NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 3, 2025
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 3, 2025
The Blues forced a seventh and deciding game with the Jets, Marc-Andre Fleury retires, several major individual award finalists are revealed, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: There will be a seventh and deciding game in the first-round series between the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.
A four-goal second period lifted the Blues to a 5-2 victory over the Jets in Game 6, tying their series at three games apiece. Alexey Toropchenko and Philip Broberg each had a goal and an assist and Radek Faksa collected two assists. Cole Perfetti and Nino Niederreiter replied for the Jets.
Game 7 will be in Winnipeg on Sunday, May 4, at 7 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Every game in this series has been won on home ice. The Jets hope to continue that trend to finish off the pesky Blues, while the latter hopes to ride the shift in momentum to their first road win of this series.
Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was pulled from this game following the second period after giving up five goals on 18 shots. During this series, he’s gotten the hook in every game in St. Louis.
Jets center Mark Scheifele missed this game, remaining in Winnipeg to recover from an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 5. Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers returned to action after missing seven games with an injured foot.
NHL ALUMNI: Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has announced his retirement after 21 seasons.

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: We all knew Fleury intended to hang up his pads following this season. The future Hall-of-Famer had an impressive career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild.
Fleury’s best seasons were with the Penguins and Golden Knights. He won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins, backstopped the Golden Knights to the Cup Final in 2018 and won the Vezina Trophy in 2021. He’s second all-time among NHL goaltenders with 575 regular-season wins.
NHL.COM: Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, and Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy honoring this season’s top defensive forward.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Barkov won this award in 2020-21 and 2023-24, and will be considered the favorite to win it this season. This is the first time Cirelli and Reinhart have been finalists.
Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, and Columbus Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan are the finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, honoring the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: All three are worthy finalists but Landeskog should get the nod for resuming his NHL career after spending almost three years recovering from knee surgeries.
Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, and Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point are the finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy honoring the player who best combines sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct and ability.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Lady Byng Trophy gets a bad rap because of its name and that it honors the quaint notion of “gentlemanly conduct”, as if the winner is someone who shys away from physical play. That’s not the case at all. These finalists continue to play a disciplined game at a high level of competition. They’re the players you want on the ice when the game’s on the line.
Scott Arniel of the Winnipeg Jets, Spencer Carbery of the Washington Capitals, and Martin St. Louis of the Montreal Canadiens are this year’s finalists for the Jack Adams Award as this season’s NHL Coach of the Year.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: All three are deserving finalists for their efforts to improve their respective teams. I’d give the nod to Carbery, who guided a Capitals team that squeaked into the playoffs last season into the top team in the Eastern Conference.
The NHL announced a change to the coverage of the 2025 Draft Lottery. Instead of a countdown from 16 to 1 after the lottery balls have been drawn behind the scenes, fans will watch live as the lottery balls are drawn at NHL Network’s studio in Secaucus, New Jersey. The drawing will be shown live in-studio for the first time in the lottery’s 30-year history.
The second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs begins Monday, May 5, with the Toronto Maple Leafs facing off against the Florida Panthers. Game 1 of the Washington Capitals-Carolina Hurricanes series will begin on Tuesday, May 6.
TSN: Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson and defenseman Miro Heiskanen will not be in the lineup for their club’s seventh and deciding game of their first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. Heiskanen hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 28, while Robertson’s been sidelined since Apr. 16 with a knee injury. Game 7 is Saturday in Dallas, with the winner facing the St. Louis Blues or Winnipeg Jets in the second round.
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois confirmed head coach Jon Cooper will return next season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: BriseBois was dispelling a recent rumor claiming Cooper might depart at the end of this season to join the Utah Hockey Club.
TAMPA BAY TIMES: BriseBois also revealed Lightning captain Victor Hedman fractured his right foot in Game 4 of their first-round series with the Florida Panthers.
Center Yanni Gourde broke a finger in Game 1 and center Anthony Cirelli suffered a sprained knee during that game.
BriseBois also said winger Oliver Bjorkstrand suffered a left-thigh acute compartment syndrome on Apr. 11 that required surgery soon afterward, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Winger Nikita Kucherov suffered a left-hand extensor injury on Feb. 25 but continued playing. Forward Luke Glendening suffered an AC joint separation on Apr. 9, forward Nick Paul dealt with a tear in his left wrist, defenseman Erik Cernak suffered a knee contusion in Game 1, and winger Brandon Hagel suffered a concussion in Game 4.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Lightning were eliminated from their first-round series because the Panthers were the better team. Nevertheless, these injuries factored into their demise.
SPORTSNET: Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault said he tore his groin in Game 3 of his club’s first-round series against the Washington Capitals. He won’t require surgery this summer. Meanwhile, winger Patrik Laine suffered a broken finger in Game 2 and missed the remaining three games of the series.
Canadiens winger Josh Anderson revealed he suffered upper and lower-body injuries that he wouldn’t have played through had the club not been in a position to make the playoffs.
NEW YORK POST: John Tortorella will not be returning to the Rangers. It was recently reported that he may be part of new head coach Mike Sullivan’s staff.
Speaking of the Rangers, they signed forward Juuso Parssinen to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.25 million.
THE PROVINCE: Vancouver Canucks co-owner Paolo Aquilini has stepped down from his positions with the team. The club’s ownership also denied rumors suggesting the club could go up for sale.