Aleksander Barkov – McKeen's Hockey

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – Fantasy playoffs are upon us, the Blackhawks bring in another top prospect, Marco Rossi, Anthony Cirelli, and Quinton Byfield are producing in the middle of the ice as Troy Terry and Zach Benson are working the wings.

Scott Cullen — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 14:27:53 +0000

VANCOUVER, BC - MARCH 24: Vancouver Canucks center Marco Rossi (93) vies for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. (Photo by Ethan Cairns/Icon Sportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, as fantasy playoffs are upon us, the Blackhawks bring in another top prospect, Marco Rossi, Anthony Cirelli, and Quinton Byfield are producing in the middle of the ice as Troy Terry and Zach Benson are working the wings.

#1 While it has been another tough season for the Chicago Blackhawks, they are getting a nice boost late in the season with the arrival of Anton Frondell, the third pick in last summer’s draft, who tallied 20 goals and eight assists for 28 points in 43 games for Djurgardens in the SHL. Frondell has arrived in Chicago, registered two assists in his first three NHL games, and is skating on the top line with Connor Bedard and Ryan Greene in addition to getting first unit power play time. He’s 18, so expectations need to be kept in check, but he’s also getting enough of an opportunity to make him immediately interesting for those in deep leagues.

#2 There may be some fantasy value to be found in players that are playing for teams out of the playoff picture. For example, it’s easy enough to dismiss the Vancouver Canucks as they have endured a brutal season, but centre Marco Rossi has produced 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in his past eight games, is getting first unit power play time and is thriving with linemates Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser.

#3 With an established reputation as a strong two-way player, Tampa Bay Lightning centre Anthony Cirelli is getting a shot at an expanded offensive role, skating on the top line between Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel. In his past 12 games, Cirelli has produced 14 points (5 G, 9 A) and 21 shots on goal, with 13 of those 14 points coming at even strength. With 2.51 points per 60 minutes during five-on-five play this season, Cirelli ranks 22nd in the league. Not bad for a checking centre.

#4 He has missed some time with injuries, but Anaheim Ducks right winger Troy Terry has been on a good run since Christmas, producing 17 points (7 G, 10 A) with 29 shots on goal in 15 games. He is scoring better than a point per game this season, a feat he has not been able to accomplish in a full season. He was scratched from Thursday’s game at Calgary, so his reliability remains an issue but his productivity makes him a valuable player whenever he is in the lineup.

#5 There are so many great stories on the Buffalo Sabres this season, as the team is poised to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2010-2011 season, and one of those great stories is the play of 20-year-old winger Zach Benson. In his past six games, Benson has seven points (3 G, 4 A) with seven shots on goal. That shot rate needs improvement, but Benson is thriving on a line with Josh Norris and Josh Doan. When Benson is on the ice at five-on-five, the Sabres are outscoring opponents 39-22.

#6 As the Los Angeles Kings push for a playoff spot, centre Quinton Byfield has stepped up his game, with nine points (5 G, 4 A) and 20 shots on goal in his past seven contests. Consistency has been elusive for Byfield, as he had five points (4 G, 1 A) in the previous 17 games, but when he’s going, Byfield can be a physical force. He is currently skating on a line with Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere while getting second-unit power play time.

#7 The Ottawa Senators are in a competitive battle for a playoff spot but they are dealing with serious injuries on the blueline. Jake Sanderson was already out of the lineup with an upper-body injury when Thomas Chabot suffered a broken arm that will keep him out for 4-to-8 weeks. Add in injuries to Nick Jensen and Dennis Gilbert and the Sens were forced to make changes, which included calling up 2024 first-round pick Carter Yakeumchuk from Belleville of the American Hockey League, where he had 36 points (10 G, 26 A) in 50 games. Yakemchuk has two points (1 G, 1 A) with four shots on goal in his first three NHL games and the injuries on Ottawa’s blueline may prompt the Sens to keep Yakemchuk and his offensive skills in the lineup. Some D to consider from the waiver wire: Damon Severson, who has 11 points (4 G, 7 A) in 14 games this month, Rasmus Sandin, who has five points (2 G, 3 A) in his past seven games, and even Sens defenders Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence, who have combined for 12 points in the past eight games.

#8 In the past month, New Jersey Devils right winger Connor Brown has been moved into a more offensive role and has delivered 14 points (4 G, 10 A) and 24 shots on goal in 13 games. He has been a reliable middle six winger in his NHL career, but he’s skating on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, while also getting top-unit power play time. He is up to 36 points (14 G, 22 A) on the season, within striking distance of his career high of 43 points, set during the 2019-2020 season when he was with the Ottawa Senators.

#9 It has not been an easy season for Nashville Predators winger Jonathan Marchessault, but he has recorded 10 assists in his past 11 games, a veritable surge in production for a player who has just 28 points (11 G, 17 A) in 53 games. The veteran winger is playing on PP1 for the Predators and is skating on a line with Matthew Wood and Filip Forsberg, so he’s in a decent situation to produce late in the season.

#10 It’s been a similar situation for Anaheim Ducks veteran winger Alex Killorn, who has eight points (4 G, 4 A) with 17 shots on goal in his past 10 games, which is a significant improvement for a player who had 20 points in 63 games before that. The 36-year-old winger is skating on a line with veteran pivot Mikael Granlund and rookie right winger Bennett Sennecke, which is a strong enough situation to consider Killorn for some late-season value.

#11 As the Seattle Kraken try to stay in the playoff hunt, captain Jordan Eberle has contributed seven points (1 G, 6 A) in his past seven games. He is up to 23 goals on the season, which is his most in a season since 2017-2018, when he scored 25, so he is within range of that total. He has consistently been playing on Seattle’s top line with Matty Beniers at centre and there have been several wingers rotating through. Right now, it’s rookie Berkly Catton getting a shot on the left side.

#12 Staying in Seattle, right winger Kaapo Kakko is delivering quality results late in the season. In his past seven games, Kakko has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) with seven shots on goal. That shot rate is not enough to sustain that level of offensive production, but he provides useful secondary scoring, skating on a line with Chandler Stephenson and Bobby McMann.

#13 Early this season, the Utah Grizzlies winger Lawson Crouse was not playing a big part and his production was modest, managing nine points (4 G, 5 A) through his first 26 games. It’s gotten better throughout the season, and in his past seven games, he has six points (4 G, 2 A) and 24 hits, which is really where Crouse brings his most reliable value for fantasy managers. He has scored 20 goals for the fourth time in his career and it’s the fifth time in his career that he has recorded at least 190 hits. If you have a need on the wing at this point in the fantasy season, you could do worse than adding Crouse.

#14 There have been reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are not inclined to give a qualifying offer to right winger Matias Maccelli this summer, but Maccelli has been one of the few Maple Leafs contributing consistently. Since the beginning of February, Maccelli has 16 points (7 G, 9 A) with 33 shots on goal in 20 games. He is tied with John Tavares for second on the team in scoring over that span, three points behind William Nylander and one point ahead of Matthew Knies. Most recently, he’s been skating on a line with Dakota Joshua and Bo Groulx, but that hasn’t deterred him.

#15 Although the wins aren’t coming easily, Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll has been playing well late in the season while facing a heavy workload. In his past eight starts, Woll has a 2-4-2 record, but he has a .910 save percentage while facing an average of around 35 shots per game. The Leafs’ lack of success doesn’t help Woll’s value, but it is part of the reason that he’s still available in a decent percentage of leagues and he’s playing well enough that he could help a fantasy manager who needs a late-season upgrade between the pipes.

#16 While we’re considering goaltenders on teams that are out of the playoff race, look at St. Louis Blues netminder Joel Hofer, who has been unbeatable since the Olympic break. In nine games since the break, Hofer has a 7-0-2 record with a .955 save percentage! He has a .911 save percentage on the season and has recently overtaken Jordan Binnington in terms of starts, with Hofer at 36 and Binnington at 35. Perhaps this is the changing of the guard for the Blues, as Hofer has 13.44 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) and Binnington has -20.01 (GSAx), a stark difference in performance.

#17 There was some suspicion around the Olympic break that the Florida Panthers could be on the verge of shutting down a bunch of players with injuries because the playoffs were looking less and less likely, so there was not as much incentive for players to play through the injuries that they might when the team is mounting a Stanley Cup run. Aleksander Barkov has been out all season of course, but Brad Marchand is out, Anton Lundell will miss 2-6 weeks with an upper body injury, Evan Rodrigues is out 4-6 weeks with a broken finger, and Mackie Samoskevich is due to return soon, but he’s still out. That leaves forwards like Jesper Boqvist and Tomas Nosek playing bigger roles than would typically be expected of them.

#18 Philadelphia Flyers centre Christian Dvorak has six points (2 G, 4 A) and 15 shots on goal in his past seven games, and he really has the trust of Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet. In the past 22 games, Dvorak has played more than 20 minutes 12 times, including a season-high 25:32 last week at San Jose. He is now averaging 18:28 of ice time per game, a career high, and his 44 points (15 G, 29 A) is also the high-water mark for his career. All of this is to suggest that, in a pinch, Dvorak could have late-season value for fantasy managers.

#19 It’s a little troubling for the Vegas Golden Knights, as they scramble for a playoff spot, that star centre Jack Eichel has hit a slump. They are hoping he has broken out of it with a three-point game last night against Washington. In his previous seven games, Eichel has generated 22 shots on goal while averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per game, and yet he has managed just one assist. It would be a tad aggressive to go cutting Eichel at this stage of the season, especially when he’s generating shots at this rate, but it’s also possible that he doesn’t need to be in your fantasy lineup automatically. It’s not much better for Golden Knights right winger Mitch Marner, who has two assists and 19 shots on goal in the past eight games.

#20 Anaheim Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier is tied for the league lead with 11 goals in March, tied with Pavel Zacha. Gauthier ranks second in expected goals with 7.61 ixG, barely trailing Brady Tkachuk at 7.69. Other forwards that have been around the net, rounding out the top ten when it comes to individual expected goals: Zach Hyman (7.09), Brock Nelson (6.98), Alex DeBrincat (6.93). Beckett Sennecke (6.85), Bryan Rust (6.68), Rickard Rakell (6.60), Alexis Lafreniere (6.49), and Timo Meier (6.49).

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – FLORIDA PANTHERS – Team Preview

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:44:55 +0000

SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 17: Florida Panthers Center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates with the Stanley Cup at the end of the Stanley Cup Final game six between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers on June 17, 2025 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. (Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire)

It’s an incredible thing to watch a dynasty happen in front of your eyes. The Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup after knocking off the Edmonton Oilers in six games. The road to the Final was a bit more difficult for Florida as they were a goal away from being down 3-0 to Toronto in the second round before Brad Marchand’s overtime winner in Game 3 changed the momentum. What’s amazing about their run last season is they finished third in the Atlantic Division with 98 points behind Toronto and Tampa Bay and finished one point ahead of Ottawa. They limped into the playoffs, going 4-6-1 in the last 11 games but found their gear right away beating the Lightning in five games. They knocked out Toronto in seven games, winning Game 7 on the road 6-1 and knocked out Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final in five games as well. They were a dominant five-on-five team finishing second in the league at CorsiFor percentage and expected goals for percentage behind Carolina. They also allowed the seventh fewest goals in the league. Being an elite team can take many forms, but the Panthers do it with a ruthless forecheck, nastiness all over the ice, and skill that takes many forms.

What’s Changed?

All the big-name players the Panthers could’ve lost in free agency stayed. Sam Bennett (eight years, $64 million), Aaron Ekblad (eight years, $48.8 million) and Brad Marchand (six years, $31.5 million at age 37) each locked in long-term and role player Tomas Nosek also re-signed for one year, $775,000. While they lost Nate Schmidt to Utah in free agency, they brought in Jeff Petry as a veteran defenceman to replace him on a one-year deal for $775,000. Backup goalie Vitek Vanecek also headed to Utah, but Florida acquired Daniil Tarasov from Columbus to compete with free agent signing from Boston, Brandon Bussi, for that role. Running it back with a back-to-back championship roster makes GM Bill Zito’s job a lot easier.

What Would Success Look Like?

If the Panthers win a third straight Stanley Cup, they would be the first team to do that since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980 to 1983. That we’re even talking about this being their goal is incredible, especially in the salary cap era. We saw the Pittsburgh Penguins win back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did it again in 2020 and 2021 under very different circumstances, but call it recency bias if you want, this Panthers team feels different than those. Aleksander Barkov is an elite two-way forward. Sam Reinhart is as well and is capable of scoring 50 goals. They have an agitating set of role players in Bennett and Marchand, a leader like Matthew Tkachuk who thrives when games get tougher and scorers who can backfill like Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues. With high-end defencemen like Ekblad, Seth Jones and Gustav Forsling along with Sergei Bobrovsky in goal, there aren’t many weaknesses, especially with a coach like Paul Maurice at the helm.

What Could Go Wrong?

Making it to three straight Stanley Cup Finals and winning it two years in a row can take its toll when it comes to exhaustion, right? Tkachuk opted for surgery from injuries he sustained during Four Nations Face-Off in February and played through in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is expected to be out until January. Everyone on the roster has played a ton of games and had short offseasons for three straight years and that kind of physical toll is tough. If they were to slip up and bow out of the playoffs before the Cup Final this year, as surprising as it would be it would be just as unsurprising given all that. It happened with the Lightning. It could happen to the Panthers, too. It’s just hard to see it while they’ve been busy celebrating.

Top Breakout Candidate

It’s tough to make your way into a lineup like the Panthers, but young forward Mackie Samoskevich has been building towards a breakout season the past two years. When he came out of the University of Michigan, he spent most of his first full professional season in the AHL. Last year, however, he got an extended look in Florida and had 15 goals and 16 assists in 72 games while averaging 13:19 time on-ice. It’ll be difficult for him to move up lines in Florida, but on special teams he should get a chance to cash in. If Tkachuk has to miss any extended time, you’d have to think that opportunity to move up into that spot will be his.

Forwards

Matthew Tkachuk

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
40	16	27	43	1.08

It’s hard to imagine the kind of gumption it takes for Matthew Tkachuk to play the way he does. It’s even harder to imagine how he does it when he’s playing hurt and it’s even more incredible to think of the way he’d play if he was at 100 percent all the time. Tkachuk toughed out a hard regular season in which he came off their first Stanley Cup victory playing through a broken sternum but was ready and recovered for the start of the season. During the year, he sustained a torn adductor and a sports hernia while playing for the United States at the Four Nations Face-Off that ended his regular season and held him to 52 games. Even still, he finished third on the Panthers in scoring with 57 points and scored 22 goals. When Tkachuk returned for action in Game 1 of the playoffs, he scored two goals and an assist against Tampa Bay to set the tone for the rest of the postseason that he was back and better than ever. In the postseason, he had eight goals and 15 assists and played in all 23 games as the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup. He had seven points in the Final against Edmonton alone, but the start of his new season may be delayed by two to three months if he has surgery on the injuries from February that he ultimately played through. Although you wonder how he’ll look upon returning from that, seeing how he’s done it repeatedly through his career should leave no doubt that he’ll be as dangerous as ever when he does.

Aleksander Barkov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
68	18	49	67	0.99

Being the captain of the newest dynasty in the NHL is not something anyone would’ve expected out of Aleksander Barkov five years ago, but after leading the Panthers to three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances and two consecutive championships and being arguably the most important player on the roster in doing so, we’re watching an all-time great appearing before our eyes. Barkov won his second consecutive Selke Trophy, and third of his career, as the league’s best defensive forward and finished second on the team in scoring with 71 points, 10 behind Sam Reinhart. With 20 goals and 51 assists, he was the main distributor on a line with Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe or Evan Rodrigues. While Reinhart topped out with 39 goals to lead the team, having him and Barkov together on a line also gave them two of the three Selke Award finalists on the ice at the same time. By hitting 20 goals, Barkov had his 10th consecutive season scoring 20-or-more goals in a season and it was his fourth straight year with 70-or-more points. Having one of the best two-way players in recent league history able to shut down opposing teams’ top centers while piling up points like that gives the Panthers the kind of advantage that’s allowed them to be so dominant in recent years. If there’s a next step for him it’s to win a Hart or Conn Smythe Trophy to help better fill his growing cabinet of awards.

