Category: NHL

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues signed forward Dylan Holloway to a five-year contract worth $38.75 million, general manager Doug Armstrong announced Friday.

Holloway, who's set to turn 25 in September before next NHL season begins, will count $7.75 million against the salary cap through 2031. Getting him signed was one of Armstrong's final big tasks before turning the job over to GM-in-waiting Alexander Steen.

His new deal was announced Friday in the aftermath of Edmonton getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Blues poached Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg from the Oilers with offer sheets two summers ago.

Holloway joins him in signing long term after Broberg got $48 million over six years in January and is now under contract through 2030. Holloway ranked second on the team with 22 goals and was tied for second in points with 51 this past regular season, when St. Louis missed the playoffs.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

During a recent appearance on TNT, NHL legend Henrik Lundqvist ranked the top seven Eastern Conference starting goaltenders left in the playoffs. This was before the Philadelphia Flyers knocked out Arturs Silovs and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. 

When it came to Montreal Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes, Lundqvist ranked the young netminder at the No. 7. 

With this, Dobes was ranked below every other goaltender on Lundqvist's list. Given how well he has played early on this post-season, there is certainly an argument to be had for Dobes to be ranked higher. 

Dobes is a big reason why the Canadiens now have a 3-2 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning this series. In five appearances so far this post-season, Dobes has a 3-2-0 record, a .903 save percentage, and a 2.49 goals-against average. This included him stopping 38 out of 40 shots in the Canadiens' 3-2 win over the Bolts in Game 5.

Dobes also took a big step forward with his development during the regular season with the Canadiens. In 43 appearances, he had an impressive 29-10-4 record to go along with a .901 save percentage and a 2.78 goals-against average. 

.@HLundqvist reveals his Eastern Conference HANKINGS 👀 pic.twitter.com/X8pIEEZXN1

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 30, 2026

Dobes will now be looking to lead the Canadiens past the Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Lightning in Game 6 from here. 

The Stanley Cup playoffs are well underway, with what has been an exciting first round.

There's been a lot of very good hockey so far. And while the first round of the NHL playoffs promises strong matchups and divisional showdowns, it raises the question: Is it too much of an early glut, and do the later rounds suffer under the current playoff format?

The postseason in the NHL is structured as follows:

• The division winner with the best record plays the second wild card team
• The division winner with the second-best record plays the first wild card team
• The second- and third-place finishers from both divisions play each other in the first round

This structure has been in place since 2014, and commissioner Gary Bettman has dug his heels in on it time and time again.

REQUIRED READING: Jack Adams Award finalists announced. Favorite and snub for best coach in NHL

"More than comfortable," Bettman told reporters last month with regards to the format. "It gives us a sensational first round. Probably the best playoff first round in any sport. We get more games and longer series as a result of the format. And you can always pick at certain situations in any given year and say, 'Well, I'd like it to be different that year.' But if you look at the body of work that our playoffs represent over time, what we have now works extraordinarily well."

It's true, to a degree. The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are by and large more interesting than, say, the NBA's opening round where many series can be picked to go four or five games (2026 has proven to be a bad example of that). But they also give us matchups that could have been conference finals in the early going. The Wild and Stars are divisional foes who could have seen each other two rounds down the line, whereas the same could be said for the Lightning and Canadiens. These are teams with real animosity who would give compelling storylines playing for a chance at the Cup.

Instead, we see them get eliminated, and the Central and Atlantic divisions are punished for having arms races all season while the Pacific didn't have a single team over 100 points and the Metro had one.

For contrast, here's a look at how these playoffs would have looked under the NBA's current 1-8 format.

2026 Stanley Cup playoffs in 1-8 format

Eastern Conference

• (1) Carolina Hurricanes vs (8) Philadelphia Flyers
• (2) Buffalo Sabres vs (7) Pittsburgh Penguins
• (3) Tampa Bay Lightning vs (6) Ottawa Senators
• (4) Montreal Canadiens vs (5) Boston Bruins

Western Conference

• (1) Colorado Avalanche vs (8) Los Angeles Kings
• (2) Dallas Stars vs (7) Anaheim Ducks
• (3) Minnesota Wild vs (6) Utah Mammoth
• (4) Vegas Golden Knights vs (5) Edmonton Oilers

It may not have the juggernaut matchups of Stars-Wild or the Battle of Pennsylvania of Penguins-Flyers, but it does properly reward teams who found themselves in regular season dogfights while still having interesting series (the Nos. 4 and 5 matchups in both conferences are particularly compelling). Furthermore, it still creates interesting permutations of second-round matchups.

