RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - JUNE 04: Logan Stankoven #22 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates after a goal during the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Two of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center on June 04, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Cato Cataldo/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Halfway through the third period in Game 2, the Carolina Hurricanes were teetering on going down 2-0 and dropping both games at home to open the Stanley Cup against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Down 2-0 midway through the third, the Canes hadn’t looked like the dominant team they’d been for the entirety of the regular season and playoffs. There were even talks of a potential Knights sweep at the second intermission.
That’s when Logan Stankoven happened.
After an offensive zone faceoff, Stankoven’s relentless forecheck resulted in him stripping the puck from Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson. Stankoven circled back behind the net and fired a backhander that bounced past Carter Hart to make it a one goal game.
The goal not only helped the Canes back into the game, but it also got the crowd going. Carolina used that momentum and tied the game just over two minutes later when Mark Jankowski went bar down for his first goal of the playoffs.
After both Carolina and Vegas each added another to send the game to overtime, Seth Jarvis scored the power play winner to tie the series 1-1 heading into Game 3.
From talking about there being a potential sweep and the Canes looking as lifeless as they had all year, to tying up the series 1-1 and all the momentum being on Carolina’s side in a matter of half a period, all started by Stankoven’s hustle.
Stankoven now has 10 goals in the postseason to lead the Canes, adding three assists for a total of 13 points in 15 games. Carolina’s second line of Hall-Stankoven-Blake, which has really been their first line during the postseason, was the only group not to be split up by Rod Brind’Amour last night — speaking to their effectiveness. That group, led by Stankoven in the middle, has accounted for 20 goals and 44 points in the playoffs so far.
With the Svechnikov-Aho-Jarvis line continuing to struggle, the second line has been able to maintain Carolina’s offensive production.
In addition to scoring the goal that jump started the Canes’ comeback, Stankoven finished the game with two shots and had a 63.6 faceoff percentage, second to only Jordan Staal’s 70 percent.
There were questions revolving around how Stankoven’s game would translate to the postseason due to his listed 5-foot-8 stature. But if this playoff run has shown anything, it’s that those worries were for nothing.
Prior to the season and for some of the regular season, there was debate surrounding whether or not Carolina had a good enough 2C to compete for a Stanley Cup. Well, that question has been answered with Stankoven filling the role exceptionally well. Maybe the real question should’ve been if the Canes have a good enough 1C in Sebastian Aho to win the Stanley Cup. Aho has totaled just eight points in 15 games during these playoffs so far.
While last night’s win was needed and momentum swinging, the Canes still need to steal one of the next two on the road to take back home ice advantage.
Game 3 is set for tomorrow at 8 PM, where the Hurricanes look to take a 2-1 series lead and inch closer to bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Cliff Fletcher, who won a Stanley Cup with the Flames and also helped rebuild the Maple Leafs, has died.
Cliff Fletcher, the famed executive who won a Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989 and then turned around a flailing Maple Leafs franchise throughout the 1990s, has died.
He was 90 years old.
To the day of his death, Fletcher was still contributing to the Leafs, working as a senior adviser to the team from his home in Arizona.
Cliff Fletcher is pictured at Maple Leaf Gardens. Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images
Fletcher joined the expansion Atlanta Flames as their general manager in 1972 and remained with the team after a move up north to Calgary in 1980.
Fletcher’s Flames made the Stanley Cup Final in 1986, where they fell in five games to the Canadiens.
Three years later, the Flames were back in the Cup, and this time they prevailed against the Canadiens in six games for their first and thus far only championship in franchise history.
After achieving his goal of making the Flames a contender, Fletcher joined the Leafs as president in 1991 — two years removed from a title — and brought them as close as they’ve been to returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1967, the last year of the Original Six era.
Cliff Fletcher, wearing a suit, celebrates after winning a Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989. Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images
Fletcher was known for one of the biggest trades in NHL history, a 10-player deal that reunited Fletcher and ex-Flame Doug Gilmour, the centerpiece of the trade, in Toronto in 1992.
He executed several other deals early in his tenure to help bring the Leafs back to prominence, including bringing in coach Pat Burns from Montreal.
