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Archives for June 2023

Free Agent Focus: Los Angeles Kings

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Free agency is a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Los Angeles Kings.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Gabriel Vilardi – Spending much of his 2021-22 season split between the Kings and their minor league affiliate, the Ontario Reign, this season became a pivotal year for the former 11th overall selection. With added pressure entering this season, Vilardi came through in a big way for Los Angeles.

Although losing some games to injury, Vilardi posted 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games, finishing tied for fourth on the team in terms of goal-scoring. Defensively, Vilardi also held a positive advantage with the Kings, garnering 23 takeaways while only succumbing to 16 takeaways.

Aside from the topical numbers, Vilardi also aided Los Angeles with a 59.5 Corsi For %, showing that his deeper possession numbers progressed as well. Given the Kings’ salary cap situation, Vilardi may have to take a bridge deal, but he appears to be a player that Los Angeles may want to keep around for some time.

F Rasmus Kupari – Another first-round selection for the Kings (taken a year after Vilardi), Kupari has failed to break out in a large way. In 66 games for Kupari this season, he scored three goals and 12 assists, averaging about 10 minutes of ice time per game. Kupari has become a more physical player in Los Angeles, but he will need to raise his offensive prowess to be considered for a bigger role.

Other RFAs: F Jaret Anderson-Dolan, F Zack MacEwen, F Lias Andersson, F Aidan Dudas, F Samuel Fagemo, F Tyler Madden, F Nathan Schnarr, F Akil Thomas, F Taylor Ward, D Tobias Bjornfot, D Tobie Paquette-Bisson, G David Hrenak, G Jacob Ingham, G Matt Villalta

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Vladislav Gavrikov – Acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Gavrikov was exactly what Los Angeles needed heading into the playoffs. In 20 regular season games, he managed to score three goals and six assists but also managed a rating of +12 in an approximate average of 21 minutes a game.

In mid-May, it was reported that the Kings and Gavrikov were closing in on a contract extension, but little has been released after the fact. If Los Angeles and Gavrikov are able to come to an extension agreement, they will have added a formidable shutdown defenseman to their back end for the foreseeable future.

G Joonas Korpisalo – Also acquired in the Gavrikov trade at the deadline, Korpisalo finished the regular season with a 7-3-1 record, earning a .921 SV% and a 2.13 GAA after the trade. Korpisalo immediately became the starting goaltender the Kings desperately needed throughout the year but ultimately failed to help Los Angeles move past the first round of the 2023 playoffs.

In six playoff games, Korpisalo held a 2-4-0 record, only mustering a .892 SV% and a 3.77 GAA. As the playoffs conclude, and the Kings are determining their starting goaltender for next season, Korpisalo’s playoff performance may have scared Los Angeles away from making any future investment.

D Alexander Edler – If Edler does enter this year’s free agent market, he will likely have to settle for a league minimum salary. The longtime NHL veteran did the same last summer, signing a 1-year, $750K extension in Los Angeles, with another $750K available in performance bonuses.

Edler scored two goals and nine assists for the Kings this season and received just under 15 minutes of ice time per game, the lowest since his rookie season in the 2006-07 season. If Edler does continue his career, it will likely be with the Kings.

Other UFAs: None

Projected Cap Space

Heading into the offseason, the Kings are expected to have around $7.5MM available in cap space. If they do extend Vilardi and Gavrikov, those two contracts should eat into most of that remaining figure.

If Los Angeles is looking to make an addition, they will have to move out salary in some manner. With a loaded prospect system, if the Kings do move out a player in an effort to create salary relief, they are one of a few playoff teams to be able to fill that hole rather cheaply. As their young players continue to grow, there is a real possibility of Los Angeles returning a very similar team to the ice in 2023-24.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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Free agency is a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Edmonton Oilers.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D Evan Bouchard – Bouchard is coming off back-to-back 40+ point seasons and was an absolute wrecking ball on the powerplay in the playoffs for the Oilers as he put up four goals and 13 assists in just 12 games. Now those numbers are staggering, however all but two of those points came with the man advantage.

