Down the Frozen River

Blog

  • No, you’re overreacting!

    With first place in the entire league on the line, one team showed why they’re the defending Stanley Cup champion while the other… …showed why they’re somehow here when you least expected it.

    The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1, at Lenovo Center Tuesday night in Raleigh, but admit it, you’re enjoying the ride, aren’t you?

    Boston’s eight-game point streak came to an end, but somehow they’re 9-3-1 to start the season and remain in command of first place in the Atlantic Division.

    Carolina, meanwhile, showed their patented game of calculations and patience that drives opponents insane and suppresses shots against in such a way that even Martin Brodeur would be jealous.

    After all, Brodeur played in an era before shots on goal were reviewed with a fine-toothed comb in light of sports gambling’s (legal) existence and the many, many parlays that depend an the accurate shot count.

    Scott Niedermayer, Scott Stevens and Brian Rafalski be damned, the official scorer is now your greatest defender.

    Anyway, Shayne Gostisbehere had one blocked shot, Jalen Chatfield blocked two, Juuso Välimäki blocked one, K’Andre Miller stood in front of two, Sean Walker blocked three and Jaccob Slavin blocked two.

    Even if Boston had gotten those 11 shot attempts through to Pyotr Kochetkov, they still would’ve trailed in the total shot count.

    Carolina outshot Boston, 30-15, including a, 12-7, advantage in the first period, an, 8-2, advantage in the second period and a, 10-6, advantage in the third period.

    Standing around and letting your opponent force the play is a signature component to why the Hurricanes are successful.

    The Bruins were making too many pass attempts and forced passes that Carolina had no issue picking them off– intentional or otherwise.

    And when the B’s started carrying the puck midway through the final frame it proved costly.

    It wasn’t a great night for the defensive pairing of Mason Lohrei and Frédéric Brunet. It’s an 84-game season, not every one of them is going to be a winner.

    The hope is that Brunet uses this poor performance as motivation to learn and do better in the next game.

    Alternatively, Bruins head coach, Marco Sturm, could use Tuesday night as a reason to rotate Connor Clifton or Jonathan Aspirot back into the lineup Thursday night in St. Louis. Perhaps both even.

    Lohrei held the puck in the offensive zone for too long– passing and shooting opportunities went by the wayside– and he promptly turned it over while corralling the puck in the slot, leading to a rush the other way for the Hurricanes.

    William Carrier skated through the neutral zone with ease, moved the puck to Andrei Svechnikov to his right, then Brunet pinched while Svechnikov let go of an easy backhand pass to beat Boston’s defense.

    Carrier nearly got a touch on it as Lohrei– while overcompensating to get back and defend the play– made the decision to sprawl out and sweep the passing lane– completely missing the puck in the process.

    Sebastian Aho had no trouble ricocheting the rubber biscuit with a backhand off the post, off Jeremy Swayman and in on the high-danger scoring conversion.

    All in all, just that kind of night for Boston. Frustrating, sure, but a good reminder that the Bruins are not close to contending for the Cup and still have 71 more games left in the regular season before any potential playoff action. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

    Stick to the plan.

    Now for the positives:

    Pavel Zacha had a power-play goal to kick things off 1:31 into the first period. Great!

    The power play went 1/5 on the night. While you’d like to have seen them convert on one or two more skater advantages, going 1/5 is better than going 0/5 (or 0/4 like how the Hurricanes did in Tuesday’s contest).

    Elias Lindholm had the primary assist on Zacha’s goal and now has a three-game point streak (1-3–4 totals) and points in four out of his last five games (2-3–5 totals).

    David Pastrňák had the secondary assist and now has a three-game point streak as well (3-3–6 totals) and points in four out of his last five games (4-4–8 totals).

    Swayman made 28 saves on 30 shots faced– good enough for a .933 save percentage in the game and his seventh quality start in 10 games this season.

    Despite dropping to a 7-2-1 record, Swayman has a 2.19 goals-against average and a .921 SV% on the season.

    And to steal a phrase from Canes head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, “that game was closer than you think.”

    No, but seriously, the first period looked promising in terms of the “can they keep up with a real contender” aspect, then the rest of the night was just overthinking and inexperience.

    Matthew Poitras may have missed an open net and rang the post a couple of times, but getting breakouts, showing a solid backhand shot and creating chances helped showcase that he is a certified fourth line forward.

    There are going to be other nights.

  • (Way too) Early season Bruins thoughts

    The 2026-27 NHL season is almost a month old and as of this writing, the Boston Bruins sit second in the entire league with a 9-2-1 record (19 points) through 12 games. They take on the defending Stanley Cup champion, Carolina Hurricanes– who sit first in the league at 9-2-2 (20 points) through 13 games– Tuesday night in Raleigh.

    Though it’s still early in the season, there’s a lot to look forward to and a lot of “they should probably stay the course, shouldn’t they?” to keep in mind.

    After eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the 2024 First Round before losing to the Florida Panthers in six games in the 2024 Second Round, the Bruins’ inevitable collapse in the post-Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí center-depth era commenced with a 28th place finish in the overall standings in 2024-25.

    General manager, Don Sweeney, dealt Brad Marchand to the Panthers, Brandon Carlo to the Maple Leafs and Charlie Coyle to the Colorado Avalanche at that season’s trade deadline as part of a larger selloff that sent Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers and Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild in the buildup to the 2025 deadline itself.

    But then Boston rebounded and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026, after finishing eighth in the 2025-26 overall standings– good enough for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and ultimately a six-game First Round exit at the hands of the Atlantic Division-winning Buffalo Sabres.

    Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov emerged as promising young forwards throughout last season after being components in the Carlo and Brazeau trades.

    Minten has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 12 games thus far in 2026-27, while Khusnutdinov isn’t far behind with 3-3–6 totals in that same 12-game span. They’ve both played up the lineup in a pinch due to injuries or whenever Bruins head coach, Marco Sturm, makes in-game adjustments to try to spark some offense.

    Because of Boston’s own shortcomings in 2024-25, the Bruins ended up with the seventh overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

    The B’s lucked out by selecting James Hagens after Hagens’ draft stock tumbled from “potential first overall pick” in 2025, to “somewhere in the top-10.” Hagens didn’t live up to expectations in his jump from the U.S. National Development Program to Boston College while others– like Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa– became clear-cut favorites.

    In 12 games so far this season, however, Hagens has nine points (four goals, five assists) and has established himself as an early contender for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.

    He also has 16 blocked shots, so at this point he might be chasing Bergeron’s NHL-record six Frank J. Selke Trophy awards as the “best defensive forward.”

    Not to put any pressure or anything on the 19-year-old that turns 20 on Nov. 3rd.

    In the meantime, Boston has also had contributions from Matthew Poitras (4-3–7 totals in nine games since becoming the regular fourth line center) and Frédéric Brunet (1-3–4 totals in nine games while emerging as a power play quarterback on the blue line) as the youth movement has seen surprising returns.

    Nobody expected the Bruins to be leading the league in goal differential with 48 goals for and 26 goals against (a plus-22 differential), though last year’s Vezina finalist, Jeremy Swayman, and this year’s backup, Michael DiPietro, may have a say in the matter.

    Swayman is 7-1-1 in nine games (nine starts) with a 2.20 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage and one shutout. Not to be outdone, but DiPietro is 2-1-0 in three games (three starts) with a 1.69 GAA, a .941 SV% and one shutout as well.

    Oh, and, yes, David Pastrňák still exists.

    He’s the captain now and not only leads the team behind closed doors– though anyone in Boston’s dressing room will tell you they lead by committee– but also leads the club with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 12 games.

    Pastrňák (427 goals in 845 games from 2014-present) is one goal away from surpassing Bergeron (427 goals in 1,294 games from 2003-23) for sole-possession of the third-most goals in Bruins franchise history.

    Offseason acquisition in a trade with the Utah Mammoth, JJ Peterka, has made an impact too with 4-5–9 totals in 12 games.

    Additionally, Elias Lindholm looks a lot more comfortable knowing he doesn’t have to be the first line center and can simply play his game by fitting in on the third line and contributing on the power play with 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 12 games.

    That’s all fine and dandy, though there’s still 72 games left in the regular season and lot to consider long-term.

    So now let’s try to answer some questions you might have about the B’s and NHL at large.

    What should the Bruins do with Pavel Zacha?

    Pavel Zacha is back to centering the first line flanked by Peterka and Pastrňák on his wings and despite only having two goals in 11 games this season, Zacha doesn’t look out of place.

    He’s on pace for 49 points this season, which would be down from his career-high 65 points in 78 games last year.

    Zacha has become a pretty consistent near or above 50-point scorer in a Bruins uniform since he was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Erik Haula prior to the 2022-23 season.

    There’s no denying that Zacha has played his best hockey in Boston. He’s become a fan favorite in the awkward transition from Bergeron and Krejčí’s Bruins to Pastrňák, Charlie McAvoy and Swayman’s Bruins.

    But with this season being a contract year and a $4.750 million cap hit, Zacha is the biggest blue chip the Bruins have that could make an immediate impact on another NHL roster that’s looking to bolster their lineup for a Cup run.

    Boston is by no means out of the woods from their retool.

    You aren’t a de facto Stanley Cup contender until you at least make the Conference Final round a year prior to the current season and you haven’t successfully completed a rebuild or retool (or whatever you want to call it) until you’ve at least made it to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    The Bruins– since they hit the “reset” button in 2024-25– have only made the postseason in 2026, and lost in the First Round.

    It does not make sense to add any major components that would help them present themselves as being in “win now” mode when they actually aren’t, contrary to how nice it would be to see Pastrňák accepting the Cup in June.

    Minten, Hagens and Poitras are shaping up to be the future of Boston’s center depth with Minten and Hagens auditioning for first or second line roles to Poitras’ third line center presence.

    Dean Letourneau and Will Zellers are on their way after they’re both done playing college hockey.

    The Bruins could use Zacha to shore up another top-six winger– whether that’s a current NHL player (like Peterka) or another young, NHL ready prospect on the verge of a burgeoning career (a potential first line center, winger or otherwise in the next two or three years).

    Boston isn’t going to contend for the Cup this season or possibly next season, but by trading Zacha and getting younger players and draft picks, they can help keep their own cupboards full of potential as the rest of the roster starts translating their potential into kinetic energy.

    Re-signing Zacha at $9.000 million or more per season is a risky move considering Elias Lindholm already exists as your one token “this won’t age well 30 or older” contract.

    Though, if you’re able to move on from that one as well at some point, all the power to you and kudos.

    What about Casey Mittelstadt?

    Casey Mittelstadt is a little easier to answer despite the fact that he’s also on pace for 49 points this season and is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

    Mittelstadt is two years younger than Zacha. He’s 27.

    He’s also probably not commanding that much more than his current $5.750 million cap hit on his next deal which, unlike Zacha, is probably a more acceptable three or four years at most.

    Boston could lock up Mittelstadt through the rest of his NHL prime and only face a slight pay raise in the process.

    Mittelstadt plays an important role on the third line and is much better as a wing than as a center as he’s rejuvenated his career in Boston after his production fell from 59 points in 82 games with the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23, to 57 points in 80 games combined with the Sabres and Colorado Avalanche in 2023-24, to just 40 points in 81 games with the Avalanche and Bruins in 2024-25.

    Last season he had 42 points in 71 games.

    He probably won’t have more than that from here on out and that’s not bad for a third line winger that could potentially drop down to the fourth line as Boston’s youth movement climbs the ladder.

    By that point, the Bruins would just be hoping that Mittelstadt is able to get 20 or more points in a season.

    And that’s assuming he signs a four-year extension and becomes the next Sean Kuraly.

    Realistically, a player of Mittelstadt’s caliber won’t command more than $7.000 million per season in the new NHL with player salaries skyrocketing this offseason and the salary cap expected to continue climbing.

    Compared to Zacha, Mittelstadt wouldn’t be doubling his current cap hit and gives Sweeney plenty of space to tend to other matters like re-signing his two biggest pending-restricted free agents in Poitras and Mason Lohrei, while giving himself enough room to make a trade or sign some depth pieces and leave cap space for in-season action in 2027-28.

