Montreal Canadiens left winger Patrik Laine missed his club's final three playoff games against the Washington Capitals. The 27-year-old suffered a series-ending broken finger in Game 2.
Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette believes it doesn't matter that Laine was sidelined because he felt the Canadiens were better without him. He thinks the power-play specialist would've been in the lineup if the Habs needed him, busted finger or not.
Hickey suggested Laine is reaching a crossroads in Montreal after only one season. Calling him “a one-trick pony,” he claimed teams have to hope his “rocket shot” compensates for his poor play in the defensive zone. He felt Laine doesn't fit into coach Martin St-Louis' system and has to go.
Likewise, The Hockey News' Jim Parsons said Laine hasn't kept pace with the Canadiens' fast-paced, high-pressure system.
Laine's return from a knee injury last December played a key part in the Canadiens' rallying from last place in the Eastern Conference into a playoff contender. However, 15 of his 20 goals this season came on the power play, as did 19 of his 33 points. His production also declined down the stretch, netting just two goals during the Habs' last 10 regular-season games.
Trading Laine will be difficult. PuckPedia indicates he has a year left on his contract with a cap hit of $8.7 million and a 10-team no-trade list.
Hickey believes the Canadiens might have to package him with a draft pick and retain part of his salary. Failing that, he suggested they buy out his contract.
Canadiens Face Tough Questions About Patrik Laine’s FutureThe off-season has officially arrived for the Montreal Canadiens, a team that proved they are closer to being contenders, and one that gave the Washington Capitals a decent fight in Round 1. However, one player who wasn’t memorable in the series was forward Patrik Laine. He was not involved in Wednesday's Game 5, and speculation has surfaced about his future with the team.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres must find a steady, right-shot defense partner for Owen Power.
Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo Newsobserved that Power already has 242 NHL games under his belt, but his defensive game remains consistent. The 22-year-old blueliner could benefit from being paired with a veteran mentor.
The Sabres could turn to the free-agent market to address that issue. However, Lysowski suggested dangling rearguard Bowen Byram as trade bait.
Byram was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche last season in exchange for center Casey Mittelstadt. They won that deal, as the 23-year-old defenseman had a career-best performance this season with 38 points in 82 games and a plus-minus of plus-11.
Completing a two-year contract with an average annual value of $3.85 million, Byram can become an RFA with arbitration rights on July 1. Lysowski believes he will be expensive to re-sign, claiming the Sabres would rather put that money toward signing forwards Alex Tuch, JJ Peterka and Ryan McLeod to contract extensions.
Lysowski listed several possible trade targets, including the New York Islanders' Noah Dobson and the Calgary Flames' Rasmus Andersson. Dobson is also an RFA with arbitration rights this summer, while Andersson is a year away from UFA eligibility.
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EDMONTON – History repeats itself.
For the Edmonton Oilers, they are hoping that won’t be the case.
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After eliminating the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, they turn to their next challenge – exorcising the demons that haunt them in the form of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Oilers got huge performances from Connor McDavid, Calvin Pickard, Connor Brown, and Evan Bouchard in the opening round. They are going to need a lot more players collectively pushing the boulder up the mountain to put the pesky Golden Knights away.
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Since the Oilers lost their second-round series to them two seasons ago, they have been haunted by what could have been. At the time, players on the Golden Knights said that the Oilers were the toughest team they faced in that Stanley Cup-winning run.
A flattering, but infuriating compliment.
The Oilers will face a less dominant Golden Knights team this year than two years ago. The Oilers are a deeper team with more experience and more heartbreak fueling their determination to come out on top.
On the surface, the Oilers have more at stake. Looking at the series from the outside, most hockey pundits view the Oilers as the underdogs, but they like it that way.
With a deeper roster and more consistent goaltending, they certainly have a better team on paper than they did two years ago. Will history repeat itself or will the Oilers write another chapter in their underdog story this year?
It all starts Tuesday.
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The Florida Panthers kick off their second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 5 with Game 1. The Panthers' goal will be to start the series on the right foot against a very talented Maple Leafs squad.
If the Panthers hope to start this series with a victory, they will need all of their players to be on their A-game, but especially these three.
Bobrovsky was a notable reason why the Panthers knocked out the Lightning in the first round in only five games. The 36-year-old put together a solid series, as he had a 4-1 record, a 2.21 save percentage, a .901 save percentage, and one shutout. If he continues to play like that in Game 1 against Toronto, it will greatly help the Panthers' chances of winning.
Going up against the Maple Leafs will not be a walk in the park for Bobrovsky, as they have plenty of elite forwards like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares. However, he has shut them down before, and it will be interesting to see if he does again in Game 1.
Reinhart has been excellent for the Panthers this post-season thus far. He currently has two goals and leads the team with six points in five games. This includes posting three points in his two games alone. With this, the 29-year-old forward will look to stay hot in Game 1 against the Maple Leafs from here.
When Reinhart's offense is going, the Panthers are an incredibly challenging team to beat. It will be interesting to see if he can put up another big performance in an important Game 1 against Toronto.
Without any surprise, Barkov has also been one of the Panthers' best players this post-season so far. In five games, he has one goal, five points, and a plus-2 rating. He has been nothing but consistent for the Panthers, but his responsibilities in Game 1 will be even higher.
As noted above, the Maple Leafs have several high-impact forwards who create plenty of offense. With Barkov being the Panthers' best defensive forward, his top goal will be to shut them down in Game 1. If he is strong defensively, it will greatly improve the Panthers' chances of winning.
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