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New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Sabres offseason thoughts: JJ Peterka, Mattias Samuelsson, NHL Draft scenarios and more
Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt stood next to Sam Reinhart on the balcony of Elbo Room, a popular Fort Lauderdale bar, celebrating Florida's second straight Stanley Cup win on Thursday. A fan tossed Reinhart an old Buffalo Sabres Reinhart jersey to sign, which he did begrudgingly, but scoffed at the fan who tossed it. Advertisement Then Schmidt joined the fans in chanting, 'Thank you, Buffalo!' Reinhart, the second overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, played the first seven years of his career with the Sabres. In 2021, general manager Kevyn Adams traded him to the Panthers for a first-round pick that became Jiri Kulich and goalie prospect Devon Levi. As an organization, the Sabres made multiple mistakes that led to the divorce with Reinhart. He always took a backseat to Jack Eichel, who was drafted with the No. 2 pick a year later. In 2018, then-general manager Jason Botterill gave Reinhart a two-year bridge contract when he was open to a long-term pact. Then, in 2020, with Adams freshly inserted as general manager, the Sabres signed Reinhart to a one-year contract that walked him to free agency. By the time Adams got the job, most of the damage was done. Reinhart had a great year in 2020-21 and thrived under then-coach Don Granato late in the season. He scored at a 37-goal pace in that pandemic-shortened season. But he wasn't willing to endure another rebuild and knew Eichel was as good as gone. Eichel and Reinhart have both since won Stanley Cups with their new teams. Reinhart now has two after his four-goal game helped the Panthers finish off the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 on Tuesday. He's become an elite goal scorer, he finished in the top five of the Selke Trophy voting this season, and, during a TNT Stanley Cup Final broadcast, Wayne Gretzky called him one of the smartest players to ever play the game. That's a lot for Sabres fans to stomach, particularly as Buffalo is stuck in a 14-year playoff drought. And it comes against the backdrop of another homegrown Sabre potentially playing elsewhere. The JJ Peterka trade rumors got louder this week when Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said the Sabres have been taking calls on the 23-year-old winger and he's known to be unhappy in Buffalo. As we wrote after the NHL Scouting Combine, teams have been consistently calling the Sabres on Peterka, who is a restricted free agent. They haven't been keen on trading him. But given the interest and demand, Adams needs to hear what's out there. Advertisement Peterka, of course, is in a different situation from Reinhart. The Sabres have his rights for four more years before he's an unrestricted free agent. And he's not the same level of player as Reinhart, either. But the idea of another talented young player becoming disgruntled is the worst kind of deja vu for Sabres fans. 1. The one question that matters when it comes to any possible Peterka trade: Can the Sabres make themselves better by trading him? That's the only way Adams should evaluate any proposals for Peterka. Future assets don't matter unless packaged with pieces that can help the Sabres end the playoff drought next season. Peterka's point production isn't easy to replace, but the Sabres might be able to find a more complete two-way player in the process or sure up their hole at right defense. Maybe Peterka is valuable enough for them to accomplish both of those things in one trade. 2. There is a risk that the Sabres look like pushovers if they trade Peterka at the first sign of his dissatisfaction. With four years of team control, Adams has the leverage to play hardball. But that's a delicate game to play in a locker room that has a lot of players frustrated with losing. Adams and Lindy Ruff spent a lot of time after the season talking about the need for the culture to change. A big part of that is having everyone pulling in the same direction. So if Peterka is going to stick around in Buffalo, Adams needs to make sure he's bought in and will stay bought in as long as possible. 