Category: NHL

Everything to know about the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to NHL playoff MVP originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Lord Stanley isn’t the only piece of hardware that will be awarded in the Stanley Cup Final.

One player from the Edmonton Oilers or the defending champion Florida Panthers will be honored as the most valuable player in the 2025 NHL playoffs with the Conn Smythe Trophy. And the rare Cup Final rematch could see a repeat award winner.

Oilers star Connor McDavid earned the 2024 Conn Smythe in a losing Cup Final effort, and the three-time Hart Trophy winner enters this year’s NHL championship round with a playoff-high 26 points (6 goals, 20 assists). McDavid’s co-star, Leon Draisaitl, is also a Conn Smythe Trophy contender as he sits second in points with 25 (7 goals, 18 assists).

The one-time champion Panthers, meanwhile, could have their first Conn Smythe Trophy winner in franchise history. Captain Aleksander Barkov (17 points), forward Matthew Tkachuk (16) and center Sam Bennett (16) lead 10 Florida skaters with at least 10 points entering the Cup Final. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is putting together a strong Conn Smythe Trophy resume as well, as he sports a 2.11 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.

So, how is the Conn Smythe Trophy winner determined? And has there ever been a back-to-back winner? Here’s everything to know about the NHL playoff MVP award:

What is the Conn Smythe Trophy and when was it first awarded?

The Conn Smythe Trophy is a postseason award given to the most valuable player in the playoffs. It debuted in the 1965 postseason.

Historically, most Conn Smythe Trophy winners have come from the team that also won the Stanley Cup. Though, there have been a handful of instances where a player who lost in the Cup Final was awarded the trophy.

The award is named after former Toronto Maple Leafs owner, president, general manager and coach Conn Smythe. It was under Smythe’s ownership that the Leafs changed their name from the St. Pats and that the Maple Leaf Gardens arena was constructed. A mini replica of the venue and a Maple Leaf are among the trophy’s features.

How is the Conn Smythe Trophy winner determined?

The Conn Smythe Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Seventeen PHWA members were included in the 2024 vote.

When is the Conn Smythe Trophy winner announced?

The winner is both selected and announced following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final.

Who won the first Conn Smythe Trophy?

Hall of Fame center Jean Béliveau won the inaugural Conn Smythe Trophy in 1965. Béliveau tallied eight goals, including four game-winners, and eight assists over 13 games as the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.

Who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2024?

Connor McDavid was a near-unanimous Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2024 despite Edmonton falling to Florida in the Cup Final. McDavid earned 16 of 17 first-place votes after racking up the most assists (34) and points (42) in the postseason. He was also the leading scorer in the Cup Final with 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists).

McDavid is one of only a handful of players to ever take home the Conn Smythe Trophy without also winning the Stanley Cup.

Who has won the most Conn Smythe Trophies?

Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy owns the most Conn Smythe Trophies with three. Roy won two with the Canadiens (1986, 1993) and one with the Colorado Avalanche (2001).

There are five other multi-time Conn Smythe Trophy winners: defenseman Bobby Orr (1970, 1972), goalie Bernie Parent (1974, 1975), center Wayne Gretzky (1985, 1988), center Mario Lemieux (1991, 1992) and center Sidney Crosby (2016, 2017).

Have there been a back-to-back Conn Smythe Trophy winner?

Parent, Lemieux and Crosby were all back-to-back winners, and McDavid has a chance to do the same this year.

How many Conn Smythe Trophy winners have come from the losing team?

There have been six instances where the Conn Smythe Trophy recipient was on the team that lost in the Cup Final.

Who are the Conn Smythe Trophy winners from losing teams?

Four of the six Conn Smythe winners from non-champions were goalies:

• 2024: Connor McDavid, center, Edmonton Oilers
• 2003: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, goalie, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
• 1987: Ron Hextall, goalie, Philadelphia Flyers
• 1976: Reggie Leach, winger, Philadelphia Flyers
• 1968: Glenn Hall, goalie, St. Louis Blues
• 1966: Roger Crozier, goalie, Detroit Red Wings

How many goalies have won the Conn Smythe Trophy?

The Conn Smythe Trophy has gone to a goalie 17 total times,with Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning being the position’s most recent winner in 2021.

