It sounds likely that St. Louis Blues interim head coach Craig Berube will be assuming his duties on a permanent basis next season.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Friday that his search for a future head coach is down to “a list of one.”
"When we asked Craig to take over the team, we were in flux at that point," Armstrong said, according to the St.Louis Post-Dispatch's Jim Thomas. "I said to Craig: 'You take over on the interim basis and we'll go from there.'
"And as I started to work with Craig, whatever name was on the (candidate) list started to get crossed off and crossed off ... then I found the synergy that Craig and I have had. Now we're at a list of one."
Berube was nominated for the 2019 Jack Adams Award after orchestrating one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in NHL history. Under Berube, the Blues became the first team in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) to win a playoff series after ranking last at any point after New Year's Day (minimum 20 games played), per NHL Public Relations.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Boston Bruins earlier this week, and speculation regarding Bobrovsky's future has been a major talking point all season.
The 30-year-old will be one of the top free agents on the market come July 1, with his $29.7-million contract set to expire.
Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy in 2013 and 2017 with the Blue Jackets and owns nearly every franchise record among goaltenders including games played, wins, and shutouts.
Last time, it was the Sharks in six. This time? TBD.
San Jose and the St. Louis Blues, two clubs still searching for their first Stanley Cup, are set to face off in the Western Conference Final for the second time in four years. When they met in 2016, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau helped lead the Sharks to a conference title.
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Both teams are heavy, deep, and very good at even strength. San Jose needed 14 games to advance this far, defeating Vegas and Colorado in seven-game series, while St. Louis required 13 to send Winnipeg and Dallas packing. Neither the Sharks nor Blues have a significant player sidelined by injury, eliminating health-related excuses and setting the table for fierce competition.
Let's break the series down ahead of Game 1 on Saturday night.
Forwards
Sharks: Among the final four, San Jose is the only team to boast five players with at least 10 playoff points. The club is averaging 3.9 goals per game in wins and was the lone squad to finish the regular season with four 30-goal scorers.
This forward group has proven it can inflict serious damage thanks to a nice blend of high-end talent and quality depth. It starts with the Logan Couture line, which has produced 13 goals, and ends with the fourth line, which features Barclay Goodrow and his two game-winning goals. Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, and Kevin Labanc lead the middle six.
Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl top the list in the game-breaking ability department. The 20-somethings are modern-day power forwards who are more than capable of taking over a shift. Hertl's been a monster through two rounds (nine goals to pace the playoffs alongside Couture), and Meier appears to be sitting on a breakout performance (three goals in 14 games).
Something to keep an eye on: Meier and Kane have found themselves in penalty trouble this spring, combining for 11 minor penalties in the playoffs. Can they straddle the line better in Round 3?
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Blues: Hands up if you knew Jaden Schwartz had eight goals this postseason, including seven at even strength, and a Corsi For rating of 60 percent? Yeah, his excellent numbers have been lost in the shuffle.
Patrick Maroon dominated discussion out of the Blues' second-round victory over the Stars - and rightfully so. The local hero scored the series-clinching goal in overtime, with his young son crying in the stands. Maroon's been solid on a third line with Tyler Bozak and Robert Thomas.
No. 1 center Ryan O'Reilly will be one to monitor. His line will most likely draw the toughest defensive assignment, the Gus Nyquist-Couture-Meier trio. If O'Reilly can hold his own and Vladimir Tarasenko capitalizes on a few five-on-five scoring chances, the Blues should be on the right track.
Brayden Schenn's production, or lack thereof, after two rounds is concerning. Four points in 14 games (0.3 PPG) from your second-line center is simply not going to cut it if you have Cup aspirations. Luckily for Schenn, the slate is wiped clean for Game 1.
Edge: Sharks
Defensemen
Sharks: At this point, at least one of Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, or Erik Karlsson is on the ice for nearly the entire game. It's a gigantic advantage for San Jose, and you can bet head coach Peter DeBoer will be doubling down on the approach moving forward.
Burns has been particularly effective, banking 14 points in 14 games while wreaking havoc in open ice. The hard-hitting rover - who's averaging 29 minutes per contest to lead all skaters - thrives in the high-stakes environment.
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Blues: St. Louis has horses on the back end, too. Right-handed stalwarts Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko anchor the top two pairs, while the mobile Vince Dunn is having a coming-out party this postseason on the third duo.
Head coach Craig Berube has a big and nasty defense corps that can transport the puck with ease. Defensively, it's all hands on deck against the Sharks. Continued yeoman's work from Jay Bouwmeester (five assists) and Joel Edmundson (58 percent Corsi For) is required if the club plans on advancing.
Edge: Sharks
Goaltenders
Sharks: Do you believe in Martin Jones? That's the question Sharks fans have been asking themselves all season. And the jury is probably still out.
After a disastrous regular season, Jones, the unquestioned starter ahead of backup Aaron Dell, has proven his worth these playoffs. He has a .910 save percentage overall and .928 since Game 5 of the first round. The playoffs bring the best out of Jones. Now, he must seal the deal.