3. Peterka should also recognize that not every situation around the league will be as good for him as the one in Buffalo. He's getting top-six minutes and top power-play usage. That's a big reason he got 68 points last season and 50 the year before. Would he have that same role on every other team? I understand he wants to exercise some leverage here, but he has to think about the big picture, too. He's four years away from unrestricted free agency. He has no trade protection. If he does end up getting traded, the Sabres don't have to send him to a preferred destination. Buffalo obviously isn't hockey paradise at the moment, but there are incentives for him to stick around. Advertisement 4. One other factor tied to the Peterka decision is the development of Zach Benson. He's entering his third season in the league and is only 20, but late in the season, we got a glimpse of what he could do when playing on a line with Tage Thompson. Consider these stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick: • Benson and Thompson together at five-on-five: 53.85 percent expected goal share • Benson without Thompson at five-on-five: 54.68 percent expected goal share • Thompson without Benson: 51.05 percent expected goal share • Peterka with Thompson together at five-on-five: 50.34 percent expected goal share • Peterka without Thompson: 42.77 percent expected goal share • Thompson without Peterka: 53.31 percent expected goal share Thompson is obviously Buffalo's biggest driver among the forwards, so it's no surprise Peterka was better when playing with him than without him. There is also a case to be made that playing well with Thompson is part of Peterka's appeal. But the Benson numbers are notable, even in a smaller sample size. You might be thinking, 'That's great, but Benson only had 28 points last season and 30 the year before. Peterka had 68 points last season and 50 the year before.' That's valid, but there's more to building a team than point totals. There is a benefit to building a line of players who complement one another. The way Benson forechecks, wins puck battles and gets to the net makes him a much different player than Peterka. He's also far better defensively, which matters when playing with Thompson, who has defensive deficiencies of his own. The Sabres may not even need Benson to fill that role if they trade Peterka. A 23-year-old with the production Peterka has had the last two seasons would net a significant return. There's a good chance the Sabres could fill multiple holes in their lineup by moving him. But Benson's value shouldn't be overlooked because of a few mediocre point totals at 18 and 19 years old. He's one of Buffalo's best all-around forwards and still has the potential to become a 60-plus-point player. Advertisement 5. What shouldn't be lost in the Peterka distraction is that Alex Tuch needs to be a priority for the Sabres. He's eligible for an extension on July 1, and they've already met with his agent to set the table for negotiations. This is Adams' chance to show Tuch he's ready to make a serious commitment to him financially and also that he's capable of building a competitive team around him. Tuch isn't just going to stick around because he grew up a Sabres fan. 6. In his latest mock draft, Corey Pronman has Boston College center James Hagens falling to No. 8 and Brampton winger Porter Martone falling to the Sabres at No. 9. If either of those players is available, Buffalo will be extremely fortunate. Hagens is a potential No. 1 center and would be a major value at No. 9. Martone's size, competitiveness and goal-scoring touch around the net would also make him an easy pick for the Sabres if he falls. If you're rooting for one of those two players to make it to No. 9, you want to hear names like Brady Martin, James O'Brien, Roger McQueen and Radim Mrtka in the top eight picks. If three of those players go in the top eight, it's likely one of Hagens or Marton will be there for the Sabres. That's a best-case scenario for Buffalo. 7. The buyout window is officially open until June 30, and Mattias Samuelsson is the name to keep an eye on. He's entering the third season of a contract that pays him $4.285 million annually. He turns 26 next season, so this is the Sabres' last chance to buy him out at one-third of his total contract cost. He would count for $714,286 on the cap for the next 10 years if the Sabres bought him out. That would save Buffalo just over $3.5 million in each of the next five seasons, and they would then have a penalty of $714,286 for five years after that. The cost savings could come in handy as they try to fit their restricted free agents under the cap while leaving room to change the roster. Samuelsson hasn't lived up to the contract he signed. He's struggled to stay healthy and struggled when he's been healthy. Even after being named an alternate captain this season, Samuelsson got off to a slow start and was at the center of one of the team's most disappointing moments of the season when nobody stepped in to defend Tage Thompson after a dirty hit from Stefan Noesen. The Sabres should still take their time with this decision because they need to know what the rest of the blue line is going to look like. Defense is already a position that needs work, and Bowen Byram's uncertain status as a restricted free agent further clouds the picture. By the time June 30 rolls around, the Sabres should have a clearer idea of where things stand with Byram and just how expendable Samuelsson is. The Sabres still believe in Samuelsson, but there's no denying they could use that money. (Top photo of JJ Peterka: Rebecca Villagracia / Getty Images)