List of Conn Smythe Trophy winners by year

Here’s a full look at every Conn Smythe Trophy winner:

• 2024: Connor McDavid, center, Edmonton Oilers*
• 2023: Jonathan Marchessault, center, Vegas Golden Knights
• 2022: Cale Makar, defenseman, Colorado Avalanche
• 2021: Andrei Vasilevskiy, goalie, Tampa Bay Lightning
• 2020: Victor Hedman, defenseman, Tampa Bay Lightning
• 2019: Ryan O’Reilly, center, St. Louis Blues
• 2018: Alex Ovechkin, winger, Washington Capitals
• 2017: Sidney Crosby, center, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2016: Sidney Crosby, center, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2015: Duncan Keith, defenseman, Chicago Blackhawks
• 2014: Justin Williams, winger, Los Angeles Kings
• 2013: Patrick Kane, winger, Chicago Blackhawks
• 2012: Jonathan Quick, goalie, Los Angeles Kings
• 2011: Tim Thomas, goalie, Boston Bruins
• 2010: Jonathan Toews, center, Chicago Blackhawks
• 2009: Evgeni Malkin, center, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2008: Henrik Zetterberg, center, Detroit Red Wings
• 2007: Scott Niedermayer, defenseman, Anaheim Ducks
• 2006: Cam Ward, goalie, Carolina Hurricanes
• 2004: Brad Richards, center, Tampa Bay Lightning
• 2003: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, goalie, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
• 2002: Nicklas Lidstrom, defenseman, Detroit Red Wings
• 2001: Patrick Roy, goalie, Colorado Avalanche
• 2000: Scott Stevens, defenseman, New Jersey Devils
• 1999: Joe Nieuwendyk, center, Dallas Stars
• 1998: Steve Yzerman, center, Detroit Red Wings
• 1997: Mike Vernon, goalie, Detroit Red Wings
• 1996: Joe Sakic, center, Colorado Avalanche
• 1995: Claude Lemieux, winger, New Jersey Devils
• 1994: Brian Leetch, defenseman, New York Rangers
• 1993: Patrick Roy, goalie, Montreal Canadiens
• 1992: Mario Lemieux, center, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 1991: Mario Lemieux, center, Pittsburgh Penguins
• 1990: Bill Ranford, goalie, Edmonton Oilers
• 1989: Al MacInnis, defenseman, Calgary Flames
• 1988: Wayne Gretzky, center, Edmonton Oilers
• 1987: Ron Hextall, goalie, Philadelphia Flyers
• 1986: Patrick Roy, goalie, Montreal Canadiens
• 1985: Wayne Gretzky, center, Edmonton Oilers
• 1984: Mark Messier, winger/center, Edmonton Oilers
• 1983: Billy Smith, goalie, New York Islanders
• 1982: Mike Bossy, winger, New York Islanders
• 1981: Butch Goring, center, New York Islanders
• 1980: Bryan Trottier, center, New York Islanders
• 1979: Bob Gainey, winger, Montreal Canadiens
• 1978: Larry Robinson, defenseman, Montreal Canadiens
• 1977: Guy Lafleur, winger, Montreal Canadiens
• 1976: Reggie Leach, winger, Philadelphia Flyers
• 1975: Bernie Parent, goalie, Philadelphia Flyers
• 1974: Bernie Parent, goalie, Philadelphia Flyers
• 1973: Yvan Cournoyer, winger, Montreal Canadiens
• 1972: Bobby Orr, defenseman, Boston Bruins
• 1971: Ken Dryden, goalie, Montreal Canadiens
• 1970: Bobby Orr, defenseman, Boston Bruins
• 1969: Serge Savard, defenseman, Montreal Canadiens
• 1968: Glenn Hall, goalie, St. Louis Blues
• 1967: Dave Keon, center, Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1966: Roger Crozier, goalie, Detroit Red Wings
• 1965: Jean Beliveau, center, Montreal Canadiens

Now that the dust has cleared and everyone's had time to calm down, what is the perception of how things ended for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Was that Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers as bad as we initially thought? Or did the fact that the defending Cup champions rolled past the Carolina Hurricanes change anyone's opinion?

In hindsight, maybe the Leafs should not blow things up. Maybe fans should take solace in the fact that the Leafs took a (baby) step forward in the playoffs went further than they have in the past two decades.

Maybe they should re-sign not only Matthew Knies, but also Mitch Marner and John Tavares. Maybe they should roll things back.

That is what Toronto Sun columnist suggested, arguing that the current Leafs might be the third-best team in the NHL. But if it is what GM Brad Treliving is also thinking on the eve of the Stanley Cup final between the Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, then he isn’t the right man for the job.

Which teams, right now, are better than the Toronto Maple Leafs?

You can start with the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers, then move to the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers.

But after that, who? The Carolina Hurricanes? No. The Washington Capitals? No. The Tampa Bay Lightning? No. The New Jersey Devils? No. The Ottawa Senators? No. The Montreal Canadiens? No. You move to the Western Conference and you can’t feel good about how the Dallas Stars played against the Oilers. You can’t feel good about the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets or the ease with which Vegas lost to Edmonton in the second round of the playoffs.