    It feels like there’s mutual interest in continuing the symbiotic relationship that Mittelstadt and the Bruins have developed, whereas Zacha could be in a Michael Ryder in 2011, type of situation.

    Wait, what about Mason Lohrei? You wouldn’t trade him?

    At this point, no.

    Lohrei is off to a good start this season with five points in 12 games. He’s on pace for 35 points which would establish a career-high for the 25-year-old Louisiana native.

    By now, he is what he is and that’s not necessarily a bad thing so long as he can remain as a steady second or third pairing defender long-term.

    His current cap hit is $3.200 million and prior to the Philadelphia Flyers signing Leo Carlsson to an offer sheet with an $18 million cap hit that sent a shockwave around the league in player salaries, Lohrei probably wouldn’t be getting more than $4.500 to $5.000 million on whatever his next deal looks like.

    Now, of course, he might land (at most) in the $6.500 to $7.500 million cap hit range after asking for something crazy like an $8.000 million cap hit, but that’s assuming he hits his mark in point-pace and goes above and beyond in his defensive elements that have otherwise plagued him thus far.

    Unless the Bruins find a way to get Simon Edvinsson from the Detroit Red Wings– which would likely mean including Lohrei and more in the hypothetical trade– any sort of move coming from the blue line is probably one in which Boston finds a trading partner to extend the NHL career of Henri Jokiharju who is currently buried in Providence (AHL).

    Speaking of Detroit…

    It’s probably a good thing that Dylan Larkin is not interested in a trade with the Boston Bruins at this point.

    Sure, he would immediately become a first line center with Peterka and Pastrňák on his wings, but isn’t that just what got Detroit into this problem in the first place?

    Larkin needs to be dealt to the type of roster where he can just “fit in”– both in the literal “NHL players don’t like to stand out and are boring” sense and in a manner similar to how Nathan Horton played really well for the Bruins after being acquired from the Panthers prior to the 2010-11 season.

    Neither Larkin nor Horton are true first line talent, but in the right situation or by simply being demoted to a second or third line on a Cup contending team they can just play their game and contribute to the overarching depth in scoring and roster construction.

    Besides, if you’re going to potentially package Zacha, Lohrei and more, you should be acquiring Edvinsson and a draft pick or two for good measure as part of the two or three-year plan to return to Cup contention.

  • No, Patrice Bergeron is not perfect; He’s even better

    “Love.”

    That’s the one word I’d use if I had to describe Patrice Bergeron. Not “perfection.”

    He’s human, after all. I’m sure even Patrice Bergeron has had to raise his inflection when disciplining one of his kids for misbehaving. Not that any Bergeron kid would ever misbehave for starters.

    Everyone has talked about the person that Bergeron is and was on and off the ice.

    To me growing up, he was like Bergeron’s favorites himself— Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. It also helps that I shared a little something in common with Bergeron— I, too, was a huge fan of Sakic, though I didn’t get to watch as much of his career as Bergeron did and had an appreciation for Forsberg given my second-favorite team growing up was the Colorado Avalanche.

    Bergeron, of course, knew them as members of the Québec Nordiques— a team that existed when I was born about 10 years after Bergeron. But the Nordiques relocated after the 1994-95 season, breaking Bergeron’s heart in the process, I’m sure. They played a role as the Avalanche, however, during the 1999-2000 season in acquiring Ray Bourque from the Boston Bruins.

    Bourque would stick around for one more full season with the Avs after Colorado lost in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Final to the Dallas Stars.

    Joe Sakic would hand Ray Bourque the Cup immediately upon accepting the 35-pound oldest trophy in professional sports from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman instead of doing the traditional first raising of Lord Stanley as team captain in June 2001.

    Bergeron was drafted by the Bruins two years later, 45th overall, in the second round of the 2003 NHL Draft in Nashville.

    He made his NHL debut with Boston on October 8, 2003, on home ice at the then-FleetCenter against the New Jersey Devils— the same team Bourque and the Avalanche beat in seven games to win the Cup two years prior.

    Bergeron was 18 in his first NHL season. I was eight, but turned nine by the time I went to my first game— April 9, 2004, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the Montréal Canadiens.

    Of course, I’ve told this story many times before. I was there in Balcony 313, Row 9.

    Rewatching the highlight of the goal or even the rebroadcast of the entire game is weird to me because I remember it from a completely different angle— the best angle.

    The one where Bergeron streamed down the ice, riffled a shot and the puck trickled through José Théodore. I remember watching the puck as though it were moving in slow motion and the eruption of the crowd pop, old FleetCenter Bruins goal horn and the organist playing “Paree” as everyone was leaving the building elated after the overtime win.

    I was wearing my first Bruins hat and clutching a Blades the Bruin plush doll— both purchased earlier that day during warmup— as my family and I walked out of the building and climbed the old North Station elevated T stop to trek back to Riverside. I still have my thundersticks from that game, as well, and my brother’s old hand-me-down youth-sized Ray Bourque Bruins jersey that I wore that day.

    Despite being born in Massachusetts, I was not born with skates on my feet.

    I didn’t learn to skate until I was 12-years-old.

    That, among some other reasons that we’ve all encountered as part of hockey culture— but don’t want to admit— factored into why I never got to play the game.

    Patrice Bergeron has always been inclusive.

    Some will say that he’s “team first,” but he’s really “people first.” He values each individual as a person— living a full life away from the rink, as much as they are at the rink. He respects everyone. It does not matter if you are mopping the place up after a game, a reporter, fan, teammate, coach, general manager or CEO— Bergeron does not discriminate in his kindness and humility.

    Some number of years ago, former Bruins defender, Andrew Ference, had an image of skeletons as his Twitter profile header. Underneath each skeleton was a label like “straight”, “gay”, “religious”, “atheist”, “Black” and “white.” The point of which was a simple one— that we are all made of the same organic material. All of our personal identifiers decompose when we die— rendering all of us the same. Just bones. Carbon made from literal stardust.

    Zdeno Chára was the first player to advocate for and on behalf of You Can Play after the Burke family created the organization in the wake of Brendan’s passing. Bergeron and Ference followed suit.

    The three players and their advocacy as allies— not just to the LGBTQ+ community, but to all individuals with respect as paramount to the cause of lifting up rather than punching down— left the biggest impression on my upbringing as a fan and as someone that wanted to emulate their leadership in all facets of life.

    When Bergeron announced his retirement three years ago, my father told me how happy he was that Bergeron had been a role model in my life and that we got to watch the entirety of his career together, even though he was more of a fan of David Krejčí himself.

    Krejčí reminded him more of someone like Johnny Bucyk in his younger days when he was watching the Bruins win two Cups in a span of three years in 1970 and 1972.

    Bergeron still carries himself with grace, class and love. For the sport itself, but beyond that for other human beings and for life itself.

    If there were ever to be a Legends Row in Boston like the one in Toronto, Bergeron is a first ballot choice alongside Chára, Bucyk, Bourque, Eddie Shore, Tiny Thompson, Lionel Hitchman, Frank Brimsek, Milt Schmidt and Willie O’Ree. Those are the foundations upon which the Ultimate Bruins are built.

    Bobby Orr already has his statue. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a few more teammates.

    For an entire generation of Bruins fans, Bergeron displayed how to conduct oneself with the utmost sincerity. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Nobody is. But you can be a better person out of love and respect.

    Just like Bergy does.

  • Why the Bruins probably shouldn’t pursue Dylan Larkin

    First of all, Dylan Larkin is good, not great.

    Now, that’s not to say he isn’t a top-six forward in the National Hockey League, but rather that he’s a first line center on the Detroit Red Wings and a very good second line center on any Stanley Cup-contending roster. 

    He’s the type of player that the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights would be after on their way to their recent Stanley Cup Final appearances. 

    But there’s a clear difference between guys like Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Aleksander Barkov, Connor McDavid and Larkin.

    There’s “generational talent” and then there’s “very high-skilled.”

    Larkin is more akin to Taylor Hall on the Hurricanes, for example. Both are great in their own right.

    Hall won the Hart Memorial Trophy in the 2017-18 season with the New Jersey Devils and was the 1st overall pick by the Oilers in the 2010 NHL Draft. He’s now in his first career Stanley Cup Final appearance in his 16th season in the league.

    Larkin has played 11 seasons, was drafted 15th overall by Detroit in 2014, and won gold with the U.S. men’s team in the 2026 Winter Games. He’s actually appeared in more Olympic games (six) than Stanley Cup Playoff games (five) since his NHL debut with the Red Wings in the 2015-16 season.

    Sure, Larkin would easily slide in as a first line center for the Boston Bruins, but are the Bruins that competitive of a team regardless of whether or not they were to acquire Larkin?

    Boston is not Colorado, Tampa, Florida, Edmonton, Carolina or Vegas.

    Trying to acquire Larkin means giving up components of the current roster and immediate future. It’s not as steep of an asking price as some might be touting, though others hold fast to the claim that Larkin is a franchise center.

    Larkin is a “franchise center” much in the sense that Shane Doan was the franchise player for the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes.

    Both players fall into a category of players that were loyal to a fault and played well enough to earn their rightful recognition, but never really broke out with all-time clutch performances that yielded Cup rings (in part because the teams they played for were never that competitive).

    Some might even look at David Pastrňák as being in the same position on the Bruins as Larkin is in Detroit the longer that Boston waivers in what Jeff Marek refers to as “the mushy middle.”

    Larkin is a six-time 30-goal scorer and recorded career-highs in assists (47) and points (79) in the 2022-23 season while notching a career-high 34 goals in 2025-26. He’s had 30 or more goals in the last five seasons and is pretty consistent in his offensive output with seven seasons of 63 or more points in his 11-year NHL career thus far.

    With the Bruins, there’s a chance Larkin could be viewed as a slightly more glorified David Krejčí. What Krejčí may have lacked in regular season performance from year-to-year, however, he made up for in the postseason— elevating his game to the next level.

    Acquiring Larkin runs the risk of becoming another Elias Lindholm on a roster that already has Elias Lindholm. He’s also signed for five more years through the 2030-31 season, which is the same length of time remaining on Lindholm’s contract.

    Larkin, of course, hasn’t seen action in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2016.

    There are no guarantees that Boston is prime for another playoff run in 2027.

    I’m a Red Wings fan, should I be mad about a player exercising their right that was previously negotiated in their contract?

    This isn’t the first time a player has appeared as though they’d like to play for one franchise their entire career and later altered their plans as dreams and desires ebb and flow in life.

    Dylan Larkin earned the right to negotiate a no-trade clause in his contract in accordance with what the players’ union and league itself collaborated on in the creation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

    Had he pivoted after the first season of his current contract or sooner, I’d understand the annoyance of his perceived “bad faith” towards the Red Wings organization– the franchise itself, his teammates and the fans.

    But he spent the first three years of his current eight-year deal wearing Detroit’s crest with enough pride to be patient, if not begrudged, while Steve Yzerman worked to make the roster more aligned with playoff contenders.

    Ultimately, Yzerman’s best intentions in acquiring guys like Justin Faulk and David Perron approaching this year’s trade deadline weren’t enough to the satisfaction of Larkin.

    Despite spending most of the season in playoff position and having an ascribed leadership role as captain, Larkin and the Red Wings collapsed and missed the postseason yet again.

    Who is in the running in the Larkin sweepstakes?

    Helene St. James was first to report that Larkin submitted a list of a few teams he’d be willing to waive his no-movement clause for in the Detroit Free Press.

    St. James alluded to the usual candidates like the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights, while The Athletic‘s, Pierre LeBrun, simply confirmed that Yzerman received a “short list” of teams Larkin is willing to be traded to.

    LeBrun has since noted that there may be more than a few teams at play after Yzerman asked Larkin’s agent, Pat Brisson, to expand their original list.

    This means teams like the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and Utah Mammoth could try to make an effort to persuade Larkin by presenting Yzerman with an offer he (Yzerman in this case) can’t refuse.

    Larkin holds leverage over where he may ultimately end up before the 2027-28 season, since he has a full no-movement clause in the first five seasons of his current contract.

