Aydar Suniev is starting to make an impression with the Calgary Flames during his latest call-up from the AHL Wranglers.
The 21-year-old has played five games since being recalled, recording his first NHL point - an assist - on April 12 against the Utah Mammoth. In his most recent outing versus the Colorado Avalanche, Suniev registered four shots on goal and generated multiple quality chances.
He’s been noticeable in limited action. Suniev has shown an ability to get up ice quickly, create opportunities, and hold his own defensively. At 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, he brings size along with a strong shot, giving the Flames another intriguing option up front.
Head coach Ryan Huska has seen progress over the short stint.
“I thought he was dangerous, he had some really good chances for us,” said Huska of Suniev. “He’s a strong man, he’s heavy on the puck. The one thing he does really well is protect the puck and then he gets himself into positions to shoot and his shot is very good.”
Suniev spent most of the season with the Wranglers, where the Flames’ 2023 third-round pick (80th overall) from Kazan, Russia posted 15 goals and 23 points in 55 games in his first professional season.
The foundation is there. For Suniev, it’s now about turning those tools into consistent production at the NHL level, but his early showing has been a positive step.
While there will be plenty of work for Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman in the days and weeks ahead now that his club is in the offseason, he's taken care of one matter of internal business.
The club has announced that forward John Leonard, who was signed to a one-year contract last offseason and spent the majority of the campaign with the Grand Rapids Griffins, has been extended with another one-year contract.
Before signing with the Red Wings this past offseason, Leonard already had over 70 games of NHL experience with the San Jose Sharks, Arizona Coyotes, and Nashville Predators under his belt.
He agreed to a one-year, $775,000 contract with the club after playing last season under contract with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers.
He made his Red Wings debut in December after having led all American Hockey League scorers with 19 goals in 20 games played.
Ultimately, he appeared in 11 games with the Red Wings this season, scoring twice while adding a pair of assists. He was also the leading scorer for Grand Rapids, tallying 32 goals with 21 assists in 46 games played.
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SUNRISE, FLORIDA - JUNE 24: Sunny Mehta and Bryan McCabe of the Florida Panthers celebrate their Stanley Cup victory in Game Seven of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 24, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This hire certainly happened a lot quicker than I was expecting. However, with the New Jersey Devils needing to make tough decisions around the front office and behind the bench this offseason, I think it needed to happen quickly. Had Mehta been hired two weeks from now, the coaching market might look different than it does now, or it at least would have taken him longer to make evaluations of the remaining staff. The sooner Mehta can get to work, solidify his staff, and prepare for the NHL Draft and contract negotiations, the better.
The Devils have hired former professional poker player Sunny Mehta to head their new analytics department. YES! [Fire and Ice]
Needless to say, this has been a long time coming. And some of his work while working with the Devils then was pretty impressive! Jared wrote yesterday,
While with the Devils in 2016, Mehta’s model had Jesper Bratt ranked as the #3 player in that year’s draft class. Fast forward a decade later and only four players from that class have had more points in the NHL than Bratt….#1 overall pick Auston Matthews, former lottery picks Matthew Tkachuk and Clayton Keller, and second rounder Alex DeBrincat.
Bratt went 162nd overall in the draft that season.
With the Devils in serious need of not just people who are capable of identifying hidden talent, but people in decision-making roles who seek out the bold move, this puts me at ease for the upcoming Draft. While Mehta has not worked with the New Jersey scouting department up to this point, that might not be a terrible thing. He has been working as an Assistant General Manager for the Florida Panthers, and I am sure he has kept tabs on the 2026 Draft Class in his own right. He will take his analytical mindset to the Draft, and his decisions on the roster will be driven much more by established and significant data than vibes and feelings of what a real hockey team looks like.
In his 6 seaons w/ the Florida Panthers, Mehta worked closely with coaching staffs & scouts on trade deadlines, free-agent evaluations & amateur scouting. He's regarded as one of the NHL's early and most influential analytics executives https://t.co/ddaLPnSbtX
But do not be fooled into thinking that Sunny Mehta has his eyes glued to an Excel sheet and does not know anything about the game of hockey being played on the ice. He is not just a poker player turned hockey executive. He is a New Jersey native. He is a Devils fan. He was there when the Devils were not just good, but a dynasty. He knows what good hockey looks like.
