Morning Notes: Leach, Merkley, Gross
On Sunday, we covered reports indicating that former Boston Bruins and Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jay Leach was a strong candidate for two head coaching vacancies in the AHL: the Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers) and Belleville Senators (Ottawa Senators). Yesterday, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that “all signs point” to Leach becoming head coach in Hartford, with the official announcement from the team coming soon after.
If he ends up hired by the Rangers to coach their AHL affiliate, Leach, 46, would bring instant credibility to the team’s coaching staff. Leach was previously a head coach in the AHL for the Providence Bruins from 2017-18 through 2020-21, amassing an impressive 136-77-26 record. Most crucially for the Rangers, whose player development at the pro level has come under recent scrutiny (the team moved on from director of player development Jed Ortmeyer last month), Leach has a strong track record of delivering AHL talent to the NHL level. During his time in Providence, he helped develop future NHL players such as Jeremy Lauzon, Trent Frederic, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar, Jordan Binnington, Matt Grzelcyk, and Urho Vaakanainen.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- 2015 first-round pick Nick Merkley has decided to leave the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons, signing a one-year contract with Dynamo Moscow. Merkley, 29, last played in North America in the 2021-22 season, a year where he got into nine NHL contests for the San Jose Sharks. Merkley has spent the last four seasons in the KHL, where he has been a productive top-six forward. He led the Dragons in scoring in 2025-26, putting up 24 goals and 45 points.
- Veteran defenseman Jordan Gross, who was formerly a solid depth defenseman in NHL organizations, has signed a two-year KHL contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. The 31-year-old blueliner is an undrafted player who leveraged a stellar NCAA career at Notre Dame into 25 NHL games across four seasons. Gross is a former Eddie Shore Award winner as the AHL’s defenseman of the year, but has been in the KHL for the past two seasons. This past year, Gross scored eight goals and 35 points in 64 regular-season games for Traktor Chelyabinsk.
Bruins Sign Navrin Mutter To One-Year Extension
The Boston Bruins announced that AHL forward Navrin Mutter has been signed to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Mutter was a pending UFA through Group VI status, so this contract keeps him from hitting the open market.
Boston did not disclose the full financial terms of the contract beyond that it will contain an NHL cap hit of $850K, the new league minimum for 2026-27. According to PuckPedia, the deal carries a $95K AHL salary. That represents a modest pay bump for Mutter, whose previous contract contained a $70K AHL salary. Mutter is repped by Andrew & Dave Maloney of Maloney & Thompson Sports Management.
Mutter, 25, was acquired by the Bruins in a trade on March 12. The Nashville Predators dealt Mutter to the Bruins in exchange for former University of Denver star Massimo Rizzo and low-scoring winger Dalton Bancroft. Mutter ended up playing in 16 total games for Providence, 12 in the regular season and then four in the playoffs. His production in that span of games was just one goal, no assists, but offense has never been his calling card.
A 6’3″, 213-pound undrafted winger, Mutter has been able to carve out a career in professional hockey as a result of his work ethic and relentless physicality. In a four-year OHL career, Mutter only produced 58 points in 217 games. Mutter has not produced much offense regardless of what level he’s played at, as he has 21 points in 161 career AHL games, and had 11 points in a 33-game stint in the ECHL during the 2023-24 campaign.
But, as mentioned, Mutter has been able to hold down a spot in two NHL organizations thanks to his work ethic, character, and physical play. Players who have a similar value proposition at the professional level often try to refine their defensive game in order to be able to contribute to a penalty kill, but thus far Mutter has not been able to do so. That is the case throughout his professional career, including when he was in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators.
While Mutter is of course a long-shot to have an NHL career, from his perspective, that’s still what he’s working towards and pushing for. And with this new extension, the door on getting into NHL games is technically not closed to him. But for Mutter to have any real prospect of not only earning an NHL call-up, but holding down a role on an NHL roster, he’ll likely need to show a greater level of versatility and defensive ability than he has so far – and bring more than just competitiveness and physicality to the table if offense is out of the question.
Canucks Hire Manny Malhotra As Head Coach
According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have hired Manny Malhotra as their next head coach, as first reported by Frank Seravalli of Victory+.
