News Canucks Team Notes

[Vancouver Canucks]

5 Canucks whose trade protection changes as of July 1, 2025

The date of July 1 is typically a very important one on the NHL calendar, and one especially important for the Vancouver Canucks. It’s Canada Day, of course. More hockey-specifically, it’s also the opening day of the Free Agent Frenzy, when expiring UFA contracts formally expire and new ones are signed – usually at a very expensive rate.

But something also happens on July 1 each year that doesn’t get as much attention, and that’s the official transition from the previous contractual season to the next one. For all those contracts that don’t expire this offseason, July 1, 2025, will mark the point at which they switch over from the 2024/25 season to the 2025/26 season.

This could mean a change in salary, in bonus structure, or – as you’ve probably guessed from the content of the headline – in trade protection clauses.

Now, one trade-protection-related change has drawn a lot of attention already, and we’ll be covering that one first. But Elias Pettersson Sr. is not the only Canuck who will be gaining a protective clause as of July 1, 2025. So, too, will four others.

Definitions: A no-movement clause, or NMC, prevents a player from being traded, waived, or assigned to the minors without the player’s approval. A no-trade clause, or NTC, only prevents a player from being traded without their approval (meaning they can still be waived and/or reassigned). Some NTCs only grant a player a list of a certain amount of teams that they can block a trade to, and those are listed as an ‘X-team NTC.’

Elias Pettersson​

Pettersson gains a full no-movement clause for the remaining seven seasons of his latest contract. The reason he’s getting it now, and not in the first year of this extension, is his age – only seasons in which a player would have reached UFA status are eligible to include protective clauses.

This is the one we alluded to in the intro, because it’s received by far the most attention in the media and fanbase. The general thrust of that discussion has been a notion that, if the Canucks were to trade Pettersson, they’d want to do so before the NMC kicked in, so as to keep their full array of options open. There’s also a touch of ‘now-or-never’ to it, as once the NMC is in effect, it remains so until the year 2032.

Most times, it’s considered a bit unethical to sign someone to an extension and then trade them right before their trade protection takes effect. However, one could also argue that Pettersson’s situation is unique, given how he has performed since signing the extension.

In any case, for our money, a Pettersson trade is still highly unlikely, and the odds are best that he’ll remain with the Canucks past July 1 and the start of this clause.

Drew O’Connor​

Sticking with the forward corps for now, O’Connor begins the two-year extension he signed not terribly long after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins as a pending UFA. O’Connor had no form of protective clause on his previous deal, but he gains a 12-team no-trade clause with this new contract for both of its seasons.

As you’ll see later on in the article, the ’12-team NTC’ seems to be the ‘C-tier’ trade protection package that the Canucks prefer, with the scale sliding from NMC to 15-team NTC to 12-team NTC. It’s not a particularly restrictive clause, but it does give O’Connor a little extra security, something that was no doubt valuable for him after switching addresses and being asked to commit to his new home so quickly.

From a team perspective, some might be lightly chagrined at the idea of a clear-cut bottom-sixer receiving trade protection of any sort, but that was a standard the Canucks set themselves with a couple of their previous contracts. In the end, they were probably able to save a few bucks in salary in exchange for this clause, and made the calculation that it’d ultimately be worth it. Two years ain’t that long, after all.

Filip Hronek​

Pettersson is getting all the headlines, but he’s not the only Canuck to go from no protection to full protection on July 1. Hronek, too, gains a full NMC in year two of his ongoing extension. Unlike Pettersson, however, Hronek’s NMC only runs for three seasons, then switches to a 15-team NTC in the summer of 2028 for the final four seasons of the contract.

There has been some chatter about this, and it’s similar to the Pettersson chatter – meaning, if the Canucks were going to trade Hronek, they’d be wisest to do for before the NMC kicks in, not after. But with Tom Willander and Victor Mancini still such unknown qualities, we don’t think that’s particularly likely, either.

Keeping him longer won’t impact the market for a top-pairing RD in his prime. It will just, naturally, affect the market of teams Hronek is willing to go to.

Marcus Pettersson​

Heck, Pettersson isn’t even the only Pettersson to be gaining a NMC this summer. Marcus Pettersson gets one, too, though his story is a little more complicated. Pettersson had an eight-team NTC on his previous contract, signed with the Penguins. That means that, when the Canucks traded for him, they either weren’t one of the eight teams on his no-trade list, or he specifically chose to waive it for them.