If the Oilers had infinite cap space, they would likely prefer to get their budding offensive defenseman on a long-term contract, however given their cap constraints they will likely need to look at a bridge deal for 2-3 years. There are plenty of recent comparables for Bouchard with Noah Dobson being the most recent. A two-year deal with an average annual value around $4MM appears like the likeliest of outcomes for Bouchard this summer.

F Klim Kostin – Kostin was finally able to make an impact at the NHL level after several years of struggling to break through from the AHL. The former first round pick had never topped nine points in any NHL season prior to this past year with Edmonton, he settled into a bottom-6 role after coming over in a trade from the St. Louis Blues and was able to post 11 goals and 10 assists in 57 games. The intriguing thing about Kostin is his skill set, he is better suited for a role on a skill line but saw very little of that this year as he rarely played with Connor McDavid and saw just 17 minutes with Leon Draisaitl (in which he scored twice). Edmonton will have a full training camp with Kostin and could have an opportunity to try him on a skill line to see if they can find a fit for a player who will be on a miniscule cap number. Edmonton was apprehensive to try Kostin on the top lines this season due to his struggles away from the puck, but with nothing on the line to start the year, it’ll be an experiment worth conducting. Kostin is likely due for a one-year contract that will be around $1MM.

C Ryan McLeod – McLeod has topped 20 points in back-to-back seasons while toiling away in the Oilers bottom six. He is a former second-round pick who was one of the few Oilers in the bottom six who could move the puck with both speed and purpose. While he is strong with the puck his defensive metrics leave a bit to be desired. McLeod is young and is likely just scratching the surface of what he could be for Edmonton long term. He is arbitration eligible this summer meaning that McLeod will have some leverage when it comes to his contract negotiations. He is coming off a season in which he posted 11 goals and 12 assists in 57 games so he won’t break the bank, however his next contract could eat into 1/3 of Edmonton’s remaining cap space.

Other RFAs: F Raphael Lavoie, F Noah Philp, G Olivier Rodrigue

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Nick Bjugstad – Bjugstad came over to the Oilers before the trade deadline and was just okay. He put up six points in 18 regular season games with the club and followed it up with three goals in 12 playoff games as the Oilers were dropped in the second round. This is the third time Bjugstad will test free agency in the past three years, but the first time he will do so coming off a season in which he topped 20 points. Bjugstad once looked like he would develop into a power forward but has never been able to assert himself in that way. He is a good bottom six option at this point in his career but likely one that has priced himself out of Edmonton’s plans.

C Derek Ryan – Ryan played admirably for the Oilers this season as their fourth line center putting up 13 goals and seven assists in 80 games. While it was a drop off in numbers from the year prior, Ryan was still a big part of a much-improved bottom six for Edmonton. Ryan is undersized and at 36 years old his best games are likely behind him, however if he’s willing to come back at a cap hit that is comparable to the $1.25MM he made last season, it is something the Oilers should explore. Ryan can still kill penalties and take a lot of the defensive zone draws, and if he can continue to chip in the odd goal it would be worth the minimal investment.

F Mattias Janmark – It feels like Janmark has been in the league forever but the Stockholm, Sweden native is just 30 years old. Janmark signed a one-year deal with Edmonton last summer and provided decent value on a $1.25MM AAV as he put up 10 goals and 15 assists in 66 games. Those kinds of numbers have been typical for Janmark as he has put up between 21-25 points in five straight seasons. At this point Janmark is what he is, a depth forward who can chip in offence from time to time.  Janmark will likely seek a comparable contract this offseason but given Edmonton’s cap constraints they may look elsewhere to see if they can find better value.

Other UFAs: F Justin Bailey, F Tyler Benson, D Jason Demers, D Slater Koekkoek, D Oscar Klefbom, F Devin Shore, D Ryan Murray, G Mike Smith

Projected Cap Space

Edmonton has precious little cap room to fill out their roster as they currently have just under $6MM in space and 17 players signed for next season. Filling out their roster with quality players is going to be difficult and as evidenced in the playoffs, this is a flawed hockey team that needs to upgrade in several key positions. Ken Holland has said he will return to the helm for their final season of his contract, and it may be his final kick at the can since he has been unable to get the Oilers over the hump and they have many of the same shortcomings they had when he took over the club four years ago.

