NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 30, 2024
The Panthers eliminate the Lightning, the Stars tie their series with the Golden Knights, the Vezina Trophy finalists are announced and the Kraken fire head coach Dave Hakstol. Details and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 to win their best-of-seven first-round series in five games. Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov each scored twice and collected an assist for the Panthers, who will play the winner of the Boston Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs first-round series in the second round.
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was critical of two goalie interference calls that went against his club in this game. Those goals might’ve changed the outcome of this game had they counted but would’ve only delayed his club’s inevitable elimination. After years in the Lightning’s shadow, the Panthers emerged this season as the dominant NHL club in Florida.
This is the second straight season that the former Stanley Cup champion Lightning have been eliminated in the first round. The main reason is steady depletion of their roster due to salary cap constraints.
The future of Steven Stamkos is the biggest question facing the Lightning in this offseason. The long-time Tampa Bay captain is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Following this game, Stamkos said he hadn’t thought about it as he was focused on trying to help his team win this season. Cooper believes Stamkos knows he belongs with the Lightning. That will depend on whether he and Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois can agree to a new contract before free agency begins on July 1.
The Dallas Stars scored three unanswered goals as they overcame a 2-1 deficit to double up the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Game 4 of their first-round series. Wyatt Johnston tied the game, Ty Dellandrea scored the winning goal and Jake Oettinger stopped 32 shots as the Stars tied this series at two games apiece. Michael Amadio and Jack Eichel scored for the Golden Knights.
PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK
NHL.COM: Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers, Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks, and Connor Hellebucyk of the Winnipeg Jets are the finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender in 2023-24.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to the three finalists. Hellebuyck seems the most likely to win this award, joining Bobrovsky as the only active goalies to win the Vezina at least twice.
THE SEATTLE TIMES: The Kraken fired head coach Dave Hakstol after three seasons behind their bench. Hakstol guided the club to its first postseason in its second NHL season but they failed to qualify for the playoffs this season. Assistant coach Paul McFarland also won’t be returning.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Kraken’s disappointing follow-up to last season’s surprising performance isn’t solely on Hakstol. Matty Benier’s sophomore slump, another injury-shortened season for Andre Burakovsky and the offseason departures of Daniel Sprong and Morgan Geekie were contributing factors. Still, it’s usually the head coach who bears the responsibility when a team struggles.
There’s no shortage of candidates to replace Hakstol. They include former NHL bench bosses like Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, Gerard Gallant, and Dean Evason. The Times’ Geoff Baker suggested keeping an eye on Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, whose current contract expires at the end of this season.
TORONTO STAR: The Maple Leafs are preparing to play Game 5 against the Bruins without Auston Matthews. The Leafs center missed practice on Monday with an ongoing illness and is questionable for tonight’s game.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark would love to start Game 5 against the Maple Leafs. However, he’s said he won’t be a “salty crybaby” if Jeremy Swayman gets the call. Swayman has played three of the four games thus far, winning all three.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bruins can advance to the second round with a win over the Leafs in Game 5.
THE PROVINCE: Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet expects a better effort from his club as they look to eliminate the Nashville Predators in Game 5. He said his players were pleased with their comeback effort in Game 4 but they knew their play in that contest was average. Tocchet indicated they are focused on improvement.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This series would be tied at two games apiece if not for those frantic final minutes for the Canucks in Game 4. They can’t afford another average performance against a desperate Predators team in Game 5.
TSN: Winnipeg Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov suffered a fractured cheekbone after being struck by a shot by teammate Nate Schmidt during Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. However, he hasn’t been ruled out for Game 5 of the first-round series between the two clubs on Tuesday. The Avalanche hold a 3-1 series lead.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour is shaking up three of his lines for Game 5 against the New York Islanders. Jack Drury will move up to center the second line, winger Teuvo Teravainen drops down to the third line and Jesperi Kotkaniemi moves to the fourth line.
CBS SPORTS: New York Islanders forward Matt Martin will miss Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes with a lower-body injury.
I figured the Stars had maybe dug too big a hole for themselves when they dropped the opening 2 games at home to the defending cup champions.
I figured wrong! We may yet see my projected Dallas-NYR final. Although those Panthers aren’t to be forgotten. That was total domination.
