However, according to a couple of sources, the Maple Leafs have continued on with their search, and have interviewed Peter Laviolette and Patrick Roy.
On Sportsnet's 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman reported that Laviolette is one of several coaches that the Maple Leafs have spoken too.
"Toronto, I've heard they've done like 15 Zoom interviews, and I think Peter Laviolette was one of them," Friedman said on Wednesday's podcast.
TSN's Darren Dreger also made a report on Wednesday about Laviolette being a part of this week's "stage of the interview process." Along with the veteran head coach, Laviolette, Dreger also mentioned Roy as being a part of the process as a separate candidate at this stage, too.
Laviolette, 61, hasn't coached in the NHL this past season after wrapping up a two-year stint with the New York Rangers. He was fired after the 2024-25 campaign after a 39-36-7 record and a fifth-place finish in the Metropolitan Division, missing the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The season before that, which was also Laviolette's first with the Rangers, they won the Presidents' Trophy and advanced to the Eastern Conference final, losing to the Cup champions Florida Panthers in six games.
Laviolette has visited the Stanley Cup final three times in his 23-year NHL coaching career. He finished as the runner-up in 2009-10 and 2016-17 with the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators, respectively. But he did win the Stanley Cup 20 years ago with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
In addition to that playoff success and 1,594 regular-season games coached in the NHL, he's also won a couple of Presidents' Trophies.
In his first year with Colorado and in the NHL, Roy won the Jack Adams Trophy as the coach of the year. He led the Avs to win the Central Division in that 2013-14 campaign with a 52-22-8 record, but was eliminated in the first round by the Minnesota Wild in seven games.
In the next two seasons, the Avalanche finished seventh and sixth in their division, leading Roy and Colorado to part ways following 2015-16.
After seven years away from the NHL, contributing to the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts as a GM and head coach, he was hired by the Islanders mid-season in 2023-24.
He finished off his first year in Long Island with a five-game exit in the first round of the playoffs. To this point, there was a clear decline in the Islanders, and they missed the post-season the following year.
Even after winning the draft lottery and selecting star defenseman Matthew Schaefer, there weren't many expectations for the Islanders and Roy, but he was exceeding them throughout the year.
For a chunk of last season, Roy and the Islanders were hanging around a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. In fact, the day before Roy was officially relieved of his duties by the Isles, the team was third in the Metro.
Nonetheless, Roy was replaced by Peter DeBoer, and New York went on to miss the playoffs.
Both Laviolette and Roy have had some solid campaigns in the NHL. And with these reports, it seems the Maple Leafs have at least made a preliminary interaction and spent some time speaking to these candidates recently.
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MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 14: Patrik Laine #92 of the Montréal Canadiens handles the puck during the first period against the Seattle Kraken at the Bell Centre on October 14, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montréal Canadiens defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It seems likely that the Pittsburgh Penguins approach to the unrestricted free agent market is going to be very similar to what it was in the summer of 2025, especially given the lack of truly high-end players that will be available in that market.
That is also a very, very good thing if it plays out that way.
The top goal-scorer on the free agent market already played for the Penguins this past season (Anthony Mantha) and there does not seem to be anybody that wants him back after his playoff performance.
But for as forgettable as that playoff showing was, Mantha was still an objectively good free agent signing given what he did over the course of the regular season and how little he actually cost them.
The Penguins took a one-year flier on him in the hopes that he could come back healthy, took advantage of the opportunity to give him an incentive-laden contract, and then watched him put together a career year. The initial goal was almost certainly to trade him at the deadline (which would have made him this season’s version of Anthony Beauvillier), but he ended up scoring more goals than anybody could have anticipated, while the Penguins ended up winning more games than anybody could have anticipated.
All of that kept him in Pittsburgh for the duration of the season.
Now that Mantha seems destined to move on, there’s going to be an opening on the roster.
Ideally there would be an internal replacement to fill that spot (looking at you, Rutger McGroarty or Ville Koivunen).
There is also the possibility that other players leave the organization along with Mantha via trade (looking at you, Rickard Rakell and/or Bryan Rust and/or Tommy Novak) which could open up additional spots.
Somebody would have to also fill them.
One name on the free agent that could follow the mold of Mantha as a potential reclamation project is Patrik Laine.
Frankly, Laine might be the only type of unrestricted free agent I have any interest in.
Alex Tuch is destined to sign with the Rangers on a contract that immediately ages like milk. I can already see him in that uniform. I can hear his name echoing throughout Madison Square Garden. It’s fate. It’s where this offseason deserves to go. It is all of their destinies.
Mason Marchment and Bobby McMann in a rising cap environment? Gross! Let Seattle and Calgary deal with that.
When it comes to making major investments this offseason you have to be thinking along the lines of trades and restricted free agents. Players still in their prime, just entering their prime or players that can provide some sort positive long-term value beyond the 2026-27 season.
After all, even though the Penguins were a playoff team a year ago they are still a team that is going through some sort of a rebuild (even if it isn’t the traditional type of rebuild people expected).
If you are going to dip into this UFA market with this Penguins team, you have to be thinking about low-risk, potentially high-reward gambles.
That is Laine.
Laine’s career has been derailed over the past few years by injuries, allowing him to appear in just 186 out of a possible 410 games over the past five seasons.
That includes just 75 games over the past three seasons and only five games this past season.
While he was limited to only five games with the Montreal Canadiens in 2025-26, he recently said he was healthy enough to play in the second half of the season only to have the Canadiens keep him on IR anyway.
All of that missed time has created the possibility for him to sign the type an incentive-filled contract that is usually only reserved for entry-level players and players over the age 35. That opens the door for a relatively cheap base-salary, with any bonus overages rolling into next year’s cap (which shouldn’t bother the Penguins given how much cap space they have and the lack of major long-term investments on the roster).
The only problem with this line of thinking is there’s probably 20 other teams in the NHL with that same mindset, which could create a more robust market for a guy that only played in five games a year ago.
