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Analysts Weigh In On The Stars’ Hiring Of Ken Hitchcock

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The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell says it’s necessity, and not nostalgia, that led Ken Hitchcock back to Dallas. Writing that the Stars are a “mess” in net and on the blue line, Campbell sees Hitchcock as the perfect tonic for a team struggling to find an identity and build on its successes during the 2015-16 season.  From Campbell:

Hitchcock, of course, is the only coach in franchise history to win a Stanley Cup in Dallas. And hooking up with the old ex certainly worked out for Claude Julien and the Montreal Canadiens, Randy Carlyle and the Anaheim Ducks and Paul Maurice and the Carolina Hurricanes.

And there’s no doubt that the market’s familiarity with Hitchcock is a nice bonus, GM Jim Nill is far too smart to pass over more qualified candidates just to get the band back together. Ken Hitchcock is coaching the Dallas Stars next season because Ken Hitchcock is exactly what the Dallas Stars need next season.

Campbell believes that Hitchcock will prove an immediate gain for the penalty kill, which was a source of discontent for Dallas all season. He also writes that Hitchcock should improve the overall defensive strategy, which in turn, will help the netminders, who have been underwhelming.

  • Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning-News’ Mike Heika recalls that it was after a visit to Detroit in 2010 that Hitchcock became acquainted with Nill, who was then the assistant general manager in Detroit. Heika cautions that for this to work, Nill has to unconditionally support Hitchcock, who has been known to rankle his players–going back to his first stint in Dallas. He adds that this shouldn’t be challenging for Nill, since Detroit did employ two of the toughest coaches in terms of mindset: Scotty Bowman and Mike Babcock.
  • Finally, Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski rejects the nostalgia route as well, believing that it was absolutely the hire that Nill had to make. Hitchcock, Wyshynski writes, is exactly the guy to stop the Stars’ slide and make them a more defensively competent team. Further,  the netminder between the pipes is irrelevant as Hitch succeeded regardless of the goalie during his other stops. Outside of perhaps Eddie Belfour, Hitchcock delivered winners in spite of goalies who rarely stole games for his team. Instead, it was defensive prowess that Hitchcock used to win, and will use again to get Dallas back to where they should be.

Gerard Gallant Expected To Be Named Vegas’ Head Coach

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Per Sportsnet, the Vegas Golden Knights are set to name Gerard Gallant the first head coach in team history. Gallant was recently the head coach of the Florida Panthers, a post he was fired from back in November.  Las Vegas Review-Journal writer Steve Carp wrote a piece indicating Gallant as the choice  while Dreger tweeted confirmation later. Though Vegas owner Bill Foley would not confirm Gallant as the next head coach, he did say that the press conference will take place Thursday.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted earlier in the day that Gallant was in the mix in Dallas, which eventually went to Ken Hitchcock, who is now in his second go around with the Stars. Gallant brings an impressive resume to Vegas, a team that will have one of the better competitive advantages in comparison to other NHL expansion teams, thanks to parity within the league. Gallant led Florida to a division title and the organization’s best finish in regular season history before being abruptly fired by then-general manager Tom Rowe in November.

Tomorrow’s press conference is set for noon.

Injury Notes: Murray, Krejci Down For Game 1

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Matt Murray went down with an apparent lower-body injury per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Dave Molinari. Marc-Andre Fleury will replace him in net for Game 1 against Columbus. Further details are not available, but the seriousness of the injury may have a significant impact on Pittsburgh’s Cup hopes. Murray’s stats were substantially better than Fleury’s throughout the season, securing his role as the starter after question marks last summer regarding the latter’s future. Murray’s .923 save percentage was good for 8th in the league among tenders, with 32 wins and 4 shutouts. Fleury, by comparison, only had a .909 save percentage, securing only 18 wins and 1 shutout.

GM Jim Rutherford opted to not move Fleury before the draft, and again held pat before the trade deadline even with the looming expansion draft posing complications to the two-goalie plan. Depending on the severity of the injury to Murray, these decisions may have been strokes of genius for a team that has been plagued by injuries all season long. Whether Fleury will revert to his championship form of 2008 or 2009, or flounder as he did in 2012 or 2013 remains to be seen. The statistics from this past season suggest that against Vezina favorite Sergei Bobrovsky, Marc-Andre Fleury may struggle to stack up.

David Krejci was a late scratch for the Boston Bruins before their game 1 against Ottawa. Although injury information this time of year is often hard to come by, Krejci had been expected to play earlier in the day. The only information we have regarding the nature of the ailment is that it is upper-body. Sean Kuraly took his spot in the lineup. Krejci is easily one of the top offensive threats on the Bruins, so if this ailment is nagging, they will be hard-pressed to replace his production or experience. On a team restocked with promising youngsters, Krejci boasted a total of 77 points in 93 total playoff games. The Bruins’ fortunes in this series would be substantially improved if Krejci can return quickly.