    By the 2028-29 season, however, Larkin will have to submit a list of 10 teams he would be willing to be traded to as the final three years of his current contract carries a modified no-trade clause.

    Steve Yzerman’s been through this before, right?

    Correct. He was general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning when Martin St. Louis asked to be traded for a chance at a second Cup ring as a player in 2014.

    Yzerman swapped captains with the New York Rangers, acquiring Ryan Callahan as part of a package in the St. Louis-Callahan trade.

    There were conditions attached to the draft picks involved, but the Bolts ultimately sent St. Louis to the Rangers with a 2015 2nd round pick in exchange for Callahan, a 2014 1st round pick, a 2015 1st round pick and a 2015 7th round pick.

    It’s fun to note that all of the draft picks involved in the St. Louis-Callahan trade were later flipped in other trades.

    Both the 2014 and 2015 1st round picks ended up being 28th overall in each draft and property of the New York Islanders, who drafted Joshua Ho-Sang and Anthony Beauvillier in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

    The 2015 2nd round pick was later traded to the Calgary Flames, who selected Oliver Kylington 60th overall. Meanwhile, the 2015 7th round pick ultimately ended up in Edmonton, where the Oilers drafted Ziyat Paigin 209th overall.

    St. Louis and the Rangers ended up losing in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final in five games against the Los Angeles Kings, while Callahan and the Lightning later eliminated the Rangers with a, 2-0, win on the road in Game 7 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Final.

    Though Tampa didn’t win the Cup while Yzerman was general manager, things worked out pretty well shortly afterwards in 2020 and 2021.

    Anyway, Yzerman is destined to trade yet another captain as a result of Larkin’s trade request.

    Yzerman’s main goal is maximizing the return on the deal and has no prerogative to rush things similar to how Joe Sakic handled the Matt Duchene trade almost a decade ago with the Colorado Avalanche after Duchene asked out.

    O.K., but do the Bruins have a shot?

    There’s no doubt that Don Sweeney will be one of 31 general managers who will do their “due diligence” in exploring the market for Dylan Larkin.

    But let’s keep in mind what some other teams have to offer.

    The Minnesota Wild could help Detroit’s goaltending woes by including Jesper Wallstedt in a potential Larkin trade. The Dallas Stars– should negotiations sour with Jason Robertson– could trade Robertson to the Red Wings as part of a Larkin trade.

    Both of those teams are Cup-contenders for the foreseeable future and can risk moving a young player in their burgeoning prime for Larkin to address a need down the middle and increase their depth for a Cup run.

    The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have a decent stockpile of current and emerging surefire NHL talent to attract Yzerman.

    The Boston Bruins, meanwhile, do not.

    It’d be unwise to trade guys like James Hagens or Dean Letourneau for Larkin when the whole point of the retool is to get younger, faster and more skilled.

    How did it work for the last guy?

    Dylan Larkin is just the latest on the list of players that spent a decent amount of time with one organization only to be left burning bridges on their way out as a result of organizational ineptitude, lack of playoff success or lack of support for the player on or off the ice.

    Jack Eichel was drafted 2nd overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2015, and amassed 139-216–355 totals in 375 career games with Buffalo from 2015-21. Then the Sabres wouldn’t allow him to get surgery that had never been performed on an NHL player before.

    He was stripped of his captaincy, failed his physical and was placed on long-term injured reserve before the saga culminated in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on November 4, 2021.

    Buffalo sent Eichel to Vegas in a package that included Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch going to the Sabres, while Eichel was able to finally get the surgery he desired and later made his Golden Knights debut on February 16, 2022.

    Vegas acquired Eichel at a point where “average” NHL players are just starting to reach their prime. He was 25 when he made his Golden Knights debut in 2021-22, and won the Cup with Vegas the following season at 26.

    Elite players can tap into their prime anytime from when they’re drafted at 18 through 20-years-old and make it last into their mid-to-late 30s (think Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini or Patrice Bergeron, for example), while the average NHL player typically reaches their prime from about 25 through 32 or 33-years-old.

    Goaltenders are usually an outlier regardless, if you’re wondering.

    The Detroit Red Wings were around the playoff bubble— even on the right side of making the postseason early in Larkin’s NHL career— far more than the Buffalo Sabres had ever been during Eichel’s tenure with the team.

    When Buffalo drafted Eichel, they hadn’t made the playoffs since 2011.

    Detroit lost Nick Lidström to retirement in 2012, but still made the playoffs through Larkin’s first NHL season— dropping a First Round matchup in five games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016.

    The Bolts had just made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2015, so Detroit losing to a team that had much of the core in place that led Tampa to Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022, isn’t that surprising in hindsight. 

    Especially as the Red Wings veteran players were in the twilight years of their prime after Detroit won the Cup in 2008, before losing their rematch with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Final in 2009.

    More recently, Mitch Marner did a sign and trade on June 30, 2025, in order to get the maximum length of a contract and end up in a more desirable place than the Toronto Maple Leafs who were his hometown team growing up and drafted him 4th overall in 2015.

    Marner had 741 points (221 goals, 520 assists) in 657 games in Toronto after making his league debut in the 2016-17 season. He had a career-high 102 points in 81 games with the Maple Leafs in 2024-25, but at 27-years-old he had only advanced as far as the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice.

    Enter the Golden Knights, who, for Nicolas Roy, acquired Marner in the midst of his prime– similar to Eichel– and are now in the Stanley Cup Final in Marner’s first season with the organization.

    Oh, and it helps that Marner is a big part of why Vegas is in the Final against Carolina currently, since Marner has set a franchise record for the most points in a postseason for the Golden Knights with 10-19–29 totals in 20 games played at the time of this writing.

    Eichel, Marner and Larkin were all 1st round picks and in their prime at the time of their trades/upcoming trade, but Larkin is turning 30 on July 30th.

    He may only have two, three or four years tops in his prime remaining.

    How is this relevant to the Bruins?

    After being reverse-swept by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinal, the Boston Bruins needed a little bit of a shakeup.

    Everyone in the organization wanted to not just avenge the series loss to the Flyers, but exceed external expectations and win the whole damn thing.

    So then-general manager, Peter Chiarelli, faced a situation not entirely dissimilar to Don Sweeney’s current Mason Lohrei problem.

    Dennis Wideman wore No. 6 in a Bruins sweater long before Lohrei donned it for the first time in the 2023-24 season. Wideman wore it with pride from the 2006-07 season through the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Wideman was an offensive defender with 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in 81 games for Boston in his first full season with the club in 2007-08. He improved to a career-high 50 points (13 goals, 37 assists) in 79 games the following year as the Bruins finished one point shy in the entire league standings of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning San Jose Sharks in 2008-09.

    Then Wideman dropped to 6-24–30 totals in 76 games with Boston in 2009-10.

    Despite an impressive 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) in 13 playoff games that spring, Wideman’s plus/minus rating had gone from a plus-32 in the regular season in 2008-09, to a minus-14 in 2009-10.

    Now, plus/minus isn’t everything, but a drop like that is pretty significant.

    His mistakes became glaringly obvious. He shot the puck wide, man. It was in his name all along!

    He was also 26-years-old by the end of the 2009-10 season. Coincidentally, Lohrei will be 26 by the end of the 2026-27 season.

    Chiarelli needed to boost Boston’s offense while the defense would take care of itself as a young Johnny Boychuk had emerged during the 2009-10 season— complimenting the rest of the blue line in Zdeno Chára, Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Adam McQuaid pretty well.

    The Bruins had a style that Wideman just… …didn’t fit.

    So Chiarelli traded Wideman, a 2010 1st round pick and a 2011 3rd round pick to the Florida Panthers for Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell.

    Horton was the 3rd overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. In his first season with the Panthers, he had 14-8–22 totals in 55 games played in 2003-04.

    He doubled his scoring output after the 2004-05 lockout canceled season with 28 goals and 19 assists (47 points) in 71 games with Florida in 2005-06.

    Horton continued to be a consistent scorer for the Panthers at a time where the team never made the playoffs in his Florida tenure.

    Though he only reached the 30-goal plateau once in his career (31 in 2006-07), he had the knack for scoring clutch goals when the Panthers needed it most.

    He was also only 25-years-old when the Bruins acquired him on June 22, 2010. That’s five years younger than what Dylan Larkin is going to be by the time Larkin hits the ice this fall.

    Of course, if you’re a Bruins fan reading this, you already know that Horton and Co. won the Cup in 2011, and appeared in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.

    Boston acquired Horton in the midst of his prime and got the most out of him before he left in free agency while injuries ultimately ended his career prematurely.

    But the Bruins aren’t a Cup-contender currently?

    Yes, exactly! You’re catching on. Good for you.

    Boston can’t make the jump next season like they did from 2009-10 to 2010-11.

    The Bruins signed Elias Lindholm to a seven-year contract at the age of 29, on July 1, 2024– two years after he amassed career-highs in goals (42), assists (40) and points (82) with the Calgary Flames in 82 games in 2021-22.

    In 13 NHL seasons since making his league debut with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2013-14, Lindholm has only reached the 70-point plateau twice.

    His production with the Flames reached a pinnacle in 2021-22, and fell to 64 points the following season before splitting time between Calgary and the Vancouver Canucks after being traded during the 2023-24 season. That year, Lindholm had 15-29–44 totals in 75 games with the Flames and Canucks.

    He registered 47 points in 82 games with Boston in his first season, but injuries kept reappearing in his sophomore season as a Bruin– limiting him to 69 games in the regular season in 2025-26, though he managed to record 48 points in the process.

    If he had been completely healthy, Lindholm probably would’ve finished with just shy of 60 points.

    There’s just one problem– that’s not good enough for a first or second line center. Especially if you’re looking at adding Dylan Larkin to the equation to answer the question “who will replace Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí as the No. 1 and No. 2 centers in Boston?”

    It gets even worse if you clog up the opportunities that should otherwise go to someone like Fraser Minten or James Hagens to grow into if you have any hope for either or both to become the long-term plan down the middle.

    Remember how Charlie Coyle was deadweight in the middle of the lineup by the end of his Boston tenure? Lindholm and Larkin could expedite that– especially if they can’t keep up with the wingers around them at a time where you’re looking to capitalize on speed and skill by the midpoint of their current contracts.

    Lindholm was signed via free agency in the twilight of the average NHLers’ prime.

    It’s not worth overpaying for a step above Lindholm for the sake of saying “well, at least he’s better than him and gives us a little more depth down the middle.” Especially if the cost outweighs the reward.

    O.K., but I’m still reading this and my team isn’t the Bruins, so what if you’re trying to win the Cup as soon as possible?

    Well, buyer beware.

    Dylan Larkin would be a great addition to a Cup-contending team that needs a second line center.

    If you’re trying to recreate what the St. Louis Blues did when they acquired Ryan O’Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres ahead of the 2018-19 season, you should note that O’Reilly was turning 27 at the time and had more prime left in the tank than Larkin currently has in his.

    O’Reilly could play up in the lineup because he was a force and not just a nice complimentary asset to have in the arsenal.

    Speaking of St. Louis, it’d be great if you could simply pry Robert Thomas from the Blues. But Andy Strickland has already reported that Thomas isn’t going anywhere and will be on the St. Louis roster when training camp begins in September.

    Jordan Kyrou, on the other hand….

    That’s who you should want to target if you’re the Bruins or any team, for that matter.

    Kyrou is only 28-years-old and has 67 or more points in four out of the last five seasons. That’s some pretty good consistency that will lend itself to being the type of player that still amasses about 50 points a year even after he turns 33 or 34.

    Maybe he’ll do that even up to about the time he’s 37. He could pull a Joe Pavelski and just go off on a scoring tangent.

    Winning trades isn’t always immediate

    Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but if you’re the Boston Bruins in a retool looking to get better long-term, you want to acquire someone that is already on the cusp of or in the midst of their prime between the ages of, say, 20 and 26.

    The Montréal Canadiens acquired Nick Suzuki and Tomáš Tatar as part of the package from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Max Pacioretty on Sept. 9, 2018.

    Suzuki had just been drafted 13th overall by Vegas in 2017, and was a promising young center that wouldn’t make his NHL debut with Montréal until the 2019-20 season at 20-years-old.

