With the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals eliminating the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens respectfully from 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Calgary Flames are now officially locked in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft with the 18th overall pick.

Who will they draft?

Let the speculation begin…

The Flames have a problem on the offensive end. They had the fourth-lowest goals scored in the league, and a power play that ranked 19th. But they do get shots on goal with the seventh-most this past season.

The good thing about Calgary is they have two first-round picks this year and the second one is dependent on how far the Florida Panthers end up in the playoffs. The Flames should prioritize their offensive needs with that second pick.

Considering in Elite Prospects top 32 April’s list of prospects for the draft, there are just seven defencemen, it makes the position even more valuable.

And since 23-year-old Wranglers centre Rory Kerins impressed in the AHL with 33 goals and 61 points in 63 games this past season, and even scored four points in five games with the Flames, there is potential he makes the roster and helps with the scoring.

Calgary has depth with right-handed defencemen: Rasmus Andersson (whose future with the organization is cloudy), MacKenzie Weegar, Brayden Pachal, Daniil Miromanov.

Zayne Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz are RHD prospects that are very likely to make the roster.

With left-handers, the only regulars are Joel Hanley, Jake Bean and Kevin Bahl. Hanley will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer and will turn 34 on June 8th: quite old for the Flames roster whose average age was 27.35 for the 2024-45 season according to Elite Prospects.

Jake Bean is not a game-changing defenceman, and will most likely be headed to the AHL, leaving Bahl as the top pairing left defenceman. That means it should be Craig Conroy’s priority to sign the upcoming restricted free agent.

With that 18th overall pick, the Flames should draft a left-handed defenceman and add depth to their blueline.

Our pick:  Kitchener Rangers LD Cameron Reid -

24'-25' OHL Stats:  14 Goals, 40 Assists,  54 Points in 67 Games

Notable Stat: 22 Power Play assists (Team-high, 16th in the OHL)

The Reasons:

• Valuable shutdown defenseman

• Two-way capabilities with great offensive skills

• Leadership experience as alternate captain of Rangers

• Ability to quarterback the man-advantage will help power play woes

• Very physical defender for a Flames roster ranked 19th in hits in the 2024-45 season

The NHL announced that the 2025 Draft Lottery will be held May 5 at NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The event will be broadcast on ESPN in the United States and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada, at a time to be announced. 

The Draft itself will take place from June 27-28 in Los Angeles.

There will be two drawings in the Draft Lottery, one to determine the No. 1 pick and a second to determine the No. 2 pick. No team can move up more than 10 spots in the draft order, and only the top 11 teams in the lottery are eligible for the No. 1 pick. If a team outside of the top 11 wins the draw, the team with the worst record in the NHL will pick No. 1.

The San Jose Sharks (20-50-12), who finished with the NHL's worst record, have the best odds to win the lottery at 18.5%, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks (25-46-11) at 13.5% and the Nashville Predators (30-44-8) at 11.5%.

According to Tankathon, the Predators' odds for their five possible lottery results are as follows:

• No. 1 overall — 11.5%
• No. 2 overall — 11.2%
• No. 3 overall — 7.8%
• No. 4 overall — 39.7%
• No. 5 overall — 29.8%

Regardless of the lottery results, the Predators will select in the top five of the draft order for the first time since 2013, when they selected defenseman Seth Jones at No. 4 overall.

As the U18s wind down. Draft pundits like myself will be making some alterations to the 2025 NHL Draft rankings. Recency bias is real and I try like heck to stay away from that. Also, some players really shine and as long as there are games going on, players will move up or down depending on their performance. 

One player who is excelling is Braeden Cootes. He’s currently leading Team Canada in scoring with 10 points in four games. That’s terrific and he’s the captain of the team so that’s exactly what a draft eligible player wants to do  - - finish the season strong. 

The example I always use is current Leafs forward, Scott Laughton. Back in 2012, he had seven points in seven games. That was one more point than Sam Reinhart. Considering he wasn’t a point-per-game player in the regular season that year but he had five points in six playoff games. This tournament made the Flyers confident that they could draft him 20th overall without hesitation and he’s had a nice NHL career.

I’ll be tracking the games, writing about some surprise players and maybe some who might fall a bit. Between that and the NHL Draft Lottery coming up soon, that will keep me busy as the Canadiens try and keep their season going. Whenever that ends, fans always turn to the draft and I’m here for that.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev exited Game 5 against the Minnesota Wild with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day.