Before the 2013 season, the NHL had a three-division structure that had the Northeast, Southeast and Atlantic in the East and the Northwest, Central and Pacific in the West. That playoff format had re-seeding, but also wasn't tenable due to imminent expansion to 32 teams and the necessity to cut travel.

This is not about protecting certain teams or protecting certain writers' egos (has a certain writer had a horrible time picking the first round? Yes. Is his Stanley Cup pick already eliminated in the first round? Also yes). Instead, it's about creating a postseason that survives the first round. As good as these series are, their protracted and physical nature decimates rosters heading into Round 2, and the matchups suffer.

By the conference finals, imbalances are clear. In 2025, both series finished in five games. In 2024, they finished in six. 2023 saw a sweep and a six-game series. 2022 was the same. There hasn't been a seven-game conference final since 2018.

Furthermore, from a ruthless business perspective, which is the only thing that will change anything, losing big players and names in the first round does have an effect on interest as the playoffs go on. A playoff structure shouldn't be reverse engineered around getting the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals, but it should consider that Bruins-Canadiens is a more interesting Eastern Conference Finals matchup than it is to see in Round 1, and locking fans from that short of one of those teams winning the Atlantic (which can still result in a first round matchup if the wild card picture falls right) is myopic decision making.

Rivalries can't be forced

At the crux of the issue lies a simple truth: Rivalries in sports can't be forced. They come from history, regionality and familiarity, with at least two of the three usually being involved.

Hockey west of Colorado in the United States has been around for some time, but it's expanding rapidly. With the advent of the Golden Knights in Las Vegas and the Kraken in Seattle, along with a newly tapped fan base in Utah with the Mammoth moving from Arizona, these are teams looking to establish footprints.

The vitriol between the Canadiens, Bruins and Maple Leafs comes from being three Original Six teams creating a Bermuda Triangle of hatred in the Northeast. The Flames and Oilers have nursed a dragon egg of hatred since meeting each other for the first Battle of Alberta in 1980 that was nourished by being two of the league's premier teams atop the Campbell Conference in the latter half of the 1980s. They weren't mashed together like action figures in a commissioner's room. It took time.

That's how it has to happen now. The Stars and Avalanche don't harbor contempt for each other because of their 2025 first round matchup. It dates to the '90s when they were fighting for supremacy in the West. The Stars and Wild have heaps of baggage that dates to the Minnesota North Stars moving to Dallas. This series is a blip cosmically, not the defining aspect of it.

That's what gets lost in this conversation. The first round will always be intense. It will always be passionate. But seeding should also be rewarding for the teams who fought to get there. If a first-round series can be predicted since November like Wild-Stars was, that's a systemic issue. If the reward for teams who killed each other in the Atlantic Division for 82 games is to see each other for another minimum of four to do it again, that's a systemic issue.

These rivalries aren't bolstered by teams being mashed together. If the Red Wings and Avalanche played each other in the first round every year in the 1990s, that rivalry wouldn't be revered as it is today. It would just be a freak occurrence. Oilers-Kings isn't treated as some kind of cherished matchup. It's a curiosity at best.

The expansion factor

Something to consider when thinking about possible realignment options is that the NHL isn't content at 32 teams. Bettman has already discussed further expansion multiple times.

While the NHL having the most teams among the major North American leagues sounds crazy at first blush, the thought is it has more untapped markets due to how many teams it shares with Canada and the expansion into the West and South. That creates a wildly unstable environment when talking about realignment.

The path of least resistance for the NHL, frankly, is a straight 1-8 seeding. Killing conferences and doing 1-16 would be unique but would open up a Pandora's Box of logistical matchup problems with travel, while contracting the playoffs is out of the question (no league is interested in going backward and losing that revenue). The NBA play-in has also created more problems than solutions, and the NHL playoffs really don't need more games than they already have.