Sam Reinhart

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	37	40	77	0.99

The Florida Panthers top goal scorer followed his career high 57-goal season two years ago with a 39-goal campaign last year and earned his first ever top three finish in the voting for the Selke Trophy during a season that was capped with his second straight Stanley Cup. Reinart came in second to Barkov for the honor as fans and writers alike at last took notice of his outstanding skills in the defensive end to go with his incredible ability to fill the net at even strength and the power play. It’s quite the turn of events for the smart and savvy forward from his time with the Buffalo Sabres to say the least but playing on a line with fellow defensive maven Aleksander Barkov gives Florida a line that can smother opponents at one end of the ice while breaking their spirits at the other by filling the net. Reinhart’s ability to find open areas around the net and tip pucks past goalies and take away their eyes has made him an even more dangerous player to zero in on. While it may look like he’s not actively doing something to make a play happen, his ability to read the action and calculate the best areas to be and where his teammates are headed or where they’re at in the moment. There’s no reason to expect coach Paul Maurice to fix what isn’t broken with the lineup and having Reinhart with Barkov once again should be expected.

Sam Bennett

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	30	29	59	0.77

If ever there was a player who actively made their free agent price go up exponentially right in front of our eyes in the biggest moments, Sam Bennett did so in master class fashion. Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP as he led the Panthers and all goal scorers in the postseason with 15. Stunningly enough, only one of those proved to be a game-winning goal but the way Bennett found ways to score goals in key moments throughout the playoffs for Florida helped them secure their second straight Stanley Cup and a massive new contract worth $64 million over eight years. Although he was due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, Bennett helping the Panthers the way he did and the bond he formed playing on a line with Brad Marchand made it impossible for Florida’s management to let either one of them go. His ability to deliver huge hits that occasionally toed the legal line as well as a suffocating forecheck made him a valuable player for the Panthers as is. After Bennett piled up goals throughout the playoffs, many of which broke opposing spirits, it made it impossible to let him walk to a potential rival team. Although that deal may be painful down the road, for right now it’s one that keeps a Stanley Cup-winning group together to go for more glory.

Brad Marchand

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	25	32	57	0.77

In what was one of the most shocking trades of the 2025 trade deadline, the Panthers added Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand to help them go for another Stanley Cup. What they didn’t realize was they added the absolute perfect player to cement their hold on the title. Marchand’s aggressive and confident style of play fit seamlessly into the way the Panthers play and his ability to get under the skin of opposing players only allowed him to double up with Sam Bennett to drive other teams mad. Although Florida acquired him as he was returning from injury, he used the 10 regular season games he played with them to get acclimated. His two goals and two assists in those 10 games weren’t much, but once the playoffs started, the real Brad Marchand appeared. Marchand had 10 goals and 10 assists in 23 playoff games and led the playoffs with 48 penalty minutes. He also had a plus-17 plus-minus rating in the postseason and while that’s not always an accurate way to assess a player’s value, that kind of mark in the playoffs is noteworthy and was second only to teammate Anton Lundell’s plus-19. Marchand’s performance earned him a five-year contract from the Panthers worth $31.5 million that will pay him out until he turns 42. Not a bad gig for a 37-year-old that some in Boston wondered how much more he had left in the tank.

Carter Verhaeghe

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	25	35	60	0.76

It’s kind of wild that a player as good as Carter Verhaeghe can sort of blend into the attack that the Florida Panthers roll with. Three seasons ago, Verhaeghe scored 42 goals and helped lead the Panthers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1996 and had the first of two back-to-back 70-plus point seasons. Last season, however, he posted 20 goals and finished with 53 points, fourth most on the team, with 16 of those points on the power play. Like so many others on the Florida roster, accomplishments in the regular season are one thing, but what really mattered was the playoffs. In the postseason, Verhaeghe had 23 points in 23 games including seven goals, three of which were game winners. The 23 points tied him with Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk for the team lead in the postseason and his four power play goals were second to Tkachuk’s five for most on the Panthers. Even though “clutch” isn’t a tangible skill to be measured, it’s hard to say that in the face of what Verhaeghe has done throughout his playoff career. He has 13 game-winning goals in the playoffs over the past four seasons and led the 2023 postseason with four. Now 30 years old, the eight-year extension he signed with Florida a year ago kicks in with a $7 million cap hit. It bears watching to see if he can return to his 70-point form or if 50 points a year and a monster playoff performance to follow can be the norm.

Anton Lundell

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	19	33	52	0.65

When you look at the way the Panthers are built and you see a player like Anton Lundell on their third line, it starts to hit you why they’ve been so good over the past few years. At 23 years old, the Finnish two-way forward has established himself as a capable defender up front and as a player who can make opponents pay for their mistakes in the offensive end. Lundell set a new career-high with 45 points and his 17 goals were one shy of his personal best for a season. Lundell’s importance to the Panthers is three-fold. He excels at five-on-five, contributes to the power play, and is one of their top penalty killers as well. In the playoffs, his line with fellow Finn Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand suffocated opponents with their forechecking and ability to force turnovers. If teams were able to survive getting past the top two lines, trying to get through that trio was often too much to bear. What’s most impressive about Lundell’s abilities is how he can do it seemingly under the radar. His game doesn’t have a lot of flash to it and that kind of cold efficiency helps make games against the Panthers that are much more difficult to get through. What’s more is Lundell has become excellent at faceoffs the past two seasons after struggling with it earlier in his career. Two years ago, he won nearly 55 percent of his draws and last season he won 53 percent of them.

Evan Rodrigues

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	14	22	36	0.45

There’s no such thing as a “utility position” in hockey the way there is in baseball, but with the way Evan Rodrigues approaches and plays the game, it makes you want to reconsider the idea. Whether Rodrigues is slotted in on the first, second or third line, he finds ways to contribute and hold his own in any situation. If the Panthers need a boost in offense, he can do it. He had 15 goals and 17 assists last season and had his fourth straight season with 30-or-more points and double-digit goals. Although his offensive numbers were down slightly compared to the previous three seasons, it’s his versatility and adaptability in how he plays that can have a big effect on his output. The majority of his minutes at five-on-five last season were with Sam Bennett and it’s likely we’ll see them back together again on the team’s second line this season. There’s no reason for the Panthers to tinker around with things too much considering their success, but regardless of how it shakes out, Rodrigues will be an effective player wherever he slots in. With the way he’s able to also contribute on the power play, it helps add to his value to the team in those deeper roles outside of their star players.

Eetu Luostarinen

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	15	25	40	0.50

Being a checking line or energy line player doesn’t always come with a lot of adulation and in the regular season, that was certainly the case for Eetu Luostarinen. He finished last season with nine goals and 15 assists in 80 games as he played his role as a forechecker and penalty killer to the hilt to make life miserable for opponents. Fortunately for Luostarinen, that regular season role was amplified in the postseason as coach Paul Maurice rolled him out on a line with fellow Finland native Anton Lundell and newly acquired star veteran Brad Marchand. That trio went on to make foes' playoff nights miserable, wearing them out with their seemingly unending pressure, good use of sticks and ability to make any turnover a game-changer in a heartbeat. Luostarinen’s $3 million cap hit may seem a bit juicy for a player with his kind of role, but good luck finding others around the league that can do it as effectively and efficiently as he can. That he teams up with Lundell and Marchand helps add more of a counterattacking threat that opposing teams must respect. Even though physical play may not come to mind right away with Luostarinen, he was credited with 183 hits last season, a career high and third most on the team. There’s no reason to think his game plan will change next season.

DEFENCE

Aaron Ekblad

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
60	7	31	38	0.63

It was quite an adventurous season for Aaron Ekblad. Going into a contract year and coming off helping the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup, he was poised to have a monster year once he returned from offseason shoulder surgery for injuries he sustained during their playoff run. Like his teammate Matthew Tkachuk who also had offseason surgery, Ekblad was back and ready for the start of the regular season. Ekblad had three goals and 30 assists in the regular season in 56 games and led Panthers blue liners in scoring. Although a slight upper-body injury caused him to miss a few games in January, it was a 20-game suspension for violating the league’s performance enhancing substance program in March that caused him to miss the rest of the regular season and the first two games of their opening playoff series against Tampa Bay. Despite missing four games in the playoffs, Ekblad proved to still be brilliant with four goals and nine assists in 19 games while paired with Gustav Forsling on the team’s top defensive duo. Even with all of the drama, Ekblad helped the Panthers roll to their second straight Cup and even though the temptation of signing a monster free agent contract was there, he re-signed with Florida on a team-friendly deal for eight years, $48.8 million ($6.1 million per season).

Seth Jones

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	10	26	36	0.51

To show that the Panthers are serious about winning now, GM Bill Zito acquired Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks in early March for goalie Spencer Knight and a 2026 first-round pick. Jones’ addition proved to be timely when Aaron Ekblad received a 20-game suspension in late March and helped steady the Panthers blue line as the team dragged themselves across the finish line to end the season. With Florida, Jones flourished after escaping a downtrodden situation with Chicago. He had nine points in 21 games to close the regular season including two goals. But in the playoffs, Jones solidified Florida’s ranks the exact way they envisioned. His four goals and five assists in 23 playoff games, his first postseason in five years, helped guide the Panthers to the Stanley Cup. Jones paired with Niko Mikkola in the postseason and that gave Florida a good mix of puck handling and skill with Jones and physical play and nastiness with Mikkola. Being able to create that balance on their second pairing while Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad did a lot of heavy lifting on the top pair created advantages for Florida against opponents’ other lines. If it seems unfair to have that kind of depth, you might be right.

Gustav Forsling

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	9	22	31	0.39

Watching Gustav Forsling’s evolution as a defenseman who was bounced around on waivers to become one of the best in the NHL is almost as breathtaking as his ability to make the right play in every situation. Forsling led Panthers defensemen with 11 goals, and his 31 total points were second most among the team’s blue liners. Although he was held to five points in the playoffs, he paired with Aaron Ekblad to guide Florida to the Stanley Cup for the second straight year by taking on all comers in all situations. The ability Forsling has to move the puck effortlessly through all three zones and make great first passes to start the attack makes him one of the best in the league, but it’s also his mindfulness defensively that sets him apart. He doesn’t have to throw body checks to make the right play, but rather he works his gap control to ensure he’s not out of position or can get taken out of a play easily. On a team as strong as the Panthers, Forsling’s advanced stats would be very good to begin with, but his are among the best on the team regardless when it comes to shot attempts and scoring chance quality. It’s hard to call him underrated at this point, but underappreciated? Certainly.

Niko Mikkola

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	4	14	18	0.23

Although the Panthers are known for having more than a few players up front that happily take the body and thrive on dishing out physical punishment, it’s not the same on the blue line. Niko Mikkola, however, relishes the chance to do it. Mikkola found a home on the second pairing with Seth Jones and while Jones is known for his smooth skating and ability to set up plays, Mikkola’s dogged work along the walls and in corners as well as being physical around the net make him someone other teams loathe to deal with. He was fifth on the team in hits delivered but he had the most among defensemen with 137. It would be anecdotal to say that his hits were more memorable given the context they’ve come in, but while other Panther defensemen are able to defend better with body positioning and stick use, Mikkola’s use of the body helps keep opposing teams honest and worn-down dealing with him. He’s also able to be physical in his own end of the ice without it leading to sustained zone time against them as well. His advanced stats for shot attempts and scoring chance quality are positive and while that’s somewhat of a team effect, if he struggled at suppressing opportunities while on the ice it would show. Having a defender to do some of the dirty work the way he does only helps Florida be that much more difficult to play against.

GOAL

Sergei Bobrovsky

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
57	34	16	4	6	0.905	2.42

Even if the Florida Panthers hadn’t managed to pull off a repeat in Sunrise this summer, the Sergei Bobrovsky deal - once risky-looking at seven years and $70 million - would have likely been forgiven just based on the 2024 championship he brought home. Now, though, the team will enter their final year of Bobrovsky’s contract with two cups in two years, clear evidence that the 37-year-old is still capable of making the split-second lateral changes and lunging saves that have marked his most eye-catching games over the last 15 years.

As with last season, though, the Panthers will enter the upcoming year with just as many questions in net as they have answers. The team's surprising move away from Spencer Knight signaled that the former first round pick wasn't shaping up to be the definitive future starter they hoped he would be. Instead, Florida will likely be banking on one of either Brandon Bussi or Daniil Tarasov to step up and become a reliable number two for Bobrovsky. Both were once highly rated goaltending prospects in the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets systems, respectively, but have struggled to live up to expectations. Expect Tarasov to be the number two as the season starts, looking to bond with Bob over a system shift from Columbus to Florida in an attempt to bring his stats back from their free fall last season. If he struggles to find his footing, though, Bussi - who has never put up poor numbers in the AHL but never got a chance to show Boston what he could do at the top level - will likely be next up to help Bobrovsky weather the 82-game grind.

NHL: DADOUN – TRADE DEADLINE ROUND UP – What we can expect from some of the bigger players now?

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 08 Mar 2025 18:58:23 +0000

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 27: Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders on February 27, 2025, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Friday’s trade deadline has to stand out as one of the best in recent memory. Over the last week, 45 trades occurred with almost $170 million worth of cap hit changing hands, per PuckPedia. More than just the quantity, though, was the quality.

Brock Nelson, a man who has breached the 30-goal milestone in each of the previous three campaigns was added by Colorado, while Seth Jones, a top four defenseman signed through 2029-30, was acquired by Florida in the leadup to deadline day, and yet neither of them ended up being the headline additions of this trade season. Jones didn’t even end up being the biggest name to join the Panthers.

Instead, Florida shocked the hockey world with its last-minute addition of Brad Marchand. Granted, Marchand is 36, in the final season of his contract and dealing with an upper-body injury, so there are some big caveats to consider when assessing his impact, but still, it’s Brad Marchand. There aren’t many active players out there who are so heavily linked to the team they play for than he is. To see him with the Panthers will be weird, to say the least.

Of course, he might just be a rental, so we’ll see what happens this summer. One star player who opted not to go to free agency, though, is Mikko Rantanen. The Hurricanes were clearly hoping to lock him up long term -- it's fair to say they wouldn’t have acquired him from Colorado if they didn’t think they had a shot -- but in the end, terms weren’t agreed upon, so Carolina cut its losses by sending Rantanen to Dallas, which promptly signed him to an eight-year, $96 million contract.

It's a huge payout, but a justified one with the cap going up. Rantanen recorded over 40 goals and 100 points in each of the previous two seasons and has 27 goals and 70 points in 62 appearances this campaign. Dallas has now set itself up to enjoy a duo of Rantanen and Jason Robertson for years to come, which should make the Stars one of hockey’s best teams in the medium term.

That’s just scratching the surface of what happened today, so let’s start digging deeper. Typically, I highlight teams based on what their upcoming schedule is like with a bias towards teams that will be playing a lot or facing favorable opponents in the week to come. This week, I’ll be highlighting the squads I feel had the most interesting trade deadline -- including the days leading up to it -- so that I can discuss what’s changed and how this might impact various players for the remainder of the campaign.

Boston Bruins

It’s not overly dramatic to suggest that trading Marchand to Florida marked the end of an era for the Bruins. Sure, they still have David Pastrnak, but if you look back at the 2018 Bruins who made it to the Stanley Cup Final, Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy are the only ones remaining.

No more Marchand. No more Patrice Bergeron. No more David Krejci. Torey Krug is gone. So are Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask. Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle were members of the Bruins’ 2018-19 squad, but they were traded to Toronto and Colorado, respectively, on Friday.

Of course, the Bruins of old have been fading away for a while. Boston was able to maneuver with a series of trades and signings to extend their dominance for a long time, but if you look at the Bruins’ recent drafting history, you can see why this decline happened. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman, despite his struggles this campaign (18-21-6 record, 3.00 GAA and .896 save percentage in 45 appearances) has proven to be a steal for a fourth-round pick, but he was taken back in 2017. From 2018 to the present, no Bruins draft pick has logged 150 or more games, and the only players over the past four drafts to even make it to the NHL among Boston’s picks are Matthew Poitras and Fabian Lysell -- the latter of which has played in just one game.

