NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 17, 2026
The latest on the Golden Knights, John Carlson won’t re-sign with the Ducks, the latest trades, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: The Golden Knights announced Tuesday that head coach John Tortorella will not be returning next season.
Tortorella was hired on an interim basis when the Golden Knights fired bench boss Bruce Cassidy on March 29. They went 7-0-1 over the remainder of the regular season to clinch first place in the Pacific Division and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, falling in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Former Vegas Golden Knights coach John Tortorella (NHL.com).
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone credited Tortorella with giving the club “a shot of adrenaline” when they were struggling down the stretch. “I’ve got all the respect in the world for his professionalism and everything he did in his short time here.”
Center Jack Eichel said it was “an honor to play for (Tortorella) every day and I think all the guys in the room would agree.” Goaltender Carter Hart spoke of the respect he and his teammates had for Tortorella.
Danny Webster believes all signs point to the Golden Knights promoting Ryan Craig as their next head coach. Craig is currently the coach of their farm team, the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.
NHL.COM: Golden Knights winger Mitch Marner credited the move to the Golden Knights last summer and his work improving his mental health with helping relieve the stress and pressure he’d felt during his final seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Marner, 29, led all scorers in the 2026 postseason with 29 points in 22 games.
DAILY FACEOFF: Rasmus Andersson said he’d love to return with the Golden Knights. The 28-year-old defenseman was acquired from the Calgary Flames in January and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He’s completing a six-year contract with an average annual value of $4.55 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s rumored that the Golden Knights are waiting until July 1 to re-sign Andersson, as that’s when they’ll be cap-compliant to do so.
However, Shayna Goldman of The Athletic believes his inconsistent play could make Andersson a risky signing. She noted that his current market value is $6.8 million annually.
TSN: Pierre LeBrun reported John Carlson will not be returning with the Anaheim Ducks. The 36-year-old defenseman’s agent informed the Ducks that his client will be testing the UFA market on July 1. Carlson prefers to return to the Eastern Conference to be close to his family.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Despite his age, the puck-moving Carlson had 60 points in 71 games split between the Washington Capitals and the Ducks. He’s completing an eight-year contract with an AAV of $8 million.
TORONTO SUN/PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: The Maple Leafs traded goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to the Flyers on Tuesday for goalie Samuel Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae, and a third-round pick in 2026.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This move indicates Dennis Hildeby will back up Leafs starter Anthony Stolarz. The rise of promising netminder Artur Akhtyamov made it possible to part ways with Woll to free up some cap space. Ersson could end up with their AHL affiliate if they re-sign the restricted free agent, who has arbitration rights this summer.
Andrae’s puck-moving skills will be seen as an improvement over Benoit for the Leafs. Like Ersson, he’s an RFA with arbitration rights this summer. Both players should be affordable re-signings.
Woll has an injury history, but he should be a more reliable backup for Flyers starter Dan Vladar. Benoit currently slots in as a seventh defenseman, but his physical play could earn him more playing time.
THE TENNESSEAN/THE DENVER POST: The Nashville Predators acquired center Ross Colton and goaltender Isak Posch from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a third-round pick in 2026, a third-rounder in 2027 that originally belonged to the Avalanche, and goaltender Magnus Chrona.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was Chris MacFarland’s first trade since leaving the Avalanche to become team president and general manager of the Predators.
Colton was the obvious prize here for the Predators. The versatile forward is under contract for two more seasons and should provide experienced depth to their checking lines. This move frees up Colton’s $4 million AAV from the cap-strapped Avalanche’s books, which could be put toward re-signing center Jack Drury and defenseman Brett Kulak.
Speaking of the Predators, MacFarland said head coach Andrew Brunette and his staff will be back next season.
CBC.CA: The CBC will no longer broadcast NHL games after it and national rights-holder Sportsnet were unable to agree to a new sub-licensing deal that would’ve allowed the public broadcaster to continue airing games on its Saturday night program Hockey Night in Canada.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s the end of a 74-year era on CBC-TV. Hockey Night in Canada began in 1952 and for seven decades was a cultural institution for millions of Canadians, covering all aspects of the game. Heck, they even mentioned me back in 2007 on an intermission segment about the rise of hockey bloggers, which provided a welcome boost of traffic and new readers to this site.
