The 2025-26 NHL season has concluded, now what do we do?

Don’t worry hockey fans, there are several key dates coming up that should keep you interested until the dog days of summer arrive.

First up will be the 2026 NHL buyout window. The first buyout period this year starts 48 hours after the Stanley Cup playoffs end. So, with Carolina ending it last night, clubs will start the process of figuring out if they wish to buy a player out, and that process must conclude by June 30th at 5pm ET.

What will Columbus do during the buyout season? Probably nothing. The only player that would even remotely be a candidate is goalie Elvis Merzlikins, and honestly, I can't see that happening. 

And then, of course, on June 26th, the NHL will conduct the 1st round of the entry draft. The CBJ are picking 14th, and who they will choose is anybody's guess. There are plenty of quality players who will be available at 14. You can find the players we wrote about at The Hockey News -Columbus Blue Jackets site. You can watch the draft live on ESPN and ESPN+. 

On June 27th, rounds 2-7 will be conducted. You can watch the coverage on NHL Network and ESPN+. The Jackets have six picks from rounds 2-7, but of course, that is subject to change depending on trades.

A few days later, on July 1st, the free agency period begins. There are a few big names out there, but time will tell what Don Waddell does. He first needs to lock up Jet Greaves and Adam Fantilli to contracts, which will take up a nice chunk of change. Cole Sillinger must also be given a new deal before July 1st. Get those three players done, and then Waddell can focus on free agency. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets will have their annual development camp a few days after the NHL Draft. Last year, it went from July 2 to July 5. It's usually open to the public and will conclude with a Prospects Game on the final day of camp. It'll be held from June 29 to July 2 this year. 

After the development camp, the NHL’s dog days begin. Other than random signings, there’s not a lot going on. The only thing really going on is all the speculation on Twitter from fans about what their team is going to do in free agency. Some people take a break, get out in the sun, and enjoy the world. It’s nice to take a break from the stressful relationship a lot of fans have with their teams. Whatever you’re doing this summer, have fun!

Stay with THN Columbus all Summer for breaking news, player pieces, and everything else you can think of. 

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Next Up For Columbus: The NHL Draft is on June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, where the CBJ will own pick #14.   

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The New York Islanders announced on Monday that they have signed right-shot defenseman Ethan Bear to a one-year, two-way deal. 

#Isles announce that they have signed pending UFA RHD Ethan Bear to a one-year, two-way deal.

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) June 15, 2026

Bear, who was on an expiring one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000 at the NHL level, recorded 27 points (four goals, 23 assists) in 40 games with no points in two playoff games.

Ethan Bear's new one-year, two-way extension with #Isles comes in at $850,000 (NHL) level & $325,000 (AHL) with a guarantee of $425,000, I'm told.

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) June 15, 2026

He missed significant time with what appeared to be a wrist injury after blocking a shot in preaseason.

The 28-year-old didn't make the Islanders' lineup in 2025-26 but has 275 NHL games of experience and will continue to be a leader for the younger prospects as they embark on their first season in Hamilton. 

On Sunday, June 14, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to secure their second Stanley Cup win in franchise history. 

It was a back-and-forth series between the two teams before the Hurricanes ramped it up and took over. The Golden Knights won Game 1; the Hurricanes responded in Game 2 before the Golden Knights won Game 3 once again. But a goaltending switch to Brandon Bussi changed momentum, and the Hurricanes rallied off three consecutive wins to claim victory 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. 

While the Hurricanes go home to celebrate, the Golden Knights are left heartbroken. One of those heartbroken players is former St. Louis Blues forward Ivan Barbashev.

Barbashev played seven seasons with the Blues, notching 78 goals and 178 points in 410 games. Barbashev was traded to the Golden Knights during the 2022-23 season and helped them win the Stanley Cup. Barbashev was sent to the Golden Knights in exchange for prospect Zach Dean.

Dean has been unable to crack the Blues’ roster.

St. Louis Blues Sign Zach Dean, Dylan Peterson To Two-Way ContractsThe St. Louis Blues have locked up their third pending RFA this week, handing out one-year, two-way contract extensions to forwards Zach Dean and Dylan Peterson.

Barbashev, on the other hand, has enjoyed career seasons in Vegas, most recently recording 61 points this regular season. The 30-year-old has thrived in Vegas, utilized in numerous roles. 

Barbashev has excelled playing on the top line with Jack Eichel or in a third-line defensive role. Wherever placed, Barbashev has produced and fulfilled his role. 

Although he fell just short of his third Stanley Cup, Barbashev scored several clutch goals and finished the 2025-26 post-season with six goals and 14 points in 22 games.

