Islanders & NHL News: Vegas won the Cup
They didn’t even boo Bettman! | Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
They backed up their owner’s promise to win a Cup within six years. The 2022-23 Stanley Cup champions are the Vegas Golden Knights, clinching the prize on home ice in Game 5. The top seed in the West defeated the eighth seed in the East, the Florida Panthers.
Dom just posted Bits late yesterday afternoon, and unfortunately for us, there have been no new New York Islanders articles posted anywhere valuable since then. But we’ll link to it here. Make sure you vote for the Bobby Nystrom Award—ah, hell, here’s the link to that voting directly.
In any event, a Stanley Cup victory is big news, so we’ll make a new post for that.
First, a Couple of Non-Cup Links
The Ottawa Senators finally have a new owner, pending due diligence stuff which may take a while. But current Montreal Canadiens minority owner Michael Andlauer has reached an agreement in principle to buy the team. [NHL | Sportsnet]
The Edmonton Oilers locked up Derek Ryan, a useful depth forward, for two years below $1 million AAV. [ESPN]
Here’s a list of 15 contracts that are a bit pricey relative to what the player does and that could be traded this offseason, including Josh Bailey and old friend Anthony Beauvillier. [The Athletic]
Okay, Cup Final Bits
The Golden Knights took some big risks in building their team, but they all paid off—Jack Eichel and Mark Stone were stellar during the run. They were a little ruthless, but the guys that stuck around did so with love. [Sportsnet]
Stone endured painful back injuries and two surgeries with long rehabs to get here. But it paid off after he notched a hat trick in the Cup clincher and when Gary Bettman passed him the Stanley Cup. [NHL]
Eichel was playing in his first postseason. He never made it with the Buffalo Sabres, and he joined the Knights just in time for them to miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Doubt crept in. But once he got there, he turned in an MVP-caliber effort. [ESPN]
That said, there were many deserving candidates for the Conn Smythe, but it feels right that it went to an original Golden Misfit in Jonathan Marchessault. [ESPN]
In fact, coach Bruce Cassidy—whose legacy no longer will be “New York Saints”—lined up a unit of five Golden Misfits to start the game. [NHL]
And after Stone took the Cup, he passed it first to Reilly Smith, who scored the Cup-winning goal. The first ones to raise the Cup after Stone were all Golden Misfits. [NHL]
Phil Kessel has kept it loose and light behind the scenes even though he was a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs. [Sportsnet]
Owner Bill Foley promised the fans in Vegas that they’d make the playoffs by year three and win the Cup by year six. They beat expectations on making the playoffs, and they backed up his contention that they’d get the Cup in year six. [NHL]
GM Kelly McCrimmon and President George McPhee finally feel “at peace” after winning the Cup. It’s been a long journey for both, but especially McPhee, who spent a long time as a GM in this league without winning a ring. [Sportsnet]
Where do the Panthers go from here? Well, despite being an 8-seed, there are reasons to suggest that they should be better than that ranking and have a good chance to get back here next year. [The Athletic]
Now, the injury reveal portion of the news: Matthew Tkachuk couldn’t make it out there for Game 5 after barely making it out there for Game 4. He suffered a broken sternum in Game 3 and still managed to score the tying goal late. [Sportsnet | ESPN]
Aaron Ekblad powered through a broken foot (which he suffered in the first round), two separated shoulders, and an oblique tear, while Radko Gudas suffered a high ankle sprain that should have kept him out six weeks but only kept him out a period. Coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t go into specifics any more than that, but he said that there are “multiple” guys who will require surgery, some with recoveries as long as four-to-six months. [Sportsnet]
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