NHL Central

The Nashville Predators are paying the Colorado Avalanche to take Ryan Johansen off their hands.

New Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced Saturday that the team is acquiring Alex Galchenyuk from the Avs in exchange for Johansen.

As part of the deal, Nashville is paying 50 percent of Johansen's contract, which has two years and $16 million left on it.

The goal for Nashville in this deal seems to be just getting out of paying the entirety of Johansen's contract.

Galchenyuk, who only appeared in 11 games for Colorado last season, is set to become a free agent on July 1. He spent most of the year with the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche's AHL affiliate.

Nashville missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2013-14. Trotz, who was the team's head coach for its first 15 seasons, will officially take over as general manager on July 1 to replace the retiring David Poile,

Andrew Brunette was named the Predators' new head coach on May 31 after John Hynes was fired.

Harman Dayal and Sean Gentille of The Athletic noted the Predators have been making moves dating back to the trade deadline to move some of their veteran players on expensive contracts to clear cap space for the summer.

Johansen's $8 million cap hit in 2023-24 was tied with Matt Duchene for the third-highest on Nashville's roster before the deal.

The Predators signed Johansen to an eight-year, $64 million extension in July 2017 after he helped lead the team to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in the 2016-17 season.

Since setting a career-high with 64 points in 2018-19, Johansen's performance has dropped off. He did have another season with more than 60 points in 2021-22, but he's only had 86 combined points in the three seasons around that one.

Colorado will take a chance on Johansen returning to his old form by getting him in a new environment. He will likely slot in as the second-line center with Lars Eller set to become a free agent.

With the 2023 NHL draft quickly approaching, presumptive No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard is receiving some lofty praise.

An NHL executive told The Athletic's Corey Pronman that Bedard's skills are comparable to one of the league's best players.

"He's the same level of prospect as Auston Matthews was as a No. 1," the exec said of Bedard. "I may have him over Matthews at the same age but it's closer to that than someone like [Connor] McDavid mostly because I'm worried Bedard may end up a wing at some point."

If Bedard turns out anything like Matthews, he's in for a stellar NHL career. A two-time league-leading goal-scorer, Matthews won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2017 after the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted him No. 1 overall. He earned the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award for his incredible 2021-22 campaign in which he totaled 106 points (60 goals, 46 assists).

The Chicago Blackhawks, who own the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL draft on June 28, surely would be happy with a player of Matthews' caliber if they decide to select Bedard.

BUFFALO -- History repeating itself is a fascinating occurrence, especially when it comes to generational talent in hockey.

In 2015, Connor McDavid was the heir apparent to Sidney Crosby as a franchise-changing superstar-to-be. That year, McDavid was followed closely behind by Jack Eichel and the lead-up to the draft saw teams tanking to have the chance to pick either of one of them. The Edmonton Oilers won the biggest prize in McDavid and the Buffalo Sabres, the league's worst team who had the best shot at the No. 1 pick, "settled" for No. 2 and Eichel.

Fast forward to the present day. Quite similarly to the 2014-15 season, teams decided to go all-in on being as bad as possible with the opportunity to draft Connor Bedard far too attractive. And just like McDavid had Eichel, Bedard has his own star-in-the-making behind him: University of Michigan star Adam Fantilli

While the Chicago Blackhawks are sitting in the same catbird seat as the Oilers were eight years ago, the Anaheim Ducks are poised to cash in with a superstar talent of their own at No. 2.

The parallels between Bedard and Fantilli haven't been as plainly stated as those between McDavid and Eichel, but the two young stars-to-be set to be picked at the end of June will forever be linked just the same. What's more, their talent backs it up.

"It's a season for the ages for both of them," NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr said. "It's very difficult for a 17, 18-year-old to excel at the World Junior level and the way Connor had at every level that he played at and what Adam did, he was one of the younger players in the league and as a freshman, there's a lot at the college level, with seniors and juniors, the freshmen are at the bottom of the heap."

When you look at what Bedard and Fantilli did with their respective teams this season (Bedard with the Regina Pats of the WHL and Fantilli with Michigan) and compare them to what McDavid did with the Erie Otters and Eichel at Boston University during their draft years, you can see why it's such an accurate throwback to 2015.

2014-2015

McDavid: 47 games, 44 goals, 76 assists, 120 points (2.55 points per game)

Eichel: 40 games, 26 goals, 45 assists, 71 points (1.78 points per game)

2022-2023

Bedard: 57 games, 71 goals, 72 assists, 143 points (2.5 points per game)

Fantilli: 36 games, 30 goals, 35 assists, 65 points (1.81 points per game)

One guy excelled in the Canadian Hockey League while the other was the best of the best in the NCAA as a freshman. It's kind of spooky.

There is one slight difference between the pairs. Instead of a Canada versus United States rivalry like McDavid and Eichel, Bedard and Fantilli were teammates for Canada during World Juniors. That know each other doesn't do much to make things spicy in the grand sense, but they're competitors and they'll more than likely be rivals in the Western Conference very soon. There's also the fact that they've been in the same draft conversations for years now with Bedard being the prime focus all along. That suits Fantilli just fine.