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Former Calgary Flames players have been represented in the Stanley Cup Finals every year since 2018.

While some have played more notable roles than others, each of these players suited up for the Flames before finding success after their tenure in Calgary was complete. With multiple former Flames having competed in the 2026 Finals, here’s a list of players who made the Finals shortly after leaving Calgary.

Mark Jankowski (CAR 2026) - Selected 21st overall by the Flames in 2012, Jankowski played four seasons in Calgary before moving to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After additional stints in Buffalo and Nashville, he landed in Carolina in 2024 and won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2026.

Rasmus Andersson (VGK 2026) - Drafted and developed by the Flames (53rd overall in 2015), Andersson played parts of ten seasons in Calgary before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights this year. He reached the Finals in his first season with Vegas, contributing significantly to their blue line.

Noah Hanifin (VGK 2026) - Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2018 trade that sent Adam Fox the other way, Hanifin played six seasons for the Flames. He was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2024, where he has become a core piece of their defensive rotation. He appeared in the Finals in 2026 against the Hurricanes.

Matthew Tkachuk (FLA 23/24/25) - In a pivotal moment in franchise history, Tkachuk informed the Flames in 2022 that he would not re-sign. Drafted 6th overall in 2016, he played six seasons in Calgary before being traded to the Florida Panthers for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar (and Cole Schwindt). Tkachuk went on to appear in three straight Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Cup in 2024 and 2025.

Sam Bennett (FLA 23/24/25) - Often cited as a player the Flames moved on from too soon, Bennett was the franchise's highest draft pick at 4th overall in 2014. Despite his potential, he struggled to find an offensive role in Calgary and was traded to Florida in 2021. He appeared in three consecutive Finals, winning twice, and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2025 after a dominant 15-goal postseason.

AJ Greer (FLA 2025) - Greer had a brief stint in Calgary after being claimed off waivers, playing 59 games during the 2023-24 season. He signed with the Panthers as a free agent on July 1, 2024, and captured a Stanley Cup later that season.

Ryan Lomberg (FLA 23/24) - Lomberg spent seven seasons in the organization after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He played primarily for their AHL affiliate before joining Florida in 2020, where he reached two Finals and won the Cup in 2024. Lomberg returned to Calgary as a free agent in 2024 and has been a fan favourite in Calgary ever since.

Brett Kulak (EDM 24/25) - Drafted by Calgary 105th overall in 2012, Kulak played parts of four seasons in Calgary before being traded to Montreal. He eventually joined the Edmonton Oilers in 2022, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals with the Flames’ provincial rivals in 2024 and 2025.

Troy Stecher (EDM 24/25) - Stecher suited up for 20 games with the Flames at the end of the 2022-23 season. After signing back with Arizona, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2024, appearing in back-to-back Finals.

Derek Ryan (EDM 24/25) - After beginning his NHL career in Carolina, Ryan signed with the Flames in 2018. He spent three seasons in Calgary before joining the Oilers in 2021. He reached two Finals in Edmonton before retiring in 2025.

Brian Elliott (TBL 2022) - Elliott spent one season as the Flames' starter after being acquired from St. Louis for a 2nd-round pick. While his tenure in Calgary ended with a difficult playoff performance, he later signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and reached the Finals in 2022.

Curtis McElhinney (TBL 2020 & 2021) - A 2002 draft pick of the Flames, McElhinney played parts of three seasons in Calgary. After a long journey through the league, he joined the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019, where he helped the team secure back-to-back Stanley Cups as a reliable backup.

Jay Bouwmeester (STL 2019) - Bouwmeester joined the Flames in 2009 and was an ironman on the blue line for four seasons. He was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2013, where he eventually captured the Stanley Cup in 2019 before retiring in 2020.

Chris Butler (STL 2019) - Acquired from Buffalo in 2011, Butler played three seasons in Calgary. He signed with St. Louis in 2014 and was part of the Blues' 2019 championship run as a veteran member of the extended playoff roster.

Deryk Engelland (VGK 2018) - Engelland spent three seasons in Calgary before being selected by Vegas in the 2017 Expansion Draft. He helped lead the Golden Knights to the Finals in their inaugural season and received the Mark Messier Leadership Award for his efforts.

Canadian broadcaster Ron MacLean issued an on-air apology for making a comment about roofies during the pregame show for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

With the Vegas Golden Knights' game against the Carolina Hurricanes taking place in Las Vegas, Sportsnet did a spoof of "The Hangover" movie and showed Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard asleep on a couch next to the trophy.

As the skit ended, MacLean said, "The roofies, they'll get you every time."

MacLean later apologized on air for the comment, which he called "a bad mistake by me."

