Tempers finally spilled over Tuesday night in what had been a razor-tight battle between the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars—and now the NHL is stepping in to clean up the fallout.
Tensions Finally Spill Over In Overtime
On Wednesday, the league announced that Flames forward Ryan Strome has been fined $5,000—the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement—for a cross-check delivered to Stars forward Jason Robertson in overtime.
The play unfolded just 45 seconds into the extra frame of Dallas’ eventual 4–3 win, a moment that quickly shifted the tone from tense to chaotic. Robertson, one of the Stars’ most dangerous offensive weapons, was forced to leave the game following the hit. Strome, meanwhile, was handed a double-minor for high-sticking on the play.
But the frustration didn’t come out of nowhere.
Earlier in the night, Strome was driven awkwardly into the boards from behind by Dallas defenseman Tyler Myers. The officials initially assessed Myers a five-minute major—a call that suggested serious concern—but after review, it was controversially wiped away entirely. No penalty. No further discipline. That sequence appeared to linger, simmering beneath the surface as the game wore on.
By the time overtime arrived, it felt like something was bound to give—and it did.
Strome, 32, has been a noticeable addition since arriving in Calgary at the trade deadline in March. In just 16 games with the Flames, he’s already produced five goals and six assists, quickly surpassing the nine points he recorded across 33 games earlier this season with the Anaheim Ducks. His impact has been immediate—but so, now, are the consequences.
For Calgary, it’s another frustrating chapter in a season that’s been defined as much by missed opportunities as it has been by moments like this—where emotion boils over and control slips away at the worst possible time.
The end finally came into focus Tuesday night for the Calgary Flames—not with a bang, but with the kind of quiet inevitability that has followed them all season.
A 4–3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars, paired with a dominant 5–0 win by the Nashville Predators over the Anaheim Ducks, officially slammed the door on Calgary’s playoff hopes. They join the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks as the Western Conference teams sent packing early.
On paper, the numbers tell a bleak but unsurprising story: seventh in the Pacific Division, 30th overall, and a 32-36-9 record through 77 games. But this season was never just about the standings—it was about a franchise caught in the middle of something bigger, and frankly, deeper than one bad year.
What Went Wrong for the Flames?
This wasn’t a collapse—it was a continuation.
The Flames entered the year already trending toward a reset. Trade rumors surrounding core pieces like Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri surfaced early, and by midseason, management leaned fully into that direction. Andersson was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights, while Kadri—along with MacKenzie Weegar—was moved at the deadline, with Kadri returning to the Colorado Avalanche and Weegar landing with the Utah Mammoth.
Those moves made sense long-term. In the short term, they stripped down an already thin roster.
But even before the sell-off, the problems were obvious—especially offensively.
Calgary spent much of the year struggling to generate consistent scoring. Early in the season, they were averaging just 2.17 goals per game—worse than even a slumping New York Rangers squad that had its own issues finishing chances. The Flames have since improved marginally to 2.57 goals per game, but that still ranks near the bottom of the league.
Even more telling? Four players are tied for the team lead with just 41 points—and one of them is Kadri, who was traded back to the Avalanche more than a month ago.
And if you zoom out, the roots of this go back even further—to a franchise-altering move that simply hasn’t aged well.
A Blockbuster Trade That Backfired Badly
When the Flames traded Matthew Tkachuk, part of the urgency came from the reality that he didn’t want to stay in Calgary long-term. In return, they acquired Jonathan Huberdeau, who was coming off a monster season—30 goals, 85 assists, 115 points—and looked like a cornerstone piece.
Instead, Calgary is locked in what could arguably be considered the worst contract in the NHL at this point. At the very least, it's a bona fide contender for a top two finish.
Huberdeau signed an eight-year, $84 million extension shortly after arriving—$10.5 million annually in a hard-cap league. Four years in, he hasn’t come close to replicating his Florida production. This season, he managed just 25 points in 50 games (10 goals, 15 assists), a steep drop-off that’s impossible to ignore.
