What we know about the NHL conference finals so far originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Two teams are on the doorstep of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final.

The Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes have advanced to the conference final round of the NHL playoffs.

The Oilers, last year’s Stanley Cup runners-up, are back in the Western Conference Final as they eye the franchise’s first championship since 1990. Connor McDavid and Co. dropped their first two games of this postseason, but have only suffered one loss since.

Edmonton, the Pacific Division’s No. 3 seed, overcame a 2-0 first-round series deficit against the No. 2 Los Angeles Kings with four straight comeback wins before taking down the No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights in five games. McDavid and co-star Leon Draisaitl have combined for eight goals and 25 assists across 11 playoff contests.

The West final could be a rematch from last year, when the Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars in six games. Dallas currently holds a 3-1 second-round series lead over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are making their second Eastern Conference Final appearance in three years. Carolina, the Metro Division’s No. 2 seed, needed just five games to bounce both the No. 3 New Jersey Devils and the East-leading Washington Capitals. Frederik Andersen has been stellar between the pipes for Carolina, allowing a total of 12 goals in his nine playoff starts.

Now, the Hurricanes need to get past either the defending champion Florida Panthers or the Toronto Maple Leafs in order to reach their first Cup Final since the franchise’s lone championship triumph in 2006. Florida has a 3-2 series edge over Toronto after losing the first two games.

So, when will the conference finals start and who has home-ice advantage? Here’s what to know:

When do the NHL Eastern, Western Conference Finals start?

The NHL hasn’t yet announced when the conference finals will get underway. This story will be updated as schedule details emerge.

For what it’s worth, the final second-round game that’s currently scheduled is a possible Game 7 between the Jets and Stars on Monday, May 19.

What are the NHL Eastern, Western Conference Final matchups?

• Eastern Conference Final: Carolina Hurricanes vs. winner of Florida Panthers-Toronto Maple Leafs
• Western Conference Final: Edmonton Oilers vs. winner of Dallas Stars-Winnipeg Jets

Who has home-ice advantage in the Eastern, Western Conference Finals?

The team with the superior regular-season record gets home-ice advantage in the conference final round.

The Oilers won’t have home-ice regardless of opponent, as both the Jets and Stars finished ahead of them in the standings. The Hurricanes will have home-ice advantage if they face the Panthers, but will start the conference final on the road should they see the Leafs.

Shaw reportedly not returning to Flyers' coaching staff originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers will pretty much have a whole new coaching staff next season.

Brad Shaw will not be back with the Flyers, according to a report Thursday by Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. Per the report, it was Shaw’s decision.

The 61-year-old was in Philadelphia for three seasons, mostly as the Flyers’ associate coach. He served as the club’s interim head coach for the final nine games of this season after John Tortorella was fired.

Shaw had an uphill battle at landing the Flyers’ full-time job. This was a huge decision for general manager Danny Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones. It was their first head coaching hire, one that could define their rebuild, so it felt likely that they would ultimately bring in their handpicked guy.

They did so Wednesday by landing Rick Tocchet.

The Flyers went 5-3-1 with Shaw running the bench and scored an impressive 3.89 goals per game. But they also allowed 3.56 per game.

As Tortorella’s right-hand man, Shaw was in charge of the back end and penalty kill. A number of the Flyers’ defensemen improved under Shaw’s watch, while the team’s penalty kill was a top-five unit in 2023-24 and scored an NHL-leading 16 shorthanded goals.

“He has meant so much to my game personally,” Travis Sanheim said at his end-of-the-season press conference. “I think a lot of guys on the D core could probably say the same thing. We don’t know what’s going to happen, time will tell. In saying that, I’m just super thankful for where he has taken my game and I really enjoyed my time working with him, so it would obviously be a disappointment if I didn’t get to continue that.”

A little over three weeks ago, the Flyers parted ways with three assistants, including power play coach Rocky Thompson. Goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh, who isn’t on the bench for games, was not among the subtractions.

The Vegas Golden Knights were shut out by the Edmonton Oilers in Games 4 and 5 as their season ended disappointingly. 

