Los Angeles Kings forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Scott Laughton are both due for new contracts this summer as pending UFAs.
On Wednesday, the duo spoke with the media at the end-of-season press conference and were asked about their intentions and future with the Kings organization.
Both Kuzmenko and Laughton gave different answers in terms of their interest in signing a contract extension with Los Angeles, one more encouraging than the other.
"The interest level is high for me, for sure," Laughton told reporters. "The opportunity I was given here, the guys here, the staff, the way I was treated, my family came down and absolutely loved it... so yeah, the interest level is high."
Laughton featured in 21 games for the Kings this year in the regular season. He put up five goals and eight points while averaging 15:46 of ice time in Los Angeles, which is more than two minutes compared to his stint with the Maple Leafs this season.
The veteran center added that "the culture and the players in place" give him a real reason to stay, too.
Furthermore, earlier this week, David Pagnotta believes that the Kings will take a chance at keeping Laughton. The NHL insider also shared that clarity on who the next head coach will be for Los Angeles is a big part of that potential agreement.
Scott Laughton (Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images)
Kings coach D.J. Smith utilized Laughton well, but he was just an interim bench boss for the dismissal of Jim Hiller. The expectation is that Holland will provide an update on whether Smith is staying on board or if the organization will look for a different candidate.
At any rate, the interest is there for Laughton to stay, as he puts it. The 31-year-old just wrapped up a five-year contract that carried a $3-million salary cap hit.
The Russian left winger completed the regular season with 13 goals and 25 points in 52 appearances. He inked a one-year deal with the Kings last summer, at a $4.3-million cap hit.
If Kuzmenko does move on from the Kings to another NHL club, it'll be the fifth team he's suited up for in the past three years.
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The Buffalo Sabres head to TD Garden with another chance to end their series against the Boston Bruins on Friday, May 1, and my top Sabres vs. Bruins predictions and NHL picks are calling for Buffalo to punch their ticket to Round 2 in Game 6.
Sabres vs Bruins Game 6 prediction
Sabres vs Bruins best bet: Pick Sabres moneyline (-115)
Jeremy Swayman stole Game 5 for the Boston Bruins with seven high-danger saves and 2.80 goals saved above expected, and I fully expect a dip from Swayman to allow the Buffalo Sabres to capitalize on enough chances to win Game 6.
Swayman’s scattered just 0.71 GSAx across the other four games of the series, after all.
Buffalo has also dominated the time of possession at 5-on-5 with a 55.6 Corsi For percentage, and the Sabres held the Bruins to just 11 goals and 15.56 expected goals through five games, including only 2.75 xGF at TD Garden.
Sabres vs Bruins Game 6 same-game parlay
Don’t let some of the high scores in this series fool you. Boston has only scored once in the first period through five games, and four of Buffalo’s five first-period goals came in Game 4. With another elimination game on tap, expect to see attention to defensive detail to be on full display.
Turning to the final leg of this same-game parlay, Alex Tuch has been a force for the Sabres. He found the scoresheet in each of the first four games of the series and has been on the ice for an impressive 8.89 expected goals.
The Buffalo Sabres have won 19 of their last 25 away games (+14.25 Units / 50% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Sabres vs. Bruins.
How to watch Sabres vs Bruins Game 6
Location
TD Garden, Boston, MA
Date
Friday, May 1, 2026
Puck drop
7:30 p.m. ET
TV
ESPN, Sportsnet 360
Sabres vs Bruins latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Dylan Guenther has been the most prolific shooter in the playoffs, leading all players with 55 shot attempts.
My Golden Knights vs. Mammoth predictions see Guenther piling up the shots once again in a win-or-go-home Game 6.
Let’s take a closer look at my NHL picks for Friday, May 1.
Golden Knights vs Mammoth Game 6 prediction
Golden Knights vs Mammoth best bet: Dylan Guenther Over 3.5 shots on goal (-140)
Getting Dylan Guenther the puck in shooting position has been the top priority for the Utah Mammoth in this series, and they’ve done a great job of it.
He has averaged 5.2 shots on 11 attempts through five games, going over his total in each.
Nobody on the Mammoth has come close to that kind of volume. Nick Schmaltz ranks second on the team in attempts, and he is averaging 5.6, just over half of Guenther’s output.
In a do-or-die game on home ice, Guenther should be aggressive while logging a ton of ice.
Golden Knights vs Mammoth Game 6 same-game parlay
The Mammoth have generated 8.09 expected goals and 58 scoring chances with Logan Cooley on the ice, most of any player. That has only translated to six on-ice goals and three points. He deserves more production, and it should come if he continues feeding Guenther.
Pavel Dorofeyev has cleared 2.5 shots in four consecutive games. His two best shooting performances came in Games 4 and 5, which align with a promotion to the Vegas Golden Knights' top line alongside Jack Eichel. He has four goals over those two games and plenty of incentive to keep shooting.