#NJDevils GM Sunny Mehta: "This is a dream come true for a New Jersey kid."
You might still be wondering: surely, the Devils will hire a more traditional President of Hockey Operations, right? Well, according to Ryan Novozinsky (who is leaving the Devils beat), Sunny Mehta has the “decision-making power in hockey ops,” meaning they will not hire anyone with him to guide him in his role.
Sunny Mehta is the one hire, I'm told. So no two-person structure up top for the #NJDevils.
Perhaps this was a request by Mehta in negotiations, who might not want to be in the shadow of a former player or NHL legend, such as Brenden Shanahan, who was linked to the Devils in rumors for that role. Perhaps the Devils valued the fact that Mehta has already been an Assistant General Manager for a few years, and that he has been in front offices for 12. Or, maybe, the two-headed operation rumor was just a rumor, and the Devils had no intention of doing something like that after Tom Fitzgerald was fired. I could have seen them keeping him around in a President, but I think the idea loses most of its utility when expanding the field of candidates. Having a GM who is comfortably implementing their vision was always the most important aspect of this search, and someone else in the President role could complicate that. So, I am rather unbothered by this particular development.
Mehta is scheduled to be introduced at Prudential Center on Tuesday at 3 p.m. I assume it would have been Monday, but Bruce Springsteen is scheduled that evening at The Rock so it'll be a tad busy in Newark.
When Sunny is introduced to Devils fans next week, I hope that he lays out a vision for the team. He already mentioned in his first statement that he believes the Devils have a good, young core. Knowing that he built his career in hockey through analytics, I highly doubt that he is going to be someone who wants to move Nico Hischier for an older, likely declining player or a winger. The Devils still have one of the best top six center duos in the league, and Sunny does not read to me like a guy who would give that up for a mere identity change. Rather, he seems like someone who is going to look for players to match Nico Hischier’s and Jack Hughes’s skills. (Never mind that Nico takes a million faceoffs and takes a ton of contact in those dots, and that he is one of the most prolific board battle winners in the league, for those advocating for a Tkachuk trade.) Additionally, I would expect the answers on the blueline and in net to be largely driven by analytic profiles.
Still, Mehta was a fan of the 1990s and 2000s Devils and has helped build the present-day Florida Panthers roster. I would expect him to keep the roster plenty capable of handling themselves in the physical game. The way I see Sunny, given his time in Florida, is someone who can find the players who can handle the NHL game while having solid analytic profiles. There is a balance to skill, athleticism, and physicality that is needed for players to reach their full potential in the league, and Mehta seems to understand that.
Too often, the Devils teams of the last three years have seemed imbalanced. Jack Hughes only just recently started playing on a line, with Jesper Bratt and Connor Brown, where both wingers can keep up with his speed and decision making. Too often, one of his wings just has not fit on the line well. Ondrej Palat’s struggles were well-documented. Fitzgerald gave a good shot with Tyler Toffoli, but his much-slower pace made that line a bit suboptimal (and looking back, to this point, Toffoli probably should have played with Hischier, who does not always want to go at a breakneck pace). Erik Haula slowed down too much to play a top six wing role. And Timo Meier has not been a fit there, either.
The problems have only been worse in the bottom six, except this season when Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass got hot down the stretch. The third and fourth lines of the last few years have generally lacked identities, often reduced to just trying to play survival hockey, which came to a head this season when Paul Cotter and Luke Glendening had some of the worst defensive results in the league among fourth lines. I would expect to see lines that look like they are playing on the same team as 13 and 86. I would expect to see wingers who are defensively responsible enough to allow players like Luke Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Simon Nemec to play aggressively in the offensive zone. If you feel like 2022-23 was the last time the Devils had a bottom six with an identity, I think you might be relieved soon. I might not think Mehta will build a roster as focused on grit as someone like Jamie Langenbrunner, but the days of bottom six floaters who play to pray that they can block shots at a standstill in the defensive zone should be well-behind us.
With that, I look forward to Tuesday’s conference.
With the Philadelphia Flyers gearing up for their first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, they have announced a series of roster moves.
The Flyers have announced that they have assigned Jacob Gaucher, Anthony Richard, Oliver Bonk, David Jiricek, Hunter McDonald, and Aleksei Kolosov to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Gaucher played in four games this season with the Flyers, where he had zero points and a minus-1 rating. In 67 games with Lehigh Valley this season, he has 20 goals and 36 points.
