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The Colorado Avalanche will look to even their series with the Vegas Golden Knights on home ice Friday night.

They're heavily favored to do just that, which is why my Golden Knights vs. Avalanche goal scorer predictions lean towards the home team.

Let's dig deeper into my NHL picks for May 23.

Golden Knights vs Avalanche goal scorer predictions for Game 2

Goal scorer pick: Nathan MacKinnon (-110)

Nathan MacKinnon posted a game-high nine shot attempts in the series opener while logging more ice time than any other Colorado Avalanche forward.

Head coach Jared Bednar did his best to make life easier on MacKinnon, starting 10 of his shifts in the offensive zone (compared to two in the defensive zone) and keeping him on for 18 offensive zone draws. No forward on the team had more.

The Avalanche can't afford to go down 0-2 heading back to Vegas, so I expect this will be a "kitchen sink" game. MacKinnon could flirt with 24-25 minutes in regulation alone.

For reference, MacKinnon has averaged 5.4 shots on 10.3 attempts over his last 10 playoff games when playing 24+ minutes.

Given the remarkably strong volume he's likely heading for, MacKinnon has a strong chance of finding the net.

Goal scorer pick: Nazem Kadri (+265)

Nazem Kadri was a force in the series opener. The Avalanche generated more shot attempts, scoring chances, and expected goals with him on the ice than any other forward on the roster. He lived in the offensive zone, and tested Carter Hart often as a result.

Kadri had five shot attempts, four shots on goal, and a couple rebound looks during his 5-on-5 minutes. He was also credited with Colorado's only Grade A chance on the power play.

He was a thorn in the side of the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Avalanche will be able to chase the same matchups again in Game 2 with last change on home ice.

Not to mention, Kadri ranks first on the Avalanche in shots on goal, scoring chances, and high-danger looks over their past four home games.

Goal scorer pick: Jack Eichel (+215)

The Golden Knights led for the majority of Game 1, and never trailed, so Jack Eichel wasn't ever under much pressure to force the issue offensively and take chances.

Even so, he still led the team in 5-on-5 scoring chances. They just didn't find the net.

Eichel leads the team in attempts (70), shots (38), and has generated 5.03 expected goals yet scored only one goal. He's getting looks consistently but has been held back by a 2.63% finishing rate.

He scores on more than 10% of his shots year after year so this is a string of bad luck more than anything performance related. The tide is going to turn sooner rather than later, and a better performance from the Avalanche in Game 2 would force Eichel to shoot more frequently.

Golden Knights vs Avalanche anytime goal parlay (+1200)

• Nathan MacKinnon
• Nazem Kadri
• Jack Eichel

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The Vancouver Canucks were the first NHL team eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention in 2026. Some of their former players, however, are continuing to make a big difference in their new teams’ playoff pushes — with the ex-Canucks specifically being big factors in the Vegas Golden Knights and Montréal Canadiens’ Game 1 wins on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. 

The first big performance came from ex-Canuck Nic Dowd during Vegas’ 4–2 Game 1 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Though he only ended up playing 13:18 minutes during this game, the seventh-most among forwards on Vegas, Dowd’s difference-making moment came when he beat out two members of the Avalanche on a non-icing call to slap the puck into the empty net and seal the win for the Golden Knights. Easing up on the play would have likely been detrimental to Vegas, who’d faced an onslaught of offence from Colorado during those final couple of minutes. 

Dowd also won 62.5% of his faceoffs during this game, including the one that led to his empty-net goal. 

The next day saw another former Canuck make a big difference in his team’s victory, though his performance came off-the-ice rather than on it. Montréal took a surprising 6–2 win against a Carolina Hurricanes team that had not surrendered more than five goals in a single series throughout this year’s playoffs up until that point. Post-game, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis gave a shout-out to one particular ex-Canuck’s work in helping them prepare for this series. 

“We knew for a long time that if we got through Buffalo, we were playing Carolina. Obviously, our analytics people, but Alex Burrows does a lot of that grunt work for us, and he worked hard while we were trying to close out the series against Buffalo,” St. Louis explained to reporters. 

