There are weeks where news around the hockey world is dominated by the players on the ice. This was not one of those as most of the big news came away from the ice. Here are the top stories from the past week.
Peters To Calgary: The speculation started as soon as Glen Gulutzan was let go in Calgary and it picked up even more when Bill Peters resigned in Carolina. It didn’t take long for it to be made official as the Flames officially introduced Peters as their new head coach, signing him to a three-year contract. He will now be tasked with turning around a team that struggled considerably down the stretch and missed the playoffs despite having one of the stronger defense corps in the league.
Roy Back To Remparts: Former Colorado head coach Patrick Roy has been out of hockey since abruptly resigning back in August of 2016. He had only been a speculative candidate for any openings since then so he has decided to return to his old post as coach and GM of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. He had quite a successful run in his first stint with that team (one he also owned at the time), compiling a 349-159-37 record and will look to build on that in his second go-round.
Extension For Bednar: What a difference a year (and a trade) can make. Colorado head coach Jared Bednar had a rough first year behind the bench but his team turned it around this season, going from dead last overall to a playoff spot before falling to Nashville in six games in the opening round. What’s even more impressive is that they did so without Matt Duchene, one of their core players who was dealt away early on in the season. Management is clearly happy with the progress the Avs are making as they handed their bench boss a one-year contract extension, one that locks him up through the 2019-20 season. In the press conference announcing the deal, GM Joe Sakic suggested that the team plans to get even younger for the 2018-19 season so it appears they’re more than content with staying the course.
Draft Lottery: The annual Draft Lottery was held on Saturday and the results were a bit different this time around. After none of the teams with top-three odds won one of the top spots last year, Buffalo, the team with the top odds, held onto the top spot which makes them the favorites to select Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. The other big winner was Carolina who jumped from eleventh to second while Montreal moved up a position from fourth to third. Early expectations are that wingers Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina are likely to go in those two spots.
Fletcher Out In Minnesota: Chuck Fletcher was one of the longest-tenured general managers in the league, spending the last nine years with the Wild. His time with the team has come to an end, however, as the team announced that they would not be renewing his contract. Minnesota has consistently made the playoffs under his watch and has done so for each of the last six years. That hasn’t resulted in much success though as they haven’t made it past the second round each time. Fletcher may have to wait to get another chance at running a team as there currently is just one other GM vacancy (Carolina) around the league.
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