My money is on Fla.,they bullied the Bolts and did not exert themselves in a 5 game series! Boston does not match up well with the Panthers physicality and skill! And if it s the Rangers,their kid Remke will be challenged by several Panthers! If their goaltending holds up, they will be tough!
Rempe plays 5 minutes a night and spends 10 in the box. If this is the primary concern, NY should have waived the white flag against Washington.
Chytil is close to returning, which more than likely means Rempe is the odd man out.
With or without Rempe, NY is a much more physical team than Tampa. I don’t exactly love the idea of NY facing Florida. But I also don’t expect them to lay down either.
I would expect a more competitive series than either had in the 1st round.
*** if either even get there ***
They both have another series to worry about before that happens.
NY needs to worry about Carolina (most likely).
And Florida needs to worry about the Bruins (most likely).
Not each other.
CaptainObvious, a similarity for wasting a roster spot in the playoffs by dressing Rempe – who essentially gets blisters in his ass from sitting – is Toronto playing Reaves – although in their case, they’ve been giving him a lot more ice time than does NY for Rempe – including being out there in the last game in the final minutes when they were desperately needing a goal.
What does Tampa do going forward? This slip should be a wake up call. Follow the blueprint.
Washington.
2018 wins cup
2019 1st round exit
2020 1st round exit
2021 1st round exit
2022 1st round exit
2023 missed playoffs
2024 1st round exit
Pittsburgh.
2017 wins cup
2018 2nd round exit
2019 1st round exit
2020 1st round exit
2021 1st round exit
2022 1st round exit
2023 missed playoffs
2024 missed playoffs
Admitting you’re no longer good enough is a hard pill to swallow. But the reality of it is , Tampa without some major changes are heading in this inevitable direction.
No draft picks 1-4 this year
No 1st round pick in 2025.
10 million in cap space to re-sign or replace 6-7 players including Stamkos. Prospect pool ranked 30th in the NHL.
Yikes!
Recall what the price has bought:
2014 Lost 1st round
2015 Lost Cup FInal
2016 Lost Conference Final
2017 missed
2018 Lost Conference Final
2019 Lost 1st round
2020 Stanley Cup
2021 Stanley Cup
2022 Lost Cup Final
2023 Lost 1st round
2024 Lost 1st round
Probably HOF
Stamkos
Hedman
Kuch
Vasy
(Coach) Cooper
Possible HOF
Point
Assets on other teams moved out during run to maintain core
Gourde – Palat – Verhaege – Killorn – Coleman
Johnson – McDonagh – Rutta
and many others
Asset management has not been the issue I would highlight
Respectfully disagree. The players you mentioned being moved out were / are part of the problem.
Tampa has zero issues in their top 6, with or without Stamkos. It’s the bottom 6 and defense that is hurting them.
Keeping things status quo isn’t fixing this team, it will drive them into the ground.
In a nutshell that describes succinctly the perils of a hard cap system in maintaining a well-balanced roster.
When a team – like Tampa, Colorado and soon-to-discover Vegas – reaches the pinnacle with a combination of bona-fide “stars” and rising young talent about to enter RFA status, the math stops adding up, and so the team faces a classic Hobson’s Choice: move out one or two of the top stars to free up enough to meet the demands of the rising RFAs – or – lose some of the better RFAs in order to retain the stars. Who may not be getting any younger.
At least those teams managed to win a cup or two before the inevitable caught up to them … a few others put themselves in that position without winning a cup – or even reaching the finals.
It ain’t easy – if not downright impossible – building a consistent winner in this era. We will never see the 4- 5-straight cup winners ever again – under this system.
Of course, there’s always “diddling the LTIR factor” in trying to prolong the inevitable.
I’d say that’s a good thing George. Nobody likes seeing multiple cups won in a row except that teams fans. Same id say for 1st overall picks.
I agree chrisms … just saying we won’t ever see its like again … as it should be.
And I also agree re # 1 picks – you get one and still suck the next year to the same extent, then you’re not in the lottery mix the following year.
CO,
I think they re-sign Stamlos for about $6.M for 4 years.❓
2024-2025 Cap Space is very limited to $10M for the season,
they use fillers at $750,000 to fill out the roster, and try a couple of players from the farm.
