zone-oriented deployment among L.A. defenders, the Kings averaged just 1.64 goals against per 60 minutes with Gavrikov on the ice at 5-on-5.

He’s the top shutdown defenseman still set to hit the market this summer and will command well north of $7MM on a max-term contract. The Kings can bring down the cap hit slightly by offering him a comparable total-value deal with an eighth year of term, something they’d likely take advantage of.

With Doughty aging and only having two years left on his contract, the Kings can ill-afford to lose Gavrikov and will likely be willing to shell out the cash they need to keep him.

F Andrei Kuzmenko – A notoriously hot-and-cold scorer over his three years in the league, Kuzmenko has already been traded three times since his arrival in the NHL in 2022, including twice this season. Los Angeles got the Dr. Jekyll version of Kuzmenko after acquiring him from the Flyers for a third-round pick.

The 29-year-old fit seamlessly on Anže Kopitar’s wing and was a lethal power-play weapon, totaling 17 points in 22 regular-season games before going point-per-game in L.A.’s first-round loss to the Oilers. Still, Kuzmenko has spent stretches in the press box during recent stops with the Canucks and Flames and shot just 13.3% this season after a raucous 27.3% finishing rate in his rookie year.

He’ll almost certainly be taking a pay cut on his previous $5.5MM cap hit as a result, but he likely boosted himself back into the $4MM range on a mid-term deal with his finish to the season. At that price, the Kings would be smart to pounce on an extension unless they feel they can confidently replace his top-line role with a big-ticket external signing.

F Tanner Jeannot – The Kings paid a second and fourth-round pick to acquire Jeannot from the Lightning last summer, just over a year after Tampa essentially gave up an entire draft class’ worth of picks to acquire the energy winger from the Predators in one of the more puzzling swaps in recent memory. The 28-year-old has scored just 20 goals in 198 games over the last three seasons following his 24-goal rookie campaign with Nashville in 2021-22, which is now a distant memory.

He’s still an incredibly physical fourth-line piece, albeit with underwhelming possession impacts, but can be a fine fit in limited minutes with some limited scoring upside. There should be some interest in his services league-wide, but it would be surprising to see him match or beat his expiring $2.665MM cap hit.

G David Rittich – Rittich’s past few seasons have been mired in inconsistency. After being one of the best backups in the league for L.A. last season, he regressed heavily to a .886 SV% in an increased workload (31 starts, three relief appearances).

His -11.4 goals saved above expected was seventh-worst in the league, according to MoneyPuck, and fourth-worst among goalies with at least 30 appearances. While he’s had good showings in limited deployment, the 32-year-old isn’t realistically a reliable tandem option, but his value this summer could be helped by a weak goalie market.

It might still make sense for L.A. to pursue a reunion given his 2023-24 performance, though, especially since prospect Erik Portillo isn’t quite ready for full-time NHL minutes after a disappointing AHL campaign.

F Trevor Lewis – The two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Kings returned for his second stint in L.A. two summers ago after three years away. He fell out of a full-time role this season, logging 60 appearances after playing in all 82 regular-season games the year before, but still managed 12 points and 100 hits while averaging 10:13 per game.

He’s played the last two years on one-way deals at or a shade above league minimum, a trend that could continue if the Kings want a familiar face to slot into the lineup if needed.

Other UFAs: F Samuel Fagemo (Group VI), F Taylor Ward, D Joseph Cecconi, D Caleb Jones, D Reilly Walsh (Group VI), G Pheonix Copley

Projected Cap Space

The Kings have just over $21.7MM in space below the $95.5MM Upper Limit, and with just a few roster spots to fill, they should be able to re-sign all of their pending free agents. If they plan to keep both Gavrikov and Kuzmenko around, though, they’ll need to make sure they go short-term with Laferriere to keep themselves in contention for some top UFA wingers like Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers. Signing Mitch Marner could still be realistic, but not with Kuzmenko taking up the chunk of change he’s projected to receive.

Image courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images (Laferriere) and Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images (Gavrikov). Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.

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