Sometimes, simple is better. Leagues as a whole seem to have forgotten that in their never-ending quest to invent a wheel that rolls better. The NHL is in the best position to remind them, particularly as the league enters another era of change.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup playoffs need rework, as good teams get eliminated early

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NHL shots-on-goal markets have become one of the most volatile betting markets on the NHL odds board, and not for the reasons you’d expect.

As the National Hockey League tightens how SOG are recorded, bettors are left navigating a stat that can change mid-game or after the final horn.

With save percentages dropping and scoring decisions growing more subjective, the gap between what happens on the ice and what’s recorded is creating real risk in SOG betting markets.

Why NHL shots-on-goal betting has become more volatile

How shots on goal in the National Hockey League are officially recorded has become a touchy subject in the betting and fantasy communities. Over the last couple of seasons, it feels like the league has tightened up SOG scoring, with more in-game corrections than ever.

You could be celebrating an Over 2.5 SOG ticket, then look 10 minutes later in the NHL app and see your player back down to 1 SOG. It’s happened to every single person who has dabbled in those markets. 

It’s not just bettors noticing — goalies are, too. Routine saves aren’t always being recorded, and that’s showing up in declining save percentages across the league:

• 2020–21: .908
• 2021–22: .907
• 2022–23: .904
• 2023–24: .903
• 2024–25: .900
• 2025–26: .896

Even Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger has taken note:

“They just take shots away that are shots on goal. There are probably three a game. If you multiply that by 50 games, that’s like having five more shutouts that they’re taking away.”

Some argue that shooting is down league-wide. I’d push back — it looks more like shots are being taken off the board, which tracks, as most bettors are on Overs and some books only offer Over lines. Scorekeepers can remove a shot if they believe it would have missed the net, which adds a layer of subjectivity.

If you’re looking for more proof, go look at how the SOG were scored at the Winter Olympics. Save percentages were through the roof, and SOG totals were starting at 4.5 for the most part.

Mark Stone controversy highlights SOG scoring issues

That subjectivity boiled over on Wednesday in Game 5 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah Mammoth. Mark Stone clearly put a shot on net on a breakaway, but it was somehow scored as a block by Logan Cooley. Bettors weren’t fooled, especially with Stone finishing with just one SOG in a double-overtime game, and the reaction spilled onto social media the next day.

@nhl@PrizePicks@NHLPR
Please fix this shot on goal for mark stone how is this a blocked shot pic.twitter.com/uiHcVGAFh2

— Teddy Garcia (@TGarcia6541) April 30, 2026

I’m not one to complain about outcomes, but when a league already has discretion in scoring, and then a call like this slips through, it’s tough not to side with bettors. To their credit, the NHL added two more shots to Stone’s stat line Thursday afternoon after the backlash.

This Mark Stone Breakaway SOG was officially scored a Logan Cooley block

And I'm to trust these people scoring SOGs? https://t.co/7nJdUayIcNpic.twitter.com/vsnvG1rHRH

— Josh Inglis (@Covers_josh) April 30, 2026

Getting the stat corrected is one thing — getting your bet corrected is another. Some sportsbooks grade bets as final after a set window. That said, DraftKings and bet365 both adjusted tickets here, which is the right move. I'm not sure if all books followed suit, but I'd be surprised if they did.

STAT CORRECTION UPDATE:

The NHL has issued a stat correction for Mark Stone (VGK), updating his Shots on Goal from 1 ➡️ 3 in last night's (4/29) game vs Utah.

Impacted wagers have been resettled to reflect the change. We’ve got your back! 🤝

— DraftKings Support (@DK_Assist) April 30, 2026

How to approach NHL shots-on-goal betting

When you decide to bet on markets like SOG, saves, and blocked shots, you are entering a potential outcome that might not be 100% accurate, and might in fact be working against you on the Over. Proceed with caution, and if you do need to get your ticket corrected, get in the queue at your sportsbook, talk to a person, and be civilized. They tend to do the correct thing more than you’d expect. 

The bigger concern is the consistency of NHL scorekeeping — that’s what really needs watching.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The NHL has announced its three finalists for the Jack Adams Trophy as the league's top coach for the 2025-26 season. Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis did not make the cut, but he certainly had a case to. 