Golden Knights vs Mammoth SGP
Dylan Guenther Over 3.5 shots on goal
Logan Coley Over 0.5 points
Pavel Dorofeyev Over 2.5 shots on goal
Golden Knights vs Mammoth odds for Game 6
Moneyline: Golden Knights -125 | Mammoth +105
Puck Line: Golden Knights -1.5 (+190) | Mammoth +1.5 (-230)
Over/Under: Over 5.5 (+110) | Under 5.5 (-130)
Golden Knights vs Mammoth trend
Logan Cooley has eight points through eight games against Vegas this season. Find more NHL betting trends for Golden Knights vs. Mammoth.
How to watch Golden Knights vs Mammoth Game 6
Location
Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Date
Friday, May 1, 2026
Puck drop
10:00 p.m. ET
TV
ESPN, Sportsnet
Golden Knights vs Mammoth latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
When Montreal Canadiens’ GM Kent Hughes went out of his way to acquire Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick right before the Christmas roster freeze, some wondered if that was a good move. After all, the centerman came with a $5.5 million cap hit and another year left on his contract. Was he going to get in the way of young talent's progression?
Four months later, nobody can argue that it wasn’t an astute move from Hughes. Not only did Michael Hage elect to stay with the Michigan Wolverines for another season, but Danault played a key role in the Canadiens’ 3-2 Game 5 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Martin St-Louis put Danault on his fourth line on Wednesday night, alongside Brendan Gallagher and Alex Newhook. He knew that wouldn’t give him that much ice time, but since both Danault and Newhook play on the penalty kill, they’d get some more ice in case of penalties and as for the centerman, he had another plan for him.
With Cole Caufield struggling to make an impact in this series, St-Louis elected to put Danault on Nick Suzuki’s line at various times during the game. For important defensive faceoffs, it’s always a plus to have two centers on, and once the Canadiens had taken the lead early in the third, Danault spent more time on the ice.
In the final frame, he played for 8:16, across seven shifts. From 16:29 onwards, he was on the ice; he didn’t get off. When the Lightning pulled their goaltender and attacked relentlessly at six-on-five, he was there, taking faceoffs, attempting to block shots and clearing pucks.
In the end, Danault spent 19:40 on the ice, landed two hits and had one takeaway while winning six of the 10 faceoffs he took. Speaking to the media after the game, Kirby Dach explained:
Phil’s been awesome for us all year. Ever since he’s come in, he’s really steadied our lineup. I mean, as a young centerman, there’s so much you learn from him, how good he is on draws and how responsible he is on the ice. He’s definitely a treat to have, his veteran leadership, his presence in the room and on the bench to kind of calm things down, and if we need a shift, he’s willing to go out there and put the puck in deep, and work to create momentum for the next line out there.
- Dach on Danault
Dach also added that even when he’s not on the scoresheet, Danault impacts the game each and every night. What Dach described is exactly why Hughes went out of his way to get Danault, and there’s definitely no buyer’s remorse there.
Former San Jose Sharks forward Klim Kostin will be sticking with CSKA Moscow for the foreseeable future.
On Wednesday, CSKA Moscow announced that Kostin had signed a contract extension that will keep him in the Russian capital through the 2028-29 season.
Kostin spent parts of two seasons with the Sharks, moving to the Bay Area in the middle of the 2023-24 season and staying through the 2024-25 season. He only suited up for the Sharks 54 times in that time span, scoring six goals and 17 points while picking up 42 penalty minutes and going -16.
After leaving the Sharks organization, and the NHL as a whole, following the 2024-25 season, Klim Kostin signed with Avangard Omsk in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League, returning to the team he played for during the 2020-21 season.
Kostin, who has never been a player known for his high point totals, didn't last long in Omsk though. He recorded two points in 21 games, while being a -7, before being traded to CSKA Moscow ahead of the KHL's trade deadline in January.
When he was traded to CSKA, Kostin joined a few former Sharks on the roster. Defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk and forward Nikolai Kovalenko are also currently playing for CSKA.
In Moscow, Kostin's productivity took a step up as he scored two goals and three points in 10 regular season games while being even on plus/minus. He failed to record a point in the playoffs though, and CSKA were eliminated from the Gagarin Cup Playoffs by his former team, Avangard Omsk.
Considering Kostin's contract will expire after he turns 30 years old, this contract extension likely means we're not going to see him back in the NHL, at least not any time soon.
LOS ANGELES, CA — The door has closed on the Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar, the King of Kings, the man who surpassed Marcel Dionne in his final season to become the franchise's all-time points leader, played his last NHL game in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche. Whatever you want to call the last several years of Kings hockey, a retool, a transition, a slow-moving rebuild dressed up in playoff appearance clothing, it ended on the ice vs Colorado. There hasn't been a sexy transition to a new hockey model that has found success in LA.
This offseason does not just set the tone for next year. It draws the map for the next five years of Kings hockey, and the organization knows it, considering the tone of the exit interviews.
