Free Agent Focus: Vegas Golden Knights
Free agency is now a week away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans 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 Golden Knights.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Pavel Dorofeyev – The Golden Knights’ breakout sniper has picked the perfect time to cash in. Dorofeyev, a 25-year-old Russian winger and former third-round pick, established himself as one of the league’s premier finishers in 2025-26, setting a career high with 37 goals to go with 64 points in 81 games, more than half of those goals (20) coming on a power play he anchored from the top unit alongside Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner. An RFA with arbitration rights coming off a bargain $1.835MM cap hit, he is in line for an enormous raise, and the offer-sheet chatter that swirled around him in the spring only underscored his value. AFP Analytics projects a long-term pact in the range of six years at $8.465MM annually, or a two-year bridge near $5.649MM; either way, locking up their leading goal scorer is the clear top priority for GM Kelly McCrimmon, with the only real question being how a cap-strapped Vegas team fits the number in.
G Akira Schmid – Pressed into heavy duty by a goaltending carousel, Schmid emerged as the most dependable option Vegas had in net. With Carter Hart sidelined for months by a lower-body injury and Adin Hill enduring an uneven year, the 25-year-old Swiss netminder shouldered a sizable workload and delivered, going 16-10-6 with a 2.59 GAA, a .893 save percentage and two shutouts across 34 appearances, leading all Vegas goalies in each of those rate categories. An RFA who also represented Switzerland at the 2026 Olympics, Schmid is young, cost-controlled and coming off the most extensive NHL action of his career, exactly the kind of asset a cap-strapped team should want to keep. Re-signing him is a straightforward priority, and he could enter next season with a real chance to claim a larger share of the crease.
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Rasmus Andersson – The prize of Vegas’ deadline maneuvering, Andersson now headlines its list of difficult decisions. The 29-year-old right-shot defenseman was acquired from Calgary in January at a steep price, a package built around a conditional 2027 first-round pick, and he delivered, posting a career-best 17 goals and 46 points across 80 games between the two clubs while logging more than 21 minutes a night on a second pair alongside former Flames teammate Noah Hanifin. Widely regarded as the top defenseman available should he reach the open market, Andersson will command a hefty multiyear raise on his expiring $4.55MM cap hit. Vegas surrendered too much to treat him as a pure rental, but as Pierre LeBrun reported, the Knights will need to clear significant cap space to get a deal done, making him the franchise’s defining storyline of the summer.
F Reilly Smith – One of the last links to the franchise’s origins, Smith again faces an uncertain future in Vegas. An original Golden Knight and a key piece of the 2023 Stanley Cup team, the 35-year-old winger returned via trade a year ago and gave the Knights 26 points (16 goals, 10 assists) in 69 games, though he found himself a healthy scratch at times as the season wore on. He remains a useful two-way veteran with a championship pedigree, but at his age and with Vegas pressed hard against the cap, a sentimental reunion may be a luxury the Knights can’t afford. A move elsewhere on a cheaper deal looks like the likelier outcome.
F Colton Sissons – Acquired from Nashville last summer, Sissons gave Vegas exactly the kind of dependable bottom-six presence it sought, chipping in 11 points in 66 games while drawing the tough defensive matchups John Tortorella trusts him to handle. The 32-year-old center brings a long track record of playoff reliability dating back to his run to the 2017 Final with the Predators, and that steadiness has value for a team built to win now. Still, with so many bigger contracts to sort out, the pending UFA is the type of complementary piece Vegas may have to let walk and replace internally, barring a cheap re-sign.
F Brandon Saad – A year that began with Stanley Cup aspirations turned into a frustrating one for the veteran winger. Saad, a two-time champion and once a dependable 20-goal scorer, struggled to make an impact in a bottom-six role, managing just three goals and nine points in 49 games while bouncing in and out of the lineup, frequently rotating with Reilly Smith for playing time and losing a stretch to injury. The 33-year-old still brings size and sound two-way habits, but coming off comfortably the least productive full season of his career and with Vegas squeezed against the cap, a return is no certainty. If he is back, it would likely be on another inexpensive one-year deal; otherwise, he profiles as a candidate to seek a fresh start elsewhere.
