Buffalo Sabres 2024-25 Player Report Card: Rasmus Dahlin
While the Buffalo Sabres as a whole did not live up to the expectations they aspired to this past season, there were still some individual players that had success in…
Monthly Archives: May 2025
Cayden Primeau’s Future With the Canadiens
As the Montreal Canadiens turn the page on another season of growth and transition, one of the lingering questions surrounds the future of goaltender Cayden Primeau. Once considered a decent…
How Could the Anaheim Ducks Reconfigure the Team This Offseason?
As evidenced by the recent firing of head coach Greg Cronin, the Anaheim Ducks are looking to make significant moves this offseason to better their team as they enter yet…
Revisiting The Last Time Penguins Selected 11th Overall: 1967
The Pittsburgh Penguins finished with the ninth-worst record in the NHL and were slated to be drafted 9th overall at the 2025 Draft, but dropped two spots after the New York Islanders and Utah Hockey Club moved up.
Interestingly, 2025 will mark the second time in franchise history that Pittsburgh has selected 11th overall. For those wondering when the first time was, we have to go back to the club's initial draft in 1967, where the Penguins had two picks, Steve Rexe (second overall) and Bob Smith (11th overall).
Out of the 18 picks in the 1967 Amateur Draft, only three made it to the NHL, including Serge Bernier (Philadelphia Flyers - 5th overall), Bob Kelly (Toronto Maple Leafs - 16th overall), and Al Karlander (Detroit Red Wings - 17th overall).
Ultimately, this leads us back to Smith. Who was he, and how far did he make it in professional hockey? Let's dig into the numbers and find out what happened to the only player the Penguins have ever drafted at 11th overall.
Who is Bob Smith, the 11th overall pick in the 1967 Amateur Draft?
Smith was born in Sault St. Marie, Ontario, on Dec. 1, 1946. As a local kid, he played junior hockey with the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds in the NOJHL from 1963 to 1967.
He had 27 points in 19 games as a rookie, almost tripling his production as an 18-year-old for the 1964-65 season, thanks to 44 goals and 44 assists, which netted him 88 points.
During his third campaign, Smith outperformed his previous totals by two, scoring 46 goals and collecting 46 assists for 92 points in 40 games. Moreover, he set a career high in penalty minutes that season, sitting in the box for 50.
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Heading into his final junior season, Smith cracked 100 points for the only time, scoring 48 goals and 52 assists to reach 100 points.
The Penguins saw something in Smith and drafted him as the 11th overall pick at the 1967 Amateur Draft on June 7, 1967.
However, Smith never made it to the NHL. Instead, he played his entire professional career in the IHL with the Muskegon Mohawks from 1967 to 1972, winning the Turner Cup in 1968.
As a 21-year-old, Smith made his IHL debut in 1967 and scored 26 goals and 60 points. He followed that up with 38 goals and 82 points in his second season. Meanwhile, he played just three games in 1968-69 for the Amarillo Wranglers in the CenHL, registering no points.
Unfortunately, Smith didn't play much of the 1969-70 season, scoring a point-per-game with seven goals and six assists in just 13 games. Yet, he bounced back with another 28-goal season the following year to finish the 1970-71 campaign with 67 points.
Finally, Smith's professional career ended following the 1971-72 season, during which he tallied 33 goals and a personal best 84 points in 61 games while collecting only nine penalty minutes.
Overall, Smith averaged 2.22 points-per-game in junior hockey, thanks to 152 goals and 155 assists for 307 points in 138 games, while his professional totals were just as impressive at 1.10 points-per-game, with 132 goals, 174 assists, and 306 points in 277 games.
3 Players the St. Louis Blues Should Target in the 2025 NHL Draft
Now that the St. Louis Blues have ended their playoff run, they can look forward to the 2025 NHL Draft, which will be held on June 27 in Los Angeles.…
Former Oilers' Pat Maroon Announces New Gig
EDMONTON – Some people just can’t stay away.
Often, when an NHL player retires, they move in to another aspect of hockey.
Edmonton Oilers fans are more than familiar with this concept. Wayne Gretzky went on to be an NHL head coach, Kevin Lowe was the GM of the Oilers at one point, and Paul Coffey currently serves on Kris Knoblauch’s coaching staff.
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But former Oilers forward Pat Maroon appears to be going the route of Oilers legend Mark Messier.
It was announced on Wednesday morning that the NHL on TNT broadcast would be gaining a few special guests in the next week.
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Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet will join the broadcast for Friday and Saturday’s slate of games. Maroon will join for Monday’s games.
Considering how Maroon has been in interviews and media scrums, it’s not surprising that he would be drawn to broadcasting. Additionally, Monday is an interesting day to hop aboard.
COACH TOCC AND THE BIG RIG 🍿
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) May 7, 2025
Excited to be welcoming a new guest (and an old friend) to the desk this weekend 📺 pic.twitter.com/oXjGJL5XHh
There are two games slated for Monday. Game 4 of the Washington Capitals series against the Carolina Hurricanes and Game 4 between the Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.
Maroon announced his retirement from hockey in the past month. He had a long career and played with many NHL teams. In 848 career games he recorded 323 points and 1087 penalty minutes.
Maroon’s most successful offensive season came while with the Oilers. In the 2016-17 season, he recorded a 27-goal, 42-point season while playing 16:44 a game.
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Game 1 Showed the Oilers Exactly How to Win Series vs. Golden Knights
A tightly contested first game of the series saw the Edmonton Oilers come from behind to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2. And in the course of claiming the first…
Rangers New Head Coach Mike Sullivan Isn’t the Typical Retread
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Rantanen, McDavid Or Nylander: Who Are The Early Conn Smythe Favorites?
