Five Key Stories: 5/18/26 – 5/24/26
With the Conference Finals well underway, most teams are in offseason mode with as many coaching searches going on as there are teams still playing. Understandably, some of the notable news from the past seven days comes from behind the bench.
Offer Sheet Thresholds Set: With more teams having cap flexibility thanks to a big jump to the Upper Limit and a thinned-out UFA market, teams will have to get more creative to try to upgrade their rosters. That makes this summer’s offer sheet thresholds a little more intriguing. While it’s unlikely a team would go to the top tier (around $11.94MM, costing four first-round picks) but notably, a player could cost $4.77MM and only require a second-round pick in compensation if an offer sheet wasn’t matched. Meanwhile, third-round compensation would be between $1.575MM and $2.387MM. We haven’t seen that tactic used much in recent years (though the three latest ones were all successful) but it wouldn’t be shocking if more teams started sniffing around this option, assuming there are players willing to sign them.
Ruff’s Sticking Around: When Lindy Ruff returned behind the Buffalo bench in 2024, he only signed a two-year deal and it was expected that he’d make a decision after that about staying behind the bench, moving into an advisory role, or something else altogether. With how things went this season, it’s not surprising that he’s going to stay as their head coach after he signed a two-year extension. The Sabres ended a 14-year playoff drought after winning the Atlantic Division and fared pretty well in the playoffs, only falling in overtime in Game 7 in the second round. With that decision now done, GM Jarmo Kekalainen gets set for his first summer at the helm of the team.
Surgery For Gustavsson: Heading into the offseason, it looked as if one of Minnesota’s trade chips would come from between the pipes. With veteran Filip Gustavsson and youngster Jesper Wallstedt, one could presumably be moved. Instead, those plans are on hold after an announcement that Gustavsson will be undergoing hip surgery. At this point, it’s unknown if he will be available for training camp with a determination on that front to be made once the extent of the repairs is known after the procedure. Gustavsson is set to begin a new five-year, $34MM contract next season and teams will want definitive proof that he’s fully healthy before considering trading for that deal. Accordingly, the Wild’s tandem might remain intact after all heading into 2026-27.
Canucks Make A Change: With their new front office now in place, the Canucks have quickly made changes behind the bench. The team has fired head coach Adam Foote after just one season in that role, while three assistants were let go as well. Foote was promoted to the role last offseason after the team couldn’t reach a new contract with Rick Tocchet. But things went off the rails with the team finishing dead last and ultimately moving their top player, Quinn Hughes, to Minnesota. Now, GM Ryan Johnson will get to conduct a search if he wants although it wouldn’t be surprising if AHL Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra gets the nod. At least for now, Vancouver joins Toronto, Los Angeles, and Edmonton as teams looking for a new bench boss.
Two For Liljegren: When the Capitals acquired Timothy Liljegren at the trade deadline, it was a bit of a surprise that a non-playoff team would bring in a pending UFA. However, the team liked what it saw in limited action from him down the stretch and they rewarded him with a two-year, $6.5MM extension. The $3.25MM AAV is a small increase on the $3MM he made on his most recent deal. While the 27-year-old hasn’t exactly lived up to his first-round draft billing, he has been a serviceable bottom-pairing defender over the last five years. With Liljegren now signed, it looks more likely that pending UFA rearguard Trevor van Riemsdyk will not return for next season as Washington now has eight blueliners signed for next season.
Photo courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images.
Offseason Checklist: New York Islanders
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Islanders.
It has been a busy first year for GM Mathieu Darche. He traded away his top defenseman at the time on draft day and added a new franchise defender that same night. He made some in-season trades to try to help his team make a second-half push for the playoffs. Then, he made a big late-season coaching change in a last-ditch effort to help them get in with Peter DeBoer taking over for Patrick Roy. The start to his second year shouldn’t be as busy but he has some work to do roster-wise over the offseason.
Add Goaltending Insurance
While the Islanders were hoping that Semyon Varlamov would be able to return at some point during the season after undergoing a pair of replacement knee surgeries, they knew they’d need some insurance. With that in mind, they brought in David Rittich who wound up as a full-timer on New York’s roster. Varlamov, meanwhile, was able to return after the season, getting into two games on an LTIR conditioning loan with AHL Bridgeport.
At this point, the hope is that Varlamov will be ready to be Ilya Sorokin’s backup next season. Now healthy, he should be able to get a full offseason of training in and, while he’ll certainly be rusty, he should be available at the start of training camp.
