This text is a selection from The Buzzer, CBC Sports’ regular email newsletter. Stay informed about sports developments by signing up here.
As the regular season winds down with under ten games remaining for many clubs and the post-season commencing shortly, it’s opportune to review the latest NHL events. Below are some key updates as the league approaches its final phase.
The Maple Leafs initiated their organizational restructuring ahead of schedule.
Facing their first playoff absence in ten years, the Toronto team abruptly dismissed general manager Brad Treliving just yesterday, after he served under three seasons in the role. The Maple Leafs consistently faltered before the second round during Treliving’s tenure, marking 22 years since the club last reached the conference final.
For the time being, head coach Craig Berube has retained his position; however, it’s widely anticipated he will also depart once ownership president Keith Pelley secures a successor for Treliving. Evidently, roster adjustments are imperative, considering the team’s 27th-place standing in regulation victories, exacerbated by the star forward Mitch Marner’s exit last summer and captain Auston Matthews’ season-ending knee injury sustained this month.
The Maple Leafs drew significant censure for their delayed response to Anaheim’s Radko Gudas after his knee-on-knee impact with Matthews, an incident that resulted in a five-game league suspension for Gudas. Toronto eventually delivered retribution yesterday when Max Domi confronted Gudas during the opening faceoff of their subsequent game against the Ducks. Yet, this action came belatedly, and Gudas paradoxically garnered increased admiration for participating in the contest despite a lower-body ailment that sidelined him from Saturday’s crucial divisional game versus Edmonton. Discover further details on the Maple Leafs’ troubled campaign here.
Vegas took a chance on a different head coach.
The underperforming Golden Knights dismissed Bruce Cassidy on Sunday with merely eight games remaining in their schedule, appointing the intense John Tortorella with the aim of invigorating the team. The change appears positive thus far, as Vegas defeated the league’s lowest-ranked Vancouver 4-2 yesterday evening, narrowing the gap to one point behind the inactive Edmonton for the second position in the less competitive Pacific Division.
Cassidy guided Vegas to a Stanley Cup victory in 2023, achieving this in his inaugural season with the organization. However, the Golden Knights are notoriously devoid of sentimentality — they sacked Gerard Gallant only two years after he led a nascent expansion franchise to the Stanley Cup final and earned coach of the year honors — and the club had already accumulated a franchise-high 42 losses this season under Cassidy’s leadership.
A key objective for Tortorella will be to maximize Marner’s performance. He secured an eight-year, $96-million USD contract from Vegas following a 102-point season in Toronto, yet his current trajectory points to fewer than 80 points.
This season has proven challenging for Canadian franchises.
It might not be common knowledge, but an extended period has passed since a Canadian club last clinched the Stanley Cup, specifically thirty-three years. The likelihood of this dry spell persisting is high, as, if the post-season commenced now, only two Canadian teams — the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers — would qualify.
Montreal has significantly built upon their unexpected return to the playoffs last season, during which the restructuring Canadiens captured the ultimate wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference before being eliminated in five games by the top-ranked Capitals. The Habs (42-21-10) presently hold the league’s sixth-strongest record and have largely guaranteed a post-season position. Skipper Nick Suzuki stands eighth in the league with a personal best of 91 points, Cole Caufield is second with 46 goals (another career high), and Calder Trophy recipient Lane Hutson ranks third among defensemen with 73 points across 73 contests.
Edmonton holds the second position in the Pacific Division — one place above Montreal in the Atlantic — yet the general atmosphere surrounding the Oilers (37-28-9) is considerably more somber. Notably, they are projected to finish with only 92 points, a decline after four consecutive seasons accumulating at least 101. Furthermore, star attacker Leon Draisaitl will miss the remainder of the regular season following a lower-body injury sustained on March 15.
Nevertheless, the Oilers possess several advantages. Despite their 17th ranking in the league’s overall standings, they are merely four points adrift of Anaheim for the leading position in the accommodating Pacific division contest, a situation Connor McDavid recently described as a “pillow fight.” Moreover, owing to the NHL’s unusual playoff structure, they are unlikely to confront Central Division strongholds Colorado or Dallas (the league’s top two teams) or even Minnesota until the Western Conference final.