"I referenced a scene in the movie in which the tiger is put to sleep, Mike Tyson's tiger. The Keepers of the Cup, of course, are asleep in the skit and I used the term, the slang term for the drug which has far more serious connotations in reality.

Ron Maclean apologizes for this comment #NHLplayoffs#StanleyCuphttps://t.co/QvldmCKbHkpic.twitter.com/1NqXYu6ZgG

— bnpeki 🇨🇦 Matthew Knies Enjoyer (@bnpeki) June 15, 2026

"I should have made that connection. I did not. .. I know I triggered some people I know I offended some people with that remark and I feel very badly for that and I want to thank you for bringing it to my attention, to our attention. Very sorry."

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ron MacLean apologizes for roofies comment in Stanley Cup Final

The Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup was about a lot more than hoisting the toughest prize in sports; it was proof of concept. For years the Canes had played bridesmaid, having unprecedented regular-season and playoff success under head coach Rod Brind-Amour, only to see it vanish when it mattered the most in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Carolina became a meme. They were the choke job, the organization destined to catch the flowers, but never make it to the altar. It raised questions about the Canes’ roster construction, the organizational approach, and made people wonder if Brind-Amour’s team-based, “no stars” hockey philosophy was too outdated for a modern league that put a premium on individual excellence. That all changed on Sunday night.

The Hurricanes bet on themselves in so many ways, but none more profoundly than how GM Eric Tulsky believed in the potential of his young players to such an extent that he signed them ALL to long-term extensions without needing to see the production to back it up. This is the backbone of the Canes’ organization, and why the winners of the Stanley Cup are going to be a long-term problem for the NHL for YEARS to come.

Typically when a team wins the Cup you can look over the roster and find the obvious pain points. There will be a star or two ready to hit free agency, a handful of trade-deadline acquisitions coming off contract, and young players waiting in the wings to get a massive payday. This is the roster turnover we’re accustomed to seeing in order to knock elite teams down a peg and restore the competitive parity in the league. When it comes to Carolina this simply doesn’t exist.

As we approach NHL free agency the Canes only have one starting player set to hit UFA, and that’s goaltender Freddie Andersen who was replaced in the Stanley Cup Finals by Brandon Bussi. That’s it. Other than Andersen the team will likely lose Nicolas Deslauriers and Mike Reilly, who were veteran defensemen largely signed to act as tutors to the younger talent, without playing a huge role themselves.

It’s tempting to say “but that’s just one year,” but it’s not. Look ahead to 2027 and there’s definitely more turnover in Jordan Staal, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Jalen Chatfield — but Staal is likely facing retirement, while the two defensemen are both hitting their mid-30s and probably due for roster turnover anyway. Look at 2028, 2029, 2030 — it keeps being the same story. The Hurricanes aren’t slated to potentially lose a top-tier skating forward until 2029 when Andrei Svechnikov is poised to be a UFA, and that assumes he won’t re-up with the organization he clearly loves being a part of.

So, where the hell are all the Canes players? Tulsky locked them up. He locked them ALL up. Every single player who showed a glimmer of promise inside Brind-Amour’s system was signed ahead of the curve, and rather than give them three or four-year “prove-it” deals, Tulsky went full analytics nerd on the process to secure their services into the next decade.

• Sebastian Aho: Until contract until 2031 for $9.75M AAV
• Nikolaj Ehlers: Under contract until 2031 for $8.5M AAV
• Seth Jarvis: Until contract until 2031 for $7.9M AAV
• K’Andre Miller: Under contract until 2032 for $7.5M AAV
• Jaccob Slavin: Under contract until 2032 for $6.4M AAV
• Logan Stankoven: Under contract until 2033 for $6M AAV
• Jackson Blake: Under contract until 2033 for $5.1M AAV

Not only do the Hurricanes have their entire core locked down for the foreseeable future, but they haven’t broken the $10M AAV mark for any player. Cap all this off with the fact that Carolina’s two most important young forwards in Stankoven and Blake are locked in on discount long-term deals, and it spells a horror story for the rest of the league. This is not the future a Stanley Cup winning team should have, and to add to the nightmare we have an organization that already has over $11M in open cap space, will open up more when they waive Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and a rising salary cap that not only means Carolina has their whole core locked in, but can be SERIOUS players in free agency to lure stars to Raleigh, now with the proof that they have an organization that can win the cup. It might just be enough to break the Vegas/Dallas/Florida stranglehold as tax shelters in the league.

