Snapshots: Flyers Injuries, Oilers, Celebrini
With their season coming to an abrupt end yesterday, injuries affecting the Philadelphia Flyers have begun to be revealed. Bill Meltzer of Flyers.NHL.com shared that Owen Tippett is dealing with a sports hernia, Cam York was playing through a fractured rib, and Christian Dvorak was battling a separated shoulder.
By yesterday’s Game 4, the Flyers were running with a patchwork lineup, including Carl Grundström and rookie Oliver Bonk, both of whom spent time in the AHL this year.
Tippett was unable to skate in any of the four second round games against the Hurricanes, with an ailment which was not revealed at the time. If he had limped into a game, a full tear would have been possible, which would greatly affect his health moving into next season. The 27-year-old tied his career high in goals this year (28) and played in all but one regular season contest, the best of his career to this point. He should be all set for next fall.
Meanwhile, both York and Dvorak played through their injuries. York skated in 24 minutes or more in each of the last three games against Carolina. The 25-year-old appeared hampered at times, but his overtime series winning goal over Pittsburgh was an unforgettable moment.
Finally, Dvorak came away with four assists, impressively not missing a single game despite his injury. It was a season to remember for the 30-year-old, setting a career high with 51 points in 80 games, and earning a five-year extension with the team.
Elsewhere across the league:
- The Edmonton Oilers face an off-season of changes after a disappointing first round exit, but as written by The Fourth Period, that may not include Connor Ingram, Jason Dickinson, and Connor Murphy, who are expected to explore being re-signed. Dickinson, 30, effectively replaced Adam Henrique as a third line center. Mostly a shutdown penalty killer, he did find the back of the net twice in the playoffs, capable of providing a scoring spark at times. He’d require a serious pay cut from his current $4.25MM to stay with the Oilers. Another former Blackhawk, the 33-year-old Murphy played top four minutes in Edmonton, starting 58% of his shifts in the defensive zone as a stay-at-home sidekick for Darnell Nurse, the duo anchoring the penalty kill. Finally, as far as depth goaltenders go, Ingram brought above average results at a .899 save percentage and 2.60 goals-against-average, but Edmonton must find a solution with Tristan Jarry in order to avoid leaning on the persevering 29-year-old Ingram so heavily again.
- Sharks 19-year-old superstar Macklin Celebrini has been named captain of Team Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Championships. It’s a passing of the torch of sorts, as he’ll lead alongside veteran assistants Ryan O’Reilly and John Tavares despite being the youngest skater on the team. Celebrini is no stranger to the international circuit, leading Canada in the World Juniors, and already a top line star at the highest stage, last February in Milan where he came away with a silver medal. A face of the future of Canada Hockey, the Vancouver native wasted no time, recording three points earlier today in a resounding 6-1 exhibition defeat of France.
Injury Notes: Stone, Ducks, Sabres
The Vegas Golden Knights will be without their captain tonight in Game 4 against Anaheim, as Mark Stone won’t play, to be replaced by Brandon Saad, noted by Jesse Granger of The Athletic.
It was apparent just yesterday that such was a possibility, as Stone left Game 3 early as a result of a non-contact lower-body injury. Averaging 19:26 so far in the playoffs, good for third among Vegas forwards, losing Stone for any extended period would have major implications in the remainder of the series, as the Ducks look to even things up at 2-2. A crucial piece of their power play, Stone, who turns 34 in just three days, has managed to play in all nine playoff games so far, coming away with seven points.
Despite never playing in more than 66 regular season games as a Knight, Stone has missed just one playoff game with the team. In 94 such appearances, always rising to the occasion, he has 79 points. Obviously taking a lot for the veteran to miss out in the spring, it raises real concerns on his status the rest of the way.