Burrows, a longtime Canuck, was formerly an assistant coach for Montréal but stepped down from the role in July of 2024. Since then, he has remained with the Canadiens organization as a player development coach. He has been with the organization for eight seasons, working both with the AHL’s Laval Rocket as well as the Canadiens during that span of time. 

The Conference Finals of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs resume tonight at 5:00 pm PT, as the Avalanche will host the Golden Knights in Colorado for Game 2 of their series. Montréal and Carolina will face each other on Saturday at 4:00 pm PT. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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The Montreal Canadiens’ top line might not have been firing on all cylinders in the first two rounds, but captain Nick Suzuki still managed to get his fair share of points. While most of them came on the power play before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, they still count.

In Thursday’s game, Suzuki had a hand in three of the Canadiens’ six goals, all scored at even strength. He assisted on Cole Caufield’s game-tying goal in the first period and on both of Juraj Slafkovsky’s tallies in the final period, playing a big role in the Habs’ rout of the Hurricanes.

Canadiens' Jakub Dobes Continuing To Make NHL History
Canadiens’ Burrows Played Big Role In The Win
The Canadiens Took Carolina By Storm

After 15 playoff games, the 26-year-old now has 16 points, which is not a record in Canadiens’ history. However, the fact that 14 of those points came on the road is. The four goals he has scored have all come away from the Bell Centre, helping the Canadiens earn the nickname of Road Warriors. With Thursday night’s effort, he took the team lead in scoring, two points ahead of defenseman Lane Hutson.

The first game of the third round was quite promising for the Canadiens, who finally saw their top line erupt at even strength. While the Habs did manage to make it all the way to the conference final, their odds of eliminating Carolina would be greatly increased if their top line could contribute just like it did in Game 1 for the rest of the series.

Nick Suzuki factored on three of six goals tonight to establish a @CanadiensMTL record for most road points in a playoff year. He also tied Mitch Marner for the most in the 2026 #StanleyCup Playoffs.#NHLStats: https://t.co/Isa2xPwGUQpic.twitter.com/KlUnT8jVZv

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) May 22, 2026

The Canadiens will take on the Hurricanes in Game 2 on Saturday night in Raleigh, and a second road win would give them a stronghold in the series. Over recent years, Carolina has been a regular in the conference final but has struggled to win any game in that round. In their last four appearances, including this one, they are now 1-13, and one can wonder if the Habs didn’t plant the seed of doubt in the Canes’ heads with their dominant win.

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When NHL teams are searching for a new head coach, just like the Toronto Maple Leafs are after firing Craig Berube, there's a common theme of a range of candidates coming from a coaching carousel.

Typically, veteran coaches who get relieved land on their feet with another team in short order. It happened to Peter DeBoer when he was fired by the Dallas Stars last off-season, and hired by the New York Islanders at the tail-end of the past regular season.

Former Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy would be the example for this situation this off-season.

However, with the Maple Leafs not considered a Stanley Cup contender after missing the post-season last season, GM John Chayka may look in a different direction in hiring a bench boss.

Here are three candidates who aren't considered veterans in terms of being a head coach in the NHL, but do have some experience and deserve another opportunity to get behind the bench in the league.

Jay Woodcroft

Jay Woodcroft spent this past season as an assistant coach of the Anaheim Ducks. He has played a role in the young Ducks having a breakout season, especially offensively.

Woodcroft has looked after the Ducks' power play and is an offense-minded coach. That would explain the rapid and impressive growth of Anaheim's young star forwards, such as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke.

Before joining the Ducks at the start of this past campaign, he was the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers for parts of three seasons.

He was hired by Edmonton midway through 2021-22 and was let go 13 games into the 2023-24 campaign. Therefore, Woodcroft only led the Oilers for one full year in 2022-23.

Nonetheless, he had a good year with the Oilers, leading that team to a 109-point finish and a 50-23-9 record.

He has experience in managing superstars in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, which would translate to coaching Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Woodcroft also got to work alongside a future Hall of Fame coach in Joel Quenneville this past year.

It's also worth noting that Toronto is Woodcroft's hometown.

