NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 7, 2026
Recapping Monday’s games, the Devils fire general manager Tom Fitzgerald, the three stars of the week, an update on Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF MONDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: The Los Angeles Kings regained the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference with a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Adrian Kempe scored the winning goal in a shootout, and Anton Forsberg stopped 29 shots for the 32-26-19 Kings (83 points). Roman Josi had a goal and an assist, and Steven Stamkos tallied his 39th goal of the season for the Predators (36-31-10), who sit one point behind the Kings.
Los Angeles Kings winger Adrian Kempe (NHL Images).
San Jose Sharks winger William Eklund had a goal and an assist as his club nipped the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Will Smith scored what proved to be the game-winning goal while Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves for the 37-32-7 Sharks, who are two points back of the Kings. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist for the 28-36-14 Blackhawks.
The Winnipeg Jets kept their playoff hopes alive with a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Mark Scheifele had three assists, Kyle Connor tallied twice, and Jonathan Toews and Gabriel Vilardi each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (34-31-12), who are three points behind the Kings in the race for the final Western wild card. Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann replied for the 32-33-11 Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer left this game after the second period with a lower-body injury. The Jets got a boost with the return of forwards Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov from injuries, but center Morgan Barron missed this game as he’s listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Buffalo Sabres winger Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist as his club doubled up the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. Bowen Byram collected two assists while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned aside 23 shots for the 47-23-8 Sabres, who are tied with the Lightning with 102 points. Nikita Kucherov tallied his 400th NHL regular-season goal while Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist for the 48-23-6 Lightning, who hold first place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand and one more win than the Sabres.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The league is looking into the circumstances that led to Lightning forward Pontus Holmberg injuring his left arm after crashing into an unlatched penalty box door. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper believes the penalty box attendant should be fired for leaving the door open.
HEADLINES
TSN: The New Jersey Devils parted ways with team president and general manager Tom Fitzgerald. This decision was reached after Fitzgerald met with Devils managing partner David Blitzer on Monday.
Fitzgerald had been in the role of general manager since July 2020. During his tenure, the Devils reached the playoffs twice.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Under Fitzgerald, the Devils had the best regular-season performance in franchise history with a record of 52-22-8 (112 points) in 2022-23. It seemed like they had finally broken through as a potential Stanley Cup contender.
However, the Devils struggled in subsequent years. Injuries to key players such as superstar center Jack Hughes and puck-moving defenseman Dougie Hamilton were a factor. The acquisitions of goaltender Jacob Markstrom, wingers Ondrej Palat and Timo Meier, and defenseman Brett Pesce didn’t pan out as hoped. Another issue was Fitzgerald’s inability to find a suitable replacement for winger Tyler Toffoli after trading him to Winnipeg in 2024.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports hearing that former Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan has already been mentioned as a potential replacement for Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald is believed to be on the Nashville Predators’ list of candidates to replace outgoing GM Barry Trotz.
NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins winger Rickard Rakell, New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, and St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas are the league’s three stars for the week ending Apr. 5.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers star Leon Draisaitl could miss the start of the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s been sidelined since March 15 with a knee injury. He’ll be returning to the ice later this week, but it will be a long, careful process as they don’t intend to rush him back into action before he’s fully recovered.
NHL.COM: New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov could return to action before the end of the regular season. The 26-year-old blueliner has been sidelined since Nov. 18, recovering from shoulder surgery.
TSN: Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen was fined $5,000 for high-sticking Penguins forward Rickard Rakell.
THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE: The Wild signed top prospect Charlie Stramel to a three-year entry-level contract.
TSN: Travis Yost reports NHL save percentages have reached their lowest point in 30 years. Save percentages have been in a decade-long decline, and are currently under 90 percent (89.6). If it remains that way, it’ll be the first time that’s happened since 1993-94.
