Golden Knights coach John Tortorella confirmed Karlsson's absence but did not discuss whether he would be available for Game 7 or who would replace him in the lineup on Sunday, June 14 in Las Vegas.
Karlsson has two goals and two assists in the Stanley Cup Final, which the Hurricanes lead 3-2. He has nine points overall in the playoffs.
The Golden Knights forward will miss Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final after being injured in Game 5.
Karlsson is a two-way center who kills penalties and gets some power play time. The Hurricanes scored two power-play goals after Karlsson left the game.
"It's obviously a big miss," Vegas forward Mitch Marner told reporters. "He's done a lot of great things for us since he's been back in the lineup, but we've done this all year. We've had a lot of injuries throughout the year, throughout the playoffs. Obviously, it's tough losing Will, but it's next man up mentality."
Hart was one of five players on the 2018 Canadian national junior team who faced trial in 2025 on a sexual assault charge and were found not guilty by a judge in London, Ontario. Justice Maria Carroccia said she didn't find the accuser's testimony in the 2018 case credible and the prosecution didn't prove its case.
"It's just noise," Hart said of the chants. "Both atmospheres, both buildings have been really loud and a lot of fun to play in. Yeah, just noise."
Hart will make his 22nd start of the playoffs in Game 6. After a stellar first three rounds, he has allowed four goals in every game of the championship series.
"I haven't been at my best in this series," he said. "I'll be better next game and ready to go."
He added: "They've gotten some lucky bounces and there's a few plays where I've got to make more saves but at the end of the day, I prepare the same way just like every other game and I'll be ready to go."
Hart skipped Saturday's optional practice and did some work with goalie coach Sean Burke on a different rink.
He says he feels good after playing every minute of the playoffs.
"As as goaltender, you want to play every game and you want to be ready to go," he said. "I've got a routine that I do and I follow it."
Coach John Tortorella, who knows Hart from their days in Philadelphia, has backed the goalie. When he was asked after the Game 5 loss whether he considered switching to Adin Hill, he said that "could be the stupidest question I've heard."
Tortorella said he has confidence in Hart.
"I know him," he said. "I know there's a better game in him. I've seen it throughout the playoffs. I think he's a very good goalie. We've got to do a better job around him, too."
When Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are sitting in the middle of their prime years, it's only natural to wonder whether the answer lies in another blockbuster. Morgan Riely's name gets tossed around. We've all heard Jason Robertson's grumblings. Every unhappy star around the league eventually finds themselves wearing orange and blue on social media.
Reality tends to be less glamorous.
Winning teams aren't always built by buying high.
Quite often, they're built by identifying good players before everyone else remembers how good they are.
Florida didn't acquire Sam Reinhart after his 57-goal season.
Vegas didn't trade for Jack Eichel after he became a Conn Smythe candidate.
Colorado landed Devon Toews before the rest of the league realized just how valuable he was.
The best swings aren't always the biggest ones.
Sometimes they're the smartest.
Which raises an interesting question for Stan Bowman.
Instead of chasing stars whose value has never been higher, what if Edmonton spent this summer looking for players who come with talent, upside and a few question marks attached?
Players whose current teams might be wondering if they're worth the trouble.
Players whose best hockey may still be ahead of them.
Take Owen Tippett.
Philadelphia's rebuild hasn't exactly gone according to plan, and while Tippett remains one of the fastest and most dangerous shooters in the league, consistency has never quite followed. There are stretches where he looks like a future 40-goal scorer, followed by stretches where he disappears for weeks.
It also sounds like the kind of player Connor McDavid has made a career out of elevating.
JJ Peterka falls into a similar category.
Buffalo's inability to turn talent into Cups has become one of the NHL's greatest jokes, and while Peterka's offensive gifts are obvious, there have been whispers for years that a change might benefit both the player and the organization.
But if the Sabres eventually decide that the fit isn't perfect, Edmonton should be among the first teams calling.
Then there's Mason McTavish.
Admittedly, this one requires a little imagination.
Anaheim would have to do something strange. The Ducks would need to convince themselves that their young centre isn't a long-term fit, something that seems unlikely today.
Nobody thought Matthew Tkachuk would leave Calgary.
Nobody expected Jack Eichel to become available.
And if Anaheim ever gets weird, Stan Bowman should be listening, because power forwards who score, hit and play with an edge aren't exactly growing on trees.
Dawson Mercer might be the most realistic name on the list.