But hope alone isn’t a viable or prudent strategy. Varlamov has played a total of 12 games combined over the past two seasons and hasn’t played in an NHL game since November 2024. They can hope that Varlamov returns to form and gives them 25 or so starts but there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to do so. Meanwhile, they don’t have a trusted third goalie in their system at the moment. The only other goalie signed for next season is recent college free agent signing Josh Kotai, and he’s not NHL-ready by any stretch.
At a minimum, adding another Rittich-like goaltender who could be a third-string option in a perfect world but a capable backup if called upon. If they’re worried about waivers, they may have to carry three netminders for a while. Depending on what happens there, they may need a veteran starter for AHL Hamilton as well, one who could be called up in a pinch. Sorokin gives them a great foundation between the pipes but the supporting cast needs to be added to in the coming weeks.
Determine Lee’s Future
Back in 2019, captain Anders Lee was slated to hit the open market. It looked like he was ultimately going to go to free agency but former GM Lou Lamoriello signed him on the opening day of free agency to a seven-year, $49MM deal. While his role now is certainly different compared to back then, the winger now finds himself a little more than a month away from being eligible to test free agency once again.
The 35-year-old has never been a high-end point producer, with his personal best being 62, set back in the 2017-18 campaign. However, he has been a steady scorer, notching at least 20 goals in eight of the last ten seasons. This season was one of the exceptions but he still managed 19, suggesting the big falloff in production hasn’t happened yet.
Although Lee is more of a middle-six forward than a top liner at this stage of his career, he’s set to benefit from a thin UFA class. While he certainly won’t come close to another seven-year deal at this stage of his career, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking if his AAV came in fairly close to this now-expiring contract. For example, AFP Analytics projects that a three-year deal for Lee would check in at a little over $6.6MM per season. That would certainly carry some risk for a player coming off a 42-point campaign but there’s also a wide expectation of some sticker shock on UFA contracts this summer. Alternatively, Lee could sign a one-year deal that makes him eligible for performance bonuses, giving the signing team a bit more cap flexibility.
Will the Islanders be that signing team? Darche would likely prefer to keep his captain around but he also needs to make some changes to a group that missed the playoffs and also try to get a bit more speed up front. But if he can keep Lee in the fold and shake the team up elsewhere, that might be his Plan A. We’ll see in the next five weeks or so if that plan works out.
Open Up Cap Space
To try to give his team some boosts, Darche added a pair of pricey contracts up front. First, they brought in Ondrej Palat from the Devils to help try to backfill Kyle Palmieri’s season-ending injury. Then, at the trade deadline, they paid a high price to add Brayden Schenn from St. Louis. In doing so, they took on an extra $12.5MM in spending for next season. They also went deep into LTIR to do so, meaning that the $3.5MM in bonuses Matthew Schaefer earned will all count against the books in 2026-27.
As a result, the Isles enter the summer with around $12.5MM in cap room, per PuckPedia. If they want to re-sign Lee, bring in goalie insurance, and likely a depth defender or two with Carson Soucy and Adam Boqvist set to hit the open market, they’ll basically be out of money at that point. While Pierre Engvall could wind up staying on LTIR, that’s not enough to move the needle in terms of giving them flexibility. And if he is cleared to return, waiving and sending him to the minors would only create $1.225MM in room.
There are some potential change-of-scenery candidates, especially up front. Anthony Duclair simply hasn’t fit in over his first two seasons but now that there are only two years left on his deal (at a $3.5MM price tag), they might be able to offload that contract for cap flexibility. With Palat not faring particularly well following the swap, moving the final year of his deal would require paying down part (if not the maximum of 50%) of it, he’s a potentially viable candidate. Max Shabanov, a pending RFA, could potentially be flipped with an eye on replacing his back-end roster spot with someone making closer to the minimum salary.
Simply making one of these moves wouldn’t be enough to bring in anyone of consequence, assuming that Lee ultimately re-signs. But if they can move out a couple of their higher-paid surplus depth pieces, they might be able to try to make an addition of consequence.
Add More Scoring
That addition of consequence, if they’re able to afford one, needs to come up front. This is a team that has had trouble scoring for a while now. The last time they were above-average in the goals scored department was back in 2017-18, when they finished seventh overall. Five players from that team are still with the Isles, one of them being Lee (a pending UFA) and three more being defensemen. Since then, they have been outside the top 20 in the goals scored department.
