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Morning Notes: Super 16, Blackhawks, Whynot

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NHL.com’s writers have released their Super 16 pre-training camp power rankings, and the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights sit atop the list. Despite a lack of a clear-cut starting goalie and depth concerns, the league website’s voters still consider the Golden Knights the team to beat, with NHL.com’s senior editorial director Shawn P. Roarke claiming there’s “no reason they can’t overcome [those issues] again.” The Carolina Hurricanes come in at number two as the top Eastern Conference team after reaching the Conference Finals last season and bolstering their roster with several key free-agent signings, such as Michael Bunting and Dmitry Orlov. A pair of Central Division powerhouses in the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche round out the top four, while the New Jersey Devils land at number five after their young core broke out to lead the team to a 112-point performance in the 2022-23 season. Two non-playoff teams from last season broke into their rankings, both in the Eastern Conference: the Buffalo Sabres at 16 and the Pittsburgh Penguins at 14. The New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets didn’t make the cut after earning wild-card berths in their respective conferences last season.

Elsewhere from around the hockey world this morning:

  • According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs have hired Matt Smith as their goalie development coach. At 33 years old, Smith has already had coaching stints with the Soo Greyhounds and Guelph Storm of the OHL, but he hasn’t been on any team’s staff since the 2017-18 season with Guelph. Nonetheless, the Blackhawks will look to Smith to play a crucial role in developing a pair of promising goalies within the Blackhawks organization slated to form Rockford’s tandem next season: Drew Commesso and Jaxson Stauber.
  • After the Calgary Flames conceded the exclusive signing rights to defense prospect Cameron Whynot, the 20-year-old will now suit up for Acadia University in Canada instead of turning pro, according to SaltWire’s Willy Palov. The Flames opted not to sign the 2021 third-round pick to an entry-level contract earlier this summer after a pair of disappointing post-draft seasons with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, during which he failed to eclipse the 0.68 points per game and the +13 rating he posted during his draft year. It’ll be at least another summer before Whynot attempts to make the jump to pro hockey, likely by signing an AHL or ECHL contract (or heading overseas).

Offseason Notes: Peters, Pacioretty, Voronkov

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In a surprising turn of events, controversial head coach, Bill Peters, has landed a new coaching role in North America. Making his way back to the Western Hockey League, Peters will find himself manning the bench of the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the 2023-24 WHL season. Peters had spent the last several years coaching the Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL after an unceremonious end to his time with the Calgary Flames in 2019.

As a reminder, back during the 2019-20 season, former player Akim Aliu, accused Peters of anti-Black racism when the two had been together in 2010 with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. More specifically, Aliu lambasted Peters’ usage of the ’N’-word, as well as writing letters to Chicago Blackhawks management tarnishing Aliu’s future career. The NHL did execute an investigation into the matter, but those results have not been released to the public up to this point.

Salim Valji of TSN reported that a current coach, who remained nameless, had attempted to broker a conversation between himself and Peters, but Aliu declined. With the negative stories now associated with his coaching career, it is more than unlikely that Peters will ever coach in the NHL again, even in spite of the shocking development that he was been hired for a role in the WHL.

Other notes:

  • Far be it from a confirmation, but the going notion is that new forward for the Washington Capitals, Max Pacioretty, will not be ready for opening night according to Jason Chen of The Hockey News. Even after suffering another Achilles tendon tear in January, Pacioretty was still able to land a one-year, $2MM contract from Washington this summer. If he is able to rebound in any meaningful way, he would certainly become a solid secondary scoring option for the Capitals down the stretch.
  • Although he spent his last four professional seasons in the KHL, a prospect for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dmitry Voronkov, will report to the team for training camp in September (X Link). Originally the 114th selection in the 2019 NHL Draft for Columbus, Voronkov became quite the goal scorer in the KHL last year. In 54 games played, the young forward would have 18 goals and 13 assists, showing that he is ready to continue his professional career in North America next season.

Poll: Which Team Had The Worst Offseason?

