According to LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen, the team's strong nucleus ownership, and his family all played integral rolls in making his decision to stay.
In his five years as coach of the Kings, Sutter has recorded the team's best regular-season points percentage at .608 and the franchise's best playoff winning percentage at .641
If oddsmakers are correct, the Pittsburgh Penguins will capture their first Stanley Cup since 2009.
Bodog released their odds for the upcoming series and Stanley Cup Final, with the Penguins leading the way with a 9/5 chance they will hoist Lord Stanley when all is said and done.
Team
Odds to Win Stanley Cup
Penguins
9/5
Blues
2/1
Sharks
4/1
Lightning
17/4
It should be no surprise that with those odds the favored matchup heading into the finals is the Penguins and the St. Louis Blues with a 8/5 odds that will be the last remaining duo.
As for the Conn Smythe, despite only managing two points against the Washington Capitals in the second round, Sidney Crosby leads all skaters.
The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with forward Pavel Buchnevich on an entry-level contract, the team announced Friday.
While the terms of the deal weren't disclosed, the 21-year-old is expected to arrive in North America in the summer to train ahead of next season, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.
Pavel Buchnevich's entry-level contract believed to be three years, $925K per (similar to Brady Skjei's) #NYR
Buchnevich is coming off his fourth season in the KHL, splitting time between the Severstal Cherepovets and SKA St. Petersburg SKA. He totaled 16 goals and 37 points in 58 games.
Widely considered the Rangers' top prospect, the club drafted Buchnevich 75th overall in 2013.
The Tampa Bay Lightning captain took the ice Friday for an optional skate - wearing a regular jersey, not a non-contact one - and told reporters he hopes to play in this series.
The 26-year-old has been out since March 31 with a blood clot, and though he remains on blood thinners, he doesn't believe that will stop a possible return.
Steven Stamkos said he doesn't have to be off blood thinners to play. Could be on different regiment, an option they've been discussed
"There's a chance," Stamkos said, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "That's why I'm putting in the hard work. If there wasn't a chance, I'd have pom-poms out and be a cheerleader."
The Montreal Canadiens defenseman turned 27 years old Friday, and celebrated the occasion by sharing an adorable baby photo with his Twitter followers.
While terms of the contract were not disclosed, Dillman reports that Sutter's annual salary will exceed the $3 million per year due to Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan.
Sutter has been at the Kings' helm since the 2011-12 season. In his tenure, he's coached the club to two Stanley Cups while amassing a regular-season record of 186-112-45 in 343 games.
The Dallas Stars held their exit interviews Friday and Tyler Seguin addressed the injury that kept him out of 11 of his club's 13 postseason contests.
Seguin informed reporters that it was a calf injury suffered in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild that sidelined him for the remainder of the playoffs.
According to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, the team was hopeful he would have returned had the Stars advanced to the Western Conference finals.
It was also announced that forward Patrick Sharp - who managed four goals and two assists in the postseason - played through a separated shoulder. Meanwhile, forward Antoine Roussel had an abdomen strain.
The win propels the club to its first Western Conference finals since 2011 and helped match a rare feat: becoming just the fourth team in the last 20 years to win all four home games in a seven-game series.
The win also kept the Sharks perfect in playoff home games against the Predators, pushing their record to 8-0 and improving to 5-1 at the SAP Center in the postseason.
Home ice didn't provide much of an advantage during the regular season as the Sharks boasted the 23rd-best home record going 18-20-3. Whatever the case, the team is excelling at their own rink proving there is no place like home.
The teams will do battle in their fourth conference final since the 2004 season, while each will also be looking to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in that span.
The Lightning and Penguins have played the fewest amount of games of teams heading into the third round and have just five losses combined. Through two rounds, both matchup with near identical stats in almost every category, but the Penguins enter the series with an edge.
Here is why the Penguins will defeat the Lightning in the conference final and advance to play the best in the West:
Penguins have taken the tougher road
While the Lightning and Penguins each made quick work of their two previous opponents, it's quite clear the Penguins were dealt the tougher hand.
The Penguins' opposition had a combined 28 more points in the regular season than that of the Lightning's, not to mention the Penguins were able to knock off Alex Ovechkin and the Presidents' Trophy winning-Capitals.
Team
Regular Season Points
Goals for
Goals against
20-goal scorers
Red Wings
93
2.55
2.67
2
Islanders
100
2.77
2.57
4
Rangers
101
2.84
2.62
5
Capitals
120
3.02
2.33
6
The Lightning cruised through the first two rounds and will now face a team the likes of which they have not seen this postseason.
Sleeping giants bound to wake up
The Penguins got by the regular season's best club with next to no contributions from their top-2 players.
While the duo struggled in the second round, it should not be forgotten that the two were lights out against the Rangers in Round 1. During the five-game series, Crosby and Malkin pounded the Rangers with five goals and 15 points.
Crosby and Malkin have both been point-per-game players in their playoff careers and while they were both quiet in Round 2, silencing them for another four games - at least - appears unlikely.
X-factor: Hagelin, Kessel, Bonino
The trio of Carl Hagelin, Phil Kessel, and Nick Bonino currently occupies the club's second line, but best believe they are contributing at a first-line rate.
The threesome was without question the difference in the Penguins ousting the Capitals. The three led the team in scoring in the series with seven, six, and five points, respectively and combined for two of the four game-winning goals in Round 2.
Through the postseason, the three have combined for just shy of a three point-per-game average, meanwhile Kessel leads the team in scoring with 12 points.
If this trio can continue to roll and Crosby and Malkin start getting in on the scoring, the Penguins will surely be too much of an offensive juggernaut for the Lightning to handle.
For Pekka Rinne, Thursday's Game 7 loss at the hands of the St. Louis Blues left heavy thoughts of what could have been.
The 33-year-old saw his Nashville Predators reach the second round for the first time since 2011-12, but for Rinne it wasn't far enough.
"You see yourself getting older and you realize how important these chances are," Rinne said, according to NHL.com's Thomas Willis. "This felt like our year."