The club has committed big money to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but both men are still playing on favorable contracts given their talent level. The Oilers have them locked up for a few more seasons but they are running out of time to build a Stanley Cup contender despite having two of the best players in the world.  The Oilers will need to make good use of their limited cap space and in a perfect world would be able to shed a bad contract or two. It’s going to be a busy summer in Edmonton as they look to regroup after another disappointing playoff exit.

 Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Snapshots: Senators, Penguins, Luostarinen

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Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reported today that the talk amongst the bidders for ownership of the Ottawa Senators is that Toronto billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos is the current favorite to purchase the franchise. Apostolopoulos was one of four bidders with the other three being Los Angeles-based producer Neko Sparks, Michael and Jeffrey Kimel of Harlo Capital, and Toronto’s Michael Andlauer. Garrioch goes on to say that Apostolopoulos, who missed out on purchasing the NFL’s Washington Commanders is in the driver’s seat as he had the highest bid at $1 billion.

Garrioch adds that it is far from a done deal as there has been talk that the other ownership groups have been making moves to improve their bids and add additional people to their groups. Sources have told Garrioch that Andlauer is confident he will get the team and he believes his position with the Montreal Canadiens as an alternate member of the NHL’s board of governors will give him the inside track to the Senators ownership. There was talk earlier in the week that Andlauer and the Kimel’s might form a collective group, but those talks have apparently stopped after not getting very far.

It’ll be interesting to see where the Senator’s ownership saga goes in the upcoming weeks. Gary Bettman doesn’t generally like to have other teams making announcements during the Stanley Cup finals, and with game 1 set for Saturday night it might be well into June when there is an official announcement about who will be the next owner of the Senators.

In other snapshots from around the NHL:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins got to work today in the first day with Kyle Dubas at the helm. Dubas took over as president of hockey operations and interim general manager from Brian Burke and Ron Hextall and was quick to make moves to dismiss some members of the old guard. Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported that director of pro scouting Kerry Huffman, director of hockey operations and salary cap management Alec Schall, and senior VP of integrated performance Teena Murray were all let go with at least one year remaining on their contracts. All three were hired by Hextall and will not be part of the new management group in Pittsburgh as they rebuild their hockey ops after a disappointing season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.
  • Tom Gulitti of NHL.com writes that Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen is practicing with the team in Vegas ahead of game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals tomorrow night. Luostarinen was paired back up with his usual linemates Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell. The 24-year-old was injured in game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes but has yet to miss a game. Paul Maurice was quoted in The Hockey News on Monday saying that he expected Luostarinen to be ready for game 1 and things appear to be trending that way. Luostarinen has been a big part of the Panthers third line in this postseason putting up two goals and three assists in 16 games.

Minor Transactions: 06/02/23

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With the Stanley Cup Final set to start tomorrow, we are getting increasingly close to the start of the NHL offseason and the period of the summer where every club across the hockey world is in between seasons. Even as some teams vie for some of hockey’s highest honors, such as the Stanley Cup and Memorial Cup, most clubs are getting to work on building their teams for next season. We’ll keep track of any notable transactions overseas or minor league clubs make here:

