PHR Mailbag: Jets, Blackhawks, Non-Playoff Teams, Presidents’ Trophy Curse, Match-Fixing
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Chicago’s long-term goalie situation, the Presidents’ Trophy ‘curse’, and more. (It was also set to feature a discussion on Dylan Holloway’s next contract with a six-year, $7.75MM AAV prediction but the Blues got ahead of that one.) If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in last weekend’s column while we’ll have one more mailbag from this latest call for questions next weekend.
Cla23: Can the Jets actually find a 2C in free agency? Can Brad Lambert and Isak Rosen be second-line players with Perfetti?
By the literal wording of your question, yes, the Jets can find a player who could center their second line in free agency. I’m just not sure that player will be second-line-caliber, however.
Back in March, our Ethan Hetu took a look at the upcoming center UFA class. The marquee names are Charlie Coyle (who had a solid year in Columbus but some iffier seasons before that) and Evgeni Malkin (who isn’t leaving Pittsburgh for Winnipeg). The next tier were Boone Jenner (probably more of a 3C at this point and he plays a lot on the wing), Scott Laughton (who spent a lot of time on the fourth line while with Toronto), and Jonathan Toews (who wound up going from the 2C at one point to the 4C role with the Jets). It goes downhill from there. Unless they win a bidding war for Coyle, they’re going to have a hard time filling that spot through the UFA market.
Lambert had top-six upside when he was drafted if everything panned out development-wise and even after his first year in Manitoba, he still had it. The last two years have been a struggle though, even with him securing a regular role down the stretch. It’s possible that he gets to a second-line level but I wouldn’t be predicting it. Rosen at least has a better track record of being a top-line threat in the minors but there’s a reason Buffalo never gave him any sort of extended look. They thought he was one of those (to borrow a baseball term) Quad-A guys who are too good for the minors but not good enough to play an impactful role at the top level. I don’t think he’s a second liner either but maybe a third liner with some offensive skill could still be doable. That would still help a bit, at least.
Unclemike1526: The Hawks’ goalie situation is in a transition period right now. Knight is now a known commodity but is he a definite 1 or a 1A in a perfect world? He has solid technique but isn’t the biggest guy in the world. I was on the fence about Gajan but after seeing him in the NCAA tournament, I’m on board. Less sure about Commesso and Soderblom is bad. Who is the best Scandinavian G the Hawks could draft in the 2nd round who could play in the SHL and not have Gajan and him trip over each other? Thanks.
I think it’s fair to say that the Blackhawks view Spencer Knight as their starter of the future. I think he can be that for them. He’s not going to be a Vezina contender year after year but if he’s a top-10 or top-15 goalie in his prime, I think they’d be just fine with that. I suspect they think they have the backup in the organization at the moment already. I expect Arvid Soderblom to get one more look and give Drew Commesso another full year in the minors where he can split time with Adam Gajan. Commesso then might get a shot at the backup role in 2027-28 with the team pivoting to a Plan B if he isn’t ready or struggles. Gajan will probably need some time.
As for the draft, this is not a particularly good group of Scandinavian netminders. Douglas Nilsson and Viggo Tamm should be picked but the second round might be early for them. I like the idea of adding another goalie at some point, however, to stagger the prospects a bit. I’d be more inclined to look to Russia where Dmitri Borichev and Yegor Rybkin stand out. Some rankings have Borichev as a possible late first-rounder while teams will see Rybkin’s size (6’7) and want to use an early pick on him; he could be a second-rounder as a result.
random comment guy: It’s time for KD and the Hawks to poop or get off the pot. Do you see any big signings this offseason? Do you see them making any big trades? If they don’t get one of the top two picks, who do you see them drafting (or trading it away)?