David Carle Among Three First-Time NHL Head Coach Candidates For Maple LeafsWith Craig Berube out, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in search of a new head coach, with multiple reports suggesting they'll look for a fresh candidate. Here are three first-time NHL head coaches who could be considered for the Maple Leafs' 42nd head coach in franchise history.

Dean Evason

Dean Evason has much more experience as an NHL head coach compared to Woodcroft, but the 61-year-old isn't exactly a veteran, as he's coached 378 regular-season games in his career.

Nonetheless, he's spent parts of seven seasons as a coach in the NHL, with his time shared between the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Evason's first stint was with Minnesota, which lasted three full campaigns after leading the Wild bench for 12 games in 2019-20 as the successor to Bruce Boudreau. Since then, Evason led the Wild to the post-season in every campaign, except in 2023-24 when he was fired after a 5-10-4 start to the year.

In 2024-25, he joined the Blue Jackets and coached them to a very respectable fourth-place finish in the Metropolitan Division. Columbus missed the playoffs by just a pair of points in the standings, but the team's effort following the loss of Johnny Gaudreau was inspiring.

Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell felt that he needed to make a coaching change 45 games into the following season, and Rick Bowness came in to replace Evason.

Three Surprising NHL Head Coach Candidates For The Maple LeafsIt was a surprise when the Toronto Maple Leafs hired John Chayka as the team's GM, so who's to say they'll have a different approach with hiring the team's next head coach? Here are three surprise candidates who could be named coach of the Maple Leafs.

Drew Bannister

Drew Bannister wasn't a head coach in the NHL for a very long time. In fact, he only coached the St. Louis Blues for 76 outings between 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Bannister's tenure as the head coach of the Blues started when he was named the interim bench boss when Berube was fired, and coached the final 54 games of that season. He ended that year with a respectable 30-19-5 record.

When the next season rolled around, Bannister stayed on board after inking a two-year contract extension, removing his interim tag. But just 22 games in with a 9-12-1 record, Jim Montgomery became available after losing his job with the Boston Bruins, and Blues GM Doug Armstrong jumped on the opportunity to bring him in.

That move came at the cost of Bannister's job, before he really had the chance to coach at the NHL level.

Before becoming the head coach in St. Louis, Bannister led from behind the bench for the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds. In his stint with the Thunderbirds, he guided them to a Calder Cup final appearance in 2021-22.

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Vegas Golden Knightscaptain Mark Stone took the ice for morning skate ahead of Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. He has missed the last four postseason games with a lower-body injury.

Per Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella, he will miss a fifth straight game. Tortorella confirmed that Stone is OUT for Game 2.

All signs pointed to Stone missing Game 2. At morning skate, the team did not do line rushes, but Stone participated in drills. He stayed out on the ice with the scratches and hung back when they headed off. Once Stone was the only player on the ice, he skated laps around the rink with Golden Knights skills coach Sean Ferrell for several minutes.

Stone has been out since Game 3 of the Golden Knights’ Second Round series against the Anaheim Ducks. He played just 4:24 before suffering a non-contact injury in the first period. He returned to the bench during the second period, but after testing his legs during a TV timeout, slammed his stick down and headed down the tunnel.

This is the first time Stone has been on the ice with the full team since his injury, although he did skate with the scratchesprior to Game 1. This could be a positive development as the Golden Knights continue on in the Western Conference Final against the mighty Colorado Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche will try to even their Western Conference finals series against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2. The Golden Knights won the opener 4-2. The Colorado Avalanche are favored with a -201 moneyline compared to the Vegas Golden Knights' +166. The over/under for this matchup is set at 6.5 goals.

How to watch Vegas Golden Knights vs Colorado Avalanche

• Date: Friday, May 22

• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT

• Where: Ball Arena, Denver, CO

• TV Channels: ESPN, Spor, CBC, TVAS

• Live Stream:ESPN+ | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Odds

• Spread: Colorado Avalanche -1.5

• Moneyline: Colorado Avalanche -201 (64.0%) / Vegas Golden Knights +166 (36.0%)

• Over/Under: 6.5

The Anaheim Ducks are a week removed from an improbable run to the Western Conference semifinals, where they lost their second-round series to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. 