    He put up 41 points in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and another 41 points in the 56-game 2020-21 season before amassing 61 points in 2021-22, 66 points in 2022-23, 77 in 2023-24, 89 in 2024-25 and breaking the 100-point plateau with 29-72–101 totals in 2025-26.

    He’s a 26-year-old that’s really just getting started in the early part of his prime and now has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy– living up to the comparisons to Patrice Bergeron when he was drafted by the Golden Knights and later introduced to the Canadiens’ prospect pipeline.

    Boston would benefit significantly in any trade where they identify the type of player like Suzuki that’s ready-now or growing into their prime and will become certified top-talent on their roster.

    So you need another Fraser Minten, right? And a little patience. You know, like how the Canadiens did with Suzuki.

    The Bruins swindled the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Brandon Carlo trade that yielded Boston Minten and draft picks in return.

    There are contenders willing to part with decent prospects or young players all around– just look at how the Colorado Avalanche jettisoned Cal Ritchie to the New York Islanders for Brock Nelson or how the Dallas Stars parted with Logan Stankoven in the Mikko Rantanen trade (part II) with the Carolina Hurricanes.

    This is where offer sheets get interesting this summer and Mason McTavish becomes somewhat of a desirable solution on the trade market with the Anaheim Ducks.

    Anaheim is looking to take the next step up in their game and postseason plans, while McTavish could use a little bit of a reset and probably a ceiling adjustment.

    You could likely convince the Ducks to take someone like Mason Lohrei or Pavel Zacha as a starting point for the frameworks of a trade.

    At 23-years-old, McTavish is still entering his prime, though if he were to be an annual 50-point scorer for the next decade, that’s probably better than what you’d get out of Dylan Larkin by the end of Larkin’s current contract.

    If anything, McTavish gives you a certified middle-six forward while your top prospects in James Hagens, Dean Letourneau, Will Zellers and young players like Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov sort themselves out among the first and second lines with David Pastrňák leading the way as your most important player, if not captain, of the franchise long-term.

    But we already have Nick Suzuki at home

    Look, I love Matthew Poitras dearly and I’m not opposed to saying “just give him a little more time,” but if Boston won’t give him a chance on the NHL roster full-time in 2026-27, well, we have a major philosophical development problem to address.

    Missing out on Larkin would be fine

    I would’ve loved to have signed Marián Hossa when he hit free agency after losing back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances with Pittsburgh and Detroit in 2008 and 2009, but he was never coming to Boston with the way the roster looked at the time.

    Sometimes the seemingly right player just isn’t available at the right time.

    Yeah, the Bruins could’ve signed Hossa, but what kind of butterfly effect would that have had on the Dennis Wideman trade for Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell?

    And, you know, quite literally everything else given the salary cap space that Hossa’s contract would’ve eaten up.

    It’s a lot like when John Tavares hit free agency and left the Islanders for the Leafs.

    Sure, the Bruins could have made an attractive offer, but how would their hands have been tied in the process thereafter?

    That, and David Krejčí already existed in the presumptive role for Tavares.

    In any case, this is going to be quite an offseason, isn’t it?

    Yeah.

    It’s fair to ask “what, exactly, is the current core of the Boston Bruins?” when another year has come and gone for guys like David Pastrňák, Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman, while Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm and others sort themselves out as they’re pressured by younger talent in Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, James Hagens and the next prospect up.

    That’s the part that’s going to be quite a balancing act for Don Sweeney.

    It wouldn’t hurt the Bruins to have a guy like Viktor Arvidsson around as a stable, veteran presence in the dressing room, but at what cost for the pending-unrestricted free agent and with how many other guys already like him on the roster?

    Many of whom are expendable by the 2027 trade deadline if the playoffs aren’t looking likely.

    How much of the forward progress that occurred for Boston from 2024-25 to 2025-26, was a direct result of trading everyone they did and adding to their prospect pool and draft pick capital leading up to the 2025 trade deadline?

    There’s a difference between “draft capital” and “draft capital surplus” when making a big move to acquire a player in their prime that can make an immediate impact on your roster.

    The former implies that your organization has a stockpile of prospects that you’ve hit on or are developing in a timely manner and can move on from early enough into their professional careers to maximize value and meet your trading partner where they’re at in acquiring certified high-end talent.

    But you can’t make too many of those moves without running the risk of stunting your own organizational growth and development in the depth charts.

    You also don’t have tremendous draft capital if your prospects are four years out or more from their draft year, like Fabian Lysell.

    The latter implies that you have three first round picks in the next draft or two— or something like that— where you can create mobility in the upcoming first round to land a core piece. That, or you can flip anyone with one of those first round picks and still be able to incorporate whoever else you draft and develop within the usual timeframe from draft day to NHL regular.

    Right now, the Bruins would be better off continuing to build the foundation of prospects and picks— especially since they haven’t had a lot of hits in recent years.

    Taking the best available is a good strategy, though ensuring that the best prospects truly live up to their potential is a whole other story.

    Boston is going to need to have a difficult conversation with many coaches, scouts and development staff members outside of goaltending coaches this summer.

    It’s time to start producing results or someone else will do it for you while you update your LinkedIn profile.

  • Breaking down the Rasmus Andersson trade

    Rasmus Andersson is on the move.

    The Calgary Flames traded the 29-year-old defender to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday evening in exchange for defender Zach Whitecloud, the rights to unsigned defensive prospect Abram Wiebe, a 2027 1st round pick (top-10 protected) and a conditional 2028 2nd round pick that can become a 2028 1st round pick if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this season.

    Calgary already owns Vegas’ 2026 1st round pick from a prior trade.

    The Flames retained 50% of Andersson’s salary in this transaction, so Andersson will carry a $2.275 million cap hit against Vegas’ total salary cap as the trade deadline looms March 6th.

    TSN”s Darren Dreger broke the news of the trade before Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman filled in the details of the return.

    There is no extension for Andersson as part of the trade.

    Dating back to last season, Vegas had always been an attractive destination for Andersson with his current contract set to expire this summer.

    Now, the Golden Knights can do what they’ve already done before when they acquired Noah Hanifin from the Flames in March 2024– they can sign Andersson to an extension anytime between now and July 1st like how they did with Hanifin about a month after acquiring him.

    Despite not ending up with the player, the Boston Bruins played a large part in the facilitation of Andersson’s trade to the Golden Knights.

    A source close to the Flames indicated that the Bruins had received permission to discuss an extension while working on the potential trade and had an agreement in place with Andersson on an extension late Saturday night. Boston’s general manager, Don Sweeney, would not budge, however, from his offer of Mason Lohrei, Matthew Poitras and a 1st round pick as part of the return to Calgary.

    This source also previously indicated a roster player from Vegas and a 2nd round pick as part of the initial offer that Kelly McCrimmon had made to the Flames at one point prior to the widespread report of Boston’s offer making the rounds on the Internet.

    It is reasonable to believe that Calgary’s general manager, Craig Conroy, used both offers he had received to sweeten the deal in the return for Andersson.

    McCrimmon ended up offering an additional pick and the rights to an unsigned prospect regardless of an extension, thereby meeting Calgary’s demands that Boston was unwilling to match with or without assuring themselves of locking up Andersson long-term as a Bruin.

    Sweeney’s front office had some qualms with Conroy’s asking price to begin with and Boston wasn’t going to execute a trade without Andersson extended.

    98.5 The Sports Hub‘s Ty Anderson, a Bruins beat reporter, noted that Boston had some internal debate regarding whether or not the Bruins should part with one of their next four first round picks in the potential trade for Andersson (the now former Calgary defender turned Golden Knight, not Ty).

    Boston remains intent on adding where they are able to do so approaching this year’s deadline. The Bruins are also aware that they are more likely than not closer to where Calgary is at in terms of the playoff picture– looking on from the outside in.

    Bruins management does not want to risk their future with a solid core of David Pastrňák, Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman leading rising stars like Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov as well as collegiate prospects, James Hagens, Will Zellers and Dean Letourneau fast approaching the NHL level.

    In the end, Vegas gets the defender they want for a potential Cup run and the Flames get Whitecloud, Wiebe and potentially two more of the Golden Knights’ first round picks to add to their stockpile.

    Having now acquired Andersson, Vegas is believed to begin negotiations on an extension as soon as possible. The Golden Knights had not received permission to speak with Andersson prior to the trade, unlike Boston.

    What Andersson brings to Vegas

    Rasmus Andersson is a 29-year-old native of Malmö, Sweden and has 10-19–29 totals in 47 games with the Flames this season.

    The 6’1″, 202-pound, right-shot defender was originally drafted by Calgary in the 2nd round (53rd overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft and later made his NHL debut with the Flames in the 2016-17 season, recording 18:33 time on ice in San Jose on April 8, 2017.

    He matched his career-high in goals last season (11) in 81 games compared to the 79 games that it took in 2022-23. Andersson had a career-high 46 assists in 82 games with the Flames in 2021-22, and went on to produce a career-high 50 points and plus-30 rating that season as well.

    After a dismal minus-38 rating in 81 games last season in Calgary, Andersson has rebounded to a plus-1 rating in 47 games prior to being traded to Vegas.

    Andersson has 57 goals and 203 assists (260 points) in 583 career NHL games with the Flames and 7-7–14 totals in 27 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.

    He is averaging 24:12 time on ice this season and is likely to reunite with former Flames teammate, Noah Hanifin, on Vegas’ second defensive pairing and have a little more of a reserved role with the Golden Knights.

    What Whitecloud brings to Calgary

    Zach Whitecloud is a 29-year-old native of Brandon, Manitoba and has 2-5–7 totals in 47 games with the Golden Knights this season.

    The 6’2″, 210-pound, right-shot defensive defender was undrafted and originally signed as a free agent with Vegas on March 8, 2018.

    Whitecloud made his NHL debut about a month later against the Edmonton Oilers on April 5, 2018, and was a plus-three in 16:42 time on ice.

    He has averaged 17:44 per game in 368 career NHL games (all with Vegas) and was a member of the 2023 Stanley Cup-winning Golden Knights team. Whitecloud has 23 goals and 55 assists (78 points) in his regular season career, while adding 5-12–17 totals in 78 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.

    He carries a $2.750 million cap hit through 2027-28.

    What’s up with Abram Wiebe?

    An unsigned prospect in his third season with North Dakota, Abram Wiebe is a 22-year-old, 6’3″, 209-pound left-shot defender. The Mission, British Columbia native has 3-11–14 totals in 24 games with the Fighting Hawks this season and was originally drafted by the Golden Knights in the 7th round (209th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft.

    He is currently listed as an alternate captain for his NCAA intercollegiate club and had previously served as the captain of the Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL) in 2022-23.

    He had 1-9–10 totals in 40 games as a freshman with North Dakota in 2023-24, and 24 points (four goals, 20 assists) in 38 games in his sophomore season.

  • The waiting game in Calgary

    As you may already be aware, the Calgary Flames are trading Rasmus Andersson. The Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights remain the favorites in a four-team bidding war, while the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs remain linked.

    Last night, Elliotte Friedman reported on Sportsnet that the Bruins have been allowed to engage in conversation on an extension with Andersson as part of the frameworks of a potential transaction between Boston and Calgary.

    To reiterate, the Bruins’ current offer– and best available to the Flames currently on the table— is only if Andersson agrees to and signs an extension with Boston.

    Meanwhile, one of the major components expected in return for Andersson, Mason Lohrei, scored a pair of goals in Boston’s, 5-2, comeback win Saturday night in Chicago. It’s the first of a two-game road trip for the Bruins with a stop in Dallas coming up Tuesday night before returning home to host Vegas on Thursday.

    It’s also a siblings’ road trip (similar to moms’ and dad’s trips around the league) for Boston while Saturday also happened to be Lohrei’s birthday too.

    The business of professional sports sacrifices birthdays, holidays and more, but that’s understood as “just part of the industry.” What’s not usually part of the business is for a team to ruin the mood for everyone involved during a special outing like Boston’s siblings’ trip.

