NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 17, 2025
The Canadiens clinch the final Eastern Conference wild card, the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck wins his second straight Jennings Trophy, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid has his eighth 100-point season, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: The Montreal Canadiens doubled up the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 to clinch the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 91 points. Kaiden Guhle scored twice, Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, and Lane Hutson collected an assist to tie Hall-of-Famer Larry Murphy for the single-season assist record for NHL rookies (60). Taylor Hall and Tyson Jost replied for the Hurricanes, who face the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the postseason.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens defeated a Hurricanes squad that rested seven regulars, including Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Staal. Nevertheless, this was a well-deserved victory for a rebuilding club that rose from second-last in the overall standings on Dec. 1 to securing its first postseason berth since 2021.
Montreal will face the Washington Capitals in the first round, with their series expected to begin on Monday. The last time these two clubs met in the playoffs was in 2010, when the Canadiens upset the heavily-favored Capitals in seven games. Time will tell if history repeats itself.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves and Mark Scheifele scored in overtime to nip the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in the final game of the regular season for both clubs. Neal Pionk also scored for the league-leading Jets while Troy Terry replied for the Ducks.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hellebuyck won the William M. Jennings Trophy for the second straight year as the Jets gave up the fewest goals this season (191). He becomes the fifth goalie to win this award in consecutive seasons since it was first presented in 1981-82, joining Martin Brodeur, Roman Turek, Patrick Roy and Brian Hayward.
Hellebuyck also picked up his 47th win of the season, tying Bernie Parent and Roberto Luongo for the second-most among NHL goalies. Braden Holtby and Martin Brodeur are tied with 48 wins.
The Jets also took care of some business before the game, announcing forward Alex Iafallo signed a three-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $3.666 million. It’s a slight pay cut from his current AAV of $4 million, but the 31-year-old accepted it to stay in Winnipeg, telling the media that he didn’t want to go anywhere else.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid collected an assist for his eighth 100-point season in a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks. Ty Emberson tallied twice and Stuart Skinner had an 18-save shutout for the Oilers, who concluded their season in third place in the Pacific Division with 101 points. The Sharks finished their season winless in their last 11 games (0-8-3).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid joins Hall-of-Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Marcel Dionne as the only players to reach 100 points eight times. Meanwhile, Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was told by Sharks management that he won’t be signed to a contract extension, making him an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
The Nashville Predators finished their season on a winning note, defeating the Dallas Stars 5-1. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and two assists for the Predators while Mason Marchment replied for the Stars, who’ll face the Colorado Avalanche in the opening round of the playoffs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars forward Tyler Seguin picked up an assist in his first game since Dec. 1. He underwent hip surgery on Dec. 5. Seguin’s teammate Jason Robertson left the game with a lower-body injury in the second period. There was no postgame update on Robertson’s condition, but he was seen after the game with a brace on his right knee.
Vegas Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev broke a 1-1 tie in a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Victor Olofsson had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, who’ll face the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs. Pius Suter scored for the Canucks.
The Detroit Red Wings defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2. Dylan Larkin and Jonatan Berggren each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings. Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer replied for the Devils.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton returned to action after missing 18 games with a lower-body injury.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs opening round begins Saturday with the Winnipeg Jets hosting the St. Louis Blues (6 pm ET start) while the Dallas Stars face off against the Colorado Avalanche starting at 8:30 pm ET.
The full playoff schedule will be released on Thursday.
THE ATHLETIC: Katie Strang reports New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin and Madison Square Garden Sports (which owns the Rangers) paid financial settlements to a former Rangers employee last year after she alleged Panarin sexually assaulted her.
Strang cited sources claiming the alleged assault occurred in December 2023 during a Rangers road trip. Neither Panarin nor his agent replied to a request for comment. An MSG spokesperson and the woman (whose identity has been protected) stated the matter has been resolved.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Penguins defenseman Kris Letang underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a small hole in his heart. He returned to the club’s practice facility on Wednesday but did not take part in practice. His teammates were relieved to see him.