New Jersey has money committed everywhere and several difficult decisions looming. Mercer's numbers haven't exploded, but his versatility and work ethic would fit beautifully on a contender.
Very few teams want to pay the price that comes with one.
The Oilers know that reality better than most.
They don't possess endless cap space. Their prospect pool has been thinned out. A shocking first-round exit to Anaheim has increased the pressure, but it hasn't magically created the assets required to win every bidding war.
The Montreal Canadiens are going to be a team to watch this off-season. After making it to the Eastern Conference Final this year, the Canadiens should be looking to add to their roster.
The Canadiens have a few roster needs heading into the off-season. One of them is a top-four right-shot defenseman.
The trade market has an interesting potential option to consider in Buffalo Sabres defenseman Michael Kesselring.
Kesseling has been the subject of trade rumors since the end of the season. This is because the big right-shot defenseman has become the odd man out on the Sabres' blueline. This was made clear when the Sabres only played him in one playoff game this spring.
Kesselring was also never able to get things together this season with the Sabres, too. He only played in 34 regular-season games this year for the Sabres, where he had just two assists. While it was a tough year, he is a prime bounce-back candidate, and a defenseman who the Canadiens should consider taking a flier on.
Kesselring has shown in the past that he can be an impactful top-four defenseman when playing at his best. Just back in 2024-25 with Utah, the 6-foot-5 blueliner set career highs with seven goals, 22 assists, and 29 points in 82 games. He also had five goals and 21 points in 65 games for the Arizona Coyotes during the 203-24 season. With this, it is certainly fair to wonder if he could bounce back if given a fresh start on a team like the Canadiens.
Kesselring's age also adds to his appeal, as he is entering his prime years at 26 years old. With this, he could be a good fit on a Canadiens club that is on the rise if he bounced back.
It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens make a push for Kesselring this summer. He could be a good player for them to take a chance on if he is made available by the Sabres.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - JUNE 11: Carolina Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour cheers on his players in the locker room after winning Game Five of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4-2 at Lenovo Center on June 11, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Rod Brind’Amour isn’t the type to take credit, but it’s time that he gets some.
A lot can be said for why the Carolina Hurricanes currently hold a 3-2 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights, and are now just one game from winning the franchise’s second ever Stanley Cup — the first in 20 years. But there might not be a bigger reason than the one behind the benches, where Brind’Amour has seemingly coached the best series of his career and gave the Canes a big advantage.
The Hurricanes’ 4-2 win on Thursday night over the Knights wasn’t just the result of the power play finding its rhythm, Carolina’s stars finally joining the party or having the right man in net — it was a display of coaching ingenuity on one side against a fleet of desperate coaching decisions on the other.
Heading into the locker room after the second period of Game 3, the Hurricanes found themselves down 4-0 after a four-goal period onslaught from the Knights, which included Mitch Marner scoring the fastest hat-trick in Stanley Cup Final history.
Up until that point, the Canes had probably been outplayed for six of the eight periods in the series. The easy thing would’ve been to roll over. Instead, whatever Brind’Amour said during the intermission must have worked. His adjustments certainly did. Brind’Amour pulled Frederik Andersen — who had been arguably the best goaltender in the playoffs — in exchange for Brandon Bussi, who had never played in a playoff game. He switched the lines that the Canes had run for most of the season and all the playoffs, choosing to adapt on the fly.
As a result, Carolina stormed back to tie the game. After a crazy bounce in double overtime gave the Knights the win, there was little panic from the Canes after such an emotional defeat.
Leading up to Game 4, all the talk was about who the Canes would start in net. While it seemed as if Bussi should be the answer, there were questions surrounding whether giving a goaltender his first start in a pivotal, must-win game of the Stanley Cup Finals was the right move. Some even questioned Brind’Amour’s stubbornness and whether he would even be open to starting Bussi. But Brind’Amour didn’t flinch. He went all in and gave Bussi the nod in goal.
And for the first time all series, it felt as if Carolina finally controlled the majority of the game. Bussi went on to make 18 saves, including ones that Andersen hadn’t consistently made during the series. On top of the successful goalie change, the newly minted line of Ehlers-Staal-Jarvis ended up scoring the game winning goal.
In Game 5, the adjustments were even more apparent. Bussi once again played well while the different line combinations worked. Jordan Martinook, who was moved up to play with Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho — who have both struggled recently — played a pivotal role in Aho’s first even strength, non-empty net goal since the second game of the playoffs.