Richard was held off the scoresheet in his lone appearance for the Flyers this season. In 64 games this campaign with the Phantoms, he has 18 goals and 44 points.
Bonk made his NHL debut for the Flyers against the Montreal Canadiens on April 14, where he had one goal and one assist. In 45 games this season with Lehigh Valley, he has six goals and 19 points.
Jiricek made his Flyers debut against the Habs, where he had two penalty minutes and an even plus/minus rating. In 14 games with Lehigh Valley since being traded to Philadelphia by the Minnesota Wild, he has two goals and 13 points.
Like Bonk, McDonald made his NHL debut for the Flyers against the Canadiens. He recorded his first career NHL assist in the contest and had four penalty minutes. In 63 games this season with the Phantoms, he has six assists and 90 penalty minutes.
As for Kolosov, he had a 0-2-0 record, a 4.00 goals-against average, and an .830 save percentage in four games for the Flyers this season. He has a 15-21-4 record, an .895 save percentage, and a 2.98 goals-against average in 38 games this season with Lehigh Valley.
The Pittsburgh Penguins held their first pre-playoff practice on Thursday, and it came with some good news.
Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar were full participants during practice and took contact. Lizotte's been out for the last month with a hand injury, while Dewar has been out for the last four games with a lower-body injury.
Assuming both players get through Friday's practice with no problems, they should be in the lineup for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Dewar and Lizotte were back in their usual places on the fourth line with Noel Acciari. Here's what the full lines looked like:
Forwards
Chinakhov-Crosby-Rust
Novak-Rakell-Malkin
Soderblom-Kindel-Mantha
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Girard-Letang
Shea-Clifton
- Both Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs got a lot of work during practice, but it'd be a surprise if Skinner wasn't the Game 1 starter. He has played in many massive playoff games for the Edmonton Oilers over the last two years and has been better than Silovs down the stretch of this season.
- Lizotte spoke for the first time since suffering his hand injury back in March and is excited for the Penguins to open the playoffs against the Flyers.
"I think it's great," Lizotte said about playing the Flyers. "They've been playing great hockey for them to get in (the playoffs) their last month of the season, so it's going to be a tough matchup. They've got a good team, and I think everyone kinda wanted the Battle of PA, and I think all the players included. I think both teams are really looking forward to this one."
His return will really help the penalty kill, which has dipped a little bit over the last month. It's still one of the best penalty kills in the NHL, but it's not fully the same without Lizotte on it. He's so good at winning puck battles along the boards, blocking shots, and getting clears.
- Speaking of the penalty kill, it got some work against the Penguins' power play during practice. Both units will have to be on their game if the Penguins want to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- The vibes were great for Thursday's practice, which ran for a little over an hour. Everyone was having fun on the ice and looked ready for Game 1 on Saturday.
The team will practice again on Friday before Saturday's game starts at 8 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh and ESPN.
According to PuckPedia, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed defenseman Matt Dumba on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.
With this move, Dumba is not required to report to the AHL playoffs with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In addition, with Pittsburgh's regular season over, he will not be losing any money with this contract termination.
Dumba played in 11 games this season with Pittsburgh, where he had one goal, three points, 16 hits, and a minus-5 rating. In 27 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after clearing waivers, the right-shot defenseman had six goals, 14 assists, 20 points, and a plus-3 rating.
The Penguins acquired Dumba from the Dallas Stars with a 2028 second-round pick in exchange for defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok.
As Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin debates whether to retire or return for a 22nd NHL season, he has two big supporters for the second option.
"My kids are already asking me, 'Dad are you staying or not?'" he told reporters at his end of season media session. "I tell them, "We'll see.
"They're excited. They want me to come back because they love the city, they love the team, they love the boys."
The NHL's all-time leading scorer said on Thursday, April 16, that he hopes that the season-ending win in Columbus won't be his last game.
But he said he will have to talk to the team and to family before making a decision. He didn't give a timeline.
"If I'm going to come back, it would have to be a decision, first of all, are we going to make the playoffs and are we going to fight for a Cup?" he said.
The Capitals missed the playoffs by four points, just the fifth time Ovechkin hasn't been in the postseason. He thought he and his line were inconsistent at times and noted that the game has become a lot faster.