I don’t expect any big signings from Chicago this year as frankly, there aren’t many players available who would qualify as big signings. Alex Tuch would be a nice addition to the top line and they have the cap space to get it done but unless they’re well above the market value, I could see Tuch wanting to sign with more of a contending team if he doesn’t ultimately re-up with Buffalo. Darren Raddysh is the top blueliner available. I think he stays in Tampa Bay, though, which would take him off the table. I could, however, see them trying to sign someone like John Carlson to a pricey short-term deal to help insulate and mentor Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel while dragging up the floor of the group a bit. Whether it’s him or someone else, I suspect they’re going to try to bring in some veteran upgrades.
I think GM Kyle Davidson will try to make a big swing on the trade front, however. When I was doing their Offseason Checklist, the one theme that kept coming up was their young depth and deep draft pick cupboards. Those are great to have but not all of those pieces are going to be part of Chicago’s future. Packaging a promising young center, maybe a young defender, and a high draft pick is a package that should land them a long-term piece of significance. Whether it’s on the wing or the back end remains to be seen but if there’s a big fish that fits the age group of their core who moves this year, I expect the Blackhawks to be big bidders.
On the draft front, I don’t see them trading the pick away if they’re not in the top two. That is, unless they’re getting about a 20 or 21-year-old high draft pick who is already established in the NHL and the other team probably wouldn’t do that. Caleb Malhotra is quickly rising up draft boards but center is their strong spot (unless they move some players out in trades) so I don’t think they’d lean there. Not knowing where exactly they land in this scenario, I could see Keaton Verhoeff being the target. They like college players and big, all-around right-shot defenders are hard to come by (even if they already have two). In terms of who the most valuable asset could be beyond the top two, Verhoeff fits the profile if he develops to his full potential so I think they take the surplus there and deal with the ‘problem’ of maybe having too many down the road with a big trade.
Pyramid Headcrab: What teams that missed the playoffs this year do you suspect will git ‘er done next season?
Who’s most likely to make a brain-dead long-term signing that handcuffs the team?
Who’s going to have the most ill-advised rebuild?
For the first question, it’s hard not to pick the Panthers. They’ve earned the benefit of the doubt and can’t possibly have more injury woes next season than this year. As long as they get their goaltending settled, I think they’re back in. I’m intrigued to see if Rick Bowness’ culture change promise yields some positive results; if so, I suspect the Blue Jackets can get in this time. Something tells me the Sharks will make a big swing this summer that could sneak them into a Wild Card spot. I’m tempted to put the Jets here (under the ‘things can’t go this bad again’ category) but I want to see what they can do in the offseason. Really, all of these picks, other than maybe Florida, could change depending on the roster activity over the next couple of months.
For the second question, this isn’t necessarily as likely to happen moving forward given the big jumps coming to the salary cap. One bad signing shouldn’t handcuff a team unless it’s already cap-strapped. Upon my first read, the Rangers and Kraken came to mind as teams that might make a desperate move that backfires but they have the cap flexibility to overcome a bad signing like that. The only teams that can be handcuffed in this question are those that are the tightest to the 2026-27 Upper Limit. Of those, I’d have to pick Vegas. They swing big all the time but have limited flexibility. Eventually, they could miss on one and with so much of their team locked up long-term, missing on a big swing would hurt them more than others.
I’ll go with Vancouver. They’ve been directionless for the last couple of years and now have a lot of spots to fill along with some above-market contracts that are going to be hard to move. They’ll fill one of those needs at the draft but it’s going to take a while if all goes right for them to turn things around. With how odd this GM search has been, I’m not overly confident that there won’t be some stumbles along the way that lengthens the rebuild.
Nha Trang: Hah, this isn’t a question so much as an observation: how many of the pundits who bleat about the so-called “President’s Trophy curse” have bothered to check on the Cup-winning odds of the *second* place regular season team? Or the third? Or the fourth?
The President’s Trophy has been awarded 40 times in total and we know the subsequent Cup winner for 39 of those; we’ll see how Colorado fares in June, should they get that far. Let’s look at the distribution and percentages (rounded to the nearest tenth so no, it doesn’t quite add to precisely 100%) of Cup winners over that time based on their regular-season finishes.