Another veteran with ample playoff experience (111 games), Saad is expected to slot into the third line, his first postseason action of the year. A two-time Stanley Cup champion and former standout scorer, the winger is now fully embracing an energy role under John Tortorella, with just nine points in 49 games this year. Invigorated by the opportunity, he’ll be one to watch as the group marches ahead without their leader, as few depth forwards have a resume as strong as his own.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Vegas’ opponents in Anaheim also have movement in regards to their captain, as Radko Gudas is a game-time decision to return, based on morning lines shared by Zach Cavanaugh of The Sporting Tribune. The soon-to-be 36-year-old hasn’t played since Game 1 against the Oilers in the opening round, dealing with a lower body injury. Assuming back into the fold, he’ll be in a third pairing deployment alongside rookie Tyson Hinds, who only made his NHL debut last month. It appears that Drew Helleson will step out of the lineup as a result, the 25-year-old righty skating in eight postseason games so far and coming away with one helper in limited usage. Helleson is thought to be dealing with an undisclosed injury.
- Knotted 1-1 in their series and headed into a hostile Montreal environment tonight for Game 3, the Buffalo Sabres might change things up among their bottom six forwards, observed by Bill Hoppe of The Times Herald. Head coach Lindy Ruff did not provide specifics, but trade deadline acquisition Sam Carrick looks likely to be suiting up after missing 15 games with an arm injury. It’s a nice update after initial thoughts that the 34-year-old had no shot at returning during the second round. Drafted back in 2010, Carrick has just 10 playoff games under his belt, coming as an Oiler two years ago. His nearly 55% faceoff win rate would be a welcome addition, the exact reason Buffalo surrendered third and sixth-round selections to the Rangers in March. If Carrick is good to go, it may bump out Tyson Kozak. The 23-year-old has provided spot-duty on the fourth line, bringing energy but winning a sub-par 43.3% on the dot across six playoff games.
The Penguins Face A Challenging Summer With Kris Letang
The Penguins had a feel-good year, even if it ended in playoff disappointment against Philadelphia. Many of their young players took big steps in their development, and the team defied expectations and age to reach the postseason. But it wasn’t all roses and rainbows, as one of the Penguins’ older stars continued to see his play decline.
Kris Letang has been a member of the Big Three in Pittsburgh since breaking into the NHL in 2006-07 and is likely a future Hall of Famer. However, the 39-year-old isn’t the player he once was, and the Penguins need to have a serious conversation with him this summer to establish a role for next year that allows him to maximize his current abilities.
Pittsburgh deployed Letang as a top-four defenseman this year, playing him nearly 22 minutes a night in heavy minutes, including time on the penalty kill and the second-unit power play. The competitor in Letang no doubt loved that, but the results were inconsistent at best and downright dreadful at times.
This isn’t a new development either, as Letang has seen his play decline in consecutive seasons, posting the worst numbers in takeaways and turnovers of his career. Offensively, his numbers have also slipped: he posted just three goals and 27 assists in 74 games last year, for 34 points.
Analytically, Letang’s numbers have also declined, with his Corsi and Fenwick shares both falling below 50% in consecutive seasons for the first time in his career. In fact, his decline has become so glaring that Penguins head coach Dan Muse has sheltered Letang in a way he hasn’t before.
But as poor as Letang’s season was, he is still clearly an NHL defenseman and has the skill set to age gracefully well into his 40s as an NHL regular. In the last few games of the playoffs, Letang was phenomenal. However, in the first three games of the playoffs, he was a trainwreck. Therein lies the challenge Pittsburgh has with Letang.
The Penguins need to have a very hard conversation with Letang about several issues, mainly his style of play and his role in the hierarchy. Letang still plays the game as though he’s a 28-year-old in the prime of his career, forcing offense when it’s not there, pinching at inopportune times, and making high-risk plays.
28-year-old Letang had the skating, strength and speed to recover from his mistakes a decade ago, but that is no longer the case, and there has been no adjustment from Letang.
The Penguins have had three aging veterans to contend with in Letang, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby. While Crosby has defied the aging curve, Letang and the Penguins need to confront a reality they’ve been avoiding.
The Penguins can add defensive depth, as they have in recent years, but Pittsburgh needs a top-four right-shot defenseman to allow Letang to drop down the lineup to the third pairing. This would help Letang better manage his workload and role and perhaps extend his career.