CBS News
3 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
"A well-oiled machine": How the Florida Panthers' team-first mentality led to another Stanley Cup
Aleksander Barkov hoisted the Stanley Cup, skated with it for a few moments and then handed it to a grinning Nate Schmidt, in his first year with the Florida Panthers and raising hockey's hallowed trophy for the first time. Before any repeat winner touched it, every Panther who never had before got the chance. "There's a lot of guys they play a ton of minutes that are huge contributors to this group, and they bypassed them and said: 'We had it last year. We'll never not cherish this moment,'" Schmidt said. "It was amazing." The Florida Panthers raise the Stanley Cup after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Fla., Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) Nathan Denette / AP It also personified the Panthers, who did not have the best player in the final, not facing Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers again. They may not have even had the second-best with Leon Draisaitl there, too, but Florida repeating as champions showed exactly why hockey is the ultimate team sport. "We just have so much heart, so much talent: Heart meets talent," said winger Matthew Tkachuk, who played through a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle. "Our team was a team. When things were getting hard for them, they looked to one guy. But our team, we do it collectively." The Panthers had 19 non-goalies on the ice over six games against the Oilers; 15 registered a point and 11 scored at least once. Coach Paul Maurice said the team is "just really deep — unusually so," making the point that he essentially had three first lines to roll out at any given time. "A very talented group of guys, so when you bring somebody in, we're going to play you with a really good player," Maurice said. General manager Bill Zito, who inherited Barkov, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, built the rest of the roster to win in the playoffs. With Maurice and his staff in charge, players who were adrift or simply mediocre elsewhere thrived in Florida. "For the most part, every guy who's come here has had the best season of their careers," Zito said. "From that perspective, it's gratifying to think that we can create an environment where the guys can do that, but it's the team. It's that room. It truly is." Fourth-liner A.J. Greer is one of those players after nearly giving up on his NHL dream a few years ago. He, Zito, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett and so many others use the word "culture" to explain the Panthers' greatness, and it translates into results on the ice. The forecheck is never-ending, the harassment in the neutral zone relentless — and the offense burgeoning with talent. "Everyone levels their game up here — every one of us," Greer said. "There's a sentiment of greatness but of just like wanting to be as good as you were yesterday." Tkachuk, acquired by Zito in a trade from Calgary in the same summer of 2022 when Maurice was hired as coach, shook his head when asked about scoring the Cup-clinching goal in Game 6. He wanted to make a point that it doesn't matter who scores. "I don't care about personal stats," Tkachuk said. "I don't care. Our team doesn't (care) about that. That's what makes us a team, and that's why we're lifting the Stanley Cup right now because we're a team and not a bunch of individuals." McDavid, who had seven points in six games in the final, had nothing but praise after a second straight loss to the Panthers on the NHL's biggest stage. "They're a really good team," McDavid said. "Very deserving. They were really good." Florida was in the final for a third consecutive year, and the only loss during this stretch came to Vegas in 2023 when injuries ravaged Tkachuk, Ekblad and others. That was the start of the winning blueprint that has made the Panthers so successful for so long. "There's a way that we do things here, and it's not easy," said Bennett, who led all players in the playoffs with 15 goals. "We don't play an easy style of hockey. It demands a lot of you. Every single guy's bought into it. When some new guys came in, they instantly bought into what we do here and the commitment to being great, to winning. Every single guy just really bought into that." Schmidt found that out quickly. He played for Maurice in Winnipeg, got bought out last summer and just wanted to get his game back. That happened quickly, and the Stanley Cup was the reward after going through another long grind as a team. "It's the system. It's the group. It's just completely selfless," Schmidt said. "Guys just play one way, and they say, 'Hey, this is how we do things' and you've got to jump on board. Guys, once they mold themselves into the game, you just become another cog in the wheel here. That's just the way it runs. It's just a well-oiled machine."