But… I’m still sticking with this.
Especially since a healthy Laine can still be a potentially impactful player.
Is he one-dimensional? Probably.
But that one dimension that he provides is an important one, and he’s still really good at it when he is able to stay on the ice.
He can still shoot the puck, and he can still score goals.
Some numbers:
Between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons there were 530 forwards in the NHL that played at least 500 minutes (all-situations) of hockey.
Laine’s 1.39 goals per 60 minutes placed him 27th on the list, sandwiched immediately between Cole Caufield and Brady Tkachuk, and ahead of Kyle Connor, Nikita Kucherov, Mark Scheifele, Sebastian Aho, Sidney Crosby, Matthew Tkachuk, Wyatt Johnston, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and Nikolaj Ehlers.
That does not mean he’s better than all of those players (or even any of them), it just means he scored goals at a higher rate than them. And there is value in that.
In terms of actual goals, he scored 48 in 125 games during that time.
That’s a 31-goal pace over 82 games.
He also averaged 9.89 shots on goal per 60 minutes (47th out of that group of 530 forwards) and 0.84 individual expected goals per 60 minutes (232nd out of the 530).
Just for comparisons sake, the Penguins signed Mantha to his incentive-based contract coming off that same three-year stretch, and also coming off an injury-shortened year.
Mantha’s numbers and rankings among that same group of forwards:
Goals/60: 1.04 (115th)
Shots on goal/60: 6.78 (258th)
Individual expected goals/60: 0.78 (290th)
The mindset with Laine could be identical to what it was with Mantha. It is a short-term, prove-it contract full of performance bonuses with the possibility of moving him at the deadline if the playoffs are not in the cards, or having a potential 30-goal scorer on your roster if the playoffs are in the cards. If you’re the Penguins and trying to sell Laine on what you can offer over other teams offering similar deals, you can literally point to the success of Mantha and what playing in Pittsburgh could do for him and his value NEXT offseason.
If it is not a move like this, I would sit out every element of the UFA signing period. But a move like this would at least be interesting. There is also some reason to believe it could work.
On this date in 2023, rumors surfaced that the Columbus Blue Jackets were going to hire long-time NHL coach Mike Babcock.
Columbus fans and hockey fans in general had a few reactions. CBJ fans were split 50/50, it seemed. Some fans wanted the hard-nosed coach that could bring out the best in the players. While others were shocked that the CBJ front office would bring in said hard-nosed coach and put him around a very young team.
Babcock has been away from the NHL for 4 years or so, and in the sports world, that’s an eternity. In 2021, he accepted the coaching job at the University of Saskatchewan, but in August of 2022, he resigned. The next day, he announced he would retire. But like most coaches in any sport, it’s hard to stay away.
Speculation around the Memorial Cup is Mike Babcock will return to the NHL as @BlueJacketsNHL new coach and the delay in announcing coincides with his existing contract with the Maple Leafs expiring the end of this month. https://t.co/OUlxBRS8bq
The question that most fans have is: has he changed? There were reports from a couple of players over the years of mental abuse or feuding with players like Mike Commodore. He has come out publicly and said that back when he was coaching, he had no idea about mental health and how to deal with it. Babcock has been an outspoken advocate for the Bell Let’s Talk awareness campaign and other groups.
A few weeks after the rumors started, Mike Commodore came out with a blistering video about Babcock. He publicly bashed both Babcock and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Commodore went on a calm, NSWF rant about how "disappointed" he was to see "Babs the Bully" back in the NHL. Commie asked, "Am I surprised? No, I'm not!" Commodore went on to say that he never believed Babcock was retiring. He said he also feels Babcock went into the CBJ front office and told them "whatever they wanted to hear," "blah blah blah," so he could get the job, claiming he changed; meanwhile Commie thinks otherwise. " Babs the bully ain't changing."
Commodore went on to say he hopes this experiment fails miserably. "With all due respect to my buddies that are in the Blue Jackets Organization, I hope this Babcock experiment is a complete disaster, on every single level."
As we know, it was a complete failure and possibly set the team back a few years; they later hired Pascal Vincent to replace him, and that hire also failed.
It's been a long three years for Columbus, but with a new GM, Head Coach(stable), and some front office changes, it seems like they're on the right track, but time will tell.
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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A Montreal Canadiens legend is among the candidates for the Toronto Maple Leafs' head coaching job.
According to TSN's Darren Dreger, former Canadiens star Patrick Roy is among the names interviewing for the Maple Leafs' bench boss gig this week. Dreger also shared that Peter Laviolette will be interviewing for Toronto's job as well.
With Roy being a Canadiens legend, it would certainly be strange to see him end up being the Maple Leafs' head coach. However, with Roy being one of the top head coaches without a job right now, it makes sense that he is speaking with the Maple Leafs.
Roy was let go by the New York Islanders with just four games left in the 2025-26 season. This is after he led the Islanders to a 42-31-5 record and 89 points. Roy was replaced by Peter DeBoer.
Roy has a 130-92-24 record as an NHL head coach. He also won the Jack Adams Award for the 2013-14 season, where he led the Colorado Avalanche to a 52-22-8 record and 112 points.
In 551 games with the Canadiens, Roy had a 289-175-66 record, a .904 save percentage, a 2.78 goals-against average, and 29 shutouts. He also won two of his four Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens.
NHL players get praise from all sorts of sources, but none means more to them than that of their peers. That is especially true when it comes from peers who have been incredibly successful in their own careers.
That is what Chicago Blackhawks forward Oliver Moore received from Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk.
On the latest episode of his podcast "Wing Man", which he hosts with his brother and Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, Matthew gave Moore his flowers after playing with him at the IIHF World Championships.
The two represented Team USA together in Switzerland. They lost to Canada in the Quarterfinals, but the young squad took major strides as the tournament went along.