Maybe more eye opening has been the difference in coaching between Brind’Amour and John Tortorella. With Carter Hart struggling this entire series in net for the Knights, Tortorella has refused to take him out, unlike how the Canes pulled Andersen.
When Carolina opted to switch their lines, Tortorella chose to do the same. And unlike when Brind’Amour did it, the move has backfired on Vegas. Switching up Marner’s line that had been elite all postseason, as well as messing up the Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev connection, has failed.
No one’s talked about it, but the biggest advantage that the Carolina Hurricanes have had during the Stanley Cup has been coaching. Brind’Amour has simply outcoached Tortorella.
From a numbers standpoint, the Canes have also slightly adjusted their style of hockey. It’s been less about throwing every puck on net and more about generating high quality chances — something that is crucial when facing a goaltender like Hart, who was on the top of his game entering the finals.
In the first three playoff series, Carolina averaged 33.7 shots and 3.2 goals per game. This series, the shots are down almost six to 28 per game, but the goals have increased to 4.2.
Of the 21 total playoff series coached under Brind’Amour, this is the fourth lowest in terms of shots per game. Yet, it’s the second highest scoring series in goals per game.
It’s clear that the Canes had to adjust how they faced this Vegas team, which they did courtesy of Brind’Amour. Those adjustments have worked and have been a major reason as to why the Canes are leading the series.
If coaches were eligible for the Conn Smythe, Brind’Amour would have an argument.
For all the critics that have spouted for years that Brind’Amour’s man-to-man defensive system paired with an overly aggressive forecheck can’t win it all, close your eyes. For all those that have believed, hold on. It’s happening.
As the Edmonton Oilers kick the tires on hiring Mike Babcock as their next head coach, their interest has not only touched off an NHL investigation, but it's also sparked a series of player anecdotes, both old and new, about Babcock's poor behaviour over the years.
Former Senators defenseman Jason York shared a doozy this week.
In 2002, York had established himself as an NHL regular. He had played the previous five years as a full-timer in Ottawa, and after his trade to Anaheim, he played another full season under Bryan Murray and was the Mighty Ducks' second-leading scorer among defensemen.
The Hockey News' The Wrap Around discussed the idea of Jake DeBrusk as a fit in Ottawa.
The following season, when Murray became the Ducks' GM, Mike Babcock was given his first NHL head coaching job. He had been coaching Anaheim's minor-league team in Cincinnati, and before he'd coached even a single game, his mind games began.
Running his first NHL training camp, Babcock suddenly separated York and teammates Denny Lambert and German Titov from the rest of the Ducks' team and made them skate on their own with no coach or goalie through most of training camp.
"He put us all in the room with the minor league guys," York recalled this week on the Coming in Hot podcast. "As soon as I saw that, I went right into Babcock's office. And this is what I don't like. He lied to my face.
"He said, 'Yorky, don't worry about it. The guys respect you. I need to get their attention. So I'm just doing this to make sure that everybody knows there's going to be change. You're one of my guys, you're going to be in the top four. Don't worry about it.'
"So that's what I don't like, instead of saying, 'Hey, you're not part of the plans, we're going to be getting rid of you. We're probably going to send you down because you're not a fit here.' Fine, then you get ahead of it, right? But this went on for two weeks."
York didn't end up in the top four in Anaheim that season. He started the year in the American Hockey League before being traded to Nashville, while Titov and Lambert never played again in the NHL.
York felt like it unnecessarily devalued his stock as a player, which was proven by what Anaheim got for him in a trade with the Predators. York still remembers the call from his agent, Pat Morris, who had just gotten off the phone with Nashville assistant GM Ray Shero.
"Pat was like, 'Nashville's calling, and they're wondering what's wrong with you? Like, what happened? Did you do something? Did you get caught for curfew? Are you bad in the room? Are you a bad seed?
"And Pat's like, 'No.' So Nashville ended up getting me (in a trade) for a dollar bill. I was like the bet from the movie Trading Places."
York says that, years later, he confronted Babcock, who blamed everything on Bryan Murray.
"Then I sat down with Bryan about it, and Bryan said it was all Babs' idea to do it. And I believe Bryan over him. But I'm not bitter about it anymore. What are you going to do? For me, it's just this. You can do whatever you want, to some extent, especially back then as a coach.
"But just be honest. Don't lie."
York played as a full-timer the next two seasons in Nashville before the lockout hit.
