That's how The Maven views the first round of the playoffs so far.
Even when there's a sweep – a la Carolina vs Ottawa – the games have been close and vigorously played.
With the Rangers – and their fans – I began wondering how the good burghers of Rangerville feel about each playoff series. The following is my view with added thoughts of pals who take these playoffs seriously.
CANES OVER SENATORS: Ottawa's brilliant coach Travis Green could not survive a totally devastated defense against arguably the NHL's best team. Yet the Sens made Carolina work hard for the win.
PHILLY OVER PITT: Youth over the Sidney Crosby Old Timers was the difference. Also coach Dan Muse's decision to use Stuart Skinner was (as in Edmonton) dumb a la mode. Penguins needed a second Sid.
BRUINS-SABRES: Give the Beantowners credit for at least beating steamrolling Buffalo. Lindy Ruff's Buffs are hellbent to reach the Final Round and it says here that the Bruins won't stop them.
The Buffalo Sabres may have lost Game 5 against the Boston Bruins in overtime, but they are still in a good spot. This is because the Sabres have a 3-2 series over the Bruins and need only one more win to advance to the second round.
The Sabres have had many players step up for them early on this post-season, and Peyton Krebs has been one of them.
Krebs has been off to a hot start this postseason, and the truth is in his stats. In five games so far, he has recorded two goals, three assists, five points, and a plus-6 rating. This included him having a goal and an assist in the Sabres' 6-1 win over the Bruins in Game 4.
Krebs having a strong start to the postseason comes after he had the best regular season of his career so far in 2025-26. In 82 games this campaign with Buffalo, he set new career highs with 12 goals, 27 assists, and 39 points.
Krebs will now be looking to stay hot for the Sabres as the postseason rolls on. If he continues to provide them with excellent secondary offensive production, it would help the Sabres' chances of knocking out the Bruins.
General manager Jason Botterill said Campbell’s contract is expiring and she expressed a desire to explore other roles around the league.
“We support her in this process,” Botterill said in a statement. “Jessica has been an important member of our coaching staff for the past four years, demonstrating deep knowledge and a unique ability to connect with and develop players. We respect her decision and believe strongly in her as a coach in this league.”
Campbell was promoted from the American Hockey League’s Coachella Firebirds along with Dan Bylsma in 2024 after he became the organization’s second head coach. She was retained after Bylsma was fired a year ago and replaced by Lane Lambert.
The Kraken missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons and only qualified once since their debut in 2021-22. The Firebirds made back-to-back trips to the Calder Cup Final when Campbell was on Bylsma's AHL staff.
Jake Sanderson has been named as a finalist for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
The annual award is presented each year to the NHL "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."
Sanderson, who's still only 23 years old, was one of the top defensemen in the league this season, putting up 54 points in 67 games and helping Team USA win an Olympic gold medal in Milan back in February.
Brady Tkachuk discusses the ongoing dialogue about his NHL future.
The Whitefish, Montana native plays a game that's bursting with speed and skill, but he also kept his nose clean, as he always does, posting just eight penalty minutes. In four NHL seasons (303 games), Sanderson has amassed a grand total of 55 penalty minutes
Your Lady Byng Memorial Trophy finalists are... 🏆 #NHLAwards
The trophy is presented annually to the player judged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability. pic.twitter.com/wsCXBieTLB
The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy has been awarded 90 times to 53 different players, including Ottawa's Frank Nighbor, who was the first to win it in 1925. Over a century later, Sanderson has a chance to be the first modern-day Ottawa Senator to win this award.
But he'll be in tough because LA's Anze Kopitar, who just ended hs 20-year NHL career this week, was probably the heavy sentimental favourite when voting was conducted at the end of the regular season. Kopitar is one of the three finalists, along with Montreal's Cole Caufield.
The universe didn't exactly repay Sanderson for his sportsmanship this season.
He missed almost a month with a shoulder injury after a hard hit from Seattle's Brandon Montour in early March. Eight games after returning, he took a violent shoulder to the head from Carolina's Taylor Hall in Game 3 of the NHL playoffs.
Sanderson missed the rest of the series with a concussion, and the Senators were swept in four. Four days after the concussion, Sanderson still wasn't well enough to be available for the season-ending media availabilities.
Unlike all the current dialogue about the future of his Senator and Team USA teammate, Brady Tkachuk, it's going to be a while before the Sens need to think about Sanderson's contract. He's still signed up for six more seasons at a club-friendly rate of $8,050,000 per season.
The Lady Byng voting trophy will be awarded at the NHL Awards ceremony after the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 3-2 final score in Game 5 on Wednesday night. A former Columbus Blue Jackets forward was a major reason for it, as Alexandre Texier had a clutch moment for the Canadiens.
At the 1:06 mark of the third period, Texier scored the Canadiens' game-winning goal. It was a nice goal for the former Blue Jackets forward, too, as he beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on the rush with an excellent snap shot.