Interestingly, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is among the finalists for the Jack Adams. 

The Canadiens, of course, are currently up against Cooper's Lightning in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It has been a tight series between the Atlantic Division clubs, but St. Louis's Canadiens currently have a 3-2 lead over the Bolts.

The Canadiens are set to face off against the Lightning in Game 6 on Friday night and will be looking to knock out the Bolts with a victory. It should be another entertaining matchup between the two teams, and it will be interesting to see if the Canadiens can beat Cooper and the Lightning from here. 

Yet, when looking at how well the Canadiens played this season, it is a bit surprising to see St. Louis not in the mix for the Jack Adams. The Habs took another notable step in the right direction this campaign, finishing with a 48-24-10 record and 106 points. 

Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, which is given to the NHL's best head coach. 

Seeing Ruff be a finalist for the Jack Adams Award is not surprising in the slightest. Ruff not only helped the Sabres get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2011, but led them to become one of the best teams in the NHL. 

The Sabres finished this season at the top of the Atlantic Division standings with a 50-23-9 record and 109 points. This included the Sabres going 36-9-5 in their final 50 games of the regular season. 

Given how significantly the Sabres turned around this season, it is fair to argue that Ruff is the most deserving for the Jack Adams this year. However, he will be going up against two head coaches who also had strong years behind the bench in Dan Muse (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning).

It will now be interesting to see if Ruff ends up winning the Jack Adams from here. 

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins took a significant step forward this season, returning to the playoffs after a three-year absence.

To go deeper than the first round will require another leap. Whether Evgeni Malkin gets a chance to be a part of it is anyone's guess. Malkin's included.

The Russian star, who is set to become a free agent in July, would like to return to the Penguins for a 21st and almost certainly final season. Yet Malkin also understands general manager Kyle Dubas is trying to build a roster that will make Pittsburgh a perennial contender, and having a future Hall of Fame forward who will turn 40 in August might not be part of that plan.

“It’s not easy for Kyle, maybe he wants new blood here,” Malkin said on Friday, less than 48 hours after the Penguins' bounce-back season ended with a Game 6 loss to rival Philadelphia. “I understand business. I understand he wants maybe new team, see new faces here.”

Dubas, who has spent months being polite but noncommittal while discussing Malkin's status, enters the offseason with over $45 million in salary cap space. Whether he wants to spend a portion of it on a three-time Stanley Cup winner who is beloved in Pittsburgh but also missed 20 games this season due to injury is uncertain.

What's not is Malkin's commitment to playing next year, even if it's outside of the only NHL organization he's ever known. Malkin finished with 61 points in 56 games after moving from center to wing. He added a pair of goals against the Flyers in a season he described as “not bad."

“It’s a little bit tough,” he said. “But I feel I can play next year for sure.”

Malkin, captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang just finished up their 20th season together, the longest run by a trio of teammates in major North American professional sports. Letang is under contract for two more seasons, while Crosby is eligible for another contract extension this summer.

Crosby, the only player in NHL history to average a point a game in 21 straight years, made it very clear his preference would be to run it back one last time with his good friend.

“For as long as (Malkin's) played here I think he’s been part of setting the standard,” Crosby said. "And just on top of all the experiences we’ve shared, you build that belief and trust and bond and that’s something you’ve had over the course of time.”

Malkin's future is hardly the only uncertainty the Penguins face. While first-year coach Dan Muse — a finalist for the Jack Adams award as the NHL's Coach of the Year — won raves for his positivity and meticulous preparation, the league's third-highest scoring team also sputtered while falling into a 3-0 hole to the Flyers.

Though Pittsburgh carried play as the series wore on, it was far too late as Philadelphia's younger legs won out in the end, though Crosby doesn't want the bitterness of the way the season ended to blot out all the good things that came along the way.

“A lot of guys had career years, I think that’s a reflection of guys’ individual play but also as a group," he said.

The list of players who enjoyed breakout seasons included forward Anthony Mantha, who poured in a career-best 33 goals, and forward Egor Chinakov, who had 18 goals in 43 games after being acquired from Columbus in December.

Mantha will be a free agent and figures to be in line for a raise over the $2.5 million he made this season. Chinakov is a restricted free agent, and Pittsburgh would likely match any offer the 25-year-old would receive.

