PHR Live Chat Transcript: 06/10/21
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.
Columbus Blue Jackets Hire Brad Larsen As Head Coach
The Columbus Blue Jackets conducted multiple interviews with both Gerard Gallant and Rick Tocchet as they looked for John Tortorella‘s replacement as head coach, but in the end, the job went to someone they are much more familiar with. Brad Larsen, an assistant with the Blue Jackets since 2014-15, has officially been named head coach, receiving a three-year contract. GM Jarmo Kekalainen released a statement on the hire:
We underwent an exhaustive process in which we looked very closely at a number of outstanding candidates to be the next coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the one individual we kept coming back to throughout was Brad Larsen. Brad was one of the top young coaches in the American Hockey League when he joined our club as an assistant coach and over the past seven years has earned the respect of our players, staff and organization with his work ethic, hockey acumen and the way he treats people, and we couldn’t be more pleased to introduce him as our next head coach.
Even before he joined the Blue Jackets bench, Larsen was part of the Columbus organization. He served as an assistant and then head coach of the Springfield Falcons almost immediately after his playing career ended. His final season on the ice was as captain of the Portland Pirates, playing alongside current NHL talents like Tyler Ennis, Paul Byron, and even current Blue Jacket Nathan Gerbe. Before he ended up wearing a “C” in Portland though, Larsen played more than 300 total games in the NHL, even winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 (though he did not suit up in the playoffs that season).
It is interesting to note that one of the other assistants on Tortorella’s staff, Brad Shaw, has a much longer track record in the NHL but parted ways and took a similar role with the Vancouver Canucks instead of interviewing for the Columbus job.
The Blue Jackets are facing a difficult offseason after it has become clear that Seth Jones will not sign an extension with the team at this point. Kekalainen may have to consider trading the star defenseman this summer or risk losing him for nothing at the end of next season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Patrik Laine, the team’s big acquisition this year, is also in need of a new contract as a restricted free agent. Max Domi, last summer’s big name, has just one year left before he reaches UFA status as well, and will miss several months following recent surgery. Both Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo will hit the open market in a year, and Zach Werenski also needs a new contract after 2021-22.
With all that in mind, combined with the fact that the Blue Jackets just finished last in the division, it very well could be a rebuild for the Blue Jackets. If that’s the case, Larsen–who made the best impression between his previous time with the team and his two interviews–will have a difficult task ahead of him to turn things around.
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic was the first to peg Larson as the frontrunner for the job earlier in the day.
Casey DeSmith Undergoes Surgery
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that backup goaltender Casey DeSmith has undergone bilateral core muscle surgery today. The procedure comes with a recovery period of six to eight weeks, meaning DeSmith should be ready for training camp next season.
The 29-year-old DeSmith played in 20 games for the Penguins this season, posting a strong .912 save percentage and two shutouts. Unfortunately, his injury made him unable to help Pittsburgh in their first-round match against the New York Islanders as Tristan Jarry struggled immensely. Even in the deciding sixth game, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan was forced to stay with Jarry even after allowing five goals through the first two periods, the last three coming in quick succession and essentially ending any hope of a comeback.
In DeSmith, the Penguins have a reliable backup signed for just $1.25MM through 2021-22. If he can return from this injury at full strength and no other changes are made in the crease, it will be interesting to see if he gets even more opportunity next season. Core surgery is notorious for affecting a player’s performance for much longer than the original recovery period, so hopefully, DeSmith can get back up to speed by the time the regular season schedule begins.
Snapshots: Svechnikov, Marincin, Devane
The Carolina Hurricanes may be focused on an extension for head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff, but there’s another big-ticket item to work on this summer. Andrei Svechnikov is scheduled for restricted free agency and will be looking for a huge raise coming off another successful season.
If you are a Hurricanes fan hoping for a painless negotiation, you might just get your wish, as Svechnikov told reporters including Sara Civian of The Athletic that he would love to stay in Carolina “forever.” Svechnikov scored 15 goals and 42 points in 55 games with the Hurricanes this season and is an integral part of the young leadership group they have upfront.