No picks in the 1st 4 Rounds 2024….
No 1st pick in 2025…
2025-2026 season they have $+30.M in cap space
-Sign a top 6 forward,
-Sign a Top 4 RD man
-Re-sign Victor Headman
build out the roster from there…..
They will be back bye then i think…
By 25-26 Hedman will be 36, Stamkos 37, Kucherov 34, Vasilevskiy 34, Point 31-32, Cirelli , Sergachev and Hagel knocking on 30. No elite talent on the way.
This is not the direction they should take. This puts them even further behind.
The better option, Trade Hedman next year. I’d imagine they will be a bubble team, but do it anyway. Retain, it drives the value up. A lot of teams will come calling at the deadline.
They should have taken that road with Stamkos this year. That ship has sailed.
Signing him to 6 million leaves 4 to fill out 6 spots. Which pins them against the cap even at league minimum and trapped in mediocrity.
We’ve seen this a lot of the last 2 decades. NJ, San Jose, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, LA. (Varying degrees of success) but ultimately held on to players too long while thinking they could find success and compete.
No shame on taking a step backwards to take 2 forward.
This core was not good enough this year or last, why would it get better in 2 years?
Really surprised @ Hakstol being let go, what a short memory the organization has? Francis, goes down a few notches in my book. Had a lot of respect for him as a player and person…….
The Avalanche will have to keep bringing the killer instinct if they want to close it out tonight. Defensively responsible, that will be the key. So far they have pleasantly surprised me in that area!! GO AVS!!!!
I heard that the boys were wabbling, tommyboy.
Many said so during the exit interviews. He had to go.
tommy boy, add Hakstol to the possibilities in Ottawa – Staios has said their final decision won’t be made until after the playoffs are over simply because the list of candidates can – and probably will continue to grow.
George O, I think you have something there? Hakstol would be a good fit IMO! They have a lot of good talent in Ottawa. So, with success he has had with Kraken with not many finishers, possibly have a lot of success with Senators? I could see that working well. The guy is a good coach!
There are still folks in Buffalo who don’t understand how Toronto couldn’t see Brett Hull’s toe in the crease. We seem to have devolved back to the same blue paint rule, tho regardless of what the defensive player is doing. Clean up the rule so NHL — otherwise when there is hold the stick and constraining the D’s movement and the goalie is hit you’ll never get the judgments right. Probably the 2 all backs decided last night’s game tho not the series. Gotta feel for CIrelli, scores big goals at big times more than once with nothing to show.
If Captain O is right & the wilderness is ahead ( i see the glass half full) we’ve had 9 of ten years in the postseason, four finals, and two cups. Worth the price.
Richard Ifield, fans of the team certainly can’t complain when their team had 9 years like that … Chicago fans, for example, would agree
As an Ottawa fan I’d take it in place of the going on 7 years in the playoff wilderness.
Absolutely, that is the price for winning. Same road every team has to take. LA, Pittsburgh, Chicago (although Chicago’s wounds were a little self inflicted).
I’m not trying to 💩 on Tampa. Actually quite the opposite. I’d prefer they start thinking about the future before it’s too late. This is not a roster that needs a total tear down. If they play it right, I still think they can be competitive.
If they follow the same path as the other teams I’ve named, they’ll waste the good years for guys like Hagel, Sergachev, Vasi, Point, Cirelli, Kucherov etc.
Paul Maurice coaches the same way in Florida as he did in Winnipeg. He likes physical play. I think Maurice and Matthew Tkachuk are a perfect match.
If Winnipeg bows out to the Av’s I don’t think Chevy can bring back Bowness. Bowness has a team third year option.
I have a wondering. The year Bowness got hired the Jets were linked to some ex coaches who ended go elsewhere.
If players have Winnipeg on their nmc/ntc why wouldn’t a coach have the same feelings and say anywhere but Winnipeg. Obviously if your out of a job and only Winnipeg is offering you’re going to take it? Barry Trotz didn’t.
All games tonight could be elimination night. Three of the 4 teams with the 3-1 lead are at home. Colorado is the only visiting team with a 3-1 lead and their not winning tonight.