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During this time of year, some organizations have plenty of excitement surrounding their clubs, as fans are eager to see new players wear the jerseys of their favorite teams headed into training camp. Whether picking up exciting players through the draft, free agency, or trades, there are plenty of teams that significantly improved their rosters heading into next season. However, there are some teams that have been unable to improve or have even seen the talent on their roster take a substantial decrease this summer.

One of the most important teams that factors into this conversation, is the defending President Trophy champions, Boston Bruins. This summer, the Bruins have had to deal with the untimely retirements of franchise legends Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, while also watching Dmitry Orlov, Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Foligno, Taylor Hall, as well as several others join separate organizations for the 2023-24 season. Seeing their name pop up in plenty of trade conversations lately, their cap situation has halted Boston from replacing any of these players on their team. The team still features top-end talent such as David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, but in arguably the strongest division in the NHL, their competitive window may take a brief hiatus.

Unlike the Bruins, one team who had been projected to be competitive last season, but ultimately failed short of the playoffs at season’s end, was the Calgary Flames. The organization is only a season away from seeing quite a few players hit unrestricted free agency, but with an open wild-card situation in the Western Conference, the team did not do much to improve their chances next year. The organization may be banking on a serious change in direction from new head coach, Ryan Huska, but after trading away Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils early in the summer, the team only brought in Yegor Sharangovich, Dryden Hunt, and Jordan Oesterle. Time will tell if Huska truly has the ability to move the needle for the Flames behind the bench, but the acquired players this summer do not generate much confidence in that happening.

Lastly, for another straight summer, the New York Islanders did very little to address their lack of goal-scoring. The team did hand long-term deals to both Pierre Engvall and Scott Mayfield but failed to bring in any players such as Jason Zucker or Vladimir Tarasenko, who could have provided an extra boost to their offense. They may benefit from a full season from center Bo Horvat, but even after deploying him for over 35% of the season last year, still finished 22nd in the league in Goals For. The team is limited by the way of salary cap space and does typically put much more emphasis on keeping the puck out of their net, but the lack of additional goal-scoring is severely limiting this team in their quest for success.

There are other teams that may be in contention for the worst offseason, and now it’s time for a vote.

Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Tocchet, Bochek

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In his ongoing series throughout the summer, Adam Proteau of The Hockey News touched on Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov and explained that he is on the hottest seat for the Capitals entering into the upcoming season. Although Washington and Kuznetsov seem intent on starting the 2023-24 season together, the Russian forward has not officially rescinded his trade request from last summer.

Following up on one of the most disappointing seasons of his career, Kuznetsov has a lot to prove this year. Last season, playing in 81 games, Kuznetsov scored 12 goals and 43 assists with a -26 rating, not quite living up to his $7.8MM salary. If the Capitals hope to move Kuznetsov for something substantive, or even hope to make the playoffs in a loaded Metropolitan division, they will need Kuznetsov to find his old form in the top six.

Washington might be best served in transferring Kuznetsov to the wing and allowing Nicklas Backstrom and Dylan Strome to take the top two center positions on the roster. Both Backstrom and Strome play significantly better defensively, and Kuznetsov would likely fit in nicely on the second-line left-wing role. Nevertheless, new head coach Spencer Carbery and the entire organization will have to do much better in getting the maximum potential out of Kuznetsov next year.

Other snapshots:

  • In an interview with Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Rick Tocchet, touched on several topics, including the pending restricted free agency of Elias Pettersson, and the ceiling of the Canucks headed into next season. Tocchet notes that if Vancouver can’t make the playoffs next year, the organization will need to “check most of the boxes” to entice him to stay, such as improvements from the coaching & development staff, as well as team cohesion throughout the season. Tocchet also said that the team is “capable of success”, but would not elaborate entirely on his use of the word ’success’.
  • General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes, Bill Armstrong, announced a multi-year contract extension with Development Skills Coach, Kyle Bochek. It is unclear how long the contract will be for, but Bochek will be entering his third season in the Coyotes organization, having worked with both NHL and AHL talent. Arizona must have some trust in Bochek, as the team has graduated players such as Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther under his watch.

Carl Hagelin Announces Retirement

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Two-time Stanley Cup champion winger Carl Hagelin announced his retirement today via an Instagram post. Now 35 years old, Hagelin missed the 2022-23 season due to severe eye and hip injuries.