Offence was hard to come by against the Oilers despite the high-scoring opening-round series they played against the Los Angeles Kings. In five games, the Golden Knights scored just 10 goals and gave up 16. In back-to-back must-win games, the Golden Knights managed just 47 shots. 

“Discipline. We only had one power play, that can usually get you going,” said HC Bruce Cassidy about what made the Oilers so difficult to score on. “Both teams checked well, not easy to get the the front of the net, so second chances were at a premium. We’re not a team that shoots first anyways. I think that cost us a little bit last year as well in lack of production. We’ll have to look at changing our mindset.”

Although the final results were far from what Cassidy and the Golden Knights were expecting, he felt the team played well and liked their game yesterday.

“I liked our game,” said Cassidy. “I thought we competed hard physically, we wanted to win puck battles, we wanted to take care of the puck, and we knew we couldn’t give up any easy goals. That’s going to take away some of your offence in the risk part, but it’s getting inside, getting second chances that was tough for both teams, and they got one in the end."

It's hard to avoid facts, and the most obvious one is that the Golden Knights roster has multiple key players over the age of 30. Outside of Jack Eichel, Pavel Dorofeyev, Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore, many of their players showed fatigue or signs of aging.

William Karlsson and Mark Stone are both effective players, but have dealt with numerous injury issues that have hampered them at important times of the season. Alex Pietrangelo took another step back, dealing with injuries, but also looked a step too slow, creating several turnovers. 

Other contributors over the age of 30 include Tomas Hertl, Brayden McNabb, Brandon Saad, Reilly Smith and soon, Ivan Barbashev. The Golden Knights have maintained their stance that they can continue to add talent to their roster, but the fear was always that they could run into this problem. 

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"Show up and put your best foot forward"; Golden Knights Head Into A Must Win Game 5 With A Clear MindsetIt's been a poor display by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs, and now they find themselves on the brink of elimination, trailing the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in the series.

The Ottawa Senators didn’t take long to replace Ryan Bowness as their AHL General Manager in Belleville.

Senators GM and president of hockey operations Steve Staios announced on Thursday that the club has hired former Brantford Bulldogs GM Matt Turek to take over the same role with the AHL's Belleville Senators. He’ll also oversee a player personnel role with the Sens organization.

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Turek is part of that Hamilton/Brantford connection, working for Staios and former Bulldogs owner Michael Andaleur.

Turek joined the Bulldogs during the 2015-16 season as a scout. He moved up in the organization and took on the role of director of player personnel ahead of the 2018-19 season. He took over as the club’s GM in 2022 when Staios left for a hockey ops job with the Edmonton Oilers. 

After three seasons at the helm, Turek left the Bulldogs late last month, which started the rumour mill turning that he might reunite with Andlauer and Staios. When Bowness parted company with the club 11 days ago, that added more fuel to the fire. 

“Matt has managed a successful Ontario Hockey League team and he has gained a critical management skills and experience at that level,” Staios in a club press release. “In addition to his experience, Matt will bring passion and leadership to our organization.”

As for the Bulldogs, now owned by Oilers forward Zack Hyman and his family, they announced on Thursday they've replaced Turek with Zack’s brother, Spencer Hyman. Former NHL player Gary Roberts also joined the Bulldogs as one of their directors of player development.

Meanwhile, his stop in Belleville has turned out to be the swan song for Sam Gagner.

Gagner has ended his long NHL playing career and was named Ottawa's director of player development. Gagner has a fine connecton to Staios as well. They were teammates in Edmonton for three and a half years. Staios was even teammates with Sam father's, Dave, during their time with the Vancouver Canucks.

Bowness’ Reported Departure Marks Big Shift In Staios’ Vision For Ottawa’s Front OfficeFive days after the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the postseason, significant changes are already on the horizon for the organization's hockey operations department.

“Sam had an incredible career as a player and we look forward to launching his next chapter,” Staios said in the release. “A true character individual, Sam has contributed to the success of his organizations, both on and off the ice.”

Gagner played 1043 NHL games and is the only man in the past 36 years to score 8 points in a single NHL game. 

Steve Warne, Site Editor
The Hockey News Ottawa

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