Hockey Wiretap

Jordan Staal scored two goals, including the game-winner with 13:28 remaining in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes evened the Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2. Game 5 is at Lenovo Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Staal has five goals in the series, including at least one in all four games. He is the first player to score in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final since Mike Bossy did it with the New York Islanders in 1982. 

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog won the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award and the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, the league announced Tuesday.

The Messier is presented "to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey."

The award receives input from team personnel and those around the NHL, with the winner ultimately being selected by Messier.

The Masterton is awarded to the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." The Masterton is voted upon by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

The Minnesota Wild signed Michael McCarron to a six-year, $20 million contract on Tuesday, taking one of their impending free agents off the market after his productive arrival following a midseason trade.

McCarron, 31, played in 20 regular-season games for the Wild after he was acquired from the Nashville Predators for a 2028 second-round draft pick on March 3. The 6-foot-6 center had his best NHL season, setting career highs with 109 shots on goal, 205 hits and 77 blocked shots.

The Stars are closer to having a new arena in the Dallas suburb of Plano after the city council there approved a letter of intent Monday for a potential sports and entertainment district.

The Plano City Council approved using $700 million in public money toward building what is a roughly $1 billion project at The Shops of Willow Bend, according to local media reports.

"I'd like to thank Mayor [John] Muns and the entire Plano City Council for their support, and their approval of our letter of intent and several other items connected to the redevelopment of The Shops at Willow Bend," Stars owner Tom Gaglardi said in a statement. "We look forward to taking the next steps in the journey toward making Plano our new home in 2031."

The 2026 NHL Draft features no clear-cut top prospect, with scouts and front-office executives describing an unusually balanced group led by a strong pool of defensemen, according to a wide-ranging survey of league evaluators.

"There's no clear guy this year. There's a group," said one scout. "And I could see that group go in almost any order, although I think Gavin McKenna should be in the top two somewhere."

Multiple evaluators identified clusters of six to nine players they considered interchangeable at the top. One scouting director put it plainly: "There's no A's this year, just a bunch of B+'s."

McKenna, a winger long considered the presumptive first overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs, draws divided opinions. Scouts acknowledge his elite offensive tools and scoring history, but several question whether his game holds up in physical, playoff-style hockey.

"He's going to score a ton in the NHL," said one executive. "My concern is he's like Artemi Panarin. He'll get his accolades, but he'll also be on three to four teams and never make real noise in the playoffs."

Ivar Stenberg has emerged as a credible alternative at No. 1. The 5-foot-11 winger earns praise for his direct style and net-front presence, though some scouts warn his limited secondary game creates downside risk if his offensive production falls short.

"I could honestly see Stenberg get closer to 5 than to 1," one executive said. "He's not the same type of talent as McKenna."

With the top of the board unsettled, several scouts suggested the final decision may bypass scouting departments altogether.

"It doesn't matter what the scouts think when you win the lottery," one veteran evaluator said. "The GM can wipe their ass with your list."

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade by submitting a three-team list of desired destinations, according to multiple reports.

Larkin, 29, has a full no-trade clause as part of his contract, and his list was limited to being dealt to Vegas, Minnesota and Florida. He has five years left on an eight-year, $69.6 million contract, which carries an annual salary cap hit of $8.7 million.

The Edmonton Oilers are closing in on hiring Mike Babcock to be their next head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Babcock and the Oilers have been in talks to have him succeed Kris Knoblauch behind the bench. The 63-year-old Babcock, who won a Stanley Cup in 2008 with the Detroit Red Wings, is 12th all time in career wins by an NHL coach (700).

Peter Laviolette has been hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings on a three-year deal. Laviolette didn't coach last season after he was fired by the New York Rangers in 2025.

Laviolette led the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup win in 2006.

Laviolette was also a candidate for the vacancies for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.

The Kings were swept in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche. The Kings fired Jim Hiller as head coach after the Olympic break and D.J. Smith was then interim head coach.

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said he doesn't "anticipate a lot of changes" to his Game 4 lineup after his team fell behind 2-1 in its Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Does that mean goalie Freddie Andersen has the crease back after getting pulled in the third period of Carolina's Game 3 loss Saturday?

"We'll make all decisions after we practice tomorrow, see how he's feeling," Brind'Amour said Sunday, the first of two off days between games. "I haven't made any decisions on the lineup, so I can't tell you."

Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers has won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL's most outstanding player as voted by his peers.

The league and the Players' Association announced the honor Sunday. This is the fifth time McDavid has won it, tying Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history for the trophy, which used to be named for Lester B. Pearson.

"This award, coming from the guys that you play against every single night and battle against every single night, to have them recognize me with an award like this, means so much," the 29-year-old center said.