With Texier's game-winning goal, the Canadiens now have a 3-2 series lead over the Lightning and are just one win away from advancing to the second round.
Texier has also playing some strong hockey for the Canadiens throughout this post-season, too. In five games for the Habs so far during the playoffs, the former Blue Jackets forward has two goals, four points, and a plus-5 rating.
Texier was selected by the Blue Jackets with the 45th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. In 201 games over five seasons with the Blue Jackets, Texier recorded 34 goals, 45 assists, 79 points, and 141 hits. He also had two goals and seven points in 18 playoff games for the Blue Jackets.
There were ups and downs throughout the 2025-26 season, but goaltending was not really an issue for the Chicago Blackhawks. There is still development to go across the board, but the depth within the organization is there.
On most nights, the net-minders gave the team a chance to win. If there were any major issues, they were largely due to the way the team played in front of them.
Throughout the season, the Blackhawks had one goalie as the clear starter, a full-time backup, and a prospect who was forced into action a few times due to an illness that swept through the locker room.
Based on their performances against their expectations, these are the grades for each goalie who made at least one start:
Spencer Knight: A
Spencer Knight had the year he's been looking for since coming to the NHL. He has had better overall numbers as a backup in the past, but he was finally allowed to be the number one starter on an NHL team.
Knight had a bumpy road to where he is right now, both on and off the ice, and that led to him being Chicago's nominee for the Masterton Trophy, which goes to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
As the season went along, and the team got significantly younger, the numbers for Knight started to dip. After it all ended, he finished with a 2.82 goals against average and a .902 save percentage in 55 games played. However, he made high-danger saves with frequency, kept his team in most games, and proved that he can be a winning goaltender in the NHL.
At the mid-way point of the season, Knight was a legitimate candidate to be on Team USA at the Olympics. However, USA Hockey decided to go with the same three that they brought to the 4-Nations Face-Off. It's hard to argue with the organization that eventually won the Gold Medal.
Next up for Knight is a winning season for himself and the team. He gets an A-grade for this year as he took steps as a starter, but the expectations only go up from here. As the team defense gets better, he has to find a way to elevate his game even more, too.
Arvid Soderblom: C
Arvid Soderblom had a mediocre season. He only played in 26 games and was clearly the designated backup goalie. He had a 3.80 goals against average and an .880 save percentage.
There is some context to those lackluster numbers, but he would also admit that he must be better if he wants to be the backup on the team in the long-term.
He doesn't get a lower grade than a C because of the team in front of him. Soderblom isn't as good as Knight, which is why he's the backup, so he won't keep them in games that they play poorly in front of him as much.
Throughout the season, Soderblom proved that he can win games when the team does its job, but he must go into the off-season knowing that his role is on the line. There are a handful of other goalies in the organization who are working their way up the depth chart quickly.
Drew Commesso: A
One of the goalies working his way up is Drew Commesso, who made three starts for Chicago this season. When called upon, it was due to illness suffered by both Knight and Soderblom during a strange time of year.
Before playing at Boston University and the Rockford IceHogs, Commesso was a second-round (46th overall) pick in 2020. Since then, he's been working to develop his raw talents into skills that allow him to be in the NHL full-time.
It was just three starts, an extremely small sample size, but he was excellent. He had an NHL save percentage of .918 and a goals against average of 2.31. All signs, both traditional and advanced, showed him to be ready for an opportunity in the NHL.
He never got it in the way that he'd like, but he was outstanding in 39 starts with the IceHogs, his second in the AHL. In those 39 starts, he had a .911 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average.
With the work he put in, he Commesso has a chance to grab onto the backup job. Training camp will allow him to reach the NHL full-time. Internal competition at all positions is good for a young team trying to take steps.
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Apr 29, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; The Philadelphia Flyers celebrate after game six of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Kyle Ross/Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA — Cam York flicked a wrist shot for an overtime winner that ignited a Flyers’ celebration 14 years — through retread coaches, insignificant hockey, and old front office failings — in the making when he slithered free from the mob of exuberant teammates and chucked his stick deep into the stands.
York launched his stick and watched it soar like the Schwarbombs routinely hit across the street, only no one really was sure in the moment where it landed.
“I hope everyone’s OK,” York said with a laugh. “Definitely don’t want a lawsuit. Just honestly blacked out. I didn’t know what to do. I was so excited.”
How does one celebrate a Flyers’ playoff series victory?
York roared back like he was going to fling a boomerang. Flyers fans blew horns and whistles around the concourse and belted out on repeat the opening “oh oh oh” of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” Flyers forward Christian Dvorak’s celebration hit a little too hard — a cut busted open above his right eye during the victorious on-ice party and blood streamed down his cheek.
Like he went a few rounds in a fight.
More like six grueling games with Sidney Crosby and a Penguins team that has hoisted Stanley Cups and kicked their cross-state rival to the curb so many times over the last 15-plus years that the matchups often felt less like a heated rivalry and the Flyers treated more like a pesky speed bump in a long regular season.