Tkachuk, when praising Moore, said that he is going to be a great player in the NHL for a long time. Tkachuk credited Moore's skills, but also his speed, which is so obviously his best asset.
Moore was a first-round pick, 19th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft. Since then, he has gone to the University of Minnesota, played some games in the AHL, and begun his NHL career.
In 60 total NHL games played, Moore has 5 goals and 14 assists for 19 points. He has shown the ability to impact games at even strength, on the power play, and on the penalty kill. Again, his speed is a factor in every facet of the game.
It still remains to be seen what kind of point totals Moore will max out at, but he is an everyday NHL forward no matter what. The Blackhawks would love if he became a star producer, but they know they have a speedy solid middle-six forward at minimum.
Matthew Tkachuk has been a wildly impressive player since becoming the sixth overall pick by the Calgary Flames in the 2016 NHL Draft.
In his 673-game NHL career, he has 253 goals, 417 assists, and 670 points. All of this comes while being one of the game's best "pests". His resume also includes two Stanley Cups and an Olympic Gold Medal.
Tkachuk knows what it takes to be triumphant as an individual and as a team at the highest level. Him seeing great things in Oliver Moore is a sign of good things to come for the young Blackhawks forward.
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NEWARK, NJ - JULY 03: First-round draft pick Anton Silayev #52 of the New Jersey Devils skates during New Jersey Devils Development Camp at the Prudential Center on July 3, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle Getty Images) | Getty Images
Here are your links for today:
Devils Links
Anton Silayev has signed his entry-level contract:
BIG deal? Yeah, we'd say so.
We've signed Anton Silayev to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Devils have signed Silayev, 2024 10th overall pick. Draft position, size, and skating are huge pluses in terms of his projectability. Some big question marks around his KHL time, especially this past season when his ice time plummeted. Puck skills and hockey I.Q. might be issues. pic.twitter.com/dwOrODN9pF
On Silayev: “He may not have a high offensive ceiling, but I am still optimistic about his chances of becoming a useful NHL player. He has a unique combination of size, speed, and agility that is very rare. If harnessed properly, he could turn into an excellent defender.” [Infernal Access ($)]
On the goaltending: “I doubt Allen is going anywhere, but what about Markström? For as much as fans may want a change in net, it may prove easier said than done.” [Devils on the Rush]
Hockey Links
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final goes to the Golden Knights:
The James Norris Memorial Trophy is presented annually to the defenseman who demonstrates the greatest all-around ability in his position. 👏 #NHLAwardspic.twitter.com/4bdUVRLi4w
“Bruce Cassidy just wants to coach. In fact, he told The Athletic, just for the chance to interview for the current NHL coaching vacancies, he’d forfeit the reported $5 million the Vegas Golden Knights are on the hook to pay him not to coach next season. But the language in his contract with Vegas states the Golden Knights must grant him permission to interview elsewhere even after relieving him of his coaching duties in late March. If he chose to terminate the remainder of his contract, the only thing it would accomplish would be not getting paid. He still wouldn’t be allowed to interview because of a noncompete.” [The Athletic ($)]
“The NHL All-Star Weekend will have an international hockey flavor after the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Winter Olympics. The 2027 midseason classic, scheduled for Feb. 5-6 at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, will feature teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, the United States and a ‘World’ team comprising international players from countries outside of those four.” [ESPN]
More from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on a number of topics ahead of Game 1: [The Athletic ($)]
“The NHL is about to enter an exclusive renegotiation period with its two U.S. media rights holders, ESPN and TNT Sports, and will be doing so from a period of historic viewership strength.” [Front Office Sports]
“A report of a potential succession plan for longtime NHL commissioner Gary Bettman surfaced Tuesday in the hours leading up to his press conference to open the 2025-26 Stanley Cup Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights. While Bettman, 74, was quick to downplay how far along the process was, he also didn’t shy away from the fact his career will wind down eventually.” [Daily Faceoff]
Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.
Vegas Golden Knights (39-26-17, in the Pacific Division) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (53-22-7, in the Metropolitan Division)
Raleigh, North Carolina; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT
LINE: Hurricanes -162, Golden Knights +135; over/under is 6
STANLEY CUP FINAL: Golden Knights lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Vegas Golden Knights visit the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final with a 1-0 lead in the series. The teams meet Tuesday for the fourth time this season. The Golden Knights won 5-4 in the previous matchup.
Carolina is 35-12-2 at home and 53-22-7 overall. The Hurricanes have a 28-9-2 record when scoring a power-play goal.
Vegas is 39-26-17 overall and 26-16-8 on the road. The Golden Knights have a 49-7-11 record when scoring three or more goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Seth Jarvis has 32 goals and 34 assists for the Hurricanes. Nikolaj Ehlers has six goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
Mitchell Marner has 24 goals and 56 assists for the Golden Knights. Jack Eichel has one goal and nine assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hurricanes: 8-2-0, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.2 assists, 5.1 penalties and 13.4 penalty minutes while giving up two goals per game.
Golden Knights: 8-2-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.
INJURIES: Hurricanes: None listed.
Golden Knights: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
In less than 24 hours from permission granted to departure finalized, Chris MacFarland went from a key piece of the Colorado Avalanche’s front office to officially being out the door — and the speed of it has quietly turned into the first real question.
Chris MacFarland’s exit in Colorado didn’t come with much warning — or much resistance — and that alone is beginning to say something about where things stand inside the Avalanche organization.
Welcome to Smashville, Chris! 👋
We're proud to announce that Chris MacFarland has been hired as our President of Hockey Operations and General Manager.
On Wednesday, the Nashville Predators officially named MacFarland their President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, closing the book on a tenure in Colorado that ended almost as quickly as it was allowed to conclude. The timing, more than anything, has sparked the obvious question: was this a departure Colorado tried to prevent, or one they quietly accepted?
