NHL

8:00 AM ET NHL Insiders Welcome to the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs! The first round gets rolling on Saturday with Game 1 of the Washington Capitals–Boston Bruins series. There’s plenty of history in many of these matchups, as the NHL is using an intradivisional format for the first two rounds, before rebracking the final four

10:05 PM ET Associated Press FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz will have surgery next week in New York to repair a tendon issue in his groin area that bothered him throughout the season while he was a point-a-game player. General manager Jim Nill said Friday that Hintz played through “an avulsion injury

12:25 PM ET Associated Press The Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association is forging ahead with its bid to establish an economically sustainable professional league in North America with or — for now — without the NHL’s full financial backing. In response to a Sportsnet report that the NHL was not in a position to operate

11:23 AM ET There won’t be any superstitious drama about NHL teams touching the conference championship trophies in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs — because they won’t be awarded this season. “We’re not handing them out,” said Steve Mayer, NHL Chief Content Officer, told ESPN on Friday. The Prince of Wales Trophy, established in 1925,

7:00 AM ET We’ve come a long way since the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup in a bubble in Edmonton, Alberta. New protocols were agreed upon, and many surprises unfolded — both good and bad — as the NHL embarked on a season like no other. Playoff darlings from last year like

7:00 AM ET After the NHL staged a 24-team, bubble-based tournament to determine the Stanley Cup winner in 2020, we’re back to a more traditional 16-team event in 2021 — with a significant twist. The first two rounds of the 2021 playoffs will be intradivisional. After a winner is crowned from the four divisions, the

7:00 AM ET Goaltenders are known as “the great equalizers” in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They give every underdog a chance at an upset. They give every favorite the cold sweats, knowing one bad round from their goalie could be their ultimate undoing. As the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs arrive, which teams are in the

2:53 PM ET The Seattle Kraken have signed their first player. Luke Henman, a 21-year-old center, inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s 32nd franchise on Wednesday. Henman, the team captain and leading scorer for Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL), was a fourth-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2018. He went unsigned by the

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NHL season was — hopefully — the most unique campaign that any of us will witness. Arenas had reduced numbers of fans — or no fans — and as a result of the U.S.-Canada border being closed, the divisions had to be realigned to sequester the Canadian teams; that decision

6:53 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. We’ve reached the final three games to determine the winner of the West Division and the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the best regular season record for the 2021 NHL season. The

11:44 PM ET ESPN News Services WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals got Alex Ovechkin back on the ice feeling “100%” heading into the playoffs. Winning was just a bonus. Michael Raffl scored from a tight angle with 1.8 seconds remaining, Ovechkin saw his first extended action since April 22 and the Capitals beat the short-handed

7:00 AM ET If there’s anything we know about NHL hiring practices, it’s that they can be predictable. Since 2005-06, there have been 171 head coaching changes in the NHL — more than the NFL, NBA or MLB. However, 101 of the 171 new hires had previous head-coaching experience, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

6:55 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. We had a good feeling about Monday’s NHL calendar providing quite a bit of clarity in the playoff races, and it delivered. The Montreal Canadiens clinched the final North Division playoff spot, and

11:19 PM ET ESPN News Services SUNRISE, Fla. — Daniel Walcott was already excited to be in his first NHL game. He got even more excited when he got to see how his debut would happen. The Tampa Bay Lightning started three Black forwards in their regular-season finale against the Florida Panthers on Monday night,

8:49 PM ET Jeremy WillisESPN.com The Philadelphia Flyers will not be going to the Stanley Cup playoffs and their season ends Monday night. Gritty, the Flyers’ mascot, is using the occasion to reflect on the season “I got naked (a lot), played in a ball pit, rode a mechanical bull, vacationed in Tahoe, hired (and

7:04 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. The two games on Sunday didn’t do too much to solve our playoff and lottery mysteries. But there will be some significant fallout following the nine games on the schedule on Monday. The

2:47 PM ET Rick Tocchet will not return as head coach of the Arizona Coyotes, the team announced Sunday. Tocchet’s contract expires on June 30, and the Coyotes will begin their search for a new head coach immediately. “After meeting with Rick, we have agreed that a coaching change is in the best interest of

9:00 AM ET Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is becoming an investor in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit. “I think it’s important to support women and women’s professional athletes — not just in the United States, but all over the world,” Ovechkin told ESPN. “It was also important for me to support the