Russell’s Roundup: Roster Uncertainty; Minnesota Goes Wild

The New York Islanders are in the beginning stages of what will surely be a transformative summer. Three days ago, the Islanders announced their decision to move on from Lou Lamoriello. In the days since, candidates have started to emerge. That leaves the roster with a large degree of uncertainty.

Meanwhile, in the playoffs, the Minnesota Wild hosted and steamrolled the Vegas Golden Knights. Toronto has Ottawa all but eliminated, while the Blues showed signs of life. In the Battle of Florida, the Panthers continued to display they’re the champions for a reason.

Let’s get into it.

New York Islanders:

First, the candidates. In my initial list, written mere hours after the removal of Lamoriello broke, we skimmed the surface. Retreads like Marc Bergevin and Jarmo Kekalainen took priority. We highlighted some first-year candidates, featuring assistant GMs from around the league. With Tampa Bay down 2-0, perhaps Mathieu Darche could be available sooner than expected. Here’s the full piece.

Later, Elliotte Friedman broke some heavy news. He unloaded news pieces, from an in-season firing of Lamoriello that didn’t come to fruition to internal discord. Then, he talked about his potential candidates. Here’s the full scoop.

Yesterday, I broke down every single player on the Islanders’ active roster. From the core, including Ilya Sorokin and Mathew Barzal, to potential veteran defensemen on the move, here’s the list.

One final word on the Islanders’ decision to fire Chris King and Greg Picker. It’s a bad decision. The fanbase is rarely unified in any decision, but this is one that’s unified them. Even if they no longer wanted to do radio, they could’ve looked toward the New Jersey Devils. They run an online-only broadcast, one that King and Picker could’ve easily done. There’s plenty of time to rethink the decision.

NHL Playoffs & National Hockey Now:

Vegas Hockey Now: Ouch. That didn’t go very well. With the series tied 1-1, the Golden Knights traveled to Minnesota and were steamrolled. Kirill Kaprizov might just be the best player in the playoffs right now. He’s unstoppable and is single-handedly wrecking the 2023 Stanley Cup Champions. Hannah Kirkell’s got the story.

NHL.com: This might be Toronto’s year. Anthony Stolarz is the best-performing goaltender Toronto’s had in the playoffs with this core. Meanwhile, Ottawa just looks too small for the moment, even as they fight. Face-offs showed their importance, as Simon Benoit’s overtime winner came after a night Toronto dominated the dot. Toronto leads the series 3-0.

Florida Hockey Now: Shutout! 2-0 series lead! It’s all going the defending champions’ way. Jake Guentzel’s addition has not yielded enough fruit. Nikita Kucherov can’t get going. Florida’s rolling. Florida leads the series 2-0. Here’s the recap.

More FHN: The win came with one big problem. Brandon Hagel delivered a dirty headshot to Aleksander Barkov that knocked Florida’s captain out of the game. Paul Maurice had no update after the game.

NHL.com: In St. Louis, Pavel Buchnevich scored a hat trick as the Blues put a touchdown up on Connor Hellebuyck with the Blues’ season on the line. All of a sudden, St. Louis has all of the momentum while Winnipeg needs to find a way to recover.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins had a dreadful year. The team played disinterestedly and sloppily. Dan Kingerski describes the organizational trickle-down and how it could be affecting the way Kyle Dubas manages.