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Entering the penultimate week of the NHL regular season, the playoff races — particularly for the wild cards — continue to captivate us. If it seems like every game seems to have major playoff implications, that’s not a gigantic stretch of the truth.

So which games on this week’s calendar are of most interest to our writers? Looking ahead a bit, which playoff opponent will give the Boston Bruins the most trouble en route to the Stanley Cup? And though the San Jose Sharks were eliminated weeks ago, defenseman Erik Karlsson‘s quest for 100 points continues; will he reach that plateau, and does he have the Norris Trophy wrapped up?

Our reporters and analysts are here to answer those very questions:

What’s the biggest game of the week?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+). Do the Flames have enough to snatch that final wild-card spot? Do the Jets have enough to get a firmer grip? Nobody can really answer those questions with great certainty. What is clear, however, is that this should be enlightening and entertaining all at once.

Victoria Matiash, NHL analyst: The wild-card race in the East, featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers neck and neck — never mind the currently unsettled New York Islanders — fascinates me to no end. So I’ve got Thursday’s game between Florida and the Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+) marked on my viewing calendar, riding shotgun with Pittsburgh hosting the Minnesota Wild (7 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+). Both playoff wannabes first compete Tuesday, so by then we might have a clearer picture of who’s in the WC2 driver’s seat ahead of the season’s last weekend. Assuming, of course, the Isles don’t blow it either.

Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Oilers and Kings are neck and neck to challenge Vegas for the top spot in the Pacific Division. Odds improve for one of them with a victory on Tuesday. Alternatively, that game could be billed as a first-round playoff series preview between two evenly matched teams that have recent history — L.A. took Edmonton to seven games in last season’s first-round matchup. This year’s iteration would be even spicier.

Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights on Monday (8 p.m. ET, NHL Network). The Wild have absolutely slammed the pedal down in recent weeks — despite missing Kirill Kaprizov — to stake a claim for the Central Division title. The Golden Knights are trying to fend off the Oilers and Kings to win the Pacific — and avoid having to play either of them in the opening round of the playoffs. This one is a rematch of Saturday’s battle and a potential preview of the Western Conference finals.


Which team will give the Bruins the most trouble in the playoffs?

Clark: The Tampa Bay Lightning. Maybe this is the year in which the Bruins — or another team — break the Lightning’s death grip on the Eastern Conference. Until then, the Lightning must remain in the discussion given what they have done over the past few seasons.

Matiash: The Toronto Maple Leafs. In addition to the firepower up front, the Maple Leafs’ freshened caboodle of defenders offers coach Sheldon Keefe numerous permutations and combinations in figuring out how to best stop Boston’s own offense. Plus, the club’s No. 1 netminder doesn’t care about the storied recent playoff history between the two sides. Ilya Samsonov doesn’t seem bothered by much on ice these days. Even more so since becoming a father. He’s chill — an ideal state if/when facing the best team in the league.

Shilton: The Maple Leafs. Yes, we’re all aware of the postseason history between these clubs. But this season is its own beast. Toronto and Boston have played three times already, with two of those tilts decided by one goal. The Leafs have ample forward talent capable of skating toe-to-toe with the Bruins’ top threats, and Toronto can stack up fairly well with Boston defensively, too. It certainly wouldn’t be an easy road ahead for the Bruins.

Wyshynski: The Carolina Hurricanes. One of the few teams to hand the Bruins a loss this season, the Canes actually have a plus-1 goal differential against Boston. Their two losses to the Bruins were both in extra time. Without Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty (one assumes), generating goals in a tight series is going to be a chore for the Hurricanes. But they beat the Bruins in seven games last postseason, and they have the systems and the players to grind out a good playoff effort. Underestimate Rod Brind’Amour’s group at your own peril.


We’ve heard a lot about Connor McDavid this season, but Erik Karlsson is also having a standout campaign. How many points will he finish with, and does he win the Norris Trophy?

Clark: Let’s go with 100 points, and, yes, he should have a chance at winning the Norris Trophy. Whether he will depends upon how voters feel about giving the award to a defenseman on a draft lottery team.

Matiash: If he breaks the 100-point barrier? Of course he wins the Norris Trophy. That’s the law. Or at least it should be, considering Brian Leetch was the last player to do just that … 31 years ago. I don’t care how few wins the Sharks have, Karlsson deserves something for such an incredible accomplishment. This award is the one available. And, yes, I believe he pulls it off, wrapping up with 101 altogether.

Shilton: Predicting a 98-point finish for Erik Karlsson this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hit triple digits, but sometimes just the pressure of a big number can throw a player off. And I do believe it’ll be Karlsson earning a third Norris Trophy this year, not just for his offensive output, but the way he’s kept San Jose as reasonably competitive as a single skater can. It would be hard to argue any defenseman in the league has a) been consistently better or b) had a bigger nightly impact on his squad than Karlsson. After the road Karlsson’s been through to get back on form, this Norris title would be extra special.

Wyshynski: The final NHL Awards Watch column of the season publishes this week, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler that Karlsson still leads the pack with the voters we surveyed. After four assists on Saturday, I think he breaks 100 points, a mark only five other defensemen have hit in NHL history. Let’s call it 101 points in the end. The last great offensive season by a defenseman was Roman Josi tallying 96 points for the Nashville Predators last season.

I don’t recall the same kind of hyperbole around Josi’s offensive effort that Karlsson has received for his. Josi was second for the Norris to Cale Makar, because it was Makar’s “time” to win. The next most popular candidate for the Norris this season is the Rangers’ Adam Fox, who already has a Norris win to his credit. So I’d expect the voters to give Karlsson his flowers for the third time overall and first time since 2015.