On paper, the Avalanche are still operating as a win-now team — Presidents’ Trophy expectations, Stanley Cup aspirations, and a core built around one of the most dominant groups the league has seen in years. But the results have stopped matching the billing. The championships haven’t followed, the draft capital has thinned out, and the roster is starting to show its age in key spots.
— 92.5 FM - Denver's Altitude Sports Radio (@AltitudeSR) June 2, 2026
So when a senior executive is permitted to walk without much resistance, it naturally raises eyebrows. If MacFarland was truly viewed as part of the long-term foundation, it’s fair to wonder whether the organization would have drawn a harder line. They had the right to.
They didn’t use it.
Some will frame that as courtesy — a respectful send-off for a longtime executive earning a promotion elsewhere. Others will see it as something quieter and more telling: that internal change in Colorado may not be as far off as it looks from the outside.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
The guys react in real time as news breaks that Chris MacFarland is headed to Nashville. pic.twitter.com/Vy05jEq6Dp
Either way, it’s another storyline that will inevitably circle back to Joe Sakic the next time he addresses the media.
Familiar Pain, Familiar Opponent
From the outside, the Avalanche’s recent playoff history hasn’t offered much relief.
Last season’s disappointment again ended at the hands of Pete DeBoer and the Dallas Stars in a second consecutive seven-game first-round series. Dallas was dealing with injuries to key players like Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen, which only added to the frustration around Colorado’s exit.
And then there was Mikko Rantanen.
Moved earlier in the year in a decision that still hangs over the franchise, he was sent to the Carolina Hurricanes — only to later surface in Dallas and play a major role in eliminating his former team. It was one of those storylines that refuses to fade, no matter how many months pass.
By the time the series ended, the blame didn’t sit in one place. Assistant coach Ray Bennett ultimately absorbed the formal fallout, but MacFarland and head coach Jared Bednar were both pulled into the larger conversation about accountability within the organization.
Colorado’s power play issues were part of the story, but they weren’t the whole story. At different points, Dallas controlled the pace, dictated the physical tone, and forced stretches where the Avalanche struggled to respond.
One moment stood out more than most — Valeri Nichushkin taking a cross-check to the face from Jamie Benn, with little meaningful pushback afterward.
What stood out even more in hindsight was how that moment echoed beyond the Dallas series. The physical tone Benn established didn’t fade once the series ended. Instead, it became a reference point — not just for what Dallas did, but for how Colorado was increasingly being approached in the postseason. Test the edge. Challenge the response. See what breaks.
That blueprint didn’t stop. It followed them as Colorado refused to address their flaws.
Talent Without Enough Edge
There was an expectation afterward that Colorado would evolve into something heavier, something harder to play against. The reality only partially matched that idea.
Brent Burns brought experience and puck movement, but at this stage of his career he isn’t a player who changes the team’s physical identity. Josh Manson remains the closest thing Colorado has to that element, but injuries have kept him from being a consistent presence.
What hasn’t changed is the offense.
Nathan MacKinnon captured his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer. Martin Nečas, acquired in the Rantanen trade, was outstanding through the first two rounds of the playoffs — driving play, creating offense, and looking like one of Colorado’s most dangerous forwards. But like much of the roster, he went quiet against Vegas once the Golden Knights tightened space and removed time in transition.
Brock Nelson provided steady production after arriving, Parker Kelly broke out with a 21-goal season, and Scott Wedgewood alongside Mackenzie Blackwood formed a strong tandem, sharing the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals against during the regular season (minimum 25 games played).
Jared Bednar talking about Chris MacFarland Being a Finalist for GM of the Year: "No one is gonna outwork him, no one is gonna watch more games..."
Against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Avalanche were swept, and once again the gap between regular-season dominance and postseason reality became impossible to ignore.
At that level, skill doesn’t disappear — but it gets compressed. Space shrinks, time disappears, and structure takes over.
And against that structure, Colorado had no answer. Similar to Dallas, Colorado had no response to Vegas’ brutality.
The Cost Of Constant Recalibration
MacFarland’s approach was never reckless — it was deliberate. Aggressive when needed, patient when possible, always trying to keep the championship window from closing.
But over time, the accumulation of moves has left its mark.
Alex Newhook, drafted in 2019 and part of the 2022 Cup team, was traded to Montreal in 2023 for futures and a prospect who never became part of Colorado’s long-term core. In Montreal, he later delivered a breakthrough postseason, including a Game 7 overtime winner against Buffalo and a run to the Eastern Conference Final.
It’s exactly the kind of production that becomes more noticeable when depth scoring disappears in the spring.
On defense, Bo Byram’s departure still stands out. Now in Buffalo, he’s developed into a steady, mobile defenseman after being moved in the deal that brought back Casey Mittelstadt — a move designed to solve Colorado’s long-running search for a second-line center behind Nathan MacKinnon.
Perhaps the most striking reflection of that approach isn’t just in the roster turnover, but in what it has cost beyond it. Colorado does not own a first-round pick in the draft until 2029, and will not make a selection in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft either. For a franchise still operating with championship expectations, it’s a rare level of future compression.
Mittelstadt struggled to find consistency and was eventually moved again — packaged with Will Zellers and a draft pick to Boston for Charlie Coyle. Coyle’s stint didn’t last long either, later being dealt to Columbus with Miles Wood for Gavin Brindley and additional draft capital.
Brindley saw NHL time but finished the season back with the Colorado Eagles.
Layer after layer, the middle of the roster has been reshaped without ever fully stabilizing.
Cal Ritchie was included in the Brock Nelson deal — a move that delivered regular-season production but limited playoff impact. Nazem Kadri’s return brought familiarity and edge, but also a long-term commitment that now looks more complicated as his game ages.
Even smaller moves have added up. The Sam Girard for Brett Kulak trade remains one of the cleaner wins in that stretch.
But the overall direction is clear: Colorado has leaned heavily into a win-now identity that has steadily traded future flexibility for present urgency.