Other UFAs: F Cole Smith, D Jeremy Lauzon, D Ben Hutton, D Dylan Coghlan
Projected Cap Space
The Golden Knights enter the offseason in their customary spot: right up against the cap, with hard choices to make. Fresh off a run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they fell to Carolina in six games, Vegas must decide how much of that roster it can keep together, and the math is unforgiving. Per PuckPedia, the Knights project to have only about $4.6MM in space beneath the $104MM ceiling, nowhere near enough to comfortably re-sign Dorofeyev, let alone retain pending UFA Andersson on top of him. That makes salary shedding all but inevitable; McCrimmon will almost certainly have to move money out to fit Dorofeyev’s raise, and keeping Andersson likely hinges on clearing even more. Complicating matters, Vegas holds no picks in the first two rounds of either the 2026 or 2027 drafts, the cost of years of aggressive trades, which leaves the front office short on cheap, controllable reinforcements. As ever with this group, expect McCrimmon to find a way to stay competitive, but something, or someone, will have to give.
Salary cap information via PuckPedia.
Wrist Surgery For Karlsson
William Karlsson’s injury that caused him to miss the final game of the Stanley Cup Final was a wrist issue that required surgery, Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon noted to reporters earlier this week (video link). It was a tough end to an injury-riddled year for the 33-year-old as he only suited up in 14 games during the regular season due to a lower-body injury while also missing seven playoff contests. The expectation is that the Golden Knights are going to be looking to clear out salary to try to bring back Rasmus Andersson and Karlsson is one of the speculative candidates to be a cap casualty. However, another extended recovery for his wrist injury could make other teams a bit more wary about looking at acquiring him.
Ducharme Appears Likely To Test Free Agency, Doesn't Rule Out Re-Signing With Vegas
- There has already been one change behind the bench for the Golden Knights (Ryan Craig taking over as head coach John Tortorella) with more potentially coming. Assistant coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed to Radio-Canada’s Marc-Antoine Godin that his contract is set to expire at the end of the month. He hasn’t ruled out returning but he wants to look at all of his options, which suggests that he’ll be looking to talk to other teams when the new league year opens up next month. One potential possibility is a move to the KHL as Godin notes that there are rumors linking him to Dinamo Minsk; Ducharme declined to comment on the possibility of him heading overseas.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Announces Retirement
The second-highest scoring French-born player in NHL history has hung up his skates. According to an announcement from the NHL, forward Pierre-Édouard Bellemare has retired from professional hockey.
Before his time in North America, Bellemare spent his professional playing days in France with Rouen before joining the SHL’s Skellefteå AIK in the early 2010s. He became a successful secondary scorer in Sweden, registering 45 goals and 93 points in 136 games throughout his last three seasons.
As an international free agent, Bellemare joined the Philadelphia Flyers at 29 years old before the 2014-15 campaign. Thanks to a subsequent two-year deal with the organization, Bellemare spent the next three years with Philadelphia, scoring 17 goals and 34 points in 237 games while averaging 13:07 of ice time per game. Additionally, Bellemare showed off his physical prowess, tallying 259 hits throughout that timeframe.
Despite signing a two-year extension with the Flyers toward the end of the 2016-17 campaign, he wouldn’t play a single game for them under that contract. The following summer, Bellemare was selected by the upstart Vegas Golden Knights in their expansion draft, becoming one of the original misfits.
At the time, Bellemare enjoyed the best season of his NHL career with the Golden Knights, scoring six goals and 16 points in 72 games with a +5 rating. He also factored into their improbable run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, registering three assists in 20 playoff games.
After finishing out his contract with Vegas, Bellemare signed a two-year agreement with the Colorado Avalanche for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns. Despite both years of the deal being shortened by the Covid-19 pandemic, Bellemare finished his tenure with the Avalanche having scored 18 goals and 33 points in 122 games.