Various factors account for this, including the increase in skilled offensive players, the modernization of the defense position, the reduction of goalie equipment sizes, and the elimination of the workhorse goaltender as teams prefer to balance the workload of their netminders.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars have banned a fan from their arena after video emerged showing a group of fans engaging in what appeared to be a Nazi salute during a Stars home game in December. The team was able to identify the fan who bought the tickets, but not the other individuals in the video.
i think the pool of top goalies has really dwindled over the years, which is the top reason why save% is down. I know that cyclical, hopefully some region (such as Quebec from the past) can start producing top goalies again, soon, especially if the league decides to expand again
mikep, for what it’s worth, if you put the question as to why so many great goalies of the past emerged from the Q … in comparison to the OHL and WHL … this is what pops up:
“Yes, the high-flying, offensive nature of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s played a significant role in developing great NHL goalies, though it was not the only factor. The QMJHL was renowned as a “shooter’s league,” where goalies often faced a high volume of shots, allowing them to hone their reflexes, mental fortitude, and ability to handle high-pressure situations, often resulting in lower statistical percentages that scouts learned to overlook.
Key Factors Behind the “Q” Goalie Factory:
• High-Volume Offense: The QMJHL was famously known for its wide-open, high-scoring style of play. Goaltenders routinely faced intense pressure and a high volume of shots from skilled offensive players.
• The “Roy” Effect: Patrick Roy’s immense success influenced a generation of young Quebecois to emulate his style and become goaltenders.
• Developmental Environment: Contrary to the defensive reputation of the Western Hockey League (WHL) or the balanced Ontario Hockey League (OHL), the QMJHL’s reputation provided a “trial by fire” environment that prepared goaltenders for the high-pressure, high-velocity NHL.
• Scouting Mentality: For a time, NHL scouts and management understood that a high goals-against average (GAA) in the QMJHL didn’t necessarily reflect a goalie’s true talent, as they were often playing behind weaker defensive teams, allowing hidden gems to be discovered.
While the “shooter’s league” aspect was crucial, the success was also driven by the popularity of the position in the province and intensive, often specialized, coaching that followed Roy’s rise. Elite netminders like Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Marc-André Fleury, and Jean-Sébastien Giguère all emerged from this unique environment.”
Unfortunately, the Q is now indistinguishable from the other two in terms of overall approach.
Russia is the current 🧫 for goalies.
True that Chrisms, you could argue 3 of the top 5 this year are from Russia. Maybe for the same reasons George laid out above. They face a whack of chances, and practice makes perfect.
I forget who wrote the article on Sportsnet, but his theory was that the best tenders start making the most elite teams at a young age as we separate the kids by tier at a young age in Canada.
So when they play on the best teams, they face the fewest chances against and they have a good GAA and win a bunch of games and lose very little.
So they keep moving up in age age and playing on these same elite teams until they hit junior. But the Junior teams don’t have scouts watching the lower levels as that isn’t where the best skaters are in 3A Bantam, so they see the same tenders and they draft from that group.
Over simplifying it, but basically a bunch of 14 yr old kids never get seen by major Jr scouts. And then way fewer NHL scouts. Some of the more persistent guys Connor Ungar stick with it and come from Canadian University etc, but he is already 24. We’ll see if he can keep it going.
Don’t they start segregating kids by talent in most leagues, including Russia?
Without Leon, The oilers will find this years playoffs a tough go I don’t believe they’ll go as far as they have the last few years. Now about my bruins tonight even though the b’s have had rough stretch I actually feel the bruins stand a good chance of beating the Canes tonight, Also I would rather face Carolina than the Lightning in a playoff series. The canes are smaller and I think Boston would stand a better chance of an upset.
JA the one team I would not want to play is TB because of Vasilevsky. He is the best in the game right now. And he s a horse ,plays a lot of games.Everyone else in the conference has average goaltending.
Yep. And Ottawa hits that brick wall tonight, followed by the other Florida nemesis … both in Ottawa.
Fitzgerald inherited 2 young centres drafted first overall and couldn’t build a winning team around them during his tenure. Not many GM’s get a foundation like that to start their job? It’s like Edmonton having all those 1OA and going nowhere.