The 24-year-old played all three regulation periods but did not come out for the overtime frame. Thankfully for the Golden Knights, Brett Howden scored the game-winner, giving them a 3-2 series lead. 

Through five games, Dorofeyev has scored a goal and an assist, both tallies coming on the power play.

"We'll see how he is for tomorrow," head coach Bruce Cassidy said Wednesday. "We didn't skate today. But we'll have a better idea tomorrow."

The Golden Knights will be hoping he can travel with the club to Minnesota for Game 6, but if he cannot play, Victor Olofsson will likely slide back into the lineup. The 29-year-old winger played the first three games of the series before he was replaced by Tanner Pearson. He's not yet recorded a point in the playoffs and has only thrown three shots on goal. 

"If he can't go, we'll think about who goes in the lineup and go from there," Cassidy said. "I'm pretty comfortable with however it works out."

The Golden Knights will have their chance to close out the series on Thursday in St. Paul. 

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Golden Knights Video Coach The True Star Of Game 5Vegas Golden Knights forwards Jack Eichel and Mark Stone finally introduced themselves into the series in Game 5, but the true headliner was video assistant coach Dave Rogowski detecting a possible offside on a Minnesota Wild goal.

The Carolina Hurricanes officially advanced to the second round with their 5-4 double overtime win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 5. Now, they have made some roster moves in preparation for the second round. 

The Hurricanes have announced that they have recalled Scott Morrow, Juha Jaaska, and Ty Smith from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. 

The Hurricanes selected Morrow with the 40th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 22-year-old blueliner had one goal, six points, 16 blocks, and a plus-4 rating in 14 regular-season games with the Hurricanes this season. Down in the AHL with the Wolves, the right-shot defenseman posted 13 goals, 39 points, and 47 penalty minutes in 52 games. 

Jaaska, 27, played in his first 18 career NHL games this season with the Hurricanes, recording four assists and nine penalty minutes. The 6-foot winger spent most of this season with the Wolves, posting 12 goals, 33 points, and a minus-1 rating. 

Smith, 25, had one goal, one assist, five blocks, and a plus-1 rating in eight games this season with the Hurricanes. The 2018 first-round pick scored five goals and recorded 28 points in 36 games this campaign with the Wolves. 

These three will now serve as depth pieces for the Hurricanes during their playoff run from here. 

Recent Hurricanes News 

Hurricanes Hit Home Run With Taylor Hall ExtensionThe Carolina Hurricanes made a major move on April 30, signing forward Taylor Hall to a three-year, $9.5 million contract extension. This news was announced shortly after the Hurricanes knocked out the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the post-season.  Exciting Hurricanes Rookie Is Thriving In PlayoffsIt has been a strong start to the post-season for the Carolina Hurricanes. They currently have a commanding 3-1 series lead over the New Jersey Devils and need to win only one more game to advance to the second round.  Former Hurricanes Star Has Strong Playoff PerformanceDuring his time with the Carolina Hurricanes, Justin Faulk was known for his ability to produce offense from the point. This is still a notable part of his game now that he is with the St. Louis Blues, which is why he is a key part of the Central Division club's blueline.

What we know about the second round of the NHL playoffs so far originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

There will soon be just eight NHL teams in contention for the Stanley Cup.

The first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs is nearing its conclusion, with three Eastern Conference series wrapped up.

The Metropolitan Division’s No. 2-seeded Carolina Hurricanes were the first team to advance to the conference semifinals, taking down the Metro’s No. 3-seeded New Jersey Devils in five games. Sebastian Aho scored a series-clinching goal in double-overtime of Game 5, booking the franchise’s fifth consecutive conference semifinal appearance.

The second team to reach Round 2 also happens to be Carolina’s next opponent: the East’s No. 1-seeded Washington Capitals. Alex Ovechkin and the Caps made it out of the first round for the first time since their 2018 Stanley Cup title run by eliminating the wild-card Montreal Canadiens in five games.

The conference semis will also feature the defending champion Florida Panthers. Florida, the Atlantic Division’s No. 3 seed, bounced the Tampa Bay Lighting, the Atlantic’s No. 2 seed, in five games in Round 1 for a second straight postseason. The Panthers, who last year won their first Stanley Cup title, are looking to join an exclusive group of repeat winners.

With five second-round berths still to be awarded, what could the other conference semifinal matchups look like? And when will the next round begin? Here’s what we know:

When does Round 2 of the NHL playoffs start?

