Canada Registers Sam Dickinson, Jack Ivankovic At World Championship
Team Canada will finish off the World Championship with the help of two top prospects. San Jose Sharks defenseman Sam Dickinson and Nashville Predators goalie prospect Jack Ivankovic have been registered for the remainder of the tournament per Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff. Neither player is expected to suit up for Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup against Team USA, which could be Canada’s last of the tournament.
Both Dickinson and Ivankovic have been with the Canadian side through the extent of the World Championships – but are only now lineup-eligible, after being registered. Circumstance may keep the duo from debuting with Canada’s men’s team but the chance to spend time with NHL greats like Sidney Crosby, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan O’Reilly will nonetheless be invaluable.
Dickinson wrapped up his rookie season in the NHL with quiet totals. After notching historic scoring during his three-year career in the OHL, the puck-moving defender only scored one goal and 14 points in the first 72 NHL games of his career. He struggled to bring his dominant offense to the pro flight – but still showed flashes of the heads-up playmaking that earned him 91 points in 55 OHL games just last season. Dickinson will be leaned on as a core, offensive-defenseman behind San Jose’s young forwards for years to come. The chance to join his future-captain, Macklin Celebrini, at the 2026 World Championships will be another chance to find his comfort at the top level.
Ivankovic played through his freshman season at the University of Michigan after being drafted in the 2025 second round. He was called upon right away by the Wolverines and quickly stood out as one of the team’s biggest difference-makers. Ivankovic stuck around a .920 save percentage for much of the year, until his season was derailed by a scary-looking, lower-body injury sustained in a January matchup against rival Notre Dame. The injury was believed to be long-term – but Ivankovic was only out of the lineup for one month before returning to full-time, starting duties. He finished the year with a .921 save percentage and 25-8-1 record while backstopping the school that spent much of the year ranked #1. He also followed an NHL teammate – O’Reilly – to this tournament but lost his chances to start thanks to Jet Greaves‘ .926 save percentage through five wins.
While both prospects may continue to watch the tournament from the press box, their addition to the roster will stand as a bode of confidence from Hockey Canada. Both players will almost certainly be major parts of Canada’s World Championship, and other international, rosters in the years to come.
Flames Want To Move Up From Sixth Overall In Draft
A hot market for top-five picks in the 2026 NHL Draft is beginning to form. On the heels of reports that the St. Louis Blues want to crack into the top 10, it appears the Calgary Flames could stand in their way. The Flames are hoping to move up from their current spot of sixth-overall, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period and Kyle Morton of Daily Faceoff. The San Jose Sharks’ second-overall pick could be Calgary’s target, with TSN’s Darren Dreger sharing that the Sharks could part ways with their pick. Pagnotta also said that the Chicago Blackhawks could shop around the fourth-overall pick.
It has been more than 20 years since the last time a team traded a top-three pick after it was declared. The last instance – Pittsburgh’s move to first-overall in 2003 to select Marc-Andre Fleury – saw the third-overall pick go the other way. Calgary would pull off an unprecedented move if they were able to swing their way into the top-five.
Moving up in the draft could be a strong way for Calgary to spark their rebuild. The draft class is led by premium forward talents Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, and Caleb Malhotra. Each of the three have the potential to one day lead an NHL lineup, as do top defense prospects Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff. Should those five names all slide off the board before Calgary’s pick, the Flames would be left with the tough job of guessing the next-best star. Left-defensemen Carson Carels and Alberts Smits have caught attention all season with their dominant two-way play and play-driving ability respectively; while centermen Viggo Bjorck, Tynan Lawrence, and Oliver Suvanto have each held high-end acclaim through points in the season.
Outside of the top-five, there seems to be no guarantee of who will hit. Calgary would be stuck in a guessing game as they look for the draft selection who could propel their young lineup forward. Acquiring either San Jose or Chicago’s pick would effectively subvert that issue, allowing Calgary the chance to land a player with a strong chance of becoming a difference-maker. Their roster could use impacts at seemingly every position – whether it’s a playmaking winger to support Matthew Coronato, a true top-center, or an all-around defenseman who can take pressure off of the offensive-minded Zayne Parekh.
The uncertainty of a lower, top pick would be less of a concern for the Sharks or Blackhawks, who have each landed multiple top-five picks over the last four seasons. The draft class still boasts upside through the teens and the pair of rebuilders could stock their cupboards by pushing Calgary to add more draft capital and a strong prospect like Andrew Basha, Henry Mews, or even breakout college star Ethan Wyttenbach.
