Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz has been the lone spark plug on the team's blue line, but he's been playing hurt and that's a big problem if the reigning Stanley Cup champions want to repeat.

Schultz suffered an upper-body injury early in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Ottawa Senators. He only played 3:40 in that contest, and went on to miss Games 3, 4, 5, and 6 before returning to action in Game 7.

Having Schultz back in the lineup for Game 7 is a major reason why the Pens came out victorious, as he recorded a goal and an assist in the do-or-die game. Even though Pittsburgh got dominated in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators, he played a big part in its win, assisting on Jake Guentzel's game-winning goal.

Despite his return these past two games, it's clear that Schultz isn't playing at even close to 100 percent health. Otherwise, he would be getting more ice time. Take a look:

He's seen the fewest minutes of any Penguins defenseman since returning to the lineup, clearly indicating that he isn't quite right. He saw more minutes than any Pens blue-liner in two of the three games prior to his injury.

The Penguins were able to mitigate Schultz's absence in the Eastern Conference Final because the Senators sit back and play the 1-3-1, and they don't bring a heavy forecheck like the Predators do.

Schultz's best qualities as a defenseman are his skating, passing, and ability to move to the puck out of his own zone. The last part is key, because without Kris Letang in the lineup, Schultz is Pittsburgh's only above-average puck-mover on the back end.

Dmitri Filipovic of Sportsnet tallied the following information from Game 1:

As you can see, aside from Schultz, the Penguins' defense had no problems simply getting the puck out of the zone, but rarely did Pittsburgh posses the puck once it was outside the blue line. That's because these five D-men are all defensive-minded, and don't have the ability to make crisp breakout passes with forecheckers breathing down their neck.

Here's an example of Hainsey making a poor decision as the last man back:

Some may be puzzled how a team with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel managed to go 37 minutes without a shot on goal, and record just 12 total in the game, but here's your answer: When Schultz isn't on the ice, these elite forwards have nobody to get them the puck.

To be frank, Pittsburgh was very lucky to come away with a victory in Game 1. Sure, having Schultz play 16 minutes is better than him not playing at all, but the fact that Mike Sullivan can't put him on the ice willy-nilly could eventually lead to the demise of the Penguins in this series.

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Before Pekka Rinne earned five All-Star nods and became the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as a member of the Nashville Predators, he was a backup with Karpat of Finland's SM-liiga.

Alumni of those 2004 and 2005 SM-liiga champion teams have reconvened for an annual getaway every June for more than 10 years, according to Tal Pinchevsky of The New York Times, but Rinne will be absent this time around as he looks to backstop his team to a Stanley Cup.

Former Karpat teammate and ex-NHL goaltender Niklas Backstrom spoke to the absence of his longtime friend and former protege.

"We are happy for him but also sad," he said, "because we are going to go there and he won't make the trip this year. But there's something much better."

The group plans to incorporate Rinne into the weekend's festivities, with Backstrom saying, "It will be fun to be together with the guys and watch the game."

Another former teammate, Florida Panthers forward Jussi Jokinen, said he'll miss his "loyal friend," but Backstrom knows there's nowhere else Rinne would rather be as the calendar turns to June.

"I can't even remember a day that he wasn't happy being at the rink."

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The Stanley Cup. She's tough to win.

Ask Alex Ovechkin. And Roberto Luongo. And all of the San Jose Sharks.

And with that, we present the all Stanley Cup-less team, comprised of active NHLers who have yet to - and may never - win it all.

Forwards

Notes:

• Since the 1995-96 season, only successful ring-chaser Marian Hossa (205) has played more playoff games than Patrick Marleau (177) and Joe Thornton (160). It really will be a shame if these two never raise the Cup.
• While it's absolutely ridiculous to tie Ovechkin's legacy to the Cup, the fact that he's never played in the third round is, well, also absolutely ridiculous. Ovie's averaged 0.93 points per game in 97 postseason games (46 goals). He's not the problem in D.C.
• The poor Sedins were up 3-2 on the Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. That's going to hurt forever.
• Jarome Iginla has 37 goals in 81 career playoff games (0.84 points per game). He too came oh so close, his Flames losing Game 7 of the final to the Lightning after also being up 3-2 in the series.
• Shane Doan has been in the NHL since 1995 and has played 55 playoff games. Life is unfair.
• Mike Fisher is hoping to excuse himself from this roster over the next two weeks. Fisher's played 129 playoff games, 14th among active forwards since 1995.
• While Claude Giroux and Jason Spezza haven't played a ton of postseason games (63 and 69, respectively), they've produced in 'em. Giroux's 0.98 points per game ranks fifth among all active forwards since 1995, while Spezza's 0.94 places him seventh. Both make this team because it doesn't look like the Flyers or Stars will be winning the Cup anytime soon.
• Players who just missed the cut: Rick Nash (41 points in 77 career playoff games), James Neal (42 points in 75 games), Derek Stepan (49 in 97), and Scott Hartnell (47 in 95).

