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!
The Vancouver Canucks recently made headlines after they found their new coaching staff under Adam Foote. They will now shift their focus to improving the team’s forward group.
And today’s edition of NHL Notebook will cover exactly that. Teams around the leagues are hiring and firing their bench bosses, as well as a top-six centreman now off the board.

Avalanche extend Brock Nelson

The Colorado Avalanche have found the second-line centre they’ve been looking for ever since Nazem Kadri departed, as they’ve re-signed Brock Nelson to a three-year, $22.5 million contract.
The Avalanche acquired Nelson from the New York Islanders at last year’s trade deadline, in exchange for defenceman Oliver Kylington, forward prospect Calum Ritchie, a conditional 2026 first-round pick and a conditional 2028 third-round pick.
The 33-year-old made a good first impression with his new club, picking up an assist in his Avalanche debut. He would carry on with his stability, posting six goals and 13 points through 19 regular season games. However, his game tapered off in the postseason, finishing with zero goals and four assists in seven games – zero points through Games 5-7.=
It appeared that Nelson might not have been a fit in Colorado after his postseason. This was the first time Nelson had been traded in his career, so he may have needed some time to acclimate to his new team. But the Avalanche doubled down on the centreman and are hoping for a better full season next year.
There were no reports indicating the Canucks would have been interested in Nelson had he hit free agency. But that is another centreman taken off the board for Vancouver to target on July 1.

Stars fire Peter DeBoer

The Dallas Stars announced that they would be relieving the duties of three-year Head Coach Peter DeBoer.
After an odd decision and questionable comments toward goaltender Jake Oettinger in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, the Stars decided that the relationship between DeBoer and the room was beyond repair, and the club decided to move on.
Facing elimination, Oettinger allowed two goals on the first two shots he faced. DeBoer called a timeout to try to settle his group down. At the conclusion of the timeout, Oettinger started skating back to his net. DeBoer then screams back and his goaltender, telling him to get back on the bench, signalling his night was over.
Casey DeSmith came in in relief, but allowed a goal just 58 seconds later.
Following a 6-3 loss, DeBoer met with the media and explained why he made the goaltending change. And he didn’t necessarily do himself any favours.
“Well, anytime you pull a goalie, the reasoning is always to try and spark your group. So that was the number one reason. We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with the lead, and obviously, we’re in a two-nothing hole right away. And you know what? I didn’t take that lightly, and I didn’t blame it all on Jake. But you know, the reality is, if you go back to last year’s playoffs, he’s lost six of seven games to Edmonton, and we gave up two shots on two goals in an elimination game. So no, it was partly to spark our team and wake them up, and partly knowing that status quo had not been working. That’s a pretty big sample size.”
The Stars took some time but ultimately let go of DeBoer, with General Manager Jim Nill releasing this statement:
Dallas will now begin to find their next head coach, while these next two teams have just named theirs.

Bruins hire Marco Sturm

The Boston Bruins have named Marco Sturm as their next Head Coach.
Canucks fans should be familiar with the name, as not only did Sturm play for the organization (only six games), but he was one of the final candidates for the Vancouver head coaching job.
Sturm was recently with the Los Angeles Kings organization, spending the previous three seasons as the Head Coach of the Ontario Reign. Under Sturm, the Reign finished with a 119-80-17 record, earning a postseason berth in all three seasons.
The Bruins are headed toward a rebuild after finishing with a so hiring a rookie Head Coach like Sturm will allow him to grow and develop with his players.

Penguins hire Dan Muse

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Dan Muse as their next Head Coach.
Muse was a name that wasn’t talked about much as a big target coaching candidate. However, he has some experience as a coach behind an NHL bench. More specifically, under Peter Laviolette, where he was his assistant in Nashville from 2017-2020 and in New York from 2023-2025.
He was given an opportunity to interview for his job in New York under Mike Sullivan; however, he decided to be his successor and take his old job as the Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach. The Penguins still have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang on the back nine of their careers, but will likely provide a lot of stability for the rookie coach.

A few NHL Awards handed out

While we’ve seen the NHL already hand out the Frank J. Selke and the King Clancy trophies in their new special tribute videos, the league has since awarded three more honours:
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan won the Bill Masterton trophy this season, being recognized as the player who best exemplified qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
Monahan was dealt tragedy in late August when long-time teammate and best friend Johnny Gaudreau was tragically killed just over a month before the season was supposed to begin.
With heavy hearts, the entire hockey world was rooting for the Blue Jackets and Monahan to have a successful season. And that they did.
The Blue Jackets finished with 89 points (40-33-9), which was their best season since 2018-2019. However, they missed out on the postseason by just two points. On a personal level, Monahan had his best season (19-38-57) since that same 2018-2019 season.
Jack Adams Award
Washington Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carberry took home the Jack Adams Award, being recognized as the coach who contributed the most to his team’s success.
The 2023-2024 Capitals were much different than the 2024-2025 version hockey fans watched this season.
After squeaking into the playoffs in his first season in Washington, the Capitals ran away with the Eastern Conference, going from the eighth seed to the first seed in one year’s difference. The team finished with 11 more wins and 20 more points than the previous year.
Ted Lindsay Award
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov was awarded the Ted Lindsay, being recognized by his peers as the most valuable player of the league this season.
The Russian forward won the scoring title for the second straight season, finishing with 37 goals and 84 assists for 121 points (five more than Nathan MacKinnon). He now has three consecutive seasons over 100 points, with 378 points in 241 games over that stretch.
Kucherov is also nominated for the Hart Trophy, which is the league MVP award, voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PWHA).
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