1st: 8 winners (20.5%)
2nd: 4 winners (10.3%)
3rd: 3 winners (7.7%)
4th: 6 winners (15.4%)
5th: 4 winners (10.3%)
6th: 3 winners (7.7%)
7th: 4 winners (10.3%)
8th: 2 winners (5.1%)
9th: 1 winner (2.6%)
10th: 1 winner (2.6%)
11th: 1 winner (2.6%)
12th: 1 winner (2.6%)
13th: 1 winner (2.6%)
14th: 0 winners
15th: 0 winners
16th: 0 winners
If you ask me, first overall is still statistically the best spot to be, even if it’s still a roughly four-in-five chance that they won’t win the Cup. I will note, however, that since the salary cap came into effect, only two Presidents’ Trophy winners have won (Detroit in 2008 and Chicago in 2013). I’m not one who subscribes to the ‘curse’ theory given the general parity in the NHL but 12 years and counting since a first-overall team won the Stanley Cup is something.
Jolly Roger: Has there been any investigation, suspicion, controversy or rumor about match-fixing in the NHL or at any other level in professional, collegial, or amateur hockey in any country, including misconducts by officials?
Within the last few years, a pair of wingers were investigated and cleared amidst gambling allegations: Vancouver’s Evander Kane and Ottawa’s Arthur Kaliyev, the latter coming just this season. That isn’t the exact same thing as match-fixing but some like to connect the two.
Outside the NHL, there was a Belarus Extraliga game in which seven players admitted to being approached about manipulating the outcome of the game and that they accepted. The players – five Belarusian and two Russian – were suspended by the IIHF but their names were not published. The incident occurred in a matchup between Dynamo Molodechno and Mogilyov. Five months later, IK Bjorkloven in Sweden’s Allsvenskan level (second-tier) was investigated amongst match-fixing allegations but was ultimately cleared. They had a 3-0 lead in the game before allowing eight unanswered to Mora.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Bruins Reassign Lukas Reichel
5/3/26: The Bruins reassigned Reichel to Providence today, according to a team announcement.
5/2/26: While Boston’s playoff run is over, one of their players will still have some postseason action on the horizon. PuckPedia reports that the Bruins have placed winger Lukas Reichel on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence.
This is the second time that the 23-year-old has been on waivers this season. Vancouver acquired Reichel early in the season from Chicago for a fourth-round pick in the hopes that he could give a banged-up roster a bit of a lift. However, he struggled and some of their injured players returned, resulting in the Canucks waiving him in mid-December, where he passed through unclaimed.
Looking for some extra winger depth at the trade deadline, the Bruins flipped a sixth-round pick to Vancouver to acquire Reichel and left him briefly in the minors. He eventually was recalled, getting into ten games down the stretch before returning to the AHL. Reichel was then brought up for the postseason and suited up once against the Sabres.
On the season, Reichel played in just 29 NHL games between Chicago, Vancouver, and Boston, notching three goals and five assists. He also picked up 19 points in 27 AHL contests and added three more in five games for Germany at the Olympics. For his career, Reichel has 23 goals and 39 assists in 198 career NHL contests.
A first-round pick back in 2020 (17th overall), Reichel is slated to become a restricted free agent this summer and will be owed a $1.3MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights. At this point, it seems unlikely he’ll receive that. That also makes it quite unlikely that he’ll be claimed by Sunday’s 1 PM CT deadline, paving the way for him to return to Providence as the league-leading Bruins look to have a long postseason run.
Snapshots: Wild, Sanheim, Bruins Captain
Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin will not be able to play in game one against the Colorado Avalanche tonight, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. Additionally, center Joel Eriksson Ek is questionable with a lower-body injury. Eriksson Ek is questionable after he was shaken up in game six against the Dallas Stars, due to the fact that he lost his balance and hit the boards with some force. Brodin missed game six with a lower-body injury.
