In the Pressbox

NHL Notebook: Habs’ Suzuki wins Selke, Caufield wins Lady Byng

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:00:16 -0400

Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has won the 2025-26 Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best defensive forward, the NHL announced Friday morning.

Suzuki edged out fellow nominees Anthony Cirelli of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche for the honour.

This marks the eighth time a Canadiens player has won the award. Bob Gainey won it the first four times from 1978 to 1981, while Guy Carbonneau received the honour in 1988, 1989, and 1992.

Suzuki has been a key contributor for the Habs for seven seasons and helped the team reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He endured a few down years with the club as they retooled, and he helped them return to the postseason last year.

This season, the London, Ont. native hit the 100-point mark for the first time, notching 101 points, including a team-leading 43 of them on the power play. His defensive acumen was on full display, as he led the team in plus-minus with a plus-37 rating, and won the sixth-most faceoffs in the league with 1449. He also played all 82 games and led Habs forwards with 20:49 of ice time per game.

During the regular season, he won 50.4 per cent in the faceoff dot, marking the second straight season that he won over half of his draws.

Suzuki’s efforts helped the Canadiens reach third place in the Atlantic Division. In the playoffs, he posted four goals and 16 points in Montreal’s run to the Eastern Conference final, where they ultimately fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.

The award is voted on annually by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Cole Caufield wins the Lady Byng

The NHL announced that Cole Caufield has won the 2026 Lady Byng Trophy.

“The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability,” according to the league.

Caufield, 25, beat out nominees 38-year-old Anze Kopitar, of the Los Angeles Kings and 23-year-old Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators, with 45 first-place votes.

The Canadiens forward had one of the more impactful campaigns in modern Habs history, being the first player for the club to hit 50 goals in a season since Stephane Richer in 1989-90.

In the regular season, he posted 51 goals and 37 assists for 88 points. He recorded six goals and seven assists for 13 points during the postseason, helping Montreal reach the Eastern Conference Final.

Over the course of six NHL seasons, the former 15th overall pick has 169 goals and 138 assists for 307 points in 368 career regular-season games.

The Stevens Point, Wisconsin, native played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. In 2020-21, he led the NCAA with 30 goals and 52 points in just 31 games, which earned him the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the country.

After a fantastic sophomore campaign, he signed an entry-level contract with the Canadens and joined them for their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.

In international play, Caufield represented the USA twice at the World Junior Championships, helping them win gold in 2021. He was also part of the U.S. World Championship team in 2024.

Predators name Rob Blake executive VP of hockey operations

The Nashville Predators have hired former Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake to be their next executive vice president of hockey operations, GM Chris MacFarland announced Friday morning.

“We are ecstatic to welcome Rob Blake to the Nashville Predators as our executive vice president of hockey operations,” MacFarland said in a release. “He brings a wealth of knowledge in management and I will rely on him to assist me in many areas across the department as we look to build a winning team in Smashville. I couldn’t think of a better person to join me and the organization on this journey.”

Blake, 56, expressed his excitement for the new challenge ahead of him in Nashville.

“My family and I are very excited to join the Predators franchise and would like to thank Chris MacFarland for his trust in me,” Blake said. “This is an organization with a great history and a very bright future, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. I am grateful to work with Chris, who is one of the best general managers in today’s game, and build something special here in Nashville.”

This will be Blake’s first job back in the NHL since he parted ways with the Kings following the 2024-25 season, marking the end of a seven-year tenure. Blake was part of the Kings’ retooling process in the late 2010s that brought them back into consistent playoff contention. However, four straight first-round losses to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers led to a change in direction in Los Angeles, which included Blake’s departure.

MacFarland was hired on Tuesday, replacing Barry Trotz. The new duo will now map out a plan to get the Predators back into the postseason contention after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly “Letters to the Editor” segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation’s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com), titled “Letters to the Editor.” Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 p.m. MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.

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Is the narrative around Oilers’ Nurse worse than reality?

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:00:43 -0400

How did it come to this for Darnell Nurse and the Edmonton Oilers? Since Sportsnet’s Mark Spector sounded the train whistle to whisk the career Oiler out of town, it’s more of a reality than ever that Nurse has played his last game with the team that drafted him.

When I think back to the time when Nurse signed that contract in the summer of 2021, I distinctly remember the successful season he had prior.

The Good: Puck touches in a contract year

I remember how every time he touched the puck, something positive happened. He was contributing to the flow of play, where it seemed like he could do no wrong. This is just my memory, but I was running the defence at the University of British Columbia at the time, and my fellow coach, Oilers alum Sven Butenschon, a lanky left-handed defenceman himself, would use clips of Nurse often with our own players. From the story here on Oilersnation when he signed:

“He scored 36 points over 56 games while logging 25:38 per night. Nurse’s strong season resulted in him finishing seventh in Norris Trophy voting for the league’s top defenceman.”

This clip in particular stuck out to me.

Impressive! Particularly since, according to Spector, Nurse at least partially defines himself by his ability to put up points. Points are good, points mean goals, goals mean wins. Move the puck, and the offence will follow.

The Bad: Dougie Hamilton

I also remember questioning why a defenceman who didn’t play on the first-unit power play was worth that much. Normally I’d rather jam lemons into my eyes instead of digging into the weeds of pro contracts and cap hits, but the summer Nurse signed his contract was the same summer the Carolina Hurricanes lost Dougie Hamilton to a briefcase filled with money. Hamilton signed in New Jersey for $9 million, and just this last season he was healthy scratched in January. Carolina replaced him with power-play specialist Tony DeAngelo, which didn’t work out. But these days Carolina has Shane Gostisbehere, a third-pairing defenceman, putting up points in overtime in the Stanley Cup final. All this to say, if the Hurricanes aren’t spending that kind of money on a defenceman who doesn’t play in every situation, then your team probably shouldn’t either. Try not to be nervous if rumours arise with interest from the Hurricanes.

The Ugly: Tyson Barrie & the power play

What Mark Spector says is interesting with regard to how Nurse values his own productivity. He desperately wants to win, that much I believe. But the Oilers had a better option on the power play after Oscar Klefbom had to be shut down: Tyson Barrie. Barrie was a perfect third-pair defenceman in the same mould as Gostisbehere. I also believe strongly that Barrie wanted more than third-pair minutes, as I recall, loosely, his former Avs coach Patrick Roy saying he felt Barrie was an offensive specialist.

Anyways, the point is this: why can hockey players not be happy with who they are? Oh, millions of dollars, probably. Ok, sure.

Ok, but why can’t they be happy with who they are even with that contract in the literal bank? Darnell Nurse is an absolute force when he’s playing the right way, and for him it sounds like it’s a mental battle, judging by the report from Spector.

Back to Nurse and his actual play on the ice, because I think most people would agree that if money was no object, he wouldn’t be getting run out of town. And if he eventually is, better hope he’s not picked up by Eric Tulsky and the Hurricanes.

More puck touches

I thought it would be fun to see how reliable my memory is on the skills Nurse demonstrated prior to the big contract. What did he do so well to earn that security? Let’s start with puck touches. The most important job of every defenceman is transporting the puck towards the offensive zone.

He looks so calm and poised. This is the Chris Pronger version of Nurse the Oilers need. He moves the puck, joins the rush where it’s appropriate, and the offence comes as a result of those good habits. This kind of defenceman can play 30 minutes a night.

Puck battles

You have to get the puck before you can move it. Nurse’s tenacity, aggression, and ability to separate the man from the puck are top tier. Again, watch his feet in these clips.

He’s such a smooth skater, but the interesting thing here is that he often doesn’t take too many strides. Again, Chris Pronger-esque. It’s because his gap control is excellent, so he’s already on top of the forward, and then all he needs to do is use his stick and his limbs to cut them off. He’s just focused on killing the play and then getting the puck moving in the right direction.

Make the simple play

The contrast between those clips from five years ago and now is pretty stark. I’m probably cherry-picking a lot here, and the truth, as always, lies somewhere between the extremes. But when you watch Nurse play with Canada at the World Championships, he just looks off. He’s uncomfortable. It’s as though he feels like he needs to come over and lead the way. The Oilers have been deep in the playoffs at this time the past few years, so he hasn’t had an opportunity to play for his country, and it’s probably a lot harder than he and a lot of players thought it would be.

He’s a proud player, and he’s trying to do too much. When that happens, it inevitably ends poorly. If I was coaching the team (are the Oilers hiring? I hear they’re hiring), I’d sit him down, show him these clips, and describe how playing this way will benefit him and the team in the long run. He’s too skilled to be a liability, so just rely on your natural skill and let the game come to you.

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Oilers coaching update: Team ready to pay Cassidy ‘very handsome salary’, term

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:00:12 -0400

There’s no hiding the fact that Bruce Cassidy is the guy the Edmonton Oilers want behind their bench as soon as possible.

The Oilers have waited patiently to get permission to interview the former Vegas Golden Knights bench boss since at least when the news leaked on May 12.

Vegas seemingly doesn’t want to play ball, and, at least for now, “remain focused on the Stanley Cup playoffs,” as they’ve stated publicly time and time again. Despite that, the Oilers still wait in the midst.

But if they are able to get permission to speak with Cassidy, the team appears ready to make an aggressive offer of salary and term to make him their next head coach, insider David Pagnotta reported on Thursday’s edition of The DFO Rundown.

Pagnotta: It’s clear as day that they want Bruce Cassidy. Somewhere back there, doesn’t want that to happen. At least they’re still saying not now because the playoffs are ongoing. It’ll be really interesting if they continue this after the playoffs, regardless of what happens with this group. But he’s their guy. He’s the guy they want, and they’re willing to pay him a very handsome salary and a term contract, I believe around five years in order to do that.

Gaffar: If Rick Tocchett got five times five (five years, $5-million salary), you got to think Cassidy it at least five times six (five years, $6-million salary).

Pagnotta: That’s the ballpark. I think that’s what it’s going to come down to if they ever get permission.

There’s no public database of coaches’ contracts like there is for players, however, Front Office Sports reported that New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan and Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper are the two highest-paid coaches, making $6.5 million and $5.3 million annually.

Pagnotta’s reported price for Cassidy would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league.

Could the Oilers hire a one-year coach?

Despite the Oilers’ desire to speak with Cassidy, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the team is starting to open up their coaching search more.

The team received permission to speak with Craig Berube, who was fired by the Leafs following the end of the season, and there’s a belief the team has interviewed Peter Laviolette, Oilersnation’s Jason Gregor reported in late May.

Friedman doubled down on Gregor’s report, stating it’s his belief that Laviolette has already interviewed with the team, but said he’s less convinced about Edmonton’s desire to wait for Cassidy. More so, Friedman theorized about the Oilers hiring a one-year coach.

Friedman: I had thought they were gonna wait for Cassidy. And I’m starting to get some signal that maybe they won’t. You know, here’s, and I want to stress, this is a theory. Do they bring in someone for a year?

Bukauskas: Now, why do you think they would be just looking at someone for a year?

Friedman: Because after that press conference with Commissioner Bettman and Bill Daly before Game 1, They’ve basically made it sound like it’s up to Vegas’ will to clear him, right? They’ve basically said Vegas is well within his rights and he doesn’t have the language that’s necessary for Edmonton to be able to talk to him. So unless you think the Golden Knights are suddenly going to change their philosophy out of the graciousness of their hearts or whatever, you might have to go down that route.

Bukauskas: So you still see a world where however the dust settles here in this final, we go through the summer and into the fall and the Vegas organization’s still going, ‘Nope, we’re not letting you talk to that team or to that team.’

Friedman: I don’t think it’s impossible. As a matter of fact, privately, that’s the, those are the smoke signals Vegas has sent out. And it would be another year for Cassidy under contract, right?

Bukauskas: After next season. The deal with Vegas is up for him, right?

Friedman: That’s right. June 30th, 2027… I think they’ve interviewed Laviolette recently. I think they’ve interviewed Berube. I’m sure they’ve interviewed others. Would you take a shot with McDavid and Draisaitl for a year if it was presented to you?

Bukauskas: As a coach? Yeah, absolutely. Because then, I mean, what if you pull kind of a Tortorella?

Friedman: Exactly. Again, this is just my theory, but I’ve begun to wonder about this.

It’s undoubtedly an interesting idea, and one that would be unique, as coaches are often looking for security when signing a new contract with a team. There’s been talk about that potentially changing, at least in terms of the language in coaching contracts that would keep situations like what’s happened to Cassidy from occurring again.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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Why it’s the right time for the Oilers to trade Darnell Nurse

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:00:31 -0400

The idea of the Edmonton Oilers trading Darnell Nurse is no longer just speculation; it’s now a question of when, not if.

According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, the Oilers are set to approach Nurse “in the coming days about his wishes” and that the team “are ready and willing to trade Nurse as soon as they are able.”

Nurse has spent 12 seasons in Edmonton, and with the Oilers still having not reached their goal of winning the Stanley Cup in that span, a change is needed. With that reality setting in, there are several reasons why now, more than ever, is the right time to trade the Oilers’ longest-serving defenceman.

McDavid’s championship window is now

The stakes were raised in Edmonton when Connor McDavid signed a two-year extension at an average annual value (AAV) of $12.5 million last October, leaving millions on the table to help the Oilers stay competitive. However, with their 2025-26 first-round exit to the Anaheim Ducks, it likely left a bitter taste with the captain, and now success next season becomes even more critical.

As Jay Downton said recently, “This is the last dance. It is Stanley Cup or bust, because if it’s not Stanley Cup, then we honestly have to think about the non-Connor McDavid era.” It’s a tough reality, but it’s the truth. Next season’s outcome may determine McDavid’s long-term future with the Oilers.

The clock is potentially ticking on McDavid’s future in Oil Country, and one of the team’s priorities beyond winning a Cup is convincing the captain to stay once his two-year contract is up, and management needs to show him they’re serious about winning.

One way to do that is to get cutthroat, move on from what isn’t working, and they’ve already started to do that, with the firing of head coach Kris Knoblauch and assistant Mark Stuart being the first dominoes to fall.

The next issue that doesn’t appear to be working is Nurse — who deflected 17 pucks into his own net in 2025-26 — and his effectiveness on the blue line.

Lucky bounce…. 1-0 Utah

Oilers trade tree: Salvaging the awful Jeff Petry trade

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:00:55 -0400

As Jeff Petry’s career winds down, it’s getting harder and harder to remember him in the orange and blue.

Sure, there are more forgettable Edmonton Oilers in the Decade of Darkness, but the lone Petry game that I personally remember is when he scored a goal in a game against the Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately, it was an own-goal in 2012-13, one of just two seasons where it looked like the Oilers had a legitimate chance of making the playoffs from 2007-08 until 2015-16.

Drafted 45th overall in the 2006 draft, the right-shot defenceman spent three seasons at Michigan State before finally signing his entry-level contract with the Oilers. He split his first full professional season between the American Hockey League and National Hockey League, scoring a goal and five points in 35 games during the 2010-11 season.

Petry became a regular in 2011-12, scoring twice with 23 assists in 73 games. In the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Petry scored three goals and 12 points in 48 games, followed by a career-high seven goals in 80 games during the 2013-14 season.

But Petry entered the 2014-15 season as a pending unrestricted free agent. With the Oilers out of contention and failing to agree to a long-term deal, they shipped him to the Montréal Canadiens for a 2015 second and a 2015 fourth rounder.

Petry was their best defenceman at the time of the trade, and this was an undeniably bad return for him. The Michigan product eventually blossomed with the Canadiens, scoring double-digit goals and 40 or more points in four seasons spanning from 2017-18 until 2020-21.

However, it’s what the Oilers did with those picks that not only makes this trade tree interesting, but also salvages it.

The fallout from the Petry trade

The 2015 draft was a weird one for the Oilers. As you know, the Oilers drafted Connor McDavid first overall, and they even did well in the latter rounds, so there were positives from it. That said it was overshadowed by the Griffin Reinhart trade.

At the time, it was regarded as a terrible trade and, unsurprisingly, it didn’t age well. Not only did Reinhart not pan out, but the Oilers missed out on a golden opportunity to draft a handful of future top-six players, as they traded the 16th and 33rd overall picks

If you’re wondering, the 16th overall pick was used to select Mathew Barzal, and just two picks after when the Oilers would have picked, the Carolina Hurricanes selected Sebastian Aho. It was one of many bungles made by the Oilers’ management in the Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl era.

Anyway, a day later, the Oilers packaged the second acquired in the Petry deal with a 2015 third and 2015 seventh for Cam Talbot and a 2017 seventh. Of the six players the Oilers drafted in 2015, Ziyat Paigin, the seventh-rounder, was just one of two that failed to reach the NHL.

The picks traded for Talbot were used to select Jonas Siegenthaler, Sergei Zborovskiy, and Adam Húska. Siegenthaler is the only who reached the NHL, aside from Húska’s one game.

Cam Talbot’s branch of the tree

This trade turned out great for the Oilers, at least to start. In his first season in Edmonton, Talbot posted a .917 save percentage and 2.55 goals against average in 56 games, not too bad for a team that finished in the bottom three. But his 2016-17 season remains as his best to this day.

Talbot played a whopping 73 games for the Oilers, finishing the year with a 42-22-8 record, a .919 save percentage, and a 2.39 goals against average. McDavid won the Hart Trophy this season, but Talbot was the team’s MVP.

He regressed a bit in 2017-18, posting a .908 save percentage and 3.02 goals against average in 67 games. But by the 2018-19 season, the games caught up the netminder, finishing his Oilers tenure with an .893 save percentage and 3.36 goals against average in 31 games.

On Feb 16, 2019, the Oilers sent Talbot to the Philadelphia Flyers for Anthony Stolarz. Unfortunately, this was pre-breakout Stolarz, as he played just six games for the Oilers before signing with the Ducks for the 2019-20 season.

This ended the branch of the trade tree, but Talbot has gone on to be a successful journeyman 1B backup netminder. He also happened to be the best goalie of the McDavid/Draisaitl era, so for that alone, the Oilers salvaged the Petry trade with the follow-up move.

The Seth Jones branch

Moving back to the 2015 draft, the fourth-rounder acquired in the Petry trade was used to select Caleb Jones, only their second selection of the draft. The Oilers then went on to draft Ethan Bear with their fifth, and John Marino with their sixth. All three defencemen have played 250 or more games.

The younger brother of then-Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Seth Jones, Caleb Jones, played three seasons with the Oilers, scoring five goals and 19 points in 93 games. Following the 2021 season, the Oilers sent a 2022 third and the left-shot defenceman to the Blackhawks for Duncan Keith (and Tim Söderlund).

Jones’ best days were with the Blackhawks, playing 124 games with nine goals and 31 points. Since then, he’s served as a depth defenceman for the Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

As for the third the Oilers gave up in the trade, it was flipped to the Arizona Coyotes, who used it to select Jérémy Langlois, who played 30 games for the University of Maine in 2025-26.

Keith was in the tail end of his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career, scoring just one goals and 21 points in 64 games. However, he helped the Oilers reach the Conference Finals for the first time since 2006, scoring a goal and five points in 16 games. This was all while providing valuable leadership to the defence corps. Keith in the 2022 off-season, having won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks.

In the end

The initial trade that kick-started this tree was bad, there’s no denying that. Not only did the Oilers sell low on Petry, but it forced them to move Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. They salvaged this trade thanks to two solid moves, acquiring the best Oilers’ netminder of the last decade, as well as a veteran defenceman who was a part of the team that finally made the conference finals.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 5, 2026

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:30:17 -0400

A daily roundup of Jets, Moose coverage — all the pro hockey news that matters in Manitoba and beyond.

Real Life Podcast: Tyler is off to the Cup Final, the World Cup, and the Darnell Nurse rumours

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:00:26 -0400

Thursday afternoon means a fresh episode of Real Life was recorded and edited, and it’s ready to help you wrap up the week. On today’s podcast, the guys discussed Tyler heading to Vegas for the Stanley Cup Final, Darnell Nurse rumours, rumblings out of Montreal, and much more.

The guys kicked off this week’s episode of Real Life with a conversation about Tyler heading to Vegas on Friday and revealed that he gets his own room during the trip, even if Baggedmilk and Jay always share rooms when they travel. Yet, if you’re Tyler Yaremchuk, being mindful of business expenses is the last thing he thinks about when hitting the road. Somehow, talking about Tyler heading to Vegas led to another conversation about how much Knicks fans are paying to watch games at the NBA Finals.

Shifting gears, the boys discussed the upcoming World Cup and whether the other guys on the show are getting excited to watch some international soccer. But before even getting anyone’s answers, the conversation shifted to a bunch of random topics that had nothing to do with soccer. While there was some loose talk about soccer, we may never know whether any of the boys are excited about the biggest tournament on earth.

Finally, the guys wrapped up the podcast on the Thursday episode of Real Life with a run of topics, starting with a breakdown of Jay’s water problems, beefs of the week, and how Tyler’s sub-pump is keeping up him every night with all this rain. Even with the lack of Oilers news, it’s always remarkable to hear the boys avoid topics like absolute professionals.

Listen to the Thursday episode of Real Life below:

Subscribe to the Real Life Podcast for FREE on Spotify here, on Apple Podcasts here, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

‘Time to make the change’: Oilers fans react to Nurse trade talk

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:00:09 -0400

Many Edmonton Oilers fans have prayed for times like this: a breaking point in the relationship between Darnell Nurse and the team.

When Mark Spector released his piece on Sportsnet, reporting the two are headed for a breakup, it sparked hope among those who have wanted to see the defenceman traded and for the organization to clear up cap space.