Malhotra will be elevated from the coaching staff of the team’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. This comes just shortly after the Canucks promoted Ryan Johnson to the position of GM. Johnson was previously GM in Abbotsford and an assistant GM in Vancouver.
Malhotra, 46, first became a member of the Canucks organization during his playing career. Malhotra played for Vancouver from 2010-11 to 2012-13, serving as a reliable bottom-six defensive specialist for the club.
He was a teammate of legendary Canucks duo Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, individuals who will now oversee his work as head coach in their positions as co-presidents of hockey operations.
At the end of his playing career in 2015-16, Malhotra joined the coaching ranks in 2016-17 as a development coach in the Canucks organization.
Then, after just one season, he was promoted to the position of assistant coach, where he would remain for three seasons. Malhotra was an assistant on coach Travis Green’s 2019-20 Canucks team that made a run to the second round of the playoffs, the team’s first extended playoff run since reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2011.
Malhotra left Green’s staff to join the Toronto Maple Leafs as an assistant coach for the 2020-21 campaign, and he would go on to spend four seasons as an assistant on Sheldon Keefe’s staff. Prior to Malhotra’s arrival, the Maple Leafs had not won a playoff series since 2004. They finally broke that streak in Malhotra’s second season on Keefe’s staff, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in a hard-fought first-round series.
Keefe was fired as Maple Leafs head coach last summer, prompting Malhotra’s exit from Toronto. He returned to the Canucks organization, becoming head coach in Abbotsford. He was an instant success there. Led by some talented youngsters in Arshdeep Bains, Aatu Raty, and Arturs Silovs, as well as valuable veterans such as Sammy Blais and Christian Wolanin, the Canucks had a stellar 2024-25 season. They went 44-24-4, and won the Calder Cup for the first time in franchise history.
While Malhotra and the AHL Canucks took a step back this past season, it’s worth noting that the NHL Canucks’ plunge to the bottom of the league standings impacted the stability of the team’s AHL roster. Malhotra simply did not have the benefit of coaching a stable core group of players in 2025-26, the way he did in 2024-25.
In any case, Malhotra’s work as an assistant, and as a championship-winning minor-league head coach, clearly impressed the Canucks. He’ll take over a franchise that has undergone a significant amount of hockey operations change over the last year, and is expected to be in a rebuilding phase for the next few years.
Taking over a rebuilding Canucks team won’t be an easy task for a first-time NHL head coach (former head coach Adam Foote was fired after his rookie season behind the bench), but Malhotra’s player development background could pay real dividends for a team set to increasingly rely on young talent.
The Canucks are set to add a significant amount of youth as they rebuild over the next few years, an influx of promising, but inexperienced talent that could begin with the No. 3 pick in the draft later this month. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman wrote in his most recent mock draft that the “smart money is on” the Canucks selecting Brantford Bulldogs center Caleb Malhotra with the pick. Malhotra is the consensus top center in the upcoming draft, and is also, notably, Manny’s son. Whether this hire will in any way impact the Canucks’ draft plans is still unclear.
But looking beyond just the draft, the Canucks’ decision to promote Malhotra as their NHL head coach speaks to the organization’s desire to build a contending team from the ground up. The Johnson/Malhotra GM/head coach pairing already delivered championship results in the AHL, and the hope will be that they can do the same at the game’s highest level.
Photos courtesy of Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Blues Sign Will Cranley To One-Year Extension
The St. Louis Blues have signed goaltender Will Cranley to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Cranley spent last season as the third-string netminder for the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. He has slowly risen the ranks of the pro circuit since making his ECHL debut in 2023, three years after the Blues selected him in the sixth-round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Cranley racked up six wins and a .892 save percentage in 10 AHL games last season. He posted much more encouraging numbers in the ECHL, where he totaled 14 wins and a .915 Sv% in 18 games during the regular season. Despite those strong numbers, Cranley was not included in Florida’s race to the ECHL’s Eastern Conference Finals. While that limited his postseason appearances to part of one start with Springfield, it also served as a small bode of confidence in Cranley’s spot in the AHL.
