Flames Open To Moving Nearly Everyone This Offseason
The Calgary Flames are heading into the offseason set on making some changes to their roster after finishing 30th in the league with 77 points and a 34-39-9 record this past season. According to sources, the Flames are open to moving anyone on their current roster aside from goaltender Dustin Wolf, forwards Matvei Gridin and Matthew Coronato, and defenseman Zayne Parekh, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports.
The Flames struggled collectively this year, with offensive production being at the forefront. Calgary’s 208 goals during the 2025-26 regular season was good for dead last in the NHL. Coronato, one of the aforementioned untouchables, was the team leader in points this season with just 45.
If the Flames are looking to clear house this summer on the trade market, they will have two slots available to retain salary cap, as both Rasmus Andersson and Jacob Markstrom‘s cap retentions ended after the season. If Jonathan Huberdeau did warrant any interest from other teams on the trade market this summer, it would be safe to assume Calgary would have to eat a sizeable portion of the winger’s $10.5MM cap hit that runs through the 2030-31 season.
One name that should garner significant attention is veteran winger Blake Coleman. The 34-year-old has one year remaining on his four-year, $4.9MM AAV deal, and was reportedly the player Calgary was receiving the most calls on earlier in the season. With a Stanley Cup pedigree from his Tampa Bay days and an expiring contract, Coleman profiles as exactly the type of veteran a contender would target. He does carry a 10-team trade approval clause, which slightly limits Calgary’s options, but his manageable term makes him one of the more movable pieces on the roster.
Captain Mikael Backlund is another veteran whose name could surface in trade discussions, though the situation is complicated. Backlund, who turns 37 next season, is entering the final year of his two-year, $4.5MM AAV extension and has publicly stated his desire to retire as a Flame. Insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportnetca has reported in the past that Backlund wants to remain in Calgary and be a lifetime Flame, which could give the front office pause about exploring a move. That said, if Calgary is committed to a full youth movement and Backlund is open to chasing a Cup, he would undoubtedly draw interest from contenders looking for a reliable, defensively responsible center.
Beyond the veteran core, Calgary could also explore the market for some of its mid-tier forwards. Yegor Sharangovich, Joel Farabee, and Morgan Frost are all players who could either continue developing in Calgary or be flipped for futures, depending on how aggressively GM Craig Conroy wants to lean into the rebuild. Frost, in particular, showed flashes down the stretch and finished tied for second on the team in scoring with 43 points, and had a career best 22 goals. With the demand being high for centers league-wide, Frost should have plenty of suitors.
The Flames also have a handful of intriguing trade chips among the veterans they acquired during their 2025-26 deadline sell-off. Ryan Strome, picked up from Anaheim for a 2027 seventh-round pick, performed well in Calgary, posting five goals and 12 points in 19 games down the stretch. The 32-year-old centre carries a $5MM cap hit through 2026-27, and with one year left on his deal, he profiles as exactly the kind of expiring, productive middle-six centre contenders chase at the deadline, if not sooner. The Flames could either hold and flip him later or move him this summer to maximize the return.
Calgary’s revamped blue line is where things get really interesting. Kevin Bahl, Olli Maatta, and Zach Whitecloud all emerged as legitimate pieces this past season, and any one of them could realistically be on the move. Bahl has quietly become a stabilizing presence on Calgary’s back end and projects as a top-pair option moving forward, which makes him both the most valuable and the least likely to be dealt. Maatta, meanwhile, was fantastic after coming over in the MacKenzie Weegar trade, posting 14 points in 20 games. With one year left on his deal, he could be flipped for a mid-round pick if Calgary wants to clear another roster spot for a younger defender. Whitecloud, acquired in the Andersson trade and originally viewed as a salary cap throw-in, instead played his way into a genuine role and earned a spot on Team Canada’s World Championship roster. At 29, he could either be retained as a veteran leader or moved if a contender values his defensive game as a depth piece on the back end.
Then there’s the curious case of Devin Cooley. Cooley spent large portions of the season ranked among the league’s top goaltenders by save percentage and was essentially the biggest reason Calgary climbed out of last place in the standings. He’s already been rewarded with a contract extension, which signals the Flames view him as their long-term backup behind Wolf. That said, if his stock continues to rise and a contender comes calling with a desperate need between the pipes, Cooley becomes one of the more fascinating “what-if” assets in Conroy’s toolkit this summer.
With multiple veterans on expiring deals, two open salary retention slots, and a clear willingness from Conroy to listen on nearly anyone, the Flames are positioned to be one of the most active teams of the offseason. It will be interesting to see just how aggressive Conroy is prior to puck drop in October.