Cliff Fletcher is pictured in 2004. Getty Images
Cliff Fletcher was a Stanley Cup winner, HHOF fame. Classy, smart, fearless. Beloved and respected. Blessed to have worked with him in TO. Taught me to always try to make your deals bigger, so I did! 2 great kids, was lucky to work with Kristy and Chuck. Sad day. RIP, Cliff.
The Leafs were in back-to-back conference finals in 1993 and 1994 and made the playoffs two more times in Fletcher’s tenure.
He acquired Mats Sundin from the Quebec Nordiques in 1994, who remains the franchise’s scoring leader.
Fletcher also spent time with the Coyotes and Lightning.
He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004. Many around the hockey world have shared their memories of Fletcher, including fellow executive Brian Burke, who called Fletcher “classy, smart and fearless.”
He is survived by his partner, Linda, and children, Chuck and Kristy.
TORONTO (AP) — NHL executive Cliff Fletcher, who led the Calgary Flames to a Stanley Cup championship in 1989 and helped turn the Toronto into a contender while earning the nickname “Trader Cliff” for his skillful wheeling and dealing, has died at 90, the Maple Leafs announced Friday.
Fletcher was a senior adviser for the team, which did not provide details of his death.
Among Fletcher's many moves was bringing Lanny McDonald to the recently relocated Flames in 1981, and deals for Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin in Toronto that helped transform the Maple Leafs into a playoff threat.
“Few men in the history of hockey have had as profound and lasting an impact on the game as Cliff Fletcher,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Revered for his keen eye for talent, respected for his management acumen and beloved for his character, Cliff devoted seven decades to hockey in myriad roles and leaves a legacy as remarkable for the many men and women he has mentored as for the franchises he helped established and games his teams won.”
Born in Montreal on Aug. 16, 1935, Fletcher started his career as a scout with his hometown Canadiens under the guidance of legendary executive Sam Pollock before heading to the St. Louis Blues as an assistant general manager in June 1969. He joined the expansion Atlanta Flames as GM in 1972 and remained with the team when it relocated to Calgary in 1980.
While often overshadowed by their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, Fletcher built a contender in Calgary.
The team made its first Cup final in 1986, losing to Montreal in five games. The Flames beat the Canadiens in six games a few years later for their only title. The powerhouse roster built by Fletcher was captained by McDonald, backstopped by Mike Vernon in goal and included Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joe Mullen, Al MacInnis, Gary Suter and a young Theo Fleury.
Fletcher, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004, took over as the Maple Leafs’ chief operating officer, president and GM in 1991. He quickly helped rebuild the team, which had slogged through a dismal decade under former owner Harold Ballard.
In a key move, Fletcher pried Gilmour from his successor in Calgary, and he also hired Pat Burns as coach in 1992.
The trade with the Flames supplemented other previous moves. Fletcher shipped a package including forward Vincent Damphousse to Edmonton for netminder Grant Fuhr, forward Glenn Anderson and others. Fuhr was later sent to Buffalo in a deal that netted 50-goal man Dave Andreychuk from the Sabres.
In another franchise-defining swap, Fletcher dealt popular but oft-injured captain Wendel Clark to the Quebec Nordiques in 1994 as part of a package that included Sundin. A future Hall of Fame center, Sundin went on to become the face of the franchise and is now Toronto’s senior executive adviser of hockey operations.
“Cliff Fletcher inherited a club that had finished last in the NHL’s Norris Division in 1991, transforming them seemingly overnight,” the Maple Leafs said. “Those beloved Maple Leafs teams would come within one win of the Cup final in 1993 and returned to the conference final a year later.”
Fletcher remained with the Leafs until 1997 before front office stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Phoenix Coyotes. He returned to Toronto as interim GM in 2008.
His son, Chuck Fletcher, became a successful NHL executive in his own right. Chuck Fletcher served as GM of the Minnesota Wild from 2009 to 2018 and the Philadelphia Flyers from 2018 to 2024.
On Friday afternoon, the hockey world lost another legendary executive when news broke that Cliff Fletcher had passed away at the age of 90. Thanks to a career that spanned almost seven decades, Fletcher was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
As recent as the 2023-24 season, he was a senior advisor for the Toronto Maple Leafs, his second stint with the Original Six franchise, having served as President and General Manager from 1991 to 1997 before returning in 2007.