Vegas Notes: Bill Foley, Team Identity, Coaching Decision

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“It’s all just about the show.” These are the words of owner Bill Foley regarding his newly minted Vegas Golden Knights. In his afternoon interview on FoxSports 1340 AM Las Vegas, Bill Foley discussed the team’s inception and his vision for growing the game on the Strip.  Citing the legend of Excalibur, the practically giddy owner proposed his grand broadcasting plans, and outlined his overall vision for the Vegas startup.

Team Identity:

“We want a team of speed, agility, and finesse.” The league has definitely shifted in this general direction, especially since the Pittsburgh Penguins blitzed their way to a Stanley Cup last season. The difference between a Penguins team and a future Knights team, obviously will be determined  by the large gap in top-tier offensive talent.

“We are going to build from the net out.” From Foley’s commentary, we should expect a low-scoring squad for the first couple years of inception. Although Foley aims to make the playoffs in 3 years, a large part of his relative success will be determined by the quality of goaltending he will be able to acquire. Will he merely be satisfied with a Calvin Pickard? The safe bet is that he will attempt to acquire a veteran with NHL seasons under his belt. Would Marc-Andre Fleury be available in a simple transaction? Ben Bishop, considering his backup status on the LA Kings? There are many avenues for GM George McPhee to explore.

Expansion Draft:

“We hope to…put a bunch of picks in our pocket.” Foley described quite clearly his intention to manipulate and maneuver his way into procuring draft picks from other squads worried about losing players. He seems to be quite content settling on stockpiling picks and creating a backlog of prospects. His commentary here may indicate a flurry of activity on the part of his management team and other groups, trying to protect their players under the limited protection options of 7 Forwards, 3 Defensemen, 1 Goalie, or 8 Skaters and 1 Goalie.

Coaching:

“Flexible…someone I can work with. We need someone who is a players’ coach.” The Vegas owner stated that he definitely wants a coach without an old-school mentality. He’s looking for a coach who will be able to maintain focus and passion in his squad regardless of overall record, and the inevitable struggles a new franchise will face. Perhaps Gerard Gallant would fit this role, although there are plenty of options in the coaching arena these days.

Community:

Vegas intends to have half-hour pre-game shows before each game, one-hour post-game shows, and an hour-long hockey devoted call-in show on weekdays, complete with interviews and analysis. Foley also revealed a deeper partnership with Fox Sports, radio coverage on Lotus, and a Spanish broadcast on ESPN Deportes. Foley also mentioned interest in the creation of more ice rinks in the area to support youth hockey, specifically two sheets of ice in Henderson. He stated his optimism of the Vegas passion for hockey after the successful ticket drive, and stated his desire to create a lasting foundation of interest.

Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Michalek, Penguins

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Among the many pieces of interest in Isabelle Khurshudyan’s excellent profile of Evgeny Kuznetsov for the Washington Post, was the fact that the 24-year old center would love to stay in Washington for his whole career, and that Capitals’ GM Brian MacLellan admits a long-term deal could be in the future. Kuznetsov is a restricted free agent this summer and is coming off another excellent season with 59 points in 82 games—already the third season in which he’s played at least 80. That durability is a big part of why he’s such an important piece for the Capitals to lock up long-term, but it won’t be easy for them to do so this summer.

Washington has quite a bit of money coming off the books, and with Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, Brett Connolly, Dmitry Orlov, Nate Schmidt, Phillip Grubauer and a host of minor league players all set to become restricted free agents, it is still going to be a tight squeeze. Should the team want to re-sign any of the excellent veterans—T.J. Oshie, Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Williams to name a few—that are heading to unrestricted free agency, it will be even tighter. Handing out long-term deals may seem like a good idea, but it just might not be possible for everyone in Washington.

  • The Minnesota Wild have called up Steve Michalek from the AHL to serve as their third goaltender tonight. In the playoffs, teams often carry an emergency netminder in case something happens to one of theirs in the warm-up. As Michael Russo of the Star Tribune explains, this will likely be Alex Stalock after the next two Iowa Wild games. Stalock started two games down the stretch for the Wild over Darcy Kuemper, and it is still unknown who would go into the net should Devan Dubnyk falter or suffer an injury.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins recent history with turning minor league players into capable NHLers helped them land one of the biggest NCAA prizes this spring, as Shawn P. Roarke of NHL.com writes in his latest piece. Zach Aston-Reese admits that it was part of his decision to sign there: “to see how much [AHL players] have grown as players and contributed to the team’s success at the NHL level, that was really attractive.” Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Tom Kuhnackl are all prime examples of what starting off your young players in the minors can do for their development, as the Penguins head into the playoffs with a lot riding on players like those three.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Jens Looke To Entry-Level Contract

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While half the NHL prepares for the playoffs, the Arizona Coyotes are busy working to get their draft picks under contract. Today, they’ve signed Jens Looke to an entry-level deal. The team did not release the details of the contract.

