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USA Hockey Announces Olympic Coaching Staff

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Now that the NHL has officially agreed to go to the 2022 Winter Olympics, work can start on selecting the rosters. Just a few hours after news broke about NHL participation, USA Hockey has introduced the full coaching staff that will travel to Beijing. It had already been announced that Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins will serve as head coach; he will be joined by John Hynes, David Quinn, Todd Reirden, and Ryan Miller.

The U.S. Olympic team general manager Stan Bowman released a statement on the staff:

We’ve got a great coaching staff in place. It’s a group that knows what it takes to be successful, and through their unique and varied backgrounds will help put our team in the best position to win the gold medal.

Hynes, who is also the head coach of the Nashville Predators, will serve as an assistant and was an obvious addition. He has a long track record with the program, including being part of gold medal-winning efforts at the U18 and U20 World Juniors. Hynes was the head coach of the 2016 World Championship squad, an assistant at the 2016 World Cup, and an assistant at the 2019 World Championship. He also spent several seasons as the head coach of the National Team Development Program.

Many of the same things could be said about Quinn, who will also serve as an assistant on Sullivan’s staff. He has been an assistant several times at the World Championship and was in the NTDP at the same time as Hynes. Quinn was previously head coach of the New York Rangers for three seasons and was an extremely successful college coach.

Reirden will bring a certain level of familiarity for Sullivan, given as he serves as an assistant with the Penguins already. He actually has not made an appearance coaching internationally in the past, which makes this appointment somewhat surprising. Not many coaches get a chance to step right into the Olympics, but that’s what Reirden, a Stanley Cup-winning assistant with the Washington Capitals, will do next spring.

Even more impressive is Miller, who not only is going to the Olympics as an assistant coach for the first time, but it is his first experience as a coach at any level. The veteran goaltender only announced his retirement earlier this year after a long, successful career that included two Olympic performances as a player. He won the silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

Ottawa Senators Sign Drake Batherson

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The Ottawa Senators have locked up one of their young forwards, signing Drake Batherson to a six-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.975MM, and keeps Batherson under contract through the 2026-27 season. The full breakdown is as follows:

  • 2021-22: $2.5MM
  • 2022-23: $3.5MM
  • 2023-24: $5.4MM
  • 2024-25: $5.4MM
  • 2025-26: $6.5MM
  • 2026-27: $6.55MM

Included in the Senators press release is a statement from general manager Pierre Dorion:

Drake represents an integral component of our future at forward. Dating to his first pro season, he has steadily progressed to the point where he is now widely recognized as a bonafide top line NHL winger. He possesses a strong ability to play at both ends of the ice, is a key powerplay contributor and someone we expect to be a prominent player for us for several years to come.

Widely recognized may not be entirely accurate as the Senators haven’t generated a ton of attention over the last few years, but there’s no doubt that Batherson was one of the team’s brightest stars this season. The 23-year-old forward scored 17 goals and 34 points in 56 games, showing that the outstanding offensive play he has produced at the AHL level could translate to the NHL.

Originally selected in the fourth round in 2017, Batherson has done nothing but score since he pulled on a Senators sweater. In 2018-19, during his first professional season, he registered 62 points in 59 games for the Belleville Senators and earned himself 20 NHL contests. In 2019-20 he put up 54 points in 44 AHL games while playing another 23 games with Ottawa. This year it was all the NHL, as he suited up for every game and finished just two points behind Brady Tkachuk for the team lead.

For fans of junior hockey, Batherson’s rise to the top of the Senators lineup won’t be surprising. Despite not competing much internationally as a young player, in 2017 he made the Canadian World Junior roster after an outstanding start to his QMJHL season and ended up scoring seven goals in seven games to help take home the gold medal.