Letang, 38, has a long history of injuries and medical problems, including two strokes. A small hole in his heart was discovered in 2014 following his first stroke.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Letang had no comment for reporters and isn’t expected to play in their season-closing game against the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
CBS SPORTS: Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann will undergo surgery on Monday for an undisclosed issue he’s dealt with throughout the season. He played in all 82 of his club’s games this season. He faces a six-week post-surgery recovery period.
TSN: Florida Panthers forward Jesse Puljujarvi has a hearing with the NHL department of player safety for an illegal hit to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee on Tuesday.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Washington Capitals signed center Nic Dowd to a two-year contract extension with an AAV of $3 million. Dowd, 34, was slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The checking-line forward tallied a career-high 27 points this season.
RG.ORG: Prospect winger Porter Martone is hoping to have a positive impact with whatever NHL club selects him in this year’s draft. The 6’3” power forward with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads said he wants to win Stanley Cups and create a winning culture, hoping to eventually take on a leadership role with that team.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: NHL Central Scouting has Martone at No. 6 among this year’s top North American prospects. TSN’s Bob McKenzie and Craig Button, The Hockey News’ Nick Ferrari and Ryan Kennedy, and McKeen’s Hockey have him among their top-five prospects.
NHLPA: recently released its annual poll of its membership. A surprising result was that Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers were polled higher than Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck in the top goalie category.
Congratulations to Habs
Crowd volume seemed very loud just from broadcast
can only imagine what it was like actually being there
Now get to work and kick the Caps butts
A well deserved playoff spot for the Habs. They have battled all season. And every time they went into a slump and were counted out, they would find a way to bounce back. That’s why it was never in doubt.
Making the playoffs in the third full year of the rebuild is not bad. Detroit and Buffalo have been rebuilding much longer and always fall short. Even Ottawa took longer.
It is kind of bad that the Habs won and potentially killed what would have been the years coolest team story – a Columbus playoff appearance.
I know I am a broken record sometimes, the average rebuild is missing the playoffs for 7 years before getting back in. I think OTT is bang on that #, and George can confirm. He can also confirm if that felt like eternity. Guessing it did.
So the Habs doing it in 3 is outstanding and stick tap to MGT and coaching staff. I think Gorton turned that trick in NY as well.
Hopefully it prevents them from adding more high end guys up front and they end up being not quite good enough for the big prize. Might be happening with NYR as well? Habs have enough cups to last the rest of my life.
I certainly don’t think it’s kind of bad. But the Habs do owe the Jackets a debt of gratitude for losing enough games to get the Habs into the playoffs and for picking Lindstrom and leaving Demidov to the Habs.
Agree, Ray … but to be completely honest, I don’t think they’d have made it had Columbus not followed the Gaudreau tragedy with crippling injuries to Boone Jenner (56g), Sean Monahan (28g), Cole Sillinger (16g), Kent Johnson (14g).
Once the effects of those losses began to manifest themselves in the standings, combined with the Habs’ refusal to sink into prolonged losing streaks by bouncing back -often against the top teams around the league – it became evident (at least to this observer) that they would prevail.
And I said on more than one occasion that it could go right to the wire.
Columbus has the cap and the nucleus of a very good team to be a serious factor next season with the right off-season moves.
Ya Howard, we’ll have to see how that draft pick works out in the long term. So far so good for MTL.
Lidstrom had back surgery which has to be concerning, and Demidov is the real deal when it comes to skill with the puck on his stick. Dynamic.
Doesn’t mean he will be a more valuable player though. 6’4″ C’s with skill are extremely valuable if they play a solid 2 way game as they have a huge impact.
Not predicting what Demidov and Lidstrom will be, but if they both reach their ceiling? Here’s a good debate – would you rather have Barkov or Kucherov? Both won cups as part of great teams. I think Barkov adds more to winning than Kucherov, even though Kucherov gets more points, by quite a bit.
This is due to the roles they play at both ends. In the SCF last year, Maurice threw Barkov out against McDavid every chance he had. So head to head, mano a mano for 7 games. Most important battle in the series. And it was a battle.