Of course, part of that was the Bruins suffering from success, which led to late draft picks, but it is nevertheless at the heart of why Boston couldn’t replenish fast enough as its old guard left.

Still, the Bruins’ moves suggest they’re looking to retool rather than rebuild. While Boston did stock up on draft picks, including a conditional first-round pick from Toronto and a conditional second rounder from Florida, the Bruins also picked up Fraser Minten, who is a 20-year-old prospect who might factor into Boston’s roster on a regular basis next year, and Casey Mittelstadt, who is in the first season of a three-year, $17.25 million contract and is a solid option up the middle.

Boston also has to keep in mind that it’ll get Hampus Lindholm (kneecap) back next season after the top four blueliner was limited to just 17 appearances in 2024-25, and there’s also the likelihood that Swayman will do better next campaign. In other words, Boston fans might not have to go long between playoff appearances.

In the meantime, though, Cole Koepke and Mark Kastelic might get top six minutes, even though neither is particularly suited for the role. We also might see them get ice time on the second power-play unit, and Nikita Zadorov could feature there as well. Boston still has one strong line in Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha and Pastrnak, but the team’s offense overall figures to be dreary, and as a result, Boston might slip even further than its current 28th rank in goals per game (2.69).

Carolina Hurricanes

Losing Rantanen hurts, especially after Carolina gave up a package that included Martin Necas to pry him from Colorado. At least the return from Dallas was strong: The Hurricanes got Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks and two third-round selections. It’ll be years before we know how good or bad those draft picks are for the Hurricanes, but Stankoven is an interesting piece to get in the meantime.

The 22-year-old is playing in his sophomore campaign and had 29 points (nine goals) in 59 appearances with Dallas before the trade. He didn’t have consistent linemates, which might have made the task of adapting to the NHL a little more challenging. Stankoven did show a ton of potential in the minors, though, supplying 24 goals and 57 points in 47 outings with AHL Texas in 2023-24.

Stankoven figures to get a top six role with Carolina as well as power-play time. The tricky thing is that the Hurricanes don’t have any high-end forwards outside of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov, who might end up spending a fair amount of time together on the top line. When Carolina opts to take that path, that would leave Stankoven on a rather barren second unit. It’s a similar situation to the one Taylor Hall finds himself in. Since joining the Hurricanes from Chicago, Hall has just a goal and three points in 13 outings while averaging 14:32 of ice time. Part of that’s because the 33-year-old Hall has declined in recent years, but he’s also finding himself alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jackson Blake, neither of whom have reached the 15-goal or 30-point marks this season.

With that in mind, Stankoven might not be much of an offensive force for the remainder of the season.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado has been extremely busy on the trade front all year -- in addition to the Rantanen trade back in January that got the Avalanche Necas, Colorado also has an entirely different goaltending duo than the one it began the campaign with -- and the Avalanche didn’t slow down as the trade deadline approached.

Colorado added Brock Nelson from the Islanders, Coyle from the Bruins and Erik Johnson from Philadelphia this week. It did cost the Avalanche -- in addition to draft picks and prospects, Colorado also parted ways with Mittelstadt – but Colorado looks like a major Cup contender.

Nelson and Coyle make the Avalanche extremely talented up the middle. We’ll probably see Nelson assume the second-line center spot. Although that would keep him out of the enviable position of skating alongside Nathan MacKinnon or Necas, Nelson would still have plenty to work with alongside Jonathan Drouin and Valeri Nichushkin. It wouldn’t be surprising if Nelson largely maintained his scoring pace in Colorado after contributing 20 goals and 43 points across 61 appearances with the Islanders in 2024-25 before the trade.

That would leave Coyle on the third line. He’d see a meaningful decline in his workload compared to his average of 17:38 of ice time, including 1:55 with the man advantage, with Boston this season, but he kind of deserves that dip after collecting just 15 goals and 22 points in 64 outings. He did exceed the 40-point mark in three consecutive seasons from 2021-22 through 2023-24, so having him on the third line is a nice luxury to have, but he’s unlikely to challenge Nelson for the top-six spot, and it’s also not a given that Coyle will get regular time on the power play.

Jack Drury will probably center the fourth line. He doesn’t bring much offensively to the table anyway (seven goals, 13 points in 53 outings this season), but he is effective on the draw (57.1 conversion rate) and helps kill penalties, so Drury still has a clear role. The biggest loser in this will probably be Parker Kelly, who might spend a fair amount of time in the press box after dressing in the Avalanche’s first 63 games.

Speaking of the press box, I don’t expect Johnson to play much. It’s nice to see him back in Colorado, but unlike his first stint with the team, there isn’t really a clear role for him. Maybe if the Avalanche are forced to deal with injuries, the 36-year-old will get some work, but that’s about it.

Dallas Stars

Dallas made only one trade this month, but it was a huge one. As already noted above, the Stars acquired Rantanen in exchange for picks and Logan Stankoven. Dallas also signed Rantanen to an eight-year, $96 million contract extension.

Rantanen didn’t look great in Carolina, recording just two goals and six points in 13 appearances, but he still has 70 points (27 goals) in 62 outings this campaign, and his resume is fantastic. He should do great in Dallas, likely on the first line alongside Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz.

Hintz and Robertson have typically played together this campaign, but the third member of that trio hasn’t been consistent. Wyatt Johnston has gotten a fair amount of work in that role, though, and that’s likely at an end. Johnston might not be on the second unit either given that Mason Marchment, Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund have done well together. Instead, Johnston might primarily center the third unit. That’s an odd position for a player with 23 goals and 59 points in 62 outings, but Dallas isn’t a typical team, and that would still leave him to play with Jamie Benn, who remains a solid contributor at the age of 35 (15 goals, 39 points).

Johnston may see a bit of a decline in his production down the stretch, but Dallas should remain happy given that it will be rolling out three very effective lines. The Stars’ embarrassment of offensive riches will get even better if Tyler Seguin (hip) is available for the playoffs. He was fantastic early in the campaign with nine goals and 20 points in 19 appearances. Maybe he’ll end up alongside Benn and Johnston.

Florida Panthers

The Marchand trade was jaw-dropping, especially given that the price was just a conditional second-round pick, which will turn into a first-round selection only if Florida wins at least two rounds and Marchand participates in a minimum of 50 percent of those playoff games. The latter condition speaks to Marchand’s health -- before the trade, he missed Boston’s past three games. Florida GM Bill Zito thinks Marchand will be out for a couple more weeks, but he also added that the team doctors will look at him, per Florida Hockey Now, so we’ll see.

Presuming that Marchand returns before the end of the regular season, it will be very interesting to see how he fits into the lineup. Will he play alongside another talented troublemaker in Sam Bennett? They did see some work together on Team Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off. Matthew Tkachuk (groin) is done for the remainder of the regular season, but should he return for the playoffs, he might join that duo to form a line that no one would want to play against.

Perhaps Florida will attempt to balance out the grit by separating the trio of Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Maybe we’ll have something like Bennett-Verhaeghe-Tkachuk and then Marchand-Barkov-Reinhart. Whatever they decide to do, that will be a strong top six. While Tkachuk and Marchand are out, Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues will see increased roles, but that duo is likely to serve strictly in the bottom six when everyone is healthy. Samoskevich in particular might see a drop in usage once Marchand is back, but for now, he’s enjoying the extra work -- Samoskevich has three goals and four points across his past six appearances while averaging 15:30 compared to eight goals and 17 points in his first 48 outings with an average of 11:41.

On the back end, Jones logged 20:40 of ice time over his first two appearances with the Panthers. Aaron Ekblad seems to have maintained his spot on the top power-play unit and has cashed in with a power-play assist in each of his past two outings. If Jones’ role with the man advantage has been diminished by the move to Florida from Chicago -- and that seems to be the case -- then his fantasy value will take a significant hit. Of his 27 points in 2024-25, 15 have been recorded on the power play.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay loves first-round picks, and sometimes when you love something, you have to let it go. The Lightning have drafted in the first round just once dating back to 2020 -- Isaac Howard (31st overall) in 2022 -- and it seems they’ll be waiting a while before doing so again. The Lightning gave their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to Seattle in a three-team trade that brought Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde to Tampa Bay. The Lightning were already missing their 2025 first-round pick as part of the Tanner Jeannot trade back in 2023.

While that’s a significant cost, the Lightning are looking like a well-rounded team going into the playoffs. Obviously, they already had the trio of Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov as their headline unit -- Guentzel has two hat tricks this season and still might be the worst player on that line, which is wild -- and that’s complemented by a strong second line in Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul.

Now Bjorkstrand and Gourde can man the third line, perhaps alongside 24-year-old rookie Gage Goncalves. Bjorkstrand has 17 goals and 38 points in 62 outings while Gourde has done worse this season (six goals, 18 points in 37 appearances) but has recorded over 30 points in each of his previous seven seasons. That doesn’t give the Lightning the same level of forward depth that Dallas is rocking, but that’s still really good.

These moves also probably cost Mitchell Chaffee his spot on the power play. That’s not a huge deal, but four of his 12 goals in 2024-25 have been scored with the man advantage.

Toronto Maple Leafs

There was an arms race in the Atlantic Division. Florida and Tampa Bay both made significant additions leading up to the deadline, and Toronto made some maneuvers too. The Maple Leafs acquired Brandon Carlo from Boston and Scott Laughton from Philadelphia, though in the process, Toronto surrendered, among other things, two first-round picks as well as prospects Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten.

At a glance, those sacrifices would suggest Toronto is going all in, and while it’s undeniable that the farm system has taken a hit, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Carlo is signed through 2026-27 and Laughton is under contract through 2025-26, so these aren’t just rentals.

In terms of what they bring to the table, it’s nothing headline-grabbing, but it is important. Laughton is a solid third-line center, which will allow Max Domi to shift to the wing. His presence might also push Nicholas Robertson out of the top nine, though Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann might also occasionally shift down in the depth charts, especially when Max Pacioretty (undisclosed) is able to return.

Carlo might end up being a good shutdown partner for the offensive-minded Morgan Rielly. He might even enable Rielly to take more chances and bolster his scoring pace down the stretch. The 30-year-old Rielly has seven goals and 32 points in 62 appearances in 2024-25, which is down from 58 points in 72 outings last year.

Philippe Myers, who has gotten some looks alongside Rielly lately, probably won’t be a consideration for that role going forward. Instead, Myers will probably shift to the third pairing, and once Chris Tanev (upper body) is back, Myers might find himself competing with Simon Benoit to stay in the lineup.

Toronto’s xGA/60 in 2024-25 has been 3.19, which ranks 23rd in the league. That suggests the Maple Leafs have made life somewhat hard on their goaltenders this season with their defensive play. Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll have mostly been able to make up the difference, but their work should be easier after Toronto’s recent moves.

Vegas Golden Knights

It’s weird for Vegas not to be the one making a blockbuster trade. In fact, the Golden Knights didn’t make any move Friday, but they did pick up Reilly Smith from the Rangers on Thursday in exchange for Brendan Brisson and a 2025 third-round pick.

It’s not earth-shattering, but it’s a nice bit of business. Although Smith has underwhelmed this campaign with 10 goals and 29 points in 58 appearances in 2024-25, he had some amazing campaigns with Vegas. In particular, Smith provided 26 goals and 56 points in 78 regular-season games in 2022-23 and went on to supply another four goals and 14 points across 24 playoff outings to help Vegas win the Cup in 2023.

This change of scenery might be what Smith needs to rebound. He’s not too old at 33, so he still should have something left in the tank. However, the Golden Knights are a deep team. Even with William Karlsson (lower body) and Victor Olofsson (lower body) out, Smith might still find himself in a bottom-six role, and when everyone is healthy, it’s inevitable that Vegas will have to make a healthy scratch out of someone who would play regularly on most teams. Perhaps that will be Brandon Saad on occasion, but Nicolas Roy and Smith are also on that bubble.

For that reason, I recommend tempering your expectations when it comes to Smith’s reunion tour.

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – FLORIDA PANTHERS – Team Preview

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 16:00:21 +0000

_{TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 01: Florida Panthers Right Wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) skates down ice during an NHL game between the Arizona Coyotes and the Florida Panthers on November 1, 2022, at Mullett Arena in Tempe, AZ. (Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire)}

A year after losing to Vegas in the Stanley Cup Finals, Florida finished the job, besting Edmonton in Game 7 to earn the franchise’s first championship. As is often the case for a Cup winner, the Panthers were more than the sum of their parts, though goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and forwards Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Carter Verhaeghe all deserve special mention for their key contributions. The 22-year-old Anton Lundell ended up playing a big role too. Although he wasn’t a major part of the offence during the regular season, recording 13 goals and 35 points across 78 contests, he stepped up in the playoffs with three goals and 17 points in 24 outings. It wasn’t easy -- the Panthers coughed up a 3-0 series edge in the finals -- but in the end, Florida had plenty to celebrate.

WHAT’S CHANGED? Naturally, the Cup champions were looking to keep the squad intact, but the 2024-25 roster won’t be identical to the winners. Defencemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Montour, backup netminder Anthony Stolarz and midseason trade acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko all departed as unrestricted free agents. Florida didn’t have the cap flexibility to make any major additions over the summer, but the Panthers did ink Sam Reinhart to an eight-year, $69 million extension and re-signed Anton Lundell to a six-year, $30 million deal.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Even after back-to-back appearances in the finals and a championship in 2024, Florida’s Cup window is far from closed. The forward core of Reinhart, Tkachuk, Barkov, and Verhaeghe are all returning and still in their 20s. The Panthers also have a strong supporting cast behind them, including Lundell and Sam Bennett. Plus, Sergei Bobrovsky is still around and is coming off a campaign in which he was a Vezina Trophy finalist.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Then again, Bobrovsky’s 36th birthday is Sept. 20, and his career has included some extreme lows as well as highs, so who knows what Florida will get out of him this year. With Stolarz gone, Spencer Knight is projected to serve as the backup, but while the 23-year-old Knight has potential, he hasn’t been consistent at the NHL level. There’s a reason why he spent 2023-24 in the minors despite his $4.5 million cap hit. Florida’s defence also looks a bit thinner this season, even after adding free agents Nate Schmidt and Adam Boqvist to cheap one-year deals. Additionally, after two long playoff runs, fatigue might finally catch up to the Panthers.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: After scoring 22 goals and 54 points in 62 regular-season games with AHL Charlotte in 2023-24, Mackie Samoskevich might secure a middle-six spot with the Panthers out of training camp. He didn’t record a point over seven contests with Florida, but he was averaging just 12:02 of ice time during that span. Although he’s unlikely to be one of the more productive rookies this season, the 21-year-old (22 on Nov. 15) might provide some valuable secondary scoring.

Forwards

Aleksander Barkov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	21	55	76	1.09

The days of calling Aleksander Barkov underrated are in the distant past after watching the Florida Panthers captain lead the franchise to its first Stanley Cup. Barkov’s all-around performance last season was nothing short of brilliant and added his second Selke Trophy in four years to his record. Barkov had 23 goals and 57 assists in 73 games in the regular season. His 80 points were third most on the team, but in the playoffs, he tied with Matthew Tkachuk for the team lead with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists). Barkov’s defensive ability was on full display all season long, but shined in the playoffs when matched up against Edmonton’s Connor McDavid who he broke even in goals scored at five-on-five (1-1) in 43:40 minutes of play. Barkov was a dominant player in puck possession. At five-on-five, he led the Panthers with 58.4 percent of shot attempts for and 61.1 percent of shot quality for and his linemates reaped the benefits. He played most of the season with Sam Reinhart on his wing and his career-high 57 goals (25 at even strength) and the other wing varied between Evan Rodrigues, Carter Verhaeghe, and Vladimir Tarasenko each of whom helped the Panthers pile up goals and chances. The Panthers suffered many losses in the offseason, but with Barkov at the helm they’re going to have an edge up front nearly every game.

