There’s more space on the ice in the Montreal Canadiens’ series against the Buffalo Sabres than there was against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It showed on Wednesday night. Ivan Demidov was more visible and created interesting plays at even strength, but there was no one to complete the plays.
While Jake Evans is a good player, he is not, and should not be used as a second-line center. Of course, the fact that he won nine of his 13 faceoffs for a 69.2% success rate allowed the line to get puck possession, but he doesn’t have the finishing touch needed to play with the Russian rookie.
The top six might have failed to produce last night, but both lines showed that they are more suited to that brand of hockey than to the one played against Tampa. I don’t believe taking Juraj Slafkovsky away from the top line would be the way to go, not yet, anyway. The Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Slafkovsky line generated nine shots on net.
For now, it could be a good move to bring Oliver Kapanen back in the lineup and have him play alongside Demidov and Alex Newhook. Granted, the Finn didn’t do much in his five games against Tampa, but it could be interesting to see what he can do against Buffalo in a speedier kind of game. Whichever way you look at it, the rookie had 22 goals in the regular season, two of which were scored against the Sabres.
Of course, bringing Kapanen back in the lineup would mean scratching someone to make room, but at this stage, with what Demidov is showing, it’s time to give him the linemates he was comfortable with and piled up the points with in the regular season.
While Joe Veleno had a good first game in these playoffs with five hits, I believe it’s important to get the second line going in a series that promises to be all about the offense.
After what seemed like a very long wait for everyone in town, well, in both towns, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres finally kicked off in the state of New York on Wednesday night. As expected, there was plenty of speed, plenty of skills, and plenty of attacking play.
Martin St-Louis wasted no time in showing that he wanted to get his top line back together, having Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky take the series’ opening faceoff. It didn’t exactly start the way the coach would have hoped, but throughout the first period, it was easy to see that the line felt more at ease than it did against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Canadiens’ sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson didn’t have the kind of start he would have liked to this series. After just 30 seconds of play, he found himself heading to the penalty box after he was unable to spot a puck that had taken a weird bounce and ended up having to trip Zach Benson.
Four minutes later, he lost his footing at the red line, allowing the same Benson to take off with the puck and create a three-on-one, which led to the first goal of the series. The winger fed Josh Doan on the doorstep of Jakub Dobes’ net, and it was an easy tap-in.
A little over nine minutes later, Hutson had a front row view of the Sabres’ second goal scored on the power play as he was part of the penalty killing unit that was beaten.
In the second period, as the Canadiens were trapped in their own zone, Hutson was caught on the ice for two consecutive shifts of over two minutes. As energetic as he is, even he has his limits, and he was lucky not to be called for holding at the end of his second long shift, as he was holding on to his man for dear life.
Still, Hutson finished the game with five shots on goal, more than anyone else on the team, and three blocked shots.
Can’t Forget About The Backcheck
St-Louis likes his team to play hard on the forecheck, but with an opponent as speedy as the Sabres are, you have to be careful. Get caught with too many players too deep, and they will make you pay. Pinch at the wrong time? They will make you pay as well.
Buffalo goes from defence to attack in a matter of seconds, and they won’t wait for you. St-Louis has often spoken about the need to play the game that’s in front of you, and that’s going to be even more important in this series. Unnecessary risks should be avoided when playing against a side that feeds on odd-man rush opportunities.
Dach Attack
With the Canadiens down 4-1 late in the second frame, Kirby Down came up clutch to give the Canadiens a bit of hope after Zach Bolduc put him through on a Tage Thompson turnover. He took the first shot, which Alex Lyon stopped, but, as he fell on the ice, Dach took his own rebound and backhanded it past the Sabres' goalie.
At a time when the Canadiens were struggling to create much of anything, the big forward really came through to allow the Habs to go back to the dressing room with a bit of optimism.
It set up Montreal for a good third period, which they dominated in shots 11-1, but they were unable to solve Lyon. The Sabres took a 2-1 series lead despite being outshot 28-16. After their Game 7 win over Tampa, though, the Canadiens can hardly complain about that. The two teams will be back at it on Friday at 7:00 PM for Game 2.
Yeah, the Philadelphia Flyers may still be alive and well in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but the NHL draft is still important for them taking a rebuilder and making it a well-oiled machine in the long run.
When we talk about the Flyers, the center position is the one that comes up most often, due to the team's lack of overall talent at the position.
With Jett Luchanko, Jack Berglund, Heikki Ruohonen, Jack Nesbitt, and Cole Knuble in the fold, depth isn't an issue. But it's unclear if any of those names will develop into a top-six pivot that can match or exceed the impact and offensive production of Trevor Zegras.
One position in the Flyers organization that lacks both depth and talent, though, is left defense.
The Flyers do currently boast a capable NHL top-four with Travis Sanheim and Cam York leading the way, but they don't have a premium offensive defenseman like many of the Stanley Cup contenders do.
York, Jamie Drysdale, and Emil Andrae were all drafted to be those types of players, but have settled in at the NHL level as analytics darlings who are positives in transition.
And behind York and Andrae on the left, the Flyers don't have much youth coming their way.
Hunter McDonald is a pending restricted free agent, and Ty Murchison may be capable of becoming a bottom-pair guy to replace the aging Nick Seeler. These prospects are solid for their playstyles, but not inspiring or exciting.
Fortunately, we are here to solve that with our first Flyers mock draft, getting ahead of the offseason early, as we are used to this time of year.
At the time of this writing, Tankathon has the Flyers drafting defenseman Xavier Villeneuve with the 21st overall pick; I concur with this selection.
With the 21st overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers select...
Xavier Villeneuve, left-shot defenseman, 5-foot-11, 157 pounds, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
The Flyers have missed out on undersized dynamo defenders before. Everyone passed on Lane Hutson in 2022, and the Flyers went with Luchanko ahead of Zeev Buium in 2024.
Now that they won't be in a position to select any of the top centers (or forwards in general), they should feel comfortable again going with the best talent available.
Villeneuve, 18, has been regarded as a top-10 talent, but his size, of course, is a major detractor. It also doesn't help that the Canadian blueliner was limited to just 37 QMJHL games this season, missing nearly three months due to injury.