Not this season. Not in Philadelphia.
Not even when the resurgent Penguins threatened to make a run at playoff history and storm back from a 3-0 series deficit and crush the spirit of a Flyers’ team that became the NHL’s first to make the playoffs after being 10 points out of contention with 22 or fewer games remaining.
York and goalie Dan Vladar and his 42 saves had other plans.
The Flyers’ 1-0 Game 6 overtime victory over the Penguins served as early validation that general manager Danny Briere was astute in orchestrating an overdue rebuild and the payoff was a first playoff series win in a full NHL season since 2012. The Flyers accelerated their postseason timeline — in large part due to the late-season arrival of teen sensation Porter Martone — and essentially are playing with house money as they gear up for a second-round series with the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes.
“We played a great series,” Flyers forward Travis Konecny said. “Now we get a chance to play again.”
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet and the rest of the players said to a man when they held a 3-0 series lead that Crosby and the veteran Penguins were too good, too playoff-tested to go down without a fight. Crosby was everywhere in Pittsburgh’s 3-2 victory in Game 5 and had the Penguins believing that, yes, they could become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0.
Vladar, a journeyman turned Olympian voted the team’s MVP this season, turned away everything the Penguins threw at him in much of the series. He had his first shutout of the season (with 27 saves) in Game 2, shook off an unspecified arm injury in Game 3 and put the Flyers on his back in Game 6 — getting the better of a fantastic Arturs Silovs — to steady a position long an albatross for the franchise since the Stanley Cup championship days of Bernie Parent.
All Vladar did was shut out the NHL’s third-highest scoring team during the regular season.
“There was never a doubt,” Vladar said. “Good things happen to good people, and we are good people here.”
Vladar also gave a nod to the odds the Flyers faced just to reach this point of the season and pointed out teammates wearing their good-luck gear.
The Flyers celebrated wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Parent’s 1970s mask with sleeves that had “3.8 percent” printed on them as a nod to their slim postseason chances a couple months ago.
Vladar — the fifth goalie in franchise history with a series-clinching shutout — also made the fourth-most saves in a series-clinching shutout win over the past 70 years. The only goaltenders with more are Patrick Roy (63 in Game 4 of 1996 Stanley Cup Final), Andrei Vasilevskiy and Carey Price.
“danvladar you are a BAADDDDD man!!” former Phillies World Series champion Jimmy Rollins wrote on social media.
The Flyers still were feeling sky high well after the final horn.
As for York’s stick? Well, it did stick the landing and was gleefully grabbed by a man wearing a white Flyers sweatshirt.
He high-fived fans around him and boasted one heck of a postseason souvenir.
The Flyers only can hope there’s so much more fun to come in May.
Apr 29, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) celebrates with Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon (5) after scoring a game winning goal against the Utah Mammoth during the second overtime period of game five of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Stephen R. Sylvanie/Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
LAS VEGAS — Brett Howden scored a short-handed goal at 5:28 of the second overtime to give Vegas a 5-4 victory over the Utah Mammoth and put the Golden Knights one victory away from winning the first-round series.
The Golden Knights take a 3-2 lead into their best-of-seven NHL playoffs series in Salt Lake City.
Vegas’ Pavel Dorofeyev’s six-on-five goal with 52.7 seconds left in regulation forced overtime and gave him the sixth playoff hat trick in franchise history. Dorofeyev had two goals in 13 career playoff games before this one.
“That was a huge game by him,” Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said. “He’s a huge part of our team, and it was awesome to see him find the back of the net a few times. It seems like he’s been playing pretty well these last few nights and it’s great to see him get rewarded.”
Neither team scored in the first overtime, the first time this series either side failed in a period to hit the back of the net.
“I think that was a hell of a game,” Mammoth coach André Tourigny said. “I think both teams played really hard. We were really close. Unfortunately, we gave that six-on-five goal and could not get it done in overtime, but I’m really proud of the way the guys played.”
Also for the Golden Knights, Shea Theodore had a goal and assist and Eichel had two assists. Carter Hart stopped 34 shots.
John Marino, Lawson Crouse and Dylan Guenther scored for the Mammoth and Clayton Keller had two assists. Karel Vejmelka made 31 saves.
Utah rallied in the third period when Guenther tied it at 5:54 on a rush play and Michael Carcone on a two-on-one with 7:18 left.
Both teams have continued to struggle on the power play, combining to go 1 for 10. Vegas ended a scoring drought of 13 power plays when Dorofeyev scored from the right circle to make it 1-1 with 40.2 seconds left in the first period. But the Golden Knights are just 3 for 18 for the series, which is better than Utah’s 1-for-14 showing.
Vegas also has two short-handed goals this series, both from Howden that included his shot from the slot to win Game 5. The Golden Knights forced the action that resulted in a faceoff in Utah’s zone. Vegas won the faceoff, Mitch Marner dug the puck from the boards and fed Howden for the winner.