His negative experience with Babcock is one of several making the rounds as the Edmonton Oilers try to bring him in as their new head coach. The 63-year-old's behaviour didn't fly back in the day, but for some reason, the Oilers see him as their answer seven years after he coached his last game.
What's probably not being talked about enough is Babcock's lack of recent playoff success, which is the biggest part of the puzzle the Oilers are looking to solve.
Babcock's recent playoff record:
2012 DET - 1-4 2013 DET - 7-7 2014 DET - 1-4 2015 DET - 3-4 2016 TOR - Out 2017 TOR - 2-4 2018 TOR - 3-4 2019 TOR - 3-4 2020-2026 - Didn't coach
Unless Babcock has managed to undergo some kind of extreme makeover, it sure doesn't seem like the juice is worth the squeeze.
The postmortem on the Colorado Avalanche’s playoff sweep quickly turned to injuries — but that storyline may not be holding up as strongly as first believed, especially around Cale Makar.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said the Norris Trophy-winning defenseman’s status for the start of next season could be uncertain.
“I’ve heard his injury is pretty significant,” Friedman said on his podcast. “And I know some people have been wondering, will he be ready for the start of next year? I guess we’ll find all that out, but I just don’t think that that’s the reason here. I think it’s more of an excuse than anything else.”
After Makar was seen attending a Colorado Eagles playoff game without a sling or any visible signs of a serious injury, speculation naturally followed about whether the severity of the reported issue had been overstated.
There is no definitive way to confirm that either way, but Joe Sakic offered some clarity Thursday at Family Sports, pushing back on any concern about lingering health issues heading into next season. He said the organization expects a fully healthy group when training camp opens.
“Everybody is going to be at training camp and 100%,” Sakic said. “Nobody going to miss any time.”
That doesn’t mean the Avalanche weren’t dealing with real injuries during the series against Vegas. Artturi Lehkonen, Sam Malinski, Brent Burns, Nathan MacKinnon and Makar were all managing something in some capacity, which, at this point in the season, is more standard reality than exception around the league.
Makar, meanwhile, finished the postseason with five points in 11 games after a 79-point regular season — a playoff total that matched the lowest production of his career in any postseason run, including years in which Colorado exited in the opening round.
It’s the part of hockey that rarely gets romanticized — the stretch where everyone is playing through something, and excuses only carry so much weight after the final whistle. Much like a fighter stepping into a world title bout after a punishing camp, there’s rarely such a thing as perfect health in late spring. And once the result is decided, explanations tend to land hollow.
The reality is the Avalanche were beaten — cleanly — by a Vegas team that neutralized their speed, clogged their lanes, and punished mistakes with ruthless efficiency, which is exactly how the Golden Knights are built to operate.
As Sakic noted Thursday, it was four games, and a rough four games at that. But it doesn’t erase what came before. Colorado still finished the regular season with a Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top team, a distinction that matters even if it doesn’t soften playoff disappointment. The last club to win both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season remains the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks.
And in today’s playoff structure — where elite teams often collide early and the path to June feels more like survival than progression — it increasingly becomes a last-man-standing tournament. Right now, that’s exactly where the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes find themselves, preparing for Game 6 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
For Colorado, though, it's time to reset, recharge, and let the sting fade just enough to start the process all over again.
The Buffalo Sabres have some decisions to make when it comes to their roster this off-season. With the Sabres having limited cap space and multiple players with expired contracts, there is a good chance that they will be moving on from some players.
One Sabres pending restricted free agent (RFA) who very well could not be back next season is defenseman Michael Kesselring. The 26-year-old defenseman was notably scratched for all but one game for the Sabres during the playoffs. He was also limited to only 34 regular-season games this season due to injury trouble, where he had zero points, two assists, and 50 penalty minutes.
With the Sabres having more important players to re-sign, it would not be surprising if they listened to trade offers for Kesselring this off-season. He has already been the subject of trade rumors this summer because of it.
While Kesselring had a tough season for the Sabres in 2025-26, he has the potential to generate a lot of interest this off-season. NHL clubs are always on the hunt for big right-shot defenseman, and the 6-foot-5 Kesselring certainly fits that description.
Kesselring's past success also adds to his appeal. During the 2024-25 season with Utah, he posted career highs with seven goals, 22 assists, and 29 points in 82 games. This was after he had five goals and 21 points in 65 games for the Arizona Coyotes during the 2023-24 campaign.