At the end of the day, though, Villeneuve has 18 goals and 100 points in his last 98 regular season games, and he added 14 points in 17 playoff games for the Armada upon his return.
The Flyers should already be familiar with this player, given that 2024 second-round pick Spencer Gill played with Villeneuve this season, although he dealt with a significant injury of his own.
Gill, 19, is a 6-foot-4 right-shot who added 10 points in 17 playoff contests, and I think these two could be an interesting pairing down the road.
Villeneuve is a bit on the older side for this class, too, as he turns 19 in September, so it won't be long before he's in the pro ranks with Gill.
And if the Flyers can land him in the 20s this summer? They are going to be a scary team to play against in the coming years in many different ways.
BOSTON, MA - MARCH 24: Anthony Stolarz #41 of the Toronto Maple Leafs makes a save on the penalty kill during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 24, 2024, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Welcome to Thursday/Friday, folks!
As we move into the offseason, we’ll try to cover any relevant news and put up new threads every couple of days for open discussion, then eventually start with the player reviews, recaps, and all that fun stuff.
For now, we’re still in the immediate aftermath of the Bruins’ playoff elimination, but there’s plenty going on around the team.
The mysterious Toronto draft pick
The most intriguing point of conversation right now is the fate of the first-round pick the Bruins received from Toronto in the Brandon Carlo trade, which was thrown into chaos when Toronto won the draft lottery on Tuesday.
Top 5 protected, slides to 2027. The 2027 pick goes to Philadelphia (as part of Laughton trade) if it is outside the top 10, which converts this pick to Boston to a 2028 unprotected 1st Round Pick. If this Pick slides to 2027 and is in the top 10, TOR can either transfer it to BOS to satisfy this trade and then give PHI the 2028 unprotected, or transfer it to PHI and give BOS the 2028 unprotected 1st Round Pick.
However, Chris Johnston had an article in The Athletic on Wednesday that made things appear considerably more murky, saying that the league still hasn’t settled on a formal interpretation of the trade.
He suggests that the league may allow next season to play out before determining the fate of the pick, which seems pretty unfair to both the Bruins and the Flyers — if you’re considering moving that asset this summer for more immediate help, you’re not going to get top dollar if the year of the pick is just listed as “TBD.”
Johnston eventually settles on there being thought around the league that the Flyers will get the 2027 pick, even if it falls in the top ten, with the Bruins getting an unprotected 2028 pick.
Then there’s this caveat around the “Toronto picks who gets the 2027 pick,” which seems completely ridiculous:
That would create a potentially fascinating dynamic next offseason, if Toronto was left with the choice of determining whether Boston or Philadelphia ended up with a prized pick. In theory, the Leafs might be able to use that power as a way to coax a favorable return in a subsequent trade from one of those teams.
I have no idea how the league would allow Toronto to extract capital from a team with whom they’ve already completed a trade just to get them a more favorable outcome, but nothing with the NHL shocks me at this point.
Anyways, it’s best for all of our sanity if the league issues some kind of edict on this soon, as it will end the speculation and let each team know what kind of asset they have on their hands.
Providence is on the brink
After a historic regular season the AHL Bruins are on the verge of crashing out of the playoffs in the first round.
The P-Bruins trail their best-of-five series with Springfield two games to one, with Game 4 in Springfield on Thursday night.
The AHL said it was “taking responsibility” for that gaffe after the game, which…does absolutely nothing for Providence, so here we are.
It reminds me of the Billy Madison scene with “well sorry doesn’t put the delicious Triscuit crackers in my stomach, now does it, Carl?”
If the P-Bruins win Thursday night and extend the series to a deciding Game 5, that will be in Providence on Saturday night.
Money talks
The NHL confirmed the salary cap for the 2026-2027 season on Wednesday, with an upper limit set at $104 million.
Per BruinsCapSpace, the B’s will head into the offseason with a little more than $16 million in space, which isn’t a bad spot to be in when you consider there are no glaringly obvious “re-sign him right now” UFAs to deal with.
(They have decisions to make on guys like Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke, but I guess my point is it’s not like they have a million empty roster spots to fill with that space.)
We heard about the desire to add talent and speed at yesterday’s leadership press conference, so we’ll see how that goes.
Among the teams still playing, Buffalo won its series-opener against Montreal on Wednesday night, while the Ducks evened their series against the Golden Knights.
Thursday night will feature Game 3 of Hurricanes-Flyers, followed by Games 2 and 3 of Buffalo-Montreal and Anaheim-Vegas, respectively, on Friday night.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 04: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers makes a save in front of Tommy Novak #18 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Before the season started, I wrote about five players I was most curious to see. Now that the dust has settled, let’s check in on how that all went.
Owen Pickering
It was nice to see Pickering earn some NHL time (to the tune of 25 games) in his rookie season, but his NHL stint ended in January getting some tough love in a hard practice from Sidney Crosby working him over and then struggling in his last handful of games. That was in January, now nine months and ago Pickering hasn’t been seen since on this level. How much has the 21-year old used that to grow and improve? The vaunted leap from Year 1 to Year 2 is a big deal and it will be critical for Pickering to show some development based off of where he was previously. And, besides, the Penguins need someone to play on the left side of their defense. It would be a great development if Pickering can raise his level.
Pickering only played four NHL games early in the season from October 28th through November 3rd. It didn’t go well, especially towards the end and he’s been back in Wilkes-Barre for the rest of the season with the team choosing to use other options to fill out their defense, most notably picking up Ilya Solovyov in a trade with Colorado for depth.
By all accounts, Pickering has settled into being a quality AHL player. He scored a key power play goal in Game 1 of the playoffs against Hershey and set AHL-highs in goals, assists and points. While only being 22-years old, Pickering has completed four seasons since his draft and is far from established in the NHL. The list of mid-round first round picks to not have made an NHL impact by draft+4 is not a good indicator for the future. By this point, you know if you have a K’Andre Miller/Jakub Chychrun/Travis Sanheim or a prospect trending towards P.O. Joseph/Tobias Bjornfot/Jacob Bernard-Docker, Who knows what that might hold, but at this point it’s getting late in the development curve for a first round pick. Pickering is under contract for 2026-27, but at this point there won’t be too much curiosity around him unless he takes a big step forward.
