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Good morning to everyone except the Dallas Stars, who are officially this year’s Ultimate Losers. They’ll go down in history as being the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that won the Stanley Cup. Missed it by that much.
☀️ No time for rest
It’s perfectly OK to admit you’re already in offseason mode. Maybe you’ve been there for a while.
The Final can be weird. It’s sort of like being at a wedding ceremony, waiting for the couple to get to the “I do.” That’s the important part, sure. It’s the reason you’re all there, and you’re happy to see them enjoy their big day. But also … move it along so we can get to the reception, right?
The reception has arrived. And like all good parties, we’re not quite sure what the future holds. Things could be about to get crazy. Or maybe we’re getting hyped up for what will turn out to be a total dud. Only one way to find out.
Let’s get you caught up on what you need to know about the NHL’s four offseason pillars.
1. The draft
Believe it or not, we’re already just 10 days away from the first round on June 26. We dropped a new staff mock draft yesterday, to go with Scott Wheeler’s mock from last week. Corey Pronman has your scoop on what scouts and execs are thinking. Maybe more interesting, Pronman also dropped his own rankings, and they don’t have Gavin McKenna first … or even in the top three.
That No. 1 pick sounds like it’s still in flux, even as most assume the Leafs will indeed end up taking McKenna. (He tops Wheeler’s rankings, by the way.) This is also the time of year when we have to at least nod towards the possibility of Toronto trading the pick, even though we haven’t seen the first pick moved since the pre-cap years.
Speaking of blockbusters …
2. The trade market
This is where most of the insiders seem to think the real action will be this summer. There are indeed some big names on the trade board, starting with the whole Dylan Larkin mess. Other players expected to be moved include Vincent Trochek (with some landing spots here), Darnell Nurse (which could depend on salary retention), and Morgan Rielly (a situation Jonas Siegel has more on).
There’s time to revisit past names on the block, including Robert Thomas and Elias Pettersson. And of course, far bigger names like Auston Matthews, Connor Hellebuyck, Brady Tkachuk and Jason Robertson could all show up in rumors, even if the most likely scenario is that all of them stay put.
The bigger question is just how wild the trading frenzy might get. In the NHL, it’s rarely a bad bet to assume most GMs will revert to playing it safe, meaning we won’t see as many blockbusters as we’d like. Then again, after watching a Stanley Cup Final between two teams known for their aggressive moves, maybe patience is running thin around the league.
One thing we do know: Just about everyone will have cap room to work with. At least until …
3. Free agency
Remember all that star power on the trade board? The free agency version is … not that.
In fact, let’s just say it: This could be one of the weakest UFA crops ever when the window opens July 1. Alex Tuch is the biggest name, and he’s going to get a mint somewhere. Darren Raddysh, who you had definitely heard of before this season, is the top blueliner. Sergei Bobrovsky is a Cup-winning goalie, albeit one who’ll turn 38 before opening night. John Carlson and Rasmus Andersson could help teams. And there are other veteran names such as Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Anders Lee and even Corey Perry.
After that, there’s … uh, Ryan Shea? Andrew Peeke? Nick Jensen? Yeah, it’s rough. But with almost everyone having money to spend, it could get weird.
And finally …
4. The coaching carousel
So, do the Golden Knights have time to free Bruce Cassidy yet?
Maybe not, since that whole “we’re just focused on the playoffs” thing was always transparent nonsense. But there are still three teams that need a coach for next year. One of those is the Oilers, who are still waiting to see what the league’s investigation of Mike Babcock will yield. The Leafs are also still looking. And the third team is actually the Golden Knights — they only signed John Tortorella on an interim basis, remember, meaning there’s no guarantee he’s back next year.
And while there are no teams with a GM opening at the moment, we can still expect some movement as teams try to poach assistants, scouts and other execs from each other. And don’t forget Colorado might need a new full-time GM to replace Chris MacFarland, though Joe Sakic has that role for now.
(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
🌪️ Hurricanes break through
Things move fast in the NHL. Exactly one week ago, the Hurricanes were trailing the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 after a heartbreaking loss in Game 3, the latest all-time classic to end on a terrible goal. Three games in, we were wondering if we were watching the best Final ever.
We weren’t, as it turns out. In hindsight, the series had peaked with that Game 3 madness, because the Hurricanes were about to find a new gear. They peeled off three straight wins, including two on the road, and we didn’t even get the Game 7 we all assumed was coming. Once Carolina flipped the switch, the Golden Knights just didn’t have an answer.
And while you never want to oversimplify something as complicated as a Stanley Cup Final, it’s fair to say that this series feels like it came down to a pair of goaltending decisions. Both of these teams came in with a red-hot goalie. Both of those guys went cold to start the series, leading to questions about whether it was time to pivot. The Hurricanes, whose backup was an undrafted rookie who’d never so much as started a playoff game, made the switch. The Golden Knights, whose backup had won the Cup as the starter just three years earlier, said it was “the stupidest question I’ve heard” and stuck with their guy. You know how that turned out.
Was that the only reason the Hurricanes won? Not remotely. This was a worthy champion with maybe the best coach in the world, smart management that isn’t afraid to take risks and a strong roster top to bottom that may have lacked elite star power but had more than enough talent to be dangerous when everyone was cooking. Mix in a little playoff luck for a franchise that was due for it, and here we are.
If you missed our coverage from Vegas, here are a few must-reads to catch up on:
- Sean Gentille lays out how the Hurricanes knocked down the door after years of blocking out the doubt.