Letang obviously means a lot to the Penguins, but do the Penguins want to go hunting for a top-four right-shot defenseman at a time when they’ve made it clear they’re looking towards the future? It’s possible that GM Kyle Dubas could swing a trade for a young top-four defenseman who has perhaps underperformed on their current team, but historically, such players are among the most expensive assets to acquire.
Would the Penguins do it simply to shelter Letang? The answer is maybe, but there would certainly need to be a long-term benefit if Dubas holds to his wish to look to the future.
The other major question mark in Pittsburgh concerns Malkin, who is a UFA in under two months. If “Geno” goes unsigned, do the Penguins go to Letang and offer him the chance to play elsewhere?
There are no indications that either side is interested in that, but would a Malkin exit open the door for Letang and the Penguins? It’s not likely, but it is an interesting thought.
However, if the Penguins re-sign Malkin, keeping Letang makes the most sense. The team should have an honest conversation about his play and how best to use him. Letang is a warrior who has played through injuries, personal tragedy, and enormous pressure, and it’s not necessarily his fault that Pittsburgh leaned so heavily on him last season.
If Pittsburgh were to find another top-four defender, it would likely limit Letang’s responsibility in the transition game, which should reduce his turnovers and perhaps alleviate some of the defensive lapses as well, given that Letang’s recovery speed isn’t what it used to be. Also, as previously mentioned, the reduction in minutes and the level of competition would drop, adding additional benefit to both the player and the team.
It’s hard to say how a personal conversation like that would go with Letang, but it’s likely the Penguins’ best course of action to get him to buy into their plan (if reducing his usage is the plan). The Penguins owe Letang some degree of loyalty, but at the end of the day, it is a business, and Kyle Dubas is paid handsomely to ice the best team he possibly can.
And if the plan is to maximize Crosby’s remaining elite years, the Penguins can’t afford to allow an aging defender to hurt them defensively simply because “he used to be great.” Dubas wasn’t there for Letang’s elite years and isn’t going to make his decisions based on past accomplishments.
There is a fine line between respecting a veteran and hesitating to move on, a trap that teams often fall into. GMs who are unemotional about this tend to be the best at assembling a competitive roster year after year (the Vegas Golden Knights, for example). That’s not to say the Penguins need to dump Letang, but they need to honestly evaluate the entire situation.
If Letang is open to a smaller role, that’s the best-case scenario. If he still sees himself as a top defenseman and intends to play that way, the Penguins have to seriously consider whether employing him in their top four makes sense going forward.
Great teams and players know when to evolve, and in this circumstance, both Letang and the Penguins have to do their best if they want to return to a winning culture.
Oskar Olausson Expected To Sign In Sweden
Wild pending restricted free agent forward Oskar Olausson is in the final stages of negotiations with Swedish Hockey League club Frölunda HC, Mattias Persson and Johan Svensson of Expressen report.
It’s a return home for the once highly-touted prospect, who spent most of this season in the Wild organization. Selected late in the first round (28th overall) by the Avalanche in 2021, he was traded to the Sharks for depth winger Daniil Gushchin last offseason before Minnesota acquired him less than three weeks into the season for defender Kyle Masters.
In a historically difficult environment to produce in AHL Iowa, he was limited to 12 goals and 29 points in 63 outings. That’s emblematic of what’s been a rocky developmental road for Olausson, whose NHL resume consists of just four appearances with Colorado in various recalls from 2022 to 2025.
The sniper’s AHL production never really popped, either. He looked like he maybe had some NHL potential left in the tank in 2023-24, when he put up 11 goals and 20 points in 39 games amid an injury-plagued season, but his points per game rate fell again after that brief surge. His underwhelming scoring line this season actually stands as a career high.
Provided Minnesota issues Olausson a qualifying offer, they’ll retain his NHL rights until 2030 if he indeed heads to Sweden. A breakout there could always preface a return to North America – he is still just 23 years old. It’s unclear how long Olausson plans to sign for with Frölunda.