They upped their 2024-25 total by seven goals this season, bringing them to 229, or 2.79 per game, good for 25th in the league. Another incremental gain would certainly help but if they want to become more than just a bubble Wild Card team, they’re going to need to aim higher.
New York had two forwards surpass the 50-point mark this season, Mathew Barzal (the other 2017-18 holdover) and Bo Horvat. Lee was next at 42 and he may or may not be back. It’s fair to say that there’s a definitive need for a top-six forward (or two, or three, potentially). Of course, they’re probably not going to be able to afford to add multiple top-six forwards but even one would be a big addition.
In terms of trying to shore up their depth scoring, they could look internally. Victor Eklund made his NHL debut at the end of the season and might not be too far away from being ready for an extended audition. If he could be even a secondary contributor while Darche finds a way to add another decent scoring threat, that could go a long way toward getting them back into the top 20 in the goals department, bolstering their playoff hopes in the process.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Kings GM Ken Holland Updates Coaching Search
Beyond being one of the teams believed to want to speak to former Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy, things have been relatively quiet for the Kings on the coaching front. In a recent interview with Zach Dooley for LA Kings Insider, GM Ken Holland suggested that a hiring isn’t exactly imminent and he is now off scouting at the Memorial Cup.
D.J. Smith took over on an interim basis from former head coach Jim Hiller and Holland noted that he is still in consideration for the position. He noted that player feedback from the exit interviews was positive and the team did indeed play well enough to at least sneak into the playoffs although the GM was quite to note that their struggles against top-tier teams continued; they were swept by the Avs in the first round.
While Holland didn’t go as far as saying how many coaches were specifically under consideration, he mentioned four to eight multiple times to Dooley so it stands to reason that the true number is somewhere in there. At this point, it doesn’t appear as if they’re intent to wait on any other teams to be eliminated, taking possible options from Colorado, Vegas, Carolina, and Montreal off the table.
Holland noted that he’s in the middle of the interview process which suggests that a hire isn’t likely to be announced in the near future, especially with him off scouting for the next week. It may not come too long after that, however, as he noted that he’d like to have the hiring in place a couple of weeks before the draft, which begins on June 26th. He also indicated that improving special teams and production from the back end are two particular points of emphasis for whoever gets the position.
While Dooley’s interview didn’t name any other specific candidates beyond Smith, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal suggested that former Edmonton bench boss Jay Woodcroft would be a plausible front-runner for the position. He mentioned that while Holland was the one to fire him with the Oilers, the decision ultimately wasn’t his to make and came from higher up the food chain. Accordingly, if Holland still feels that way about Woodcroft (currently an assistant with Anaheim), it would make sense that he’d at least be under serious consideration.
At this point, Holland can afford to wait another week or so to see if the Golden Knights ultimately elect to make Cassidy available to interview for other jobs but after that, he will need to move fairly quickly. Whether it’s Smith, Woodcroft, or someone else, we’ll see a final decision made next month.
Contract Talks For Alex Tuch To Resume In Next Couple Of Weeks
Heading into the playoffs, all talks of a new contract for Sabres winger Alex Tuch were put on hold, something that is fairly commonplace to not serve as a distraction in the midst of a postseason run. Now that Buffalo has been eliminated, those conversations can resume.
But it doesn’t appear as if they’re going to pick up in the immediate future. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta recently suggested on a recent DFO Rundown (video link) that substantive negotiations between the two sides could still be two or three weeks away from really picking back up.
The 30-year-old is coming off another solid season, one that saw him surpass the 30-goal mark for the third time in four years. He ultimately picked up 33 tallies along with 33 assists in 79 games before putting up a bit of a mixed bag in the playoffs. Tuch averaged a point per game against Boston in the first round but was held off the scoresheet entirely in a seven-game loss to Montreal.
Still, that shouldn’t affect his market too much as he enters as the top forward available, should he make it to July 1st unsigned. The long-term consistency offensively will outweigh the rough couple of weeks to end his first playoff run. It stands to reason that his camp would be eyeing Adrian Kempe’s deal with Los Angeles – eight years, $85MM – as a comparable, one that was just signed earlier this season. As Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News noted, their overall offensive numbers are reasonably close with Kempe a bit better offensively and Tuch the better defensive player. Accordingly, that should put Tuch’s next price tag in that range.