Matthew Tkachuk

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	35	62	97	1.20

If there was anything resembling bad news last season for Matthew Tkachuk it was that he had his string of 100-point seasons ended when he posted 88 points after having 109 and 104 in the two previous years. His goal total dropped to 26 but that may have been because of bad luck given he put up his lowest shot percentage (9.3) since his rookie season (9.2). It’s strange to be almost negative about Tkachuk’s output given what the Panthers did last season, but whatever disappointment he may or may not have had after the regular season turned around in the playoffs. He tied with Aleksander Barkov for the team lead in scoring with 22 points and was an absolute menace to teams after the whistle throughout the postseason. Even though his offensive numbers dipped, that production wasn’t totally missed because the Panthers had more of a team-wide attack which meant opposing teams had to decide who best to try and stop on a given night. But since all Tkachuk’s other numbers were about the same, from shots attempted to shots on goal to assists and time on ice, a return to his career average shooting percentage would mean a distinct uptick in goals. With various losses to the Panthers lineup, the team may need him to have that positive regression. Look for 40 goals and a return to 100 points.

Sam Reinhart

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	47	35	82	1.00

It’s almost predictable that when a player is in a contract year, they’re going to have one of the best seasons of their career and boy did Sam Reinhart ever follow that logic. Reinhart led the Panthers in scoring with 94 points that included a career-high 57 goals, second most in the NHL behind Auston Matthews’ 69. Reinhart’s goal explosion was virtually unpredictable given his previous career high was 33 back in 2021-2022. That he nearly equaled his output from the previous two seasons combined is incredible, but what’s helped him become a goal scoring force in the NHL is how good he’s become on the power play. Reinhart led the NHL with 27 power play goals last season, six better than second place, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl. Even his 25 goals at even strength were enough to be in the top 20 in the league in that category. Hawking the net, excelling at tips and deflections, and being hard to move off his position has helped make Reinhart a monster down low. Add in that his wrist shot is always on target and he’s an ideal offensive machine. Now with a big, new contract in hand and locked into playing in Florida, the pressure jumps up a bit more to live up to that and try to help win another Stanley Cup. Those goal totals are gilded by a big jump in shooting percentage to 24.5 from a career 15.4 percent. Coupled with a new contract, it is common for a player to regress, but he is now a key part of the Panthers attack so should mitigate any slide in production.

Sam Bennett

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	25	27	52	0.70

Perhaps the biggest compliment to Sam Bennett is he’s become the kind of player opposing teams know all about what he’s capable of before a game. They know they’ve got to always be attentive or run the risk of winding up in his crosshairs or allowing him to beat them in other ways. Last season, Bennett scored 20 goals with 21 assists and racked up 100 penalty minutes, one of 14 players in the league to crack the century mark. Bennett’s reputation for delivering hard, heavy hits that occasionally toe the line of legality precedes him, but it’s that aura that pervades his game and can often bait opponents into taking reckless penalties to allow Florida’s dangerous power play to make them pay. Bennett has leaned into his role as an irritating physical player, the kind that can mentally wear out opponents knowing they’ll have to deal with him all night long. While he’s not in the same kind of echelon as Brad Marchand in Boston when it comes to extracurriculars, Bennett is the sort of player who doesn’t tone it down at any moment. Playing hard and fast and physically is his M.O. and the Panthers feed off it. That he was only third on the team in hits behind Niko Mikkola and Ryan Lomberg is somewhat surprising, but then again that’s just part of what’s made him so effective. It’s not one aspect, it’s all of them together.

Carter Verhaeghe

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
79	38	36	74	0.94

Players on every team in the NHL often have a specific role they play. For Carter Verhaeghe, you could argue that his role is being the guy who scores the goal they need most at any given time. Verhaeghe was second on the Panthers in goals behind Sam Reinhart with 34. He was fourth on the team in scoring with 72 points and was versatile enough to play on the first or second line, but it was playing on the wing with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk that gave the Panthers the kind of line that made it painful for opposing teams to get caught up chasing the other two around with Verhaeghe ready to cash in. The power play was also one of Verhaeghe’s strengths. He put up 21 points on the power play with eight goals, second most behind Reinhart. The unit with Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Brandon Montour was eighth best in the league and a severe pain for opposing teams to deal with. Having Verhaeghe there to pound shots from the wing or cash in on rebounds helped make it impossible to defend. Verhaeghe figures to be reunited on a line with Bennett and Tkachuk once again and will help make the Panthers’ offence a pick-your-poison kind of team to defend once again.

Anton Lundell

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
81	14	29	43	0.53

The emergence of Anton Lundell as a premier two-way forward has been a lot of fun to watch. The 2020 first round pick has earned his way into the Panthers lineup over the past three seasons because of his consistent, steady play and strong defensive capabilities. Being able to learn on the job from teammate Aleksander Barkov can’t hurt either.

Last season, Lundell had 13 goals and 22 assists in 78 games while anchoring what was essentially their third line. He teamed up almost exclusively with fellow Finland native Eetu Luostarinen on a line and had an assortment of cohorts working with them throughout. The heady defensive mindedness paired with a dogged style of play helped make that line a deeply frustrating one for opposing teams to matchup against. What makes Lundell so valuable to the team is how he’s a true jack of all trades. He’s effective at five-on-five, on the power play, and at killing penalties. His special teams work is especially valuable because he can not only provide the bigger players a chance to take a breath but also pick up where they left off with a similar style of play. Lundell may not be the fastest or most skilled player on the roster, but doing everything effectively and efficiently allows the Panthers to not miss a beat. After he posted 18 goals and 44 points in his rookie season, the offence lessened a little bit, but having shown the ability and good fortune to score with that kind of regularity would be a huge bonus for a team that doesn’t necessarily need it.

Evan Rodrigues

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	17	29	46	0.56

For years, Evan Rodrigues sought out a place to call home and prove his worth to a team. When the Florida Panthers signed him last summer to a four-year contract, it proved to be the exact right opportunity for him to show how valuable he can be. He used his versatility to play anywhere up and down the Panthers lineup and his hockey IQ along with his ability to be effective offensively and heads-up defensively to be a vital complementary player in helping Florida win the Stanley Cup. Rodrigues scored 12 goals with 27 assists (39 points) to equal his point output from the previous season with Colorado. Even though his goal total dropped a little bit, Rodrigues’ ability to read plays and the game in front of him helps make him a solid playmaker on any line he played with. Playing lower in the lineup meant being able to defend well and play physically, something he previously hadn’t been known for doing. He put up 104 hits with the Panthers, however, and used the newfound edge in his game to lean into the team’s play style. Whether it was skating with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart or with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, Rodrigues’s malleable play style made him invaluable. Having a player like that who can do a little bit of everything well is a luxury and one the Panthers were more than happy to use effectively.

Eetu Luostarinen

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	14	23	37	0.45

After starting his career with the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2019-2020, Eetu Luostarinen not only found his way to the Florida Panthers via trade, but also earned his way up through the organization to become a valuable defensive forward for them. Luostarinen’s game is well-rounded but the task he’s asked to play is that of an intense forechecker with a physical side to his game to frustrate opponents all over the ice. Even with that in mind, he was able to chip in offensively with 12 goals and 15 assists to go along with his 129 hits delivered. Being part of the Panthers and playing lower in the lineup means delivering hits is part of the job description, but being versatile enough to help at both ends is a big deal. But where Luostarinen excels apart from his five-on-five play is on the penalty kill. He was one of the two leading forwards, minutes-wise, on the kill along with Kevin Stenlund and their work helped give the Panthers the sixth best penalty kill in the league at 82.5 percent. In the postseason they were second only to the Edmonton Oilers with an 88 percent effectiveness. Luostarinen anchoring that unit up front gave the Panthers an edge, especially when you consider their penchant for occasional nastiness. Expect to see him in a similar role this season with Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell.

AJ Greer

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
50	4	5	9	0.18

Part of the Panthers offseason was saying goodbye to useful depth players as well as key players. Fortunately, replacing depth players is a bit easier than say a top pair defenceman, but finding the right guys to replicate what was lost can be tricky. Florida adding A.J. Greer to the mix will ideally help them address that. Greer has played for four different teams so far in his career and played last season with Calgary after he was waived by Boston late in training camp. With the Flames, he had six goals and six assists and delivered 100 hits. His season in Calgary was decidedly less punchy than his year with the Bruins where he had 114 penalty minutes in 61 games two seasons ago. But the fact he’s done it before and is willing to engage physically is enough for the Panthers to get him in the mix to play on the fourth line where he’ll look to replace guys like Ryan Lomberg or Nick Cousins. Greer will have a lot of competition for ice time, however, and a spot in Sunrise isn’t guaranteed despite signing a two-year deal in Florida. Newcomers Jesper Boqvist, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, and Mackenzie Entwistle are there. But given Greer’s willingness to get into the muck and ability to stick in the NHL, that may carve out a spot for him.

DEFENCE

Aaron Ekblad

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
65	7	19	26	0.40

It was a tough year for the Florida Panthers defenceman. He missed the first 16 games of the season before he returned in mid-November after he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery for an injury he sustained during the Panthers run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023. Late in the season, injuries popped up once again with a pair of lower-body injuries that kept him out of all but four of the final 17 games of the season. But his return in the postseason helped buoy the defence on the way to winning the Stanley Cup. In the 51 games he played, Ekblad had four goals and 18 assists and averaged nearly 21 minutes of ice time per game (20:52, the lowest mark in his career). He’s never been a big point producer throughout his career (his career high in points was 57 set two seasons ago) but averaging nearly 35 points per season is solid work for a guy who’s meant to hold it down on the defensive end more than anything. Now that he’s healthy once again, his usage will be interesting to watch after Brandon Montour signed with Seattle in free agency. He found a home on a pairing with Gustav Forsling last season and that duo, for the most part, had a ton of success together with Forsling carrying the load offensively. They will be the top pairing for Florida, and we’ll see them a little more often now without Montour.

Gustav Forsling

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	13	39	52	0.63

In the rankings of all-time greatest waiver pickups, Gustav Forsling has rapidly risen to near the top of the list. Three years after the Panthers claimed him off waivers from Carolina, Forsling became, arguably, their most valuable defenceman and a key reason why Florida has improved so much the past few years. Over the past three seasons, Forsling has been a steady point producer (37, 41, and 39 points each of those seasons) and scored double digit goals in each year (10, 13, 10). On top of the point production, he’s become a minute eater and averaged more than 21 minutes per game in each of the past three years. He’s their featured defenceman on the penalty kill as well and played the most minutes on the team on the kill (over 270). Whether it’s his positioning, his headiness with and without the puck, his gap control, or just his ability to stay cool under duress, Forsling has become indispensable for the Panthers. His growth and ascension in the lineup helped make parting with Brandon Montour in free agency easier to do. While teams would love to keep all their top defencemen, having a do-it-all guy like Forsling is an immense luxury. He’ll team up with Aaron Ekblad to play top pairing minutes and top pairing assignments for a defence corps that will need them to do it.

Dmitry Kulikov

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	2	16	18	0.23

One of the most heartwarming things about the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup was seeing their 2009 first-round pick Dmitry Kulikov return to Florida on a one-year contract last summer and then turn into one of their most valuable players on the blue line. In 76 games, Kulikov had a goal and 19 assists and averaged 16:31 time on-ice per game. Since Florida traded him to Buffalo in 2016, Kulikov played in 70-or-more games in a season just twice. Perhaps not coincidentally those were also the seasons in which he had 20-or-more points. He was brought back to Florida to help with their depth and to also help soften the blow while they started the season without Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour who were each recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Kulikov used that opportunity and his own good health to prove he’s still a capable defender. Kulikov adopted the Panthers methodology well and had a career-high 145 hits delivered and his 63 penalty minutes were the most he’s had in a season since 2013-2014 in his first tour with Florida. He was an important contributor to the Panthers penalty kill as well and played the third most minutes on defence behind Gustav Forsling and Niko Mikkola. Seeing him healthy and playing well again in a comfortable role was exactly what both he and the team needed.

Niko Mikkola

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	2	16	18	0.22

When the Florida Panthers added Niko Mikkola last summer with a three-year contract, they knew what they were hoping to get out of him. They wanted a guy who would play to his size as a 6-foot-4. 209-pound defender and provide a bit of an edge to a corps that was lacking a truly physical presence. In his first season with Florida, he delivered. Mikkola had three goals and 14 assists playing in all 82 games and delivered a team-high 198 hits while averaging 20:02 time on-ice per game. Offence was not the primary purpose for Mikkola, playing hardy, physical defence was, and he followed through precisely how they wanted. Mikkola was paired most often with Brandon Montour but also spent a lot of time with Dmitry Kulikov at five-on-five. He also played just over 200 minutes on the penalty kill, second among defencemen only to Gustav Forsling. He and Montour were featured together prominently throughout the playoffs while Forsling and Aaron Ekblad handled the top pair assignment. Needing to mind the backend while Montour used his offensive instincts to help push the Panthers offence worked out well. How they’ll try to recreate that this year will be worth watching because of the overhaul their blue line depth had this summer.

GOAL

Sergei Bobrovsky

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
55	31	18	6	4	0.910	2.48

Spencer Knight

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
27	15	9	3	1	0.904	2.62

It only took half of his contract for the money to pay off, but Sergei Bobrovsky finally gave fans in Sunrise, Florida what they'd been asking for. The 35-year-old Bobrovsky put up a regular season finally deserving of the money he was offered, then elevated his play in the postseason in a way he hadn't with any prior teams thus far to serve as Florida's key difference-maker en route to the franchise's first-ever Stanley Cup championship. His game, known for being high-risk and high-reward, looked revitalized and crisp as ever during his electric postseason performance - and now, he'll get to spend year six of his whopping seven-year, $70 million deal attempting to prove that he's immune to the Stanley Cup hangover.

While Bob's possibly penultimate season in Florida should be intriguing for fans, though, the real question mark will come from his second-in-command. Spencer Knight's meteoric rise to fame in the goaltending world took an abrupt pause in 2023 when he entered the NHL's Player Assistance Program to seek help managing obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the Panthers aptly gave him a full season of additional development with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers last year to return to form. He had a stellar season with Charlotte, though, with some of his best performances coming in the back half of the year as he truly showcased his NHL readiness once again. He'll play second fiddle to Bobrovsky to start the year, but the situation for both goaltenders could become fluid as Florida looks to make a fairly seamless transition from veteran to rookie in the years to come.

STANLEY CUP FINAL PREVIEW : Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers

Ryan Dadoun — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 12:11:27 +0000

Connor McDavid (97) (Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire)

By the end of the month, the Panthers will raise the Cup for the first time in franchise history or the Oilers will become the first Canadian team to win it all since 1993. Edmonton’s Kris Knoblauch will either start his NHL head coaching career with a championship or Florida’s Paul Maurice will finally get his title after first becoming a bench boss with the Hartford Whalers in 1995-96 and falling short of the ultimate prize in his other two trips to the finals.

Like their coach, this is also the Panthers’ third attempt to win the Cup after losing in the finals to Colorado in 1996 and Vegas in 2023. The core of forwards Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, defensemen Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad as well as starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky were all part of that squad that lost to the Golden Knights last year. This is a group that knows better than almost any other what to expect in the playoffs, and they’re doubtlessly hungry after coming up short in their previous attempt.

They’re also deserving of their back-to-back journeys to the Stanley Cup Final. While there have been years where Bobrovsky’s seven-year, $70 million contract has looked excessive, the 35-year-old netminder has come through in the clutch in key moments of the last two playoff runs. He hasn’t been infallible, but his 12-5 record, 2.20 GAA and .908 save percentage through 17 playoff contests this year has gotten the job done and comes on the heels of a strong regular season in which he posted a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage across 58 starts.

Bobrovsky would be the key element of a lesser team, but the Panthers haven’t asked him to do it all. They were tied for fourth in the regular season with an xGA/60 of 2.78 and have the best xGA/60 in the playoffs (2.47), which suggests that the defense in front of Bobrovsky has been making the netminder’s job easier.

He’s also been getting solid goal support. Florida ranked 11th in the regular season with 3.23 goals per game and that’s remained steady in the playoffs at 3.24. The attack has been led in the postseason by Tkachuk, Verhaeghe and Barkov, who each have provided at least five goals and 17 points through 17 outings. Reinhart hasn’t been able to extend his incredible 57-goal performance from the regular season, but with eight goals and 12 points across 17 playoff appearances, he’s yet another threat the Oilers can’t ignore. That just scratches the surface too -- 10 Panthers players are entering this series with at least three goals to their name in the 2024 playoffs.