Again signing a two-year deal, Bellemare departed from the Avalanche to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. It turned out to be a risky gamble, as the Lightning were defeated by Bellemare’s former team in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
Finishing off his career, Bellemare signed a one-year contract with the Seattle Kraken for the 2023-24 season, finishing with four goals and seven points in 40 games. Bellemare has been playing for the NL’s HC Ajoie for the past two years and played for Team France at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Despite being nearly 60 points back of Antoine Roussel as the highest-scoring French-born player in NHL history, he has the most games played (700) by far. Across 10 seasons in the NHL, Bellemare registered 64 goals, 138 points, 615 hits, and 502 blocked shots, with an additional five goals and 15 points in 85 postseason contests.
We at PHR congratulate Bellemare on his 10-year career and wish him the best for his next chapter.
Golden Knights Hire Ryan Craig As Head Coach
According to a team press release, the Vegas Golden Knights have hired Ryan Craig as the team’s fifth head coach in franchise history.
The 44-year-old spent the past three campaigns as head coach of the organization’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Henderson Silver Knights. With Craig behind the bench, Henderson increased win totals every year, earning 28 (2023-24), 29 (2024-25), and 39 (2025-26) victories. Before a second-round loss in the Calder Cup Playoffs to the Colorado Eagles, the Silver Knights finished the 2025-26 regular season with a record of 39-21-12 and 90 points, both of which were franchise records in the team’s six years spent in Henderson.
Before being named Henderson’s head coach, Craig was an assistant with the Golden Knights from 2017 up to 2023, where, behind Bruce Cassidy, he contributed to their first-ever Stanley Cup victory in that final season. Notably, before an eight-year NHL career, Craig played five seasons with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, two as a captain under the Golden Knights’ current GM, Kelly McCrimmon, who was formerly an executive in Brandon.
It may seem a bit premature to put a first-time head coach in the driver’s seat of a team that has made three Stanley Cup Finals in nine seasons of its short time as a franchise, never finishing a season below .500, but it doesn’t come without reason either. Craig has been under three separate coaches with the Golden Knights, Gerard Gallant and Peter DeBoer, before Cassidy took the reins. Those names have seen many other prominent stints around the NHL. Obviously, this hire profiles as a step below what the Golden Knights usually prioritize in their coaches.
All things considered, Craig has worked and learned under those leaders and has been with Vegas in his entire tenure as an NHL staff member. There are, without a doubt, big shoes to fill here; however, familiarity with an abundance of Vegas’s players and their personalities should give Craig an advantage.
This comes after a team announcement where the Golden Knights said they would not retain John Tortorella as head coach and would be looking for their third bench boss of the calendar year. This came after he took the team to its third Stanley Cup Final, starting his tenure, replacing Cassidy with eight games remaining in the regular season, closing out with a 7-0-1 record, winning the Pacific Division, and three playoff series before their status as the league’s Stanley Cup runner-up.
Craig steps in as the first domino for the Vegas Golden Knights as they turn the page into 2026-27, looking to defend their Western Conference title. Vegas has just above $4.6MM in cap space where they have to address the futures of restricted free agent Pavel Dorofeyev, and UFAs like defensemen Rasmus Andersson, Jeremy Lauzon, Dylan Coghlan, and Ben Hutton. They also have Cole Smith, Colton Sissons, Brandon Saad, and Reilly Smith projected to head to market. The Golden Knights might have to shake things up with a trade to free up some much-needed money, perhaps by dealing a lengthy, cap-heavy contract.
Photo Credit: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Rasmus Andersson Wants To Stay With Golden Knights
Heading into the offseason, the cap-strapped Vegas Golden Knights will need to find a way to retain defenseman Rasmus Andersson, should they want to. According to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, they won’t get any pushback from Andersson, who reaffirmed his position to remain with the Golden Knights long-term.
Vegas paid a pretty penny to acquire him from the Calgary Flames this past season, especially since no extension had been agreed upon. In mid-January, the Golden Knights sent Zach Whitecloud, Abram Wiebe, a top-10 protected first-round pick, and a second-round pick to the Flames for Andersson’s services.
- Sticking with the Golden Knights, Webster also reported that captain Mark Stone suffered a tear in his left adductor that led to him missing a few games in Round Two and the Western Conference Final. The injury clearly limited him, as he scored three goals and seven points in nine games before the tear, and four goals and five points in eight games afterwards.