- Martin Marincin may be finally moving on from the Toronto Maple Leafs, as a report out of Europe has him expected to sign with HC Ocelari Trinec in the Czech Republic. Marincin has been with the Maple Leafs since 2015, getting more opportunities at the NHL level than many fans hoped he would. The 29-year-old didn’t play a single NHL game this season though and looks like he’ll be heading overseas to continue his career.
- Not so for minor league forward Jamie Devane, who has signed an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the 2021-22 season. Devane, 30, is known much more for his physicality and size than offensive performance, racking up 712 penalty minutes in his 366-game AHL career.
Jared Bednar Held From Morning Skate With COVID Testing “Irregularity”
3:30pm: After further testing, Bednar has been cleared to coach tonight according to Baugh.
12:10pm: The Colorado Avalanche are trying to fight off elimination at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights this evening, but they may have to do it without their head coach. Jared Bednar is absent from the morning skate thanks to “irregularity in his COVID-19 test results” the team tells Peter Baugh of The Athletic.
In terms of players, everyone that took part in the last game is at the morning skate, save for J.T. Compher, who had missed previous practices are he nurses an injury. Hopefully, that means that none of the roster has been affected by the testing and there will be no one held out of tonight’s game. If Bednar’s irregularity is not resolved, the team could potentially reach out to someone like Greg Cronin, head coach of the Colorado Eagles to help assistants Ray Bennett and Nolan Pratt.
This is certainly not an ideal situation for the Avalanche, who have lost three games in a row after going up 2-0 in the series against the Golden Knights. Mark Stone was the overtime hero on Tuesday night, scoring the winner and also helping shut down the Nathan MacKinnon line. After scoring 13 points in the first six games of the playoffs, MacKinnon has been held pointless in each of the last three.
Calgary Flames Hire Kirk Muller, Cail MacLean
The Calgary Flames have added an experienced name to the bench for next season, hiring Kirk Muller as an associate coach. Cail MacLean, who served as head coach of the Stockton Heat for the past three seasons, will also be joining the Flames as an assistant. Muller was let go earlier this season by the Montreal Canadiens when the team parted ways with Claude Julien, but didn’t take long to find his next NHL stop. Ray Edwards and Martin Gelinas will not be returning as assistant coaches but are not leaving the organization. Instead, they’ll transfer to the player development department for the Flames.
Muller, 55, has a long history in the NHL, going back to his selection second overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1984. He played parts of 19 seasons in the NHL, suiting up for 1,349 regular season games and taking home the Stanley Cup in 1993. As a coach, he joined the Canadiens for the first time in 2006 before taking a head coaching job with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2011. He went exactly .500 during his three-year tenure with the Hurricanes, before going to St. Louis and then back to Montreal. Though he doesn’t have a ton of head coaching experience, the Flames may well see him as a replacement for Darryl Sutter in a few years.
MacLean meanwhile is getting his first taste of the NHL at age-44 but is an up-and-coming head coaching prospect in his own right. The former minor league player has been in charge of ECHL and AHL teams previously, taking the slow necessary steps to establish himself as a future NHL head coach. During his time with the Heat, they posted a 72-65-16 record.
The two men will join a coaching staff that also includes assistant coach Ryan Huska (who was the Stockton coach prior to MacLean), goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera, and video coach Jamie Pringle.
Latest On Jack Eichel
The Buffalo Sabres and Jack Eichel appear to be headed toward a split, even though things have quieted down since the team’s year-end media availability. At that point, Eichel was telling reporters that there was a “disconnect” between his camp and GM Kevyn Adams‘ front office regarding his neck injury and it seemed like he already had one foot out the door. Well, that may still be the case, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet spoke to WGR 550 in Buffalo today and explained:
That’s the poker game we’re playing right now. Other teams are saying ‘you’ve got an unhappy player who doesn’t want to come back’ and the Sabres I really think at the end of the day want to move on. They don’t want him back, they want to move on. The teams are going to play Buffalo’s “desperation” at that. The Sabres have to play a game that says ‘okay, you guys can play that game, but somebody is going to get him. If you play it too cool or you play us too hardline, it won’t be you.’