In a league built around cap efficiency, that kind of contract doesn’t just hurt—it echoes through the entire lineup. When that much money is tied up in underperformance, something else inevitably gives.
To put it bluntly: when you’ve got the NHL version of Anthony Rendon eating up cap space, the ripple effects are unavoidable.
This isn’t about one player being solely responsible—but it is about how one contract can quietly limit flexibility, depth, and ultimately competitiveness.
What’s Next
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Flames are positioned to reshape their future—if they get it right.
They currently hold the third-best odds heading into the draft lottery on May 5, with a chance to land a franchise-changing talent. And in a draft class headlined by names like Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, and Keaton Verhoeff, the opportunity is there to find a true centerpiece.
Calgary also owns Vegas’ first-round pick and holds four second-round selections, giving them volume as well as upside. This isn’t just one swing—it’s multiple chances to accelerate a rebuild.
Beyond the draft, the organization will turn its attention to a growing prospect pool. Players like Jonathan Castagna, Samuel Honzek, Zayne Parekh, and Matvei Gridin represent the next wave, and development will be everything.
The timeline also aligns with a bigger organizational milestone: the opening of Scotia Place in 2027–28. The expectation isn’t just to be better by then—it’s to be relevant again.
There’s no sugarcoating a season like this. But for the Flames, this wasn’t about falling short—it was about arriving exactly where the trajectory was always pointing.
Now comes the hard part: turning all of this into something that actually works.
The Colorado Avalanche have already locked up the top seed in the Western Conference, leaving just one box left to check before the postseason begins: securing the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage all the way through the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
They’re within striking distance, too. Just two more points over their final five games would seal it, and their first opportunity comes Thursday night against the Calgary Flames on home ice.
Colorado (51-16-10, 112 points) punched its ticket to the top of the conference with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. It’s been a long time coming—the Avalanche have held the NHL’s best record since Dec. 1—and the only team still within reach is the Carolina Hurricanes, who sit six points back with four games remaining. Colorado also holds the edge in the season series, going 1-0-1.
“We set our goals at the start of the year, and we wanted to be on top,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said after the win in St. Louis. “That's a big step. We know it doesn't mean anything come playoff time, other than we get an extra game at home every series.”
Injury Concerns Surface Despite Win
As dominant as Tuesday’s win looked on paper, it didn’t come without a cost. Nazem Kadri exited after blocking a shot late in the second period, suffering a finger injury that will sideline him for an undisclosed period. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed Wednesday on Altitude Radio that Kadri will miss time, though no timeline has been set.
Kadri, who was dealt from Calgary to Colorado on March 6, still leads the Flames in scoring with 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists). Since joining the Avalanche, he’s chipped in nine points (four goals, five assists) over 16 games.
Colorado has also been without star defenseman Cale Makar, who has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since March 30—ironically suffered against Calgary. The good news: he’s expected to return before the regular season wraps up.
Kadri is no stranger to playing through adversity. During the 2022 Stanley Cup run, he underwent thumb surgery in the second round but still managed to return for the final three games of the Final.
On the other side, Calgary (32-36-9, 73 points) is playing out the string after being officially eliminated from playoff contention following a win by the Nashville Predators on Monday. Still, the Flames didn’t roll over in Dallas on Tuesday, pushing the Dallas Stars to the brink before falling 4-3 in overtime.
Calgary had built a 3-1 lead early in the third period before the Stars stormed back to steal the extra point.
“I liked our game,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “There was a lot of our game where I thought we played hard. We did a good job away from the pucks, thought we had some lengthy shifts in the offensive zone. ... At the end of the night, again, you're taking penalties against a very good power play. That's tough.”
The Flames also took an injury hit of their own, as defenseman Kevin Bahl logged just two shifts before leaving with a lower-body issue. No update was provided postgame.