“(Marner) did a good job of getting the stick in there and interrupting play,” Howden said. “It just kind of popped out and I just tried to get a shot. After that, just kind of blacked out.”
The Golden Knights twice rallied in the first two periods, and goals 1:38 apart by Dorofeyev and Theodore late in the second put them ahead 3-2. It’s the first time Vegas took the lead into the third period in this series, but the Golden Knights were the NHL’s best third-period team in the regular season with a plus-47 goal differential.
But both teams have been resilient — and physical.
They combined for 86 hits, each side determined to assert itself. But those also sometimes resulted in unnecessary penalties, with the Mammoth taking three in the first period on an open-ice interference by Nick Schmaltz, a clothesline takedown of Ivan Barbashev by Logan Cooley officially called holding and a boarding minor on Mikhail Sergachev.
The Golden Knights hardly were blameless. Cole Smith picked up a double-minor high-sticking penalty just 11 seconds into third period, but Vegas killed off the four minutes.
At the end of the season, oftentimes players will be asked if they have been playing through any knocks or injuries in the playoffs or in the season before they get the summer to recover.
The Los Angeles Kings held their end-of-season presser on Wednesday, for the players at least. In this final media availability for the campaign, Kings center Quinton Byfield revealed that he dealt with a pair of serious injuries beyond the halfway mark of the regular season.
After the Olympic break in February, Byfield suffered a torn oblique on his right side, which is a tear in the abdominal muscles, usually caused by sudden twisting motions, among other actions.
Byfield's misfortune didn't end there because once his right-sided oblique tear healed, he received the same injury on his left side.
Multiple sources say that an oblique tear takes weeks to heal, and for athletes to return to action, it could take up to six weeks or more.
However, though Byfield's body has gone through much distress, the 23-year-old only missed three regular-season contests this past season.
In his last 16 games of the regular season, the Newmarket, Ont., native recorded 11 goals and 16 points, leading the Kings in scoring during that span.
Also, in the last 15 games of the year, Byfield had 11 goals, which had him tied for third in the NHL in that stretch. He was scoring at a similar rate to Nikita Kucherov, Macklin Celebrini, Connor McDavid and Cole Caufield at the time.
He went on to reach a new career high in goals, totalling 24 tallies, along with 25 assists for 49 points in 79 appearances. Not to mention, he set a new personal best in average ice time, logging 20:01 per game, reaching the 20-minute mark average for the first time in his young NHL career.
To go through the physical toll and strain of two oblique tears, Byfield's finish to the 2025-26 season was rather impressive.
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In the Montreal Canadiens’ 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Benchmark International Arena, sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson rewrote another page of the storied franchise history book.
With the primary assist on Alexandre Texier's game-winning goal, the 22-year-old blueliner picked up the 10th point of his career in the playoffs in just his 10th career game and became the fastest rearguard in Habs’ history to reach that milestone. The mark previously belonged to Chris Chelios.
Nikita Kucherov whiffs on the puck with a wide open net
- Lane Hutson notices a bad line change by Tampa and wires a great stretch pass
Just two full seasons into his professional career, the blueliner is turning out to be the steal of the 2022 draft. The Canadiens grabbed him with the 62nd overall pick at the tail end of the second round. So far, in the regular season, he has put up 146 points in just 166 games, which works out to 0.88 points per game.
In the Canadiens' all-important Game 5 win, he spent 23:31 on the ice and made quite a few heads-up plays. At one stage, in the first frame, his stick broke in his hands, and he had the presence of mind to change his grip to hold it together, which went unnoticed by the referees. Unfortunately for him, when he played the puck with it, he sent it into the netting and got a delay of game penalty, but he just didn’t want to be out there deep in his territory without a stick against Tampa’s powerful attack.
When he was hit with a high stick by Brayden Point during a collision and slashed for good measure afterwards, he didn’t pout, he didn’t complain, he just kept on playing. Of course, the sequence ended with the Lightning’s first goal of the game on an odd-man rush on which only Hutson was back to defend. While it ended with a goal, he defended it the right way, ensuring Dominic James couldn’t pass the puck.
The poise and the confidence with which he plays are nothing short of extraordinary at such a young age, especially on the blueline. It normally takes a long time for a defenseman to master their craft, but Hutson is already well on his way there, and sooner rather than later, he’ll be in the Norris Trophy conversation.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 29 : Dennis Cholowski #44 of the New Jersey Devils warms up before the NHL regular season game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Prudential Center on March 29, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Maclean/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The New Jersey Devils don’t have an extensive list of players set to hit free agency once the playoffs conclude, but there are some minor pieces set to enter unrestricted free agency. Today, we start looking at unrestricted free agent Devils with a pair of depth defenders. Both Dennis Cholowski and Colton White played a decent amount of games in New Jersey this past season, and they’re obviously familiar with the team and their systems. So is it worth bringing one or both of them back next season? Let’s dive in and find out.
