Glen Gulutzan Hired As Flames Next Head Coach
Wednesday 10:35am: The Flames have indeed hired Gulutzan as their next head coach, as CTV’s Heath Brown reports. He’ll be announced as soon as Thursday.
Tuesday 10:46am: It appears the Calgary Flames have found their new bench boss as multiple reports suggest they are set to hire Glen Gulutzan as their 16th head coach in franchise history. He would take over from Bob Hartley who was relieved of his duties in early May. Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province says to “bet on it” that Gulutzan will get the job while TSN’s Bob McKenzie suggested earlier today that if the Flames can reach a “satisfactory contract situation” with him that he’s the “likely guy” (transcription from Today’s Slapshot’s Chris Nichols).
Gulutzan has spent the past three years as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks working on the staffs of John Tortorella and Willie Desjardins. The Canucks only made the postseason once in those three seasons, coincidentally losing to Calgary back in 2014-15.
The 44 year old Gulutzan has some NHL head coaching experience under his belt having coached the Dallas Stars in 2011-12 and the lockout-abbreviated 2012-13 seasons, compiling a 64-57-9 record in that stretch.
With Calgary featuring young, up-and-coming players such as Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Sam Bennett, it was expected that GM Brad Treliving would look to bring in someone who is more experienced with dealing with younger players and isn’t as much as a hard-line coach as Hartley. Gulutzan fills that bill, having spent five years in the ECHL with Las Vegas (at one point, an affiliate of the Flames) and two years in the AHL as a head coach with the Texas Stars, affiliate of Dallas.
With Anaheim’s hiring of Randy Carlyle, Calgary’s vacancy is the last one to be filled this offseason.
Ian McCoshen Signs Deal With Panthers
UPDATE 10:27 AM CST: Jimmy Murphy of VICE Sports confirmed that McCoshen has reached a deal is on his way to Florida. He adds that they are trying hard to re-sign Brian Campbell and bring him back to the Panthers.
10:11 AM CST: According to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com, the Florida Panthers are close to signing Boston College defenceman Ian McCoshen. There have been rumors of McCoshen making the jump to the NHL for a while now, after another strong season for the Eagles in which he put up 21 points in 40 games. The 20-year old was drafted by the Panthers in 2013, but took his talents to the NCAA to play for the storied BC program.
If McCoshen does indeed make the jump, he’ll be a welcome addition to a back-end that is set to lose Brian Campbell to free agency and has already traded away Erik Gudbranson. There is also the possibility that 39-year old captain Willie Mitchell calls it a career, which would leave quite the hole on Florida’s blue line. Currently they have Aaron Ekblad, Alex Petrovic, Jakub Kindle and Dimitry Kulikov penciled into their top four, but McCoshen’s left-handed shot and strong physical play would slot in well on the third pairing.
For Florida, it would be the first move of an offseason aimed at keeping their foothold on the top of the Atlantic division, where they won 47 games and tallied 103 points in what was a surprising season.
Riley Sheahan Inks Two-Year Extension
According to Ansar Khan of MLive.com, the Detroit Red Wings have given Riley Sheahan a two-year extension worth $4.15MM. The 24-year old winger was set to become a restricted free agent this summer, after completing a two year deal signed before the 2014-15 season that saw him earn $1.9MM.
After a season in which Sheahan scored 14 goals and tallied 25 points, the former first-round pick looks to have a lock on a bottom six role on Jeff Blashill’s Red Wings. Those 14 goals actually ranked him sixth on the team, and with Brad Richards, Darren Helm, and Pavel Datsyuk all expected to leave this offseason, the Red Wings can’t afford to have a drawn out negotiation with some of their home grown talent. Sheahan put up just a single point in the Red Wings first round exit this season, and will need to continue to develop his offensive game if he’s to ever climb up the Detroit depth chart.
The Red Wings will now turn their attention to remaining RFAs Danny DeKeyser, Teemu Pulkkinen and Petr Mrazek. The 24-year old Mrazek is the most important of the three after putting up a solid season as the Red Wings number 1 goaltender. With Jimmy Howard already under contract for just under $5.3 million per season, the Wings will look to sign Mrazek to a similar low-numbered bridge deal for the next couple of seasons.
DeKeyser played a big role on the Red Wings’ back end, logging almost 22 minutes of ice time per game. His 20 points was a disappointing total for the 26-year old, but he’s set to get a substantial raise from the $2.9 million he earned last season. With Kyle Quincey coming off the books this season, the Red Wings will probably re-invest in DeKeyser who will be looking at around $4 million per season.
Former Canucks Goalie Cloutier Hired As Team’s Goaltending Coach
The Vancouver Canucks have hired former goalie Dan Cloutier as their new goaltending coach, the team announced Tuesday.
#Canucks name Cloutier goalie coach; Melanson now goalie coach, player dev.
RELEASE → https://t.co/ocOTFpUVpepic.twitter.com/EW1how2B2E
— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) June 14, 2016
According to the release, former goaltending coach Roland “Rollie” Melanson will now work with the Canucks goaltending prospects in the AHL, CHL, and NCAA. He was the Canucks goaltending coach for the last six seasons, working with Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider, Eddie Lack, Jacob Markstrom, and Ryan Miller. In April, Melanson announced he would not return for a seventh season in that capacity.