The fact that Minnesota will be without Brodin is already a significant loss for them, but the potential loss of Eriksson Ek could be even more significant. Colorado boasts center depth that is the envy of the league. Few teams have the kind of talent down the middle to be able to play a center like Nazem Kadri, who nearly led the Calgary Flames in scoring despite being traded mid-season, as a No. 3 pivot. The Wild are likely to count on Eriksson Ek’s highly-regarded defensive ability heavily in their efforts to shut down Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and others, so his health will be a key storyline to track as this series gets going.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- The Philadelphia Flyers No. 1 defenseman Travis Sanheim was knocked out of game one against the Carolina Hurricanes with an apparent lower-body injury. Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall, Sanheim “was banged up after taking a hit into the side boards” during the game. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported that the media requested to speak with Sanheim post-game but he was not made available, something that is not out of the ordinary when a player’s availability is newly in question. Sanheim has averaged nearly 26 minutes per night in the playoffs so far, meaning his health is of massive importance to the Flyers’ hopes of pulling off a second consecutive upset series win.
- Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm told the media today that he is comfortable with the team’s current leadership structure, and may not necessarily enter 2026-27 with a captain. The Bruins have not had a captain since they traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers. The team had four alternate captains in 2025-26: Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, and David Pastrnak. Among that quartet, McAvoy and Pastrnak are the most likely candidates, at face value, to be captain given the length of their respective tenures in Boston.
Canadiens’ Noah Dobson A Game-Time Decision For Game 7
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson will take part in warmups and be a game-time decision to play tonight, head coach Martin St. Louis told the media today. The news comes as the Canadiens are set for a do-or-die game seven against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.
Dobson has been out since April 11 with an upper-body injury. It was initially announced that he would be “re-evaluated in two weeks” after he suffered his injury, meaning this current return window fits within the original projections. St. Louis expressed confidence that if Dobson feels he is able to play, he will be able to do so without limitation.
If the Canadiens do indeed get Dobson back tonight, it would be a significant boost to their lineup. First and foremost, he is one of the team’s top defensemen. The former Islanders rearguard had a strong debut campaign in Montreal, scoring 12 goals and 47 points.
He put up those numbers despite the fact that he does not quarterback the team’s No. 1 power play unit – Lane Hutson occupied that role almost all season. Dobson also skated in two minutes per game on the penalty kill, and averaged 22:29 per game overall. When he has been paired with veteran Mike Matheson, his pairing has soaked up the most difficult matchups for the Canadiens.
Dobson’s return would improve the Canadiens not only because of his own personal ability, but also due to the impact it would have on the overall formation of the team’s blueline. Montreal currently only has one healthy right-shot blueliner in their lineup. Both Hutson and Arber Xhekaj have had to play on their off-side as a result, and while Hutson has shown he can still be effective playing from the right, he is at his best playing from the left.
Dobson’s return, if it happens, may not actually shift Hutson back to the left. He may still end up paired with Kaiden Guhle, or perhaps may stay on the right and return to playing next to Jayden Struble. Struble played his best hockey of 2025-26 when paired with Hutson, showing a greater level of confidence and decisiveness.
In any case, a Dobson return would at the very least mean one fewer Canadien will be playing on his off-side.
It’s not immediately clear where, if healthy, Dobson might slot into Montreal’s lineup. St. Louis has been somewhat flexible with defensive pairings this season, and so partnerships are not fully set in stone. With that said, St. Louis may not be eager to make too many drastic changes in advance of a must-win game, so it’ll be interesting to see who he decides to partner with Dobson if Dobson is able to dress tonight.
Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Bruins Notes: Zadorov, Arvidsson, Lindholm
Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov played the latter portion of the team’s first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres with an MCL that was “fully [torn] off the bone,” he told the media yesterday. Zadorov’s status was up in the air before game five. But other than that moment, his availability for games was not seen to be in question. The injury did appear to impact his play, though, as The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa wrote Zadorov “was compromised” after his MCL tear.
