Bantering Points: 5/2/25

Here are today's news and links:

From Blueshirt Banter:

Eric Kohn and Joe Fortunatio discuss the seemingly inevitable arrival of Mike Sullivan as the Rangers' next head coach (BSB)

Joe examines the greater role Sullivan can play for the Blueshirts beyond simply being your run-of-the-mill retread head coach (BSB)

Chris Feldman breaks down what went wrong for the New Jersey Devils as they were unceremoniously bounced out of the playoffs in five games by the Carolina Hurricanes (BSB)

Rangers News:

Neil Best reports that Joe Micheletti will be retiring from the Blueshirts' broadcast booth, joining Sam Rosen in retirement after 19 years as the team's color analyst on television (Newsday)

Mollie Walker relays word of New York being in "advanced talks" with Sullivan to officially become Peter Laviolette's successor behind the bench (NY Post)

Brian Abate calls out Mika Zibanejad as one player in need of a massive bounce back season in order for the Rangers to return to their prior heights in 2025-26 (The Hockey Writers)

Nicholas Seltz hands out post-season awards in the wake of New York's unusually short season (The Hockey Writers)

Stan Fischler ponders if current Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper could be lurking as a surprise candidate as the Ranger's next bench boss (The Hockey News)

Around the NHL:

Connor Hellebuyck (WPG), Leon Draisaitl (EDM), and Nikita Kucherov have been named as finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player (TSN)

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators by a 4-2 margin in Game 6 to secure a 4-2 series victory and punch their ticket to the Atlantic Division Final against the Florida Panthers (Sportsnet)

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Minnesota by a 3-2 margin in Game 6 to secure a 4-2 series victory and punch their ticket to the Pacific Division Final (ESPN)