    That might influence the timeline of the expected outcome if the Bruins are favored by the Flames, Andersson and his agent, as well as Lohrei and his respective parties (agent and sibling).

    Neither Andersson, nor Lohrei were withheld from their respective lineups as Andersson registered an assist in Calgary’s, 4-2, win on home ice Saturday afternoon against the New York Islanders.

    Had both players been kept out of the action– preserved in fear of an untimely injury that would otherwise negate a trade– that would’ve been a dead giveaway regarding the likely winner of the Andersson sweepstakes.

    Of course, Vegas could’ve held someone out of Saturday night’s, 7-2, win against the Nashville Predators, but it wouldn’t have been likely that all three teams would’ve sat one or more players in their respective organizations that are potentially on the move as an insurance policy.

    If Andersson won’t agree to an extension as part of the proposed trade with Boston and Calgary won’t make a deal with Vegas, then the Flames will have to pivot to a potential move with Dallas or Toronto.

    Craig Conroy and his front office executives in the Flames organization hold a lot of leverage over the outcome of this transaction, even if Andersson believes he is more inclined on going to Vegas should an extension not get done with the Bruins.

    Andersson has a modified no-trade clause that includes a six-team no-trade list per PuckPedia as part of his current contract that expires after this season.

    Unless Andersson has a personal beef with a city like Dallas or Toronto, it’s hard to conceive that– should the Flames not get something done with Boston or Vegas– the 29-year-old defender wouldn’t end up in either of those organizations.

    Calgary is back in action Monday night as the Flames host the New Jersey Devils.

    Meanwhile, Lohrei’s impressive effort in Boston’s five unanswered goal-comeback victory over the Blackhawks could have been enough to make Bruins general manager, Don Sweeney, reconsider his offer to the Flames.

    It could have also helped Sweeney market Lohrei to other potential suitors in the event Andersson does not agree to an extension and this potential trade falls through and Boston remains set on moving their 25-year-old defender.

  • Rasmus Andersson and a few scenarios

    Rasmus Andersson will be traded. When and where remains to be resolved.

    The 29-year-old Calgary Flames defender is more likely than not to be dealt in the next 24-48 hours per a source and if his postgame wave to the crowd at Scotiabank Saddledome, high-fives and hugs from Jonathan Huberdeau, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee and others are any indication, he has likely played his final game as a Flame in Saturday’s, 4-2, victory over the New York Islanders.

    Andersson had one assist and was a plus-two rating in 25:40 time on ice, while recording two shots and two blocked shots in the win.

    In 48 games with Calgary this season, he has 10 goals and 20 assists (30 points) and a plus-three rating– one point shy from his 11-20–31 totals and up from a minus-38 rating in 82 games last season with the Flames.

    Four teams are in the running for acquiring Andersson’s services including the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and one more team from the Eastern Conference.

    None of my sources have been able to pinpoint whether the remaining team in the bidding process is the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs or another unnamed team in the conference.

    The Red Wings are believed to be buyers approaching this season’s trade deadline on March 6th, while the Leafs hold the familiarity factor if you subscribe to the theory that National Hockey League general managers only ever try to (re-)acquire players they’re had in their possession before.

    Brad Treliving was previously Calgary’s general manager from 2014-23, before Don Maloney held the interim title for about a month prior to Craig Conroy‘s hiring on May 23, 2023. Treliving was later hired by Toronto on May 31, 2023.

    Andersson was originally drafted by the Flames with the 53rd overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and later made his league debut during the 2016-17 season prior to becoming a full-time NHL defender in 2018-19.

    He has 261 points (57 goals, 204 assists) in 584 games (all with the Flames).

    What are the Boston Bruins thinking?

    Sources close to the Flames and Bruins have overlapped on the big components of a potential deal that would see Andersson swapping out his red and yellow sweater for the black and gold.

    Boston is offering Mason Lohrei, Matthew Poitras and a 1st round pick in exchange for Andersson with at least one condition attached to the 1st round pick.

    One of the big sticking points, however, for any deal involving the Bruins is that Boston’s general manager, Don Sweeney, needs to have Andersson signed to an extension as part of the trade.

    Andersson would likely yield a cap hit around the $8.000-8.500 million range on his next contract, but neither sources have indicated what the length of the extension would be.

    One caveat of any long-term extension for Andersson is the fact that he will turn 30 on Oct. 27th, which means there’s a good chance that if Boston acquires Andersson, they’ll add a certified right shot defender that will slide in on their second pairing and be committed to his spot on the roster through his late prime and early twilight of his playing career.

    It’s fair to ask if including a 1st round pick in the transaction is a steep price to pay. Certainly, if Andersson won’t commit to an extension with the Bruins, then Boston would be unwise to leave their best offer as the final offer on the table.

    For an organization that finally adopted the best draft policy in 2025 (take the best available player at each selection), it’d be wise for the B’s to stay the course and continue to stock their prospect cupboard, while selling pieces as the 2026 trade deadline approaches– playoff race be damned.

    That’d mean that a 1st round pick should be a non-starter, regardless of the fact that Boston potentially has four 1st round picks in the next two seasons. The Bruins previously acquired a top-five protected 2026 1st round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs in last year’s Brandon Carlo trade and a conditional pick that converted into a 2027 1st round pick from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Brad Marchand.

    If that’s too many words for you, remember this– Boston has their own 2026 and 2027 1st round picks, plus they have Toronto’s 2026 1st round pick (unless the Leafs win the lottery and end up selecting anywhere from 1st through 5th overall) and Florida’s 2027 1st round pick (unless one of the Panthers’ previous transactions renders them unable to keep their 2027 1st round pick, in which case the Bruins will own Florida’s 2028 1st round pick).

    The Bruins don’t have to use all four of those picks, but they’d be smart to yield the maximum return on their potential value.

    Trading for an aging veteran defender, while giving up 25-year-old, Mason Lohrei, and 21-year-old, Matthew Poitras, in the process means there’s too much value exiting Boston’s organization– even if the majority of it is in their system currently and residing in future value.

    The Bruins already have their work cut out for them in turning over aging prospects in Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov and have yet to see what current college hockey stars, James Hagens, Will Zellers, Dean Letourneau and Will Moore will bring to their organizational depth among the NHL and AHL rosters.

    On the other hand, trading for Andersson addresses a need that the Bruins have now, solidifies their lineup for the near future and presents Boston with the opportunity to continue to attract talent as a desired destination– so long as head coach, Marco Sturm, gets the most out of his players and makes the playoffs from year-to-year.

    Moving on from Lohrei

    Mason Lohrei is under contract through the 2026-27 season at an affordable $3.200 million cap hit, but it’s not known whether he wants to stay in Boston long-term, nor if the Bruins desire to keep him around that long either.

    He had been scratched earlier this season while struggling to adapt to Sturm’s player-on-player coverage and was a league-worst minus-43 in 77 games last season, despite recording career-best totals with five goals, 28 assists and 33 points in that span.

    Lohrei averaged 16:57 in 41 games in 2023-24, but was thrust into top-pairing minutes for long stretches last season– averaging 19:32 per game– due to Boston’s battered blue line while Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm missed time.

    Despite only being 25-years-old, Lohrei should be entering his prime right now and taking command of a top-four spot on Boston’s defense, yet he’s struggled with elements of his defensive game– losing battles and turning the puck over at inopportune moments, rendering him to third pairing minutes from night-to-night.

    If the Bruins are unsure of what they have in Lohrei, unsure of their mutual long-term plans and compatibility or want to take advantage of the fact that 31 other NHL teams would gladly take a player like Lohrei for his offensive upside, they should capitalize on his trade value.

    As it is, Lohrei is on pace for another 33-point season and matched his career-high in goals (five) with the tying goal in the second period of Saturday night’s game in Chicago– his 44th game of the season compared to his five goals in 77 games last season.

    Moving on from Poitras

    Matthew Poitras had an impressive stint in his first five career NHL games during Boston’s Centennial season in 2023-24, but wasn’t able to sustain the momentum before tallying just 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 33 games prior to an injury that shut him down for the rest of the season.

    The following year, the 5’11” or 6’0″ (depending on who you ask), 189-pound right shot center had just one goal and 10 assists (11 points) in yet another 33-game span in 2024-25, amidst injury, reassignment and concerns due to his small stature in spite of his offseason bulk.

    Poitras made Boston’s NHL roster out of training camp for the second consecutive season, but missed the first game of the year due to a lingering injury.

    After playing in 14 out of the first 16 games last season, Poitras was reassigned to the Providence Bruins on Nov. 11, 2024, and later made his AHL debut before amassing 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 23 games with Providence prior to being recalled by Boston.

    Upon reinsertion in Boston’s lineup, Poitras recorded an assist in a, 6-2, win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 14, 2025, and remained a pretty consistent component of the Bruins’ lineup through March 6th.

    He had one goal and three assists with Boston in 14 games prior to being sent down and just seven assists after his call-up in 19 games thereafter.

    The acquisitions of Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov rendered a reevaluation of Boston’s depth charts. The ensuing emergence of the short statured Khusnutdinov combined with his speed and chemistry with a skilled player like David Pastrňák left No. 92 with a more favorable image compared to Poitras’ game.

    Khusnutdinov could hold onto the puck, while Poitras could lose an important battle here or there, leaving his teammates helpless in poorly timed situations.

    Minten eventually got his call-up in April and made his Bruins debut on April 5th– recording one goal in a six-game stint with Boston before the offseason began. He did not look out of place and was more NHL ready at 6’2″, 204-pounds than Poitras in both his playing experience prior with the Maple Leafs and in his frame.

    Whereas Poitras has drawn comparisons to Jonathan Toews in the past for his playmaking abilities– if he can stay at the NHL level for long enough, Minten’s ceiling appears to be rising as the 2025-26 season goes on.

    Despite Poitras’ ups and downs in 2024-25, he at least managed a consistent 41-point effort in 40 games with the Providence Bruins, including 17 goals and 24 assists in that span.

    This season, however, the offensive elements of Poitras’ game have been evaporating.

    Unlike the previous two years, Poitras didn’t make the NHL squad out of training camp and the preseason. Since then, he has just 6-14–20 totals in 34 games with Providence.

    It’s not as if the Bruins have given up on developing Poitras, as they’ve given him just about every chance to stick in the NHL prior to this season. They’ve also given him a reason to prove beyond a doubt that he could force a call-up if his assignment to Providence prior to the season would’ve sparked a fire in him to reclaim his status as Boston’s most important prospect.

    But with Dans Ločmelis receiving Olympic attention from Latvia and James Hagens, Will Moore, Dean Letourneau, Oskar Jellvik, Andre Gasseau, as well as Kristian Kostadinski turning heads at Boston College while Will Zellers lights the lamp in North Dakota, there’s a sense that Poitras could slip further and further down the Bruins’ depth charts.

    It’s not that Poitras can’t become a regular NHL player, but rather that there might not be the time and space for him to become whatever that might look like in a Bruins uniform, especially if he’s only going to get the occasional look in a replacement-level position.

    It might be best for both sides to cut ties and give Poitras the added advantage of a fresh change of scenery to reinvent himself in Calgary’s system.

    What are the Vegas Golden Knights thinking?

    A source close to the Flames indicated that Vegas has presented Calgary with an offer for Rasmus Andersson that includes Brett Howden and a 2nd round pick.

    It’s not unusual for the Golden Knights to pivot from protecting one of their highly touted talents within the organization only to flip that player for an immediate impact asset in hopes of securing their second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

    Mark Stone is 33-years-old. So are William Karlsson and Brandon Saad. Brayden McNabb is 34. Tomáš Hertl is 32. Alex Pietrangelo is 35, out for the season and may never play again.

    2023 Stanley Cup clinching goal scorer, Reilly Smith is 34, and a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

    The Golden Knights are getting older and will need to make some tough decisions regardless of the outcome of the 2025-26 regular season and 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Vegas general manager, Kelly McCrimmon, will need to remain focused on building around Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Zach Whitecloud and Shea Theodore as the old guard transitions to the new core.

    While adding Andersson increases Vegas’ average age and would come at the cost of giving Calgary a player with significant term left on his contract– as Howden has five years remaining through the 2029-30 season– McCrimmon can patch a hole on the right side of his defense in light of Pietrangelo’s unavailability.