And that only works if the final step actually arrives.
So far, it hasn’t.
The Cycle Comes Full Circle
And now, with MacFarland gone and Joe Sakic once again central to the structure, the Avalanche find themselves circling familiar ground. Not a reset — a recalibration around the same philosophy that delivered the 2022 championship.
The problem is that everything around it has changed.
The core is older. The margins are thinner. And the same approach that once delivered a title has, in recent years, produced more questions than answers.
At some point, the bigger truth becomes hard to ignore.
You can’t keep selling your soul for short-term certainty and expect the same version of success to come back unchanged.
The 2022 team wasn’t just talented — it was stable. It grew together, stayed together, and understood exactly what it was when it mattered most.
Since then, the churn has been constant. Moves made for urgency. Moves made for fit. Moves made for a roster that keeps changing before it ever fully settles.
And that’s where the contrast becomes unavoidable. What once felt like a brotherhood built over years now feels more transactional — like everything has been broken up, moved around, and reassembled elsewhere, with pieces that don’t always naturally fit the same way.
Not bad players. Not bad intentions. Just a team that hasn’t been allowed to stay whole long enough to become what it once was.
And in the middle of it all, Sakic now finds himself back in a familiar position — trying to stabilize a structure he helped build, but didn’t always directly steer through its most aggressive decisions.
Because as MacFarland exits, there’s a growing sense of a familiar pattern underneath it all: when things don’t end in a championship, someone eventually becomes the face of the disappointment. Sometimes it’s a coach. Sometimes it’s an assistant. Sometimes it’s an executive cycle that quietly gets reshaped or replaced before the core ever truly changes.
MacFarland’s departure doesn’t land like a dramatic firing — but it also doesn’t feel entirely disconnected from that pattern either. Another layer of accountability, another shift in responsibility, another figure stepping out as the organization circles back toward the same core group that has defined its last era.
The difference this time is that Joe Sakic isn’t walking into a rebuild or a reset. He’s walking back into a familiar identity — one that already delivered a championship, but has since struggled to find the same level of finishing touch.
And whether MacFarland was the fall guy, a casualty of timing, or simply the next man to move on, the broader reality doesn’t change much.
But that’s the risk of a cup-or-bust mentality. You’re either a genius or the villain. Colorado, for a stretch, looked like neither was up for debate — they terrorized the entire league. It just didn’t carry through when it mattered most.
The Avalanche are still trying to solve the same problem they’ve been chasing since 2022.
They just keep changing who is held responsible for getting them there.
There are two things that I know for certain about the Vegas Golden Knights: they are inevitable, and they make things pretty entertaining along the way. Sometimes, to make things even more entertaining, they play dead for a stretch of time– usually early in the first period– to give their opponent a head start. And it doesn’t even matter how much of a head start their opponent gets, because they’ll still find a way.
They always find a way.
We are past the point of saying things like ‘doubt them at your own peril.’ They’ve done this so many times— seven times this postseason, to be exact— that if you’re still doubting the inevitability of their comebacks, there’s no hope for you.
The Golden Knights simply find a way. It doesn’t matter if they’re down 2-0 halfway through the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes, and it certainly doesn’t matter if they’re down 3-0 in the first period against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
The Golden Knights always find a way.
1. Hero in a Half Shell: Hertl Power!
No one loves to score goals more than Tomáš Hertl. Since snapping a 29-game scoring drought, the 32-year-old forward has four goals in his last eight games. Following the 5-4 win, Hertl revealed that an old friend from his days with the San Jose Sharks called him during the scoring drought and provided words of encouragement.
“My old teammate called me– Joe Pavelski– and I had a 30-minute talk with him,” Hertl said. “He actually helped me a lot. We’re pretty close…. He got me through a lot.”
With 3:24 remaining in the third period, Hertl scored a beauty from the slot to break a 4-4 tie. It’s his second goal in the last three games; both were game-winners to break a tie in the third period.
Also… He’s tired of answering questions about the scoring drought.
“This playoff, you guys have been asking me this all the time,” Hertl joked following the 5-4 win. “I thought, now that I’ve scored a couple of goals, it can be over.”
2. The Pit (Authentic Barbecue) and the Pendulum
Going into this Stanley Cup matchup, the national narrative was that this would be a “boring series,” because two defensively sound teams couldn’t possibly make things entertaining.
HA.
In terms of momentum swings, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining hockey game than Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final. The Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, only to see the Golden Knights wrestle control of the game and take a 3-2 lead of their own in the second. From that point on, the teams traded goals until Tomáš Hertl’s tally late in the third period proved too much for the Hurricanes to overcome.
“It’s probably going to be that way through the whole series here, back and forth,” said head coach John Tortorella following the Game 1 win. “I have all the confidence in the world, no matter where the flows go. We’re not gonna get into a panic mode by any means. We may not come back, we may lose a game, but we’re going to do it without losing ourselves completely, because you can get really sloppy when you start panicking. I don’t think there's gonna be any panic in the team, no matter what happens in this series.”
These teams are both extremely good, and even after Game 1, it’s tough to predict how this series will play out. But if tonight’s showing was anything to go off of… Giddy up.
3. What Happens in Vegas…
The Golden Knights have a unique skill: they’re really, really good at falling behind in games and finding a way to win. During the regular season, it seemed like the ‘comeback king’ mantra would be their demise– because, really, how many ugly wins do the Golden Knights have in them?
As it turns out, the Golden Knights had quite a few ugly wins in them.
This Game 1 victory wasn’t pretty by any means– they gave up a 2-on-1 just 25 seconds into the game, and the Hurricanes made them pay. But it’s possible that an ugly win was the best thing that could have happened to the team.
All year, this team has played with the belief that, if they fell behind in games, they could simply come back and get right back into the fight. To win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final following that formula, by way of another miraculous comeback, can only make that confidence grow.