It's a lot for Edmonton to have to deal with, especially because goaltender Stuart Skinner isn’t always reliable. He’s had his rough patches in this playoff run, which has left him with a mediocre .897 save percentage. At the same time, he’s not always bad either, and much like the Oilers as a whole, he’s managed to prove those who doubt him wrong more often than not.

Few would have bet on Edmonton reaching the Stanley Cup Final after getting off to a 2-9-1 start and even less would have predicted Skinner would be the goaltender to carry them there after going 1-5-1 with a 3.87 GAA and an .854 save percentage in eight appearances across that season-opening stretch. And yet, here we are -- not only are the Oilers in the finals, but it was Skinner who punched their ticket after saving 33 of 34 shots en route to a series-clinching Game 6 victory over Dallas.

If the Oilers get games like that out of Skinner against Florida, that would be an incredible boost for Edmonton, but it’s not necessarily what the Oilers need to win this series. While Florida is more than just Bobrovsky, that sentiment works even better when speaking of Edmonton and its top goaltender.

Like the Panthers, Edmonton makes life as easy on its netminder as possible on most nights. You’ll recall that the Panthers were tied for fourth in xGA/60 in the regular season, and the team that matched them was Edmonton. The Oilers have continued to excel defensively in the playoffs with an xGA/60 of 2.65, so while the goaltending isn’t always going to be perfect, this year’s finals include two teams that play responsible hockey.

Getting Edmonton to play sound defensively was a multiyear project and the rewards of those efforts have led to this championship, but when you think of the Oilers, the first thing to come to mind is understanding not their play in their zone.

You don’t think of the supporting cast either, though it’s gotten impressive over the years thanks to the addition of Zach Hyman, Evander Kane and defenseman Mattias Ekholm along with the growth of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Even blueliner Evan Bouchard isn’t what makes the headlines despite him recording six goals and 27 points through 18 playoff contests this year, making it the fifth most ever recorded by a defenseman (just two behind Cale Makar’s 29-point showing en route to the Conn Smythe Trophy) in a single postseason run -- and that’s before the finals have even begun.

Instead, all eyes are on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. How could they not be? McDavid has five goals and 31 points through 18 playoff appearances this year while Draisaitl has 10 goals and 28 points. To put that into context, no Panthers forward has reached the 20-point milestone yet.

Here’s another way to look at it: Imagine that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were on the same team at some point in their career. Does that sound like an absurd comparison? It might not be as big of a leap as you think. The top two playoff performers of all time (min. 10 games) in terms of points per game are Gretzky (1.84) and Lemieux (1.61), but the next two after that are McDavid and Draisaitl at 1.58 and 1.57. Of course, the Edmonton superstars haven’t played the back half of their careers yet, which might drag down those averages, but still, it underscores just how special the Oilers duo has been, not just when it comes to collecting regular season accomplishments, but in their ability to step up in the playoffs.

Draisaitl’s contract runs through 2025 while McDavid’s will end in the summer of 2026. Perhaps they will end up as Oilers for life, but at a minimum, both of them, especially Draisaitl with his current cap hit of $8.5 million, will be due for a raise. This might be this duo's best chance to win a Cup together. Of course, the Panthers will be telling themselves a similar story. Making the finals once is a rarity that doesn’t happen in every career, but to get there twice in a row? They can’t afford to let this golden opportunity slip from their clutches a second time, no matter who their opponent is.

KEY MATCHUPS

Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Stuart Skinner

This series is a chance at redemption for Bobrovsky. He was critical to the Panthers’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, posting a 2.21 GAA and a .935 save percentage in 14 playoff games that year, but he couldn’t handle Vegas, posting a 4.70 GAA and an .844 save percentage in the five-game series. The Golden Knights scored at least five goals in three contests over that series, winning 5-2 in Game 1, 7-2 in Game 2 and 9-3 in Game 5. The Golden Knights had an amazing offense, but Bobrovsky’s assignment against Edmonton will arguably be even tougher, so the pressure is on.

It feels like the distant past now, but Bobrovsky was 2-0 while saving 64 of 68 shots against Edmonton during the 2023-24 regular season, so that bodes well.

Skinner didn’t draw an assignment against Florida during the 2023-24 campaign, though he was 2-0 while saving 65 of 70 shots versus the very similar 2023-24 Panthers. Of course, as noted above, it’s hard to know what you’re going to get from Skinner.

All things being equal, Bobrovsky and the Panthers should have the edge in this category. However, there’s also an argument to be made that this category represents an X-Factor for this series given the Panthers goaltender’s struggles during last year’s finals and Skinner’s overall unpredictability.

Sam Reinhart vs. Zach Hyman

Reinhart and Hyman finished second and third in the goal-scoring race with 57 and 54, respectively. They weren’t players many would have picked to be in the top three going into the campaign. After all, Hyman set a career high in 2022-23 with 36 markers and Reinhart’s previous best was 33.

I discussed above how Reinhart has slowed in the playoffs, but eight goals through 17 playoff contests is nothing to complain about, though it does pale in comparison to Hyman’s 14 markers through 18 postseason outings.

At this point, Hyman has an outside chance of matching the record of 19 goals in a single playoff run, which is a record shared by Reggie Leach (1975-76) and Jari Kurri (1984-85), but both Hyman and Reinhart have the ability to carry their team on any given night.

Kyle Okposo vs. Corey Perry

The elder statesmen in this series. Neither is expected to have a significant impact on the ice, but both of them could have influence in the locker room. Perry especially should bring a wealth of experience to the Oilers. He’s played in 209 career postseason contests, has won the Stanley Cup and is gearing up for his fifth career Stanley Cup Final, so a strong argument could be made that he’s the most knowledgeable active player when it comes to the finals.

Okposo is in some ways the polar opposite. He’s only participated in 35 career playoff outings given how much of his tenure has been spent on rebuilding teams between his stints with the Islanders and the Sabres. Still, the 36-year-old is a veteran presence and can be yet another source of motivation for the Panthers, who have an opportunity to win it for Okposo before his career potentially draws to a close.

Vladimir Tarasenko vs. Adam Henrique

Like Perry and Okposo, Tarasenko and Henrique were added by Florida and Edmonton, respectively, during the 2023-24 campaign, but rather being mostly cheerleaders, Tarasenko and Henrique are important secondary scorers.

Henrique figures to start the finals centering Edmonton’s third line and might chip in a bit in that role after collecting two goals and four points through 10 postseason contests this year. Having a responsible third-line center was a big need for the Oilers before acquiring Henrique. In theory, that’s a role Nugent-Hopkins can fill, but in practice, Edmonton prefers to have Nugent-Hopkins on the top unit alongside Hyman and McDavid.

Tarasenko is also likely to start the series on the third line. Like Henrique, he hasn’t been a major offensive force in the 2024 playoffs, but he has contributed an okay six points (three goals) across 17 appearances during Florida’s postseason run. Tarasenko won the Cup with St. Louis in 2019 and made a mark in that series with three goals and four points over seven games. The 32-year-old’s body has considerably more wear now, and he’s playing in a reduced role, but he still has the potential to come up clutch.

Matthew Tkachuk/Aleksander Barkov vs. Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl

This is a matchup Edmonton should win cleanly. The only question is how big the gap will be. As noted above, McDavid has surpassed the 30-point milestone in this year’s playoffs while no Florida player has reached the 20-point mark. Leon Draisaitl isn’t far behind with 10 goals and 28 points across 18 outings.

Florida will naturally attempt to limit McDavid and Draisaitl’s contributions, but many high-end defenses have tried and failed at that task. Having said that, Draisaitl’s a bit more of a question mark. He was somewhat of a mixed bag in the Western Conference Final, finishing with two goals and four points across six contests, so maybe he’s not quite at his best right now.

Either way, Tkachuk and Barkov don’t necessarily have to match Edmonton’s top two on offense for Florida to win this series, but the Panthers’ top forwards will still need to make major contributions. That’s especially true for Tkachuk. While Florida’s loss to Vegas in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final doesn’t rest solely on Tkachuk suffering a broken sternum in Game 3 of that series, it certainly had an impact. Provided he stays healthy, Tkachuk should be a major factor for the Panthers after recording five goals and 19 points through 17 playoff appearances this year.

X-FACTOR

Florida Panthers: One major weakness of the Panthers during the 2023 playoffs was their penalty kill, which finished at 70.4 percent. Florida has done far better in the 2024 postseason, successfully killing 88.2 percent of its penalties. However, the Panthers are in for their biggest test yet in Edmonton, which has a 37.3 power-play success rate in this playoff run. Four of Edmonton’s five goals over their final two wins in the Western Conference Finals were scored with the man advantage, so that’s something the Panthers will need to shut down in this series.

Edmonton Oilers: The biggest X-Factor for Edmonton is Skinner, but we’ve already discussed him at length, so instead I’ll highlight the Oilers’ need to finish strong. Edmonton has been outscored in the third period of playoff games 19-12, which is in contrast to the regular season when the Oilers’ best period was the third with them outscoring the competition 105-74. Finishing strong is something Florida has excelled at in the 2024 playoffs, with a 24-11 goal differential in their favor in that frame, so if those trends continue, we might end up seeing Edmonton coughing up leads late in this series.

PREDICTION

Making the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years is an impressive, though not unheard of, accomplishment. But what about making it this far in consecutive years only to lose both times? The last team that suffered that fate were the Boston Bruins, who lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Montreal Canadiens in 1977 and 1978. Before that, it was the St. Louis Blues, who fell short of the title despite reaching the finals in three straight years from 1968-70.

The NHL was far smaller in the 60s and 70s, making such an occurrence at least more probable, but I think we might see it happen again, all the same.

I wouldn’t have picked Edmonton to win the Cup going into the year nor were the Oilers my choice to claim the title when the postseason began. In particular, I didn’t have faith in Skinner, and I questioned their depth, at least relative to a seemingly more rounded team like Dallas. However, Edmonton is here all the same. Skinner has sometimes bent under pressure, but not broken. Most importantly, the Oilers’ star players continue to deliver in the clutch, undeterred by hot goaltenders like Vancouver’s Arturs Silovs or elite netminders like Dallas’ Jake Oettinger.

Florida deserves a lot of credit too. The Panthers were able to comfortably best Tampa Bay, Boston and the Rangers. None of those were pushovers, and they show that Florida can tall against anyone, Edmonton included. Certainly, I wouldn’t be shocked by a Panthers championship.

Even still, I think the Oilers have the edge here. McDavid should shine, his supporting cast should do their job and if Skinner can at least stay serviceable, then I believe Edmonton will win the Cup in seven.

2024 NHL PLAYOFF PREVIEW – EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: Florida Panthers vs. New York Rangers

Ryan Dadoun — Tue, 21 May 2024 23:00:55 +0000

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 04: Florida Panthers Left Wing Eetu Luostarinen (27) in action during the third period of the National Hockey League game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers on March 4, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire)

The Panthers are four wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row, but they’re set to be challenged by the Rangers, who proved to be among the most balanced squads in the regular season, setting a franchise record in points with their 55-23-4 finish, and won their first seven playoff games along a path that saw them handily sweep win the Washington Capitals and eventually best the Carolina Hurricanes in six contests.

The Rangers can count on strength in nearly every aspect of the game. They have a former Vezina Trophy winner in Igor Shesterkin, and he’s playing up to his potential in the postseason with an 8-2 record, 2.40 GAA and .923 save percentage. If he gets injured? Then they can turn to three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick. Sure, he’s 38 years old now, but he proved to be solid in the regular season with an 18-6-2 record, 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage in 27 outings.

Even if the Rangers didn’t get good goaltending, though, they can adapt. New York ranked seventh in the regular season with 3.39 goals per game and has elevated in the playoffs to an average of 3.50. Artemi Panarin is coming off the best regular season of his career (49 goals, 120 points) and was backed up by Vincent Trocheck (25 goals, 77 points), Chris Kreider (39 goals, 75 points), Mika Zibanejad (26 goals, 72 points) and defenseman Adam Fox (17 goals, 73 points). To put all that into context, 52 players finished the 2023-24 campaign with at least 70 points, which adds up to an average of 1.625 players per team. The fact that the Rangers employed five of them speaks to their incredible depth.

That’s before you even get into Alexis Lafreniere, who came into his own this season with 28 goals and 57 points, providing the Rangers with another key weapon, or Blake Wheeler, who hasn’t played since Feb. 15 due to a leg injury, but is healthy now and provides the Rangers with another potential middle-six option should his services be needed.

In the likely event that the series turns physical, the Rangers are covered there too. Barclay Goodrow, Will Cuylle, Trocheck, defensemen Jacob Trouba and Braden Schneider are all happy to play a gritty game. If needed, the Rangers can also send out Matt Rempe. The 21-year-old rookie has been a healthy scratch in three of New York’s last four contests, but he’s already become a fan favorite and garnered national attention for his eagerness to play with intensity while taking full advantage of his 6-foot-7, 241-pound frame.

It's not hard to see how this roster reached the Eastern Conference Final or envision a path for them to win the Cup, but it’d still be wrong to dismiss the Panthers. Florida is one of the few teams that can measure up to the Rangers.

The Panthers had a similarly strong regular season, finishing atop the Atlantic Division with a 52-24-6 record, and they haven’t been made to sweat too much in the playoffs, dispatching Tampa Bay in five contests before getting past the Bruins in six games. Like the Rangers, Florida’s strengths are numerous.

Shesterkin being a former Vezina Trophy winner is impressive, but Panther’s goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has done it twice, and he’s in the running to claim that honor for a third time after being named a finalist for 2023-24 after posting a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage across 58 outings. Bobrovsky has been a somewhat mixed bag in the 2024 playoffs, but he is entering this series after posting a 1.62 GAA and a .921 save percentage over his past five starts, so his recent play doesn’t lend itself to much cause for concern.

Florida is also another team that doesn’t necessarily need great goaltending to win. The squad wasn’t quite as dominant offensively as the Rangers in the regular season, finishing 11th with 3.23 goals per game, but the Panthers have stepped up in the playoffs with an average of 3.55.

Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart have each supplied at least four goals and nine points through 11 postseason outings to lead the Panthers’ attack, but they’ve gotten plenty of support from Anton Lundell (two goals, nine points), Evan Rodrigues (three goals, six points) and defensemen Brandon Montour (three goals, eight points) and Gustav Forsling (two goals and seven points).

Just outside of the periphery, there are other Panthers forwards who might prove to be heroes at some point during this series. Sam Bennett has been limited to six playoff contests due to an upper-body injury, but he’s healthy now and has a respectable two goals and four points through six postseason appearances this year. Then there’s Vladimir Tarasenko, who has just two goals and five points across 11 playoff outings but shouldn’t be counted out after providing 23 goals and 55 points in 76 regular-season contests. He’s also a former Stanley Cup winner with 108 career postseason games under his belt, so as the pressure continues to grow, he could become a valuable locker-room presence.

Should this series get physical, the Panthers also have players who can respond, most notably Bennett and Tkachuk.

These teams aren’t without their flaws. Though Shesterkin has been largely masking it, the Rangers’ defensive play in front of him has left something to be desired. New York has an xGA/60 of 3.24 in the playoffs, which suggests that if you factor out Shesterkin, the defense itself has been mediocre to poor, and well below that of Florida with its xGA/60 of 2.62. At the same time, Bobrovsky’s inconsistency makes it hard to know what the Panthers are going to get, even if he has performed well recently.

Still, these are two teams extremely deserving of their place among the final four postseason squads, and seeing them battle it out will be a real treat.

KEY MATCHUPS

Igor Shesterkin vs. Sergei Bobrovsky

At their best, both of these netminders are incredibly hard to get anything by. They’ve had their share of rough patches too, and they each have their work cut out for them against the opposing offense in this series, but either goaltender has the potential to rise up and steal this series. To some extent, Bobrovsky did that in the second round when he shut the door on Boston by allowing just eight goals on 101 shots over the last five contests, though he had substantial help from his defense. Shesterkin was similarly lights out in the Rangers’ opening series, limiting Washington to seven goals on 101 shots over four games.

Will either of these two be the MVP of the Eastern Conference Final?