Who is Dennis Cholowski and What Has He Done as a Devil?
Much like he was when Chris wrote about him last offseason, Cholowski remains a depth defenseman in the Devils system. He is once again an unrestricted free agent after the Devils gave him a one year league minimum deal. While he only appeared in six contests as a Devil in 2024-25, he did manage 39 NHL games overall between those and 33 with the Islanders. He scored three goals and added seven assists for te points, although none of them came in his time in New Jersey.
Thankfully in 2025-26 he only appeared in 17 games (though sadly all were for the Devils) registering a mere two assists across those appearances. Even in limited appearances and with limited minutes on an underachieving Devils team, Cholowski still managed to look as though he did not belong in the NHL on most nights. While his AHL stats were better (five assists in 13 contests), it was a really low bar to clear. His numbers still are not what one would expect from a player whose main positive attribute is supposed to be his offense. He is what he is at this point, which is an AHL caliber player who you hope doesn’t get called up into NHL duty.
What Will Cholowski Do Going Forward? What is His Value?
While Utica could certainly do worse than Cholowski, I’d stand to say they could probably do better than having him in their ranks as well. New Jersey is absolutely better off without Cholowski than they would be with him. It’s true some defenders blossom later into their careers, but we’re usually talking by their age 26-27 seasons at latest; Cholowski is heading into his age 28-29 season and I just don’t see him suddenly becoming a competent defender over the course of one summer. You’re looking at a guy who probably hangs around the AHL and as spots for veterans get more and more competitive with more players aging up, he might eventually make the leap overseas to finish his career. For now, I think he’s a known commodity and there will be at least a couple of teams who see value enough for him to want to stick around.
Unless he does decide that the grass looks greener overseas, I could see him getting another league minimum contract. I don’t think a 17 game sample size (or 30 if you want to include his AHL appearances) of mediocre to bad play earns a player anything other than the lowest amount the league contractually allows teams to pay. While I do believe he will probably get a couple of offers for league minimum or maybe SLIGHTLY above it, I don’t think a depth defender is going to wind up seeing teams engage in a bidding war over him.
Who is Colton White and What Has He Done as a Devil?
Colton White came back to the Devils in the summer of 2024 on a two year deal after spending a pair of seasons with Anaheim. Originally a 2015 fourth round draft selection of the Devils, White started off with enough promise to earn a few game stints in each of the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. He did not show enough promise, however to overtake any of the team’s other defenders at time, and eventually, he wound up being passed on the team’s depth chart by other defenders. That could be part of what led to him leaving for the Ducks, as upon his arrival in Anaheim, he would play 46 games, the most NHL games in one season of his career still to this day.
In his most recent stint, White has spent most of his time in Utica. He had a a great 2024-25 for a poor Utica team with 21 points in 61 appearances. He would split 2025-26 between Utica and New Jersey, making 30 appearances in the AHL and 23 in the NHL. The nicest thing I can say about White’s 23 NHL contests is that he had four assists while playing below average defense. He was last called up in mid-February and sent back down a week and a half later; even with the Devils being down Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce at the end of the season, White’s lackluster play meant he was not brought back up to the NHL.
What Will White Do Going Forward? What is His Value?
Much like Cholowski, I think White is what he is at this point which is a depth defender, especially considering he’s actually slightly older than Cholowski. I see a similar trajectory for the rest of his career: mostly minor league games, maybe a small stint here or there in the NHL as an injury fill-in, possibly finishing up his career overseas depending upon team situations, roster spots, and other unpredictable factors like injuries. As such, White is another league minimum guy.
As I said above for Cholowski, maybe, MAYBE some GM feels generous, or decides they need Colton White in their system and they offer a bit more than league minimum to entice him. I personally don’t see that being the case, and I think White’s path forward might depend upon where he sees a chance for himself to earn more minutes and NHL games. The Devils may not be stacked at left defense, but White is not better than the players they have playing regular NHL minutes. I also think the fact that the Devils seemed to prefer having Cholowski up over White at the end of the season shows where he falls on their depth chart; White’s path forward seems as if it will need another franchise if he wants NHL time.
What I Would Do With Them and What I Think the Devils Will Do
As I mentioned when talk about each player, I could see them each getting another one way deal at league minimum. I could also see them accepting a deal with a two way structure that sees them earn less in the AHL to stay in North America; at the same time, some players reject those deals if they feel they can make more overseas. If I were being asked to make the decision here, I wouldn’t be offering one of those deals to either of those players. If you forced me to choose one, I would pick White, as while I don’t think highly of his defending, I still think he’s better than Cholowski. I think if the Devils are looking for veterans to mentor their younger defenders in the AHL, they can find a player or two with a bit more ability to actually defend.
