The Toronto Maple Leafs do not have their own first-round picks for the 2027 and 2028 NHL Drafts after the club traded them both away on the same day in March of 2025 in two separate deals with the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers.  

In one deal, the Leafs sent their 2026 first-round pick to the Bruins, along with Fraser Minten, in exchange for defenseman Brandon Carlo. The other deal saw the Leafs pick up Scott Laughton from the Flyers in exchange for a 2027 first-round pick and Nikita Grebenkin. Both of those picks had trade protection: the Boston deal was top-5 protected, while the 2027 draft pick was top-10 protected.  

However, a very fortunate bounce of the lottery balls in May saw the Leafs win the No. 1 overall selection for 2026, punting what the Leafs owed to the Bruins. But what about that 2027 pick?  

Well, what we did know was that the Leafs were only going to be able to keep one of their first-round draft picks over the course of that three-year span. Once the Leafs landed the 2026 top selection, it negated the original protection conditions for the 2027 and 2028 picks.  

But who gets what? There was a difference of opinion between the Flyers and Bruins as to who should have which pick, and in what year.  

When I attended the lottery, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said they were still going over the terms of both trades to make a official ruling. But according to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, the Flyers will get the 2027 pick and the Bruins will get the 2028 pick. However, the wrinkle here is that if Toronto’s pick falls in the top 10 next year, Toronto will actually get to choose which team gets which pick, due to the top-10 protection language in the Flyers trade.  

Per a league source, the NHL has informed the Flyers that while they own the Maple Leafs' 2027 first round pick (Laughton trade), the Leafs still have the option to transfer it to Boston if it's in the top 10. In that event, the Flyers would receive Toronto's 2028 first rounder.

— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) June 10, 2026

It’s really bizarre. If the Leafs' own pick falls in the top 10, they could be strategic and give it to the Flyers instead of helping their divisional rival, the Bruins, assuming, of course, that it matters to Toronto. Still, it is highly unusual that the Leafs would get to choose.  

Can you image if the Leafs win the lottery, they’d have to commiserate on that while also deciding which of Philly or Boston gets it? It would be weird, if not entertaining.

I could have seen a world where Boston would have laid claim to a top-10 pick, given that they were bumped out of their 2026 selection, forcing the Flyers to wait an additional year.  But a ruling is a ruling. And for the Leafs sake, they have to hope the most hilarious thing doesn’t happen here.

Of course, this is not to be confused with the 2027 first-round selection Toronto acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Nic Roy. That deal, too, is top-10 protected.

Nine years ago today, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the franchise’s fifth Stanley Cup title in team history, beating the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the 2017 Cup Final.

The Penguins won Game 1 and Game 2 at home before Nashville held serve, winning Game 3 and Game 4 to tie the series and send things back to Pittsburgh tied 2-2.

A blowout win in Game 5 put the Predators on the brink of elimination for Game 6 back in Nashville and the Penguins came out on top during a tightly-contested game.

It was a scoreless affair through two periods after a whistle stopped play before Colton Sissons tapped in a puck that would’ve given Nashville a 1-0 lead.

The third period started ticking down as the game remained scoreless until former Predators player Patric Hornqvist scored with just over 90 seconds remaining in the game and suddenly, the Cup appeared to be poised to be handed to the Penguins.

An empty net goal from Carl Hagelin put the game, series, and season on ice — and for the first time in nearly 20 years, the Stanley Cup was staying with the previous year’s winner and the Penguins had gone back-to-back as champions.

The landscape of the NHL is changing now more than ever. The salary cap ceiling is increasing year after year, and star players are more willing to “upset the apple cart,” leveraging their contractual positions to influence their way to more preferred destinations. 

Every year, general managers ask players with no-trade clauses to waive them as the team intends to shift directions in terms of roster construction for the franchise’s future. In recent years, however, players have taken some of that power back, refusing to waive, communicating a willingness to waive for only a select few teams, expressing desires to sign extensions only with certain teams when their contracts are close to expiring, etc. 

Beginning with Jack Eichel’s request to be traded to a team willing to allow him to undergo his desired surgery in 2021, to Matthew Tkachuk’s unwillingness to re-sign in Calgary as an RFA, to Quinn Hughes’ reluctance to commit long-term to the Vancouver Canucks, star players are navigating their way to teams and situations they feel are better for their careers. 

The Anaheim Ducks’ 2025-26 Starting XI

Gulls Looking For New Head Coach After McIlvane Departure

The latest such request came on Thursday, when Detroit Red Wings captain and top center Dylan Larkin requested a trade. What makes Larkin’s request unique is the term remaining on his current contract (five years) and his no-trade clause attached to said contract. 

Larkin has control over where he ends up, and Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reported he submitted an initial list of three teams to which he’d be willing to accept a trade. The teams on Larkin’s list were (in alphabetical order) the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, and Vegas Golden Knights. 

The saga between Larkin and the Red Wings will play out in due time, but what stands out about the teams in Larkin’s initial list is their commitment to winning and winning now. Florida and Vegas represent the last three teams to hoist the Stanley Cup, with Vegas two games from extending that number to four. Minnesota has been one of the NHL’s most aggressive teams in the last year, extending star forward Kirill Kaprizov to a record contract and acquiring Quinn Hughes mid-season.