“It’s been an amazing ride, but it ends here,” Hagelin said. “Unfortunately, my eye injury is too severe to keep playing the game I love.” He told reporters at the beginning of the offseason that he hoped to return to NHL play for the 2023-24 campaign, but unfortunately, that won’t be the case. His four-year, $11MM extension he’d signed with Washington in 2019 expired on July 1.

Picked in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers out of Södertälje SK’s junior program in Sweden, Hagelin took a somewhat unconventional path for European prospects and immediately came over to North America, embarking on a four-year collegiate career with the University of Michigan. It was undoubtedly the right choice, however – by his senior year, he was named team captain and produced over a point per game over his last two seasons.

Aside from a few games in the minors in 2011-12, Hagelin made the jump to the NHL immediately from college, recording 38 points in 64 games during his rookie season with the Rangers, along with a +24 rating. That placed him fifth in Calder Trophy voting and even earned him a few votes for the Selke Trophy.

He would continue consistently producing in the 30-40 point range over his four-year tenure with the Rangers but never really built on that rookie campaign. That’s not a knock on Hagelin at all, however. He was a quintessential two-way middle-six secondary scoring forward with a good amount of speed to his game. That’s even more impressive in relation to his sixth-round selection, given he went on to play over 700 NHL games.

His tenure in New York ended somewhat unceremoniously. A restricted free agent at the end of 2014-15, he couldn’t agree to a new deal with the Rangers and his signing rights were dealt to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for depth forward Emerson Etem (along with some draft picks changing hands, but nothing of significance). Anaheim compensated him nicely by signing him to the richest contract of his career (four years, $16MM), but Hagelin couldn’t really find his game in Southern California. He recorded just 12 points in 43 games to begin 2015-16 before Anaheim moved him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for David Perron, who was similarly underperforming in Pittsburgh.

It would turn out to be one of the most underrated transactions in Penguins history. Down the stretch, Hagelin would complete the famed third line with Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel that played such a crucial role in Pittsburgh winning their first of back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016. Hagelin exploded for 27 points in 37 games after the trade and added 16 points in 24 playoff games en route to the championship.

Again, he couldn’t quite recapture that performance the following season. While he would win another championship in 2017, he scored just two goals in 15 games during that playoff run. Fast forward to 2018-19, and Hagelin had scored only one goal and two assists through the first 16 games of the season. A move to the Los Angeles Kings in November didn’t do much for him, either – he recorded just five points in 22 games there. It was near the 2018-19 deadline that the Kings moved him to Washington, where he notched 11 points in the final 20 games of the season, appearing rejuvenated and earning himself the final four-year extension.

Hagelin would wrap up his career by scoring 20 goals and 66 points throughout 187 games in a Capitals uniform, posting solid numbers for a bottom-six scoring winger. Unfortunately, it was a freak eye injury in a practice in March of 2022 that would end his career.

PHR extends our best wishes to Hagelin in his continued recovery from both injuries and congratulates him on a championship-caliber career.

East Notes: Östlund, Reinbacher, Gomez, Bochner

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The Buffalo Sabres confirmed today they’ll be loaning 2022 first-round pick Noah Östlund to the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League. It’s unclear what the delay was in Buffalo announcing the move – Växjö confirmed it in early June. Regardless, it presents a step up for Östlund, as the 19-year-old center spent last season in the second-tier Allsvenskan with Djurgårdens IF, where he recorded a respectable 26 points in 37 games. He’ll aim to carve out a top-nine (potentially even top-six) role in Växjö, who is coming off two SHL championships in the span of three years. This is expected to be his last season in Sweden before coming to North America to play for either the Sabres or AHL’s Rochester Americans in 2024-25.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • In some other loan news, CapFriendly reports the Montreal Canadiens have recalled 2023 fifth-overall pick David Reinbacher from EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League ahead of rookie camp next month. Reinbacher will not suit up for them this season, however – they’re expected to return him to Switzerland when training camp is over, and he’ll lace up the skates in a top-four role for Kloten. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound right-shot Austrian defender could see full-time NHL action as soon as the 2024-25 season.
  • Former New Jersey Devils forward Scott Gomez has found a new post-hockey home with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles, the junior A club with which he posted 124 points in just 56 games with during the 1996-97 season. Gomez, a Calder Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion with New Jersey, will be an assistant coach next season. Gomez has not worked behind a bench in nearly five years, last serving as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 2017 to 2019.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have hired Daniel Bochner as a development coach, according to a team release. The 38-year-old has spent the last five seasons on staff with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg in a player development role, graduating to an assistant coach job in 2020-21. Born in Toronto, the former pro defenseman carries Israeli nationality and represented them at multiple low-level World Championship tournaments throughout the 2000s.