Arturs Silovs
Silovs’ last work was being great in the AHL playoffs, helping Abbotsford win the Calder Cup and being named the AHL’s playoff MVP. The AHL isn’t the NHL, but that’s a pretty good launching point for the future. Silovs needs waivers to be sent to the AHL, the whole reason Vancouver went in the direction to trade him for a draft pick to get something out of him, therefore we can probably expect him to make Pittsburgh’s NHL team out of camp as the backup goalie. It hasn’t been smooth sailing in the NHL level for Silovs, so we might not really want to see him for that long if it doesn’t go well, but right off the bat he will be a very interesting character to track.
It was an up and down season for Silovs, who played well at times and struggled for other stretches. One such tough stretch in March may have had something to do with a knee injury suffered at that point and revealed during breakdown day. Silovs led the Penguins in starts (40) this season and was excellent in the playoffs. His personal stats aren’t a lot to write home about (19-12-8 record, 3.02 GAA, .888 save%) but he weathered the storm and gained a lot of experience to put together his first full season as an NHL netminder.
Not sure I’d say the future is extremely bright, but there is some sort of future there. It says something that Silovs has been at his best in the most important moments (playing for Team Latvia, the AHL playoffs last year, the NHL playoffs this year), he has that admirable quality to perform when it matters.
Tommy Novak
Many have mostly forgotten about Novak, and there’s not much fault in that considering he only played two games with the Penguins last season before getting injured. Novak will draw attention once he gets back out there, though. He can do things like this:
And he’s also a very busy player with a great analytical profile. Novak sets up teammates for chances with frequency, he is great at forechecking.
Yet, Novak’s former GM had a less than glowing review about Novak’s recent play:
“When (Novak) was a fourth-line, league-minimum guy and scoring while getting some sheltered minutes, that fit him just fine. When you move up the lineup, it’s harder to find your space and be productive. If you want to move up the lineup, and get paid more, there’s more responsibility.”
“There’s a reason that guys get the higher salaries, because most nights, they’re getting the harder matchups and they’re expected to produce,” Trotz explained.
Trotz, of course, hasn’t been the most savvy manager but his words can’t be totally dismissed. Novak still has to prove himself and bring an added level of consistency. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes in Pittsburgh, is he playing on the second line with Evgeni Malkin? Centering a third line of his own, perhaps with good friend and longtime teammate Phil Tomasino?
Novak was indeed a curious case. There were times where he was invisible, starting the season with no goals and one assist in six games then going through a zero goal, two assists stretch over the last 13 games of March. There were teams when he turned hot, like an 11 point in 14 game effort in December. He found a niche with Malkin and Egor Chinakhov in a high-flying line that was generating rush chances like no other in the second half of the season.
Below the point line, Novak was one of the team’s best players in terms of zone entries, puck carries and neutral zone efficiency. He has enough skill to be a perfect player in a complimentary role to support skilled linemates. Useful player and a nice season.
Ville Koivunen
Koivunen was great in Finland in 2023-24, scoring 56 points in 59 games. He followed that up with his first full season in North America by putting up 56 points in 63 games in the AHL and then getting a little taste of the NHL at the end of the season, which also went well with seven points in eight games.
It’s one thing to play out the string at the end of a season, it’s another thing to go through the full grind. By this time about six months from now, we’ll know a lot more about Koivunen and how big a piece of the puzzle he could be moving forward. His vision and passing ability are legit, it’s already apparent this is a special player in terms of how he sees the game and thinks the game. The curiosity will come in how he handles long stretches of play, can he get to the net? Can he keep up with his feet? Will he be effective and fit in longterm? So far there’s a lot to feel confident about and be impressed with, but Koivunen might not be a top-6 player for the next 5-10 years for the Penguins, there’s still a lot to prove and see out of him.
Koivunen’s seven points in the last eight games of the season looks now to be the product of teams not playing extremely hard against a non-playoff Penguin team and Koivunen getting an 18 minute per night role to put up points down the stretch. As mentioned in the writeup, the grind of the full season proved to be deeper water than the young player could swim, only generating 0.40 points per 60 minute – a figure that ranked just 464th out of 468 forwards across the league that played 200+ minutes this season.
Optimism for Koivunen has turned for concern, his skating stats and speed bursts are among the lowest in the league. Though listed at 184 pounds, he was easily knocked off pucks constantly in battles. Koivunen has mastered the AHL level (41 points in 34 games this season in Wilkes) but was rendered completely ineffective in the show. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to add any tangible gains to his skating and strength this summer, the clock is going to start ticking loudly on his future for anything beyond AHL/Europe quality player.
Avery Hayes / Tristan Broz
I’m going to stick these two together, because very strangely enough both of these players were born on the exact same day — October 10, 2002. What are the odds of that? (Also in states that border each other, though their listed hometowns of Westland, MI [Hayes] and River Falls, WI [Broz]) are about 650 miles away via automobile). Despite that common bday, they’ve taken very different paths to get here: Broz was heralded as a top player in his age range and made a second round pick in 2021, Hayes went undrafted and had to earn an NHL contract the hard way. They have some similarities too, Hayes won two OHL championships (in 2022 with Hamilton, in 2023 with Peterborough), Broz was a national champion at the University of Denver. Both are on the upswing and have a sort of knack for coming through and winning observers over.
So it’s only fitting to combine them as they look to make their NHL debuts in the same season. This might be better subtitled “players I’m curious to see in training camp” because that is more applicable or accurate for the time being. Still, it will be interesting to see what kind of opportunities players like Broz and Hayes get this season. Do the Pens continue to call-up players from Wilkes that are only warm body space fillers (Boko Imama, Joona Koppanen, Valtteri Puustinen, Emil Bemstrom, etc). Bemstrom is out of the organization now, but it would be nice to see players in the Broz/Hayes mold push up the organizational rankings beyond the type of vanilla and exceedingly limited type of forwards that tend to get recalled that aren’t going to provide a lot of contribution to the NHL on their best day. Of course, the Broz/Hayes level guys have to hold up their end of the bargain by impressing and performing well themselves, which will be another area to watch.