After racking up 34 wins and a .896 save percentage in 74 career ECHL games, Cranley seems well-set for a full-time promotion next season. He will compete with Vadim Zherenko and Georgi Romanov for starts in Springfield’s crease. Zherenko posted the best statline of the bunch last season, with 17 wins and a .902 Sv% in 42 games. Romanov recorded nine wins and a .896 Sv% in 28 games. His numbers should be surmountable for the 24-year-old Cranley, though Zherenko appears set to hold onto the starting role for the foreseeable future.
Devils Sign Anton Silayev
The New Jersey Devils will have one more first-round pick in their system next season. Defenseman Anton Silayev is has signed his entry-level contract following his third season in Russia’s KHL. The news was originally shared by Artur Khairullin of Russian news site Sport-Express. The 6-foot-7 defender was selected 10th-overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. He will be the last of 2024’s top 15 to sign his entry-level contract when he puts pen to paper.
Silayev has had a sure role with the KHL’s Torpedo Novgorod since the 2022-23 season, when he led the team’s junior affiliate to a junior league championship. Even in his age-17 season, Silayev’s size, smooth skating, and stick checks proved tough for opponents to beat. Those advantages earned him a full-time role in the KHL during his draft season in 2023-24. Silayev had ups-and-downs as a KHL rookie. Never the scorer, he racked up only 11 points in 63 regular season games. More glaring were the amount of times that Silayev got turned around by top-tier competition – though his aggression in board battles and ability to move the puck still warranted a top pick come draft day.
Silayev has spent the last two seasons ironing out the gaps from his age-18 season. He climbed to 12 points in 63 games of the 2024-25 season, then joined the Torpedo’s minor-league club for the postseason en route to a league championship. He contributed two points to 17 games of the 2025 VHL playoffs. Surprisingly, Silayev’s routinely-low offense turned downwards this year. He finished the 2025-26 KHL season with just three points in 61 games. Much of that diminished scoring came from Silayev’s struggles to spark the breakout in the same way he had in prior years – casting a shadow over his clear improvements on either end of the ice. Following their elimination from the Gagarin Cup playoffs, Torpedo finished Silayev’s season with a brief assignment to Russia’s junior-league playoffs, where he scored two points in four games while standing as one of only 20 defensemen age-20 or older in the junior postseason.
A down year in Russia will be followed by a major opportunity for one of New Jersey’s top prospects. Silayev will likely step into a top role in the AHL, where his big frame and puck-moving abilities could quickly stand out. He could also be a candidate to break camp with the Devils to begin the 2026-27 season – if the club finds a way to use his unique style and size in a depth role while he finds his stride. Either way, an entry-level contract will give Devils fans another player to watch close once training camp kicks off.
Jay Leach A Strong Candidate For Two AHL Head Coaching Jobs
It wasn’t that long ago that Jay Leach was receiving interviews for some NHL head coaching vacancies. He ultimately didn’t land a job and made the decision to go for a second stint with the Bruins, this time as an NHL assistant after previously coaching AHL Providence for four seasons.
However, after two seasons with Boston, they decided not to renew his contract. Inherited on this year’s coaching staff, it appears that Marco Sturm wants to bring someone else in to work with the defense moving forward.
While Leach isn’t believed to be in the mix for any of the current NHL head coach openings, it looks like he’ll be running a bench for the 2026-27 season. In the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Leach is a strong contender to take over the Rangers’ affiliate in Hartford. Meanwhile, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period adds that some believe that Leach is in the mix to take over the affiliate of the Senators in Belleville.
Following the season, the Rangers dismissed their entire AHL coaching staff, headlined by head coach Grant Potulny, after two years in that role. As New York embarks on a retooling of some sort after they issued the second version of ‘the letter’ back in January, there will be a greater emphasis being placed on player development. Someone like Leach, who has had some success running Providence in the past, is a logical target.
As for Belleville, that spot isn’t necessarily vacant at the moment. After the Sens dismissed David Bell back in December, Andrew Campbell took over the role on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. At this time, Campbell could be in consideration for the full-time spot but after the team slid from fifth place in the North Division at the time of Bell’s firing to seventh, there’s a case to make a change with Leach being a viable candidate for the spot.
Whether it’s with Hartford, Belleville, or somewhere else altogether as an NHL assistant, it appears that Leach won’t be out of work for much longer.