Sam Reinhart vs. Artemi Panarin

The Panthers and Rangers’ regular season scoring leaders have made their presence felt in the playoffs, but both still have room for improvement. Panarin ranks third offensively on the Rangers with four goals and 11 points through 10 postseason appearances this year while Reinhart is tied for fourth with five goals and nine points across 11 playoff outings. It’s worth noting that both of these players rose to the occasion in the season series -- Reinhart finished with four goals and five points in three outings against the Rangers while Panarin supplied three goals and four points versus the Panthers -- so they should rise to the occasion in the Eastern Conference Final.

Brandon Montour vs. Adam Fox

On paper, the battle of top offensive defensemen in one area where the Rangers should have the clear edge. Florida didn’t have a blueliner reach the 40-point milestone in 2023-24 with Montour crashing from 73 points in 80 appearances in 2022-23 to 33 points across 66 regular-season contests this year. Meanwhile, Fox has surpassed the 70-point milestone in three consecutive campaigns.

However, Fox has been quiet offensively in the postseason with four helpers through 10 contests and is entering this series on a four-game scoring drought. Meanwhile, Montour has stepped up with three goals and eight points through 11 playoff games. It’ll be interesting to see how these two perform in this series, especially because Fox did so well in the Rangers’ previous two postseason runs, recording five goals and 31 points across 27 outings.

X-FACTOR

Florida Panthers: Bobrovsky is the Panthers’ biggest question mark. It could be argued that I’ve made too much of the 35-year-old goaltender’s inconsistencies, especially after he put forth a season worthy of Vezina Trophy consideration, but when I think about him being unpredictable, I’m not just referring to a few bad playoff performances or some cold stretches during the regular season. Bobrovsky’s career has been one of extremes with him being dominant at times and a disaster at others. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that he was strong against the Rangers in the regular season, posting a 2-0-1 record, 2.59 GAA and .919 save percentage, so that coupled with the strong play we noted above in the second round provide reason for optimism.

New York Rangers: I noted above about the Rangers’ mediocre defense outside of Shesterkin, and that’s a potentially big problem. It’s also not one that’s completely new either. During the regular season, the Rangers ranked 13th in xGA/60 at 3 while Florida tied for fourth with a 2.78 xGA/60. That gap growing in the playoffs is troubling and potentially is New York’s biggest weakness going forward.

PREDICTION

Through the first seven games of the playoffs, the Rangers looked like a team of destiny. Sweeping the Capitals was noteworthy, but Washington wasn’t a great team, so the outcome wasn’t shocking. Taking a 3-0 lead on Carolina, though? That’s special and drew allusions to the Cup-winning 1994 Rangers, who also started their playoff run 7-0.

Some of that glean wore off the Rangers when they dropped Games 4 and 5, but this group still feels like the team to beat. Perhaps the Panthers can do it, they’re certainly a force in their own right, but I suspect New York will edge past them in seven games.

2024 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

Ryan Dadoun — Mon, 06 May 2024 14:10:06 +0000

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 06: Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) drives past Florida Panthers right wing Sam Reinhart (13) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers on April 6, 2024, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

A year ago, the Bruins entered their matchup against the Panthers as the heavy favorites but ended up blowing a 3-1 series lead and were consequently eliminated in the first round. This time around, neither team is entering this series with an obvious overall edge, and this year’s version of the Bruins have shown themselves to be more resilient after earning a Game 7 overtime victory over Toronto in the first round despite once again dropping Games 5 and 6. So let’s see what happened in 2023 aside and focus on how these squads stack up now.

In terms of goaltending, both squads have to be feeling pretty comfortable going into the second round. Jeremy Swayman was strong in the regular season, posting a 25-10-8 record, 2.53 GAA and .916 save percentage across 44 appearances, and he looked even better against the Maple Leafs, stopping 172 of 181 shots (.950 save percentage) over six playoff outings this year. Toronto did have some health issues in the first round, but the Maple Leafs still featured an amazing group of forwards, and Swayman rose to the occasion, as evidenced by his incredible 10.9 Goals Saved Above Expected, which is by far the best of any netminder so far in the 2024 playoffs.

He’ll be countered by Sergei Bobrovsky, who is a Vezina Trophy nominee after finishing the 2023-24 campaign with a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage in 58 regular-season games. He was a mixed bag against Tampa Bay in the first round, finishing with a 2.78 GAA and an .896 save percentage in five outings, but Bobrovsky still rose to the occasion in Game 5, saving 31 of 32 shots to do his part in the series-clinching win.

On paper, there’s not much separating these teams offensively either. Florida averaged 3.23 goals per game in the regular season to Boston’s 3.21. The Bruins were primarily driven during the 2023-24 campaign by David Pastrnak (47 goals, 110 points) with notable contributions by Brad Marchand (29 goals, 67 points), Charlie Coyle (25 goals, 60 points) and Pavel Zacha (21 goals, 59 points) while Florida’s attack was led by its main four attackers of Sam Reinhart (57 goals, 94 points), Matthew Tkachuk (26 goals, 88 points), Aleksander Barkov (23 goals, 80 points) and Carter Verhaeghe (34 goals, 72 points).

Florida also has the luxury of midseason acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko, who had a goal and three points in five first-round games. At the same time, Boston might get secondary scoring from sources like Jake DeBrusk, who managed three markers and five points in seven outings versus the Maple Leafs.

Ultimately, with so little separating these teams, this series might be determined by the edges Florida has that go beyond its roster. The Panthers might have finished with just one more point than Boston in the regular season, but that’s still good enough to earn them home-ice advantage. Florida will also be well-rested going into Game 1 on Monday, but Boston just completed a grueling, physical series Saturday and then had to promptly fly to Florida. Perhaps the short turnover will allow Boston to carry some momentum from its recent win, but it’s likely the Bruins are dealing with more players trudging along at less than 100 percent than Florida.

KEY MATCHUPS

Jeremy Swayman vs. Sergei Bobrovsky

When the Bruins and Panthers faced off in the 2023 playoffs, they combined for 53 goals over seven contests, but the circumstances were different. Boston and Florida each finished in the top five in scoring during the 2022-23 campaign. At the same time, the Bruins were using Linus Ullmark in goal, who was playing hurt, and Alex Lyon, who ultimately wasn’t up to the task, began the series for the Panthers.

This year’s teams are still solid offensively, but not quite as good -- neither finished the regular season in the top 10 offensively -- and the goaltending matchup looks a lot better. Swayman couldn’t be hotter while Bobrovsky has been fantastic all year. So it wouldn’t be surprising to see this series be an intense goaltending duel in contrast to last year's high-scoring affair.

Brad Marchand vs. Matthew Tkachuk

If we do see plenty of offense, though, these two will probably be leading the charge. They were two of the main drivers of their respective teams in last year’s series. Marchand tied for the Bruins’ lead with 10 points (four goals) in the 2023 playoffs. At the other end of the ice, Tkachuk provided a series-best 11 points (five markers).

These two are fantastic talents who seem to rise to the occasion in the playoffs, so we should see them be difference-makers again this time around.

David Pastrnak vs. Sam Reinhart

Pastrnak is a somewhat interesting case. Really, he should be driving the Bruins’ offense instead of Marchand, but that doesn’t always happen. He had three goals and five points in seven contests versus Toronto in the first round, which isn’t bad, but not what you’d hope for out of a player who has reached the 110-point milestone in back-to-back campaigns. He did score the series-winner Saturday, though, so perhaps he can build off that momentum going into the second round.

The Panthers will look for their regular-season goal-scoring leader, Reinhart, to help counter whatever Pastrnak provides. Reinhart set a career high with 57 markers during the regular season, and he has supplied another three goals through five playoff games this year, so limiting him will be one of Boston’s greatest challenges in this series.

X-FACTOR

Boston Bruins: One decisive factor for the Bruins in their first-round win over Toronto was Boston’s dominance on special teams. The Bruins converted on 35.3 percent of their power plays while successfully killing an amazing 95.2 percent of their penalties. Boston was not good against Florida in its 2023 playoff run, allowing five markers on the Panthers’ 20 power-play opportunities, but Boston’s goaltending in general struggled in that series, so perhaps the Bruins will find significantly more success on special teams this time around.

Florida Panthers: There’s certainly a benefit to the Panthers being well-rested, but there’s also some risk of rust. In particular, it will be interesting to see how Verhaeghe and Tkachuk do in the early portion of this series. That duo was amazing in the first round, combining for eight goals and 18 points in five games, but carrying that momentum forward will be a challenge after going a week between games. To a lesser extent, there’s also the question of Sam Bennett. He will miss Game 1 due to an upper-body injury, and while he’s not vital to Florida’s offense, he does provide some valuable grit and second scoring, so the sooner the Panthers can get him back, the better off they’ll be.

PREDICTION

I’ve read some suggestions that this series heavily favors the Panthers, but I just don’t see it. Frankly, I believe it speaks to a larger trend that has occurred throughout this season of people underestimating the Bruins. They see them as a shadow of the 2022-23 variant, which to an extent is fair, but what they ignore is this year’s team is amazing in its own right.

Ultimately, I am still going to predict Florida will win this series in seven games. I think Boston is too ground down from the Leafs to get the edge on Florida. However, the gap between these teams is small, and it would not shock me if Boston managed to eke past Florida, especially with Swayman dialed in. If Boston does pull off the upset, it will almost surely be with Swayman as the series’ MVP.

McKeen’s 2024 NHL Playoff Pool Picklist

Robert Howard — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:01:11 +0000

COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 25: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid #97 prior to the game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Edmonton Oilers at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire)

In kicking off our 2024 NHL Playoff Pool coverage, Scott Cullen did an excellent breakdown of how to strategize for your pool. We recommend you give it a read and can link here.

The picklist below largely follows the strategy laid out in his article focusing on these broad categories – 1) Diversify 2) Stacking 3) First Round Winners 4) Power Play 5) Late Season Production 6) Injuries 7) Targeting playoff performers. Every playoff season will be different, of course, and simply following the Stanley Cup odds laid in many places including BetGM will provide a picture of which teams you should focus on with your picks to make the final, but the path to that result will vary. They currently have the Carolina Hurricanes (650) and the Colorado Avalanche (700) as odds on favourites to meet in the Stanley Cup Final, followed closely by Florida Panthers (700), Dallas Stars (800), Edmonton Oilers (800) and the New York Rangers (900).

If we look at McKeen’s team predictions for each of the first round series it becomes clear some teams have an easier path and their players will provide the best odds to play the most games. Lets look at how the brackets might shake out.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas Vs. Vegas – We have Dallas winning in seven in a very hard-fought battle. A deep Dallas team versus the defending Champion who boasts several high-profile additions to end the season.

Winnipeg Vs. Colorado – This should be another war with the potential of a Winnipeg upset if Connor Hellebuyck rises to the occasion and Georgiev continues his late season struggles. Colorado should triumph in seven games.

Second Round Matchup: Colorado vs Dallas - The winner of these two close series meet and it means one of the highly ranked Colorado or Dallas will eliminate each other in the second round, assuming no upset in the first.

Edmonton Vs. Los Angeles – Edmonton should have the depth and firepower to take Los Angeles in six as we have predicted.

Vancouver Vs. Nashville – We hesitate to underestimate Nashville again, and this could be a close contest, but feel confident Vancouver will take it in six.

Second Round Matchup: Edmonton vs Vancouver – This should make for a thrilling series, but McDavid and company looked on a mission in the second half and should proceed to the conference final in six.

Therefore, the conference final in the west is projected to be Edmonton versus Colorado or Dallas (two very closely matched teams).

EASTERN CONFRENCE

Florida Vs. Tampa Bay – The recent two-time Stanley Cup champion meets last year’s finalist in the first round. While Tampa’s core may be aging, they are still a real threat if they get rolling. Florida showed they know how to win in the playoffs last year as well. Two goaltenders who can steal a series may make this a potential upset, but Florida should prevail in six.

Boston Vs. Toronto – Old nemesis meet again in the first round. Boston has beaten Toronto consistently in the playoffs in recent years and won all head-to-head matchups this season. There are questions about both teams, but the series should go seven and really could go either way.

Second Round Matchup: Boston Vs. Florida – with both series offering potential upsets, Florida players are ranked higher than Boston, and have ranked some high scoring Leafs and reasonable picks given they could well make it to the second round and can provide a challenge for both teams.

Carolina Vs. New York Islanders – A deep Carolina team adding some significant pieces at the deadline and should beat the Islanders here in five games.

New York Rangers Vs. Washington – The Rangers should be heavy favourites in this series and should beat the Capital in five or six games.

Second Round Matchup: - Carolina vs New York Rangers – of the second-round matchups this is the one we are most comfortable predicting. It should be a close series with the Hurricanes moving on to the Conference Final against Florida.

The following picklist is based on those possible outcomes. The first round offers some interesting matchups that could leave a favourite or two on the outside looking in early. Stack up on the teams you feel have the best odds of taking the cup but understand there are always upsets. Looking at the above, the teams with the easiest path to the conference final are Edmonton and Carolina. Colorado and Dallas are favourites of both the oddsmakers and ourselves to win a cup, but one of them will bow out by the second round. Florida has depth but will have to go through Tampa and either Boston or Toronto.

Good luck whichever strategy you choose.