Thursday’s matchup marks the second meeting in a condensed stretch, with the two teams set to face off three times in just nine games. After not seeing each other at all earlier this season, they’ll wrap up the series Tuesday in Calgary.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jason Zucker scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves, and the Buffalo Sabres rallied to beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Wednesday night.
Zucker slid his 24th goal past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin at 7:14 after teammate Alex Tuch had tied the contest with his 31st at 5:50 of the third.
Zach Benson scored twice and Ryan McLeod added a goal for the Sabres, who will participate in the postseason for the first time since 2010-11.
The Sabres won their 48th game in a dramatic turnaround from last year when they had 79 points and missed the playoffs for a 14th straight season. Buffalo is 22-6-3 in its last 31 games, including a league-best 16 wins and 34 points since the Olympic break.
Alexis Lafreniere scored twice and Adam Fox also scored for the Rangers in their home finale. Shesterkin had 22 saves.
CAPITALS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Logan Thompson made 21 saves to register his third shutout of the season as Washington breathed life into their fading playoff hopes with a victory over the Toronto.
Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary, with a goal and an assist each, Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson scored for Washington, which sits three points back of the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot with three games left on the schedule.
Anthony Stolarz suffered a lower-body injury early in the first period after stopping the second of two shots he faced for Toronto.
Joseph Woll finished with 14 saves in just over 57 minutes of work for the Maple Leafs, who are set to miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
OILERS 5, SHARKS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Connor McDavid scored his 15th career hat trick and finished with five points Wednesday night, leading Edmonton to a victory over San Jose that moved them into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.
McDavid controlled the game almost from the start, scoring on a power play in the first period and then twice in the second to make it 5-2. He also assisted on power-play goals by Vasily Podkolzin and Jack Roslovic to extend his NHL-leading point total to 133. The star center needs three goals in the final three games for his second career 50-goal season.
Connor Ingram made eight saves on 10 shots in two periods for Edmonton. Tristan Jarry stopped all four shots he faced in the third.
The win gave the Oilers 90 points, two more than Vegas in the division race. The Golden Knights have one game in hand.
Macklin Celebrini scored his 42nd goal for San Jose to give him 108 points this season, the third-most for a teenager behind Wayne Gretzky’s 137 and Sidney Crosby’s 120.
TORONTO (AP) — Logan Thompson made 21 saves to register his third shutout of the season as the Washington Capitals breathed life into their fading playoff hopes with a 4-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary, with a goal and an assist each, Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson scored for Washington, which sits three points back of the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot with three games left on the schedule.
Anthony Stolarz suffered a lower-body injury early in the first period after stopping the second of two shots he faced for Toronto.
Joseph Woll finished with 14 saves in just over 57 minutes of work for the Maple Leafs, who are set to miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Alex Ovechkin — Washington’s leader with 31 goals and 61 points — announced Wednesday he won’t make a decision on his playing future until after the season.
Ovechkin has 45 goals and 35 assists for 80 points across 64 regular-season games against Toronto.
Capitals forward Ilya Protas made his NHL debut on a line with older brother Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. The bruising trio — Wilson is the smallest at 6-foot-4, while the siblings each stand 6-foot-6— tips the scales at a combined 700 pounds.
Up next
Capitals: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Maple Leafs: Visit the New York Islanders on Thursday.
The Rangers successfully limited their opponent’s offense, fostered chemistry and closed out games during this lengthy homestand that concluded Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
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When push came to shove against a hungry Buffalo team, however, the Blueshirts reverted to their old ways on home ice.
They didn’t just allow three unanswered goals — including an empty-netter — in the third period to fall 5-3 to the playoff-bound Sabres.
The Rangers were held without a single shot on goal for over 18 of the final 20 minutes.