    Regardless of an extension in place for Andersson at the time of the trade, the Golden Knights could convince Andersson that life in the desert is well worth sticking around for a longer term while presenting him with the best opportunity to win his first Cup ring sooner rather than later.

    Vegas, unlike Boston, is a legitimate Cup contender this season.

    They can well afford taking a risk on acquiring Andersson without an extension in place if it means they’ll use another wish on the metaphorical monkey’s paw for their second Cup banner and magic cure for the inevitable maneuvers they’ll have to make in the salary cap world.

    While Boston has the better offer from Calgary’s perspective, there is Andersson’s point of view to consider. Right now, it seems as though Andersson has preference for landing in Vegas rather than in the Hub.

    What’s pure speculation?

    There may be an ounce of truth to the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames having discussed a swap last summer involving Andersson and prolific goal scorer (albeit not named to Team USA at the upcoming Winter Games in Milano Cortina), Jason Robertson.

    What’s not known at this time is if the Stars have considered offering up Robertson in a trade for Andersson in-season.

    If the Bruins and Golden Knights are the current leading favorites for a trade with the Flames, then Dallas is going to have to increase the value of whatever might be on the table.

    Despite losing in three consecutive Western Conference Final appearances, as well as in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, Stars general manager, Jim Nill, might not want to rock the boat too much with a bold move that could jeopardize his team’s “win now” status.

    Especially when you consider the fact that Nill holds all the leverage in Robertson’s future– wherever that might end up.

    Robertson won’t turn 27 until July 22nd, which means he is a pending-restricted free agent on July 1st. If an extension can’t get done in Dallas, Nill can still flip Robertson’s signing rights for a decent haul.

    In the meantime, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin aren’t getting any younger, even if Wyatt Johnston, Jake Oettinger, Miro Heiskanen and Co. are poised for long-term core stabilization, but is a franchise altering trade worth stunting the offensive output that Robertson brings to the lineup currently?

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Benchmarks

    Friday night was rambunctious night in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs as chaos was abound.

    The Montréal Canadiens bested the Washington Capitals, 6-3, to force at least a Game 5 in their series with Capitals now leading 2-1 in their best-of-seven matchup.

    The offensive outburst for the Habs wasn’t the only outburst that the Bell Centre crowd witnessed as both teams nearly squared off with their entire rosters heading into the second intermission. More on that in just a bit.

    The Carolina Hurricanes paid a visit to Prudential Center as the New Jersey Devils hosted Game 3 of their series and if you thought this one would be over in regulation, well, you were wrong. Šimon Nemec was the hero in double overtime for the home team Devils as New Jersey won, 3-2.

    Carolina maintains the series lead 2-1, but will host a Game 5 on Tuesday, April 29th regardless of the results of Game 4 on Sunday.

    Finally, Friday night’s late game (for the East Coast, anyway) featured 11 goals between the two teams, rapid momentum shifts and one confusing as hell decision by Los Angeles Kings head coach, Jim Hiller.

    In the end, the Edmonton Oilers emerged victorious, 7-4, on home ice at Rogers Place to take Game 3 and trail the Kings 2-1 in the series.

    Did someone invite the Nordiques?

    Won’t somebody please think of the children?

    Sure thing Mrs. Lovejoy, right after we get back from watching comparisons between warmups and in-game scrums back when the Québec Nordiques and Montréal Canadiens went at it to present-day Arber Xhekaj shenanigans and Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson’s visit to the Capitals bench.

    If you haven’t seen what went down in Game 3 in Montréal: This happened.

    So, yeah, Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson ended up being fined $5,000 each– the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement– for unsportsmanlike conduct in Friday’s night game. Turns out you can’t fight on the bench.

    In the meantime, Connor McMichael scored first on a tip-in 3:20 into the first period to give Washington a, 1-0, lead on the road. But late in the opening frame, Montréal tied it, 1-1, when Alexandre Carrier wired a wrist shot from the point in the last minute of the period.

    Midway through the second period, both teams swapped goals as Nick Suzuki gave the Canadiens a, 2-1, lead off of an offensive zone faceoff thanks to a turnover from Capitals defender, John Carlson, that ended up right on Suzuki’s stick for backhand shot at 8:37.

    Jakob Chychrun, however, caught a pass from Andrew Mangiapane in the offensive zone, corralled the puck and rocketed a slap shot past Sam Montembeault to tie things up, 2-2, about two minutes after Suzuki’s goal.

    But once again, Washington allowed a goal against in the final minute of a period as Lane Hutson picked off a pass intended for Alex Ovechkin in the Capitals’ own zone and fed Cole Caufield a one-timer through the slot to put the Habs on top, 3-2, heading into the second intermission.

    Then chaos erupted at the horn when– after replacing Montembeault due to a lower body injury– Jakub Dobeš exchanged words with some Capitals on their way across the ice to exit the playing surface.

    Everyone partnered up to square dance while Wilson and Anderson tried to throw each other out of the saloon in the meantime.

    When the dust settled, the officials handed out 28 minutes in penalties between the two teams.

    Xhekaj and Lars Eller each had two minutes for roughing each other, while Wilson and Anderson picked up two minutes for roughing and ten-minute misconducts.

    Ahead of the final frame, Montréal announced that Montembeault would not return to the night’s action.

    Then Ovechkin scored on an early rush and a pass from Dylan Strome to Ovechkin on the far side after Anthony Beauvillier got the play started. The Caps tied the game, 3-3, at 2:39 of the third period, but the Canadiens started to pull away from Washington shortly thereafter.

    Christian Dvorak made it, 4-3, on a shot that ricocheted off of Brandon Duhaime’s own stick past his teammate, Logan Thompson, and into the twine, then Juraj Slafkovský played a game catch with Caufield as they entered the zone.

    Caufield dished the puck back to Slafkovský as the young Slovak forward crashed the slot and beat Thompson as the Washington netminder struggled to catch up on the play before being trucked by his own teammate in a collision with Strome.

    Slafkovský’s goal made it, 5-3, Montréal at 13:23 of the third period, while Thompson was slow to get up, then stumbled as he tried to shake it off and was helped off the ice.

    Both starting goaltenders were replaced by their backups due to injury and their statuses entering Game 4 are questionable.

    Alex Newhook added the final goal of the night with 2:25 remaining in the action on Charlie Lindgren’s glove side to secure the, 6-3, win for the Habs.

    Washington needs to tighten up their play if they want to take a commanding 3-1 series lead back home for Game 5. The Canadiens are skating stride-for-stride with the Capitals and haven’t really been out of a game yet this series by any means. It’s too close for comfort if you’re a longtime Caps fan.

    Meanwhile, Montréal just wants to keep riding the momentum they’ve generated. They’re only down 2-1 in the series and they have another home game before having to go back to Washington.

    The Bell Centre crowd lives and breathes the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They expect to be in the building through May every year, whether the Canadiens are rebuilding or not. It’s a religion and they won’t take “maybe next year” for an answer.

    They also won’t take lightly to Wilson and his new meme that he generated as a result of his “crybaby” gestures.

    The torch and LED flames may be a symbol held near and dear to the organization from John McCrae’s famous poem “In Flanders Fields”, but to opponents the flames that are shown across all LED signage before the Canadiens are introduced might as well represent Hell.

    Habs fans are praying to the Hockey Gods and they hope their opponents are smote off the face of the Earth.

    It’s different in Montréal this time of year.

    Nemec gives Devils life in 2OT

    Hey, speaking of Hell, the New Jersey Devils!

    They’re right back in their series with the Carolina Hurricanes after Šimon Nemec scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal early in double overtime to lift New Jersey over the Canes, 3-2.

    The Hurricanes now have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on Sunday in New Jersey and will host a Game 5 Tuesday, April 29th back at Lenovo Center.

    Late in the first period Friday, however, Timo Meier dished a pass to Nico Hischier while the Devils’ captain crashed the net while being chased by Carolina defender, Sean Walker.

    Hischier sold an intentionally mishandled puck and watched as it strolled past Frederik Andersen on the far side as the Hurricanes netminder dropped into a hybrid stance.

    New Jersey held the, 1-0, lead entering the first intermission and neither team managed to score until the third period.

    Jesper Bratt skated down the boards and cut from the corner to the front of the net mimicking a wraparound without even having to go through the trapezoid and out the other side around the goal frame.

    Andersen fell forward to snag the puck, but Bratt bested the Carolina goaltender as the puck slid to the side of the net.

    Andersen’s momentum carried the Hurricanes goalie out of the familiar blue paint of the crease while Dawson Mercer scooped and curled the loose puck– guiding the rubber biscuit over the goal line for a, 2-0, lead 1:18 into the final frame of regulation.

    About five minutes later, though, Carolina started to swing momentum in their direction while on the power play. Shayne Gostisbehere worked the puck to Seth Jarvis through the neutral zone as Jarvis gave the puck to Sebastian Aho before receiving the give-and-go in return and wiring a shot past Jacob Markström.

    Jarvis cut the lead in half with the power-play goal, while Aho later tied the game, 2-2, with a power-play goal of his own– snapping a shot from the bumper at 12:20 of the third period.

    Nobody else could score thereafter and one overtime wasn’t enough, so a second overtime period was in order.

    This time it didn’t take long for Nemec to retrieve a puck from the neutral zone and skate into the attacking zone before releasing a shot from the faceoff circle that deflected off of the Carolina goaltender and in to give Nemec his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal and the game-winner in the process.

    The Devils won, 3-2, as Nemec became the youngest overtime goal scorer in franchise history– beating Adam Henrique’s 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal game-winner in the process. Nemec is only 21, whereas Henrique was 22 at the time.

    Friday night was a huge moment for New Jersey’s 2nd overall pick in 2022, as the defender has had stints in the American Hockey League while coming into his own game between NHL appearances.

    New Jersey can even the series Sunday afternoon and make things really interesting heading back to Carolina for Game 5 afterwards.

    Then again, the Hurricanes can shake off their Game 3 loss– that’s been a trend in recent years for them in every playoff series it seems– and get right back to dominating possession and the scoreboard for a commanding 3-1 series lead with a Game 4 victory.

    “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN VIDEO?”

    It’s a question everyone in a remote production truck has heard at one point or another, but in this case it applies to the Los Angeles Kings’ coaching staff and their decision to challenge Evander Kane’s goal for goaltender interference after an already lengthy officials’ review.

    In the meantime, now we’ve got a series.

    The Edmonton Oilers beat the Kings, 7-4, after Jim Hiller’s questionable decision to challenge what everyone but someone in Los Angeles’ coaching staff saw, apparently.

    Here’s a little secret for those of you that don’t already know how writing works in the world of game recaps and more: You start writing a lede where one team wins and another lede where the other team wins. Prior to Kane’s goal I started setting the scene for a Los Angeles 3-0 series lead.

    The Connor McDaivd-Leon Draisaitl era Edmonton Oilers have been here before. They trailed 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final just last year to the Florida Panthers before generating momentum with a blowout win in Game 4, another win in Game 5 and a third-consecutive win in Game 6.

    They were looking to become the first team since the Los Angeles Kings came back from a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the San Jose Sharks in seven games in the 2014 First Round.

    Then Edmonton lost in another Game 7 on the road in the Stanley Cup Final. Just like they did in 2006, in Carolina– only this time it was after nearly pulling off the highly improbable. There was no reverse sweep for McDavid’s postseason MVP-winning glory.

    Instead, only the inevitable. Just delayed by a few.

    Think about how great that would’ve looked here, Mr. Hiller.

    Instead, only the inevitable. Edmonton forces their way back into the series and upsets Los Angeles for the fourth-straight year.

    Now, I’m getting ahead of myself, but that’s what we could end up looking at here, folks.

    No matter how hot Adrian Kempe is right now– McDavid and Draisaitl are worth at least five of him. And with Evan Bouchard warming up? There’s circles to be skated ’round and ’round.

    You were already playing “catch-up hockey” all night, then you go and do that. How the hell are any of the Kings players supposed to keep their poise and confidence going into Game 4 while still in Edmonton?