The NHL seems to be in the early stages of a player empowerment movement. While secondary or tertiary benefits different organizations have to offer, like market, weather, state income tax situations, etc., can tip scales one way or another, the driving force behind desired destinations is one aspect above all else: winning. 

Players want to win. They want to win as immediately as possible, and they want to win as much as possible. Organizations like the Wild, Panthers, Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Tampa Bay Lightning have demonstrated a willingness to prioritize present success over future success and to win at all costs, rendering them destinations that players seem to be orchestrating moves to. 

Of course, teams must make the right moves to build their rosters and become desirable organizations. However, in today’s landscape, that’s only part (a big part) of the equation. 

Traditionally reserved for unrestricted free agency, now more than ever, teams have to sell themselves to players. They have to sell players on a vision they feel will soon lead to hoisting Stanley Cups, and they have to do it, not by pitching them in a boardroom, but by their actions.

Offseason Preview: Anaheim Ducks Trade Partners/Targets, Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks Offseason Rumor Roundup: 6/6/26

So now the question for teams like the Anaheim Ducks moving forward will be: how do we get to the point where we can sell this organization as a destination to which star players orchestrate moves to win championships?

Superfluously, the Ducks can sell players on things like weather, lifestyle, and a favorable media environment, but now they may be entering the discussion of places where players can win. 

In 2025-26, after an excruciatingly long rebuild, the Ducks qualified for the playoffs for the first time in eight years and advanced to the second round for the first time in nine. In May 2025, Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek hired the second-winningest coach in NHL history, Joel Quenneville. At the trade deadline, he parted with a first and third-round pick to acquire the expiring contract of veteran defenseman John Carlson, with the goal of offering his roster the best chance at success in the playoffs.

Anaheim lost in the second round, but defeated the back-to-back Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round. Though Carlson may not re-sign in Anaheim, and they traded a first-round pick for the first time since 2017, the Ducks sent a message to the NHL and to star players potentially on the move that they are willing to make bold moves in order to win. 

Selling players on location, lifestyle, and even promising young cores like the Ducks have with Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Senencke, Jackson Lacombe, etc., is easy. The more difficult part of the equation is selling a commitment to winning. The Ducks may still have a gap to fill between themselves and the Panthers, Knights, and Avalanche of the league, and make their way onto “teams I’ll accept a trade to” lists, but it would appear Anaheim is well on their way to entering such conversations. 

Anaheim Ducks a Tantalizing Potential Destination for Red Wings Center Dylan Larkin

Offseason Preview: Anaheim Ducks Trade Partners/Targets, Metropolitan Division

Offseason Preview: Anaheim Ducks Trade Partners/Targets, Central Division

Offseason Preview: Anaheim Ducks Trade Partners/Targets, Atlantic Division

Vitals

Player: Harrison Brunicke
Born: May 8, 2006 (20 years old)
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 201 pounds
Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa
Shoots: Right
Draft: Second-round, 2024, No. 44 overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins
2025-26 Statistics: 9 games played, 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 point
Contract Status: By only playing in nine games this season Brunicke still has all three years of his entry-level contract remaining.

Story of the Season

Brunicke entered training camp as one of the top prospects in the Penguins system, and impressed the coaching staff and front office enough to get an immediate look with the NHL team at the start of the season. He ended up getting a nine-game look that was dragged out over a couple of months due to healthy scratches and some early load management. He then represented Canada at the World Junior Championships, returned to the Western Hockey League to play for Kamloops and then spent the end of the regular season and playoffs in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the American Hockey League level.

It was not the ideal situation for a young player’s development, but he still managed to play more total hockey games than he did in each of the previous two seasons and showed considerable improvement along the way.

Monthly Splits

via Yahoo

Brunicke only played two NHL games in November, but you can clearly see there were more struggles in those two games than in his first seven games. He managed just one shot on goal in the latter group, was a minus-4 overall and saw his ice-time drop by exactly two minutes per game.

Regular season 5v5 advanced stats

Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 13 defensemen on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 100 minutes.

Corsi For%: 48.6 (7th)
Goals For%: 33.3 (13th)
xGF%: 50.8 (8th)
Scoring Chance%: 49.2 (8th)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 48.5 (11th)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 6.67 (13th)
On-ice save%: .868 (12th)
Goals/60: 0.44 (2nd)
Assists/60: 0.00 (12th)
Points/60: 0.44 (12th)

In a lot of ways this is probably what you should expect from a 19-year-old defenseman trying to make the jump right from juniors to the NHL. He played well at times early on, but also had some growing pains and some rocky moments. He was not a total liability, but he was also clearly not quite ready for NHL action on a full-time basis. There is nothing wrong with that for a 19-year-old defenseman. Or any 19-year-old player.

Highlights

GRAB THAT PUCK 🗣️

Harrison Brunicke has his first NHL goal! #NHLFaceOffpic.twitter.com/7WA4Nt57Ic

— NHL (@NHL) October 10, 2025

HARRISON BRUNICKE SCORES!!!

Beautifully executed 2-on-1 breakaway by Tristan Broz and Brunicke.

Brunicke buries his 2nd goal of the season! pic.twitter.com/KJX5mlYU3g

— Pens Prospects (@pensprospects_) May 23, 2026

Questions to ponder

The most pressing question at the moment is whether or not bouncing around through multiple teams and levels had any sort of a negative impact on his development. Based on the way he played in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the playoffs, the answer to that seems to be no. The AHL was probably where he belonged all along, but he was not eligible to actually play there until the end of the season. As soon as he arrived, he was arguably their best overall defenseman.