I think and hope that with new General Manager Sunny Mehta taking over, the organization will try to shed some of their underachievers and that includes at the minor league level. The fact that Utica has started off the last pair of seasons unbelievably poorly means that some of the personnel needs to be changed in order to achieve different results. I think the Devils will pass on bringing back either of these players, but the unpredictability with a new GM and of the NHL free agency period in general means you never know for sure until the contracts are signed.
Your Take
Now I’d like to hear your thoughts as to what the Devils should do with this pair of defenders. Should they offer a contract to bring both back? Just White? Just Cholowski? Do you agree that the team should look elsewhere for depth defense help/AHL defenders? Is there some part of either player’s game that makes you want the Devils to bring them back? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 27: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins looks on against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Five of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Penguins playoff run and 2025-26 season came to an end on Wednesday night with a 1-0 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. It is a frustrating loss, mostly because the Penguins were the better team for most of the game, including the third period and overtime. It was the third consecutive game in the series where they got better, played better, and seemed to be tilting the ice in their favor. Each game it felt like there was a big breakthrough about to happen, and then they simply ran out of time for it to happen.
If it had gone to a Game 7, you would have had to have liked their chances.
But there will be no Game 7, and it is not really because of what happened on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
It is because of what happened in Games 1-3, and specifically in Games 1-2 on home ice.
Those games count just as much as the later games, and in some ways they count even more. When you put yourself into a 3-0 hole, you are leaving yourself with no margin for error the rest of the way. Literally, zero margin. You have to be nearly perfect and get some breaks. The Penguins made it interesting, they made it dramatic, and I have no fault with the way they played to close out the series. They just put themselves in a bad spot. You can not do that if you are going to win in the playoffs.
It also does not negate the positives from the season.
Like I said on Tuesday, not every season has to end with a championship or a No. 1 overall pick to be meaningful. You can enjoy a fun, unexpected season and walk away from it feeling good. You can appreciate the ride. And this was one hell of a ride that nobody expected when the season began.
Outside of that stretch in December where they lost eight games in a row and blew some unimaginable leads, this team was consistently awesome. Even that ugly stretch of games was important for the storyline because their ability to bounce back from that losing streak, and the way they accumulated some of those losses, was a testament to the mindset they had and showed all year. Nothing phased them. Nothing shook them. Most teams that go down 3-0 fizzle out in four or five games. They were a shot away from a Game 7 on home ice. It is okay to walk away from that feeling good when the season began with the team being labeled as “the only team trying not to win,” and having the third-worst playoff odds in the league.
They also found some dudes for the long haul.
Ben Kindel is a dude and got a taste of what the NHL and playoff hockey are all about.
Egor Chinakhov looks like a dude. I am not down on his playoff performance that much. It is frustrating he never broke through and found that goal, but he was at least noticeable and in scoring positions.
They found some players that look like they have a chance to stick around. Elmer Soderblom has a place here. Harrison Brunicke is going to be here next season. Sergei Murashov is going to be here next season. Both got a taste of NHL life and gave you a glimpse of what they can do. You should be excited for it. Especially Murashov.
The season did not take on the look or feel that everybody expected, but it was hardly a waste.
Not only do they have more people coming from within, they have an outstanding salary cap situation and tradable assets going into the summer. I have no idea what is going to happen this summer and who it is going to involve, but it is going to be one of the more fascinating offseasons we have seen in a while.
We have weeks to discuss all of that. For now, let’s just take some quick thoughts on what we just watched in the first round.
1. The Penguins lost this series on the power play
This was the difference and the thing I am going to keep going back to when it comes to where it all went wrong. They had opportunities. They had chances to swing games. And they not only failed to do so, they usually sucked the life out of games and ruined momentum. The two worst examples of it were in Games 1 and 2 and Game 6. In the first two games at home they were barely able to even enter the zone. In Game 2, they missed early opportunities to score the first goal and then gave up a back-breaking shorthanded goal in the third period with a chance to tie the game. In Game 6, they again missed some big opportunities to break through and score the first goal.
Aside from the lack of production, it just never felt like they were particularly close to scoring. The numbers back that up. They generated just 7.73 expected goals per 60 minutes of power play time, 12th among the 16 playoff teams as of Thursday. That number would have ranked 31st in the NHL during the regular season. The Penguins, for that matter, generated 9.19 expected goals per 60 minutes of power play time, 11th most in the NHL.
Perhaps even more concerning is the fact the Penguins power play ALLOWED 2.30 expected goals per 60 minutes (including a shorthanded goal). That is an appalling number. No other team in the playoffs has allowed more than 1.77. No team in the regular season allowed more than 1.39 per 60 minutes of power play time.
The power play did them in.
It did them in by not scoring enough, by giving up a game-changing and series-changing goal, and by sucking momentum away from them and toward the Flyers.
Too many times in this series it looked like the power play we saw the past few years. Stationary. Not enough chances. Too much perimeter passing. Easily the most disappointing part of the series from a Penguins perspective.