The contemporary history of the Kings in the wake of its championship era has not been kind. Rob Blake's era had its opportunities and squandered them. After two Stanley Cups, the Kings cycled through the end of the Dean Lombardi regime and into Blake's retool, only to produce a sweep at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights and four straight first-round exits to the Edmonton Oilers. It was a core that ownership and management publicly refused to admit had aged past its window in a copycat pursuit of the Pittsburgh Penguins split core runs (09’, 16’, 17’).
The rhetoric in LA just never matched the results. Blake stepped down, Ken Holland came in, and the 2025-26 season was supposed to signal something new. It signaled that the problems were much structurally deeper than a change at the top could fix on its own.
Holland's first offseason was a mixed ledger at best. He signed Corey Perry, who was traded to Tampa Bay mid-season, quoted to the media as giving an opportunity to compete for another cup (the irony with Kopitar), recovering a pick in the process, which is the right call made necessary by the wrong call (Blake-esque). He signed Joel Armia, who finished the season as a quality depth forward and an excellent penalty killer, but was a healthy scratch for the penultimate game against Colorado, which is its own kind of verdict.
He added Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin to a blue line that historically doesn't generate much offense, a decision that will follow this front office the longest because those contracts do not move easily. On the other side, he brought in Scott Laughton, who was exactly what the roster needed at 3C, and Artemi Panarin. Though crediting Holland fully for that one requires ignoring that Panarin requested a trade out of New York and used his full no movement clause to identify LA as his destination. Holland facilitated it, but the asset chose them.
The result of all of it was a team that scraped into the playoffs on the back of a weak division and a soft back half of the schedule. They got swept by the league’s best and watched Kopitar skate off the ice for the last time. It actually might not get rosier than that. Holland now owns this roster. What he does this summer is his ‘second test’, and the first one did not inspire overwhelming confidence.
Byfield Is the Guy. Now Prove It.
The cleanest and most important thing to come out of this season is that Quinton Byfield is the center of this franchise going forward. DJ Smith sang high praises for the young center at the tail end of their four-game dusting at the hands of the Avs.
In what may be his last pregame avail, LAK interim HC DJ Smith heaped praise on Quinton Byfield. Claims 55 best player in series, drew comparisons to Stutzle, Matthews and Nylander(coached all 3). Believes his best season will be next, when "given the keys" to lead as 1C.
Anyone who watched the last ten to fifteen games of the regular season and the playoff series against Colorado saw it. Byfield carried this team into the postseason. After a quiet game one, he was one of their best players against the Avalanche despite their team being greatly outmatched in every single hockey category, producing only two five-on-five goals across four games. Two.
The criticism around Byfield's offensive output is fair in a vacuum. But it has never existed in a vacuum. This is a player who has spent the better part of his Kings career without a true top-six winger next to him at even strength. Outside the season and a half during which he was groomed alongside Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, Byfield has been handed Tanner Jeannot, Warren Foegele, and Alex Laferriere. Laferriere projects as a useful top-nine forward but not the kind of elite winger that unlocks what Byfield is capable of. He has gone through stretches of real dominance alongside Kevin Fiala, who is legitimately that player, but consistency in linemates and the overall quality have never been a luxury afforded to him.
Some perspective: he’s now had back-to-back seasons with full-time center duties, a career high in points in one and a career high in goals in the other, while managing back-to-back oblique injuries. The runway for next year is clear.
Top 20 defenseman in TOI against Byfield during two seasons of center duty-focused campaigns (Courtesy of NaturalStatTrick)Top 20 forwards in TOI against Byfield during two seasons of center duty-focused campaigns (Courtesy of NaturalStatTrick)
The landscape for Byfield changes next year, and it changes significantly. Panarin is there, even at 35, and Panarin at 35 is still a top ten winger in the NHL, even on the skeptical end of the argument. Kempe is right there amongst the better wingers in the league. Fiala will also be back from injury. Run the list, and you have Panarin, Kempe, Fiala, Laferriere, and Trevor Moore rounding out a top nine wing group that is, without exaggeration, as good as any in the league. That also assumes they let Andrei Kuzmenko walk, and judging purely off the exit interviews, it’s a possibility.
Kuzmenko was asked about his future and he lowered his eyes and said "we'll see." #gokingsgo
Byfield has never had that capacity next to him on the ings, and next year he will. He will assume the Kopitar mantle on the powerplay as well. He will also be 24, still ascending, and locked into 20-plus minutes a night as the unquestioned number one center on this roster. This is the season where the offensive question either gets answered or becomes a legitimate concern. Everything around him will finally be set up so he can answer it.
The only scenario that changes is if Holland makes the massive move discussed ad nauseam on social media, packaging Byfield and multiple first-round picks to acquire Auston Matthews from Toronto. That would be removing a Band-Aid to reveal the same wound underneath. You upgrade from Byfield to Matthews, which is a legitimate, real upgrade, and then you are left with Laferriere as your 2C, Scott Laughton, if re-signed as your 3C, a middle of the lineup that is somehow worse than the one you just had in 2025-26. I don't believe the franchise's goal is to marginally improve a team that barely scraped into the playoffs and just got swept.
