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The Florida Panthers will head to our nation’s capital on Thursday for a quick stop at an extremely prestigious place.

Before concluding their road trip with a back-to-back set against the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals on Friday and Saturday, the Panthers are stopping in Washington D.C. to visit with the president.

Similarly to last year, the Panthers, who are the defending Stanley Cup champions for the second straight season, will visit President Donald Trump at the White House.

The event is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the East Room of the White House.

During their visit last year, the Panthers brought the Stanley Cup and presented Trump with a personalized jersey.

Following the visit, Florida will make the short trip to Raleigh ahead of Friday’s matchup with Carolina. Then they’ll head right back to D.C. to face the Capitals the following night.

The Panthers are hoping to get either one or both of injured forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand in the lineup over the weekend, so we’ll see how things play out on that front.

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Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak has created some chatter in the rumor mill as a potential trade candidate. With the Penguins retooling, it is certainly fair to wonder if they will flip the veteran pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) defenseman. 

Due to this, let's look at three potential trade fits for Kulak if the Penguins decide to shop him. 

Toronto Maple Leafs 

The Maple Leafs could use another experienced defenseman on their blueline, so a player like Kulak could grab their attention. He would be a nice addition to their bottom pairing and penalty kill if acquired. 

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings' defensive group could use a boost, and Kulak would provide them with just that if acquired. Due to his versatility, Kulak is capable of playing both sides, and that could benefit a team looking to break their playoff drought, like the Red Wings. 

Colorado Avalanche 

The Avalanche have been excellent this season, as they have a 33-4-8 record. With this, they should be buyers at the deadline, and a veteran blueliner like Kulak could make sense for them. He would offer them another player with a ton of playoff experience and could slot nicely on their third pairing. 

The Detroit Red Wings have recalled defenseman Erik Gustafsson from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, a move that could signal a potential injury on the backend that we're waiting to hear about or a possible last-ditch effort to generate trade interest ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

With Detroit continuing to evaluate its options, the recall appears to be an opportunity to get Gustafsson into the lineup for a few games and showcase his value to potential buyers. The veteran defenseman has drawn increasing attention in recent months, with multiple reports linking him to the New York Rangers as they search for help on the blue line.

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman has reported that the Rangers are in the market for a power play quarterback while Adam Fox remains out on long term injured reserve. Friedman included Gustafsson among the players New York has checked in on, noting that his familiarity with the Rangers’ system and his affordable contract make him a logical short-term option. If Gustafsson can perform well in Detroit, the Red Wings could benefit by boosting his trade stock in the remaining weeks before the deadline.

Gustafsson has been a productive and steady presence in Grand Rapids this season. In 22 games with the Griffins, he has recorded two goals and 18 assists for 20 points, establishing himself as one of the team’s most reliable veteran players and a key contributor on the power play.

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He has already appeared in one NHL game for Detroit this season. In that outing, Gustafsson logged 17 and a half minutes of ice time, registered two shots on goal, and finished minus one in a loss to the Nashville Predators. While he did not record a point, he showed the puck-moving ability the Red Wings were expecting when they signed him.

Gustafsson played 76 games for the Rangers during the 2023-24 season, finishing with six goals and 25 assists for 31 points. Over the course of his ten NHL seasons, he has appeared in 516 games. His most productive year came with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018-19, when he posted 60 points and emerged as one of the league’s more dynamic offensive defensemen.

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When New York Islanders' No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer faced Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Edmonton Oilers for the first time, he was only playing in his fourth NHL game. 

What Oilers’ Connor McDavid & Kris Knoblauch Had To Say About Matthew SchaeferOilers superstar Connor McDavid and head coach Kris Knoblauch share their thoughts on Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick who continues to impress across the league.

The 18-year-old, who has since emerged as the club's No. 1 defenseman skating alongside Ryan Pulock while averaging 23:56 minutes per game, was still skating on the third pairing alongside Scott Mayfield when the Islanders won 4-2 against Edmonton at UBS Arena. 

At 5-on-5, with head coach Patrick Roy able to control matchups, Schaefer only played 2:06 against McDavid -- Islanders were outshot 2-0 -- and 3:01 against Draisaitl -- Islanders were outshot 3-1. He played a total of 17:38 minutes, the third fewest minutes he's played this season. 

Things will be much different when the puck drops at 9 PM ET on Thursday.

While Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch is going to try to have his stars not on the ice against Schaefer, the rookie phenom plays too many minutes to be able to avoid him -- as do the Oilers' stars.

Schaefer, who powered through a jab to the ribs and a puck off the outside of the right knee in a 5-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, recorded his 13th goal and 30th point on the season. 

Islanders' Matthew Schaefer Matches Bobby Orr With 13th Goal As Rookie DefensemanRookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer joins Bobby Orr in the record books with his 13th goal, igniting a historic season.

While Schaefer has passed every test he's had and doesn't need to prove anything anymore, a successful game against McDavid and Draisaitl will show exactly how much growth he's shown in his game from the start of the season to now. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets are back at home to face the Vancouver Canucks tonight at 7 PM.  