Golden Knights Will Not Retain John Tortorella
After guiding the team to its third Stanley Cup Final, the Vegas Golden Knights are moving on from their head coach. According to a team announcement, the Golden Knights will not retain John Tortorella as head coach, and will be looking for their third of the calendar year.
Vegas couldn’t have asked for much more from the 67-year-old coach. After taking over for Bruce Cassidy with eight games remaining in the regular season, the Golden Knights won nearly all of them, closing out the regular season with a 7-0-1 record, capturing the Pacific Division crown.
Despite the better performance, the Golden Knights didn’t enter the playoffs as a true threat for the Stanley Cup. Many analysts predicted that Vegas would fall short against a stronger Central Division opponent, with some theorizing that they might be dispatched by the Utah Mammoth as early as Round One.
Obviously, that’s not how things shook out. Under Tortorella’s stewardship, the Golden Knights took out the Mammoth (with two overtime games) and the Anaheim Ducks relatively easily. However, their easiest series of the postseason shockingly came in the Western Conference Final, when the Golden Knights knocked off the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in a four-game sweep. Unfortunately, after taking a lead in the series after Game 3, their postseason came to an end at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final.
It’s hard to determine whose decision this was. Before joining the Golden Knights at the end of the season, Tortorella was essentially retired from coaching except for a tenure in the international circuit. Given that his coaching career began back in the 1989-90 season, Tortorella may have just wanted one last run at things before retiring for good.
Additionally, it’s even harder to imagine Tortorella, especially at his age, joining the two available options. Currently, outside of Vegas, the only two teams without a head coach for the 2026-27 campaign are the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Given his combativeness with the media throughout his coaching career, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for him to take over behind the bench for a team with a feisty media environment.
Still, the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs showed that Tortorella has some fuel left in the tank. If there is another coaching dismissal this offseason, Tortorella would immediately become a candidate, especially for a team on the fringe of postseason contention.
The Common Denominator Among Elite Teams
The NHL has long been a copycat league, as every offseason teams look at the organizations that had the most on-ice success and ask themselves, “What do they have that we don’t?” Now, as the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights compete in the Stanley Cup Finals, there appear to be glaring differences between their rosters, given that they took different paths to build them. While the Hurricanes have relied on drafting and development, using free agency and trades to supplement their homegrown talent, the Golden Knights have been aggressive in free agency and on the trade market, using future assets to grab talent that helped them win immediately. As glaring as their differences are, there is one obvious similarity, and that is that both teams have avoided handing out disastrous contracts, and it’s clearly a big reason why they are where they are.
Sure, you can point to the elite players, fantastic coaching, and strong drafting and development, but those factors are buoyed by the fact that both Carolina and Vegas have spent relatively wisely as it pertains to the salary cap. In fact, if you look back at all four conference finalists, there aren’t many albatross contracts to be found. The Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens have a couple of tough cap hits in Josh Anderson of the Habs and Ross Colton of the Avalanche, but both men have just one year left on their respective deals, at a $4MM AAV for Colton and $5.5MM for Anderson. Carolina also has a problematic contract in Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but the remainder of his deal can be bought this summer for 1/3 of the cost because of his age.
Even going back to last season, when the final four featured the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars — those teams had relatively efficient salary cap structures, with their highest-paid players generally performing at or above the value of their cap hits, allowing management to build deeper rosters around them.
If you look at Edmonton as an example, they have quite a few bad contracts on the books now and have taken on arguably two of the worst contracts in the last 12 months, signing Trent Frederic to an eight-year deal and trading for what is left of goaltender Tristan Jarry’s albatross of a deal. Those poor contracts hurt the Oilers this season and could become very problematic going forward if Edmonton can’t find a way to navigate them.
It’s been a long-standing issue in the NHL, as countless teams have signed bad contracts that killed their contention window. The Pittsburgh Penguins likely shut the door on their window of contention eight years ago when they signed defenseman Jack Johnson in free agency and, the following season, traded for Erik Gudbranson. That left the Penguins paying two of the worst defensemen in the league north of $7MM combined during the 2018-19 season, before they were promptly swept in the first round by the New York Islanders.