Oh, but it gets worse. The Hurricanes’ prospect system was ranked No. 11 in the NHL by The Hockey Writers, with Kurban Limatov, Bradly Nadeau, Dominik Badinka, Felix Unger-Sörum, and Nikita Artamonov all poised to make their debuts in the next few years. Teams that consistently go so deep in the playoffs and routinely pick in the late-20s or early 30s simply shouldn’t have a prospect pool with the depth of Carolina’s.

The Carolina Hurricanes were built through disruption. Brind-Amour and Tulsky had specific visions on how they were going to build a team based on strength at every position, a de-emphasis on individual play, and a premium on team over stars. It hasn’t managed to lure top players, but it has now created a champion. That is an undeniable allure, and there’s no stopping this team for a long time.

Here’s the final kicker: Brandon Bussi, the free agent goalie turned Stanley Cup superstar? Yeah, Tulsky signed him to a three-year extension before the playoffs that will keep him in Carolina until 2029 for just $1.9M AAV.

Like it or not, the Canes are here to stay.

The Carolina Hurricanes have hoisted the Stanley Cup, and now we hit the point where everyone is looking ahead to the 2026 NHL Draft in June. A forward-thinking, prospect-based draft — we’re going to be waiting four or five years to see some of these guys hit the ice in the pros, unless they’re taken in the Top 5 and can make the jump immediately.

The best teams are looking far into the future, projecting their core needs down the road, looking at veterans who might retire, as well as free agent markets to try and piece together as a vision for what their team could be down the line. It’s what makes the NHL Draft so fascinating, especially when you see which teams invest heavily in their European scouts to look at Sweden, Finland, and Russia to find diamonds where nobody else is looking.

Here’s the full first round mock, then we’ll discuss some of the picks.

Pick	Team	Player	Position	Current Team	League
1	Toronto Maple Leafs	Gavin McKenna	LW	Penn State	NCAA
2	San Jose Sharks	Chase Reid	D	Soo Greyhounds	OHL
3	Vancouver Canucks	Ivar Stenberg	LW/RW	Frölunda HC	SHL
4	Chicago Blackhawks	Caleb Malhotra	C	Brantford Bulldogs	OHL
5	New York Rangers	Keaton Verhoff	D	North Dakota	NCAA
6	Calgary Flames	Tynan Lawrence	C	Boston University	NCAA
7	Seattle Kraken	Carson Carels	D	Prince George Cougars	WHL
8	Winnipeg Jets	Viggo Björck	C/RW	Djurgårdens IF	SHL
9	Florida Panthers	Albert Smits	D	Jukurit	Liiga
10	Nashville Predators	Daxon Rudolph	D	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL
11	St. Louis Blues	Adam Novotny	LW/RW	Petersborough Petes	OHL
12	New Jersey Devils	Ryan Lin	D	Vancouver Giants	WHL
13	New York Islanders	Mathis Preston	C	Spokane Chiefs	WHL
14	Columbus Blue Jackets	Oliver Suvanto	C	Tappara	Liiga
15	St. Louis Blues (via Red Wings)	Malte Gustafsson	D	HV71 U20	U20 Nationell
16	Washington Capitals	Xavier Villeneuve	D	Blainville-Boisbriand Armada	QMHL
17	Los Angeles Kings	Wyatt Cullen	C	USNTDP	USHL
18	Washington Capitals (via Ducks)	Ethan Belchetz	LW	Windsor Spitfires	OHL
19	Utah Mammoth	Oscar Hemming	F	Boston College	NCAA
20	San Jose Sharks (via Oilers)	J.P. Hurlbert	F	Kamloops Blazers	WHL
21	Philadelphia Flyers	Ilia Morozov	C	Miami University (Ohio)	NCAA
22	Pittsburgh Penguins	Juho Piiparinen	D	Tappara	Liiga
23	Boston Bruins	Elton Hermansson	RW/LW	MoDo Hockey	HockeyAllsvenskan
24	Vancouver Canucks (via Wild)	Nikita Klepov	F	Saginaw Spirit	OHL
25	Seattle Kraken (via Lightning)	Yegor Shilov	C	Victoriaville Tigers	QMJHL
26	New York Rangers (via Stars)	Alexander Command	C	Örebro HK U20	U20 Nationell
27	Buffalo Sabres	Brooks Rogowski	C	Oshawa Generals	OHL
28	Montreal Canadiens	Maddon Dagenais	C	Québec Ramparts	QMJHL
29	St. Louis Blues (via Avalanche)	Liam Ruck	F	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL
30	Calgary Flames (via Golden Knights)	Marcus Nordmark	LW	Djurgårdens IF U20	U20 Nationell
31	Carolina Hurricanes	Jack Hextall	C	Youngstown Phantoms	USHL
32	Ottawa Senators	William Håkansson	D	Luleå HF	SHL