Unfortunately for Buffalo, that represents the bulk of their cap space this summer as they hit the offseason with just under $13MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with a $6.444MM buyout charge to Jeff Skinner really affecting them. Additionally, winger Zach Benson is a pending restricted free agent and is someone who GM Jarmo Kekalainen has said he’d like to sign to a long-term agreement as well. Barring further roster moves, they can’t do that and re-sign Tuch.
That could very well be why discussions with Tuch aren’t restarting right away. Knowing that he can’t sign Tuch and Benson long-term at this point, he might be focusing his energy on trying to open up some extra cap flexibility. That would then allow them to come back to the table with Tuch with something closer to a market-value offer that wouldn’t materially hinder their chances of locking up Benson as well. While trades are rare at this time of year, this is a time when teams start picking up discussions on that front to be ready for a busy period after the Stanley Cup Final concludes.
But there is certainly a risk to this approach as well. The longer Buffalo waits to rekindle discussions with Tuch, the easier it becomes for him to just wait a little longer to see what other options might be available on the open market. There is definitely a case for him to stay with his local team, one that’s on an upward trajectory. But being the best forward available also certainly will have its appeal in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For now, at least, he’ll have to wait a little while longer before the Sabres put their best foot forward in terms of an offer to keep him around.
Lineup Notes: Stone, Makar, Wedgewood
Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone returns to action in Game 3 tonight on home ice, reported by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. He had been dealing with a lower-body injury, missing five straight games.
Unable to come away with a win before heading out to Vegas, it only makes things more difficult for Colorado, as they’ll desperately try to get back on track tonight. Without their captain, the Golden Knights have gotten massive performances from Brett Howden, the 28-year-old netting nine goals this postseason, needing three more to match his entire output in the regular season. Pavel Dorofeyev, no longer such an underrated sniper, has also stood out with 10 goals, and finally, one can’t skip over Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel who are playing at an elite level.
The efforts have helped Vegas go 4-1 without Stone, tied 2-2 with Anaheim after his first absence which caused concern, but quickly sending them home afterward. Now, up 2-0 over the Presidents’ Trophy winners, a top forward is back in the mix, having posted seven points in nine playoff games thus far. Brandon Saad is likely to be the odd man out; the 33-year-old two-time Stanley Cup Champion added two helpers in five games while Stone was injured as a key veteran presence.
More lineup news from tonight’s Game 3:
- Stone’s opponents will also likely have a big boost tonight, as “all signs point to” Cale Makar returning, according to Kaplan. Missing the first two games of the series with an upper-body injury, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was cryptic on his status earlier today, but if there was ever a time he was needed, even if not back to full health, it’s tonight with their backs close to the wall. Skating 24:59 in his playoff action to this point, Makar’s usage may indicate his overall health for what lies ahead in Colorado’s hopes to turn the tide and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
- While there was some speculation that the Avalanche could make a goalie change after losing the first two games, that’s not the case. Instead, Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette was among those to note that Scott Wedgewood will indeed get the nod once again. The 33-year-old posted the best GAA (2.02) and SV% (.921) league-wide during the regular season but has lost three of his last four starts, allowing eight goals on 70 shots in that span.
Assessing Goaltender Trades Of The 2025-26 Season
With all but four remaining clubs having closed the book on their 2025-26 season, it’s time to look back on goaltender trades throughout the season, how they’ve turned out for both sides, and what comes next. In what was a year relatively quiet within this criteria, outside of one widely scrutinized trade, all transactions going back to last July are considered.
It’s hardly a surprise which deal is first worth mentioning, as December’s swap of Tristan Jarry/Stuart Skinner became a real storyline of the season. Just five months later, there’s no stretch in saying one side wishes they had a do-over already.
Edmonton’s interest in Jarry was known leading up to the winter, and as a buy-low candidate it seemed reasonable enough. The now 31-year-old had turned things around from the worst season of his career. In an early sampling of 2025-26, his .909 save percentage, and Goals Saved Above Expected ranking of 22nd (out of netminders playing 10 or more games) by no means set the league on fire. Still, it offered an upgrade for GM Stan Bowman who desperately had to make a switch.
Instead things got even worse than they were before. Jarry finished the regular season 40th among goaltenders who played at least 25 games with a -4.1 Goals Saved Above Expected, per Moneypuck. In 19 games with the Oilers, he managed to come away with nine wins, but his .858 save percentage, to go with a 3.86 goals-against-average, are career-worst levels for the veteran.