He’s now getting rewarded with a healthy contract that buys out two unrestricted free agent years and keeps Batherson in Ottawa through his prime. As the team turns the corner on their rebuild and starts contending for a playoff spot, it will be young, homegrown forwards that lead the way. This deal takes him just ahead of Colin White to make Batherson the highest-paid forward on the team, though that will not likely last very long. Tkachuk still needs a contract of his own, and given the speculation about an eight-year deal, will certainly come in ahead of this $4.975MM AAV.

Normally contracts of this length come with plenty of risks, but for the Senators, who aren’t in the same zipcode as the cap ceiling, it doesn’t pose much of a threat. Sure, the team doesn’t really have the financial power to pay players more than what they’re worth, but betting on Batherson’s development is a worthwhile gamble at this point. Should he continue to improve, there’s a good chance he’s providing surplus value for several years of the contract as he grows into his own as a top-six player in the NHL. The Senators are still under the cap floor for the time being, though Tkachuk’s deal will soon fix that issue.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jayce Hawryluk Signs In Sweden

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For fringe NHL players sitting unsigned now into September, European offers are starting to look pretty tempting. For Jayce Hawryluk, it’s Sweden that will be the setting for the next chapter in his hockey career. The young forward has signed a one-year deal with Skelleftea AIK in the SHL.

Hawryluk, 25, played in 30 games for the Vancouver Canucks last season, taking his NHL total to 98 thus far. He was not issued a qualifying offer at the end of the year, making him an unrestricted free agent, and now he’s headed overseas to find playing time. It’s an interesting choice for a player who has substantial NHL playing time in each of the last three seasons, but it certainly doesn’t mean Hawryluk’s North American career is over.

Selected 32nd overall by the Florida Panthers in 2014 during an outstanding junior career, he has shown an ability to drive play in the minor leagues. In 2018-19, the last time he spent regular time in the AHL, he had 32 points in 31 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds. In fact, Hawryluk actually does have 27 points in his 98-game NHL career, pretty good production for a player that has averaged fewer than ten minutes of ice time. He’ll be a player to keep an eye on after his contract with Skelleftea expires, as a return to the NHL is certainly possible at some point, even as a depth player.

NHL Agrees To Olympic Participation

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The NHL is going to the Olympics. The league sent out a memo to players today (via John Hoven of SiriusXM NHL) outlining their agreement with the IIHF and IOC to send NHL talent to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. There has been a break built into the schedule, allowing for players to depart North America on February 6. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports, the league retains the right to withdraw participation if the COVID situation worsens or if their regular schedule has been disrupted by outbreaks, leaving no room to reschedule games.

The 2022 Games will be the first true best-on-best action since 2016, when the World Cup was held just prior to the start of the season. This will be the first time the NHL has participated in the Olympics since 2014, when Canada defeated Sweden for the gold medal. The tournament scoring leaders that year were Phil Kessel and Erik Karlsson, two players that would be hard-pressed to repeat that feat this time around.

Olympic participation was one of the sticking points in last summer’s CBA negotiation, though the league only agreed to work as hard as possible to find an agreement with the IIHF and did not guarantee the NHL would go. They have proven true to their word, securing insurance for the players at the cost of the IIHF. There is no COVID-related insurance, according to the memo, but the IIHF has created a $5MM fund to help cover lost NHL salaries for any athlete that contracts COVID at the event (provided they were following protocols at the time).

One note that may be of interest is the size of the rink. The Games will be played on regulation NHL-sized rinks and officiated by NHL referees and linesmen.

NHL Unveils 2021-22 COVID Protocol

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Gone are the days of bubbles, regional divisions, CPRA lists, and taxi squads, but the NHL won’t be quite back to normal this season. The league will still have a COVID Protocol for the 2021-22 campaign and the details have been released this evening, courtesy of Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

The biggest piece of the new protocol, and one that is sure to cause at least some controversy among players, is a mechanism for suspending those who unvaccinated. With a COVID vaccine now readily available, as opposed to much of last season, those who choose not receive the vaccine will be held to a much higher standard of preventing the spread of the virus and its impact on teammates, personnel, and the NHL product altogether. If an unvaccinated player in unable to participate, they will surrender one day’s pay for each day they miss – essentially an indefinite unpaid suspension. This obviously pertains to a positive test, but more notably it also includes situations in which local, state/provincial, or federal regulations limit those who are unvaccinated. With the NHL split between the U.S. and Canada, who each treat COVID differently, this ensures that the policies and procedures in the locale of each home team are met without any exceptions or special considerations.