When noting that Kesselring has shown in the past that he can work as a second-pairing defenseman and is only 26 years old, the Sabres should not have a hard time finding a trading partner for him. It will be interesting to see if Kesselring gets moved this off-season from here.
No matter what happens tomorrow night InVegas, the major league hockey season will close for sure after the seventh game – of course, IF NEEDED.
The Maven cannot speak for Rangers fans but I sure can guess what will going through their heads as they watch the Canes and Knights slug it out – one hoping for The Cup; the other yearning for a Game Seven.
Questions that just might come to mind:
1. K'ANDRE MILLER: This guy has turned into one of the best NHL defensemen and key to the Canes' Cup aspirations. How come K.A.M. was not that good in a Blue Shirt?
2. BRETT HOWDEN: All I remember is that this guy, who's been one of the playoffs leading scorers, couldn't tell a red light from a chartreuse bulb in New York.
3. ROD BRIND'AMOUR: You tell me; are the Canes this close to the silverware because of the perpetually broken nose coach? Brindy has the knack. Period!
4. JOHN TORTORELLA: I guarantee that not even Brind'Amour could have saved the skating slagheap left by Bruce Cassidy. Torts not only re-seeded the Vegas landfill but energized it to a point where two wins will bring another Cup to Sin City. (Torts could revive the Blueshirt Blunderers but that won't happen. Chris Drury treats Mike Sullivan as if he's his favorite nephew, once-removed. (And he should be removed!)
5. HURRICANES: The one time New England (WHA) Whalers have a savvy owner Tom Dundon and a g.m. Eric Tulsky, who knows, and a coach who has been around the block so often he can tell from across the street, the difference between a Champ from a Chump.
6. GOLDEN KNIGHTS: They don't fool around. If something looks wrong; or a coach loses his team – a la Bruce Cassidy – POOF! he's gone and the next guy will fix it. Which Torts has done.
One of these two admirable teams – Golden Knights or Hurricanes – will be crowned champs. For my dough, both deserve super kudos for a series well-played.
Rangers fans can only wish; who knows maybe wishing will make it so.
According to NHL insider Chris Johnston, there's a strong likelihood that former NHL coach Mike Babcock will be cleared to resume his coaching career. Currently under investigation, Johnston noted, "I've seen other reporting, but...I know people that were right there and kind of have more of a sense of exactly what happened...they think he's going to be allowed to work."
Johnston did admit that it would be best not to prejudge the investigation since there are things that might have gone on he's unaware of.
If true that his transgressions were not serious, that would suggest the rumors that a much bigger issue than Babcock going through cell phones might be inaccurate. There was chatter that something problematic was buried when Babcock resigned from the league in 2023. If it resurfaced during the investigation, it could squash any chance of the Edmonton Oilers bringing him on as coach.
Should Babcock not have done anything more than what's already been reported, it would be hard for the league to keep him out because he's mean. If he's done nothing illegal, and nothing against the rules, being somewhat unethical, is an issue the Oilers will have to manage.
Elliotte Friedman noted, that there's no CBA between the coaches and the league, thus NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has a lot of power in this situation. Friedman said, "I don't know how he's gonna rule; I'm sure he's gonna be looking to find out whatever else may have happened."
This decision could come quickly on Babcock. It's being said that the league doesn't want this lingering.
That, of course, makes life a little different for the club’s amateur scouting staff leading up to the 2026 NHL draft. Barring a trade, the Flyers will pick at 21st overall. It’s their lowest first-round spot since 2020.
So the Flyers know the draft is still critical to what they want to do, even when they’re lower in the order.
“We’ve said it for a long time, we wanted to build a team that was going to be here for a long time; not just to go for it for a year or two,” general manager Danny Briere said last month. “That’s still the same approach on my end.”
The Flyers have only five picks in this draft, which will be held June 26-27. The first round is Friday at 7 p.m. ET, while Rounds 2-7 are Saturday starting at 11 a.m. ET.
“I’ll tell you how I feel about drafts and I’ll be totally blunt with you,” TSN director of scouting Craig Button said last Tuesday in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I think it’s f—ing bulls–t when I hear about, ‘Oh, this draft isn’t as good.’ Here are the numbers. Approximately 45 players from any draft will play 350 games or more in the NHL. It might be 47 one year, 42 another year. That’s the number — you get 45 players that’ll play 350 games or more with varying degrees of success.