That is not a trade worth making, and it is certainly not worth gutting the future over. For those already thinking this way, having a roster that houses both Byfield and Matthews remains, at best, a pipedream nested under the guise of running a franchise on a gaming system.
The Center Problem Beneath It All
Byfield is the 1C, whether he is fully ready or not. What is not settled is everything below him, and that is where this offseason gets complicated fast.
Laughton needs to be re-signed. That is not a discussion.
There are rumors that Laughton has expressed interest in returning to Toronto, where former teammates have made clear they want him back, and that is a legitimate threat. But losing Laughton does not just create a vacancy; it exposes how genuinely thin this organization is at center beyond Byfield. If he walks, you are looking at Laferriere as your 2C, a natural winger who has not shown the ability to handle top-line matchups or consistently drive play in that role, or Alex Turcotte, a player with a rich history of injury and playing time inconsistency that has made it impossible to count on him as a full-time option. Samuel Helenius exists in a depth role to terrorize on the forecheck.
That is your center group without Laughton. Even slightly overpaying to keep him is the obvious call this offseason.
Scott Laughton is extremely open to signing with the Kings -
"The interest level is high for me, for sure. The opportunity I was given here, the guys here, the staff, the way I was treated, my family came down and absolutely loved it......so yeah, the interest level is high."
Resign him, and he is your penciled-in 3C who plays that role as well as anyone at that level. He is not a 2C solution, as Danault played into during his early tenure in LA, but he is the floor that makes the rest of the lineup functional. Losing him removes the floor entirely and forces management to reassess the possibility of pivoting towards an actual teardown.
Which brings the real question into focus. This team needs a legitimate 2C, not Laferriere pressed into a role he was not built for, not a project. An actual second-line center who can handle matchups, drive play, and take real defensive zone starts. That acquisition, whether through trade or free agency, is quite possibly the most important move of the offseason. The 2026 first-round pick almost certainly has to be involved to make it happen.
What Holland decides to do with that pick will say more about the direction of this franchise than anything else he does this summer.
However..
The Blue Line Is the Real Problem
Here is the part that does not have a clean answer.
The Kings' defensive core is the structural anchor dragging this franchise, and Holland made it worse in his first offseason. Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson, Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson, and Brian Dumoulin make up the bulk of a blue line that struggles to transition the puck in the modern NHL. The anti-fleet-of-foot core is very much a ‘rim it, glass it out, regroup, and force the forwards to chip and chase’. They do not burn teams that overextend in the offensive/neutral zone because they are not built to do so. The Kings finished with a negative goal differential this season; they were not good at five-on-five (a lynchpin of this club), and that blueline was a massive part of that. They have suffocated opponents defensively for the better part of a half-decade, but the Holland era blueline translated into low-scoring losses where the forward group overexterts to support the defenseman, they cannot transition, and the other team eventually finds a way.
Kings' defense group was carried by Clarke, who did have high offensive zone start percentage. Courtesy of (NaturalStatTrick)
The contract situation makes it exceedingly worse. Doughty is owed eleven million dollars in the final year of his deal, a number that understandably had its arc, even if the back half has strained their financial capacity. Anderson, Edmundson, Ceci, and Dumoulin carry modified no movement clauses that give them significant leverage over where they can be moved, and the realistic answer to who is acquiring any of them at their current price tags is essentially no one. What team is lining up for expensive, rather immobile shutdown defensemen who cannot transition the puck in today's increasingly higher pace NHL? That question does not have a good answer, and it is a question Holland created for himself by adding Ceci and Dumoulin in his first offseason.
Brandt Clarke is the exception and the only real source of optimism on the blue line. Clarke is 22, with genuine puck-moving ability and something the blue line utterly lacks—lateral movement at the point —and he needs to be the number one defenseman on this team now. The problem is that he is still sharing that load with Doughty, who, by all accounts, should be transitioning into a complementary role rather than leading minutes. That correction needed to happen during this season, but it is now thrust upon as a necessity for next.
More importantly, if the organization can find a way to move even one of the anchored contracts and bring in a mobile defenseman who can actually push the puck, the entire blue line conversation shifts. If they cannot, the forward group upgrades will hit the same ceiling they hit this season while dragged down by the blueline.
The Goaltending Problem
Darcy Kuemper had a Vezina nominee season in 2024-25. It was exceptional, and it was also played behind a defensive core that still had Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence, which matters more than it gets credit for. This season, he suffered an injury in Dallas and was never the same, and the Kings turned to Anton Forsberg down the stretch and into the playoffs. Forsberg, by every metric, is a career backup, but he was exceptional when called upon and made a sweep look marginally better than it was, which is its own kind of commentary.
Forsberg will be 34 next season, and Kuemper will be 36. That is not a sustainable situation for the crease without a clear successor, particularly when the Kings actually have the prospect depth to address the crease's future better than almost any team in the league. Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George have legitimate number one upside. Erik Portillo exists in that pipeline as well, though health has been a recurring issue. The caveat, and it is an important one, is that goaltending prospects are voodoo. Jack Campbell was a first-round pick, 11th overall, in 2010 by Dallas. There are no guarantees. But one of these goalies needs to be in the conversation for the backup role next season at minimum, with a clear line toward taking over the starter role as Kuemper's window closes. The transition has to start somewhere, and the current tandem's age makes it non-negotiable.
