Ranking this season’s Stanley Cup contenders

Helene St. James: The Wings will take a run at John Tavares if he does not resign with the New York Islanders, but bear in mind that while teams can try to resign their own players a year out from unrestricted free agency, other teams cannot pursue Tavares until he becomes a UFA in summer of 2018. As for cap space, right now they are a little under $6 million if the cap ceiling stays the same for next season, but there is so much still to be determined. The Wings will try to move one of their goaltenders – Jimmy Howard ($5.3 million salary cap hit) and Petr Mrazek ($4 million), which would open up space. On the other hand, Tomas Tatar and Andreas Athanasiou (restricted) are among those requiring

The MVP discussion is ramping up as the season comes to a close and there are at least four viable candidates for the award.