NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 18, 2025
Recaps of the final night of this regular season, Nikita Kucherov wins the Art Ross Trophy while Leon Draisaitl takes home the Maurice Richard Trophy, the full schedule for the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is revealed, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust scored twice to reach the 30-goal plateau for the first time in a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had two points to reach the 90-point plateau (91) for the third straight season. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin potted his 897th regular-season NHL goal as his club finished in first place in the Eastern Conference standings with 111 points.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: What’s impressive about Crosby reaching 90 points for the third straight season is that he did it at an age (37) when a normal player would be in decline or retired. The same can be said for the 39-year-old Ovechkin, who finished this season with 44 goals.
Ovechkin was honored by the Penguins for breaking the goal-scoring record, receiving a standing ovation from the Pittsburgh crowd. The club also gifted him a Rolex watch, with Crosby and teammate Evgeni Malkin presenting it to him following the game.
The Capitals’ captain also silenced rumors that he might retire at the end of this season. “I’m not retiring yet,” he said. Ovechkin has a year remaining on his contract and intends to honor it.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff got the 900th regular-season win of his career as his club held off the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4. JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, while Flyers rookie winger Matvei Michkov scored twice.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ruff is the fifth coach in NHL history to reach 900 wins, joining Scotty Bowman (1,244 wins), Joel Quenneville (969), Paul Maurice (916) and Barry Trotz (914).
The Toronto Maple Leafs overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on an overtime goal by Scott Laughton. Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies each had two assists for the Leafs, who finished atop the Atlantic Division with 108 points. Alex DeBrincat netted his 39th goal of the season for the Red Wings.
Four unanswered third-period goals lifted the Ottawa Senators over the Carolina Hurricanes 7-5. Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist, Adam Gaudette scored twice, while Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and two assists for the Senators. Hurricanes rookie Skyler Brind’Amour (son of head coach Rod Brind’Amour) scored his first NHL goal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Senators captain Brady Tkachuk returned to action after missing eight games with an upper-body injury but left in the second period after taking a stick to the face. Tkachuk later said it was for precautionary reasons and he’ll be ready to face the Maple Leafs when their series begins on Sunday evening.
The Columbus Blue Jackets ended their season with their sixth straight win by downing the New York Islanders 6-1. Jet Greaves made 36 saves in his fifth straight start while Adam Fantilli scored his 31st of the season for the Jackets, who finished two points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Hudson Fasching scored for the Islanders.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets could’ve gone through the motions after their playoff hopes were dashed the night before. Instead, they were determined to end this season on a high note.
This team persevered through offseason tragedy and could be a playoff club next season if management addresses its roster weaknesses.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin ended his club’s season with a 27-save shutout performance in a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Mika Zibanejad scored two goals for the Rangers. The Lightning finished second in the Atlantic Division with 102 points.
The Calgary Flames finished their season with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Dan Vladar stopped 30 shots, Nazem Kadri scored twice to reach a career-high 35 goals, and Sam Morton and Zayne Parekh each scored in their NHL debuts for the Flames. Taylor Ward also scored in his first NHL game as his Kings finished second in the Pacific Division with 105 points.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: The league released the full schedule for the upcoming first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It begins on Saturday with the Winnipeg Jets facing off against the St. Louis and the Dallas Stars meeting the Colorado Avalanche.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow the link provided for the full schedule.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov is this season’s winner of the Art Ross Trophy with a league-leading 121 points. It’s the second straight season he’s won the award and the third time since 2018-19. Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers won the Maurice Richard Trophy for the first time as the league’s leading goal-scorer with 52.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Draisaitl was the only player to crack the 50-goal plateau this season. Seven others finished with over 40 goals.
CHICAGO HOCKEY NOW: Connor Bedard addressed rumors he wasn’t happy playing for the rebuilding Blackhawks.
“I’m a pretty mild-mannered guy and if I look a little sad on the bench or something, maybe people can take it out of context,” said Bedard. “I’ve said it so many times, I love being here and the city, the people.”
Bedard acknowledged that the club is rebuilding and it is sometimes frustrating as the losses pile up. However, he also cited the positivity around the team, especially with promising players like Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov joining the roster.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blackhawks management will attempt to bolster the roster this summer around Bedard through trades and free agency. Nevertheless, their future lies with their youngsters.
Bedard had 67 points in 82 games despite the sometimes frustrating stretches of the season. Nazar steadily improved throughout this season. Moore, Rinzel and Levshunov showed potential in their brief appearances down the stretch.
