Latest On Predators GM Search
It has been four months since the Nashville Predators announced general manager Barry Trotz‘s plans to step down from his role this summer. They have been in the thick of a search for a replacement ever since, building up a long list of candidates along the way. That list is expected to continue growing with the NHL regular season now wrapped up, which allows Nashville the chance to speak with candidates that they did not have immediate permission to interview per hockey insider Frank Seravalli.
The influx of options after the end of the season has helped Nashville begin checking names off of their list. Internal candidates Jeff Kealthy and Scott Nichol, both currently assistant GMs with Nashville, have been informed they are no longer candidates according to Seravalli. That means the Predators’ next GM will likely come from outside of the organization, putting much more focus on the team’s upcoming interviews. That importance is clear to the Predators’ ownership. Minority owner and record-holding college football coach Nick Saban has even sat in on some interviews, adds Seravalli.
Through early interviews, three candidates have emerged above the rest. Edmonton Oilers AGM Bill Scott, Florida Panthers AGM Brett Peterson, and Dallas Stars AGM Scott White have each had multiple in-person interviews for the role according to Seravalli.
Scott handles the Oilers’ day-to-day cap management and contract negotiations with players and staff. He was a minor-league GM for four years before joining the Oilers, with a focus on interpreting the league’s by-laws and collective bargaining agreement. Scott now serves as the Oilers’ liaison to the NHL for any matters related to the CBA.
Peterson was vice president of the Wasserman Media Group before joining the Panthers’ staff in 2020. During his own playing days, Peterson – a member of the 2001 National Championship-winning Boston College Eagles – was represented by current Panthers GM Bill Zito. That connection eventually transformed into a role in Florida’s front office, where Peterson offers expertise in roster and cap management. He was also named the GM of Team USA for the 2026 World Championship.
White handles GM duties of the AHL’s Texas Stars and also serves as Dallas’ Director of Hockey Operations. He has been with the Stars since 2005, took over GM duties for the AHL’s Stars in 2009, and became an NHL AGM in 2016. In that time, White has overseen a Texas Stars team that won the 2014 Calder Cup and finished as runner-ups in 2010 and 2018. In total, the AHL Stars have made 12 of a possible 15 postseasons since White took over management duties – excluding the cancelled 2020 postseason. He also brings a key focus on roster management, a trait that seems to be a major focal point of Nashville’s GM search.
The Predators also spoke with New York Rangers AGM Ryan Martin, a veteran of NHL front offices who began his career with the Detroit Red Wings in 2005. Martin was Detroit’s Director of Hockey Administration during their 2008 Stanley Cup win, then led the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to Calder Cup Championships as their GM in 2013 and 2017. He also supported the USA World Junior Championship roster as a scout for their 2021 Gold Medal win. Martin
Despite a trio of candidates rising to the top, the Predators’ next GM may not have had their first interview just yet. Nashville plans to interview former New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald later this week. Fitzgerald was named the first captain in Predators’ history in 1998. He held the honor for four seasons and was leaned on as a defensive-winger during his time with Nashville. He moved on in 2002 and retired from playing in 2006.
Fitzgerald’s managerial career began in a player development role with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the following season. He was promoted to AGM in 2009 and held onto the role for six years, leaving right before the club won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. While his old club sized rings, Fitzgerald moved to an AGM role with the Devils, a position he would be promoted from partway through the 2019-20 season. The Devils made two of a possible six postseasons under Fitzgerald’s reign. Questions around his ability to make meaningful changes and upgrades to the roster boiled to the surface, though experience in the Predators’ organization and an already-established prospect pool could be enough to put him on the right track in his second GM role.
If not Fitzgerald, the Predators could also move forward with former Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin or Boston Bruins AGM Jamie Langenbrunner per Pagnotta. Those names will round out a lengthy shortlist for Nashville’s open GM chair. Their options include years of GM experience, assistants on the rise, and innovative and stat-driven thinkers. It doesn’t seem the Predators will be in much of a rush to make their decision, with interviews still on the schedule and the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet to play out. On the other side of the postseason, Nashville will face a choice that will define the club’s future through the 2020s.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports.