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
This time around, Panthers' on-ice celebrations with the Stanley Cup were different
SUNRISE, Fla. – All you need to know about what makes the Florida Panthers special was revealed in the moments immediately after captain Sasha Barkov got his hands back on the Stanley Cup Tuesday. Rather than taking a customary solo lap around the ice at Amerant Bank Arena, Barkov skated directly into a red swarm of his teammates after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presented him with the shiny silver trophy for the second straight spring. ALEKSANDER BARKOV IS A 2X STANLEY CUP CHAMPION!! — x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 18, 2025 Barkov wasn't done there. The Panthers captain orchestrated a Cup pass line that saw every first-time winner get their hands on it before the team's stars took a twirl. That started with Nate Schmidt and Seth Jones, two veteran NHLers who joined the Panthers after last year's victory over the Edmonton Oilers, but also included multiple players who didn't see a minute of game action during the entire playoffs. Advertisement 'I didn't know, honestly,' said Schmidt, a first-time champion in his 12th NHL season. 'He just looked at me and he gave me the 'captain' death stare. You don't turn those eyes away. They said, 'We're gonna take a back seat to you guys.' It means a lot. 'Yeah … this group is really special. And now we'll be able to share this memory forever.' BARKOV HANDS THE #STANLEYCUP TO FIRST-TIME WINNER NATE SCHMIDT 👏 — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 18, 2025 You won't find an NHL team that battles its way to the top of the mountain without being close, but these Panthers took the 'we before me' ethos to a new level entirely. After accepting the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Sam Bennett waited another 10 minutes to hoist the Stanley Cup while 16 of his teammates got the honor ahead of him. Only here would it be possible for Evan Cormier to get a spot in line ahead of Bennett or Sam Reinhart, who scored four goals on four shots in Tuesday's Cup-clinching game. The third-string goaltender probably won't even get his name engraved in the trophy this summer after playing 36 games for the ECHL's Savannah Ghost Pirates this season. Barkov initially reminded him to pass the Stanley Cup to GM Bill Zito from the end of the player line, but a group of his teammates pushed him out there much sooner than that. Instead he ended up handing the trophy off to Sergei Bobrovsky, the first repeat champion to get it after the newcomers had each been recognized. 'It's surreal. I'm speechless right now,' said Cormier. 'I didn't butt in front of anybody, I was just waiting my turn. They just told me to go.' Tomas Nosek, who along with Schmidt was part of the Vegas Golden Knights expansion team that lost in the Stanley Cup Final to Washington in 2018, was another one of those first-time winners who received the Cup before Bennett, Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Advertisement His Stanley Cup Final got off to a rocky start when in Game 1 in overtime, he flipped a puck over the glass for a penalty that resulted in Leon Draisaitl's power-play winner. That's one big reason Nosek after the game embraced Maurice, who stood behind him and kept playing him. The 32-year-old broke down on Maurice's left shoulder. 'Indescribable,' Nosek said. 'There still is so many emotions. Can't figure out which one is which. It's happiness. It's belief. It's dream come true. It's everything mixed up. I'm just so happy I got the chance to sign here.' Nosek, who has a touching moment breaking down on Maurice's shoulder: 'I'm so glad I signed here.' — Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) June 18, 2025 Maurice said that moment with Nosek will be one of the most special memories of his career. 'What a wonderful thing for those guys to be on the ice when it went to zero,' Maurice said of his fourth liners, which included A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich. 'We're in trouble. We're down 2-0 to Toronto, and those three guys came in and they changed our fortune and earned the right to be on the ice at the end. 'That's a tough way to start your final (for Nosek). We shared things (as we hugged). I missed a line change in one of the games that cost us a goal that cost us a game in my mind. But the players rally around you and take care of ya. So that was kind of like the two guys who screwed up. That was very special for me. That will be one that I'll never forget.' For Schmidt, who took a million less from the Panthers than he could have got elsewhere, the move to Florida reinvigorated his career. He spent the playoffs writing his young child emails about what's been going on in his life. He said he couldn't wait to write the final chapter about winning the Stanley Cup, something they'll eventually share together when his boy learns how to read. Advertisement 'It doesn't really register right away,' Schmidt said. 'Can't really feel it until that Cup comes out on the ice. You don't really know until you see it, feel it. It's got its own heartbeat.' Schmidt says there's a reason why so many players the past three years have come to Florida and had career years. 'Just completely selfless,' he said. 'Guys just play one way, and they say, 'Hey, this is how we do things,' and you got to jump on board. And guys, they mold themselves, and you just become another cog in the wheel here. That's just the way it runs. It's just a well-oiled machine. You just don't know how you're going to fit in, right? You come into the group that just brings you right in from the beginning. I couldn't be more blessed.' And then there's Jones, who publicly begged to get out of Chicago before Zito came to the rescue. He was acquired from the basement-dwelling Blackhawks on March 2. He called this a 'freakin' whirlwind.' 