Happy Monday y'all!

A big congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes on capturing their second Stanley Cup in the last twenty years. What an incredible run this season was for the Canes.

As for the Vegas Golden Knights, it is obviously tough to lose in the Finals, but they had a true roller coaster season. John Tortorella came in with eight games left in the regular season and lit a fire under this group that almost led them to another championship. Now they are left with a number of questions as Torts contract was only for the rest of the 2026 campaign.

Vegas also has a ton of questions on the roster side as they are up against the cap with depth spots to fill and one important restricted free agent (Pavel Dorofeyev). Lots of internet rumors about Mark Stone's health and maybe a potential "retirement", or can they find trading partners for Tomas Hertl, Adin Hill, and/or William Karlsson?

One guy to keep tabs on going into next season is Braeden Bowman. The winger dressed for Game 6 and played in 54 regular season games. He broke into the lineup when the Golden Knights top-six was in shambles and Mark Stone was hurt. The Ontario native skated with Jack Eichel and recorded seven points in his first eight games so while he finished the season with only 26 points, he played roughly 40% of his games in a top-six role. With the cap concerns Vegas has, a player on a cheap contract will need to step up and Bowman already has that familiarity with this group.

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Of course, hours after we released this last week, Dylan Larkin released the teams he would accept a trade to and there were only two Western Conference teams: the Minnesota Wild and the Golden Knights. Since then, it has been reported a few more teams were added and hopefully so because I do not want to see the NHL turn into the NBA. I'm all for free agency and players choosing where to work, but if you sign a contract with an organization, you can't handcuff your current employers and only pick 10% of the league as to where you want to go. 

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Speaking of trade requests, Darnell Nurse is the latest player to say he needs a change of scenery. Nurse receives a lot of flack because he makes so much money, but he could thrive in a new organization. For fantasy purposes, he was never a great value because Evan Bouchard was always the quarterback on that top powerplay unit. He is an underrated puck mover and possesses a bomb of a shot. Wherever he lands, he may have the chance to earn some extra minutes with the man advantage.

It has been rumored the Los Angeles Kings are a place he would accept a trade to and that makes sense, given the fact Ken Holland loves to re-acquire his former players.

Speaking of LA, Peter Laviolette was named the new head coach for the Kings. I did not like this hire at first, but I forgot Lavvy spent two seasons with Artemi Panarin in New York while he coached the Rangers. In the 162 regular season games he played under his new bench boss, Panarin recorded 86 goals and 209 points, numbers we LOVE to see for fantasy. If he can scheme up the same offensive plan for the Russian winger, we need to start looking at some of his potential linemates.

The first one that sticks out is Quinton Byfield. The first factor here is their number one center, Anze Kopitar, just retired. Byfield will be 24 years old when the 2026-27 campaign starts and will be entering his fourth full season in the NHL. Three straight years of at least 20 goals and 25 assists and if he lands on a line with the Breadman, Byfield could see career highs in every offensive category.

Besides Byfield, the Kings do not have much down the middle. Their second line center may not be on this roster as of right now, so keep an eye on who they acquire during the summer, but one player who could fit in that role if they don't add anyone is Alex Laferriere. The versatile forward was one, if not their best, forwards in the playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche. The American primarily played wing, but when LA suffered injuries, he had some stints in the middle of the ice. He has a high hockey IQ (and regular IQ too as he attended Harvard) so I wouldn't put it past him to figure out the center position and potentially line up with Panarin.

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I can't believe the 2026 offseason is officially here. That means we can officially start counting the days until the next fantasy hockey season!! Have a great summer everyone!