The other big question to ponder is simply what sort of upside he has and how quickly he can start making a full-season impact on the NHL. Can he do it next season? Can he eventually a No. 1 or No. 2 defenseman on a contending team? It would certainly be exciting to see, while also being a significant development for the Penguins.

Ideal 2026-27

An ideal 2026-27 for Brunicke would be him making the NHL roster out of training camp, sticking for the entire season, and showing that he is a full-time NHL player. I do not need him to play like a No. 1 or no. 2 as a 20-year-old. But I do want to see him show flashes of that sort of ability, be a contributor, and not look out of place. That would be a meaningful step forward and great progress.

Bottom line

Brunicke is not only one of the Penguins top prospects, he is their top defensive prospect and an extraordinarily important player for their long-term development of the franchise and the ongoing rebuild. Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are the top-two right-shot defensemen in the organization as of this moment, but they are 36 and 39 years old respectively, while Karlsson is entering the final year of his contract and it is unclear what his future with the team actually is. They need Brunicke to develop. They need him to be really good. They need him to do so over the next one or two years.

PensBurgh Grade: B+

He got a taste of NHL action, held his own, and then put together an outstanding season in the Western Hockey League and the American Hockey League. Strong season for one of the top prospects in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization and farm system.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of intrigue surrounding their 4th overall pick. However, that is not the only selection that they will make at the 2026 NHL Draft.

It is important to find gems in the middle and late rounds as well if you want to keep the pipeline strong, as they move into the next phase of the rebuild. 

Players from all over the world are going to be selected over the course of seven rounds. Within the first four, the Blackhawks may not need to look far beyond their own backyard to find some good ones.

The Chicago Steel, who will be neighbors with the Blackhawks very soon, have a couple of prospects that are worth considering. 

Jayden Kurtz

Jayden Kurtz is a tall and slim defenseman standing at 6'3" and 194 pounds. He finished his high school season in 2025-26 before joining the Chicago Steel for a handful of games. 

In 16 USHL matches with Chicago, he had 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points from the blue line. He is someone who will go in the middle to late rounds of the 2026 NHL Draft following this small sample size of solid play in lesser leagues. 

Now, he will move to the NCAA with Wisconsin, which is likely to have a National Championship caliber squad. If he has a great year with the Badgers, which he very well could, his stock will only continue to rise.

His lack of experience following high school hockey is the reason he is projected to be drafted where he is, which is good for whatever team selects him, as long as he continues to develop once he is drafted. 

Cole Tuminaro

Cole Tuminaro would fit the recent draft profile for the Chicago Blackhawks. He is a big defenseman standing at 6'4" and 225 pounds. He is going to be available late in the draft, which is exactly where you consider a big defensive defenseman like him. 

In 54 games played with the Chicago Steel in 2025-26, he scored five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. He also had 148 penalty minutes, which speaks to his size and toughness in-game. 

Next season, Tuminaro is going to play at Cornell, which regularly competes within the ECAC. If the Blackhawks draft him in the 5th round or later, they could be looking at it in a year from now and wonder how they got so fortunate because he's been dominating the college hockey level. 

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The Toronto Marlies are preparing for their AHL Calder Cup final clash with the Chicago Wolves, with Game 1 coming up on Friday.

With the Marlies' stock climbing as they reach the final for the first time since 2018, goaltender Artur Akhtyamov has started the majority of the games in this post-season and is often the reason Toronto continues to advance.

In the Marlies' 19 Calder Cup games, Akhtyamov has featured in 17 and has been spectacular for Toronto. In that span, the Russian netminder has posted a 2.12 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage, proving to be one of the most impressive goalies in the league, and a true bright spot in the Toronto Maple Leafs' system.

He has been Marlies head coach, John Gruden's go-to when it comes to the crease, and it has clearly been the right call.

However, it's not as if Akhtyamov is the only suitable goaltender to lead the Marlies through the post-season. Dennis Hildeby is an impressive netminder himself, posting a 2.17 GAA and a .921 SP in three playoff appearances this year. 

Not to mention, he's played 20 games in the NHL for the Maple Leafs when Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz weren't healthy. In that NHL stint, Hildeby put up a 2.80 GAA and a .914 SP, excellent numbers for a rookie goaltender. Yet the Swede can't seem to win the net in this post-season.

Maple Leafs assistant GM and Marlies GM, Ryan Hardy, was asked about Akhtyamov earning the net and Hildeby being left behind in the dust, to some degree.

Are The Marlies Staff, Players Destined For Maple Leafs And NHL Roles?: Comparing This Year's Marlies To The 2018 Calder Cup ChampionsWith the Toronto Marlies advancing to the Calder Cup final, how does this team compare to the 2018 Calder Cup champions, and what staff members or players are destined for the NHL?

"I think, like anything, development isn't linear, and just the times that things happen is just kind of how they happen," Hardy told reporters on Wednesday. "You look at Dennis' season, and in the American League, it was a little chaotic just because he played so much in the NHL. But he did a phenomenal job playing for the Leafs.