• Gavin McKenna goes No. 1: This is as much of a no-brainer as there has been. McKenna is the cause of angst among hockey fans who think the lottery was rigged for the Leafs, because he is that damn good. One of the most gifted passing wing prospects we’ve seen in YEARS, there are some real questions how he can mesh with Auston Matthews in Toronto, but the concern is not nearly enough to assuage taking a guy with his vision from the edge. McKenna will be a superstar, and even at 19-years-old, he’s ready to make the jump now.
• The profound rise of Chase Reid: A fascinating prospect, most scouting services had Reid around the No. 10 pick before this process began, but he has cemented himself as a Top 3 pick in this 2026 class. His ability to push the pace offensively from the blue line has major shades of Cale Makar to his game, and with both his skating ability as well as puck handling, he could bring the same kind of edge to a team wanting to play a hybrid, aggressive system.
• I’m still obsessed with Ivan Stenberg: Reid absolutely warrants the hype, but the more film I keep seeing of Stenberg, the more I’m convinced he’s going to be SPECIAL. There is some hesitancy that his finesse, pretty game might waver when it’s integrated with a physical NHL style, but Stenberg is just so good with the puck on his stick that I think he will find Mitch Marner-esque ways to evade contact.
• Yes, Caleb Malholtra is Manny Malholta’s son: Feel old yet?
• Yes, Wyatt Cullen is Matt Cullen’s son: Oh god, I’m so old.
• What happened to the Senators’ pick? Ottawa should be picking at No. 20, but they elected to delay a punishment from the NHL over the 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov, in which the Senators did not forward a list of teams on Dadonov’s no-trade list to teams ahead of making deals with them. The NHL initially told the Sens they would lose their 1st round pick in their choice of 2024, 2025, or 2026 — with Ottawa delaying the penalty to this year. The league later revised their punishment to push the Senators to the back of the first round, rather than forfeit their pick altogether.

The Carolina Hurricanes are the 2026 Stanley Cup Champions, knocking off the Vegas Golden Knights in six games.

It's the second Stanley Cup in franchise history for the Hurricanes, and the first since 2006. 

Within it comes all sorts of history, including former New York Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly winning the first Stanley Cup of his career.

"It's special. I have a lot of people in the stands tonight."

.@TheElmonters partner @DavidKolb73 spoke with former #Isles & now Stanley Cup champion Mike Reilly following Game 6:https://t.co/3hVInHnK2r

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) June 15, 2026

That's not the only Islanders-adjacent feat accomplished last night.

For the first time since 1980, the United States won the Gold Medal, known as the "Miracle on Ice." Later that year, the New York Islanders won their first-ever Stanley Cup.

One player won both that season. Islanders' Hall of Famer and shutdown defenseman, Ken Morrow.

For the past 46 years, Morrow remained the only American to ever win the Stanley Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal in the same season.

Jaccob Slavin became the second-ever player to accomplish the feat, joining Morrow in one of hockey's most exclusive clubs.

NHL insider and former goalie, Kevin Weekes, tweeted out ahead of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final that he is under the impression that the Philadelphia Flyers have extended goalie Dan Vladar for five seasons.

Weekes' tweet lends credence to many other posts from people who closely follow the Flyers, who have been saying for some time now that the former Calgary Flames netminder was going to stay in Philadelphia.

👀 Per sources, I’m told G Vladar and
the @NHLFlyers are working towards
closing in on a 5 Yr Contract Extension
that’s likely to land in the mid 5M AAV
range. #HockeyXpic.twitter.com/V0ubAjFEx1

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) June 14, 2026

Two weeks ago, another NHL insider, Elliotte Friedman, also went on record to say he had heard that Vladar and the Flyers had already agreed to the extension. Still, the club was waiting until the start of free agency on July 1 to announce it officially. 

Originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the third round (75th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft, Vladar played only five games with the organization before a trade to the Flames in July 2021 gave him a chance to land a legit back-up role.

For four seasons, he split time (not evenly) with Jacob Markström and Dustin Wolf, compiling a 47-32-15 record with the Flames in 100 games. Once he became a free agent in July 2025, he found a home with the Flyers. 

Thanks to a 29-14-7 record in 52, Vladar helped the Flyers back into the Stanley Cup playoffs, upsetting the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening round before a sweep at the hands of the eventual champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. Because of his strong campaign, Vladar finished 6th in Vezina Trophy voting and earned some votes for the Hart Trophy, finishing 18th on the ballot. 

At this time, there is no official word on what his new contract will be worth, but several insiders believe the annual salary will be between $5 and $6 million. For comparison, Wolf will start making $7.5 million this season, while Markström is making $6 million.