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Blues: Another chapter in Jordan Binnington's dream rookie season is upon us. The 25-year-old has been instrumental in St. Louis' incredible 2019 turnaround and hasn't looked out of place whatsoever in the postseason.
Backed up by Jake Allen, Binnington enters the series with a .915 save percentage in 13 contests. He's been pretty consistent from the opening puck drop of the playoffs through Game 7 against Dallas. As a bonus, his puckhandling has supplemented the Blues' breakout quite nicely.
Edge: Blues
Special teams
Sharks: San Jose's power play, the sixth-ranked unit in the regular season, is doing all right for itself, scoring 10 times in 54 opportunities for an 18.5 percent success rate. Hertl and Couture account for seven of those 10 goals. The penalty kill has been fairly effective, operating at 80 percent.
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Blues: St. Louis' power play, the 10th-best unit during the regular season, is doing OK, too, finding the net seven times in 41 chances for a 17.1 percent clip. Tarasenko has scored four of those goals. The penalty kill has been decent, performing at 75 percent.
Edge: Sharks
X-Factors
Sharks: Meier. There is a gear in the Swiss winger's system that hasn't been activated yet. Beast Mode Meier could tilt the series in San Jose's favor.
Blues: Tarasenko. He's St. Louis' offensive spark plug. If he can find his touch at five-on-five and continue to drag along the power play, look out.
The club that swept the Tampa Bay Lightning is out. So is the team that beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games. So, will it be the Boston Bruins or the Carolina Hurricanes representing the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final?
It hasn't been an easy playoff run for the Bruins. The Toronto Maple Leafs forced them to Game 7 in the first round and the Columbus Blue Jackets were hardly pushovers after entering Round 2 with the luxury of some added rest. Adversity has afforded the Bruins the opportunity to prove their mettle: They've gone down in a series on four occasions already, but won the next game each time.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are rounding into form at the ideal moment. They haven't lost since the Washington Capitals pummeled them 6-0 in Game 5 of the first round; six straight victories against the Caps and the New York Islanders should have them brimming with confidence entering the franchise's first trip to the conference finals in a decade.
Gregg Forwerck / National Hockey League / Getty Images
All told, the stage appears to be set for a stellar matchup. Let's break it down ahead of Game 1 on Thursday night.
Forwards
Bruins: Boston has gotten offense from a multitude of sources. Seven Bruins forwards have scored at least twice at five-on-five in the postseason, and none of them are named Patrice Bergeron, who has done most of his sniping (four of five goals) on the power play.
David Pastrnak has vacillated between Boston's second line and his usual perch on Bergeron's right wing, but no matter where he plays, he's found the net (team-high six goals). David Krejci leads the Bruins with nine points at even strength, while Brad Marchand has paced the club with 13 points amid his spats with Columbus defenseman Scott Harrington and Sportsnet reporter Kyle Bukauskas.
One player whose fortune is probably due to improve is Jake DeBrusk, who has scored only twice on 40 shots (a 5 percent success rate) after potting 27 goals on a 17.3 shooting percentage during the regular season.
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Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Jordan Staal are all producing like stars - together they've scored 14 of Carolina's 34 goals - and rookie winger Warren Foegele has thrived in third-line minutes with five goals and nine points of his own.
Like Boston, Carolina is hoping to get more out of a typically dependable second-liner whose woeful shooting rate has him stuck in a slump. Nino Niederreiter has scored just once on 23 shots (4.3 percent) despite creating 15 quality scoring chances, which is second on the team behind Teravainen.
Micheal Ferland, Carolina's fourth-leading scorer this season, is expected to return from the upper-body injury he sustained in the first round, and rookie Andrei Svechnikov, who's healthy again after Alex Ovechkin concussed him in a fight, should finally get the chance to showcase his considerable skill over a full series.
Edge: Bruins. Both teams have star power and depth, but Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak are peerless when they're clicking. They all finished in the top 10 in points per game this year and are capable of winning Boston a game or two practically on their own during any series.
Jamie Sabau / National Hockey League / Getty Images
Defensemen
Bruins: With a back end that blends size, skill, youth, and experience, Boston - a perennially strong Corsi team, just like Carolina - can rely on its defense to move the puck and help drive the offense. Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo log tough minutes, Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk each have four points on the power play, and Charlie McAvoy has evolved into a No. 1 defenseman at just 21 years old.
A sample of McAvoy's stats against Columbus - he played 25:36 per game and contributed three assists, and Boston had 57.39 percent of scoring chances when he was on the ice at five-on-five - demonstrates how much he'll be missed in Game 1 as he serves a suspension for shouldering Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson in the head.
Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin has emerged as a star in his fourth NHL season and first taste of the playoffs. Playing a team-high 26:36 per game, his 11 points (all of them assists) tie him with St. Louis blue-liner Alex Pietrangelo for third most among defensemen in the postseason, trailing only San Jose's Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson.
Gregg Forwerck / National Hockey League / Getty Images
Every Canes defenseman has been a positive Corsi player in the playoffs. Dougie Hamilton has scored three goals, two of which came on the power play, and Justin Faulk has looked impressive in his 25:54 of average ice time.