Both players had excellent camps and made run at NHL roster spots, only to have the suddenly flush forward depth chart bump them back to the AHL. Broz continued to have some rotten injury luck, being unavailable at points where he would have gotten called up. Hayes made the most of his NHL debut by scoring two goals in the first period of his first game against Buffalo on February 5th. He played a total of 16 NHL games and scored five goals, setting himself up nicely for what could be a full-time graduation to the NHL as soon as next training camp.
Broz’s path forward appears much less certain. He is under contract next season but the Pens signed Blake Lizotte to a contract extension. Broz has been working mostly as a center, the number of center spots that Pittsburgh will have available for an AHL player look extremely limited.
—
In the end, the Penguins had no shortage of players to be curious about this year. Midseason pickups that we didn’t even know about at the time like Chinakhov, Elmer Soderblom, Brett Kulak, Sam Girard and Stuart Skinner provided no shortage of intriguing players to watch over the course of the year as they came (and sometimes went almost as quickly). You always have to stay on your toes when it comes to this team.
Kyle Dubas won’t be in the dark to exactly how much cap room the Penguins will have this offseason with official numbers being revealed by the NHL on Wednesday. The salary cap ceiling for 2026-27 will be set at $104 million, an almost 9% increase from last season. Figuring in all the money that will be coming off the books this summer, the Penguins are projected to have roughly $46 million in cap space and needing to add almost $20 million just to reach the cap floor, leaving Dubas with plenty of space to work with this offseason. [Pensburgh]
Pens Points…
Dubas will have a lot of salary cap room to work with this offseason and it’s important that he apply it wisely to his squad for next season. While it may be enticing to throw big money around in free agency, the much more prudent move is to swing big on the trade market. [Pensburgh]
Often times, when it’s said a player just needs a change of scenery it serves more as a nicer way of saying a player just isn’t that good. Egor Chinakhov flipped that old adage on its head after breaking out following his trade to Pittsburgh and playing like the first round selection he was. [Trib Live]
There is a lot of goalies in the Penguins system at the moment and at some point the damn is going to have to break. While most of the talk surrounds Sergei Murashov as the future in goal, there is another netminder in Wilkes-Barre who is still charting his own path as well. [Trib Live]
Unless something changes over the next few weeks, the Penguins will have a first round pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. Where that pick sits we do not yet know, but scouting for the draft is will underway with the U18 tournament wrapping up across the pond last week. [Pensburgh]
NHL News and Notes…
Wednesday was Selke Trophy day for the NHL award announcements and with this year’s finalists, we are guaranteed to have a first time winner. Anthony Cirelli picks up his second Selke nomination following last season while Brock Nelson and Nick Suzuki check in as first time finalists. [NHL]
Expansion is coming for the PWHL with Detroit being awarded the league’s newest franchise set to being play next season. Detroit is expected to be just the first of four potential expansion teams as the league evaluates other cities across North America to award a new franchise. [ESPN]
Vegas Golden Knights (39-26-17, in the Pacific Division) vs. Anaheim Ducks (43-33-6, in the Pacific Division)
Anaheim, California; Friday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Golden Knights -111, Ducks -108; over/under is 6
NHL PLAYOFFS SECOND ROUND: Series tied 1-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Anaheim Ducks host the Vegas Golden Knights in game three of the second round of the NHL Playoffs with the series tied 1-1. The teams meet Wednesday for the sixth time this season. The Ducks won the previous matchup 3-1.
Anaheim is 43-33-6 overall with a 20-13-1 record against the Pacific Division. The Ducks have gone 43-13-4 in games they score at least three goals.
Vegas is 16-6-6 against the Pacific Division and 39-26-17 overall. The Golden Knights have a 42-6-11 record when scoring at least three goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Cutter Gauthier has 41 goals and 28 assists for the Ducks. Troy Terry has four goals and six assists over the past 10 games.
Mitchell Marner has 24 goals and 56 assists for the Golden Knights. Jack Eichel has two goals and 14 assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Ducks: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.3 assists, 3.1 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.
Golden Knights: 7-3-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.1 assists, 4.1 penalties and 8.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Ducks: Radko Gudas: day to day (lower body), Petr Mrazek: out for season (lower-body).
Golden Knights: Jeremy Lauzon: out (undisclosed).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Montreal Canadiens (48-24-10, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Buffalo Sabres (50-23-9, in the Atlantic Division)
Buffalo, New York; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
LINE: Sabres -138, Canadiens +116; over/under is 5.5
NHL PLAYOFFS SECOND ROUND: Sabres lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the NHL Playoffs with a 1-0 lead in the series. The teams meet Wednesday for the sixth time this season. The Sabres won the previous matchup 4-2.
Buffalo is 50-23-9 overall with a 21-7-5 record in Atlantic Division play. The Sabres are seventh in league play serving 9.7 penalty minutes per game.
Montreal is 20-11-3 against the Atlantic Division and 48-24-10 overall. The Canadiens have a 20-8-2 record in games they score one or more power-play goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rasmus Dahlin has 19 goals and 55 assists for the Sabres. Alex Tuch has six goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
Cole Caufield has 51 goals and 37 assists for the Canadiens. Nicholas Suzuki has scored three goals and added six assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sabres: 7-1-2, averaging 3.7 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.6 penalties and 11.1 penalty minutes while giving up 1.8 goals per game.
Canadiens: 5-3-2, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.5 assists, 5.3 penalties and 11.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Sabres: Noah Ostlund: out (lower body), Jiri Kulich: out for season (ear), Sam Carrick: day to day (arm), Rasmus Dahlin: day to day (undisclosed), Justin Danforth: out for season (kneecap).
Canadiens: Patrik Laine: out (abdomen).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Buffalo Sabres spent weeks dragging around a powerless power play — then turned it into the defining storyline of Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Buffalo’s 4-2 win Wednesday night at KeyBank Center was about control. The Sabres dictated the pace early, forced Montreal into undisciplined mistakes, and punished the Canadiens every time the game tilted toward special teams.