Although Fletcher is deeply connected to the Maple Leafs, having spent more than 20 years with the organization, many in the hockey community remember him for his time with the Calgary Flames.
Fletcher was the franchise's first general manager, hired in 1972 when the Atlanta Flames came into existence. He stayed with the club when they relocated to Calgary in 1980.
By that time, he was already piecing together a superstar roster, one loaded with future Hall of Famers like Joe Nieuwendyk, Al MacInnis, Mike Vernon, and Joe Mullen, that would reach the 1986 Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens, and would win the rematch in 1989.
Born in 1935 in Montreal, Fletcher became a scout for the Canadiens in 1956, holding that position until 1966 before moving into an assistant general manager role with the expansion St. Louis Blues. After achieving his only Stanley Cup victory with the Flames, he went to Toronto, then to Tampa Bay (1998-2000) and Arizona (2000-27), before returning to the Maple Leafs.
Beloved by many in the hockey community, Fletcher left behind an incredible legacy, one fondly remembered in Calgary as the man responsible for the franchise's only Stanley Cup title.
The Los Angeles Kings have locked up AHL prospect Aatu Jämsen, announcing Friday that he is officially joining the Kings roster on a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level through the 2026-27 season.
Jämsen, 23 years old, completed his second season with the Ontario Reign, posting career highs of 16 goals, 12 assists, and 28 points in 59 games. The call-up might seem a little early, but the former seventh-round pick has shown promise, and LA adds another young talent to its roster.
We've signed F Aatu Jämsen to a one-year, two-way contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $850,000!
The Finnish forward also competed in four Calder Cup Playoff contests, where he collected two points as Ontario battled for postseason success. Originally drafted in the seventh round with the 190th overall pick of the 2020 NHL draft, Jämsen has steadily improved his game.
Over two seasons with the Ontario Reign, Jämsen has totaled 23 goals and 39 points in 95 AHL games, reminding everyone that he can create his own shot and play a physical game.
The signing gives LA additional depth at the forward position, while giving Jämsen an opportunity to push for his NHL debut this upcoming season. With the Kings still expected to make additional moves in the offseason to improve the team, the Finnish prospect will enter training camp looking to make a strong impression and compete for a larger role within the organization.
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The fallout from Thursday's bombshell report from NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman that Dylan Larkin requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings continues to dominate the discussion in Motor City sports circles.
The Red Wings have now missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for ten consecutive seasons, the longest active drought in the NHL. Larkin is the only player on the current Red Wings roster who skated in their most recent playoff appearance in 2016.
Right now, it appears as though the drought, which has included three consecutive meltdowns in March, has finally become too much for Larkin to want to continue enduring.
However, his reported trade request is the opposite of what he had to say during his season-ending media availability session in late April.
Speaking at Little Caesars Arena after the Red Wings had cleaned out their lockers, Larkin said that it was his desire to remain in Detroit and see the process through of finally becoming a playoff team and moving into Stanley Cup contention.
"I'm just thinking now going back to when I re-signed and, you know, signed an eight-year deal and I knew that we had work to do and I knew that we weren't going to win the Stanley Cup the next day," Larkin said. "But I wanted to be here and I want to be here to help this team in any way I can to win the Stanley Cup."
"I wanted to be here, and I want to be here to help this team in any way I can to win the Stanley Cup," he said. "We need to get the Detroit Red Wings back in the playoffs - not just me."
Larkin registered a career-high 34 goals this season, but for the second time in the last three seasons, suffered an untimely injury and missed multiple games while the rest of his teammates struggled down the stretch.
If Larkin were ultimately traded, it would signal a major shakeup in the direction of GM Steve Yzerman's long-term vision for the club he took over in April 2019.
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The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot riding on the success of Connor Bedard, who they selected with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Since coming into the NHL, Bedard has gotten better and better with each passing day. His overall growth as a player on and off the ice from year one through year three is noticeable.
Now that Bedard is through the entry-level years of his NHL career, it is time for an extension. On July 1st, he becomes a restricted free agent. The price to offer sheet someone like him is through the roof, but the Blackhawks still want to get him signed to avoid any time missed.
We've seen from other teams and players around the league that missing parts of training camp due to contract stuff can be detrimental.
Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins, Mason McTavish of the Anaheim Ducks, and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils would all admit that it was a detriment to their seasons when it happened to them.
On Friday, The Hockey News named Connor Bedard as the top pending RFA in the National Hockey League.
Connor Bedard, Jason Robertson, Leo Carlsson and Trevor Zegras are just some of the most intriguing pending NHL RFAs as the playoffs near the end: https://t.co/Y9FIQES7wd
Bedard leads the list of players that includes talents like Leo Carlsson, Jason Robertson, and Pavel Dorofeyev, amongst others. A lot of money is going to be handed out to these young men, and Bedard is the top guy.
Other players have had more production in their careers, some of them because they are older, but none of them have the ceiling with runway left in their careers the way that Bedard does. He is as young as an RFA can be in the NHL.
Connor Bedard wants to be in Chicago, and the Blackhawks want him. It is a mutual interest to get this deal signed, and both parties can focus on more important aspects once it is complete.
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Former Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Johansson was heading into the summer as one of the NHL's top pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) scorers. However, instead of testing the market or re-signing with the Minnesota Wild, Johansson is taking his talents overseas.
Farjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) has announced that they have signed Johansson.
Johansson just had a very good season for the Wild, posting 15 goals, 34 assists, and 49 points in 75 games. This was the first time since 2022-23 that Johansson recorded at least 40 points and the second-most points he had in an NHL season. While this is the case, Johansson is heading home to play in the SHL.
Johansson played in 60 games for the Sabres during the 2019-20 season, where he recorded 13 goals, 17 assists, and 30 points. His time with the Sabres ended during the 2020 NHL off-season when he was traded to the Wild in exchange for Eric Staal.
In 1,058 career NHL games over 16 seasons, he posted 200 goals, 366 assists, and 566 points. Overall, the former Sabre had himself a strong NHL career, and he should be a big pickup for Farjestad BK.
Jay Leach skates in a practice for the Kraken in December 2023.
The Rangers hired Jay Leach to lead their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Named the ninth head coach in Wolf Pack history on Friday, Leach joins the Blueshirts organization after serving as an assistant coach in the NHL over the previous five seasons with the Kraken (three) and the Bruins (two).
The 46-year-old Leach is an experienced addition and has been a candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies in the NHL in recent years.
Jay Leach skates in a practice for the Kraken in December 2023. NHLI via Getty Images
“Players gravitate toward him,” Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan told The Post of Leach at the time, when he was still head coach of the Penguins. “He’s a good leader. He’s been in leadership roles when he was playing in the American League, and so he brought all of that to the coaching aspect of what he’s doing now. When I got a chance to work right next to him in Wilkes-Barre, I was really impressed, but not surprised, with his work ethic. He rolls his sleeves up, he works hard at being a good coach, and he brings a certain humility to the job every day that I think is so important for all of us.
“He has strong convictions of how the game should be played, but he also understands there’s more than one way to play the game and that you have to work with people, both players and coaches alike, in order to try to build the necessary collaboration to have success in today’s NHL.”
President and general manager Chris Drury bringing on Leach makes a lot of sense for an organization that is looking to refresh its prospect pool.
Plus, Leach has ties to Sullivan, who brought him onto his staff with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2015-16 season.
When Sullivan was promoted to the Bruins, Leach succeeded him and took over the team.
Jay Leach is pictured during a Bruins game in November 2025. Getty Images
The last time Leach served as head coach was from 2017-21 with the AHL’s Providence Bruins.
Over those four seasons, the Syracuse native led the team to back-to-back Atlantic Division titles.
Providence compiled a 136-77-26 record under Leach, who also helped the team reach the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals as an assistant in 2016-17.
The Bruins eventually brought Leach back as an assistant at the NHL level over the last two campaigns.
A defenseman drafted 115th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes, Leach appeared in 70 NHL games across five seasons for the Bruins, Lightning, Devils, Canadiens and Sharks.
He ultimately played 12 seasons of professional hockey before making the jump into coaching.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK - JANUARY 17: Alex Nedeljkovic #39 of the Pittsburgh Penguins tends goal against Zach Benson #9 of the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on January 17, 2025 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The NHL’s salary cap is rising but many teams still find themselves in various degrees of uncomfortableness when it comes to the salary structure. The Pittsburgh Penguins are not one such team.