Subscribers can download an excel version of this list in subscriber downloads

RANK	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	P/GP	EVG	EVP	PPG	PPP
1	Connor McDavid	EDM	C	76	32	100	132	35	30	1.74	24	87	7	44
2	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	C	82	51	89	140	35	42	1.71	41	92	10	48
3	Sebastian Aho	CAR	C	78	36	53	89	34	36	1.14	24	55	11	32
4	Jake Guentzel	CAR	C	67	30	47	77	25	22	1.15	25	55	5	22
5	Leon Draisaitl	EDM	C	81	41	65	106	26	76	1.31	20	65	21	39
6	Mikko Rantanen	COL	R	80	42	62	104	19	50	1.3	28	64	14	40
7	Cale Makar	COL	D	77	21	69	90	15	16	1.17	13	47	7	39
8	Sam Reinhart	FLA	C	82	57	37	94	29	31	1.15	25	55	27	34
9	Matthew Tkachuk	FLA	L	80	26	62	88	19	88	1.1	19	55	6	32
10	Aleksander Barkov	FLA	C	73	23	57	80	33	24	1.1	18	49	5	29
11	Artemi Panarin	NYR	L	82	49	71	120	18	24	1.46	38	75	11	44
12	Jason Robertson	DAL	L	82	29	51	80	19	22	0.98	20	52	9	28
13	Roope Hintz	DAL	C	80	30	35	65	26	22	0.81	19	42	8	19
14	Seth Jarvis	CAR	C	81	33	34	67	23	14	0.83	18	44	13	20
15	Andrei Svechnikov	CAR	R	59	19	33	52	13	58	0.88	14	35	5	17
16	Evan Bouchard	EDM	D	81	18	64	82	34	32	1.01	10	47	8	35
17	Zach Hyman	EDM	L	80	54	23	77	36	48	0.96	39	57	15	20
18	Valeri Nichushkin	COL	R	54	28	25	53	5	22	0.98	12	30	16	21
19	Nikita Kucherov	TBL	R	81	44	100	144	8	22	1.78	31	91	13	53
20	Auston Matthews	TOR	C	81	69	38	107	31	20	1.32	51	77	18	29
21	David Pastrnak	BOS	R	82	47	63	110	21	47	1.34	35	75	12	35
22	Jack Eichel	VGK	C	63	31	37	68	4	27	1.08	20	44	11	22
23	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	EDM	C	80	18	49	67	10	36	0.84	14	38	4	26
24	Joe Pavelski	DAL	C	82	27	40	67	12	20	0.82	16	46	11	21
25	Matt Duchene	DAL	C	80	25	40	65	15	20	0.81	19	49	6	16
26	Mika Zibanejad	NYR	C	81	26	46	72	15	30	0.89	12	35	12	31
27	Martin Necas	CAR	C	77	24	29	53	-9	42	0.69	16	40	8	13
28	Vincent Trocheck	NYR	C	82	25	52	77	16	55	0.94	13	52	11	24
29	Chris Kreider	NYR	L	82	39	36	75	19	26	0.91	19	41	18	29
30	William Nylander	TOR	R	82	40	58	98	1	24	1.2	26	59	11	35
31	Mitch Marner	TOR	R	69	26	59	85	21	18	1.23	17	57	8	27
32	Adam Fox	NYR	D	72	17	56	73	21	36	1.01	10	38	6	33
33	Miro Heiskanen	DAL	D	71	9	45	54	8	36	0.76	7	33	2	21
34	Carter Verhaeghe	FLA	C	76	34	38	72	17	36	0.95	26	51	8	21
35	Mark Stone	VGK	R	56	16	37	53	1	22	0.95	10	35	4	14
36	Wyatt Johnston	DAL	C	82	32	33	65	14	38	0.79	26	52	3	10
37	Casey Mittelstadt	COL	C	80	18	39	57	10	32	0.71	15	48	3	9
38	Jonathan Drouin	COL	L	79	19	37	56	12	28	0.71	14	37	5	19
39	Artturi Lehkonen	COL	L	45	16	18	34	11	14	0.76	9	22	7	12
40	Sam Bennett	FLA	C	69	20	21	41	17	100	0.59	15	29	5	12
41	Vladimir Tarasenko	FLA	R	76	23	32	55	13	12	0.72	20	46	3	9
42	Jamie Benn	DAL	L	82	21	39	60	8	41	0.73	13	35	7	22
43	Tyler Seguin	DAL	C	68	25	27	52	10	26	0.76	22	42	3	8
44	J.T. Miller	VAN	C	81	37	66	103	32	58	1.27	25	61	10	40
45	Quinn Hughes	VAN	D	82	17	75	92	38	38	1.12	12	54	5	38
46	Elias Pettersson	VAN	C	82	34	55	89	20	12	1.09	21	56	13	31
47	Brad Marchand	BOS	L	82	29	38	67	2	78	0.82	19	37	7	26
48	Charlie Coyle	BOS	C	82	25	35	60	-2	38	0.73	17	44	7	11
49	Jonathan Marchessault	VGK	R	82	42	27	69	-2	40	0.84	34	52	8	17
50	Tomas Hertl	VGK	C	54	17	21	38	-28	22	0.7	10	26	6	11
51	Teuvo Teravainen	CAR	L	76	25	28	53	15	10	0.7	15	32	9	17
52	Mason Marchment	DAL	L	81	22	31	53	22	54	0.65	16	42	6	11
53	Thomas Harley	DAL	D	79	15	32	47	28	18	0.59	13	37	1	9
54	John Tavares	TOR	C	80	29	36	65	2	30	0.81	20	45	9	20
55	Pavel Zacha	BOS	C	78	21	38	59	12	18	0.76	15	44	6	15
56	Brayden Point	TBL	C	81	46	44	90	-16	14	1.11	31	58	15	32
57	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	79	40	41	81	-21	34	1.03	21	42	19	39
58	Victor Hedman	TBL	D	78	13	63	76	18	76	0.97	9	45	4	31
59	Brandon Hagel	TBL	L	82	26	49	75	1	79	0.91	24	66	2	7
60	Evander Kane	EDM	L	77	24	20	44	-4	85	0.57	21	36	2	7
61	Logan Stankoven	DAL	C	24	6	8	14	10	4	0.58	5	12	1	2
62	Devon Toews	COL	D	82	12	38	50	28	18	0.61	12	43	0	5
63	Charlie McAvoy	BOS	D	74	12	35	47	4	86	0.64	11	34	1	13
64	Morgan Rielly	TOR	D	72	7	51	58	7	27	0.81	6	38	1	20
65	Brock Boeser	VAN	R	81	40	33	73	23	14	0.9	24	48	16	25
66	Alexis Lafrenière	NYR	L	82	28	29	57	2	40	0.7	26	51	2	6
67	Mark Scheifele	WPG	C	74	25	47	72	19	57	0.97	19	54	6	18
68	Kyle Connor	WPG	L	65	34	27	61	-6	6	0.94	29	42	5	19
69	Chandler Stephenson	VGK	C	75	16	35	51	-9	25	0.68	10	35	4	13
70	Mattias Ekholm	EDM	D	79	11	34	45	44	47	0.57	8	41	2	3
71	Josh Morrissey	WPG	D	81	10	59	69	34	44	0.85	8	50	2	19
72	Ross Colton	COL	C	80	17	23	40	-8	61	0.5	14	35	3	5
73	Warren Foegele	EDM	L	82	20	21	41	3	47	0.5	18	38	1	1
74	Brady Skjei	CAR	D	80	13	34	47	15	40	0.59	11	31	1	12
75	Brent Burns	CAR	D	82	10	33	43	19	20	0.52	5	22	4	20
76	William Karlsson	VGK	C	70	30	30	60	15	22	0.86	22	43	7	15
77	Shea Theodore	VGK	D	47	5	37	42	4	6	0.89	3	27	2	15
78	Filip Forsberg	NSH	L	82	48	46	94	16	43	1.15	35	62	13	32
79	Roman Josi	NSH	D	82	23	62	85	12	45	1.04	14	51	9	33
80	Sean Monahan	WPG	C	83	26	33	59	-1	12	0.71	15	36	9	21
81	Gustav Forsling	FLA	D	79	10	29	39	56	43	0.49	9	37	1	2
82	Brandon Montour	FLA	D	66	8	25	33	1	46	0.5	7	16	1	17
83	Mathew Barzal	NYI	C	80	23	57	80	-4	34	1	18	55	5	25
84	Noah Dobson	NYI	D	79	10	60	70	12	36	0.89	9	45	1	24
85	Nikolaj Ehlers	WPG	L	82	25	36	61	27	29	0.74	25	54	0	7
86	Tyler Toffoli	WPG	C	79	33	22	55	-6	14	0.7	22	37	11	18
87	Cole Perfetti	WPG	C	71	19	19	38	13	12	0.54	14	27	5	11
88	Gabriel Vilardi	WPG	C	47	22	14	36	11	14	0.77	13	22	9	14
89	Anthony Duclair	TBL	L	73	24	18	42	-8	34	0.58	19	30	5	12
90	Brock Nelson	NYI	C	82	34	35	69	-5	28	0.84	24	48	9	19
91	Bo Horvat	NYI	C	81	33	35	68	-1	39	0.84	22	48	10	18
92	Adrian Kempe	LAK	R	77	28	47	75	13	72	0.97	20	44	5	27
93	Kevin Fiala	LAK	L	82	29	44	73	1	62	0.89	18	43	11	30
94	Anze Kopitar	LAK	C	81	26	44	70	11	22	0.86	16	44	9	23
95	Jake DeBrusk	BOS	L	80	19	21	40	4	18	0.5	15	28	2	10
96	Tyler Bertuzzi	TOR	L	80	21	22	43	2	53	0.54	16	37	5	6
97	Ivan Barbashev	VGK	C	82	19	26	45	15	42	0.55	16	40	3	5
98	Gustav Nyquist	NSH	C	81	23	52	75	7	8	0.93	17	49	5	24
99	Ryan O'Reilly	NSH	C	82	26	43	69	6	18	0.84	12	41	14	28
100	Max Domi	TOR	C	80	9	38	47	10	118	0.59	8	45	1	2

2024 NHL PLAYOFFS: Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 12:56:30 +0000

TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) scores a goal during the NHL Hockey match between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers on February 17th, 2024 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Andrew Bershaw/Icon Sportswire)

Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Two years ago, the Panthers were embarrassed by the Lightning, who swept Florida in the second round of the playoffs. It led to Florida making some bold moves, the biggest of which was including Jonathan Huberdeau in a package to Calgary to acquire Matthew Tkachuk in the summer of 2022. The new-look Panthers excelled in the 2023 playoffs, going as far as the Stanley Cup Finals, but that path never took them through Tampa Bay.

This year is different, and Florida will be looking for some revenge. After cruising to the postseason with a 52-24-6 record while the Lightning showed weakness, ultimately settling for the first wild card seed with their 45-29-8 finish, Florida is the clear favorite in this series. Still, many of the remnants of the 2020-2022 Lightning, who reached the finals in three straight years and won the Cup twice, remain, so it would be risky to dismiss them out of hand.

In particular, the Lightning’s offensive corps mirrors that of their recent glory days. Tampa Bay finished fifth in scoring with 3.51 goals per game. The squad boasts an obvious Hart Trophy contender in Nikita Kucherov, who finished with 44 goals and 144 points to become just the fifth player in NHL history to reach the 100-assist milestone after Bobb Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Connor McDavid, who also accomplished the feat this year. Kucherov alone would make Tampa Bay dangerous, but the squad also boasts two other players with at least 40 goals each in Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos along with another major offensive force in Brandon Hagel (26 goals, 75 points) and one of the league’s best offensive defensemen in Victor Hedman (13 goals, 76 points).

To put that into context, 40 players in the entire league finished with 75 or more points, which equates to an average of 1.25 per team. Tampa Bay employed five of them or 12.5 percent of the entire field.

The scoring threats don’t end there either. Nicholas Paul (24 goals, 46 points) and Anthony Cirelli (20 goals, 45 points) might not be stars, but they’re luxuries to have in the middle six. Tampa Bay also added to its embarrassment of riches by snagging Anthony Duclair in a trade from San Jose on March 7. The 28-year-old has meshed well with the Lightning, providing eight goals and 15 points in 17 outings since his acquisition. He also adds another interesting wrinkle to the series after playing for Florida from 2020-23.

All this is to say that there is still a wealth of talent in Tampa Bay, but there is also a reason why the Lightning are the underdogs in this series. Tampa Bay finished with an xGA/60 of 3.14, ranking 18th in the league, which suggests that its defense was mediocre. If you look back at Tampa Bay’s xGA/60 over the past few years, that’s nothing new, but you might not have associated the Lightning with defensive issues before because Andrei Vasilevskiy was able to mask them. He couldn’t in 2023-24, though, finishing with a 30-20-2 record, 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage.

Meanwhile, Florida ranked fifth in xGA/60 (2.78) in 2023-24 and that strong blue line was complimented by Sergei Bobrovsky, who posted a 36-17-4 record, 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage across 58 appearances. Although Bobrovsky ultimately did fine in the 2022 playoff series against the Lightning despite being swept, the Panthers entered that series with a reputation as an offensive juggernaut, finishing first in the 2021-22 regular season in scoring (4.11 goals per game), but a mediocre team in their own end, tying for 12th defensively (2.95 goals allowed per contest) while Tampa Bay was seen as the more balanced squad. This time around, the roles are reversed.

Florida might not be able to keep pace with the Panthers in a high-scoring affair. They certainly have their own offensive weapons, like Sam Reinhart (57 goals, 94 points), Matthew Tkachuk (26 goals, 88 points), Aleksander Barkov (23 goals, 80 points) and Carter Verhaeghe (34 goals, 72 points), but the Panthers still don’t quite measure up to Tampa Bay in that regard. However, the Panthers don’t share in the Lightning’s defensive shortcomings.

In the end, that might be what tilts this series in Florida’s favor.

KEY MATCHUPS

Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy

We touched on the goaltending above, but it’s worth repeating because it figures to be such a big storyline. Vasilevskiy was nothing short of phenomenal during the Lightning’s 2022 sweep of the Panthers, stopping 151 of 154 shots (.981 save percentage). Bobrovsky did fine in that series, turning aside 113 of 123 shots (.919 save percentage), but he just couldn't keep pace.

Based on Vasilevskiy’s inconsistent play in the 2023-24 campaign, though, Tampa Bay might not get the same type of elite goaltending out of him this time around. However, given the Lightning’s potent offense, Bobrovsky isn’t a sure thing to succeed either.

If nothing else, both netminders have plenty of experience to lean on. Vasilevskiy ranks 17th all-time among goaltenders in playoff games with 110 while Bobrovsky is in a three-way tie for 40th with 70.

Vladimir Tarasenko vs. Anthony Duclair

In the battle between midseason acquisitions, which will make a bigger mark? At a glance, Tarasenko seems like he would have the obvious edge. He has 55 points in 76 contests compared to Duclair’s 42 points in 73 outings. Tarasenko also has the advantage in terms of playoff experience, having logged 97 career postseason games over a stretch that includes St. Louis’ 2019 championship.

Duclair might surprise, though. He has a history with Florida, so he’s very familiar with his adversaries.

Ultimately, it wouldn’t be surprising to see both do great after adjusting well with their new clubs. Duclair is on a roll going into this series with three goals and six points over his past seven appearances while Tarasenko has four goals and 11 points over his last 12 games.

Aleksander Barkov vs. Steven Stamkos

Neither team captain is the best their squad has to offer, but both are high-end players. Barkov finished the 2023-24 campaign with 23 goals and 80 points across 73 contests. It was the third straight campaign he surpassed the 75-point mark and the third time in his career that he finished with at least 80 points. Meanwhile, Stamkos hit the 40-goal milestone for the second time in three years and the seventh time in his career.

Barkov has more to prove. Not only is he the one without a championship, but Barkov didn’t look great in the Panthers’ previous series against Tampa Bay, finishing with one assist and a team-worst minus-5 in the five-game series. However, if we’re talking about motivation, this might be Stamkos’ last dance with Tampa Bay. That’s far from certain, but the 34-year-old center doesn’t have a contract beyond this campaign, so after 1,082 career regular-season games and two Cup victories with Tampa Bay, it remains to be seen if he’ll be a member of the Lightning beyond this playoff run.

X-FACTOR

Florida Panthers: So much comes down to the play of Bobrovsky. He played such a big role in the Panthers’ run to the finals in 2023, posting a 2.21 GAA and a .935 save percentage over the first three series, but Vegas figured him out completely in the Stanley Cup Final, resulting in him finishing that five-game set with a 4.70 GAA and an .844 save percentage. Bobrovsky’s whole career has been one of extremes. He’s a two-time Vezina Trophy winner and he’s coming off a great campaign, but there have been plenty of rough seasons in there too. So which Bobrovsky are the Panthers getting for their playoff run?

Tampa Bay Lightning: One area where the Lightning excelled this campaign was with the man advantage. Tampa Bay finished with a 28.6 percent conversion rate on the power play, which is the third best in the salary cap era.

FANTASY PLAYERS TO TARGET

Florida has a really strong team this year, but playing Tampa Bay in the first round makes its players a somewhat risky proposition, especially because they’ll face one of Boston or Toronto in the second round, should the Panthers get that far. No team has an easy path to the Conference Final, but Florida’s is especially rough.

That said, Tkachuk, Barkov and Verhaeghe all have obvious value. Don’t underestimate Reinhart either. His 24.5 shooting percentage from the regular season might raise alarm bells, but part of the reason why Reinhart had such a high shooting percentage was how strategic he was when he fired the puck. Of his 233 total shots, 97, or 41.6 percent, were in high-danger locations. Contrast that with Nathan MacKinnon, who had 51 goals on 404 shots, but just 86 of them were in high-danger locations. That translates to 21.3 percent for MacKinnon and means that even though the Avalanche star shot far more often than Reinhart, the Panthers forward actually had more shots in prime locations. In other words, Reinhart’s high shooting percentage isn’t the red flag it appears to be on the surface, so draft him with the confidence you would of a forward who breached the 50-goal milestone.

Tampa Bay is an even bigger gamble than Florida. It’s tempting to take Kucherov early, however, you need to regard him as a high-risk, high-reward player because the Lightning might not go far this year, but he will surely be among the league leaders by the end of the playoffs if they do. Duclair is also an interesting sleeper. Some might underestimate him by not giving enough weight to how strong he’s been with Tampa Bay, but of course, there’s also inherent risk in taking him because of the Lightning’s difficult path forward.

If you are in a daring enough mood to bet on the Lightning, then naturally Vasilevskiy would be the boldest of grabs, provided you’re in a format with goaltenders. He had a rough season, but there’s always that chance he’ll show up for the playoffs. Certainly, he’s had some amazing postseason runs before and boasts a career 2.37 GAA and .921 save percentage in the playoffs, so you never know.