"We always had a bit of a platoon down here, which is just how we viewed the development of the goalies to make sure they're both getting enough. We started that way in the playoffs… eventually, coaching staff (Gruden) felt like he wanted to ride (Akhtyamov) for a couple games, and then the momentum started to build," Hardy said.

The last playoff game Hildeby played was in Toronto's second-round series against the Laval Rocket. It was Game 4 of the series, and Hildeby allowed one goal on six shots after one period. After playing 20 minutes, he was pulled for Aktyamov, and Gruden never looked back.

'I Cost My Team The Game': Maple Leafs' Easton Cowan Critical Of Himself For Costly Turnover In Marlies Game 4 LossToronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies left winger Easton Cowan was critical of himself regarding his costly turnover that led to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins winning Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final.

Toronto's staff has nothing against Hildeby, and in fact, they still may not have seen the last of him in this season.

"I think our belief in Dennis is still massive," Hardy said. "He's an incredible goalie, and as we all know how these go, we may very well see him at some point in the next seven games."

However, Akhtyamov has the hot hand, and they'll continue to go with him, as he's a huge reason why the Marlies are in the Calder Cup final.

"(Akhtyamov) has done a phenomenal job," he said. "I would say, we don't get through Cleveland without him, we don't get through Wilkes without him, and some of those saves he made, even in overtime the other night… he's feeling it."

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The Chicago Blackhawks should be looking to add a veteran defenseman to the left side of their blueline this summer. While this year's free agent market is not the strongest, San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro is one pending UFA who would make a lot of sense for Chicago to target if he hits the market on July 1. 

Ferraro is the NHL's top pending UFA left-shot defenseman and would have the potential to be a strong addition to the Blackhawks' roster if signed. This is because he is a steady top-four defenseman who plays a heavy game, blocks shots, and contributes a bit of offense from the point. With this, he would have the potential to be a nice pickup for the Blackhawks as they look to be more competitive in 2026-27. 

Ferraro's age also adds to his appeal, as he is only 27 years old. With this, he has multiple years left in his prime and would be a good fit on a Blackhawks club that is focused on the future. 

Ferraro is coming off a solid season with the Sharks, too. In 82 games this campaign with the Pacific Division club, he posted seven goals, 23 points, 137 hits, and 150 blocks. With numbers like these, he provides a bit of everything from the point.

Ultimately, with the Blackhawks' blueline needing a boost, Ferraro is a player who they should strongly consider pursuing. Let's see if they do just that from here. 

Colorado Avalanche fans have spent weeks debating whether Jared Bednar should stay or go, but the conversation could always be worse.

Just ask the Edmonton Oilers, whose reported interest in Mike Babcock has prompted the NHL Players' Association to push for the league to revisit the coach's controversial past before he lands another job.

The Debate Around Bednar Suddenly Looks Different

According to multiple reports, the NHLPA has asked the league to examine Babcock's brief and turbulent tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets before Edmonton—or any other franchise—is allowed to make him its next head coach.

The request surfaced after reports connected Babcock to the Oilers' coaching vacancy, with two people familiar with the discussions telling The Associated Press that the union wants the NHL to take another look at the circumstances that ended his last opportunity before it truly began. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversations remain private.

Whether the league has officially reopened its previous investigation is unclear, but any coaching hire must ultimately receive NHL approval.

Babcock's stint in Columbus lasted less than three months.

Hired in July 2023 with hopes of restoring a struggling franchise, he resigned before coaching a single regular-season game after reports emerged that he had asked players to share personal photos from their phones as a way of getting to know them. What was intended as a team-building exercise quickly became a league-wide controversy, with players questioning professional boundaries and the union stepping in.

"Our players deserve to be treated with respect in the workplace," NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said then. "Unfortunately, that was not the case in Columbus. The club’s decision to move forward with a new head coach is the appropriate course of action."

The players' association conducted its own review of the situation, while the NHL chose not to continue its planned investigation once Babcock resigned.

Now, nearly three years later, his name is once again circulating in coaching rumors.

The Oilers are searching for a replacement after surprisingly moving on from Kris Knoblauch following a first-round playoff exit, despite reaching the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous two seasons. If Edmonton ultimately decides Babcock deserves another chance, it appears the NHLPA wants every question from his Columbus departure answered first.

A Second Chance Comes With Plenty Of Questions

It isn't the first time Babcock's methods have drawn criticism.

After the Toronto Maple Leafs fired him early in the 2019-20 season, reports surfaced that he asked a player to rank teammates from hardest-working to least-hardest-working before sharing those rankings with the locker room. The story became another example cited by former players who described an environment built on intimidation rather than motivation.

Former Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen was among Babcock's harshest critics, telling a Swedish publication that Babcock was "the worst person" he had ever met and revealing there were times he was terrified to go to the rink.

Those accounts have dramatically reshaped the public perception of a coach who once stood among hockey's most respected figures.

Babcock's résumé remains difficult to ignore. The 63-year-old led the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2008, reached another Final in 2009, guided the Anaheim Ducks to the championship series in 2003, and coached Canada to consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014.

Edmonton has already explored other options during its coaching search. The organization requested permission to speak with Bruce Cassidy, but the Vegas Golden Knights denied that request because Cassidy remains under contract through next season.

The decision frustrated the NHL Coaches' Association, although Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly defended Vegas' position.