Offer sheets have been a seldom used venture by NHL general managers, there have only been four in the last decade. Montreal signed Carolina’s Sebastian Aho in 2019, the Hurricanes matched and retaliated two years later by giving Jesper Kotkaniemi what looks like a regrettable amount of money that the Canadiens did not match. Then in 2024 St. Louis fired shots across the bow by targeting Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from Edmonton, which the cap-strapped Oilers opted not to match.
Going back to the entire NHL salary cap era from 2006-present, there have only been 12 total completed offer sheets. Only four of those 12 were successful to acquire a player from a team unwilling or unable to match the compensation.
The St. Louis moves showed the potential is not gone to take the aggressive action, so let’s check on this year’s crop via Sportsnet.
As every team looks at improving over the off-season, will any use an offer sheet to chase talent?@RoryBoylen has everything you need to know about compensation and which players could be interesting RFA targets. https://t.co/dsQNwg6cPb
The important information to know is the different levels of compensation required, which for 2026 is as follows:
Based on these splits, it’s a challenge to anticipate signing a mega-star like RFA Jason Robertson to an offer sheet. It would easily require first round picks from 2027-30, which is a cost too far to support making such a move.
However, as STL showed, targeting rising players who could play into a higher cost than they’ve shown in the past can pay off handsomely for the price of a second or third round pick as a sweet spot for trying offer sheets. This could be the key area of opportunity.
Zach Benson, Buffalo Sabres
As previously mentioned, if Buffalo re-signs Tuch, it would immediately be tight to next year’s salary cap. Meantime, 21-year-old Zach Benson became a core piece of the Sabres this season with a breakout 43-point campaign (in 65 games) and an even better showing in the playoffs. It might be fair to ask: Should Benson actually be Buffalo’s priority here?
Benson, drafted 13th overall in 2023, is a player who whispers say was of much interest to the Penguins had he just slipped one more pick in the draft to where they were at. (Pittsburgh ended up selecting Brayden Yager, who was traded not long after).
Sportsnet also notes that Buffalo has center Peyton Krebs and defenseman Michael Kesselring as potential restricted free agents. The Sabres currently have $17.6 million in cap space, though it stands to reason over half of that amount would be taken away if they end up re-signing star forward Alex Tuch.
Granted, if the Sabres don’t re-sign Tuch, there wouldn’t be much of a point in trying to fish away Benson via offer sheet. They’ll be in good enough shape to match in that situation. Assuming they did sign Tuch, would the Penguins be so bold as to transfer an unprotected 2027 first round pick (plus a third, which they have an extra selection in that round already) to get Benson on an offer of $7 million?
Benson scored 43 points in just 65 games this year and was a great playoff performer with nine points in 13 games and a very active, physical presence. He also just turned 21-years old and could be worth an investment to be a part of the core for a while.
It would take some faith that Benson could get a glow up like Holloway did, who went all the way up to 63 points in his first season with the Blues and was worth his contract plus the second round pick to give up. This isn’t a surefire risk-free proposition, but it could be something to think about considering the Pens were rumored to have really liked Benson in the pre-draft process. After three seasons in the NHL, there’s even more to like.
Mavrik Bourque, Dallas
The Stars’ top priority is to get Robertson under contract, which would be a big ticket, certainly in the $12 million range, that would put them over the cap. Meantime, the 24-year-old Bourque would be offer sheet eligible after his first 20-goal season. Perhaps a quiet playoff showing may cool interest in going the offer sheet route, and GM Jim Nill may be looking at trade options instead.
Pittsburgh and Dallas have been a good trade fit with one another recently. The two worked together last year to send Matt Dumba plus a second round pick to the Pens last year to ease some Stars cap woes. Those problems are back again for them, which means the Pens might not even need to offer sheet Bourque to acquire him. Volunteer to take the salary of Ilya Lybushskin ($3.25m for one more year) and then it could see what other particulars would need to be done to get Bourque as a part of the deal could be a workable gambit.
If dangling that carrot via a trade ended up not working out, the Pens could always turn to using the stick of the offer sheet for Bourque. It looks like the Stars have about $13 million of cap space for next year, of which Robertson would require almost all of it. Should a team come in with a $4.7 million offer for Bourque, that might put a lot of strain on the Stars’ structure – depending on what further moves they could make to get around that. Something’s got to give in Dallas, if a team adds a little more pressure to the situation they might be able to get Bourque out of it, via whatever means it might take via trade or offer sheet.