BLACK N’ GOLD HOCKEY: cited The Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy reporting Bruins center Elias Lindholm said he suffered a back injury during training camp which contributed to his disappointing performance this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lindholm played all 82 games for the Bruins but finished with 47 points.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: The Jets signed defenseman Neal Pionk to a six-year, $42 million contract extension. Pionk, 29, was eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The average annual value of the contract is $7 million.
TSN: San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini has committed to playing for Canada at the IIHF World Championships in May.
NHL.COM: Florida Panthers winger Jesse Puljujarvi received a two-game suspension by the department of player safety for an illegal hit to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee.
KSL SPORTS: Utah Hockey Club winger Michael Carcone expects to head to free agency on July 1. After meeting with management and coaching staff, he doesn’t expect to reach an agreement on a new contract.
Crosby:
Coming up 38 and still getting 90 points/season after 20 years
6th year in a row voted by players as most complete player
In his 30’s here are his 82 Game paces:
Age 30: 89
31: 104
32: 94
33: 93
34: 100
35: 93
36: 94
37: 93
Last 3 years , after turning 35, carrying a non playoff team on his back; still at an 82 Game pace of at least 93 points
Dubas, get some players to surround him
And voted the most intelligent player by his peers in a poll just conducted by the Athletic. 8787.
👍👍
With that wacky win over Carolina, the Senators moved past St. Louis and Minnesota into 12th place in the overall standings, putting them in the 21st spot in drafting order. In a draft that reportedly doesn’t run nearly as deep as next year’s according to most pundits.
And Staios is recently on record as saying he hasn’t yet decided whether to relinquish this year’s 1st Round pick or next year’s as the penalty in the Dadanov trade screw-up, speculating that their continued improvement could result in their doing even better next season, while holding out hope that Bettman will change his mind on the penalty.
Forget that forlorn hope Mr. Staios, and instead consider this: do you really believe any of the 11 teams that finished ahead of you are going to pull a Boston, NYI, NYR or Nashville flop and drop like a rock? – Winnipeg, Washington, Vegas, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, Tampa, Colorado, Edmonton, Carolina, Florida. Anything is possible, I suppose, but don’t bank on it.
And look around you at the teams right on your heels – Minnesota, St. Louis, Calgary, New Jersey, Montreal, Columbus, Vancouver, Detroit, Utah, Seattle – not to mention possible bounce-back years by Boston, NYR. NYI and Nashville. All will be striving to make improvements over the summer – and several will likely succeed.
Bottom line: you MAY go a bit higher next year but the chances are higher that you won’t – so quit screwing around and forfeit this 2025 pick and hang onto next year’s like a life preserver.
Thank you, Columbus Blue Jackets for the most exciting and fun season, yet. With Waddell fully in charge and a load of cap space, this could be the best summer ever for The Cannon.
Nice to see a comment like this from a Jackets fan.
Paul, easily THE best team – by far – of the 16 non-playoff teams and poised to become a major factor next season.
George the folks in Calgary may quibble with that
I kinda doubt that, Howard. Remember, just one more win at any time in the season and the CBJ would be in the playoffs instead of Montreal. Add in that their core and offensive leaders are all under 25 (except, of course, Werenski) and there’s not a lot the Jackets need to be strong, next season.
Calgary, though also bordering on the playoffs, needed much more to go right to get there, this year. One could argue, successfully, that the Jackets would have made it, this year, with just fractionally better goaltending.
While both Columbus and Calgary almost made the playoffs this year, you have to say Calgary is in a better spot for next year than Columbus. Wolf has played great the entire year and should provide Calgary with a strength in net for years to come. Columbus can`t say that yet, while Graves had a good finish, the sample size is way way too small to call him anywhere near a proven commodity in net. Unless Paul and George are saying that goaltending isn`t that important and teams can make the jump with so so goalies. I`d have to say that Calgary was the best non playoff team and is better poised to make the jump next year and remember Calgary was 1 win away from making the playoffs this year too
They’re both very close, Yogi. Just that, for them and Columbus to make it next year, some team ahead of them has to drop out.
In the East, with Ottawa, Montreal or perhaps New Jersey possibly suffering a relapse of some sort to make room for Columbus, I just don’t see any team ahead of Calgary as that vulnerable. Not saying it won’t happen, but for the Flames it’s likely to be more of a down-to-the-wire dogfight again that it will be for Columbus.
Of course, off-season deals/signings could change things a lot.
For Columbus and Calgary it`s not a question of teams above them falling out, it might just be a question of Columbus and Calgary improving a little bit more than let`s say New Jersey or Minnesota. Both the east and west races may even be tighter next year. With both clubs having young players that are going to improve next year it becomes which clubs prospects develop faster. What might hold Columbus back is it`s goaltending or I should say lack of it. Ottawa made the jump because of Ullmark and what he`s brought to the team. Calgary now has Wolf, Columbus still has a bunch of question marks in net
Yogi, Greaves has 20 NHL games under his belt and has been strong in every game. How is he any different, entering next season, than Wolf was, entering this season? Also, does the name, Steve Mason, mean anything to you?