They achieved the goal they set out to achieve in the Spring of 2025: to make the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. The road was a long and winding roller coaster, and at the finish line, the outlook of the organization moving forward may have been altered slightly. 

3 Ducks Prospects to Play in 2026 Memorial Cup

Anaheim Ducks Offseason Dilemma: Frank Vatrano

The Ducks enter the offseason with a projected $40.5 million in cap space. They are expected to have expensive extensions due to RFA forwards Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier, along with some decisions to make involving RFAs in the subsequent tier, like Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger. 

They also have decisions to make along the periphery of their current and future roster with a slew of aging veterans who will soon see their current deals expire. 

The Ducks roster has clear holes heading into the 2026-27 season, but an unexpected one appeared down the stretch of the regular season, into the playoffs, and eventually the 2026 offseason: second-line center. 

After a long, arduous negotiation that lasted well into the team’s 2025 training camp, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek signed then RFA Mason McTavish to a six-year contract extension that carries an AAV of $7 million. 

McTavish (23) was coming off a career-high 52 points (22-30=52) in 76 games in 2024-25 and projected to be the club’s second-line center for the foreseeable future as they aimed to turn the corner on their rebuild and begin contending perennially for Stanley Cups. 

Though he missed roughly the first half of Ducks training camp, under a brand new coaching staff and having to learn a brand new system, McTavish got off to a hot start, as did his team as a whole. 

He opened his 2025-26 campaign by scoring 19 points (6-13=19) in his first 26 games before cooling off dramatically in the middle portion of the season. He was moved to the wing for the final quarter of the season and finished with seven points (3-4=7) in his final seven games, heading into the playoffs. 

“It was a unique kind of situation to start, missing a little bit of camp at the start, obviously not ideal. I thought the start of my year was actually decent, pretty good,” McTavish said during his exit interview. “It kind of went up and down throughout the second half there and in playoffs too.”

McTavish scored four points (1-3=4) in the Ducks’ first-round series win against the Oilers, but was scratched for Games 2 and 3 in the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights. He finished the playoff run with six points (1-5=6) in ten games, only averaging 12:25 TOI per game, a sizable decrease from his season average of 15:19 and his career average of 15:51.

“I’m happy with the way I handled it,” McTavish said on those healthy scratches. “Obviously, you never plan on getting scratched, and it sucks. I think you just got to kind of put your head down and keep working and go about it in a positive way.”

Reflective of every team he’s played on (he’s played for three different head coaches in his four-year NHL career), McTavish has struggled mightily on the defensive side of the puck, specifically deep in his own end. 

He’s added the necessary size, puck skill, and motor to become a puck battle winner in the tight areas of the ice. However, that skill has been exclusive to protecting and winning pucks back in the offensive end, as he lacks the skating ability and/or defensive fundamentals to evade defenders in neutral ice, eliminate time and space, stay with assignments, or strip attackers of possession.

“Round out my defensive game,” McTavish said on what he needs to improve on over the summer. “I think that’s probably the big thing. I think it kind of got better towards the end. I think just foot speed, too. I think maybe come in a little lighter.”

Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville and the system he’s implemented in Anaheim requires his centers to be true, goal line to goal line, 200-foot centers. McTavish’s lack of straight-line speed, explosion, and deft edges has greatly limited his development as an NHL center through the first 304 games of his NHL career, and was glaring under Quenneville’s play style and system.

Due to his scratches in the playoffs, McTavish’s future in Anaheim has come into question for the second summer in a row. If intentions are for him to re-establish himself as the Ducks’ 2C of the present and future, significant strides (pun intended) need to be taken to adjust the mechanics of every aspect of his skating capabilities.

If the Ducks are questioning his fit down the middle for their club, he could become a useful winger due to his heavy shot, forechecking ability, and board battle skills. The club could also move on from the former third-overall pick and trade him to fill a hole in their lineup, as he appears to have maintained value across the league.

Mikael Granlund provided the Ducks with some quality minutes, filling in as their second-line center in the latter months of the season and playoffs. However, he isn’t getting faster, taller, or younger, so if they run into a deep team down the middle, as they did against Vegas in the playoffs, they’ll likely be at a disadvantage.