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Who's better than the Leafs?

Florida and Edmonton are. Same goes for Washington, Tampa Bay, Montreal, Vegas, Colorado and even St. Louis.

Why? Because those teams actually went all the way to the final in recent years. And in most cases, they won. That's something that the Leafs haven't done. They haven't even reached the third round.

Yes, the Maple Leafs got closer to winning a Cup than they have in the Auston Matthews-era. But they are still so far, far away when it comes to getting the job done.

After all, there is a difference between getting close to beating an opponent and actually beating that opponent and then winning another two rounds for a championship.

What Could Morgan Rielly's Next Year With The Maple Leafs Look Like?The Toronto Maple Leafs need to look deeply at who’s bringing the team closer to success and who isn’t.

Roll things back? Isn’t that what they’ve done for the past nine years.

This wasn’t the first time that the Leafs lost to a team that reached the Stanley Cup final. In 2019, they lost in the first round to Boston, which then lost to St. Louis in the final. In 2021, they lost in the first round to Montreal, which then lost to Tampa Bay in the final. A year later, they lost in the first round to Tampa Bay, which won in the final. The next year, they lost in the second round to Florida, which then lost in the final to Vegas.

Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

This year, they did it again. After losing to the Panthers, the Leafs then watched as the defending champs beat Carolina in five easy games. So, of course, the thinking is that had Toronto won Game 7 then the Leafs could have been looking at a Stanley Cup final match-up against the Oilers.

Except for one thing: the Leafs didn’t beat the Panthers in Game 7. They lost. And like their previous close calls, they lost big.

Stanley Cup champions don’t get embarrassed at home, as they Leafs did in Games 5 and 7 to the Panthers. Their superstars don’t go MIA when the team needs them the most. They don’t point fingers or make excuses. They don’t blame the media, the fans and their opponents.

They just win.

NHL Rumor Roundup: McDavid's Future With Oilers, And Marner To The Golden Knights?As hockey fans await the start of the Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, some pundits are pondering Connor McDavid's future in Edmonton. 

That’s why the Leafs need to change their DNA, as Treliving put it in last week's season-ending news conference. That means breaking up the core and making the kind of significant change that could in theory cause the Leafs to take a step backwards in order to take a step forward.

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Finnish forward Rasmus Kupari, 25, has signed a two-year contract with HC Lugano, the National League club announced on Tuesday.

“I think Lugano is the ideal place to take the next step in my career,” Kupari is quoted. “I want to be a leader on and off the ice and bring my game to the entire rink, both defensively and offensively. I think my most important skill is skating.”

“Rasmus has played his last five seasons in the NHL and AHL,” said Lugano GM Janick Steinmann. “He’s a first-line forward, a good skater with important attributes in every area of ​​the rink. In North America, he has often been assigned more defensive roles, but with us, he will be able to assert his skills as more of a two-way player. I am convinced that he will adapt very well to the National League and have a strong impact offensively. I am extremely happy to have him with us in Lugano and to be able to observe all his potential.”

Kupari hails from Kotka, Finland, and turned pro with the Kärpät club in Oulu at age 17. He recorded 52 points in 104 Liiga regular-season and playoff games.

Kupari was picked 20th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Despite this, he never played more than 66 NHL games in a season or recorded more than 15 points. Between 2020 and 2025, Kupari played in 217 regular-season games, scoring 14 goals and adding 24 assists for 38 points with 52 penalty minutes for the Kings and Winnipeg Jets. He also played 11 playoff games for Los Angeles, where he was held without a point.

Internationally, Kupari played in three IIHF World Junior Championships, playing a large part in Finland’s gold-medal win in 2019 with five points in seven games and scoring the winning goal in the final, but getting injured in the first game of the 2020 tournament.

Kupari joins a Lugano team that is trying to rebuild its roster after missing the playoffs last season.

Photo © Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Lugano Dismisses Coach Krupp And Several Noteworthy Players Just days after the team saved its position in Switzerland’s National League by defeating HC Ajoie in a playout series, HC Lugano parted ways with head coach Uwe Krupp and several notable players, including goaltender Adam Húska, defenseman Valtteri Pulli, and forwards Mark Arcobello, Daniel Carr, Radim Zohorna and Aleksi Peltonen.

Bakersfield Condors forward Drake Caggiula has signed a one-year deal in Switzerland with Lausanne HC, it was announced Monday. 

Hailing from Pickering, Ont., Caggiula split time this season between the Condors and the Edmonton Oilers. Over seven NHL games, Caggiula collected an assist while putting up 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points in 62 regular season games with Bakersfield. 