I’ll say it, again. All the Jackets needed to be in the playoffs this year was one more win. That cannot be said about Calgary. Add in that Carolina’s goaltending is always shaky and Washington has some age problems, I like the Jackets chances, next year. Find a backup/mentor for Greaves, another top six winger and stabilize the blueline (Don’t forget that Mateychuk only played half the season in Columbus and Fabbro was plucked off waivers in November) and the Jackets will be formidable.
Paul, please think about it, Wolf just started 53 games this year. Showed no signs of fatigue or inconsistences. Put up great numbers, my choice for the Calder. Greaves on the other hand only played in 11 games this season and a career total 20 and unlike Wolf, not all his NHL games have been quality starts. Greaves numbers look great this year, but 11 games just isn`t enough to put him at the same level as Wolf. Not saying Greaves won`t be as good as Wolf or even better. Just saying it`s way to early to hang the No. 1 tag on him. Can he play 50 or 60 games and be consistent at the NHL level, you don`t know. I kinda compare Greaves to Woll at 24, he had great numbers in a small sample size too and he still hasn`t proven he can be a true No. 1
Yogi, Wolf had an exemplary rookie season. He is the sole reason Calgary came close to making the playoffs. But now, the league has a book on him. He could be Steve Mason 2.0.
The Jackets don’t need a star goalie. If they’d had even average goaltending, you could add five, six or seven wins to their total. That would have had them pushing Ottawa for the 1WC.
Simply put, Calgary finished where they did because of good goaltending, the Jackets finished where they did without good goaltending. So, I’ll take Jet pushing the Jackets to the playoffs, next season, over Wolf taking Calgary to the playoffs.
Paul you should try watching Calgary. Wolf was one of the reasons Calgary almost made the playoffs, not the only reason. NHL teams will quickly put together a book on Graves just like they did on Wolf and wait til Greaves has a bit of a slump and he will have. How does he recover from that or how will he handle the long grind of a complete season. A lot of questions that you don`t have the answers for simply because he hasn`t faced them yet. You can give Greaves all the credit you want to, but you can`t answer the questions. Like I said Greaves reminds me of Woll 2 years ago and I like Woll, but until Woll can answer the question of whether he can handle the workload of a no.1 you can`t say he is one
Bruins…..Did the Tankathon Draft Sim Lottery 10 times
Bruins had
#1 once
#2 once
#7 once
#5 once
#6 … 6 times
They can’t even win for losing
Thanks for getting those out of the way Joe.
For those curious as to how their team of choice in the Eastern Conference fared comparatively between the 1st and 2nd halves – interesting that the Leafs had the exact same record in each half:
1st Half
1. Washington 27 10 4 58 .707 150 109 +41
2. Toronto 26 13 2 54 .659 129 113 +16
3. Tampa 23 15 3 49 .598 151 113 +38
4. Carolina 24 15 2 50 .610 137 117 +20
5. Florida 24 15 2 50 .610 136 127 + 9
6. Ottawa 20 18 3 43 .524 119 118 +1
7. New Jersey 24 14 3 51 .622 132 104 +28
8. Montreal 20 18 3 43 .524 125 138 -13
9. Columbus 18 17 6 42 .512 141 148 -7
10. Detroit 19 18 4 42 .512 115 131 -16
11. NYR 19 20 2 40 .488 120 130 -10
12. NYI 16 18 7 39 .476 112 128 -16
13. Pittsburgh 17 17 7 41 .510 125 152 -27
14. Buffalo 15 21 5 35 .427 126 149 -14
15. Boston 20 17 4 44 .537 107 126 -19
16. Philadelphia 17 19 5 39 .476 125 147 -22
2nd Half
1. Toronto 26 13 2 54 .659 139 108 +31
2. Ottawa 25 12 4 54 .659 124 116 +8
3. Tampa 24 12 5 53 .646 143 106 +37
4. Washington 24 12 5 53 .646 138 123 +15
5. Carolina 23 15 3 49 .598 129 116 +13
6. Florida 23 16 2 48 .585 116 96 +20
7. Montreal 20 13 8 48 .585 120 127 -7
8. Columbus 22 16 3 47 .573 132 120 +12
9. NY Rangers 20 16 5 45 .549 136 125 +11
10. Buffalo 21 18 2 44 .537 143 140 +3
11. Detroit 20 17 4 44 .537 123 128 -5
12. NY Islanders 19 17 5 43 .524 112 132 -20
13. New Jersey 18 19 4 40 .488 119 118 -8
14. Pittsburgh 17 19 5 39 .476 118 141 -23
15. Philadelphia 16 20 5 37 .451 113 139 -26
16. Boston 13 22 6 32 ,390 115 146 -31
If I am reading this correctly, George, the Sens had the biggest improvement the last half of the season. .659 is something, especially as they played the last 1/2 dozen without Brady. That has to please you.