  • Curtis McKenzie, the captain of the AHL’s Texas Stars, has signed a two-year contract extension to remain in Texas. McKenzie is on his second tour of duty with AHL Texas and has 99 NHL games on his resume, all with the Dallas Stars. A beloved part of the Stars’ 2014 Calder Cup-winning squad, McKenzie has scored 104 points in 142 games over the last two AHL campaigns. He is valued for both his on-ice contributions and also his off-ice leadership, and will now be able to help shepherd the next generation of Stars prospects on their way from Cedar Park to Dallas.
  • Former Ottawa Senator Filip Chlapik is returning to HC Sparta Praha in his native Czechia after spending last season with Switzerland’s HC Ambri-Piotta, per a team announcement. The move is a massive one for Prague as Chlapik, 25, was a dominant force during his one season in the Czech capital. In 2021-22 Chlapik scored 70 points in 53 games, leading the Czech Extraliga in all major offensive categories and winning Extraliga Player of the Year. Ambri-Piotta have already secured Chlapik’s replacement, Laurent Dauphin, but will surely miss having the 2015 second-rounder as he scored 24 goals and 37 points in 50 games in his debut season in the Swiss League.
  • Longtime AHL and ECHL netminder Joe Cannata is leaving the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn after three seasons spent with the club. The 33-year-old goalie arrived in the SHL after he was named Goalie of the Year of the second-division HockeyAllsvenskan in 2019-20, having posted a .938 save percentage in 41 games for IF Bjorkloven. Cannata, who last played in North America in 2019 with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, served as Oskarshamn’s number-one goalie in 2020-21 before transitioning to more of a tandem role the last two years, ceding starts to 28-year-old Tim Juel. Now with Cannata departed and Juel signing a three-year deal with Timra, Oskarshamn will turn to Liiga star and former Arizona Coyote Marek Langhammer to man their crease.
  • Ryan Lasch, a well-traveled star in multiple major European pro leagues, is returning to Liiga’s Lahti Pelicans, the club he played for in both 2011-12 and 2020-21. The 36-year-old American has been a difference-maker at each stop of his pro career, perhaps most notably at Frolunda in the SHL where he has won the Champions Hockey League three times and the SHL title twice. Lasch has led the SHL in points three times and Liiga once, and is likely to be a key contributor for a Pelicans team hoping to win a championship after falling just short against Tappara Tampere in the finals this past season.
  • In advance of their first season in the SHL since winning promotion in April, MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik have signed Mikael Ruohomaa from rival SHL side Leksands IF. While Ruohomaa had a difficult 2022-23, scoring just four goals in 41 games, he is an established, productive player in Liiga, the KHL, and SHL, and should bring some reliability and scoring ability to MoDo’s lineup. As MoDo are looking to avoid relegation back to HockeyAllsvenskan next season, signings that bring in quality players such as Ruohomaa will be crucial.
  • While they’ll lose Ruohomaa to MoDo, Leksands IF have made a signing of their own, bringing in defenseman Eddie Larsson from Liiga’s HIFK Helsinki. Larsson, 32, won an SHL title with Vaxjo in 2014-15 and has nearly 500 games of SHL experience on his resume. He’ll help bolster a solid Leksands blueline that surrendered the fifth-fewest goals in the SHL last season.
  • Samuel Bucek, a star of the Slovakian league, is headed back to Slovakian side HK Nitra after a difficult campaign split between Russia and Czechia. The 24-year-old is headed home to Nitra, the club where he scored 41 goals in 50 games in 2021-22 and won the league’s MVP award. Nitra lost in the finals to HC Slovan Bratislava that season and then this season fell to 10th place in the league standings, meaning Bucek’s return to their lineup serves as a significant boost to Nitra’s hopes of returning to title contention.
  • After starring in the ECHL for the past three seasons, former Miami University (Ohio) captain Gordie Green is headed overseas to continue his pro career. The 26-year-old has signed with HC Innsbruck of the ICEHL, and will likely be counted on as a possible top scorer. Green scored 71 points in 62 games for the Toledo Walleye this past season but failed to register on the scoresheet in the six AHL games he received with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Miluwakee Admirals. Now, he’ll get a chance to impress in Austria and potentially begin the process of moving up the European pro hockey ladder.

Snapshots: Gustavsson, Groulx, Bertuzzi

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As the cap penalties the Minnesota Wild will be paying due to the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter buyouts are set to hit a combined $14.7MM, Wild general manager Bill Guerin has quite the task ahead of him as he looks to build a team that can take the next step after back-to-back impressive regular seasons and first-round playoff exits. Perhaps the most important piece of business for him to address is a new contract for netminder Filip Gustavsson, who is set to become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. Complicating Gustavsson’s case is his extremely impressive performance this past season, where he posted a .931 save percentage in 39 games. With those sorts of numbers, is it possible Gustavsson has priced himself out of Minnesota?