Lineup Notes: Zub, Kleven, Hyry, Hintz, Bunting, D’Astous
The Senators won’t see defenseman Tyler Kleven step back into the lineup tonight as they try to even their first-round series against the Hurricanes at one apiece. Despite shedding his non-contact jersey in this morning’s practice, he’s not quite ready to go and won’t dress, head coach Travis Green told reporters (including Alex Adams of Sportsnet). And, although Artem Zub didn’t take the ice this morning after leaving Game 1 with an apparent mid-body injury, he’ll be a game-time decision, Green said. In the event Zub can’t go, it’ll be Lassi Thomson stepping in on the right side to replace him, per Graeme Nichols of The Hockey News. Nikolas Matinpalo, who had started on the third pairing with Dennis Gilbert in Game 1, will get the elevation to top-pair minutes to serve as Jake Sanderson‘s shutdown complement in place of Zub. It would be the playoff debut for Thomson, a 2019 first-round pick who had three assists and a +3 rating in 11 games in the regular season.
More from around the league ahead of Game 2s kicking off tonight:
- The Stars are making one lineup change after being throttled at home by the Wild in Game 1, Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports reports. Rookie Arttu Hyry will make his playoff debut, stepping into center the third line as the deck gets shuffled. Adam Erne, who had a -1 rating and two hits in 8:07 of ice time as the team’s fourth-line left wing, is headed to the press box. Star center Roope Hintz stays out as expected; he’d been previously ruled out for Games 1 and 2 and was ruled out for Game 3 as well by head coach Glen Gulutzan today (via Michael Russo of The Athletic). Perhaps the more notable absence, given the circumstances, is trade-deadline pickup Michael Bunting. The winger will serve as a healthy scratch for the second game in a row tonight after missing time with a lower-body injury down the stretch. He had just two points and a -7 rating in 13 games for Dallas when healthy after his acquisition from the Predators. He does have five points in 13 career playoff games, all with the Maple Leafs in 2022 and 2023.
- The injury bug hovered around the Lightning all season long. It’s not stopping now. After being checked by a pair of Canadiens forwards in yesterday’s Game 1 and ultimately leaving the contest, defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous is doubtful to step back in for Game 2, head coach Jon Cooper said today (via Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times). He said he hasn’t decided whether Declan Carlile or Maxwell Crozier will be elevated as his replacement, but considering he only mentioned those two by name, it’s a fair guess that captain Victor Hedman will remain out on personal leave as well. D’Astous, 28 tomorrow, had 29 points and a whopping 112 penalty minutes in 70 regular-season games for Tampa as a rookie.
Maple Leafs Have Interviewed Scott White For GM Position
The Maple Leafs have spoken to Stars assistant general manager Scott White to fill their open GM position, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Monday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast.
He’s one of many candidates Toronto has talked with in its efforts to succeed Brad Treliving at the top of its front office. Among those names are Islanders AGM Ryan Bowness and Sunny Mehta, who has since landed with the Devils as their GM. There have been varying degrees of speculation linking them to virtually all the other AGM-type candidates on the market as well.
In terms of the level of experience for a first-time GM candidate, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one with more on their resume than White. The 58-year-old has talked to numerous teams over the years but has remained in Dallas, where he began his executive career back in the 2005 lockout.
He was initially brought on by their AHL affiliate, then located in Iowa, as their director of hockey operations after amassing some NCAA and ECHL coaching experience. He was promoted to the NHL staff a few years later while taking on the role of AHL GM, a title he holds to this day for the Texas Stars.
White is also on the Predators’ radar and could easily get a call from the Canucks regarding their new vacancy in the coming days as well. With Nashville looking to wrap up its process in the next week or so, the Leafs may have to make a decision quickly if they decide White is at the top of their list.
Islanders Hire Cory Schneider As AHL Goalie Coach
The Islanders have brought in Cory Schneider as the goaltending coach for their AHL affiliate, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports. He’s currently with the club in Bridgeport but will presumably follow them as the Isles relocate their top feeder club to Hamilton, Ontario, next season.
Schneider, who ended his playing career in Bridgeport, has largely stuck to TV and broadcasting work since his retirement in 2023. He spent three seasons as the Islanders’ third-stringer and AHL starter from 2020-23, making his final NHL start in April 2022. He hasn’t held a staff role since.
Bridgeport had gone without a dedicated goalie coach for much of this season. Sergei Naumov, previously Ilya Sorokin‘s goalie coach in Russia with CSKA Moscow, had held the role since the beginning of last season but was promoted to the NHL bench back in October. The position had remained open until now.
