Canadiens' Demidov, Flyers' Michkov-Martone duo headline young stars to watch in the NHL playoffs

It looked like this would be the spring of the past two No. 1 draft picks, Matthew Schaefer and Macklin Celebrini, making the NHL playoffs at 18 and 19 years old. Then Schaefer's New York Islanders and Celebrini's San Jose Sharks fell short.

There is plenty of youthful talent in the NHL postseason anyway, including rookies and players 21 and under getting their first taste of playoff hockey in the best league in the world.

Montreal’s Ivan Demidov, Pittsburgh’s Ben Kindel, Boston’s Fraser Minten, Philadelphia’s duo of Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov, and Anaheim’s Bennett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson are among the young stars to watch in the chase for the Stanley Cup.

“(This will be about) showcasing some of these young players that are on the rise that maybe haven’t had that experience,” retired Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger said. “Now they get a chance to kind of understand what it’s all about and what it means to play in the playoffs.”

Game 1 against Tampa Bay won't be Demidov's NHL playoff debut after he played in the first round a year ago against Washington. But the skilled, fast-puck-moving winger has gained some real experience since then; with 19 goals and 43 assists this season, he is a big reason Montreal is a legitimate contender.

“He’s just gotten better over the season at understanding the NHL game and understanding our systems and where he can be effective,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “He’s still a young kid in the league, and he’s going to keep getting better.”

Demidov, the fifth pick in the 2024 draft when Celebrini went first, is still only 20, and yet coach Martin St. Louis — himself a Hall of Famer — has entrusted him with an important top-six role.

“He’s really using his speed, using his skills and he creates a lot on the ice,” linemate Alex Newhook said. “Fun to play with. We play a fast game, and I think it suits his style a lot. He sees the ice really well. He plays fast himself. Sure, he can slow it down, but he fits that style and he’s built for what we’ve got going here.”

Schaefer making the leap to the NHL right away was expected. That was not necessarily the case for Kindel, whom Pittsburgh selected with the 12 pick in the draft. Kindel was so good in training camp that he gave the organization little choice but to keep him around.

"For him it was just continuing to check boxes," first-year coach Dan Muse said. “For a younger player, it’s just continuing to work with him and continuing to help his game evolve at the things that do go well and then over the course of the season, this is a game of mistakes. It’s also seeing how you adjust and how you adapt when maybe things don’t go as perfect.”

Kindel put up 35 points in 77 games. Game 1 on Saturday against Philadelphia comes two days before he turns 19.

“It's been a lot of fun,” Kindel said. “It’s been a whirlwind, but I love going out there and competing.”

Mintent is the top prospect Boston got for trading Brandon Carlo to Toronto at the trade deadline last year. He was not expected to make the team right away at 21, but the 6-foot-2 center forced the coaching staff to make a decision.

“It was more up to him, so I give him a lot of credit,” coach Marco Sturm said, adding that he has seen Minten's confidence grow in his rookie season. “When you have that, I think it automatically gives you more boost. It could be his skating. It could be his just calmness on the ice, playing a two-way game. He’s still growing. He’s still becoming a man and he’s just taking really good strides right now.”

Minten has played up and down the lineup and shown he can handle it.

“What impressed me is his ability to play in all three zones,” teammate Casey Mittelstadt said. “As a young guy, I had my troubles with that, so to see him do it is very impressive.”

This is Michkov's second season after Philadelphia got him out of his contract in the KHL a year after taking him with the seventh pick in the 2023 draft. Michkov's point total decreased, but he has become a better all-around player at 21.

“He’s really taken the information and applied it,” coach Rick Tocchet said. "He’s always been a team guy, but it’s just about the team. And then whatever we can do to help him, we’ll help him.”

Martone, 19, joined in March after his college season at Michigan State ended. He gives the Flyers a power forward to contrast with Michkov's offensive flashiness.

“They’re just a little bit different,” Tocchet said. "It’s good to have different flavors in your lineup.”