Having signed with Edmonton as an undrafted free agent, Caggiula has played in 289 career NHL regular season games with the Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In that time, he scored 46 goals and added 46 assists for 92 points. 

With Caggiula heading overseas for the first time in his career, he will factor heavily into Lausanne's plans and be an important player for them. While he has struggled to hold down a consistent NHL role over the past few years, Caggiula has proven his value before and could get another look next summer if he is looking to return to the NHL. 

Canadian forward Drake Caggiula, who turns 31 on June 20, has signed a one-year contract with Lausanne HC, the National League club announced on Monday.

“We are very pleased to welcome Drake to Lausanne,” said club sports director John Fust. “He is an experienced player with a solid track record in North America. Beyond his offensive skills and intensity on the ice, he will bring true leadership to the locker room.”

Caggiula, who hails from Pickering, Ont and played four seasons for the University of North Dakota, was never drafted by an NHL team and signed as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers in 2016.

Between 2016 and 2025, Caggiula played 289 NHL regular-season games with the Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, recording 92 points and 141 penalty minutes. He also played 21 playoff games with Edmonton and Chicago, registering six points and 27 penalty minutes.

Last season, he played seven NHL games in his second tour of duty with Edmonton and spent the rest of the season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

Danish Ex-Oiler Signs In Germany Danish forward Patrick Russell, 32, has signed a contract to play with Kölner Haie, the DEL club announced on Friday. Terms of the agreement were not specified.

This is Caggiula’s first tour of duty in Europe. He joins a Lausanne team that has been one of Switzerland’s best the past few years and wants to win a title this year under reigning coach of the year Geoff Ward. Last season the team finished first in the regular season and has lost in the finals each of the past two seasons to the ZSC Lions.

In addition to Caggiula, Lausanne has under contract for 2025-26 goaltenders Connor Hughes and Antoine Keller, as well as Swedish defenseman Erik Brännström, American Austin Czarnik, German Dominik Kahun, and Finns Janne Kuokkanen, and Antti Suomela, Lauri Pajuniemi and Sami Niku.

Photo © Sergei Belski-Imagn Images: Drake Caggiula playing for the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 pre-season.

Erik Brännström Signs Multi-Year Deal In Switzerland Swedish defenseman Erik Brännström, 25, has signed a three-year contract with Lausanne HC, the National League club announced on Monday.

If you want the Philadelphia Flyers to draft the No. 1 center of their future with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, you've already been warned not to get your hopes up.

Wisely, some might say, the Flyers are keeping their options open ahead of the draft later this month. After all, it was only a year ago that the decision to trade down and pass on Zeev Buium to select Jett Luchanko tore through the fanbase like wildfire.

When the Flyers did so, they chose need over value. This was publicly communicated beforehand, as GM Danny Briere suggested they would take a center if a center and a defenseman were tied in rank on their draft boards.

Now, the Flyers are indicating the opposite with four weeks to go before the draft.

“We obviously are aware," Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr said of the talent issue at center, as quoted by Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. "But there’s also a couple other players that it’s going to make it hard. There’s a couple wingers, and even a defenseman, that could be in the mix. You’ve got to be careful not to go by a top line player potentially, just for position. That’s the challenge we’ll face."

Flahr and the Flyers have been earmarked to draft a center with their top draft pick for months now, with top options comprised of the likes of James Hagens, Michael Misa, Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers, Jake O'Brien, Roger McQueen, and Brady Martin.

The fact that Flahr is already willing to look past a glaring need at the position suggests there are multiple centers on that list who are quite low on their draft boards relative to the consensus.

Flyers Trade Rumors: Wild 'Not Dying' to Deal Marco Rossi AwayRecent reports have connected the Philadelphia Flyers to trade discussions with the Minnesota Wild regarding free agent center Marco Rossi, but there is no serious progress made by the Flyers, or any other NHL team, on that front... yet.

McQueen, for example, has struggled with back issues, and teams will be eager to test him out at the NHL combine and get a better feel for his health going forward now that he's been cleared for testing.

On the flanks and on the back end, the Flyers could very well still find some studs. A "couple wingers" likely refers to Swede Victor Eklund, the younger brother of William Eklund, and Canadian Porter Martone, who has drawn some stylistic comparisons to Matvei Michkov.

The mention of a defenseman could just be Flahr being coy about Matthew Schaefer, who is generally considered to be the premier player in this class but could be available if the Flyers trade up with the San Jose Sharks to acquire the No. 2 pick, as some rumors have previously suggested.

Some mock drafts, including one from NHL.com, have connected Barrie Colts defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson to the Flyers at No. 6, but more realistic options at that draft slot include the smooth-skating, 6-foot-3 Jackson Smith or the towering, two-way giant in the 6-foot-6 Radim Mrtka.