Still, at age 40, he played all 82 games and scored 32 goals, giving him an NHL-record 929. He's excited about the team's youngsters, particularly Ryan Leonard and late-season signee Cole Hutson.
Asked specifically what he'd like to hear when he meets with general manager Chris Patrick to discuss the team, he joked, "We want you for two more years. This is the contract. Sign it."
Asked if the free agent would consider signing with another NHL team, Ovechkin said, "Probably not. No."
Carolina to face Ottawa in first round of 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Game 1 of the Carolina Hurricanes first round series against the Ottawa Senators is set to take place in less than 48 hours, but so far, it looks like the Canes aren't quite yet decided on who'll start in net.
At least, that's what Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour told the media at Thurday's practice.
"We'll get to that when we have to," Brind'Amour said. "We have another practice and then we'll figure everything out after that. They both played really well in the last stretch there. Gave us exactly what we wanted and so we have a decision to make."
It should be noted though that Frederik Andersen had a crease to himself on Thursday — the prototypical starter's net — and if I were to make a bet, I'd say he has the best odds of starting Saturday.
Despite weak regular season numbers, the veteran netminder is an experienced goaltender who's proven that he can deliver in the postseason.
The Danish goalie is heading into his 10th year of playoff hockey and over the course of his career, he's been pretty reliable, with a career postseason record of 46-35 along with a 0.914 save percentage, 2.40 goals against average and five shutouts.
Andersen also looked much more like himself in the final weeks of the regular season, a promising sign.
"I like where my game's at," Andersen said on Thursday. "I've just been trying to build every day and continue to work on good habits. I know what it feels like when I'm playing well, so I'm just continuing to stretch for that every day."
And even if Andersen starts Game 1, there's no guarantee that he's the guy all the way.
"There's a likelihood that you'll see both, probably," Brind'Amour said.
Rookie netminder Brandon Bussi has had quite the year in Carolina, putting together the best numbers out of any Hurricanes goalie.
Bussi started the most games for the Canes this year, posting an outstanding 31-6-2 record.
However, he had just a 0.894 save percentage, a number that started to really slip post Olympic break.
Heading into the Olympics, Bussi had a 0.906 save percentage and looked to be the guy for Carolina. However, he struggled out of the break, posting just a 0.864 save percentage in that span.
But as Brind'Amour pointed out, Bussi had a good close to the year, stopping 50 out of the 53 shots he faced in back-to-back games, and overall, he probably has the higher ceiling between the two goaltenders at this point.
"I feel good," Bussi said. "I think over the course of the year, I've learned a lot. I've also learned that there's a lot about my game that I like. When I do those things right, I have success."
And even though he hasn't ever experienced NHL playoff hockey, he isn't a stranger to high-stakes games.
"I'm just really excited," Bussi said. "Obviously it's a little new, first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but I've been in the American Hockey League playoffs, junior hockey playoffs, college, the one-and-done environments, so I'm not gonna say I'm used to it, it's going to be a little different, but I feel pretty prepared for situations like this."
Many fans have also been curious about the possibility of even seeing Pyotr Kochetkov in net, but it doesn't sound like the team is really considering him at this point.
The Russian netminder hasn't seen NHL action since Dec. 20 and has only seen 60 minutes of total game action of any kind following his surgeries thanks to a short conditioning stint down in the AHL earlier this month.
"We were hoping to get him in for that last game, but we had that little mishap there and weren't able to see where he's at," Brind'Amour said. "He's certainly healthy, but I wouldn't call him an option yet. But it looks like he could if we had to. You never know if you're gonna need that, but it's nice to know that if you get into a jam and guys do get hurt, we have some options."
So it's going to be between Andersen and Bussi and we probably aren't going to get any confirmation on that until Saturday.
"You'll get one of those two guys, I'll guarantee that," Brind'Amour said with a smirk.
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It wasn’t too long ago when Mark Messier, along with popular actor Danny DeVito, Isaac Chera of Crown Acquisitions, and more, unveiled the GAME 7 apparel collection to the NHL world. GAME 7 is a multi-platform sports and entertainment brand that, along with the NHL, works with the NBA for officially licensed apparel.
GAME 7 was also a five-part docuseries on Amazon Prime that received Emmy nominations and was directed by Connor Schell. They got the initial opportunity to work with the NHL and New York Rangers during their Centennial year and help design the patch they would wear on their jerseys.