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“Here’s Taylor Hall breaking in. Hall scores! Taylor Hall, and it is 1-0, Carolina!”

With his head up, Hall’s wrist shot beat Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart a little over three minutes after the puck dropped, signaling the start of Game 6. It marked the 34-year-old’s seventh goal of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He, along with his Carolina Hurricanes’ linemates Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake, were one of the Hurricanes’ strongest lines in the postseason, combining for 55 points.

At 10:57 p.m. Eastern Time, the final horn sounded at T-Mobile Arena, and Hall threw his gloves, stick, and helmet in the air as he and his teammates swarmed their goaltender, Brandon Bussi, behind his net.

The Hurricanes defeated the Golden Knights, 3-0, clinching their second Stanley Cup in their history.

And Taylor Hall became a Stanley Cup champion.

“It is incredible,” he told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “I have been kind of everywhere and got here (to Carolina) and felt really at home within a couple days. I think that is a credit to (Rod Brind'Amour) and the coaching staff, and to the guys who have been here for seven or eight years and have really put in the work to make this a special place to play. I am so happy for them. I am just ecstatic. This is an amazing group to do it with. I couldn't have asked for anything more.”

Drafted first overall in 2010 by the Edmonton Oilers, Hall went on to play for the New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, and Chicago Blackhawks before landing in Carolina.

“You never know what kind of turn your life is going to take,” Hall continued. “I got fortunate coming here. Like I said, special group to do it with, and they allowed me just to come in and have success, and that says a lot.”

During his three and a half season stint with the Devils, Hall captured the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2018, given "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team."

At 34, Hall played 1,062 games before celebrating his first Cup win. Per NHLPr, he had the second-most contests by a number one pick before his first championship behind Washington Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin, with both players clinching their title against the Golden Knights in Vegas.

“I love the game, man,” Hall said. “I will keep doing this as long as I can. The Stanley Cup was the ultimate goal, but just playing hockey and being around my buddies doing it is incredible.”

Hall earned votes for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for their all-around role in helping the team win the Stanley Cup. He finished second behind Hurricanes’ captain Jordan Staal.

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Jalen Chatfield is a Stanley Cup champion. 

The former Vancouver Canucks defenceman was part of the Carolina Hurricanes squad that rode a dominant performance through the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to win their first championship since 2006, doing so by taking down the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. 

Carolina capped off their remarkable 16–3 post-season run with a 3–0 win in Vegas, with goaltender Brandon Bussi backstopping them to the victory only three games after he officially took the starting role after Frederik Andersen sustained a knee injury in Game 2 of the series. The 22-save shutout was his first of the post-season and third all-time in the NHL. 

The journey to the Hurricanes franchise’s second Stanley Cup began after suffering three Conference Final losses through the prior seven seasons, during all of which they made the playoffs.

This year’s run began with a quick sweep of the Ottawa Senators in the first-round, during which former Canuck Chatfield recorded one assist in the team’s series-winning Game 4. Carolina went on to also sweep the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring three or more goals in each of their games against Philadelphia. Chatfield scored his first goal of this year’s post-season in Game 3 of this series. 

The Hurricanes met with the Montréal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final — their fourth in the past eight seasons. Despite a dominant Game 1 performance for the Canadiens that saw Montréal put five goals past Andersen, Carolina continued rolling, winning four straight to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since their 2006 championship win. This was the third time the Hurricanes made the Final since relocating. 

Vegas put up a valiant effort, but ultimately, Carolina was able to take the win in this year’s Stanley Cup Final. Both of the Hurricanes’ losses were separated by only one goal, with a thrilling Game 1 ending in a 5–4 score, and Game 3 featuring a shocking 4–0 comeback from Carolina cut short by an overtime goal scored by Shea Theodore. 

Offensively speaking, Chatfield hit another gear during Carolina’s 2025–26 playoff run. The defenceman recorded a career-high of seven assists in a single post-season and doubled his previous points-high by recording eight in 19 games. He was also relied on heavily by his team through this run, recording a career-high average of 22:32 minutes played per game. 

Chatfield’s time with the Canucks was spent mostly in the AHL. The defenceman played in a total of 18 games with Vancouver, recording his first-career NHL point with the team, before he was not extended a qualifying offer and became a free-agent. In his first season with the Hurricanes organization, the defenceman won the 2022 Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves. He has since powered his way to a full-time NHL role with Carolina. 

Carolina’s Stanley Cup win officially makes Chatfield a champion at the NHL, AHL, and OHL level, as he also won the Memorial Cup in 2017 as a member of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. 

