Josh Wegman

Connor McDavid wasn't buying the notion that the Edmonton Oilers laid down and died in Tuesday's season-ending defeat to the Florida Panthers."We lost to a really good team. Nobody quit. Nobody threw the towel in," McDavid told reporters postgame. "They're a heck of a team. They're Stanley Cup champions back-to-back for a reason."The Oilers fell 5-1 in Game 6, and Vasily Podkolzin scored Edmonton's only goal of the game with 4:22 left in the third period.McDavid was held in check in the series, especially when compared to his lofty standards. He registered one goal and six assists in six games."Their forecheck was great. They tilted the rink. They were able to stay on top of us all over the place," McDavid said. "Never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. We kept trying the same thing over and over again, just banging our heads against the wall."Despite the result, McDavid's faith in his team hasn't wavered."Still a lot of confidence and belief," McDavid said. "I don't think people thought we were going to make it this far. We obviously believed. Came up just short again."McDavid and running mate Leon Draisaitl tallied a joint-best 33 points in the playoffs.

Few people outside of Edmonton expected the Oilers to go on another deep playoff run, but that doesn't make the sting of losing back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals any less painful for head coach Kris Knoblauch.

The New Jersey Devils traded forward Erik Haula to the Nashville Predators for a 2025 fourth-round pick and defense prospect Jeremy Hanzel, the teams announced.Haula is entering the final year of his contract with a $3.15-million cap hit. There's no salary retention in the deal.More to come.Check back for updates.

Nick Bonino announced Wednesday his retirement from professional hockey following a 15-year NHL career.Additionally, Bonino will join the Pittsburgh Penguins' coaching staff as an assistant under new bench boss Dan Muse.Bonino won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 with the Penguins. He played arguably the best hockey of his career in the 2016 playoffs, tallying 18 points in 24 games while centering Pittsburgh's "HBK" line between Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel. Bonino scored the series-clinching overtime winner in Round 2 and the game-winner in the waning minutes of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.The Punjabi call from Hockey Night in Canada's Harnarayan Singh of Bonino's Game 1 winner notably went viral.Bonino also played for the Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, and New York Rangers. He recorded 159 goals and 199 assists in 868 career games. Bonino set career highs with 22 goals, 27 assists, and 49 points in 2013-14 with the Ducks.The Hartford, Connecticut, native last played in the NHL in 2023-24 with the Rangers. He spent the 2024-25 campaign playing for the Slovenian club Ljubljana Olimpija HK.

Ryan Donato is staying in the Windy City. The Chicago Blackhawks signed the pending unrestricted free-agent forward to a four-year extension with a $4-million average annual value, the team announced Wednesday.

The Edmonton Oilers are expected to sign pending unrestricted free-agent forward Trent Frederic to an eight-year contract, Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reports.The average annual value is expected to land higher than $3.5 million but lower than $4 million, Seravalli added.The Oilers acquired Frederic from the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline. He suited up in just one regular-season game for Edmonton due to injury. The 27-year-old managed a goal and three assists in 22 playoff games while averaging 11:24 per contest.More to come.

The NHL plans to continue investigating the Edmonton Oilers' usage of long-term injured reserve with winger Evander Kane, sources told Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.It's possible the Oilers could receive retroactive punishment if the league deems they violated the collective bargaining agreement, Seravalli adds.Kane spent the entire 2024-25 regular season on LTIR after undergoing abdominal surgery in September and knee surgery in January. He returned for Game 2 of Round 1 of the playoffs and suited up in every postseason game the rest of the way.Teams are allowed to exceed the salary cap during the regular season when a player is on LTIR. There's no salary cap during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some sort of postseason salary cap has reportedly been discussed in recent CBA negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA.It's standard practice for the NHL to examine medical reports when a player returns from LTIR for the playoffs. The Oilers have complied with all of the league's requests thus far, sources told Seravalli. It's unclear what the NHL found - if anything - to require continuing the investigation.No team has ever been punished for LTIR usage in the salary-cap era, although it has become a hot topic in recent years. The Vegas Golden Knights notably activated Mark Stone for Game 1 of the playoffs en route to their 2023 Stanley Cup after he spent the second half of the season on LTIR. The Tampa Bay Lightning did the same thing with Nikita Kucherov en route to their 2021 Stanley Cup after he spent the entire regular season on LTIR. There's several other examples, too.Kane recorded six goals and six assists in 21 games during the postseason. The 33-year-old has one year left on his contract with a $5.13-million cap hit. The Oilers reportedly gauged the trade market for Kane ahead of the 2025 deadline, and it's rumored they'll do the same this offseason.

The Dallas Stars are listening to trade calls for winger Jason Robertson, though the team isn't actively shopping him, reports The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.Robertson is entering the final year of his contract, which carries a $7.75-million cap hit. He'll be a restricted free agent in 2026 and can become unrestricted in 2027.The Stars will try to extend him this summer if they consider the asking price fair, LeBrun added. But if the ask is perceived to be too high, they may circle back to the teams that previously reached out about his availability.Robertson recorded 35 goals and 45 assists in 82 games this season. He added six points in 11 playoff contests after missing Round 1 with an injury suffered in Dallas' regular-season finale.The 25-year-old has tallied at least 79 points in each of the last four campaigns. He set career highs with 46 goals and 109 points in 2022-23.The Stars have $2.7 million in cap space this summer. They already traded away Mason Marchment and extended veteran Matt Duchene. Captain Jamie Benn and Mikael Granlund are among their top remaining UFAs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and pending unrestricted free-agent center John Tavares aren't close to agreeing on a new deal as of Saturday, reports The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.The Oakville, Ontario, native has said multiple times since the Maple Leafs' season ended that he wants to stay in Toronto. However, he's reportedly seeking an average annual value north of $5 million, unless the team is willing to add term to the deal."I know for a fact that, unless there was a lot of term attached to it, there's no way Tavares signs for $5 million a year with the Leafs," LeBrun said Thursday on TSN's Overdrive. "It's gonna have to be more than that."Given the lack of centers available, Tavares could be in high demand if he hit the open market. While nothing's signed, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett said Friday that he intends to stay with the Florida Panthers. After Bennett and Tavares, the list of pending UFA center options includes Mikael Granlund, Pius Suter, and Jack Roslovic.Matt Duchene came off the market Thursday when he agreed to a four-year extension worth $ 4.5 million annually to stay with the Dallas Stars. Duchene is the same age (34) as Tavares and produced eight more points in seven more games last season. Tavares and Duchene also share the same agent in CAA's Pat Brisson.Tavares recorded 38 goals and 36 assists in 75 games in 2024-25. He tallied 493 points in 515 appearances across the seven-year, $77-million contract he signed as a UFA with the Maple Leafs in 2018. His playoff production in Toronto - 31 points in 51 games - has paled in comparison to his regular-season output.The Maple Leafs enter the offseason with $25.7 million in cap space. Fellow pending UFA Mitch Marner is widely expected to sign elsewhere. Restricted free-agent winger Matthew Knies is in line for a sizeable pay raise after potting 29 goals last campaign.If Tavares leaves, the Maple Leafs' list of internal center options behind captain Auston Matthews includes Max Domi, Scott Laughton, Pontus Holmberg, and David Kampf.

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