“We were in this situation quite a number of times in the regular season, so I feel like we’re kind of comfortable,” said defenseman Shea Theodore following the win. “Obviously, it’s never ideal. But I think when guys keep their heads down, keep pushing, keep trying to play the right way, then things end up kind of turning for us.”
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - JUNE 02: Brett Howden #21 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores a goal past Frederik Andersen #31 of the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period in Game One of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center on June 02, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead and looked awesome until they didn’t.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights counter-punched and punched back hard as they went on to out-score the home team, 5-4 on Tuesday night to win game one of the Stanley Cup Final.
After the Hurricanes outhit the Montreal Canadiens by well over double the hits in the previous series, they were inexplicably outhit for this game, 35-26 on an energetic night where they had the crowd behind them.
Frederik Andersen had an amazing postseason so far, but looked quite ordinary on this night. At times he looked slow, especially in moving post to post. Perhaps his emotions caught up with him or perhaps it was just a bad luck night. He made 18 saves on the 23 shots he faced.
The game started off looking like the Nikolaj Ehlers show as the speedy winger broke in alone twice, and he was able to beat goalie Carter Hart both times. Goal number one came just 25 seconds into the game. His next goal came 12 minutes later.
The Knights had a slow start but were able to get a fluky goal past Andersen before the end of the period when Eric Robinson ticked in a Shea Theodore shot.
Vegas scored twice early in the second to take the lead, the first one just 25 seconds into the stanza but Jordan Staal rifled in a shot later in the second to tie the game.
Just 1:21 into the third period, Brett Howden got a step on the defense and tipped in a shot giving him 11 goals in the postseason.
About midway through the third, Shayne Gostisbehere tied the game on a nice approach shot. But as “Ghost” giveth he can also take away. Tomas Hertl beat the defenseman to the front of the net to score the game-winner.
After the game the blueliner admitted that he “took a breath” and was beat on the play.
It was an exciting game and both teams made numerous mistakes. I would expect that they both will make adjustments to tidy those up for Thursday night, but we will see.
For the first time in years, Darryl Sutter is stepping back into the spotlight—and he's bringing plenty of stories with him.
The former Calgary Flames bench boss is set to release a new book later this year, giving hockey fans a rare glimpse into the mindset of one of the NHL's most memorable and polarizing personalities.
Sutter Returns To The Spotlight With New Book
On Tuesday, Sportsnet's Justin Bourne revealed that Sutter will publish The Code of the West – Lessons From the Ranch and the Rink, with the book scheduled to hit shelves on Oct. 13.
Few figures in hockey have built a reputation quite like Sutter's. Whether behind the bench, working in a front office, or speaking to reporters, the Alberta native earned a reputation for being unapologetically direct and refreshingly authentic.
"[Sutter] is better known and even more loved for his reputation—as an advocate of aggressive, hard-nosed hockey, as a no-nonsense farmer who was never softened by the bright lights of fame, as one of six brothers who made it to the NHL, and as perhaps the most entertainingly blunt interviewee in the history of the game, capable of dissolving a scrum of reporters into laughter with a deadpan one-liner," reads the book's description.
"Fans, players, media, and opponents—everyone knows what they are going to get with Darryl Sutter. No bull. Just the stuff that means something."
The book is currently available for pre-order through Indigo, where the hardcover edition is listed at $26.60. An ebook version will also be available for $16.99.
A Career Built On Championships, Candor, And Hockey Tradition
While many younger fans know Sutter for his coaching career, his hockey résumé stretches back decades. He appeared in 406 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks, recording 161 goals and 279 points while sharing the ice with stars such as Denis Savard and Tony Esposito.
His impact behind the bench was even greater.
Sutter guided the Los Angeles Kings to Stanley Cup championships in both 2012 and 2014, cementing his legacy as one of the most successful coaches of his era. Along the way, he coached some of the game's biggest names, including Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, Bernie Nichols, Jarome Iginla, Anze Kopitar, and Drew Doughty.
His connection to Calgary remains especially significant. Sutter served as both head coach and general manager during a pivotal period in franchise history before returning for a second coaching stint in 2021. That return culminated in a Jack Adams Award-winning season in 2021-22, though his tenure came to an end following the 2022-23 campaign.
Since then, Sutter has largely stayed out of the public eye, making this book one of the first major opportunities for fans to hear directly from him again.
Given his decades in the game, championship pedigree, and reputation for telling it exactly how he sees it, there should be no shortage of stories waiting between the covers.
They blew a 2-0 lead, fell behind 3-2 and twice tied the score before falling on Tomas Hertl's winning goal with 3:24 left in the third period.
The Hurricanes, whose forechecking frustrates opponents, found the same difficulties getting out of the zone because of the Golden Knights' forecheck.
"We didn't handle the pressure particularly well.," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said.
Here are the winners and losers of the Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, a turnover-filled game that both coaches will have to address:
WINNERS
Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl
He went through a 29-game goal drought that carried from the regular season into the playoffs. But his winning goal was his fourth goal in the last eight games as he worked a give-and-go with Colton Sissons.
"We gave him some time," Tortorella said. "It took a little time, but the time was getting short. ... Once he scored, his game kind of changed. He's come through at a very important time and has given up some consistent minutes."
Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers
The Hurricanes signed the free agent to a six-year deal averaging $8.5 million. He reinforced why in Game 1 with his speed and shot. His goal 25 seconds into the game was the third fastest in the history of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He made a nice move on a breakaway goal to make it 2-0.
Golden Knights' Brayden McNabb
He's known more for his shot blocking and physical play than his offense. But he had three assists for his first time in a playoff game to help lead the Golden Knights' offense. He was a plus-3 and blocked two shots for good measure.
LOSERS
The Hurricanes' first line
Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis continue to struggle in the playoffs. Aho put the puck over the net in a chance in close and Svechnikov fanned on a one-timer.
