NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 31, 2026
Recaps of Monday’s action, the Maple Leafs fire general manager Brad Treliving, the three stars of the week are revealed, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING MONDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini became the sixth teenager in NHL history to record a 100-point season in a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Blues. Celebrini had two goals and an assist, and Adam Gaudette scored the winning goal with 22 seconds remaining in the third period for the 34-31-7 Sharks (75 points), who moved within two points of the Nashville Predators for the final Western Conference wild-card berth. Jake Neighbours picked up two assists for the Blues (31-31-11), who are four points out of that wild-card spot.
San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Celebrini joined Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Jimmy Carson, Mario Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk, and Wayne Gretzky among the teenage 100-point players, with Crosby the only one to do it twice. Celebrini is also the third player in Sharks history to reach the 100-point plateau, joining Joe Thornton and Erik Karlsson.
An eight-goal second period between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins resulted in the latter overcoming a 3-1 deficit for an 8-3 victory. Anthony Mantha scored twice and collected an assist, Rickard Rakell tallied two goals, and Justin Brazeau picked up three assists for the 37-21-16 Penguins, who vaulted over the Islanders into second place in the Metropolitan Division. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist for the Isles (42-28-5), who sit one point behind the Penguins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby picked up two assists in his return to action after missing a game with a lower-body injury. It was his 1,100th career regular-season assist, joining Hall of Famer Raymond Bourque as the only players to reach that milestone with one team.
A five-goal first period carried the Colorado Avalanche to a 9-2 drubbing of the Calgary Flames. Colorado center Nazem Kadri scored twice against his former club while Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas, Jack Drury, and Parker Kelly each collected three points for the Avalanche (49-14-10), who lead the league with 108 points. Brennan Othmann and Ryan Strome replied for the 31-35-8 Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Makar left this game after the second period with an upper-body injury. An update on his condition is expected on Tuesday.
The Vegas Golden Knights doubled up the Vancouver Canucks 4-2, giving interim coach John Tortorella his first win with his new club. Shea Theodore and Rielly Smith scored 1:17 minutes apart in the second period to give the 33-26-16 Golden Knights the win. With 82 points, they hold third place in the Pacific Division. Evander Kane scored in his 1,000th NHL regular-season game as the 21-44-8 Canucks sit last in the overall standings.
An overtime goal by John Tavares lifted the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Tavares finished with two goals and an assist, and William Nylander had a goal and three assists for the Maple Leafs (32-30-13). Leo Carlsson tallied twice for the 41-28-5 Ducks, who sit in first place in the Pacific Division with 87 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maple Leafs forward Max Domi got a measure of revenge for sidelined captain Auston Matthews by beating Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas in a first-period fight. Gudas injured Matthews earlier this month with a knee-on-knee hit. The Ducks blueliner seemed resigned to his fate, not bothering to throw any punches while Domi landed 12. Maple Leafs forward Michael Pezzetta was handed a game misconduct in the second period for shoving a linesman.
Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier left this game midway through the first period with an upper-body injury. He will be reevaluated on Tuesday. Gauthier leads the Ducks with 38 goals and 65 points this season.
HEADLINES
TORONTO SUN: Before last night’s game, the Maple Leafs announced that they relieved Brad Treliving of his duties as general manager.
Treliving had been in the role since May 2023. He had a record of 139-92-27, and a 10-10 postseason record.
The fate of head coach Craig Berube is unknown, but it’s expected that Treliving’s replacement will want to hire their own bench boss.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Treliving was in the final season of his contract. Given the club’s disappointing downturn this season, it’s not surprising that he was given his walking papers.
The Maple Leafs’ decline this season was mostly Treliving’s fault. He failed to re-sign Mitch Marner, resulting in the winger’s departure last summer, and didn’t find any suitable replacement. He also didn’t improve the Maple Leafs’ defensive depth, especially on the right side of their blueline.
Treliving made a pair of short-sighted moves at last year’s trade deadline that will hamper the Leafs’ efforts to restock their prospect pipeline. He shipped top prospect Fraser Minten and the Leafs’ 2026 first-round pick to Boston for struggling defenseman Brandon Carlo at last year’s trade deadline. He gave up the Leafs’ 2027 first-rounder to Philadelphia as part of the return for Scott Laughton, who now plays for the Los Angeles Kings.
It’s rumored that the Maple Leafs could attempt to woo Doug Armstrong away from the St. Louis Blues. He’s indicated that he intends to hand over the management role to Alexander Steen and remain with the Blues as team president.
NHL.COM: Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes, Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha, and Anaheim Ducks defenseman John Carlson are the league’s three stars for the week ending March. 29, 2026.
Well we knew a change in the GM’s office was coming. Now we have to see who wants the job – not the easiest GM job to handle in the NHL.
I’m not defending Treliving. He obviously did a poor job with the Leafs. But the main problem is poor roster construction which happened long before he got there. And the groundwork for Marner’s exit was also laid before he got there. Quite obviously the Leafs cap structure could not continue. There was no realistic way Treliving could replace Marner overnight. Building a competitive and winning roster will take time and a GM with patience and a plan is needed. Along with a patient ownership and fan base. The rosters core is aging and will slowly need to be replaced.
Man… talk about adding insult to injury. Takes out the captain then lets domi whale on him like a dude giving another guy freebies in a fight. I can’t imagine a more patronizing response. “Awww. The widdle maple weaf is getting revenge… how adorable “.
Yep. If Domi had ANY moxie at all he’d have skated away laughing and pointing after the 1st or 2nd punch when it was obvious Gudas was offering himself as a punching bag.
Some of the bloopers Brads done one immediately comes to mind 1st rounder Fraser Minton to Boston for Carlo. You pull off these kind blunders and your team struggles that’s usually the end of the line. About a month ago I would have been worried about Boston facing Dallas but the way the bruins have been playing looking forward to the game they are playing great hockey.
And you’re catching the Stars as they play extremely mediocre hockey lately. It’s fairly apparent that they won’t catch Colorado and Minnesota probably won’t catch them.
I never understood why Treliving was hired in the first place. It’s not like he turned Calgary into a powerhouse. Plus he let Johnny Hockey walk away for nothing (Thanks from Columbus). He’s also responsible for Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk being elsewhere. Not a great recommendation.