The Offseason That Defines the Next Five Years
Put it all together, and here is what you have. A wing group that is genuinely elite and largely intact, that could and should be weaponized. A franchise center tag-test next season in Byfield, who is ascending and will finally have the weapons around him to show what he really is. A center position below him that is one Laughton departure away from being genuinely alarming. A blue line that is the worst transitioning unit in the NHL, locked into expensive contracts with limited mobility, and made worse by Holland's own additions in his first offseason. A goaltending situation aging out in real time, with prospects ready to step in if the organization trusts them. Under all the noise, a 2026 ‘teener’ first-round pick sitting in the middle of all of it as the decision Holland cannot avoid.
There is a window teetering between open and closed. Byfield and Clarke are young enough, the wing group is good enough, and the prospect pipeline, despite its viability and thinness, has enough to grease this organization's wheels forward. But the decisions made this offseason are not just about next year's standings. They are about whether the Kings enter this new era with a coherent plan, or whether they do what this front office has repeatedly done: paper over structural problems with surface-level additions and call it progress.
Resign Laughton and chase a center to play under Byfield. Hand Clarke the number-one role and stop pretending Doughty can carry it at $11 million a year. Move one of the immobile blueline contracts if you can find a taker and use that cap space on someone who can actually skate the puck out of the zone. If not, a buyout should be under consideration. Bring one of the goaltending prospects into the fold before the situation forces your hand. Use the first round as the focal point for implementing the plan.
The Kopitar era is over, and while the player isn't connected to this, the era of excuses should be, too. The pieces are there to pivot back into the conversation. The opportunity cost of getting this wrong is five more years of what you just watched.
If not, there is the easy way out—tear it all down. The hard part is building it back up again.
End of an era? Or just starting their middling ground under this ownership and management structure?
The Montreal Canadiens return to La Belle Province with a chance to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, May 1.
My Lightning vs. Canadiens predictions and NHL picks suggest we could be in for another nailbiter at the Bell Centre, with the Habs continuing to get timely contributions from captain Nick Suzuki.
Lightning vs Canadiens Game 6 prediction
Lightning vs Canadiens best bet: Nick Suzuki Over 0.5 assists (-160)
Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, only four players have registered more assists than Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. His 72 points in 82 regular-season games led the Habs and ranked sixth in the entire NHL.
Suzuki has picked up five apples in as many games this series and has nine in his last nine home contests. He’s as reliable as anyone to hit the scoresheet against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Zachary Bolduc is quietly riding a three-game point streak and leads the team at +6 in this series. He's found encouraging chemistry on the Habs' third line with Texier and Kirby Dach, and they've dominated at five-on-five since the line's formation after Game 2.
Alexandre Carrier's 15 blocked shots trail only teammate Mike Matheson during these playoffs, and he's hit the Over in three of his last four contests. Despite missing nine games during the regular season, Carrier ranked 12th in the NHL in blocked shots.
His 22:50 average ice time marks a significant jump from his 19:05 season average, and Carrier is at plus-odds to record three or more blocked shots in Game 6.
A 3-2 score has decided four consecutive games in this series, and all five have been one-goal games. Find more NHL betting trends for Lightning vs. Canadiens.
How to watch Lightning vs Canadiens Game 6
Location
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
Date
Friday, May 1, 2026
Puck drop
7:00 p.m. ET
TV
Sportsnet, ESPN2
Lightning vs Canadiens latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
That's how The Maven views the first round of the playoffs so far.
Even when there's a sweep – a la Carolina vs Ottawa – the games have been close and vigorously played.
With the Rangers – and their fans – I began wondering how the good burghers of Rangerville feel about each playoff series. The following is my view with added thoughts of pals who take these playoffs seriously.
CANES OVER SENATORS: Ottawa's brilliant coach Travis Green could not survive a totally devastated defense against arguably the NHL's best team. Yet the Sens made Carolina work hard for the win.
PHILLY OVER PITT: Youth over the Sidney Crosby Old Timers was the difference. Also coach Dan Muse's decision to use Stuart Skinner was (as in Edmonton) dumb a la mode. Penguins needed a second Sid.
BRUINS-SABRES: Give the Beantowners credit for at least beating steamrolling Buffalo. Lindy Ruff's Buffs are hellbent to reach the Final Round and it says here that the Bruins won't stop them.
The Buffalo Sabres may have lost Game 5 against the Boston Bruins in overtime, but they are still in a good spot. This is because the Sabres have a 3-2 series over the Bruins and need only one more win to advance to the second round.
The Sabres have had many players step up for them early on this post-season, and Peyton Krebs has been one of them.
Krebs has been off to a hot start this postseason, and the truth is in his stats. In five games so far, he has recorded two goals, three assists, five points, and a plus-6 rating. This included him having a goal and an assist in the Sabres' 6-1 win over the Bruins in Game 4.