Those bad contracts in the $3MM-$5MM add up over time, especially if you pile a few of them onto your ledger. In a hard cap league, every dollar matters, and the teams contending this season know that and have been keenly aware of how not to spend cap dollars. A $4MM cap hit tied up in an underperforming veteran isn’t horrible in a vacuum, but two of them could be a top-four defenseman, or a top-six winger, or even a second-line center.
The Hurricanes have long been accused of not spending big money, but the truth is that the team has avoided many long-term mistakes. Their core players, who were drafted and/or developed in the organization, are well compensated but still provide surplus value. Sebastian Aho remains a legitimate first-line center and is making just $9.75MM long term. Andrei Svechnikov continues to be a top-six impact winger at just $7.75MM per season. Both men remain on the right side of 30, continuing Carolina’s tradition of regularly paying players based on future value rather than past performance.
The Golden Knights have always been spenders during their short existence, but they, too, have paid for future performance and haven’t been shy about trading away popular players if it means freeing up cap space to improve the team. The team had no issue dumping goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury just a year after he won the Vezina Trophy. Fleury was beloved in Vegas, but the team was in the game of paying for future production and saw the writing on the wall with his play.
Hockey fans like to point to Vegas’ hidden competitive advantage, but the truth is that their advantage has been not handing out disastrous long-term contracts. And while every contract they have isn’t a bargain, no one is significantly underperforming relative to their cap hit, showing that championship teams are often built by avoiding big mistakes, coupled with making solid moves.
Over the next few weeks, nearly every general manager who did not win the cup will make a rash decision, justifying it by saying their team is one move away from being a contender. Some of these GMs will be praised for winning the summer, convincing themselves that the big-money contract was necessary to elevate the club. And while not every UFA signing will be a disaster, some teams will get into bidding wars and sign a player to a contract that will be bought out by their successor. But that is the price of giving top money to the wrong players, and it’s something the best teams in the NHL have managed to avoid.
How Vegas Stanley Cup Final Loss Affects Flames Draft
It burns a bit for Calgary Flames fans if they were watching the Golden Knights lose the 2026 Stanley Cup.
The young franchise that has taken the NHL by storm lost a second of three Stanley Cup finals in its ninth season ever. Through its aggressive approach to making many ‘win-now’ moves to benefit this team’s contention window, it has been able to acquire many of the NHL’s top talents from other squads, and most have paid off in their time wearing gold and grey. One of those acquisitions came from the blue line of the Canadian team north of Sin City.
Back in the middle of January, the Flames traded defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the Golden Knights, retaining $2.275MM of his AAV for a package deal that saw a return of defensemen Zach Whitecloud, Abram Wiebe, and two draft selections inserted to the team’s shelves. Both picks had conditions placed on them that would’ve helped the future of the Calgary Flames, that is, if Vegas won the Stanley Cup.
To sum it up, both draft picks Vegas sent to Calgary began as a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick. If the Golden Knights had been crowned Stanley Cup Champions in 2026, the Flames would have received upgrades on their future capital. Barring a Vegas collapse in 2027, they’d own a Golden Knights first-round pick in each of the next three first rounds of the 2026, 2027, and 2028 NHL drafts, along with each of their own.
That is no longer the case with these two draft picks, after the Golden Knights conceded to the Hurricanes in six games. If Vegas had won the 2026 Stanley Cup, the 2028 second-round pick would’ve been upgraded to a first-round pick for the Flames in that respective draft. Because Carolina won, that draft pick will remain in the second round in 2028.
As for the 2027 1st, where it will lie is still up for grabs. General Manager Kelly McCrimmon placed a top-10 protection on the pick, per puckpedia. Although this outcome is unlikely, this means that if the Golden Knights end up with a top-10 pick in the NHL Draft after the lottery, Calgary will instead receive a 2028 first-round pick. If Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2026 and then they ended up as one of the worst teams in 2027, the Flames would’ve received a 2029 first from the Golden Knights; this outcome is no longer possible.