"He's a phenomenal hockey player and he deserves everything he's getting," Fantilli said. "There's a lot of eyes on him, in terms of everything that he's going to be expected to do with the amount of success he's had in juniors and at an international level...we've been in entirely different situations and we're going to be drafted in different spots so it's going to be a different experience for both of us."

Bedard has been in the spotlight since he was granted exceptional player status by the CHL when he was 14 years old in 2020. He's been the focus of the hockey media ever since and his childhood dream is nearly fulfilled. But his eyes are on what's happening right now and staying in the moment.

"I'm focused on what's important and what I can control with my own play and my own team, of course," Bedard said. "You don't really think about that stuff, just some extra interviews and attention and whatnot. I'm just staying focused on what I need to be focused on and try to become a better player and a better person so that's how I handle it."

Bedard's focus is steely and straight ahead in the most McDavid ways imaginable, even if his description of what he's doing doesn't excite you. The goal is to make the NHL and then to become the best player he can be. That puts him straight in line to compete with the likes of McDavid, Eichel, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the elite players in the world.

"There's a lot of words that start with 'C' that analytics can't judge for you like character, and one of them is consistency, and that he can consistently play that high character game, game in and game out, is truly impressive," Marr said.

Knowing what the first two picks of the draft are most likely going to be is not a new phenomenon in the NHL. Surprises like last year's draft where Juraj Slafkovský was the surprise No. 1 pick ahead of Shane Wright (who ultimately went fourth) are rare, so knowing the expected order of Bedard going No. 1 and Fantilli No. 2 makes this draft special and will forever link the two youngsters.

It circles back to the same dream the Oilers and Sabres had in 2015. Their example proves more has to go into making those picks to have success. That Eichel is front and center with the Vegas Golden Knights after things didn't work out with the Sabres shows the future isn't predetermined. But the greatness those players have will carry them forward The only questions left are how far they will go and how often they will have to go through each other to reach the top.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard is helping house a family impacted by the wildfires raging across Quebec.

Over 13,000 people have been displaced by fires this week. Many were housed north of where Girard owns a home in Roberval, which is about a five-hour drive to the northeast of Montreal.

When Sam's father, Tony, learned evacuating families were heading for Roberval, he called his son to alert him, Olivia O'Malley of CTV News Montreal reported.

Now, the Girard home is hosting evacuees, including a young family with a one-year-old child.

The evacuees came to the Girard home from Chibougamau. The town ordered its entire population of about 7,000 residents to evacuate Tuesday night.

About 800 people arrived in Roberval Wednesday, according to CTV News Montreal. Because families like the Girards opened their doors, only about 35 were sent to stay in the designated emergency shelter.

Avalanche players are familiar with the destruction wrought by wildfires. One of the most destructive fires in Colorado's history burned through the Denver area in December 2021, damaging and destroying more than 1,000 buildings.

Girard, who is signed through 2026-27 with the Avalanche, recorded six goals and 31 assists in 76 games for Colorado during the 2022-23 season.

The Nashville Predators have found their replacement for former head coach John Hynes, and it is a familiar face.

The Predators announced Wednesday they tabbed Andrew Brunette as their next head coach. During his playing career, Brunette spent the 1998-99 season with Nashville. NHL analyst Kevin Weekes first reported the hire Tuesday.

Brunette also holds the unique distinction of being the player who scored the first-ever goal in Predators franchise history. He played in the NHL for 16 seasons and suit up for six different teams before his career came to an end in 2012. In addition to Nashville, Brunette also played for the Washington Capitals, Minnesota Wild, Atlanta Thrashers, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks.

The 49-year-old had previously served as interim head coach of the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 season after Joel Quenneville resigned from the position. Florida finished first in the Atlantic Division but was disappointingly swept out of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Brunette had the opportunity to remain with the Panthers organization after Paul Maurice was hired as head coach, but he accepted an assistant position with the New Jersey Devils for this season.

Hynes, who had coached the Predators since he was hired midway through the 2019-20 season, was fired on Tuesday following the team's lackluster showing this year. Nashville finished fifth in the Central Division with a record of 42-32-8 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. During Hynes' tenure, the Preds finished no higher than fourth in the Central Division.

Brunette will surely try to change that trend and get Nashville back to the playoffs next season.

The Golden Knights finally decided to stop playing with their food and put an end to these Western Conference Finals.

Vegas came out with a purpose in its 6-0 Game 6 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday night to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2018, its first year as a franchise.

Everything went the away team's way at the American Airlines Center in Dallas as the Golden Knights kicked off the first period with a three-goal explosion that basically gave them one foot through the door.

William Carrier gave his squad an early lead with a goal 3:41 into the game. William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar piled on later in the period to finish off an exquisite 20 minutes.