The comments in this article come from X, and comment sections from Sportsnet’s Facebook page, as well as Oilersnation’s Instagram and Facebook.

Now there’s no guarantee that Nurse gets traded this off-season, but fans reacted on social media to the chance that it could happen.

Seems like the Oilers and Darnell Nurse are going to be moving on from one another. I was always a huge fan of Darnell. But, last season changed a lot. – Kgill39 via X

I am not against trading Nurse…. I think both the team & the player might benefit from a change. What I worry about who is eating the minutes Nurse plays??? – Trent Wilhauk via X

Oilers fans. Nurse has absolutely no trade value. Just remember that when you’re making your stupid ass mock drafts. – Leo Seyerpa via X

Can’t come soon enough. He’s the main reason why the Edmonton Oilers do not have a Cup. Holland screwed up BIG TIME. – Dougers97 via X

Why would he want to stay on a team that clearly doesn’t want him? – Denny Sawchuk via X

Denny makes a good point. For Nurse, the only reason he would want to stay is the fact that the team has been so close to winning the Stanley Cup in recent years. He also has a good relationship with core players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but Stan Bowman, on the other hand, has no loyalty to the defenceman.

Bowman didn’t sign him to the contract; Bowman didn’t draft him, and as the Oilers’ general manager, he will attempt to make whatever moves he can to finally reach the promised land of winning the Stanley Cup.

Rather than score goals on his own goalie, why not park him on the other side of the ice in front of the opposition goalie and have them deflect off of him there? I can see him being a 50-goal scorer in that role. – Bissam Fiyth via Facebook

Let’s do a straight exchange, Reilly for Nurse. They both need a change of scenery. Both have two years left on their contracts. – Tulip Theo via Facebook

Nurse has always been an excellent defenceman when paired with the right partner. He played well beside Murphy this season, he played well beside Stecher in the past. Didn’t work with Emberson, didn’t work with Bouchard. – Dwayne Westad via Facebook

I’d keep him, having said that I would turn him into a winger. I have thought for years that he would make a better winger than DMan. Worth a try what have they got to lose. – Shawn Parks via Facebook

I guarantee he’ll be a lot better on a different team with a fan base that doesn’t blame him for all the Oilers’ problems. Him getting traded will be the best thing to happen for his career. – Dee Dubb via Facebook

Nurse is family. Might be time to make the change though. – Alli884 via Instagram

If they trade him, Stan better have a plan to replace / upgrade him. He’s really not that bad of a player and you can’t just plug Stastney into there and both Stastney and Emberson in the lineup. That’s not a true Cup Contending D what so ever. Especially in front of Jarry. – Andrew4h via Instagram

Bowman needs to be calling Detroit and trying to get Nurse there with a package for Larkin. – Twoodman93 via Instagram

Trading Nurse will be difficult. For the player, it could mean finding a new home after nearly 800 games with the same team. He’s had a lot of stability as part of the Edmonton Oilers and a lot of responsibility on the ice. However, for many, that responsibility hasn’t translated into the success they’d like to see from him, especially for how much he makes every season.

Buckle up, folks, because this is just the start of what could be a busy off-season for the Edmonton Oilers, potentially including cutting ties with a man who’s logged many minutes wearing the Oilers crest.

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NHL Notebook: Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin requests trade

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:00:55 -0400

Dylan Larkin has requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported Thursday afternoon.

“There’s a lot to unpack here,” Friedman wrote. “First, should mention that no one would comment. Not Larkin, not agent Pat Brisson, not Red Wings executive vice-resident and general manager Steve Yzerman.

“Second, Larkin’s involvement in the trade market is massive,” Friedman added. “He has a full no-trade clause both this season and next, so his control over the situation does not change July 1. He’s a top-line centre in a league desperate for centres, so there’s going to be a ton of interest. His play at the 4 Nations and Olympics was stellar. That’s going to excite potential trade partners.”

Larkin, 29, has five years remaining on an eight-year contract that carries an AAV of $8.7 million, according to PuckPedia. The news comes after a late-season collapse that cost the team a playoff berth for a franchise-record 10th consecutive season.

Larkin has played his entire career with the Red Wings, who selected him 15th overall at the 2014 NHL draft. In 2021, the club named him the 37th captain in franchise history, succeeding Henrik Zetterberg. Larkin has played 728 games since his one and only playoff appearance in 2015-16, recording 598 points in that span.

This season, he finished second on the Red Wings in goals, with 34, and third in points with 67 en route to a sixth-place finish in the Atlantic Division.

A year ago, Larkin voiced his displeasure with management’s lack of aggressiveness at the trade deadline.

We didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kinda down about it. So it’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and a morale boost as well,” he said during his season-ending availability last year.

At the 2026 trade deadline, Yzerman traded for veteran winger David Perron, who scored three points in 16 games for the Red Wings, and defenceman Justin Faulk, who was a minus-five in Detroit while tallying eight points in 17 games.

According to Friedman, Larkin has a “frosty relationship” with Yzerman.

Larkin played for Team USA at both the 4-Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, where he recorded five points in 10 games across the two tournaments. He helped lead USA to its first Olympic gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980.

Marcus Foligno wins King Clancy Memorial Trophy

Minnesota Wild alternate captain Marcus Foligno has won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, given each year “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Foligno, 34, was visiting the Masonic Cancer Center in Minneapolis with his wife and kids when his brother, Nick Foligno was waiting in one of the rooms to surprise him with the trophy.

Nick previously won the award back in 2017, thanks to his support of children’s hospitals and cancer research. Janis Foligno, Nick and Marcus’s late mother, died from breast cancer in 2009.

Now Marcus will follow in his brother’s footsteps, with his name engraved on the award in recognition of his co-creation of the Foligno Face-Off, which raised more than $200,000 for breast cancer research during this season.

The Foligno Faceoff began while the two brothers were playing on separate teams. Fans were encouraged to donate $17 (Marcus’s jersey number) or $71 (Nick’s) to show support for either brother during games between the Wild and Chicago Blackhawks. When Nick was traded to the Wild in March, the campaign continued, “turning what began as a sibling rivalry into a shared mission to advance cancer research.”

All 32 teams nominate one player for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy each season. Winners are selected by a committee that includes NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, former King Clancy winners, and former NHL Foundation Player Award winners. The King Clancy recipient also receives $25,000 to support the charity of his choice.

Marcus Foligno has played nine seasons on the Wild and is the third player to win the award with the franchise, joining Jason Zucker (2019) and Matt Dumba (2020). The trophy was first awarded in 1988, presented to the NHL by then-Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard.

Foligno has played 931 career NHL games over 15 seasons split between the Wild and Buffalo Sabres, where he’s produced 148 goals and 336 points. He’s notched seven goals and 14 points in 45 career playoff games.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the Edmonton Oilers nominee.

Utah Mammoth need to take next step as a contender

The Utah Mammoth achieved their most important goal for the 2025-26 season, making the playoffs for the first time before falling in the first round to the eventual Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights.

The club has about $13 million in cap space heading into next season and plenty of draft capital for general manager Bill Armstrong to be aggressive this summer and fill some roster holes.

Progression from key young players like Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther should further the team’s ability to level up.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed what Armstrong can do this summer to help push the Mammoth from being a good team to a great team.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Up today is the Utah Mammoth, and you know last year they made the big shake-up getting JJ Peterka. I don’t know if that move necessarily is an A-plus when you look at it in hindsight considering you know [Josh] Doan had an awesome year in Buffalo, and Peterka was pretty inconsistent with the Mammoth this year, but they made the playoffs, that was kind of priority number one. And the goal and now I think the task at hand for Bill Armstrong, Hutts, is to find a way to get this team from the playoff conversation to the, ‘Oh they’re right there with the Minnesotas and the Dallas’ in the Central Division.

Carter Hutton: Yeah, I think so, and I think that is the worrisome, like, to rush it, right? I think patience is going to be important because of the fact you look at what the Central Division is still going to offer next year, and it’s going to be deep, but you want to take a step forward. You want to keep developing. Now it’s trying to find the players that are going to fit in here to grow with your group, right? You have a really good core to grow around. I know you lock up Nick Schmalz, you have Clayton Keller, Lawson Crouse on that first line that he has up there. Those are veteran guys that are going to fit in anywhere can play up and down your lineup that with Guenther and Cooley and you start to put, hopefully Peterka takes a step forward, things start to look really good in Utah. My concern for them when I sit here is the amount of games that Karel Vejmelka played, and Vitek Vanecek is going to be in the outside looking in. Do you go out and find someone now to push him a little bit and give him a relief? Because I think 64 games is really, really high when we talk about today’s day and age and goaltending, and then you look at the playoffs, at times you look tired. I think you’ve got to protect him a little bit, so maybe going out and finding a key piece that you can give a few million bucks to for a year or two as you start to develop your prospects will be important… I still don’t think you’re there next year, and maybe it’s two years away, where you can really start to push more in the Central because with the way the Dallas, Minnesota, Colorado looks, it looks like odds are you would still be that wild card team.

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Potential trade destinations for Oilers’ Darnell Nurse

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:00:07 -0400

It seems like only a matter of time before the Edmonton Oilers trade defenceman Darnell Nurse.

On Thursday afternoon, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported that the Oilers want to move Nurse “as soon as possible.” This just adds to the smoke around the 31-year-old left-shot defenceman since the Oilers’ season ended prematurely.

According to PuckPedia, the Oilers have a little over $14.5 million in remaining cap for next season, needing to sign a right-shot defenceman, a backup netminder, and several bottom-six players. They’ll probably have enough to do all that, but if they want to make a big splash, they’ll have to shed some more cap.

Nurse has a $9.25 million cap hit, so moving most or all of that cap space would be huge for the Oilers. While he has a full no-move clause for the 2026-27 season, this is Nurse’s final season where he has full control of where he ends up, as his protection drops to a 10-team no-trade list beginning in 2027-28.

Although the Nurse fatigue in Oil Country is high, he still has positive value. He eats minutes, is physical, and is capable of chipping in on the scoresheet. The 2025-26 season was the first time Nurse didn’t reach the 20-point plateau since his rookie season in 2015-16.

Of course, $9.25 million is a large cap hit for the type of player Nurse is. But with the cap floor jumping to $76.9 million for the 2026-27 season, as well as Nurse still holding value (with some salary being held), shedding his cap hit isn’t as far fetched as one would think.

San Jose Sharks

Take the San Jose Sharks, one of the teams he’s been linked to most, for example. Right now, the Sharks are projected to have a cap hit of a little under $63.5 million, well below the cap floor. Even if they take on Nurse’s full cap hit, they’ll still need to add salary just to reach the cap floor.

They also need defencemen. Only Dmitry Orlov, Sam Dickinson, Mattias Hävelid, and Luca Cagnoni have a contract for the 2026-27 season, with Shakir Mukhamadullin also being a restricted free agent. That’s a young defence core, as 2025-26 was Dickinson’s rookie season, and Cagnoni has just nine NHL games under his belt.

Not only does Nurse’s cap work for the Sharks, but he also fills a need.

Detroit Red Wings

Then you have the Detroit Red Wings. The Oilers have been linked to one of their goaltending prospects, Sebastian Cossa, for the better part of a year. Cossa, who is also from Hamilton like Nurse is, has played just one NHL game.

While he’s still one of the better goaltending prospects in the league (.915 save percentage, 2.33 goals against average in 39 AHL games), he lost his starting job to Michal Postava this postseason. That doesn’t even mention Trey Augustine, another one of the Red Wings’ interesting goaltending prospects.

Like the Sharks, the Red Wings have a need for a defenceman like Nurse. They’re projected to have a cap hit of a little under $75 million, so about $2 million under the cap floor. Then you factor in Dylan Larkin reportedly asking for a trade, which may drop them even further below the cap floor.

But on top of that, the Wings’ have three left-shot defencemen locked up next season, Simon Edvinsson (RFA), Ben Chairot, and Albert Johansson. Nurse easily slots in as their second-pairing left-shot defenceman with plenty of playoff experience.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently projected to be about $5 million over the cap floor, but have plenty of space to absorb Nurse’s contract. There’s merit to this as well, as the Oilers reportedly attempted to trade Nurse to the Leafs for Nic Roy ahead of the 2026 deadline.

Of course, the Oilers and Leafs could always swap two left-shot defencemen in need of new scenery. Morgan Rielly, 32, carries a cap hit of $7.5 million with a full no-move clause, with a deal expiring following the 2029-30 season.

Trading two players with a NMC can be difficult, but it’s worth noting that Hamilton, Nurse’s hometown, is about an hour drive from Toronto. Rielly was born in Vancouver and played his junior hockey in Saskatchewan.

If the Oilers and Leafs were to make this sort of swap, the Oilers would free up a little under $2 million in cap space. However, trading Nurse to the Leafs seems less likely than the Sharks.

Four teams below the cap floor

Those are just two of the 10 teams currently under the cap floor. The Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, and Chicago Blackhawks all sit well below the cap floor and can absorb Nurse’s $9.5 million cap hit with room to spare. Realistically, you can make the same argument with the Blackhawks, who have a young defence core in need of a veteran presence.

Ultimately, it’s Nurse’s decision on whether or not he’s traded, and according to Spector, the Oilers will be okay with keeping him for another season if he chooses that path. That said, trading Nurse this off-season is mutually beneficial for both parties, as the Oilers free up cap space and Nurse chooses where he wants to go before losing much of his trade protection following 2026-27.

Oilers looking to trade Darnell Nurse ‘as soon as they are able’: report

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:15:11 -0400

Darnell Nurse’s time with the Edmonton Oilers is nearing its end.

While rumours have swirled for a third straight year about the team looking to move on from the veteran defenceman, those talks are set to reignite in the coming days.

According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, the Oilers are set to approach Nurse “in the coming days about his wishes” and that he team “are ready and willing to trade Nurse as soon as they are able.”

The team, Spector reported, seems set on moving on from the blue liner sooner rather than later, though Nurse will have his say in the matter with a full no-movement clause in his contract. When the sixth year of his eight-year contract kicks in for the 2027-28 season, that clause shifts to a 10-team no-trade list, opening up more trade destinations.

Nurse appeared on trade boards after the 2023-24 season, and last summer, declined to waive his no-movement clause.

He has shown the ability to be a minute-muncher who can kill penalties, but during the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the team had discussions about healthy-scratching him against the Florida Panthers, Spector reported. Ultimately, the team limited his minutes to the fewest of any Oilers defenceman in that series.

Drafted by the Oilers seventh overall in 2013, Nurse has appeared in 798 regular-season games for the team, scoring 88 goals and 324 points, adding another seven goals and 29 points in 100 playoff games. Nurse had a career year in 2020-21, scoring 36 points and a career-high 16 goals, while averaging a staggering 25:38 per night in ice-time in a 56-game, COVID-shortened season.

That’s what led Nurse to his massive eight-year, $9.25 million AAV deal, which he is entering the fifth year of. Nurse is owed a $6 million signing bonus and a $2 million base salary next season, with Spector reporting that the bonus is set to be paid out in-season, not on July 1 like many are.

Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly “Letters to the Editor” segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation’s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com), titled “Letters to the Editor.” Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 p.m. MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.

What does a Darnell Nurse trade mean for the Oilers?

It’s felt like it was only a matter of time before the Oilers would be upping the ante on moving on from Nurse. There was talk last summer about a potential move, and the Oilers were in talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline about a trade that would’ve centred around Nurse and centre Nic Roy, who eventually was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

There’s no knowing whether or not the Maple Leafs, or Nurse, would be interested in revisiting those talks, given Toronto replaced general manager Brad Treliving with John Chayka after this season. There’s also no knowing if Nurse himself would be interested, but given he hails from nearby Hamilton, Ont., and has family in the area, it could be assumed he’d be willing to move closer to home.

For the Oilers, any trade will likely involve a problem contract coming back the other way. Whether or not the minutes Nurse played could be considered good or not, the Oilers will still have to find someone to replace the 22:11 he’s averaged in each of the last three regular seasons.

A damning indictment of Nurse’s game

Spector spoke with an unnamed former Oilers coach who spent time with Nurse earlier in his career, offering a damning indictment of the defenceman’s game.

“I felt that he was receptive with the info that I was giving him at the time, but it never transferred into his play during the games. Especially when pressure was ramped up. He always gave you the feeling that he saw himself more as an offensive defenceman and would make some terrible reads with and without puck at critical times in games. Hockey sense was always a concern for me.”

Despite the rap he has in Edmonton, Nurse isn’t a bad player. His on-ice impacts have been, on average, as a low-end, second-pairing defenceman, according to HockeyViz — a mark that’s more than respectable in today’s game. But Nurse has been paid as a top-end, first-pairing defenceman for years, a level he hasn’t been able to elevate his game to.

PRESENTED BY LeaseBusters

An Oilers fan guide to hate-watching the Stanley Cup Final

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:32 -0400

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is coming up in a few hours, and as much as I tried to have the thing cancelled, I regret to inform everyone that the series is still happening between Carolina and Vegas. That means Edmonton Oilers fans who are still interested in watching hockey are being asked to make the impossible decision between two teams that none of us want to see win anything. That’s why I put together this handy guide on how we Oilers fans can get through what is sure to be one of the more annoying Stanley Cup Finals that our boys aren’t even a part of.

On one side, you have the Golden Knights, a franchise that showed up what feels like five minutes ago, skipped the normal and expected expansion-team misery, won a Cup almost immediately, and has somehow continued to successfully operate like the salary cap is more of a suggestion than a rule. Part of me respects how they continuously build competitive teams like it’s their last day on earth because I can be a reasonable person from time to time, but that doesn’t mean I have to like watching them succeed when the rest of us have spent years praying for miracles and that we won’t get fleeced on trades.

On the other side, you have the Hurricanes, a team I have personally despised since 2006 and will continue to dislike until I flip them off one last time as my casket is being lowered into the ground. Carolina beat the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, Marc-Andre Bergeron drove Andrew Ladd into Dwayne Roloson, and even though that series happened long enough ago that some current NHL players weren’t even born yet, I reserve the right to keep my hatred alive for as long as I see fit. Some people grow and move on. I carry sports grudges with me for decades.

And with puck drop on Game 2 only hours away, I figured it was a good idea to put together an Oilers fan guide to hate-watching a Stanley Cup Final matchup that feels like it was designed in a lab to irritate Edmonton fans specifically.

Option 1: Do literally anything else

Arguably, the smartest choice for any of us is to not watch at all, and I mean that sincerely. Go outside. Take your dog for a walk. Learn to write poetry and come up with the world’s prettiest Haikus. You could start a small herb garden or prune Bonsai trees. You could finally start checking off the horrible things on your life’s to-do list that have been sitting there for years. Hell, starting beef with your neighbour over some imaginary issue would probably be more fun. Any of these options would probably be better for your inner peace than sitting on the couch for three hours while Vegas and Carolina battle for the Stanley Cup, with the broadcast reminding you every 15 seconds how well-run both organizations are.

Unfortunately, I also know how many of you sickos are going to watch anyway because it’s the last hockey we’ll have for the next six months. So many of us will spend the day saying we don’t care who wins or that we’re not even watching, but so many of us will still end up watching because having a game on is just part of the routine at this time of year. The Oilers’ Cup runs created this habit for June hockey, and now we’re stuck needing the fix… at least, some of us do.

Option 2: Cheer for chaos

Since cheering for either team feels morally reprehensible, the best available option I can think of is to cheer for the game to get weird in a way that annoys everyone involved. I’m not talking about anything dangerous or guys getting hurt, but I do want to see chaotic bounces, goalie mistakes, a lack of power-play execution, shady offside reviews that take forever, and at least a handful of moments when both fan bases are losing their minds for completely different reasons. I want to see everyone stressed out.

Frankly, seeing everyone else suffer as much as we can is where the entertainment lives for Oilers fans in a series like this. We’re not watching this thing because we hope everyone is having a good time. We’re not here for beautiful games that flow back and forth nicely. We’re here for nonsense and mild irritation, with the hope that something happens to both teams that leaves everyone more annoyed than when they arrived. I mean, I’d even be down to see a little controversy that throws a black cloud over the whole thing. Am I petty? Yes. Am I telling the truth? Also yes.

Option 3: Root against Vegas because obviously

Vegas is easy to hate because they operate in a way that’s so dark-side evil that there’s no one else in the league that can really compete. They came into the league as an expansion team, were immediately competitive, won a Stanley Cup shortly after, and have never even had a glimpse of the organizational misery most fanbases struggle with on an annual basis. That’s not how this is supposed to go. They were supposed to stink like the Kraken still do.

Meanwhile, we’ve been over here praying that PTOs, waiver claims, bottom-six experiments, and random middle-six wingers were going to be enough to push this thing over the edge. So when Vegas keeps finding ways to hang around near the top of the league, it’s not really hard to understand why the rest of us find them so annoying. They basically execute on all of the moves that the Oilers whiff on, and it’s driving me nuts.

Respect the hustle? I guess. Do I like it? Not even close.

Option 4: Root against Carolina because we will never forget 2006

Carolina is annoying in a much different way because the Hurricanes are good, structured, disciplined, and constantly praised for how they get things done. Whether they’re making good trades or signing key players that fill gaps, it feels like every time they do something, the hockey world is standing beside you with a clipboard explaining why they’re one of the best run organizations in the league. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to watch it. I don’t want to see them have success because I’m not sure we have the people in charge to even replicate it.