Olen Zellweger/Pavel Mintyukov, Anaheim
Carlsson and Gauthier grab most of the attention in regards to Anaheim’s RFAs, but it also has two young defencemen who are offer sheet eligible. Zellweger and Mintyukov, two 21-year-olds, both finished with 22 points this season, while Mintyukov averaged about a minute-and-a-half more of ice time, mostly because of his shorthanded minutes.
Of the two, Zellweger may be the one to watch more closely on the offer sheet front. His average ice time dropped by nearly two minutes from 2024-25 to 2025-26 and he only played three playoff games for the Ducks.
These two have been oft-talked about, with little more new ground to tread. Anaheim having to give new contracts to breakout stars Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier makes them a very interesting team to watch this offseason. They also have a total of two NHL defensemen currently signed for next season according to CapWages. A lot is going to go on out there. Maybe the Pens can get involved, maybe not, but watching the Ducks navigate this summer will be worth watching.
Zack Bolduc, Montreal
One of Montreal’s four RFAs, Bolduc scored 12 goals for the Canadiens this season but got to 19 with St. Louis the year before that. If he stays in Montreal, a new contract might come in the range of $3 million, but is there a team out there that values his potential higher than that?
When Montreal traded for Bolduc last summer, our scout Jason Bukala wrote that it had “acquired at worst a middle-six forward. He’s more likely a top-six winger.” That didn’t come to fruition right away, but Bolduc is still just 23 years old. If a team still sees him as a player who could score 20-25 a season and have top-six upside, might they take a shot on a short- or medium-term contract worth around $4.5 million — a rate that might make Montreal a little uncomfortable and require only a second-round pick as compensation?
A team like the Pens could pay a little more for a player in salary, assuming they really liked the player or thought he could take off to justify the move. Whether or not they would actually want to do that is of course the unknown $64,000 question. Bolduc, 23, has yet to really take off, does Pittsburgh (or anyone else) think he could have that Holloway-esque type of increase in the future? If so, $4 million and giving up a second round pick would be a small price to pay. If not, onto the next.
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More often than not the offer sheet goes unused, though the increased amount of second+third round picks that Pittsburgh has in the next few years makes them decent candidates to use if the right situation was out there. The Pens have used that to acquire Egor Chinakhov and Elmer Soderblom in trades, straying outside the lane to attempt an offer sheet coup would be unexpected but a bold, risky move at attempting to bolster the team’s talent level.
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It’s officially time to Knight up.
After an impressive Game 2 comeback overtime win, Sebastian Aho’s Carolina Hurricanes tied Mitch Marner’s Vegas Golden Knights at one game apiece in the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals.
Next up, the high-stakes series heads to the VGK’s home T-Mobile Arena. The two Sin City contests are scheduled to take place:
A hypothetical Game 6 — if the Finals goes that far — would go down Sunday, June 14 in Vegas.
If you’d like to be at any one of these Stanley Cup tilts, last-minute tickets are still available.
Better yet, prices have significantly decreased since we last reported on how much they cost for games at the T-Mobile Arena.
When our team wrote about prices for Stanley Cup games in Vegas on June 1, prices started at $1,604 including fees on SeatGeek at the time of publication.
Now, just a mere four days later, seats can be found for as low as $666 including fees.
Yes, prices have dropped nearly $1,000 (!) in just four days.
Throw in the fact that you can save $10 off purchases over $250 at checkout using promo code NYPOST10 and you’ve got a steal of a deal (Editor’s Note: this discount is only valid for users’ first purchase on SeatGeek).
In theory, the Knights should be coming home, up 2-0.
However, Knights Head Coach used a coach’s challenge on goaltender interference with five minutes left in regulation and got his call overturned, which resulted in a two-minute minor penalty that led to a power play for the ‘Canes, a momentum shift and their subsequent victory.
“Instead of Vegas going home looking to move to the verge of a second championship in nine years of existence, the series is all square, despite [Carter] Hart making some big saves and Brett Howden scoring his playoff-leading 12th and 13th goals,” The Post noted in a Game 2 postmortem.