We’ll see, have to say that Demidov will almost for sure produce offence in the NHL. I watched some of that 1st game, and his speed and skill is undeniable. We’ll have to wait and see on Lidstrom, wouldn’t write him off just yet.
Howard, the Habs also owe a debt of gratitude to all those teams that passed on Lane Hutson 61 times before Montreal took him 62nd overall – not to mention thanking their own lucky stars that he was still there fater they, themselves, took Filip Mesar 26th overall and Owen Beck 33rd overall.
Now, they may still make it one day, but there’s little chance they’ll have anywhere near the impact of Hutson.
George, the Blue jackets did indeed have a whack of injuries, making a tough season even tougher. And it would have been a nice result had they made the playoffs.
But reflect upon how many injuries the Habs have had over the past several years, how it inhibited Dach’s recovery, and then his subsequent season ending injury again. Point being, the Habs are the last team you can point to when talking about benefitting from injuries.
George, me again. Yes, the Habs got lucky with Hutson. I am amazed that someone his size (I called him sparrow legs at one point), is as effective defensively against larger opponents, let alone his offensive prowess. And the kid has proven he can take a hit.
But I also remember that in 2003 the Habs drafted Andrei Kostitsen at # 10, leaving Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaff, Ryan Kessler, Mike Richards, and … wait for it … Patrice Bergeron who was taken by the evil and malodorous Bruins. Indeed, the Habs passed on Bergeron twice, taking Cory Urquhart ahead of him.
Imagine the difference in the Habs and Bruins fortunes during early part of this century had the Habs drafted a native son and deprived their odious rivals.
Stop slapping your leg, Ray.
LJ, I wasn’t “pointing” to anyone – or making excuses for Columbus – just stating a fact.
Put it this way – had the Habs continued with their injury bad luck and had lost the equivalents – in their roster – of Jenner and the others, we wouldn’t even be discussing this now.
It’s the breaks – simple as that. Just as other teams took advantage of Montreal’s bad luck in that regard in recent years, so too did teams capitalize on the Blue Jackets’ misfortunes.
When you look at what Detroit had at the start of the rebuild and how they always seem to miss out with the draft lottery, they’re in pretty good shape to make the playoffs next season and many seasons to come. Should be a fun rivalry with Ottawa
Ed: the Rangers and the Canucks have taught us that next year’s results have nothing to do with this year’s.
That said, the Red Wings results for the past 4 years show they have plateaued, outside the playoffs. Counting back from this year they have finished 21, 18, 24 and 25.
4 of their starting D are 33 or older, Kane is not what he used to be, and Tarasenko at 33 had 11 goals.
While some rank their prospect pool as #5, any advancement will be driven by off season moves, not by their current roster.
As at this morning Pens have about a 6% Chance at Schaeffer, and a 6.2% chance at Misa; with about an 85% chance at one of McQueen , Desoyners, Frondell
The only possible upgrade change to above comes with a Sabres win and Pens loss tonight resulting in
6.5% Chance at Schaeffer, and a 6.7% chance at Misa; with an 81% chance at one of McQueen , Desoyners, Frondell
2nd Worst case; Pens win in Reg tonight resulting in:
Schaefer (5%); Misa (5.2%) and 78% chance at one of Smith, Eklund, Bear , O’Brien, Mrtka, or Lankovic
Outside chance (and worst scenario —Pens win tonight AND two of Isles , Rangers , Wings, Jackets, UHC, Cannucks and Flames get a lottery ball dropping in their favour;); Pens pick 11th
McQueen , Desoyners, Frondell will be gone; probably at least two of Smith, Eklund, Bear , O’Brien,
so absolute worst worst case he’ll be able to get one of
Mrtka, Lankovic, or Carbeneau
Pretty well (with those odds) impossible for Dubas to screw this up;
Well, mmmm , it’s Dubas
If Dubas picks anyone other than one of the above (note: there us a 0.2 % chance at Martone) , that’s a fireable offence
Congrats habs. But I really rooted for cbus to make it. I still think they let the team and fans down not being more aggressive at the deadline. It coulda made a difference.