The NHL hasn’t announced a start date for Round 2 yet. For what it’s worth, the last potential Game 7s of the first round are slated for Sunday, May 4.

Do the NHL playoffs reseed teams?

Just like the NBA playoffs, teams aren’t reseeded after the first round of the NHL postseason. The Stanley Cup Playoffs have a bracket format.

What are the matchups in Round 2 of the NHL playoffs?

Here’s an updated look at the Round 2 bracket possibilities:

Eastern Conference

• Winner of Toronto Maple Leafs-Ottawa Senators vs. Florida Panthers (Atlantic No. 3)
• Carolina Hurricanes (Metro No. 2) vs. Washington Capitals (Metro No. 1)

Western Conference

• Winner of Winnipeg Jets-St. Louis Blues vs. winner of Dallas Stars-Colorado Avalanche
• Winner of Vegas Golden Knights-Minnesota Wild vs. winner of Los Angeles Kings-Edmonton Oilers

What is the Round 2 schedule in the NHL playoffs?

This section will be updated as second-round schedule details are released (* = if necessary):

Eastern Conference

Hurricanes vs. Capitals

• Game 1: Hurricanes at Capitals — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD
• Game 2: Hurricanes at Capitals — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD
• Game 3: Capitals at Hurricanes — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD
• Game 4: Capitals at Hurricanes — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD
• Game 5*: Hurricanes at Capitals — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD
• Game 6*: Capitals at Hurricanes — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD
• Game 7*: Hurricanes at Capitals — date TBD, time TBD, TV channel TBD

EDMONTON – Life has a funny way of bringing things full circle.

The team that drafted him may have to face him on Thursday night.

Him, in this sense, being a former Edmonton Oilers defender, Caleb Jones.

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The Oilers drafted Jones 117th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He showed a lot of promise in his first few seasons when he was called up to the NHL team.

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Particularly, in his first 17-game stint. Jones recorded six points while playing 19:48 per game. That season, he spent 46 percent of his time on ice paired with defensive stalwart Adam Larsson.

Unfortunately for Jones, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Duncan Keith. Keith would prove to be an essential piece for the Oilers and someone who would be a leader for the defense group on and off the ice.

Caleb Jones (And Others) Recalled By Los Angeles Kings

Now, he will potentially play against the team that drafted him. Earlier on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Kings recalled six players from their AHL affiliate (the Ontario Reign).

Andre Lee, Francesco Pinelli, Jack Studnicka, Taylor Ward, and Pheonix Copley were also recalled. 

Jones has split his season between the NHL and AHL. In the AHL, he played 44 regular season games, recording 21 points in the process. In his six NHL games, he has zero points while averaging 12:34 in ice time.

Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday, May 1st at 8:00 PM Mountain Time. The game will be broadcast on CBC and Sportsnet.

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1. Washington's Tom Wilson is the closest thing to being the perfect power forward. He's big, tough, an enforcer and scorer. The Capitals go nowhere without him.

2. The closest thing to a Rangers version of Wilson is Will Cuylle. He's 6-3, 210 pounds and loves to mix it. We also know for sure that he can score.

Successful NHL Coaches The Rangers Should StudyThe most successful coaches in the NHL right now are do not belong to the Rangers

3. Maple Leaf fans are even more nervous than their Blueshirt counterparts. After the Senators shut out Toronto last night, Leafs panic suggested that the favorites were down 0-3 in the series; not up 3-2.

4. The more Kris Knoblauch coaches Edmonton to comeback victories, the more it hurts Rangers fans who realize he could have been behind the Blueshirt bench.

5. One of Chris Drury's endless mistakes was bypassing Knoblauch in Hartford and opting for Peter Laviolette.

6. Don't be surprised if Lavvy winds up in Vancouver which would be a  big Jim Rutherford mistake if he goes that route.

7. The Devils wasted Jacob Markstrom's super goaltending last night in Raleigh. The four-minute penalty taken by Dawson Mercer in the second OT was just too tough to kill.

8. Still, kudos to New Jersey. The team hung tough despite the absence of three regular defenseman as well as top scorer Jack Hughes up front.

9. Considering how GM Chris MacFarland built the Avalanche for a long playoff run, it's hard to believe that Dallas could knock the Avs right out of the box tonight.

10. Pity the Capitals if they lose at home tonight to Montreal. Playing with house money, Marty St.Louis has his team poised for an astonishing comeback.