Vancouver Canucks - 16-25-5 - 37 Points - 1-7-2 in the last 10 - Lost 5 Straight- 8th in the Pacific

Columbus Blue Jackets - 20-19-7 - 47 Points - 5-4-1 in the last 10 - Won 2 Straight - 7th in the Metro  

Blue Jackets Stats

• Power Play - 19.0% - 20th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 74.6% - 29th in the NHL
• Goals For - 136 - 20th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 155 - 28th in the NHL

Canucks Stats

• Power Play - 19.6% - 16th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 73.1% - 30th in the NHL
• Goals For - 121 - 27th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 165 - 31st in the NHL

Series History vs. TheCanucks

• Columbus is 26-33-2-9 all-time, and 15-15-2-3 at home vs. Vancouver.
• The Blue Jackets has won 5 straight games at home against the Canucks.
• The CBJ went 1-1-0 vs Vancouver last season.

Who To Watch For TheCanucks

• Elias Pettersson leads the Canucks with 28 points.
• Filip Hronek leads Vancouver with 24 assists.
• Goalie Thatcher Demko is 8-10-1 with a SV% of .897

CBJ Player Notes vs.Canucks

• Zach Werenski has 8 points in 15 games vs. the Canucks.
• Dmitri Voronkov has 5 points in 5 games.
• Sean Monahan has 29 points im 40 career games against Vancouver.

Injuries 

• Erik Gudbranson - Upper Body - Missed 38 Games - IR - Skating with team, but there is no timeline for a return to the lineup.
• Isac Lundeström - Lower Body - Missed 10 Games - IR
• Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 8 Games IR - Out 3-4 months after having knee surgery.
• Miles Wood - Lower Body - Missed 7 Games - IR - Week-to-week.
• Mason Marchment - Upper Body - Missed 5 Games - Week to week.

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 122

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FANDUEL SPORTS NETWORK. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play. 

Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!

Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story. 

The Philadelphia Flyers are in a bad way after losing their fourth straight in addition to losing Dan Vladar to injury. The silver lining, however, is that now is as good a time as any to evaluate a prospect who's completely turned his career around in one season.

Vladar, 28, exited the Flyers' 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres with an unspecified injury and did not return, even as a backup in an emergency capacity.

Vladar surrendered two goals on five shots, and Sam Ersson, who has struggled mightily this season, made six saves on eight shots in relief.

The Flyers, who were already reportedly considering alternatives to Ersson, now have no choice but to turn to prospect Aleksei Kolosov, who's had an excellent first real season in the AHL with the so-so Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Kolosov, 24, has posted a 9-9-1 record in 19 games for the Phantoms to the tune of a 2.54 GAA, .908 save percentage, and his first two shutouts on North American ice.

Flyers Goalie Exits Sabres Matchup With InjuryFlyers goalie Dan Vladar left the team's contest against the Sabres due to injury.

The numbers aren't amazing, no, but neither are the Phantoms, who have experienced a ton of player turnover and have a number of first-time pros occupying significant roles on the team, led by Alex Bump, Carson Bjarnason, Denver Barkey, Karsen Dorwart, and Devin Kaplan.

Kolosov, now in the last year of his entry-level contract with the Flyers, has earned himself at least one more opportunity to show his stuff at the NHL level.

The Belarusian has played well in the AHL, and on the other hand, it would be almost impossible to play worse than Ersson has for the Flyers this season; Ersson has been beaten 14 times on the last 57 shots he's faced and currently boasts a .855 save percentage and 6-7-4 record on the year.

Kolosov, as bad as he looked at times last season, still managed a .884 save percentage and 5-6-1 record.

Flyers' High-Upside Prospect Changes Teams to Salvage Lost SeasonHaving played just 35 total games across the last two seasons, a high-upside <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> draft pick has made a move and decided to change teams in order to salvage a lost season of development.

It should ease the Flyers' minds, too, that Kolosov has a .929 save percentage across two NHL appearances for the club this season.

He's looked the part and played his role at both levels, and with he and Ersson both set to become free agents at the end of the season, the Flyers need to use Vladar's injury as an opportunity to evaluate and draw conclusions on both players, deciding who, if either, they will retain this summer.

Kolosov, at least for now, has the edge, if for no reason other than Ersson all but playing himself off the team, just as Egor Zamula had earlier in the season.

How Chara's 2011 Stanley Cup masterclass helped Bruins reach ultimate goal originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The 2005-06 NHL season was a disaster for the Boston Bruins.

They traded away superstar center and captain Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks early in the campaign for a lackluster return package. The team lacked talent and toughness, and it finished with the fifth-worst record in the league.

The franchise, which hadn’t been a real Stanley Cup contender since the late 1980s and early 1990s, appeared to be light years away from ending its championship drought, which in 2006 stood at 34 years.

It was, essentially, rock bottom for the Bruins.

And then everything changed July 1, 2006.

That’s when the Bruins, who were not big spenders at the time, splashed the cash to sign star defenseman Zdeno Chara to a five-year, $37.5 million contract. It’s without question the best free agent signing in league history.