That seems unlikely, as The Athletic’s Joe Smith relays positive word from Gustavsson’s agent about the ongoing contract negotiations: “we’ve started a dialogue and everything is really positive,” says agent Kurt Overhardt, “I don’t think it’s a matter of getting something done. It’s just a matter of when it’s done.” (subscription link) Smith notes that a three-year, $3MM AAV pact would fit with the comparables to Gustavsson’s current situation, and that would likely be a palatable number for the team. In any case, it seems the talented 24-year-old netminder is set to remain in Minnesota after a breakout campaign, despite some cap-related challenges on the team’s side.

More notes from across the NHL:

  • Benoit Groulx, the longtime head coach of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, is ending his tenure in the Salt City according to a report from JF Plante of Le Droit. Groulx has spent the last seven years as the Crunch’s bench boss and has led the team on multiple playoff runs, including a run to the Calder Cup Final in 2016-17. A respected player developer, Groulx’s Crunch teams have produced numerous difference-making NHLers, including Carter Verhaeghe, Yanni Gourde, Taylor Raddysh, Ross Colton, and Anthony Cirelli. Plante cites Arizona Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny’s current assistant coach opening as a possible landing spot for Groulx, and should such a move materialize that would be a significant and highly valuable addition to the Coyotes organization.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his 32 Thoughts blog that the Boston Bruins are “exploring what it needs to do to keep Tyler Bertuzzi,” a player set to hit unrestricted free agency later this summer. The Bruins traded their 2024 first-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings to acquire Bertuzzi, and the 28-year-old subsequently impressed in the black and gold, scoring 16 points in 21 regular-season games and 10 points in the team’s seven-game first-round playoff series. Bertuzzi is likely to have wide-ranging interest this summer in what is considered a thinner free agent class, so it’s unclear whether Boston will be able to get his signature on a contract extension. But given Friedman’s report, we at least now know that the Bruins are actively looking for an avenue to retain the former 30-goal scorer.

Arizona Coyotes’ Laurent Dauphin Signs In Switzerland

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Arizona Coyotes forward Laurent Dauphin has found a new team to play for, as he signed a one-year contract containing a club option for a second year with the Swiss National League’s HC Ambri-Piotta.

The 28-year-old 2013 second-round pick was in his third tour of duty with the Coyotes this past season, playing 48 games in the AHL and 21 in the NHL. Dauphin played very well in the AHL, notching 16 goals and 41 points, but his play in the NHL left much to be desired.

The high-energy pivot scored just one goal and no assists at the NHL level this season and failed to earn the trust of head coach Andre Tourigny, who played him sparingly.

It’s this disappointing run in the NHL that has likely paved the way for Dauphin’s departure overseas, where he’ll play in a European pro league for the first time in his career.

A longtime minor leaguer, Dauphin seemed to hit a turning point in his career during his time with the Montreal Canadiens in 2021-22.

As the Canadiens faced significant injuries and a nightmarish campaign, Dauphin emerged as a trusted option for head coach Martin St. Louis, who played Dauphin in a larger NHL role than he’d ever played before.

Dauphin responded well to that increased role, contributing four goals and 12 assists in 38 total games, including a slick penalty shot tally. We at PHR even acknowledged Dauphin’s improvement in our coverage of his signing in Arizona last summer, writing at the time that “it would be misleading to say anything other than Dauphin performed better than expected at the NHL level.”

It seemed as though Dauphin would potentially carve out a role as a depth NHL center, but it now seems that his time in Arizona has undone that progress. Now, he’ll head to Switzerland with the hope of serving as a top player for Ambri-Piotta, a club looking to have a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign.

