Category: NHL

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

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

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

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

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

Jay Woodcroft

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dean Evason

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

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

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

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

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

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

Drew Bannister

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to watch Vegas Golden Knights vs Colorado Avalanche

• Date: Friday, May 22

• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT

• Where: Ball Arena, Denver, CO

• TV Channels: ESPN, Spor, CBC, TVAS

• Live Stream:ESPN+ | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Odds

• Spread: Colorado Avalanche -1.5

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

• Over/Under: 6.5

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

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

3 Ducks Prospects to Play in 2026 Memorial Cup

Anaheim Ducks Offseason Dilemma: Frank Vatrano

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revisiting the Ducks Acquisition of John Carlson

Lack of Adjustments Proved Costly for Ducks against Golden Knights

Ducks GM Pat Verbeek Finalist for General Manager of the Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Colorado Avalanche

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

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

Projected Lineup

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

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

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Vegas Golden Knights

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

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

Projected Lineup

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

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

Carter Hart
Adin Hill

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

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

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

Best Golden Knights vs Avalanche props for Game 2

Game 2 Prop #1: Martin Necas Over 0.5 assists

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game 2 Prop #3: Nazem Kadri Over 0.5 points

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

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

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

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

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

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

- St-Louis gave credit to Alex Burrows

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To San Jose: D Erik Karlsson, F Francis Perron

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This story was originally published at The Hockey News Ottawa Senators site. Click on the latest headlines below to read the latest stories there:

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The New York Islanders and general manager Mathieu Darche will be on the hunt to add to their defense this summer, particularly on the right side.

While the Islanders do have Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield, along with pending free agent Tony DeAngelo (who very openly wants to extend his stay), it's still an area where the Islanders feel they could use improvement.

I believe #Isles GM Mathieu Darche did his due diligence on Simon Nemec last summer.

Whether the recent rumors are true or not, Nemec is exactly the kind of young defenseman NYI should be targeting.@TheElmonters ⤵️https://t.co/onYGiWju35

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) May 21, 2026

One option could be Michael Kesselring of the Buffalo Sabres.

Kesselring, 26, played just 34 regular-season games and one playoff game for the Sabres this past season. He is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights after concluding the second season of a two-year deal worth $1.4 million annually. 

The 6'5 defenseman has some skills the Islanders would value. Kesselring loves firing the puck and creating offense, recording 46 shots on goal during the regular season (1.35 per game. 

In the 2024-25 season, when Kesselring played 82 games for the Utah Mammoth, he recorded seven goals and 22 assists for 29 points, all career highs. 

That would've put Kesselring second amongst Islanders defensemen in goals this year, and third in points, trailing Matthew Schaefer in both, and DeAngelo in points.

As mentioned, Kesselring also comes in at a massive 6'5" and weighs 215 lbs. While he uses his body, scouts have noted he could use his size a bit more. 

This season in Buffalo, he saw heavily reduced minutes and opportunities as he came in and out of the lineup for multiple reasons, ultimately becoming a healthy scratch down the stretch.

Buffalo has publicly backed him, but actions speak louder than words.

Kesselring will likely be available this coming summer. The asking price would figure to be around a second or third-round pick, even despite his playing situation. 

Defenseman of that size are coveted in today's NHL. 

The Islanders do not have any second- or third-round picks in this draft, so they might need to be creative to land Kesselring, perhaps by including a depth forward with a lower pick or picks in later drafts. 

Marc Gatcomb, a pending restricted free agent, could be someone who would fit Buffalo's style of play on their fourth line.

Getting creative and making tough calls will be Darche's biggest test this summer.

Why Bruins should pursue a Simon Nemec trade if he's available originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins need to acquire another top-six forward who can score goals, create scoring chances and lessen the offensive burden on David Pastrnak’s shoulders.

But improving the Bruins’ offense can be done by other means, too.

The Bruins’ blue line did not provide enough offense in the team’s first-round playoff series loss to the Buffalo Sabres. None of the eight defensemen who played for Boston in those six games scored a goal, and none of them tallied more than two points.

Mason Lohrei, who’s one of the more offensively gifted defensemen on the Bruins’ roster, failed to register a single point in three games and was a healthy scratch for the other three matchups.

So, who can the Bruins target in the offseason to bolster the offensive production of their blue line and improve their transition game?

One possibility is a Simon Nemec trade with the New Jersey Devils. There were conflicting reports out of Nemec’s home nation of Slovakia this week on whether he has asked for a trade. However, James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now reported Friday that Nemec has not requested a trade.

The bottom line is the Devils do have to make some kind of decision on Nemec’s future in the near term because he will be a restricted free agent in July.

Nemec was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. He’s not overly physical, but he plays the kind of style that Boston desperately needs on the back end. Nemec is a great skater, he’s an excellent puck-mover, he shoots the puck a ton, and he has the ability to score 10-plus goals.