But for a grudge holder like me, the real issue with the Hurricanes still runs back to 2006. The Hurricanes already took one from us, and that loss is enough to make me wish them bad times forever. You can keep reminding me that the Game 7 loss happened 20 years ago, that the players are different, and that responsible adults should not still be mad about something that happened two decades ago, but that sounds like quitter talk to me. Sports grudges don’t have expiry dates just because some time has passed. At least, not for me.

So what do you do?

The good news about this horrible situation is that you do not have to pick a team. None of us has to talk ourselves into liking either club, and we definitely don’t have to pretend that either outcome will feel good. But if you want to watch Game 2 because you’re into punishing yourself, finding ways to make it tolerable is key to keeping your hockey sanity. The result is going to sting either way, but I think we can take some of the hurt off if we factor in some of the ideas above.

Or, and I cannot stress this enough, you could go outside and do literally anything else. I’m not saying you have to do exercise or spend time with your family at a point in the spring when you’ve grown accustomed to ignoring them, but I am reminding you that there are no winners in this series. At least, not for Oilers fans. On one hand, we get to watch a team that beat us 20 years ago find success again before we could. On the other hand, there’s a divisional rival in the mix that would never let us hear the end of it. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, my friends. All I know for sure is that I’m glad we’re in this mess together.

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The Hockey Show - Episode 715

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:37:02 -0400

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is doing a little clean-up tonight as there are a pile of stories that we said we'd tackle on previous shows and never got around to discussing. With hockey news seemingly being hot off the presses each week, things change quickly when deciding what topics to cover. Add in the fun we've had meeting and chatting with some of the great contestants on Survivor: NHL Playoffs and it makes some of the stories far less important. However, they still need to be discussed at some point, so our hosts will engage in a little housekeeping tonight and get all of these random stories off the books! We're going all over the place with stories tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will flip a coin over who sends Buffalo home after scheduling conflicts with Fiona prevented us from chatting with her. Tyler will drop in for an exit inverview for the Colorado Avalanche. Travis is off on an adventure, so he gets to skip Montreal's exit interview tonight, but he's clearing his schedule for next week. After those get done, our hosts will begin the housekeeping with a discussion about Hockey Canada's women's program making changes, an old ECHL team is new again, a discussion on the Hamilton Hammers, the USHL expanding, the Dallas Stars trying to bully their way to a new arena, the 2026 Spengler Cup schedule, and anything else we may have missed from our notes over the past few weeks. It's another busy show with lots to discuss, so lock in tonight for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat with Tyler before looking at big changes, new identities, bad logos, bad expansion, ridiculous owners, fun schedules, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

How injuries derailed Jake Walman’s season: Oilers 2025-26 player review

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:00:05 -0400

Welcome to Oilersnation’s annual player review series, where we dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player by player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.

A promising start

From the moment he arrived in Edmonton at the 2025 trade deadline, Jake Walman made his presence felt. In his first game with the Oilers, he sat down Mikko Rantanen with a huge open ice hit and delivered a long-range flip pass onto the tape of Zach Hyman for a breakaway goal.

That was just the appetizer for his dominant stretch run. He finished the season first among Oilers defencemen in goal share at 61.9 per cent and produced eight points in 15 games.

In the playoffs, Walman was instrumental in Edmonton’s steamrolling of the Western Conference bracket. Kris Knoblauch deployed him in a third-pair role next to John Klingberg, and their ability to push the pace and move the puck up ice quickly gave Edmonton’s depth lines a significant advantage. It was largely their contributions that led to a 25-14 edge for the Oilers during that run without McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice.

The Stanley Cup Final ended in disappointment for Edmonton, but Walman emerged from the playoffs as one of their most impactful defencemen. On Oct. 6, Stan Bowman signed him to a seven-year extension worth an AAV of $7 million, a year before his previous contract was set to expire.

It wasn’t until after that massive commitment that the problems cropped up.

Injury Issues

Walman signed his extension a couple of weeks after suffering an undisclosed injury in Edmonton’s first preseason game. He was initially ruled day-to-day, but the injury lingered and kept him out for a month. Upon return, Walman didn’t make nearly the same impact that he had the prior year.

He had the worst expected goals against per hour among Oilers defencemen in his first 17 games before injuring himself once more. This time, it was a deep bone bruise, which forced him out of action for another month and a half.

This isn’t the first time Walman has been bitten by the injury bug. Over his six seasons in the NHL, he’s never once eclipsed 65 games played. It’s a concerning trend for an Oiler team that’s committed to him for another seven years with a no-movement clause until 2030.

Inconsistency

When you look at Walman’s career, he’s always had fantastic upside, but consistency has been an issue. His HockeyViz isolated impact timeline yo-yos up and down each year.

This season was a down year, particularly from a defensive perspective. His impact ranked 10 per cent below league average according to HockeyViz. Walman’s controlled aggression turned chaotic, leading to a shocking decline in his goal and scoring chance suppression.

Injuries were no doubt a factor in his disappointing season, but so too was his inconsistent deployment. Walman started the season on his offside next to Darnell Nurse, then he moved pairs to play with Spencer Stastney, then back on the left side with Connor Murphy, then Ty Emberson.

The coaching staff wanted the Nurse-Walman duo to work. That was the plan going into training camp. But Walman struggled on his offside and they were outscored 21-19 with a 47.1 per cent expected goal share. Between the injuries, the flip-flopping of sides, and the rotating door of defence partners, his season was thrust into chaos from the start.

After all of that, he finally picked things up in the playoffs, where he led all Oiler defencemen in expected goal share and put up four assists in six games. It was only a small sample, but it was a glimmer of hope that the 2024-25 Walman is still in there. The Oilers will need that version of him next season.

If health is on his side, and the new coaching staff can help him carve out a role and get his confidence going early, there’s a good chance we see his performance spike back up in 2026-27. If it doesn’t, the Oilers might come to regret extending him early.

Other player reviews…

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

ON in The Community: How you can help Sport Central

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:00:35 -0400

Sport Central is a nonprofit organization that provides people of all ages, most specifically children, with access to sport despite their financial situations. In order to make this happen, they need your help.

On Monday, the staff from Oilersnation got to tour their brand new facility that opened on Feb. 1 this year. Their storage facilities went from spanning across four buildings and 20 sea cans, to the bulk of their gear finding a home at the new West Edmonton location.

They serve schools, communities, and individuals all across northern Alberta, spanning many towns and cities. Kyle Campbell is the community outreach manager and self-proclaimed “equipment guy.”

“Being from a small town, I know a lot of these communities and people. I speak their language, and have probably played hockey at rinks in their town,” said Campbell, a Manning, Alta. native.

“Sports are hugely important. Even just thinking on my own experiences growing up, that’s how I met friends and kept busy. It’s good for your mental and physical health, it’s good for your social wellbeing… Every kid should be able to play, and we help facilitate that.”

One corner of the new Sport Central warehouse.

Oilers themed fitting room at Sport Central, where the kids can write their last names above their stalls while getting fitted.

Their new facility is massive, including two fitting rooms, one dedicated to the Edmonton Oilers, and the other dedicated to the Edmonton Elks, a warehouse for storage, multiple individual offices, and a massive staff room.

The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation is one that plays a big role in supporting Sport Central through the Every Kid Deserves A Shot program. They provide grants to the nonprofit organization to assist their facility, as well as to provide kids with purchasing brand new equipment in sports that see shortages.

Their facility also has an abundance of vintage equipment donated to them that they keep on display around the space. This equipment is too outdated for kids to use nowadays, but it’s still intriguing to get a glimpse at the history of sports gear.

Some of the vintage sports equipment at Sport Central

Currently they are lacking in a few areas when it comes to stock of their equipment, especially 20 and 24-inch bikes, as they are the most commonly requested equipment, but the amount of donations doesn’t match the desire. Other sports needing donations at the moment are baseball, and junior golf kits.

“Every month, we do a social media post for the top seven equipment shortages, so people can find out what we need at any given time through there.”

Campbell said that the equipment requests are mostly seasonal and that hockey is generally the most donated and recycled gear that they see in their shop.

“If anyone knows any hockey goalies who need gear, we have a massive amount of goalie gear,” he said. “There is a goalie shortage because the gear is too expensive, but we can help.”

They are always accepting sports balls of all variations to fulfill their annual program, where they give Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Edmonton Police Service (EPS) members soccer, basketball, football, and other balls to distribute amongst their communities.

“We give six-to-eight deflated balls to RCMP detachments, and they carry the bag in their car… if they see a kid out playing, then they can give them a ball. It helps them with their representation in the community, and also helps kids get involved in sports.”

Kyle Campbell holding size-18 shoes.

Their main goal is to ensure that kids are active and that all kids get a shot at their athletic dreams. One notable client that they mentioned was Canada Men’s National Soccer Team’s own Alphonso Davies, who is arguably the best Canadian soccer player at the moment.

“Davies came in for a bike and cleats when he was a kid, and now look at him… He started here with us, that’s special,” he said, adding that they aren’t dressing kids with intentions of them to go pro, but that it’s still touching they can provide this possibility.

“Everything in life is expensive… sports are something everyone should be in. We are breaking down barriers,” he said. “I was lucky my folks could afford to buy my equipment, but not everyone is in that position. One of the most gratifying things is seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces. When they leave with their gear and sticks that’s like the most gratifying thing, it’s like Christmas morning to them.”

You can make a huge difference in someone’s life simply by bringing your equipment to any fire hall around the city, United Sport and Cycle at 7620 Gateway Blvd, EPS headquarters, or by going straight to the Sport Central facility at 10331 176 St.

Sport central warehouse and bike shop stations.

However, they say none of this would be possible without the many volunteers who come in and help pack, store, repair, and fit equipment. If you are not able to donate, you can still make an impact by donating your time at the West Edmonton location.

“We are always looking for volunteers,” Campbell said. “You can check our website for more information. We have volunteer opportunities in our bike shop, equipment sorting, van drivers, there are a number of different ways you can volunteer as an individual. We are always looking for help.”

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An NHL playoff contest update, where 850 entered and just two are left standing

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:46:14 -0400

Two months ago, we started with a full field of championship hopefuls. Some knew they were facing long odds, but were willing to dream big dreams. Others were bathed in the soothing safety of favorite status. But they all had one thing in common: The abiding belief that this could be their year.

Then the playoffs started, and it all went to hell.

I’m referring, of course, to our annual playoff contest, in which I ask one simple question and almost all of you get it wrong. It launched a few days before the playoffs started, and over 850 of you entered.

How many of those entries are still alive and in the running for the title? Um… two.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 4, 2026

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:30:31 -0400

A daily roundup of Jets, Moose coverage — all the pro hockey news that matters in Manitoba and beyond.

Is It 2024 Again?

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:35:33 -0400

Tonight saw a dramatic overtime finish in the ECHL's Western Conference Final as the Fort Wayne Komets rallied to force overtime at 3-3 in Game Six. Based on the image to the left, though, you know what happened as Jakov Novak scored 64 seconds into the fourth period, sending the Kansas City Mavericks back to the Kelly Cip Final after eliminating the Komets in six games. With the Florida Everblades already waiting to see who their opponent was going to be, we now know we'll get a sequel to the 2024 Kelly Cup Final featuring these two teams.

Back in 2024, the Everblades were seeking their third-straight Kelly Cup championship, meeting the Brabham Cup-winning Kansas City Mavericks in the final. This year, the Everblades will look to claim their fourth title in five years by meeting the Brabham Cup-winning Kansas City Mavericks in the final. The Everblades will also bump their ECHL-best seven appearances in the final to eight while looking to capture a record fifth Kelly Cup with another series win this year.

Kansas City isn't looking to be a note in history for a second time, though, as the franchise will be seeking its first Kelly Cup in its second appearance in the final. Like the NHL's President's Trophy, the top ECHL regular-season team hasn't always fared as well in the playoffs, and Kansas City will look to join the 1997 South Carolina Stingrays, the 2006 Alaska Aces, the 2008 Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2011 Alaska Aces, and the 2014 Alaska Aces as the sixth team to win both the Brabham Cup and the Kelly Cup in the same season.

Despite these two opponents meeting for the Kelly Cup just two seasons ago, the script could be written in an entirely different language if things continue to trend as they have been. Florida has been lightning lamps in the Eastern Conference bracket early and often as they have found another gear for the postseason once again. Kansas City has had a few bumps along the way, but they have a deep roster with excellent scoring and goaltending so this Kelly Cup Final looks like it's going to be a good one featuring two solid squads!

The series will begin in Kansas City on June 5 where Florida comes in looking sharp. They feature goaltender Cam Johnson, the Nick Vitucci Award as ECHL Goaltender of the Year in both 2025 and 2026, who is the ECHL all-time leader in postseason wins and shutouts. His 1.35 GAA and .945 save percentage are a big reason why Florida is back in the final. Anthony Romano has 11 goals to lead the playoffs, Carson Gicewicz has eight goals including two shorthanded markers, and 15 Everblades have dented twine when it comes to team scoring depth.

Florida enters the final with a 12-2 record in the playoffs, scoring 50 goals while surrendering just 20. They rank ninth in power-play efficiency at 13.5% on 7-of-52 scoring, but they are tops in the playoffs while shorthanded as they've killed 95.1% of penalties on 39-of-41 opportunities. Perhaps most impressively, they are 6-0 at home in these playoffs, and have scored first in every playoff game this far, outscoring their opponents 15-4 in the opening frame!

The Mavericks boast six players in double-digit scoring with Bobo Carpenter having nine goals and Jackson Jutting having seven markers. Every player that has dressed for a playoff game has recorded a point, so the Mavericks' depth is solid. Goaltending duties have been split between Dylan Wells and Jack Lafontaine with both going 6-1, but Wells has superior numbers with a 1.94 GAA and a .928 save percentage. We'll see who starts in Game One on home ice, but the Mavericks won't worry about either goalie in this series.

Kansas City was a league-best 28-4-4 away from home in the regular season, and they'll look to continue their strong play which has pushed them to a 12-2 record through the playoffs with a 6-1 record both at home and on the road. They've scored 55 goals while allowing 31, but are 8-0 when scoring first in the playoffs. They boast the fourth-best power-play efficiency in the playoffs at 24.1% on 13-of-54 opportunities, but are ninth-best in the playoffs at 83.0% on 39-of-47 penalty kills. Kansas City likes playing in the second period, though, crushing their opponents 25-7 in scoring in the middle frame!

It took Florida five games to defeat Kansas City in 2024, and I suspect that the Mavericks don't want to see anything close to that happening again. The teams split the two games in Kansas City before heading to Estero, Florida where the Everblades won three-straight contests to capture their fourth Kelly Cup. Florida outscored Kansas City 23-13 in those five games, so this year's Kelly Cup Final might simply come down to an old playoff adage: "defence wins championships".

The Kelly Cup Final begins on Friday at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri. The rest of the series schedule can be found here, but this should be a heckuva series between two absolutely dominant playoff teams! The toughest part? Only one can win!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Better Lait Than Never: Waiting for Oilers news, and a nightmarish Stanley Cup matchup

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:00:57 -0400

It’s been another wild week around here with the Oilers rollercoaster making another loop, and I’ve got a fresh episode of Better Lait Than Never ready to recap it all. On today’s podcast, I discussed the Stanley Cup Final, coaching candidates, summer TV binging, and more. Needless to say, we’re in full offseason mode around here.

I kicked off this week’s episode with a run-through of the Stanley Cup Final and how this could be a nightmare final pairing if you’re a grudge keeper like me. Not only do I despite the Golden Knights as a divisional rival, but I’ve also hated the Carolina Hurricanes since they beat the Oilers back in 2006. How does one choose between two awful outcomes? It’s impossible, I say. From there, I looked at the latest news surrounding the Edmonton Oilers. Despite these being quiet days ahead of silly szn kicking off for the draft and free agency, there are some major decisions ahead for our beloved franchise, and that meant there’s always something to talk about even if not much is happening.

Finally, I wrapped up this week’s episode of BLTN with a guest Righteous Sack Beating before wrapping up the podcast with another round of voicemails. The voicemail was quieter this week, but even so, I still had a great time hearing everyone’s thoughts on whatever you wanted to talk about. The voicemail is my favourite way to wrap up the show and give everyone a chance to share their thoughts. Another hearty thank you to everyone who contributed to this week’s episode. Having all of you in the mix makes the show so much better.

Want to leave a voicemail for next week’s show? Do it here!

Subscribe to Better Lait Than Never for FREE on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you get your podcasts from! Better Lait Than Never is proudly presented by Sports Interaction, and Trilogy Oilfield Rentals. Without them, this podcast would not be possible.

NHL Notebook: Jon Cooper wins Jack Adams Award

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:00:00 -0400

Jon Cooper has won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s 2025-26 coach of the year, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced Wednesday afternoon.

Cooper, 58, coached the Lightning to a 50-26-6 record during the regular season, which placed them second in the Atlantic Division, securing their ninth consecutive playoff berth. The NHL Broadcasters’ Association voted on the Jack Adams Award following the regular season.

IT’S ABOUT TIME

Ranking the Oilers’ top off-season priorities

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:00:42 -0400

We are four weeks away from free agency in the NHL. Recent history would suggest the Edmonton Oilers need to adjust their scouting on July 1. They’ve focused mainly on smaller forwards the past few July 1sts, and it hasn’t panned out.

Last year, they signed Andrew Mangiapane to a two-year deal with a $3.6m AAV. It didn’t work out. He was traded to Chicago, along with a first-round pick, for Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach. The Oilers also signed Curtis Lazar to a one-year deal at $775K. He was a fine 12-13th forward.

They were much busier on July 1, 2024.

Victor Arvidsson, two years at $4 million AAV.

Jeff Skinner. One year deal at $3 million AAV.

Josh Brown, three years at $1 million AAV.

Troy Stetcher, two years at $787.5K.

They also signed three of their own free agents.

Adam Henrique, two years at $3 million AAV.
Mattias Janmark, three years at $1.45 million AAV.
Corey Perry, one year at $1.4 million AAV (base of $1.15 million and $250,000 in bonuses).

Perry was a great signing. He scored 19 goals in the regular season and added 10 in the playoffs. Amazing production for $1.4m.

Stecher was a solid signing. He played 66 games in 2024/25 and eight in the playoffs. He gave the Oilers great value for his AAV.

Arvidsson scored 15 goals and 27 points in 67 games. He dressed in 15 playoff games. It didn’t work out for him in Edmonton, I’m not sure why, but he scored 25 goals and 54 points in the second year of the deal, albeit as a member of the Bruins. The Oilers got a 2027 fifth-round pick for him in the deal. They’d have been better off keeping him at $4m and not signing Mangiapane.

Skinner didn’t fit in Edmonton. He did score 16 goals, but his footspeed had clearly slowed down. He signed a one-year deal with San Jose last year but only played 32 games before he and the Sharks mutually agreed to terminate his contract. No team signed him and he is essentially retired.

Josh Brown played 10 games for the Oilers in 2025, and he played zero games this past season. His salary didn’t count against the cap, so he never impacted their cap, but they didn’t give him three years at $1m with the expectation he’d play almost exclusively in the minors. And he didn’t sign here thinking he’d be in the AHL. He bought a house the summer he signed, but he didn’t make the team, and he had to go to Bakersfield, while his wife remained in Edmonton. It wasn’t a great situation overall, but their evaluation of his talent was clearly off.

Henrique had an okay first year with 12 goals and 27 points while winning key faceoffs, but he only scored three goals last season. They missed him in the playoffs, and I think he can still contribute as a fourth line centre, but likely not on a Cup-contending team.

Janmark has battled shoulder issues the past two seasons. In hindsight, he should have had surgery last off-season on his shoulder. He only scored three goals in 123 regular-season games the past two seasons. However, in the playoffs he was much more effective and scored three goals in the 2025 playoffs. If he can return healthy, he should help the penalty kill, but he can’t stay in the lineup if he can’t add some offense. We’ll see if his shoulder is fixed and he can score 7-9 goals.

The Oilers’ best signing last year came in October, when they signed Jack Roslovic to a one-year, $1.5m AAV deal. He scored 21 goals and 36 points in 69 games. He was a stellar signing. He scored the second most goals, 15, at 5×5 among Oilers wingers last season and he only skated 400 minutes with Connor McDavid and/or Leon Draisaitl. He produced well away from them, and you can make a strong case he’s worth bringing back. But in a shallow free agent pool, he likely can command $3.5m to $4m after scoring 22 and 21 goals the past two seasons.

OILERS’ PRIORITIES THIS SUMMER…

The first priority has to be goaltending

Tristan Jarry is signed for two more years at $5.375m. They don’t have another NHL goalie signed. Matt Tomkins has one year remaining on his two-way deal, while Nathaniel Day and Samuel Jonsson each have two years remaining on their entry-level deals. Connor Ungar is an RFA, while Connor Ingram is a pending UFA.

The free agent goalie list includes Ingram, Sergei Bobrovsky, Stuart Skinner, Frederik Anderson, Cam Talbot, David Rittich, Daniil Tarasov, Eric Comrie, Vitek Vanecek, Laurent Brossoit, Petr Mrazek, James Reimer and Calvin Pickard.

Five of the 13 are current or former Oilers. Tarasov interests me the most, and I wonder if his camp is waiting to see what happens with Bobrovsky. Tarasov will want to play more, and if Florida re-signs Bob, I could see Tarasov testing the market. None of the others intrigues me more than Ingram, so the Oilers’ best option might be to retain the goalie they know.