Haydn Fleury, Carolina's No. 6 blue-liner, embodies one minor concern. With Trevor van Riemsdyk sidelined after shoulder surgery, Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour has been willing to play Fleury only around seven minutes per game, fewer than every other defenseman in the playoffs. Can the rest of the unit continue to handle the increased load?
Edge: Hurricanes. Slavin could easily distinguish himself as the top defenseman in the series even after McAvoy returns from his banishment.
Goaltenders
Bruins: It would be more than fair to consider Tuukka Rask the best netminder left in the playoffs. He's authored a remarkable turnaround from what, by his standards, was a so-so regular season.
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Shorthanded goals were his Achilles' heel this year, but he's let in only one through 13 games while posting a .944 save percentage at even strength (and .938 across all situations). Goals saved above average (GSAA), a metric that melds average save percentage across the league with the number of shots a goalie faces, rates Rask leaps and bounds higher than the rest of his class: His playoff GSAA figure is 8.09, with Dallas' Ben Bishop next at 6.14.
Hurricanes: Rask's Carolina counterparts, Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney, have combined to post a combined 0.6 GSAA, but that number is skewed by Mrazek's poor showing against the Capitals in Round 1. Mrazek had allowed just one goal (a power-play tally) to the Islanders when he hurt his lower body in Game 2 and relinquished the crease to McElhinney, who turned aside 71 of the 75 shots fired his way during the rest of the series.
It's still unclear if Mrazek will be healthy enough to dress for Game 1. Even if he does, Brind'Amour might opt to let McElhinney try to prolong his hot streak. Twenty-two of the Islanders' shots against McElhinney were quality chances and he saved all but one - a mark that could be seen as either extremely promising or sure to regress.
Gregg Forwerck / National Hockey League / Getty Images
Edge: Bruins. Setting aside the question of whether Mrazek or McElhinney gets the nod to start, neither has shown he can consistently perform at the level Rask has achieved in the past month.
Special teams
Bruins: Marchand and Bergeron haven't played like world-beaters at even strength, but they've been lethal on the power play with a combined five goals (four from Bergeron). Boston has scored 10 power-play markers on 35 tries (an NHL-best 28.6 percent) and killed 31 of 37 penalties (83.8 percent).
Hurricanes: The bad news is that Carolina's penalty kill is operating at a feeble 75 percent (nine goals allowed). The worse news is the Hurricanes' power play has scored all of four goals on 38 opportunities (10.5 percent), including a seven-game goalless drought they finally snapped in Game 4 against the Islanders.
Edge: Bruins. The numbers don't lie, and they should be a major worry for Brind'Amour and Co.
Jamie Sabau / National Hockey League / Getty Images
X-Factors
Bruins: First-line scoring. Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak could make matters simple and hasten the arrival of Carolina's offseason by producing to their potential.
Hurricanes: Goaltending. It's a big if, but if either Mrazek or McElhinney can outperform Rask, the conference title could be Carolina's for the taking.
Prediction
Bruins in six. What a story it would be if this "bunch of jerks" surge all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They'll keep the series close and could even send it back to Boston tied at two games apiece, but it seems smarter to bank on Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Rask uniting to lead the Bruins to their third final in nine years.
It was a tough night at the office for Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton against the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Hamilton was called for two penalties in the third period, that in his eyes, did not warrant a trip to the box.
“I just watched both of them and I didn’t agree with either," Hamilton said, according to The Athletic's Joe McDonald. "Not much else to say. The game is over now and nothing you can do about it now.”
The first of which - a minor for roughing - resulted in Patrice Bergeron wiring home the Bruins' second power-play goal in 28 seconds that would also stand as the game-winner.
Shortly after Bergeron's go-ahead marker, Hamilton was assessed a minor for interference while trying to check Bruins forward David Backes off a loose puck.
The second Hamilton penalty did not prove costly for the Hurricanes, but the Bruins' power play did finish 2-for-5 on the night. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour wasn't happy about the calls, but did not lean on the officiating as an excuse for his team.
"I was frustrated as everybody on some of the calls, but again I think we've got to kill them," Brind'Amour said postgame, per Fox Sports Carolina. "Take a penalty and you gotta kill them and we didn't do that."
The Hurricanes' penalty kill has been their weakness all postseason, operating at 73.2 percent.
The two sides will get an extra day of rest before playing Game 2 on Sunday at TD Garden in Boston.
The Carolina Hurricanes will get starting goaltender Petr Mrazek back for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Boston Bruins.
Mrazek exited with a lower-body injury in the second period of Game 2 against the New York Islanders in Round 2 and has not played since.
The 27-year-old netminder has played a critical role in the Hurricanes' surprise postseason run, posting a 5-3 record with a 2.22 goals against average, a .913 save percentage, and two shutouts.
Veteran netminder Curtis McElhinney stepped up in a big way in Mrazek's absence, closing out Game 2 against New York and picking up two more wins en route to Carolina's four-game sweep of the Islanders.
