The St. Louis Blues have a short coaching candidate list Lou Korac of The Hockey News: Drew Bannister took over as interim coach of the St. Louis Blues back on December 12th. GM Dough Armstrong said that his head coaching candidate list is shorter than it once was and the Bannister is a candidate. “I talked to Drew in the last week or so and told him that he’s going to be a candidate for the head coaching job,” Armstrong said. “I feel that for the process it’s necessary to interview a few people, but what I told him is when we made the coaching change, I was creating a list and the list was de ..read more

With the NHL Playoffs about to get underway, it felt like a great time to look at those who made an impact from the NHL Trade Deadline. That is correct. A few players shifted their teams into even better versions of themselves. Unlike last year, when the Eastern Conference was so top-heavy at the NHL Trade Deadline, this year’s trade deadline saw fewer standout moves. However, the contending teams will still make some moves that can help their chances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Anyway, it is time to reveal some of our best. NHL Trade Deadline Fallout: Blues, Lightning, Maple Leafs, and the C ..read more

Sidney Crosby Will Follow in Heroes’ Footsteps Pittsburgh Penguins writer for The Athletic Josh Yohe joined TSN Radio on Monday ahead of the Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs game. When asked about the potential of Sidney Crosby leaving Pittsburgh for another team, Yohe stated he did not think that was going to happen and that Crosby would re-sign in Pittsburgh. ** NHLRumors.com transcription Sidney Crosby Wants To Be a Pittsburgh Penguin Forever Jeff O’Neill: “We spoke about different scenarios if this continued to be a train wreck. They were just playing out the stretch, and it turned into a ..read more

Sidney Crosby Will Follow in Heroes’ Footsteps Pittsburgh Penguins writer for The Athletic Josh Yohe joined TSN Radio on Monday ahead of the Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs game. When asked about the potential of Sidney Crosby leaving Pittsburgh for another team, Yohe stated he did not think that was going to happen and that Crosby would re-sign in Pittsburgh. ** NHLRumors.com transcription Sidney Crosby Wants To Be a Pittsburgh Penguin Forever Jeff O’Neill: “We spoke about different scenarios if this continued to be a train wreck. They were just playing out the stretch, and it turned into a ..read more

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined Jay Onrait on SportsCenter earlier in the week and was asked for his opinion on who would take the final two spots in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. ** NHLRumors.com Transcription No Need For The NHL To Expand the Stanley Cup Playoffs Jay Onrait: “Let’s take an even deeper dive into the Eastern Conference playoff race. With our good friend, the impeccably dressed Craig Button from Calgary. Craig, the Red Wings get the win on Sunday. They get back into that final wildcard spot position ahead of the Penguins, and yet this could ch ..read more

Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Porky Palmer Eclipsed This Podcast episode, on the Pittsburgh Penguins and how interesting it’s going to be to see how they handle their goaltending situation this offseason. ** NHL Rumors.com transcription Friedman: “… and the other guy there who has been a huge part of this has been (Alex) Nedeljkovich.” Marek: “Oh yeah.: Friedman: “And Nedeljkovich is a really interesting guy, because this is another one who had, he played really well in Carolina, and they let him go because they just didn’t like what his Arb case ..read more

Penguins Could Continue Retool on the Fly by Making the Stanley Cup Playoffs Pittsburgh Penguins writer Josh Yohe of the Athletic joined TSN Radio in Toronto on Monday ahead of the Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs game and was asked if the Penguins making the playoffs would change the plan laid out by President and General Manager Kyle Dubas. ** NHLRumors.com transcription NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Vancouver Canucks Jeff O’Neill: Josh, before we get to Sid and Malkin, if they ultimately do get into the playoffs, do you think that changes anything from manage ..read more

Penguins Could Continue Retool on the Fly by Making the Stanley Cup Playoffs Pittsburgh Penguins writer Josh Yohe of the Athletic joined TSN Radio in Toronto on Monday ahead of the Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs game and was asked if the Penguins making the playoffs would change the plan laid out by President and General Manager Kyle Dubas. ** NHLRumors.com transcription NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Vancouver Canucks Jeff O’Neill: Josh, before we get to Sid and Malkin, if they ultimately do get into the playoffs, do you think that changes anything from manage ..read more

Options for the Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares Erik Duhatschek of The Athletic: Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares has another year left on his contract at an $11 million cap hit. Don’t see the Maple Leafs asking him to waive his no-movement clause or buying him out. Can see them eventually signing the 33-year-old at a reduced rate. The Leafs could let him walk if they can’t reach an extension, but he will have made over $121 million in his career, so making as much money as he can on his next deal may not be a priority. He could sign a real team-friendly deal with the Leafs to all ..read more

There has been a lot of talk of the NHL needing to expand the Stanley Cup Playoffs to include a play-in round like the other sports. However, what we are seeing play out to close out the 2023-24 season is that the regular season is the play-in round. The Western Conference is pretty much set in terms of what eight teams are making it. However, two spots are up for grabs in the Eastern Conference, and five teams are fighting for those spots. Stanley Cup Playoffs: Should the NHL Expand its Playoff Format? This is precisely what the NHL wanted when they put the schedule out—the in-conference game ..read more