- Pierre LeBrun examines the genius of Rod Brind’Amour, who joins elite names Toe Blake, Hap Day and Cooney Weiland as the only people in NHL history to both captain and coach the same organization to a Stanley Cup win.
- Chris Johnston and Michael Russo give us the view of the Hurricanes’ celebration from the ice: an unlikely hero, brotherly love and a “storybook” ending.
- CJ also looks at Jordan Staal’s “beast” of a Conn Smythe Trophy run. At 37, he’s the oldest player to be named the NHL’s playoff MVP.
- James Mirtle gives us the lessons 31 other teams can learn from the champs. One interesting conclusion: Bigger isn’t always better. Good checklist for a copycat league.
- Jesse Granger sums up how the Knights fell just short and what comes next. Vegas was clearly better than its subpar regular season but was perhaps irregularly hot in the playoffs. Getting another crack won’t be easy. Tough decisions await.
💡 Trivia Time!
This is definitely the time of year to hire a GM — the vast majority of these jobs are filled somewhere between mid-April and September. But occasionally, we get a midseason hire who sticks.
So, for today’s question, how many active GMs can you name who were midseason hires in their current job?
One hint: You’ll need two hands to count them all, but you’ll have fingers left over. And for bonus points, see if you can also name the GM each guy replaced.
Answer at the end.
Coast to Coast
👶 What’s the only thing better than the Stanley Cup? The Stanley Cup with a newborn baby in it, obviously.
🪝 Could we see an offer sheet this summer? Shayna Goldman thinks so and has six candidates teams may want to target.
🗓️ Did you know the buyout window opens tomorrow? Here’s a reminder of the key dates you’ll need to know in the offseason.
😠 Remember that time that thing happened and we all got mad? I took a look back at 10 of the biggest controversies of this year’s postseason.
👯 Hailey Salvian has a great story about Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards, two best friends about to be separated as they start their PWHL careers.
🎙️ On Monday’s “The Athletic Hockey Show,” Max Bultman and Shayna Goldman gave their instant analysis immediately following the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup win in Game 6. Plus, thoughts on Jordan Staal’s Conn Smythe Trophy win, Brandon Bussi’s heroics and what went wrong for the Golden Knights. Watch/listen here.
Jordan Staal hands the Stanley Cup to Frederik Andersen.(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
No Dumb Questions
We believe that in hockey, as in life, there are no dumb questions. So if you have something you’ve always wondered about the sport, ask away by emailing us at redlight@theathletic.com.
🏆 Gotta hand it to ’em
What’s the deal with the Stanley Cup handoff order? It seems important, but who (or what) determines it?
Ah, the Cup handoff. Easily one of the NHL’s best traditions. And like most great traditions, it largely developed organically. The first known case of a team making sure a specific player got the first handoff was the 1987 Oilers, who gave the honors to Steve Smith a year after his disastrous own goal ended their season. It’s continued to evolve from there.
First things first: There’s nothing official about the winning team’s handoff order, other than that the captain is the one who gets the Cup from Gary Bettman. After that, it’s up to the team. There’s no process, and they don’t have to submit anything in advance. And there are no hard-and-fast rules about who gets the Cup when.
That said, the captain of the winning team definitely knows who’s going to get the first handoff. That’s evolved into such an honor that there’s no way anyone’s winging it up there. Whether the captain decides on his own or with the team’s other leaders is up to him, but he’s going to know in advance. And he can base it on pretty much anything he chooses.
That’s not to say there aren’t some strongly established informal criteria. The first handoff is almost always a veteran, often one who’s had to overcome adversity. If he’s an OGWAC — an Old Guy Without a Cup — then that’s even better. Being a star or a Conn Smythe candidate helps, but not as much as you might think. Basically, the first-handoff honors are a way for a team to tell a teammate: You’ve waited long enough for this moment, and we don’t want you to have to wait any longer.
That’s why Frederik Andersen was such a great choice for Carolina. (He’s also a rare goalie to get the first handoff; when I broke this all down in way too much depth a few years ago, Dominik Hasek had been the only goalie to get the honors.) Taylor Hall was the other obvious choice, and he got the Cup next, although Andersen needed some help from Sebastian Aho to get it to him.
And if you’re wondering, the first handoff doesn’t even have to go to a player. In fact, there have been three cases when the first handoff did not go to a player from the winning team’s roster, and Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman decided all three. He gave the first handoff to owner Mike Ilitch in 1997, injured former teammate Vladimir Konstantinov in 1998 and retiring coach Scotty Bowman in 2002.
Apparently, Yzerman just really hates seeing players skate with the Stanley Cup. I’d make a Red Wings joke here, but Detroit fans have suffered enough lately.
Kyle Davidson. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Trivia Answer
The answer we were looking for: Six current GMs were midseason hires.
The list:
- Chicago’s Kyle Davidson (who was promoted after the Blackhawks fired Stan Bowman in October 2021)
- Montreal’s Kent Hughes (who replaced the fired Marc Bergevin in January 2022)
- Anaheim’s Pat Verbeek (who came over from Detroit in February 2022 after Bob Murray resigned)
- Philadelphia’s Danny Briere (who replaced Chuck Fletcher in March 2023)
- Ottawa’s Steve Staios (replacing Pierre Dorion in November 2023)
- Buffalo’s Jarmo Kekäläinen (who replaced the fired Kevyn Adams last December)
Thanks for reading. We’ll be back on Friday.
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