"We don’t find it unreasonable because we’re allowing it to happen," he said. "I do think Vegas is clearly within their contractual rights to do what they’re doing."

For Avalanche fans frustrated by another playoff disappointment, the debate surrounding Bednar isn't likely to disappear anytime soon. But as Edmonton weighs the possibility of bringing one of hockey's most polarizing figures back behind an NHL bench, Colorado's coaching conversation suddenly feels far less chaotic.

In hockey, as in life, the game of what if’s can go just about any direction possible.

By now the story about the end of Jordan Staal’s stint with the Penguins is fairly famous since it gets repeated just about nightly on national hockey telecasts. Which, hey, why not, since it is such a colorful story to tell. News that the Pens traded Staal to Carolina broke on his wedding night in the summer of 2012, while he was surrounded by many teammates in what understandably had to be a crazy and surreal scene. What is often left out of the story for brevity before moving onto other subjects is that Staal decided to reject a 10-year contract offer from Pittsburgh earlier that week and would have been an unrestricted free agent in 2013, so it wasn’t like a major trade on NHL draft night was a true bolt out of nowhere, it just happened to have bad timing since it was when his wedding was scheduled. (Interestingly enough, Staal would soon sign a 10-year contract once traded to the Hurricanes with a $6.0 million cap hit, the exact offer that was on the table from the Pens).

So, in that sense, what was done was about the only result that could have happened, pragmatically-speaking. Pittsburgh made their best shot to keep Staal, and at the time he felt it in his best interests to decline. The only real ‘what if’ has to start based around changing Staal’s answer in the first place.

Which leads to the great hypothetical: what if Staal would have signed with the Penguins in 2012?

The first issue to confront and address would be the NHL’s salary cap in 2013-14, when the new contract would have kicked in. It was set at $64.3 million. Adding Staal at a $6 million cap would have been 9.3% of the salary cap, which to put into today’s dollars on a $104 million cap would be the equivalent of a $10.1 million cap hit.

Add Staal to Crosby and Malkin (each at 13.5% of the cap, $8.7m hits, with Malkin increasing to $9.5m in 2014-15) plus Marc-Andre Fleury and Paul Martin’s matching $5m hits would have taken up 52% of the total space in 2013-14 for just those five players. A massive problem in the latter part of the Ray Shero era was finding enough talent to create a quality team around their star players, retaining Staal would have compounded that issue even further, likely to negative results for the club’s overall success in that 2013-18 range (did anything good end up happening then for the Pens?).

Had Staal stayed, the shape of the Penguins would have had to morph drastically as a result. That might start with Chris Kunitz, Pittsburgh had Kunitz re-sign in 2013 for a $3.85 million cap hit for 2014-15 (at the time the Malkin+Letang increases kicked in). Jam Staal into the Pens’ structure and that would have made for a sticky situation to keep Kunitz. A $3.85 million contract might not sound like a lot from the 2026 perspective, but back then that was 5.6% of the cap, comparable to $5.8 million in today’s cap dollars. (And, let’s not forget both Crosby+Malkin would be at $13.5m each in today’s dollars. Throw Staal’s $10 in there and suddenly we can understand the math isn’t adding up for someone like Kunitz).

Going down that rabbit hole, beyond just someone like Kunitz – the possibility can’t be dismissed that Pittsburgh keeping Staal would directly tie to having to shed one of Malkin or Kris Letang in the 2013 or 2014 range prior to their next contracts in 2014-15. Letang’s 10.5% of the cap contract in 2014-15 is almost an $11 million contract in 2026-27 dollars. At some point it was fated to become an inevitability that the core of high picks of Fleury-Malkin-Crosby-Staal couldn’t be retained indefinitely in those early days of a restrictive salary cap once they got into their high-earning days. The way the timing and contract lengths worked out it ended up being be Staal as the first to go due to his unrestricted free agency coming up the soonest.

There’s more possibilities for change in every area you look. Staal staying with the Pens could have altered whether or not the Pens acquired Brendan Morrow the following spring in 2013. That proved significant since of the pick Dallas sent to Pittsburgh ended up being used on Jake Guentzel, and Pittsburgh wouldn’t have been in position to select Guentzel without having that pick. Therefore, it’s conceivable that keeping Staal could have changed the course of the franchise in ways both obvious and under the surface. Changing any one decision can have a cascading effect down the line for everything else that is to come in ways large and small. That’s deep into the butterfly flapping its wings causing a tornado on the other side of the continent, but the direct line can be traced just the same.

The other glaring result without requiring a deep dive is that Brian Dumoulin and Nick Bonino were added to the organization via the Staal trade (Dumoulin coming directly from Carolina, Bonino traded for Brandon Sutter, a piece Pittsburgh got for Staal) and those two were instrumental in the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cups. Dropping Staal meant increasing the team’s depth, eventually leading to success. It’s possible there’s a path that includes keeping Staal leads to championships in the mid-2010’s, but it would be difficult to do the same or better than how the reality played out – with the Staal trade leaving no small lasting effect on the Pens.

In the end, without the benefit of viewing a parallel universe to see how it all played out under slightly different circumstances, we ultimately couldn’t say for sure what would have happened if Jordan Staal agreed to a contract with the Penguins. Maybe the Pens don’t have Malkin and never drafted Guentzel. It also doesn’t have to be negative, maybe the Pens would have traded for some excellent players that we can’t even fathom now because their focus was changed. Literally any potential scenario is possible once getting into that realm, without any one clear path.

