Around the NHL: Senators & Ducks linked to McTavish trade; Marner vs. Andersen set for Stanley Cup Final<\/p>\n
Welcome back to our first June edition of Around the NHL. The Stanley Cup Final is set to kick off this week, as the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes will battle it out to hoist Lord Stanley. It\u2019s been one of the most entertaining postseasons on the ice, and there\u2019s also been plenty to talk about off the ice throughout the entire spring.<\/p>\n
Vegas continues to use a balanced attack to knock teams off, including sweeping the President\u2019s Trophy winning Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes are playing some smothering shutdown defence, and are pace to set records with their defensive efforts.<\/p>\n
Off the ice, trade rumors are swirling like crazy, head coaching vacancies continue to create headlines, front offices continue to search for personnel<\/a>, and there\u2019s going to be plenty to keep an eye on as the NHL Draft is set for a few weeks in Buffalo.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the very latest from around the NHL:<\/p>\n Anaheim Ducks & Ottawa Senators linked to Mason McTavish deal<\/p>\n Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish is near the top of every insider\u2019s trade board heading into the offseason. Turns out you should keep an eye on the Ottawa Senators as a summer destination.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old, former third overall pick had an up-and-down regular season, which carried over to being a healthy scratch for two games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. McTavish is very likely getting traded this offseason. He\u2019s signed through the 2030-31 season at $7 million annually and doesn\u2019t own trade protection until the 2029-30 season.<\/p>\n McTavish scored just one goal in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games and chipped in with five assists. During the regular season, he appeared in 75 games, scored 17 times, and added 24 assists for 41 points. It was a down season for the promising forward, who was coming off a 52-point season last year, a season where he averaged 16:52 in ice-time, much higher than the 15:19 he played in 2025-26. The Senators align perfectly as a trade destination as McTavish\u2019s style of play suits their dressing room and the team is searching for a top six forward to add to their group. McTavish is a fierce competitor and paired with Brady Tkachuk, could really piss off opposing teams.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth mentioning McTavish has some serious ties to the Senators organization as his dad is a pro scout within the front office, plus he played for Steve Staios and Michael Andlauer in junior. Staios, then general manager of Andlauer\u2019s Hamilton Bulldogs in the Ontario Hockey League, acquired McTavish in a trade with the Peterborough Petes in 2022. The hockey world loves familiarity. Don\u2019t be surprised to see this trade go down around the NHL Draft.<\/p>\n Mitch Marner vs. Frederik Andersen will be in Leafs Nation\u2019s feels<\/p>\n Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for 8:00pm est on Tuesday, June 2, from Raleigh, North Carolina, and for Leafs Nation, it\u2019s going to be very interesting to watch either Mitch Marner or Frederik Andersen hoisting the Stanley Cup in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with Andersen. The Danish veteran goaltender is on a historic pace right now, allowing just 13 goals in 20 postseason games, and is on pace to shatter the NHL record for least number of goals given up on route to winning the Stanley Cup. Andersen\u2019s 1.41 goals against average leads all goaltenders throughout the playoffs, and with the Hurricanes\u2019 attention to team defence, and their knack for timely goals, the Golden Knights are going to be tested.<\/p>\n Mitch Marner<\/a> on the other hand is the Conn Smythe favourite coming out of the Western Conference at the moment, and it\u2019s going to be one hell of a first season outside of Toronto if he pulls it off. Marner leads the league posting 21 points in 16 games and has been doing it all on both sides of the puck.<\/p>\n Playing for John Tortorella has seemed to propel Marner\u2019s game to even bigger heights, as Torts is one of Marner\u2019s biggest fans, and has been playing him much more down the stretch of the regular season, and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Marner\u2019s averaged 21:15 of ice-time during the Golden Knights\u2019 Cup run, up from 19:57 in the regular season.<\/p>\n What be of a shock to some, Marner\u2019s thriving when the games matter the most this spring, and he feels like the pressure he\u2019s feeling now, is much the same of what he felt as a Maple Leaf.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually think the pressure (in Toronto) is the same as here,\u201d Marner said in a 1-on-1 interview with NHL.com<\/a>. \u201cI know everyone\u2019s been saying all that stuff. But in the end, the most pressure you have is the pressure you put on yourself as a player. You want to be the best player you can be every night and obviously try to help your team succeed any way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Marner hasn\u2019t changed up anything to do with his game prep, or rituals before games. He\u2019s going about his business all the same as he has throughout his career, and frankly, it\u2019s working, so Marner\u2019s going to stick with it for one more series.<\/p>\n \u201cI think things are just working,\u201d Marner continued. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing different. There\u2019s nothing different about how I\u2019m getting ready for games, how I\u2019m getting myself prepared to play a hockey game, so everything\u2019s really the same.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t know. Things are just working.\u201d<\/p>\n Now we wait to see if \u2018things\u2019 can continue to work for one more series, as Marner and the Golden Knights will try to solve Andersen and the Hurricanes for all the marbles.<\/p>\n Quick hits from around the NHLAfter some fake accounts gained steam on Sunday, multiple insiders shot down the notion of David Carle being named the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/a>If pending restricted free-agent forward Jason Robertson is dealt from the Dallas Stars, keep an eye on the New Jersey Devils, who have promising defenceman Simon Nemec, and forward Dawson Mercer they can dangle in trade talks.Kitchener Rangers won the Memorial Cup on Sunday, and many are wondering if the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are going to regret trading away Sam O\u2019Reilly, as he was named the tournament MVP. O\u2019Reilly was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning straight up for Isaac Howard.Buffalo Sabres are crowded in their crease and will be entertaining offers<\/a> on former top prospect Devon Levi.There\u2019s been a ton of speculation linking the San Jose Sharks to Morgan Rielly<\/a>, we\u2019ll see if this gains steam heading into the draft.Montreal Canadiens aren\u2019t expected to re-sign Patrik Laine, after multiple reports surfaced stating they tried to move him before March\u2019s trade deadline and couldn\u2019t find any takers.The Habs are also expected to pursue a trade<\/a> for goaltender Sam Montembeault.Bruce Cassidy just wants to work, and the Vegas Golden Knights continue to hold him back from talking to other teams. So far, the Oilers<\/a> and Kings have reached out.The St. Louis Blues continue to be a team<\/a> to watch this offseason as Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, Colton Parayko, and Jordan Binnington have all been mentioned as offseason trade candidates.Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon made it loud and clear after the Avs were swept by the Golden Knights, he only wants to play for Jared Bednar.Avalanche are expected to listen to offers on Ross Colton, as they\u2019ll be in tough to retool with limited cap space.Lots of speculation that the Oilers<\/a> are working hard to facilitate a Darnell Nurse trade.<\/p>\n Sponsored by bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around the NHL: Senators & Ducks linked to McTavish trade; Marner vs. Andersen set for Stanley Cup Final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-342401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}