Krebs having a strong start to the postseason comes after he had the best regular season of his career so far in 2025-26. In 82 games this campaign with Buffalo, he set new career highs with 12 goals, 27 assists, and 39 points.
Krebs will now be looking to stay hot for the Sabres as the postseason rolls on. If he continues to provide them with excellent secondary offensive production, it would help the Sabres' chances of knocking out the Bruins.
General manager Jason Botterill said Campbell’s contract is expiring and she expressed a desire to explore other roles around the league.
“We support her in this process,” Botterill said in a statement. “Jessica has been an important member of our coaching staff for the past four years, demonstrating deep knowledge and a unique ability to connect with and develop players. We respect her decision and believe strongly in her as a coach in this league.”
Campbell was promoted from the American Hockey League’s Coachella Firebirds along with Dan Bylsma in 2024 after he became the organization’s second head coach. She was retained after Bylsma was fired a year ago and replaced by Lane Lambert.
The Kraken missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons and only qualified once since their debut in 2021-22. The Firebirds made back-to-back trips to the Calder Cup Final when Campbell was on Bylsma's AHL staff.
Jake Sanderson has been named as a finalist for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
The annual award is presented each year to the NHL "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."
Sanderson, who's still only 23 years old, was one of the top defensemen in the league this season, putting up 54 points in 67 games and helping Team USA win an Olympic gold medal in Milan back in February.
Brady Tkachuk discusses the ongoing dialogue about his NHL future.
The Whitefish, Montana native plays a game that's bursting with speed and skill, but he also kept his nose clean, as he always does, posting just eight penalty minutes. In four NHL seasons (303 games), Sanderson has amassed a grand total of 55 penalty minutes
Your Lady Byng Memorial Trophy finalists are... 🏆 #NHLAwards
The trophy is presented annually to the player judged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. pic.twitter.com/wsCXBieTLB
The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy has been awarded 90 times to 53 different players, including Ottawa's Frank Nighbor, who was the first to win it in 1925. Over a century later, Sanderson has a chance to be the first modern-day Ottawa Senator to win this award.
But he'll be in tough because LA's Anze Kopitar, who just ended hs 20-year NHL career this week, was probably the heavy sentimental favourite when voting was conducted at the end of the regular season. Kopitar is one of the three finalists, along with Montreal's Cole Caufield.
The universe didn't exactly repay Sanderson for his sportsmanship this season.
He missed almost a month with a shoulder injury after a hard hit from Seattle's Brandon Montour in early March. Eight games after returning, he took a violent shoulder to the head from Carolina's Taylor Hall in Game 3 of the NHL playoffs.
Sanderson missed the rest of the series with a concussion, and the Senators were swept in four. Four days after the concussion, Sanderson still wasn't well enough to be available for the season-ending media availabilities.
Unlike all the current dialogue about the future of his Senator and Team USA teammate, Brady Tkachuk, it's going to be a while before the Sens need to think about Sanderson's contract. He's still signed up for six more seasons at a club-friendly rate of $8,050,000 per season.
The Lady Byng voting trophy will be awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 3-2 final score in Game 5 on Wednesday night. A former Columbus Blue Jackets forward was a major reason for it, as Alexandre Texier had a clutch moment for the Canadiens.
At the 1:06 mark of the third period, Texier scored the Canadiens' game-winning goal. It was a nice goal for the former Blue Jackets forward, too, as he beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on the rush with an excellent snap shot.
With Texier's game-winning goal, the Canadiens now have a 3-2 series lead over the Lightning and are just one win away from advancing to the second round.
Texier has also playing some strong hockey for the Canadiens throughout this post-season, too. In five games for the Habs so far during the playoffs, the former Blue Jackets forward has two goals, four points, and a plus-5 rating.
Texier was selected by the Blue Jackets with the 45th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. In 201 games over five seasons with the Blue Jackets, Texier recorded 34 goals, 45 assists, 79 points, and 141 hits. He also had two goals and seven points in 18 playoff games for the Blue Jackets.
There were ups and downs throughout the 2025-26 season, but goaltending was not really an issue for the Chicago Blackhawks. There is still development to go across the board, but the depth within the organization is there.
On most nights, the net-minders gave the team a chance to win. If there were any major issues, they were largely due to the way the team played in front of them.
Throughout the season, the Blackhawks had one goalie as the clear starter, a full-time backup, and a prospect who was forced into action a few times due to an illness that swept through the locker room.
Based on their performances against their expectations, these are the grades for each goalie who made at least one start:
Spencer Knight: A
Spencer Knight had the year he's been looking for since coming to the NHL. He has had better overall numbers as a backup in the past, but he was finally allowed to be the number one starter on an NHL team.
Knight had a bumpy road to where he is right now, both on and off the ice, and that led to him being Chicago's nominee for the Masterton Trophy, which goes to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
As the season went along, and the team got significantly younger, the numbers for Knight started to dip. After it all ended, he finished with a 2.82 goals against average and a .902 save percentage in 55 games played. However, he made high-danger saves with frequency, kept his team in most games, and proved that he can be a winning goaltender in the NHL.
