Only one game last night, seeing game two played between the Wild and the Avs.

The Minnesota Wild turned to Filip Gustavsson after Jesper Wallstedt allowed eight goals on 42 shots in the opener. Gustavsson hasn't played since April 13^th, where he allowed five goals on 21 shots against. In fact, he ended the season on a cold run, with 25 goals against in his final six games. He was terrific across the first three-quarters of the season. Gus then immediately allowed two goals in the first 10 minutes and a softie in the second period. After four goals against yesterday I would expect the Wild to turn back to Wallstedt for game three.

Colorado countered with Scott Wedgewood, who has started every game for the Avs, and the six goals against in game one wasn’t changing that fact. Wedgewood was solid again, allowing only two goals on 31 shots, and seems to be just what the team needs behind them. Nice to see from the career backup.

On the offensive side of things, Nathan Mackinnon put up a three-spot, while Gabe Landeskog and Martin Necas had two points each for the Avs, while Kirill Kaprizov scored for the Wild. The stars are still running the offence, but there just wasn't quite as much of it as there was in game one.

Joel Eriksson Ek could return for game three after not travelling to Denver for the first two games, and his presence in the lineup would make a huge difference for the Wild's chances moving forward in the series. With Eriksson Ek out of the lineup, Danila Yurov has been up on the second line, and notched his first playoff point in game one, following that up with another assist in game two.

Both teams are also missing a top-four defenceman (Josh Manson – COL / Jonas Brodin – MIN), and if either returned to the series it could help swing the balance just enough.

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Alexander Nikishin should be back for game three between the Hurricanes and the Flyers on Thursday, which would likely mean Mike Rielly would sit.

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Some locker cleanout news from the Stars:

Roope Hintz shared on Monday that he had torn his groin in two places, which was why he missed so much time at the end of the season. There was hope that he was going to return for the playoffs, and it's tough to blame him for not after hearing what the injury was. Hopefully a full summer gets him back to full health, but the band-aid-boy is a risk to miss time, or at least to see his play drop off slightly as he often plays through injuries.

Miro Heiskanen suffered a torn Oblique in the final game of the regular season. He's expected to make a full recovery this summer, and played well in round one despite the injury (six points in six games).

Jamie Benn noted that he would take some time to consider his future this summer. It could be he is considering retirement, as he turns 37 in July. It seems unlikely that he would leave the Stars at this point, but there is a world where a team overpays him for one year with the rising cap, and he takes the last big paycheck available.

Radek Faksa was also playing through an injury but should be ready for training camp.

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The other big event last night was the draft lottery, with some ping pong balls deciding the fates of multi-million dollar athletes, billion dollar franchises, as well as families and entire cities.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the first lottery, jumping up to the top pick in the 2026 entry draft with their 8.5% odds. The San Jose Sharks then won the second overall pick with their odds of 5.0%, and they add yet another top pick to their already brimming cupboards.

The Leafs' pick now does not get sent to the Bruins (from the Brandon Carlo trade), as it was top-five protected. The Leafs' unprotected 2027 and 2028 picks get sent to Boston and Philadelphia, with my understanding being that it is left up to the Leafs to determine who gets which pick.

Rounding out the top-five in 2026 now, has the Canucks at third, the Blackhawks at fourth, and the Rangers at fifth.

The Leafs at this point have to be considering Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg jumping straight to the NHL, and joining a team that’s going to push to contend again, at least for the two years left while they don’t have a first (and while Tavares is cheap) before re-evaluating after the 2028 season. It's hard to find any incentive in tanking or being bad when you don’t own your own first round pick for the next two years.

For the Sharks, who are set to pick in the top-three for the third year running, they will have options to either just take the remaining player or Stenberg or McKenna, to take the top defenceman off the board, or to trade the pick as part of a package for an actual top defenceman. There aren't any perfect fits, but a deal around Josh Morrissey and the second pick would at least be worth considering. It's unlikely it’s traded, but it’s fun to speculate.

The Canucks (third) and Rangers (fifth) will likely keep their picks and take defencemen, but the Blackhawks (fourth) have already noted they would be open to trading the pick in the right deal. Again, not getting hopes up, but fascinating to consider.

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Now might be one of the best times to look at where the scouting lists are pointing in terms of fantasy players from the 2026 draft. Dobber Prospect profiles linked where possible.

Again, the top-two names are Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg. Both are skilled scoring wingers, and while both have some imperfections to their game, they project as top-line scorers in the NHL.

After that, the draft has a ton of options on defence, with Chase Reid, Keaton Verhoff, Albert Smits, and Carson Carels the top options. Verhoff is in the mold of Victor Hedman being a sizeable rearguard who can handle the puck and control a game, but despite being high on many lists, it seems that most public scouts prefer to pick apart his game and note that they wanted more out of him in their viewings, which I find to be a red flag. I would let someone else in my drafts reach for him.

Reid, Smits, and Carels are all players that are worth noting for fantasy, but none are likely to make an impact for a while, meaning a long and slow hold for those selecting these players. It can be tougher to project defencemen, and I feel that Matthew Schaefer has shifted the expectations of what we might see from Dmen coming out of the draft. Try not to get sucked into those higher expectations.

Of the set, Reid is my favourite at the moment, with Carels next.

There are a number of forwards in that second tier as well, with Tynan Lawrence, Ethan Belchetz, Viggo Bjork, Caleb Malhotra, and maybe Wyatt Cullen as well rounding out the group. Compared to previous years, there seems to be less optimism with these players than you would usually see in top-10 options, which again gives me pause and has me questioning overall expectations on the draft here as well.

Malhotra stands out to me among that group, having the pedigree of an NHL father, and his development curve this year has been trending steadily upwards. Unfortunately, his Brantford Bulldogs team was just eliminated in the OHL conference final, so we won't see him in the Memorial Cup this year. He certainly has the highest floor of any of those forwards, but I do wonder whether the ceiling might be just about as high as well.

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Other players who have caught my eye in the 10-32 range, and would be those I would be shortlisting for picks in that wide range would include: Mathis Preston, Oscar Hemming, Jack Hextall, Daxon Rudolph, Adam Novotny, Liam Ruck (and twin brother Marcus Ruck a little later).

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We got an update from Victor Hedman as well, who had stepped away from playing in order to manage his mental health. Wishing him all the best, and hoping this helps show that we never know what anyone else is going through.

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See you next Wednesday, and if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments you can find me on BlueSky @alexdmaclean.