While injuries limited Schneider’s effectiveness at the end, the 40-year-old was briefly one of the league’s most dominant goaltenders. He received both Hart and Vezina trophy consideration in 2016, capping off a ridiculous six-year stretch to begin his career in which he posted a save percentage above .920 each time for the Canucks and Devils, although he only started 50-plus games twice in that span. He was an average starting option at best following that, though, and retired with a .918 SV%, 2.43 GAA, and 171-159-58 record in 410 career appearances.
Now, the Massachusetts native will play a key role in the development of the Islanders’ next wave between the pipes to support Sorokin. They’re not overflowing with high-end prospects, especially stateside, but did recently ink Augustana University standout Josh Kotai to an entry-level deal. With few other intriguing options on the horizon, he could take over as the Isles’ #3 next season without any external additions and be the first real test for Schneider’s coaching skills.
Capitals’ Rasmus Sandin Will Miss Start Of 2026-27 With Knee Injury
The Capitals will not have defenseman Rasmus Sandin available at the start of next season due to the right knee injury he sustained at the tail end of the regular season, general manager Chris Patrick told reporters today (including Tom Gulitti of NHL.com). His absence will be significant enough to “impact their offseason planning,” Patrick said, so a quick return later into October may not be in the cards, either.
That means Sandin is looking at a recovery timeline in the six-month range as a best-case scenario. During last week’s locker cleanout, Sandin said that he could walk under his own power with a brace but had “quite a bit of rehab” ahead of him this summer. That implied he wasn’t anticipating surgery being required, but after additional evaluation, such a lengthy timeline up front suggests they’ve gone in another direction.
Washington’s defense is in flux for next season, particularly on the right side. They sent longtime #1 John Carlson to the Ducks at the trade deadline and have Timothy Liljegren and Trevor van Riemsdyk hurtling toward unrestricted free agency this summer. That leaves Matt Roy as the only everyday right-shot option signed through next season, alongside press-box fixture Dylan McIlrath. Sandin, of course, is a lefty, but played a fair amount on his offside for Washington this season and stood out as a stopgap option to shift over to make room for rookie Cole Hutson in the Caps’ top four.
That won’t be an option, at least for the first several weeks of the campaign. Perhaps the urgency to re-sign Liljegren will be turned up. As the Caps considered shopping van Riemsdyk at the trade deadline, it became apparent they didn’t expect to extend him, though Sandin’s status could change their minds.
Sandin just wrapped up year two of the five-year, $23MM extension he signed with Washington in 2024. Acquired from the Maple Leafs the year prior, he’s now averaged over 20 minutes per game across 202 regular-season contests for the Caps with a 15-82–97 scoring line and a -4 rating. He’s coming off a 2025-26 campaign that saw him finish third among Caps defensemen in points (29), fourth in shots on goal (90), third in blocks (127), and third in hits (88). He didn’t see a ton of special teams deployment, but is a fine stopgap on a second-unit power play or penalty kill.
That’s a notable hole to fill for a Washington team intent on returning to playoff contention next season. A reunion with Carlson seems unlikely given how abrupt his tenure ended in March, but other high-powered right-shot options like Rasmus Andersson and Darren Raddysh are still ticketed to hit the open market this summer. With over $36MM in cap space for next season and Connor McMichael sitting as their only pending restricted free agent set to really cash in, they’ll have the flexibility to compete with any offer.
Predators To Interview Tom Fitzgerald For GM Vacancy
The Predators have an interview scheduled with former Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald this week, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports. That fit was first explored immediately after Fitzgerald’s firing earlier this month, but it’s clear now he’s a serious candidate as Nashville’s search process for Barry Trotz’s successor nears its final stages.
Aside from Fitzgerald’s lengthy and recent executive experience, his personal connection to Nashville always made him a leading contender for the role the minute he became available. He spent four of his 17 NHL seasons as a player in Tennessee, was the franchise’s first-ever captain and chose the team as a free agent upon their inception in 1998, not as an expansion draft choice.
Nashville’s decision will come by the end of the month, Pagnotta said. While Fitzgerald had been the Devils’ GM since midway through the 2019-20 season, that’s not where his resume begins. Shortly after wrapping up his playing career in 2006, he was hired as the Penguins’ director of player development. He was part of the organization’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Final trips in 2008 and 2009 before being promoted to assistant general manager, a role he held until following former Pens GM Ray Shero to New Jersey to fill the same role in 2015.