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Sources: Knights land Marner, give star 8 years

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Sources: Knights land Marner, give star 8 years

Mitch Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights — with an eight-year extension in place, sources told ESPN on Monday. Forward Nicolas Roy will go to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return.

Marner’s new deal has a $12 million average annual value, according to sources. Marner, 28, was the biggest name entering Tuesday’s NHL free agency, and multiple teams were hoping to make pitches. Marner was the NHL’s fifth-leading scorer last season with 102 points — 36 more than the next-closest free agent. The winger was drafted by his hometown Maple Leafs with the No. 4 pick in 2015.

The Maple Leafs knew that Marner was looking to test free agency at the end of the season. Over the past few days, Toronto worked with Vegas, which was Marner’s preferred destination, on a trade. The Maple Leafs held Marner’s rights until just before midnight Tuesday.

Had Marner become an unrestricted free agent, he couldn’t have signed a deal for more than seven years.

Marner finished a six-year deal that paid him $10.9 million annually. Marner, who played for Team Canada at Four Nations and likely will make their Olympic team, has 221 goals and 741 points in nine NHL seasons.

Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has stayed busy this week, re-signing John Tavares and Matthew Knies while trading for Utah forward Matias Maccelli earlier Monday.

Roy, 28, is a center who is entering Year 4 of a five-year deal that pays him $3 million annually.

Ahead of the Marner trade, the Golden Knights created cap space by sending defenseman Nicolas Hague to the Nashville Predators on Monday.

The deal makes Marner the highest-paid player on Vegas, however, center Jack Eichel ($10 million AAV) is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible to sign an extension this summer. The Golden Knights might not be done this offseason. According to sources, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is expected to go on long-term injured reserve, which could create more flexibility.

Sign-and-trades ahead of free agency are becoming a trend for NHL teams that know they will not sign their coveted player; last season, the Carolina Hurricanes dealt Jake Guentzel‘s rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning before he signed a seven-year deal.

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Sources: Panthers keeping Marchand, Ekblad

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Sources: Panthers keeping Marchand, Ekblad

Hours after re-signing Aaron Ekblad, the Florida Panthers kept another integral piece of their Stanley Cup team by re-signing Brad Marchand to a six-year contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.

Marchand’s deal has an average annual value of $5.25 million, sources told Kaplan.

Coming to terms with Ekblad on an eight-year extension worth $6.1 million annually left the Panthers with what PuckPedia projected to be $4.9 million in salary cap space.

There was the possibility that Marchand, 37, could have left the Panthers for a more lucrative offer elsewhere considering there were teams that had more than enough cap space to sign him.

Instead? Marchand, who arrived ahead of the NHL trade deadline from the Boston Bruins, appears as if he will remain in South Florida for the rest of his career.

Acquiring defenseman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and then adding Marchand were two decisions made by Panthers general manager Bill Zito with the intent of seeing the Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup as part of a run that now has included three straight Cup Final appearances.

Marchand, who was a pending UFA entering the final day before free agency begins Tuesday, used the 2025 postseason to further cement why the Panthers and other teams throughout the NHL would still seek his services. He scored 10 goals and finished with 20 points in 23 playoff games.

For all the contributions he made, his greatest came during the Cup Final series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Marchand, who previously won a Cup with the Bruins back in 2011, opened the series with a goal in the first three games. That includes the two goals he scored in the Panthers’ 5-4 double-overtime win to tie the series with his second being the game-winning salvo.

He scored two more goals in a 5-2 win in Game 5 that allowed the Panthers to take a 3-1 series lead before returning to Sunrise, Florida, where they closed out the series with an emphatic 5-1 win.

Capturing a consecutive title created questions about whether the Panthers can win a third in a row. But there was the understanding that it might be difficult given there was only so much salary cap space to re-sign Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand.

Knowing there was a chance they could lose one, or more, of them, Zito laid the foundation to retain the trio. He began by signing Bennett to an eight-year contract worth $8 million annually on June 27 before using Monday to sign Ekblad and Marchand.

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Sources: Provorov nets 7-year deal from Jackets

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Sources: Provorov nets 7-year deal from Jackets

Ivan Provorov decided to forgo free agency, with the veteran defenseman finalizing a seven-year extension Monday worth $8.5 million annually to remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets, sources told ESPN, confirming earlier reports.

With free agency slated to start Tuesday, the 28-year-old was one of the most notable defenseman who had a chance to hit the open market.

Provorov’s decision to stay with the Blue Jackets comes shortly after it was reported that Aaron Ekblad also avoided free agency by agreeing to an eight-year extension to remain with the Florida Panthers. That now leaves players such as Vladislav Gavrikov, Ryan Lindgren, and Dmitry Orlov among the more prominent pending UFAs who could be available should they fail to strike a deal with their current teams.

Retaining Provorov comes months after a season that witnessed the Blue Jackets shed the title of being a rebuilding franchise to one that could challenge for the playoffs in 2025-26.

Four consecutive seasons without the playoffs created the idea that the 2024-25 campaign could be another challenging one. But a six-game winning streak in January saw Columbus post a 22-17-6 record to create the belief that a turnaround could be in order.

The Jackets closed the season with another six-game winning streak but fell short of the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot, which went to the Montreal Canadiens by two points.

Provorov would finish with seven goals and 33 points in 82 games while his 23 minutes, 21 seconds in average ice time was second behind Norris Trophy finalist Zach Werenski.

Re-signing Provorov comes in an offseason that saw the Blue Jackets also strengthen their bottom-six forward corps by adding Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche.

PuckPedia projects that the Blue Jackets now have $20.957 million in cap space ahead of free agency.

TSN was first to report news of Provorov’s decision.

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