After entering the second round buried under criticism for a power play that had gone ice cold late in the regular season and through much of the first round, Buffalo suddenly looked dangerous again with the extra attacker — and that completely changed the tone of the series opener.
Early Penalties Changed Everything
Montreal never looked fully settled in the opening period, and a large part of that came from the Canadiens repeatedly putting themselves on the wrong side of the whistle. Buffalo attacked with speed off the rush, pressured Montreal’s defense into hurried decisions, and capitalized on loose puck battles that forced the Canadiens into scrambling situations.
The Sabres quickly made those mistakes costly.
Josh Doan opened the scoring early in the first period, giving Buffalo immediate momentum before the Canadiens had a chance to establish any structure. From there, the game began tilting heavily toward special teams. Ryan McLeod doubled Buffalo’s lead on the power play midway through the opening frame, finishing off a sequence that showcased far better puck retrievals and cleaner movement than the Sabres had shown at any point late in the Boston series.
Instead of overhandling pucks along the perimeter or settling for one-and-done possessions, Buffalo attacked decisively. The Sabres won loose pucks, created second opportunities, and finally looked confident operating with space.
As Josh Doan put it afterward, “it was hit-or-miss throughout the end of year,” but Buffalo emphasized recovering pucks and avoiding “one-and-dones” on the power play — something the Sabres executed far better Wednesday night.
Montreal briefly grabbed life when Nick Suzuki scored on the power play late in the first period, but even that moment failed to slow Buffalo’s push.
Buffalo’s Depth Took Over
One of the biggest differences Wednesday night was how effectively Buffalo rolled through its lineup. While Montreal spent much of the night trying to recover from early penalties and chase momentum, the Sabres continued finding production from secondary pieces.
Jordan Greenway restored Buffalo’s two-goal cushion early in the second period after capitalizing on defensive confusion around the net, and Bowen Byram later added another power-play goal that effectively reestablished control after Montreal had started finding some offensive rhythm.
Buffalo’s stars did not dominate the scoresheet, but the Sabres hardly needed them to. Their depth forwards consistently won battles below the goal line, pressured Montreal’s breakout, and forced the Canadiens into uncomfortable defensive-zone shifts that drained energy from their top players.
Doan and Zach Benson were especially effective driving play in the middle six, and Buffalo’s third line repeatedly tilted the ice whenever it jumped over the boards.
That depth also helped neutralize Montreal’s top unit at even strength. Outside of isolated pushes, the Canadiens struggled to generate sustained offensive-zone pressure five-on-five, and many of their best opportunities came only after Buffalo turnovers rather than controlled offensive execution.
Lindy Ruff pointed to that balance after the game, noting that Buffalo has consistently relied on “another line” stepping up when the team’s top players are contained.
Special Teams Finally Looked Dangerous Again
For Buffalo, the biggest development may have simply been psychological.
The Sabres entered the night carrying the weight of a brutal stretch on the power play. They closed the regular season without a power-play goal over their final weeks and then managed just one goal with the man advantage in their entire first-round series against Boston. Every failed opportunity had started creating more hesitation.
Wednesday looked completely different.
The puck movement was quicker. Entries were cleaner. Players attacked downhill instead of waiting for perfect looks to develop. Most importantly, Buffalo finally looked aggressive retrieving pucks after missed shots or blocked attempts — an area that had completely disappeared during their slump.
The Canadiens’ lack of discipline only amplified that issue. Montreal repeatedly lost positioning in transition and forced itself into reactive penalties trying to recover defensively. Against a power play desperate for confidence, that became a dangerous formula.
Ruff acknowledged afterward that Buffalo “took advantage of some good breaks” while also making “a couple of good plays” on the power play.
Buffalo also continued receiving elite goaltending from Alex Lyon, who once again stabilized the game whenever Montreal threatened to push momentum the other direction. Since replacing Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen during the Boston series, Lyon has given the Sabres a calming presence in net and allowed them to play aggressively in front of him.
Kirby Dach’s second-period goal briefly tightened the scoreline, but Buffalo closed the game down effectively in the third period, limiting Montreal’s clean looks and avoiding the kind of defensive breakdowns that fueled chaos earlier in the playoffs.
Now the pressure shifts squarely onto the Canadiens entering Game 2.
Montreal showed flashes offensively, particularly from Suzuki’s line, but the Canadiens spent too much of the night chasing the game after self-inflicted mistakes. Against a Buffalo team that suddenly looks confident again on special teams, that is not a sustainable formula for winning this series.
Martin St. Louis still believed there were positives for Montreal despite the loss, saying afterward he liked that the Canadiens’ top players “got more touches and space,” but he also admitted Montreal has to be better in 50-50 puck battles and managing the puck in the offensive zone.
Game 2 takes place on Friday. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. local time from KeyBank Center.
This year, the Vegas Golden Knights earned the reputation as the best third-period team in the league— a silver lining in an otherwise disappointing season. Of course, this was in part due to their slow starts, but during the regular season, the end often justifies the means. After two poor showings against the Anaheim Ducks, this can no longer be the case; the Golden Knights are extremely fortunate to escape with a series split.
In Game One, Carter Hart kept Vegas in the game until their stars arrived. Hart tried to do the same in Game 2; however, despite a 25-save performance, the scoring never came, and the Golden Knights lost 3-1.
“I think we’re always concerned, no matter what,” said head coach John Tortorella following the game. “Win or lose, coaches are always looking to pronounce the good things and work on the bad things. Yeah, we still have some things to work on.”
The first period was barely played at 5-on-5; both teams combined for over eight minutes of power play time. The Ducks possessed the lion’s share of that power play time, and finished the period with a commanding 13-4 edge in shots. However, despite being thoroughly outshot and generating just four scoring chances against Anaheim’s 12, the Golden Knights escaped the first period and entered intermission tied at zero.
In the second period, the Golden Knights finally strung together some decent shifts and outshot the Ducks 11-7. However, the Ducks were again the better offensive team, generating 20 scoring chances against the Golden Knights’ five.