In addition to a lack of scoring depth, another big takeaway from the Bruins’ playoff loss to the Sabres was how slow they played. The lack of speed from a team and individual perspective was glaring. Nemec plays an uptempo kind of game.

The Sabres’ forecheck was a huge factor in Round 1 because Bruins defensemen didn’t have the skating ability or puck-moving skill to get the puck out of danger fast enough. Nemec would help address that issue with how quickly he makes decisions and his ability to skate out of trouble. The Bruins need more defensemen capable of transporting the puck through the neutral zone and putting opponents’ on their heels, and Nemec fits that bill.

Nemec tallied 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 68 games for the Devils last season. His stats don’t jump off the page, but you have to consider the fact he hasn’t been given much of an opportunity and the Devils haven’t been a very good team since he made his NHL debut in the 2023-24 season.

Is it possible that Nemec will never live up to expectations as a former No. 2 overall pick? Sure. But there’s clearly some really exciting talent there, and on a better team with better coaches and better defense partners, there’s the potential for Nemec to be a legitimate top-four defenseman for many years. It’s a gamble worth taking. He’s already a good player, and given his age, there’s still a lot of room for him to improve.

Another reason why the Bruins should pursue a Nemec trade is the fact he’s a right-shot defenseman, and that’s an area the Bruins need to upgrade both in terms of depth and talent this offseason. The B’s were so thin on right-shot defensemen this season that they had to play Lohrei on his off side.

A potential Nemec trade isn’t the only way for the Bruins to upgrade their blue line in a meaningful way this offseason.

Two of the top unrestricted free agents who could hit the market July 1 are Darren Raddysh of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Rasmus Andersson of the Vegas Golden Knights. Raddysh is 30 years old and Andersson is 29. Both are expected to get a nice payday and a long-term deal.

Either player would probably make a more immediate impact for the B’s than Nemec, but buying low on a 22-year-old who was a No. 2 overall pick and has a lot of impressive talent would be the smarter move for the Bruins.

Giving a bad long-term contract to Raddysh or Andersson would be far more damaging to the Bruins’ short- and long-term future than trading for Nemec and him not reaching his potential.

Maybe Nemec stays in New Jersey after all. But if he’s available this offseason, the Bruins should absolutely pick up the phone and call newly hired Devils general manager Sunny Mehta. Nemec could help the Bruins’ blue line in a significant way for many years.

At the juncture Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby has reached in his storied NHL career, it's inevitable that he is going to be asked a whole lot about his future and how long he intends to keep playing the sport he loves. 

After all, Father Time is undefeated, right?

Well, that's the case for most athletes. Sports are a young man's game, and it's only a matter of time before the end comes calling. Legs start to give out. Basic conditioning becomes harder and harder. Performance begins to dwindle. The pace of the game suddenly starts to feel faster than you remember, with things happening at a speed you can no longer keep up with. 

Yet none of that is happening for Crosby, at least, not yet. And in an exclusive interview with The Athletic's Josh Yohe on Thursday at the IIHF World Championship in Switzerland, he made sure to clarify on his comments from locker cleanout day earlier this month about going "year-to-year" that this season - the final season of his current two-year contract - will not be his last playing in the NHL.

"It's pretty obvious why I would just go year-to-year with the contracts," Crosby told Yohe. "At the end of the day, I'm just going to do what's best for the team. It's got nothing to do with how long I want to play. It's not like that at all."

He added: "I definitely want to keep playing for as many years as possible."

Sidney Crosby isn’t close to retiring, wants to play ‘for as many years as possible’Crosby is signed for one more year, the 22nd of his career. Only 13 players in NHL history have played more seasons.

Not only is that music straight to the ears of Penguins' fans and hockey fans everywhere, it's also a statement that Crosby believes he has a whole lot more left in the tank.

Simply put, he isn't built like other hockey players, like other athletes. When his legs start to give out, when the conditioning gets harder, when performance isn't up to par, and when the pace appears to be catching up, he always finds ways to reinvent himself and maintain the separation between he and the Hockey Reaper. 

Right now, Crosby - who will turn 39 this summer - has 654 goals and 1,761 points in 1,420 career NHL games. He is currently sitting at seventh all-time in NHL points, and assuming he is healthy in 2026-27, he should surpass both Marcel Dionne (sixth) at 1,771 and Ron Franis (fifth) at 1,798. And with at least a 90-point season, he will also surpass Gordie Howe (fourth) at 1,850. 

Wayne Gretzky is the only player in NHL history - and the guy at the top of the list - to have hit 2,000 points. 

You do the math.

Sidney Crosby Is Up To His Usual Shenanigans At The World ChampionshipsSidney Crosby is doing Sidney Crosby things at the World Championships again.

If 2026-27 is, indeed, not Crosby's final season playing in the NHL - which, he's adamant it won't be - that means with one more season above point-per-game, he'll be at 1,844 points. And it would be his 22nd consecutive season accomplishing the feat. 