The package needed to trade into the top-five will only richen as more teams eye a potential trade. It seems to be a great year to be an established-rebuilder like San Jose and Chicago, who could field a long list of offers as they consider whether to take another star prospect or prioritize quantity over quality. Meanwhile, Calgary’s focus appears set to shift towards finding the X-factor they need to pull together a lineup that – thanks to the emergence of players like Kevin Bahl, Yan Kuznetsov, and Connor Zary – seems to wield promising depth.
Evening Notes: Frondell, Perfetti, Dorofeyev
The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t concerned about the long-term effects of a scary-looking injury to top prospect Anton Frondell. The top Swedish winger got his hand caught in a bench door during Team Sweden’s Friday matchup against Team Italy at the IIHF Men’s World Championship. He missed Sweden’s Saturday matchup with a subsequent injury that is not believed to be serious, per Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Frondell has kept his hot season rolling at the World Championship with two points in as many games. He has performed at a top level in competition across the world this season – netting 28 points in 43 SHL games, nine points in his first 12 NHL games, and eight points in seven games at the 2026 World Junior Championship. No decision has been made on Frondell’s availability for the remainder of the summer tournament, which could leave a major hole in Sweden’s roster.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Winnipeg Jets face an interesting task in re-signing middle-six winger Cole Perfetti this summer. The former 10th-overall pick scored 18 goals and 50 points in the 2024-25 season but fell back to 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games this season. That places him in an interesting spot next to many of his peers from the 2020 and 2021 NHL Draft class, as pointed out by Murat Ates of The Athletic. While Perfetti’s struggles to frequently pop up on the scoresheet could keep him from matching the long-term contracts of players like Matthew Coronato, Matthew Knies, and Alexis Lafreniere – he could find a starting point in negotiations in the six-year, $7.5MM recently signed by Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi. While that deal serves as a ceiling, Ates points out that Winnipeg’s bidding could begin in the realm of $5.5MM. Splitting the gap between the two numbers, and leaning on the term garnered by peers, would put Perfetti’s next deal in the realm of four-to-six years and $6MM-to-$6.5MM in cap hit. That cap hit would dedicate roughly half of Winnipeg’s projected $13.628MM in cap space this summer to their top restricted free-agent – which should leave just enough room to also re-sign Jonathan Toews, Isak Rosen, and Eric Comrie.
- Another RFA to watch this summer will be Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev, who has exploded onto the scene this season with 37 goals and 64 points in the regular season and 10 goals and 14 points in 14 playoff games. That sudden boom – and Dorofeyev’s seamless fill-in for captain Mark Stone over Vegas’ last five games – could quickly be proving Dorofeyev’s ability as a true, top-six scorer. Teams around the league will pay attention to that as Dorofeyev heads towards restricted-free agency per Shayna Goldman of The Athletic. Vegas is only projected to wield $11MM in cap space this summer, per PuckPedia, with Reilly Smith, Brandon Saad, and Rasmus Andersson all set to hit the open market. The 25-year-old Dorofyev would certainly be top priority among that list but could command the majority of their savings after a breakout year. If Vegas gets cold feet, the young sniper could be a great option for teams looking to add an immediate impact. Goldman projects both Dorofeyev and Andersson could command as much as $9MM in cap hit, which would pull Vegas nearly $7MM over budget with multiple lineup holes still to fill. After the St. Louis Blues’ success with their offer sheet of winger Dylan Holloway, could a team see similar potential in the cap-strapped Golden Knights’ handling of Dorofeyev?
Anthony Mantha, Penguins Reunion Unlikely
The Pittsburgh Penguins might lose a huge piece of their forward group this summer.
As first reported by Josh Yohe of The Athletic in his offseason writings, Penguins forward Anthony Mantha “was clear with his plans” after meeting with General Manager Kyle Dubas; it appears unlikely that Mantha will return to Pittsburgh. The 31-year-old is projected to eye free agency and capitalize on a career year.
Mantha was one of the most cost-effective players in the entire NHL based on scoring this past season. On a one-year, $2.5MM contract, he finished the 2025-26 season with a career-high 33 goals for 64 points in 81 games played. Crossing the 80-game threshold this season earned him an extra $2MM in performance bonuses per PuckPedia.
That production was fourth on Pittsburgh outside of Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, and Bryan Rust. Most notably, it only cost the Penguins $39K per point that Mantha registered this season, the eighth most cost-effective UFA forward on the market this summer. In six playoff games against the Philadelphia Flyers, he added an assist in the first round.