“And I know this about the draft. The teams that get good players from the draft say it was a good draft. The teams that don’t get good players from the draft say it wasn’t a good draft. So when people start telling me about a draft ahead of time, I call bulls–t.”
“What you’re trying to do is find a player that you feel has the potential to be an NHL player,” Button said. “That might be a third-line center, that might be a second-line scoring winger. Hey, listen, maybe you get David Pastrnak, who’s a superstar (drafted 25th overall in 2014).
“But the focus has to be on, ‘OK, what type of player do we like, what type of player do we think the guy can be?’ And then get after it and understand what the development path is, and then try to help that player be the best he can be. Put a stake in the ground and celebrate who you’re drafting.”
Before the draft arrives, we’re breaking down first-round targets for the Flyers.
Next up:
Liam Ruck
Position: Winger Height: 6-foot Weight: 174 Shoots: Right Team: Medicine Hat
Scouting report
Ruck is adept at finding his spots and finishing. He can flat-out score and he’s effective in all situations.
“This kid is a hell of a player,” Button, a former NHL GM and scout, said. “This kid knows how to play the game everywhere — offensively, defensively, he’s a great competitor, he’s smart, he knows how to make things happen. I just watch him, he’s a hockey player.”
The 18-year-old led all draft-eligible players with 45 goals in 68 games this season for Medicine Hat. He put up 104 points, second in the WHL to only his twin brother Markus Ruck, who had 108.
“I love Liam. I like Markus, too,” Button said. “It’s very interesting when you think about the two of them and how they play. Markus is the playmaking center and Liam is more bent toward goal scoring, but a great playmaker.”
Liam Ruck is the 10th-ranked player on Button’s May 20 draft list. He scored 16 power play goals, three shorthanded and 10 game-winners. He recorded six games of four or more points. In the playoffs, he added eight goals and four assists over 14 games.
The Ruck brothers are not explosive skaters. They’re a bit undersized and on the thinner side. But those things are not total deal-breakers for teenage players.
“I hear this all the time and I get asked this question: ‘What about their skating?'” Button said. “Well, No. 1, I don’t need them to go on the speed-skating oval, put a stopwatch on them. They’re not in a speed-skating competition. And if [Liam] was a little bit better of a skater, we’d be talking about him at the top of the draft. … He’s a damn good hockey player. And his brother’s a damn good hockey player.”
Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, the Hall of Fame twin brothers, were forever teammates and often on the same line. Button wasn’t concerned about the Ruck brothers eventually having to find success on separate teams.
“I’ve had this question from a number of people: ‘Well, how are they going to play apart?'” Button said. “I’ve seen them play apart. With the Sedins, I never saw them play apart, ever — not with the national team, not with their junior clubs. I never saw the Sedins play apart. So it’s a legitimate question, how will they play apart? I’ve seen the Rucks play apart and I’ve seen them play really well apart.”
(Randy Feere/Medicine Hat Tigers)
Fit with Flyers
Ruck would give the Flyers a hard decision if he’s still on the board at No. 21.
It’s fair to debate how his game will translate against men at the pro level because of the size and skating factors. But the shooting ability, versatility and hockey IQ are all there.
The Flyers’ future on the right wing would have some serious promise with Martone, Ruck and Matvei Michkov.
Perception around and within the Anaheim Ducks organization is far different from what it was a year ago today. The Ducks were a month removed from hiring Joel Quenneville as their next head coach, two months from taking a 21-point jump in the standings from the year prior, and had declared a mandate to qualify for the 2026 NHL Playoffs.
In his first roster move of the offseason, general manager Pat Verbeek made a trade with a familiar dance partner, the New York Rangers, and acquired forward Chris Kreider (35) along with a 2025 fourth-round pick (Elijah Neuenschwander) in exchange for prospect Carey Terrance (21) and a third-round pick (Artyom Gonchar).
Kreider had two years remaining on his contract, which carried an AAV of $6.5 million. If one were to evaluate this trade from a certain point of view, it could be seen as the Ducks parting with a third-tier prospect and moving down 15 spots in the draft to sign Chris Kreider to a two-year contract, which would have been decent value given the NHL’s increasing salary cap landscape and the projected cap space the Ducks had to work with.
Coming off an injury-riddled season in 2024-25, where he produced just 30 points (22-8=30) in 68 games, Kreider waived his 15-team NTC to facilitate the trade to the Ducks.