"They had one good shift in the third there," Brind'Amour said. "Everybody has to play well if you're going to win at this time of year. Your best guys have to get on the scoresheet."
The Hurricanes' power play
It entered the game at a paltry 12.5% and went 0-for-2 on Tuesday with not many looks.
The goaltenders
Vegas' Carter Hart and Carolina's Frederik Andersen made a few good saves but weren't their usual selves. Hart had an .852 save percent age and Andersen was at .783. Coming into the games, they were at .924 and .932, respectively.
During the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins largely featured a new-look blueline beyond the likes of longtime NHL veterans Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang.
The one remaining slot on the right side was a carousel, beginning with rookie Harrison Brunicke and ending in a rotation between Connor Clifton, Jack St. Ivany, and Ilya Solovyov. The left side - other than Ryan Shea, who was given an opportunity to play a bigger role and broke out in a big way - had entirely new faces for most of the season in Parker Wotherspoon, Caleb Jones, and Matt Dumba, then, eventually, Brett Kulak and Sam Girard.
Even though the Penguins were better on the blue line last season, it's still an area of weakness that needs addressing, which is something that Penguins' general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas mentioned in his end-of-season press conference in May.
And there is one blueliner who might just make sense for where the Penguins are at right now.
26-year-old Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Michael Kesselring was acquired from Utah - along with forward Josh Doan - last summer as part of the trade that sent JJ Peterka to the Mammoth. The hope for the Sabres was that Kesselring would tandem with Owen Power in top-four and be a staple for them, mostly on the left side despite being a right-shot blueliner.
Unfortunately, injuries and inconsistencies derailed the 6-foot-5, 215-pound defenseman's first season with the Sabres. He played in only 34 regular season games and one playoff game, registering just two points and coming in even in the plus-minus department. The acquisition of Logan Stanley from the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline limited his playing time and his growth into a larger role post-injury, and now, the Sabres have some decisions to make on the blue line.
Stanley is a pending unrestricted free agent, as is veteran Luke Schenn (likely a true rental) and forward Alex Tuch. They are due to give Zach Benson - a pending restricted free agent - a relatively handsome pay raise after a solid campaign. Peyton Krebs is also a free agent, as are two other forwards, and left blueliner Bowen Byram has only one year left on his current deal at $6.25 million.
And, given all that, they have only $11.9 million in cap space to work with. Sure, that's enough to fill out the roster, but to keep everyone plus improve? Probably not.
Kesselring - also a pending-RFA - only made $1.4 million last season. He's also coming off of a letdown campaign. So, it could be the perfect time for Dubas to buy low - like he did with Egor Chinakhov - on a player with some nice upside as a top-four staple, whether that's through the RFA sign-then-trade market or through offer sheet.
The Penguins could, reasonably, offer sheet Kesselring in a range that the Sabres wouldn't want to pay given their cap situation, but they might also be able to acquire him for less in the trade market. Either way, it's a risk probably worth taking for Pittsburgh.
His large frame and the strong two-way play he showcased with Utah over parts of three seasons - recording 12 goals and 50 points in 156 games - is likely closer to the version of Kesselring that the Sabres thought they were getting, and he's just the type of player that Dubas likes to target.
Although Karlsson found a fair amount of chemistry with Wotherspoon on Pittsburgh's top pairing last season, Letang had a rotating carousel of partners, and he could probably benefit from an extended look alongside a young blueliner who is capable of shouldering a heavier load than some of his partners from last season.
And, simply put, it just gives the Penguins more options on their left side, especially if Shea leaves in free agency. They have Wotherspoon under contract for one more year - same with Girard - and Caleb Jones and Owen Pickering figure to be battling for a spot, too. However, even Wotherspoon - despite the breakout season he had - is 28 with no guarantee that he'll replicate his success from 2025-26. The Penguins could use a higher-upside option on their left side, and because Kesselring had a disappointing season, they should have to pay an arm and a leg for him.
Combine all of the upside and what is likely to be a relatively low cost, Kesselring is well-worth the gamble by Dubas and the Penguins, especially if they are looking to take a big step next season. He may not be the biggest deal of the summer, but a trade for him should help the Penguins in the short-term and, hopefully, the long-term, too.
For a second straight year, Norris Trophy voters backed up Jake Sanderson's status as a top 10 NHL defenseman. The voting results were unveiled on Tuesday, and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski was named the winner.
For Sens fans, if finishing in 10th place again sounds disappointing, it says more about the large number of great NHL defensemen than it does about Sanderson's game.
We could dig into the analytics to assess things, but let's be honest. The voters want goals, assists, and points, and Sanderson had a healthy improvement in that area.
Last year, Sanderson recorded 57 points in 80 games. This season, he put up 54 points in just 67 games. So his points-per-game rate jumped from 0.71 to 0.81. Projecting over a full 82-game season, Sanderson would have finished with roughly 66 points.
But voters took his 15 games missed (most of them due to a shoulder injury) fully into account. Even at 66 points over 82 games, there still would have been eight defensemen who produced more.
It's a reflection of just how loaded the position has become.
Look at this year's voting results (in order) Zach Werenski (winner), Cale Makar, Rasmus Dahlin, Evan Bouchard, Moritz Seider, Lane Hutson, Quinn Hughes and Miro Heiskanen all finished ahead of Sanderson. Erik Karlsson, who won two of his three Norris Trophies with Ottawa, finished tied with Sanderson for 10th.
Like most of the men on the above list, Sanderson's value extends well beyond the scoresheet.
There's an old hockey cliché about players being able to stickhandle in a phone booth. If there is one player on the Senators who perfectly fits that description, it's Sanderson.
Whether he's trying to find an outlet pass on a breakout with an aggressive forechecker draped all over him, or attempting to hold the offensive blue line with no space to work with, Sanderson somehow finds a way.
And his skating. My God, the skating.
When you have Tim Stutzle, one of the fastest guys in the league, fanboying about your skating, you know you're at a special level.