Rookie Ben Kindel, all of 18, scored 17 goals and massive 6-foot-7 forward Elmer Soderblom made an impact after arriving from Detroit.

At the NHL level, the goalie situation is unsettled. Stuart Skinner, brought over in a swap with Edmonton in December, will be a free agent and Arturs Silovs — who backstopped both of Pittsburgh's playoff wins and nearly stole Game 6 in Philadelphia — will be a restricted free agent.

The Penguins have 22-year-old Sergei Murashov waiting in the wings and he will almost certainly receive every opportunity to claim the starting job when training camp begins in September.

It will be four long and likely eventful months until Pittsburgh reconvenes. The club showed tangible proof this year that Dubas' painstaking organizational overhaul is starting to pay off.

The gap between the Penguins and the teams that will take the ice when the second round begins next week is smaller than it was a year ago. Yet it still exists.

Malkin would like to be part of the process of narrowing it even further alongside the two men who have become like brothers.

“I hope we play together one more year,” he said. "If not, we have great 20 years together and never forget.”

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Nostalgia is addictive. It's fun to remember the good times and try to recreate those memories in the present. 

However, that's exactly why they are memories. 

The Nashville Predators have been clinging to the past for a while, for better and worse. Maintaining the Smashville identity is integral to this organization, but the faces behind that vision need to change. 

Bringing back the team's first and most successful head coach, Barry Trotz, to lead the front office as a first-time general manager wasn't an awful decision. 

His strength has been in drafting and setting the table for the future. Trotz brought in star players like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O'Reilly and kept a handful of key players in Nashville, including Luke Evangelista, Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen. 

However, the corps could not make a deep playoff run, making the postseason just once in the last three seasons and posting one of the franchise's worst records during the 2024-25 campaign. 

Trotz set this team up for success from 1998 to 2014, but could not replicate that magic in a new decade in a new position. 

That nostalgic energy played a part in hiring a new head coach back in 2023, when Andrew Brunette, who played for Trotz and the Predators in their inaugural season, was hired as a first-year head coach. 

In his third season, while he showed growth, it wasn't enough to get Nashville into the playoffs for a second straight season. 

With Trotz stepping away from the GM chair, the Predators have a chance to bring an outsider in, start a new chapter in their history and try something different. This is their opportunity to prove that were a team of today and tomorrow, and no longer yesterday. 

It is rumored that the Predators are still leaning toward the past, "leaning toward" ousted New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who served as the Predators' first captain for four seasons from 1998 to 2002. 

NHL insider David Pagnotta said on the DFO Rundown podcast on April 29 that he believes the Predators are leaning toward going down the Tom Fitzgerald route as their new GM. 

David Pagnotta: Re Predators GM search: I think Nashville might be leaning towards the Tom Fitzgerald route - DFO Rundown (4/29)

— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) April 30, 2026

Pagnotta's observation is just one of many from NHL insiders over the last month that have said Fitzgerald is a leading candidate for the Predators' top front office job. 

On Friday, Elliotte Friedman added that the Vancouver Canucks have asked to talk to Fitzgerald, but even he is focused on becoming the Predators' GM. 

Fitzgerald has won a Stanley Cup in a front office role with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 as the team's Director of Player Development, but has had a really lackluster stint when in the GM role.

He was named the New Jersey Devils general manager after Ray Shero was fired in 2020. Fitzgerald served as the team's assistant GM from 2015 to 2020. 

In his time as the organization's GM, the Devils qualified for the playoffs just twice in 2023 and 2025, making it beyond the first round just once. Both years, the Devils' season ended at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in five games. 

With top talent like Nico Heischer, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, along with role players filtering in and out, the Devils have failed to put together a successful corps and after posting a 42-37-8 record in the regular season, they are flirting with a full rebuild. 

It's a similar situation to the Predators, where a successful corps has been put together, and it's just not clicking. 

Unlike the Predators, the Devils have had three head coaches in the last five years and fired their GM after nothing had changed. 

Instead of going after experienced candidates with a successful track record and seeking to bring in outside voices, the Nashville Predators are once again opting to hire one of their "buddies." 

It's fun to remember what these players and coaches did for your organization back then, but trying to zombify that moment and duplicate its success now isn't going to work. 

Take out the fact that he had played for the Predators, and Fitzgerald's candidacy for this committee is not impressive.

This search committee needs to take off its golden-shaded goggles and find a GM who will bring real change and new ideas to this organization. 

The Predators need a GM who is established and has a track record of winning, and, in their case, an assistant GM who has a track record of building a championship-contending team. 

No more former coaches. No more former players. Hire on the basis of proven success and how they can bring a Stanley Cup to Music City. 

VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) — Cam York threw his stick into the stands after he scored a playoff winner for the Flyers and, almost like a boomerang, it came back to him at practice.

York's overtime goal beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 in Game 6 of their first-round series and helped the Flyers advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

York was caught up in the moment — “definitely don’t want a lawsuit,” he cracked after the long toss — and hoped the Flyers fan who retrieved the valuable piece of equipment would return the souvenir.

“I figured even if it did hit him, that he was going to still enjoy the moment and be happy,” York said Friday.

Longtime Flyers fan Jack Brod, who grabbed the stick around Section 113 in the lower level, had planned to gift the stick to a family friend. Once he learned that York wanted the stick back, Brod graciously returned it. Wearing the same Flyers sweatshirt he did in Game 6, Brod was a guest Friday at Flyers practice and got to meet York.

York said right after the game he thought, “why did I do that?”

“When my career is done and over with, I want to have some things to look back on, remember and cherish,” York said on Friday. “This was obviously a special moment for me. Super nice guy. Just met him. For me to just give it back for kind of nothing, I really appreciate that. That's one of the best things about Philly fans is, they love their players and they want their players to perform at the highest level they can.”

Brod didn't go home empty-handed. He received a new stick and a signed York No. 8 jersey. York hoped to frame the stick.

The Flyers open their second-round series Saturday at Carolina.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers, exiting the playoffs early this season after two marathon runs to the Stanley Cup Final, were a dented and depleted team.

The 5-2 loss to Anahiem in Thursday’s Game 6 ended Edmonton’s season in the first round. The Oilers were outclassed and outworked by a Ducks team that won its first playoff series since 2017 with a roster that included a dozen players under the age of 25 and 14 who were making their NHL playoff debuts.

The Oilers lost to Florida in each of the last two Cup finals in series that lasted seven and six games, respectively. Some Oilers hinted at the beginning of this year’s playoffs that the regular season felt like a chore at times, and that they were relieved to start the postseason again with a shot at finishing the job and hoisting the Cup.

They didn’t get close.

“We’ve been searching for consistency all year and we didn’t find it here in the playoffs,” said captain Connor McDavid, who signed a short-term contract extension before the season. “It’s tough. We were an average team all year. An average team with high expectations, you’re going to be disappointed.”

McDavid’s ankle, Leon Draisaitl’s knee, Jason Dickinson’s lower-body injury and penalty-kill specialist Adam Henrique’s undisclosed series-ending injury in Game 1 weakened Edmonton up the middle. Draisaitl missed the last 14 games of the regular season.

McDavid and Draisaitl spent the last two games of the series as linemates instead of centring separate lines. They battled, but weren’t able to will their team into a higher gear.

“Too hurt too soon,” McDavid told The Canadian Press. “The first round is always tough. It’s always chaotic. It’s tough to play through things so early on, as many guys did in here. Credit to our staff for making guys available and making sure they were as comfortable as possible. That being said, it’s not an excuse either. We expected to have a longer run than we did.”

Draisaitl had three goals and seven assists in six games. McDavid, who was held off the scoresheet with the first two games of the series, finished with a goal and five assists.

Defense was Edmonton’s downfall, allowing 26 goals in six games. The penalty kill gave up eight goals on Anaheim’s 15 chances. Edmonton’s power play started 0-for-6 in the first two games before finishing 4-for-14.

“We struggled on the PK all year too. We’ve been searching for consistency there,” McDavid said. “The power-play could have been better to start the series.”

Edmonton’s offense compensated for a bottom-tier ranking in the NHL in goals-against in the regular season. A leaky defense was magnified in the playoffs. Edmonton scored the first goal in the first five games, yet won just two of them.