The Coyotes took Looke in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2015 draft with a pick originally belonging to the Washington Capitals—it had previously been traded to Calgary for Curtis Glencross, before the Flames used it to move up in the draft. Since then, Looke has actually moved slightly backwards, being relegated to play second Swedish league for Timra when he had been playing for Brynas of the SHL. Despite that, Looke has played on three straight World Junior teams for Sweden, and impressed with his excellent playmaking ability.

The Coyotes continue to lock up young talent and build a pipeline for the future, and will have another chance at the draft in June. With the third-best odds (tied with Vegas) for the first pick, it will be interesting to see where they will pick. The Coyotes have selected a player from the OHL in the first round of four straight drafts, and haven’t taken an international player that high since selecting Oliver Ekman-Larsson in 2009.

Colorado Notes: Butcher, Varlamov, Iginla

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The Colorado Avalanche are still hoping to sign Hobey Baker winner Will Butcher, but the star defenseman doesn’t want a contract offer just yet. Butcher told Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that he would rather sit with Avalanche GM Joe Sakic and discuss the matter with his parents before any offer was made. That’s a reasonable ask, but it won’t assuage any fears in Colorado about him following in the footsteps of Jimmy Vesey and hitting the open market this August.

Butcher was drafted in the fifth-round back in 2013, but is now just a few months away from becoming a free agent should he decide to wait that long. He could still obviously sign with the Avalanche after seeing what else is out there, but with his continued development into an NHL-ready defender, they’d be up against several other teams in pursuit of him. The 22-year old had 37 points in 43 games this year as captain of the NCAA Championship winning University of Denver.

  • Adrian Dater of BSN Denver has been told that the team plans on protecting Semyon Varlamov over Calvin Pickard in the upcoming expansion draft. The team must select just one of their goaltenders to expose, and it apparently will be the younger, cheaper Pickard. It seems like a very odd decision, given Varlamov’s injury status and expensive contract, both of which would likely be deterrents to the Golden Knights over some of the other available goaltenders. Pickard on the other hand would cost Vegas just $1MM next season and continue to be a controllable RFA after that. Perhaps this is just gamesmanship from the Colorado front office, but losing Pickard for nothing seems like a terrible mistake by a front office who should be looking at the future.
  • Jarome Iginla hasn’t yet decided if he’ll play another season, but he wants to. In a conference call with reporters today including Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Iginla said he’ll have to wait and see what kind of offers he receives this summer but that his time with the Los Angeles Kings down the stretch has revitalized him somewhat. He seemed it, as the legendary winger scored six goals and nine points in 19 games for the Kings and showed that he is still a physical force. Amazingly, four of the six goals were game winners as he tried to drag the under-performing Kings into the playoffs. As we detailed prior to the deadline, Iginla might still have something left to give and shouldn’t be wholly judged on the disappointing first half he had with the Colorado Avalanche—just as other talented players from that team should be.

Coaching Notes: Hitchcock, Montgomery, Hunter

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In Elliotte Friedman’s latest “30 Thoughts” column for Sportsnet, the venerable hockey insider goes into all the coaching movement around the NHL and lends his opinions and insight onto some of the still unresolved situations. In Dallas, where the team is set to announce the hiring of Ken Hitchcock tomorrow, Friedman notes that it will be a one-year deal—as is Hitchcock’s preference—with a possible transition into consulting thereafter.

Hitchcock isn’t really an answer long-term for any franchise, as at 65 he’s dabbled with the idea of retirement lately. The idea of him sticking around in a system and being just one phone call away from taking over would be a difficult one to accept for the new coach if they do go in a different direction a year from now. It’s hard to coach in the NHL, and much more so when the team has a legend sitting in the press box “consulting” on whether you’re doing a good job.

  • Friedman again mentions Jim Montgomery from the University of Denver, who is likely on a list of candidates for the Florida Panthers job. Dallas Eakins and Phil Housley are other names to watch, with all three looking like they’ll deserve a shot (or a second shot in Eakins’ case) sooner than later.
  • Dale Hunter is one of the people that the Vegas Golden Knights have reached out to, though he declined the opportunity to return to the NHL. Hunter quit his job with the Washington Capitals back in 2012 to return to London, where he and his brother Mark Hunter—who works as an assistant GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs—own one of the top franchises in the OHL.
  • Sabres’ GM Tim Murray met with the media today to discuss the underwhelming 2016-17 season, and reiterated that he doesn’t intend to fire Dan Bylsma as head coach. According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, Murray puts this season on himself. He will have to work to better the roster, not just lay it all at the feet of his coach after another disappointing season.
  • While not a coach, Mike Futa of the Los Angeles Kings has been promoted to assistant GM. Futa has been with the club for a decade as a VP of Hockey Operations and Director of Player Personnel. He’ll work with the new management team made up of Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille to try and bring the Kings back to the playoffs in a short turnaround.