The Predators have made it clear that experience is a prerequisite, per multiple reports. Their field has mostly consisted of highly-touted AGMs from around the league looking to take the next step, including Rangers assistant Ryan Martin, but Fitzgerald’s six-plus years of top-level experience could end up being too appealing to turn down.
Flyers Recall Oliver Bonk, David Jiricek
The Flyers have recalled defense prospects Oliver Bonk and David Jiricek from AHL Lehigh Valley, the team announced Monday. They will be on hand for the remainder of the postseason if needed after Lehigh Valley saw its season come to an end in its regular-season finale against Charlotte on Sunday, failing to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Both are coming off recent stints on the NHL roster. The Flyers gave Bonk, their 22nd overall selection in the 2023 draft, his NHL debut in their final regular-season game against the Canadiens last week. Jiricek, while he’s gotten playing time in previous stints with the Blue Jackets and Wild, got the chance to make his Flyers debut the same night after being acquired from Minnesota for winger Bobby Brink at the trade deadline.
Bonk was particularly impressive in his first-ever showing. The 6’2″ righty shrugged off the growing pains of his first professional season in Lehigh Valley to rattle off a goal and an assist in the first period of the eventual 4-2 win, both at even strength. He logged 16:28 of ice time with two hits, although his possession impacts weren’t great. Philly lost the shot attempt battle 13-10 with Bonk on the ice at 5-on-5 despite him starting 80% of his shifts in the offensive end.
As mentioned, his run in Lehigh Valley this year was a mixed bag. After he was arguably the best shutdown defender in junior hockey last year en route to a Memorial Cup championship with the OHL’s London Knights, Bonk only managed 19 points and a -14 rating in 46 AHL games following a weeks-long stint on injured reserve to open the season. As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic opines, he’s still the Flyers’ #3 prospect and was relied upon heavily this season despite the lack of production and dominant results, so perhaps a more competitive AHL environment next season could facilitate a statistical breakout.
In all likelihood, though, Jiricek would find his way into the playoff lineup sooner if Philly needed someone to step in. Now 22, the 2022 sixth-overall pick still hasn’t locked down a full-time NHL job but does have 85 games of experience over the last four years compared to Bonk’s lone showing. His numbers aren’t great, limited to a 2-11–13 scoring line and a -8 rating while averaging a conservative 13:37 per night.
However, Jiricek has looked far more like the future top-pair challenger he was expected to be in Lehigh Valley over the last month. He had struggled to make an offensive impact in the minors in Minnesota’s system but rattled off a 2-11–13 scoring line in 15 games upon his arrival with the Phantoms, albeit with a -7 rating.
Jiricek will presumably be on the Flyers’ opening night roster in the fall. They signed him to a two-year, $3MM extension at the beginning of the month, and he loses his waiver-exempt status on July 1. They have a more experienced right-shot option in the press box in Noah Juulsen if need be, but if a top puck-mover ends up sustaining an injury, it stands to reason Jiricek could get the call as a better stylistic match.
Morning Notes: Maatta, Martone, Faber
Flames defenseman Olli Määttä is the first NHLer officially named to Finland’s roster for next month’s World Championship, according to an announcement from the national program. The tournament kicks off in Switzerland on May 15. It will be the shutdown rearguard’s fourth appearance for his country at the Worlds and his first since 2024.
While he went to the event three times in a four-year span, his only miss in that frame coincided with the country’s most recent gold medal in 2022. Now a fixture on the national team, Määttä has donned Finland’s colors at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off as well as this year’s Winter Olympics. He took home a silver medal with Finland at the 2021 Worlds. He has a 1-9–10 scoring line and a +3 rating in 26 career games at the event.
After sitting most of the season in the Mammoth’s press box, Calgary picked him up as a contract dump in the MacKenzie Weegar trade. The 31-year-old excelled down the stretch, averaging 22:30 per night on a paper-thin Flames blue line while potting 14 points and a -1 rating in 21 games. All of that offense came at even strength, as well. Signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $3.5MM, he’ll be an everyday option once again next season in a Calgary pool largely devoid of long-term impact lefties outside of top-pair fixture Kevin Bahl and the emerging Yan Kuznetsov.