This day was coming ever since Sportsnet won the bidding for the NHL’s Canadian national broadcast rights in 2014. It seems they no longer want to provide those Saturday night games for free through the public broadcaster.
CBC owns the Hockey Night in Canada brand, but it will no longer be used to televise NHL games. They could use it to broadcast PWHL games or perhaps junior or senior men’s hockey.
NHL.COM: Former NHL forward Kyle Calder passed away on Monday at age 47 following a brief illness.
Calder spent 10 seasons in the NHL from 1999-2000 to 2009-10 with the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks. In 590 regular-season games, he tallied 114 goals and 180 assists for 294 points, and three points in 18 playoff games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Calder’s family, friends, and former teammates.
an interesting day of things happening honestly…..so much for down time.
So far the pundits, talking heads from Leaf nation seem miffed that Woll couldn’t generate more of a return.
I don’t know enough about the guy to say – often injured people though……”the best ability is avail-ability”
Which is what I hope we’ll get from Ullmark next season! Backed by a goalie with a better record of “consistency.”
other than winning the Cup, Torts seemed to do everything the team wanted, winning their division and winning most of their playoff games. Guess their GM saw something, but it doesn’t make sense to not keep him around for next season
Torts could have made this decision himself
As noted by Lyle, the plan all along was probably to promote Ryan Craig. Tortorella was a stop gap / hail Mary pass. He worked under the terms of his Rangers contract that expired at the end of the season.
Torts goes back to broadcasting next year.
Re “Danny Webster believes all signs point to the Golden Knights promoting Ryan Craig as their next head coach. Craig is currently the coach of their farm team, the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.”
Ron Moore, looks like you were bang on the other day.
Leafs naming Hiller HC
He’s truly the best they could do? Wow
That isn’t a bad signing at all. He has an extensive coaching portfolio and actually did a damned good job in L.A.
https://www.nhl.com/mapleleafs/news/maple-leafs-name-jim-hiller-41st-head-coach-in-franchise-history
Most Kings fans would disagree, George. That’s why he was fired on March 1.
DMR, after he took over as interim head coach in February of 2024, his work to strengthen their whole defensive game was instrumental in turning their season around and making the playoffs. His record there overall was 93-58-24 and a .600 points %, with a .632 % in the games after taking over, followed by a .640 % pace in 2024-25.
This despite having a team that struggled to score goals in both seasons, being well down the list in the Conference in that category, and the failure of GM Rob Blake to correct that deficiency.
Yeah, they got knocked out both times by Edmonton … but despite having instilled an excellent defensive structure, he just didn’t have anywhere near the scoring threats possessed by the Oilers. And that was the difference both times. How was that his fault? You can’t teach scoring.
Woll – Injury prone, disappearing act at the 2025 training camp, mediocre season, then disastrous play at the World Championships.
Chayka would not say whether or not Toronto will qualify Ersson for next season. I suspect no qualifying offer ($1.6 M) by the deadline but a subsequent offer less than $1.5 M. Ersson earned $1.45M last season and had the worst save percentage of any goalie with a minimum of 20 starts.
The way I understand it Hildeby had to clear waivers this year and Leafs thought he would get claimed. They are probably right about that, he played well when he got called up last year. Big tender, at 6’7″.
Saves the Leafs some cap space.
Re: Torts, I cant help but wonder if Vegas brings back Cassidy as coach hence why they didnt let other teams talk to him. I doubt it happens but it would be w very Vegas thing to do.
That was the same thing I thought when I read that Tortorella wasn’t going to return.
Thought that for about a second and thought, “No way in hell”. Cassidy has to have more self respect than that. Even if that conversation came up, I would think Cassidy would say “F” off.
If he did could they fire him and recoup the money?
Ray, absolutely. Leafs needed to move one of the three goalies or lose one due to waivers. Stolarz is not very tradeable and Hildeby played well last year. And AA could have the highest ceiling of all.
Replacing Woll with Hildeby frees up $2.8 M in cap space for the next 2 seasons.
We may never learn what personal health reasons caused Woll to exit training camp last September.
