some tweaks<\/a>. Matthews hasn\u2019t spoken since his injury but, in March, cited the Bruins and Lightning as good teams that rebounded quickly from non-playoff years and suggested Toronto could do the same.<\/p>\nMorgan Rielly: \u201cAs a player, you always want to agree with that. I think there\u2019s been examples of teams that have kinda been able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Tavares: \u201cYou never stop fighting. You never quit. And you try to build, regardless of where you\u2019re at, and obviously wanting to move things in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Max Domi: \u201cGot all the confidence in the world, man … You can sit here and make every excuse in the book, or you could just look yourself in the mirror and say, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s done with now. Let\u2019s learn from it, finish off these last (six) games strong and have a great summer.\u2019 Come back, everyone healthy and ready to go, champing at the bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in ourselves, we believe in each other, and we got a strong group in there, so we’ll focus on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony Stolarz: \u201cYou just look at the pieces we have. We have a lot of guys on the team from last year, and we made a run there as well. So, having that experience from last year and getting humbled a little bit this year, I think everyone\u2019s gonna go into the summer hungry. And I think we got the pieces here that, moving forward, we can get back to where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is that enough for you to?<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0Pelley rhymed off the sweater numbers of the \u201cfoundational pieces\u201d he believes can still be the core of contender in Toronto: 34, 88, 23, and 91.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old Rielly, the longest-serving Leaf, is younger than Tavares. Like Nylander and Matthew Knies, Rielly is signed for four more seasons beyond this one. The defenceman\u2019s full no-movement protection doesn\u2019t downgrade to a 10-team no-trade list until 2028-29.<\/p>\n
Rielly interprets GM Brad Treliving\u2019s firing as a failure of the players. The news, he says, is \u201cfresh.\u201d He\u2019s processing his thoughts on missing the playoffs and the future of the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a challenge. And when you\u2019re in it, you never allow yourself to kind of give up or lose hope and lose motivation that you know you’re gonna try to make a push and make the playoffs,\u201d Rielly says. \u201cThat\u2019s not the case this year, so it\u2019s challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rielly didn\u2019t watch all of Pelley\u2019s presser. He did speak to people who did to learn the message.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a little bit uneasy when you\u2019ve worked with people for a certain amount of time,\u201d he says. \u201cYou get to know them, and they get to know you. And when that changes, there\u2019s a little bit of uncertainty. And I think it just creates a little bit of an uneasy feeling, just not knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berube says Rielly has been handling the turmoil and disappointment well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to him quite a bit about it throughout the season,\u201d Berube says. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s a lot of noise. But he never once (said), \u2018Well, it\u2019s too much,\u2019 or this or that. He was good: \u2018I just want to play, care about the team, do my best.\u2019 That’s it. So, that\u2019s all I can go off of.\u201d<\/p>\n
If we\u2019re interviewing the next head of hockey ops, we\u2019re asking for his thoughts on Rielly\u2019s place on this roster.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0Stolarz (six foot six, 248 pounds) twice skated to centre ice during Toronto\u2019s penalty-filled affair in Anaheim, but it was clear that Ducks counterpart Ville Husso (six foot three, 205 pounds) did not want the smoke.<\/p>\n
Stolarz even brushed Husso as they crossed paths during a stoppage and had a few words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw he slashed Willy (Nylander) earlier in the game,\u201d Stolarz says. \u201cI just told him, \u2018Don\u2019t touch anyone else again, or I\u2019m going to come down there.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sticking up for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the sudden spike in goalie fights this season, Stolarz would welcome some action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019d be fine,\u201d the New Jersey native grinned, devilishly. \u201cI\u2019m a bigger guy, so that\u2019s going to help with the reach. It\u2019s not something you go into every game looking for, but if the opportunity does come, you know, I wouldn\u2019t say no.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Would he rather score a goal or have a fight?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s a tough one. Probably a goal. I\u2019d say a goal, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m all pro keeping (the) coach as long as possible.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Kris Knoblauch, Edmonton Oilers coach on Bruce Cassidy\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0Cassidy has a .631 career points percentage, a winning playoff record (62-57), and a Stanley Cup ring.<\/p>\n