Either way, shortly after being acquired by Vancouver, Pettersson signed a six-year extension. The first three years of that deal, which begins on July 1, 2025, contain a full NMC. As of 2028, that switches to a 15-team NTC, which we’re quickly learning is the Canucks’ ‘B-tier’ trade protection package.

With Pettersson having just arrived and been extended, he wasn’t going anywhere, anyway.

Kevin Lankinen​

The lack of trade protection on Thatcher Demko’s contract has received plenty of attention this offseason. But the Canucks’ crease will not be entirely devoid of clauses after July 1. Lankinen signed a five-year extension mid-season, and that extension begins with a full NMC for two seasons, before switching to the standard 15-team NTC in 2027 for the next and final three seasons of the contract.

For the most immediate future, this might just be the most impactful clause-change for the Canucks. Lankinen is coming off a cheap, one-year, prove-it contract. And prove it, he did. For the Canucks to give Lankinen a new contract extension with trade protection off the back of that performance, only to turn around and trade him before that trade protection kicked in, would be considered dirty pool, and is something best avoided. Not that a Lankinen trade was particularly likely in the first place.

Who Already Had One?​

There are few enough players with existing trade protection on the Canucks roster that we might as well just mention them briefly here.

Jake DeBrusk has a NMC in the first three seasons of his current contract, and a 15-team NTC for the remaining four. He’s about to begin the second year of the deal.

Dakota Joshua has a 12-team NTC in all four seasons of his current contract. He is about to begin the second year of the deal.

Teddy Blueger has a 12-team NTC in both seasons of his current contract and is about to begin the second and final year of the deal.

Tyler Myers has a full NMC in the first two seasons of his current contract, then a 12-team NTC in the third and final season. He is about to begin the second year of the deal.

Sponsored by bet365

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/5-vancouver-canucks-whose-trade-protection-changes-july-1-2025

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

A difficult season for Canucks Dakota Joshua on and off the ice: 2024-25 Year in Review

Without question, the 2024-25 National Hockey League season was a challenging one for Vancouver Canuck forward Dakota Joshua.

It started with a testicular cancer diagnosis on the eve of training camp in September and, understandably, that put hockey in perspective for the big winger who battled valiantly to rejoin his team in mid-November. On many levels, the fact that Joshua was able to resume his NHL career so quickly after the life-changing medical scare was a victory in itself. However, anyone who had watched the 29-year-old score 18 goals the previous season and four more in two rounds of playoff hockey knew Joshua wasn’t close to the best version of himself when he returned to game action.

With no training camp, preseason or first month of games that counted, Joshua was playing catch-up from the outset. And, looking back now, it’s clear he never really caught up.

If anyone deserves some grace for a subpar season, it’s the personable Joshua, who just never seemed to fully harness his natural tools of speed and size and use them to his advantage. He made his season debut on November 10th against the New York Islanders, but didn’t score his first goal until December 10th against St. Louis. And he managed to put just one puck in the net through the end of January.

Part of the issue was a mid-season leg injury suffered when he collided awkwardly with Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi in a January 3rd game at Rogers Arena. While the offence still wasn’t flowing for Joshua, he was rediscovering the physical side of his game when his season was interrupted and he was forced to miss 11 games. He returned for six, and then the season was halted for the 4 Nations Face-Off. That kind of summed up the 2024-25 campaign for Joshua. It was a series of stops and starts, and never allowed him to get into any kind of groove.

The bottom line through all the adversity was just seven goals and seven assists in 57 games. In 600 minutes at 5-on-5, the Canucks controlled 45.5% of all shot attempts and were outscored 27-18 with Joshua on the ice. This was the first year of a four-year contract that paid the Dearborn, Michigan native $3.25M per season. Based solely on money paid versus production, the Canucks did not extract value from Joshua’s new deal. Again, the reasons for that were obvious from the start.

If there were bright spots to Joshua’s season, they came later in the year. He stayed healthy and played in the team’s final 33 games of the season, with five of his goals and 10 of his points coming during that stretch. Joshua finished the year on a line with Aatu Räty and Kiefer Sherwood that showed both promise and production and perhaps provided a glimpse at a legitimate third line for next season.

And while he wasn’t a sharp as he wanted to be and despite missing 25 games, Joshua still managed to finish second on the hockey club in hits with 193. It was nowhere close to Sherwood’s league-leading total of 493, but it was still 89 more than Teddy Blueger, who was third on the list.