More from around the league as the first Game 2s of the first round get underway tonight:
- Flyers winger Porter Martone‘s arrival has been one of the best stories over the past few weeks. The 2025 sixth overall pick finished his season with 10 points through his first nine career games following his exodus from Michigan State, and he followed that up with the game-winning goal Saturday for the Flyers’ first postseason victory in six years. Yesterday, he told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic that he’s been relying on support from a close friend and another standout rookie – Islanders Calder Trophy shoo-in Matthew Schaefer – for advice throughout the year. He credits those talks for helping him exhibit the confidence he’s put on display thus far. “I think the big thing that made him successful was, he was himself,” Martone told Kurz. “You see how much of an impact he made on that organization, how much he contributed to that team. For me, that’s what I try to do coming here. Just be who I am, as a player and as a person.”
- Wild defenseman Brock Faber was initially quite unhappy with the organization’s decision to sit him for “forced rest” for the final two games of the regular season, but he’s quickly changed his tune on that following their Game 1 win over the Stars on Saturday, he tells The Athletic’s Michael Russo. “I think everyone was kind of in the same boat there, where you hate to watch the game from the stands but when you get told that’s what you’re doing, I think you can kind of look at it one of two ways,” Faber said. “We did take advantage of the rest. Obviously, it’s been a long year for us and we just needed to do everything we could to prepare for this series and hopefully a long run here. So I think that’s what we did, and it was definitely beneficial.” Faber recorded his first career playoff point in the win, along with a league-high +4 rating.
The Capitals’ Roster Outlook With Or Without Alex Ovechkin
The Capitals were a surprise omission from this year’s playoffs after an impressive regular season and a playoff appearance a year ago. The disappointing result wasn’t the biggest news out of D.C., though. Superstar captain Alex Ovechkin has been non-committal about his future, while also implying he hasn’t played his last game.
Ovechkin’s possible departure from the game poses an interesting conundrum for the Capitals after they successfully navigated a retool to remain competitive during the final years of Ovechkin’s NHL career. Washington might need to prepare to welcome him back next season, but they might also need to prepare for life without the face of their franchise.
Even if Ovechkin were to return for his age-41 season, he’s not a long-term fixture on the team and not someone they should really count on to log massive minutes, regardless of whether he’s there. So, what are their options?
The first thing that could happen is that Ovechkin does, in fact, hang up his skates. This would mark the end of an era, creating a massive void both on the ice and in the dressing room.
There would be a leadership void in the Capitals’ room, an identity shift, and a need to rethink their power-play structure, which runs through Ovechkin. In fact, almost everything in the organization runs through him, or has been done with him in mind. That includes the recent retool Washington went through, rather than attempting a full teardown while he was still on the roster.
For those thinking the Capitals will embark on a rebuild without Ovechkin, that doesn’t appear to be the case, given what Washington has done over the past few years. The team is committed long-term to Pierre-Luc Dubois, Matt Roy, Jakob Chychrun, Logan Thompson, and Tom Wilson, and isn’t likely to blow up the roster anytime soon, especially given that they have the 11th-ranked prospect pool in the NHL (as per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic).
There is simply no need for the Capitals to tear the roster down, but how they proceed with the rest of their roster could depend heavily on whether Ovechkin is in the mix.
In any event, Washington needs to add to their offense next season and appears inclined to do so. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic spoke with Capitals general manager Chris Patrick last week, and they discussed Patrick’s attempts to sign Nikolaj Ehlers last summer prior to him joining the Hurricanes, as well as the team’s pursuit of Artemi Panarin at the trade deadline.
Neither of those attempts bore fruit, but it does indicate that the Caps know they need more scoring, with or without Ovechkin. One thing that will become clear is that Washington can’t run the offense through Ovechkin anymore, and he will need to fill more of a depth-scoring role than an offensive focal point, even as he comes off a team-leading 32-goal, 64-point season.
Realistically, the best thing for the Capitals would be to have Ovechkin return for one more season, while adding secondary scoring options. That would allow the team to transition slowly away from Ovechkin while onboarding additional players who don’t have to be the guy right away.
Just who those players could be is up in the air, but the Capitals do have significant assets in the draft pick catalog and their farm system who could be moved in a trade, which will likely be the path to acquiring a player unless they want to overpay for an Alex Tuch-type player in free agency.
The Capitals could get aggressive there, as they have $36.5MM in cap space with 17 players signed. Even if they extended Ovechkin for one year at market value ($9.068MM, according to AFP Analytics), Washington would still have $27.5MM available to sign five players.
The scenario where Ovechkin returns for another season could be special if the Capitals make strong moves in the summer. It would allow Ovechkin to control his exit, give the team the aforementioned transition year, and, if the team has better depth, they could use Ovechkin situationally to maximize his contributions.