Didn’t follow the Leafs but .659 is an awfully good clip to maintain all year long. They just might go deep this year.
And check out St. Louis out West, LJ.
For those following West teams here are the 1st and 2nd half comparisons
1st Half
1. Vegas 28 10 3 59 .720 143 111 +32
2. Winnipeg 27 12 2 56 .683 147 104 +43
3. Minnesota 26 11 4 56 .683 127 111 +16
4. Dallas 27 13 1 55 .671 134 101 +33
5. Edmonton 25 13 3 53 .646 135 114 +21
6. Los Angeles 24 12 5 53 .646 121 100 +21
7. Colorado 25 15 1 51 .622 146 131 +9
8. Calgary 20 14 7 47 .573 110 123 -13
9. Vancouver 18 13 10 46 .561 121 130 -9
10. Utah HC 18 16 7 43 .524 116 123 -7
11. St. Louis 19 18 4 42 .512 114 123 -9
12. Anaheim 17 19 5 39 .476 105 127 -22
13. Seattle 17 21 3 37 .451 118 130 -12
14. Nashville 13 21 7 33 .402 100 128 -28
15. Chicago 14 25 2 30 .366 105 138 -33
16. San Jose 12 23 6 30 .366 107 147 -40
2nd Half
1. Winnipeg 29 10 2 60 .732 130 87 +43
2. St. Louis 25 12 4 54 ,659 140 110 +30
3. Los Angeles 24 13 4 52 .634 129 106 +23
4. Colorado 24 14 3 51 .622 131 103 +28
5. Dallas 23 13 5 51 .622 138 123 _+15
6. Vegas 22 12 7 51 .622 142 108 +34
7. Calgary 21 13 7 49 .598 115 115 E
8. Edmonton 23 16 2 48 .585 124 112 +12
9. Utah HC 20 15 6 46 .561 125 128 -3
10. Vancouver 20 17 4 44 .537 115 123 -8
11. Minnesota 19 19 3 41 .500 101 128 -27
12. Anaheim 18 18 5 41 .500 116 136 -20
13. Seattle 18 20 3 39 .476 129 135 -6
14. Nashville 17 23 1 35 .427 114 146 – 32
15. Chicago 11 21 9 31 .378 121 158 – 37
16. San Jose 8 27 6 22 .268 106 168 -62
My apologies – the 1st Half for the East above cam out all screwed up as to position – hey, it was early and I hadn’t even gotten started on my coffee. I know I wasn’t drunk because that was way too early for the Guiness. Here’s the correct order of finish in the 1st Half East
1st Half
1. Washington 27 10 4 58 .707 150 109 +41
2. Toronto 26 13 2 54 .659 129 113 +16
3. New Jersey 24 14 3 51 .622 132 104 +28
4. Carolina 24 15 2 50 .610 137 117 +20
5. Florida 24 15 2 50 .610 136 127 + 9
6. Tampa 23 15 3 49 .598 151 113 +38
7. Boston 20 17 4 44 .537 107 126 -19
8. Ottawa 20 18 3 43 .524 119 118 +1
9. Montreal 20 18 3 43 .524 125 138 -13
10. Detroit 19 18 4 42 .512 115 131 -16
11. Columbus 18 17 6 42 .512 141 148 -7
12. Pittsburgh 17 17 7 41 .510 125 152 -27
13. NYR 19 20 2 40 .488 120 130 -10
14. Philadelphia 17 19 5 39 .476 125 147 -22
15. NY Islanders 16 18 7 39 .476 112 128 -16
16. Buffalo 15 21 5 35 .427 126 149 -14
Bruins to get back into it next season …hit the draft with a Center who can help right o way and pay Mitch Marner $14 mill per
Joe
Marner would be big. But I don’t think he will be leaving leafs He would help solidify both pk and pp in a big way
Jets are getting some important business done before the playoffs start. 2 pending UFA’s, both reasonable deals, bot US born players. Pionk would have had a lot of suitors, good player.
Winnipeg is likely the coldest place to play in the winter, (great area in the summer if you like fishing and the outdoors) and a small market.
Just shows how important being a successful and well run organization is to the players.
Jets/TB … SC finals …