SAN JOSE, Calif. - Captain Joe Pavelski scored an early goal, Joel Ward added two of his own and the San Jose Sharks advanced to their first Stanley Cup final in franchise history by beating the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Wednesday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final.

Joonas Donskoi also scored, Logan Couture had an empty-netter and Martin Jones made 24 saves as a Sharks team notorious for postseason letdowns will now play for the championship that has eluded stars like Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for so long.

Thornton assisted on Pavelski's goal to set the tone and Marleau had two assists in the third period that set off chants of ''We Want The Cup! We Want The Cup!''

The Stanley Cup Final starts Monday night.

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The New York Rangers could be in for a major offseason overhaul.

The club is prepared to listen to offers for everyone except Henrik Lundqvist, defensive prospect Brady Skjei, and 21-year-old forward Pavel Buchnevich, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.

The list of available players includes Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh, as well as forwards Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider, and Kevin Hayes, and keeping in mind the expected return, Brooks writes that "nothing is off the table."

Dan Girardi might not be on the untouchable list, but he's unlikely to be moved.

The Rangers reportedly don't plan to buy out the four years and $22 million left on the veteran defenseman's deal. Management hasn't asked him to waive his no-movement clause, and no request from the team is expected.

Girardi played through a cracked kneecap that never truly healed after he suffered it in December, and his play reflected that.

The 32-year-old recorded only 17 points and had the third-worst Corsi For percentage (41.70 at 5-on-5, according to Corsica Hockey) among Rangers skaters in 2015-16.

General Fanager estimates the Rangers will have less than $200,000 in cap space at season's end.

New York had the third-oldest team by average age last season, according to NHL Numbers. The Rangers were eliminated in five games by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs.

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Joel Ward is taking a page out of Joe Pavelski's book Wednesday night.

Related: DeBoer marvels at Pavelski's hand-eye, commitment to scoring

The San Jose Sharks forward picked up his second goal of the game and sixth of the postseason by redirecting a Logan Couture pass past St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott.

Ward also showed off his hand-eye coordination on his first of the contest.

Ward's efforts have helped the Sharks hold the lead in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final, with a win sending them to play for the Cup.

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As Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill takes in the Western Conference Final, he feels his team should be there - and he thinks their postseason would have turned out differently with a healthy Tyler Seguin in the lineup.

"I think it definitely would. Tyler Seguin is an elite player, he is close to a point-a-game guy," Nill said Wednesday on Sirius XM'S "The Power Play," according to NHL.com's Mark Stepneski, while addressing whether the star forward's presence could have changed the Stars' playoff result.

"I am watching the San Jose-St. Louis series right now and you see what Joe Pavelski has done on their power play. Our power play against St. Louis struggled and if Tyler Seguin got one or two goals at the right time that might have made the difference."

The 24-year-old was limited to just one game during the postseason after suffering a calf injury in the opening round against the Minnesota Wild.

The Stars came within a win of advancing to the Western Conference Final without Seguin, but were crushed by the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the second round.

"That's easy to sit there now and say that, but when you lose an elite player, it is tough," said Nill. "In saying that, we still went to Game 7 of the second round, so it was a pretty good run."

Seguin collected his third straight 30-goal campaign this season, finishing with 73 points in 72 games.

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One Jared McCann, three birds.

Florida Panthers general manager Tom Rowe spoke to the media after trading defenseman Erik Gudbranson and a fifth-round draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Jared McCann and second- and fourth-round picks. He said that while it was a tough decision, the emergence of Mike Matheson on the blue line and the options McCann gives the club made it a deal he had to pull the trigger on.

Matheson was a first-round pick in 2012 and is only 22 years old. He took regular shifts during the playoffs, when the Panthers lost in the first round in six games to the New York Islanders.

Rowe also added that the Panthers are negotiating a contract with Ian McCoshen, a second-round pick, 31st overall, in 2013, who is playing in the NCAA with Boston College. In other words, the Panthers have replacements for Gudbranson, who will be a restricted free agent after next season.

The Panthers may need both Matheson and McCoshen to step up and contribute, as Brian Campbell is an unrestricted free agent who "sounds like" he'll test the market, The Miami Herald's George Richards added, citing Rowe.

The Panthers have six draft picks heading into the 2016 draft, according to CapFriendly. A first, a second (Vancouver's), and two picks each in the fourth and sixth rounds.

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Willie Mitchell's feelings about Wednesday night's trade can be summed up with an emoji and a three-letter acronym.

The Florida Panthers captain was likely reacting to the fact that teammate Erik Gudbranson was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks for Jared McCann.

Related: Canucks trade McCann to Panthers for Gudbranson

Despite Mitchell's frustration, he can be somewhat placated in knowing the Panthers landed one of the Canucks' top prospects as well as a second- and fourth-round pick in next month's draft. The only pick Florida surrendered was a fifth-rounder.

Twenty-two-year-old Panthers defenseman Michael Matheson will likely get more playing time next season in Gudbranson's absence, whether Mitchell can bare to look or not.

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Forget the Stanley Cup playoffs - the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers have swung a trade.

The Canucks have dealt forward Jared McCann, a second-round pick and a fourth-round selection to the Panthers for defenseman Erik Gudbranson and a fifth-rounder, Vancouver announced Wednesday night.

All picks in the trade will be from the 2016 draft.

None of Gudbranson's salary will be retained in the deal, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, who was first to report the trade.

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The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore published a deep dive Wednesday about a group of more than 100 former NHLers suing the league over concussions while remaining loyal to the game of hockey. It's an interesting read with a few notable nuggets:

• Boston University's Dr. Robert Cantu says there isn't enough evidence yet to determine whether the average hockey player will leave the game with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to repeated head trauma. The brains of enforcers have been studied, but not enough brains, in general, have been looked at.
• The NHL created a concussion work group in 1997 and almost 20 years later, a neurologist isn't on the panel, according to Dr. Frank Conidi, the Florida Panthers' team neurologist.
• Conidi said the NHL is far behind the NFL with respect to concussion awareness.
• "That's because they haven't had the legal action going on to the point where the NFL has," Conidi said. "The biggest issue is lack of input by neurologists. It's not mandatory. The NFL requires a player to be diagnosed by a neurologist before they go back. (Neurologists) just do a better job with our examinations, because it's our specialty."

Read the full piece from The Washington Post here.

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