Calgary is set to begin their offseason with the sixth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, followed by the 30th overall selection with Vegas losing the Cup Final. Those two first-rounders are an integral start to a draft that will see six total selections from the Flames in the top-64 of the 2026 NHL draft and two more in the third round. The 30th overall pick came from dealing away Noah Hanifin to the Golden Knights for a 2025 first-round pick. That eventually resolved to Calgary’s second first-round pick as we near this year’s draft because of a condition, as Vegas traded its 2025 first to San Jose in a package for Tomas Hertl. In 2025, Nashville used the first to select Ryker Lee via the Yaroslav Askarov trade.
Calgary finished this past season seventh in the Pacific Division with a record of 34-39-9, reaching just 77 points. They have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2021-22 season, but with these draft developments, it can add to a youthful prospect pool that can help them get back there in time. Most notably, their prospect pool will see two major additions alongside 20-year-old defenseman Zayne Parekh, 19-year-old NCAA centers in Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter, 20-year-old winger Matvei Gridin, and the 2025-26 NCAA scoring leader, Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach.
Photo Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images
Carolina Hurricanes Win 2026 Stanley Cup
After nearly two months of playoff hockey, a winner has been crowned. On the back of a shutout effort in goal from Brandon Bussi (who made his NHL debut at 27 just eight months ago) and key goals in the opening two periods from Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to take the series in six games.
It’s the second Stanley Cup title in Hurricanes franchise history. Their first came 20 years ago back in the 2005-06 campaign. Rod Brind’Amour was a key cog on that 2006 champion as a player and now, he has his first Cup victory as a head coach.
After years of getting to the Eastern Conference Final and coming up short, GM Eric Tulsky made a pair of key additions to his roster. He traded for defenseman K’Andre Miller and then inked winger Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency. Both players played big roles for Carolina in the postseason as they swept Ottawa and Philadelphia in the first two rounds and took out Montreal in five games to get to this point.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Hurricanes were victorious this postseason without key contributions from two of their top scorers during the regular season. Sebastian Aho was limited to just a dozen points in 19 playoff games after picking up 80 points during the season. Meanwhile, Andrei Svechnikov had 11 points after notching 70 over the course of the regular season. But those diminished contributions were more than made up for with the secondary scorers picking up the slack with Hall, Blake, and Logan Stankoven all finishing with at least 16 points and finishing in the top four in team scoring. Hall becomes the first player in NHL history to be picked first overall by one team (Edmonton), win the Hart Trophy with a different team (New Jersey), and win a Stanley Cup with a different team than those two. Meanwhile, defenseman Jaccob Slavin becomes just the ninth player to win Olympic Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year.
Meanwhile, Jordan Staal took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The 37-year-old captain becomes the oldest player to win the trophy. Staal tied a league record with a five-game goal streak in the Stanley Cup Final while his faceoff percentage in the series sets a new Final record. This is Staal’s second Stanley Cup title and his 17-year gap between winning also sets an NHL record.
As for Vegas, their third trip to the Cup Final in their nine-year franchise history ends on a losing note. Late in a regular season that saw them underachieve throughout, Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon made the surprising decision to let head coach Bruce Cassidy go with just eight games left in the regular season, replacing him with John Tortorella.
Tortorella’s addition certainly gave them a spark as they went 7-0-1 down the stretch to secure the top seed in the Pacific Division and then took care of Utah and Anaheim in six games in the opening two rounds. Their best came in the Western Conference Final, however, as they swept Colorado, the Presidents’ Trophy winner before taking two games from the Hurricanes, more than Carolina’s other three opponents combined. Now, they have another decision to make behind the bench with Tortorella only signing on for this season. Will he stay or will they make another change with well-regarded up-and-coming coach Ryan Craig waiting in the wings?
Although they came up short as a team, they had some of the best individual performances of the postseason. Mitch Marner led all playoff participants with 29 points. Meanwhile, Brett Howden had the most goals of anyone with 14 while Jack Eichel led the way with 20 assists.
With the games now over, the focus will now shift to offseason activity. First up will be the buyout window which will open up mid-week. The draft will come soon after with that beginning on June 26th while the new league year and free agency opens up on July 1st. It promises to be a busy summer ahead with activity likely to pick up in the very near future.