Peter DeBoer has a .585 career points percentage, a winning playoff record (97-82), a perfect record in Game 7s (9-0), and two Cup Final appearances.<\/p>\n
Do they have short shelf lives and rub some players the wrong way? Sure.<\/p>\n
But if you want to upgrade your bench, you better pounce quickly.<\/p>\n
Cassidy and DeBoer will improve your sagging team for 2026-27. Bank on it.<\/p>\n
6.\u00a0Ottawa Senators coach Travis Green dismissed the latest\u00a0Wingmen\u00a0podcast as \u201cwhite noise,\u201d which is a broad term that usually refers to social-media opinion or sports-talk radio.<\/p>\n
But when the captain\u2019s father makes mocking reference to not being able to play due to a bad night\u2019s sleep after your team\u2019s No. 1 goalie begs out of an important start in the name rest, and he also wonders if the captain is getting enough ice time, and then that conversation gets uploaded on the captain\u2019s podcast \u2026 well, it\u2019s a tough look and a PR headache at best.<\/p>\n
At worst, if Keith was talking about Ottawa, it\u2019s a glimpse into some team dysfunction and a harbinger that Brady Tkachuk and\/or Linus Ullmark may not be long for the Sens.<\/p>\n
Winning, they say, cures all.<\/p>\n
So, Ullmark backstopping Ottawa to a big 4-1 win over the Sabres on Thursday, and Tkachuk\u2019s fiery performance that night, served critical for both keeping the playoff dream alive and mitigating some of the drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Turns out, Keith Tkachuk was only talking about the Panthers anyway. Huh.<\/p>\n
7.\u00a0As the unseen steam engine that is the Sabres officially end their 14-year playoff drought, the Detroit Red Wings (nine years and counting without a post-season gate) are in grave danger of taking that dreaded baton.<\/p>\n
The Wings occupied the Atlantic Division penthouse on Jan. 25. As recently as Feb. 26, they were in second. On March 21, they were still clinging to a wild-card spot.<\/p>\n
Stretch runs have been a killer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The winged wheels fall off every March, a month in which Detroit has gone 17-35-5 over the past four seasons.<\/p>\n
The Wings enter the weekend deadlocked with the Senators.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an undeniable romance to hiring franchise playing greats as executives, but things get sticky when results don\u2019t follow.<\/p>\n
Steve Yzerman is the sixth-longest-tenured NHL GM. The five execs with more seniority have all led their team to at least one Stanley Cup, conference championship, or Presidents\u2019 Trophy since Yzerman\u2019s hiring.<\/p>\n
Yzerman, who was hired in April 2019, is still trying to host his first playoff game at Little Caesars Arena.<\/p>\n
8.\u00a0One man eager to prolong Yzerman\u2019s drought is Marco Sturm.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s rookie head coach credits the Bruins\u2019 off-season depth additions \u2014 Viktor Arvidsson, Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, et al. \u2014 and a new-look bench\u00a0for meshing well with the existing core and pushing for consistent effort.<\/p>\n
But Sturm is realistic about where his scrappy bunch is at. He knows why they didn\u2019t make a deadline splash and sees multiple areas in need of improvement, despite a plus-22 goal differential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not an elite team in this league, right? So that means we\u2019re still finding our ways. But I like how we find ways to win hockey games,\u201d Sturm says. \u201cThe guys are very structured. The guys are working really hard to give me everything they can, but you got to stick with it. For this year, we\u2019ll see what happens. And the following year, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the present, Sturm is treating every night as a must-win. This experience of pushing for a playoff spot will serve young players \u2014 and young head coaches \u2014 in the future.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t sound bogged down by the pressure. The B\u2019s have gathered at least a point in nine of their past 11 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s exciting. I\u2019m lucky enough, maybe it\u2019s in me. Because when I even played, I took it as a motivation, right? And that’s how I am right now. Yes, I feel the pressure, but it’s also motivating for me coming to the rink. You want to beat these guys, you know?\u201d Sturm says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be the best every night. And that\u2019s why my guys will get the message \u2014 because that’s just how I feel, and I don\u2019t want them to slip. That\u2019s something I always had and hopefully will never change. Because if you look at some of the young kids now, it\u2019s not the same anymore. So, you got to help those kids out too, the new generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s different about this generation?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at my kids, they\u2019re the same way. They just ask a lot more questions now. They want to know\u00a0why. You’ve got to explain. You’ve got to spend way more time these days as a coach. It\u2019s not just going on the ice and doing practice and changing lines; there\u2019s more to it. That\u2019s the biggest change.\u201d<\/p>\n
9.\u00a0The timing of Jim Nill\u2019s two-year extension in Dallas was certainly interesting, as the announcement arrived less than 24 hours after the Leafs fired their general manager.<\/p>\n