He was also recognized as the Penguins’ Masterton Trophy nominee, which is given to the player “who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey”. This nomination stems from his bounceback career-year that blossomed after suffering a right ACL injury that limited Mantha to just 13 games with the Calgary Flames in 2024-25.
Mantha has been a bit of a journeyman recently, with Pittsburgh being his fourth stop in the last four seasons of his 11-year NHL career. As a former first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, he spent six years wearing the winged wheel, three on an entry-level deal before signing a two-year, $6.60MM extension that took him through 2020.
The first year of a newly signed four-year, $22.8MM ($5.7MM AAV) deal, the Red Wings traded the 6-foot-5 forward to the Washington Capitals in April of 2021. He spent three seasons with the Capitals before being dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in the final year of that deal in March of 2024.
The offseason for Dubas feels opportunistic, but in the Penguins’ end-of-season press conference, the message was clear that the front office is looking to internal and external options to grow their current roster, whether it be through young up-and-coming talent or via a trade. Pittsburgh has around $42MM in cap space to make further decisions on several expiring player deals after extending with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte in their forward group.
If Mantha were to test free agency, it would certainly make Dubas’s ability to keep him in black and gold difficult, not just because of the production, but considering the other members of the team that require addressing. It may not be as easy to allocate a decent portion of that cap space that Mantha would command. But for a player who was a key
Along with Mantha, the Penguins still have unrestricted free agents in forwards Evgeni Malkin, Kevin Hayes, and Noel Acciari, along with back-end expiring deals for Connor Clifton, Ryan Shea, and goaltender Stuart Skinner. As for restricted free agents, Dubas has forward Egor Chinakov and Arturs Silovs in net to figure out.
Flyers’ Nikita Grebenkin Could Miss Start Of 2026-27 Season
Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere issued updates on the team’s long list of injuries after their run to the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Briere announced 10 injuries. They include:
F Alex Bump (MCL sprain)
F Noah Cates (fractured foot)
F Christian Dvorak (fractured rib, separated shoulder)
F Nikita Grebenkin (upper-body injury)
F Garnet Hathaway (fractured fibula)
F Travis Konecny (fractured rib, fractured nose)
F Owen Tippett (internal bleeding, core muscle injury)
F Trevor Zegras (elbow ligament sprain)
D Emil Andrae (fractured wrist)
D Cameron York (fractured rib)
Among the injuries, Briere specified that Andrae will need surgery, while Cates will not need surgery, to address their fractures. It was not clear if Dvorak, Hathaway, Konecny, or York will also undergo the knife. Briere added that every player is expected to make a full recovery before the start of the 2026-27 season, except for Grebenkin, who could miss time in the 2026-27 season per NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer.
Grebenkin hasn’t played since March 21, missing the last 23 games of Philadelphia’s season. Briere did not specify Grebenkin’s injury, though he did say that the team initially thought the winger would only miss a short term. Instead, Philadelphia is looking at different options to help Grebenkin work back to full health.
The young winger broke into a full-time roster role, on the back of high-energy and gritty hockey, this season. He totaled up 14 points and 86 hits in 55 games as an NHL rookie. His hits-per-game average ranked fifth on the team among Flyers with at least 20 games played. That physical presence, paired with Grebenkin’s energetic skating, was overwhelming paired next to center Hathaway – though Philadelphia also rolled him out as the forechecker next to scorers Konecny and Dvorak.
Grebenkin’s absence would leave a hole in Philadelphia’s bottom-six to start next season. It would also limit the 23 year old’s chance to build on a quick break into an NHL lineup. But Philadelphia’s laundry list of injuries could affect the entire lineup. Konecny led the team in both goals (27) and points (68) through 77 games this season. Zegras ranked right behind him with 26 goals and 67 points, while Dvorak and Tippett were part of a three-way tie for third with 51 points.
On defense, York stepped up as a core part of Philadelphia’s top-four this season. He finished the year with 26 points and a plus-five, while averaging more than 22 minutes a night. Andrae served on the other side of the lineup – netting 13 points in 61 games from a bottom-pair role. York’s presence brought some cohesion to the Flyers’ blue-line behind Travis Sanheim as the team’s top defender, while Andrae was a frequently-tapped depth defender. Both players should return to those roles next season, though Andrae will face the added challenge of recovering from surgery.