If your team finishes at the bottom of the pack for several years, there are a lot of high draft choices, & you should be building to a climax, according to conventional wisdom. Ottawa and Buffalo, per the CW, should be ready for greatness. And to be fair, when they came to town this year, they passed the eye test as being very talented even if the standing points aren’t there yet. But there is also a healthy sprinkling of undrafted or 6th and 7th round players we are watching, some of them on first and second lines or starting in goal. The first couple of rounds of the draft consume 64 players; outside of a handful of the ‘generational’ type every years there is clearly an equally talented group of at least 64 that hasn’t shown yet, but will mature into a very talent group. Perhaps the development missing is physical, more likely it’s mental, perhaps its just geography and happenstance; its clear that a good ownership pays at least as much attention to scouting and development as it does to the GM chair. A well developed minor leaguer can often be traded for a kid with more raw talent as clubs fill needs; transactions well under the radar in places like this until the “magically” show up in the playoffs.
Richard Ifield, where Ottawa is concerned, a distinct part of the problem in taking the next step, is that – outside of Giroux and Korpisalo – there isn’t one key player who has had a taste of playoff hockey – not in Ottawa certainly, where they have missed out 6 straight years, and not in their development time (if any) in Belleville of the AHL either since that team had not had ONE playoff game since relocating there from Binghamton 6 years ago – until this year when they finally won a series against arch-rival Toronto Marlies and now move on to meet the Cleveland Monsters – farm team of the Blue Jackets (? – correct me if I’m wrong).
At least that will bode well for the prospects that have a decent chance of making the jump to Ottawa – like Kleven, Guenette, Sogaard, Crookshank and Sokolov.
Re; Today Coments
1/ ReLeaf coming
-I think the Leafs are Out tonight Boston thump them…
-Shanny & Coach Keefe get fired by the weekend❓.
-They let Brad Treliving Start the Re-tool
-One of the big 4 gets ( Mich Marrner ) finally gets traded out✔️
for a Top paring d/man at or before the draft,
They at one more d/man to the top 4 and fix the d once & for all🤔
2/
Boston
Bruins Goaltender Linus Ullmark gets traded at or before the NHL Draft.
Gives them $27.M in Cap Space for thee 2024-2025 season to up-grade there holes.
Boston Go After a #1 Centre
Boston Go after a top 4 LD/man
Re-sign Swayman
DeBrusk……?? i dont know what going to happen but Not a long term deal for him
williew, obviously you put a lot of thought into your prognostications – but I just can’t see the Leafs being able to move (or even want to move) Marner.
He has a NMC which I seriously doubt he would waive to go to a team with sufficient cap to take on his $10,903,000 hit – which, more than likely, are re-building to various degrees. And even if he were open to joining another currently top team, I don’t think there is even one of those with the cap space to take him on – not without moving out some considerable cap of their own to make room. And then the same search for a suitable trade partner rears up again.
Adding to all this is the fact that Marner is a UFA after next season, and some are projecting him to be in the $11 to $12 mil range demand (maybe higher depending on his results next season).
George, Marner might waive his NMC for Pittsburgh, as long as Crisby signs an extension. Dubas would definitely be interested. KD signed Acciari to a massive increase, traded for Bunting and even signed Sparkes last summer. Would be a tricky deal because the Penguins have high cap players on NTC or modified NTC contracts. Pittsburgh will want to send upwards of $10 million cap hit back to Toronto.
After July 1st, Mitch is only owed 775k. Acquiring team saves a ton of cash.
Treliving won’t receive equal value but the goal is to transform the team character and culture.
Hadn’t considered the Dubas factor, Hammer_of_the_Gods. Good point.
The only kicker there is, other than a desired change in team culture and character, the main reason for moving out Marner would be to free up sufficient cap to improve the D, maybe goal, and the bottom 6 F. Taking back a big cap wouldn’t help there.
I struggle to see what Toronto would want from Pittsburgh in return.
I doubt Karlsson, Smith, Letang, Rackell, Accari, Malkin, Jarry. What’s left?
Not sure that Marner would waive for Pittsburgh. He’d be better off staying put.
Hey George,
The NMC is a tough one to get around, but MM is not very popular in Toronto at pressent with Leaf Fans.