Roger McQueen (10th overall in 2025) will see his ELC kick in for the 2025-26 season, giving the Ducks a potential long-term option for their now-perceived need for a second-line center. At just 20 years old and with the team’s contending window suddenly open, the Ducks may view that option as a bit too daunting for him to handle to begin his professional career.

The expectation for the Ducks moving forward is that they take yet another step toward contending consistently for Stanley Cups. They have some internal options, but if they’re to achieve that goal, they’ll need to address a new need down the middle, behind franchise center Leo Carlsson.

Revisiting the Ducks Acquisition of John Carlson

Lack of Adjustments Proved Costly for Ducks against Golden Knights

Ducks GM Pat Verbeek Finalist for General Manager of the Year

The Montreal Canadiens picked up an impressive 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1. While the Canadiens' offense certainly played a significant role in this victory, Jakub Dobes also stepped up for them big time. 

Dobes had a strong night for the Canadiens in Game 1, as he stopped 25 out of 27 shots. With this, he finished the contest with an impressive .926 save percentage.

Now, Dobes has made more history due to his strong play. 

According to Sportsnet Stats, Dobes is now just the third rookie goalie in the history of the NHL to win seven out of his first nine road decisions in the same post-season.

The other goalies who achieved this were Ron Hextall in 1987 with the Philadelphia Flyers and Jordan Binnington in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues.

This latest impressive accomplishment shows just how strong Dobes has played this post-season for the Canadiens. The 24-year-old now has a 9-6 record, a 2.48 goals-against average, and a .911 save percentage in 15 games this post-season. Let's see how he builds on it from here. 

After a frustrating Game 1 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche are back in action again tonight, as they look to bounce back and even this series up in Game 2.

Colorado Avalanche

Game 1 was, in a word, frustrating for Colorado. Yes, Vegas is a good hockey team and they were incredibly opportunistic with their goals, but the Avs made it super easy for them to actually benefit from those opportunities, as they made a lot of mistakes defensively in that game, giving the Golden Knights maybe a bit of an easier time than they would’ve had otherwise. Tonight, they’ll have to clean up those defensive mistakes to even this series.

There’s no greater storyline for Colorado than what’s the status of Cale Makar. He was a participant at morning skate, which was fostering some optimism that he could return to the lineup tonight but the team indicated he is still out tonight. In net it still looks to be Scott Wedgewood despite the loss.

Projected Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Gabriel Landeskog
Valeri Nichushkin – Brock Nelson – Martin Necas
Ross Colton – Nazem Kadri – Nic Roy
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
Brett Kulak – Brent Burns
Jack Achan – Josh Manson

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Vegas Golden Knights

As previously mentioned, the Golden Knights were very opportunistic in Game 1, and capitalized on the opportunities they got throughout the game. They were as advertised in this game, being strong defensively and overall frustrating to play against. Colorado did make a late push in Game 1 and showed that they’re capable of hanging with this team, they’ll just need to capitalize the way Vegas did to even this series.

No lineup changes are expected for Vegas, though Mark Stone did make the trip to Colorado but he’s still out indefinitely.

Projected Lineup

Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden – William Karlsson – Mitch Marner
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Colton Sissons
Cole Smith – Nic Dowd – Keegan Kolessar

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanafin – Rasmus Andersson
Ben Hutton – Dylan Coghlan

Carter Hart
Adin Hill

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Martin Necas has been one of the stars of the playoffs, averaging more than a point per game and sitting tied for seventh in assists.

My Golden Knights vs. Avalanche props and NHL picks expect his playmaking to be on full display in Game 2.

Be sure to read our full Golden Knights vs. Avalanche predictions on Friday, May 22.

Best Golden Knights vs Avalanche props for Game 2

Game 2 Prop #1: Martin Necas Over 0.5 assists

Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog lead the Colorado Avalanche in expected goals generated during the playoffs. They are piling up quality chances and plenty stem from Martin Necas' playmaking.

Necas has recorded 10 assists through 10 games. He is serving as the main distributor for his line, and his facilitation skills become more important on the power play with Cale Makar injured.

