We’re nearing the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final. Once a new champion is crowned, we’ll quickly be launched into the draft and free agency like a coaster after the big drop.

As the 2023 season pulls into the station, teams have already begun making offseason moves to prepare for 2024, so we’ll briefly look at some of the action so far as well.

Of Cup Final teams, which single player has had the greatest impact on a playoff run?

AJ: I’m taking the homer answer here and saying Joe Sakic in 1996. His 18 goals in 22 games remain the second-highest goal total in postseason history. He scored two overtime-winners and six game-winning goals during their run. He was unbelievable. His 34 points sit just outside the top 10 of playoff runs in NHL history and he had 12 more points than his next closest teammate (Valeri Kamensky).

That run was the true beginning of “Super Joe”.

Rudo: Instead of picking a player from a Championship team, I’m going to pick J.S. Giguere from the 2003 Anaheim Ducks. It takes a truly special performance to win the Conn Smythe on the losing team in the Cup Final.

A .945 save percentage and 1.62 GAA are astronomical numbers – the only modern run that comes even close is Jonathan Quick’s 2012 run and he had the luxury of playing behind an immaculate LA team defense.

Meghan: From start to finish, Jonathan Quick’s performance in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs made a compelling case. In round one against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, he only allowed eight total goals, including a shutout in game three. The eighth seed LA Kings then swept the St. Louis Blues en route to the Western Conference final before taking down Arizona in five games with another shutout along the way.

Quick posted a third shutout in the Final and rounded out the campaign with a 0.946 save percentage. His solid goaltending throughout never let the Kings stray far from their end goal despite never once being the favorite. He was named the Conn Smythe winner and a Vezina finalist so his individual efforts all season long didn’t go unrecognized.

Jesse: The one that immediately jumps out to me is Tim Thomas in 2011. Even had the Boston Bruins lost Game 7, I feel pretty confident in saying Thomas was going to be the runaway winner of the Conn Smythe either way.

He posted a 1.98 GAA and a .940 save percentage in 25 games and did it all in spectacular fashion on most nights. Thomas was an unbelievable competitor, the fire he played with on that run was something I don’t know if I’ve seen since from a goaltender.

He lifted that Boston team to a lot of wins they maybe didn’t deserve, and he led the way in the Final to help them knock off what felt like the team of destiny in the Vancouver Canucks. That included winning Games 6 and 7 to come back in the series and the Stanley Cup.

What is your favorite or least favorite playoff tradition?

AJ: It has started to die off in recent years but I’ve always hated the tradition of teams not touching the trophy after earning a berth into the Stanley Cup Final. It’s such an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish. Just getting there IS remarkable and worthy of praise. The players should allow themselves the joy of that night. Their entire lives had been building to that moment. Live it up. Soak it in. Then worry about the next round the next morning.

Rudo: I’m probably the fun-hater here, but I hate anything that involves throwing stuff on the ice. Plastic rats, fish, octopi, and whatever else. It’s all fun when the team is winning, but even then it can cause issues with delaying games.

The real problem arises when the team inevitably loses a game. What was supposed to be a fun tradition ends up as a device used to pelt the ice in frustration, and it regularly gives the green light for other fans to start throwing things like water bottles, beer cans, and worse. Situations like this should never be allowed and the only way to stop crowds from doing that is to stop enabling it.

Meghan: I appreciate the unifying experience of a playoff beard. Though I haven’t been able to partake, I enjoy opportunities for the sport to connect its players and fans. I believe all athletes have varying degrees of superstition – the attention to detail, routine, and regimen can border on obsession in a way that separates some of the world’s superstars.

Playoff beards elevate the tradition of bleaching their heads from their younger days, but the intended camaraderie and unity remains intact. There’s no better time for a tight-knit group to find even more reason to bond than the playoffs. Plus, they look cool (or scary).

Jesse: There’s a newer tradition that has started around the NHL and I’m a fan.

Teams have really embraced the idea of counting their wins in a public way. Vegas is hanging “shields” in the tunnel that fans can stand in to watch the team walk onto the ice, last year the Avs counted with huge numbers out in the seating bowl.

Plus most every team also counts the wins with the game-winning puck in the locker room. Hockey fans have always embraced the “16W” mantra, and I’ve just loved the visual representation of it in the last few years. 

Mike Babcock, Damon Severson, Ivan Provorov – what are your thoughts on the offseason Columbus is having so far?

AJ: It’s certainly bold. Transitioning from an approach of building it up carefully straight into win-now mode immediately after an all-time unlucky season with injuries and some poor performances (hard to separate the two, of course) is an interesting decision. The lack of a number one center to tie the forward corps together still stands out. I wonder if they’d be willing to move the 3rd pick for someone like Trevor Zegras to really kick this thing into high gear.