When asked for comment, Head Coach John Tortorella said: “I have my thoughts. I’m not discussing it here.”
We can’t wait to see what happens next.
For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about the 2026 Stanley Cup Finals between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes below.
What do tickets cost to see Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup home games?
All Vegas Golden Knights T-Mobile Arena Stanley Cup home game dates and the cheapest tickets available (versus what they cost on June 1) can be found here:
Vegas Golden Knights home game dates
Ticket prices start at
Ticket prices started at on June 1
Game 3 Saturday, June 6
$666(including fees
$1,774(including fees)
Game 4 Tuesday, June 9
$709(including fees
$1,604(including fees)
Game 6 Sunday, June 14
$939(including fees
$1,635(including fees)
How much are Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup home game tickets?
A complete calendar including all Hurricanes Eastern Conference Finals home game dates at the Lenovo Center and the best prices on tickets (compared to what they were going for on June 1) are listed below.
Carolina Hurricanes home game dates
Ticket prices start at
Ticket prices started at on June 1
Game 5 Thursday, June 11
$1,009(including fees)
$1,717(including fees)
Game 7 Wednesday, June 17
$2,064(including fees)
$2,086 (including fees)
How to watch the Hurricanes and Golden Knights on TV
Fans hoping to catch Tortorella’s talented team on the tube can watch all playoff games on ABC in the US or Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.
Just make sure to review your local listings before tuning in.
If you don’t have cable, your best bet may be DIRECTV.
Huge 2026 concerts
Not sure what to do once the final buzzer sounds on the 2025-26 NHL season?
No worries.
Many of the most exciting acts around will be out and about all summer long. Here are just five of our favorites you won’t want to miss live.
• Evanescence with Spiritbox
• Tame Impala with Djo
• Five Finger Death Punch
• Avenged Sevenfold with Good Charlotte
• RUSH
Plus, you won’t want to miss Metallica’s Sphere residency. They’ll be at the eye-popping venue from October through March 2027.
This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.
Georgii Romanov's run with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the Calder Cup Playoffs didn't go unnoticed by the St. Louis Blues.
On Friday, the team announced it signed the 26-year-old to a two-year, two-way contract.
Romanov and Vadim Zherenko split time in the American Hockey League last season, and after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks to offset the loss of Colten Ellis to the Buffalo Sabres via waivers prior to the season, Romanov went 9-12-4 with a 3.29 goals-against average, an .896 save percentage, and one shutout in 28 regular-season games.
But in the playoffs, Romanov helped lead the Thunderbirds to the Atlantic Division Final and was 7-4-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage, and two shutouts in 11 postseason appearances.
Romanov has played in 78 AHL regular-season games and is 29-27-17 with a 3.18 GAA, and a .902 save percentage.
He has a 3.53 GAA and an .888 save percentage in 10 career NHL regular-season games with the Sharks.
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With the first two prospects we highlighted, we looked at a skilled two-way center in Tynan Lawrence before breaking down the play of a fast-growing, ultra-skilled winger who is rising up the boards due to his potential in Wyatt Cullen.
Today, we are going to look at Daxon Rudolph, a talented defenseman whose WHL production doesn’t quite match his draft rankings.
Rudolph is a 6-foot-3, right-handed, puck-moving defenseman with offensive skill and a smart defensive game.
In the WHL this season with the Prince Albert Raiders, the 2023 WHL first overall pick scored 28 goals and 78 points in 68 games. Both categories ranked third among defensemen in the WHL, trailing Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo, both of whom played for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Rudolph’s regular season was outstanding, but he took his game to another level in the playoffs, as the Raiders lost in the WHL finals. Rudolph tied for the league lead in points during the post-season, recording nine goals and 27 points in 19 games.
With his track record as a first overall pick in the WHL, as well as his outstanding point production from the blueline, it feels almost odd to see him projected in some cases to fall outside the top 10, but skating deficiencies are why defenders like Chase Reid, Carson Carels, Alberts Smiths, and Keaton Verhoeff have been ranked ahead of him.
The 18-year-old Rudolph is an incredibly smart player. He sees the game well on both sides of the puck. His vision allows him to make plays in the offensive zone and break up plays in the defensive zone.