As he’ll still be just 29 at this time next season, the door is far from closed for Dauphin to make a return to an NHL organization, but he’ll need to have a good season overseas to keep it open.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Oilers Notes: Yamamoto, Bouchard, Ryan, Free Agency

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After a disappointingly early playoff exit, the Edmonton Oilers are headed into another pivotal offseason. Desperate to build a Stanley Cup contender around the team’s two all-world talents, the Oilers don’t have a ton of cap space to add reinforcements to their roster, so they’ll need to get creative in finding ways to support their existing stars. One avenue the team could go down is moving a player taking up a decent amount of cap space, namely 2017 first-round pick Kailer Yamamoto. The 24-year-old is set to make $3.1MM against the cap next season yet provided the Oilers with just 25 points in 58 games this season.

The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman reports that the Oilers are “leaning toward moving” Yamamoto and are hoping they can find a team willing to acquire the player “without the Oilers having to retain salary or offer a sweetener.” (subscription link) Yamamoto did manage 20 goals and 41 points last season, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a team would have interest in him as a bounce-back candidate. In the case that trade interest does not materialize, though, Nugent-Bowman does note that the Oilers “appear open to buying out Yamamoto,” a move that would save them $2.6MM this season at the cost of $533k in dead cap next summer.

Some other notes regarding the Oilers:

  • One of the significant reasons the team would likely hope to create some cap space via a Yamamoto departure would be to clear room for contract extensions for the Oilers’ top restricted free agent: defenseman Evan Bouchard. The 23-year-old 2018 10th overall pick has hit 40 points in each of the last two seasons and is coming off of an extremely productive playoff run that saw him post 17 points in just 12 games. Nugent-Bowman writes that the Oilers are likely to pursue a bridge contract with Bouchard, as “anything more than two years appears unlikely.” Noah Dobson, another 2018 top pick, had comparable scoring numbers to Bouchard last summer and secured a three-year, $4MM AAV pact. That could be a deal used as a reference point for these negotiations.
  • 36-year-old veteran center Derek Ryan performed admirably as the Oilers’ fourth-line center this past season, scoring 13 goals and 20 points in 80 games while contributing to his team’s penalty kill. Nugent-Bowman reports that “there is mutual interest in Ryan returning to the Oilers,” and that “it’s hard to see how something isn’t figured out there” to bring the 500-game NHL veteran back to Edmonton. Such a move would provide valuable continuity to the Oilers’ bottom-six, while also serving as a nice reward for Ryan’s hard work.
  • While the Oilers have made significant early free-agency investments in recent years, specifically in the signings of Jack Campbell and Zach Hyman, don’t expect a similar move by the time the free agent frenzy comes around later this summer. Nugent-Bowman reports that there will “be no Zach Hyman-type offer issued to anyone” at the start of free agency and that it’s far more likely that the Oilers will target an “undervalued or underperforming young player” who they can add on a cheap contract, or a “bargain bin” veteran talent who can be the right fit for a specific role in head coach Jay Woodcroft’s plans at an affordable cap hit.

Philadelphia Flyers Announce Staff Changes to Hockey Operations Department

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced changes to the staff of their hockey operations department today, confirming the promotions of three people as well as the departures of three more.

Per the announcement, Alyn McCauley has been promoted to assistant general manager under new general manager Daniel Briere, while Riley Armstrong has been promoted to the position of director of player development and 1069-game NHL veteran Nick Schultz has been promoted to assistant director of player development.

Briere issued the following statement regarding these promotions:

I’m excited to announce the promotions of Alyn, Riley and Nick. These three have been around the organization for some time, in particularly, with our current prospects and young players, so I know they will each provide the direction and leadership that is necessary to get our future assets to the NHL level.

McCauley, 46, has nearly 500 NHL games on his resume from his days as a player and is entering his seventh season with the Flyers’ organization. He served as the team’s director of player personnel since February 2022 and in his new role he will oversee the Flyers pro scouting department, player personnel, and AHL Lehigh Valley’s hockey operations staff.

Armstrong, 38, was a longtime minor leaguer who is now entering his third season with the Flyers. For the past two seasons he served as an assistant coach with AHL Lehigh Valley, and before that point was the head coach for the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. Maine is where Armstrong has his strongest connection with Briere, as Briere was appointed in 2017 to run the Mariners’ day-to-day operations in what was his first major role as a hockey operations executive.