I get the reasons they didn’t Chrisms. Thinking long term and trading a first or something for a good player on expiring deal would have been the opposite of that. Right call IMO. They almost pulled it off anyway.
Missing hurts, but on the bright side, seems like some character in that room with a bunch of younger players who are starting to look like very good NHL’ers.
Fantilli took off in the 2nd half and pumped in 30 goals as a 20 yr old. Johnson 57 pts at 22, Marchenko and Voronkov both only 24, and those are 2 big fellas who also produce. Mateychuk playing 18 minutes a night on D at 20 and being a plus player.
Lidstrom at 4th overall last year is a horse at 6’4″. Plus some other young guys knocking at the door.
Good young team with size and skill. Watch out for the Jackets in 2-3 years.
You kinda made my argument for me. They have the young talent in spades and coulda chipped a piece off to make a splash.
Not really, they are a borderline playoff team, even if they had added, and they need all the young talent they can get, especially being in a small market. If the goal is to win the cup, in a few years, they need more. Which they will add I’m sure.
But I’m a believer in building it through the draft until you are a contender with the only vets added are to assist in the growth of the young guys and to shield them from sucking too much. And force the youngsters to earn a spot.
Stay on the course Columbus is my opinion, it seems to be working.
Meh. This is a different overall scenario with the Jhonny situation. I think going for it after the team overcame that and the injuries would have been justified. I know I’d be chaffed as a jackets fan.
Even though the Bruins need a legit #1 center drafting one won’t be a help immediately it might take a couple of years to be that #1 … going the UFA route to get that center might be a better faster way …
Maybe the Bruins need to draft that power forward ( Martone ) and hope he can play and contribute right o way …
Two players that should be signed Geekie & Lohrei….
Geekie is a goal scorer and Lohrei and his league leading -43 ( plus/minus ) is a Dman work in progress don’t think he can be a top 4 Dman
Need to go get a coach ..it won’t be a veteran team bottom 6 will be young so finding that right coach might be a tough find
Sway needs to be better and he will be next season ….missing all of training camp and not having his top 2 Dmen most of the season didn’t help his cause
Bruins …. Feeling weird not seeing the Boston Bruins in the SC playoffs will make for a very long offseason and the Jacobs family can’t be happy about this… dont know the length of the Sweeney contract but it’s got to be nearing the end
@Joe
Is reason , why I am a huge fan of the draft , and a deep NHL farm team …
I am not sure if the Bruins are going to retool or rebuild ?
I assume , retool !
Hopefully Martone is still available when their turn comes.. or they trade up to get him !!!
He is Bramptons captain , a Cam Neely ? Prototype
Chicago may want him alongside Bédard??
How do u think I feel being a Leaf fan ?
Bruins have always been my second go to team for various reasons … I had 1 of the greatest hockey moms ever , as she was a huge Bobby Orr fan and our cousin married Brad Parks brother way back when
I hope they steer clear of Martone Ken. Worst skater in the top 10.
To quote one scout – “he has the biggest weakness of any of the top 5 in the draft”. He was talking about his choppy slow stride that takes too long to get moving.
He’s big, with great skill. So you’re right a rare combo that way, hence is ranked high despite his skating, but big is a smaller advantage in the NHL, and skating issues become a bigger disadvantage at the NHL level, wherever almost everybody can move. He will very likely score 30 goals/yr in the NHL if paired with a play driving C, but I would prefer a play driving 200′ C all day. Harder to find outside the top 5. Bigger Brock Boeser. He needs a C to drive the play.
Unless we win the lotto and move up to #1, we should get a good C prospect if we stay in the top 5, which is not a sure thing in the lotto. If Philly doesn’t get a point tonight we finish at 5th from bottom. So worst case pick 7. So then maybe Martone if McQueen goes at 6.
Misa, Hagens, Frondell, Desnoyers I would take for sure before Martone. Even McQueen if we fall a bit, but he is playing wing of late as well.
A team that feels good about their C’s ahead of Boston might take Martone to fill a piece they need, but my B’s need quality prospects at every position. If win #1, take the best player – most think Shaeffer some are on Misa, but a minority.