“I don’t know if we sat back a little too much with the lead, but we had a couple good shifts to start the period, didn’t get anything on net, and they kind of controlled the play there through the middle part,” captain J.T. Miller said. “And then we pushed again at the end. That’s obviously not good enough. I look at it as a bigger sample size over the last little while. We’ve played a lot of good hockey and we know we want to end the season strong. So we’re excited to get back on the road, spent a lot of time at home. I have a lot of faith we’re going to end the season in a good way and feel good.”
Finishing their season at the Garden with a 14-20-7 record, the Rangers capped an otherwise tumultuous campaign on home ice with an encouraging 5-2 stretch.
Scoring goals was no longer the bane of their existence. Stacking wins lightened a beat-up locker room.
It’s breathed a competitive life back into the Rangers that hasn’t been there since the 2024 playoffs.
Alexis Lafrenière scored his first of two goals by redirecting an Adam Fox shot from the point, notching his 23rd goal of the season and his career-high 13th point on the power play.
Jason Zucker (center) celebrates his third-period goal with Ryan McLeod as a dejected Will Borgen looks on during the Rangers’ 5-3 loss to the Sabres on April 8, 2026 at the Garden. NHLI via Getty Images
With 39 seconds left in the first period, the goal cut the Sabres’ lead in half, 2-1, going into the first intermission.
Sniping one past Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen early in the second period, Lafrenière tied the game 2-2 for the Rangers as part of his third multi-goal game of the 2025-26 season.
The home team then earned its first lead of the night off its second power-play goal.
Igor Shesterkin makes a save on Jason Zucker during the second period of the Rangers’ loss to the Sabres. Bill Kostroun for New York Post
Fox cashed in from the slot and pulled within one of his career-high six power-play goals, which begs the question of what the 28-year-old could have accomplished if he hadn’t missed 27 total games due to injuries.
The goal extended Fox’s point streak to eight games, over which he has collected four goals and 11 assists.
“Obviously it was a struggle for us to win games early on,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “You look at the first 20 games of the season, there were a lot of games that we felt pretty good about our overall game from a process standpoint, and we struggled to score goals for whatever reason, in particular at home. … Our guys care deeply about playing in front of the home crowd and the people that support us. We have a sincere appreciation for that. And so sometimes that becomes a challenge in and of itself, because you’re trying so hard to try to win at home, sometimes it gets in the way of your instincts …
Alexis Lafrenière (13) celebrates with Adam Folx after scoring a power player goal in the first period of the Rangers’ loss to the Sabres. Bill Kostroun for New York Post
“I feel this second half, it started to go in the net for us. Most recently, we’re scoring a fair amount of goals. It’s not like we changed our game plan. We’ve got back to a pretty consistent team game.”
Matthew Robertson was named as the Rangers nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is given to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.”
The nomination is decided by members of the Rangers chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The winner is selected by a poll of the PHWA as a whole.
NEW YORK (AP) — Jason Zucker scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 17 saves, and the Buffalo Sabres rallied to beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Wednesday night.
Zucker slid his 24th goal past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin at 7:14 after teammate Alex Tuch had tied the contest with his 31st at 5:50 of the third.
Zach Benson scored twice and Ryan McLeod added a goal for the Sabres, who will participate in the postseason for the first time since 2010-11.
The Sabres won their 48th game in a dramatic turnaround from last year, when they had 79 points and missed the playoffs for a 14th straight season. Buffalo is 22-6-3 in its last 31 games, including a league-best 16 wins and 34 points since the Olympic break.
Alexis Lafreniere scored twice and Adam Fox also scored for the Rangers in their home finale. Shesterkin had 22 saves.
New York finished with five wins in a seven-game homestand but just 14 wins in 41 home games overall.
McLeod opened the scoring at 4:40 of the first. Benson then beat Shesterkin at 8:58.
Lafreniere answered on the power play at 19:21, then scored his second of the night and 24th this season at 2:57 of the middle period.
Fox put the Rangers ahead at 14:44 of the second before the Sabres rallied.
Benson completed the scoring with his 12th goal into an empty net at 18:44.
