Between new head coach Brad Larsen, promoted from his previous role as assistant, and newly hired assistants Pascal Vincent and Sylvain Lefebvre, the Blue Jackets will have a combined 15 seasons as NHL assistants, 13 seasons as AHL head coaches, 11 seasons as a junior head coaches, six seasons as AHL assistants, and over 1,200 NHL games played worth of experience behind the bench. The one thing they don’t have? Any experience as an NHL head coach. As Aaron Portzline writes for The Athletic, there is zero NHL head coach experience in the entire Columbus organization right now and while GM Jarmo Kekalainen isn’t worried, he also isn’t above addressing that issue. Kekalainen is at least considering adding an advisor to the coaching staff; a veteran NHL head coach to help guide Larsen and company through their first season with a the re-tooling Blue Jackets. Portzline believes that one name who could certainly be in the mix is Jacques Martin, as the 68-year-old with 16 seasons as an NHL head coach is believed to be looking for this type of role. Other candidates will also surely emerge if and when Columbus decides that they are officially looking to fill the position.
- Did Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams tip his hand in a recent interview with Pierre LeBrun for The Athletic? Discussing his team’s rebuilding plans, Adams stated the following:
(Rasmus) Dahlin, (Dylan) Cozens, (Casey) Mittelstadt, these are very, very young players… And I’ve been energized about this young core of Sabres we have that are hungry and they want to be part of the solution. … These guys are proud to be Buffalo Sabres, they want to fix this and get this right, they want to move forward together. So that’s the young core that we’re working to build around.
Sure, these are all key pieces for the Sabres in their rebuild. However, Adams did not mention the likes of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, or Victor Olofsson, who are only marginally older than that group. His use of the words “proud to be Buffalo Sabres” and “want to be part of the solution” also feels purposeful, as if there are others on the team who are not and possibly that is why they are no longer part of the rebuild plans. While rumors have been swirling around Eichel and to some extent Reinhart as well, perhaps this is a real indication that Buffalo will be making major changes this summer.
- The NHL’s buyout window opens 24 hours after the Stanley Cup is awarded, which could be as early as later tonight. In anticipation, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli lists ten names (and some honorable mentions) who could be buyout candidates. While much of this is educated speculation, Seravalli does have a scoop on his No. 1 name on the list, New York Rangers defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. Seravalli reports that the Rangers officially finalized a plan to buyout DeAngelo last week, a move that has been a long time coming since he was placed on leave in January for off-ice conduct. What remains to be seen is when exactly the buyout will be executed. The Rangers don’t need DeAngelo for the upcoming Expansion Draft, with Anthony Bitetto meeting exposure criteria and not expected to be protected, however New York may want to leave him in case they are able to tempt the Seattle. Even if the Kraken don’t bite, DeAngelo’s skill is enough to make him an intriguing free agent this summer following his buyout, even after a year off and some character concerns.
Seriously dude
Come on, that’s incredibly stupid to even think, much less post.
Trying to figure out what on Earth someone posted that was deleted on completely innocuous stories is an interesting game here.
Won’t even try on this one.
@forwhomjoshbelltolled – This is why we like to see comments specifically directed at the original guy with “@”. Naturally, it doesn’t help when a comment was deleted, but not the follow-on replies, which should also be deleted, as they now have no context.
I feel this deleted post has created a delightful conversation between 2 usernames, i would guess it’s someone completely offended by deangelos behavior or someone completely offended by those offended by deangelos behavior, he is the only divisive person in this article and you know us modern humans long and pine to be offended
@parx – I hope it didn’t have something to do with the recent CBJ tragedy.
@ MacJablonski–NotVegasLegend – everyone had been being pretty good about the Kivlenieks tragedy.
Now me, I’m wondering how anyone can call the DeAngelo buyout a “scoop.” That’s been reported for MONTHS now.
The original poster said DeAngelo is ‘literally’ a bigger pos than Adolf.
@Nha Trang – Good to hear that. Kivi’s memory shouldn’t be tarnished by stupidity.
@Modified_6 – I received your reply regarding the original post. I also don’t agree with that comparison. Thanks for the clarification.
That comment is really in bad taste. Your attempt at humor is incredibly stupid and insensitive.
Adams both tipped his hand AND is in over his head.
What were Adams qualifications for being an NHL GM beyond being the guy standing closest to him when Pegula fired the previous guy he hired?
Maybe Pegula will hire the assistant equipment manager as his next GM to rebuild Adams’ rebuild of Botterill’s rebuild of Murray’s rebuild?
Just maybe due to the bidding war between NY Rangers, LA and Anaheim the price has been met… Now it’s just a matter of waiting until after the expansion draft and to see who gives the best package. Just maybe Adams isn’t as dumb as you think. Let’s judge after the trades are done.
Some character concerns? Dude is a straight up a hole. He has a long history of it going back to his teenage years. Clearly hasn’t grown up at all either over the years.
Skills or not. Don’t need him
He can play in Russia.
No to that elephant in the room.
I’m not allowed to express how much I dislike a certain player.