Their second priority has to be adding defensively aware players on defence

Connor Murphy is at the top of the list. The Oilers know him. He played well, and they need a second-pair right-shot defender. The other right-shot defensive D-men on the market include Jacob Trouba, Nick Jensen, Radko Gudas, Vincent Desharnais, and Erik Gudbranson.

Gudas doesn’t skate well enough. Trouba isn’t an option due to his wife’s work. Jensen isn’t as tough as Murphy. Desharnais is a solid third-pair defender, but I don’t see him as a second-pair guy, and same with the others. Murphy is the best option. There is interest from the Oilers and Murphy to find a deal, and I think there is a good chance he returns.

The third priority should be a right-shot, bottom-six centre who can kill penalties

Noel Acciari had a great year in Pittsburgh, but I wouldn’t expect that much offence from him. His 12-11-23 at 5×5 was the first time he had double-digit 5×5 assists in his career and only the second time he’s scored double-digit goals. He is good on faceoffs in the defensive zone, taking over 400 each of the three seasons, and he won 52.6%, 53.4% and 56.5% in those years. And he can kill penalties as he’s averaged over two minutes/game in five of the past six seasons.

Kevin Stenlund had a down year in Utah, after a decent first season with them. He won a Cup with Florida, and having playoff experience, and success is something the Oilers need. Stenlund is great on draws. I’d dig deeper to see what changed last year for him after a solid 2024 season with Florida and a good 2025 with Utah. He is great on defensive zone faceoffs. He was 57.5% last year winning 378 of 657 draws, and he was 62% in 2025, winning 365 of 588. The next closest centre in D-zone draws on Utah last season was Barrett Hayton with 275. Henrique led the Oilers with 310. Granted, Edmonton took 1,398 D-zone draws compared to Utah’s 1,622, but Stenlund took 40.5% of Utah’s D-zone draws while Henrique took 22.2% of the Oilers. Edmonton didn’t have one centre they relied on defensively. They need a right-shot centre.

Fourth priority would be a winger who can score 5×5.

Matt Savoie had a very good rookie season. He played the most minutes on the PK of any forward, and as he grew more comfortable, he started making more plays offensively. After the Olympic break, Savoie was third on the Oilers with 19 points in 24 games, and he was fourth on the team with five even-strength goals. He had a great developmental season, and he is capable of scoring 16-20 goals this year. Maybe more.

Isaac Howard scored 24 goals in 47 AHL games. He had the highest goals/game of any AHL rookie (minimum 40 GP). It is hard to score in the AHL. A similar, smaller, skilled forward had exactly 24 goals in 47 games in 2024. His name is Logan Stankoven. Stankoven scored 14 goals in the NHL in 2025, split between Dallas and Carolina, and he had 21-23-44 this past season. Could Howard score 14-15 goals for the Oilers this season? It is very possible. He played 29 NHL games last year, but mainly on the third and fourth lines. He played 10 minutes with Leon Draisaitl and 29 with Connor McDavid. He isn’t a lock to be a top-six winger this year, but I could see him being a regular on the second or third line. He is a shooter. They haven’t had a young shooter in many years.

I do think the Oilers should re-sign Kasperi Kapanen before searching out other players. He’s a good middle-six option, can kill penalties, can play with Draisaitl, and I don’t expect his cap hit to be as high as some of the free agents. But the Oilers should still sign Kapanen and look for another winger, if they have room after filling out the first three priorities. The list of free agent wingers who can score isn’t very long.

It has Alex Tuch (he will be too expensive), Anthony Mantha, Anders Lee, Michael Bunting, Mason Marchment, Bobby McMann, Andrei Kuzmenko, Jaden Schwartz, Arvidsson, Roslovic, and Mats Zuccarello.

Zuccarello is 38. I don’t think he’s an option.

Kuzmenko isn’t what they need. His best play comes on the power play, and the Oilers’ PP is set.

Bunting being scratched in the playoffs could lower his asking price, and he’d be an option. If he is looking for a similar $4.5m AAV that he currently has, I’d pass.

Schwartz had a down year with only 11 goals in 50 games. He is a smart player, has won a cup, but he’s only scored more than nine goals at 5×5 in one of his last eight seasons. Not who I’d look at.

Mantha scored 33 goals in Pittsburgh, but he has zero goals in 20 career playoff games. He has skill, but I wouldn’t overpay him. If he is still unsigned on July 4th, then I’d look at him, as you could get him on a more palatable contract.

McMann would be a great addition, but I think he will cost too much. He is 30 years of age, and this is his one chance for a big payday coming off a 29-goal season. He’s earned the right to get $4.5 million and term.

Lee is someone I’d consider. Only once (2022) in his last seven seasons has he had a SF%, GF% and xGF% below 50%. Every other year, he was above in all three categories. He’s a big, heavy forward with good hands. He turns 36 on July 3rd, so age is a bit of a concern, but he’s been very consistent in his career. His 19 goals last season was the second time he was below 20 in the last decade. The other season was in 2021, when he scored 12 goals in 27 games before being injured. Outside of that season, Lee has only missed a total of 24 games in 10 years. He is big, has good hands and has a record of staying healthy. He’s American, and has only played in New York, so he might not want to come out West, but he could be a very good value contract.

Marchment has the jerk factor the Oilers lack. He has scored 22, 22 and 19 goals the past three seasons. He missed 14 games last year and 20 the year prior, so health is a bit of a concern. Cost will be the challenge. He’s coming off a $4.5m AAV deal, and due to his unique agitating style, he will be sought after. His on-ice persona and skillset are something the Oilers lack. He probably will be too expensive, but he’s someone I’d look into.

Stan Bowman and the Oilers don’t need a great summer, but they need a solid, productive one when it comes to pro scouting and evaluating who they sign.

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

Vasily Podkolzin’s continued rise: Oilers 2025-26 player review

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:00:55 -0400

When Stan Bowman acquired Vasily Podkolzin for a fourth-round pick in August of 2024, the move raised eyebrows across the hockey world. Tension had been building all week as the Edmonton Oilers’ decision on the dual offer sheets signed by Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg drew near. Was Podkolzin the club’s budget replacement for Holloway?

The Canucks selected Podkolzin 10th overall in the 2019 Draft, but he fell out of favour in the organization after a couple of challenging campaigns. Across his final two seasons in Vancouver, he put up just nine points in 58 games. The underlying numbers didn’t paint the most flattering picture either. In sheltered minutes, he managed only a 35.7 per cent goal share and 49.6 per cent expected goal share in 2023-24.

The Oilers bought low on the 22-year-old prospect and elected not to match the Holloway offer sheet, cementing Podkolzin as a key young piece among their aging forward core.

The move wasn’t popular at first, especially given Holloway’s breakout the following season, but Podkolzin underwent an evolution of his own. He scored 24 points in 82 games and followed it up with an impressive playoff run en route to a Western Conference title. In 2025-26, Podkolzin’s rise continued, and he achieved career highs in goals, assists, points, and hits.

According to HockeyViz, Podkolzin had a net positive impact on five-on-five scoring for the first time in his career, and his defensive impact ranked 13 per cent above league average. It was his best season by nearly every metric, and he developed excellent chemistry next to Leon Draisaitl on the second line.

In 591 minutes together, Podkolzin and Draisaitl achieved an elite goal share of 61.7 per cent — a stark contrast from their minutes apart, where Podkolzin had a 50 per cent goal share, and Draisaitl a 48.1 per cent.

The fit makes sense stylistically. Draisaitl has a history of success playing with forecheckers who can dig pucks out of the corner and get the cycle started. Podkolzin matches that description to a tee. The two will likely be stapled together long-term in the same way Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman are on the first line.

Draisaitl isn’t the only superstar Podkolzin drove positive results with, however. He got an opportunity to play with McDavid when Draisaitl went down with an injury, and once again, he complemented his centreman well. At the end of the season, he had a 66.7 per cent goal share in his minutes alongside McDavid.

Podkolzin carried that late-season momentum into the playoffs for the second straight year. He led the Oilers in expected goal share and ranked third on the team in playoff scoring. In 26 career playoff games with Edmonton, he’s now notched 16 points, despite getting effectively no power play time. His fast, rugged playstyle and responsible defensive game have elevated his impact in the postseason.

As Podkolzin enters his mid-twenties, we’re soon going to find out what the ceiling is for the former top-10 pick. At one point, he seemed to be headed towards bust territory, but he’s carved out a role in Edmonton, and it really feels like his best days are still yet to come. His workman-like game has already endeared him to the Oilers fanbase, and it will make him an effective player for a long time.

Other player reviews…

PRESENTED BY SOUTHVIEW ACURA

Darren Dreger: Jonathan Toews appears headed for retirement

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:32:21 -0400

Nothing official but the NHL insider reported this today.

The Nation Network announces new partnership with PuckPedia

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:00:44 -0400

Hockey fans are ravenous. Everybody knows that.

Many out there are looking for as much information as they can find, like most of your reading this article. And when it comes to the intricacies of the game, few know them better than PuckPedia’s Hart Levine.

He’s built a nearly invaluable litany of resources for hockey fans since launching the website in 2018, becoming a go-to source for hockey fans, media members, agents, and professionals around the spot looking for the best information possible. Whether that’s player contracts, signing information, CBA and salary cap information, waivers, signing rights, draft pick movement, or roster construction, PuckPedia has you covered.

It’s why I’m excited to share that The Nation Network is partnering with PuckPedia. The new partnership kicks off today, weeks before the NHL draft and free agency opening up, with the goal of broadening editorial coverage around key dates like these.

“PuckPedia has built tremendous trust within the hockey world by delivering accurate, detailed, and easy-to-understand salary cap and contract information,” Jay Downton, Co-founder and CEO of TNN said in a statement. “Bringing that expertise into The Nation Network ecosystem helps us create even more value for hockey fans by combining premium reporting, analysis, and storytelling with best-in-class data and roster-management tools.”

The new partnership won’t only help lift PuckPedia, but The Nation Network’s coverage, too. Across Oilersnation, our other team sites including FlamesNation, CanucksArmy and The Leafs Nation, or our flagship site, Daily Faceoff, you’ll be seeing a lot more of the tremendous work PuckPedia does.

“We’ve long admired The Nation Network and the passionate hockey communities they’ve built across Canada,” said Levine, the founder of PuckPedia in a statement. “This partnership allows us to bring PuckPedia’s trusted salary cap, contract, and roster-management tools to an even broader audience through some of the most engaged hockey media brands in the industry. By combining our data and expertise with TNN’s strength in content and storytelling, we’ll create new ways for fans to better understand the business of hockey and the decisions that shape their favourite teams.”

In the coming weeks and months, integration of PuckPedia’s tools and resources will come across The Nation Network’s news, editorial and audio/video content, as the TNN looks to bring you a more connected experience for trusted reporting, analysis and insights.

The Final Two

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:11:19 -0400

With the Stanley Cup Finalists set for this year, we're down to two remaining entrants in Survivor: NHL Playoffs. That means we know who will win the two jerseys we have up for grabs, but we still need to find out who will get the option to choose one of the two jerseys. Michaela and Matt will see their two teams play for hockey supremacy in this final set of games, and we'll know who is the ultimate Survivor this season! But there's something else we need to discuss when it comes to this Stanley Cup Final too.

I have seen a handful of reporters who have suggested that a specific goaltender on the Vegas Golden Knights has earned the right to be in the conversation for the Conn Smythe Trophy. While I don't deny the importance of goaltending when it comes to winning, I want to be very clear that any reporter or writer associated with the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA) that votes for this goalie for the Playoff MVP award should lose their membership in the PHWA.

The last netminder that won was Andrei Vasilevskiy in 2021 with Jonathan Quick being the other most recent winner when he earned the votes in 2012. I'm not against a goaltender winning the award as they do play a big role in the success of any team, but there has to be some morality among the PHWA members when it comes to what was said and presented as evidence against this goaltender during the Hockey Canada trial. Let me be clear: this is not a redemption story.

I am fully aware that many people will disagree with my stance on this, but the Vegas goaltender does not get an opportunity to erase the role he played in the crimes that were committed. There has been zero attempt to own his part in the crimes with which he was charged, there has been zero effort to put in the work to understand the trauma suffered by the victim, and there has been zero work done to show the world he's a better person than who he was in 2018.

"But he was acquitted, Teebz!" is what I hear most of you screaming at your screens, and you're not wrong. The problem is that an acquittal does not prove innocence. All it proves is that the prosecution failed to get a guilty verdict in a trial. And based on all the things that were said and presented in the trial based on Rick Westhead's reporting in We Breed Lions, the Vegas goaltender was handly an innoncent bystander during the night in question in 2018.

In short, don't even bring the netminder up with any sort of redemption. Playing hockey well enough to win does not erase the morally-broken person. Do the right thing, pro hockey writers.

While we're on this topic, the other person who qualifies for a kick upside the head before being mentioned as a Conn Smythe candidate is Brett Howden. I get he's having an excellent playoff performance in this postseason, but I'd be worried about him remembering it if his memory is as bad as he portrayed it to be during the trial. During this testimony, the man sounded like recalling anything from around that 2018 period of time was a chore his brain could not complete.

His testimony included crying, a lot of stammering, and a lot of "I don't remember" due to the concussions and injuries he's received from his hockey career. The Crown presented "18 instances of inconsistency between Howden’s testimony and his previous statements to investigators" which is an incredible amount of memory loss for a person as young as Howden if that memory loss came from the injuries he cited, yet he's still playing hockey with zero health concerns from doctors or medical experts. Make it make sense.

There have been many on social media who have stated that the NHL has allowed alleged criminals play in the league for years before with no one making a big deal about it, and I'm not sure why a history of being morally corrupt is justification to continue being morally corrupt. If we can't change how we think and act to be better, we're doomed as a society. And if we can't demand accountability from all idols and heroes while making their lives uncomfortable until they become accountable for their actions, we've failed as a society.

Neither of their players have ever denied being in the room. Neither of these players have ever denied being, at least, a witness to some of the acts that were committed that night in 2018. Neither of these players have ever apologized to the witness nor taken responsibility for what they did or should have done in that situation. And neither of these players have sought out education or experiences to better understand why they were in the wrong on that fateful night in 2018.

Neither gets credit for being better people because they haven't done the work to prove that an effort was made to be better. In knowing this, drop the redemption arc stories and vote wisely. The PHWA should be able to show some moral integrity once in a while, right?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

‘One for one’: The Hall for Larsson trade 10 years later

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:00:40 -0400

Tuesday night, Taylor Hall played in his first-ever Stanley Cup final game.

To say that his career has been wild would be an understatement. All the way back in 2010, the Edmonton Oilers selected Hall first overall, the first of three consecutive first overalls the Oilers had. It also happened to be the first of three consecutive weak drafts.

Hall has had a good career for himself, and in his 16th season, the winger will have a chance of winning it all. With that being said, let’s revisit the trade that saw Hall depart the Oilers in the summer of 2016.

Taylor Hall before the trade

Prior to being drafted first overall, Hall spent his junior days with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires. His first taste of winning came in 2008-09, as the Spitfires won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, then the Memorial Cup shortly after. He and the Spitfires went back-to-back for both trophies, leading the Oilers to pick Taylor over Tyler.

Hall’s early days as an Oiler were weird. In his rookie campaign, he scored 22 goals and 42 points in 65 games, finishing tied for second in points, one behind Jordan Eberle. It was a tough year, but Hall finished ninth in Calder Trophy voting.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins joined the crew the following season, with Hall posting a then career-best 27 goals and 53 points in 61 games. Again, the Oilers picked first in 2012, drafting Nail Yakupov. Nearly half the 2012-13 season was missed due to the lockout, but Hall finished above point-per-game for the first time in his career, scoring 16 goals and 50 points in 45 games.

His best season as an Oiler came in 2013-14, scoring 27 goals and 80 points in 75 games, which happened to be the third-most games he played in a season. Of course, the Oilers still missed the postseason, as they did the following year as well. Hall only played 53 games in 2014-15, scoring 14 goals and 38 points.

In his final season, Hall and a young Leon Draisaitl formed chemistry, with Hall potting 26 goals and 62 points in 82 games, the lone time he played a full season in blue and orange. With the Oilers drafting Connor McDavid first overall in 2015, the forward core was promising.

Trade is one for one: Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 29, 2016

Much-needed context

The same cannot be said about their defence core, well, at least the right side. They had some solid left-shot defence options, Darnell Nurse became a regular, and despite missing more than half the season, Oscar Klefbom was heading in the right direction. That doesn’t even mention Andrej Sekera, who was the skilled veteran on the backend.

Then you look at their right-side at the time. Here’s a list of right-shot defencemen that played a game for the 2015-16 Oilers: Eric Gryba, Mark Fayne, Justin Schultz, and Adam Clendening. Schultz was traded before the 2016 trade deadline, so only Fayne and Gryba were under contract for the 2016-17 season. That’s important context for what came next, as the Oilers famously sent Hall to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson.

The Hall for Larsson trade is widely regarded as a dud for the Oilers, even at the time, but I don’t believe that to be the case. Instead, their issue lies in how they handled their right-shot defenceman group in the two years proceeding the one-for-one trade. Just months before the Hall trade, the Oilers traded Justin Schultz, and a year before that, they traded Jeff Petry.

It’s often said that good right-shot defencemen are hard to come by, and both Schultz and Petry were good defencemen. The ensuing trades weren’t bad, with the Oilers finding a way to get Cam Talbot, Caleb Jones, Duncan Keith, and even Jake Walman in the following trade trees. But it left them with, again, Eric Gryba, as their top right-shot defenceman.

Even with Larsson, the Oilers relied on Sekera, a left-shot defenceman, to play on the right side in 2016-17. He excelled at it, but imagine if they had kept Hall while having a core of Klefbom, Nurse, Sekera, Petry, and Schultz.

Hall’s post-Oilers days

This trade was widely considered bad for the Oilers the second it happened, as it was perceived that the Oilers could’ve got more value for Hall. And there’s some truth in that. To make matters worse, the Devils finished with the fifth-fewest points, but jumped up to the first overall pick. It would’ve been nice had it been the Oilers’ first overall pick.

Hall’s first season as a Devil was a solid one, scoring 20 goals and 53 points in 72 games. But nothing compares to his 2017-18 season, scoring a career-high 39 goals and 93 points in 76 games, helping the Devils make the postseason and winning the Hart Memorial Trophy.

When people say the Hall for Larsson trade is bad, this fact is often pointed too. But as Hall’s career has continued, it’s clear that it was just an anomaly. While productive in 2018-19, Hall played just 33 games, scoring 11 goals and 37 points. After 30 games with six goals and 25 points in 2019-20, Hall was shipped to the Arizona Coyotes.

In the remaining 35 games he played, Hall scored 10 goals and 27 points, with two goals and six points in nine playoff games. This trade kicked off the journeyman leg of his career, despite being in his prime years.

Hall signed with the Buffalo Sabres, but played just 37 games with two goals and 19 points before being shipped to the Boston Bruins. He spent the remainder of the 2020-21 season in Massachusetts, as well as the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with the Original Six team. There, he scored 20 goals and 61 points in 82 games during the 2021-22 season, his best season away from the Oilers and Devils.

Eventually, Hall was traded to another Original Six team, the Chicago Blackhawks, to free up some cap space. However, he played just 10 games in 2023-24 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. After 46 games with the Blackhawks in 2024-25, Hall was involved in the first Mikko Rantanen trade of 2024-25, with Hall joining the Hurricanes.

He’s been there ever since, scoring nine goals and 18 points in 31 games to end the 2024-25 season, then scoring two goals and six points in 15 playoff games. This season, he’s had his best season since 2021-22, potting 18 goals and 48 points in 80 regular-season games.

He’s been the Hurricanes’ MVP in the playoffs thus far, scoring five goals and a team-leading 16 points in just 13 games,. If they go on to win it all, and it’s a safe bet they do considering they have just one overtime loss, Hall has a legitimate chance of being named the Conn Smythe winner if he keeps up his current pace.

Mar 6, 2020; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Arizona Coyotes left wing Taylor Hall (91) against the Calgary Flames during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome.

But what about Larsson

The issue with this trade is that the Oilers probably could’ve gotten more for Hall. That said, Larsson was a much-needed piece. In 2016-17, the right-shot defenceman scored four goals and 19 points in 79 games, all while playing a great shutdown defence.

Every Oiler fan knows about the Decade of Darkness, and it realistically went on to the 2022 playoffs. There was a brief respite during this span, as the Oilers made the 2017 playoffs, and nearly made it to the Conference Finals. In 13 games, Larsson scored two goals and six points.

Unfortunately, that was the best Oilers’ season with Larsson on the team, missing the postseason in both 2018 and 2019, while winning just one of the eight games they played between the 2020 and 2021 playoffs. His best season in terms of points came in 2018-19, where Larsson scored three goals and 20 points, all while finishing as a -28.

An unrestricted free agent following the 2020-21 season, Larsson joined the Seattle Kraken, serving as their expansion selection from the Oilers. Larsson has missed just one game since joining the Kraken, scoring a career-high eight goals in his first two seasons, while also scoring a career-high 33 points in 2022-23.

But with Larsson, his value never lied in points. He was the prototypical second-pair shutdown defenceman, a role which he excelled in, and in fact still does. Larsson departing for the Kraken immediately left that role open, with the Oilers attempting to use Cody Ceci in it until he was eventually traded during the 2025 off-season.

Realistically, the Oilers didn’t have a Larsson-type player for this role until they acquired Connor Murphy from the Blackhawks at the 2026 trade deadline.