General manager Pat Verbeek and his staff took a little heat for drafting Carlsson second in 2023 ahead of Adam Fantilli and for taking Sennecke third, long before his projection, in 2024. They have made Anaheim’s scouting department look smart.

Sennecke could be a Calder Trophy finalist for rookie of the year, and Carlsson is the most important player for the Ducks as they've returned to the playoffs under coach Joel Quenneville.

Carlsson was nearly a point-a-game player with 67 points in 70 games around the injury that sidelined him before the Olympics. Sennecke’s 60 points were two shy of Demidov for the most among rookies.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Anaheim Ducks right wing Beckett Sennecke (45) tries to keep control of the puck while under pressure from Calgary Flames center Martin Pospisil, center, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) stops a shot by Boston Bruins center Fraser Minten (93) stops a shot by during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Montréal Canadiens' Ivan Demidov, right, takes a shot past the reach of Philadelphia Flyers' Jacob Gaucher during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

NEW YORK (AP) — Don Schlitz, the storied country music songwriter known for such hits as “The Gambler,” “On the Other Hand” and “Forever and Ever, Amen,” died Thursday at a Nashville hospital. He was 73.

The cause of death was not immediately known. A press release from the Grand Ole Opry described it as a sudden illness.

The two-time Grammy Award winner was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. “I will never be able to believe that I deserve this, unless I receive it as a representative of my family, my mentors, my collaborators, my promoters and my friends,” Schlitz said in 2017, when he learned of the Country Music Hall of Fame honor. “That’s the only way I can deal with this.”

Schlitz made his Grand Ole Opry debut in 2017 and was later inducted in 2022. He is the only non-artist to receive the honor in the Opry’s 100 years. The historic venue's Saturday night show will be dedicated in his honor.

He was named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year for four consecutive years, from 1988 through 1991. He also wrote music and lyrics for “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” the 1999 Broadway musical.

Schlitz's songs are widely considered some of the most unwavering in country music, and have been recorded by such hitmakers as Kenny Rogers (“The Gambler,” “The Greatest”), Randy Travis (“On the Other Hand,” “Forever and Ever, Amen”), The Judds (“I Know Where I’m Going”), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (“I Love Only You,”) Tanya Tucker (“I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love,”) Mary Chapin Carpenter (“He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”) and many others.

He also wrote “You Can’t Make Old Friends” for Rogers and Dolly Parton; their first duet since 1983's “Islands in the Stream.”

Schlitz, a North Carolina native, was born in 1952 and raised in Durham before packing his bags and heading to Nashville. His first recorded song, “The Gambler,” is perhaps his most enduring hit and the tent-pole of his legacy. The song, which was recorded by Rogers in 1978 and certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), opened doors for country music in the '70s, a track that was not only a huge genre hit but also a pop crossover one.

As Rogers said when he inducted Schlitz into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012, “Don doesn’t just write songs. He writes careers.”

“We are heartbroken by the news of the passing of Don Schlitz. Don loved his family, his home state of North Carolina, and above all, songs and songwriters. He carried that love into every room, every stage and every lyric he ever wrote,” Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association CEO, wrote in a statement Friday. “Not long ago, we shared a dinner, and as we were leaving, Don picked up a guitar and began to play. That is how I will always remember him, smiling and with a guitar in his hand. His legacy lives on through his music and the many artists and writers he inspired. He will be deeply missed.”

“Don Schlitz’s place as a songwriting great would be secure had he never written ‘The Gambler’ or had he only written ‘The Gambler,’” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, wrote in a statement Friday. “Nashville was richer for his presence and is lesser for his absence.”

Schlitz is survived by his wife Stacey, daughter Cory Dixon and her husband Matt Dixon, son Pete Schlitz and his wife Christian Webb Schlitz, grandchildren Roman, Gia, Isla and Lilah, brother Brad Schlitz and sister Kathy Hinkley.

FILE - Songwriter Don Schlitz appears at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductions in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - Don Schlitz performs at the 2012 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction and awards gala in New York on June 14, 2012. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)