The Rangers will miss the playoffs for a second straight season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24 when they had 114 points and 55 wins, including 30 at home.
Buffalo, under Lindy Ruff who also coached the team when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1999, has 104 points — two more than Tampa Bay and Montreal in the Atlantic Division.
Up Next
Rangers: Visiting Dallas Stars on Saturday to start season-ending three-game trip.
Sabres: Hosting Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
During this past off-season, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year, $2 million contract. This was after the left-shot defenseman had one goal, seven points, and a minus-10 rating in 55 games with the Boston Bruins during the 2024-25 season.
When the Penguins signed Wotherspoon, the expectation was that he would be a depth defenseman for them. Instead, the 6-foot-1 blueliner has been having a breakout year with the Penguins and has emerged as one of their most important defenseman in the process.
Wotherspoon has been excellent for the Penguins this season, and the truth is in his stats. In 78 games this season with Pittsburgh, he has set new career highs with three goals, 26 assists, 29 points, and 160 blocks. With numbers like these, he has been a major pickup for the Penguins.
Due to how well he has played, Wotherspoon has found a home on the Penguins' top pairing with Erik Karlsson this season. He has also become a key part of their penalty kill.
With all of this, there is no question that Wotherspoon has turned out to be quite the gem for the Penguins and has been a notable reason for their major turnaround this season.
The Senators made an interesting move on Wednesday morning, sending defenseman Carter Yakemchuk down to the minors.
Yakemchuk, Ottawa’s seventh overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, was up with the big club for four games before suffering an apparent concussion last Tuesday against the Florida Panthers. In his NHL debut on March 24, Yakemchuk made an immediate impression, recording a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
The call-up was never really part of the original plan for this season. It was born out of necessity, if not emergency, with Ottawa’s blue line decimated by injuries.
Now, with Jake Sanderson back and Dennis Gilbert nearing a return, the Senators needed to create roster space. Yakemchuk becomes the odd man out.
It’s certainly a defensible decision. The last thing Ottawa wants is for its top prospect to be dropped right into the middle of a ferocious playoff race where every mistake is magnified ten times over.
But he is a seventh overall pick who's now in his second season since being drafted. It would be one thing if he were losing his spot to established NHL players. But the Sens are content to roll with Cam Crotty and Lassi Thomson, who have 31 career NHL games between them. Those players don't have Yakemchuk's skill, but they do play it safe, which is all Travis Green wants out of his 5-6-7 guys right now.
Now cleared after his concussion, Yakemchuk can be assigned to Belleville, where he’ll help the B-Sens close out their final five games of the season. Belleville sits eight points out of a playoff spot with five to play, so this will be more about development than helping in a late push.
His time is coming. It's just not now.
Thomas on Track: Chabot’s Return Gaining Steam
Meanwhile, Thomas Chabot took another step toward returning to the lineup.
The injured left-shot defenceman surprised many by skating Tuesday for the first time since suffering a forearm injury just over two weeks ago. He wore a non-contact jersey at that session, but on Wednesday morning, he was in a regular white jersey during an optional skate.
If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t have guessed he was coming off an injury. Chabot was moving well, handling the puck cleanly, making crisp passes, and even getting involved in some net-front battle work.
The next key step will be Thursday’s game-day skate ahead of Ottawa’s matchup with Florida. If he’s a full participant there, his return could be right around the corner.
Belleville Signs Wheat Kings Star
Down in Belleville, the B-Sens have signed forward Luke Mistelbacher to an amateur tryout for the remainder of the AHL season.
The 20-year-old put up a team-leading 88 points this season with the Brandon Wheat Kings and added four points in four playoff games. Prior to that, he spent three seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, where he totalled 205 points in 257 games.
With Belleville’s playoff hopes all but gone, it's a chance to give a fine junior player a quick audition at the pro level and see what they might have.
Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
With the regular season at its end come April 16, some teams on the outskirts of the playoffs are already prepping for their offseason while others are still fighting for their Stanley Cup hopes.
In the Western Conference, the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings are chasing a wild card spot, hoping to overtake the Nashville Predators, who sit in the second and final wild card spot.
It will come down to the final regular-season games.
Through 77 games, the Kings are 32-26-19 (83 points). The Sharks are right under them; through 76 games, they have a 37-32-7 record (81 points).
San Jose has a Wednesday night game against the Edmonton Oilers. That's important for many reasons.
If Edmonton loses in regulation, it will fall to second in the division, getting leaped by the Golden Knights. As for San Jose, its wild card hopes will still be alive and well.
The Sharks have won five of their previous six games, including a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, April 6. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith have contributed to the team's success in major ways.
They are the key components to a productive young core that needs to keep it up in their remaining six games, which includes meetings with the Anaheim Ducks and a last-place Vancouver Canucks team. To conclude the season, the Sharks face the Predators in a huge matchup and the Blackhawks again, then the Winnipeg Jets.
But with the Kings still narrowly ahead, it'll be a tough task for San Jose, a team that hasn't had a postseason appearance since 2019.
After an unexpected coaching change, a week of high-intensity practices and an unwelcome result elsewhere in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night, the Islanders are ready to return to the ice — and fight for their postseason lives.
The Isles — following a 6-2 Senators thrashing over the Lightning — are three points off the second and final wild-card spot entering Thursday’s pivotal clash against the Maple Leafs.
And one of the team’s longest-tenured players knows exactly what’s required in that matchup against Toronto — the Isles’ first game since they lost to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
“It’s got to be all energy ahead,” defenseman Ryan Pulock told The Post. “I think as much as you make changes, it’s still just a game. And we need to bring that energy. We’re at home, there’s no excuses there. You need every guy on board, finding a little extra.”
On the third day of what new head coach Pete DeBoer has dubbed his “late-season training camp” — following his hiring over the weekend with just four regular-season games remaining — there was an urgency during the session at Northwell Health Ice Center.
Ilya Sorokin shone with some impressive glove work in net, DeBoer continued to feed his players instructions from a whiteboard and the coach was once again pleased with the buy-in from his new group.
“I feel like they’re optimistic,” DeBoer said of his players. “I feel a real good energy out there. The feedback’s been good, the conversations have been good. I think we all know the situation we’re in, but the mindset of the group is really good.
Veteran defenseman Ryan Pulock said the Islanders have to play with full energy down the stretch to make the playoffs. NHLI via Getty Images
“I think they’re sick of my late-season training camp. I think they’re done with it. And I’ll be honest, I’ve never run a training camp in April. So I think we’re all ready to play some games.”
But with their playoff predicament — Hockey Reference gives the Isles just a 22.1 percent chance of making the postseason after a poor 3-7 stretch — there was little time for them to brood.
“When you first find out, there is some sadness,” Pulock said. “I think you build relationships with people, and you work together for a while, and when you hear that, it sucks for a minute.
New Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer talks with the media on April 6, 2026. Howie Kussoy / NY Post
“And then you can sit on it for a minute, and you get ready, you look forward, and you get excited about what’s ahead.”
Roy’s successor has also been heartened by the response he’s seen from his new players.
“I think anytime a coach loses his job, if you’ve got good character like we have in that room, they feel bad about it,” DeBoer said. “And I think they’re looking to respond in the right way and handle this the right way.”
The Islanders may have to sweep their upcoming slate against the Leafs, Senators, Canadiens and Hurricanes — and get help elsewhere, too — to sneak into the postseason.
But following a late-season slump and this week’s rare mini-break, the first order of business is clear: Beat Toronto.
“It’s a little sprint here, where we know our backs [are] against the wall,” Pulock said, “and it’s [an] exciting time to just try to win one hockey game.”