Can you call this trade good? No. But of all the trades Peter Chiarelli made, this wasn’t even close to the worst one.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 3, 2026

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:30:47 -0400

A daily roundup of Jets, Moose coverage — all the pro hockey news that matters in Manitoba and beyond.

NHL Notebook: Bettman succession plan begins to take shape

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:00:18 -0400

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has begun laying a framework for his succession after over three decades on the job.

This, according to Elliotte Friedman, who reported that details of the succession plan have been taking shape behind the scenes as Bettman plans for his eventual resignation from the role.

The timeline for his retirement is currently uncertain, as the 74-year-old approaches his 34^th anniversary as commissioner. Bettman gave his annual Stanley Cup State of the Union on Tuesday afternoon, partially shooting down the rumours.

“Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” said Bettman.

Bettman originally took over as commissioner on Feb. 1, 1993, at just 40 years old. He had served as the NBA’s senior vice president and general counsel during the Michael Jordan era boom.

The early years of his NHL tenure were characterized by rapid change. The league expanded from 24 to 30 teams over his first eight years, with all six new teams coming from markets south of the Canadian border. In the late 2010s, the league added two more franchises, including this year’s Western Conference Champion, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Seattle Kraken.

In December, Bettman announced that the NHL’s revenue reached $6.8 billion in 2025, a monumental increase from the league’s pre-Bettman-era revenues.

The NHL has experienced three lockouts during Bettman’s career. The first one came in 1994-95, resulting in a 53-game shortened season. In 2004-05, a labour dispute wiped out the entire season and paved the way for the salary-cap era. The final lockout in 2012 lasted from September until January, but a 48-game season was salvaged.

Bettman is currently the longest-serving commissioner in the four major professional sports leagues across North America.

Canucks hire Manny Malhotra as new head coach

The Vancouver Canucks’ new management group, led by general manager Ryan Johnson, and co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin, have made their first major move, hiring Manny Malhotra as the 23rd head coach in franchise history.

Malhotra, 46, was a former teammate of the Sedins with the Canucks for three seasons in the early 2010s. He went into coaching after retirement and spent the past two seasons as the bench boss of the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He led the team to a Calder Cup Championship in 2025 and will now step into an NHL coaching job for the first time.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed Malhotra’s fit as the Canucks’ head coach.

Tyler Yaremchuk: This is a marriage that makes tons of sense on a whole bunch of levels here, Hutts. One, Ryan Johnson is the new GM in Vancouver, and Johnson and Malhotra were the minds behind the Calder Cup championship for Vancouver’s AHL team down in Abbotsford a couple of years ago, where Malhotra spent the last two seasons as a head coach there. Also, remember, the Sedins are running the ship now in Vancouver, and they were obviously teammates with Manny Malhotra, so this makes sense on a whole bunch of levels here, Hutts.

Carter Hutton: I think the alignment of RJ and him is important. They have the same goals, they have the same ideas when they talk about leadership and culture and running the team in an organization that seems a little bit discombobulated in the last few years. I think that’s an important factor, and he has that built relationship. The other thing, for me, is he has won a championship with some of these guys, I think that’s important.

Malhotra and the Canucks will look to bounce back from a last-place finish in the NHL standings in 2025-26.

Predators hire former Avalanche GM, Chris MacFarland

The Nashville Predators have hired Chris MacFarland as their new general manager and president of hockey operations, the club announced Tuesday morning. MacFarland had served as general manager of the Colorado Avalanche for four seasons, following their 2022 Stanley Cup Championship.“We could not be more pleased that Chris has elected to join the Predators organization and lead our hockey operations group,” Predators majority owner Bill Haslam said. “We conducted an exhaustive search and were able to meet with several very qualified and impressive candidates, but all along, we were hopeful to interview Chris. He turned out to be a perfect fit for us – just what we were looking for to lead our organization moving forward.”

MacFarland has made substantial moves during his Avalanche tenure in his pursuit of bringing the Avalanche another Stanley Cup. Last January, he negotiated his boldest deal, trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for Martin Necas, Jack Drury and draft picks. Additionally, he transformed the Avalanche’s goalie depth chart, replacing Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen with Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood through a series of moves.

This season, MacFarland’s Avalanche had their best regular season in franchise history, 55-16-11 en route to a Presidents’ Trophy. They continued their dominance in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, sweeping the Los Angeles Kings and defeating the Minnesota Wild in five games. In the Western Conference Final, they suffered a shocking defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights, losing a four-game sweep.

Meanwhile, the Predators, who missed the playoffs by four points this season, had a vacant GM position after Barry Trotz announced his intention to step down from the role back in January.

The team missed the playoffs back-to-back seasons after Trotz’s flurry of big-ticket free agent signings that included Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei, and Steven Stamkos.

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Bettman: Bruce Cassidy situation ‘completely reasonable’

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:00:33 -0400

The Bruce Cassidy situation is “completely reasonable,” according to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Ahead of Game 1 in the Stanley Cup Final, commissioner Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly held a “state of the union” press conference addressing the league’s strengths and potential future changes.

During this press conference, Bettman was asked about the Vegas Golden Knights withholding permission for teams, like the Edmonton Oilers, to talk to their ousted coach Bruce Cassidy. It seems like the league will not get involved in the situation.

“When you sign and insist upon a long-term contract, there are certain policies and consequences of that, and so where we find ourselves is completely reasonable,” Bettman told reporters in Raleigh on Tuesday.

Daly expanded on that thought, standing behind the contract that Cassidy signed with Vegas back in 2022, which was a five-year deal that made Cassidy one of the highest-paid coaches in the league at $4.5 million.

“Obviously, we don’t find it unreasonable, because we’re allowing it to happen,” said Daly.

“I do think Vegas is clearly within their contractual rights to do what they’re doing, and we also understand and appreciate that they’re on a Stanley Cup run right now, and they don’t need the distractions necessarily where we go from there. Obviously, we’ve talked to all the parties involved in this, including Bruce, so he knows what our position is on the subject. He might not be happy about it, but he was accepting of it. We’ll see where we go.”

Daly added, “There are contracts that exist in the league that would not allow for this to happen. This was not one of them.”

Despite this, there’s been some confidence from connected people within the league, like John Shannon, who still believe that Cassidy will be able to interview eventually.

Cassidy was on Spittin’ Chiclets last week and said it’s upsetting because he wants to coach.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.

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Which Oilers free agents are worth their projected costs?

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:00:32 -0400

It’s that time of year when the final two teams battle it out for Lord Stanley’s Mug, and 30 others dive deep into the off-season.

The first order of business for many teams will be determining which of their pending restricted and unrestricted free agents they could consider returning. In the case of the Edmonton Oilers, they have seven restricted and 12 unrestricted free agents to sign, with roughly $14.5 million in cap space.

Let’s dive into what the contract prognosticators over at AFP Analytics think some of the key Oilers free agents will sign for, and whether those contracts are realistic for the team.

Jason Dickinson

Projected term: Four years
Projected cap hit: $5,046,971

Dickinson has the largest projected cap hit of any of the Oilers’ free agents, according to AFP Analytics. It’s a hefty price tag and would be a raise from the $4.25 million the 30-year-old made on his most recent contract. There isn’t much offence to Dickinson’s game, averaging 0.27 points per game, a 22-point pace across an 82-game season, but there are few better defensive centres in the game. He’s a guy the Oilers would surely want back, but a bidding war could easily price them out of him.

Likelihood of re-signing: 50 per cent

Jack Roslovic

Projected term: Three years
Projected cap hit: $4,696,640

Roslovic is a curious case, as this number was his reported price range last year in free agency when he went unsigned, having to ink a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Oilers. He paid it off in spades, scoring 21 goals and 36 points in 69 games, but his wilting in the playoffs left a sour taste in the mouth of many. For that reason, I’m uncertain if a team would be willing to give him that money, and the Oilers would be wise to wait to see if the market cools on him.

Likelihood of re-signing: 20 per cent

Connor Murphy

Projected term: Two years
Projected cap hit: $3,610,100

This deal is a no-brainer. Signed, sealed, delivered. Murphy was a tremendous addition for the Oilers at the deadline, helping stabalize Darnell Nurse down the stretch, and into the post-season. There was some offence that popped in Murphy’s game, too, which was a nice surprise.

Likelihood of re-signing: 100 per cent

Kasperi Kapanen

Projected term: Three years
Projected cap hit: $3,109,600

Kapanen’s game had some big warts during the regular season, though he also missed half the year with injury, but he proved he can turn it on when the games matter most. He led the Oilers in goals (four) and was third in points (six). He’s an effective middle-six player who’s shown he can play with Leon Draisaitl, so at this price point, I’d be fine with them bringing him back.

Likelihood of re-signing: 80 per cent

Connor Ingram

Projected term: Two years
Projected cap hit: $2,997,800

The price, and the term, is right. Ingram was a great story for the Oilers and was their defacto No. 1 down the stretch run and into the playoffs. The biggest question here is whether the team is looking at other options, but I think it’s better than a coin-flip odds that he’s back.

Likelihood of re-signing: 60 per cent

Spencer Stastney

Projected term: Two years
Projected cap hit: $2,286,266

A restricted free agent, there’s no reason for the Oilers to lose out on Stastney. He earned $825,000 on his latest deal, and Edmonton would surely like to keep the deal around $1 million.

Likelihood of re-signing: 25 per cent

Adam Henrique

Projected term: One year
Projected cap hit: $2,159,040

Sail on, Adam Henrique. After two-and-a-half seasons with the Oilers, his time is likely coming to an end. He struggled this season, and with the emergence of Josh Samanski, I don’t see a world where Henrique returns.

Likelihood of re-signing: 0 per cent

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Which Oilers free agents are worth their projected costs?

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:00:32 -0400

It’s that time of year when the final two teams battle it out for Lord Stanley’s Mug, and 30 others dive deep into the off-season.

Let’s dive into what the contract prognosticators over at AFP Analytics think some of the key Oilers free agents will sign for, and whether those contracts are realistic for the team.

Jason Dickinson

Projected term: Four years
Projected cap hit: $5,046,971

Likelihood of re-signing: 50 per cent

Jack Roslovic

Projected term: Three years
Projected cap hit: $4,696,640

Likelihood of re-signing: 20 per cent

Connor Murphy

Projected term: Two years
Projected cap hit: $3,610,100

Likelihood of re-signing: 100 per cent

Kasperi Kapanen

Projected term: Three years
Projected cap hit: $3,109,600

Likelihood of re-signing: 80 per cent

Connor Ingram

Projected term: Two years
Projected cap hit: $2,997,800

Likelihood of re-signing: 60 per cent

Spencer Stastney

Projected term: Two years
Projected cap hit: $2,286,266

A restricted free agent, there’s no reason for the Oilers to lose out on Stastney. He earned $825,000 on his latest deal, and Edmonton would surely like to keep the deal around $1 million.

Likelihood of re-signing: 25 per cent

Adam Henrique

Projected term: One year
Projected cap hit: $2,159,040

Likelihood of re-signing: 0 per cent

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16 years after being drafted first overall, Taylor Hall has finally reached the promised land

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:00:34 -0400

When the Edmonton Oilers chose Taylor Hall with their first-ever, first-overall NHL Draft selection in 2010, they did so largely because of the winger’s “proven greatness on the big stage.”

Earlier that spring, Hall had made Canadian Hockey League history by becoming the first player to win back-to-back Memorial Cup MVP awards. His combination of blazing speed and elite creativity made him an electrifying prospect. His play under pressure elevated him to the status of a saviour for a struggling franchise.

The Windsor Spitfires star was compared to future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla because of his nose for the net and refusal to be stopped on the rush. Kevin Lowe, who was the president of the Oilers at the time, famously likened Hall to six-time Stanley Cup winner Mark Messier.

Now, 16 years after being drafted, Hall is finally getting the opportunity to showcase that big-game ability on hockey’s biggest stage with the Carolina Hurricanes, who are set to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Canes have plowed through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, eliminating the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Montreal Canadiens with a dominant 12-1 record. Hall is leading the charge offensively for Carolina, racking up 16 points across those 13 games.

“It’s so much fun. I feel like I deserve it. I really feel like our team deserves it. I feel like we’ve paid the price,” Hall said on Stanley Cup Final media day on Monday. “We’ve gotten better, and we’ve earned the right to be here. I couldn’t picture a better group to be here with.”

This Stanley Cup Final appearance has been a long time coming, not only for Hall, but for many of his teammates.

Carolina has only two Cup winners on their roster. Captain Jordan Staal won early in his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, while winger William Carrier was on the Golden Knights when they captured their first championship in 2023. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour also captained the Hurricanes to their first and only Stanley Cup in 2006.

Though the Canes have been a consistent playoff contender for the better part of the last decade, the team has struggled to get over the hump. Carolina fell in the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, 2023, and 2025, finally reaching their second-ever Stanley Cup Final exactly two decades after their first.

Having a room full of veterans without a Stanley Cup ring is motivating the Hurricanes to get the job done before it’s too late.

“Obviously, we want to win it in general, for everyone,” said defender Shayne Gostisbehere, who turned 33 in April. “But especially Hallsy and the older guys like myself, it’s our first time here out of our whole careers. We just want to win it all.”

When Carolina originally acquired Hall in a three-team blockbuster in January of 2025, he was viewed as more of a throw-in than the missing piece of the team’s Stanley Cup puzzle. The winger was struggling through a trying season with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks, scoring just 24 points in 46 games before the trade.

The focal point of that deal between Carolina, Chicago, and the Colorado Avalanche was Mikko Rantanen, who arrived with the Hurricanes after the Hawks agreed to retain half of the Avalanche star’s cap hit.

Rantanen played only 13 games with Carolina before he was traded again. The big Finn told the Canes he wasn’t going to sign a contract extension with the club, and he was quickly flipped to the Dallas Stars for Logan Stankoven and a collection of draft picks.

After the Rantanen saga, re-signing Hall became a priority for the Hurricanes. He scored 18 points in 31 regular-season games and six points over 15 playoff games, then inked a heavily-discounted three-year extension worth $3,166,667 annually before the start of free agency.

Though he likely could have made more money in free agency, the decision for Hall to stay with Carolina was simple. The Canes needed veterans willing to buy into their culture and system, while Hall needed a legitimate chance to compete for a Stanley Cup after a decade and a half in the NHL with very little playoff success.

In Carolina, Hall can focus on contributing within a well-rounded team structure rather than trying to drag a flawed roster into contention.

“The way we play is conducive to how I play hockey and how I think about hockey,” Hall said. “Once I got the system down and the details of where I need to be, that allowed me to not have to think a lot out there.

“As you get older and you play this game a while, you have to figure out if you don’t have your A-game,” Hall noted earlier in the playoffs. “Do you have your B-minus game or something close to that? You find a way to contribute. That’s hockey.”

Hall has done far more than simply contribute to this run.

The Alberta-born, Ontario-raised forward was dominant in Carolina’s first-round series with Ottawa, scoring two goals and seven points over the four-game sweep. Hall added five more points in the four-game sweep over Philadelphia, highlighted by the overtime-winning goal in Game 2 and three assists in a clinching Game 4 victory.

The Flyers pulled ahead early in Game 2, but the Canes battled back with a third-period goal to force overtime. With just over one minute left in the first extra period, Hall grabbed a puck at Philly’s blueline, dragged it to the net, and buried his own rebound to complete the comeback.

Head coach Rod Brind’Amour praised the veteran for his efforts following the win, noting that the overtime-winner perfectly exemplified the kind of determined player Hall is.

“There’s a pro that just understands how to evaluate his game,” Brind’Amour said after Carolina’s Game 2 win over Philadelphia. “He knows, ‘Maybe this isn’t going good, I’ve got to do something else.’

“One thing about Hallsy that we know is that he wants to make a difference. And that goal, to me, kind of sums it up for me. You could almost tell when he grabbed it, ‘I’m going to try and put this away.’ He’s got that flare to him, and obviously it worked tonight.”

Anybody who’s watched the Hurricanes this season can see that Hall is a rejuvenated player. Though it took the 34-year-old longer than expected to find his ideal spot, it’s better late than never.

The Canes went 53-22-7 this season, cruising to the top spot in the Metro Division. The team was dominant at both ends of the ice, finishing second in the NHL with 291 goals and fifth with 236 goals against.

Hall scored 18 goals and 48 points over 80 regular-season games, good for seventh in team scoring. The veteran has found chemistry playing with youngesters Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven on Carolina’s second forward line.

That trio has taken pressure off Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis to drive the offence, helping create one of the deepest Hurricanes teams of the Brind’Amour era.

“They’ve given me a lot of energy,” Hall said of Stankoven and Blake. “They’re very unique players with their size and how they go to the hard areas of the ice. They seem young, but they’re very mature in the way that they play, and mature in a way that I wasn’t at that age.”

What makes this situation so special for a player like Hall is the long, winding road that preceded it.

After winning back-to-back Memorial Cups, Hall arrived in the NHL with an Edmonton team that went 25-45-12 in his rookie season. He scored 132 goals and 328 points over 381 games in six seasons with the Oilers, never coming close to competing for a playoff spot.

The Oilers drew the golden ticket at the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery, landing phenom Connor McDavid with the top selection. With a new franchise player in the mix, Hall’s status shifted from saviour and future captain to support piece and guide.

McDavid lived with Hall during his rookie campaign in 2015-16, but that was the only season the two first-overall picks would play together. Following an ugly 31-43-8 campaign, the Oilers dealt Hall to the New Jersey Devils for shutdown defender Adam Larsson, paying a high price to fill a significant hole on the roster.

The trade divided Oilers fans. Many were ready for Edmonton to move on from Hall because of the team’s stalled rebuild, while others wanted to see the “H” from “H.O.P.E.” get an extended look alongside McDavid.

The drama surrounding the Hall for Larsson swap quieted down during the 2016-17 season as the Oilers went 47-26-9 and clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2005-06. Meanwhile, Hall scored 53 points over 72 games for a New Jersey team that went 28-40-14.

Edmonton took down the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs, then lost a heartbreaking seven-game set to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. After the Oilers were eliminated, Hall admitted that he was jealous watching his former teammates find the success that he couldn’t.

“I wouldn’t say I wanted them to lose, but it was nice to finally see them maybe get eliminated,” Hall said about the Oilers back in 2017 after the team ended its decade-long playoff drought. “It’s a weird dynamic. You’re happy for your friends, that they’re doing well and they’re going to experience the playoffs, but you can’t help but be a bit jealous.”

After missing the playoffs in his first seven NHL seasons, Hall broke out in 2017-18 with a Hart Trophy-winning performance.

He led the Devils with 39 goals and 93 points, 41 more than New Jersey’s second-highest scorer. It was the exact sort of showing that Oilers fans dreamed about while watching Hall dominate the OHL before he was drafted.

The Devils snuck into the playoffs with a 44-29-9 record, then were brushed aside in five games in the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite the anticlimactic finish, this looked like it could be the beginning of a contention window for New Jersey.

Unfortunately for Hall and the Devils, that season was a one-off.

Hall scored 37 points in only 33 games in 2018-19, and New Jersey fell back out of the playoffs. Struggling through another mediocre season in 2019-20, the Devils traded the soon-to-be free agent winger to the Arizona Coyotes, a middling squad looking to gain meaningful experience.

Hall’s first playoff series victory ironically came in Edmonton, though not in a way anybody could have anticipated.

The Coyotes took down the Nashville Predators in a five-game, play-in series without fans in the stands after a multi-month shutdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. Arizona then lost in the first round of the actual playoffs to Colorado in five games.

The following off-season, Hall inked a one-year, $8 million deal with the Buffalo Sabres, yet another struggling franchise. That fit only lasted a few months, as Hall was moved to the Boston Bruins as part of a pre-trade deadline fire sale.

For a time, it looked like Hall had finally found a long-term home with the Bruins, the team that reportedly considered trading up from second to first overall to select him at the 2010 NHL Draft. Rather than testing free agency again, Hall re-signed with Boston on a four-year deal worth $6 million annually.

Hall helped the Bruins to a couple of excellent seasons, going 51-26-5 in 2021-22 before winning the Presidents’ Trophy with a 65-12-5 record in 2022-23. Despite those strong regular-season results, Boston fell in the first round of the playoffs both years.

The Bruins moved Hall as a salary cap dump to the Blackhawks in the summer of 2023, and it looked as though the former top pick would ride out the rest of his NHL days as a mentor for high draft picks on terrible teams.

Instead, last year’s move to Carolina has been a renaissance for Hall’s career. Now on his seventh NHL club, the winger advanced past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time this spring.

“It’s unreal. It’s everything I could ask for,” Hall said about Carolina’s playoff run back in May. “It’s a lot of fun to come to work right now. We work hard, but we do it with a smile on our face. It’s not like this everywhere.”

While the Hurricanes surely would have loved to keep Mikko Rantanen, his departure ultimately created an opportunity for Hall to become a much larger part of Carolina’s future.

Building a winner starts with a front office that can acquire the right players and continues with a coaching staff that can put those players in a position to succeed. But, ultimately, winning comes down to the players themselves buying into the full picture and getting the job done on the ice.

A significant part of what the Hurricanes are doing this spring comes down to the team’s desire to get the job done for those who have been around for years without a true opportunity. This is a group who enjoys playing together and who badly want to win together.

After 16 years spent mostly on teams that never came close, Hall has become a driving force behind the team that believed he could help push it over the top.

Why Flyers winger Owen Tippett is on the Oilers’ radar

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:00:56 -0400

There are more than a few roster upgrades the Edmonton Oilers need to make to their lineup, but one of them is adding another top-six scoring winger, and the rumour mill is suggesting the Oilers have interest in Philadelphia Flyers forward Owen Tippett.