Summer Synopsis: Colorado Avalanche

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Last season, the Colorado Avalanche finished atop the Central Division as most expected. That’s despite missing captain Gabriel Landeskog and other core pieces such as Bowen Byram, Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin missing significant amounts of time. The 2022 Stanley Cup champions couldn’t find the magic for two seasons in a row, however, instead making history in another way by becoming the first team to lose to the Seattle Kraken in a playoff series, albeit in a hard-fought seven-game battle. That series loss was largely due to a lack of depth scoring, something GM Chris MacFarland addressed in a targeted manner this summer. Was it enough to return the Avs to 2022’s glory, however?

Draft

1-27: F Calum Ritchie, Oshawa (OHL)
1-31: D Mikhail Gulyayev, Omsk (MHL)
5-155: D Nikita Ishimnikov, Yekaterinburg (MHL)
6-187: D Jeremy Hanzel, Seattle (WHL)
7-219: F Maros Jedlicka, Zvolen (Slovakia)

While the Avalanche didn’t transform a weak prospect pool, they did make a shrewd move the day before the draft by trading Alex Newhook to the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring a second first-round pick in the process. Their two top selections, Gulyayev and Ritchie, were rather spectacular value moves for where they were taken – some public scouts had both ranked within the top 15 prospects available.

Ritchie is the closest to NHL-ready and could potentially see some time with the Avs as soon as 2024-25, but he’ll still need to be returned to juniors then if he’s not NHL-ready. All five players the Avalanche drafted are expected to return to the clubs listed above for the 2023-24 season, with the exception of Gulyayev, who is expected to join Omsk’s KHL team full-time.

Trade Acquisitions

F Ross Colton (from Tampa Bay)
D Gianni Fairbrother (from Montreal)
F Ryan Johansen (from Nashville)
F Fredrik Olofsson (from Dallas)

Colton has developed into the type of middle-six point-producing forward that the Lightning have relied upon so much over the past handful of seasons, but they simply couldn’t afford to keep him as he was a restricted free agent this summer in need of a new contract. Colorado, who had some additional flexibility with Landeskog slated to go on LTIR for a second straight season, swooped in and acquired the 26-year-old, who for now is projected to center the third line after scoring 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 81 games last season. His defensive reputation becomes a bit inflated publically once you dig deeper into his possession metrics, but he has maintained a role as an excellent play-driver with an accurate shot – something the Avalanche desperately needed to add to their second and third lines.

Johansen is projected to slot in just above Colton on the Avs’ center depth chart, but he’s more of a reclamation project than the former, and the two could easily swap roles if things don’t go as planned. The 31-year-old has a previous first-line center pedigree but has been wildly inconsistent over the past few campaigns, scoring just 28 points in 55 games last season after notching 26 goals and 63 points in 79 games with the Predators the year before. The Avalanche are hoping that by sticking likely one of Artturi Lehkonen or Nichushkin on his wing, they can help unlock some of the offense that’s been missing and re-elevate him to the 60-point range.

Fairbrother came from Montreal as part of the return for Newhook and will spend next year in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles. Olofsson, whose signing rights were acquired from the Stars, was immediately signed to an extension after the trade and will be one of many names looking to lock down a roster spot and contribute on the team’s fourth line.