Chris Drury made sweeping changes to the player personnel and scouting departments when he was named president and general manager of the Rangers just under five years ago.
Since then, there haven’t been many significant adjustments.
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The Rangers brought back Kevin Maxwell in the same director of pro scouting role he held for 11 seasons in New York, adding director of player personnel to his title, the team announced Wednesday before their final home game of the 2025-26 season.
It’s not exactly a brand-new voice, considering Maxwell worked for the Rangers for 14 seasons from 2008-09 to 2021-22. But Maxwell is an experienced (re)addition to a Blueshirts front office that can use an alternative perspective as they head into a pivotal offseason.
With over 30 years in an NHL front office/scouting department, Maxwell is tasked with helping guide this Rangers retool in the right direction. The Rangers need to get more out of their organizationally grown prospects, but also must improve on their free agent/trade/waiver targets.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been any success on that front. Vladislav Gavrikov has been a home run free-agent signing so far. Deadline acquisitions Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano and Niko Mikkola have all gone on to establish themselves with their respective teams.
There have also been some colossal swings and misses. Signing Patrick Nemeth to a three-year deal was questionable in July 2021 and just plain awful now upon reflection. So were the one-year deals for Ryan Carpenter (2022), Nick Bonino (2023) and Tyler Pitlick (2023).
When Drury first joined the Rangers front office as director of player development in 2015, Maxwell had already been with the organization for seven seasons. He began as a pro scout in 2008-09 before working his way up to director of professional scouting in 2011-12.
Kevin Maxwell of the St. Louis Blues arrives for the game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on November 23, 2024. Getty Images
Maxwell most recently worked for the Blues, serving as a pro scout and general manager of the team’s AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, for the past four seasons.
Working alongside John Lilley — the Rangers director of amateur scouting and player personnel since Drury came in — once again, Maxwell will return to overseeing the pro side of player personnel, just like he did when Lilley was first hired in 2021.
Lilley will continue to be in charge of the amateur side.
Rangers held their rookie training camp Thursday, September 12, 2024 at Madison Square Garden Training Center. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Since Lilley’s first draft in 2021, the Rangers have had seven picks make their NHL debut with the team. Five players came up this season alone, a majority of whom only got looks amid the organization’s struggles and retooling announcement.
Two — Brennan Othmann (No. 16 overall in 2021) and Victor Mancini (No. 159 overall in 2022) — have been traded away.
The Rangers have 11 picks in this year’s draft, which is the most they’ve had since they made 13 selections in 2004.
Jed Ortmeyer has served as the organization’s director of player development since 2017-18. Jamie Herrington started with the club as an amateur scout in 2016-17 before becoming director of NCAA scouting in 2021-22.
The trio of Garth Joy (director of player personnel and director of pro scouting), Andrew Schneider (director of North American amateur scouting) and Ari Vuori (director of European scouting) all started during the 2022-23 season.
While Tanner Glass began his post-playing career as a development coach for the Rangers in 2019-20, the 42-year-old became an assistant director of player development in 2020-21.
The Rangers then added Marc Staal as a development assistant last season.
When Drury spoke after trading Artemi Panarin to the Kings before the Olympic break, the 49-year-old fielded questions about the direction of his retool. Asked by The Post if he had plans to make changes to scouting and development, the 49-year-old expressed how important those two departments are.
“The draft and development, organizations need to make good draft picks, obviously, and they need those draft picks to develop and get to the big club and impact the lineup,” Drury said at the time. “Again, those are two important parts of the organization, along with scouting and a number of other departments that we’re always looking at and seeing if we can tweak things, seeing what we can learn from other organizations that have gone through this before, and always looking for ways in both those departments to be better.”
TORONTO (AP) — Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz left Wednesday’s loss to the Washington Capitals early in the first period with a lower-body injury.
The Toronto starter was hurt after stretching out his left leg to get a pad on Cole Hutson’s shot from distance.
Stolarz immediately collapsed to the ice and pulled off his mask before one of the referees blew the play dead.