In Armstrong’s new role he will, as the Flyers put it, be “responsible for developing Flyers prospects and helping all the young players grow into the professional game as they develop in the AHL with Lehigh Valley.”

Flyers fans are likely to remember Schultz, 40, as he spent the last three years of his long playing career in Philadelphia. The former physical blueliner is entering his fifth season with the Flyers, and has previously served as a player development coach. Now, he’ll work directly with Armstrong in a more senior role within the team’s player development infrastructure.

Also as part of the team’s announcement, the Flyers confirmed that Mike O’Connell, John Riley, and Kjell Samuelsson have been relieved of their duties. O’Connell was in a senior advisory role with the team while Riley and Samuelsson were longtime members of the Flyers’ organization who had been working as player development coaches.

These moves signal an increased focus from the Flyers organization on player development in the early days of their new front office’s tenure. The team has begun to embrace the notion of more slowly building and developing a contending team and seems likely to prefer the draft-and-develop route over attempting to find quick-fix roster solutions, the approach that often had disastrous consequences under Flyers’ former general manager, Chuck Fletcher.

The creation of a strong player development pipeline has significantly aided the efforts of recent Stanley Cup champions, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, so it seems the Flyers are looking to build a similarly productive development system and are now turning to some fresh faces to manage that pursuit.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Michael Pezzetta To Two-Year Contract Extension

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Michael Pezzetta has been signed to a two-year, one-way $812.5k contract extension.

With this extension, Pezzetta will avoid having to become a restricted free agent at the start of the new league year next month, and now has a contract that will walk him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025.

While not the heftiest contract extension in terms of finances (it’s just a shade above the $775k new league minimum) this deal is a solid reward for a player who has quickly endeared himself to Canadiens fans over the course of the last two seasons. The 25-year-old is a 2016 sixth-round pick who spent three seasons developing with the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, before making his NHL debut in 2021-22.

Despite compiling just 19 points in 107 games at the AHL level, Pezzetta managed to play 51 games with the Canadiens in the 2021-22 season, and this past year had his first campaign spent entirely at the NHL level.

While the former Sudbury Wolves captain has scored at a similarly low rate in the NHL (26 points in 114 games) and has averaged under nine minutes of nightly ice time across that span of games, he’s nonetheless managed to skate in head coach Martin St. Louis’ nightly lineup more often than not.

He’s earned his current role on the Canadiens on the back of his work ethic and energetic physical play. At this sort of price tag, it’s easy to see why Montreal would want to keep Pezzetta around to maintain the depth on their NHL roster.

Ottawa Senators Open To Every Option With Alex DeBrincat

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Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that general manager Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators are open to every option when it comes to pending restricted free agent forward Alex DeBrincat. Dorion and the Senators are prepared to offer the winger an eight-year contract extension, however the 25-year-old DeBrincat has yet to decide on his future which has left the Senators in a holding pattern.

It’s hard to fault DeBrincat for taking his time with such a life altering decision, especially given all the turmoil that has surrounded the Senators in the last decade and the uncertainty surrounding the franchises ownership situation. But, from Ottawa’s perspective they will need a decision soon as they move closer to the draft and free agency at what is a pivotal time for the club.

Dorion expressed these sentiments saying that if DeBrincat indicates he doesn’t want to sign long term or if they can’t reach a number that is palatable for both sides then the Senators will need to look at all their options which includes exploring the trade market or even taking the young forward to arbitration to try and shave as much as 15% off his $9MM qualifying offer. Dorion went on to say that the team should have more clarity prior to the draft making the next month a very interesting one in Canada’s capital city.

DeBrincat was good in his first season in Ottawa, although his numbers did drop from some of his previous campaigns in Chicago. The Michigan native tallied 27 goals and 39 assists in 82 games this past year but put up just 36 points at even strength compared to 50 even strength points the year prior.  Dorion felt that DeBrincat struggled at times during the season but got stronger as the year went on giving him optimism that he could get back to some of the elite numbers he posted in Chicago when he topped 40 goals in multiple seasons.

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