Friedman also noted that some teams are even calling him to see what he knows about Eichel’s injury, given how little information the Sabres have released publicly to this point. The neck injury is a huge sticking point in the trade market, given the uncertainty over whether he will still require surgery and miss part of next season.
Of course, there is also the factor of a long-term contract that carries a cap hit of $10MM. That’s not an easy deal to swallow for any team, even if they can technically fit it at the moment. If Eichel can’t return to the player that scored 36 goals and 78 points in 2019-20, his contract quickly becomes an anchor. A trade will require a team that believes that he can get back to that level, and has the assets the Sabres will want in return. Even if Buffalo wants to move on, Adams will need to maximize the return as much as he can for a player who was seen as a franchise icon to this point.
2021 Hart Trophy Finalists Announced
It’s time for the big one. The NHL has announced the finalists for the Hart Trophy, given annually to the “player judged most valuable to his team.” Last year’s winner, Leon Draisaitl, also took home the Ted Lindsay and the Art Ross in an impressive trifecta.
This year’s finalists are Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.
McDavid could complete the same trifecta his teammate did a year ago, after completing one of the most impressive regular seasons in recent history. The Oilers captain scored 105 points in 56 games, a scoring rate that put him in rare company. Since 1980-81, 40 years ago, only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Bernie Nicholls, and Adam Oates have finished with a higher point/game rate over a full season. Each of the last three names on that list only did it once, and each were just barely ahead of the best offensive player in today’s game. There was absolutely no doubt that McDavid would be a finalist for the third time in his career. He previously took home the Hart in 2016-17, his sophomore year.
Matthews is a first-time finalist after winning the Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s top goal scorer. Amazingly, he had an eight-goal lead over second-place McDavid despite playing in four fewer games. Matthews was a scoring marvel this season, totaling 41 in 52 games for the Maple Leafs continuing to develop his strong defensive game. He was actually tied for fifth in points, but still 39 behind McDavid’s 105.
MacKinnon, the oldest of the three at age-25, is a Hart finalist for the third time in his career. Always a bridesmaid though, the Avalanche star has finished second in his first two runs at the award. Unfortunately–for MacKinnon and hockey fans–he played in just 48 games this season so his point total of 65 put him in the eighth spot league-wide. On a per-game basis though he trailed only McDavid, Draisaitl, and New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin. Even if MacKinnon becomes a runner-up again, it would be hard to find someone who disagreed with his placement as one of the very best players in the entire world.
Offseason Checklist: Arizona Coyotes
The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league finished up after missing the playoffs and several more having been eliminated. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Arizona.
2020-21 was not a great year for Arizona. After making the playoffs last year through the bubble, they were hoping to make it two straight postseason appearances. However, the same issues crept up as a lack of scoring proved costly. Not surprisingly, GM Bill Armstrong is in for a very busy summer. Here’s a look at some of the things the Coyotes should be looking to do.
Hire A Head Coach
The Coyotes have one of the four head coaching vacancies around the league after they decided to let go of Rick Tocchet after four seasons with the team. In that stretch, they only finished in the top half of their division once while finishing no higher than 21st in goals scored. Arizona is more of a budget team than one that will spend to the cap and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that be the case for their coaches as well. That would seemingly take them out of the mix for most of the veteran coaches so it wouldn’t be surprising to see another first-time hire when they make their selection.
Rebuild The Back End
Arizona has had a capable veteran defense corps over the past several years but the time for change has arrived. Alex Goligoski, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Jason Demers are all set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, freeing up over $14MM in cap space in the process. (Jordan Oesterle is also a UFA but his expiring cap hit of $1.4MM is a lot lower than the others and he could be brought back for a similar amount.) While there are cases to bring Goligoski and Hjalmarsson back out of the trio, it would need to be at a much lower price tag.
This is going to be an interesting situation to follow. If those veterans don’t return, Armstrong will need to bring in some proven replacements in a UFA market that doesn’t have a lot of them. Of course, they can also leverage their cap space (bolstered by Marian Hossa’s contract finally expiring) to pick up a replacement in a trade. Regardless, it looks like it will be a new-look blueline in 2021-22.