2. Anthony Mantha can not be back
What a roller coaster of a season this has been. He arrived with the expectation of being a trade chip. He ended up having a career year, scoring 33 goals, setting a career high and leading the team in goals. Then he delivered one of the most underwhelming, no-show playoff appearances I can ever recall from a Penguins player. Non-factor does not even begin to describe this playoff showing from him, and the fact he has now played 20 career playoff games and not scored a single goal is a tough look.
Also a tough look: Flubbing a potential game-winning chance in overtime with a muffin backhand shot, and then standing at the side of the net like it is a regular season practice with your stick on your knees while everybody else digs for the puck.
If opposing general managers really were watching him closely this offseason as a pending unrestricted free agent, he did not do himself any favors.
3. Arturs Silovs is chaotic
What do you do with this guy?
He is still young.
He still has limited NHL experience so the jury is still out on him.
He is a goalie, so trying to project future performance is as useful as trying to predict what the weather is going to do four weeks from now.
He went through stretches this season that made you say, “hey, this guy might be a player.” He went through stretches that made you say, “how is this guy an NHL goalie?” Through all of those stretches his rebound control and puck-playing skills were a constant wild ride.
But man did he deliver in the playoffs when he got his opportunity. As limited as his resume is, he has already developed a reputation as a big-game player and he only built on that over the past three games.
I will admit that he was the biggest concern that I had in the Penguins ability to make this series or potentially win it. But he played great.
4. The Big Three Era
Sidney Crosby is going to be back, but we have no idea whether or not Evgeni Malkin or Kris Letang will be. If one, or both, of them is not, what a run it has been.
Since the start of the 2005-06 season no team in the NHL has won more playoff games than the Penguins.
No team has been in more Stanley Cup Finals.
Only one team has won as many Stanley Cups.
Hard to find fault with any of this. The best and most successful 20-plus year run in the history of the franchise. These guys were the centerpieces of it all.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 29: Parker Wotherspoon #28 of the Pittsburgh Penguins embraces Arturs Silovs #37 of the Pittsburgh Penguins after a overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Six of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 29, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The postmortem for an elimination game is always something. Add in the twist that Game 6 was a 1-0 OT loss and that takes it to a new level. On the simplest of terms, it doesn’t take much more than the surface level fact that you can’t win if you don’t score. That proved to be a major issue for the Penguins, who only combined to score four total goals in their four playoff losses – two of them coming via shutout.
In that way, it’s a team loss. The power play was woefully ineffective again, going 0/2 on the night and never even threatening to score. The same personnel was used, which personally I can’t knock, but the mindset was the same and the urgency to create wasn’t there. Not a great formula.
The Penguins managed 42 shots, which looks all well and good in the boxscore but didn’t manage to get many from the middle of the ice on goal, a credit to the defensive work of Philadelphia that was on point throughout Game 6 and almost all of the series. Pittsburgh’s strengths of generating off the rush and creating odd-man situations was completely erased. Slot chances that didn’t get deflected away were nearly as absent.
There were plenty of flashes where it could have been different, as happens in every game. Egor Chinakhov and Tommy Novak struck iron. Bryan Rust got a great chance from down low. Evgeni Malkin had a few looks at the net. Dan Vladar was on his game and there was no fortunate bounce or crazy play to capitalize on for Pittsburgh in Game 6.
In the end, it’s always a mistake that ends a 1-0 overtime playoff game and while there wasn’t a singular moment, the Pens pushed their luck too far. Their worst line let them down, it’s easy to point to Anthony Mantha’s non-play along the wall that helped lead to an odd man rush for Owen Tippett. Tippett zoomed around Ryan Shea, who didn’t have a great game and was pushed into deep water. Erik Karlsson, who played 36:22 on a night where the next closet player in icetime on either team was Travis Sanheim’s 31:20, couldn’t cover it up. Arturs Silovs could, as he did throughout most of the night. The puck was laying in the crease, plenty of open net in front of it for Porter Martone. Martone’s shot was foiled by Silovs’ discarded stick getting in the way.
The Pens had to ice the puck, trapping those players all working on a 1:30+ shift. Ben Kindel lost the faceoff cleanly. Mantha and Elmer Soderblom both opted to stay deep in the zone as the Flyers moved the puck along the blueline. It got to Cam York, and he leaned into a wrist shot that finally was one Silovs couldn’t stop. Ball game and season.
There was a dichotomy in overtime where the Penguins legitimately were carrying play and showing a much stronger level, but also draining out faster. At one point Bryan Rust motioned the bench that he wanted a change, only to wave it off when he had to fall back into the play and defend. You couldn’t literally hear him sigh but it was easily understandable in the moment. Even Kindel, the youngest player on the team, was skating much slower by the end. It was like a team chugging unevenly to the finish line.
Try as they may, the Penguins hit empty and then got caught. Game 6 was one of the best games they had in the series and certainly the best goaltending performance they’ve received in a long, long time- and yet they didn’t score a single goal either. It’s a tough result to swallow and brutal way to end a season.
