NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 1, 2026
The Ducks and Wild advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy are revealed, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF THURSDAY’S PLAYOFF ACTION
NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers won’t be making a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, falling to the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 in Game 6 of their best-of-seven first-round series, winning this series in six games.
Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, and Chris Kreider each had a goal and two assists, Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist, and Lukas Dostal stopped 25 shots for the Ducks, who took this series in six games and will face the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights-Utah Mammoth series. Connor Murphy and Vasily Podkolzin replied for the Oilers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This is the first series win for the Ducks since 2017. Their victory over the Oilers is an upset, but it was clear as this series unfolded that they were the better club. Several of the Oilers’ key players, including team captain Connor McDavid, were dealing with injuries, but even he admitted that they were an average team throughout this season.
The Oilers’ early postseason exit is already sparking conjecture about their offseason plans. I’ll have more in today’s Rumor Mill.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes (NHL Images).
Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes scored twice and collected an assist to lead his club over the Dallas Stars 4-2 to win their first-round series in six games. Matt Boldy tallied two empty-net goals for the Wild, who won their first playoff series since 2015 and will face the Colorado Avalanche in the second round. Wyatt Johnson and Mavrik Bourque briefly gave the Stars a 2-1 lead before Vladimir Tarasenko tied the score and Hughes netted the winning goal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was a terrific series between two well-matched opponents. This loss is a bit of a setback for the Stars, who reached the Western Conference Final in each of the last three years. I’ll be taking a look at what they face in the offseason in today’s Rumor Mill.
The Wild won this series without defenseman Jonas Brodin, who missed this game with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Stars defenseman Tyler Myers was a healthy scratch from this contest.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson are this year’s finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. The award is given annually to the player voted best to combine sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and ability as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: All three are worthy candidates, with Kopitar having won it three times. With the Kings’ captain retiring, he’ll likely be the sentimental choice for the voters.
NHL.COM: Game 1 of the second-round series between the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers will be on Saturday, May 2, at 8 pm ET in Carolina.
BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Bruins winger Viktor Arvidsson is expected to miss Game 6 of his club’s first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres. He’s been sidelined since Game 4 with a suspected shoulder injury.
NESN: Bruins rookie forward James Hagens is expected to be a healthy scratch for the third straight game.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bruins are trailing the Sabres three games to two and hope to avoid elimination in Game 6 on Friday in Boston.
BUFFALO HOCKEY BEAT: Speaking of the Sabres, defenseman Logan Stanley is questionable for Game 6 due to an illness.
TSN: Winnipeg Jets defenseman Elias Salomonsson underwent shoulder surgery and will be sidelined for six months.
THE PROVINCE: Calgary Flames assistant general manager Brad Pascall and Tampa Bay Lightning assistant GM Jeff Tambellini are among the candidates to become the next general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.
Other candidates include Boston Bruins assistant general managers Evan Gold and Jamie Langenbrunner, Florida Panthers assistant GM Brent Peterson, NHL front office executive Patrick Burke, former Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams, Toronto Maple Leafs executive Shane Doan, and Canucks assistant GM Ryan Johnson.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks appear to be casting a wider net in their search for a new general manager than the Toronto Maple Leafs, who seem to be putting more of an emphasis on “data-driven” candidates.
THE SEATTLE TIMES: Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell is leaving the club to explore other opportunities as her contract expires. She was the first woman to become an assistant coach in NHL history. The door remains open if she wishes to return to the Kraken.
And Then There Was One … Canada-based NHL team still in the Cup hunt, that is. So, 4 teams are now off to the golf courses.
Comparing the average per game goal scoring in each of those series:
Carolina 2.8 – Ottawa 1.3
Philadelphia 2.6 – Pittsburgh 1.8
Minnesota 3.8 – Dallas 2.5
Anaheim 4.3 – Edmonton 3.5
Based on the 82-game season, I don’t see how the Anaheim win could be classified as an upset, when their seasonal records were virtually identical:
Edmonton 41 30 11 93 282 269
Anaheim 43 33 6 92 273 288
Edmonton did have a slight edge in the seasonal head-to-head series (of which there were just 3), winning it 2-1 and outscoring the Ducks 16 – 12
Go Tampa.
I’d be a bit more on board with the Habs if their fans weren’t so insufferable. Worse than Leaf Nation at this point.
Dark, coming from you, I take that as a compliment. Go Habs Go!!!
Dark G, if I had to pick out one team that could become the 2026-27 version of the monumental collapses just experienced by Winnipeg, Toronto and Florida, it would be Tampa. They certainly are not getting any younger, with 15 players moving up in their 30s on their next birthdays, and in terms of prospect pool rankings by The Hockey Writers, they sit 29th out of 32:
Players Turning
31 – Raddysh, Johanssen, Point
32 – Guentzel, Bjorkstrand, Paul, Santini, Girgensons, Vasilevsky
33 – Kucherov
34 – Sabourin
35 – Gourde
36 – Hedman
37 – McDonough\
41 – Perry
As for the teams eliminated from this year’s playoffs (so far) in terms of prospect pool rankings, Edmonton is 31st, Dallas 28th, Ottawa 26th, L.A. 24th, Pittsburgh 23rd.
Of the 4 teams still alive in the preliminary round, Vegas is 25th, Boston 19th, Buffalo 7th and Utah 3rd.
Again, when it comes to overall prospect pool rankings (by The Hockey Writers anyway), it would appear there is a coming of the changing of the guard in the notoriously-weak Pacific Division.
Recent seasons dominating teams Edmonton (ranked 31st), Vegas (25th) and L.A. (24th) looking like their “glory” time may be at an end (for now), and Vancouver in the “mushy middle” at # 17, the other 4 in that Division all have top-ranked prospects soon to crack the NHL: San Jose 1st overall, Calgary 6th, Seattle 8th and Anaheim 9th.
Happy for Kreider,and Trouba after being turfed by Rangers. Why would Sturm sit out Hagens when Boston is dying for offense after Pasta. He is a better offensive option than many forwards they are dressing!
Wonder how long Mcdavid will want to stay in Edmonton after this? Swayman once again will be called upon to play the game of his life to avoid elimination. The forwards and especially the d need to help him out tonight. A friend of mine has the ahl he’s invited me over to watch Providence Sat. Will let you know how it goes.
John Apple – maybe he reflects on his career as a whole in edm and maybe makes a decision to move on down the road….but I sincerely doubt the playoff where he and leon were both injured early and his own play was brutal at times because of it, is not going to be anything more than a footnote if it comes to it.
That sounds reasonable.
What I don’t understand is why no one seems to want to look at Brady Tkachuk and Austin Matthews with the same reasoning.
@ George, now that they are eliminated, I think we’ll start seeing a lot more rumors/speculation now about Robertson and McDavid leading up to the draft.
Robertson because he’s an RFA that Dallas will struggle to fit under the cap.
McD because he just signed a discounted, 2 year “prove it” deal that kicks in next year. If Edm hasn’t felt enough heat to win while he is in his prime, it’s about to get much hotter.
George.O – oh my take maybe reasonable but it wouldn’t get the clicks, headlines and engagement that the media likes and needs.
And don’t worry, we will see enough about McDavid and his clock ticking down on the Oilers all summer I am sure.