After initially expanding with NBA apparel, it partnered with the NHL in December for an officially licensed NHL collection of nine NHL teams, those being the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and the Florida Panthers.
Now, alongside a partnership withCentric Brands, they are introducing new apparel to six additional teams: the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche.
Here are some of the new pieces of merchandise they are offering for the Avalanche:
With the heightened energy of the Stanley Cup playoffs right around the corner, there is no better time for them to release a new line for some teams that are looking to make a deep run this season. We could very much see a second round that includes the Avalanche versus the Stars, with the winner facing the Oilers in the Conference finals and potentially the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The NHL itself is covered in fashion, and we see it every day when players enter the arena before warm-ups. With the league dropping the formal dress code, players can express themselves more and wear what they see as “fashionable”. From the standard suit-and-tie style we see many adopt, we also see more outgoing styles worn by David Pastrnak, William “Willy Styles” Nylander, and Patrick Laine.
The NHL has finally announced the start times for Game 1 of the eight first-round series.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators will open up the postseason with a 3 p.m. showdown Saturday at Lenovo Center and streamed on both FanDuel Sports Network and ESPN.
Parking lots and team store will open at noon that day and there will also be a pregame plaza party beginning at 12:30 p.m.
The arena will open its doors at 1:30 p.m., with warmups set to take place at 2:30 p.m.
The Dallas Stars/Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers will follow up that game on Saturday, with puck drops scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The Montreal Canadiens/Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins/Buffalo Sabres, Utah Mammoth/Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche series will all then kick off on Sunday at still to be determined times.
Finally, the Pacific #2/#3 series (which has yet to be decided) will start on Monday.
No other game information has been released yet, but the NHL will apparently announce the full first-round schedule after the regular season officially concludes tonight.
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At just 19 years old, Macklin Celebrini just cemented one of the greatest individual seasons in Sharks history.
By earning his 115th point of the 2025-26 NHL season in the Sharks’ regular-season finale on Thursday night, Celebrini overtook Joe Thornton’s franchise record from 2006-07 for points in a single campaign.
The teenage phenom — who ironically lives with Thornton — scored a goal early in the third period for his third point of San Jose’s game against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.
The goal is Celebrini’s 45th of his remarkable second NHL season and gave the Sharks a commanding 6-1 lead in the regular-season finale.
Celebrini entered Thursday’s game needing three points to break Thornton’s record, and he recorded a pair of assists in the first period to match the mark.
With 45 goals and 70 assists, Celebrini has twice as many points as the Sharks’ second-highest scorer this season; Will Smith is next with 59 points after a goal and assist in Thursday’s game.
Celebrini is one of just three Sharks in franchise history and six teenagers in NHL history to cross the 100-point threshold. But he now has entered even more rarified air — trailing only Wayne Gretzky (137) and Sidney Crosby (120) for points in an age-19 season or earlier.
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft accrued an impressive 63 points in 70 games as an 18-year-old rookie last year. Still, Celebrini has catapulted himself into superstar territory with his superb second season.
Though San Jose narrowly missed out on the Stanley Cup playoffs, the future appears very bright — or teal, if you will — thanks in large part to Celebrini’s emergence.
The only question that remains is whether Celebrini’s historic campaign is enough to win the Hart Trophy for the NHL’s most valuable player, and it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t this season.
Here's a look at how they got to the playoffs and the upcoming schedule.
Flyers vs. Penguins playoff schedule
While the matchup is set, the NHL has yet to release any scheduled dates for the Flyers-Penguins series. The schedule likely will be released once the regular season concludes on April 16.
When is the Penguins' first playoff game?
The Penguins' playoff schedule hasn't been released yet, but the team is scheduled to play a 2-2-1-1-1 format against their intrastate rivals. They'll start on home ice since the Penguins have home-ice advantage, and Games 2, 5 and 7 will also take place at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh if necessary.
How to watch Penguins vs. Flyers in NHL playoffs
While a TV schedule has yet to be revealed, 2026 NHL playoff games will be broadcast on ESPN, TNT and ABC as well as regional networks like SportsNet Pittsburgh.
Games can be streamed using ESPN+, Hulu and Max or via live TV services like Fubo TV and DirecTV Stream.
When to get Penguins playoffs tickets
Penguins playoff tickets aren't on sale yet through the team's website, but they can be purchased on third-party sites like SeatGeek and StubHub.