The Ducks finally broke the ice at 11:23 in the second. Jeffrey Viel redirected Jackson LaCombe’s stretch pass into the zone, pressured Kaedan Korczak into a turnover, and got to Ryan Poehling’s dump-in. Viel found Beckett Sennecke all alone atop the blue paint, and the Calder finalist snapped a shot past Hart’s outstretched glove.
Calder finalist Beckett Sennecke gets Anaheim on the board off a really nice feed from Jeffrey Viel.
The Ducks doubled their lead at 6:36 in the third period. Leo Carlsson sprung Chris Kreider on a partial breakaway, but Noah Hanifin pushed Kreider to the outside. Kreider curled up and left the puck for Troy Terry, who danced around Rasmus Andersson and found Carlsson back-door.
The kids are alright. Kreider can’t get the shot off on the breakaway, so he peels up and finds Terry with time and space. Terry to Carlsson and Anaheim leads by two.
The Golden Knights finally found their footing and outshot the Ducks 10-8 in the third. They generated 14 scoring chances against Anaheim’s three and controlled 59.48% of the expected goal share.
However, despite the offensive surge, the Golden Knights couldn’t solve Lukáš Dostál. They pulled Carter Hart for the extra attacker with just under four minutes remaining in regulation, but didn’t manage a single shot on goal. Following a Ducks clear, they turned the puck over at center ice, and Jansen Harkins hit the empty net.
The Golden Knights snapped Lukáš Dostál’s shutout bid on a late power play opportunity with just six seconds remaining in regulation. Jack Eichel got a shot off, and Mark Stone redirected it home for his third goal of the postseason.
Vegas gets a late power play. Mark Stone redirects Jack Eichel’s shot past Lukáš Dostál. The Golden Knights avoid getting shutout on home ice in the postseason for the third time in franchise history.
“We’re going to find our way and try to play our best game. That certainly hasn’t happened in this series. We’ll find our way and get there,” said Tortorella following the 3-1 loss. “They split here; we’ve got to go in and try to get a game out of there. We’re going to keep our composure and get about our business.”
Three Takeaways of the Knight
1. John Tortorella shook up his top-nine in the third period. He moved Mark Stone back up with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev, and put William Karlsson with Brett Howden and Mitch Marner. Pavel Dorofeyev slid down to the third line with Tomáš Hertl and Keegan Kolesar.
2. The penalty kill was, once again, a difference-maker for the Golden Knights. In the first period, the Ducks were on the power play for 6:19 consecutively, including an extended 5-on-3. The Golden Knights only allowed two shot attempts during the 1:38 5-on-3.
“Outstanding,” Tortorella said of his penalty kill postgame. “It kind of screws us up— we want to try to get a good start, and we’re sitting in the box. I think that affects things as you’re trying to get through that first period. But the penalty kill has been fantastic, and that was a key part of the game. We just couldn’t make it stand.”
3. The Golden Knights won’t win this series unless they can figure out how to generate sustained offensive zone pressure. They squeaked out a controversial win last game, but they can’t plan on that happening again. For two periods tonight, they looked like they were hanging on for dear life; they would finally clear the puck, and Anaheim would reset by the time the Golden Knights swapped their tired players for fresh ones.
“We need to have the puck more in their end,” said Tortorella. “A lot of times, we’re one and done. We need to create more pressure there, and I think that will hurt their attack.”
May 4, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Anaheim Ducks right wing Beckett Sennecke (45) shoots against the Vegas Golden Knights during the second period of game one of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson and Jansen Harkins scored, Lukas Dostal came 5.6 seconds from his first career playoff shutout and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 on Wednesday night to even their series at a game apiece.
The Ducks head home with the chance to grab hold of the best-of-seven second-round NHL playoff series, with Game 3 on Friday night. Vegas hopes to pull off a repeat of its first-round series when the Golden Knights went to Utah at 1-1 before winning in six games.
Sennecke, a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy that goes to the league’s top rookie, became the fourth Ducks player 20 or younger to score multiple goals in a postseason.
Dostal saved 23 shots and nearly had his third career shutout, including regular-season play, before Mark Stone scored a power-play goal in the closing seconds.
Carter Hart made 25 saves for the Golden Knights. Brett Howden’s four-game goal streak ended, as did Ivan Barbarshev’s seven-game point streak.
The Golden Knights’ penalty kill gave them a chance. They killed all five penalties, including a stretch of 6:19 in the first period in which the Golden Knights took four penalties, including a double minor by Jack Eichel for high sticking. Vegas has killed off 19 straight penalties this postseason and is 24 of 25 overall.
But offense again was at a premium for Vegas, and coach John Tortorella adjusted his lines to try to find some life. Stone moved to the top line, William Karlsson shifted to the second and Pavel Dorofeyev dropped to the third.
Ducks coach Joel Quenneville found some magic by moving Cutter Gauthier up to the second line with Mikael Granlund and Alex Killorn. That group had 20 scoring chances to one for Vegas in just 6:25 of action after two periods, according to Natural Stat Trick. They finished with a 23-5 advantage.
The Ducks broke through in the second period, controlling play for about six minutes as Vegas struggled to keep the puck out of its zone. Then finally it was too much, Jeffrey Viel passing from below the goal line to Sennecke, camped out in front of the net for the 1-0 lead with 8:37 left in the period.
Troy Terry’s backhand pass to Carlsson at 6:36 of the third period made it 2-0 for the Ducks. Harkins added an empty-net goal with 3:30 remaining.
For the second straight playoff series, the Golden Knights are headed out of town for Games 3 and 4 tied 1-1, and home ice squandered after losing Game 2.
The Anaheim Ducks scored three unanswered goals and cruised to a 3-1 win Wednesday night to knot the second-round series at one game apiece.
Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson and Jansen Harkins scored for the Ducks, while Lukas Dostal made 21 saves.
Vegas captain Mark Stone saved the Knights from enduring their third-ever home shutout loss in the playoffs when he scored with six seconds left in the game. Goalie Carter Hart made 25 saves.