Can The Lightning Remain Competitive For Much Longer?
The Lightning were bounced last week in Game 7 of their opening series against the Canadiens, in what was one of the most evenly matched series the NHL has seen in a long time. Still, it was a tale of two teams headed in opposite directions.
The Canadiens are at the beginning of their competitive window and are surging towards what could become a special era of hockey in Montreal, while the Lightning are on the downslope from their best era in franchise history. With the window to win closing and four straight first-round exits, it’s time to start asking how much longer the Lightning can remain a top team in the NHL.
The Lightning have been among the gold standard in the NHL for the past ten years, winning two Stanley Cups, reaching three Stanley Cup Finals, and making a fourth appearance in 2015. On top of that, they have sustained regular-season success and made hard decisions to let top players move to other teams.
All the while, they have found ways to replace the players who have moved on, either internally or through trades and free agency. Darren Raddysh is a great example of a free agent find who fits in seamlessly with the Lightning.
But with his pending free agency, plus Kucherov being 14 months away from free agency as well, and an aging core, it’s fair to wonder whether the salary cap, their aging stars, and a ton of playoff hockey have finally caught up to them.
Despite their stars aging, Tampa Bay’s core remains elite, and many of their best players are firmly in their primes, including Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel. Kucherov is on the wrong side of 30 but remains among the NHL’s best offensive players, and Andrei Vasilevskiy still gives the team elite goaltending. But are they still good enough to compete for a Cup?
At some point, the mileage on the players becomes a concern. Just look at what happened to the Penguins, Blackhawks and Kings after their Stanley Cup runs in the 2010s. All three teams had a few years of quick playoff appearances before their postseason run ended as they tried to hold on to their last bit of relevance. In all of those cases, the wear and tear caught up with the players. The veterans then aged out or moved on, and rough times followed.
It’s an inevitability in hockey; everyone ages out eventually. Tampa Bay is in the early stages of that cycle.
Not to mention, many members of the Lightning don’t get around the ice the way they once did, particularly on defense, which hurts the Lightning’s overall team speed and depth. Speaking of depth, it’s hard to imagine Tampa Bay replenishing it the way it has in the past, given that it has sent many futures out the door in win-now moves, which have also eroded its salary cap flexibility. Tampa Bay has done a good job of finding cheap replacements, but that becomes harder every year as depth pieces depart due to cap pressures.
The Lightning don’t have many high-end prospects in the pipeline and have one of the weakest prospect pools in the NHL, ranking 24th in The Athletic’s prospect rankings. While that ranking is an improvement from 29th place in 2025, it isn’t anything to write home about, and the Lightning don’t appear to have a ton of help coming in the way of prospects.
Forward Conor Geekie looks like a gamer after scoring at a point-per-game pace in the AHL this season. The 2022 11th overall pick was one of the pieces of the Mikhail Sergachev trade with Utah and could be ready for a full-time NHL role next season, which would be huge for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay would love a similar timeline for forward Sam O’Reilly, but he is likely a few years away from full-time NHL duty. The 2024 first-round pick (32nd overall) is in the midst of a terrific playoff run with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, but he probably needs a year or two of AHL seasoning before he’ll be ready for the NHL. O’Reilly was just named the winner of the Red Tilson Trophy, awarded annually to the Ontario Hockey League’s most outstanding player, and is chasing a third straight OHL title and a second straight Memorial Cup.
Those big games will bode well for O’Reilly’s development, but his offensive ceiling has been limited, and he hasn’t significantly increased his scoring over the last two years. Wheeler projects O’Reilly as a 3C in the NHL, which is great, but if the Lightning want to extend their window of contention, they’ll need more from him.
The final point to consider when it comes to Lightning’s competition is the division they play in. The Buffalo Sabres have finally arrived and appear to be the real deal. The same can be said for the Habs, who are poised to go on a long run as a potential powerhouse. Ottawa still boasts a solid core of young players, and the Red Wings have some nice pieces that are itching to get to the NHL, and you figure they will put it all together at some point.
