A pair of playoff-bound teams are hoping to keep their highly successful midseason acquisitions beyond 2021-22.

The Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers will make concerted efforts to re-sign Evander Kane and Andrew Copp, respectively, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

"I'm told the New York Rangers are going to push hard, hard to extend Andrew Copp; we can understand why," Dreger reported on Thursday's "Insider Trading" segment. "Likewise for Evander Kane and the Oilers."

Edmonton signed Kane to a one-year, $1.375-million deal in January after the San Jose Sharks terminated his previous contract. The 30-year-old power forward has recorded 22 goals and 17 assists in 41 games this season while riding shotgun with Connor McDavid.

Dreger speculated that contract length could potentially be problematic in negotiations.

"You wonder about the term between Kane and the Oilers," he said. "Is three years too much? We have to find out."

Edmonton projects to have roughly $12 million in cap space this summer with a roster of 14 skaters and one goalie, per CapFriendly. Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto are its most prominent pending restricted free agents.

The Rangers acquired Copp and a sixth-round pick from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a pair of conditional second-rounders, a fifth-round pick, and prospect Morgan Barron.

The versatile forward has found a home at right wing on the team's second line alongside Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome. He's tallied eight goals and 10 assists in 16 games with New York.

The Rangers project to have nearly $11 million in cap space with a roster of 16 skaters and one goalie. Strome is their biggest pending UFA, while Kaapo Kakko and Alexandar Georgiev are their most notable pending RFAs.

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The Western Conference playoff picture has come down to one last spot.

The Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings punched their postseason tickets Tuesday with the Dallas Stars' shootout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Miro Heiskanen netted the only goal of the shootout in the seventh round.

The Stars would've locked up the final spot had they defeated the Knights in regulation. Dallas is now four points ahead of Vegas with just two games remaining, but the Golden Knights hold the tiebreaker. The Stars can clinch Wednesday if they pick up a point against the Arizona Coyotes or if Vegas loses to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Kings secured third place in the Pacific Division and will play the Edmonton Oilers in Round 1. It's the first time since 2017-18 that L.A. has made the playoffs, and six players remain from that squad: Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick, Adrian Kempe, and Alex Iafallo.

The Predators have now made the postseason in eight consecutive campaigns. They'll either play the Colorado Avalanche or Calgary Flames in the opening round.

Additionally, the Vancouver Canucks were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are getting Jake Muzzin back before the start of the playoffs.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe said Muzzin is in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Detroit Red Wings, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

The defenseman missed the last six games for an undisclosed reason.

Muzzin has been limited to 45 contests this season. He's sustained two concussions - one in January and then another in February, only six games after he recovered from the first one.

The 33-year-old is averaging 20:48 of ice time in 2021-22. He's collected three goals and 11 assists while authoring an expected goals for percentage of 53.25 at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Toronto acquired Muzzin in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings in January 2019.

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Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, the team confirmed Monday.

The 30-year-old sustained the injury Feb. 9. Vegas had initially hoped that rest and rehab would allow him to finish the season, adding that Lehner had attempted to battle through the ailment.

Lehner told the organization last Thursday that he'd be getting the procedure, and the team doctor agreed Saturday that surgery was the best choice, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan. The Golden Knights reportedly asked Lehner to delay the operation and dress as the backup for Sunday's contest due to cap reasons.

Reports surfaced that Lehner would undergo campaign-ending surgery earlier this week, and there was speculation he was playing through a significant knee injury sustained in March. Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer sidestepped the rumors Friday and said he expected Lehner to be available for Sunday's game.

The Swedish native struggled through an injury-riddled 2021-22 campaign: Lehner missed five games in February with an upper-body ailment, returned for four contests, then landed on the sidelines with a lower-body issue that kept him out of an additional 12 matchups. He also took to Twitter to deny reports that he'd fractured his kneecap in March.

His last appearance came April 20, against the Washington Capitals. He allowed one goal on 13 shots in the first period, but Logan Thompson replaced him for the remainder of the contest.

Lehner logged a .907 save percentage and a 2.83 goals against average across 44 appearances this season.

Goaltender Jiri Patera was recalled from the team's AHL affiliate in a corresponding move.

Vegas is in a dogfight to make the playoffs. It has three games left on its regular-season schedule and sits three points back of the Dallas Stars for the last Western Conference wild-card spot.

The Golden Knights take on the Stars on Tuesday night.

With Laurent Brossoit still on the shelf due to injury, Vegas will have to turn to Thompson. The 25-year-old authored a serviceable .917 save percentage in 16 showings this campaign.

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