KEY MOMENT
At the midway point of the first period, Anaheim's Tim Washe was called for goaltender interference, giving the Golden Knights their first power-play opportunity. Vegas had already staved off Anaheim's first two power-play chances and had the chance to seize momentum with the third-best home power play of the playoffs. Instead, the Knights didn't even get a shot on goal.
KEY STAT
4 ... Wednesday marked the fourth-straight Game 2 playoff loss at home for the Knights. Last year they fell to the Minnesota Wild in the opening round, as the two split the first two games. The Knights went on to win the series, 4-2. In the second round, the Edmonton Oilers won both Games 1 and 2, but then won Game 3 in Canada to cut the series lead in half. In this year's opening round, the Knights lost Games 2 and 3 to the Utah Mammoth, before winning Games 4-6 to advance. The Golden Knights have now lost Game 2 seven times, and are 3-3 after doing so the first six times.
WHAT A KNIGHT
Though he didn't score or have anything to do with Stone's goal, give Ivan Barbashev the nod for this space. Barbashev, who scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 and failed to register a point for the first time this postseason, still led the team with five shots on goal. He had three other shots blocked and led the team with eight hits.
UP NEXT
The teams continue their series in Anaheim for Game 3 on Friday night.
PHOTO CAPTION
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov (98) blocks a shot by Vegas Golden Knights left wing Ivan Barbashev (49) during the third period of game two of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson and Jansen Harkins scored, Lukas Dostal came 5.6 seconds from his first career playoff shutout and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 on Wednesday night to even their series at a game apiece.
The Ducks head home with the chance to grab hold of the best-of-seven second-round NHL playoff series, with Game 3 on Friday night. Vegas hopes to pull off a repeat of its first-round series when the Golden Knights went to Utah at 1-1 before winning in six games.
Sennecke, a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy that goes to the league’s top rookie, became the fourth Ducks player 20 or younger to score multiple goals in a postseason.
Dostal saved 23 shots and nearly had his third career shutout, including regular-season play, before Mark Stone scored a power-play goal in the closing seconds.
Carter Hart made 25 saves for the Golden Knights. Brett Howden’s four-game goal streak ended, as did Ivan Barbarshev’s seven-game point streak.
Josh Doan and Jordan Greenway also scored for Buffalo making its first second-round appearance since 2007, and first overall in 15 years. Alex Lyon stopped 26 shots and improved to 4-1 since taking over the starting duties in Game 3 of Buffalo’s opening-round opponent Boston.
Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach scored for Montreal, which appeared slow to find its legs three days after defeating Tampa Bay in Game 7 of its first-round series. Jakub Dobes finished with 12 saves, and allowed four goals after allowing a combined two in splitting Games 6 and 7 against the Lightning.
Montreal has yet to win consecutive playoff games this postseason, and was coming off a series in which all seven games were decided by one goal, including four in overtime.
Buffalo hosts Game 2 on Friday night, before the series shifts to Montreal on Sunday.
Ducks forward Leo Carlsson celebrates after scoring in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night. (John Locher / Associated Press)
Before the Ducks had even checked out of their hotel Wednesday for the short bus ride to T-Mobile Arena for Game 2 of their Stanley Cup playoff series, the Las Vegas sports books had made the hometown Golden Knights heavy favorites.
That proved to be a poor bet a couple of hours later when the Ducks rolled to a 3-1 victory, evening the best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1. The second-round series resumes Friday at Honda Center.
The Ducks' goals came from Beckett Sennecke in the second period and Leo Carlsson and Jansen Harkins in the third. Harkins’ goal, into an empty net, was the exclamation point on the win. Jack Eichel scored Vegas’ only goal on a power play in the final seconds, denying goaltender Lukas Dostal and the Ducks their first shutout of the season.
Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke celebrates after scoring in the second period against the Golden Knights in Game 2 on Wednesday. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
It wasn't the first time the Ducks defied the odds this postseason. After losing the opener of their first-round series to favored Edmonton, the Ducks won four of the next five.
This one shouldn’t have been that close. The younger, faster Ducks dominated the plodding Golden Knights for most of the game, but Vegas stifled the Ducks' power play, which kept it in the game.
“The way to beat them is just outpacing them,” Ducks center Ryan Poehling said. “And it's not just with speed. It's how we play. Guys are supporting one another, and you saw that tonight.
“Tonight was kind of a game plan of what we want to do to win, for sure.”
The Golden Knights, who killed four penalties in Game 1, saw three players go to the box in the first 5½ minutes, giving the Ducks a man advantage for eight consecutive minutes. For one minute and 41 seconds, Vegas was down two players.
Yet the Ducks couldn’t score.
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal protects the net in front of Vegas forward Tomas Hertl during the second period. (John Locher / Associated Press)
The Ducks were shut out on another power play in the second period, extending to 19 the number of consecutive penalties the Golden Knights have killed in the playoffs. They’ve allowed just one power-play goal in 25 tries in the postseason.
Which isn’t to say the Ducks weren’t dangerous through the first period and a half, they were. But goaltender Carter Hart was stellar, turning away 17 shots before Sennecke got one past at 11:23 of the second. Jeffrey Viel set up the goal, with his pass from behind the goal line finding Sennecke for a quick wrist shot from the top of the crease.
Carlsson, left all alone on the right side, doubled the advantage with his fourth goal of the playoffs at 13:24 of the third period, redirecting in a backhand pass from Troy Terry.
Defensive games haven’t been the Ducks’ strength this season — they gave up more than 3.5 goals a game during the regular season, more than any other playoff team — but they have smothered the Golden Knights. They gave up just 23 shots in Game 2.
Vegas was also plagued by poor passing and puck handling while the Ducks defenders did a good job of keeping the crease clear.
Ducks forward Leo Carlsson scores past Vegas goaltender Carter Hart during the first period Wednesday. (John Locher / Associated Press)
“We're picking a good time here to play our best hockey,” defenseman Jacob Trouba said.
Now the Ducks go home having split of the first two games, but feeling like they’re leading the series.
“We didn't like Game 1 ended, but we liked our game,” Poehling said about a game that turned on a missed icing call. “That's hockey sometimes. You can play the right way, do all the right things, we end up losing.
“We kept the momentum going into Game 2 and now we're headed home, which is fantastic.”