    The Kings had a good story going in Game 3 as it was after trailing, 2-0. Kempe made it a one-goal game before heading into the first intermission.

    Kevin Fiala tied it early in the middle frame with a power-play goal and Drew Doughty added another about ten minutes later to give Los Angeles their first lead of the night.

    Then Connor Brown continued a bonkers run of goals– tying the game, 3-3, on a redirection at 17:19 of the second period before Trevor Moore one-handed an accident through Calvin Pickard’s legs to make it, 4-3, on the ensuing faceoff from Brown’s goal. The game had been tied for nine seconds.

    Oh, yeah, Pickard got the start for the Oilers, by the way, over Stuart Skinner.

    And then a few minutes past the midpoint of the third period, Kane and the Oilers thought they scored, but the call on the ice was initially “no goal” due to a perceived distinct kicking motion from Kane.

    An official review determined that Kane had, in fact, kicked the puck from his skate to his stick in a wise move to ensure no issues with the kick in the first place and to corral possession and just tap it in over the goal line with the blade.

    It was a good goal and Kane’s first in his second game back from an injury that somehow kept him out all season (the NHL isn’t thrilled about some of the long-term injured reserve use this year, apparently).

    Then Hiller used his coach’s challenge and, predictably, lost. If Kane had made contact with the blade of his stick touching Darcy Kuemper’s pads, it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference.

    The call on the ice– which, by now, was a “good goal”– stood. Los Angeles was assessed a bench minor for delay of game.

    Bouchard scored his second power-play goal of the game off the ensuing faceoff– 10 seconds after Kane’s goal, to be exact. The tally also rendered Bouchard as the first Oilers defender in franchise history to

    Now Edmonton was ahead, 5-4, and the Kings were forced to pull Kuemper for an extra attacker with all of the momentum fully swung in the Oilers’ favor.

    Doughty got crushed on a hit, lost the puck and McDavid ended up with possession on a short pass to go end-to-end from Zach Hyman to Edmonton’s captain for an empty-net goal to make it, 6-4, with 1:40 remaining in the action.

    Brown beat what would have otherwise been an icing about 90 seconds later and collected his second goal of the game– Edmonton’s second empty netter– to secure the, 7-4, victory.

    The Kings now lead the series 2-1, but the Oilers have home ice for Game 4 Sunday. It’s going to be a tough mountain to climb for Los Angeles to head back home with a commanding 3-1 series lead.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Now with some spice!

    Thursday night’s action brought us a close, 2-0, win for the Florida Panthers over the Tampa Bay Lightning– stealing home ice advantage in the process heading back to Florida for Games 3 and 4 with a 2-0 series lead for the Cats.

    What’s more, it also brought a 3-0 series lead for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Ottawa Senators as an unlikely hero scored the game-winning overtime goal in Game 3 on the road.

    Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov continued their hot streaks for the Minnesota Wild as they downed the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-2, and took a 2-1 series lead in the process.

    Finally, the St. Louis Blues blew out the Winnipeg Jets, 7-2, which is bad news for Connor Hellebuyck fans as the Jets netminder was pulled from the action and good news for Hellebuyck haters, I guess. At least Winnipeg still leads that series 2-1, however.

    Now it’s a battle

    Just the other day I asked if the “Battle of Florida” actually kind of sucks and it’s good to see both teams are rejecting the hypothesis.

    Game 2 was a low scoring battle of attrition. Then Brandon Hagel went and threw gasoline on the fire.

    Now, I didn’t mean for someone to do that and go about making an illegal check rendering a five-minute major for interference and knocking Aleksander Barkov out of the game in the process.

    I want to note I’m a fan of heavy hockey, not bullshit hockey.

    A physical presence is always a good thing and a corresponding immediate response to it via fisticuffs is sometimes necessary and encouraged under heavy hockey pretenses. Unlike in bullshit hockey where premeditated or staged fighting occurs at, say, the opening puck drop of a 4 Nations Face-Off game between the U.S. and Canada.

    Heavy hockey is a grind and something to pride oneself on when the final score reads in your favor. Bullshit hockey is a five-minute major penalty in the waiting and possible other supplemental discipline upon a hearing.

    The latter tends to lead to being embarrassed in the next matchup too when it matters most– at least as Team USA found out.

    Now, I’m not saying that fighting isn’t part of the game or anything. Quite the contrary. It’s always been part of the game– as a penalty.

    You run the risk of being penalized and you will be penalized for shedding the gloves in an attempt to enact vigilante justice.

    Yet, big, clean hits are always perfectly legal and well within the range of “normal expectations and teetering on the edge of ‘the line’ or whatever.”

    The best way to handle something like Hagel’s illegal check? Score more goals than his team. Then win the next game for good measure too.

    In fact, make it a living hell for the opposing team. Finish every check. Capitalize on as many scoring chances as possible.

    Anyway, the Panthers still won Thursday night, 2-0, courtesy of a goal from the red-hot defender, Nate Schmidt, and an empty-net goal from Sam Bennett in the dying seconds of the game for insurance.

    Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside all 19 shots that he faced for his fourth career Stanley Cup Playoffs shutout in 96 postseason games. Bobrovsky has now recorded at least one shutout in each of the last three postseason runs for Florida and currently has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage to boot.

    Tampa spent a lot of time in the attacking zone with no results on the scoreboard and Jake Guentzel sent a rebound through the crease behind Bobrovsky and out the other side at one point late in the action too.

    The Bolts dropped home ice advantage and despite only trailing 2-0 in the series are basically in a do-or-die situation heading into Game 3 Saturday on the road.

    For the Panthers, their focus has to remain on the bigger picture– score goals and beat the Lightning on the scoreboard. Don’t try to settle the score, but let Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand do the talking (and walk the walk). A 3-0 series lead is within reach and can be accomplished with some home cooking.

    After writing this, Tampa forward, Brandon Hagel, was suspended by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for one game for interference against Florida forward, Aleksander Barkov. Hagel can return to the series in Game 4.

    Sonny and Cher approaching

    Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in overtime in a playoff game.

    Unlike in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, this time the Leafs did it in Game 3 on the road from Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa sorry, Kanata (well, technically it’s still Ottawa– it’s just 30 minutes from downtown Ottawa).

    Toronto now has a 3-0 series lead heading into Saturday night for Game 4 and can sweep the Senators while on the road and become the first team to advance to the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Claude Giroux kicked off the night’s scoring to give the Senators a, 1-0, at 1:38 of the middle frame.

    Almost midway through the period, however, Matthew Knies had other plans and evened it up, 1-1, at 8:31 of the second period.

    Nobody else could muster anything on the scoreboard through the second intermission.

    Then it happened.

    A mere 32 seconds into the final frame of regulation, Leafs forward, Mitch Marner, fed Auston Matthews a pass with his golden stick while Ottawa’s goaltender, Linus Ullmark, was caught looking the other way and had no idea the puck was now briefly on Matthews’ stick.

    Matthews sent a one-timer behind Ullmark’s back to give Toronto their first lead of the night, 2-1, and people will still find a way to complain about Marner despite his offensive awareness and playmaking abilities.

    In any case, he’s due for a surefire raise this summer. Where he’ll be getting his new salary from, however, remains to be seen.

    Midway through the period, Brady Tkachuk carried the Sens into the attacking zone and proved Ottawa wouldn’t go down without a fight as he tallied a wrist shot goal on a breakaway from the faceoff circle– top shelf blocker side while using Maple Leafs defender, Brandon Carlo, as a screen– and tied the game, 2-2.

    Giroux picked up the primary assist as the home crowd came alive at 11:22 of the third period.

    But nobody could seal the deal on a regulation victory thereafter.

    Signed as a free agent by the Anaheim Ducks on March 7, 2019, before making his NHL debut during the 2020-21 season, Simon Benoit joined the Maple Leafs via free agency on August 28, 2023, and has recorded just six goals in 279 career regular season games.

    Benoit notched his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal in his 10th career postseason game.

    It also happened to be the game-winning goal at 1:19 of the overtime period.

    See, Benoit received a pass off the kickplate from Matthews– who had just won an offensive zone faceoff– then blasted a slap shot from the point with eyes past Ullmark.

    Benoit had served as the screen and had the only assist on Max Domi’s overtime goal in Game 2. This time in Game 3, he was the hero.

    For the first time since the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, the Leafs have the chance to sweep a postseason series. Coincidentally, that 2001 series also happened to be against the Senators.

    Toronto can also improve to 5-0 in all-time playoff series’ against Ottawa with a win in Game 4 on Saturday, having most recently beaten the Senators in seven games in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

    Meanwhile, Sens head coach, Travis Green, has a difficult task ahead of him– besides the obvious “reverse sweep” attempt, Green has to contemplate starting Ullmark in Game 4 or, perhaps, looking to someone like Leevi Meriläinen to tend the crease.

    Meriläinen has never appeared in the postseason before and went 8-3-1 in 12 games (11 starts) with a 1.99 GAA, a .925 SV% and three shutouts in that span this season.

    Either way, it’s do or die at home for Ottawa and they look very much on their deathbed.

    Xceling in the Wild?

    Xcel Energy Center is getting a new naming rights partner next season and the Minnesota Wild opened up the 2025 postseason on home ice with a, 5-2, win in Game 3 of their First Round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    The Wild took a 2-1 series lead in the process and chased Adin Hill from the net after 40 minutes in favor of Akira Schmid.

    Zeev Buium recorded his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs point via the primary assist on Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal to give Minnesota a, 1-0, lead just a few minutes into the game Thursday night.

    Matt Boldy notched the secondary assist on the goal and, like Kaprizov, remained hot the rest of the night.

    Hill lost his focus a few minutes later after Wild forward, Justin Brazeau, sent the puck around the boards in the attacking zone. Hill went to play the puck in the trapezoid– stopping the rubber biscuit for a few seconds before going right back up the boards and directly to… …Brazeau.

    Brazeau eagerly worked the puck back down low to Yakov Trenin, who fed Marco Rossi in the slot for a one-timer goal while Hill was caught playing catch up.

    The goal marked the first of Rossi’s postseason career and gave the Wild a, 2-0, lead at 6:51 of the opening frame.

    Midway through the period, however, Alex Pietrangelo willed Vegas back into the game– if only for a little while, anyway.

    Pietrangelo received a pass from Noah Hanifin and rushed the attacking zone before unloading an old-school slap shot through Filip Gustavsson’s five-hole to cut Minnesota’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Midway through the second period, however, Boldy re-extended Minnesota’s lead to two-goals with a wrist shot goal.

    Then in the dying seconds of the period, the Wild struck gold on the power play. Again.

    This time Kaprizov put the puck in the back of the twine on a deflection to send the Wild into the second intermission with a, 4-1, lead.

    That goal was enough for Golden Knights head coach, Bruce Cassidy, to make a change in net and utilize the services of Schmid for the rest of the night.

    Midway through the final frame, the Golden Knights were shorthanded and Reilly Smith made it a two-goal game again, but Vegas couldn’t do anything else to erase the, 4-2, deficit.

    Boldy rang the post from way downtown while Schmid was on the bench for an extra attacker, but Marcus Foligno followed Boldy’s effort up with a surefire empty-net goal while shorthanded. Mostly because he skated the puck into the attacking zone and everything.

    Vegas finds themselves in a “must-win” situation entering Game 4 Saturday in light of the fact that the Golden Knights split Games 1 and 2 on home ice.

    Minnesota, meanwhile, can take a commanding 3-1 series lead with a win in front of their home crowd Saturday and try to eliminate Vegas on the road in Game 5.

    Of note, The Athletic‘s Michael Russo pointed out that Boldy and Kaprizov became the first Wild players in franchise history with multiple points in each of Minnesota’s first three postseason games. Eric Staal had multiple points in a two-game streak back in 2020.

    Hat’s all folks!

    Lately– and I haven’t had a chance to look at the swath of data, so I’m just going off of the “eye test” here– it seems like teams that have a blowout win in a series go on to win the series more times than not.

    Well, the St. Louis Blues ran away with a, 7-2, victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 in front of St. Louis’ home crowd at Enterprise Center Thursday.

