The veteran became the first netminder in NHL history to play in 15 consecutive postseasons. He broke a tie with Hall of Famer Tony Esposito, who did so from 1970-83.
Fleury is competing in his 15th career postseason overall. He's the fifth puck-stopper in league history to achieve that and ranks behind Martin Brodeur (17), Patrick Roy (17), Andy Moog (16), and Jacques Plante (16).
The Golden Knights goalie has reached the playoffs in all four of his campaigns with Vegas. The team reached the conference finals in 2019-20, two seasons after going all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in the team's inaugural campaign.
Before joining the Golden Knights, the 36-year-old won the Cup three times in 13 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He qualified for the playoffs in his last 11 years with the club. Matt Murray played a larger role for the Penguins en route to their titles in 2016 and 2017, but Fleury played 24 postseason games in 2009 en route to the championship.
Keefe said Campbell's regular-season performance and the club's faith in him factored into the decision.
"Just his results in wins, saves, the confidence he's built for himself and, in (turn), the confidence he's given the team," the Maple Leafs bench boss explained.
Campbell went 17-3-2 with a .921 save percentage in 22 games, all of which were starts. The 29-year-old set Toronto's franchise record with his 10th straight victory April 7, and he won his 11th consecutive contest three days later.
The former backup goalie for both the Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings took over as Toronto's de facto starter after Frederik Andersen suffered an injury. Campbell held on to the job when Andersen struggled upon returning.
Andersen went 13-8-3 with a .895 save percentage and a minus-8.6 goals saved above average while being limited to 24 contests.
Drew Doughty won't be satisfied with the Los Angeles Kings front office if it doesn't bolster the rebuilding club in the near future.
The defenseman expressed a sense of urgency and cited the Kings' aging core when asked if it's time for the team to add more experience.
"Yeah, for sure. I mean, shit, we gotta," Doughty said Friday. "Me and (Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, and Dustin Brown), we're all getting older. We all had, I thought, phenomenal seasons, but we're running out of time. You've got two of the best players at their position ... both ways ... and with all this cap room, yeah, we've got to bring guys in, that's it.
"There's no point in just waiting for these prospects to develop when you've got guys in their prime, hungry to win, and sick of losing."
Doughty was asked if he'd be happy if big moves aren't made in the offseason. His reply was brief but to the point.
"No," he said.
The Kings went 21-28-7 this season, finishing near the bottom of the league standings. Los Angeles has been rebuilding for the last three campaigns, missing the playoffs each time. The Kings have made only two postseason appearances - losing both first-round series - since claiming their second Stanley Cup championship over a three-year span in 2014.
However, as Doughty noted, the 2021 squad showed some promise. The 31-year-old produced 34 points in 56 games, while Kopitar, who's 33, racked up 50 points while also playing every contest. Brown, the eldest player on the Kings' roster at 36, led the team with 17 goals in 49 games. However, Quick posted a subpar .898 save percentage over 22 contests and was outplayed by 26-year-old Cal Petersen.
Los Angeles has begun to give more opportunities to younger players like Petersen, Adrian Kempe, and 2017 first-round pick Gabriel Vilardi, all of whom have shown flashes of their abilities. The Kings also boast a deep prospect pool led by 2020 second overall pick Quinton Byfield - who debuted with the club this season - and 2019 second-rounder Arthur Kaliyev, who scored in his lone appearance in the league in February.
The Kings finished the season with about $9 million in cap space and could have even more than that this summer if they opt not to re-sign any of their six pending restricted free agents.
Ryan O'Reilly didn't say, "I guarantee," but the St. Louis Blues captain clearly believes his team will upset the NHL's top squad in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's exciting for us," O'Reilly said Thursday night. "We know we can beat this team and do some damage here."
"We know that they have a lot of talent over there and they work hard, but for us, it's an exciting challenge," the Blues star added. "We're going have some fun and we're going to beat them."