After losing three recently drafted defense prospects, including two from the 2023 draft, the Flyers are badly hurting for some young defensemen in their system, even after selecting Spencer Gill and Austin Moline in 2024.

Is that reason enough to potentially pass on the No. 1 center of your future? For the Flyers, it's at least on the table after last year's controversy.

The New Jersey Devils were expected to go much further in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but, like the Montreal Canadiens, they fell at the first hurdle, being eliminated in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes.

While not having their top center, Jack Hughes, can go some way towards explaining what happened there, the organization refused to use that excuse. After his team’s elimination, GM Tom Fitzgerald was clear:

"We've got a lot of decisions to make on certain players, whether we bring guys back, trade players (but) we won't be coming back with the same group (in 2025-26) […] I can tell you that because it wasn't good enough."

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Now the question is, which players are they likely to move? With Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier down the middle, the Devils have two real top-six centers, meaning that former first-round pick and 18th overall selection at the 2020 draft, Dawson Mercer, is used as their third-line center.

Canadiens: Potential First Round Pick - Malcolm Spence
Canadiens Farm Team On The Brink Of Elimination
Canadiens: The Grades Are In – Emil Heineman

The 23-year-old Newfoundlander stands at 6 feet and 180 pounds, making him taller than another possible option we discussed this past weekend (Marco Rossi is only 5 feet 9 inches and 182 pounds), but not significantly bigger. Mercer caught the eye of Habs fans when he played his junior hockey in the QMJHL with the Drummondville Voltigeurs and the Chicoutimi Sageneens.

Since he graduated to the NHL, Mercer hasn’t missed a single game because of injuries, playing 82 games in each of his four seasons. In his rookie year, he scored 42 points, and then increased to 56 points in his sophomore season. However, his production dipped to just 33 points the following season, and he could only muster 36 this year, even though he spent an average of 17:53 on the ice.

With Hughes’ injury, he’s been moved back to center, but looking at his line combinations over the last two seasons, he’s been playing mainly on the wing, which isn’t surprising given his low numbers in the faceoff department. In his four NHL seasons, he’s only won 39.3% of his faceoffs.

Fitzgerald signed him to a three-year contract with a $4M cap hit last Summer, clearly wanting to see more from him before committing long term and putting him on a reasonable cap hit with no clause hindering possible trades.

Mercer’s numbers are not as enticing as Rossi’s, for example, but he has the kind of profile Hughes has dealt for in the past. If you look at Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook’s numbers before the Canadiens acquired them, Mercer is better. When he was hired, the Canadiens’ GM explained that he wouldn’t be a “buy high” kind of guy, and the two aforementioned trades were living proof of that. The question is, though, is the rebuild still in that phase? The one in which you get an asset and hope to help them reach their potential? Or have the Canadiens moved on to the results phase, where they’ll bring their prospects along but won’t go out to get projects elsewhere?

The Canadiens made the playoffs this season, but Hughes and Jeff Gorton were quick to say that it doesn’t change anything in the grand scheme of things, and it won’t speed up the rebuild. If the GM is looking for a player who has already established himself as a second-line center, Mercer is not his man. However, if he’s still looking for “projects,” he might just be…

Photo Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images

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Mark Giordano has been busy since last playing in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 41-year-old, who's yet to announce his retirement from the league, joined TSN for their trade deadline coverage in March. Beyond that, Giordano still appears as a guest on TSN 1050 from time to time.

The Norris Trophy-winning defender, though, will also be working as a defense coach with projected first-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Matthew Schaefer. Speaking with NHL.com senior writer Mike Morreale, the 17-year-old says he'll be skating with Giordano throughout the summer.

"I'm working out with (trainer) Bryan Marshall, and my defense coach is Mark Giordano, so I'm super excited to work with him," Schaefer said. "I'm going to be skating with him a lot."

Shaefer, who played just 17 games with the OHL's Erie Otters this season after having surgery on a broken clavicle with Canada at the World Juniors, will train with Giordano and likely New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech, among others, in Mississauga, Ontario, this summer.

The Toronto, Ontario, native was acquired by his hometown team in March 2022 in hopes of a deep playoff run. However, the Maple Leafs fell 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning that year.

Following that season, Giordano and Toronto agreed to a two-year contract, which paid him $800,000 annually. In his first full year as a Maple Leaf, Giordano played 78 games and scored four goals and 20 assists, his most productive since the 2021 season with the Calgary Flames.