At the mid-way point of the season, Knight was a legitimate candidate to be on Team USA at the Olympics. However, USA Hockey decided to go with the same three that they brought to the 4-Nations Face-Off. It's hard to argue with the organization that eventually won the Gold Medal.
Next up for Knight is a winning season for himself and the team. He gets an A-grade for this year as he took steps as a starter, but the expectations only go up from here. As the team defense gets better, he has to find a way to elevate his game even more, too.
Arvid Soderblom: C
Arvid Soderblom had a mediocre season. He only played in 26 games and was clearly the designated backup goalie. He had a 3.80 goals against average and an .880 save percentage.
There is some context to those lackluster numbers, but he would also admit that he must be better if he wants to be the backup on the team in the long-term.
He doesn't get a lower grade than a C because of the team in front of him. Soderblom isn't as good as Knight, which is why he's the backup, so he won't keep them in games that they play poorly in front of him as much.
Throughout the season, Soderblom proved that he can win games when the team does its job, but he must go into the off-season knowing that his role is on the line. There are a handful of other goalies in the organization who are working their way up the depth chart quickly.
Drew Commesso: A
One of the goalies working his way up is Drew Commesso, who made three starts for Chicago this season. When called upon, it was due to illness suffered by both Knight and Soderblom during a strange time of year.
Before playing at Boston University and the Rockford IceHogs, Commesso was a second-round (46th overall) pick in 2020. Since then, he's been working to develop his raw talents into skills that allow him to be in the NHL full-time.
It was just three starts, an extremely small sample size, but he was excellent. He had an NHL save percentage of .918 and a goals against average of 2.31. All signs, both traditional and advanced, showed him to be ready for an opportunity in the NHL.
He never got it in the way that he'd like, but he was outstanding in 39 starts with the IceHogs, his second in the AHL. In those 39 starts, he had a .911 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average.
With the work he put in, he Commesso has a chance to grab onto the backup job. Training camp will allow him to reach the NHL full-time. Internal competition at all positions is good for a young team trying to take steps.
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Apr 29, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; The Philadelphia Flyers celebrate after game six of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Kyle Ross/Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA — Cam York flicked a wrist shot for an overtime winner that ignited a Flyers’ celebration 14 years — through retread coaches, insignificant hockey, and old front office failings — in the making when he slithered free from the mob of exuberant teammates and chucked his stick deep into the stands.
York launched his stick and watched it soar like the Schwarbombs routinely hit across the street, only no one really was sure in the moment where it landed.
“I hope everyone’s OK,” York said with a laugh. “Definitely don’t want a lawsuit. Just honestly blacked out. I didn’t know what to do. I was so excited.”
How does one celebrate a Flyers’ playoff series victory?
York roared back like he was going to fling a boomerang. Flyers fans blew horns and whistles around the concourse and belted out on repeat the opening “oh oh oh” of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” Flyers forward Christian Dvorak’s celebration hit a little too hard — a cut busted open above his right eye during the victorious on-ice party and blood streamed down his cheek.
Like he went a few rounds in a fight.
More like six grueling games with Sidney Crosby and a Penguins team that has hoisted Stanley Cups and kicked their cross-state rival to the curb so many times over the last 15-plus years that the matchups often felt less like a heated rivalry and the Flyers treated more like a pesky speed bump in a long regular season.
Not this season. Not in Philadelphia.
Not even when the resurgent Penguins threatened to make a run at playoff history and storm back from a 3-0 series deficit and crush the spirit of a Flyers’ team that became the NHL’s first to make the playoffs after being 10 points out of contention with 22 or fewer games remaining.
York and goalie Dan Vladar and his 42 saves had other plans.
The Flyers’ 1-0 Game 6 overtime victory over the Penguins served as early validation that general manager Danny Briere was astute in orchestrating an overdue rebuild and the payoff was a first playoff series win in a full NHL season since 2012. The Flyers accelerated their postseason timeline — in large part due to the late-season arrival of teen sensation Porter Martone — and essentially are playing with house money as they gear up for a second-round series with the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes.
“We played a great series,” Flyers forward Travis Konecny said. “Now we get a chance to play again.”
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet and the rest of the players said to a man when they held a 3-0 series lead that Crosby and the veteran Penguins were too good, too playoff-tested to go down without a fight. Crosby was everywhere in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 victory in Game 5 and had the Penguins believing that, yes, they could become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0.
Vladar, a journeyman turned Olympian voted the team’s MVP this season, turned away everything the Penguins threw at him in much of the series. He had his first shutout of the season (with 27 saves) in Game 2, shook off an unspecified arm injury in Game 3 and put the Flyers on his back in Game 6 — getting the better of a fantastic Arturs Silovs — to steady a position long an albatross for the franchise since the Stanley Cup championship days of Bernie Parent.
All Vladar did was shut out the NHL’s third-highest scoring team during the regular season.