PREDICTION

I just threw out Vasilevskiy as a bold selection and, sure, it could work out, but there’s a reason I termed taking him as “bold.” The reality is that the netminder just hasn’t had a good campaign and Tampa Bay’s defense isn’t strong enough to bail its goaltender out if he gets in a jam. The Lightning’s alternatives -- Jonas Johansson (lower body) when healthy and Matt Tomkins -- aren't up to the task either, in the event Vasilevskiy struggles.

This time, it should be Florida beating Tampa Bay, though it will likely take the Panthers six games to do so.

NHL: DADOUN – THE FANTASY WEEK AHEAD (April 8th – April 14th) – Eastern playoff race tightens with Penguins back in the hunt – Favourable matchups and players to target

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 21:27:00 +0000

NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 02: Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates after scoring a goal during a game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils on April 2, 2024 at Prudential Center in the Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire)

The battle for the second seed in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, along with the third seed in the Metropolitan Division could go down to the wire.

The third spot in the Metro is held by Philadelphia (36-29-11, 83 points), which has seemed destined to make the playoffs for a while. However, the Flyers have fallen on tough times, going 2-5-3 over their last 10 games, which has put them in a vulnerable position. To make matters worse, the Flyers have a 17-13-7 away record, and their next four contests are on the road. That might make it tough for Philadelphia to maintain its playoff hold.

Meanwhile, the Islanders (34-27-15, 83 points) occupy the second wild-card spot. It’s been a weird journey for New York, which seemed to end its playoff push with a six-game losing streak from March 11-21, only to rebound with a 5-2-0 run since. The Islanders do have a somewhat tough schedule for the remainder of the season, including two remaining games against the Rangers, but they’re at least in charge of their destiny.

Washington (36-29-10, 82 points) and Detroit (37-30-8, 82 points) have lost ground to the Islanders, but are still very much in the hunt. The Red Wings have won just four of their last 16 games, but Detroit got a badly needed two points on the road against Tampa Bay on Monday, so that’s something the Red Wings can potentially build off. Kane is doing his best to guide Detroit forward with five goals and 11 points across his past 10 games. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the veteran continue to come up clutch down the final stretch.

Speaking of aging stars trying to push their team into the playoffs, Sidney Crosby has supplied an unreal seven goals and 20 points over his past 12 contests. Pittsburgh (35-10-11, 81 points) was written out of the playoff race a while ago, but after a 5-0-2 stretch, the Penguins are back in the conversation. Importantly, the Penguins have two potential paths between the third Metropolitan Division seed and the second wild-card spot.

Pittsburgh still has an uphill battle, in part due to its difficult schedule. Its remaining games are against Tampa Bay, Toronto, Detroit, Boston, Nashville and the Islanders -- all teams either in a playoff spot or in the postseason hunt. Still, what a story it would be if Crosby led the Penguins into the playoffs even after they dealt Jake Guentzel to Carolina at the deadline.

Arizona Coyotes – TUE @ SEA, WED @ VAN (BTB), FRI @ EDM, SUN @ CGY

The Coyotes will be on the road this week, playing in Seattle on Tuesday, Vancouver on Wednesday, Edmonton on Friday and Calgary on Sunday. It’s a difficult schedule, but there aren’t a lot of teams featuring in four contests this week, so Arizona is still worthy of highlighting.

Although Arizona will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season, some of the Coyotes’ younger players are giving the fans reason to be optimistic about the future. Josh Doan, son of former Coyotes captain Shane Doan, made his NHL debut March 26 and has already accumulated two goals and five points across four contests. The 22-year-old Doan also looked good in AHL Tucson this year, providing 26 goals and 46 points in 62 outings. He’ll be a rookie worth watching next season, though, despite his hot start, I wouldn’t peg him as one of the early favorites to compete for the Calder Trophy.

If he ends up having a rookie campaign like Logan Cooley has, I think the Coyotes would be pleased with that. Cooley hasn’t made headlines in his first season, but the 19-year-old has had his moments, providing 17 goals and 39 points through 75 outings. The highlight so far has been his hat trick against Nashville, which he recorded on March 28. He also has six goals and nine points over his past nine appearances.

Matias Maccelli is also part of the Coyotes’ long-term plans. The 23-year-old has 14 goals and 51 points in 75 outings in 2023-24. Not a bad output for a player who will come with a $3,425,000 annual cap hit through 2025-26, especially given that he still has room to grow. Maccelli has looked especially good recently, supplying three goals and five points over his past four outings.

Calgary Flames – TUE @SJS, THU @ LAK, FRI @ ANA (BTB), SUN VS ARI

The Flames will start the week with a game in San Jose on Thursday before visiting Los Angeles on Thursday and Anaheim on Friday. They’ll conclude the week with a home contest versus the Coyotes. Among those adversaries, the Kings are the only ones in a playoff position.

It’s still too early to pass final judgment on the trade that sent Elias Lindholm from Calgary to Vancouver, but so far it’s looking like a potential steal for the Flames. Not only did the Flames get pieces that might help them in the future, including a 2024 first-round pick, but while Lindholm, who presently has a wrist injury, has underwhelmed with Vancouver when healthy, Andrei Kuzmenko has settled in nicely with the Flames.

Kuzmenko’s provided four goals and seven points in his past four outings. He still has just 17 goals and 36 points in 65 outings between Vancouver and Calgary in 2023-24, which is a steep departure from his 74-point showing last season, but clearly, he still has offensive abilities. He’ll make for an interesting late-round gamble in fantasy drafts next season given his high-risk, high-reward status.

Kuzmenko’s not the only Flames player who is red hot. There’s also defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who has an incredible three goals and eight points in his past five appearances. That brings him up to 19 goals and 48 points along with 47 PIM, 179 hits and 189 blocks in 75 appearances in 2023-24. Calgary traded away defensemen Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev before the deadline, but Weegar will remain with the Flames as their headline blueliner after inking an eight-year, $50 million contract back in October of 2022. That deal runs through 2030-31.

Calgary also made a long-term commitment to Nazem Kadri, who is signed through 2028-29 at a $7 million annual cap hit. That contract is questionable, especially because Kadri is already 33 years old, but to his credit, he’s been productive this campaign with 24 goals and 65 points in 75 outings. Based on his recent play -- Kadri has a goal and six points over his last five games -- it wouldn’t be surprising to see him reach the 70-point mark for the second time in his career.

Florida Panthers – TUE VS OTT, THU VS CBJ, SAT VS BUF

The Panthers have just three games scheduled next week, but they’re all home contests and none of their adversaries will be making the playoffs. Florida will host the Senators on Tuesday, the Blue Jackets on Thursday and the Sabres on Saturday.

Florida has an eye toward the playoffs, but in the meantime, the squad will move forward without Aaron Ekblad (undisclosed) and Carter Verhaeghe (upper body), who both might be done for what’s left of the regular season.

Ekblad’s injury resulted in Josh Mahura drawing back into the lineup Thursday. Mahura registered an assist in 15:28 of ice time in that contest, bringing him up to nine assists in 27 outings this season. Mahura will probably play regularly for the remainder of the season. He doesn’t do enough offensively to make him worth using in standard fantasy leagues, but he does have some utility in formats that value PIM, hits and blocks -- the 25-year-old has 18, 36 and 24, respectively, in those categories.

Carter Verhaeghe’s absence has opened the door for Nick Cousins to play alongside Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Although Cousins isn’t a major offensive contributor -- he has just six goals and 12 points across 64 contests this season -- those are pretty much ideal linemates. Cousins contributed a goal and an assist versus Ottawa on Thursday with Tkachuk and Bennett providing the assists on his marker.

The loss of offense caused by Verhaeghe’s injury might also be partially mitigated by Aleksander Barkov’s amazing play of late. The 28-year-old Barkov dealt with his own health issues recently, missing three straight contests from March 21-24, but he’s supplied four goals and nine points in six outings since returning from that undisclosed injury.

Los Angeles Kings – TUE @ ANA THU VS CGY SAT VS ANA

Like the Panthers, LA has just three games scheduled next week, but the competition is favorable. The Kings will play in Anaheim on Tuesday before hosting the Flames on Thursday and the Ducks on Saturday.

Danault has missed the Kings’ past four games, but the injury doesn’t sound major. Coach Jim Hiller described Danault’s chances of returning last Monday as “50/50,” per Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. He didn’t end up playing in that contest, but perhaps he’ll be available at some point next week. The only X-Factor is that LA has pretty much secured its playoff berth at this point, and while the Kings are still battling for playoff positioning, it might still make more sense to allow Danault to rest and be as close to 100 percent as possible during the playoffs rather than risk rushing him back.

In the meantime, Blake Lizotte is playing a bigger role than normal. He’s averaged 16:31 of ice time during Danault’s absence, compared to just 11:35 overall in 2023-24. Look for Lizotte to shift back to his typical supporting role once Danault does return. The injury has also created an opening for Akil Thomas to get his first taste of NHL action. The 24-year-old has averaged just 6:18 over his first two contests, but he still has managed to record a goal and four points in that span. Thomas has been solid this campaign with AHL Ontario, providing 22 goals and 43 points in 61 outings, and it would be interesting to see what he could do at the NHL level if given a bigger role. If nothing else, Thomas will be someone to keep an eye on during training camp.

The two upcoming games against the Ducks, who rank 30th offensively with 2.45 goals per game, should be a great opportunity to start goaltender Cam Talbot or David Rittich, depending on who is deployed. Talbot, who has a 24-18-6 record, 2.47 GAA and .915 save percentage across 49 contests, seems set to serve as the Kings’ starter in the playoffs. However, Rittich has done well this campaign with a 12-6-3 record, 2.21 GAA and .919 save percentage in 23 games, and both goaltenders are likely to be utilized in the final days of the season as LA looks to keep both of them fresh.

Seattle Kraken – TUE VS ARI, THU VS SJS, SAT @ DAL, SUN @ STL

Seattle will begin the week at home with contests against the Coyotes on Tuesday and the Sharks on Thursday. The Kraken will then visit Dallas on Saturday and St. Louis on Sunday. Dallas is the only team on that list in a playoff position.

The Kraken will miss the postseason, but if there’s a silver lining, it’s that Joey Daccord has proven to be a strong goaltender for them. He’s posted an 18-16-11 record, 2.42 GAA and .918 save percentage in 47 outings in 2023-24. Daccord will remain with the Kraken next year with an affordable $1.2 million cap hit, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he proves to be the clear starter in 2024-25 ahead of Philipp Grubauer, who is in danger of finishing with a save percentage below .900 for the third straight campaign -- he's 12-14-2 with a 2.97 GAA and an .895 save percentage in 32 appearances.

Rather than goaltending, offense has been Seattle’s failing this year. The Kraken rank 29th with 2.61 goals per game. Jared McCann has arguably been part of the problem. Sure, he does lead the team with 28 goals and 60 points in 74 outings, but that still marks a significant decline from his 40-goal showing in 2022-23. For what it’s worth, though, he’s finishing the campaign strong, providing a goal and six points in his last five appearances.

Matty Beniers has seen a much steeper decline. He had 24 goals and 57 points in 80 outings as a rookie but has gone through a sophomore slump, contributing 13 goals and 33 points across 70 appearances. Beniers is partially salvaging the campaign late, collecting three goals and five points across his past five outings.

Tampa Bay Lightning – TUE VS CBJ, THU VS OTT, SAT @ WAS

The Lightning will open the week by hosting the Blue Jackets on Tuesday and the Senators on Thursday. Those are two favorable matchups against teams near the bottom of the league’s standings. Tampa Bay’s road contest against Washington on Saturday might be difficult, though, especially as the Capitals fight to earn a wild-card spot.

Of course, when it comes to the Lightning, the biggest question is if Nikita Kucherov will win the Art Ross Trophy and thus bolster his bid for the Hart. Kucherov has 43 goals and 133 points in 75 outings, giving him a three-point edge over Nathan MacKinnon (48 goals, 82 assists) and a six-point lead over Connor McDavid (29 goals, 97 assists). Kucherov has built that advantage by accumulating an incredible nine points (one goal) over his past four appearances. He’ll likely need a strong finish to maintain his edge over MacKinnon and McDavid, but that’s certainly within his power.

That spectacle might mask a growing injury problem for Tampa Bay. The squad was already missing defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (leg) along with forwards Tanner Jeannot (upper body) and Logan Brown (undisclosed) going into Thursday’s contest against Montreal, and Brandon Hagel (undisclosed) as well as Anthony Cirelli (undisclosed) were hurt during the Lightning’s 7-4 victory. It’s not clear yet how long Hagel or Cirelli will be out for, but we might see Conor Sheary draw back into the lineup.

Although Sheary has just three goals and 13 points in 52 games this season, those numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt because he’s averaged just 10:54 of ice time. With mounting injuries, Sheary might be utilized in a top-nine role, which should lead to a meaningful uptick in offensive production. Although Sheary has never been able to replicate his 53-point showing with Pittsburgh in 2016-17, he can at least be a decent middle-six forward when given the chance.

The Lightning might also lean on Nick Paul more going down the stretch. The 29-year-old has provided three goals over his past two games, elevating him to 22 markers and 42 points in 76 outings in 2023-24.

Toronto Maple Leafs – MON VS PIT, TUE @ NJD (BTB), THU VS NJD, SAT VS DET

Toronto has a packed schedule next week, starting with a home contest against Pittsburgh on Monday. The Maple Leafs will then play in New Jersey on Tuesday before hosting the Devils on Thursday and will conclude the week with a home tilt versus the Red Wings.

As is the case with Tampa Bay, a single player’s pursuit of the Hart Trophy, not to mention tremendous milestones, is the center of attention in Toronto. Auston Matthews has managed eight goals and 15 points over his past eight outings, bringing him up to 63 markers and 99 points in 74 contests this season. His 63 goals are tied for 27th on the all-time single-season list, and Matthews has an outside chance of becoming just the 10th player in NHL history and the first since 1992-93 to reach the 70-goal milestone. As it is, Matthews is the first player of the salary cap era to score at least 60 goals on two occasions.

Matthews’ recent success is all the more impressive because he hasn’t had Mitchell Marner (ankle) to work off. Marner hasn’t been in the lineup since March 7, but he might make his return this Saturday versus Montreal. Interestingly, rather than plug Marner back into his typical role alongside Matthews, he’s instead projected to serve alongside Bobby McMann and John Tavares in his return. Matthews would then play alongside Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi while William Nylander would work with Matthew Knies and Pontus Holmberg. There’s some logic in spreading out their talent like that, especially ahead of the playoffs. Teams that can roll out three effective scoring lines tend to go far, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Marner end up back with Matthews before long.

Outside of Matthews, the Leafs’ hottest forward recently has arguably been Knies. While the rookie has left something to be desired with his 13 goals and 33 points in 73 contests this season, he has supplied a goal and five points over his last five outings. Bertuzzi has also been a standout performer lately, scoring four goals over his past five appearances.

Vegas Golden Knights – MON @ VAN, WED @ EDM, FRI VS MIN, SUN VS COL

The Golden Knights will open the week on the road with contests in Vancouver on Monday and Edmonton on Wednesday. The Golden Knights will then return home to host the Wild on Friday and the Avalanche on Sunday. It’s not an easy schedule, but Vegas is getting highlighted anyway because there weren’t that many teams with four games on the docket.

Tomas Hertl (knee) hasn’t made his Golden Knights debut yet, but he seems to be drawing close to it, so perhaps Vegas will get its first game with the 30-year-old this coming week. He had 15 goals and 34 points in 48 games with the lowly Sharks before being dealt to Vegas on March 8. Hertl’s likely to see his playing time go down somewhat with Vegas -- he averaged 20:54 of ice time in San Jose -- but he’ll be working with much better players, so his production might still rise. Keep an eye on how Vegas utilizes him during the final games of the season because he has the potential to do very well in playoff leagues.

While Vegas hasn’t reaped the rewards of acquiring Hertl yet, Anthony Mantha is already having an impact. Acquired from Washington on March 5, Mantha got off to a slow start with just a goal over his first seven Vegas contests, but he’s hit his stride while providing seven points (one marker) over his past six appearances. The 29-year-old is serving in a middle-six capacity and has seen time recently alongside William Karlsson.

Sticking with Karlsson, who has 26 goals and 53 points in 63 games, would be advantageous for Mantha. The 31-year-old Karlsson has also been red hot recently, collecting two tallies and seven points over his last five outings.