Some folks might say it delays necessary changes or leaves the team stuck in the middle between eras, but given the state of Washington’s depth, that line of thinking seems silly. Ovechkin can still play and lead the Capitals’ younger players into the next era without being a distraction or dominating their development.
Washington was in a gray area this season, but long-term, with their prospect pool and available cap space, they have a chance to move into contender status with or without Ovechkin. It will just take some foresight and some luck to accomplish it.
One thing Ovechkin’s possible departure will force in Washington is some focus on the future. Whether or not he returns next season, his career is almost done, and Washington knows that now.
They don’t have to reset their timeline entirely, but they do need to be realistic about where they’re going when Ovechkin eventually goes. However things play out, the Capitals are approaching a summer that will define the franchise’s next decade.
It’s much more complicated than it has been in the past, because the mission has been simple for two decades: build around Ovechkin. But now the mission has become one of building after Ovechkin.
Five Key Stories: 4/13/26 – 4/19/26
With the playoffs underway, half of the NHL’s teams have seen their seasons come to an end. That typically results in a lot of off-ice news and this past week was no exception with several teams making personnel moves that are part of the key stories from the past seven days.
Back To The Devils: The Devils didn’t waste much time finding its next GM as they hired Sunny Mehta away from the Panthers. He becomes the sixth GM in franchise history and takes over from Tom Fitzgerald. Mehta sent four years with New Jersey from 2014-15 through 2015-18 as their Director of Analytics. Two years later, he joined Florida and moved up the ranks, eventually becoming an assistant GM. Mehta will now get his first chance to be the final shot-caller on a roster and will look to make his mark on a Devils group that underachieved relative to expectations this season. Beyond Simon Nemec, the bulk of their core is already under contract so most of Mehta’s big work this offseason will come on the trade and free agent front.
Player Extensions: A pair of pending free agents got their next deals done ahead of time. First, the Stars signed defenseman Nils Lundkvist to a two-year, $3.5MM extension. The $1.75MM AAV represents a $500K raise on his current deal. Lundkvist played in 52 games with Dallas during the regular season, picking up 11 points while averaging a career-best 16:29 per game of playing time. He’ll stay in a third-pairing role moving forward. Meanwhile, Cole Koepke’s first season in Winnipeg was good enough to earn him two more as the Jets signed him to a two-year, $2.9MM extension, a $450K raise on his current deal. The 27-year-old matched his career high in points this season with 17 while his 186 hits were a team high.
Quick Calls It Quits: A veteran goaltender has decided to call it a career as Jonathan Quick announced before his final game that he’s retiring. The 40-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Rangers but the bulk of his 19-year career was spent in Los Angeles. Quick, a third-round pick by the Kings back in 2005, spent 16 years with the franchise that drafted him, helping lead them to a pair of Stanley Cups while he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012 as Playoff MVP. Overall, Quick winds up his career with 410 wins in 809 regular season starts while posting a 2.51 GAA, a .910 SV%, and 65 shutouts. He added 49 victories in 92 playoff outings – all with the Kings – while putting up even better numbers in the form of a 2.31 GAA and a .921 SV%.
Off-Ice Extensions: It was a good week for some off-ice staff as well. The Blackhawks signed GM Kyle Davidson to a multi-year extension. Davidson has been in charge for a little more than four years and has overseen a full-scale rebuild that has seen the team add several promising players with another high draft pick coming in June. Meanwhile, Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness ended the season with some harsh words for his team and a vow to change the culture if he returned. He’ll get that opportunity now after signing a one-year extension. The 71-year-old took over three months ago and led the team to a 21-11-5 record. They went from near the bottom of the conference to a playoff spot for a while but a tough finish saw them narrowly on the outside looking in for the second straight year.
Canucks Make A Change: While one GM vacancy was filled with Mehta joining New Jersey, another was quickly created when the Canucks fired GM Patrik Allvin. Things were looking up early on his tenure, highlighted by a Pacific Division title back in 2023-24. However, the last two years have been a lot rockier. They’ve missed the playoffs each time, decided to move Quinn Hughes after he gave plenty of advance notice that he wouldn’t re-sign, and finished dead last in the league this season. Now, the team will turn to someone else – either internal candidate Ryan Johnson or an external option – to try to get them going back in the right direction.
Photo courtesy of Danny Wild-Imagn Images.