Key UFA Signings

F Andrew Cogliano (one year, $825K)
F Jonathan Drouin (one year, $825K)
D Jack Johnson (one year, $775K)
F Fredrik Olofsson (one year, $775K)*
F Chris Wagner (one year, $775K)*
F Miles Wood (six years, $15MM)

*-denotes two-way contract

Most of their key boosts to their forward core came via trade in Colton and Johansen, but the Avs did dish out some money to fill out bottom-six spots via unrestricted free agency. While he may not play the highest in the lineup, their biggest move (and perhaps one of the more surprising contracts of the entire summer) was Wood, earning a lengthy commitment to play a bottom-six checking role in Denver. The 27-year-old missed all but three games in the 2021-22 season with injury but suited up for a full campaign last year, scoring 13 goals and adding 14 assists for 27 points in 76 games whilst playing a fourth-line role for the New Jersey Devils. His reputation as defensively responsible did take a hit last year after the rather serious hip injury, raising some concerns about the rather extravagant length of the deal.

Another player who could end up playing quite a large role is Drouin, who, for now, projects to slide into the team’s top-six on the cheap to hopefully revitalize the former third-overall pick’s point production. If they opt to spread out the wealth and play wingers like Lehkonen and Nichushkin on the second line, they could match Drouin alongside former Halifax Mooseheads teammate Nathan MacKinnon and hope for him to reach the 40-50-point ceiling he showed earlier in his career with the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored just two goals last season in 58 games and hasn’t played close to a full 82 games since the 2018-19 campaign.

A handful of re-signings, including Cogliano, Johnson and Olofsson, aim to play fourth-line or third-pair roles. Wagner, who spent most of the last two seasons in the minors, does have a history of full-time NHL play and will aim to regain such a role on the team’s fourth line.

Key RFA Re-Signings

D Bowen Byram (two years, $7.7MM)
F Ross Colton (four years, $16MM)
F Ben Meyers (one year, $775K)

We covered Colton’s acquisition in the trade section of this piece, but Byram’s two-year bridge warrants some analysis. Despite his development being derailed multiple times by serious injuries and concussion concerns remain, the 2019 fourth-overall pick is a bonafide top-four defender among one of the highest-powered defense corps in the league. He recorded a career-high 24 points in 40 games last season (a 49-point pace) and shouldered nearly 22 minutes per game – a significant workload for such a young, developing defender. Posting better defensive results than his defense partner, Samuel Girard, he could be in line for even more ice time next season and will likely exceed the value of his new deal.

Meyers, on the other hand, takes a league-minimum deal after failing to elevate himself in the Avs’ lineup in his first full pro season. The highly-touted college free agent signing out of the University of Minnesota last season skated in 39 games with Colorado at the NHL level, collecting four goals. He’ll likely get a crack at the fourth-line center spot out of camp but needs to show strides in order to avoid another demotion to the minors.

Key Departures

F J.T. Compher (Detroit, five years, $25.5MM)
F Lars Eller (Pittsburgh, two years, $4.9MM)
G Jonas Johansson (Tampa Bay, two years, $1.55MM)
D Erik Johnson (Buffalo, one year, $3.25MM)
F Denis Malgin (Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, five years)
F Alex Newhook (trade with Montreal)
F Matthew Nieto (Pittsburgh, two years, $1.8MM)
F Evan Rodrigues (Florida, four years, $12MM)

Compher played the biggest role in Colorado last season out of anyone on this list, claiming the second-line center spot by default after Newhook failed to capture it in the opening weeks of the season. He would average over 20 minutes per game and record a career-high 52 points, not something that he should be expected to replicate in Detroit (even though they paid him as such). In fact, Johansen could very well be seen as an upgrade on Compher, given his track record, so despite the gargantuan minutes he covered last season, the Avalanche likely won’t feel his absence too much after their other offseason moves.

Rodrigues was a solid two-way middle-six forward for the Avs in his lone season there, as he has been for the past few seasons. He recorded 39 points in 69 games (a 46-point pace), something they’ll likely look for Drouin to replace, although he provides no guarantee.

Eller and Nieto found roles in Pittsburgh under new GM Kyle Dubas after they were both late-season trade acquisitions by the Avs who had a marginal impact on their record. Perhaps the biggest supplementary loss here is Johnson, who was the longest-tenured member of the Avalanche roster and had logged over 700 games with the team and was still a reliable defensive presence, albeit a declining one. His leadership will be missed, undoubtedly.