“Pretty much the story for most of the year. We just didn’t defend well enough,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “You usually win or lose on your defensive play. It wasn’t good enough.”

Down 3-1 after the first period in Game 6, the Oilers had time but the Ducks turned a neutral-zone turnover by Evan Bouchard into an odd-man rush and a 4-1 lead before the end of the second period.

“As much as it hurts, I think they’re just a better team,” Draisaitl said.

Did the wear and tear of two long seasons factor into Edmonton’s earliest playoff exit in five years? Players weren't interested in discussing it.

“It’s not an excuse,” said forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “We just didn’t get the job done.”

William Karlsson, who hasn’t seen game action in nearly seven months, skated with the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of a potentially series-clinching Game 6. He took the ice for morning skate and participated in 2-on-1 drills, but did not take part in line rushes or slot in on either special teams unit.

“He’s just with the team,” said Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella on Friday. “He’s been skating, and we want him around the team… He’s one of the boys, right? He’s been here a while, he’s won, and it’s good for him, too, to be around the guys.”

Karlsson played just 14 games during the regular season. He sustained a lower-body injury against the Anaheim Ducks on November 8th and was placed on Injured Reserve just a few days later. He participated in a practice with the team in December, but was subsequently placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve shortly thereafter.

Since then, updates have been few and far between. When general manager Kelly McCrimmon spoke to the media on March 30th following the coaching change, he shared that Karlsson would only be available to return this season if the Golden Knights made a deep postseason run.

“If we have a certain level of success in the playoffs, he’ll be able to play,” McCrimmon said when asked about Karlsson’s status.

Tortorella did not provide an updated timeline for Karlsson’s return, instead highlighting the morale boost that the Original Misfit’s presence provides to the Golden Knights and to Karlsson himself.

“This has nothing to do with Bill being close,” Tortorella said. “He’s gone through his progression, he’s been working out. We just wanted him to travel.”

Before the Montreal Canadiens’ series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, everyone was expecting their top line to cause trouble for Jon Cooper’s men. However, five games in, the Floridians have managed to tame the beast, at least at even strength. What they haven’t found a way to do yet, though, is find an answer to Martin’s St-Louis’ new line formed of Alexandre Texier, Kirby Dach, and Zachary Bolduc.

In 22 minutes and 19 seconds on ice at five-on-five, the line has been dominant. They’ve had three inner-slot shots, while the Bolts have had only one; their expected goals stand at 63.4%, while Tampa’s at 36.6%, and they’ve scored six goals while allowing none.

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In Game 5, when St-Louis elected to make a slew of changes to his lines, it was the only one that wasn’t affected. These three players, deployed as a fourth line with limited ice time, are giving Cooper headaches. Why? Simply because the Bolts do not have the same depth as the Canadiens have.

Furthermore, they are playing a tough game, with both Dach and Bolduc throwing three hits in Game 5. At the same time, Texier has demonstrated a knack for being in the right place at the right time with plenty of space, something that has been hard to come by for the Canadiens’ usual top producers. In two of the last three games, that line has scored the Habs’ first goal, giving the team momentum. It wasn’t always a pretty goal, but whichever way the puck gets in the net doesn’t matter; the goal still counts. They didn’t get the first goal in Game 5, but they topped that, scoring the goal that would stand as the game-winner just over a minute into the third period.

When St-Louis elected to put them together, he found something most suspected the Canadiens didn’t have: offensive depth. With their backs to the wall, will Cooper try to adapt and make life tougher for those three players? He could, but then life might get much easier for the likes of Caufield, Suzuki, and Slafkovsky, who are working their hardest to find an opportunity. Can Cooper gamble and give them one? That seems highly unlikely.

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The Edmonton Oilers will not be returning to the Stanley Cup Final for a third consecutive season. 

In what may go down as one of the more surprising upsets of the first round, the Oilers dropped a must-win Game 6 by a score of 5–2, allowing the Anaheim Ducks to advance to the second round for the first time since 2017. This is Anaheim’s first time back in the post-season since 2018. 

With Edmonton’s elimination, three former Vancouver Canucks have seen their post-season campaigns get cut short. Vasily Podkolzin, who had a strong stint in the playoffs, finished the series with two goals and three assists in five games played. The forward is coming off a career-best season that saw him score 19 goals and 18 assists in a full 82 games with the Oilers. In Game 6, he even spent some time skating on a line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. 