Then there are the Panthers, who have a deep core of champions and will be hungry to return to the playoffs next season after an injury-riddled campaign this year. It’s impossible to guess what the division will look like next year, but even the Bruins and Maple Leafs don’t feel like they are going to go away easily. The Atlantic Division is an absolute buzzsaw, and next year could be the toughest yet.
Can Tampa Bay overcome all of these obstacles and roll back the clock? Only time will tell, but extending their window starts this summer, and they will have their work cut out for them. GM Julian BriseBois has proven doubters wrong in the past, as his club has consistently adapted to challenges and kept the window to win open.
It helps to have the best coach in the game behind the bench in Jon Cooper, but at some point, the magic runs out, and a team’s window of opportunity to win slams shut. For the Lightning, that day is coming; it’s just a matter of when.
Penguins Not Expected To Re-Sign Kevin Hayes
The Penguins are not expected to offer pending unrestricted free agent forward Kevin Hayes a contract extension before July 1, Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote last week.
Hayes, 34, arrived in Pittsburgh from St. Louis two summers ago in a cap-dump deal, with the Blues tossing in a second-round pick. That left the Pens taking on the final two years of the seven-year, $50MM anchor he landed from the Flyers in 2019 as a pending free agent. Philly was already on the hook for half his cap hit after retaining it in the trade that sent him to St. Louis in 2023.
Even for a reduced cap cost of $3.57MM, Hayes wasn’t providing great value. He was at least a semi-regular last season, offering some occasional secondary scoring and versatility as a bottom-six pivot, notching a 13-10–13 scoring line in 63 games.
Injuries became an increasing problem for Hayes this year, missing the first month of the season with an upper-body issue and missing a good chunk of March with one as well. In between them, though, he was still mostly a healthy scratch. He only suited up 28 times this year, with only seven of those coming after the Christmas break. Scoring four goals and eight points, his 0.29 points per game rate was the lowest of his 12 NHL seasons. His faceoff success took a nosedive, too, winning 40.3% of his draws after taking home a good 52.2% mark last year.
Hayes, once something of a trusted penalty-killer, has seen his defensive game decline for quite some time. That was the impetus for Philly shedding his contract three years ago. He still had 54 points in that final season as a Flyer, though, a mark he hasn’t come close to hitting since. With his impact as a scorer drying up, there’s little use for him left in any NHL lineup above a fourth-line role.
Beyond that, Pittsburgh has plenty of internal candidates looking to land bottom-six jobs (and even some press-box roles for a potential long-term depth candidate like Avery Hayes) in the fall. They’ve already moved to bring back fourth-line piece Connor Dewar and have restricted free agent Egor Chinakhov to re-sign as well, leaving them with 10 roster spots accounted for on one-way deals with entry-level players Benjamin Kindel and Rutger McGroarty being relative locks to take up two more. Tristan Broz, Ville Koivunen, and 2025 first-rounder Bill Zonnon will also be in the mix in camp.
Hayes’ limited showing this season was enough to help him clear the 800-game mark for his career. A first-rounder by the Blackhawks in 2010, he’s got a career 185-261–446 scoring line with the Rangers, Jets, Flyers, Blues, and Penguins. His positional versatility and experience might make him a fit somewhere for a league-minimum contract this summer, but a professional tryout or a deal overseas wouldn’t be surprising outcomes either.
Evening Notes: Cassidy, Subban, Islanders
Head coach Bruce Cassidy could find his way back to the Pacific Division sooner rather than later. He is believed to be in the mix for the Los Angeles Kings’ coaching vacancy after the club fired Jim Hiller in March, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period on The Hot Stove podcast. The Kings named D.J. Smith to the role of interim head coach. He led the Kings to an 11-6-6 record to close out the regular season, then oversaw Los Angeles in a first round sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche.
