Coaching Notes: Boudreau, Woodcroft, St. Louis
Despite the resurgence of the team since his hiring, it does not look as though Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau is a lock to return for a second season. In a media appearance on Sportsnet 650 radio after the trade deadline, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin was asked about Boudreau’s future, and he gave a relatively non-committal answer, mentioning how the team will “look at” Boudreau’s contract situation after the season. It is believed that Boudreau is on a one-year contract with a team option for next season, meaning Vancouver does have the option to move on if they so choose. Given the recovery of the team’s form since Boudreau replaced Travis Green, it should raise some eyebrows that the Canucks’ brass has not been more definitive in their backing of their head coach.
The Canucks are 24-13-7 under Boudreau, a vast improvement from the team’s 8-15-2 record this season under Green. While the team is unlikely to make the playoffs at this point, Boudreau has breathed new life into their season and allowed the team to recover optimism about its long-term future. The performances of many key players such as Elias Pettersson have improved under Boudreau, and it looks as though with their current form the Canucks could indeed compete for a playoff spot next season. But based on Allvin’s comments and the overall sentiment (outside the fanbase) towards Boudreau’s future in Vancouver, it seems there is a chance that it could be another coach who is guiding the Canucks next season.
- Speaking about a conversation he had with Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds an update to the situation of Oilers interim head coach Jay Woodcroft. Woodcroft has compiled a 15-7-2 record with the team so far and has them comfortably placed as the third seed in the Pacific Division’s playoff race. The Oilers’ season was spiraling out of control in the late days of former coach Dave Tippett’s tenure, but Woodcroft has seemingly righted the ship. Woodcroft, 45, has a 116-79-24 record as an AHL coach and oversaw the development of players like Ethan Bear, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan McLeod who now find themselves in the NHL. According to Holland, (through Friedman) the Oilers will evaluate Woodcroft’s situation after the season, which may sound similar to Allvin’s comments on Boudreau. But Holland went further, indicating that with the way things are going for Woodcroft, at this moment his future as the Oilers’ coach “looks really good.”
- One other interim coach who has overseen a resurgence in his team’s form is Montreal’s interim head coach Martin St. Louis. The Hall of Fame player has a 10-9-4 record, which is not an incredible run on its own but a massive improvement over the state of the team under former head coach Dominique Ducharme. St. Louis has deep connections with the two heads of the new Canadiens’ front office, Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes, and according to Friedman “unless he doesn’t want to do it, [St. Louis] is coming back.” The Canadiens’ future looks set to revolve around the duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, and those two have been playing significantly better under St. Louis than they were under Ducharme. Specifically, the biggest improvement has come from Caufield, who was just named the NHL’s “Rookie of the Month“. Given the turnaround of the team overall under St. Louis and his recovery of Caufield’s highly anticipated rookie season, it makes sense that St. Louis would continue as Canadiens head coach beyond this season.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
It has certainly been an eventful past few weeks around the NHL with a very busy trade deadline plus a rare trade that was approved and later invalidated by the league. On top of that, the push for the playoffs is heating up with battles for seeding in the Eastern Conference and several spots up for grabs in the very tight Western Conference.
With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. If you missed the last one, it was broken into two parts. The first one focused on several trade deadline scenarios while the second looked at how St. Louis can afford to keep pending UFA Ville Husso, the future of Winnipeg’s core forward group, and much more.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
AHL Shuffle: 04/01/22
It’s April, no fooling. The NHL schedule is winding down and playoff races–or, in the case of the Eastern Conference, seeding races–are alive and well. Seven games are on the schedule tonight, including a big matchup between the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers. Both teams are in third place in their respective divisions, and both teams are being hunted down by a team (or two) right on their heels. In a game that is nearly a must-win for both teams, who will come out disappointed? As those teams and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have returned Filip Kral to the AHL, after Justin Holl was back in the lineup last night. Ilya Lyubushkin missed the game but also may be returning relatively soon, meaning Kral wasn’t really needed anymore. The 22-year-old is still waiting to make his NHL debut, but has been very good for the Toronto Marlies with 20 points in 51 games.
Metropolitan Division
- The Philadelphia Flyers have sent Felix Sandstrom and Max Willman back to the AHL, as they prepare for a game tomorrow night. It’s something of a curiosity, given the fact that Willman scored in two straight games–but he was left off the lineup card last on Tuesday and now Nate Thompson is healthy enough to return.
- Defenseman Robin Salo is on his way back to the Bridgeport Islanders. The New York Islanders sent him down today after he didn’t get into game action during his emergency recall.
Central Division
- Morgan Barron isn’t headed back to the AHL just yet. His emergency recall has been switched into a regular recall for the Jets, who continue to drift further away from the playoff picture. Remember, teams are allowed four regular recalls after the trade deadline until their AHL affiliate is eliminated. Barron played just a few minutes in his Winnipeg debut last night.
Pacific Division
- Jaret Anderson-Dolan is back up with the big club less than 16 hours after the Los Angeles Kings sent him to the minor leagues. The 22-year-old forward is still looking for his first NHL point of the season, after previously playing in seven games.
This page is updated throughout the day
PHR Chatter: Early Deadline Returns
As we head into the stretch run of the 2021-22 season, PHR is excited to announce a new feature aimed at encouraging discourse between reader and writer. On Friday mornings (and perhaps even more often than that), we’ll post a topic of discussion that we think will draw out varied and interesting perspectives from both our commenters and the other staff writers.
For too long there has only been a couple of outlets for our readers to interact with the PHR staff. Live chats and mailbags offer a chance at some discussion, but also run the risk of being too crowded or even outdated by the time the answer arrives. With this new feature, we’re hoping to get weekly chatter going on a topic that normally would have to be brought into the spotlight by a reader before even being discussed.
Today, for the inaugural post, we’ll be talking about the trade deadline and specifically how the early returns appear at this point. Which team did the best? Which move seems like a big mistake? What pending UFA benefited most? This will be a free-flowing discussion that doesn’t have a lot of guidelines, so make sure you chime in and check regularly to continue the conversation.