For pushing through a trying set of circumstances all season, Joshua was recognized by the Vancouver chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and was named the Canucks nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy. The award is presented annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game. Dakota Joshua demonstrated all of those traits by remaining positive while life dealt him a difficult hand.

He is a much better player than he showed in 2024-25. For obvious reasons, no one should hold his counting statistics against him. The hope is that with a clean bill of health and a full summer to train, the real Dakota Joshua will arrive at training camp looking to assert himself once again. Whether he wants one or not, he gets a pass for this past season. But with a new head coach in place – albeit one familiar with what he can offer – Joshua will have to re-establish himself and get his career moving in the right direction again.

Oh, and on a much lighter note, Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland did a nice job of working the drive-thru at a local Tim Horton’s.

It's a @TimHortons drive-through takeover!

Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland learn what it takes to work the drive-through to celebrate Tim Hortons 10th Edition Trading Cards!

Collect #Canucks player cards today and complete your set at an upcoming Trade Night in your… pic.twitter.com/r0tAogWrV3

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 7, 2024

Sponsored by bet365

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/diffic...-dakota-joshua-on-off-ice-2024-25-year-review

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

On flawed players, Marco Rossi, and the Canucks’ big offseason

So the Vancouver Canucks are “very interested” in trading for Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi. That, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, one of the most plugged-in beat reporters in the business.

I’ll come clean right off the hop. As soon as the idea of the Canucks trading for Rossi was brought up about a month ago — the Canucks need a top six centre, and the Wild made it clear they’re willing to part ways with Rossi — my first reaction was a negative one.

At 5’9, a 1-2 punch down the middle of Rossi and Elias Pettersson isn’t striking fear into any opponent. Rossi’s size is believed to be one of the core reasons that Wild GM Bill Guerin is open to dealing him in the first place. And of course, Rossi is an RFA, and is reportedly looking for a big pay day — another thing believed to be driving Minnesota away.

Which is what got me thinking a little bit harder about the Canucks’ big offseason ahead. More specifically, it made me come to the conclusion that the exercise the Canucks really have to go through this summer is looking at a pile of partially flawed players and choosing the ones that carry the least amount of risk but highest amount of upside.

Essentially that, if a player is reportedly available via trade, there’s likely a reason. Perfect players don’t typically hit the trade market in the offseason. Now, sometimes you get cases of players refusing to sign with a team and the team wanting to get some value back for the player they know they’re going to lose anyway.

An example: JJ Peterka out of Buffalo. The 23-year-old Peterka is likely the least flawed player currently on the NHL trade block, but as a result, he’s also probably going to cost the most to acquire.

But in cases like Rossi’s, there are clear as day reasons why his current team is open to moving him, and thus, equally clear as day reasons why an acquiring team would pause and think about it before pulling the trigger on a trade. It’s not just Rossi, either. For most of the other names out there in trade rumours, this is the case. For example, we talked about Jonathan Marchessault last week. The obvious negative there is his age and term remaining on his contract. But as we argued in that piece, as a buy-low candidate and a potential replacement for Brock Boeser at $5.5 million, the Canucks at least have to explore it.

Just like they have to explore the chance to acquire a 23-year-old centre who potted 20+ goals the past two seasons (21 in 2023-24 and 24 in 2024-25) and hit 60 points this past year. Yes, we’re back to talking about Marco Rossi.

We’ve already written a full trade targets piece on Rossi, so if you don’t know much about the player, go ahead and read that, because we’re not going to rehash all that here.

The Canucks’ big offseason

To have the kind of offseason the Canucks hope to have — one that sees them back to being a fringe Stanley Cup contender like they were in 2023-24 instead of just a hit or miss wild card team — they’re going to need a lot of things to go right. And yes, as Jim Rutherford said at his end of season media availability, they’re going to need some luck.

And to get lucky, you’ve got to take some swings, and you’ve got to play the game.

A big offseason for the Canucks? That might look like taking a swing on a slightly flawed player in Rossi who might have 80+ point upside. Plus adding another top six player with a different flaw or too. And then another one. And maybe even another one.

This is all to say that before you say “No! Don’t trade for this player!”, understand that to have the offseason they hope to have, the Canucks are going to need to get more than just one player.

And chances are, at least one of those players is going to have some pretty noticeable flaws.