Defense

Notes:

• We went with - for the most part - games played for the crew on defense. P.K. Subban's the exception, but he makes the team because his 0.68 points per game in the playoffs (72 games) ranks first among all active defensemen since 1995. He's also hoping to be off this team by mid-June at the very latest.
• Dan Girardi, Paul Martin, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic make up the century club on the back end. They've played 122, 115, and 114 playoff games respectively, with nothing to show for them.
• Braydon Coburn's on the team because he's twice made the Stanley Cup Final and lost. Oh, the humanity.
• Honorable mention to another Ranger: Marc Staal. He's played 104 postseason games.
• Others who have produced in the playoffs but missed the cut due to not having played - and suffered through - enough postseason games: Brent Burns (0.63 PPG in 57 games), Keith Yandle (0.61 PPG in 51), Victor Hedman (0.57 PPG in 65), Mike Green (0.49 PPG in 76), Alex Edler and Shea Weber (0.48 PPG in 65, for both), and John Carlson (0.46 PPG in 76), and Kevin Bieksa (0.35 PPG in 85).
• Here's the deal: There are a lot of good defensemen who are never going to win a Stanley Cup.

Goalies

Notes:

• Between Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo, this one was easy.
• Braden Holtby's the healthy scratch because he's been so very good throughout his playoff career, and yet he can't get the Capitals into the third round, either.
• Honorable mentions: Pekka Rinne and Carey Price rank seventh and eighth in postseason games played among active goalies with 65 and 60, respectively, but what stands out is Price's pedestrian .914 save percentage. Rinne comes in at .917.
• Mike Smith has a remarkable .945 career save percentage in the playoffs - but he's played only 19 games. Craig Anderson's also been stellar in the postseason throughout his career (.929 in 46 games), but he'll be 37 next year. We wouldn't be opposed to swapping him out with Holtby, for what it's worth.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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With the offseason underway for a number of teams and the remainder to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.

2016-17 Grade: C+

It was another disappointing campaign for the Montreal Canadiens, but in an entirely different way than 2015-16.

The Canadiens cruised to the Atlantic Division title, occupying first place almost from start to finish, but the New York Rangers brought an abrupt end to their season, dispatching Montreal in six games the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This time, it wasn't a significant injury to Carey Price that derailed the Canadiens, but rather a shift in roster construction philosophy, a subsequent series of questionable moves, and the failure to address a glaring need.

General manager Marc Bergevin was roasted for trading P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber last June, and the criticism didn't cease over the balance of the season.

Bergevin made no bones about his desire to add more "grit" to Montreal's lineup - trading for Andrew Shaw at the draft and signing him to a six-year contract, then adding the likes of Steve Ott and Dwight King at the deadline - but that strategy clearly backfired.

(Courtesy: Action Images)

Though coach Michel Therrien was fired in February, the return of Claude Julien didn't make much of a difference this spring.

Price had another stellar season, but the Canadiens once again relied too heavily on their all-world goaltender and neglected to address their real issues.

Two key forwards and an aging defenseman are among the players needing new deals.

2017 Draft Picks

The Canadiens got second-rounders in this and next year's draft from the Washington Capitals in the Lars Eller trade, and gave up three mid-to-late-round selections in deals for Jordie Benn, Nikita Nesterov, and 2016 seventh-rounder Arvid Henrikson.

Summer priorities

1. Get the Price deal done

He isn't eligible for free agency until July 1, 2018, but Price's reps and the team can start discussing a contract extension one year before that, and both sides say they're interested in getting it done.

Take those comments as you will, but it would be shocking if a long-term agreement isn't reached after the negotiating window opens, and locking up Price is clearly the Canadiens' top priority.

Montreal doesn't absolutely need to sign him by the end of the summer, but Bergevin can't be too comfortable with the thought of entering the final season of Price's contract with uncertainty about the future looming over his franchise netminder.

2. Ditto for Radulov and Galchenyuk

Once Price is taken care of, Bergevin will have to shift his attention to a couple of key forwards.

Alexander Radulov ranked third on the club in goals (18), first in assists (36), and second in points in his first season back in North America after four years in the KHL, and he scored the overtime winner in Game 2 against the Rangers.

He proved to be one of the best big-money offseason signings last summer, and the Canadiens should bring him back if they can work out a reasonable short-term deal for the UFA, who'll turn 31 on July 5.

Alex Galchenyuk could also be in for a sticky negotiation process, but his status as an RFA gives the Canadiens a slight advantage.

The 23-year-old has been jerked around between center and the wing throughout his tenure in Montreal, so his position will surely be a focal point in the talks. His point production increased on a per-game basis despite the fact he missed almost a quarter of the regular season with a knee injury.

Bergevin signed Galchenyuk to a bridge deal a couple of years ago, so the player's camp likely won't want to go that route again.

3. Add secondary scoring

The movement toward a more gritty roster clearly didn't work. What the Canadiens actually need is more offense.

Max Pacioretty led the club and finished in the top 10 in the NHL with 35 goals, but Paul Byron (with 22) was Montreal's second-most productive scorer, and the Canadiens finished 15th in the league this past season with 2.72 per game.

Pacioretty's output represented about 16 percent of the Canadiens' goal total in the regular season, and Byron was the only other player to score at least 20, so that needs to be addressed in the offseason in free agency or via trade.

2017-18 Outlook

Expectations are always sky high in Montreal, but the Canadiens obviously can't afford to have another first-round exit next spring.

Though the window to win a championship isn't necessarily closing, especially if Price is signed long term, the club has an aging defense corps led by 38-year-old UFA Andrei Markov and Weber, who'll be 32 in August. Pacioretty will soon be two years away from hitting the free-agent market himself.

Montreal needs to advance to the second round next season, and the Canadiens should have their sights set on a return to the Eastern Conference Final, which they last reached in 2014.

But a deep postseason run won't likely happen unless they do what they need to do this summer.

Offseason Outlook Series

COL | VAN | NJD | ARI | BUF
DET | DAL | FLA | LAK | CAR
WPG | PHI | TBL | NYI | WAS
TOR | CGY | BOS | SJ | OTT
STL | NYR | EDM | MTL |

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Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan addressed his club's future Tuesday, and, inevitably, the notion of trading superstar Alex Ovechkin was brought up on the heels of yet another second-round exit from the playoffs.

MacLellan said a trade involving his captain could possibly come to fruition down the road if a "legitimate hockey deal" materialized, but dealing Ovechkin isn't the direction the organization wants to work toward at this point.

Typically, a so-called hockey deal is a trade involving players only, a la P.K. Subban for Shea Weber.

For fun, with speculation running rampant, let's take a look at what type of trade the Capitals could orchestrate for the best player in franchise history.

The Factors

By the beginning of the 2017-18 season, Ovechkin will be 32 years old, and carrying a cap hit of $9,538,462 until 2021. He owns a modified no-trade clause, meaning Ovechkin could submit a list of 10 teams he wouldn't accept a trade to. There goes a third of the market.

History Says...

Trading Ovechkin would undoubtedly be one of the most colossal deals of all time. We're talking Wayne Gretzky big.

Of course, Gretzky was traded out of Edmonton in 1988 for two players, three first-round picks, and cash. Based on today's development-emphasized NHL, it's hard to imagine any team shelling out three first-rounders like chips at a low-stakes poker table.

In 1992, after Eric Lindros refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques, Philadelphia dealt six players (Peter Forsberg and Ron Hextall among them), two first-round picks, and cash for Lindros alone. Safe to say the league has changed.

With that in mind, some of the biggest one-for-one deals have occurred recently. Subban-for-Weber has, and will continue to, benefited Nashville more than Montreal. The other deal from that fateful summer day, Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall, ignited much debate, but the Oilers could afford to move on from their gifted winger, thanks to the Connor McDavid factor.

Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen is an example of a good deal for both teams, with franchise players exchanged to fill respective needs. However, Ovechkin is a generational talent, and hauling in a player with equal or better value is likely impossible for the Capitals.

The Comparables

How many current players are truly comparable to Ovechkin? The short answer is, well, none.

12 seasons into his career, Ovechkin's racked up 558 goals and 1,035 points in 921 games. His 0.606 goals per game rate is the sixth-highest in NHL history, and he's singlehandedly rejuvenated Washington's hockey market as the face of the organization since arriving in 2005-06.

Since 2013, Ovechkin leads all forwards in goals per 60 minutes at 1.77, and below are five players who have somewhat matched the Russian sniper's production in the same time period.

Steven Stamkos
Team: Lightning
Age: 27
G/60: 1.62
P/60: 2.81
Would a trade work?: No. Tampa Bay is as cap-restricted as any team in the league, and replacing the younger Stamkos with an older winger simply doesn't make sense.

Vladimir Tarasenko
Team: Blues
Age: 25
G/60: 1.54
P/60: 2.98
Would a trade work?: For the Capitals, yes. Tarasenko is capable of replicating Ovechkin's style of play, and at a cheaper cap hit, he'd fill the role nicely. Good luck prying him from St. Louis, though.

Max Pacioretty
Team: Canadiens
Age: 28
G/60: 1.42
P/60: 2.59
Would a trade work?: No. Ovechkin's lowest full-season goal output is 32, just seven shy of Pacioretty's career-high. Not quite an even swap.

Tyler Seguin
Team: Stars
Age: 25
G/60: 1.36
P/60: 3.14
Would a trade work?: No. Again, why would Dallas want to trade a younger, cheaper alternative?

Nikita Kucherov
Team: Lightning
Age: 23
G/60: 1.35
P/60: 2.94
Would a trade work?: No. The similarities are certainly there, but this would be a heist for the Capitals.

(All stats courtesy: stats.hockeyanalysis.com)

If Ovechkin were actually on the market, finding a "hockey deal" to fill his void, while also managing to fit the terms into both parties' salary constraints, simply isn't realistic, unless a young Mike Bossy magically appears on MacLellan's radar.

Would a team, somewhere down the road, take on Ovechkin's salary to sell tickets, say Vegas or Arizona? Maybe, but for the time being, Ovi, despite a "down" year that featured 33 goals and 36 assists, is best off in D.C.

The Verdict

Playoff failure has unfortunately become the defining narrative of Ovechkin's career, and the Capitals missed a major opportunity this season with arguably the deepest roster they've ever assembled.

Big changes are on the horizon for Washington, likely to lose several key free agents, but the sky is by no means falling in the nation's capital.

Would any hockey fan be surprised to see Ovechkin bag another 35 goals next season, maybe even 40? Probably not. His supporting cast still features the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov (a current restricted free agent), Marcus Johansson, and Braden Holtby in goal. A third consecutive Presidents' Trophy might not be in the cards, but the Capitals should remain competitive in the East.

Trading Ovechkin, the single-most iconic player the team has ever employed, for reasons beyond a non-existent market, is ludicrous. At this juncture of his career, Ovi is still the gold standard for snipers in the NHL, and getting rid of a franchise player for the sake of making a trade can cause irremediable damage among a fan base - ask Canadiens supporters.

That is, until Washington's inevitable playoff elimination at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round 2 next season, in which case we can re-visit the inescapable topic.

(Photos Courtesy: Getty Images)

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While the current Stanley Cup Final is only one game old, odds for next year's champions have already been released.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, which are in their second consecutive final, are the favorites, but the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL's 31st franchise, are officially in the mix, opening with 200-1 odds for their inaugural season.

Here's the entire list:

Apart from Vegas, perhaps the biggest takeaways are the strong odds for the Oilers and Maple Leafs, which both soared up the standings in 2016-17 led by youngsters Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.

(Odds Courtesy: Westgate Superbook)

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Jacob Waddell, the Nashville Predators fan who launched a catfish onto the ice surface at Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, revealed his master plan for sneaking it into PPG Paints Arena, and boy, it's something.

Waddell has been charged with possessing an instrument of crime, disorderly conduct, and disrupting a meeting, but Tuesday he explained to Sean Gentille of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette how he managed to get it done.

Waddell proclaimed himself to be "a dumb redneck with a bad idea," and his complete itinerary for the stunt included:

• Buying a pair of $350 upper-bowl tickets, and transporting the fish from Tennessee to Game 1 in Pittsburgh.
• Dousing the fish in Old Spice cologne to compensate for the smell.
• Filleting the fish and running it over with his truck multiple times because
  "the head was too damn big."
• Stuffing the fish between his underwear and a pair of compression shorts, which were covered up by a pair of baggy pants.
• Wandering down to the lower level with the fish wrapped in a complimentary T-shirt, then launching it onto the ice.

Waddell apparently shared his idea with a local radio station, which offered to pay any fine in support of taking "Smashville Fever" on the road.

Anything for hockey, right?

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