With activity around the league set to pick up in the near future, teams have been busy finalizing their coaching staffs and trying to get some early contract work done. Unsurprisingly, those two topics dominate the top stories from the past seven days.
Key Center Off The Market: Another prominent pending unrestricted free agent came off the board with the Avalanche signing center Brock Nelson to a three-year, $22.5MM contract. Colorado acquired the 33-year-old near the trade deadline for a pricey package that included 2023 first rounder Calum Ritchie and a 2026 first-round pick. Nelson was a little quieter offensively than expected with his new team, picking up 13 points in 19 regular season games while adding four assists in their first-round loss to Dallas. Despite the struggles, GM Chris MacFarland took full advantage of the chance to solidify the second center position, one that has had a considerable amount of turnover in recent years. In doing so, one of the top middlemen is now off the market.
Coaching Hires: The week started off with two teams still needing a head coach. Both of those vacancies were filled with first-time hires. The Penguins named Dan Muse as their new bench boss while soon after, Boston hired Marco Sturm as their head coach. Muse has five years of assistant coaching experience at the NHL level but has not been a head coach in the pros; his only head coaching time has been in the USHL and international junior levels. But with GM Kyle Dubas looking to make his roster younger, bringing in more of a development coach makes some sense. As for the Bruins, Sturm returns to an organization he spent several years with as a player. He spent the last seven seasons with the Kings, four as an assistant in Los Angeles and the last three running their AHL affiliate in Ontario. He also has a handful of years of coaching internationally for his native Germany. While Boston was a big seller at the trade deadline, it appears they plan to try to get back into the playoff mix in a hurry so Sturm will have some win-now expectations fairly quickly.
Staying In Tampa Bay: Yanni Gourde and the Lightning had mutual interest in getting a new contract done but with limited cap space, they had to find a compromise. They did just that as the 33-year-old signed a six-year, $14MM deal, one that will lower his cap charge to $2.33MM after making nearly $5.2MM per season on his last contract. Gourde had his lowest point total since 2019-20 this season when he had 31 points in 57 outings between Seattle and Tampa Bay but he projects to be a capable third-line center for at least a few more years. His market value may have been closer to $3.5MM per season so this could effectively be a case of a four-year, $14MM pact that both sides agreed to pay out over six to keep the cap charge down.
Big Change In Dallas: While there was a moment where all 32 head coaching jobs were filled, it was short-lived. Despite making it to the Western Conference Final for the third straight year, the Stars elected to fire head coach Peter DeBoer after three seasons with the team. Dallas couldn’t muster up much against Edmonton in the Western Conference Final and his handling of goaltender Jake Oettinger was a topic of much debate. DeBoer’s teams have reached the Conference Final in six of the last seven seasons so it wouldn’t be surprising if another team ponders making a move to hire him relatively quickly but in the meantime, he’ll be paid out the final year of his contract. Now, GM Jim Nill will have to go through what’s left of the coaching market to evaluate whether he should hire an external candidate or promote from within; assistant Alain Nasreddine has a bit of NHL head coaching experience under his belt.
Four For Cates: Initially, it looked as if Flyers forward Noah Cates was intent on signing a short-term deal this summer that would take him to free agency fairly quickly. But the two sides were able to do a bit better than that, agreeing to a four-year, $16MM deal that buys out his final RFA year and three UFA-eligible seasons. Cates set a new career high in goals this season with 16 in 78 games while also adding 21 assists. Notably, he spent most of the season playing at center which gave him some extra bargaining power heading into talks. With Cates and Tyson Foerster re-signing recently, Philadelphia is down to one remaining prominent pending RFA in defenseman Cameron York.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
Brock Nelson is no longer a number 2 center.