Sponsored by bet365

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/flawed-players-marco-rossi-vancouver-canucks-big-offseason

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Canucks: What is Thatcher Demko’s maximum trade value this offseason?

There once was a time when the Vancouver Canucks seemed to be forever on the hunt for a quality goaltender. Most refer to those as the ‘Dan Cloutier Days.’ But ever since then, the issue has almost always been that of too many quality goaltenders, and that may be the case yet again as of the 2025 offseason.

We wrote about this recently. In short, the situation is this: the Canucks need to either be prepared to carry all three of Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen, and Arturs Silovs on their roster next season, or be prepared to make a difficult decision on one of them this summer.

Lankinen was, of course, just extended on a five year, $4.5 million AAV contract that includes a full no-movement clause in the first two years. He’s not going anywhere.

Silovs, meanwhile, has brought the Abbotsford Canucks to the Calder Cup Finals with an MVP-worthy performance, solidifying himself as a summer month specialist. More relevant to this discussion, however, is the fact that Silovs will run out of waiver exemption time as of July 1, 2025. That means that he’s either playing in the NHL next season or being exposed to waivers, where he could be snatched up by another team.

Which brings us to Demko, the goaltender that seems by far the most likely to be traded. Demko is entering the last year of a $5 million AAV contract that, notably, contains no trade protection clauses of any kind.

And if Demko is going to be dealt, the obvious question left to ask is that of who might want to trade for him, and what they might be willing to give up in return.

The Player

Demko’s most recent season doesn’t exactly make him look like a prize catch. He missed massive swaths of the 2024/25 season with various injuries, including an ongoing ailment to his popliteus muscle that will reportedly never fully rebound.

In the end, Demko played just 23 games for the Canucks last season, with a record of 10-8-3, a goals-against-average of 2.90, and a save percentage of .889. Pick a statistical category, any category, and you’re likely to find among the worst results in Demko’s eight-year NHL career.

But with all that being said, Demko is just one year removed from a Vezina-nominated performance in 2023/24, in which he had a record of 35-14-2, a GAA of 2.45, and a save percentage of .918. Even better, that year’s Demko achieved some 22 goals-saved-above-expected, according to MoneyPuck, the best such result of any goalie in the league that year save for Vezina-winner Connor Hellebuyck.

Where exactly Demko’s value lies as a player depends on which version of Demko one believes he’ll be closest to when he returns to play in 2025/26. But NHL GMS do have a reputation of having long memories that are occasionally slow to update, so we’d bet on at least a few of them being able to convince themselves he’s still the Demko of a year ago – whether that’s actually true or not.

The Market

Nothing speaks more strongly to Demko’s current value than the state of the goaltending market around him.

If we were to take a casual swing at which teams might be looking for a new or upgraded starting goalie this offseason, we’d wind up with a list that includes the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Utah Mammoth. Other teams could enter that picture if they can manage to shift a current goalie to one of the teams looking, but that’s already a third of the league on the lookout.

And what does that third of the league have to choose from? Not much, as it turns out.

The list of top UFA goalies includes Jake Allen, Ville Husso, Vitek Vanecek, Alexandar Georgiev, Dan Vladar, Ilya Samsonov, and Anton Forsberg.

It’s arguable that there’s not a genuine starting goaltender in the bunch. It’s borderline inarguable that Demko wouldn’t represent a significantly better option for any team with any hope of competing, even with all his injury history considered.

If we flip our lens over to those goalies who might be traded this offseason, like Demko, we find an even shorter list. We’ve got maybe one big name in Anaheim’s John Gibson – who has just as many, if not more, questions about injuries and consistent performance as Demko – and that’s about it. Stuart Skinner, Karel Vejmelka, Joel Hofer, Linus Ullmark, or Cam Talbot could move. And maybe a team might value the consistency of someone like Vejmelka or Talbot, or the youth of Hofer, over what Demko brings. But not every team, and, in any case, there are still far more teams looking for good goalies than the amount of good goalies available.

There’s an argument to be made that Demko is the best goalie available to be acquired this offseason, and if we’re talking solely about a goalie for the 2025/26 season, that argument becomes iron-clad. And being the top goalie available on a market this thirsty must mean that some meaningful trade return is possible for the Canucks.

But what would it be?

The Potential Return

Looking for comparables can be tough, as goalie trades are relatively rare and don’t wind up setting much of a precedent for each other due to their infrequency.

