Stanley Cup finals 2022

That sound you hear in Denver can only mean one thing. The NHL season is over, and the Colorado Avalanche are Stanley Cup champions.

That said, Blake has a lot of free-agency work to do with the likes of Adrian Kempe (restricted), Sean Durzi (restricted), Lias Andersson (restricted) and Gabriel Vilardi (restricted), among others. He's indicated he'd like to stay in Calgary, but David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported on the Upper Deck spotlight that the 28-year-old forward wants to at least get a feel for the free-agency process. Their 16-4 mark in the playoffs is tied for the second-best record for a Cup champion since the 1987-88 Oilers went 16-2. They'll get back at it in October with a new coach, Paul Maurice, who was hired to replace interim boss Andrew Brunette. "I felt the fit here," Maurice told reporters. The Oilers finally played in relevant postseason games with Connor McDavid this season, advancing to the Western Conference title round after beating Los Angeles and Calgary. As mentioned earlier, the status of Kane's grievance with the Sharks may impact the situation. He's due to become an unrestricted free agent after completing a six-year, $36 million deal, and the team has offered him an eight-year contract to stick around. The organization will be in catch-up mode for the time being after word that Manitoba native Barry Trotz, a Stanley Cup winner with Washington in 2017-18, turned down Winnipeg's head coaching job to take some time away from the game. It's a question of which version of the Ducks from 2021-22 is closer to reality. Alternate captain Filip Forsberg became a point-per-game player for the first time in 2021-22 after producing 42 goals and 84 points in 69 games. "Our main thought is we want to make everything fit so that we can build a championship team," Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Getting restricted free-agent winger Victor Olofsson signed is a high agenda item, as is bringing in a goaltender to share the full-time role next season with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has 13 career starts. Making prudent decisions to address those areas is certainly high on the list for GM Ron Francis, who has nearly $23 million in cap room to work with.