Hockey insider David Pagnotta, who regularly appears on “Oilersnation Everyday,” recently wrote that there are whispers the Oilers may be interested in Tippett, saying:

“Jeff Marek recently suggested Blues winger Jordan Kyrou may be a target for the Oilers, while some whispers also suggest Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett, who was fiercely banged up during the playoffs, is also on Edmonton’s radar.”

Tippett is an explosive skater who registered 51 points (27 goals, 24 assists) in 81 games with the Flyers in 2025-26 and has recorded 40 or more points in each of the last four seasons. Let’s take a look at everything he’d bring to the Oilers’ lineup.

What could Tippett add to the Oilers’ lineup?

Tippett is a former 10th-overall pick of the Florida Panthers from the 2017 NHL Draft and played 94 games with the Panthers before being traded, along with a first-round pick and a third-round pick, to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Claude Giroux, a couple of prospects, and a draft pick just before the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline.

Tippett is 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, a right-shot from Peterborough, Ont., and along with that solid frame, as mentioned, comes his dynamic speed.

Last season, according to NHL EDGE data, Tippett reached a max skating speed of 23.97 MPH, ranking in the 99th percentile in the NHL. For comparison, Connor McDavid’s max skating speed last season was clocked at 24.61 MPH, meaning Tippett’s top speed was just a shade below the Oilers’ captain. That speed comparison alone has me thinking about the kind of magic those two speedsters could create together.

Additionally, his 327 speed bursts between 20–22 MPH and 61 bursts above 22 MPH both rank in the 99th percentile in the league, with NHL.com describing his skating as “game-breaking.”

Tippett also has a hard shot, with his 93.15 MPH shot clocked last season ranking in the 93rd percentile in the NHL. Stylistically, his speed allows him to both create and finish plays, but he also has a very quick release and can score from distance, with Jeff Marek describing Tippett in his draft year as “the purest sniper in the draft. A ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ player.” Moreover, his shot volume last season speaks to that, as he led the Flyers with 221 shots, which ranked 30th among forwards in the NHL.

FILTHY STUFF FROM OWEN TIPPETT

Oilers’ Evan Bouchard finishes 4th in Norris Trophy voting

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:00:34 -0400

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard was closer to being a top-three finalist for the Norris Trophy than not.

The NHL announced Tuesday that Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski had won the 2025-26 Norris Trophy, while also peeling back the curtain on who received how many votes. Werenski won with 113 of 198 first-place votes for 1,589 voting points, while Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar finished second with 47 first-place votes, and 1,191 voting points.

Buffalo Sabres defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, meanwhile, finished third with 13 first-place votes and 657 voting points, while Bouchard finished with 12 first-place votes, and 593 voting points. Bouchard received 22 second-place votes, 36 third-place votes, and received the most fourth-place votes, and was tied for the most fifth-place votes.

Bouchard appeared in all 82 regular-season games for the Oilers this year, scoring 21 goals and 95 points, while averaging 24:41 in ice-time, all three marks being career highs for the 26-year-old. While he was the Oilers’ go-to defenceman at five-on-five, also quarterbacking the top power play unit, Bouchard added penalty kill work to his resume, leading all Oilers defencemen in shorthanded time-on-ice.

He became the ninth defenceman in league history to score more than 20 goals and 95 points in a single season.

Bouchard has appeared on two Norris ballots previously, finishing fifth in 2023-24 and 11th in 2024-25.

Werenski was near the top of many statistical categories among defencemen this season, finishing tied for third for goals (22), tied for first in even-strength goals (18), tied for fourth in assists (59) and second for points (81).

You can view the full voting list below.

2025-26 Norris Trophy voting
		Points	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total votes received
1	Zach Werenski, CBJ	1,589	113	48	16	13	4	194
2	Cale Makar, COL	1,191	47	62	37	30	12	188
3	Rasmus Dahlin, BUF	657	13	23	50	30	26	142
4	Evan Bouchard, EDM	593	12	22	36	32	43	145
5	Moritz Seider, DET	360	5	21	15	21	25	87
6	Lane Hutson, MTL	357	3	13	20	31	43	110
7	Quinn Hughes, MIN	282	5	6	21	22	19	73
8	Miro Heiskanen, DAL	52	0	3	1	6	8	18
9	Erik Karlsson, PIT	16	0	0	1	3	2	6
10	Jake Sanderson, OTT	16	0	0	0	4	4	8
11	Darren Raddysh, TBL	14	0	0	1	2	3	6
12	Matthew Schaefer, NYI	14	0	0	0	3	5	8
13	Charlie McAvoy, BOS	6	0	0	0	1	3	4
14	Adam Fox, NYR	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
(10-7-5-3-1 points allocation)

PRESENTED BY SOUTHVIEW ACURA

Top 100 Oilers: No. 29 — Sam Gagner

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:00:19 -0400

Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Sam Gagner comes in at No. 29 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 62 on Brownlee’s original list.

If you aren’t cognizant of 2010s Edmonton Oilers lore, you might think the team record for most points in a single game is held by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, or maybe even Evan Bouchard.

However, Sam Gagner is one of three to accomplish this feat, tied with Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey in the Oilers’ all-time history books.

That’s right, Gagner recorded a total of not six, not seven, but eight points in a single game on February 2, 2012, against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Notable

Gagner was drafted by the Oilers with the sixth overall pick in 2007, after the team had a significant decline following their 2006 Cup run. He had scored 35 goals and 118 points with the OHL’s London Knights in his draft year, propelling him into the top ten of that year’s draft.

In his first seven seasons with the Oilers, he was “Mr. Consistent,” recording 13 to 18 goals in each full season and between 41 and 49 points. These stats aren’t spectacular by any means, but in a time where offensive consistency was hard to come by for this team, it was what the team needed.

He also had hands.

Anytime there was a shootout for the Oilers, you knew you could expect something sweet from No. 89. There is even a move named after him called “The Gagner,” so you know he was smooth with it. Fake shot, fake backhand, fake forehand, to the backhand, to the forehand, tuck it home. That’s my best attempt at describing the absolute wizardry that he would conduct in his specialty move.

Later in his career, after signing with the team as a free agent ahead of the 2023-24 season, he took on an elder statesman’s role with the team. He received the nickname “Papa Clutch,” which was revealed by Zach Hyman, after Connor Brown had deemed him “Papa Oiler” earlier in the 2023-24 season.

The Story

After his first stint with the Oilers, Gagner couldn’t find a home in the league.

The first trade of his career came in 2014, when he was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Teddy Purcell. He was then flipped immediately to the Arizona Coyotes, along with a fourth-round pick, for Nicklas Grossman and Chris Pronger.

In the next six years, Gagner played for five NHL teams – Arizona, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, and Edmonton again. He also had three AHL stints, one for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, one for the Toronto Marlies, and one with the Bakersfield Condors.

His second time in Edmonton ended a year after it began, when he was traded with two second-round draft picks, one in 2020, the other in 2021, to the Detroit Red Wings for Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner.

Then, he spent three seasons in Detroit, playing 129 games and recording 21 goals and 47 points. In 2022, he signed with the Winnipeg Jets, then in 2023, he was on a professional tryout with the Oilers. The team did not sign him out of his tryout, but then weeks later, they changed their mind, and in “Papa Clutch’s” first game back, he scored two goals in a losing effort to the Dallas Stars.

Gagner only played 28 games with the Oilers that season, and 15 with the Condors. At the NHL level, he logged five goals and ten points, marking the last season of his career in the big leagues.

He played one more AHL season with the Belleville Senators, before retiring from professional hockey with 1043 games, 197 goals, and 529 points under his belt. Gagner only saw two playoff appearances in his career, in Philadelphia and Columbus, where he collected a total of four points, which were all assists.

What Brownlee said

If this list was about the Top 100 Good Guys who have played for the Edmonton Oilers, Sam Gagner would occupy a place on it much higher than the 62 spot I’ve slotted him into. In the seven seasons Gagner toiled for the Oilers, he was considered a good teammate. He was respected in the room.

Gagner was a stand-up guy who’d fight for his teammates, even though he was physically ill-equipped to do so. I never once heard him make excuses or shift the blame after awful performances by a too-often lousy team, even though there was plenty of blame to go around.

All things considered, Gagner was a pretty good hockey player who was thrown in over his head on some decidedly bad teams, even if he became something of a whipping boy for frustrated fans as his time in Edmonton wound down – I never understood that, although, like I say, I liked the kid.

The Last 10

PRESENTED BY CAPITAL GMC BUICK

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 2, 2026

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:30:59 -0400

A daily roundup of Jets, Moose coverage — all the pro hockey news that matters in Manitoba and beyond.

NHL Notebook: Gallagher says bye to Habs, Laine sounds off

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:00:39 -0400

Brendan Gallagher gave an emotional “thank you” to the Montreal Canadiens organization and fan base on Monday morning, as he said it is apparent to him that his time as a Hab is up.

“First and foremost, so thankful and so fortunate to have spent as much time as I have here,” Gallagher said, via Daily Faceoff. “The fans, right from day one, it’s been truly a privilege to play in front of them. It’s an opportunity that not a lot of players get in the league.

“I’ve got to do it for 14 years now, and it’s not lost on me how special it was to call the Bell Centre home.”

"It's pretty clear, I'll be kind of moving on here."

Brendan Gallagher speaks on his future in Montreal. pic.twitter.com/mUScw8CtC9

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 1, 2026

“The very first time I stepped foot in this organization, management, coaches, teammates that I’ve had along the years. There’s been ups and downs, but I don’t have a single regret,” Gallagher added, fighting back tears. “It’s pretty clear that I’ll be moving on here, but I’m incredibly, incredibly… fortunate.”

Gallagher was drafted 147th overall by the Canadiens in 2010, and has played his entire career in Montreal. The 34-year-old has appeared in 911 games, scoring 246 goals and 487 points, but this year he saw a dramatic decrease in playing time through the team’s 19 playoff games, where he participated in just three of them.

In the playoffs, Gallagher has played 79 games while scoring 14 goals and 34 points. His best playoff performance came in 2013-14, where he recorded four goals and 11 points in the 17 games that saw the Canadiens make it to the Eastern Conference final, before being eliminated by the New York Rangers in six games. The Habs played in the Stanley Cup final once in Gallagher’s tenure with the team in 2021, where they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.

He has one year remaining on his contract worth $6.5 million, which consists of a no-movement clause that applies to all but six NHL teams of his choosing. Based on his statement on Monday, it appears that he is not going to hold his NMC too tightly if the Canadiens dangle his name in the market.

His relentless motor and steadfast leadership have solidified him as a core player for the Canadiens, and his career high 33-goal season was the highest for the Habs in the 21st century before Cole Caufield scored 37 in 2023-24, and then 51 in 2025-26. However, as the group gets younger, and Gallagher gets older, the two parties are seemingly going to go their separate ways.

Brendan Gallagher on his future: “Vancouver will be a great place” when asked on playing for another team and the possibility to go back home.

— Renaud Lavoie (@RLavoieTVA) June 1, 2026

“It’s pretty clear that I’ll be moving on here, but I’m incredibly, incredibly… fortunate,” he said, adding that the Vancouver Canucks would be among his preferred destinations.

Patrik Laine reveals he was ready to return months before Canadiens benched him

Patrik Laine only played five games at the beginning of the season before sustaining a core muscle injury that required surgery.

Laine’s last game was on Oct. 16, and the Canadiens even sat him through the entirety of their 19-game run to the Eastern Conference final. He said that the length of his time off was a decision made out of caution, rather than necessity.

Patrik Laine confirms he wasn’t injured at end of season #Habs

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) June 1, 2026

“I think I could have come back pretty early,” Laine said, via Daily Faceoff. “But it’s just one of those things when you have surgeries and stuff, you don’t always feel 100 per cent. I’ve been unfortunate that I’ve had plenty of those, so I kind of have experience with that. But I probably could have played pretty soon after New Year’s, but also you don’t want to rush anything and go to play too early and then you’ll take a step back and then it takes longer. So kind of wanted to be more and more cautious with that.”

The Finnish forward has struggled with injuries for the bulk of his career, and he hasn’t played in more than 56 games since the 2019-20 season. Despite his injury history, he said that he is convinced he will play several more seasons in the NHL.

His contract with the Canadiens is up, and he is set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent for the first time in his career. Based on the team’s decision to keep him out of the lineup for such an extended period of time, it appears as though the Habs will not be quick to re-sign Laine, and he will play for the fourth team in his career.

“I’m just excited where the wind takes me next year,” Laine said about his future. “But I’m excited to see new opportunities and see where it goes. I’m not too worried about it right now. Just right now, take a little breather and relax, and then get back at it.

PRESENTED BY LeaseBusters

Pump the brakes on O’Reilly as one who got away from Oilers

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:00:16 -0400

Believe me, I’m not afraid to Victor Wembanyama big-boy dunk on the Edmonton Oilers if the situation requires it.

We know the gaffes, the jokes. Jesper Wallstedt. Griffin Reinhart. Milan Lucic. So on, so forth. We have even more recent screwups if we don’t feel like dusting off the Greatest Hits (gaffes) album.

So the Oilers haven’t necessarily deserved the benefit of the doubt here. But let’s just pump the brakes on a narrative that Edmonton fumbled Sam O’Reilly.

The Oilers drafted him 32nd overall in 2024 and then last summer, shipped him off to Tampa Bay in a one-for-one prospect deal for Isaac Howard.

But it’s O’Reilly’s moment right now and he’s earned it. The 20-year-old overage junior had a tremendous season with Kitchener, capping off a great tournament with the Memorial Cup on Sunday night and the MVP trophy. There’s no disputing a season that also includes his third OHL title and another league MVP.

A big-time season that caps off a junior career where he becomes just the third player to win back-to-back Mem Cups with two different teams (Noah Dobson did that too, but don’t ask about his playoffs).

O’Reilly’s an excellent prospect, but let’s not anoint him as the one who got away just yet.

They are different types of players, but Isaac Howard has played four seasons against better nightly competition than O’Reilly did. The Kitchener Rangers forward dominated his level, but new challenges lie ahead.

If you’re an Oilers fan, wouldn’t you rather have the slightly older prospect, who has already played a season of professional hockey and has won one of the hardest individual awards to win in hockey, the Hobey Baker Award?

As of today, I would.

Howard’s trajectory from a 52-point season and the Hobey Baker Award in 2024-25 to the AHL All-Rookie Team with 24 goals and 50 points in 47 games in 2025-26 is smooth.

That’s exciting for Oilers fans. If the Oilers didn’t make the trade for Howard, it would still be exciting.

Imagine this scenario: the Oilers and Lightning got a good young player who can become a long-time NHLer. If the trajectories hold, both teams will be sitting back happy with their work.

In theory, the Oilers would get a shot-first, goal-scoring winger that can replace aging wingers like Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Lightning would get a two-way centre, probably a second- or third-liner, who could be tough to play against.

Similar to Ryan McLeod for Matt Savoie, each team accomplishes their goal in the trade and can be happy with the early returns.

It’ll be a fascinating trade to follow for the next decade, but neither player has even gotten out of the starting blocks.

Both have major award accolades, both have either with their clubs or for their country.

One day, sure, this could be another one of those prospects-who-got-away type of trades. But for now, let’s pump the brakes.

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365

Monday Musings: Which NHL Playoff Format is Better?

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:00:34 -0400

Which playoff format is better: The current one with the top three team in each division and two wildcard spots, or the previous one with the teams ranked one to eight in each Conference? Before you answer, let’s look at the results.

Over the last five years, more than half of the NHL's conference finals have ended in five games or fewer. None have gone seven games. Dark days for Gary's format

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 30, 2026

Pete tweeted this after Carolina eliminated Montreal in five games. Vegas swept Colorado in four. The conference finals weren’t that close. But were they close when it was 1 v. 8 format? No, in fact the series were much shorter on average.

From 2006-2013 we have the 1 v. 8 and 16 CF series.

Eleven of 16 were 4-5 game series (68.7%), three needed six games (18.8%) and two went seven games (12.5%).
Compare that to the current model (2014 to now) and we’ve had 26 CF series.

Nine of 26 went 4-5 games (34.6%), ten finished in six games (38.5%) and seven went the distance (26.9%).

Based on Pete’s complaint, the current model has been significantly more competitive overall, if you are using series length as the baseline.

Now let’s take a deeper look at the first three rounds in the salary cap era.

In every season the Conference Final had at least one series go four or five games and three years (out of eight) both were four or five games. The first round was the best round, as far as series going longer, with 23 going 4-5 games and 41 needing 6-7 games. In the second round it was split evenly with 16 needing 4-5 and 16 needing 6-7.

Here is the current model.

The Conference Finals have been much more competitive with 17 of 26 needing 6-7 games. The second round had 16 series go 4-5 games and 36 go 6-7, while the first round was also longer with 38 going 4-5 games and 66 needing 6-7 games.

Let’s now to do a direct comparison to the overall % of series that needed, four, five, six or seven games.

YEARS	1st RND	2nd RND	Conference Final	Stanley Cup Final
2006-2013	Four (14%), Five (21.9%), Six (34.4%), Seven (29.7%)	Four (15.6%), Five (34.4%), Six (21.9%), Seven (28.1%)	Four (18.8%), Five (50%), Six (18.8%), Seven (12.4%)	Five (12.5%), Six (50%), Seven (37.5%)
2014-2026	Four (13.4%), Five (23%), Six (38.5%), Seven (25%)	Four (9.6%), Five (21.1%), Six (32.7%), Seven (36.6%)	Four (15.4%), Five (19.2%), Six (38.5%), Seven (26.9%)	Five (33.3%), Six (50%), Seven (16.7%)

The first round has been pretty even, but the second and third rounds have led to significantly more series going six or seven games. If you prefer the 1-8 format, that is fine, but it is inaccurate to suggest the format is why the past few seasons the Conference Finals have been shorter. I also don’t buy into the theory, which many fans and media pundits in the Central Division keep repeating, that those teams beat each other up in the first two rounds and are too tired in the third round. If that was true, how come the Atlantic division dominated the Metro division from 2019-2025, even though the Atlantic was a deeper division?

Colorado didn’t lose to Vegas this year because they were tired. They swept LA and beat Minnesota in five games. They played one game more than the minimum to make it to the third round. Injuries limited them, but Vegas simply played better and deserved to win.

The NHL playoffs are hard, and regardless of which playoff format you use, the regular season standings don’t mean much once the playoffs begin. It comes down to which team plays best during the series, which team gets some luck and who remains healthy. But if your goal is to have more competitive series later in the playoffs, the current formula has produced better results.

SNAPSHOTS…

— Oilers fans are wondering if the Sam O’Reilly trade for Isaac Howard is bad. The honest answer is it is still too soon to say. O’Reilly just capped of an amazing season winning the Memorial Cup with Kitchener. O’Reilly is the fourth player to win the Ontario Hockey League regular season MVP, the playoff MVP and the Memorial Cup MVP. He had an impressive season no doubt. The CHL has yet to name their player of the year, but O’Reilly will be among the favourites to win. The CHL player of the year would be a closer comparison to the Hobey Baker award, handed out to the best player in NCAA hockey, but they haven’t named a winner yet.

Let’s look at previous winners since 2015 for all three awards.

O’Reilly is in pretty good company in the OHL, while Howard also is with the Hobey Baker. Not every winner is guaranteed NHL success, but the odds are good both will be regular NHLers and possibly impact players. Howard and O’Reilly play different positions and have different strengths. Howard emerged as a goal scorer in his third season at Michigan State scoring 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games. O’Reilly tallied 29 goals and 71 points in 56 games split between London and Kitchener. O’Reilly went nuclear in the playoffs scoring 17 goals and 28 points in 18 OHL playoff games.

Howard scored 24 goals and 50 points in 47 games in his rookie campaign this year. Only Quinn Hutson (30 goals in 67 games) and Ilya Protas (29 goals in 69 games) had more goals, but they each played 20+ more games. Howard averaged 0.51 goals/game as a rookie, which is impressive in the AHL for a rookie. Howard is more of a shooter, while O’Reilly is a two-way centre. Many feel he will be an excellent third line centre, who could become a solid second liner, while Howard is projected to be a top-six scoring winger.

It would be a trade that helps both teams. Not every trade has to be a clear win to be a success. Howard has shown he can score in the AHL but taking that to the next step in the NHL is more difficult, just like it will be more difficult for O’Reilly to produce as a pro compared to junior. It will be fun to see how both players progress, but those looking for a “winner or loser” of the trade will likely need to wait another few seasons before we can even start see how they are progressing as NHL players.

— Howard only played 10 minutes at 5×5 with Leon Draisaitl last season and 29 with Connor McDavid. He scored one goal with each of them. He won’t be gifted a spot, but he will likely get more opportunities with them this season. Howard doesn’t have to score a lot to be considered an upgrade on the top two lines. Here’s a look at 5×5 goals scored by wingers last year:

Player	TOI	Goals	TOI with Draisaitl	With McDavid	With Both	Total
Podkolzin	1142	17	563	207	29	799
Roslovic	973	15	277	95	36	408
Hyman	888	14	35	585	138	758
Savoie	991	9	173	315	21	509
RNH	955	8	31	542	6	579
Kapanen	537	7	158	42	10	210

How many 5×5 goals does Howard need to score to be considered a solid top six winger? Here’s a quick look at the previous seasons.