Last year, the biggest goalie-related trade involved Yaroslav Askarov going to the San Jose Sharks for a first round pick, a recent first round selection, and a minor league goalie. But Askarov’s youth makes him a very poor comparable for Demko.

We could look at the previous summer’s trade of Logan Thompson to Washington in exchange for two third round picks, and worry about what that says about Demko’s value, especially given how Thompson has starred for the Capitals since. But there was some off-ice drama at play there, and that created a situation where Vegas was looking to ditch Thompson, allowing Washington to swoop in and snatch him for a bargain price. One has to hope Demko retains more value than a couple mid-round picks.

Demko’s old crease partner Jacob Markstrom went from Calgary to New Jersey last summer for a first round pick and Kevin Bahl. That’s a heavy return, and it came with Markstrom only having two years left on his contract – not far off from Demko’s one. Markstrom’s value was juiced a little bit by Calgary retaining a third of his contract, but that might not be necessary with Demko only clocking in at $5 million.

Markstrom doesn’t share the same level of injury concerns as Demko, and that increases his value. But this trade at least puts Demko in the ballpark of a return that could include a first round pick, which is definitely what many would be hoping for.

The best comparable we can offer is a trade that happened four summers ago, in July of 2021. That trade sent Darcy Kuemper from the Arizona Coyotes to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a first round pick, a conditional third round pick, and Conor Timmins.

There are a lot of parallels here. Kuemper was coming off a season in which multiple lower body injuries limited him to 27 games for the Coyotes. On top of that, Kuemper was a pending UFA, just as Demko is now.

Those two factors should have conspired to limit Kuemper’s trade value, but they didn’t. The Colorado Avalanche still identified him as their best chance at winning a Stanley Cup in 2022 and paid accordingly – and they were right. Kuemper won the Cup for Colorado, and then signed in Washington as a free agent the following summer.

Like we said, these trades are so few and far between that they don’t necessarily lay down any precedent for one another. But at least with this comparable, we see that there is a chance that a team could put together a sizeable package in exchange for a goalie that has injury concerns and a dwindling contract, sure, but one that also gives them a concrete chance to win.

Demko is the only goalie who fits this mould this offseason. There is hope that means that a first round pick is, indeed, a fair starting point in any Demko-related trade discussions (or, perhaps a more NHL-ready prospect of equivalent value, if that’s what the Canucks prefer.)

And, who knows, maybe even a little bit more on top of that?

READ NEXT: 5 Canucks whose trade protection changes as of July 1, 2025​

Sponsored by bet365

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-thatcher-demko-maximum-trade-value-offseason

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

NHL Notebook: Rangers trade Chris Kreider to Ducks, Oilers make lineup changes ahead of Game 4, and more

Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from around the National Hockey League — oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens.

We are just one day away from the Abbotsford Canucks kicking off their Calder Cup Final series against the Charlotte Checkers. The Checkers are the Florida Panthers’ AHL affiliate, who are also enjoying a 2-1 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers.

While outside of a few updates on the team looking into a practice facility, and some trade rumours, of course, there really isn’t much noise coming out about Vancouver – which, after the year they had, is nice. But we will likely have to wait until after Abbotsford’s run before we see any dominoes fall on how upper management will better this team.

As we wait for that to happen, other NHL teams are getting busy:

Ducks acquire Chris Kreider from Rangers​

After reports came out earlier in the week about the potential of this trade, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli confirmed on Thursday morning that the trade was finalized. The Anaheim Ducks acquired Chris Kreider and a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for forward prospect Carey Terrance and Toronto’s 2025 third-round pick.

Trade details, per sources:

To #NHLDucks:
Chris Kreider
ANA 2025 4th Round Pick

To #NYR:
Carey Terrance
TOR 2025 3rd Round Pick

Rangers move up 15 spots in the #NHLDraft in the swap.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 12, 2025

The Rangers had been trying to offload Kreider and his contract since November of last season, when they sent a league-wide email to the 31 other teams informing them that he was available. In-season trades of a guy who has a $6.5 million cap hit aren’t always easy, so the Rangers had to wait until the offseason to get this one across the finish line.

Kreider has spent his entire 13-year NHL career in New York, scoring 326 goals and 582 points. His numbers are good for 10th all-time in points and third in goals – 10 goals shy of second with Hockey Hall of Famer Jean Ratelle.