Exploring Buyouts? Why That Would Be A Major Misstep For The Maple Leafs This SummerThe Toronto Maple Leafs could look quite different next season. From star forward Mitch Marner testing free agency to a wealth of vacant spots up front to fill either via trade or free agency, General Manager Brad Treliving has the opportunity to put an additional stamp on the team he took over in 2023. But what he should try to avoid, if possible, is using buyouts.

During that season, he also broke the NHL blocked shots record, which was previously held by Kris Russel (2,044). San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic passed Giordano, who has 2,164 blocks, on March 4.

The veteran defenseman also appeared in all of Toronto's playoff games in 2023, making it to the second round for the first time since 2004. The Maple Leafs eliminated the Lightning in six games before going out to the Florida Panthers in five.

Giordano last appeared in an NHL game with the Maple Leafs on April 17, 2024. For most of that season, the veteran defenseman found himself on the outside looking in, especially when Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin joined the club ahead of the playoffs.

He also dealt with an injury and the loss of his father, Paul, in the back-half of that season.

Maple Leafs Prospect Easton Cowan Dominates Memorial Cup, Validates Return To Junior DecisionToronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is a Memorial Cup champion with the OHL's London Knights.

Giordano wasn't re-signed by Toronto following the 2023-24 season and held out hope that an NHL club would sign him later in the year. The defenseman finished his tenure in Toronto with nine goals and 36 assists in 144 games.

Before arriving in the Maple Leafs organization, Giordano spent one season with the Seattle Kraken. He was plucked out of the expansion draft by Seattle after the Calgary Flames, with whom Giordano spent 15 years of his career, left him unprotected.

An undrafted defenseman, Giordano joined the Flames organization in the summer of 2005. Along with winning the Norris Trophy, Giordano was Calgary's captain for eight seasons, from 2013 to 2021. His Flames tenure ended with 143 goals and 366 assists for 509 points in 949 games.

Report: Maple Leafs And Golden Knights Discussed Trade Around Mitch Marner, Shea Theodore Last SummerToronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner reportedly could've been a Vegas Golden Knight last summer.

Although he's yet to call it a career, Giordano has 577 points (158 goals, 419 assists) in 1,148 games split between the Flames, Kraken, and Maple Leafs over 18 years.

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Two words followed the London Knights throughout the 2024-25 season: unfinished business. 

At first, those two words were whispered behind closed doors in conversations about how the Knights had come up short when they were the favourites to win the 2024 Memorial Cup. 

"We went through the whole process last year and came up short with 20 seconds to go in a hockey game," said Flyers prospect Denver Barkey after the game. "We remembered that all summer and talked about it all year - that's been our motivator,"

Slowly, the drumbeat grew. First, it was announced that most of the team would return to London for the 2024-25 season. Next, the Knights dominated the OHL, losing only 13 games during the regular season to finish at the top of the OHL. 

London stomped their way through the playoffs not losing a single game until the OHL Playoff Finals. After dropping game one of the finals, London won four straight games to take down Oshawa and book their tickets to Rimouski for the 2025 Memorial Cup. 

Steelheads Sign 2025 First-Round PickYesterday, the Brampton Steelheads announced the signing of 2025 OHL Priority Selection first-round pick Keaton Ardagh to an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. 

At that point, the question was asked point blank. Is there unfinished business for this group? A resounding yes was the response. This season would not be complete without a Memorial Cup victory. 

On Sunday night, the London Knights took care of business, defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-1 to secure the Memorial Cup for the third time in franchise history.

Make no mistake, this was a special group of players, the majority of whom came together two seasons ago. They won back-to-back OHL titles and set OHL and franchise records. To cap that off with a Memorial Cup victory must be perfection for a team that seems so close. 

"This is my family, these guys are my brothers," said San Jose Sharks prospect Sam Dickinson. "It feels like it's the perfect ending for this core ... it's how it should have gone out."

This time around, the Knights had to walk the hard road to the Memorial Cup Final after they lost their first encounter with the Tigers 3-1. Medicine Hat went down early in that game before scoring three unanswered goals to seal their place in the final. 

Knights Heading To Memorial Cup Semi-Finals Following Loss To Medicine HatThe London Knights missed out on the opportunity to go straight to the Memorial Cup Finals due to a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday night. 

London made it through the semi-final in dominant fashion beating Moncton 5-2 while outshooting their opponent 37-23. 

In the rematch against Medicine Hat, it was once again the Knights who struck first. Winnipeg Jets prospect Jacob Julien scored halfway through the first to give London the early lead. The score would remain 1-0 heading into the second. 

As they did so often in the OHL Playoffs, the Knights took over in the second period, opening up a four-goal lead within the opening 12 minutes of the period thanks to a goal from Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan and a pair scored by Barkey. 