Sanderson's quickness allows him to escape pressure that would overwhelm most players. His ability to maintain possession in tight spaces turns broken plays into scoring chances and keeps offensive-zone possessions alive. Ottawa fans see it every night, even if it doesn't always translate into league-wide headlines.
If Senators fans needed another reminder of Sanderson's value (spoiler: they don't) they got one during the first round of the playoffs.
Ottawa entered Game 3 against Carolina, facing a 2-0 series deficit after a heartbreaking overtime loss in Game 2. Back on home ice for the next two games, the Senators were still very much alive in the series and looking to seize some momentum.
But with Carolina leading Game 3, 1-0, disaster struck.
Taylor Hall, who has played a noticeably greasier style in these playoffs, clipped Sanderson in the side of the head with his shoulder. Sanderson tried to stay in the game, but it quickly became clear that something wasn't right, and the timing couldn't have been worse.
The Senators had a lengthy 5-on-3 power play opportunity, and Sanderson, Ottawa's power-play quarterback, was forced to leave the game. For Hall, who was at best reckless on the play, getting a minor penalty with no ensuing suspension for eliminating the opponent's top player was a fabulous trade-off.
The Sens, who were already without Artem Zub, lost that game 2-1 to fall behind 3-0 in the series, which was all but done at that point.
Sanderson's absence served as a reminder of just how valuable he has become. And at some stage, when voting on the best defenseman award, the league needs to introduce a best defensive defenseman award, because Sanderson would be in the mix for that one, too.
As a sidebar, they could call it the Tim Horton Trophy. As my Leafs-loving grandfather would tell me, Horton was one of the greatest shutdown defencemen in NHL history. Meanwhile, the league could probably work out a pretty lucrative sponsorship deal with a certain coffee company while they're at it.
Or just stick with the Norris.
Then create the Bobby OrrTrophy for the league's best offensive defenceman. Orr won 8 Norris Trophies and was the first skater in history to have 100 assists in an NHL season.
For now, though, offensive production remains king, and Sanderson is still climbing the Norris ladder. The encouraging news for Ottawa is that he's climbing it quickly, and he's going to be here for a long time.
Sanderson is signed through the summer of 2032 with a cap hit of $8.05 million per season. When the contract was signed, it looked like a strong deal. Today, it looks like a bargain. In another two or three years, it will be highway robbery.
The scary part for the rest of the league is that, at 23, it's unlikely that Sanderson reached his ceiling. If he stays healthy, continues producing at his current pace and helps lead the Senators on a deeper playoff run, the bigger recognition will come.
A second consecutive top-10 Norris finish may not generate many headlines, but in a league overflowing with elite defencemen, it's another reminder that Sanderson already belongs among the NHL's best.
It isn't unfamiliar territory for the Carolina Hurricanes, who now find themselves in a 1-0 hole for the second straight series, but this time, there's not a convenient excuse to fall back on.
Against the Montreal Canadiens, the Hurricanes could say they were just mentally not ready for the pace of play following an unprecedented 11-day break, but that isn't so much the case now.
The Hurricanes dropped Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final 5-4 to the Vegas Golden Knights in a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair.
After a great opening period, the Canes were outplayed for the final 40 minutes, losing puck battles, blowing assignments and ultimately just making too many mistakes at crucial moments.
"We didn’t handle the pressure particularly well," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "And sometimes there wasn't pressure and we kind of made a few poor decisions with the puck and they capitalized.
The Hurricanes had an electric start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead early on.
Nikolaj Ehlers blew the roof off of the arena just 25 seconds into the game, stripping Shea Theodore of the puck at the defensive blueline and taking it all the way up ice before rifling it between the glove and blocker of Vegas netminder Carter Hart.
Ehlers would strike again a bit later as Jalen Chatfield sent him off on a breakaway, which the Dane finished off on the backhand and through the five-hole.
"There were some good things we did, and the game was there," said Jordan Staal.
Vegas would answer back though as a Theodore shot from the point ricocheted off of Eric Robinson's knee and in past Frederik Andersen and then to start the second period, it was all Golden Knights.
Vegas found the equalizer less than 30 seconds in with Ivan Barbashev finding open space in the slot and then less than five minutes after that, William Karlsson would give Vegas the lead unmarked in front of the Canes' net.
"That's a good team," Staal said. "I thought they just played a little bit better than us. They executed their game plan and were aggressive on their forecheck and played in our end and they buried their chances when they had them
Carolina would tie it back up late in the second as K'Andre Miller caught a clearing attempt at the blueline and then fed Jordan Staal for the tying goal.
But again, the Golden Knights had an answer.
After killing off a penalty to start the third period, Chatfield lost the race with Brett Howden to the backdoor and once again, the Canes were trailing.
The Canes were in a rut, and things looked grim after yet another squandered power play, but Shayne Gostisbehere came through with the equalizer late into the third.
But as quickly as he gave Carolina life, he was the one who ended it, losing Tomas Hertl off of the wall for the eventual game winner.
"I took a breather for a second and it went right to their guy,' Gostisbehere said. "That's how quick it can happen. It was definitely on me. Just took a breather for a second."
Carolina will have to regroup and clean up the defense if they want to get back into this series with Game 2 puck drop scheduled for Thursday.
"It's one game," said Nikolaj Ehlers. "Obviously we'd rather be up 1-0, but there's six games to go. We're fine with taking this to seven if we need to."
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Three Head Coach Candidates For The Maple Leafs Who Deserve Another Chance In The NHLWith the Toronto Maple Leafs in search of their next head coach, here are three candidates who deserve another chance as a bench boss in the NHL.
Report: Maple Leafs Interviewed Internal Candidates, Lalonde, Van Ryn, For NHL Head Coaching PositionThe Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly interviewed Derek Lalonde and Mike Van Ryn for an NHL head coach position, confirming earlier reports from TheHockeyNews.com
