4 Nations Face-Off future uncertain but promising
NHL analyst Steve Levy joins the Dan Patrick Show to break down the resounding success of the 4 Nations Faceoff, the electrifying Tkachuk fights and why the tournament could look towards expansion beyond four teams.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Stanley Cup checklist: How do Devils stack up to Panthers and Oilers?
By the end of the regular season, the New Jersey Devils weren't close to the same level as the Florida Panthers or Edmonton Oilers. That wasn't a shock: The Devils were down several of their top players to injury and, because of it, did not go all-in at the trade deadline. The two conference champions are now the standard, though: the level New Jersey must get to if it wants to be a true contender. So, how close are president Tom Fitzgerald, coach Sheldon Keefe and the Devils? Advertisement In 2020, colleague Dom Luszczyszyn created a checklist comprising common elements from the previous decade of champions. That list suggests contenders should aim to have an elite center, winger, defenseman, and goalie, then another top-line center, two top-line wingers and a No. 1 defenseman, plus two more top-six forwards and top-six defensemen. I went through each piece of the checklist and examined how the Devils compared to both the finalists. New Jersey has significant work to do to catch up, but it also has some important pieces already in place. Oilers: Connor McDavid Panthers: Alexander Barkov Devils: Jack Hughes There's only one McDavid, and Barkov-level two-way centers don't come around often either. Still, Jack Hughes is one of the game's most elite players when he's on the ice. Shoulder injuries have ended his past two seasons. The Devils aren't on the hunt for a 1C like some teams, but it's also imperative that the organization and Hughes do everything in their power to have him playing when the games matter most in the coming years. Oilers: Zach Hyman Panthers: Matthew Tkachuk Devils: Jesper Bratt Hyman got hurt in the conference final and won't be available during the Stanley Cup Final, but when he's on the ice, he's a brilliant complementary fit in Edmonton. He's had at least 27 goals each of his four seasons with the Oilers and had 54 in 2023-24. Matthew Tkachuk or Sam Reinhart could fit in this category for the Panthers. Both are core pieces on long-term contracts and are players any team in the league would crave. The Devils have a true elite wing of their own, though. Bratt has been a point-per-game player each of the past two seasons. He has a $7.8 million average annual value cap hit — a great deal for the Devils given his production. Advertisement Oilers: Evan Bouchard Panthers: Gustav Forsling Devils: Dougie Hamilton Though prone to defensive mistakes, Bouchard has blossomed into an elite offensive player: one who can create offense even when playing away from McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Forsling is reliable and is one of the greatest waiver wire pickups in NHL history. Hamilton should currently be considered the Devils' No. 1 defenseman, but if Luke Hughes continues to develop, he could seize that crown (more on him in a bit). Hamilton is a point-producing blueliner who has finished as high as fourth in Norris voting in his career. He's also turning 32 shortly and is coming off two injury-impacted seasons, including the 2023-24 season, in which he played only 20 games. As is the case with Jack Hughes, the Devils need him on the ice and performing well if they are going to be a true contender. Bouchard, Forsling and Hamilton are not quite at the level of Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes and the very best defensemen in the league, but they are all capable of being No. 1s on great teams, especially if there are other strong defensemen on the roster. Oilers: Stuart Skinner Panthers: Sergei Bobrovsky Devils: Jacob Markström At his best, Markström falls into the elite category. The Devils got a good showing from him against the Hurricanes; he had a .911 save percentage despite the series loss. He has one year left on his deal and is 35. The Devils' front office knows it can count on him for now, but it will have to decide how much longer it feels comfortable relying heavily on him when considering an extension this summer. Bobrovsky is almost 37, so it's possible for a goaltender to continue performing well into the latter half of his 30s. Skinner is only 26 and has been streaky at points for the Oilers. Calvin Pickard temporarily replaced him as the starter earlier in the Oilers' run, but Skinner played well after regaining the starter's role. Advertisement Oilers: Leon Draisaitl Panthers: Sam Bennett Devils: Nico Hischier Bennett is about to get a massive raise in free agency. This past season was only his first with more than 50 points (he had 51), but he's a perfect fit on this Panthers' team and has repeatedly shown his game translates well to playoff hockey. He could win the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Panthers capture their second consecutive Cup. Draisaitl might be one of the five best forwards in the world. Having him as the No. 2 center on a team is quite a luxury. New Jersey can't compete with that, but Hischier is a top-line level center. With Hughes and Hischier up the middle, the Devils are in a good position in terms of top-six centers. Fitzgerald will have to address center questions in his bottom six: Could Dawson Mercer fill the 3C role? Should the team re-sign Cody Glass? However, that's far easier than finding answers at the top of the lineup. Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane Panthers: Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe Devils: Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer Because the Oilers have so much money tied up in their top two centers, there is a drop-off on the wing. Still, Nugent-Hopkins is a proven top-six player who has one monster season under his belt, a 104-point campaign in 2022-23. Kane missed the whole regular season, allowing the Oilers to dip into long-term injured reserve to supplement their depth. He's been an impact player this postseason, though, with 12 points in 18 games. Meanwhile, Florida is elite at wing. Reinhart is in the conversation for Tkachuk as the team's best wing. He had 57 goals in 2023-24 and then finished second in Selke voting this season. Verhaeghe has averaged more than 30 goals over the past three seasons (96 goals in 238 games) and has five career playoff overtime goals to boot. The Devils are paying Meier like an elite winger ($8.8 million AAV) and New Jersey needs him to play to that level. He had a strong postseason, but his goal total has decreased each of the past two seasons: from 40 in 2022-23 to 28 last season and 26 this season. Mercer is a respectable 3C option but hasn't consistently risen to the level of a top-six winger. For the Devils' top two lines to compare to the Oilers or Panthers, they probably need another top-six forward to round out the group. Advertisement Oilers: Mattias Ekholm Panthers: Aaron Ekblad Devils: Luke Hughes Ekholm is a vital part of Edmonton's team: trustworthy, huge (6 foot 5) and able to chip in on offense. Ekblad fills a similar role for the Panthers. Luke Hughes is a massive part of the Devils' future. The 21-year-old, a restricted free agent, has already demonstrated his ability to produce points and play more than 21 minutes per night at the NHL level. Defensemen sometimes take a while to develop, so the fact that he's already such a productive player with only 155 games under his belt offers plenty of reason for optimism. If he can emerge as a bona fide No. 1 in the coming years, the Devils' ceiling goes up exponentially. Oilers: Adam Henrique, Corey Perry Panthers: Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell Devils: Stefan Noesen, Ondřej Palát The Panthers' depth has shown throughout the postseason. Marchand and Lundell play on their third line, but both have been vital to Florida's success. Noesen is a solid depth player, and Palát brings playoff experience, but New Jersey is a ways away from creating a third line as capable as Florida's. In fairness, few (if any) teams can have as many top-nine options as the Panthers, including the Oilers. Florida will almost certainly lose some of that strength next season. Marchand, a deadline addition, has been a perfect fit, but the Panthers will have a difficult time re-signing him, especially if they are aiming to bring back Bennett. Regardless, the Panthers serve as a lesson that teams need depth to advance far in the postseason. It's an area the Devils will need to address. Oilers: Darnell Nurse, Jake Walman Panthers: Seth Jones, Niko Mikkola Devils: Brett Pesce, Jonas Siegenthaler The Devils stack up OK here when healthy. Along with Pesce and Siegenthaler — both good, responsible defensemen — they have 21-year-old Šimon Nemec, the No. 2 overall pick from 2022. He had a rough regular season but put together a strong playoffs that showed why he could still be an essential part of the team's future. Advertisement Walman, one of Edmonton's deadline additions, has helped round out the Oilers' blueline. Jones also moved at the deadline, and he's led the Panthers' skaters in ice time per game these playoffs. Florida should have no regrets about parting with Spencer Knight and a first-round pick to get him, mainly since Chicago retained money on the defenseman's contract. The Devils have high-end talent. No, they don't have McDavid or Draisaitl, but their best players are good enough to win in the postseason. Most teams don't have three forwards at the level of Jack Hughes, Bratt and Hischier. To make that star power matter, the Devils need two things: depth and health. This past season, New Jersey had neither in the playoffs. New Jersey relied too much on its top scorers against the Hurricanes. By the end of the series, the team was without both Hughes brothers, as well as defensemen Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic. Brett Pesce and Jonas Siegenthaler were also playing at less than 100 percent. Tom Fitzgerald will have some reinforcements coming in this season. Prospect Arseni Gritsyuk coming over from the KHL should give New Jersey another middle-six option, and the front office has a bit of salary cap space to spend, though Luke