Regardless of exactly how the Pens with Staal post-2012 would have panned out, it is indisputable that a large number of team construction decisions would have been different to make it all work with the salary cap. Without going too off the rails, we can take comfort that fate generally worked out the best for all parties- especially now that Staal has seen his 14 years in Carolina pay off by helping get them within reach of a Stanley Cup. In the end, Staal’s choice not to sign with the Pens and Pittsburgh’s use of the resources they got from him helped to bring two more Stanley Cups to Western Pennsylvania, while also sending out what would have been a very successful and popular player away from the team that drafted him, allowing him to get onto his next chapter that’s still being written.

But we can always stop to wonder how it might have gone if that decision was different..

Sometimes the most important trophy a player wins never finds a spot in the display case.

Rasmus Dahlin returned to Sweden this summer without a Norris Trophy or a Masterton Trophy, but after navigating the most demanding year of his career—both as the captain of a rising Buffalo Sabres team and as someone who nearly lost the person closest to him—the 25-year-old leaves the season with something far more valuable: proof that he and the Sabres are finally headed in the right direction.

The 2025-26 campaign delivered a pair of career milestones for Dahlin, who earned his first top-three finish for both the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman and the Masterton Trophy, awarded for perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

Just as meaningful was another first.

For the first time in his NHL career, Dahlin experienced Stanley Cup Playoff hockey, and it didn't take long for the moment to feel surprisingly familiar.

“It took me a couple of games to realize it's not that big of a deal," Dahlin stated during his end-of-season press conference. "Everybody talks about playoffs, that you need experience and this and that. But at the end of the day, it's just hockey. It's high compete hockey, and once me, and we realized that, we just went out there and played."

More than anything, Buffalo's captain believes the postseason proved something internally—that the Sabres belong.

“We definitely took a step in the right direction," Dahlin said. "We've really grown as an organization, as a team, as individuals. It's a sour taste in your mouth after that [Game 7] loss [to Montreal], but in the big picture, we've done some good things this year. I'm excited for the future.”

How One Brutal Conversation Changed The Buffalo Sabres' Entire Season

That optimism doesn't erase the disappointment.

Buffalo had every opportunity to eliminate Montreal and punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Final against Carolina before three losses at KeyBank Center ultimately ended the season. The Game 7 overtime defeat remains fresh, but Dahlin expects that pain to become fuel rather than frustration.

“It's definitely going to be a motivator," he said. "At the end of the day, we didn't even come halfway during the playoffs, and we know how hard it is to win.

“Game 7, it's one shot that decides the whole season, and we could've scored a little earlier and the season would've been still going. So I'm sure everybody is going to go back to their places and train really hard.”

The foundation for Buffalo's turnaround, however, wasn't built during the playoffs.

It began months earlier in Calgary, when head coach Lindy Ruff met privately with his leadership group. Dahlin then gathered those same players for an honest conversation as the Sabres sat at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

There were no excuses left to make.

“The meetings and team building stuff we had, and us coming together as a group and realizing, 'OK, we can bitch about so many things, but it's us players that have to do it. We have to get better.' And when we really, really realized that on a deep level, things changed, and we started being more accountable to each other,” Dahlin recalled.

That accountability wasn't about systems or strategy.

It started with the mirror.

"It's everything," he explained. "You can only imagine that when you're doing great, everything else is the problem. 'Not me. He is not doing the right thing, or this or that.' But when you look at yourself in the mirror, that's what it comes down to.”

The results followed.

Buffalo improved by 30 points over last season, with Ruff's demanding approach helping establish a culture that Dahlin believes brought out the best in the group.

“He's so good at pushing us. There's no time for f'ing around. You gotta be uncomfortable every day, and I think that's what really helped with us as a group too, and that brought a lot of success for sure,” Dahlin said.

After Heartbreak On And Off The Ice, Rasmus Dahlin Is Just Getting Started

For Dahlin, the season carried a much deeper perspective than wins and losses.

Last summer, his fiancée, Carolina Matovac, nearly died multiple times from heart failure before receiving a life-saving heart transplant. Throughout that ordeal, Dahlin says the support from Buffalo never went unnoticed.

“I can't be more thankful for everything with the stuff I went through," he said. "It seemed like the whole city had my back, and the team and the organization, I felt a lot of love, honestly. I can't be more thankful, and I do really appreciate it.”

There won't be much downtime this offseason.

Like every elite player, Dahlin is already thinking about the next step, and he knows exactly where he wants to improve.

“I'm excited to get back in the gym, get more explosive, get faster, have better condition, be able to play higher quality in higher minutes. But I think my explosiveness has to get better," Dahlin said candidly.

The hardware may have gone elsewhere—finishing behind Cale Makar and Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski while Gabriel Landeskog claimed the Masterton—but Dahlin's breakout season felt less like the peak of his career than the beginning of something much bigger.

For the first time in years, both the Sabres and their captain have something they've been chasing just as long as a trophy: genuine belief.

The Edmonton Oilers leadership group met with Mike Babcock before the team gave the NHLPA and the league a heads-up that they wanted to move forward with ensuring Babcock was hireable. 