The 32-year-old was attended to by a trainer and had to be helped off the ice by teammates before heading down the tunnel to the locker room.
Coach Craig Berube announced after the 4-0 loss that Artur Akhtyamov will be recalled from the American Hockey League and make his first NHL appearance Thursday when the Maple Leafs visit the New York Islanders.
“I’ve really liked him right from camp,” Berube said of the 24-year-old Russian selected 106th overall at the 2020 NHL draft. “Great personality. He’s played well down there. He’s a competitor and he’s really got fast reflexes."
The Maple Leafs also lost forward Dakota Joshua (upper body) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (lower body) to injuries later in the game against Washington.
Berube said Luke Haymes and William Villeneuve will join Akhtyamov as AHL call-ups. Haymes is also slated to make his NHL debut Thursday for the Maple Leafs, who are set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
In a lacklustre game against the Vegas Golden Knights that saw the Vancouver Canucks put up only 11 shots on goal, only one line was able to find the back of the net: that of Max Sasson, Teddy Blueger, and Linus Karlsson.
The trio has presented themselves well in the past few games, having found some offensive chemistry a little while after first being put together on March 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. They were broken apart for a short period of time at the end of March but were reunited in Vancouver’s 8–6 rout of the Colorado Avalanche on April 1. It was a speedy dash by Sasson and Blueger that helped the Canucks break the ice during this game. Sasson’s Tuesday night goal reflected the same kind of speed and hard forecheck that this line has produced since then.
But what has made this group so noticeable as of late?
“They work together. They play the system, they forecheck as one. Really disciplined, and they’re able to generate a lot of more offensive zone time, and they play in heavy structure. They work well together. They’re a very predictable and dependable line,” Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote said of the Sasson – Blueger – Karlsson line after the team’s 2–1 loss to Vegas on Tuesday.
Sasson’s goal on Tuesday night marked the sixth Canucks goal scored with this line factoring into the play, with five of these goals being scored directly from members of the line themselves. Four of these goals were produced with this trio breaking into the O-zone.
According to Sasson, this has been a point of practice for this group.
“We work on 3-on-2 rushes daily, so I know exactly how Teddy likes to move it and when,” he said, speaking on his goal after Tuesday’s loss to Vegas.
There’s a reason why the recipe has been able to produce as of late, according to the players involved. For Blueger, that comes from his wingers’ abilities to forecheck hard and put some pressure on the opposition.
“I’ve enjoyed playing with them a lot. They work extremely hard, they compete, they battle, so they’re easy to play with. I’ve enjoyed it a lot. They want to do well. They want to succeed. It’s honestly super enjoyable to play with guys like that, and we’re on the same page, as far as what we need to do to be successful, and they’re easy to talk to. Communication is good, so we’re learning from each other.”
Apr 7, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Teddy Blueger (53) and forward Linus Karlsson (94) and forward Max Sasson (63) celebrate Sasson’s goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
“He’s solid. He’s so good defensively, he plays a simple game. That’s what I like — where the puck goes and you can read after that, and [he’s] a great leader. I really enjoy playing with him. He’s a great guy, and I just love to play with him for sure,” Karlsson added of having Blueger as a centre.
Pair two no-quit wingers with a defensively responsible centre in Blueger, and just like that, you’ve got a line that has earned not only their coach’s trust, but also the highest minutes as a line on their team. While Tuesday against Vegas was technically a ‘down’ night for them, Sasson, Blueger, and Karlsson still played 8:28 minutes together. This was the first time since their reunion on April 1 that the trio did not lead Vancouver in 5-on-5 minutes played by a line, as they held the team leads in their games against the Utah Mammoth (9:37), Minnesota Wild (10:51), and Avalanche (11:01).
With this trio, like Foote says, you know what you’re going to get. Hard workers, solid defence, and energetic forechecking. The recent push in offence doesn’t hurt, either.
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