Even though the Oilers had the ability to outscore Jarry’s shortcomings, he was not trusted in the playoffs, starting just one game. It was decided that 29-year-old Connor Ingram was the better option, someone who spent meaningful time in the AHL this season, and who is further evaluated below. Needless to say, it did not work, as the Oilers were dispatched by Anaheim in six games.
So how did Pittsburgh come away? For the amount of criticism Bowman has caught, one might expect Skinner to have become a brick wall. It was not quite the case, as his statistics regressed to an .895 save percentage and 2.99 goals-against-average, marks in 27 games as a Penguin which were worse than anything else he’d offered in the NHL to this point.
However, he finished the regular season 20th out of those who played at least 25 games in Goals Saved Above Expected, 8.3, offering the same type of performance which the Penguins sold Jarry high on. Their swap of Jarry and Skinner was effectively a wash, when it should have been a real downgrade based on the conditions of the trade itself.
Already a Pittsburgh win to come out even in terms of performance, the scale really tips with Skinner’s $2.6MM coming off the books, while Edmonton must deal with Jarry’s $5.37MM AAV for two more seasons. Even if the Penguins let Skinner walk for nothing, they also acquired Brett Kulak as a throw-in, who was later flipped for Samuel Girard and a 2028 second rounder.
Escaping the Jarry situation and later adding nice branches to the trade tree is tidy work of GM Kyle Dubas, only serving as salt in the wound for the Oilers. It has quickly become a predicament, perhaps seeking a way out of the contract as soon as this summer, but in all likelihood he’ll return next fall seeking to turn the page. Cutting bait now, with his value at rock bottom, would be painful for a team already dealing with limited assets to improve their roster.
The savvy business from Dubas doesn’t end there, as next up is Arturs Silovs, brought in by Pittsburgh from Vancouver last July for Chase Stillman and a 2028 fourth round selection. Despite leading the Abbotsford Canucks to an AHL title, Silovs had no path forward with the Canucks as a result of Thatcher Demko in place and Kevin Lankinen’s long term contract. It’s a stark reminder of how different their franchise outlook was just one year ago, at the time intent on playoff contention with no use for a spare 24-year-old goalie despite his talent.
Fast forward to today, the Canucks are the second Pacific Division club longing for a “take back” with the Penguins. Demko’s future is in doubt with his ongoing health troubles, and Stillman, although 23, does not look like a forward with any meaningful NHL upside. So what’s the damage with how well Silovs performed?
The Latvian started 38 games for Pittsburgh, winning 19 and offering a 3.07 goals-against-average, coming in slightly worse than the league’s mean ranking of 2.88. With a workload far more than anything he saw in the NHL previously, his underlying numbers weren’t all so pretty, with a -11.9 Goals Saved Above Expected.
Mostly remembered as a Canuck from the 2024 playoffs, where he was tossed into the lineup and pushed the Oilers to the brink in the second round, Silovs stepped up on the biggest stage yet again. His .939 save percentage in three games against the Flyers was a memorable performance in what was otherwise a forgettable series for the team. Silovs will become a restricted free agent this summer and the 6’4” goaltender seems to have a future with the Penguins, impressive considering the limited assets they gave up.
Jumping right back to the Oilers, next is the aforementioned Connor Ingram, who was acquired from Utah in October for future considerations, set to be an insurance policy at #3 on the totem pole. Like Silovs, Ingram once was thrust into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the AHL, as a Nashville Predator in 2022.
Having entered the NHL Player Assistance Program, Ingram’s resilience was on display as he started 30 games for the desperate Oilers, facing huge pressure for a player effectively brought in for nothing. Winning 16, the 29-year-old’s 2.60 goals-against-average was a career best. Out of 59 qualifying NHL goalies who played at least 25 games, Ingram came in at 29th with a 1.7 Goals Saved Above Expected.
By all means a fringe starter, it wasn’t enough for Edmonton to go on another run this spring, but being in a position where the Saskatoon native was their best option between the pipes is indicative of deeper issues within roster construction as opposed to any knock on Ingram. An unrestricted free agent this summer, if he moves on from the Oilers, any team would be getting a solid backup with the former Tampa Bay prospect.
The major goaltender shuffling in Pittsburgh started back with their July 1 trade, moving Alex Nedeljkovic to San Jose for a 2028 third round pick. Nedeljkovic carried a reasonable $2.5MM AAV, but five years older than the later-acquired Silovs, getting younger was of interest. Posting statistics essentially the same as his previous two seasons of a decent workload in Pittsburgh, the Ohio native started 34 games for the Sharks, winning 18 with a .896 save percentage, exactly the league’s average. “Ned” had the slight edge over the young Yaroslav Askarov, who took a big step into his first full-time NHL campaign, flashing brilliance but also having hiccups at times in typical Askarov show-stopping fashion.