Hughes' RFA deal will eat into that. New Jersey can also rework its fourth line; Justin Dowling, Tomáš Tatar, Nathan Bastian and Curtis Lazar are all coming off the books. Fitzgerald could consider trading players like Erik Haula or Dawson Mercer, which would free up some cap space to take a bigger swing at forward. Pending unrestricted free agent Nikolaj Ehlers could be worth a look. Adding high-end talent has a trickle-down effect on depth, too, which is a bonus. Florida and Edmonton also made significant additions at the trade deadline. With Hughes out, Fitzgerald wasn't as aggressive. If the Devils are healthy next season, perhaps he will take bigger midseason swings. Given Markström's age, the Devils are in a position to try to contend now. If Fitzgerald addresses the depth and gets a little luck in the health department, his team might not be as far away as its first-round exit this spring indicated. (Photo of Jack Hughes: Michael Martin / NHLI via Getty Images)
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Panthers take 2-1 lead into game 4 against the Oilers
Edmonton Oilers (48-29-5, in the Pacific Division) vs. Florida Panthers (47-31-4, in the Atlantic Division) Sunrise, Florida; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -150, Oilers +125; over/under is 6.5 STANLEY CUP FINAL: Panthers lead series 2-1 BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers host the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 lead in the series. The teams meet Monday for the sixth time this season. The Panthers won the last matchup 6-1.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Oilers-Panthers Game 3 gets out of hand with multiple ejections
The standard rule of NHL playoff hockey is that if the score gets out of hand, the feistiness gets out of hand. The Edmonton Oilers were highly undisciplined as they fell 6-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 3. Then the third period predictably turned into a series of scrums and misconducts. Advertisement It started at 10:29 with the Oilers trailing 5-1. Edmonton's Trent Frederic tried to punch Florida's Sam Bennett and missed. He then cross-checked Bennett several times, breaking his stick on his final effort. That led all of the skaters on the ice to square off. The scrum turned into a prolonged fight between Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse and Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich. Five players were thrown out of the game. Frederic received 14 minutes in the scrum, Bennett 12 minutes, Nurse 17 minutes and Gadjovich 15 minutes. Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm also received a 10-minute misconduct. "I don't think we would have acted or played like that had it been a one-goal or two-goal game," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Boys being boys, I guess trying to make investments for the next game." Advertisement The Oilers' misconducts continued with Evander Kane leaving the game after slashing Carter Verhaeghe, and Kasperi Kapanen was ejected for cross-checking Eetu Luostarinen. All told, there were 122 penalty minutes handed out in the third period, 75 of them to the Oilers. "The game obviously got out of hand at the end there," Kane told reporters after the game. "That stuff's going to happen. You look at some of the calls and whatnot, some of them are frustrating. They seem to get away with it more than we do." The Panthers received 11 power plays in the game and scored three power-play goals after entering the game with a 3.6% success rate in home playoff games. Advertisement "We talk about being composed," Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk told TNT. "You've got to take a punch in the face, you've got to take a slash in the face, a cross-check, a slash in the leg. Whatever the case is, you've got to do it. There's a bigger picture with the win for us." Oilers' Jake Walman receives two fines The only disciplinary actions resulting from Game 3 involved Oilers defenseman Jake Walman, who was fined twice. He was fined the maximum allowed $5,000 for roughing Tkachuk, who was tied up by Edmonton's John Klingberg. Walman received another $5,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct after spraying his water bottle toward the Panthers' bench. Kris Knoblauch on Game 3 officiating The Oilers coach answered carefully when asked about the officiating during the game, noting the Edmonton penalty for too many men on the ice. Advertisement "It was too many men. They caught us there," he said. "I just wished they had called it (against the Panthers) in Game 2 in overtime." Stanley Cup Final notes Even though Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner, he said he doesn't have to make a decision on who to play in Game 4. "Stu, I don't think had much chance on many of those goals," he said. … Before Bennett was ejected, he had a massive shift where he delivered two big hits and then scored on a 2-on-0 breakaway. … The Game 3 win gave Panthers coach Paul Maurice 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff victories. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 gets out of hand with ejections, line brawl