However, Babcock wasn't the only former coach Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and others spoke to. 

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According to TSN's Ryan Rishaug:

"Oilers have had their player leadership quite active in the process of finding a coach. On top of an in person meeting with Babcock the player group also met with Peter Laviolette around the same time."

Interesting that the Kings swooped in and got Laviolette when they did. Also interesting were comments by Mark Spector that noted that same leadership group chose Babcock over Laviolette. 

Spector wrote:

"Babcock, 63, was grilled by the Oilers leaders in a meeting last week — asked about former transgressions and how, exactly, he came to own a reputation as the hardest of hard-ass coaches who crosses the line often enough to be black-balled since 2023 — and they came away with one implicit instruction for general manager Stan Bowman:

“This is our guy. We want to be pushed.”

This Could Get Ugly: NHL Moving Forward With Mike Babcock InvestigationNew allegations from Mike Babcock’s past threaten to derail his return. The NHLPA is demanding a full investigation into hidden claims before the NHL allows Edmonton to proceed with his hiring.

At the end of the day, this leadership group might not get what it wants. The NHL is conducting an investigation into Babcock's 2023 run with the Columbus Blue Jackets and there are reports the NHLPA has more significant testimonies from players than just the coach going through phones. Either the NHL finds something they don't like and won't allow Babcock back, or the Oilers decide they can't stand the heat in the kitchen. 

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One of hockey's most anticipated spectacles is about to become one of the hottest tickets of the year, as fans will soon get their first opportunity to witness the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche collide beneath the open sky.

Tickets for the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah will officially go on sale Tuesday, June 16, giving fans the chance to secure seats for the outdoor showdown scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 31.

Sales begin at 10 a.m. MT through Ticketmaster, the NHL's official ticketing partner, with tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. Purchasing through Ticketmaster guarantees buyers receive the seats they select through Ticketmaster.com or the Ticketmaster app.

The New Year's Eve showcase will mark a historic milestone for the Mammoth franchise, which is set to make its outdoor debut during just its third NHL season. The event also brings one of the league's newest clubs onto one of its biggest stages, creating another chapter in the NHL's continued expansion of marquee outdoor events.

Colorado enters the game with previous experience under the elements, having appeared in three regular-season outdoor contests and posting a 1-2-0 record.

The Avalanche first took part in the 2016 Stadium Series at Denver's Coors Field, falling 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings before a crowd of more than 50,000. Four years later, they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Los Angeles Kings at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs during the 2020 Stadium Series.

Their lone outdoor victory came in memorable fashion at the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe, where Colorado defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 against one of the most picturesque backdrops the league has ever showcased.

With Utah making franchise history and Colorado looking to add another signature outdoor win, the Winter Classic promises to deliver one of the NHL's premier events to Salt Lake City for the first time.

Fans looking for additional Winter Classic updates or historical information on NHL outdoor games can also visit the league's official resources ahead of what is expected to be one of the season's signature attractions.

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It was just under a week ago that a stunning report from NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman was released, in which he indicated Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade. 

The reported request set off a flurry of reactions from across the Detroit sports scene as well as the rest of the NHL, especially after Larkin's alleged trade list including a mere three clubs. 

So far, neither Larkin nor the Red Wings/GM Steve Yzerman has commented on the ongoing drama between the two sides. And just days later, a report surfaced that Larkin and Yzerman aren't in regular contact with one another, adding another layer of complexity to the already delicate situation. 

But now, former Red Wings forward Darren McCarty, who won the Stanley Cup four times with the club during his career, is weighing in on the situation. 

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"I automatically think about the guys who persevered, right? The guys in St. Louis, (Aleksander) Barkov in Florida," McCarty said via Woodward Sports. "That's a great example. Ovi (Alex Ovechkin). I don't understand. Obviously, he's got his reasons, but when you bring up the fact that they haven't talked in a year and there's contention and stuff like this, what do I always say? You're either in, or in the way. So you're definitely in the way."

Detroit Red Wings Legend Darren McCarty reacts to the Dylan Larkin trade request. pic.twitter.com/l9tRQCkrEY

— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) June 9, 2026

NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun Reveals New Twist In Dylan Larkin-Red Wings SagaThere is a new development in the ongoing situation regarding Dylan Larkin's reported trade request from the Red Wings, according to top NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun.

McCarty concluded by saying he believes the situation will ultimately result in a better outcome for the Red Wings organization. 

"We can put blame on this and that, but I don't want a guy, no matter if you're the top guy or the bottom guy, I don't want you here. This, I believe, will be one of the best things to happen to the Red Wings organization."

This is an extremely unusual situation in the history of the Red Wings, and there's no telling when the next domino is going to fall. 

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When Kings’ new head coach Peter Laviolette took a tour around the Los Angeles area, he thought he was only going to get a one-bedroom home with a view of the water. His children, though, piped in: “Make sure you get a four-bedroom,” Laviolette remembered his three children saying.

During Laviolette’s time away from the sport, the 61-year-old traveled to Scotland and watched his son play in the East Coast Hockey League. The time away has given Laviolette time to rethink his coaching, and after 30 years of coaching, including 23 as a head coach in the NHL, he’s bringing a trident approach to reshape culture and win games. Centering a hockey family is one part.