The Conn Smythe Trophy does not get awarded in the first or second round of the playoffs. But less than three weeks into the post-season, it's already clear that some players have emerged as early MVP favorites.
Here's a look at five who are leading their teams to what they hope will be an eventual Stanley Cup — that is, if they can advance to the third and final rounds.
Mikko Rantanen
What else is there to say about the man called Moose?
Rantanen, who singlehandedly brought the Dallas Stars back from the dead in Game 7 against the Avalanche with a hat trick in the third period, followed it up with another “hatty” in Game 1 against Winnipeg. He now leads the playoffs with eight goals — two of which are game-winners — and 15 points in eight games.
Maybe he’s still motivated by the ugly trade that sent him from Colorado-to-Carolina-to-Dallas. Or maybe he’s trying to justify the eight-year, $96-million contract extension he just signed.
Either way, the league’s most underrated superstar is no longer underrated anymore.
'He Was Feeling It': William Nylander Sets The Tone For Maple Leafs Against PanthersThe Toronto Maple Leafs surprised a lot of people by taking Game 1 of their second-round series against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers.
William Nylander
Some players shrink when playing under the bright lights of Toronto. Others feed off the pressure.
“Willy Styles” is in the latter camp.
You can say what you want about the Maple Leafs’ inability to get over the hump in the playoffs. But before you lump Nylander with the other members of the Core Four, keep this in mind: in the past six years, Nylander has scored 23 goals and 45 points in 42 games.
This year, Nylander is once again producing when it matters the most.
After leading all Toronto players with 45 goals in the regular season — his third straight 40-goal season — the 29-year-old has a team-leading eight goals and 13 points in eight games. In the process, he has helped the Leafs to a 2-0 series lead against Florida, while also helping veteran linemates’ John Tavares (three goals and five points) and Max Pacioretty (two goals and six points) turn back the clock.
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Connor McDavid
A year ago, McDavid led the playoffs in scoring with 42 points in 25 games. So it’s not exactly surprising that the Edmonton Oilers captain already has 13 points in seven games. What might be noteworthy is that 12 of those points have come in even-strength situations.
That’s more than anyone has scored in 5-on-5.
As opponents know, you can’t stop McDavid. All you can really do is limit his production. Even then, good luck.
After going without a point in Game 2 of a first-round series against the LA Kings, McDavid has been riding a six-game point streak, with nine points during that span. So what if he only has two goals. When you’re on a team that also includes Leon Draisaitl (four goals and 12 points), you don’t need to always be the one scoring.
Kyle Connor
It was Winnipeg's Cole Perfetti who forced overtime in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues, and it was Adam Lowry who scored the eventual series winner. But in a playoffs where Mark Scheifele has battled injury and Connor Hellebuyck has battled the ghosts of post-seasons' past, Connor has been the steady leader.
All he does is produce. And he tends to produce when it matters the most.
Connor, who led the Jets with 41 goals and 97 points in the regular season, has four goals and 12 points in eight playoff games. Two of his goals have been game-winners.
In Game 7, he set up three goals as Winnipeg did the improbable and came back 4-3 against St. Louis.
"You’re not just going to sit there and sulk,” Connor told reporters. “You have to do anything you can to help the team push forward."
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Andrei Svechnikov
The Hurricanes are not a star-driven team. That's mostly by design.
The reason why Mikko Rantanen never really found a home in Carolina is because coach Rod Brind'Amour prefers to roll four lines rather than relying on one or two players to get the win.
And yet, where would Carolina be without Svechnikov? The Russian winger only had 20 goals in the regular season, but in the playoffs he's enjoying a sort of coming-out-party with five goals and six points in six games. Those aren't Rantanen-like numbers.
But on a team where everyone is expected to chip in, Svechnikov is chipping in a little bit more than everyone else. It's why the Hurricanes rolled over the Devils in the first round and also why they grabbed a 1-0 series lead against the Capitals in the second round.
Will The Coaching Carousel Cost The Canadiens?
There are a lot of vacancies in the NHL team's coaching department. As things stand, the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken, and Vancouver Canucks are all without a permanent head coach right now.
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Meanwhile, Montreal Canadiens’ coach Martin St-Louis has been nominated for the Jack Adams Trophy alongside Scott Arniel and Spencer Carbery. Meanwhile, Pascal Vincent, who’s at the helm of the Laval Rocket, has been named coach of the year in the AHL.
Before joining the Rocket, Vincent coached the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was put in a less-than-ideal position, leading the Ohio outfit to a 27-43-12 record with a .402 points percentage and finishing dead last in the Metropolitan Division.
A year later, he’s in charge of the Canadiens’ affiliate in the AHL and had his team winning the regular season championship and currently coasting to the third round of the playoffs. Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has already said he won’t stand in Vincent’s way, if a team wants to speak to the Laval coach, they’ll be allowed to, and it will be up to Vincent to decide when they can do that.
Speaking to the media, Vincent explained:
If an (NHL) team wants my services, they will have to be patient. Usually when you really want someone, you can wait one week, two weeks, three weeks or even a month…Just to be interviewed for a head coaching job in the (NHL) is an immense privilege…But for now, my focus is on the boys (in Laval).- Pascal Vincent on teams being interested in his services.
While it's reassuring to hear the coach is entirely focused on the Rocket’s destiny right now, it certainly doesn’t sound like a man who’s not interested in making the jump. It would be a shame for the Canadiens to lose him, but you can’t stop a man from moving up in the world.
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