Rather than hitting the market, San Jose re-upped Nedeljkovic on a two-year pact worth $3MM per season in March, a deserved increase as he has proved to be a trusty fallback for the developing Askarov. Already progressing with more stability in net, the duo will look to vault the Sharks into the playoffs next year.
A promising team always willing to take on overpaid veterans to net assets, in January Nedeljkovic’s Sharks also dealt for goaltender Laurent Brossoit, inheriting his $3.3MM AAV netting 23-year-old former Chicago first rounder Nolan Allan as a sweetener. Once a high end backup, Brossoit’s free agent deal with the Blackhawks didn’t work out due to hip issues, never making an appearance with the club.
The 33-year-old played just one game for the Sharks, coming away with a loss, and otherwise playing in the AHL. Set to become a free agent, this might be it for Brossoit at the NHL level, but the trade paved the way back to the show, commendable for the British Columbia native after a long hiatus.
Rounding out the bunch, Columbus traded for Philadelphia’s Ivan Fedotov back in September. The former KHL star didn’t live up to high expectations in North America, and the Flyers shed his $3.27MM cap hit, happy to take just a sixth round selection in next month’s draft.
Surpassed by Jet Greaves who broke out this year, Fedotov was left to the AHL, playing in 47 games for the Cleveland Monsters and not offering much to improve his stock this summer. Already reported as having left North America to deal with an undisclosed injury, a return to KHL stardom is likely more appealing than coming back to the AHL next fall.
With most trades taking years to play out, the goaltender deals during the 2025-26 season are looking mostly inconsequential, of course, with exceptions. It was the Penguins who were winners, finding a solid young piece in Silovs while also leaving their trade partners in Edmonton with a mess on their hands in Jarry. As for who comes next, Jordan Binnington is generating noise, along with Buffalo’s Devon Levi, as it is looking like a summer of bigger names on the move than any we saw over the past season on the goaltending front.
Image Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images (Silovs)
Image Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images (Ingram)
Image Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images (Nedeljkovic)
Afternoon Notes: Makar, Pickering, Thompson
Ahead of tonight’s pivotal Game 3 in Vegas, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette, that “you’ll have to wait and see” if star Cale Makar will be able to play. Bednar remained vague in not naming a starting goaltender either.
The Presidents’ Trophy winners, who lost just 16 regular season games all year and had plenty of breathing room atop the league, didn’t face much adversity all year. Now, somewhat quickly, they’re in a big hole staring at a potential 3-0 series deficit, at the hands of the Golden Knights. The sudden development is largely a result of Makar’s absence, dealing with an upper-body injury from the previous round.
A team built to handle just about any absence up front, obviously the loss of an all-world defenseman has huge implications. Yet Makar’s injury has left an especially evident shortcoming on their powerplay. Missing their quarterback without an adequate second option, they went one-for-five on the man advantage in the series’ first two games on home ice.
With their season on the line, there’s more than enough reason for Makar to suit up, but even if he does under 100%, there’s real questions on what type of workload the 27-year-old is able to bear, averaging one tick shy of 25 minutes a night in his nine playoff games so far.
Elsewhere:
- Penguins top prospect Owen Pickering is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, reported by Tony Androckitis in an article shared on Inside AHL Hockey. Missing a deciding Game 5 in the Atlantic Division Finals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came away with a resounding 8-1 win, vaulting them to the Conference Finals as they await their opponent, either the Cleveland Monsters or the Toronto Marlies. It was impressive work considering that the 2021 first rounder is the “Baby Penguins” top defenseman, skating in 68 games and leading all blueliners with 28 points. Pickering stepped right into the NHL in 2024-25 with 24 games, but since then Pittsburgh has been more focused on his long-term development, as he made just four NHL appearances in 2025-26. His WBS Penguins have the chance to return to the Calder Cup Finals for the first time since 2008, as a franchise who has never taken home the AHL title.
- Tyce Thompson, younger brother of Buffalo star Tage Thompson, has re-signed with Barys Astana of the KHL for another year, the team shared. A fourth round selection of the Devils in 2019, the 6’1” winger played in 11 games with the team, making his mark in the NHL stat book with an assist. Departing the Bridgeport Islanders to go abroad this year, he made a larger offensive impact in Russia with 25 points in 57 games, good for fourth on the club. Notable North American teammates of Thompson include the previous AHL standout Mike Vecchione and former Florida Panther Ian McCoshen.