Vegas would get three more insurance goals from Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Amadio to put the game out of reach and end Dallas' season after what had been a valiant effort in the last couple of games.

The Stars didn't have much of a response for most of the night.

Goalie Adin Hill once again had a terrific night in the crease as he continues a surprisingly excellent postseason after stepping in for Laurent Brossoit. Hill saved all 23 shots that he faced in the win

NHL Twitter was in awe of how dominant and in control Vegas was in the biggest game of its season.

Vegas will now return to the Stanley Cup Final and hope that it gets a different result than what happened in 2018 when it lost to the Washington Capitals in five games after a dominant postseason run.

The Golden Knights will take on the red-hot Florida Panthers, a No. 8 seed that started playing their best hockey of the year at the perfect time, eliminating the No. 1 overall seed Boston Bruins in the first round.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Saturday, June 3 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn made a shocking decision in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, cross-checking Mark Stone in the jaw in the first period. That led to not only a game misconduct penalty that ended his night but also a two-game suspension.

It could have been the final act of his season after the Stars fell into a 3-0 hole in the series against the Vegas Golden Knights. But the team has rallied to force a Game 6, and Benn is grateful his season isn't over.

"I was praying we were going to play two solid games just to get another chance and another kick at it here. I'm really proud of the guys," he told reporters Monday. "It sucks watching, especially in playoffs. The guys had two gutsy efforts. Character wins and a lot of confidence in this room."

While Benn's actions could have created resentment among his teammates and been costly, it instead seemed to rally them, similar to when the team didn't want to see Joe Pavelski's season come to a premature close after he suffered an injury in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild.

"We didn't want the season for him to end like that," Stars forward Radek Faksa told reporters. "We talked about Pav's injury and how we wanted to get him back in the series. We talked about the same thing with Jamie—that we have to do anything to get him back in the series. And we did."

Head coach Peter DeBoer added that Benn's actions were an aberration.

"Listen, what happened with Jamie... he's not a suspension-a-month guy. He plays a physical, clean game all the time. He crossed the line one night. It's a nonissue," he told reporters. "I don't think it's fair to paint him with that brush based on one incident. He's always been a clean, physical, intimidating player. And he's going to jump right back into that [tonight]."

The Stars are attempting to become the first team in NHL history to erase a 3-0 deficit in the conference final. The last team to do so in the Stanley Cup playoffs was the Los Angeles Kings in 2014.

That attempt comes at the same time the Boston Celtics are attempting to become the first team in NBA history to erase a 3-0 postseason deficit. Game 7 of that series is on Monday night.

The Florida Panthers await either the Stars or Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.

After being on the verge of flatlining, the Dallas Stars' heartbeat grew a little bit stronger Saturday night.

The Stars got a heroic effort out of an unexpected place in the form of winger Ty Dellandrea, who came up with two huge goals in the third period to help lead Dallas to a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

After going down 3-0 to start the series, it has now brought two games back and has struck some fear into the heart of Vegas as they try to avoid being the fifth team in league history to blow that type of series lead.

The Golden Knights struck first in each of the first two periods but each time the Stars were up to it with a response, setting the stage for a masterful third period by Dellandrea, who had just one postseason goal going into this game.

The Stars were also able to overcome a pretty strong performance by Vegas' goalie Adin Hill, who came up with 30 saves on the night.

It was always going to be a tall task for Dallas to go get a win on the road and they came through big time. It is now on the way to potentially make history in the postseason.

NHL Twitter couldn't help but be in awe of Dellandrea's clutch performance when his team needed it most.

In a development that probably no one saw coming, Dallas will now have an opportunity to force a Game 7 on on their home ice in Game 6 and will need something big out of star Tyler Seguin, who has struggled much of this series.

While the pressure will still be on the Stars, as they are on the brink of elimination, Vegas has to be feeling the heat now too, as it is flirting with the wrong side of history.

Game 6 is set for Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.

The Stars have some life.

After falling behind twice in the first two periods, Dallas avoided a sweep against the Vegas Golden Knights on its home ice thanks to an overtime winner from Joe Pavelski.

When Vegas' Jonathan Marchessault scored midway through the second period to give his team a 2-1 advantage, it looked like the Golden Knights had punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final and followed up the Florida Panthers with a sweep.

But Dallas was unwilling to lay down as Jason Robertson found an equalizer in the closing minutes of the period to knot things back up.

And thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from both sides in the third, neither team was able to get a winner in regulation.

Just over three minutes into overtime, Dallas played the power play to perfection, and Pavelski took full advantage, sinking one of the biggest goals of his career.

And NHL Twitter was loving every second of it.

Pavelski saved the Stars for a night, but there's still an immense mountain to climb as they are down 3-1 in the series. They are looking to become the fifth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

The last team to do it was the Los Angeles Kings nine years ago against the San Jose Sharks.

There may be no tougher task than the next one, going back to T-Mobile Arena and having to beat the Golden Knights on their home ice.

Game 5 is set for Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.