Malgin was a bit of an intriguing depth scorer last season, notching 11 goals in 42 games in an Avalanche jersey, but he’s opted to return home to Switzerland to play out the prime of his pro career.

Salary Cap Outlook

With Landeskog again expected to miss the entire season due to an additional knee surgery, the Avalanche are in a better salary cap situation than many other contenders. The team still has a fair amount of wiggle room and is expected to be cap-compliant by around $2.025MM once Landeskog is placed on LTIR, per CapFriendly. They have no dead money on their books: no retained salary transactions, buyouts, or projected buried salaries in the minors. It still leaves room for them to make one more marginal addition from the free-agent market if they choose.

Key Questions

Can Georgiev Repeat?: 27-year-old Bulgaria-born Alexandar Georgiev was a revelation in the crease last season. Coming over after a handful of inconsistent years in a backup role with the New York Rangers, the Avalanche caught lightning in a bottle with Georgiev, who churned out true starting-caliber numbers with a .919 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average with a heavy workload – 62 games played, by far a career-high. He had just a .898 with the Rangers in 33 games the year before, however. While goalies often hit their primes closer to age 30 like Georgiev, the Avalanche will need another strong season from him with diminished defense depth in front of him.

Do They Have A Second-Line Answer?: One of Johansen or Colton commanding second-line minutes will be a must for Colorado to fix last season’s Achilles heel. If they can do so enough to give the team a legitimate secondary scoring option behind MacKinnon, much like Nazem Kadri did before his departure in 2022, it could very well keep them atop the Central. If not, they’ll need full health and full power from their stars to avoid slipping down the standings in a tight division headlined by improved Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets teams.

What To Do With Devon Toews?: He’s not-so-quietly transformed into a top-flight defender who would be the best defenseman on about half the teams in the league. However, he’s entering the final season of a contract paying just $4.1MM per season and is hurtling toward unrestricted free agency next summer. If they aren’t close to an extension by the time the deadline rolls around, will the Avalanche keep him around as a self-rental or aim to flip him for an asset with more control?

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Toronto Maple Leafs Extend Sheldon Keefe

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed head coach Sheldon Keefe to a multi-year contract extension, according to a team release. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports it’s a two-year extension, keeping him behind the Toronto bench through the 2025-26 season. Treliving later confirmed the length during his media availability following the news.

Keefe was entering the second season of a two-year extension he’d signed in 2021. Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving indicated last week that he was actively talking with Keefe regarding an extension.

After a successful four-year stint as head coach of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Keefe was elevated to the NHL early into his fifth season after the Leafs fired Mike Babcock just before American Thanksgiving in 2020. He’s been behind Toronto’s bench ever since, accumulating a 166-71-30 regular-season record in 267 games coached since that time. That’s good enough for a .678 points percentage, which is first in NHL history among coaches with at least 250 games leading an NHL bench. It’s also the fourth-highest points percentage in the league since he assumed the Toronto head coaching role on November 20, 2020, trailing only the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins.

It’s been a different story in the postseason, however. While the Leafs’ streak of playoff ineptitude began before Keefe took over, his record of 13-17 is less than inspiring, and he’s won just one out of five series he’s coached the team through since 2020.

Despite that, the team has put full confidence in Keefe publically across both the previous and current front office regime and has backed up their words with financial commitment. In a statement, Treliving said he believes Keefe “has a clear vision for this team and where it needs to get to” and “[looks] forward to working alongside him as we head into the upcoming season.”

The extension wasn’t something that looked like a sure thing when the Leafs opted not to renew the contract of now-Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas earlier this summer. Keefe had worked with Dubas since joining the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds as their head coach during the 2012-13 season, following him up the ranks from juniors to the minors and, eventually, the most scrutinized bench boss role in the NHL.

Keefe’s bench will look slightly different this season after assistant Spencer Carbery departed after two seasons to assume the head coaching role for the Washington Capitals. They’ve brought in former Ottawa Senators head coach Guy Boucher as an assistant for 2023-24, along with longtime St. Louis Blues assistant (and one-time Leafs defenseman) Mike Van Ryn.