Flames Want To Move Up From Sixth Overall In Draft
A hot market for top-five picks in the 2026 NHL Draft is beginning to form. On the heels of reports that the St. Louis Blues want to crack into the top 10, it appears the Calgary Flames could stand in their way. The Flames are hoping to move up from their current spot of sixth-overall, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period and Kyle Morton of Daily Faceoff. The San Jose Sharks’ second-overall pick could be Calgary’s target, with TSN’s Darren Dreger sharing that the Sharks could part ways with their pick. Pagnotta also said that the Chicago Blackhawks could shop around the fourth-overall pick.
It has been more than 20 years since the last time a team traded a top-three pick after it was declared. The last instance – Pittsburgh’s move to first-overall in 2003 to select Marc-Andre Fleury – saw the third-overall pick go the other way. Calgary would pull off an unprecedented move if they were able to swing their way into the top-five.
Moving up in the draft could be a strong way for Calgary to spark their rebuild. The draft class is led by premium forward talents Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, and Caleb Malhotra. Each of the three have the potential to one day lead an NHL lineup, as do top defense prospects Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff. Should those five names all slide off the board before Calgary’s pick, the Flames would be left with the tough job of guessing the next-best star. Left-defensemen Carson Carels and Alberts Smits have caught attention all season with their dominant two-way play and play-driving ability respectively; while centermen Viggo Bjorck, Tynan Lawrence, and Oliver Suvanto have each held high-end acclaim through points in the season.
Outside of the top-five, there seems to be no guarantee of who will hit. Calgary would be stuck in a guessing game as they look for the draft selection who could propel their young lineup forward. Acquiring either San Jose or Chicago’s pick would effectively subvert that issue, allowing Calgary the chance to land a player with a strong chance of becoming a difference-maker. Their roster could use impacts at seemingly every position – whether it’s a playmaking winger to support Matthew Coronato, a true top-center, or an all-around defenseman who can take pressure off of the offensive-minded Zayne Parekh.
The uncertainty of a lower, top pick would be less of a concern for the Sharks or Blackhawks, who have each landed multiple top-five picks over the last four seasons. The draft class still boasts upside through the teens and the pair of rebuilders could stock their cupboards by pushing Calgary to add more draft capital and a strong prospect like Andrew Basha, Henry Mews, or even breakout college star Ethan Wyttenbach.
The package needed to trade into the top-five will only richen as more teams eye a potential trade. It seems to be a great year to be an established-rebuilder like San Jose and Chicago, who could field a long list of offers as they consider whether to take another star prospect or prioritize quantity over quality. Meanwhile, Calgary’s focus appears set to shift towards finding the X-factor they need to pull together a lineup that – thanks to the emergence of players like Kevin Bahl, Yan Kuznetsov, and Connor Zary – seems to wield promising depth.
Morning Notes: Holmstrom, Vitelli, Mosley
New York Islanders forward Simon Holmstrom could be poised to reach even greater heights next season if his usage under new head coach Peter DeBoer was any indication, writes Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters. In the few games DeBoer was able to coach before the end of the Islanders’ season, Holmstrom skated next to top center Bo Horvat, an opportunity he rarely received under former coach Patrick Roy. Horvat, 31, finished the season centering the top line alongside a pair of Swedish wingers: Holmstrom and 2025 first-rounder Victor Eklund.
While the Islanders could seek offseason upgrades along the wing that could box out Holmstrom from retaining such a big role, 2026-27 could nonetheless be a big year for Holmstrom. The 25-year-old, who was a 2019 first-round pick, steadily grew over the course of his time in the Islanders organization, to the point where he has now had back-to-back seasons with around 20 goals and at least 40 points. If Holmstrom can find a way to stick with either of the two Islanders’ top-six centers (Horvat, Mathew Barzal) rather than play where he spent much of last year (alongside third-line center J.G. Pageau) he could most likely make a push into the 50-plus point range. That would be a very positive development for the player, as he will be a pending RFA next season playing out the final year of a $3.625MM AAV deal.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- After four years of professional hockey split between the AHL and ECHL, Reece Vitelli has elected to continue his career overseas. The 24-year-old has signed a contract with Kalmar HC of HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of hockey in Sweden. A former alternate captain for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, Vitelli didn’t get the chance to play NCAA hockey the way CHLers can today, and as a result began his pro career in 2022-23. He played in 15 games for the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, but spent most of the year in the ECHL. He had 37 points in 49 ECHL games, and one point in 15 AHL contests. That would prove to be the trend for Vitelli. Over the last three seasons, Vitelli has been a solid AHL bubble forward, scoring at a decent clip in the ECHL while playing in as many as 15 AHL games per season, but scarce offense at that level. Now, he’ll leave the chance for further AHL call-ups behind as he begins his European pro career.