Zadorov, 31, is one of Boston’s most experienced defensemen and a blueliner who plays a significant role in head coach Marco Sturm‘s lineup. Standing 6’7″, 255 pounds, Zadorov scored 22 points in 81 games this season, also registering 152 penalty minutes and 196 hits. He averaged 20:52 time on ice per game during the regular season, good for No. 3 on the team.
Other notes from Boston:
- Zadorov wasn’t the only Bruins veteran battling an injury against the Sabres. Veteran forward Viktor Arvidsson sustained a fractured rib and punctured lung, relays Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe. Arvidsson was No. 4 on the Bruins in scoring in the regular season, potting 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games. He suffered his injury in game four and wasn’t able to play in games five or six. The 33-year-old, who scored just 27 points the year before joining the Bruins, is set to become a UFA this summer.
- While some players suffer injuries only during the course of a playoff series, other suffer the injuries earlier in the season and the ailments just become something to manage over the course of the entire rest of the campaign. Veteran defenseman Hampus Lindholm is one of the players in the latter category, as he told the media today that he played through a foot fracture that he first suffered in December. The Bruins’ No. 2 defenseman behind Charlie McAvoy has seen his last two campaigns defined by injury, as a lower-body injury limited him to just 17 games played in 2024-25. This past season, he scored 26 points in 67 contests averaging 21:37 time on ice per game.
Morning Notes: Engvall, Burkholder, Kunc
New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall has had a difficult run of things since signing his seven-year, $3MM AAV contract extension in the summer of 2023. The 29-year-old missed the entirety of the 2025-26 season with an ankle injury, and the year prior he saw his role in the NHL decline sharply. Without question, he’s hoping to rebound next season, and Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters reported that Engvall “is feeling better, and the hope is that he’ll be ready for training camp.”
Rosner also noted that “given the severity of the ankle injury, it’s fair to expect a gradual ramp-up before he’s back to full strength.” That Engvall still isn’t a guarantee to be at 100% health before training camp, despite missing the entire campaign due to his injury, is notable – underscoring just how severe Engvall’s injury was. The Islanders don’t have many viable routes to move off of the hefty financial commitment they made to Engvall, as he almost certainly wouldn’t be claimed off of waivers and his 16-team no-trade list makes finding a deal for him difficult. So their best hope for his future with the team is for him to be able to recover and rediscover the form that once made him a speedy 15-goal, 35-point forward.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Boston Bruins have invited Colorado College captain Max Burkholder to their development camp, reports Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal. The 22-year-old is an undersized right-shot defenseman who had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2024-25. That year, he scored 26 points in 37 games and was named to the NCHC’s Second All-Star team. A lower-body injury cost him all but three games this year, but he’ll still get the chance to show off his talents at development camp with the hope of potentially earning a pro contract down the line.
- Utah Mammoth pending RFA Michal Kunc has signed a two-year contract to return to his native Czechia, according to a team announcement. Brno is Kunc’s youth team and the club with whom he made his professional debut, though it’s his performances with HC Olomouc that earned him his shot in North America. Kunc spent the entirety of 2025-26 in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, scoring 16 points in 43 games. The Mammoth have an extensive track record of mining the European leagues, and specifically Czechia, for free agent talent. While players such as Kunc and Ronald Knot, for example, have come and gone, they have had some success, most notably finding a No. 1 goalie in Karel Vejmelka from Brno.
Prospect Notes: Hallander, Fiddler, Ivankovic
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Filip Hallander has returned to his home country of Sweden for training after recovering from a blood clot per Seth Rorabaugh of Trib Live. Hallander only played in 16 games this season – 13 in the NHL and three in the AHL – due to the blood clot.
Bad health kept Hallander from playing through his NHL rookie season – his next step after posting 89 points in 102 games through two seasons in Sweden’s SHL. Hallander found his confidence in Sweden and looked to return a much more capable play-driver, after getting his first taste of the AHL between 2021 and 2023.