Last season was his worst in the NHL, scoring 22 goals but just eight assists. Kreider found himself up and down the lineup all season, seeing his ice time dip to 16:45, his lowest average since the 2017-2018 campaign. Not only did his offensive production drop off, but his defensive play struggled as well, finishing with his lowest plus/minus rating of his career (minus-5).

The American winger had a 15-team no-trade clause and had the Ducks on his no-trade list. But he waived to join his former Captain, Jacob Trouba, and former teammate Ryan Strome in Southern California. It was also reported that Kreider had an interest in joining the Ducks to play for new head coach Joel Quenneville.

This marks the third time Rangers GM Chris Drury has managed to pull off a trade to shed salary with a California team without having to retain any money on the deal. First Barclay Goodrow to the San Jose Sharks, and then Trouba last season.

With this move, the Ducks are fully bought into improving the team to burst through their rebuild and make the postseason for the first time since 2017-2018. The Ducks have $32 million left in cap space to use this postseason to continue and better the team. And after a 21-point improvement in the standings last season, they will only be a more difficult opponent for the Canucks to battle with in the Pacific Division.

Oilers make lineup changes ahead of Game 4​

After an embarrassing 6-1 loss in Game 3, the Edmonton Oilers will be making some lineup changes ahead of what feels like a do-or-die Game 4.

According to Daily Faceoff, Jeff Skinner will replace Viktor Arvidsson up front, while former Canuck Troy Stecher will come in for John Klingberg.

Expected #LetsGoOilers changes for Game 4:

IN ▲ Jeff Skinner
IN ▲ Troy Stecher
OUT ▽ Viktor Arvidsson
OUT ▽ John Klingberg https://t.co/VonUbACCNJ

— Daily Faceoff – Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) June 12, 2025

Coming into Game 3 riding a three-game point streak, Arvidsson will be sitting up in the press box tonight. Arvidsson’s ice time dipped to under 10 minutes for the first time since Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Skinner draws into the lineup for only the third time this postseason. However, when he does get into the lineup, he makes a difference, registering points in both games. The Oilers need an offensive boost after just the one-goal outing, and Skinner’s shot will be a weapon in the lineup. Skinner took line rushes with Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic at morning skate.

After Klingberg drank from the fountain of youth during this postseason run. The way he was skating through the offensive zone and his ability to move the puck up the ice gave the Oilers something they didn’t have coming from their bottom pairing. However, after a team-worst minus-3, the Oilers are choosing to sit him for Stecher.

The former Canuck fit in nicely and seemed to calm things down for Darnell Nurse. Through six games this postseason, Stecher is averaging 15:56 minutes per game, recording six shots on goal and a plus-3 rating.

The Oilers made a few line changes as well. Connor Brown switches places on the top line, with Corey Perry:

EDM lines – Thursday Morning Skate:

RNH – McDavid – Brown
Kane – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Skinner – Henrique – Frederic
Podkolzin – Janmark – Perry

• Arvidsson, Ryan, Jones

Ekholm – Walman
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Bouchard

• Klingberg, Emberson, Dineen#Oilers

— Tony Brar (@TonyBrarOTV) June 12, 2025

Anze Kopitar wins Lady Byng​

In the final special announcement before tonight’s NHL Award show, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar was awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

And the "Nicest NHL Player" award goes to…

Anze Kopitar's kids surprised him with his third Lady Byng Memorial Trophy during a day of family golf in Slovenia.

Catch the 2025 #NHLAwards before Game 4 of the #StanleyCup Final TONIGHT at 6p ET on @NHL_On_TNT and… pic.twitter.com/yoLqTKXgdk

— NHL (@NHL) June 12, 2025

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is presented to the player who has exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.

The tenured King finished the season with 21 goals and 67 points with a plus-14 rating in 81 games. What earned him the award was strong play in both ends of the ice and his four penalty minutes.

This is the third time Kopitar has won the award, his first back in 2015-2016 and another in 2022-2023. This was his fourth nomination, finishing in third in 2014-2015, the year before he won the award.

Kopitar beat out Tampa Bay Lightning centre Brayden Point and Vegas Golden Knights assistant captain Jack Eichel. Last season, Canucks forward Elias Pettersson finished as the runner up to Carolina Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin. This season, another Canuck received votes as Captain Quinn Hughes earned a fourth and fifth place vote.

Sponsored by bet365

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/nhl-no...dmonton-oilers-line-changes-ahead-game-4-more