The Avalanche have a team total of 3.5 that is juiced to the Over, and Necas is a likely candidate to facilitate a goal. Look for him to assist against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2.

Game 2 Prop #2: Brent Burns Over 1.5 shots on goal

Brent Burns is an elite shot-generator and he's being put in prime situations to shoot. Jared Bednar gave Burns more offensive zone starts at 5-on-5 than any other defenseman on the Avalanche in Game 1.

Burns took advantage of the favorable usage, generating six shot attempts and recording a couple of shots on target. 

That kind of output is par for the course without star defenseman Makar in the lineup. Burns has averaged 5.8 attempts through eight games without Makar this year, and he has cleared 1.5 shots in seven straight.

Game 2 Prop #3: Nazem Kadri Over 0.5 points

Nazem Kadri's line spent a ton of time on the front foot in the series opener. The Avalanche won the scoring chance battle 12-4 and controlled well over 80% of the expected goal share with Kadri on the ice at full-strength.

Kadri didn't factor into the goal his line scored but he was front and center all night, tying the team-lead in 5-on-5 shots while leading the way in rebounds created.

He also continued to skate on the top power play, giving him exposure to the team's elite forwards like Necas and MacKinnon.

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While the Carolina Hurricanes' early qualification for the Eastern Conference Final gave them plenty of time to rest, it also gave the Montreal Canadiens plenty of time to prepare for them. Not that Martin St-Louis started preparing his men before eliminating the Buffalo Sabres, but the bench boss knows how to delegate and use his staff.

We’ve not heard a lot about Alex Burrow since he stepped down as an assistant coach back in July 2024, but he still works for the Habs as a player development consultant, and last night, St-Louis gave him some credit for the Canadiens’ win in Game 1:

We knew for a long time that if he got through Buffalo, we were playing Carolina. Obviously, our analytics people, but also Alex Burrows, does a lot of that grunt work for us, and he worked hard while we were trying to close out the series against Buffalo. You have to be careful when giving players so much information in a short amount of time; pick a couple of things and try to address them. That’s what we did. I [...] We didn’t take so much time that we took the instinct out of our players. You know that it’s going to be a long series; you have to get better through it. You don’t have to be perfect; you have to find ways. But we did talk about a few things we needed to address before we jumped into this series.

- St-Louis gave credit to Alex Burrows

Annakin Slayd Releases New Version Of Canadiens’ Anthem
Hurricanes Had Kind Words For The Canadiens
Canadiens: The Battle Could Be Won In Net

Once again in this series, St-Louis likes to give credit where credit is due. In the previous round, he credited Marco Marciano with a key decision when it came to goaltending, and in this one, he sang Burrows’ praises.

Watching the Canadiens counter-attack in the first frame, it was obvious that they had been well briefed about how the Hurricanes would attack and where the holes would be. It looked extremely easy for the Habs’ forward to create odd-man rush opportunities, and that allowed their skill players to have time to work their magic. Ivan Demidov came down in front of Frederik Anderson all on his lonesome and had plenty of time to use his fancy stickwork.

When Cole Caufield scored the first goal, it looked like he used the puck as bait, throwing it in the opposite corner, knowing that Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky would go in to retrieve it, but also that the Hurricanes would go to it like a moth to a flame. That’s exactly what happened. Four of the Canes five players converged toward the puck, leaving the sniper all alone to not only receive Slafkovsky’s pass, but also cut to the middle of the zone to give himself a better angle.

Montreal shouldn’t expect things to be so easy in Game 2; however, the Canes looked like the Habs did in their first game against the Sabres and coach Rod Brind’Amour confirmed that:

We weren't ready for the pace... Give (Montreal) credit, they made plays. They made plays, and they got us, but I didn't really know what we were doing.

-

It will be interesting to see how the Hurricanes adjust in Game 2, as they’ll want to tie the series before heading to Montreal for Game 3 on Monday night.

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If anyone wonders why some Senators fans get a little skittish about the eventual fate of Brady Tkachuk, one only needs to look at their history of stars (including beloved captains) leaving in free agency or trades.