Cassidy has a track record of playoff success. He has made the postseason in 10 of his 12 years as an NHL head coach. Those squads made it past the first round in six of those appearances, made the Stanley Cup Finals twice, and won it all once. Where Cassidy goes, long seasons follow – and his experience leading an NHL bench could be invaluable for a Kings team in flux. Los Angeles added a superstar talent in Artemi Panarin this season – but he had to take on a heavy load after injuries to Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko. Good health for the entire lineup, and the presence of a seasoned head coach, could be enough to keep Los Angeles in playoff contention next season despite Anze Kopitar‘s retirement.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban accomplished his goal of donating $10MM to the Montreal Children’s Hospital earlier today, per the Montreal Gazzette. It was the largest donation to the hospital by an athlete in the country’s history. Subban announced a mission to raise the funds in 2015, amid routine visits to children staying in the hospital. 11 years later, he has completed the feat, with 100 percent of the money raised going to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. Subban played 13 seasons in the NHL, including seven with the Canadiens. He scored 278 points in 434 games with Montreal and 467 points in 834 total games in his career.
- The New York Islanders have invited feisty Providence Friars forward Tanner Adams to their 2026-27 training camp per NHL.com’s Mark Divver. Adams wrapped up his junior year at Providence College this season. He filled an important, top-nine role on the offense – bringing aggression and physicality on the forecheck, even despite his sub-6’0 frame. Adams has totaled 28 goals and 67 points in 108 collegiate games so far. He will attempt to wow an NHL organization once again after attending the Toronto Maple Leafs’ training camp last season.
Avalanche Reassign Jack Ahcan, Josh Manson Remains Out
5/9: Despite being a full participant in morning practice, Manson did not suit up for Saturday night’s Game 3 against the Minnesota Wild, per Baugh. His absence will keep Sam Malinski on the second-pair and Nick Blankenburg in the lineup, while Manson will now aim for a return in Game 4 on Monday.
5/8: An important piece of the Colorado Avalanche lineup could be back in the near future. The team reassigned defenseman Jack Ahcan in anticipation for Josh Manson‘s return from an upper-body injury sustained in Game 3 of the first round per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The Avalanche “feel good” about Manson’s chances of returning on Saturday, head coach Jared Bednar told Baugh.
Manson has operated as Colorado’s second-pair right-defenseman behind Cale Makar. His physical, two-way presence was a gut punch behind Colorado’s top pair all season long. Manson marked that impact with 31 points in 79 games, the most he’s scored since the 2017-18 season. He also recorded 99 shot blocks and 174 hits, both ranked second on the team. Manson added two assists, one block, and 10 hits through the first two-and-a-half games of Colorado’s playoff run, before running into injury after just five minutes of ice time.
Ahcan will return to the Colorado Eagles’ run in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He has played in three of the team’s playoff games so far, with no scoring or penalties. Ahcan racked up a career-high 50 points in 61 games with the Eagles this season. He has posted a new scoring peak in each of his three seasons with the Eagles, after beginning his career in the Boston Bruins organization. He will step back into an important, top-four role on an Eagles team already pacing the AHL postseason. The Eagles have won four of their five games and boast a playoff-best +12 goal-differential.
Flyers’ Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk Make Stanley Cup Playoffs Debut
The Philadelphia Flyers have made a surprising move in an attempt to avoid a second round sweep at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. Rookies Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk made their Stanley Cup Playoff debut when the Flyers took the ice, playing over healthy scratches Matvei Michkov and Emil Andrae. Luchanko and Bonk now make 13 Flyers to play the first Stanley Cup Playoff game of their career in this postseason per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman.
Philadelphia scratched Michkov in Game 5 of their first round win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has continued to underwhelm in four games back in the lineup since, still sat at just one point in the first eight playoff games of his NHL career. Luchanko will try to be the difference-maker in just his ninth NHL game. He began the season captaining the OHL’s Guelph Storm, then served as the two-way backbone to the all-out-offense of the Brantford Bulldogs after a mid-season trade. Luchanko ended the year with a combined 43 points in 38 games, a slight step down from the points-per-game pace he managed last year (56 points in 46 games) but still more than his 2023-24 season (74 points in 68 games). He has proved to be a tireless worker who can make a difference in the dirty areas of the ice – a knack that could make him a jammer in the Hurricanes’ breakouts.