Several other Canadian teams are still contending. Ottawa is trailing by one point for an Eastern wild-card position, while the defending Presidents’ Trophy holder Winnipeg is three points behind in the West. Calgary and Toronto are virtually mathematically excluded from post-season contention, and Vancouver is formally out, holding the league’s poorest record at 21-44-8 — a substantial 17 points behind 31st-ranked Chicago.
Perhaps, could we consider adopting Buffalo?
Located directly opposite Fort Erie, Ont., across the Peace Bridge, the Queen City’s enthusiastic hockey fans possess an almost unexplainable affinity for Labatt beer, a devotion I suspect is unrivaled even within Canada. Moreover, the Sabres have become entertaining once more! Following an NHL-record 14-year drought without a playoff appearance, Buffalo (45-21-8) is unexpectedly contending with perennial powerhouse Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division’s top spot and boasts the fifth-strongest record across the entire league.
Under the guidance of 6-foot-6 sharpshooter Tage Thompson (37 goals), defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (67 points), and veteran 66-year-old coach Lindy Ruff (a leading candidate for the Jack Adams Award), the Sabres have emerged as the NHL’s most formidable squad since December 9th, when their victory over the Oilers initiated a ten-game winning streak. Since that point, their performance has been an astounding 34-7-4, and they now share the league’s second-highest number of regulation victories with Tampa, surpassed only by Colorado.
Were the post-season to commence presently, the Sabres would encounter Montreal in an enticing Atlantic Division showdown, undoubtedly attracting numerous Canadiens supporters from across the boundary to Buffalo for the games. Edmonton would face Pacific adversary Vegas in a reprise of last year’s second-round contest, a series the Oilers won in five games.
The competition for top scorer is reaching its climax.
A close contest for the Art Ross Trophy involves three athletes. McDavid is in the lead with 124 points, closely pursued by Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (121) and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (120).
Should McDavid maintain his position, this would mark his sixth Art Ross title, placing the 29-year-old in a shared second spot historically alongside Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe. Wayne Gretzky holds the undisputed top rank with 10.
The 32-year-old Kucherov is vying for his fourth Art Ross, an achievement that would elevate him beyond Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur, and tie him with Stan Mikita for the seventh-highest total ever. MacKinnon, at 30, has yet to claim the scoring championship, even after securing the Hart Trophy for MVP in 2024, a season where Kucherov outscored him by four points.
As Colorado is poised to secure the Presidents’ Trophy (the Avalanche hold an eight-point advantage over Dallas in the overall standings), MacKinnon is presently considered the narrow frontrunner to earn his second Hart Trophy in a three-year span. Additionally, he is nearing his inaugural Rocket Richard Trophy with a league-leading 49 goals, although Caufield (46) presents a strong challenge, and McDavid remains a distant contender with 42.
Montreal also features a rookie-of-the-year candidate in forward Ivan Demidov (57 points), but the Calder Trophy is highly probable to be awarded to the 18-year-old defenseman Matthew Schaefer from the New York Islanders, who has accumulated 22 goals and 56 points and is poised to lead all rookies in both statistics.
While there is no official recognition for the year’s breakout player, that distinction would undoubtedly fall to Macklin Celebrini. Following his brilliant performance on Canada’s leading line at the Winter Olympics in Italy, the 19-year-old San Jose Sharks center achieved the 100-point mark last night, making him only the sixth teenager in NHL history to accomplish this feat. He now stands alongside legends such as Gretzky, Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Jimmy Carson, and Dale Hawerchuk.
Celebrini, who amassed 25 goals and 63 points in his debut season last year, has already reached 38 goals and 101 points with ten matches remaining. Given that the Sharks are merely two points away from a playoff position after concluding the previous two seasons at the very bottom of the overall standings, their burgeoning superstar might garner some MVP votes if he guides the team to its initial post-season appearance in seven years.
