Monday's FTB: NHL Final rematch on the horizon

Yesterday at the Memorial Cup:

Today's game is Moncton vs Medicine Hat, with London playing the WHL champs tomorrow at 7 pm. What's at stake in the round-robin for London now is an extra day off if they come first and can skip the semifinals. London cannot finish out of the top three now.

In the NHL yesterday, Edmonton beat Dallas in an afternoon game to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The convincing win and the ease with which Florida is handling Carolina so far seems to be setting the stage for a rematch of last year's final.

Today's game at 8 pm is Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final. Florida leads 3-0 in that series.

Men's Worlds wrapped up yesterday with Sweden winning the bronze, and USA taking gold in overtime on the only goal of the game against Switzerland.

It's not going to be very long now before there won't be any hockey being played until the development camps after July 1.

The NHL Draft Combine comes next on the calendar, and it runs June 1-7 in Buffalo.

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Once that's done, we'll likely have some more information on the format of this year's draft. The NHL Board of Governors voted to have teams not appear in person at the draft this year. Before this has even happened, it's been discussed as in flux. But draft prospects will attend. This is not going to be like the Covid drafts.

Last year's draft, due to the Jeff Marek issue, taught us all something that should have been obvious. The teams decide on their pick and then tell the broadcaster their choice a few minutes in advance – that clock on the pick business is a little bit of a performance. The broadcaster is ready to focus on the right prospect as the pick is announced.

This year's draft is likely not going to be all that much different, there just won't be tables of team staff on the floor of the venue.

The Leafs own the Florida second-rounder and have five picks in the third to seventh round. So far, that is. I can't remember the last time that didn't change on or before draft day.

The AHL playoffs are still going on:

They lag a little behind the NHL, and haven't gotten to the conference final stage yet.

The PWHL finals are also ongoing. Minnesota holds the lead heading into today's game in St. Paul with a 5 pm Eastern Time start. The Frost can repeat as champions with a win, and Ottawa can bring the series back home for a final game on Wednesday if they win.

Arvind and Fulemin have the autopsy for this year's Leafs.

That's it for today. I'm sure the Leafs will make some news this week even if it's bland and vague statements from Brad Treliving.

Happy Monday, everyone.