The Avalanche clinched the Presidents' Trophy to claim the NHL's best record with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
Colorado scored the most goals per game and surrendered the third-fewest per contest in 2021 while authoring the NHL's second-best goal differential. The Avalanche also led the league in goals for percentage at five-on-five and expected goals for percentage in the same situations, according to Natural Stat Trick.
O'Reilly, who played his first six seasons with Colorado, led the Blues with 24 goals and ranked second with 30 assists while playing all 56 games this season. St. Louis named him captain in December following Alex Pietrangelo's departure in October.
The Avalanche finished atop the West Division with a 39-13-4 record, while the Blues finished fourth at 27-20-9.
Colorado won five of the eight meetings between the clubs during the regular season, though St. Louis won the last two, both on home ice.
Game 1 of their first-round series is scheduled for Monday night in Denver.
"Absolutely. AV's our coach and we're excited to have he and his staff back next season," Fletcher said without hesitation, according to LeBrun. "We have a lot of work ahead of us to redefine our defensive game and our defensive structure. I can't think of a better group to do it than the group of experienced coaches that we have behind our bench right now."
Fletcher added that the Flyers didn't meet expectations in 2021. The club missed the playoffs this season with a 25-23-8 record after posting the NHL's fourth-best record in the previous campaign.
The Flyers allowed the most goals against per game in the league and finished last in save percentage while producing a minus-38 goal differential. Franchise netminder Carter Hart owned the NHL's worst goals saved above expected and goals saved above average totals in all situations.
"You have no chance to be successful giving up the number of chances and the number of goals that we did this year," Fletcher said.
Philadelphia was expected to continue to make strides after finishing strong and winning a postseason series on the strength of a solid defensive effort in 2019-20. However, steady blue-liner Matt Niskanen surprisingly retired in October, and Fletcher said he should have done more to replace him.
"I did a poor job of filling that void," the GM said. "It wasn't for a lack of trying, but we didn't do what we needed to do. And that falls on me."
Vigneault reportedly signed a five-year, $25-million contract when the Flyers hired him in April 2019. The longtime bench boss, who turned 60 on Friday, previously guided the New York Rangers for five seasons, the Vancouver Canucks for seven, and the Montreal Canadiens for parts of four to begin his NHL coaching career.
The Seattle Kraken completed their first-ever player transaction.
Luke Henman inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the expansion franchise, the Kraken announced Wednesday. It's a standard two-way deal.
The 21-year-old center is in the midst of the QMJHL playoffs with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. He's scored six goals in seven postseason games this spring after collecting 16 markers and 27 helpers in 32 contests during the regular season.
"Luke has put up the numbers in the 'Q' and he is team captain," Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. "He has solid character. We do think he needs to get stronger. We are excited to sign him as our first player.
"He's still a little bit light," Francis added. "But he thinks the game well and has the skating and hockey skills we like when scouting players."
Henman is in his fifth campaign with the Armada. The Carolina Hurricanes drafted him 96th overall in 2018, but he ultimately didn't sign with them.
The Kraken will fill out their roster during the expansion draft on July 21. The NHL's 32nd team is scheduled to begin play in the 2021-22 season.
The Blackhawks acquired the 23-year-old forward from the Florida Panthers along with forward Brett Connolly, defenseman Riley Stillman, and a seventh-round pick for forward Lucas Wallmark and blue-liner Lucas Carlsson on April 8.
Borgstrom was a pending NHL restricted free agent. He spent this season in his native Finland, where he collected 11 goals and 10 assists in 30 games with Liiga's HIFK in Helsinki.
The Panthers selected him 23rd overall in 2016. He posted nine goals and 10 assists over 58 contests with Florida from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
Borgstrom was a college star at the University of Denver after he was drafted. The 6-foot-3, 199-pound center amassed 45 goals and 50 assists across 77 games over his two seasons with the Pioneers, helping them win the national championship as a freshman in 2016-17.