If the money is decent, we can\u2019t see a reason for Nill, 67, to leave a tax-free state and a Stanley Cup contender.<\/p>\n
The Toronto gig is complex and burdensome. Plenty of issues, roster and otherwise, to address.<\/p>\n
In Dallas, Nill has already locked up his 2026-27 goaltending and defence corps. He\u2019s got a newish coach doing a fine job.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A couple small decisions need to be made on pending UFAs, like captain Jamie Benn (one-year deals until he retires, like Joe Pavelski?) and rental Michael Bunting.<\/p>\n
The only major bit of business on Nill\u2019s desk is the Jason Robertson file, a restricted free agent and leading scorer due a big contract.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s a good problem to have.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nill can either commit to a productive scoring threat in his prime or shop a dynamic asset to 31 competitors.<\/p>\n
Nill has set himself and the organization up well.<\/p>\n
10.\u00a0The laser disguised as 22-year-old Cutter Gauthier\u2019s shot is in the 99th percentile for both the NHL\u2019s hardest (99.9 m.p.h.) and most frequent (271) this season.<\/p>\n
Last year, as a rookie, the Ducks sniper got it off 190 times and converted on 10.5 per cent of his attempts over 82 games. As a sophomore, Gauthier believes his confidence in growing in concert with his accuracy (14 per cent) and willingness to let \u2019er rip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I had that confidence last year, and I shot a lot of pucks, but they didn\u2019t really go in as much. I\u2019m just ramping up the shooting this year and getting more comfortable with the team, the guys. Just being able to get on the ice and not think and just play confidently,\u201d Gauthier tells me. \u201cThat\u2019s probably it.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s remarkable is the left wing\u2019s knack and willingness to fire from distance or in tight, and from either side of the sheet. A peek at his shot chart shows no specific \u201coffice.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CutterGauthierShots.png\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I thought he could score. I didn\u2019t know he could score at the rate he\u2019s scored at,\u201d says coach Joel Quenneville, a first-timer in Anaheim. \u201cHe\u2019s got great release. He\u2019s got some quickness. He\u2019s got the ability to find the open ice. And he gets his shot away before (goalies) are set or through a defenceman as well, which is dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that sticks out is, he\u2019s got the quickest release you could have. It\u2019s loaded and he\u2019s accurate, and it\u2019s got some pace to it that you usually don\u2019t see. One of those shots you can do pretty well with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no accident that no one as young as Gauthier has scored as often this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my understanding of goalies,\u201d Gauthier reveals. \u201cI got really close to (Ducks starter Lukas) Dostal last year. Just talking to him on how to beat goalies in certain situations and working on it in practice. I find out what goalies tendencies are and try to pick on those deficiencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gets the book right before he hits the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played against every goalie in the league almost now. Like, I kind of know what works on some of them, what doesn\u2019t. (Ville) Husso and Dostal will tell me where to shoot right before the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
11.\u00a0An insane individual streak is happening right now. We might put it up there with Glenn Hall\u2019s 502 consecutive games in net as unbreakable.<\/p>\n
Anaheim\u2019s Troy Terry has zero hits through 54 games played and 989:31 in total ice time.<\/p>\n
To put that in perspective, no skater who has appeared in at least\u00a0five\u00a0games this season has gone hitless. The next-busiest skater without a hit is Ottawa defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, still looking to initiate contact at four games and 58:08.<\/p>\n
Since time on ice (2000-01) and hits (2005-06) have been tracked, Terry is the first player to reach 310 minutes without a hit. Now he\u2019s closing in on 1,000.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re guessing no one is happier to have his record broken than Nick Schmaltz, who didn\u2019t throw a body check through 17 games and 306:22 with the 2018-19 Arizona Coyotes.<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TroyTerryHits.png\")
<\/p>\n
12.\u00a0The Washington Capitals\u2019 final home game takes place April 12, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n
If this is the final time Alex Ovechkin \u2014 unsigned and uncommitted for 2026-27 \u2014 and Sidney Crosby face off, hockey\u2019s dueling game-changers are going out with a bang.<\/p>\n
Ovechkin, 40, just registered his 20th 30-goal campaign, filling the net at a quicker rate than he did in 2023-24. Every goal the Capitals captain scores is a new record, of course.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Crosby, 38, needs a measly three points over Pittsburgh\u2019s final six games to beat his own record and complete his 21st point-per-game season.<\/p>\n
Greatness is one thing. Sustained greatness is something else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-585192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}