“For me, there’s three real important pieces,” Laviolette said. “First, build a family inside the locker room, inside the organization. Secondly, to really work to try and build the culture to get players and organizations to think about the choices they make and how that can affect the culture. And then the third part is the actual game on the ice, just making sure that every day from the start of training camp we work at the game.”

Los Angeles hired Laviolette to a three-year contract after he spent a year away from the sport. Laviolette’s coaching experience stretches 1,594 games, the ninth-highest career total, with six teams: the Capitals, Flyers, Islanders, Hurricanes and Predators. Most recently, he was fired by the Rangers in 2025 after two years with the team.

His postseason success might be the biggest draw for the Kings, who have seen middling success in the years since their second Stanley Cup title in 2014. Los Angeles made the playoffs each year since the 2021-22 season, but the team did not advance past the first round.

Meanwhile, Laviolette is only the fourth coach in hockey to lead three teams to the Stanley Cup Final. He last won with Carolina in 2006, but he earned two President’s Trophies in 2017-18 and 2023-24 with the Predators and the Rangers.

Still, Laviolette, despite his track record of first-year turnarounds, is joining a team in flux. The Kings fired coach Jim Hiller after the Olympic break. Interim coach D.J Smith helped guide the team to an 11-6-6 finish, aided in part by a trade for Rangers winger Artemi Panarin, whom Laviolette has also coached.

“I had a really good relationship with Artemi in New York,” Laviolette said. “He’s one of the most talented players I’ve ever coached, and I’m really happy to get to work with him again. He’s an amazing talent.”

Using the winger to go on the prowl is one of the small changes Laviolette plans to bring. The Kings have historically prioritized defense in a league that has shifted to attacking. Los Angeles fell to 30th in goals per game last season (2.68), the first time the Kings averaged fewer than three goals since the 2021-22 season. The team was also 28th in power-play percentage at 17%. Laviolette acknowledged that Los Angeles needed to change, highlighting that an attack-forward mindset has been a keystone of his coaching.

“I don’t think it should be irresponsible to defense,” he said. “But through my experiences, and even just watching the playoffs right now, this is an attack-oriented game, and you have to be willing to move.”

Where does Panarin fit?

“He has the ability to be a game-breaker and a difference-maker,” Laviolette said. “He’s not just a goal scorer. He’s not just a playmaker. He’s elusive. He’s shifty.”

The goal for next season is to score 250 times, according to Kings’ vice president and general manager Ken Holland. The team scored 220 last season.

“We’ve got to get back to scoring more goals,” Holland said. “Part of that’s going to be personnel driven, part of that’s going to be probably style‑of‑play driven, mentality, and certainly the head coach has a lot to do with it.”

As Laviolette meets current staffers and decides whom to bring in, Holland is managing the phones to reach out to assistant coaches and players. Smith has definitively moved on. Phil Housley, whom Laviolette described as an “excellent coach,” could be another potential candidate. Housley worked with Laviolette as one of the Rangers’ assistant coaches between 2023 and 2025.

Still, it’s hard to say the Kings will be a Cup contender with Laviolette. His teams tend to dramatically decline two or three seasons after his hiring. He struggles to develop younger players, instead relying on veterans to carry the weight. Laviolette will have to amplify players like Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke, each a talented 23-year-old with high ceilings.

The Kings’ success will rest in how well Los Angeles adapts to Laviolette’s coaching trident. The veteran coach, to his credit, projected confidence.

“When you put those three things together,” he said. “You can really become an unstoppable force.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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The fallout continues from last week's explosive report that Dylan Larkin has requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings. 

He's reportedly submitted a list of teams that he'd be willing to accept a trade to, but the options greatly narrow GM Steve Yzerman's chances of getting a fair return. Larkin's list included the Vegas Golden Knights, the Florida Panthers, and the Minnesota Wild. 

Having such a confined list of teams that have only so many assets that they'd be able to offer up in return greatly complicates things on Detroit's end. 

But now, there's a new development in the ongoing saga. According to top NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun, Yzerman has approached Larkin's agent Pat Brisson with a request to expand the three-team trade list, which would give him additional options to facilitate the best deal possible. 

"Yzerman went back to Brisson and asked to expand their original list of three teams, and my sense is that Brisson was receptive to that to some degree," LeBrun reported on Wednesday. "So I don’t think we’re just dealing with the Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers anymore." 

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LeBrun continued by saying that he believes the Dallas Stars, led by former Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill, have "absolutely" checked in while also suggesting that Michigan native and pending unsigned RFA Jason Robertson could be an option.

Top Insider Links Red Wings' Dylan Larkin To Multiple NHL Teams Speculation continues to grow as to where current Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin could be traded to, and a handful of clubs have emerged, according to top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.

"Secondly, regardless of being on the list or not, all kinds of teams have called to see what’s what, many of them interested in getting involved," LeBrun wrote. "That’s given Brisson and Larkin more to think about. For example, the Dallas Stars have absolutely checked in. They haven’t extended restricted free agent Jason Robertson yet, although those contract discussions continue. Food for thought if an extension doesn’t get done in due time." 

An acquisition of Robertson's RFA rights in return for Larkin, along with a new extension for him in Detroit, would be a major haul for the Red Wings. Robertson, who is from Northville, has scored 40 or more goals three times since 2021, including 45 goals scored this season. 

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