Former Colt To Take Up Head Coaching Reins In BarrieEarlier today, the Barrie Colts announced that Assistant Coach Dylan Smoskowitz will take over as Head Coach effective immediately. He replaces Marty Williamson, who will stay on with the club as Vice President and GM of Hockey Operations moving forward. 

The Tigers pushed back in the third with star forward Gavin McKenna scoring a goal early in the period to give the team hope. With minutes to go McKenna put another puck into the net before the goal was called back upon review. 

The Knights fought the Tigers off for the rest of the period leading to the final score of 4-1. The win gave Head Coach Dale Hunter his third Memorial Cup trophy, tying him for the most ever won by  single coach. Early in the tournament he took the title of most wins in Memorial Cup history. 

This London team will go down in the history books as one of the best rosters ever iced by an OHL team. Their accomplishments are impressive, and many of these players will make their way into the NHL in the very near future. While this team will never play together again, their names will sit next to each other on the Memorial Cup. 

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If the Philadelphia Flyers are truly looking to swing the big trade this offseason, they need not look further than the Dallas Stars, who might have a former 100-point winger hitting the NHL trade market in short order.

According to reports, stud Stars winger Jason Robertson could be on the move this summer, heading into the last year of his current contract carrying a $7.75 million cap hit.

Jeff Marek, in his recent blog post for Daily Faceoff, knows the Stars want to get tougher. From watching the Western Conference Final, we know that the Stars need defensive depth in the worst way, and the Stars need cap space and assets to make some upgrades.

Marek, who connected Robertson to teams like the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars, isn't the only one talking about Robertson. Vancouver Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal added Monday on "Donnie & Dhali" that he's heard the 25-year-old winger's name has come up in trade talks.

And you know what they say: when there's smoke...

So, here's where the Flyers come in.

The Flyers currently have a shade under $23 million in cap space, and only need to re-sign RFAs Cam York, Noah Cates, and potentially Jakob Pelletier. Fitting in Robertson's cap hit of $7.75 million won't be a challenge at all.

Looking forward to 2026 and beyond, the Flyers will have the retained salaries of Kevin Hayes and Scott Laughton coming off their books, as well as Cam Atkinson's buyout charge. 

Additionally, bad contracts, like Ivan Fedotov's $3.25 million cap hit, will be expiring. Ryan Ellis's contract is one year closer to being up with 2027 quickly coming up on the horizon.

Robertson's next contract is likely to have an AAV north of $10 million, but it's a worthwhile price for a Flyers team in need of stars. What's there not to like about him, aside from the lack of speed?

Robertson is a 6-foot-3, left-shot left winger, a two-time 40-goal-scorer, and a former 109-point player who is coming off back-to-back 80-point seasons.

The Flyers, as currently constructed, just don't have these types of players. Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett are two of the team's top left wingers, and both are right-shot players. Minor roster construction issues like this should be sorted before the Flyers really get down to it coming up out of the rebuild phase.

Flyers Trade Package

We've now established that Robertson would be a unicorn for the Flyers, and the Stars need to offload him and/or other players to keep the team together.

At the time of this writing, the Stars have just $4.95 million in cap space and need to re-sign *checks notes* Mikael Granlund, Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Evgenii Dadonov, Colin Blackwell, Mavrik Bourque, Brendan Smith, Cody Ceci, and Nils Lundkvist.

Philadelphia Flyers Officially Lose Signing Rights to 3 Recently Drafted Defense ProspectsWith no new signings or contracts announced on Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers have officially lost the signing rights to three recently drafted defense prospects, including two of Matvei Michkov's draft classmates.

Next year, the Stars will also need to re-sign Robertson, Thomas Harley, and Mason Marchment. It would be a dream, but there is no way around it: Dallas has to make some moves.

The Flyers have plenty of players and assets they can offer the Stars in return for Robertson to allow Dallas to then use elsewhere.

We can safely assume that both of the Flyers' late first-round picks in the 2025 draft are in play, and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (triceps) would represent a massive upgrade on the right side of that Dallas defense.

Perhaps the Stars can stash Ristolainen on LTIR and work on other things in the meantime.

Replacing Robertson is the greater challenge, though it would make sense for the Flyers to offer up a player like Tippett in a potential deal. Tippett still has untapped potential at 26 years old and has scored no fewer than 20 goals in each of the last three seasons.

Tippett is much faster than Robertson and, while not nearly as productive overall, can allow the Stars to do some different things with their personnel. He's also locked in at a $6.25 million cap hit through 2032, whereas Robertson is going to be commanding a significant pay raise from his $7.75 million cap hit by season's end.

And, from Philadelphia's perspective, Tippett's 10-team no-trade list kicks in on July 1, 2026, so if they're on the fence about his place in the team's future, time is ticking on finding an amicable solution to that potential roadblock.

