Happy Monday y'all! I was out of town checking in on my pops last week so one of our goalie gurus, Garrett Finlay, filled in for me. Cheers, brother!

After Vegas took a shocking 3-0 series lead by taking two in Colorado and a dramatic comeback last night, they'll look to punch their third ticket to a Stanley Cup Final in nine years! That is more than 10 other franchises.

Anaheim Ducks (2)

Buffalo Sabres (2)

Carolina Hurricanes (2)

Washington Capitals (2)

Nashville Predators (1)

Ottawa Senators (1)

San Jose Sharks (1)

Columbus Blue Jackets (0)

Minnesota Wild (0)

Seattle Kraken (0)

They obviously started with a great expansion draft, led by management making a number of moves to acquire different assets that are still providing returns today. You also have to give owner Bill Foley his flowers; he vowed to have a Cup by year five (they got it in six), but he truly runs his organization like a business. Cut throat at the head coaching position; letting Bruce Cassidy go right before the playoffs looks like a genius move right now. And when it comes to player personnel, if said player is not contributing anymore, they aren't afraid to cut ties too soon. Management has made a couple of trades that didn't work out, but most of the moves GM Kelly McCrimmon and co have completed have flourished.

Also, the complete head game that is going on with the Golden Knights and not letting Bruce Cassidy interview for positions (most notably with division rivals). This is just another tactic used by Foley and his team to run his sport team like a business. There is no reason to feel bad for Cassidy; he is still getting his paycheck while doing zero work. No compete clauses get put into contracts all the time and if he is still collecting a check, it is completely fair for Vegas to withhold his rights and not share any trade secrets with other teams.

On the ice, the series saw the return of a key player for each team. The Avs got Cale Makar back and the Olympian played over 27 minutes with three shots on goal and six blocks. Mark Stone (also an Olympian) returned for the Golden Knights and he recorded a goal and an assist, playing almost 16 minutes. Makar was a welcome site as the Avs almost looked lost without him on the backend. Nathan MacKinnon is a great player, but I am starting to believe Makar is the straw that stirs the drink. Vegas was actually 4-1 without Stone in the lineup, but he is their captain and makes plays at both ends of the rink.

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Just as we thought both squads were getting healthy, MacKinnon blocked a shot in the second period and tried to play a couple of shifts after, but ended up heading down the tunnel. After not starting the third period, he would return to the bench and finish the game. I did not see any updates as of this writing, but if he sustained a major injury that he has to play through (or can't even suit up), plus whatever ailment Makar is playing through, Colorado may be hitting the links by the end of this week.

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Some other injuries to keep your eye on during the offseason and going into fantasy drafts this summer/fall.

Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry was playing with hip issues and is set to have surgery to repair a chronic impingement. Depending on how bad it is after they open him up, he could miss the start of next season. This explains all of the missed morning skates so he didn't have to put any extra wear on the hips. It may also explain why he never hits anybody… but in all seriousness, if this is a chronic hip issue, I would take extreme caution when drafting him. He has never played a full season and a recurring hip injury is the last thing a hockey player wants to see. Any dynasty shares, I'm looking to move on.

One injury that didn't get released was Chris Kreider. Or at least all the Ducks fans were hoping he was playing with some sort of injury because he was almost invisible during their postseason run.

Cutter Gauthier was essentially playing through a broken back (hockey players, man). This explains why he was more of a playmaker because the winger could not put his entire body into his shot in the 12 postseason games. However, it seems like he should be fine heading into next season.

From the Wild, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin had right foot injuries. While they were certainly missed in their series against the Avs, they are expected to be healthy for the 2026-27 campaign.

That's it for this week, hit me up on Twitter @LAM1926 if you want to talk about these playoffs or strategy for next year! Have a great week y'all!