2025:
Hyman 19.
Jeff Skinner 14.
Corey Perry 13
Viktor Arvidsson 11.
Connor Brown 10.
RNH 9.

2024:
Hyman 36.
Warren Foegele 17.
Evander Kane 15.
RNH 11.
Adam Henrique 6 (22 GP).
Perry 6 (in 38 GP).

2023:
RNH 16.
Hyman 15.
Kane 14 (41 GP).
Foegele 12.
Klim Kostin 11.
Derek Ryan 10.

2022:
Hyman 19.
Kailer Yamamoto 14.
Kane 12 (43 GP).
Ryan 10.
Foegele 9.
Jesse Puljujarvi 9.

The Oilers could use a consistent 13-15 goal-scoring winger at 5×5. Can Howard be that this season? I can’t say for certain, but he should be ecstatic about the potential opportunity as it is clear they could use another finishing winger in the top six.

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5 Oilers post-game quotes that caused a stir in 2025-26

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:00:06 -0400

The Edmonton Oilers had plenty of heated moments on the ice in the 2025-26 season and kept things spicy on the mic after games as well.

From calls for accountability to moments of deflection, and even praise for opposing head coaches, the Oilers had no shortage of post-game interview spice in 2025-26, and here are five that caused a stir above all others.

Jarry deflected accountability and pointed fingers at team after Oilers’ loss to the Wild

In a 7–3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on January 31, Tristan Jarry started the game, but was replaced by Connor Ingram after surrendering five goals.

But when Jarry was asked to assess his performance after the game, his comments drew some attention as he didn’t own up to the poor outing, saying:

“It’s tough. I think the chances we’re giving up, some of the shots. They’re tough. I think it’s a lot of Grade-A’s, a lot of breakdowns, so I think it’s tough to really think about your game at this point, I think it’s a whole team game.”

Also, when asked about what he was seeing in the defensive structure in front of him, the netminder added, “It’s tough, I think we just have to make sure that we’re managing the puck a little bit better.”

Jarry pulled, 5-2 Minnesota.

Nugent-Hopkins’ new phase: Oilers 2025-26 player review

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:00:23 -0400

The decline is underway

On January 18, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins celebrated his 1000th NHL game. The Edmonton Oilers honoured his milestone with a ceremony attended by his friends, family, teammates, and over 18 thousand fans who had watched his 15-year journey with the franchise unfold.

Reliving all the milestones and memories on the video board at Rogers Place was enough to make any fan emotional. Not just because he’s done so much for the team and the community over the years, but because his time as an impact player for the Oilers is winding down.

While Nugent-Hopkins still spent a healthy portion of this season next to Connor McDavid, his production at five-on-five more closely resembled a bottom-six forward for the second campaign in a row.

Despite playing much of the season on the top line, Nugent-Hopkins produced fewer points per hour than middle-six forwards Kasperi Kapanen (1.79), Jack Roslovic (1.73), and Matt Savoie (1.51).

It wasn’t just the raw production either — HockeyViz ranked his five-on-five offensive play driving five per cent below league average.

Kris Knoblauch gave Nugent-Hopkins some runway to work through his struggles, but he ultimately began a gradual shift down the lineup as the season progressed. Before the Olympics, he spent 65 per cent of his time on ice with McDavid, but in the final 24 games, that fell to 42 per cent. That spot was taken by Matt Savoie, who produced at a 65-point pace post-Olympics.

He’s been a fixture in Edmonton’s top six since he first stepped foot on Rexall Place ice in 2011, but Nugent-Hopkins is finally making his way down the depth chart. That same shift is taking place on the penalty kill, too. He dropped to fifth among Oilers forwards in penalty kill time on ice per game after leading the team in 2024-25. And frankly, that was a light demotion relative to his performance. Nugent-Hopkins was on the ice for 11.8 goals against per hour on the PK, while the team only gave up 6.9 per hour without him.

The one area where Nugent-Hopkins still performed like a top-of-the-lineup player this season was on the power play. He scored eleven goals with the man advantage, while driving offence at an eleven per cent rate above league average. There’s no rush for change on the top-ranked power play unit, but if they falter at any point next season, don’t be surprised if the Oilers start to experiment with some younger players.

Third-line centre?

The Oilers are reportedly targeting a top-six forward this offseason, and if that’s the case, they won’t be spending big on a third-line centre in free agency. Nor will they have any space for Nugent-Hopkins in the top six.

The cheapest solution would be to have him fill the third-line centre role full-time rather than paying a premium in the lacklustre free agent pool. At minimum, he could serve as a stopgap until a more affordable option shakes loose.

It’s tough to accept that Nugent-Hopkins is no longer the player he used to be. Age is inescapable.

The timing of his decline isn’t ideal for the Oilers as they cling to their championship aspirations, but the sky isn’t falling. Savoie looks poised to take that top line role, and Nugent-Hopkins can still help Edmonton’s cap situation by being the third-line centre rather than a pricey free agent. His time at the top of the lineup may be winding down, but he’s still a necessary piece of the puzzle moving forward.

Other player reviews…

PRESENTED BY DERRICK DODGE

He Was Always There

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:06:58 -0400

I want to pass along a big congratulations to Ville Heinola on being part of the Finnish team that captured the gold medal at the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship today. He looked confident throughout the tournament playing alongside a number of his friends and countrymen, and seeing him as happy as he is in this image is encouraging given all the struggles he's been through in his time with the Winnipeg Jets. Whether it was injuries, being relegated to the pressbox, being exiled to the AHL, or just simply being unappreciated and undervalued by conservative coaches and management, Heinola deserves to have this golden moment.

Heinola made the Jets' lineup as an 18 year-old defender in his rookie campaign, but the Jets elected not to burn the first year of his entry-level contract. After scoring one goal and five points in eight games, he was sent back to his Finnish club while the Jets preached patience with Heinola. If he was going to reach his potential, the Jets had to make sure he was developing properly in their system.

Insert your Winnipeg Jets "draft and develop" jokes here.

Over the next three seasons, Heinola skated in just 27 games for the Jets, battling for a roster spot with the likes of Logan Stanley, Dylan Samberg, Johnny Kovacevic, Kyle Capobianco, and Declan Chisholm, but never quite getting the ice-time or the pairing that would allow him to do what he does best: skate with the puck, jump into the offensive zone, and play good positional defence. He was never going to be the bruiser in front of the net, but, like Montreal's Lane Hutson, he had incredible skating and vision from the blue line.

In what looked like a change in the philosophy for the Jets, Ville Heinola was poised to make the Winnipeg Jets' roster out of training camp ahead of the 2023-24 season. The only problem was that Heinola fractured his ankle in the final preseason game, setting him back in his NHL dreams. He would skate with the Manitoba Moose when he was able to get back on skates, but that injury plunged him back into the "battling for a roster spot" ranks for the 2024-25 season.

Early surgery in training camp in 2024 put Heinola back on the shelf after it was discovered that his surgically-repaired ankle was infected, but head coach Scott Arniel seemed to indicate that Heinola was going to get his shot with a comment about the defender on November 19, 2024 where he said, "It's been a tough two years for him. I'm probably his biggest fan here. I wanna see him."

Were we about to see the Finn playing regular minutes?

Heinola's biggest fan dressed him just 23 times in two seasons since uttering those comments to the media, so it's hard to believe that Arniel was doing anything but providing lip service. When he was in the lineup, he most often played on the third pairing with players that rarely complimented his style of play, and it constantly felt like the Jets were trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

I can give you seven million reasons why Ville Heinola should be in Winnipeg, and it starts and ends with Neal Pionk. If the Jets were truly going to make a run at key free agents this summer to improve their team overall, moving Pionk's annual $7 million salary and replacing him with Ville Heinola would be a wise move. They play identical games with the puck on their sticks, but Pionk's physical play is replaced by Heinola's better defensive play when looking at the overall package. This shouldn't be a hard sell for management, but it seems like GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is enamored with Pionk.

This isn't about the Jets and their awful asset management, though. Ville Heinola's smile in the lede image should be enough to tell you that a weight was lifted off his shoulders with this gold medal today. He already admitted to Winnipeg reporters that "[i]t's been, mentally, probably the hardest year. It's hard, and I struggle a lot, especially mentally" and that he "hired a mental (health) coach. That was a huge, huge help at the time, just to be able to talk somebody."

Why that person wasn't someone from inside the organization leaves me with more questions about what kind of front office the Jets have, but seeing him fly around the ice for Finland over the last couple of weeks should be enough proof that Ville Heinola won't be back in Winnipeg next season unless visiting with an opposing team. He proved he can be an effective player on a big stage while being effective at both ends of the ice, and that display of skill by the 25 year-old should have GMs thinking low-risk, high-reward contract.

The Jets will enter next season with 30 year-old Neal Pionk under contract for five more years at $35 million despite his obvious defensive lapses. The Jets invested a lot of money in a player who has had one season above 40 points and who scored a career-low 12 points in 51 games last season, but refused to play Ville Heinola in the same role despite him having the same skill set and talents.

For a team that needed better defensive play with a push for offence from their blue line, Ville Heinola was always there. Today's World Hockey Championship gold medal should be all the proof he needs that his mental health will be better with another franchise.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Monday Mailbag: What are the Oilers’ biggest needs to remain a Stanley Cup contender?

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:00:48 -0400

Good morning, everyone, and a happy Monday to you all. As per tradition, I’ve got a brand new mailbag set to go after taking your questions and sending them to the crew for their takes. This week, we’re discussing the Oilers’ needs to get back on track, re-signing Jason Dickinson, Darnell Nurse, and more. If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask, email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk, and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.

May 26, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights and primary owner of the Vegas Golden Knights Bill Foley are presented with the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl by Deputy commissioner of the NHL Bill Daly after winning against the Colorado Avalanchein game four of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

1) Tashmid asks – What changes do you think the Oilers need to make to realistically get onto the same level as Vegas? The Marner signing really elevated them, whereas Edmonton still feels uncertain, both coaching-wise and contract-wise, despite having elite talent.

Jason Gregor:

They beat Vegas last year, and this year they were hurt. I don’t think Vegas is significantly better than Edmonton. Oilers don’t have a head coach at the moment, but once thatis resolved, I suspect the uncertainty about coaching will shrink. Vegas has more money allocated towards the cap next season than the Oilers currently do. Edmonton needs to ensure they re-sign Connor Murphy. There are no RDs better on the market. Start there. Biggest area Edmonton has to improve is their commitment to playing sound defensively. Do that, and they will be close to Vegas.

Tyler Yaremchuk:

I’ve said for a while now that they need to stop dealing with the mushy middle when it comes to offseason adds. You can find $3-4m wingers at the deadline for cheap if you need scoring depth. In the summer, they need to go for the big dogs. Go big game hunting and add legit, impact pieces. That’s why this summer I want to see a trade for someone like a Jordan Kyrou versus signing someone like Boone Jenner.

Liam Horrobin:

There isn’t much difference between Vegas and Edmonton. Vegas got hot at the right time and had players return from injury, rather than getting injured. Obviously, Carter Hart has played great too. If Edmonton can add a top-six winger and a goaltender, then they’re right there, too. Easier said than done, of course, but that’s my wish list. The players I’d acquire are Jake DeBrusk and Sebastian Cossa.

Baggedmilk:

I think they’re closer to Vegas than we’re maybe giving them credit for. That’s not to say that there aren’t still upgrades to find, but I don’t think the Oilers are so far out that the task is impossible either. The high end talent is here. Now we (still) need the right supporting cast.

Mar 12, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Jack Roslovic (28) and center Jason Dickinson (16) skate off the ice after Dickinson scores a goal against the Dallas Stars during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

2) Oilers fan in Van asks – There were reports on social media that the price for Jason Dickson could go as high as $5 million in free agency. I enjoyed what he brought to the Oilers, but would a price tag like that not make him too rich for Edmonton to pursue? Would he be worth it at that number with limited offensive upside?

Jason Gregor:

He has scored more than nine goals once in his career. I like him. I like his approach to being good defensively, but aside from one 22-goal season, he has yet to contribute much offence. Hard to pay a third-line C $5.5m when he doesn’t produce much offence. At that price I’d let him walk. I’d look at Michael McCarron, big, right-shot C who is physical, can win draws and kill penalties. He won’t cost close to that much.

Tyler Yaremchuk:

Not a chance. A good organization finds a cheaper player to fill that spot. Spending $5.5m on a third line centre is not a luxury that the Oilers are in a position to afford.

Liam Horrobin:

I wouldn’t touch Dickinson at $5.5 M. I’d honestly worry about signing him for anything more than $4 M. While I live his defensive style, he doesn’t provide much offence. Yes, he had a good four games in the playoffs, but that doesn’t warrant that high of a contract. I’d opt to trust and develop Josh Samanski and acquire someone at the deadline, or I’d find a cheaper option via trade.

Baggedmilk:

I think that’s a little rich for me. I thought he would actually have to take a discount based on the lack of goal production since he signed that last contract, but I guess he’s aiming to cash in on a thin free agent class. That one would make me nervous.

Mar 8, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

3) Terry asks – With all the talk about trading Darnell Nurse this summer. Would a new, demanding coach like Cassidy or Laviolette be able to get the nurse to limit giveaways and mistakes through proper structure and accountability?

Jason Gregor:

To me, it is about his decision-making. A coach can only help out so much, as it comes down to the player making the split-second decision. Those two could help, but it is more about who is running the defensemen. Any player is tradeable, and if the return doesn’t make Edmonton worse, I can see trading him, but giving him away to free up cap space would be a bad decision. It has to be a hockey trade that the team feels makes the team, at least equal.

Tyler Yaremchuk:

No, I don’t think so. We’ve seen Nurse struggle with plenty of different coaches, it’s not like the issues in his game just started popping up once Knoblauch took over. He’s certainly capable of having a better year than he did but he also isn’t so bad that he’s unplayable. The contract just sucks.

Liam Horrobin:

I don’t think the previous coaches let Nurse just get away with giveaways, so I’ll say no. The problem with Nurse isn’t necessarily his on-ice play, but that he’ll never play up to his $9.25 million contract.

Baggedmilk:

I doubt any of Darnell Nurse’s coaches have let him make mistakes without talking to him about it. Like Liam said, he makes more money than anyone is happy with, and the expectation is that he plays up to his pay grade. Not gonna happen, but I too would have sprinted to the fax machine to sign that contract.

Apr 7, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard (2) prepares to shoot against the Utah Mammoth during the second period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

4) Clay asks – Given that Evan Bouchard took a high hit and was injured at the World Championships, do you see any scenario where a Cup-contending hopeful like the Oilers would not allow their players to attend?

Jason Gregor:

Doubt it. It is rare to see a player injured by a headshot at the World Championships.

Tyler Yaremchuk:

No. I think they could suggest that certain players don’t go but for someone like Bouchard, who wants to be on future Olympic and World Cup teams, I think the team has to respect that this is important to him.

Liam Horrobin:

No, that should never happen. Representing your country is an incredible honour, and it would be selfish for teams to prevent players from doing that. Additionally, Evan Bouchard wants to play for Canada at the Olympics and World Cup, so he needs to showcase himself while wearing a red Maple Leaf. Opportunities like this shouldn’t be limited.

Baggedmilk:

I doubt it. I think if their NHL team is out of the playoffs and they want to represent their country, it’s pretty tough to tell a guy that’s not an option.

Mar 10, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Jason Dickinson (16) defends on Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri (91) in the second period at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

5) Ed M. asks – The Avs have had another disappointing playoff run. They were the biggest buyers (and now the biggest losers) of the trade deadline madness, giving up two 1sts and a 2nd. Since the 22 Stanley Cup, the Avs have had 4 disappointing playoff runs, have about $5M in cap space, and their next 1st-round pick is in 29. If the Oil were in this spot, is there any way the coach and GM could survive?

Jason Gregor:

Blaming the coach is too easy. Avs are a good team, but Vegas played better for four games. It happens. But to answer your question, in Edmonton, the coach and GM would pay the price, as under Daryl Katz, the organization has shown a willingness to fire the coach (especially) and the GM, even when they have success.

Tyler Yaremchuk:

The good news is they got a piece like Kadri who is under contract and can help them next season. They are in a bit of a tough spot. I’m not sure if this summer is the one where they’ll make sweeping changes but if next year doesn’t go well, they could have to start asking some tough questions about a core that’s only been past the second round twice in the last decade.

Liam Horrobin:

Once you win the Stanley Cup, you have a longer leash. So yes, if that situation were in Edmonton, they’d still be in their positions. At the end of the day, Bednar led Colorado to a Stanley Cup, and McFarland does everything in his power to give them an opportunity to do it again year after year. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Baggedmilk:

I think Bednar will get more leash because the Avalanche have already won under his watch. Different situation here in Edmonton, but if that happened here, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a housecleaning up top.

PRESENTED BY STAKE

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 1, 2026

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:30:50 -0400

A daily roundup of Jets, Moose coverage — all the pro hockey news that matters in Manitoba and beyond.

Hurricanes or Knights? A Stanley Cup Final rooting guide for 30 other fan bases

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:22:00 -0400

Welcome to one of my favorite columns to write each year, where we go through all 30 teams that didn’t make the Stanley Cup final and offer up a suggestion on which of the finalists to root for. Nothing mandatory, mind you; more of a gentle nudge for the undecided. We have a bit of fun, it usually spurs some fun discussion, and there’s always a bit of suspense over which finalist the scales will ultimately tip towards.

Let’s just say that this year, I don’t think we have much of a suspense factor.

The Golden Knights are the villains here. It’s a role they’ve embraced, not just as far as this final but as the defining quality of their entire existence. The list of reasons to hate the Knights starts with jealousy, as they enter their ninth season of perpetual contention without ever really suffering through a bad season, but it doesn’t end there. Their win-at-all-costs mentality is enviable on some level, but at some point some of start getting tired of their whole act.

That’s not to say that everyone loves the Hurricanes; I’ve seen plenty of fans who don’t, or who seem to view this year’s final as a “none of the above” matchup. But finding fan bases that will be solidly pro-Vegas feels… daunting. So much so that I even briefly considered scrapping this year’s rooting guide altogether. But I like a challenge, and I love a recurring bit that means I don’t have to come up with a new angle. So let’ do this, even if we know how it’s going to end up.

We’ve got 30 teams to get to, and at least as many lenses to view this final through. As always, some reasons will be obvious, and some will be reaches. Will this end up being the most lopsided rooting guide ever? Almost certainly, but let’s dive in and see where we wind up.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

The New State Of Hockey?

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:14:27 -0400

When one thinks of Florida, there are some images that come to mind: sunshine, beaches, and Disney World. Of course, those aren't the only things that Florida is known for, and it seems they're making "winning professional hockey chmapionships" into a Florida thing. We know that the Florida Panthers won back-to-back Stanley Cups before missing the playoffs this season, but there's another team that has made winning into an annual event in the state. If you're unaware of the Florida Everblades and their winning ways, now would be a good time to get to know the ECHL team who will one again be the Eastern Conference representative in the 2026 Kelly Cup championship series!

The Florida Everblades have won four Kelly Cups in franchise history, but three of those four championships have been won since 2022. This year will mark the fourth time in the last five years that the Everblades will play for the Kelly Cup, and the team is 4-2 all-time in Kelly Cup championship series with a 19-11 all-time record in those games. Florida lost back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005 to the Idaho Steelheads and Trenton Titans, respectfully, but won their next four championship series appearances by a 16-3 record.

This year's appearance saw them sweep the Savannah Ghost Pirates in the opening round of the playoffs, defeat the South Carolina Stingrays by a 4-1 series count in Round Two, and they imposed their will on the Wheeling Nailers by winning that series by 4-1 count as well. With just two losses in 14 games, they now await the winner of the ECHL Western Conference Final between the Fort Wayne Komets and the Kansas City Mavericks. Kansas City leads 3-1 in that series with Game Five scheduled for tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

If Kansas City were to advance, it would set up the second meeting between these two teams in the Kelly Cup Championship. In 2024, Florida downed Kansas City by a 4-1 series count that saw Florida win three of the four games by three-or-more goals. Fort Wayne and Florida have never met for a Kelly Cup Championship in either side's histories, so we could be in for a new chapter of ECHL history if the Komets can rally against the Mavericks. We'll know more tomorrow.

In 2022, the Everblades qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs as the third-best team in the ECHL by points percentage at .653 thanks to the imbalanced schedule that was used this season. Florida then went 16-4 against Greenville, Jacksonville, Newfoundland, and Toledo that saw the Everblades go 7-0 in overtime games over those four series! That's a simply incredible overtime record by any team in any league!

2023 saw the Florida Everblades struggle through the regular season to a fourth-place finish in the ECHL's South Division, and the eleventh-best playoff team as they entered the Kelly Cup Playoffs. However, once the Kelly Cup Playoffs started, the Everblades switched into invincibility mode, going 16-6 while never holding home-ice advantage in any series. Florida went 5-2 in overtime games in this season, but they swept the ECHL's top regular season team in the Brabham Cup-winning Idaho Steelheads in the championship final! For notation purposes, Idaho finished 34 points better than Florida!

The 2024 ECHL season saw Florida finish in third-place in the South Division, four points back of Greenville and two points behind Jacksonville, as the ninth-best team that qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Florida and Jacksonville would battle through a seven-game series that saw the Everblades rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the series before they eliminated Orlando in five games and Adirondack in six games. That set up a championship series against the Kansas City Mavericks who were the Brabham Cup winners. Five games later, Florida celebrated a Kelly Cup win in beating the ECHL's best regular-season team despite finishing 25 points back of the Mavericks!