Hallander began the season with Pittsburgh and scored four points, before a three-game scoring lull earned him a bump to the minors. He added one more point with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before being removed from the lineup.
Hallander is a confident puck-mover who uses his skill to beat defenders and rack up points. He has yet to prove that talent at the top flight, though he does have 62 points in 107 career AHL games. He will be evaluated by the Penguins for availability at 2026-27 training camp upon returning from Sweden. If he is cleared by doctors, next season could be Hallander’s first chance to dig his feet into an NHL role.
Other notes out of the prospect world:
- Seattle Kraken prospect Blake Fiddler has announced his commitment to the University of Denver. He will join a strong cohort of young defensemen headed to the National Championship winners, alongside top 2026 draft prospect Ben MacBeath and Ryan Lin. Fiddler offers a confident bit of puck-movement and physicality, blending well with Lin’s dynamo offense and MacBeath’s strong defensive presence. Their additions will give Denver more than enough to make up for the loss of Hobey Baker Award finalist and San Jose Sharks prospect Eric Pohlkamp. Fiddler, a Texas native, racked up 11 goals and 36 points in 63 games with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings this season. He carved out a second-pair role and posted a career-high plus-23.
- Sticking with college hockey, Nashville Predators prospect and University of Michigan starter Jack Ivankovic will join Team Canada at the World Championship per Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek. This will be a golden chance for Ivankovic to prove his iron man abilities after missing a chunk of the season due to a lower-body injury. Ivankovic returned well ahead of schedule from that injury and led Michigan to a Frozen Four semi-final loss against the eventual championship-winning Denver Pioneers. The second-round draft pick set 25 wins and a .921 save percentage in 35 games with Michigan this season. His performance marked the most wins from a goaltender under the age of 19 since Tyler Wall posted 26 wins with UMass-Lowell in 2017 and Billy Sauer posted 25 wins with Michigan in 2007.
Rangers Promote Tanner Glass To Director Of Player Development
The New York Rangers have made their first change of the summer. The club has released Jed Ortmeyer from his role as Director Of Player Development and promoted Tanner Glass in his spot per Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic. Glass has served as the Assistant Director since 2020. This decision is part of a complete assessment of New York’s departments, general manager Chris Drury told Mercogliano.
New York has now missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2018 and 2019. Their roster has failed to pull into a better form since those prior struggles, with Mika Zibanejad still leading the ship, now alongside Alexis Lafreniere and J.T. Miller rather than Mats Zuccarello and Pavel Buchnevich. The Rangers made the bold decision to trade star scorer Artemi Panarin partway through their losing season in an attempt to fortify their future assets, at the least.
Now the team will take another step to ensure they get more out of their draft capital. Glass played three seasons with the Rangers from 2014 to 2017, as part of an 11-year career in the NHL. He was a depth forward in every stop he made but found a way to stick in the lineup thanks to gritty and high-energy play away from the puck. Glass retired in 2018 and joined the Rangers as a development coach one year later. His presence has played a small role in the success of New York’s burgeoning youngsters, like Noah Laba and Gabriel Perreault, though Drury made sure to also praise Director of Amateur Scouting John Lilley for deciding to pick both players.
New York has value in the pipeline. They received high-scoring, OHL center Liam Greentree as part of a return for Panarin and recently watched 2025 second-round pick Malcolm Spence run to the Frozen Four semi-finals with the University of Michigan. Both players could one day secure roles in the lineup, as could shutdown defensemen E.J. Emery and Sean Barnhill or utility forwards Adam Sykora and Brody Lamb. Honing their development, as well as the development of future draft picks, will now be Glass’ top priority. New York has two first-round picks, one second-round pick, and four third-round picks as part of 11 total selections in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Evening Notes: Hronek, Tippett, Manson, Kiviranta
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek was injured in pre-tournament action with Team Czechia’s World Championship roster per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. Dhaliwal adds that Hronek “should be okay soon”, likely a sign that the top Czech defender won’t miss tournament action.