That said, the bigger question is how much they want to spend on the back end. The Coyotes are consistently towards the bottom of the league in goals scored and this represents an opportunity to redistribute some of their money on defense up front in an effort to add a top-six forward or two. Replacing the veterans with similarly-priced rearguards ensures that they’ll be a squad with a strong back end once again but that’s a roster composition that hasn’t worked for them lately. If Armstrong wants to shake up the structure of the team, this is it.
Deal For Garland
Sometimes, teams can get lucky in the draft and that’s what happened with Conor Garland. The undersized winger went unpicked in his first year of eligibility, was scooped up with a fifth-rounder by Arizona the following draft as a low-risk flier, and now, he finds himself as one of the top scorers on the Coyotes. It has worked out great for the team so far, getting top-six production for a bargain price tag as Garland accepted a two-year low-cost bridge deal that carried a cap hit of just $775K. As far as top bargains in the NHL go, he should have been in the conversation more than he had been.
It’s about to work out a lot better for the 25-year-old. That bridge contract is up this summer and he’s about to become a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility for the first time. Along the way, he’ll be able to add several million dollars to his price tag for next season and beyond. He’s two years away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency so if they wind up with a one-year pact and push the bigger commitment down the road, that’s not the worst outcome, especially with some questions surrounding just how much he’s worth.
It’s for that reason that Garland came up in trade speculation closer to the trade deadline where it got to the point that they were willing to move him although the right price obviously never got offered up. Still, it suggested that Arizona may not view Garland as a long-term player to build around which makes the prospects of a long-term agreement in the coming weeks a little lower. Accordingly, a deal could mean two different things here – a new contract, or a new team altogether.
Extension Talks
A pair of core veterans will be entering the final year of their contracts this summer and once the calendar flips to the 2021-22 campaign at the beginning of free agency, the Coyotes will be allowed to sign Darcy Kuemper and Phil Kessel to extensions.
Kuemper went from being a lower-end backup early in his career to one of the top goalies in the league after being acquired in 2018. In each of the last two seasons, he was among the league leaders in save percentage but took a step back this season as his save percentage dipped to .907, his lowest since his final year in Minnesota. Still, there has been much more good than bad for the 31-year-old and with Adin Hill not looking like a starter of the future (though he should be the full-time backup next season), there is a need for Kuemper to stick around a little while longer.
Meanwhile, Kessel has seen his offensive numbers plummet since joining the Coyotes but he still finished one point off the team lead in 2019-20 and led the team in points this season. He may not be a player that can carry a line which is what they were hoping for when he was acquired in 2019 but he is still a capable, albeit streaky, scorer. The free agent market wasn’t kind to wingers last year and it’s likely to be the case for most wingers this year as well which means he won’t have any success trying to find a deal close to his current $8MM price tag (with Pittsburgh still paying 15% of that). If Armstrong is able to upgrade their forward group, Kessel could be in line for a rebound year which would give him a better case for a new contract a year from now.
Of the two, Kuemper seems like the likeliest to sign an early extension but Armstrong will undoubtedly be having discussions on both fronts in the months to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Hurricanes Loan Vasili Ponomaryov To Spartak Of The KHL
Back in October, Carolina signed prospect forward Vasili Ponomaryov to a three-year, entry-level contract. At the time, it was expected that he’d return to Shawinigan of the QMJHL next season before turning pro in 2022. Instead, Spartak of the KHL announced today that they’ve added the winger to their roster for the 2021-22 campaign, signing him to a contract that runs through April 2022.
The 19-year-old was a second-round pick (53rd overall) last year following his first season with the Cataractes that saw him impress with 18 goals and 31 assists in 57 games in his first taste of hockey in North America. While that league had some starts and stops this season, the QMJHL was able to get through a shortened season where he managed 10 goals and 28 helpers in just 33 games while picking up four points in five playoff contests.
Staying with Shawinigan certainly would have made sense but now Ponomaryov will have an opportunity to get his feet wet at the professional level and play closer to home for a year as well. His contract slid this season since he didn’t see any NHL action and will do so again in 2021-22 for the same reason for Carolina will still have him signed for three years if he returns to North America for the 2022-23 campaign with AHL Chicago.