The end of the regular season presents interesting questions for coaches, including those who already have playoff spots clinched.
In the case of Bruce Boudreau, he must weigh the health of players versus the drive to win the Pacific Division.
Barry Trotz has an unusual conundrum in having little to gain, aside from his goalie possibly standing alone as the goalie with the most wins in a single season.
So far, we don’t know if Trotz will roll out Braden Holtby in an attempt to win a 49th game against the hungry Anaheim Ducks:
Will Holtby play tonight and try to break the record? "We'll see," Trotz said. (So, I won't know until 5:30 p.m.) https://t.co/TQIUPW68OF
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 10, 2016
Sometimes this stuff is obvious, like when a player is dealing with some ailments. Boudreau’s letting goalie John Gibson and Ryan Kesler rest ...
Ducks sent John Gibson and Ryan Kesler back to the OC from Denver last night. Both nursing lower-body ailments but should be OK for Game 1.
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) April 10, 2016
... While other important players like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry might go tonight:
Will confirm with BB later but Ducks' other big guns should be going tonight. Feeling is division is now there to win, so why not?
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) April 10, 2016
Don’t worry about the Ducks tanking one way or another, however, according to the OC Register’s Eric Stephens.
Sometimes these decisions come late, especially with players like Alex Ovechkin (guys who love to play but accrue significant mileage). There might be some game-time decisions, yet we know at least Kesler and Gibson won’t go on Sunday.