Another former Canuck whose post-season ended on Thursday night was Jason Dickinson. Acquired by the Oilers at the 2026 Trade Deadline, Dickinson played in a total of four games during this series, missing two due to injury concerns. This was not the only injury concern for Dickinson in recent play, however, as the forward missed the final three games of the regular season due to ailments. In his first playoff game with the Oilers, he scored two goals. 

The final former Canuck to have his playoff stint cut short was Curtis Lazar. In-and-out of the lineup throughout the regular season due to various injuries, the forward made his Oilers playoff debut on April 22 and skated in five of Edmonton’s six post-season matches. He did not register a point in any of these games. 

With Edmonton’s loss on Thursday night, Canada’s hopes of winning a Stanley Cup fall on the Montréal Canadiens — the final Canadian team still in the post-season. Last week, the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the post-season by the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canucks, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Toronto Maple Leafs all missed the post-season and will instead be eyeing the upcoming NHL Draft Lottery. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award.

Muse was named one of the three finalists for the award, which is the NHL’s annual “Coach of the Year” award, alongside Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper and Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.

Well earned 👏

Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, presented annually "to the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success".

Details: https://t.co/5c6idObGQWpic.twitter.com/FvwJMaPNT8

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 1, 2026

The Penguins were a surprise success story this past season under Muse, who was a first-year head coach in the NHL, leading the team to the postseason for the first time since 2022 after being predicted by many to be among the bottom teams in the league this past season.

The 41 wins the team amassed under Muse tied for the third-most in franchise history for a coach in his first year with the Penguins.

Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson was among those voicing their support for Muse, saying that he was a big part of the team’s success this past year.

EK65 with some high praise for Coach Muse. pic.twitter.com/Y6kgI8lKM2

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 1, 2026

While the Penguins’ exit from the postseason may have been a disappointment, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, it’s not a reach to say that the Penguins outperformed their expectations this past season and it seems as if the team made a good choice when hiring Muse as the leader of the franchise in the post-Mike Sullivan era.

Before we get to NHL news and notes, a few Islanders links:

Enjoy this highlight reel for Vezina finalist Ilya Sorokin.

Offseason analysis from Andrew Gross: The management. [Newsday]

What was it like to suffer through the ups and mostly downs of being a diehard Whalers fan? A special Weird Islanders episode. [LHH]

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Elsewhere

Depending on how things go with three series at 3-2, the entire first round of the NHL playoffs could be completed Friday night. The Canadiens, Sabres and Knights have the Lightning, Bruins and Mammoth on the ropes, respectively.

No matter how those series go, they won’t prompt the postseason reckoning that has no begun for the disappointing Oilers, the stuck-between-era Penguins, and the Sisyphusian Stars, who once again entered the playoffs with a top-contending squad hobbled by injuries.

To the post-mortems:

• The Oilers lost to the Ducks, a team that can’t play defense and thus should not be able to knock off anyone in the postseason. How has it come to this for Edmonton, with the Connor McDoomsday Clock ticking? [Athletic | TSN]
• The Penguins, eliminated by the Flyers, had a surprising season but with nothing to show for it, stuck in their nostalgia-and-rebuild-resistance mode. [Athletic]
• “Was this Jamie Benn’s last game as a Dallas Star? If so, it ended with Glen Gulutzan giving him a chance to do one last bit of heroism. Instead, Benn ended the night by losing a puck under extreme pressure, with sticks battering his body high and low until he went down to a knee, unable to stay on his feet under the onslaught.” [Stars Thoughts]
• The Wild broke the curse and knocked off the Stars with another great performance from Quinn Hughes, who was on the ice for 10 goals for and one against in the series. [Athletic]
• Mikko Rantanen, the guy who ended Alex Romanov’s season with a dangerous hit from behind but just isn’t that kind of player, was fined for crosschecking Kirill Kaprizov in the face. [TSN]
• Someone has let it be known that the Leafs asked the Lightning for permission to talk to GM Julien BriseBois, and of course were rejected. [Sportsnet]

No matter what happens in the three series on Friday night, the second round begins Saturday with the Hurricanes hosting the Flyers.