The commitments on defense are interesting and that group suddenly looks a lot more formidable. The skating ability of Provorov and Severson to go with Zach Werenski and a slew of high-end prospects give them a very intriguing present and future along the blueline. We’ve seen Jarmo be extremely aggressive in the past and this is no different. You have to appreciate a GM who thinks he’s in a moment and decides to try to make the most of it. That makes the Babcock thing kind of odd, but we’ll see what a few years out of the NHL did for him.

Rudo: Despite the terrible year for the Blue Jackets, they were locked into Gaudreau, Laine, and Merzlikins for the foreseeable future on top of three more years of Jenner and Gudbranson. To be committed to this core they had to make moves to get better, and that’s exactly what they did with Severson and Provorov. Both of them are swings on players they are hoping can get back to form shown earlier in their careers.

The Severson play in particular is a significant gamble, but they must have confidence in it giving him an eight-year deal. In the case of Babcock, I am extremely skeptical but will reserve judgment until we see what the team looks like.

Meghan: Alongside these changes, Columbus is set to claim the third overall pick in a coveted draft year (even in spite of giving up their 22nd pick). It seems the Blue Jackets want to course correct as quickly as possible.

Damon Severson’s acquisition in particular is a significant swing. Similarly, taking a chance on a controversial coach in Babcock is another big decision with huge implications in the immediate. Jarmo Kekäläinen isn’t messing around, and there’s still plenty of offseason left.

They have $5M of projected cap space to work with and a few players on expiring contracts for 2024 to consider extending. Overall, they bolstered their defense in a necessary way. Getting LA to retain some of Provorov’s contract makes it a net positive in my eyes. After losing Gavrikov at the deadline, and to LA no less, getting some support on the backend was a necessity.

As for Severson, that kind of term for a 28-year-old makes me think Columbus believes their window is in the near future, and I’m just not convinced they’re there yet.

After Gaudreau last summer, I can appreciate Columbus’ aggressive approach to improve. It’s better than complacency. There’s also a young core waiting to burst out as well. I see the talent is there, but I’m most unsure of their leadership. I’m not sure if Babcock can take them to the next level.

Jesse: I feel the same way about their offseason so far as I do about the rest of the franchise right now… meh. Nothing about any of their moves so far moves the needle for me. Like at all.

They were the worst team in the East by a pretty wide margin, and their plan to solve that is by nibbling around the edges and betting on Ivan Provorov to become a top-pair defenseman. If this is what we can expect to see out of them this summer, we can expect to see them with great draft lottery odds again next year.

As for Mike Babcock, we talked about it last week… enough with the re-treads. Get some fresh eyes in there and give that organization a shot in the arm. Believe it or not, I actually felt like this was the perfect spot for someone like Patrick Roy. 

Murmurs of movement inside the goaltending landscape have already kicked up – what is your goalie-specific prediction for the summer?

AJ: I’ve been taking wild swings all spring, might as well continue. I think Hellebuyck ends up a Detroit Red Wing. They have the kind of pieces that will intrigue Winnipeg (picks, young players, a starting goalie about to lose his job) and he’s from there so it will give the Jets goodwill of “doing right” by Hellebuyck to send him to a preferred location.

Rudo: This is the offseason John Gibson finally gets moved. Anaheim does not look like they will be ready to compete properly until the very end of his current contract, and Gibson himself has seen his play trend in the wrong direction.

Meanwhile, the usual subjects around the league are hungry to take a risk on a goalie they think could be the guy. Anaheim has an opportunity to get decent value and clear the lane for Lukas Dostal as their goalie of the future.

Meghan: With Connor Hellebuyck reportedly uninterested in signing a long-term extension with the Winnipeg Jets, it feels inevitable to see him moved. The Jets have some leverage – he has another year on his contract and in the absence of a no-trade clause, Winnipeg can be selective in the type of return they’re searching for

The Los Angeles Kings have a big decision to make with UFA Joonas Korpisalo and pending UFA Pheonix Copley, but I believe they’d be an intriguing trade partner with extreme interest in Hellebuyck.

LA’s playoff exit revealed a weakness in net alongside an otherwise competitive team whose window is open right now. As for the Jets, their forward group could look a lot different if PLD and company move, so they might be interested in a return that could inject some life into their offense.

Jesse: This will likely be the busiest summer in recent memory for the goalie market. There are big names available, and contending teams that desperately need the help in net. I have a feeling we might see some teams do things that are irresponsible as they compete for the services of a true #1.

Hellebuyck seems primed to move, so does Gibson, and there are even some rumors that a guy like Juuse Saros could be in play depending on what direction Nashville decides to go.

The only real prediction I have is that we are going to see a lot of movement in net across the league.