Amazing how well a player like Mitchy can play when he isn’t fielding death threats! 👍👍
Now, break down the playoff stats, games 1-4, then 5-6. Same old Mitch, becomes a ghost at crunch time.
Phenomenal talent and player, but often disappears when needed the most.
Funny how the talking heads always come out with these weird stats and coincidences. But no mention of Mitch turning down a trade to Carolina so he could sign in Vegas.
Heh. He was just following the tradition … seems like every so-called “star” wants to play for Vegas. Would not surprise me to see Larkin wind up there (but not Nurse!)
IMO the points in games 1-4 matter too don’t they? If not, why not? First team to 4, wins the series if I recall.
Marner is an excellent player, his wife was about to give birth or just did around the TDL last year, so criticizing him for not moving seems bogus to me. I would think most folks on here are family first people? I am too.
Easy to take shots at the guy from here, but what would any of us done any differently?
Somehow he owes Leaf fans something when a significant portion of them boo him and trash him relentlessly. Come on man!
No kidding Ray. Marner puts up 7 points in the last 5 playoff games, leads all playoff scorers, and still is not good enough.
And then of course he is a problem case when he exercises his NTC for good reason. Well, I guess not a good reason for some, who are not involved and don’t have to live with circumstances.
Funny how these talking heads pick the stats and perspective that fit a flawed narrative.
Ray, I wasn’t taking pot shots at Marner, just highlighted the irony that the team he chose lost the cup to the team he refused to play for. Some would call that karma or poetic justice. Other players have accepted trades with an expectant spouse, the new team grants them time off as needed.
The loudest critics of Marner’s crunch game play are former NHL players who know what its like to play in the late stages of a 7 game series.
@ Hammer,
Games 1-4 he had W. Karlsson as his center the whole time.
Games 5-6 he didn’t.
W.Karlsson’s return to the lineup at the end of the season was a big factor in how they finished and how they started the playoffs. His return also put Marner in better offensive positions.
Makes you wonder too… how much of the “lift” did Vegas get from Torts vs Karlsson returning.
With Karlsson, Vegas was 22-13-1 (including 15-6-1 in playoffs).
When he wasn’t available for the entire game, Vegas was 31-38-11.
Should have brought back Punch Imlach…………
The AI version of course.
Wonder when THAT takes over behind the bench?
I remember when the CBC began it’s TV coverage of the NHL back in 1952. I was 14 then and had been avidly following the Habs on English and French radio for several seasons.
The excitement was palpable everywhere, so you can imagine the disappointment on that first telecast when it didn’t come on until near the end of the 1st period in some instances, and often either in the intermission and at times early in the 2nd – depending upon the flow of the game. Game-delaying brawls – more common back then – meant we got to see more of the 1st.
The reasoning behind the delay apparently had to do with with the timing of the radio broadcasts, which began in 1936 and only went on air at 9 pm Eastern Time, so they wanted to continue “the tradition.: What a load of crap!
It wasn’t until the start of the 1968-1969 season that they finally began televising the entire game. So, 15 seasons of missing most and often all of the 1st period.
I was under the impression that the NHL refused to allow TV broadcasts till end of the 1st appr because they thought it would impact ticket sales, if you wanted to see the whole game you had to attend.
For some reason I seem to recall that being discussed by some group or panel years back, and it might have been Ron MacLean who said it had something to do with “tradition” dating back to when Foster Hewitt first began broadcasting Leafs games, coming on air at 9 ET.
I could be mistaken ,,, the memory ain’t what it used to be … LOL.
As a kid growing up in Detroit area, it was always fun to watch HNIC on CBC Windsor at 7pm. I will always remember Peter Puck, one of favorites Bob Cole and Coaches Corner. It is a sad day for Hockey and Canada.
I have to say, I hate what the Television networks have done to my sports, in the last 10 years. I must be getting old
Aren’t we all Michael? 🙂
I can’t think the prospect of paying more to see televised hockey games is appealing to any fan, Michael.
Tickets to see some NHL teams are beyond most fans. Hence the street parties outside the rinks, and the attendance to watch parties for away games at their teams home arenas for $12.