While the action is heating up on the ice, there has been a lot of news off of it lately which is highlighted in the top stories of the week.
Gulutzan Fired: Calgary’s late-season collapse proved to be costly for head coach Glen Gulutzan as the team fired him along with assistants Dave Cameron and Paul Jerrard. His tenure with the Flames winds up being rather short-lived as he was behind the bench for just two years with his teams posting a combined 82-68-14 record with a postseason appearance (albeit a sweep at the hands of Anaheim) back in 2016-17. The 46-year-old now hits the market in search of a new job but there aren’t a lot of vacancies to be filled and one of them (Dallas) is likely out of the question considering he was fired as their head coach back in 2013.
Byron Out Six Months: The season didn’t end particularly well in Montreal and the offseason isn’t off to a great start either. The team announced that the speedy winger underwent shoulder surgery that carries a recovery time of six months and as a result, his availability for the start of next season appears to be in question. Byron, a waiver claim three years ago, has posted back-to-back 20-goal campaigns but this doesn’t appear to be the best of ways for him to head into the final year of his contract.
Lundqvist Declined Trade Opportunity: Back when the Rangers were selling off their veterans around the trade deadline, one of the notables staying put was Henrik Lundqvist. It turns out that New York had found a willing trade partner for him but the veteran decided to stay put, saying he wanted to see things through. The 36-year-old has spent his entire career with the Rangers and has three years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $8.5MM, the second-highest for goaltenders next season. With the team clearly heading for a rebuild based on the moves they made this past season, it will be interesting to see if Lundqvist has the same mindset down the road.
Datsyuk Stays In Russia: While Ilya Kovalchuk is eyeing an NHL comeback, the same can’t be said for long-time Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk. Instead of heading back across the pond with his contract set to expire, he has opted to sign a one-year extension with SKA St. Petersburg. The 39-year-old had 35 points in 37 games in the KHL this past season while adding six assists in six Olympic contests.
Peters Opts Out: While they’re still on the market for a new general manager, the Hurricanes will now be searching for a new head coach as well as Bill Peters exercised his out clause to leave the team, forfeiting the remaining year and $1.6MM left on his contract. He spent four years with Carolina with his teams compiling a 137-138-53 record with no playoff appearances. There is already plenty of speculation that Peters will wind up in Calgary to replace Gulutzan in the near future but with no GM in place, it may take a bit of time before the Hurricanes announce their next bench boss.
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