    Pavel Buchnevich scored a power-play goal 48 seconds into the night, then added two more goals– including one more on the power play– to complete the hat trick and give the Blues a, 4-1, lead at 5:24 of the third period.

    Then the flood gates opened and Connor Hellebuyck was chased from the net and replaced by Eric Comrie as Winnipeg head coach, Scott Arniel, tried to wake up his team.

    Hellebuyck didn’t help himself, admittedly, after mishandling the puck with pressure bearing down on him from Blues forward, Robert Thomas, in the trapezoid leading to a gift goal for Buchnevich for the hat trick on a grab and go effort.

    The long story short is that “playoff Hellebuyck” might be back and the Jets couldn’t score (or defend, really) and that’s a dangerous combination for Winnipeg’s hopes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Especially after their best season in franchise history– having won the Central Division, clinched the best record in the Western Conference and league courtesy of the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time ever.

    It’s not quite a 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal collapse like when the Atlanta Thrashers were swept by the New York Rangers after winning the Southeast Division title in their only playoff appearance before relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, but…

    The feeling is awfully familiar.

  • 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Fifth night takeaways

    Wednesday night featured a lighter schedule with only three games on the docket as Logan Thompson stood on his head– in the third period especially– in Washington, D.C., Gabriel Landeskog played his first National Hockey League game in 1,032 days and everyone’s favorite harmonica group returned for Game 2 in Los Angeles.

    The Washington Capitals took a 2-0 series lead over the Montréal Canadiens with a 3-1 victory in Game 2 at Capital One Arena.

    Tyler Seguin scored the game-winning goal in Game 3 on the road at Ball Arena as the Dallas Stars won back-to-back games in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead over the Colorado Avalanche.

    And Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had four points in a, 6-2, blowout victory for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of their series with the Edmonton Oilers to take a 2-0 lead on home ice.

    Shots shots shots shots shots (everybody)

    Despite outshooting Montréal, 32-26, in Game 2, everyone was talking about Thompson’s performance after Wednesday night’s, 3-1, win for Washington.

    Thompson made 25 saves and recorded a .962 save percentage in the victory and now has a 1.47 goals-against average and a .951 SV% thus far in the postseason.

    The Capitals held the Canadiens to 12 shots on goal through 40 minutes Wednesday– outshooting the Habs, 9-4, in the first period and, 18-8, in the second period alone for a, 27-12, advantage entering the final frame.

    That means Thompson faced a barrage of 14 shots against in the third period itself as Montréal mustered every effort to tie the game and force overtime for a second game in-a-row in the series.

    Despite the loss, Sam Montembeault still had 29 saves on 31 shots faced for a .935 SV% in Game 2 for Montréal and has a respectable 2.49 GAA and .921 SV% through two games in the series.

    That stat line would be fantastic in just about any other playoff series normally.

    The only problem is that the Canadiens have allowed six goals against thus far to their three goals for while Thompson has put up even better numbers than Montembeault as a result.

    Christian Dvorak slid a rebound under Thompson’s legs to give the Habs a, 1-0, lead 1:16 into the first period. Despite the fast start for the Canadiens, they weren’t able to get anything else past the Washington netminder.

    In fact, Montréal couldn’t hold the lead for long before the Capitals evened things up, 1-1, at 3:47 courtesy of a backhand goal from Connor McMichael.

    Then Washington’s leading scorer in the regular season, Dylan Strome, shoveled his own rebound past Montembeault for a, 2-1, lead a minute after McMichael had tied the game.

    The shift in momentum rendered a raucous crowd inside Capital One Arena as Strome put the home team ahead.

    Both teams settled in thereafter and McMichael wouldn’t add his second goal of the night until he hit the back of an empty net in the final seconds of the action to make it, 3-1, Washington.

    The series shifts to Montréal for Games 3 and 4 and the Habs can get back into it by just a few lucky bounces in front of their home crowd.

    Gabriel Landeskog returns! (for real this time)

    But Dallas ruined the party!

    Landeskog’s first game in almost three years featured six hits, one blocked shot, one giveaway and one takeaway to go along with a 50% draw on the faceoff dot.

    The first hit in his return? Delivered to former Avs teammate turned current Star by way of the Carolina Hurricanes, Mikko Rantanen.

    Almost halfway through the opening frame, the two teams were skating at 4-on-4 and Valeri Nichushkin made Matt Duchene look silly– shaking off the Stars forward with a quick cut and circle in the attacking zone before deking Jake Oettinger out of his mind to give Colorado a, 1-0, lead.

    Unfortunately for Avalanche fans in attendance, the 8:09 mark of the first period was also the last time they would experience joy for the rest of the evening as only anguish and dread was afoot.

    Posts were ringing, possession was to be had and play spent much of the time in Colorado’s own zone.

    Dallas outshot Colorado, 14-5, after one period and held onto an, 18-13, advantage through 40 minutes despite the Avalanche holding an, 8-4, shot advantage in the middle frame alone.

    Mackenzie Blackwood was the only reason why the Avs held their lead most of the night and finished with 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV%.

    Through three games this postseason, Blackwood has a 2.07 GAA and a .923 SV% for Colorado. Oettinger has a 2.37 GAA and a .910 SV% for Dallas. The Stars lead the series 2-1, however.

    Shortly after killing off a minor infraction, the Avs found themselves shorthanded once again when Nathan MacKinnon took what some experts are calling “a stupid penalty.”

    MacKinnon tried to be sneaky as he just happened to plant his stick on the ice while Colin Blackwell’s was heading backwards to defend his own end– catching the Stars forward’s skates in the process and sending Blackwell flying.

    The Stars were clicking on the power play opportunity just prior, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

    This time, Dallas did not miss.

    Jamie Benn tipped a shot from Thomas Harley just under the bar to tie the game, 1-1, nine seconds into the skater advantage at 9:18 of the third period.

    Duchene cut a rut to the sin bin and presented the Avalanche with a chance to take momentum and the lead back into their own hands.

    No dice.

    Instead, Dallas had a tremendous shorthanded opportunity and sent Colorado’s power play units into disarray.

    Just as everyone settled in for overtime, Rantanen bounced a lead pass off the boards for Mason Marchment to rush into the attacking zone and drop a pass back to Seguin as No. 91 in his road white jersey with the familiar Dallas green yoke crashed the net.

    Seguin wristed a shot past Blackwood to secure the, 2-1, overtime victory and give Rantanen his first point of the series in the process as No. 96 for the Stars had the secondary assist on the game-winning goal.

    The Stars improved to 42-49 in overtime all-time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 25-22 record in the extra frame on the road in that span.

    The Avs fell to 47-37 in postseason overtimes and are now 20-21 on home ice in that span.

    In all, Dallas has led for just 72 seconds three games into the series. The Stars have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4 on the road Saturday night.

    Martin Nečas is not living up to his full potential.

    The regular season doesn’t have the same kind of pressure the postseason has. Whereas the expectations of the ebbs and flows of the regular season are predicated upon playing the right game to peak at the right time (now through June), you cannot have an “off” night in the playoffs.

    Nečas is clearly a talented player in his own right and now receives the benefit of playing on a line alongside MacKinnon– picking up additional points he could have only previously dreamed of in Carolina.

    But there’s an element of his game that he brought with him from the Hurricanes to the Avalanche that he hasn’t been able to shake off just yet.

    His failure to elevate his game from that regular season routine to the postseason grind.

    The Stars are doing enough to quell MacKinnon and Nečas. They’ve clearly done something to get under MacKinnon’s skin– just enough to annoy him and throw him off of his game.

    Remember after Game 1 when I said:

    “The bad news? Game 1 isn’t Dallas’ thing.

    The good news? History is on their side.

    The Stars dropped Game 1 against the Avalanche, 4-3, in overtime last year on home ice in their 2024 Second Round matchup. They went on to win the next three games before losing Game 5, but won Game 6, 2-1, in double overtime on the road in Denver– courtesy of former Colorado forward, Matt Duchene’s game-winner.

    Dallas also holds the 4-2 series advantage against the Avalanche in their lifetime….”

    Yeah, about that. The Stars still have history on their side– and not only that, they have a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4. They are trying to go from being 4-2 to being 5-2 against Colorado in all-time playoff series matchups.

    Last year, when these two teams met I wasn’t enthused about the Avs’ odds. This year, that doubt has only grown further and further.

    It’s always the Stars or the Minnesota Wild when you think you “deserve” it more than the other team. They’re inevitable.

    Kopitar still has it, but Kempe has arrived too

    Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had four points on Tuesday night and that’s awesome and all, but you know what’s pretty cool too? Quinton Byfield keeps scoring.

    While Los Angeles’ certified stars in Kopitar and Kempe are doing their thing (as they should), Byfield has quietly been having a breakout of his own this series.

    Two games into it and Byfield has two goals and one assist– good enough for three points while centering the second line for the Kings.

    Kempe, meanwhile, has seven points (three goals, four assists) in two games. He’s already one point away from matching his previous postseason-high of eight points in six games in 2023.

    And Kopitar? Well, he’s having a better playoff run through two games this year than he did in five games last year against the Oilers.

    Kopitar has 1-4–5 totals in 2025, compared to his 1-2–3 totals in 2024 (five games played).

    And the Kings have a 2-0 series lead heading up to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4. Los Angeles has the Oilers right where they want them.

    All they have to do is win at least one of the next two games.

    That might be pretty easy to do if Stuart Skinner is still in net for Game 3.

    The Kings chased Skinner after he allowed five goals, but it’s not like the Oilers were completely out of the game– until they were really out of it.

    See, Los Angeles’ power play is cooking and, well, L.A. only had a, 3-0, lead by the midpoint of the middle frame. We saw in Game 1 how Edmonton isn’t out of a game by any means until the final horn sometimes.

    So Leon Draisaitl got the Oilers on the scoreboard. Then Viktor Arvidsson scored against his most recent former team on a tip-in early in the third period to bring Edmonton within one, 3-2.

    The Kings watched as their three-goal lead was suddenly back down to a one-goal lead.

    But a little over two and a half minutes after Arvidsson scored, Kempe answered. There would not be a weird (almost) comeback in Game 2.

    Kopitar notched his first goal of the postseason on the power play at 9:07 of the third period to extend Los Angeles’ lead to three goals once more, 5-2.

    Naturally, after Skinner was replaced by Calvin Pickard after a media timeout, Kempe scored on the first shot that Pickard faced to make it, 6-2, Los Angeles.

    If Kris Knoblauch decides to give Skinner another start in Game 3, there’s a very real chance we end up seeing Skinner join the revolving door of goaltenders in Edmonton’s recent history (yes, even before and after Ken Holland insisted that Mike Smith was the one, then tried to convince Jimmy Howard to come out of retirement).

    It’s insane, right?

    Skinner and the Oilers were just in the Stanley Cup Final last year because of, well, Skinner– oh, and some guy named “Connor McDavid” (plus Draisaitl– can’t forget him too).

    Yet, here we are.

    Through two games this postseason, Skinner has an 0-2 record with a 6.11 GAA and an .810 SV%. Sure, that save percentage might be half decent in, like, the 1980s (fitting for the greatest team of the 1980s, to be fair), but yikes. That’s no bueno.

    In his Stanley Cup Playoffs career (37 games played), Skinner has a 3.00 GAA and an .889 SV%.

    Now hear this– Pickard has a 2.48 GAA and a .903 SV% in four career Stanley Cup Playoff games (all with the Oilers and including his relief appearance on Wednesday).

    In Pickard’s two starts last spring, he went 1-1 with a 2.21 GAA and a .915 SV%.

    The Oilers clearly rallied around their goaltender when faced with the realization that Pickard of all people would be thrust into a position he once was expected to live up to when he was drafted 49th overall by Colorado in 2010, but hadn’t yet.

    So, riddle me this, why not see if the magic can work itself out again?

    Goaltenders are weird in more ways than one– personality, style and sometimes postseason runs.

    Is it time to consider Pickard the unlikely savior and turn to him when you need him most?

    By the way, Los Angeles has not won a playoff series since they won the Cup back in 2014. In case Edmonton needed more fuel for their manifestations or whatever.