- Another player who spent last season on the AHL/ECHL bubble has elected to sign in Europe: longtime college hockey scorer Ryland Mosley. The 26-year-old forward spent a half-decade playing college hockey, skating for Michigan Tech from 2020-2024, and then the Wisconsin Badgers in 2024-25. He reached at least 30 points in his final three campaigns in the NCAA, and scored at a point-per-game rate in his lone season at Wisconsin. He signed an ATO and AHL deal with the Cleveland Monsters after his season as a Badger, but scored just one point across 12 total games in Cleveland. He scored seven points in 12 games at the ECHL level and was traded to the Rockford IceHogs in March, where he managed one point in seven games. Mosley has signed a one-year deal with Mora IK in the HockeyAllsvenskan, where he will look to help the club return to the SHL for the first time since 2018-19.
Evening Notes: Frondell, Perfetti, Dorofeyev
The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t concerned about the long-term effects of a scary-looking injury to top prospect Anton Frondell. The top Swedish winger got his hand caught in a bench door during Team Sweden’s Friday matchup against Team Italy at the IIHF Men’s World Championship. He missed Sweden’s Saturday matchup with a subsequent injury that is not believed to be serious, per Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Frondell has kept his hot season rolling at the World Championship with two points in as many games. He has performed at a top level in competition across the world this season – netting 28 points in 43 SHL games, nine points in his first 12 NHL games, and eight points in seven games at the 2026 World Junior Championship. No decision has been made on Frondell’s availability for the remainder of the summer tournament, which could leave a major hole in Sweden’s roster.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Winnipeg Jets face an interesting task in re-signing middle-six winger Cole Perfetti this summer. The former 10th-overall pick scored 18 goals and 50 points in the 2024-25 season but fell back to 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games this season. That places him in an interesting spot next to many of his peers from the 2020 and 2021 NHL Draft class, as pointed out by Murat Ates of The Athletic. While Perfetti’s struggles to frequently pop up on the scoresheet could keep him from matching the long-term contracts of players like Matthew Coronato, Matthew Knies, and Alexis Lafreniere – he could find a starting point in negotiations in the six-year, $7.5MM recently signed by Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi. While that deal serves as a ceiling, Ates points out that Winnipeg’s bidding could begin in the realm of $5.5MM. Splitting the gap between the two numbers, and leaning on the term garnered by peers, would put Perfetti’s next deal in the realm of four-to-six years and $6MM-to-$6.5MM in cap hit. That cap hit would dedicate roughly half of Winnipeg’s projected $13.628MM in cap space this summer to their top restricted free-agent – which should leave just enough room to also re-sign Jonathan Toews, Isak Rosen, and Eric Comrie.
- Another RFA to watch this summer will be Vegas Golden Knights winger Pavel Dorofeyev, who has exploded onto the scene this season with 37 goals and 64 points in the regular season and 10 goals and 14 points in 14 playoff games. That sudden boom – and Dorofeyev’s seamless fill-in for captain Mark Stone over Vegas’ last five games – could quickly be proving Dorofeyev’s ability as a true, top-six scorer. Teams around the league will pay attention to that as Dorofeyev heads towards restricted-free agency per Shayna Goldman of The Athletic. Vegas is only projected to wield $11MM in cap space this summer, per PuckPedia, with Reilly Smith, Brandon Saad, and Rasmus Andersson all set to hit the open market. The 25-year-old Dorofyev would certainly be top priority among that list but could command the majority of their savings after a breakout year. If Vegas gets cold feet, the young sniper could be a great option for teams looking to add an immediate impact. Goldman projects both Dorofeyev and Andersson could command as much as $9MM in cap hit, which would pull Vegas nearly $7MM over budget with multiple lineup holes still to fill. After the St. Louis Blues’ success with their offer sheet of winger Dylan Holloway, could a team see similar potential in the cap-strapped Golden Knights’ handling of Dorofeyev?