In order to reach 2,000 points, Crosby would need to average 79.6 points in the next three seasons to get there. Should he remain healthy and at point-per-game or higher? He will get there sometime during that third season, which would be his age 41 season. 

And you know what? All of that sounds pretty attainable. 

The fact of the matter is that the longer Crosby keeps playing, the closer he gets to that historic mark. The longer he keeps playing, he only keeps proving that he isn't slowing down in any kind of remarkable way. He is designed for longevity, and he has delivered on that design for 21 years already. 

"Sidney Crosby is our Tom Brady and our LeBron James..

I was on the ice with him when he was 14 years old and I could see how good he was then..

He should play for as long as he wants to play"@WayneGretzky#PMSLivepic.twitter.com/J1ICXJW28Q

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 21, 2026

Plus, if the Penguins really are going to try to get better this summer and in the next couple of years as suggested by GM and POHO Kyle Dubas, there's an even better chance Crosby hits the mark. Along the way, Dubas will aim to surround Crosby with more talent and younger talent -- which, along with health, is going to be the key factor in him reaching 2,000 points at the end of the day. 

If Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell continue to play with Crosby through at least next season, and, possibly, the last two years of their contracts, they're each good for at least 20-plus goals and 60-plus points, and that's probably on the low end of things when considering their goals-per-game and points-per-game production over the last two seasons mostly spent alongside Crosby. 

And, if they don't continue to play with Crosby, that probably means someone like Egor Chinakhov - who had 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games with the Penguins last season - would flank him, and possibly, even a new face who is younger and NHL-established. 

3 Big Takeaways From Dubas's End-Of-Season Press ConferenceOn Tuesday, Pittsburgh Penguins' general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas met with the media to discuss the 2025-26 season and what's next for the organization this summer.

Either way, the point is that Crosby won't have any shortage of talent to play with for his final years in hockey, and that should only lend more to him being able to reach the 2,000 point milestone -- even when he starts to drop off. Because, let's face it: Crosby, like everyone, is eventually going to hit a bit of a wall. His defense has already declined quite a bit, but there will come a day when the offense is what it used to be, either.

Even still, it feels not just dirty but plain incorrect to suggest that he's all of a sudden going to see his production cut in half within the next three years. It feels like he is the type of player who is going to decline gradually rather than steeply. But in that hypothetical scenario where Crosby does fall off drastically in that second or third year?

Well, he would only need to average 59.75 points over the next four years to reach 2,000. Again, that seems attainable, even with a falloff.

So, while we sit back and enjoy what's left of Crosby's career, it's likely that we'll see him chasing a feat of all-time greatness that has only, once before, been realized. After all, he is one of the best to ever do it already -- so why put a cap on greatness?

Analyzing The Penguins' Rebuild: Are The Penguins Close To Sustainable Contention?The Pittsburgh Penguins made the playoffs for the first time in four years in 2026, and GM and POHO Kyle Dubas has emphasized that he wants his team to be a sustainable Stanley Cup contender. So, how close are Dubas and the Penguins?What Would It Take For Penguins To Land 3 'Big Fish' In Trade Market?Pittsburgh Penguins' general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas made it clear that he is ready to activate in the trade market this summer. So, what would it cost for him to go after names like Auston Matthews, Robert Thomas, and Jason Robertson?

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On Thursday night, the Carolina Hurricanes suffered their first loss of these 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, falling 6-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Rod Brind'Amour's team got "Caned."

When the Hurricanes dictate play, as has been more the norm, they can make every team in the league look helpless. 

Islanders fans have seen it time and time again, whether in the regular season or the playoffs. 

Back on Apr. 4, the Hurricanes outshot the Islanders 40-16 in what became Patrick Roy's final game behind their bench. 

Despite the 4-3 score, the Islanders spent most of the night on their side of the red line and blue line, getting outshot 13-4 in the first period and 18-2 in the second period before pushing in the third as they tried to erase what was a 3-2 deficit before Sebastian Aho made it 4-2 at the 24-second mark of the third period. 

But, Thursday night showed the other side of Carolina. 

The Hurricanes could not stop the relentless forechecking of Montreal, with every mistake they made ending up in the back of their net. 

Starting goaltender Frederik Andersen, who had not allowed more than two goals in a game in what was a perfect 8-0 start to the postseason for him and Carolina, allowed two goals on the first four shots he faced, allowing four goals in the opening 11:28. 

After the first period, the Hurricanes were trailing 4-1 and outshot 14-13 before a solid second-period rebound, outscoring Montreal 1-0 in the middle frame and outshooting them 11-3.

But, then came the third period. 

Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice, the last of the two into the empty net in a period in which both teams weren't shooting too much. 

While shots were 6-2 in favor of Montreal, the Hurricanes were held without a shot for 18:38. 

When the Hurricanes are humming, they are incredibly hard to beat, but they clearly weren't ready for the pace that Montreal has been playing with and paid the price.

And Islanders fans probably enjoyed every second of it.