Cloutier has spent the previous four seasons as a goaltending consultant for the Canucks, working with their prospects. He played 208 games with the Canucks between 2000 and 2006, posting 109 wins with a .906SV% and 2.42 GAA.
Of course, we all remember Cloutier for one specific moment of his career:
Free Agent Focus: St. Louis Blues
While the St. Louis Blues were able to advance to the Western Conference Final, they still fell short of getting to the Stanley Cup Final, instead falling to San Jose in the third round. Now, they will retool their roster in an effort to take that next step.
One area they have already made some considerable changes in is behind the bench. Assistant coaches Kirk Muller and Brad Shaw opted to decline one year extension offers; Muller has already signed a multi-year deal in Montreal. Yesterday, the Blues replaced them with Mike Yeo and Rick Wilson. With head coach Ken Hitchcock set to retire following 2016-17, Yeo will take his place as the bench boss at that time.
As for their player personnel, here is a closer look at their free agent outlook.
Key Restricted Free Agent: W Jaden Schwartz – Big things were expected of Schwartz this past season but missed nearly four months with an ankle injury that held him to just 33 regular season games. He managed to put up 22 points but that was still off his point-per-game average of 0.84 from 2014-15. Schwartz was a bigger factor in the Blues’ playoff run, tying for third in team scoring with 14 points in 20 games. He’s coming off his bridge deal and is due a qualifying offer of $2.7MM. It’s expected that GM Doug Armstrong will be seeking a long-term deal to keep him in the fold.
Other NHL RFA’s: W Dmitrij Jaskin, W Magnus Paajarvi
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Team captain David Backes has been one of St. Louis’ more consistent producers over the last few seasons, scoring at least 20 goals in each of the last five full NHL campaigns while tying Schwartz for third in postseason points. He’s also one of the rare ‘power centers’ in the NHL and is going to get a long-term, big money contract.
Troy Brouwer was acquired last offseason to bring more grit to the lineup and he delivered not only that but some secondary scoring as well, picking up 39 points in 82 regular season games while adding eight goals in the playoffs, good for second best on the team. Power forwards are always in high demand on the market and Brouwer will be no exception.
Other NHL UFA’s: C Kyle Brodziak, C Steve Ott, W Scottie Upshall
One other player to watch for this offseason is C Vladimir Sobotka. He was awarded a $2.725MM salary in 2014 from an arbitrator but opted to play in the KHL instead. Sobotka is reportedly considering coming back across the pond to rejoin the Blues and if he does, will receive the salary he was awarded two years ago; he must play out that contract before being eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Projected Cap Space: St. Louis has just over $12MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly. However, they still have a minimum of five forwards to get under contract which will make it difficult to retain Backes or Brouwer without freeing up some salary via trade beforehand.
Free Agent Focus: Nashville Predators
The 2015-2016 Nashville Predators advanced to the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs for only the third time in franchise history before losing to the San Jose Sharks in seven games. Nashville comes into this offseason with ample cap room and only one major expiring contract.
Cap Space: $11,511,190 (according to CapFriendly)
Key UFAs: F Paul Gaustad and G Carter Hutton. Gaustad’s tenure on the Predators has been relatively quiet. The 34 year old center has failed to crack 20 points in his last two seasons, but excelled in the faceoff circle. His 55.3% face-off percentage was good for 18th in the league. Carter Hutton served as Pekke Rinne’s backup last season, going 7-5 with a .918 SV% and a 2.33 GAA. As we reported earlier, however, Nashville signed G Marek Mazanec to a two year deal. GM David Poile indicated that the move may have left Hutton as the odd man out.
Key RFAs: F Filip Forsberg. Forsberg led all Predators forwards this season with 33G and 64P. The former 1st round draft pick was traded to Nashville by the Washington Capitals for Martin Erat, who themselves acquired the pick from Colorado for Semyon Varlamov. Forsberg is coming off an entry-level deal, and the Predators are in talks with his camp to sign him to a long term extension.
Other RFAs: F Calle Jarnkrok, F Gabriel Bourque, D Petter Granberg.
Anaheim Ducks Nate Thompson Out With Long-term Injury
Anaheim Ducks manager Bob Murray announced Tuesday that Nate Thompson tore his achilles while working out during the off-season. He is expected to miss most of next season, and a return before the trade deadline looks unlikely.
This is Thompson’s second major injury in two seasons. Thompson missed the first 26 games last season with a torn labrum. He scored 3G and 6P during the rest of the season and potted 2G in the Ducks’ first round loss to the Nashville Predators. He was used mainly as a grinding fourth-line forward.