The Ducks selected Terrance in the second round (59th overall in 2023) three years ago, and though his defensive upside remains, his potential ceiling is likely that of a fourth-line forward. He was just under a point-per-game player in the two years following his draft year in the OHL, playing for the Erie Otters, but struggled to produce in his first professional season, scoring 17 points (8-9=17) in 68 games.
Gonchar and Neuenschander are still too raw and nearly removed from their draft to evaluate completely, but both are long shots to have long NHL careers at this point in time.
Kreider started his Ducks tenure white hot, scoring ten goals in his first 13 games of the season and 21 points (13-8=21) in his first 25. He made an immediate impact on Anaheim’s top line, where he’d remain for the majority of the season and playoffs, alongside Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry. During that stretch, he was especially beneficial below the dots in the offensive zone and at the net front, offering the Ducks a strength in an area they’ve lacked in recent memory.
As the months progressed through the season, his potency dissipated somewhat, and he finished the season with 50 points (22-28=50) in 75 games while playing a top-six role for the duration of the campaign.
The Ducks qualified for the playoffs for the first time in eight years and advanced to the second round for the first time in nine, with Kreider playing a part in that success. He finished the playoffs with seven points (2-5=7) in 12 games; five in the first round vs the Edmonton Oilers and two in the second vs the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kreider brought with him, from the blaring media light of the New York Rangers, a humor and lightheartedness that was blended with a veteran professionalism. He commanded respect, but was willing to be playful with teammates and the media.
He will enter his 35-year-old season in 2026-27, and with any player in their mid-thirties, his impact will be determined by his ability to fend off Father Time as best he can. The hope is that the younger roster pieces on Anaheim’s depth chart will be able to slot into roles higher in the lineup with more consistency, taking some of that burden off of Kreider’s plate.
The Ducks made the second round in the 2026 Playoffs and will be expecting to return to or eclipse that level in 2026-27. Throughout his 15-year NHL career, Kreider’s been more than willing to get to the hard areas of the ice and is 42 games from reaching the 1000-game milestone. He’s played 135 playoff games in 11 years on top of that total.
If Kreider can notch another 40-50 points in 2026-27, from a lower-profile spot in the lineup and turn in a more productive postseason, the trade to acquire him in 2025 will prove to be an undeniable win for Anaheim. A lot of evaluation regarding this trade will be determined in year two of Kreider’s presence in Anaheim, when expectations have risen, and the team is projected to threaten the $104 million salary cap ceiling for the first time in a long time.
Some prospects announce themselves with gaudy point totals. Linus Funck spent his first season in North America proving he could become the kind of defenseman coaches trust.
That's exactly what the Colorado Avalanche were hoping to see when they selected the Swedish blueliner in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Funck was never viewed as an instant-impact prospect. He arrived with NHL size, strong defensive instincts and a mature hockey IQ, but the expectation was always that his development would take time. His first season with the OHL's London Knights did nothing to change that outlook.
The 6-foot-3 right-shot defenseman appeared in 65 regular season games, recording four goals and 18 assists for 22 points. Those are encouraging numbers for a defenseman still learning the North American game, especially one whose value extends far beyond the scoresheet.
Funck isn't asked to drive offense. His job is to close gaps quickly, separate opponents from the puck, disrupt passing lanes and make the smart first pass that turns defense into transition. Those details rarely generate headlines, but they're often what determine whether a prospect eventually earns NHL minutes.
Like most European players making the jump overseas, there was an adjustment period. Funck flashed confidence early, looking comfortable with the puck and contributing offensively while adapting to a faster, more physical style of play. As the season progressed and opponents became more familiar with him, the production leveled off, but his overall game never did.
Night after night, he continued to play the same composed, dependable style that earned him regular minutes on one of the OHL's premier teams. For a young defenseman leaving home and adapting to a new country and playing surface, it was impressive on the surface.
The next phase of his development is easy to point out.
At 6-foot-3 and roughly 190 pounds, Funck has the height NHL teams covet, but there's still room to add strength. More muscle should make him even more effective in board battles, net-front coverage and the physical battles that define professional hockey.
The Avalanche have already seen how a dedicated offseason can accelerate a prospect's development. Seventh-round pick Christian Humphreys spent part of last summer working with renowned strength and conditioning coach Lorne Goldberg before arriving at training camp noticeably stronger and more explosive. He carried that momentum into a standout season with the Kitchener Rangers, helping lead the club to its first Memorial Cup championship in more than two decades.