With that being said, there are also numerous exceptions to these “suspensions” for unvaccinated players, including those who tested positive in “the course of employment as a hockey player” (determined by a balance of probabilities test). Suspensions will also not arise out of close contact quarantines. Additionally, the league will consider medical and religious exceptions for not receiving the vaccination and those players will not be subject to suspension. This essentially leaves only those who are unvaccinated by choice who may be suspended, and in the event of positive test only if it determined to have occurred via outside contact.

Unvaccinated players must undergo COVID testing daily throughout the season or until they become fully vaccinated. While traveling, they may not enter any venue other than the arena, practice facility, and team hotel, the latter of which comes with other limitations. Unvaccinated players may not have anyone in their hotel room other than fully vaccinated family members and cannot enter any shared hotel spaces, such as pools, gyms, and saunas. They may not eat at restaurants that are open to the public other than those that offer drive-though and curbside pickup and once at the hotel may not leave to get food.

Fully vaccinated players must undergo COVID testing at least every 72 hours to begin the year. Fully vaccinated players who test positive are also not subject to suspension and their absence will be treated as if it is an injury.

Any player who wishes to opt out of the 2021-22 season due to personal health concerns (if unvaccinated) or the health concerns of a family member, must do so by October 1. Their team can then decide to roll over the contract to 2022-23 or instead to terminate. Those who opt out may not participate in any other league or at the Olympics.

As for staff, anyone with direct contact with players or other hockey operations officials must be fully vaccinated. The league is likely to make the same medical and religious exceptions, but otherwise the vaccine is a mandate for staff.

Although there are exceptions to many of these rules, it is clear that the NHL is incentivizing the COVID vaccine by placing heavy limitations on the unvaccinated. After two seasons that were critically impacted by the pandemic, the league wants some normalcy and to have uninterrupted hockey. Their best chances at that result is to have as many players and staff vaccinated as possible. If and when they feel comfortable with the vaccination status of the majority of players or with the spread of the virus, these rules can be subject to change to afford some more flexibility as the season progresses.

Arizona Coyotes Submit Bid To Build Arena In Tempe

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The Arizona Coyotes may not be playing in Gila River Arena in Glendale beyond this season, but their future may still lie in the Phoenix area. AZ Central’s Paulina Pineda reports that the city of Tempe invited bids to develop a 46-acre area for entertainment purposes and the confirmed that the Coyotes submitted a bid. It is unknown if any competing bids were submitted before today’s deadline.

Tempe is located on the other side of Phoenix from Glendale but only about 30 miles away from the Coyotes’ current home. The area in question resides on a stretch of the Salt River known as Tempe Town Lake. It is central to Tempe, but also not far from the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and the city of Scottsdale. Though the Coyotes could not make any material comment on the bidding process, they stated that they are “incredibly excited about this extraordinary opportunity.” A winning bid would allow the Coyotes to build a state of the art arena of their own design and further develop the area into a attractive entertainment locale. The draw of this new area could be aided by the close proximity of Arizona State University, whose hockey program has quickly developed a strong following of its own.

Of course, competing bids or not, this by no means secures the Coyotes’ future in Arizona. Even an uncontested bid may not be to the liking of the city of Tempe, either financially or in the plan’s details. The city will also likely weigh the benefits of bringing the team to town, as they did have their fair share of struggles in Glendale. Until anything becomes official, it is fair to keep up the Houston/Quebec City/Milwaukee speculation, but many in Arizona will be happy to hear about this promising new development for their Coyotes.