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.
Under The Radar 2025 UFA Signings That Stole The Show
Every NHL offseason, the biggest contracts get the biggest headlines. But by the time the calendar flips to spring, it’s often the quieter signings, the ones buried halfway down the free agent tracker, that end up paying the biggest dividends.
The 2025 class was no exception. While plenty of attention went to the marquee deals last July, some of the most impactful contracts in the league came from players who generated little fanfare on Day 1 of free agency. Low-risk gambles, bounce-back candidates, and cheap depth signings that turned into significant bargains for their teams. Here are three of them.
Justin Brazeau — Pittsburgh Penguins (2 years, $3MM / $1.5MM AAV)
When Kyle Dubas signed the 6-foot-6, 232-pound winger to a two-year deal at roughly the league minimum, the move drew little attention. Brazeau was coming off a 2024-25 season split between Boston and Minnesota in which he produced 11 goals and 22 points across 76 games. The signing appeared to fit a familiar profile, a depth forward brought in to provide size and fill out the bottom of the lineup.
His production told a different story. In 64 games, Brazeau recorded 17 goals and 34 points, matching his entire prior NHL career goal total (16) across 95 previous games. At a $1.5MM cap hit, he outproduced forwards who were making four times as much.
Daniel Vladař — Philadelphia Flyers (2 years, $6.7MM / $3.35MM AAV)
Of the three signings on this list, Vladař’s drew the most skepticism at the time. The Czech goaltender arrived in Philadelphia following several difficult seasons in Calgary, where he posted a cumulative -23 Goals Saved Above Average, via hocketstats.com. For a Flyers team that had struggled with team save percentage for several years, committing $6.7MM over two years to a goaltender with that trajectory raised questions across the league.
Valdař answered every one of them.
In a career-high 52 games, he posted a 2.42 goals-against average, .906 save percentage, and 13.8 goals saved above expected, per moneypuck.com. Year-over-year, that’s one of the largest single-season goaltending turnarounds in the league. His performance separated him as the Flyers’ true number one goaltender, and Vladař settled into the starter’s role within weeks of the season’s opening. He also earned his first Olympic appearance, winning his debut for Czech Republic.
His playoff performance reinforced the value of the contract. Vladař held Pittsburgh’s third-ranked offense (3.52 goals per game) to four goals on 74 shots over the first three games of their opening-round series, a .946 save percentage. He closed out the series with a 42-save shutout in Game 6, a 1-0 overtime win that gave Philadelphia its first playoff series victory since 2020. It is safe to say Philadelphia has found their starter.
Anthony Mantha — Pittsburgh Penguins (1 year, $2.5MM + bonuses)
Mantha didn’t just bounce back. He produced the best season of his career, and one of the most efficient contracts in the entire league.
The context of the deal made the production all the more notable. Mantha was coming off a 2024-25 season cut short by a torn ACL with Calgary. He was entering his age-31 season and had not produced 50 points in several years. Pittsburgh’s one-year, $2.5MM contract, with up to $2MM in performance bonuses, appeared structured as a reclamation deal, the kind of short-term agreement that often precedes a trade-deadline move.
Instead, through 81 games, Mantha recorded 33 goals, 31 assists, and 64 points, surpassing his previous career highs in both goals (25) and points (48) by significant margins.
Mantha had the most goals among all 2026 pending UFAs, and his cap hit translated to roughly $39k per point which was one of the most efficient rates in the league among forwards not on entry-level contracts.
His production was a central factor in Pittsburgh’s emergence as a playoff team, and he is projected to roughly double his cap hit this summer.
Looking Ahead to 2026
The 2026 free agent market is being written off before it even opens. Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jack Eichel are gone, all locked up the season. What was once projected to be a historic UFA class has thinned into a market headlined by Alex Tuch, who many believe will resign with Buffalo, and a handful of aging wingers. The consensus is that there’s nothing left worth chasing.
The consensus said the same thing about Brazeau, Vladař, and Mantha twelve months ago.
Weak top ends are exactly where bargains get found. Last summer’s most valuable contracts came from players nobody was bidding against: reclamation projects, depth signings, and bounce-backs that quietly became some of the best deals in the league. This summer’s market may look bare on July 1, but the lesson from 2025 is clear, the bargains don’t disappear when the stars do. They just get harder to spot.
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.