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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When Sergei Bobrovsky decided that he didn’t want to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets any longer, fans were gutted. How could the best goalie to ever wear the Union Blue want to leave? He owns just about every organizational record there is for goalies, including games played, wins, goals-against, saves, shutouts, minutes played, and points scored.

Well, we soon got our answer. GM Jarmo Kekalainen came out publicly and stated that Bobrovsky came to the front office and said he was done with the organization. But why? Was it money? Was it Torts? Was it the city itself? Seems to be a combination of all of the above, and some fans were not happy.

And then, after the CBJ swept the Tampa Bay Lightning, that was it; he was gone. But let’s be honest: the time he spent there was historic in terms of team records, and it was fun to watch.

On June 15, 2013, Sergei Bobrovsky won his first and two Vezina Trophy following the 2012-13 season.

Bobrovsky played in 38 games, compiling a record of 21-11-6. He had 4 shutouts, the first of 33 in his CBJ career. His GAA was 2.00 with a save % of .932. The man played stellar.

But he had shown flashes in the previous two seasons with the Flyers. And with the 2012-13 season being shortened due to a labor dispute, he played for SKA St Petersburg of the KHL. He did really well there too, going 18-3-2 with a sub-2.00 GAA. And with all of that, the Jackets missed the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. They finished with 55 points, tied with the Minnesota Wild. They went 24-17-7 and deserved to be in the playoffs that year, in my opinion.

John Davidson revealed that Bobrovsky refused to waive his no-trade clause leading up to the 2019 NHL trade deadline. Davidson made the following comment about Bobrovsky, who left Columbus to sign a 7-year deal with the Florida Panthers.

"I know that with Bobrovsky, he didn't want to waive his no-trade, so we couldn't trade him. And I get that; he had every right in the world. That's nobody's fault. It's just what it is.

-

Fans have always thought that the Jackets just held on to Bobrovsky and Panarin and went "All-In." But it very well could be that since Sergei Bobrovsky refused to waive his no-trade clause, Columbus had no choice but to go for it that year. It worked out, and it didn't. 

Sergei Bobrovsky, still a topic of conversation among Jackets fans. Some good. Some bad. But in the long run, he was one of the greatest players ever to wear a Columbus Blue Jackets jersey.

Bob has also cemented himself as one of the NHL's all-time great goalies by winning playing in three straight Stanley Cup Finals, and winning two straight Cups. 

---

Next Up For Columbus: The NHL Draft is on June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, where the CBJ will own pick #14.     

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Assuming the Pittsburgh Penguins stick with their choice at the 22nd overall pick on June 26th (which would be a decent-sized assumption based on Kyle Dubas’ history of trading down in the first round), which players might be around for them? Overall, the 2026 draft is now considered in some circles somewhat weak and disappointing compared to what it looked like it was shaping into earlier in the process.

Here’s a look at draft rankings and how they average out to set a baseline of what could happen, especially when it comes to prospects like Ryan Lin or Wyatt Cullen. This graphic suggests neither will still be on the board at No. 22.

Rankings are updated with a few new additions, and here is the landscape.

In short, strap in because we might be in for a real show. pic.twitter.com/Tqz9XX1j33

— Will Scouch (@Scouching) June 14, 2026

The NHL draft, it should be said, is nearly impossible to project. Too many players come from too many different countries and leagues to standardize or predict what 32 teams are thinking when they rank their players. Sometimes players get picked way higher than pre-draft expectations – take Ben Kindel going 11th overall last season which was far higher than almost anyone would have predicted going into the event. Kindel’s 2025-26 performance showed that was more about what the scouting/pre-draft community didn’t know in their analysis of his game.

However, the overall listings can show set some expectations.

With that in mind, we can probably starting zeroing in for the following:

• 20: Nikita Klepov
• 21: Ilia Morozov
• 22: J.P. Hulbert
• 23: Xavier Villeneuve
• 24: Juho Piiparinen
• 25: Maddox Dagenais

Klepov, is “is a highly skilled playmaker who flashed his skill level in the USHL last year and led the OHL in scoring this year with 97 points in 67 games,” per The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler. Puck skills and scoring ability is the name of his game in scouting reports, with exciting upside as a summer birthday to make him a younger prospect than many in the class. Concerns or limitations look like compete level at his size (6’0, 180) and not being the most dynamic skater for a winger.

Morozov seems to be a player sent to the Penguins in many mock drafts. A natural center with good size (6’3, 205), Morozov (no relation to former Penguin Aleksey) is also on the younger side for players in the draft. He’s cited by Wheeler as being a “pro-built center who has a good feel for timing on both sides of the puck and plays off his linemates well”, with some concerns about his offensive ceiling at the pro level.