Louis Domingue Signs With Pittsburgh Penguins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have found a third-string goaltender, signing Louis Domingue to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K and according to CapFriendly, a $300K AHL salary.

Domingue, 29, is the epitome of an NHL journeyman backup, having played for four different teams since 2019. It’s been several years since he was a tandem option, but does bring 140 games of NHL experience to the table, more than you can say for many of the league’s third-string options. That’s exactly what he’ll be if nothing else changes in Pittsburgh, where Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith are obviously ahead of him on the depth chart.

Quite removed from the goaltender that went 21-5 for the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19, Domingue represents a veteran option for the Penguins as they try to once again contend for the Stanley Cup. He cleared waivers in each of the last three seasons, so there is little risk of losing him unless a team finds themselves desperate at the end of training camp.

The question now is whether he can still be an effective option after playing so little last season. He appeared in just one game with the Calgary Flames and three with the Stockton Heat, spending most of the year on the taxi squad instead. His career save percentage of .904 is heavily weighted by early-career results, as he has just an .882 in 18 appearances since the end of 2018-19.

Minor Transactions: 09/02/21

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The KHL season is underway and hockey in North America is right around the corner. As always, well keep track of all the notable minor moves as they come in.

  • The Toronto Marlies have signed Zach O’Brien and Marcus Power to AHL contracts, bringing back two members of the Kelly Cup-winning Newfoundland Growlers group from 2019. Both forwards took their talents to Germany in 2020-21, lighting up the second tier of the DEL with EV Landshut. O’Brien recorded 40 goals and 83 points in 49 games, while Power had 29 goals and 69 points.
  • Mitch Reinke, who actually played a single game in the playoffs earlier this year for the St. Louis Blues, has signed an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 2021-22. The 25-year-old defenseman became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer after suiting up just twice for the Blues since starting his professional career. In 18 games for the Utica Comets in 2020-21, Reinke scored 12 points.

This page will be updated with further transactions

Buffalo Sabres Sign Henri Jokiharju

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The Buffalo Sabres have locked up a second restricted free agent after inking Casey Mittelstadt to a three-year, $7.5MM deal earlier today. Henri Jokiharju has agreed to a deal with the same terms, signing through the 2023-24 season at a $2.5MM average annual value. PuckPedia reports the full breakdown:

  • 2021-22: $2.4MM
  • 2022-23: $2.5MM
  • 2023-24: $2.6MM

Jokiharju, 22, was the player acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Alexander Nylander in 2019 and has played 115 games for the Sabres over the last two seasons. His performance in those games has been passable, though the young defenseman has still not taken the step forward some expected after making the NHL as a teenager in Chicago.

Selected 29th overall in 2017, Jokiharju was in the NHL by 2018, playing big minutes for the Blackhawks at the age of 19. In fact, he averaged 21:30 in his first 20 games in the league and racked up nine points. Unfortunately, the high ceiling he flashed during that stretch as a top-end two-way defenseman hasn’t been matched in the years since, with Jokiharju registering just eight points in 46 games this season in Buffalo.

Still, with the current situation of the Sabres, young talent that can hold their own at the NHL level will be given plenty of opportunities to show what they can do. With this contract Jokiharju becomes the only defenseman in the entire organization signed to a one-way contract for 2022-23, as Colin Miller, Will Butcher, Robert Hagg and Mark Pysyk are all scheduled for unrestricted free agency next summer. Rasmus Dahlin will join Jokiharju whenever his contract is finalized, as the two pillars to build around on the Buffalo blueline. Owen Power will likely join them before long, though he won’t be around to help when the season gets underway next month.

With Rasmus Ristolainen out of the picture, the path is clear for Jokiharju to log big minutes once again this year and prove that he is a legitimate top-four option at the NHL level. If he does, this contract will suddenly look like a steal; if he struggles, there’s not a ton of risk for the Sabres who won’t be anywhere near the cap ceiling as they continue a scorched earth rebuild.

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