“There was never a doubt,” Vladar said. “Good things happen to good people, and we are good people here.”
Vladar also gave a nod to the odds the Flyers faced just to reach this point of the season and pointed out teammates wearing their good-luck gear.
The Flyers celebrated wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Parent’s 1970s mask with sleeves that had “3.8 percent” printed on them as a nod to their slim postseason chances a couple months ago.
Vladar — the fifth goalie in franchise history with a series-clinching shutout — also made the fourth-most saves in a series-clinching shutout win over the past 70 years. The only goaltenders with more are Patrick Roy (63 in Game 4 of 1996 Stanley Cup Final), Andrei Vasilevskiy and Carey Price.
“danvladar you are a BAADDDDD man!!” former Phillies World Series champion Jimmy Rollins wrote on social media.
The Flyers still were feeling sky high well after the final horn.
As for York’s stick? Well, it did stick the landing and was gleefully grabbed by a man wearing a white Flyers sweatshirt.
He high-fived fans around him and boasted one heck of a postseason souvenir.
The Flyers only can hope there’s so much more fun to come in May.
Apr 29, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) celebrates with Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (5) after scoring a game winning goal against the Utah Mammoth during the second overtime period of game five of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Stephen R. Sylvanie/Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
LAS VEGAS — Brett Howden scored a short-handed goal at 5:28 of the second overtime to give Vegas a 5-4 victory over the Utah Mammoth and put the Golden Knights one victory away from winning the first-round series.
The Golden Knights take a 3-2 lead into their best-of-seven NHL playoffs series in Salt Lake City.
Vegas’ Pavel Dorofeyev’s six-on-five goal with 52.7 seconds left in regulation forced overtime and gave him the sixth playoff hat trick in franchise history. Dorofeyev had two goals in 13 career playoff games before this one.
“That was a huge game by him,” Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said. “He’s a huge part of our team, and it was awesome to see him find the back of the net a few times. It seems like he’s been playing pretty well these last few nights and it’s great to see him get rewarded.”
Neither team scored in the first overtime, the first time this series either side failed in a period to hit the back of the net.
“I think that was a hell of a game,” Mammoth coach André Tourigny said. “I think both teams played really hard. We were really close. Unfortunately, we gave that six-on-five goal and could not get it done in overtime, but I’m really proud of the way the guys played.”
Also for the Golden Knights, Shea Theodore had a goal and assist and Eichel had two assists. Carter Hart stopped 34 shots.
John Marino, Lawson Crouse and Dylan Guenther scored for the Mammoth and Clayton Keller had two assists. Karel Vejmelka made 31 saves.
Utah rallied in the third period when Guenther tied it at 5:54 on a rush play and Michael Carcone on a two-on-one with 7:18 left.
Both teams have continued to struggle on the power play, combining to go 1 for 10. Vegas ended a scoring drought of 13 power plays when Dorofeyev scored from the right circle to make it 1-1 with 40.2 seconds left in the first period. But the Golden Knights are just 3 for 18 for the series, which is better than Utah’s 1-for-14 showing.
Vegas also has two short-handed goals this series, both from Howden that included his shot from the slot to win Game 5. The Golden Knights forced the action that resulted in a faceoff in Utah’s zone. Vegas won the faceoff, Mitch Marner dug the puck from the boards and fed Howden for the winner.
“(Marner) did a good job of getting the stick in there and interrupting play,” Howden said. “It just kind of popped out and I just tried to get a shot. After that, just kind of blacked out.”
The Golden Knights twice rallied in the first two periods, and goals 1:38 apart by Dorofeyev and Theodore late in the second put them ahead 3-2. It’s the first time Vegas took the lead into the third period in this series, but the Golden Knights were the NHL’s best third-period team in the regular season with a plus-47 goal differential.
But both teams have been resilient — and physical.
They combined for 86 hits, each side determined to assert itself. But those also sometimes resulted in unnecessary penalties, with the Mammoth taking three in the first period on an open-ice interference by Nick Schmaltz, a clothesline takedown of Ivan Barbashev by Logan Cooley officially called holding and a boarding minor on Mikhail Sergachev.
The Golden Knights hardly were blameless. Cole Smith picked up a double-minor high-sticking penalty just 11 seconds into third period, but Vegas killed off the four minutes.
The Burden of the CrownLOS ANGELES, CA — The door has closed on the Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar, the King of Kings, the man who surpassed Marcel Dionne in his final season to become the franchise's all-time points leader, played his last NHL game in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche. Whatever you want to call the last several years of Kings hockey, a retool, a transition, a slow-moving rebuild dressed up in playoff appearance clothing, it ended on the ice vs Colorado. There hasn't been a sexy transition to a new hockey model that has found success in LA.
Kings' Pending RFA Brandt Clarke Explains Why He Hasn't Signed a New Contract YetLos Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke has yet to sign a contract extension, despite being a pending RFA. In Wednesday's end-of-season presser, the 23-year-old explains why negotiations have played out the way it has and his intentions with his future.