With a new-look secondary core featuring Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, John Klingberg, and rookie Matthew Knies, Keefe will likely need to guide Toronto to at least a Conference Final appearance over the next two seasons to earn a third extension in Canada’s largest city.

Minor Transactions: 08/30/23

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Welcome to another edition of minor transactions as we dive into the lesser-known player movements, signings, and deals that might not make the front page but are nevertheless crucial in shaping the dynamics of the hockey world in Europe and crucial NHL feeder leagues. As the 2023-24 season approaches (for some teams as early as this week), teams are still fine-tuning their rosters and adding talent. Here’s a running list of minor moves for August 30, 2023:

  • Former Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers center Corban Knight remains overseas as he signed a one-year contract with SC Bern in the Swiss National League, per a team announcement. This will be Knight’s first season in Switzerland – he’d spent the last four years in the KHL with Barys Nur-Sultan and Avangard Omsk. He hasn’t played in the NHL since he appeared in 23 games with the Flyers in 2018-19. Since moving overseas, the 32-year-old has been one of the most consistent top-six centers in the KHL, earning a spot on Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics and recording 162 points in 222 games throughout his time in Kazakhstan and Russia.
  • After a lengthy career spanning 16 seasons in the DEL, four-time league champion Frank Mauer has announced his retirement at the age of 35. The right winger spent most of his career in Mannheim and Munich before spending his final season with Eisbären Berlin, scoring six goals and adding 11 assists for 17 points in 51 games. A rather consistent top-six scorer for years in his home country, Mauer was also on the German team that captured the silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, during which he recorded a goal and three assists in six games.
  • The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with forward Orrin Centazzo, per a team release. Centazzo, 23, is undersized at 5-foot-8 and 163 pounds but has packed quite a scoring punch since turning pro in 2021. Spending the last two seasons with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, he’s been among the league’s top scorers with 49 goals and 97 points in 90 games. He spent last season under AHL contract with Newfounudland’s parent club, the Toronto Marlies, where he recorded an assist in 15 games. He was loaned to the Growlers for the majority of the season.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Austin Wagner To PTO

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In addition to signing defensemen Libor Hajek and Mark Pysyk to professional tryouts, as initially reported by CapFriendly last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced they’ve also signed winger Austin Wagner to a PTO.

A fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2015, Wagner burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old rookie in 2018-19 with a solid showing in a fourth-line role. It was somewhat of an unlikely promotion – he would notch 12 goals and 21 points in 62 NHL games that year in his second pro season after scoring just ten goals and 17 points in 50 games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign the year prior.

Nonetheless, most thought Wagner displayed the potential to be a solid, two-way bottom-six winger – especially after he put up solid production in an extremely limited role at such a young age. The following two seasons didn’t go nearly as well, unfortunately. Throughout the COVID-affected 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, Wagner would fail to eclipse his rookie production despite playing in 109 total games, recording just 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points. He wasn’t a liability defensively, but he wasn’t a strong enough penalty-kill specialist or shutdown winger to cancel out the decrease in production.

That led to Wagner failing to make the team out of camp in 2021-22, just one season into a three-year, $3.4MM extension. He was waived and assigned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign, where he spent the next season and a half before the Kings dealt him to the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for future considerations. The Blackhawks would recall him after the trade, giving him his first taste of the NHL in 22 months, and he notched a goal and an assist in seven appearances down the stretch of the regular season.

After going unqualified by Chicago upon the expiration of the aforementioned extension earlier this summer, Wagner finds himself on the UFA market at age 26 and will look to land a contract with the Penguins (or their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) during training camp. In the minors, he’d scored 34 points in 79 games over the past two seasons with Ontario while adding 140 penalty minutes.

There’s no clear path for Wagner to earn an NHL role in Pittsburgh, even as an extra forward. The team’s financial situation is tight, especially to start the season with Jake Guentzel on injured reserve, and the limited fringe spots they do have will go to non-waiver-exempt, higher-ceiling talent such as Alexander Nylander. He could bolster a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton squad that finished eighth in their division and missed the Calder Cup Playoffs last season, however.

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