East Notes: Peat, Merkulov, Canadiens

The NHL Alumni Association announced today (Twitter link) that former Capitals winger Stephen Peat has passed away at the age of 44 from injuries sustained in a car accident a little over two weeks ago.  He was drafted by Anaheim in the second round in 1998 but never played for them as he was moved to Washington two years later.  Peat spent parts of five seasons in the Capitals organization, getting into 130 games at the NHL level where he had ten points and 234 penalty minutes, wrapping up his pro career one year later in the 2006-07 season.   We at PHR send our condolences to Peat’s family and friends.

More from the Eastern Conference:

• The Bruins intend to use Georgii Merkulov at center at training camp, relays Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. The 23-year-old made his NHL debut last season, getting into four games with Boston where he was held off the scoresheet but he was quite productive with AHL Providence, notching 30 goals and 35 assists in 67 games.  Boston signed Elias Lindholm to anchor the top line this summer while they acquired Mark Kastelic who should hold down the center spot on the fourth line.  With Charlie Coyle still in the mix presumably the center on the second trio, it appears that Merkulov will have to beat out Matthew Poitras and PTO Tyler Johnson to land a regular role in the lineup.
• The Canadiens announced several hires today and while most were in the scouting or training departments, they added Roger Grillo as a coaching consultant. Presumably, he’ll help fill the role vacated by Alex Burrows who moved from being an assistant coach into a player development role.  Grillo was on the coaching staff at the University of Vermont when head coach Martin St. Louis played there and had been with USA Hockey since 2009.  This will be Grillo’s first coaching job in the pros.