#william-nylander

#william-nylander

Will the Toronto Maple Leafs trade one of their core four players?That question gets asked every off-season due to the Toronto Maple Leafs lack of playoff success.With Kyle Dubas gone and new general manager Brad Treliving taking over, a trade involving one of the core four is possible, although unlikely.

The NHL on TNT panel was in rare form on Thursday night as they had plenty of time to take jabs at one another during the sixth-longest game in NHL history between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals produced six separate intermissions and several gold exchanges between the star-studded crew.

In the end, the biggest problem when you find yourself in an 0-3 series hole is that you need everything to break just right for four straight games.In Game 4, it did.The Leafs played well, of course, but they also scored a goal off a referee's shinpad.In Game 5, they probably deserved to win.They had a ton of chances, but they now end the playoffs on a seven-game streak of scoring two goals per game.

Maple Leafs fans who gathered in downtown Toronto to watch the hockey team battle for NHL playoff survival were rewarded for their faith and loyalty on Wednesday night.Hundreds of fans in Maple Leaf Square outside the Leafs' home rink Scotiabank Arena were jubilant after the team held out a 2-1 win against the Florida Panthers to cut their second-round series deficit to 3-1 and stave off elimination.

The Maple Leafs aren't done yet.Mitch Marner had goal and an assist as Toronto downed the Florida Panthers 2-1 in a must-win Game 4 to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the teams' second-round series Wednesday.William Nylander also scored for the visiting Leafs.Rookie goaltender Joseph Woll made 24 saves in his first post-season start with Ilya Samsonov sidelined due to injury.

Alex Ovechkin needs 72 goals.but he'd probably like his team to be better too.By the Numbers
For on-ice percentages, 50 percent means even: both teams possess the puck evenly.Higher is better, lower is worse.Isolated Impact by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly held their annual pre-Stanley Cup press conference on Saturday.One of the major topics the two men were asked to discuss is the state of the league's salary cap.Bettman shot down any sort of idea that the cap would be increasing for the 2023-24 season more than the $1 million that was projected at the general manager meetings last March.

After failing to clinch at home in Game Five, the Hershey Bears defeated the Rochester Americans 1-0 to become Eastern Conference Champions at Blue Cross Arena on Friday.The Bears did so without their top goal-scorer (Ethen Frank), their top-line center (Michael Sgarbossa), and their top prospect defenseman (Vincent Iorio).

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's Game 4 win over the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.On the team's increased urgency:
From an effort standpoint, I think it was our best effort of the season all the way through from start to finish.There was no real letup.Obviously, it is a very close game, but our competitiveness defensively - and our urgency defensively - was the best it has been all year.

In a word, no, the Rangers likely aren't going to trade Artemi Panarin.The no move clause, the contract, and the Rangers current window to win are big factors.But there were rumblings before Gerard Gallant was dismissed that the Rangers might need a roster shakeup.The "easiest" way to do that is to trade Artemi Panarin as it sends a big message to the locker room while also freeing up a ton of cap space.

MLHS' Anthony Petrielli joined The JD Bunkis Show on Sportsnet to discuss the matchup against the Florida Panthers in Round 2 and where the series could be decided.On what he makes of Florida as a playoff opponent:
I find them such a strange team.I do think with their forward group, they can run three lines.