Buyout Candidates: Bickell, Bolland, Cowen
With the buyout window opening Wednesday evening, there is speculation as to which players will most likely see their contracts bought out. Luke Fox from Sportnet put together a list of players who might find themselves a victim of buyer’s remorse. Here are a few:
- Bryan Bickell: After having the playoff performance of a lifetime during the Chicago Blackhawks 2013 Stanley Cup run, Bickell’s contract has been a thorn in the side of the Hawks constant cap worries. Signed to a 4-year, $16MM deal in 2013, the return on investment has been null for the Blackhawks. Some will point to bench boss Joel Quenneville as one of the reasons Bickell never found sustained success after his magical year. Scott Powers wrote in the Chicago Sun Times back in January that Bickell was resigned to his fate, and that it was ultimately up to the Chicago brass as to how they solved the problem. Bickell was shuttled back and forth to AHL affiliate Rockford, and barely saw ice time even when he was up in Chicago. As Fox points out, with only a year left and $4MM owed, if Bickell isn’t traded, he’s most likely to be bought out.
- Dave Bolland: Another former Blackhawk, Bolland has been injury plagued and unable to produce like he did when he was in Chicago. Back in December, the Hockey News speculated that Bolland would be an excellent candidate to be removed from the books with 3 years still left on his deal. However, the average hit on the Cap should Florida choose to do this would be $1.833MM per year through the 2021-2022 season. While the Panthers have historically taken on large contracts to remain above the salary cap floor (Brian Campbell comes to mind immediately), this would be a steep price for six seasons of a nearly $2MM hit. One other caveat: Fox reports that Bolland failed a recent physical, which would disqualify his contract from being bought out per CBA rules.
- Jared Cowen: The Maple Leafs are in the midst of an epic purge, and already dealt most of the bad contracts from the previous regime. Cowen’s was acquired in the Dion Phaneuf trade, and as Fox notes, general manager Lou Lamoriello already indicated that Cowen would be bought out. TSN (as well as mentioned in Fox’s article) also writes that the Leafs would get a credit for buying the contract out. Mark this one down as a guarantee.
Snapshots: Las Vegas, Johansson, Ladd, Okposo
The hockey world was abuzz with the confirmation that Las Vegas will in fact be the benefactor of expansion, making it the first of the big four sports in the city. According to Associated Press writer Greg Beacham, the fact that the team is bid out by Black Knight Sports and Entertainment lends credence to the thought that the nickname will in fact be the Black Knights. Beacham also points out that despite the financial woes seen in Arizona, the NHL is confident that hockey can flourish in the southwest.
Other news around hockey:
- Marcus Johansson and the Washington Capitals appear ready to battle over money reports Chuck Gormley at CSN Mid Atlantic. Johansson had another stellar season for the Capitals, registering 46 points in the regular season and adding 7 more in the playoffs. But Gormley writes that it might not be enough for Capitals GM Brian MacLellan, who believes a hometown discount won’t happen. Gormley also points out that Johansson is a valuable commodity, playing both wings and center for head coach Barry Trotz. Johansson isn’t the only one up for a contract, as defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and forwards Tom Wilson, and Michael Latta headline the restricted free agents the Capitals must re-sign.
- ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun penned that unrestricted free agent forward Andrew Ladd is most likely moving on from the Chicago Blackhawks. The 30-year-old winger was dealt to the Blackhawks in February but knew the Hawks had salary cap restrictions. While Ladd provided a spike in production, scoring 8 goals and 12 points in his return to Chicago, the Blackhawks were bounced by the Blues in 7 games in the first round of the playoffs. Ladd notched a goal and an assist in the seven games. LeBrun writes that Ladd is looking to join a contender, and is also considering his family’s wishes on where he goes next.
- LeBrun also reported that New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo is all but headed to free agency. The 28-year-old winger was a major contributor with 64 points (22-42) and will be a hot commodity once the window opens for free agents. LeBrun points out that Okposo’s age and scoring acumen are the main reasons teams will chase after him in July.
Free Agent Focus: Washington Capitals
The 2015-2016 Washington Capitals were a pick by many to win the Stanley Cup after breezing through the regular season and capturing the President’s Trophy as the top point getter in league. But once again facing the now champion Pittsburgh Penguins, the Capitals found history repeating itself and lost to their rival in six games.
Cap Space: $12,788,204 (via CapFriendly)
Key UFAs: Winger Jason Chimera still registered 20 goals and 40 points in a full 82 games. It was the first time Chimera registered 20 goals in a season since the 2011-2012 campaign. Though he was quieter in the playoffs, Chimera was valuable as a third line wing and also spent time on the second power play unit. A return to Washington isn’t out of the question, but according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, Chimera is keeping his options open after one of the best seasons of his career.
Other UFAs: F Mike Richards, D Mike Weber.
Key RFAs: D Dmitry Orlov and F Marcus Johansson. Orlov notched 8 goals and 21 assists and played all 82 games, averaging 16:02 on the ice. His playoff numbers were dismal, but he was one of many Capitals who failed to produce in the postseason. Johansson not only produced in the regular season with 46 points (17-29), but he also registered 7 points in 12 playoff games. The Capitals and Johansson have a history of negotiations and after an arbitrator ruled in favor of Johansson last year, it will be interesting to see how the Capitals value Johansson during negotiations.
Other RFAs: F Tom Wilson, F Michael Latta.