Other Flyers players who might be of interest to the Stars in a Robertson trade include York, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster.

That's a steep price to pay, to be sure, but to get, you have to give. The impact a 100-point player like Robertson would have on the Flyers is undeniable, especially with Philadelphia still having the No. 6 pick in the 2025 draft and a future star in Matvei Michkov who's only going to get better.

With the situation around Marco Rossi now less clear than it was a few days ago, this is another way the Flyers can infuse the roster with star power.

The NHL will hold the first – and possibly only – decentralized draft at the end of June, which is similar in structure to the annual NFL Drafts where each team’s management remains in their respective towns and calls in their picks to a central location, which this year will be in Los Angeles, CA. For this occasion, the Buffalo Sabres will be using the draft room facilities of their NFL counterpart, the Buffalo Bills, for the Draft on June 27th and 28th at Highmark Stadium. 

“The synergies between the Sabres and Bills are genuine and we are well positioned for the new NHL draft process by utilizing the space and experience at One Bills Drive for our Sabres draft this season,” Sabres and Bills Chief Operating Officer Pete Guelli said in a press release. “There’s a strong relationship between both staffs which has made the process seamless and we are grateful to be able to take advantage of an environment that’s been tested and proven on a large scale. Utilizing the Bills' draft room will also allow us to see what works best and what we can implement to enhance our capabilities even more for future drafts.”

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The Sabres are expected to have all of their managerial and scouting staff in Orchard Park, including general manager Kevyn Adams, newly hired senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen, the Sabres and Rochester Americans coaching staffs, and members of the analytics, scouting, and development departments. 

It is very possible that this decentralized draft may be a one shot deal. There are indicators that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is not a fan of the new setup based on statements made to the media, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this year that the league may return to a centralized draft as part of a setup similar to Majorr League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, with the NHL Awards, the Draft and the beginning of free agency will all be held in the same location. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

It appears that Mike Sullivan - who departed as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Apr. 28 and subsequently joined the New York Rangers as their new bench boss - isn't the only former Penguins' coach to land a new gig for the 2025-26 season.

On Monday, longtime Penguins' assistant coach Mike Vellucci joined the Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant coach, officially ending his tenure with Pittsburgh.

Vellucci initially joined the Penguins' organization as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins - Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate - prior to the 2019-20 season. He was then brought on as an assistant for the NHL club the following season, and he remained in that post from 2020-25. 

A former player who appeared in two NHL games with the Hartford Whalers, Vellucci began coaching - with a general management stint sandwiched in the middle - in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Plymouth Whalers from 2001-14.

He then joined the Carolina Hurricanes as assistant general manager and director of player development for the next three seasons before coaching the Charlotte Checkers - then Carolina's AHL affiliate but now affiliated with the Florida Panthers - from 2017-19. 

He won a Calder Cup with the Checkers in 2019 before joining the Penguins' organization the following season. As an assistant with Pittsburgh, Vellucci was responsible for coaching the penalty killing and forward units.

He will occupy that same role with the Blackhawks. 

Insider Provides New Updates On Penguins' Coaching SearchThe Pittsburgh Penguins are still searching for their new head coach after moving from longtime bench boss Mike Sullivan following the completion of the 2024-25 season. 

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NHL clubs had until 5 pm on Sunday to sign prospects drafted from the OHL, WHL, or QMJHL at the 2023 NHL Draft or players selected from European leagues (other than the KHL) in 2021 or they would lose their exclusive rights to them. The Buffalo Sabres had three players that met that criteria and failed to sign forwards Ethan Miedema, Viljami Marjala, and William Von Barnekow.  

Miedema was selected 109th overall at the NHL Draft in Nashville. The 20-year-old scored 41 points in 2024 with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenac, and this season averaged nearly a point per game (23 goals, 34 assists in 66 games). The 6’4”, 212 lb. winger might have a chance at getting redrafted, since the league is shifting towards bigger players if they can keep up with the pace of the NHL. 

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Marjala was selected in the fifth round in 2021 after playing for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. After another season in Quebec, he returned to his native Finland and scored 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 60 games in 2023-24 for TPS Turku. The 22-year-old had another good offensive year in Liiga and tied for his club’s scoring lead with 52 points (8 goals, 44 assists) in 54 games, but there was clearly not a great deal of interest from the Sabres or from Marjala in him coming to North America. 

Von Barnekow came out of the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks junior system and averaged over a point per game in his draft year and the following year at the junior level, but the 6’3”, 190 lb. center has not generated any significant offensive production in three SHL seasons (14 goals, 14 assists in 137 games).

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo