The Boston Bruins signed undrafted college free agent Karson Kuhlman to a two-year, $1.5-million NHL contract, the team announced Tuesday.
The forward will join the AHL's Providence Bruins on an amateur tryout agreement for the rest of the season.
It's been quite a week for Kuhlman, who captained the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to the Frozen Four championship Saturday. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after recording four points, including a goal and an assist in the final against Notre Dame.
In total, Kuhlman, 22, finished his senior year with 13 goals and seven assists in 44 games.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs have arrived, so it's time to dust off the crystal ball and make some predictions. Here's our outlook for how the West will play out:
Nashville Predators (1) vs. Colorado Avalanche (WC2)
The Avalanche pulled out all the stops to clinch the West's second wild-card seed, including a knockout victory over the St. Louis Blues in the final game of the regular season. Even more impressive is that the Avalanche did it with starter Semyon Varlamov and top defender Erik Johnson on the sidelines.
But after completing their second-half surge, how much do the Avalanche have left to make some noise in the playoffs, particularly given the team must face off against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Predators?
Nashville took all four regular-season contests against Colorado, with three coming in regulation. Expect a similar showing in the postseason, especially with the banged-up Avs forced to turn to backup netminder Jonathan Bernier.
Prediction: Preds cruise to second round with sweep of Avs
Winnipeg Jets (2) vs. Minnesota Wild (3)
Bruce Boudreau's NHL coaching record is impressive, if you stop reading after Game 82. That's because for all the success the affable bench boss has had in the regular season, he hasn't translated those victories to when it matters.
In eight full seasons behind an NHL bench, Boudreau's squads have always cracked the 100-point plateau, but he's failed to carry over that success to the playoffs, with just five series wins since 2008. That includes four opening-round wins and just a single year where his team has made the Conference Finals.
It's not about to get any easier this spring, with the Wild set for date with the high-flying Jets. Winnipeg boasts plenty of offensive options, and Boudreau's inability to adjust to the opposition will contribute to Minnesota's demise.
Prediction: Wild coach Boudreau still can't translate success to spring
Vegas Golden Knights (1) vs. Los Angeles Kings (WC1)
It's been a year of rewriting the record books for the Golden Knights, and there's no reason to believe that will stop in the postseason.
Already the first modern-era expansion team to win its division in its inaugural campaign, and the lone first-year club to reach 100 points in its first season, is the possibility of a playoff series win all that far-fetched?
The Golden Knights will have their work cut out for them against the Kings, who've won two Stanley Cups since 2012 and who boast the fewest goals against this season. Still, the Knights bring their own strengths to the table, as only three teams found the back of the net more often than Vegas, while netminder Marc-Andre Fleury's .927 save percentage is amongst the league's best.
Prediction: Knights set another expansion record with series win
Anaheim Ducks (2) vs. San Jose Sharks (3)
No opening-round matchup in the West will be as tightly contested as this battle of California foes, and a series peppered with frequent overtime will be a good indication of that.
While the Sharks took three of four regular-season meetups, two of those games were decided in a shootout, as was Anaheim's lone win against San Jose. In all, on just one occasion was a winner decided in 60 minutes.
Adding intrigue is that both sides enter the series with a host of key names in the injury ward, counting Cam Fowler and John Gibson for the Ducks, while Joe Thornton is still sidelined for the Sharks. Nor are there any assurances the latter two will be ready to return in time for Game 1.
Prediction: Ducks need three OT wins to knock out Sharks in seven
It's playoff time, folks. To get you prepared, we break down each of the Western Conference's first-round series. (Advanced stats at five-on-five courtesy: Corsica)
Predators 1C vs. Avalanche WC2
Predators
Stat
Avalanche
53-18-11
Record
43-30-9
56
Goal differential
20
51.52% (9th)
5-on-5 Corsi %
47.57% (27th)
8.19% (9th)
Shooting percentage
8.21% (7th)
.935 (1st)
Save percentage
.932 (3rd)
101.74 (3rd)
PDO
101.45 (6th)
Filip Forsberg (64)
Leading scorer
Nathan MacKinnon (97)
The Avalanche were dreadful a season ago, but, to the surprise of just about everybody, have qualified for the playoffs in a year when nobody gave them a chance. Their reward? A matchup with the NHL's most complete team, which is looking to avenge last season's Stanley Cup disappointment. If the task wasn't already tall enough, the Avs will have to get by without starter Semyon Varlamov, who was ruled out for the season.
The Jets concluded the season with the second-most points in the NHL (114), and have plans far beyond earning their first series win in franchise history. To do so, though, they'll need to take down a Wild squad that went 14-6-5 down the stretch. While they're missing their top blue-liner in Ryan Suter, the animosity between these Northern rivals should make for quite an entertaining series.
Even though it's been decided for weeks, the Golden Knights making the playoffs in their inaugural season is nothing short of astonishing. The atmosphere in Vegas should be rocking to get things started, but the NHL's 31st franchise has a tall order on its hands. Shutting down MVP candidate Anze Kopitar will be tough, but it could make the difference in what promises to be a fast-paced, intense series.
The start times are late, but this West Coast battle should be fought tooth and nail. Both the Ducks and Sharks match up quite evenly and know each other quite well, but health will be a big factor. San Jose is doubtful to have Joe Thornton in the lineup, while Anaheim starter John Gibson is banged up as well. Regardless of who's in and who's out, expect this one to be neck-and-neck.
It's playoff time, folks. To get you prepared, we break down each of the Eastern Conference's first-round series below. (Advanced stats at 5-on-5 courtesy: Corsica)
Lightning 1A vs. Devils WC2
Lightning
Stat
Devils
54-23-5
Record
44-29-9
60
Goal differential
12
51.62% (7th)
5-on-5 Corsi %
48.63 (21st)
9.35% (1st)
Shooting percentage
7.91% (11th)
.929 (5th)
Save percentage
.917 (25th)
102.28 (1st)
PDO
99.64 (19th)
Nikita Kucherov (100)
Leading scorer
Taylor Hall (93)
From first overall pick to first playoff berth in six seasons, the surprising New Jersey Devils are set to take on the top-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning. The series features a pair of Hart Trophy candidates in Kucherov and Hall, but the X-factor should be Devils netminder Keith Kinkaid, who emerged as the starter down the stretch and played phenomenally, but will now be tasked with shutting down one of the league's most potent attacks.
The cruelty of the playoff format pitted two of the top teams in the conference against each other in Round 1, but this one should be a doozy. The Maple Leafs won three of four contests versus Boston this season, and Marner led the way with nine points. However, the red-hot Bruins were merely one point away from capturing the East's top seed. Don't be shocked if this one goes the distance.
Metropolitan Division adversaries are poised to do battle in what should be an evenly contested matchup. The biggest questions for this series lie between the pipes, as Washington has elected to lean on backup Philipp Grubauer as its starter, while Sergei Bobrovsky's career postseason save percentage is a dreadful .887. Whoever wins out in goal is likely moving on.
The defending champs begin their quest for a three-peat against their most bitter rivals, a spectacle that was can't-miss television last time they met in the playoffs in 2012. Pittsburgh holds a notable depth advantage, emphasized by the acquisition of Derick Brassard before the trade deadline. That said, five of the NHL's top 15 scorers are in this series, so buckle up.
In order for the Colorado Avalanche to have any sort of chance against the Nashville Predators in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Nathan MacKinnon will have to be even better than he was in the regular season.
That's no small task considering MacKinnon finished fifth in NHL scoring with 39 goals and 58 assists in 74 games, and his 1.31 point per game average trailed Connor McDavid's mark of 1.32 by the smallest of margins.
Only a fraction of that production came against the Predators, however, as Colorado dropped all four meetings against Nashville while MacKinnon was held largely in check:
Oct. 17 - Avs lost 4-1: 1 goal, 1 shot
Nov. 18 - Avs lost 5-2: 0 points, 1 shot
March 4 - Avs lost 4-3 (OT): 1 assist, 8 shots
March 16 - Avs lost 4-2: 1 goal, 6 shots
As Colorado's top offensive player, MacKinnon - along with linemates Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog - will continue to see a lot of Nashville's formidable top-four defensemen in Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Mattias Ekholm, and Ryan Ellis, all of whom were on the ice for more shot attempts for than against this season.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
What's important to note is Ellis was present in the lineup for only two of Nashville's games against Colorado. He returned from offseason knee surgery in early January, and from that point on, the Predators went 30-8-6 - the league's top record over that span.
MacKinnon was able to fire 14 shots in the two aforementioned meetings, but a fully healthy Ellis should make things more difficult for the Avalanche star, as Predators head coach Peter Laviollette notes.
"(Ellis) brings an awful lot of stability to the back end," Laviolette said on the Predators' website. "You talk about a defenseman that can contribute in all different areas, his specialty teams both ways, he takes down 23, 24, 25 minutes, can go against another team's best players, defensively strong, offensively strong and he's an excellent leader in the room.
"I think when you add a piece like that, which brings so many dimensions to the team, your team is going to get stronger from that."
This is not what a team that clinched the West's final playoff spot wants to hear, especially from a team that won the conference last season.
But it's not as if MacKinnon didn't produce against other top teams this year:
vs. Jets: 2 games, 2 goals, 2 assists
vs. Lightning: 2 games, 2 goals, 2 assists
vs. Bruins: 2 games, three assists
vs. Wild: 4 games, 4 goals, 5 assists
That's pretty decent production against teams with serious Cup aspirations, but the Predators enter the postseason as the favorites for a reason, and it begins with the depth on defense.
MacKinnon will have to make use of his blazing speed, fire away on the power play, and take advantage of any rare miscues, but, evidently, it will be an uphill climb over the next four-to-seven games.
Tarasenko suffered the injury in Saturday's must-win game versus the Colorado Avalanche. He left the contest in the first period and head coach Mike Yeo classified the ailment as "significant."
The Blues, of course, lost 5-2, ending their season and handing over the final wild-card seed in the Western Conference to the Avs.
While still highly productive, Tarasenko saw a slight drop in his numbers in 2017-18, registering 66 points in 80 games after topping at least 70 in his three seasons prior.
"I think that Grubi deserves the opportunity," head coach Barry Trotz said, according to NHL.com's Brian McNally.
Grubauer was the superior goaltender this season, posting a .923 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average in 35 games. Holtby, meanwhile, regressed significantly, as he owned just a .907 save percentage and a 2.99 GAA in 54 contests.
"Braden was fantastic. An absolute pro," Trotz said when asked how Hotlby handled the news.
Grubauer and Holtby were splitting time down the stretch, as Trotz would seemingly ride the hot goaltender. Still, it's surprising that Washington won't have its former Vezina and Jennings Trophy winner between the pipes to begin the postseason.
It appears Trotz will use a similar strategy in the playoffs, as he said he'll decide on his starting netminder on a "game-by-game" basis, he told Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.
Though it likely didn't factor into Trotz's decision, Holtby also struggled in the playoffs last year, as his save percentage fell to .909, and his GAA rose to 2.47 as the Caps were ousted in the second round to the Penguins, despite being Stanley Cup favorites. His postseason resume prior to last year, however, was sensational.
Over the past 12 years, only three Eastern Conference teams have won the Stanley Cup: the Carolina Hurricanes (2006), Boston Bruins (2011), and Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017).
This year's crop of eight teams have varying degrees of potential, as do the matchups. Here, we rank the East's four first-round series based on entertainment value and competitiveness.
1. Penguins vs. Flyers
It would be hard to find a hockey fan who wasn't hoping for another installment of the Battle of Pennsylvania, quite possibly the NHL's hottest and most entertaining rivalry.
It's no secret that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are far from friendly, and they finished only two points apart in the Metropolitan Division, setting up their first head-to-head playoff matchup since a wild encounter in 2012.
Thanks to the current playoff system, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs enter this series as the fourth- and seventh-ranked teams in the NHL, respectively. But they'll meet in the first round, stirring up memories of the Bruins' epic Game 7 comeback in 2013.
This isn't the same Toronto team that allowed Boston to walk out of TD Garden that night with a miraculous win; in fact, only five of those Maple Leafs remain on the roster, namely Jake Gardiner, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, and Leo Komarov. They're now surrounded by an incredibly talented young core and other veterans eager to exorcise any lingering demons from five years ago.
At the other end of the ice, the Bruins have their own unique and successful mix of veterans and youngsters, and they look as dangerous as the team that advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final after being taken to the brink in the first round that year.
Bruins-Leafs isn't quite at the level of Penguins-Flyers on the rivalry spectrum, but it could get pretty close by the end of this series, and it could be as fun to watch as any matchup on the board.
3. Capitals vs. Blue Jackets
The Capitals and Blue Jackets have both long sought credibility as contenders. Both teams were set aside by the Penguins last year - Columbus in the first round and Washington in the second - but have managed to avoid Pittsburgh in this spring's opening series (and perhaps, if the Flyers have anything to say about it, will dodge them completely).
At any rate, neither club wants to exit the playoffs this early. For the Capitals, anything less than a trip to the Conference Finals will be another bitter disappointment, and the Blue Jackets won't easily accept losing yet another series - they've only won three playoff games in the franchise's existence despite some recent regular-season success.
This series has "slobberknocker" written all over it.
4. Lightning vs. Devils
The disparity between Eastern Conference playoff teams is most pronounced here, as the Tampa Bay Lightning finished 16 points ahead of the New Jersey Devils.
Sure, neither team made the playoffs a year ago, but the Lightning have had serious Cup aspirations for several seasons now, while the Devils' rebuild is perhaps a bit ahead of schedule.
These aren't the old-regime Devils that earned a reputation for lacking entertainment value while collecting championships. Hart Trophy candidate Taylor Hall won't go down without a fight in his playoff debut, but the Lightning will try to strike early and often, considering the Devils but a stepping stone.
It's unfair that only one award is given to NHL rookies each year, and that it lumps all three positions into one pool of candidates. What makes a good forward doesn't make a good defenseman, and goaltenders are in a category all their own. There's room for more nuanced discussion.
Let's broaden our horizons and take a look at how the major NHL awards would be given out if only rookies were considered (statistics courtesy NHL.com and Corsica.hockey):
Hart Trophy - Mathew Barzal, Islanders
Choosing Barzal for the Hart, despite the fact that the Islanders are once again on the outside of the playoff picture, was easy when taking into account his laundry list of accomplishments. His 85 points led the Islanders, and he finished 20 points ahead of the next-highest-scoring rookie. Barzal's assist total alone (63) was good for fifth in the league, ahead of names like Sidney Crosby, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos. He also recorded 20 multi-point games.
On the surface, Tristan Jarry of the Pittsburgh Penguins looks like the obvious choice for the Vezina, as he leads rookie goaltenders in wins with 14. A deeper exploration of goaltending statistics, however, reveals that Saros put up a better performance overall. He started and played the same number of games as Jarry (23 and 26, respectively) but only had 11 wins. However, Saros faced more shots, with 810 to Jarry's 687, and both his save percentage (.925) and high-danger save percentage (.843) were higher.
After winning the 2017 Hobey Baker Award, Butcher graduated directly to the NHL - and thrived. In addition to leading all rookie defensemen in points with 44, he averaged 1.89 points/60. He also found success on the power play, with 23 of his points (including three goals) coming on the man advantage. Butcher accomplished this production without being a defensive liability. When he's on the ice, the Devils aren't only better at producing high-danger shots, they're better at suppressing them.
Don't be surprised to see him in an expanded role next season after averaging just over 16 minutes of somewhat sheltered ice time in 2017-18, often ranking last among Devils defensemen. The team will likely want to see if he can handle tougher minutes and improve his even-strength production.
What's that? DeBrincat is too small to be successful at the NHL level? It turns out he was one of the few bright spots in a disappointing Blackhawks season. Despite plenty of debate last summer about whether he was NHL-ready, DeBrincat played in all 82 games with the Blackhawks, averaging 14:48. Add to that his 52 points, including a team-leading 28 goals, and only six penalty minutes, and DeBrincat was the clear-cut choice for the Lady Byng, combining high-caliber play with "gentlemanly conduct."
This selection is particularly hilarious given his junior history, in which he racked up 73, 28, and 49 PIM, respectively, in three seasons with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. And even in his low year, he accumulated another 25 PIM in five World Junior Championship games. This is a big step for DeBrincat. Congratulations, kid.
The Selke Trophy is perhaps the most difficult award to assess. While it is, by its own definition, designated for the best defensive forward in the league, over the years it has morphed into an award typically given to the best two-way forward. More often than not, that forward is a center. (The last winger to win the Selke was the Dallas Stars' Jere Lehtinen in 2002-03.) This evolution leaves what criteria best define a Selke winner a bit muddy. For the purposes of this article, we looked at rookie forwards who played all 82 games and considered their time on ice (TOI) per game, defensive statistics, and point production. After all, a two-way forward's performance should be measured by his effectiveness at both ends of the ice.
Three forwards stood out: Barzal, Nico Hischier of the Devils, and Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Barzal's total TOI was the highest of the group at 1,456.78, with Hischier at 1,337.37 and Dubois at 1,364. Barzal’s goals against were the highest at 72 in all situations, but at five-on-five his GA drops to 50. Dubois' GA is only 39, but he also played almost 1,000 fewer minutes than Barzal. Barzal also faced just slightly better competition than Hischier or Dubois, with his CF% QOC at 50.1 compared to Hischier's 49.98 and Dubois' 49.8.
Weighing everything together, the race still feels close, but Barzal's point production (85 points versus Hischier's 52 and Dubois' 48), in addition to his defensive play, gives him the edge.
Runners-up: Hischier, Dubois
Jack Adams Award - Bob Boughner, Panthers
We can't end this discussion without looking at another group of rookies: the first-year head coaches. The candidate pool was small. This year, the only first-timers were Boughner, Phil Housley of the Buffalo Sabres, and Travis Green of the Vancouver Canucks. With two of these teams in lottery contention and the third having spent the last month of the season making an unsuccessful playoff push, the choice was clear. Despite losing two high-scoring forwards to the Golden Knights due to a dubious move by general manager Dale Tallon, the Panthers finished with 96 points for only the third time in team history.
As NHL teams are officially eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, theScore NHL freelance writer Katie Brown looks back at the highs and lows of their seasons, along with the biggest questions ahead of 2018-19. The 13th edition focuses on the Dallas Stars.
The Good
Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Alexander Radulov. Seguin hit 40 goals for the first time in his career, while his 78 points were second best on the team. Benn finished off the season on a high note with two hat tricks and seven points in three games, narrowly edging out Seguin for the team lead with 79 points. And when the Stars signed Radulov, some weren't sure how things would pan out. But it's safe to say he put any doubts to rest by setting career highs in goals (27) and points (72).
Hitch’s milestone. Ken Hitchcock celebrated becoming the third-winningest coach of all time this season, passing Al Arbour and ultimately finishing the campaign with 823 career victories to date. He’s also the winningest coach in Stars history. Hitchcock was hired in April 2017 for his second stint with the team a few months after being fired as coach of the St. Louis Blues. He also got his start as an NHL head coach with the Stars back in 1996.
Top-10 defense. The Stars boasted the sixth-best defense in the NHL with 222 goals allowed, no doubt a product of Hitchcock's defensively minded system. Within that system, defenseman John Klingberg has thrived and improved in all areas of the ice. His 67 points were fourth most on the team and he was in the Norris Trophy conversation up until the team's late losing streak.
The Bad
That late-season losing skid. Any playoff hopes were extinguished in late March during a disastrous 0-4-2 road trip. The Stars then dropped their next two at home, and though they finished the season 4-2-0, it was too little, too late.
Injury trouble. Sidelined by an ankle injury for the majority of training camp, Martin Hanzal was later plagued by hand, back, and hip problems throughout the season and eventually had spinal fusion surgery in March. Marc Methot’s knee pain led to midseason surgery, and he spent the rest of his campaign playing catch-up while appearing in just 36 total contests. However, the one that hurt the Stars the most was probably goalie Ben Bishop's knee injury in March. Bishop sat out five games, got hurt again in his first game back, and then didn't play again for the rest of the season. Without Bishop, the Stars went 2-8-1 and any hopes of the playoffs were dashed.
Deadline inactivity. General manager Jim Nill's decision to not make any moves at the trade deadline might have ended up fine if Hanzal hadn’t been shut down for the season soon after. The Stars were 29th in goal-scoring following the deadline, and probably could have used a boost to aid their playoff push.
Questions
What really needs to be fixed? This is not a team that's in need of a total rebuild. This season, it was less about the personnel and more about how those pieces worked together - sometimes very well and other times not well at all. Establishing an identity would go a long way for the Stars when the new season starts next fall.
Adding a backup goaltender should also be on the list, since Kari Lehtonen’s contract is up this summer and it's unlikely he’ll be back. It also might be prudent to look for a backup who could shoulder a starter's load if Bishop has injury trouble again. Meanwhile, Nill might look to part ways with Jason Spezza through either a buyout or a trade and pick up a No. 2 center via free agency.
What will Seguin’s next contract look like? Though Seguin's contract isn’t up until 2019-20, his next deal is a hot topic, as he's in a position to command a significant raise (think somewhere in the $10-million-per-year range). Right now, it seems Seguin is happy in Dallas and isn’t thinking of going anywhere else, but it certainly bears watching. The direction taken by the organization this summer might have an effect on his plans.
Does Hitchcock stay? The Stars' defense improved dramatically and Seguin's two-way game grew leaps and bounds under Hitchcock. But the inability to find offense is what doomed the Stars down the stretch. There's a clause in Hitchcock's contract that would allow him to move into an advisor's position at his discretion. Is that something management would consider?