After that the best guys are C’s, so take one Mr Sweeney.
Ray Bark.,Geekie is no speed merchant.
Agree Sr, not a weak skater, but no speed demon either. I wouldn’t draft him at 4th or 5th overall either. IMO he wouldn’t have scored 30 without Pasta this year, plus it took him a while to get find his way to the top 6 in the NHL. Pasta gets his points playing with all kinds of players as he is a play driver.
You try and find a Pasta or a Barkov in the top 5, not a Geekie is the point I’m trying to make. Getting Pasta where they did was a great pick looking back on it.
Definitely some luck involved when drafting 18 yr old kids outside the obvious guys. Not many obvious guys this year. 2 maybe? So I could be totally out to lunch with my guess on what they should do. Bruins might be too.
Ray Bark I agree with the center prospects but Boston has several young centers in their system! What are they going to do with Lindholm,Zacha,Middlestadt,Minten,Poitras,Beecher , Kastellac,Farinacci?
Stars limping into the playoffs having lost 7 games in a row and now having Jason Robertson hurt … OUCH!!!!!
Ouch, does not even begin to demonstrate how i feel right now. I know that a lot of media types have the Stars as one of the favorites to play in the S.C. but at this point, there is NO WAY that the Stars can beat Colorado, Vegas or Winnepeg in a 7 game series….Oettinger has looked horrendous. And the team defense is atrocious. I hope this is out of their system by Saturday. (but I’m afraid it’s probably not)
I made my SC finals bet to early ( last week) have Stars /Hurricanes…. And now the cash out is to low …
Curious why in the name of Heaven did the Stars dress Robertson in a meaningless last game of the year. I am mind blown & this has changed my plans for my hockey draft pools coming up lol.
The Stars – Colorado will be a fabulous series to watch !
If the last games of the regular season are any indication… Avalanche in 4 haha
I find stories like the Panarin one so disturbing. Paying for the situation to go away is not exactly innocence…
Where are all the Quenneville bashers screaming about Panarin. Seems a little double standardish. Btw, both scumbags in my book.
Why is a comment necessary Pupinabox? Looking for virtue signals?
If he did it, he’s a scumbag. Pretty sure we can find consensus on that topic.
We know what Quenneville did, I think he is a scumbag too. Total POS and wouldn’t hire him to coach anyone. But once the league says he paid his dues, then it is up to the teams.
The reason many don’t comment as folks get emotional on here on certain topics. And some folks say stupid sh*t trying to get into it with someone.
So if you think my response or others on the Panarin topic was too slow for your liking, by all means fire away.
Ready when you are.
Not going to fire away, Ray, as I agree with much of what you have said. I don’t like internet mobs either – I believe social media has a corrosive effect on democracy.
Who knows what happened with Panarin? We don’t know whether he “got away” with a crime, or whether the Rangers decided it was better to resolve a dubious claim with $ and an NDA. The woman involved apparently has declined comment, and all we can assume is that she is satisfied with the outcome.
It’s playoff time, let’s move on.
With all due respect to LJ and Ray, the Panarin matter is concerning. I can’t help but think that something is being swept under the rug. After the Team Canada WJC incident, the last thing the game needs is another such scandal blowing up.
LJ, yep.
Equal treatment, it’s not that complicated.
Pup. The situations are different between q and bread. Comparing them doesn’t make any sense.
Not saying it isn’t concerning Howard, it obviously is. Everybody can agree on that. Vast majority of women never come forward as it often doesn’t go well for them when they come forward, especially when they make criminal charges. Even though we don’t know what happened here, they paid.
I was simply responding to Pupinabox who seems to think that folks were “screaming” about Coach Q, even though they were not.
So they are now somehow hypocrites for not “screaming” about Panarin early enough in the day for his taste. Even though totally different situations.
So in Pupinabox’s head, Pupinabox is somehow virtuous because he didn’t do what he is accusing others of. And he felt the need to point that out to everyone. Hence the term virtue signaling.
Sum it up Pupinabox or am I missing something?
Feeling better about yourself Pup? Give yourself a stick tap, you deserve it.