Wild’s Jonas Brodin Out Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury
The Minnesota Wild will be forced to make a change on defense ahead of a potentially-decisive Game 6. Top-four defender Jonas Brodin will be forced to miss the outing due to a day-to-day, lower-body injury sustained in Game 5 per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The injury occurred when Brodin blocked a shot from Stars winger Mikko Rantanen. He left the game with two minutes left in the second period and did not return.
Brodin has averaged 19:41 in ice time through five games this series. He has had a quiet postseason, with just one assist, four penalty minutes, and 14 shot blocks in five games. Brodin has still shined as a defensive impact, on the ice for four goals-for and two goals-against at even-strength.
His role has quelled significantly after averaging nearly 23 minutes of ice time through the 2024-25 season. That step down the depth chart is largely thanks to Minnesota’s newly-christened top pair of Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, who are two of only four players averaging more than 30 minutes of ice time in the postseason. Both defenders have five points in as many games in these playoffs. Their presence, alongside Wild captain Jared Spurgeon, should help the Wild mitigate Brodin’s hole at even-strength and on the penalty-kill.
Jacob Middleton will move up to a second-pair role next to Spurgeon. Middleton recorded 16 points and a plus-two in 75 regular season games and has since notched one point and a plus-three in the postseason. He led all Wild defensemen with 87 hits through the regular season, underlining the physical and defense-first presence Middleton brings to the lineup.
Jeff Petry will come down from the press box in Brodin’s absence, playing in his first postseason game since 2021. Petry joined the Wild just ahead of the Trade Deadline and has scored one assist and a minus-five in nine games since. He has lost some spark in the sunset years of his career but has a career-long stat line of 13 points and a minus-two in 48 postseason games. He should offer a puck-moving boost to the third-pair.
Even with replacements at the ready, Minnesota will still need Hughes, Faber, and Spurgeon to step up if they want to seal the first round on Thursday. If they do, they could buy enough time for Brodin to recover from his injury before the start of the second round.
Cole Caufield, Anže Kopitar, Jake Sanderson Named Lady Byng Finalists
The NHL has announced the finalists for the 2026 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. The trophy is presented annually to the player who exhibits a high standard of sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and playing ability. This year’s finalists are Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, Los Angeles Kings centerman Anže Kopitar, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson.
Kopitar has won the Lady Byng three times, including in 2023 and 2025. He has exemplified sportsmanship and leadership through 10 seasons as the Kings’ captain. That run came to a peak this season as the 38-year-old Kopitar went on his final tour around the league. In what was the planned finale to his career, he scored 12 goals and 38 points in 67 games and helped Los Angeles push into their fifth consecutive playoff berth. After a first-round exit at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, Kopitar officially announced his retirement after 20 seasons in the league. He was a perennial 60-point scorer who reached as high as 92 points at his peak.
While Lady Byng voting will be based on this season, it will be hard not to consider Kopitar’s legacy in Los Angeles. One more Lady Byng win would tie him with Pavel Datsyuk for the most since 2000. Red Kelly also won four times between 1951 and 1961. Wayne Gretzky won the Lady Byng five times between 1980 and 1999. The all-time record holder is Frank Boucher, who won the trophy seven times in eight years between 1928 and 1935. Boucher’s run of wins let him take home the original Lady Byng Trophy and prompted the creation of the Memorial Trophy.
Caufield receives his first finalist bid for the Lady Byng this season, after finishing 64th and 34th in voting in the last two seasons respectively. The Canadiens’ star winger is predominantly known for big smiles and great goal-scoring, two traits that ramped up as he achieved a breakout 51 goals and 88 points in 81 games this season. Caufield became the first Canadiens player to cross the 50-goal mark since Stephane Richer in 1990. He also led the league with 12 game-winning goals. That performance helped boost Canadiens center Nick Suzuki to his first 100-point campaign and brought Montreal into their second consecutive postseason. Caufield does not wear a letter for Montreal but the impact of his personality on and off of the ice is still top class. Even if he does not win the Lady Byng this season, a nomination at the age of 25 speaks to Caufield’s chances at one day cementing the trophy.
The same can be said for the 23-year-old Sanderson, who stepped into Ottawa’s top defense role with a breakout season. Sanderson finished the year with 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games. He averaged nearly 25 minutes of ice time a night, in part thanks to the string of injuries that plagued fellow top defenseman Thomas Chabot – who missed 25 games. Only seven players averaged more ice time than Sanderson at even-strength. He also ranked in the top-15 of penalty-killing time per game. His ability to step into a major role for Ottawa, intermixed with a Gold Medal win with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, make Sanderson a great candidate for multiple nominations this award season.