A NTC the only way is to get the players aproval for a move❓ if he says No its basicly Dead…
and at $11-$12M in his new contract the only lossers are the maple leafs in this whole thing,
The leafs need to fix there d…❓ if Not they go
No where again Next Season Again….
its up to the Leaf Fans to make some noise about this. Im Sure MM would want to go to a conternder🤔
Dont expect the leafs to move past the first Round for the next 2 years, 2024,25 & 25, 2026…. Seasons if they do nothing Again
unless the leafs go public with asking MM to wave his NTC and go that route..
Howabout a Leafs Oilers Trade,
Nurse for Marner❓😂
Ideas on a Marner to Pittsburgh trade
Main pieces coming back: Bryan Rust (must waive NMC) and Reilly Smith.
$10.9 M out, $10.125 in.
Hopefully Reilly Smith can be unloaded. Worst case scenario, Smith’s contract can be bought out at a cost of $1.33 M for 2 years.
So, Leafs end up with Rust (4 years) and $4.44 M in extra cap space (10.9 – 5.13 – 1.33).
Leafs have 10 forwards, 5 D (including Cade Webber) and 1 goalie under contract for next season.
Bertuzzi, Domi, Brodie and Samsonov (17 M) are free agents, Robertson & Liljegren RFAs.
Cap Hit is $69.2 M.
If salary cap increases by $4 M to $87.5, available space is $18.3 M for 7 players (not good).
Replace Marner with Rust and Treliving now has $22.7 M to work with ($24 M if Smith is traded).
Problem with a $4 M jump in the Cap: Increases for Auston and Willie total $6.1 million.
Savings must therefore come from other areas. Somehow, Leafs need to free up cap space to improve the D and acquire a goalie.
I’d imagine Toronto would want a better return than a 31 yo winger and Smith (33) who would be a salary dump. Why would Toronto who is trading by far the best player in this deal have to eat a salary dump / buyout?
No offense, but that trade gets blown out of the water by multiple teams.
Marner is knocking at 100 points per season and has been a selke candidate for a few years.
Zero chance they’re taking on those 2 players.
As George points out, they’ll more than likely be looking for defense.
As structured today, the leafs pay 2 of those 4 forwards more than their entire defense. That’s the problem. Rust doesn’t cure that, and Smith only makes their situation worse.
Honestly, I don’t see the return coming from Pittsburgh that will land Marner.
I’d rather have rust on his deal than Marner. Not suggesting he’s better than Marner. And smith is likely moved in the iffseason
Captain Obvious, Marner is on an expiring contract, extension will likely be in the $12 M range. The NMC gives Mitch significant power to determine his destination. It will be very difficult to structure a trade with a team willing to give up a top Dman.
That’s why I am suggesting a two step process. Other teams may offer a better return but Mitch can nix the deals. It would be ideal to trade Mitch for picks and prospects to a non-contender, but Marner likely vetoes those destinations. Chicago may be a possibility, where he can set-up Connor Bedard for the next decade. The Blackhawks also own a couple of Toronto draft picks (2025 1st and 2026 2nd).
Honestly, I don’t see how either of these teams benefit from this trade.
Marner is much better than Guentzel, but really what’s the difference?
Also doubtful Marner sees Pittsburgh as a better option than rebuilding teams. Teams like Ottawa, Buffalo, Anaheim, Chicago are well on their way in the process. Pittsburgh hasn’t even started that process. With or without Marner, is Pittsburgh really any better?
I’m not sure the way to start that rebuild is adding a 12-13 million winger and aging pieces like Karlsson, Letang, Malkin , Crosby etc..
I just don’t see them taking a Rust / Smith at this stage.
They won’t be picking up a top d-man. Certainly not a Makar, Mcavoy or Fox type of guy for Marner. Teams don’t give up those type of players in their prime.
They need to go find a younger capable guy, maybe they land the next Faber? lol
Williew,I like some of your ideas,but see issues also! How many No.1 centers are available thatarethatmuch better than Coyle and Zacha?Would you consider Chandler Stephenson of Vegas! Would maybe spend more on a top flight LHD. Then think of signing JDB who I am not a fan of,and another top 6 wing!