Hronek has carved out an important role on Czechia’s men’s national team. He scored five assists in five games at the 2026 Winter Olympics and six points in eight games at the 2025 World Championship. The latter tournament was Hronek’s first appearance on Czechia’s national roster since the 2022 World Championship, where he scored two points in 10 games. That quiet showing was outdone by his 15 points in 17 games between the 2019 and 2021 World Championships. More than his scoring, Hronek offers a physical, puck-moving presence that helps the Czech push their aggressive forecheck. He would leave an irreplaceable hole on the top-pair if he missed tournament games.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Philadelphia Flyers forward Owen Tippett has been announced as out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. He was doubtful to play in Game 1 of the second round after practice per NBCS’ Jordan Hall. A chance to rest could be timely for Tippett, who racked up two points in six games of the first round. It was a lackluster series for the scoring winger, after he tied his career-high with 23 goals and totaled 51 points in 81 games this season. He fills an important, shooter role in the Flyers offense and could leave a hole in the top-six. Tippett’s absence will secure rookie Alex Bump’s spot in the lineup. Bump scored nine points in the first 17 games of his NHL career this season. He also has one goal in two playoff appearances. He may be one of only a few black aces who could try to fill in for Tippett’s scoring impact.
- The Colorado Avalanche are also still nursing injuries. Defenseman Josh Manson and forward Joel Kiviranta are both still out day-to-day, head coach Jared Bednar told Bailey Curtis of DNVR Avalanche. Manson sat out of Game 4 against the Los Angeles Kings and hasn’t been able to heal up in six days since. He scored two points in the first three games of the series, continuing to fill an important, top-four role on Colorado’s defense. Kiviranta sat out of both Game 3 and 4, limiting him to no scoring and five hits in the first two games of the series. He totaled nine points in 51 games this season, rotaitng in-and-out of the team’s fourth line. Manson will immediately step back into the lineup when he’s back at full health, while Kiviranta will compete with Logan O’Connor and Parker Kelly for depth minutes.
Oilers Notes: McDavid, Dickinson, Draisaitl, Knoblauch
The Edmonton Oilers held their end-of-season interviews after failing to win one playoff round, on the heels of back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was a day filled with difficult conversations and injury updates. Notably, both Connor McDavid and Jason Dickinson were revealed to be playing through foot fractures, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. Dickinson scored two goals in the opening game of the first round before missing the next two games with injury. He returned for the final three games of the series and added one assist.
McDavid played through all six postseason games but didn’t neccesarily appear like his usual self. He scored only one goal and six points. It was rare that he broke away with top-end speed or dominated offense – instead leaving those roles to Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Vasily Podkolzin who led the Oilers in playoff scoring. A fracture is reasonable explanation for those struggles and will now set both McDavid and Dickinson on the course of recovery for at least part of the summer. Knoblauch did not mention specifics for either player’s recovery.
Other notes out of Edmonton:
- Star winger Draisaitl was vocal about the team’s struggles, saying that he feels the organization took a step backwards per NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest. Their result at the end of the year made that backwards step evident enough – but McDavid echoed his teammate’s comments in his own interview. Draisaitl went on to speak to how big of a role Edmonton’s depth players filled on their run to the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, even naming Ryan McLeod, Warren Foegele, Vincent Desharnais, and Cody Ceci. It seems the Oilers’ charge through the summer will be replicating that difference-making depth talent, if they want to appease their best players ahead of another playoff heave next season.
- No indication was made regarding Knoblauch’s future with in the Oilers head coach role through the team’s final interviews. General manager Stan Bowman said the organization will take their time to evaluate things before confirming if Knoblauch would be back per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. Bowman went on to add that all aspects of the team will likely be evaluated, including his own role, after their disappointing end. Those decisions will give the Oilers a lot to consider in a small window before the NHL Draft in June and free agency in July.