For the once-favored Golden Knights, they need to hold serve in Anaheim to keep home-ice advantage when the series returns to Las Vegas.
“We got a split here,” coach John Tortorella said. “We need to get a game there.”
On year ago, the notion of the Pittsburgh Penguins trading their 2026 first-round pick would have been met with understandable and unabashed criticism.
Of course, it's not hard to see why: One year ago, the Penguins were waiting for word on the New York Rangers' decision on the first they surrendered to Pittsburgh, and the Rangers chose to keep their 2026 first instead of their 2025 first. One year ago - and this still holds true - folks were talking about how many impact, franchise players would headline the 2026 class. And, one year ago, most of the hockey world thought the Penguins would be one of the teams vying for a precious spot in the top-five, potentially even possessing the most lottery balls.
Well, one year later, a playoff berth and a much later draft selection have certainly changed a few things.
With the NHL Draft Lottery concluded - and the Toronto Maple Leafs winning it to get the first overall pick - the Penguins will select 22nd overall in this year's draft, which will take place Jun. 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. It's a far cry from the top-five, where almost everyone thought they would be drafting going into the 2025-26 season.
Then, they were a top-10 team in the NHL for most of the season, and they made the playoffs. Yes, they were finished off in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers - even if they made the series interesting by forcing a Game 6 after going down 3-0 - but with some up-and-coming talent on the way and some veterans still playing at a very high level, it stands to reason that the Penguins can build on what they accomplished this season.
So, there's the million dollar question: Will the Penguins mobilize this summer? And, if so, will they deal their 22nd overall pick for a young player?
Typically, a team in the midst of a rebuild, even if the Penguins did make the playoffs this season, isn't exactly in a position to leverage those higher-value assets. But, the Penguins are in a bit of a unique situation.
For starters, their veterans are still playing at a very high level. Sidney Crosby just clinched his 21st consecutive season above point-per-game. Evgeni Malkin - whose future for next season, as a UFA, has not yet been decided - was above point-per-game for the first time in three years. Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell matched their paces from last season. Anthony Mantha, another UFA, led the team in goals. And Erik Karlsson played some of the best hockey of his career since his days as an Ottawa Senator nearly a decade ago.
On the surface, some may say that the Penguins are too reliant on their veterans. But they have some key young pieces who should be breaking through on the NHL roster - or, in some cases, have already broken through - sometime next season.
Ben Kindel made the team as an 18-year-old, was the third-line center all season long, has mature details in his game already, and will only continue to grow in terms of production. Egor Chinakhov, 25, only scratched the surface of his potential as an impact top-six winger after being traded to the Penguins by the Columbus Blue Jackets in late-December, as he registered 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games.
Then, there is 22-year-old goaltender Sergei Murashov, who had another really solid professional campaign in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) and figures to graduate to the NHL from the AHL next season. There is also defenseman Harrison Brunicke, 20, who broke the NHL roster out of training camp at 19, eventually found himself back on his junior team, is playing top-pair minutes for WBS during the playoffs, and is the highest-upside defenseman in their system. He should also push for a full-time NHL roster spot next season.
And that's not even counting other peripheral players like Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz, Owen Pickering, and Tanner Howe, all of whom will be in the mix over the next two years.
Finally, there's the potential of the trade market this summer.
Even with the cap rising by $8.5 million next season, there are still some teams who are either in cap trouble or are heading in the wrong direction organizationally. The Dallas Stars will try to figure out a way to sign pending-RFA superstar forward Jason Robertson, but that may expose other high-upside young pieces such as defenseman Thomas Harley and forward Mavrik Bourque.
The Leafs - despite winning the lottery - have one of the league's worst farm systems and a captain in Auston Matthews that isn't sure about his future in Toronto with two years remaining on his contract. Even if not Matthews, players like Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson could become available. St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas could also be on the market, even though he'd probably cost a king's ransom.
The Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens have a surplus of young blueliners and, in an effort to take the next step in contention, may covet a good veteran player like Rakell or Rust. There is even some potential turmoil in Edmonton, although the Oilers are unlikely to put their two best players on the market this summer.
Even if the free agent market is rather thin this summer, the trade market could have a lot of opportunity, and that's not something that happens very often in the NHL. If an opportunity arises to acquire a young impact talent that could help the Penguins in both the short-term and the long-term, they have to take advantage of that.
They also have a high second-round pick thanks to the Winnipeg Jets, so there won't be an overwhelmingly large talent gap between where they're picking at 22 in the first round versus picking at 39 in the second. And they have another second-round pick at 54.
Obviously, there are bound to be many other teams in on these players, should they become available, so the acquisition cost isn't going to come cheap. A high-end player like Robertson would cost the Penguins at least Rust or Rakell, the first-rounder, and a high-value prospect like Brunicke at a starting point. And that's only a starting point, as it would certainly take at least another prospect and/or an NHL rostered player, plus a few other picks.
And, even if not a Robertson-level talent, someone like Harley would still cost quite a lot. But it's something they should still be able to execute.
The beauty of the Penguins' situation - and what actually makes it pretty advantageous - is the fact that they have a high volume of draft capital, a high volume of viable prospects, and more cap space than anyone else in the NHL. So, even if the Penguins lack some of the higher-end blue-chip prospects other organizations possess, they have so much more flexibility in terms of building out a high-volume package that could push deals over the finish line.
They can tack on picks. They can tack on a prospect or two. And they can take on some salary or a bad contract to help cap-strapped teams like Dallas clear out more space. All of these things do add up, and they could spell the difference in terms of setting themselves apart.
The Penguins and GM/POHO Kyle Dubas have positioned themselves nicely to make a big splash because they have those "extra assets." They have that peripheral prospect talent, mid-round draft capital, and cap space that other teams don't. And they have enough of those things that giving up a few of them for a star player or a rising young player wouldn't be a detriment to their future.
If there is a summer to leverage their first-round pick in a trade for a legitimate young talent, it's this summer. Since they're not going to land a lottery pick, they may be better off landing a sure talent using that first-rounder as leverage rather than hoping that the pick turns into one of the guys they could have traded for.