“I’m willing to lead by my example of hard work, dedication, discipline and drive,” Chara said in his introductory press conference in July of 2006.

He also made it clear in that press conference what the objective was for him and the team: “I think the only thing we care (about) is the final goal and to win at the end.”

The Bruins will retire Chara’s No. 33 to the TD Garden rafters Thursday night before the B’s play the Seattle Kraken. It’s a fitting honor for a player who transformed the Bruins back into a Stanley Cup contender.

But it didn’t happen overnight. Playoff setbacks in 2008, 2009 and then blowing a 3-0 series lead in the second round to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 created some doubt over whether the Bruins had what it took to be champions.

But Chara, with his leadership and determination, kept the B’s moving forward. One thing about Chara is he never backs down from a challenge. He looks at the impossible as very much possible.

The Bruins’ 2011 playoff run, which culminated with the franchise winning its first Stanley Cup in 39 years, was one of the most exciting three-month periods in the history of Boston sports. There were so many ups, downs, and memorable moments.

There were many heroes during those four playoff series. Tim Thomas set a record for playoff save percentage and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP. David Krejci led the playoffs with 23 points. Brad Marchand scored a then-rookie record 11 playoff goals, including five in the Cup Final. Nathan Horton scored two OT-winning goals and the only goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Chara was also at the top of his game. When the Bruins needed it most, their captain stepped up with elite play at both ends of the ice on the sport’s biggest stage.

Chara played an astounding 37:06 of ice time in Game 5 of the first-round series versus the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs did not score and tallied only 14 shots when Chara was on the ice. The Bruins ended up winning in double overtime to take a 3-2 series lead. They won the series in overtime of Game 7.

In the second-round sweep against the Flyers, Chara helped tilt the ice heavily in the Bruins’ favor. Boston outscored Philadelphia 13-4 and generated more than 60 percent of all scoring chances during Chara’s 113:58 of ice time over four games.

In Game 7 of the East Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bruins had a 16-7 advantage in shots, a 12-5 edge in scoring chances and allowed zero goals during Chara’s 26:43 of ice time. The Lightning only tallied two shots on net when Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos went up against Chara in that game. The B’s won 1-0 to clinch their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1990.

Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images

The 2011 Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks is where Chara’s defensive excellence really played a key role for the Bruins. He put on a defensive masterclass against a Canucks team that won the Presidents’ Trophy, scored the most goals of any team and had the No. 1 ranked power play. Daniel Sedin led the league with 104 points. His brother and linemate, Henrik, had 94.

Neither of those two superstar forwards made a profound impact in the Final. Daniel tallied four points in the series but was held without a point in five of the seven games. Two of his points were garbage time assists in Game 6. Henrik was completely invisible. He scored a meaningless goal late in Game 6. It was his only point of the series.

They couldn’t escape the physicality, long reach and towering presence of Chara. He played about 70 even-strength minutes against the Sedins in that series, per Natural Stat Trick, and Boston outscored Vancouver 5-2 and had a .960 save percentage in those minutes. Chara winning that matchup so decisively was pivotal in the outcome.

The Sedins were power-play maestros, too. Daniel led the league with 42 power-play points in the 2010-11 regular season. Henrik had 35. But in 28 minutes of power-play ice time against Chara in the Cup Final, the twins could only muster one goal — a garbage time tally in Game 6. Vancouver’s potent power play, which was supposed to tip the scale in its favor, was bottled up by the Bruins’ 6-foot-9 defenseman. The Canucks ended up going 2-for-32 on the power play in the series.

Overall, the Bruins outscored the Canucks 15-6 in Chara’s ice time over the seven games. He made a huge impact all over the ice versus a Vancouver team that many experts picked to win the series.

And when the final buzzer sounded in Game 7 and commissioner Gary Bettman brought the Stanley Cup onto the Rogers Arena ice and gave it to Chara, the greatest trophy in sports was lifted higher in the air than it ever had, or ever has been.

Winning the ultimate prize didn’t come easy, but those Bruins teams never did anything easy. There were many times throughout that journey toward winning the Stanley Cup that the B’s could have folded and given up. But Chara was never going to let that happen.

He set an example of hard work and dedication that was contagious. No challenge or setback was going to keep him from delivering on the goal he set during his introductory press conference in 2006. This is why the Bruins had the mental toughness to withstand a lot of challenges against the Canucks in the 2011 Cup Final.

Whether it was Patrice Bergeron getting bitten by Alex Burrows in Game 1 and Boston losing 1-0 on a late goal, or the Bruins losing in overtime of Game 2, or Nathan Horton getting knocked out of the series in Game 3 by a vicious hit, or the team losing 1-0 again in Game 5, or the B’s playing a must-win Game 7 on the road, Chara’s leadership kept his team laser-focused on the No. 1 objective.

Other legendary Boston athletes might have won more championships, or taken home more individual awards. But very, very few made the kind of transformational impact on their franchise that Chara did for the Bruins.

It’s one of many reasons why Chara will always be regarded as one of the best Bruins of all time. And it’s why the 2011 title will always matter a little more than some of the others that Boston teams have won.