Per Wheeler, Hulbert was “fourth in the WHL in scoring with 42 goals and 97 points in 68 games and playing both center and the wing effectively. He also finished second in the league in shots on goal with 294. He wasn’t viewed as a first-rounder coming into the season, but he made a ton of plays (though he has regressed a little down the stretch) to put himself in the mid-to-late first range”. He would seem to fit the Dubas profile in a lot of ways for being a WHL player, versatile in center/wing ability, highly productive with well-rounded game and competitiveness to boot. Hulbert also played on Harrison Brunicke’s junior team, so he certainly will be a player that Pittsburgh has kept tabs on throughout the season.

Villeneuve could be a high-risk, high-reward type of prospect. Wheeler says of the left shot defender, “this season, he continued to make plays at a high rate, was playing above a point per game, and led all D in shots on goal before a hip injury shut him down in early January, after his production had regressed a little following a hot start. He returned in time for the playoffs and was up and down for me in recent viewings. He didn’t meet my expectations this season on the whole, even factoring in the time lost”. Villeneuve is slight at 5’10 and 164 pounds, but everyone is looking for that Cole or Lane Hutson type of slick, offensively gifted defenseman. Villeneuve has some dynamic skill but also some questions to answer about projectability and whether or not he will take off.

Piiparinen could be described as the anti-Villeneuve. From Wheeler, “he’s an August birthday who’s already very polished, is a superb athlete, and has shown more offense at Finland’s junior level; he has played a more reserved/vanilla style at the pro level and at times internationally”. The 6’2, 204 pound left shot defender is known for steady, effective play, thinking the game well and making the little choices around the ice when it comes to playing the puck or taking proper positioning, with questions about his skill and just how high his ceiling might be.

Dagenais takes us back to the land of good-sized centers at almost 6’4 and 200 pounds. Wheeler writes, “Dagenais is a pro-sized forward who, at his best, stays around and on the puck and shows confidence holding and shooting it. When he’s engaged, going to the net, winning board battles and stacking positive shifts, he looks like a future middle-sixer NHLer who’s going to score 20 goals. He has good skill.” Concerns on him include a concussion history, possible pace and consistency issues.

—

While meant as a little primer for names that could be in the range for the Pens’ pick, the truth is that without knowing their board it would be impossible to see what direction they might go for making the pick. Some-to-all of these players could be available and a perceived ‘reach’ for a different player happens all the time in the NHL draft. This grouping of players provides a good place to start, even if it still very possibly could not be where the Penguins decide to end up going. This range of candidates is out there as some names to read up on in the event they are who Pittsburgh is picking through when it comes time to making their first pick.

Colorado Avalanche News

• Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog was announced as the Bills Masterton Memorial trophy recipient. [NHL]

• General Manager Sakic backs coach Jared Bednar, confident in inking Makar’s impending extension sometime this summer. [Sportsnet]
• Landeskog also was announced as the Marc Messier NHL Leadership award winner. [NHL]

News Around the League

• Carolina Hurricanes clinch the Stanley Cup in a 3-0 shutout win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6. [NHL.com]

• At 37 Jordan Staal is oldest Conn Smythe winner in NHL history. [ESPN]

• Five potential landing spots for Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse. [The Score]

• Canucks: Front office gets a ‘Computer Boy’ who almost was. [Edmonton Journal]

• Marie-Philip Poulin brought the Walter Cup home and ate poutine out of it. [Montreal Gazette]

• Joe Pavelski confirms he’s in the running for the Toronto Maple Leafs head coaching job. [Toronto Star]

• The 2026 NHL Draft comparable, best and worst case scenarios. [The Hockey News]

It was a special 2025-26 season for the Buffalo Sabres. This is because they not only made the playoffs for the first time since 2011 but also won the Atlantic Division. Now, the Sabres will be looking to build off their big year by putting together a strong off-season.

If the Sabres want to remain one of the NHL's top teams next season, they are going to need to make some upgrades to their roster this summer. One of their biggest needs is another top-six center. 

When looking at trade candidates around the league, New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal stands out as a prime potential fit for the Sabres. 

If the Sabres brought in Barzal, he could slot perfectly as their first-line center on a line with Tage Thompson and Zach Benson. Barzal's strong playmaking ability could make him a perfect linemate for a high-impact sniper like Thompson. Barzal would also give the Sabres another star to work with on their power play, which would be huge. 

With the Sabres becoming contenders, they should not be afraid to make a bold move for a star center like Barzal if the Islanders make him available. He would be a great fit on their roster and could the addition that helps Buffalo take another big step forward in 2026-27.