Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
Rick Bowness, Andrew Brunette and Rick Tocchet are the finalists for this year’s Jack Adams Award, the NHL announced Friday.
The award is given annually to the coach who is “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”
Bowness spent his second season in Winnipeg guiding the Jets to a 52-24-6 record, good for second in the Central Division and fourth in the NHL with 114 points. The Jets dominated defensively, tying for the fewest goals against in the league (2.41 per game) while sitting 15th in offense (3.16 goals per game). Winnipeg also posted an eight-game win streak for the first time, as part of a larger 14-game run when the Jets earned at least one point. Bowness balanced his coaching responsibilities with handling personal matters, including when he stepped away from the team to care for his wife following a seizure.
Brunette took on his first full-time head-coaching job with Nashville this season, after previously being the interim bench boss in Florida. The Predators started slowly under Brunette but ignited halfway through the season to hit a 47-30-5 record that placed them 11th in the league standings with 99 points while earning a late postseason berth. The Predators established a strong structure and consistency under Brunette’s guidance, ranking 14th in defense (3.02 GA) and 10th in offense (3.24 GF).
Tocchet is coming off his first full season as Vancouver coach, as he led the Canucks atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record to place them sixth in the league (109 points). That was a major gain from the season prior, when the Canucks finished 22nd. Vancouver was top-10 in key categories through the 2023-24 campaign, including offense (sixth) and defense (sixth), and it generated the 11th-best power play (22.7%). Under Tocchet, the Canucks returned to the postseason after failing to qualify since 2019-20.
Skenes is coming off a dominant performance in his first season in the majors. The 22-year-old right-hander went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts for Pittsburgh in 2024, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
The Pirates posted a video on social media on Saturday that showed Shelton informing Skenes of his decision.
In the video, Skenes walks into Shelton’s office and answers a couple questions about how his bullpen went and how he was feeling. Shelton later got up from behind his desk and informed Skenes he would be starting March 27 at Miami. He shook hands with Skenes and gave him a hug.
“Congrats, brother,” Shelton said to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
“Appreciate it,” Skenes responded.
The 22-year-old Skenes has been working on incorporating a cutter and a running two-seam fastball to go along with his blazing four-seam fastball.
The Ottawa Senators have opened up a nice gap as the first wild card, with 75 points and 26 regulation wins in 65 games. Beyond them, things get interesting.
If it comes down to the regulation-wins tiebreaker at season’s end, the Rangers have an upper hand over all the rest, with 29 in that column, compared with 23 for the Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins, and just 22 for the Habs.
The Canadiens host the Panthers also at 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
The Blue Jackets face the visiting Rangers also at 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
And if they have their sights set on catching the Senators, these clubs are all rooting for the Maple Leafs, who host Ottawa (7 p.m., ESPN+). It’s a great night for multiple streaming devices!
There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 62 Regulation wins: 23 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 75.9 Next game: vs. WPG (Sunday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 22
Points: 45 Regulation wins: 13 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 55.1 Next game: vs. WSH (Saturday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 5
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.
The Texas Rangers‘ pitching staff took another hit Friday, when right-hander Jon Gray suffered a right wrist fracture.
Gray was struck by a line drive from Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia to lead off the fourth inning that knocked him out of the game.
“Not good news, not good news,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters. “It’s terrible. I feel awful for him, to be this close to getting the season going. It’s just not good news. I’ll get back in there and find out more, but right now, there is a fracture.”
Gray’s injury is the third setback for the Rangers rotation this week. The team said Thursday that left-hander Cody Bradford would start the season on the injured list because of soreness in his throwing elbow. Tyler Mahle had been scratched from a start with forearm soreness, but the right-hander returned to pitch in a minor league game Thursday.
Gray went 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA in 23 appearances (19 starts) for the Rangers last season, when he was shut down in September for a foot injury that required surgery. He is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million deal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.