Erik Karlsson’s perspective tends to be right on the money, his post-game comments sum it up.
“We got everyone playing up to their full potential all year. Then come this time of the year, you’re going to need a little bit more. And we just couldn’t reach that level, unfortunately,” Erik Karlsson said.
“If we reach this level of play from Game 1, we’re in a much better situation. Unfortunately, we didn’t. So today, great effort from the guys. Today, we played the way that we intended to right from the beginning, but all the credit to them. They bent. They bent hard, but they didn’t break. That’s why they’re moving on, and we’re not. And as much as it sucks, you gotta realize that you’re playing against good players and other good teams. And we were outplayed for the series.”
Ultimately, the Penguins came close and gave it their all, but just couldn’t get quite enough to advance. It happened in Game 6 and will be the lasting takeaway from their short experience in the 2026 playoffs.
In his first season as Head Coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, former Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet has advanced to the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With their win today, Tocchet, ex-Canucks defenceman Noah Juulsen, and the Flyers have managed to save themselves from a potential series comeback from Artūrs Šilovs and the Pittsbrugh Penguins.
The most notable part of this series was the Penguins’ quick shift in starting goaltenders. Šilovs stepped in for Stuart Skinner in Game 4, winning his first two games and saving Pittsburgh from being swept in the first round. He recorded a SV% of .900 or more during these two games. In Game 6, he stopped all but one of the 31 shots he faced, with Philadelphia ultimately ending the series in overtime by a score of 1–0.
Tocchet spent nearly three seasons as the Canucks’ Head Coach, helping Vancouver to Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals in his first full season behind the bench. During that season, the Canucks registered a record of 50–23–9, winning the Pacific Division at the end of the regular season and earning Tocchet his first Jack Adams Award. He parted ways with the organization at the end of the 2024–25 season, joining the Flyers on a five-year contract.
Also a member of the Flyers is Juulsen, who spent four seasons with the Canucks organization before also heading to Philadelphia during the 2025 off-season. The defenceman has played in six of the Flyers’ games this post-season, putting up two assists in this span of time.
In the Metropolitan Division Final, the Flyers will face another former Canuck in Jalen Chatfield and his team, the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes also swept their first-round series, eliminating former Canucks Head Coach Travis Green and the Ottawa Senators from the post-season.
Apr 20, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) clears the puck past Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Noah Juulsen (47) during the second period in game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Apr 29, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) blocks a shot from Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans (71) in the second period during game five of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Nathan Ray Seebeck/Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Another home loss in the playoffs has the Tampa Bay Lightning on the brink of an early vacation once again.
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed a fluke goal on the day he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, the Lightning struggled to win faceoffs, lucky bounces went the other way and they lost to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Wednesday night to fall behind 3-2 in the series.
Game 6 is Friday night in Montreal. The Lightning are trying to avoid a fourth straight first-round elimination since falling two wins short of a Stanley Cup three-peat in 2022.
“We got to drag them back here,” forward Corey Perry said. “You know it’s going to be a hostile environment. It’s loud but block it out and just go play. We found a way last game there. We got to do it again.”
The Lightning won Game 4 in Montreal but have lost 10 of their last 12 home games in the playoffs.
Alexandre Texier scored the winning goal 1:06 into the third period on a slap shot from the left circle that bounced off Vasilevskiy’s glove and trickled behind one of the NHL’s best goaltenders.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper blamed the goal on the defense.
“It stems way before that. It doesn’t stem from when Texier gets down the ice. It stems from the change and how we went about it and the mistakes we made on the way there,” Cooper said. “Forever, all Vasy does is bail us out of those. The rare time sometimes he doesn’t. He should’ve never got that deep into our zone and he got a lot on it. It wasn’t like Vasy got beat. He had it and it took a Montreal bounce, unfortunately for us.
The Canadiens dominated the faceoff circle, winning 66%. In another tight game - all five have been decided by one goal and the first three went to overtime - every puck possession matters.
“Possession is huge,” forward Brayden Point said. “There’s not a lot of room out there. Starting with the puck is massive.”
The Lightning had 40 shots on rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes but only Dominic James and Jake Guentzel could get the puck past him.
They had shots hit the post, crossbar and Nikita Kucherov had the puck bounce over his stick with an open net.
“We need other guys to score and haven’t been able to do it,” Point said. “It is frustrating. Just got to keep doing the right things and keep working hard.”
The Lightning have lost their last two elimination games. If they can win again in Montreal, they’ll host Game 7 on Sunday.
“I understand the next game is a potential elimination game but the last game we played there, we lose that one and we’re down 3-1 (and) you’re really chasing the series,” Cooper said. “They’ve been in that building twice now and have a pretty good feeling of what to expect. How it’s going to go? I can’t say for sure but I’ll bet we play better than we did tonight.