The Flyers will enter the summer with the bruises of a long season. This was the Flyers’ first playoff run since 2020, when they lost in the second-round to the New York Islanders. Philadelphia has only made five postseason appearances over the last 13 years – but seem well-set to kick that cold spell after instilling promising, young prospects into every level of the lineup. Bump and rookie Porter Martone will offer big upside next season, while the likes of Grebenkin will look to dig their fit deeper into grinder roles.
Canadiens Recall Four Players
The Montreal Canadiens announced today that they have recalled four players from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket: Forwards Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj, as well as defensemen Adam Engström and David Reinbacher.
The Rocket were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs yesterday, falling in the fifth game of their best-of-five North Division Semifinal against the Toronto Marlies.
These recalls help reinforce the depth of the Canadiens roster as they look to continue their push towards the Eastern Conference Final. Montreal took a 2-1 series lead against the Buffalo Sabres last night, courtesy of a 6-2 win in game three. Game four of the series is Tuesday night in Montreal.
These four players represent some of the best of the Canadiens’ organizational depth, and notably, none of the players recalled are even 23 years old. Beck and Engström were added to the Canadiens organization at the 2022 draft, part of a haul that has already become franchise-changing. Reinbacher was the No. 5 overall pick at the 2023 draft and Xhekaj, who is the younger brother of Canadiens blueliner Arber Xhekaj, was picked in the fourth round that year.
The player that is most immediately NHL-ready is likely Engström, a 22-year-old Swedish defenseman. After he was drafted in 2022, Engström spent two years developing at the professional level in his native Sweden playing for Rögle BK. In 2024, he crossed the Atlantic and made his debut in the Canadiens organization, playing in 66 games for the Laval Rocket.
Engström has had a stellar 2025-26 season, scoring 10 goals and 34 points in 45 games for the Rocket while also earning 15 NHL games with the Canadiens. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic rated Engström as the No. 6 prospect in Montreal’s system, calling him someone who “could become a No. 5-6” defenseman “with some modern elements” to his game.
The Canadiens’ defense already skews to left-shot blueliners, which means he faces stiffer competition in his efforts to land a full-time role in Montreal. That’s not the case for Reinbacher, the team’s No. 4 prospect according to Wheeler. Reinbacher is a big right-shot defenseman who plays a composed, steady game. Persistent injury issues have slowed the pace of his development, putting him behind some of his peers from the 2023 draft class. But he had a strong season playing in all situations in Laval and should be a real contender for an NHL role next fall.
Beck, 22, is Montreal’s No. 7 prospect according to Wheeler and is, like the two defensemen, on the cusp of making the leap to the NHL on a more permanent basis.
A hard-working two-way center, Beck scored 15 goals and 44 points in 64 games as an AHL rookie last season, and scored 13 goals and 33 points in 58 games this year.
He also added five points in five playoff games this season. Beck already has 28 NHL games under his belt and could push for a bottom-six role in training camp.
The fourth player recalled was Xhekaj, a forward who is one of Montreal’s faster-rising prospects. He was picked in the fourth round despite scoring just 25 points in his draft campaign in the OHL. But the Canadiens saw something in the forward that gave them the confidence to draft him in that round despite relatively low offensive numbers. Co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov called Xhekaj a “unicorn” during the team’s pre-draft process.
Since being selected, all Xhekaj has done is reward the team’s faith in him. He became a point-per-game OHL scorer and had a strong rookie pro campaign with the Rocket in 2024-25, scoring 24 goals and 35 points. He also added 175 penalty minutes. This past year, Xhekaj scored 17 goals and 29 points, racking up 182 penalty minutes. His blend of size, physicality, and goal-scoring ability gives him a chance to become a well-liked bottom-six forward in the NHL.
All four skaters recalled today by the Canadiens are players who could very well play a role in the NHL next season. They represent the next wave of youthful NHL reinforcements the Canadiens are set to receive, fruits of a rebuild that already appears to be paying off. While none is particularly likely to draw into the lineup during this run, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see some – or all – of these faces in the NHL at this time next year.
Photos courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Nick Suzuki Offers Canadiens A Franchise Cornerstone
The Montreal Canadiens are in the midst of a close playoff race – but no matter the end result, the 2025-26 season will mark another step forward in Montreal’s long-term outlook. Top-line center Nick Suzuki reached 101 points this season, marking the first time a Canadiens player has crested the century-scoring mark since Mats Naslund reached 110 in 1986. Suzuki becomes only the fourth Canadien to reach that mark, joining Naslund and some of the core players in Montreal’s six Stanley Cup wins from the 1970s.