Penguins vs. Flyers playoff history
The Penguins and Flyers have a lengthy and notable playoff history.
This will be the eighth meeting between the cross-state rivals, with the last matchup taking place in 2018 when the Penguins defeated the Flyers in six games in the first round.
In 2008, the Pens beat the Flyers in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Red Wings. The following season, they defeated the Flyers in the conference quarterfinals before winning the Stanley Cup.
The Flyers were victorious in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in 2012, 2000 and in 1997, when the team lost to the Red Wings in the Cup Finals.
The first matchup came during the 1989 Patrick Division Finals, which the Flyers won in seven games.
Penguins vs. Flyers stats
The Penguins finished the season 41-24-16, clinching the second spot in the Metropolitan Division, while the Flyers finished third in the division at 42-27-12.
The two teams split the season series 2-2. Here's a look at the previous matchups:
Oct. 28: Flyers 3, Penguins 2 (shootout)
Dec. 1: Penguins 5, Flyers 1
Jan. 15: Penguins 6, Flyers 3
March 7: Flyers 4, Penguins 3 (shootout)
Last time Penguins made the playoffs
The Penguins were on a 16-year streak of being in the running for the Stanley Cup the last time they were in the playoffs in 2022. They were knocked out of the running during the first round in Game 7 against the New York Rangers.
The team won the Stanley Cup two consecutive years in 2016 and 2017, beating the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators, respectively, for their titles.
The last time the Flyers made the playoffs was in the 2019-20 season.
How the Penguins clinched a 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff spot
The Penguins secured a spot in the playoffs during their April 9 game against the New Jersey Devils, with Bryan Rust scoring his 29th goal of the season on Pittsburgh's first shot of the game.
Over the course of the game, which the Penguins won 5-2, Evgeni Malkin scored, Sidney Crosby set up two goals and Kris Letang had an assist.
Penguins highlights from playoff-clinching game
NHL 2026 playoffs
Playoffs are set to begin April 18, and the regular season ends on April 16. The date and times for each matchup have yet to be announced and are expected to come once the standings are set.
The Penguins are led by center Sidney Crosby (74 points – 29 goals, 45 assists) and defenseman Erik Karlsson (66 points – 15 goals, 51 assists). Their points leader among wingers is Bryan Rust (65 points – 29 goals, 36 assists).
Goalie Artus Silovs was 19-12-8 with a 3.07 GAA and .888 save percentage during the regular season, while goalie Stuart Skinner was 12-9-5 with a 2.99 GAA and .885 save percentage.
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Apr 11, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) and goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) celebrate after the Stars defeat the New York Rangers at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Jerome Miron/Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Jake Oettinger wants it this way. Or, at least, the starting goaltender for Dallas is embracing it.
The path through the Central Division to the Western Conference Final for his team and the Minnesota Wild is just about as treacherous as it gets. The Stars and Wild had the third- and seventh-most points in the NHL this season and they will meet in the first round — with the winner potentially facing the league-best Colorado Avalanche in the second.
“If you can get through that and win it all, I think it just makes it that much better,” Oettinger said. “It just makes it more fulfilling.”
Maybe not so much for the team going home early. But the Stanley Cup does not come easy, and even the Pacific Division side of the bracket is no cakewalk with Edmonton, the Stanley Cup runner-up the past two years, in the mix along with the Vegas Golden Knights, who won seven of their final eight games since hiring John Tortorella.
“It’s the most exciting time because everybody’s playing at a different level, and it’s a good test to see how high you can get as a team,” Tortorella told reporters in Las Vegas after the regular season finale. “Everything’s going to be amped up. As each game goes by in the series, it’s going to be harder and harder, and so it’s a great challenge ”
The teams to beat
— The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche are the favorites to win the West, and with good reason. They’ve been the best team since October, have two of the best players in the world in Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, and filled their center void by reacquiring 2022 Cup champion Nazem Kadri at the trade deadline.
Home-ice advantage is a plus, but being the team to beat also comes with pressure. The Avs say bring it on.
“Pressure is a privilege — it’s the old cliche, but it truly is,” forward Logan O’Connor said. “You just have to be dialed in the whole time, and I think that’s the challenge for any team. There can’t be any lapses. You can’t have any passengers. Everyone all in, all the time. I think we obviously have the capability to do that.”