With the puck in the o-zone, Rudolph is a threat to connect on give-and-gos, slide into the play unguarded, and rifle a heavy shot. In his own end with the puck, Rudolph makes heads-up passes and uses his feet to navigate forecheckers. While the concern is that it might not translate to the NHL, at the junior level he is more than capable of making those plays with his feet.
The native of Lacombe, Alta., will make the big jump to the NCAA next season, joining the mighty University of Denver. Despite the loaded blueline, Rudolph is expected to be the leader of the backend and bring the program back to the National Championship.
This draft features several highly rated defensemen, as we previously mentioned, but there are plenty of teams that are in need. While the Blues’ prospect pool on defense doesn’t lack depth or skill, adding a big, puck-moving right-handed defenseman is never a bad thing. It’s a sought-after commodity, and an abundance will only improve the team’s outlook.
Because so many teams are looking for defenders, there is a strong chance that Rudolph is selected anywhere between picks 7-10, which would result in the Blues missing the opportunity to draft him.
Either way, if a team can fix his skating issues, they could be looking at a potential top-four, two-way defender with a big frame.
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Multiple reports on June 5 indicate Larkin's discontent with the Red Wings has brewed over a few years.
According to ESPN's Emily Kaplan, the tension can at least be traced back to Larkin's 2023 contract extension, which ended up at eight years with an $8.7 million AAV.
Quiet trade deadlines have done nothing to alleviate that tension, with 2025 resulting in Larkin speaking out about Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman's conservative nature at the deadline.
"We didn't do anything," Larkin told reporters during clean-out day last April. "We didn't gain any momentum from the trade deadline. Guys were kind of down about it. So it would have bee nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well.”
In 2026, the Wings did make some deadline moves, but they were relatively tepid. On a team that had shown cracks following a hot start to the year, they added Justin Faulk from the Blues and David Perron from the Senators. With the Red Wings collapsing late in the season again, it's clear Larkin, who will be 30 on July 30, doesn't see the Red Wings' roster management as a situation where he can win.
Obstacles to Steve Yzerman making Dylan Larkin trade
Put two stubborn people into a room to make a decision, and it's going to be hard to reach a compromise.
That's the big problem here. Larkin's no-trade clause gives him a lot of leverage over where he goes. But his long-term contract and the fact free agency's center market is a desert gives Yzerman a lot of leverage over other teams. What you have is a triangle where it may be easy for two sides to come an agreement, but hard for the third.
Yzerman is not a GM who is going to settle. But the teams with assets to burn — particularly picks, which will have to factor into the deal — may not spur Larkin to waive his NTC.
With the Red Wings missing a top-six center, regardless of whether he's perceived as a first- or second-line center, this may be the move that kicks Detroit into an actual rebuild. But that has to start with getting the Larkin return right.
In truth, this is a big black eye on Yzerman's tenure in Detroit. Larkin would have been 5 years old watching Yzerman hoist the cup against Carolina in 2002, making this akin to Matt Duchene asking out of Colorado when Joe Sakic was the GM.
That Duchene situation needs to be Yzerman's blueprint. While the odds of the Red Wings getting a haul like the Avalanche got from the Senators are slim-to-none, Larkin's request is a hard reset on the Red Wings. Rather than building a timeline around the 30-year-old Larkin, the Red Wings now turn their attention to 24-year-old Lucas Raymond and 25-year-old Moritz Seider.
With that in mind, assets will be the name of the game. The plan to play piecemeal around Larkin didn't work for Yzerman, and now he's in a tough spot. For Sakic, it took over a year to grant Duchene his request, which came with a lot of bellyaching about how Duchene became a negative influence. Does Yzerman have that kind of time? Larkin's no-trade clause expires after the 2026-27 season. But there have been murmurs that have swelled into a dull roar on the lack of progress Yzerman has made already.
All things told, everyone is just kind of... stuck. Yzerman is stuck with a tweener 1-2 center who doesn't want to be there. Larkin is stuck on a roster he doesn't believe he can win with. And Red Wings fans are stuck with a team that just saw its already questionable vibes take a nosedive.
Ultimately, the best way is, as always, forward. But to do that, someone is going to have to put ego aside. And with egos that are this big, that's going to be a tall order.