Suzuki’s was undoubtedly propelled by the additions of Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and Ivan Demidov – who have each posted breakout years early into their career. Hutson has, specifically, offered a jolt to the Canadiens’ offense – bringing a top-tier playmaking that helped him notch 146 points in the first 166 games of his career. But Suzuki has stood tall in the middle of Montreal’s dynamos, offering a full-ice awareness that has proved pivotal to the Canadiens’ movement up the ice for the last two seasons.
That full-ice ability was honored when Suzuki was named a finalist for the 2026 Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL forward who best excels at the defensive side of the game. Only two players in NHL history have won the Selke Trophy and scored at least 100 points in the same season: Doug Gilmour in 1993, and Sergei Fedorov in both 1994 and 1996. Should he win, the 26-year-old Suzuki would join Hall-Of-Fame-company. Even a nomination emphasizes Suzuki’s ability to provide a top-tier impact on both sides of the ice.
Best yet, the Canadiens’ top center is still at least a couple of years away from his prime – and carries a reasonable $7.88MM cap hit through the 2029-30 season. He checks boxes across the board, locking down Montreal’s top-line and capable of performing next to a rotation of wingers – all at a discount price. Those traits, and Suzuki’s clear hockey IQ, were enough to earn him the title of youngest captain in Canadiens history when he was awarded the ‘C’ at the age of 23, in 2022. Four years later, Suzuki is continuing to find new heights in Montreal, while bringing the lineup along with him. His cohesive playmaking helped propel Caufield to 51 goals this season, second-most in the league to Nathan MacKinnon‘s 53 goals.
The Canadiens have pushed into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after ending a three-year playoff drought last season. They seem well-set to enter the next decade of NHL action as one of the Eastern Conference’s heavy-hitters, on the back of an emerging roster. While questions still remain for some of their young guns, there is no doubt about Suzuki’s spot in Montreal’s future. With a controlled contract and incredible impacts on both ends of the ice, the Canadiens will move forward with Suzuki in a starring role – with potentially even higher heights still yet to come.
Poll: Which Active Players Will Become An NHL GM?
The connection between NHL playing careers and front office roles has existed for nearly as long as the league itself. Some of the most highly-regarded executives – from Glen Sather in the 1980s to Jim Nill today – began their journeys with a decade-or-more in NHL lineups. Looking at the league in 2025-26, there seems to be no shortage of potential NHL executives currently putting on the pads. The question is, which of them will make it to the big chair first?
A clear top candidate would be Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby – the face of the NHL for much of the last 20 years. Crosby has become synonymous with North American hockey through his historical playing career, while learning from player-turned-owner and fellow all-time-great Mario Lemieux. That leadership could soon be invaluable. Crosby will face the question of if he should play on, or if now is the time to call it quits, in the second half of next season. If he wants to prolong his time on an NHL payroll beyond his time in the lineup, he could have a great chance to learn under Kyle Dubas and alongside Jason Spezza in the Penguins front office.
Another strong candidate for a GM role will be Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. Former NHL GM Brian Burke recently said as much on The Sheet With Jeff Marek while speaking to how much he admires Landeskog’s professionalism. There is no doubt about the Avalanche star’s commitment to the game, most notably highlighted by his triumphant return from a severe knee injury. Landeskog played through that injury during Colorado’s run to the 2022 Stanley Cup. On the other side of his return, he continues to serve as a versatile and effective playmaker who can shine off without top-line minutes. He is currently part of a three-way tie for second on the Avalanche in playoff scoring with seven points in six games. With that kind of impact, there will be plenty of hockey ahead for the 33 year old, who is signed through the 2028-29 season. But when his career nears its end, a door to team management could quickly open.
Prior playing experience could also open the door for more European representation in front office roles. Landeskog would become the second Swedish GM in NHL history, while a player like Anze Kopitar could shoot to become the first from central Europe should he choose that path. Kopitar is hanging up his skates after the Los Angeles Kings’ exit from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He had the third-most games played of any active NHL player this season. Every single one of those games came in a Kings’ jersey, with Kopitar captaining the team through the final 10 seasons of his career. All-time goals record holder Alex Ovechkin has also spent the entirety of his career with one team and could wield the experience needed to become the league’s first Russian GM.