You can look at players like Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara leaving as free agents. Or players in the final year of their contracts like Mark Stone, Jason Spezza, Martin Havlat, or Matt Duchene being traded away with the Senators getting very little in return.

But when Erik Karlsson, still a year away from free agency, was traded in September of 2018, the Senators made the most of it. And then some.

The Karlsson trade tree is still in full bloom this spring, nurtured by two blockbuster deals: his initial 2018 trade from the Senators to the San Jose Sharks and his subsequent trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023. 

But for this exercise, as much as you’d cherish a deep dive into San Jose and Pittsburgh’s organizational depth, we’re focusing on the Senators branches, looking at the deal and what’s become of the players and picks involved. 

Here are the guts of the trade, one of the best in Sens history. 

To Ottawa: F Josh Norris, F Chris Tierney, D Dylan DeMelo, F Rudolfs Balcers, 2020 first (San Jose), 2019 second (Florida), 2021 second (San Jose)

To San Jose: D Erik Karlsson, F Francis Perron

First to get it out of the way, let’s first mop up the Sharks part of the deal. San Jose signed Karlsson to an eight year extension worth $11.5 million, then after five seasons in teal, they traded him to Pittsburgh in a three way deal that also involved Montreal.

Perron, a scoring star in the Q, played two years in the AHL then five over in Europe. Last year, after winning a French league title with Rouen the season before, he retired from hockey at 29.

The Ottawa side of the tree looks a little fuller than that. Let's take a look at each player or asset and see what remains.

2020 first round pick (San Jose): After finishing the 2017-18 season with 100 points, the Sharks never dreamed that their 2020 first round pick would be as high as third overall. The Senators used it to select centre Tim Stutzle.

Where is Stutzle now? He just completed his sixth season in Ottawa and has already become one of the best players in franchise history.

Josh Norris: Norris played five seasons in Ottawa and in his sophomore year, put up 35 goals in 66 games. But he could never stay healthy, which probably had a hand in why his production slipped, even when healthy. 

Where is Norris now? At last year’s trade deadline, Norris was traded to Buffalo, along with Jacob Bernard-Docker for Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert, and Buffalo’s 2026 second round pick.

Cozens has directly replaced Norris as the Senators second-line centre, 75 points in 103 career games. Norris’ injury troubles have chased him to Buffalo, where he’s played just 47 games, scoring 36 points.

2026 second round pick (Buffalo): The Sens traded it to Los Angeles, packaging it up at the deadline for forward Warren Foegele. The deal also involved a swap of third round picks this summer.

Gilbert was used sparingly to end the 2024-25 season and signed with Philadelphia in the offseason. The Flyers dealt him back to Ottawa this season for Sens longtime minor league defenseman Max Guenette.

Dylan DeMelo: DeMelo played almost two seasons in Ottawa but was dealt to Winnipeg for a third-round pick in a move that now seems absurd. DeMelo, a coveted right-shot defenseman, has been a mainstay on the Jets' blueline for the past five years. 

But the Sens spun that third rounder into gold, selecting Leevi Merilainen at the 2020 draft. Despite his difficulties this season, after being rushed to the NHL, he remains a top prospect.

2021 second-round pick: It was used to select centre Zack Ostapchuk, who has since been traded back to San Jose, the team that originally owned the pick. He was a medium-sized part of the 2025 deadline day package deal that brought Fabian Zetterlund to Ottawa.

Chris Tierney: Tierney played four seasons in Ottawa, mostly as a third line centre. He then ended up with brief stops in Florida, Montreal, New Jersey, the KHL and last season, in Switzerland.

Rudolfs Balcers: Balcers played parts of two seasons for the Senators who waived him and then he was claimed back by San Jose. Balcers now plays in Switzerland.

2019 second-round pick: It was used in a package to trade up and select goalie prospect Mads Søgaard, who’s an RFA this summer.

Whew. That's quite the haul, one that's still paying dividends eight years later and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Karlsson was, undoubtedly, a great player for the Senators, and some fans still wish he hadn’t been traded away.

But having the likes of Tim Stutzle, Dylan Cozens, Warren Foegele, Fabian Zetterlund, and Leevi Merilainen does help to ease the pain a little.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

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