'This feeling itself is amazing,' said Jones, standing next to his father, former NBA player Popeye Jones. 'It's lighter than you think. When you're so just amped up, your adrenaline, you're carrying it, and you lift it and all the fans are going nuts, you want to hold it forever. You get your lap with it, you kiss it, it's just a great feeling. 'All the hard work you put in, the day in and day out, the workouts, the practices, the training camp, everything — it all comes together, and it's all worth it. I talked to these guys on the phone, I talked to Bill, this was the only goal. This is their only thing they have in mind. They want to win another one, and I'm so happy they believed in me and wanted me to come here.' Seth Jones: 'what a freakin' whirlwind' — Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) June 18, 2025 The Panthers already owned the Stanley Cup after a seven-game series win over Edmonton, but they needed reinforcements to take a run at it again. Less than a week after last year's final, they said goodbye to virtually all of the depth that fueled the run, including two top-six defensemen, four bottom-six forwards and the backup goaltender. Advertisement How enthusiastically they embraced a former nemesis in Marchand after a deadline-day trade with the Boston Bruins spoke volumes. He wound up contributing 10 goals during these playoffs, including two overtime winners. 'Billy just went out and got (Marchand) and he meant everything to us,' said Rick Dudley, the senior adviser to Zito. 'You can't have enough of those types of people. He went after this guy and boy, was it a clutch move. I don't know that we're here without him.' Ask any of the Panthers, though, and they'll tell you that every member of their entourage had a hand in seeing them through a difficult playoff journey that included 10 road victories. 'It takes everyone,' Marchand said. They were a true band of brothers. 'On the road, it was together – no matter what,' said Tkachuk. 'Like every single person, trainers, everything. We'd go to the lounge and every single person (was there). This team is as tight of a team as you're going to find in pro sports and that's a huge reason why we won.' There was no denying that when it came time for them to take another dance with Stanley, the feeling on the ice was a little different this year. Less exuberance, but maybe a touch more satisfaction. 'The awareness that it doesn't go captain to captain to captain to Sam Reinhart, who scored four,' said Maurice. 'The awareness of each other, all those guys that touched it first, it was their first Cup, so that's what makes these men special. To be aware of that, they're just not selfish at all. There's no pecking order.' For all the brute force the Panthers often displayed in the heat of battle, there was something beautiful about the love they showed, too. The way they looked out for each other, and looked after each other. A true example for 31 other NHL organizations to strive for. 'It's actually not the Stanley Cups,' said Maurice. 'Watching these guys interact with each other, that's been the gift (of) this place.' Although the Stanley Cups are nice, too.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
'A well-oiled machine': How the Florida Panthers' team-first mentality led to another Stanley Cup
SUNRISE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov hoisted the Stanley Cup, skated with it for a few moments and then handed it to a grinning Nate Schmidt, in his first year with the Florida Panthers and raising hockey's hallowed trophy for the first time. Before any repeat winner touched it, every Panther who never had before got the chance. 'There's a lot of guys they play a ton of minutes that are huge contributors to this group, and they bypassed them and said: 'We had it last year. We'll never not cherish this moment,'' Schmidt said. 'It was amazing.' It also personified the Panthers, who did not have the best player in the final, not facing Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers again. They may not have even had the second-best with Leon Draisaitl there, too, but Florida repeating as champions showed exactly why hockey is the ultimate team sport. 'We just have so much heart, so much talent: Heart meets talent,' said winger Matthew Tkachuk, who played through a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle. 'Our team was a team. When things were getting hard for them, they looked to one guy. But our team, we do it collectively.' The Panthers had 19 non-goalies on the ice over six games against the Oilers; 15 registered a point and 11 scored at least once. Coach Paul Maurice said the team is 'just really deep — unusually so,' making the point that he essentially had three first lines to roll out at any given time. 'A very talented group of guys, so when you bring somebody in, we're going to play you with a really good player,' Maurice said. General manager Bill Zito, who inherited Barkov, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky , built the rest of the roster to win in the playoffs. With Maurice and his staff in charge, players who were adrift or simply mediocre elsewhere thrived in Florida. 'For the most part, every guy who's come here has had the best season of their careers,' Zito said. 'From that perspective, it's gratifying to think that we can create an environment where the guys can do that, but it's the team. It's that room. It truly is.' Fourth-liner A.J. Greer is one of those players after nearly giving up on his NHL dream a few years ago. He, Zito, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett and so many others use the word 'culture' to explain the Panthers' greatness, and it translates into results on the ice. The forecheck is never-ending, the harassment in the neutral zone relentless — and the offense burgeoning with talent. 'Everyone levels their game up here — every one of us,' Greer said. 