— Vegas won the Pacific after replacing Bruce Cassidy with Tortorella, who is coaching in the NHL playoffs for a 13th time with his fourth team.
— Dallas has made three consecutive trips to the West final. They have all the weapons, certainly if they get standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen back healthy.
“It’s never a straight line to win all these things,” said first-year coach Glen Gulutzan, who was an Edmonton assistant when the Oilers made back-to-back trips to the Cup final. “You keep getting yourself back in the dance and win a round and win two rounds, and then finally you break through. Hopefully that experience is going to allow us to do it.”
— Minnesota had Kirill Kaprizov grabbing headlines for years, and next season he will begin the richest contract in hockey history. Now Matt Boldy is sharing the load on a team that lacks only center depth to keep them from being a solid favorite to reach the West final.
The underdogs
— Calling Connor McDavid and the Oilers underdogs is rich — they took Florida to seven games and then six games in the Cup Final the past two years — but they have played a lot of hockey They are going to need key saves in net along with Leon Draisaitl in good form whenever he returns from his regular season-ending injury.
— The Utah Mammoth are the feel-good story in the West, making the playoffs in the franchise’s second season since moving to Utah from Arizona. They could play like they have nothing to lose because just making it is cause for celebration in Salt Lake City.
— Los Angeles fired coach Jim Hiller and righted the ship under interim replacement D.J. Smith. Acquiring Artemi Panarin in a February trade also makes the Kings dangerous.
— Will we get an LA story? Joel Quenneville and his three Cup rings have gotten Anaheim into the playoffs, and with his experience the young Ducks are not only fun to watch but have the goaltending with Lukas Dostal to potentially pull off an upset or two.
Storylines to watch
— The two-year, $25 million contract extension McDavid signed without a raise essentially put the Oilers on notice that they have two more chances to show they can win the Stanley Cup. It’s entirely possible he puts the cape on and carries them back to the final for a third year in a row.
— Colorado’s window as a Cup favorite remains open, with captain Gabriel Landeskog a year removed from his emotional return back after dealing with a chronic knee injury to assist MacKinnon and Makar. Perhaps they go on another title run like four years ago.
— Can Minnesota win a playoff series for the first time since 2015? The Wild have lost their last eight opening-round series, but for the first time they went an entire season without getting shut out and their offense with Quinn Hughes added on the blue line provides some confidence.
“There’s a lot of pushback with our team,” coach John Hynes said. “We have guys that can score. One of the things we talk about is trying to create offense in multiple ways.”
The playoff pushes for the San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets both came up short, and the two teams will hit the ice with nothing on the line in their season finale at the Canada Life Centre on Thursday, April 16.
My top Sharks vs. Jets predictions and NHL picks expect a low-scoring game tonight.
Sharks vs Jets prediction
Sharks vs Jets best bet: Under 6.5 (-125)
The Winnipeg Jets have played to the Under in 10 of their past 15 home games, with their 7.1 team shooting percentage at five-on-five the second-lowest mark in the league.
So, with San Jose Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic winning four of his past five starts with a respectable .906 save percentage and 3.35 goals saved above average, I’m expecting Winnipeg to continue to have difficulty scoring tonight.
I also expect Winnipeg star Connor Hellebuyck to show up and play well in the season finale given his .919 SV% on home ice the past three years.
Sharks vs Jets same-game parlay
It’s been a career year for Winnipeg star Mark Scheifele, and he enters the season finale scorching hot to the tune of five goals, 15 assists and eight multi-point showings across his past 11 games.
The Sharks have allowed the second-most goals per game (3.73) on the road, too.
Sharks vs Jets SGP
Under 6.5
Mark Scheifele Over 1.5 points
Sharks vs Jets odds
Moneyline: San Jose +135 | Winnipeg -155
Puck Line: San Jose +1.5 (-180) | Winnipeg -1.5 (+155)
Over/Under: Over 6.5 (+105) | Under 6.5 (-125)
Sharks vs Jets trend
The Winnipeg Jets have hit the Under in 10 of their last 15 games at home (+5.85 Units / 35% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Sharks vs. Jets.
How to watch Sharks vs Jets
Location
Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, MB
Date
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Puck drop
8:00 p.m. ET
TV
TSN3
Sharks vs Jets latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Six of the NHL's eight playoff series are set, and the last two will be determined on the final day of the 2025-26 regular season.
The Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, who are playing other opponents, can finish in either the second or third seed in the Pacific Division or the second wild card spot in the West.
The second-place team would host the third place team in the first two games of the first round, while the second wild team would visit the No. 1 overall Colorado Avalanche.
There's a possibility that the Oilers and Kings would face each other for the fifth year in a row in the first round.
Eastern Conference: Carolina, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Boston, Ottawa
Western Conference: Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Vegas, Edmonton, Anaheim, Utah, Los Angeles
Who can clinch an NHL playoff seed today?
Here are some of the permutations for determining the final Pacific Division seedings:
The Edmonton Oilers would clinch second in the Pacific if they beat the Vancouver Canucks or if they get one point and the Ducks and Kings lose. They would finish third if they lose in regulation, the Ducks win and the Kings lose. They would finish in the second wild card if they lose in regulation and the Ducks and Kings win.
The Anaheim Ducks would clinch second place if they beat the Nashville Predators and the Oilers lose in regulation. They would finish third if the Oilers get at least one point and Anaheim gains one more point than the Kings during the night. They would get the second wild card if they lose and the Kings win.
The Kings would clinch second place if they beat the Calgary Flames, the Oilers lose in regulation and the Ducks lose. They would finish third if they win, the Oilers get a point and the Ducks lose. They would stay in the second wild-card spot if they lose in regulation or if they gain the same number of points or fewer points than the Oilers and Ducks during the course of the night.
Today's NHL games
St. Louis at Utah, 7:30, ESPN
Anaheim at Nashville, 8
San Jose at Winnipeg, 8
Los Angeles at Calgary, 9
Vancouver at Edmonton, 9
Seattle at Colorado, 10, ESPN
NHL playoff standings
NHL Eastern Conference standings 2025-26
After April 15 games. x-clinched playoff spot. y-clinched division. z-eliminated.
Out of the playoffs: z-Washington Capitals (95), z-Detroit Red Wings (92), z-Columbus Blue Jackets (92), z-New York Islanders (91), z-New Jersey Devils (87), z-Florida Panthers (84), z-Toronto Maple Leafs (78), z-New York Rangers (77)
NHL Western Conference standings 2025-26
After April 15 games. x-clinched playoff spot. y-clinched division. z-eliminated.
Out of the playoffs:z-Nashville Predators (86), z-St. Louis Blues (84), z-San Jose Sharks (84), z-Winnipeg Jets (82), z-Seattle Kraken (79), z-Calgary Flames (75), z-Chicago Blackhawks (72), z-Vancouver Canucks (58)
NHL playoffs if they started today
NHL Eastern Conference playoff bracket
Here is how the Eastern Conference playoff bracket would look if the season ended on April 15:
Carolina (M1) vs. Ottawa (WC2) This series is set
Pittsburgh (M2) vs. Philadelphia (M3) This series is set
Buffalo (A1) vs. Boston (WC1) This series is set
Tampa Bay (A2) vs. Montreal (A3) This series is set
The winner of the first series would play the winner of the second in the second round. The winner of the third series would play the winner of the fourth. Key: M - Metropolitan Division. A - Atlantic Division. WC - wild card
NHL Western Conference playoff bracket
Here is how the Western Conference playoff bracket would look if the season ended on April 15.
Colorado (C1) vs. Los Angeles (WC2)
Dallas (C2) vs. Minnesota (C3). This series is set
Vegas (P1) vs. Utah (WC1) This series is set
Edmonton (P2) vs. Anaheim (P3)
The winner of the first series would play the winner of the second in the second round. The winner of the third series would play the winner of the fourth. Key: C - Central Division P - Pacific Division. WC - wild card
NHL tiebreakers: What is the first tiebreaker in NHL standings?
If two teams are tied in points at the end of the regular season, here are the tiebreakers:
Regulation wins
Regulation and overtime wins (ROW)
Total wins
Most points earned in head-to-head competition: If teams had an uneven number of meetings, the first game played in the city that has the extra game is excluded. When more than two clubs are tied, the percentage of available points earned in games among each other (and not including any odd games) shall be used to determine standings.
Goal differential
Total goals
In the Pacific Division, the Oilers have the most regulation wins, followed by the Ducks and Kings.
When does the NHL regular season end?
The NHL regular season is scheduled to end on Thursday, April 16, with six games.