Of course, playing success does not create a top exec – and many of the league’s top leaders could also have a chance. Longtime pros Jaccob Slavin, Nathan MacKinnon, Ryan O’Reilly, and Aleksander Barkov have all been recognized for their sportsmanship with the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. The trophy was also handed out to former Avalanche GM Joe Sakic and soon-to-be-former Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis. Its recognition of on-and-off-ice impact would stand out on any resume, especially next to the Stanley Cup precedent that MacKinnon, O’Reilly, and Barkov boast. It is also a feat managed multiple times by Kopitar, who could win the trophy again this season.
Many players around the league could put together a strong case for a managerial role. Who will do it first? Who will find another long career in the role? Vote for your choice below and use the comments to make a case for other players!
Which Active Players Will Become An NHL GM?
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PIT - Sidney Crosby 35% (217)
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COL - Gabriel Landeskog 33% (204)
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LAK - Anze Kopitar 14% (84)
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Other (Comment below) 12% (75)
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COL - Nathan MacKinnon 5% (33)
Total votes: 613
Rangers Promote Tanner Glass To Director Of Player Development
The New York Rangers have made their first change of the summer. The club has released Jed Ortmeyer from his role as Director Of Player Development and promoted Tanner Glass in his spot per Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic. Glass has served as the Assistant Director since 2020. This decision is part of a complete assessment of New York’s departments, general manager Chris Drury told Mercogliano.
New York has now missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2018 and 2019. Their roster has failed to pull into a better form since those prior struggles, with Mika Zibanejad still leading the ship, now alongside Alexis Lafreniere and J.T. Miller rather than Mats Zuccarello and Pavel Buchnevich. The Rangers made the bold decision to trade star scorer Artemi Panarin partway through their losing season in an attempt to fortify their future assets, at the least.
Now the team will take another step to ensure they get more out of their draft capital. Glass played three seasons with the Rangers from 2014 to 2017, as part of an 11-year career in the NHL. He was a depth forward in every stop he made but found a way to stick in the lineup thanks to gritty and high-energy play away from the puck. Glass retired in 2018 and joined the Rangers as a development coach one year later. His presence has played a small role in the success of New York’s burgeoning youngsters, like Noah Laba and Gabriel Perreault, though Drury made sure to also praise Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley for deciding to pick both players.
New York has value in the pipeline. They received high-scoring, OHL center Liam Greentree as part of a return for Panarin and recently watched 2025 second-round pick Malcolm Spence run to the Frozen Four semi-finals with the University of Michigan. Both players could one day secure roles in the lineup, as could shutdown defensemen E.J. Emery and Sean Barnhill or utility forwards Adam Sykora and Brody Lamb. Honing their development, as well as the development of future draft picks, will now be Glass’ top priority. New York has two first-round picks, one second-round pick, and four third-round picks as part of 11 total selections in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Oilers Notes: McDavid, Dickinson, Draisaitl, Knoblauch
The Edmonton Oilers held their end-of-season interviews after failing to win one playoff round, on the heels of back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was a day filled with difficult conversations and injury updates. Notably, both Connor McDavid and Jason Dickinson were revealed to be playing through foot fractures, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Dickinson scored two goals in the opening game of the first round before missing the next two games with injury. He returned for the final three games of the series and added one assist.
McDavid played through all six postseason games but didn’t neccesarily appear like his usual self. He scored only one goal and six points. It was rare that he broke away with top-end speed or dominated offense – instead leaving those roles to Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Vasily Podkolzin who led the Oilers in playoff scoring. A fracture is reasonable explanation for those struggles and will now set both McDavid and Dickinson on the course of recovery for at least part of the summer. Knoblauch did not mention specifics for either player’s recovery.
Other notes out of Edmonton:
- Star winger Draisaitl was vocal about the team’s struggles, saying that he feels the organization took a step backwards per NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest. Their result at the end of the year made that backwards step evident enough – but McDavid echoed his teammate’s comments in his own interview. Draisaitl went on to speak to how big of a role Edmonton’s depth players filled on their run to the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, even naming Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, Vincent Desharnais, and Cody Ceci. It seems the Oilers’ charge through the summer will be replicating that difference-making depth talent, if they want to appease their best players ahead of another playoff heave next season.
- No indication was made regarding Knoblauch’s future with in the Oilers head coach role through the team’s final interviews. General manager Stan Bowman said the organization will take their time to evaluate things before confirming if Knoblauch would be back per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. Bowman went on to add that all aspects of the team will likely be evaluated, including his own role, after their disappointing end. Those decisions will give the Oilers a lot to consider in a small window before the NHL Draft in June and free agency in July.