"For sure, I would say I’ve been a bit upset about the ways things have been handled since I’ve been hurt," the Sabres captain said.
"I'd be lying (if I said) things have moved smoothly since my injury. ... There’s been a bit of a disconnect (between) the organization and myself. It's been tough at times, but right now for me, I think the most important thing is just trying to get healthy and (figuring) out a way to be available to play hockey next year, wherever that might be."
Eichel confirmed he broke the tip of his rib during a drill several weeks before training camp opened and also said he played through a lingering abdominal injury dating back to last season, according to Spectrum News' Ted Goldberg.
The 24-year-old star added he hasn't ruled out undergoing surgery on the herniated disc in his neck that shut down his 2021 campaign in March, according to the Buffalo News' Lance Lysowski. In fact, Eichel appeared to imply he wanted to go through with a procedure, but the team didn't allow it.
Jack Eichel essentially says the Sabres wouldn't let him have surgery on his herniated disk in his neck.
His body, his choice?
"It doesn't work like that. I wish. ... I'm under contract with this team and they definitely hold a lot of cards on what I can and can't do."
Eichel also said he's not using the injuries as excuses for his diminished production this season. "I've just got to be better," he said. "I've got to be a better hockey player."
The forward, who's under contract through 2025-26 with a $10-million cap hit, intends to mull over his future this summer.
"I think I have a lot of thinking to do in this offseason," Eichel said, according to the Buffalo News' Mike Harrington. "I think there's a lot that I have to consider. For now, obviously, I'm here, and I'm the captain of this hockey team, and my goal is to be available and try to help ... this organization win hockey games."
Eichel played his last game of the campaign for the league-worst Sabres on March 7 before being ruled out for the remainder due to his neck injury. After missing a pair of contests in late February, he contradicted Buffalo's then-head coach Ralph Krueger, who gave a different timeline of when the injury occurred.
The American-born player only collected two goals and 16 assists through 21 games this season, but his underlying numbers proved misfortune was a factor. Eichel authored a subpar 38.46 goals for percentage at five-on-five in 2021, but he posted a 56.42 expected goals for percentage in the same situations.
Eichel's served as Sabres captain since 2018-19 and has spent his entire six-year career with Buffalo.
Maroon will miss Monday's regular-season finale against the Panthers. Florida sits in second place in the Central Division with 77 points, while Tampa Bay occupies the third spot with 75. It will be the final contest before the playoffs for both clubs. The teams will meet in the postseason for the first time ever when the first round begins.
The 33-year-old had a hearing earlier Sunday for roughing Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour. The Lightning agitator broke free from a linesman's grasp to attack the Florida blue-liner during Saturday's game.
Late in the third period of a 5-1 Panthers victory, Maroon and Montour exchanged words before being separated by the officials. Maroon then skated away from the linesman, dropped his gloves, and went after Montour, hitting his face with his bare hand.
Both players received minor penalties and 10-minute misconducts for the incident. Montour was also fined $5,000 for spearing Maroon before the altercation began.
The NHL said Sunday it agreed with Maroon's argument that he didn't forcefully hit Montour, but the league cited "the totality of the circumstances that causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline." The league also pointed to Rule 46.5, which states that any player who continues a fight or altercation after being ordered by the referee to stop is subject to "a misconduct or game misconduct penalty in addition to any penalties imposed."
Maroon was previously suspended two games while with the Edmonton Oilers for a hit on Los Angeles Kings rearguard Drew Doughty in January 2018.
Rick Tocchet won't coach the Arizona Coyotes next season, as he and the club agreed to part ways, general manager Bill Armstrong announced Sunday.
Tocchet's contract expires June 30. The Coyotes' season ended with a win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Arizona went 125-131-34 during Tocchet's tenure. The team eliminated the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round of the 2019-20 playoffs before bowing out at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche in a five-game first-round series. It was the Coyotes' first postseason appearance since they made it to the Western Conference Final in 2012.