After a bit of a surprise upset last season in the Eastern Conference Final by the Trois-Rivières Lions, the Everblades are back after downing Wheeling tonight, and they look every bit as hungry as they did in winning three-straight championships. Clearly, the Everblades have created a bit of a dynasty in a league where player movement is a regular occurrence which says a lot about the team's management and culture when it comes to building a roster. In knowing that, going to the Kelly Cup Finals in four of five years is an impressive feat!

They still need to win one more series to cement their dynasty status, but the Everblades are giving fans every reason to believe that Florida is the new state of hockey. They sit just four wins from setting new ECHL records with a record fifth Kelly Cup, but they're already the most successful pro hockey team in the panhandle state!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Getting to Know Oilersnation: Kennedy(strash) Burgardt

Sun, 31 May 2026 20:00:40 -0400

One Direction broke up 10 years ago, and Directioners were converted to Edmonton Oilers fans.

Or at least one was, and that’s Oilersnation’s very own Kennedy Burgardt, known online as Kennedystrash.

After the great split of One Direction, she was scrolling on Vine (rest in peace) and a clip of Connor McDavid ‘splitting the D’ against the Columbus Blue Jackets popped up on her feed. She thought, “Hmm… this guy is kind of cool!”

Now, she’s not just a fan of the sport, but she also works in it. The McDavid effect, ladies and gentlemen.

“I don’t think I ever saw myself working in sports to be honest,” she said. “It just kind of happened.”

Burgardt started her love for the arts in junior high, when she travelled to Los Angeles every summer with her family to do the Warner Brothers Tour at Universal Studios. She went to Victoria School of the Arts in high school and aspired to work in the film and television industry in Hollywood.

At NAIT, she studied digital media and IT, while also posting on Twitter about her love for McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Edmonton Oilers as a whole.

“I was posting my edits and love for the Edmonton Oilers on Twitter, and I had Baggedmilk and Jay Downton in my DMs,” she said. “Then I designed a t-shirt for them, and the rest was history.”

“I used to work at the Oilers store in Kingsway, so I really have made hockey my entire personality ever since I found it. The hyperfixation goes crazy.”

Her introduction into the sports industry was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

“I feel like it has been really rewarding to participate in this environment, being indoctrinated into this already built fanbase and feeling like I am really a part of it too. It becomes a ‘we’ thing instead of a ‘me’ thing.”

Burgardt said she is most proud of providing elevated experiences on the Nation Vacations, which if you are unfamiliar with these events, they are hockey-centric trips where the Nation crew and citizens maximize their “conjoined slay” and bring the passion of Oil Country to other NHL cities.

“My Nation Vacations are my babies. I never thought I would be in a position to merge sports and recreational travel,” she said. “Seeing how good the community is and how fun these trips are, I want to make sure everyone feels included. It is very rewarding to see how these things come together and how people reminisce about them for years, or wanna be on the next one. It’s only going to get better from here.”

Joining Oilersnation has been an overall surreal experience for her. She said that going from being just another fan online, to working for a company with such a large follower base was quite the jump.

“I am just a nerdy hockey fan online who likes to talk to her friends. Now there are people who have learned about my little quirks and are a part of my inside jokes like ‘Leon you hot b*tch,’ or people recognize me and are like, ‘Hey! I follow you, I know you are a big Leon Draisaitl fan,’ and I am like, ‘Oh. I’m so sorry.’ I always want to apologize.”

This doesn’t come without added pressure for Burgardt though. Especially being a woman in the sports industry, which is an uphill climb on its own, even more so when you maintain an active presence online. She said, “There is definitely fatigue… and sometimes questioning if this is what I want to do forever. Especially with digital media changing and evolving all the time. There can be a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability.”

As for being the first woman in the office, she has found that the guys at Oilersnation are all very helpful and have her back.

“They’re all like my brothers in a way,” she said, adding on how the content production side started with Baggedmilk, Jay Downton, Wanye, and Dan Gallant. Then, she joined at the same time as Tyler Yaremchuk, Liam Horrobin, and Matthew Wozniak. This group has been together for a long time and they lean on each other when necessary.

Except for right now as Burgardt and Horrobin are in intense negotiations over the “Oil to the Max” t-shirt idea that Horrobin is desperately trying, and failing, to sell Burgardt on.

“Oil to the Max is dead,” she said. “Hashtag give it up Liam, hashtag fire Liam. We have actually sold him to Flamesnation for a bag of pucks.”

These are all just jokes of course.

Rapid Fire With Kennedystrash

Favourite Oilers player

Leon Draisaitl. Unfortunately (laughs), back when he was called “Lazy Leon” I decided to make him a birthday sign, because everyone was hating on him, and I think we shouldn’t hate on the pretty girl (laughs). Then the rest is history, that’s my boy, that’s my star.

Favourite colour

Green. No reason, honestly, I just love dark green. I loved Tinkerbell when I was younger, so maybe that’s why.

Favourite food

Mashed potatoes. Sometimes you just need a big bowl of mashed potatoes.

Favourite travel destination

London or Paris. Travelling is the best learning experience you will ever have and it teaches you so much about yourself. If you can figure out how to do public transportation in any city, then you can do anything.

Number one fear

How much time do you have? Just kidding. My biggest fear is honestly people not believing I am genuine enough in what I do. I put everything into anything, and sometimes I am afraid that isn’t reflected.

Favourite movie

“The Holiday” with Cameron Diaz. Any time, any day, any season, I can probably recite the whole movie. It’s such a feel-good movie. I love the old man, he just casually has an Oscar.

Favourite video game

Animal Crossing. That’s it. That’s the only game I play.

Favourite musical artist

Taylor Swift has been my number one for the last five years, and I don’t think that is going to change. Harry Styles is on the same level, I am going to London to see him in a few weeks. Taylor Swift has a lyric for every mood you could possibly experience. I feel too much all the time, and she gets me.

Favourite hockey memory

Meeting Leashadawg, can I say that? I’ll never forget when we were in the players’ walkout tunnel at Photo Day, and you came up to me and asked if I was in the editing community and said, “I was the Talbot fan” and I was like, ” Why were we both the only two people making Talbot edits?” I think that was the first time I was like, “Oh wait, my stuff is getting noticed.”

Oilers Letters: Are McDavid and Draisaitl ‘coach killers’?

Sun, 31 May 2026 19:00:46 -0400

It’s time to dig into this week’s Letters to the Editor. Want to join in the fun? Details about how to reach out are at the bottom of the article.

Are Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl coach killers?

In the McDavid and Draisaitl era, the Edmonton Oilers have run through 5 coaches.

McLellan – 3+ years. .508 point%, 1-1 playoff record. Made playoffs 1 -of 3 seasons

Hitchcock – 62 games. .484 point%. No playoffs.

Tippett – 2+ years, .596 point%. 0-2 playoffs. Made playoffs in both seasons

Woodcroft – 133 games, .643 point%. 3-2 playoffs, Made playoff both seasons

Knoblauch – 3-ish seasons, .585 point%, 7-3 playoff record. Made playoffs 3 times. 2 conference titles.

Soon, there will be a sixth head coach in season 12 of this era. So coaches have a two-season life expectancy. It is fair to call the McDrai teams “coach killers,” and by extension, so is the McDrai pair. Basically, if there’s no Stanley Cup, you are fired.

Perhaps it is just the unrealistic expectations that “cup or bust” is the metric used to determine if a coach can be kept. But it’s pretty clear when you sign on to coach the current era of the Oilers, your best move if to rent on a month-to-month basis.

Ed McConaghy

(Coach killer? Qu’est-ce que c’est?)

What happened to the rugged, physical version of Trent Frederic?

What happened to the old Freddy Eric???

I remember hating/loving him on the Bruins early in his career. He was a rugged, cheap, physical player who you would love to hate but love to have. He would initiate scrums, stick up for teammates, and hit everything that moved — everything you would want in a power forward! Since he’s been traded here, minus the opener where he was the Frederic of old, he’s been a ghost of his former self. That version I would’ve gladly signed for eight years. This one, not so much. If he doesn’t revert back to his form from his Bruin days. This could be a candidate for the worst contract in Oilers history. Please Frederic of old, come back!

– Zigmund Luna, President of the Frederic Fan Club (but considering withdrawing from his position)
YEG

Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly “Letters to the Editor” segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation’s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com), titled “Letters to the Editor.” Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 p.m. MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.

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Sunday Scramble: Does Bruce Cassidy’s status change depending on Vegas’ result in the Stanley Cup Final?

Sun, 31 May 2026 16:00:05 -0400

Is it better for the Edmonton Oilers if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup?

The knee-jerk reply is no way Jose, screw them guys, bunch of…

The question again, but better phrased: Are the Golden Knights more likely to grant permission to speak to Bruce Cassidy if they win the Cup? Or would a hurricane-ravaged Kelly McCrimmon and brass say f-it-all and outright deny deny deny if they lose. Does it matter any which way?

Cassidy is growing frustrated and speaking frankly in the media, campaigning for the ability to work and doing his bit to worsen the perception of his one-time team. McCrimmon is tap dancing in the media as the don of hockey ruthlessness.

Look at us, did you see how we just ended the Colorado Avalanche? And then this, oh-by-the-way, on TSN’s Overdrive, “It’s only news because Edmonton leaked it.”

I mentioned this briefly last week, and it’s also what I’ve heard. I believe that’s why things are extra quiet around coaching candidates.

Later that day, Bowman didn’t respond to those claims, but was asked about the coaching search on Oilers Now:

“We’re working through a process,” he said. “We’ve got nothing to announce right now, and I don’t think it’s fair to the people we’ve been speaking to to be giving details on that.

“But we’re taking our time, making sure that we don’t rush into anything, and it’ll happen when it happens. So I don’t have an answer on that. We’re working through it, and we’re being thorough and diligent, and I think that’s the only way to handle it…”

About what you’d expect.

The key is, Vegas gets to use the same excuse – not that they need any – for a couple more weeks. If there is a celebration, trophies, and parades, those emails will keep piling up in McCrimmon’s inbox – how could he possibly respond to them?

I could see a scenario where a victorious Vegas is at a smidgen less concerned about Cassidy’s whereabouts if they add another rock to their finger. You run through hypotheticals like this, given how much time we’ve got.

It may help, ii may not, but there’s a better chance my dog learns Latin than an Oilers fan cheering for the Golden Knights in this upcoming Final.

Some questions I’d have

Two names we’re pretty sure are in the mix: Craig Berube, Peter Laviolette (probably).

One of the big issues I hope they solve with their hire is the lack of cohesion from the front office to the coach on the types of players Edmonton is acquiring in free agency and trades, and how they’re deployed.

Obviously, the interview process will be a big key to understanding this coach, and the Oilers beefed up their analytics department this week, as the expected “front office changes” reported by insiders came to fruition.

But Stan Bowman needs to have that relationship and rapport, so the coach can agree, push back, and give the brass something else to think about.

So, sure, no rush, everyone. But having lead time before the draft and free agency with the new coach and those roster decisions is important.

In any prospective coaching interview, I’m curious how they’d answer the question, “Should Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play together?”

Or another, “With our high expectations, how do you integrate younger players with less experience into the fold, ie, Isaac Howard, so they can be a factor in the spring?”

“What structure suits this collection of players the best?”

Buzzwords

We have a new buzzword floating around: “distressed asset.”

Distressed asset sounds more like a 90’s Harrison Ford action-political thriller co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, which would fit nicely on AMC after The Fugitive or Entrapment. I can see the poster being Patriot Games inspired.

It is instead Bob Stauffer’s phrase of choice these days, planting enough seeds for the garden to grow a Jordan Kyrou or Sebastian Cossa in the Oilers lineup come October.

I think Bobby McMann is much more the type of player the Oilers need, being the Trent Frederic middle-six forward with goalscoring touch they wanted in the first place, but his contract in free agency is sure to be too expensive, and Edmonton has that guy at home they’ve got to figure out.

Like any trip to the store, though, it’s price and item. I’m not a Jordan Kyrou fan per se, who just sneakily turned 28 in early May, but the hope would be incoming St. Louis general manager Alex Steen is looking to continue the teardown Doug Armstrong started. On the other hand, the Blues never rebuild. They despise the word.

With the assets the Oilers have – which isn’t zero, but ain’t lots, either – do you attach assets in the package deals you are (theoretically) trading Darnell Nurse or Tristan Jarry in to get the piece you want?

Also worth noting, Kyrou hasn’t been officially linked to the Oilers. So far, it’s been wish-upon-a-Blue. Getting another player in the prime of their career who has shown a 35-plus goal ceiling is never going to hurt.

But if we’re talking distressed assets, I’m much more focused on who the Oilers are putting between the pipes.

Russian to conclusions

In terms of summer tasks, you can’t say it’s been a great start for Stan Bowman. I don’t know if Maxim Berezkin would be any good in the NHL, but he sure was intriguing.

Amidst the Oilers front office moves this week, a Russian translator was not among them.

Somewhere, the cipher broke down between the now two-time Gagarin Cup winner and the Edmonton brass, who both at one time said the right things. Berezkin is Back in the USSR for another two years (McCartney’s new album is out after all).

I wonder if the soon-to-be 25-year-old had certain assurances or guarantees he needed to jump the pond. A certain lineup spot, a certain dollar figure.

Perhaps this is some of the international blowback with the David Tomasek situation, but the Czech player at least was scoring in his respective league. Or it’s just a money thing.

Berezkin has a penchant for timely playoff goals, but isn’t lighting up the KHL, either, with his seven goals and 32 points in 64 games this season.

But again, Berezkin was intriguing because of his size. It’s one of those shrug-your-shoulders moments. Is he better than, say, Owen Michaels, who the Oilers just signed out of the NCAA and is around the same age? I don’t know.

Edmonton is rich in 22-25 year old tweener players, accumulating these scratch tickets to try generating a win. While Tomasek and Roby Jarventie left, Berezkin won’t come, so far, so good on Josh Samanski.

Vasily Podkolzin works in this category too, and would threaten Ford for a starring role in “Distressed Asset.”

Conference Finals underwhelm

The Conference Finals have underwhelmed as a series, and this is somewhat a consequence of having the “Best Round 1 in all of sports” or whatever banner Gary Bettman hangs in his office to justify his way of doing things.

As fun as it is to rag on, Conference Finals lacking drama can’t all be laid at the feet of a bad playoff format. It’s hard to account for an Avalanche team that became so mentally fragile, despite being the “favourites”, or a Canadiens group that couldn’t keep getting away with it.

There hasn’t been a Game 7 Conference Final series since 2018 between the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, which was actually the fourth straight year the East went the max.

In the West, there hasn’t been a Game 7 series since 2015 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks, perhaps the best series of my lifetime. Either that series or the WCF the year before between the Blackhawks and Kings takes the cake for me.

But there is a cyclical element, a luck, a randomness to having a dummy round.

For example, there is plenty of nostalgia for 1990s hockey, and rightfully so. If today’s social media were around in the late 90s, we’d be talking about the bummer Stanley Cup Finals: Four straight sweeps from 1995 to 1998.

A form of 1-8 rankings in the conference makes more sense to me for the long-term, but complaints about Vegas making the Final despite being 13th in regular season points and 21st in overall wins, that’s just playoffs as usual. And besides, Vegas won the Pacific Division. They’d be a top-seed in any format.

RIP Claude

Knowing what we know now, the image of Claude Lemieux carrying the torch at the Bell Centre is the most haunting image of the season, and one of the most shocking in recent NHL history.

There have been many touching tributes for this complicated man, who died of suicide at 60-years-old, remembered as an igniter to the Colorado Avalanche-Detroit Red Wings rivalry, never mind a key reason the 1995 New Jersey Devils’ upset win over Detroit even took place.

But failing to receive his due by the Hockey Hall of Fame ate away at him, according to Rejean Tremblay, a columnist and friend of Lemieux, who said he was hurt he had never received the call.

“He always lived this as an injustice, a heavy burden to bear,” Tremblay told the New York Post. “The sense of rejection ran deeper than one might have imagined. He took it very hard.”

Here are some key facts about Lemieux:

Four Stanley Cups
1995 Conn Smythe Trophy
Nine Conference Finals appearances or beyond
2x Led playoffs in goals and twice led in game-winning goals
9th all-time in playoff goals
27th in playoff points (158)

His regular-season numbers were never hugely impressive, but Lemieux is one of the greatest playoff performers of the past 40 years. He’s no less deserving than Guy Carbonneau (Lemieux had more Cups and more points) or Kevin Lowe (better player). There have been quieter classes where Lemieux may have earned a sniff.

It’s a shame the Hall was such a burden, but it’s also a fraction compared to a troubled relationship with his kids, some of whom he hadn’t spoken with in a decade. Life is tremendously complicated.

Truly, a tragic story.

Rest in peace, Claude.

Take $20 off your first Vivid Seats order of $200+ using promo code OILERSNATION (new customers only, $200 USD minimum before taxes & fees).

2026 IIHF World Championship Day 15: Norway stuns Canada for bronze

Sun, 31 May 2026 13:00:54 -0400

What a disappointing tournament it was for Canada.

After losing 4-2 to Finland in the semi-finals on Saturday, the Canadians played Norway for the bronze medal on Sunday, the final day of the 2026 IIHF World Championships. Unfortunately, it’s another medal-less year for the Canadians.

Let’s take a look at what happened in the bronze medal game, as well as review how all five Edmonton Oilers performed at this year’s tournament.

Canada vs. Norway

The two teams had already played once in the tournament, with Canada needing to score late to send the game into overtime, where they eventually won 6-5. They then went on to win Group B.

Norway gave the Canadians a run for their money once again. About seven minutes into the first period, Norway’s Emilio Pettersen opened the scoring for the Nordic team. Canadian netminder Jet Greaves misplayed the puck behind the net, allowing Pettersen to bury it.

It went from bad to worse for the Canadians, as Darnell Nurse was on the ice for Norway’s second goal of the game with seven and a half minutes to play in the second period. Stian Solberg, the second Norwegian ever drafted in the first round, took a shot from the point, with it deflecting off Calgary Flames defenceman Zach Whitecloud and past Greaves for a 2-0 lead.

NORWAY TAKES A 2-0 LEAD OVER CANADA IN THE BRONZE MEDAL GAME!

In the Pressbox

NHL Notebook: Habs’ Suzuki wins Selke, Caufield wins Lady Byng

Cole Caufield wins the Lady Byng

Predators name Rob Blake executive VP of hockey operations

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Is the narrative around Oilers’ Nurse worse than reality?

The Good: Puck touches in a contract year

The Bad: Dougie Hamilton

The Ugly: Tyson Barrie & the power play

More puck touches

Puck battles

Make the simple play

PRESENTED BY LeaseBusters

Oilers coaching update: Team ready to pay Cassidy ‘very handsome salary’, term

Could the Oilers hire a one-year coach?

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

Why it’s the right time for the Oilers to trade Darnell Nurse

McDavid’s championship window is now

Oilers trade tree: Salvaging the awful Jeff Petry trade

The fallout from the Petry trade

Cam Talbot’s branch of the tree

The Seth Jones branch

In the end

PRESENTED BY DERRICK DODGE

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 5, 2026

Real Life Podcast: Tyler is off to the Cup Final, the World Cup, and the Darnell Nurse rumours

‘Time to make the change’: Oilers fans react to Nurse trade talk

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NHL Notebook: Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin requests trade

Marcus Foligno wins King Clancy Memorial Trophy

Utah Mammoth need to take next step as a contender

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Potential trade destinations for Oilers’ Darnell Nurse

San Jose Sharks

Detroit Red Wings

Toronto Maple Leafs

Four teams below the cap floor

READ MORE: How the Oilers arrived at the Darnell Nurse dilemma

Oilers looking to trade Darnell Nurse ‘as soon as they are able’: report

What does a Darnell Nurse trade mean for the Oilers?

A damning indictment of Nurse’s game

PRESENTED BY LeaseBusters

An Oilers fan guide to hate-watching the Stanley Cup Final

Option 1: Do literally anything else

Option 2: Cheer for chaos

Option 3: Root against Vegas because obviously

Option 4: Root against Carolina because we will never forget 2006

So what do you do?

PRESENTED BY SOUTHVIEW ACURA

The Hockey Show - Episode 715

How injuries derailed Jake Walman’s season: Oilers 2025-26 player review

A promising start

Injury Issues

Inconsistency

Other player reviews…

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

ON in The Community: How you can help Sport Central

PRESENTED BY CAPITAL GMC BUICK

An NHL playoff contest update, where 850 entered and just two are left standing

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers: Today’s Hockey Headlines | June 4, 2026

Is It 2024 Again?

Better Lait Than Never: Waiting for Oilers news, and a nightmarish Stanley Cup matchup

NHL Notebook: Jon Cooper wins Jack Adams Award

Ranking the Oilers’ top off-season priorities

OILERS’ PRIORITIES THIS SUMMER…

The first priority has to be goaltending

Their second priority has to be adding defensively aware players on defence

The third priority should be a right-shot, bottom-six centre who can kill penalties

Fourth priority would be a winger who can score 5×5.

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

Vasily Podkolzin’s continued rise: Oilers 2025-26 player review

Other player reviews…

PRESENTED BY SOUTHVIEW ACURA

Darren Dreger: Jonathan Toews appears headed for retirement

The Nation Network announces new partnership with PuckPedia

The Final Two

‘One for one’: The Hall for Larsson trade 10 years later

Taylor Hall before the trade

Much-needed context

Hall’s post-Oilers days