Bonk played through his first season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this year. He had quiet results on both sides of the puck, finishing the year with 19 points and a minus-14 in 46 AHL games. It was an underwhelming introduction after a productive, two-way showing in three OHL seasons. Bonk curbed expectations when he scored one goal and one assist in the Flyers’ season finale and his NHL debut. He seemed to move with a bit more confidence on NHL ice and could stand as an X-factor puck-mover if he finds the same spark on playoff ice.
Whether they win or lose, the Flyers will face tough questions on the other side of the postseason. Michkov, the 2023 seventh-overall pick, has been benched twice in his first playoff run despite reaching 20 goals and 51 points in 81 games during the regular season. His 114 points in 161 games is the highest points-per-game from a U22 Flyers skater in the last 10 years. He has clear upside, though Philadelphia will have to find a way to bring it out – a task that could become even tougher if Luchanko can flex his might in the postseason.
Rangers’ Benoit Allaire To Retire After Free Agency
The 2025-26 season will be the last for longtime New York Rangers goalie coach Benoit Allaire, per a team announcement. Allaire will stick around the team through the NHL Draft and start of free agency, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic, before he calls a 29-year career in the NHL to a close.
Allaire has overseen some of the NHL’s top goaltenders as they rose to starting roles. His career began as a goaltending coach with the Montreal Canadiens in 1996. Right away, Allaire was involved in notable NHL careers, working with 20-year-olds Jose Theodore and Tomas Vokoun. Both were overshadowed by a 22-year-old Jocelyn Thibault, who played 61 games of the 1996-97 season.
Theodore and Vokoun went on to play in 647 and 700 games in their NHL careers, respectively, while Allaire jumped to the Phoenix Coyotes for their second season in 1997-98. He joined forces with Nikolai Khabibulin, who was in his third season as Phoenix’s starter. Khabibulin allowed the most goals in the NHL (184) in 1997-98, but, after a year with Allaire, reached a .923 save percentage in 63 games of the 1998-99 season. That mark would stand as the highest in Khabibulin’s 18-year NHL career, though he moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2000-01 season. Allaire stayed in Phoenix for five more seasons, leaning on Sean Burke to fill the Coyotes’ crease until Brian Boucher moved to Phoenix in 2002-03.
With the Coyotes goalie room stabilized by Boucher, Burke, and Brent Johnson, Allaire moved to the Rangers ahead of the 2005-06 season. It was on Broadway that Allaire would build his legacy. He took over goalie coach duties in Henrik Lundqvist‘s rookie season. Lundqvist finished the year as a Vezina Trophy finalist and fourth in Calder Trophy voting, after recording 30 wins and a .922 save percentage in 53 games.
He was an immediate star who would move through the 2010s as a perennial Vezina candidate with save percentages consistently north of .920. With Lundqvist’s career fading as 2020 approached, Allaire’s attention turned towards finding his next star. That successor would be Igor Shesterkin, who has seamlessly taken over Lundqvist’s spot on annual Vezina ballots. Shesterkin has a career .917 save percentage in 325 games, including a .912 in 51 games this season.
Allaire has molded countless goaltenders into long-term, NHL starters. He also worked with Kevin Weekes, Cam Talbot, Alexandar Georgiev, and Antti Raanta. His name rings loud in NHL circles, and the Rangers will feel the absence of their Director of Goaltending. New York promoted Allaire to a full-time director role in the 2024-25 season.
In the same year, they promoted Hartford Wolf Pack goalie coach Jeff Malcolm to the top flight. Malcolm is a veteran of the Hartford lineup as both a player and a coach – and has spent the last two seasons learning to make up for Allaire’s eventual retirement. He will take the reins moving forward, while the Rangers can rely on Shesterkin, who is signed through the 2032-33 season.