Funck could benefit from a similar approach. Whether it's with Goldberg or another elite strength coach, adding functional strength while maintaining his mobility could unlock another level in his game.
That's where the offensive upside becomes intriguing. With greater confidence and a stronger frame, Funck should feel more comfortable joining the rush, holding pucks under pressure and trusting his instincts in transition without sacrificing the defensive reliability that already defines his game.
For an Avalanche organization that doesn't boast much prospect depth, this is a promising development.
Funck didn't need a breakout season to validate his potential. He needed experience, consistency and proof that his defensive foundation could translate to North American hockey.
He accomplished all three, giving Colorado another reason to believe its patient approach may eventually pay off.
At the NHL Draft, you never mind picking 32nd overall, because it usually means you just won the Stanley Cup. But this year, that selection didn't come with a prize; just penance.
The Senators will pick at 32, dead last overall, as their punishment for a messed-up trade from five years ago. And since the NHL's original ruling was no pick at all in Round 1, the Sens aren't complaining.
Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss more on the idea of signing UFA Viktor Arvidsson.
Without the league's change of heart, it would have been a pretty dull first day at the draft for the mighty Sens. Their first pick would have been the coveted 72nd overall selection, which is the pick they got from Florida in the 2024 Vladimir Tarasenko deal.
What also makes the Senators' first-round pick unique is that they're allowed to trade it. Commissioner Gary Bettman still wanted to set an example, and set it the way an elementary school teacher might handle a student who was causing trouble.
Back of the line, kid, and stay there.
So as their time to pick approaches in Buffalo on June 26, there will be no trades, no drama. They will absolutely choose someone at 32.
Senators head amateur scout Don Boyd, who's making a list and checking it twice, talked about his scouting team's preparation this week on TSN 1200 radio.
"We build our list with the idea that these players are going to go in this order, or that we would have them in this order if we were making every pick one to 32," Boyd said. "Other teams will make decisions for us. There may be somebody else outside of our 32 that jumps ahead of our pick, and then we have our list that we can react to that.
"If we were in a position where we could trade the pick... we would still build our list the same way."
No two teams will have the same draft list, so the Senators will almost certainly come away with a player they currently have ranked somewhere in the mid-to-high 20s.
Boyd figures that at least five prospects who they have ranked higher than 32 may be available to them. Or to put it another way, roughly five other teams are expected to use their first-round pick on players who aren't on the Sens' list.
He says there are even three players outside of their top 32 that they would still be very happy with. So they expect to end up with one of eight players.
Boyd, 73, has been around the scouting game for a long time, and was asked how the first-round talent depth this year stacks up with drafts of the past.
"We're looking at a draft that's got a lot of defensemen involved in the top 10-12 of the draft," Boyd said. "There are possibly 6 or 7 that could go in that area... it's a deep draft as far as defensemen go."
One thing that has dramatically changed draft evaluation is the relatively new NCAA eligibility rules.
"Players can go now to major junior and then go to college, and so now our perspective has changed when we're looking at players that are playing at so many different levels.
"We look at players who maybe have not produced at the college level in their first year, and we know they can produce or they've produced before. So we have to go back into their background, acknowledge what they've done in the past and take the big picture of what they've done this year."
Sounds like Boyd and his staff may have a college player or two in mind that other teams might be undervaluing.
The 2026 NHL Draft will be held at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
The Montreal Canadiens have plenty of promising prospects in their system. One of them is forward Owen Beck.
Beck just completed his second professional season split between the Canadiens and Laval Rocket in 2025-26. In 15 games with the Habs, he scored his first-career NHL goal, threw 24 hits, and won 58.7% of his faceoffs. Down in the AHL with Laval, he had 13 goals and 33 points in 58 games. He also recorded three goals and two assists in five playoff games for the Rocket.
Beck's offense dropped a bit this season compared to his first campaign with Laval, as he had 15 goals and 44 points in 64 regular-season games with the AHL club in 2024-25. While this is the case, he is still a prospect to watch very closely in 2026-27.
There is a lot to like about Beck's game when it comes to his two-way play, faceoff ability, and penalty-killing ability. Because of this, it would not necessarily be surprising if the Canadiens give him more opportunities on their NHL roster next season. If they do, he will be a prime breakout candidate to watch for the Canadiens next season.
With Beck being among the Canadiens' most notable prospects, they are certainly hoping that he can take that next step. He has the tools to become a solid NHL player, and it will be intriguing to see if he emerges as just that next season for Montreal.