Maple Leafs Notes: Zaitsev, Engvall, Laich

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The Maple Leafs will officially be without Nikita Zaitsev for game one of their playoff series against the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, and it doesn’t bode well for their chances. Though Zaitsev was a rookie this season, his experience in the KHL let him step into a top-pairing role on the Maple Leafs where he logged the most minutes among any defender. Playing on the penalty kill and quarterbacking the second powerplay unit, he is an important player all over the ice.

Instead, Toronto will welcome Martin Marincin back into the fold, according to Kristin Shilton of TSN. The 25-year old has played just 25 games for the Leafs this season, though he was a regular last year and put up excellent shot suppression numbers. If there was ever a time for him to get back to those numbers, it’s right now against the Capitals. Leafs’ coach Mike Babcock agrees, telling Mark Masters of TSN “he’s just got to decide if he wants to play in the 2nd game.”

  • The Maple Leafs have signed Pierre Engvall to an amateur tryout for their AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies. The Swedish forward was the Leafs’ seventh-round pick in 2014, and broke out this year in the Swedish Allsvenskan (their version of the AHL). His 40 points in 50 games was easily a career high, and he’ll now try to carry that over to the North American game.
  • Brooks Laich’s tenure with the Maple Leafs comes to a disappointing end, as play-by-play man Todd Crocker reports that Laich underwent elbow surgery and will rehab away from the team. After being acquired in the Daniel Winnik trade last season, Laich played just 21 games for the club before being buried in the minors this year. The three-time 20-goal scorer will be 34 next season and an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Looking Back At The Second Overall Pick

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Every year as we approach the draft, there are several fan bases pleading with the hockey gods to allow them to win the lottery and select first overall. That pleading became a deafening roar the last two seasons when the top prize was Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews, and for good reason; both of those players are already superstars, and look likely to win the Hart and Calder trophies this year.

But now, as the 2017 draft approaches there is less consensus over the top prospect and with it less fervor for the top spot. After all, if someone can’t tell Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier apart, then why should it matter whether you select first or second? It’s an interesting question, mostly because of the pressure and hype first overall picks have received through the years. While there are obviously the success stories of McDavid, Matthews, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, there are also cautionary tales like Nail Yakupov or Rick DiPietro—we won’t even get into Patrik Stefan.

So, let’s look back at the last twenty years and the first and second overall picks, and see how much of a drop off there really is.

1997: 1st – Joe Thornton, 2nd – Patrick Marleau
1998: 1st – Vincent Lecavalier, 2nd – David Legwand
1999: 1st – Patrik Stefan, 2nd – Daniel Sedin
2000: 1st – Rick DiPietro, 2nd – Dany Heatley
2001: 1st – Ilya Kovalchuk, 2nd – Jason Spezza
2002: 1st – Rick Nash, 2nd – Kari Lehtonen
2003: 1st – Marc-Andre Fleury, 2nd – Eric Staal
2004: 1st – Alex Ovechkin, 2nd – Evgeni Malkin
2005: 1st – Sidney Crosby, 2nd – Bobby Ryan
2006: 1st – Erik Johnson, 2nd – Jordan Staal
2007: 1st – Patrick Kane, 2nd – James van Riemsdyk
2008: 1st – Steven Stamkos, 2nd – Drew Doughty
2009: 1st – John Tavares, 2nd – Victor Hedman
2010: 1st – Taylor Hall, 2nd – Tyler Seguin
2011: 1st – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2nd – Gabriel Landeskog
2012: 1st – Nail Yakupov, 2nd – Ryan Murray
2013: 1st – Nathan MacKinnon, 2nd – Aleksander Barkov
2014: 1st – Aaron Ekblad, 2nd – Sam Reinhart
2015: 1st – Connor McDavid, 2nd – Jack Eichel
2016: 1st – Auston Matthews, 2nd – Patrik Laine

While obviously it’s better to have the #1 pick in most drafts, there is actually arguably more instances of a “bust” among first-overall picks than second, and at least 10 drafts where the second pick is at least in the conversation as the better all-around player. Perhaps it isn’t the worst thing to have the second pick in a draft where there is no consensus.

Yesterday, the league announced the draft lottery odds with Colorado having the best chance to draft first overall. While Vegas fans are hoping and pleading that the Golden Knights somehow get that first pick and the ability to draft Patrick, it’s surely no loss to get that second spot. It may even be safer.

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