'There's a sentiment of greatness but of just like wanting to be as good as you were yesterday.' Tkachuk, acquired by Zito in a trade from Calgary in the same summer of 2022 when Maurice was hired as coach, shook his head when asked about scoring the Cup-clinching goal in Game 6. He wanted to make a point that it doesn't matter who scores. 'I don't care about personal stats,' Tkachuk said. 'I don't care. Our team doesn't (care) about that. That's what makes us a team, and that's why we're lifting the Stanley Cup right now because we're a team and not a bunch of individuals.' McDavid, who had seven points in six games in the final, had nothing but praise after a second straight loss to the Panthers on the NHL's biggest stage. 'They're a really good team,' McDavid said. 'Very deserving. They were really good.' Florida was in the final for a third consecutive year, and the only loss during this stretch came to Vegas in 2023 when injuries ravaged Tkachuk, Ekblad and others. That was the start of the winning blueprint that has made the Panthers so successful for so long. 'There's a way that we do things here, and it's not easy,' said Bennett, who led all players in the playoffs with 15 goals. 'We don't play an easy style of hockey. It demands a lot of you. Every single guy's bought into it. When some new guys came in, they instantly bought into what we do here and the commitment to being great, to winning. Every single guy just really bought into that.' Schmidt found that out quickly. He played for Maurice in Winnipeg, got bought out last summer and just wanted to get his game back. That happened quickly, and the Stanley Cup was the reward after going through another long grind as a team. 'It's the system. It's the group. It's just completely selfless,' Schmidt said. 'Guys just play one way, and they say, 'Hey, this is how we do things' and you've got to jump on board. Guys, once they mold themselves into the game, you just become another cog in the wheel here. That's just the way it runs. It's just a well-oiled machine.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
With a chance to win the Stanley Cup at stake, it's ‘another day in paradise' for the Panthers
Step inside the Florida Panthers' dressing room on Tuesday after their morning skate, and things felt ... normal. 'Another day in paradise,' defenseman Nate Schmidt said at his stall with his usual bubbly smile. It might seem hard to fathom that this team, just a few short hours from that point, would be playing for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Florida entered Tuesday leading the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in the Cup Final. But this is the norm for the Panthers. As Schmidt put it, 'it has to be that way because we're a very methodical group.' Things have worked this way for the Panthers all season, so why change now? 'The guys, they do their thing, they do their warm ups and their routines. It just feels like that,' Schmidt said. 'It's the reason why when you look back in February, you're not saying, 'Oh, would you do this same thing in the playoffs? Our group does that. And that's I think what makes our team pretty special and able to handle the big moments.' Added center Sam Bennett: 'We haven't treated any days differently and this morning was the same. We were all pretty loose this morning, joking around, cracking jokes and staying loose. You know what's at stake tonight but you kind of just push that away and focus on what you can control and that's just taking your day, going through your routine, doing the same thing you've done and that's just how we're handling it.' For defenseman Seth Jones, who Florida acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Chicago Blackhawks and is in the Cup Final for the first time in his career, said he thought the nerves and anticipation entering his first potential Stanley Cup clincher would be high. It hasn't been, and he credits the team camaraderie for that. 'I was thinking about that the other day, the position I'm in and where I came from earlier this year, kind of the 180 it's been,' Jones said. 'Being around this group and the experience that's with this group has really kind of calmed my heart rate down, I think in the situation. I understand how big it is but these guys have been there, done that. being around them and how they're handling each day in this situation, that's been a big help for me, just really to calm down and look at it day by day and look at it like these guys have.' Coach Paul Maurice said the team's steadiness is 'really important and born by experience.' 'We've had some enormous wins here in the last three years, and really difficult, heartbreaking losses at the same time,' Maurice said. 'In the end, you figure out a way to round the edges off those that you don't get too excited, and those are all cliche things, but a very high pressure environment for every team and for two teams. It's a two month-long process, and it takes, I think, a while to learn how to manage that. I don't think it can be managed particularly well at the start. You have to learn how to do it. You have to suffer that defeat, and you've got to come off that win that is so exciting for you, except there's another game two days from now. So there's no point in getting all that excited. Handling that, I think living through it helps.' Oilers lineup changes Edmonton once again is mixing things up with its lineup in the Stanley Cup Final. Goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was benched midway through Games 3 and 4 and taken out completely in Game 5, will once again start in net for Game 6 over Calvin Pickard. Meanwhile, defenseman John Klingberg and forward Kasperi Kapanen are drawing back into the lineup for Troy Stecher and Jeff Skinner, respectively. Florida, meanwhile, is rolling with the same lineup as it has for the past three games. The only potential question mark was fourth-line forward Jonah Gadjovich, who briefly left Game 5 after blocking a shot and didn't practice on Monday or Tuesday, but Maurice said he's good to go.
