The regular season has come to an end with half the teams going home and half going on to the playoffs, which are now underway. As a result, there was plenty of notable news over the past seven days, which is recapped in our key stories.
Hanging Them Up: A pair of veterans are calling it a career. Sharks captain Logan Couture revealed that he will be ending his playing career after being unable to return from Osteitis Pubis. He wasn’t able to play this season and was limited to six games in 2023-24 because of the issue. Couture, who won’t officially retire until his contract expires in 2027, will hang up his skates with 701 points in 933 games, putting him fourth in franchise history in scoring. Meanwhile, Canadiens blueliner David Savard indicated that he will retire after Montreal’s playoff run. The 34-year-old was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer but will instead call it a career following 870 regular season appearances and a 2021 Stanley Cup title.
Jets Extend Two: Following winning the Presidents’ Trophy for the team with the best record in the regular season, the Jets took care of a pair of pending unrestricted free agents. First, they re-signed winger Alex Iafallo to a three-year, $11MM contract, representing a small cut in pay from the $4MM he made on his current deal. The 31-year-old had 15 goals and 16 assists in 81 games during the regular season. Second, they took one of the top pending UFA defensemen off the market, signing Neal Pionk to a six-year, $42MM extension. The 29-year-old tied his career high in goals this season with 10 while surpassing the 30-point mark for the sixth straight season. He had 39 points in 69 games while logging over 22 minutes a night, earning himself a raise from the $5.875MM he made since 2021-22.
Laviolette Fired: After winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season, the Rangers were widely expected to be a strong team again this year or at least be in the playoffs once again. However, things went off the rails early and they never got back on track. That has resulted in a coaching change as head coach Peter Laviolette was fired along with associate coach Phil Housley. New York had 29 fewer points in the standings this season, ultimately missing the playoffs by six points. Laviolette departs the Rangers after just two years behind the bench but he has plenty of head coaching experience as his 1,594 regular season games coached rank ninth in NHL…
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