Senators Interested In Mason McTavish
The Ottawa Senators will have a busy summer ahead, one way or another. After expressing interest in building out the blue-line, and padding their goalie depth, general manager Steve Staios has also made it clear that Ottawa needs another top-six forward per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen. Garrioch names Anaheim Ducks youngster Mason McTavish as the current name on Ottawa’s radar, though Seattle Kraken center Jared McCann and St. Louis Blues’ winger Jordan Kyrou could also fit the bill.
Staios has the rare experience of having traded for McTavish once before. He acquired the burly forward for the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs in a 2022 trade with the Peterborough Petes. McTavish had put together a season of dominance in the year leading up to the trade – earning a top-three selection in the 2021 NHL Draft on the back of a Covid-shortened season, but strong performance, in Switzerland’s second-tier pro league. He made his NHL and AHL debuts at the very start of the 2021-22 season, then closed the year as the star of Staios’ OHL championship-winning Bulldogs.
Since then, McTavish has put up four consecutive seasons of at least 40 points in the NHL. He hit a career-high 22 goals and 52 points – the most goals and second-most points on the Ducks – in the 2024-25 season, but fell back to 41 points in 75 games this year. Even with up-and-down success, and a fluctuating lineup role, McTavish has still shined as a young professional. He earned Anaheim’s alternate captaincy in 2023 and has carried the letter through two more seasons since. McTavish was also the captain of Team Canada at his sole appearances in the 2021 U18 Men’s World Championship and 2022 World Junior Championship.
There seems to be some certainty that McTavish can hold down a middle-six role in the lineup. His upside could be far higher, having broken the 20-goal ceiling once before his 23rd birthday. Garrioch also points out McTavish’s career-long 48.6 faceoff percentage, which peaked with a 51.7 percent in the 2023-24 season. That added tool could give Ottawa some interesting flexibility with Dylan Cozens‘ role as second-line center – while also padding the forward depth chart as a whole.
The cost of that certainty could be high, especially if Ottawa hopes to find it in a recent, top-three draft pick. The Senators’ don’t have a wealth of talent, or assets, to work with – but they do have two first-round picks and four third-round picks over the next two classes. That includes the 32nd-overall pick this season – a spot that’s locked in after Ottawa’s pick was revoked, then regranted, following a trade scandal. Ottawa could build an impressive package if they send that selection, additional draft capital, and a rising prospect like Blake Montgomery the other way.
Prospect Notes: Meyer, MacKinnon, Second Overall
Top 2027 NHL Draft prospect Carter Meyer could be making a groundbreaking change of leagues. The U.S. star has requested release from the U.S. National Team Development Program per Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff. Meyer is undoubtedly the top player of the NTDP’s U17 squad and is currently projected to be drafted in the 2027 top-10. Should he be granted release, Meyer would likely move to the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, who picked up his rights with the 17th-overall pick in the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft.
Meyer is a true, top playmaker who proved he had the top-end motor to support his top-end skill during his first year at the NTDP. He led the team in scoring with 15 goals and 37 points in 42 total games – four points more than Nolan Fitzhenry in second place. The Boston University-commit also led the U.S. roster in scoring with 10 points in four games of the World U17 Hockey Championship. That performance earned him a promotion to the roster for the U18 Men’s World Championship, where he notched five points in five games. Meyer is the son of 281-game veteran of the NHL Freddy Meyer, who currently serves as the head coach of The Rivers School in Massachussetts high school hockey.
Other notes from the prospect world:
- The Providence Bruins have signed defenseman Dylan MacKinnon to a one-year, two-way, AHL contract. MacKinnon wrapped up his fifth season in the QMJHL this year, finishing with just 12 points in 47 games between the Moncton Wildcats and Charlottetown Islanders. He signed with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners to finish the season and managed no scoring in three pro games. MacKinnon was the shutdown defender on strong, offense-first teams during his junior career. That style didn’t pop much, leading the Nashville Predators to forgo signing MacKinnon after drafting him in the 2023 third-round. He will look to fit in a bit better at the AHL flight.
- Speculation around the San Jose Sharks’ dangling of the second-overall pick continues to grow. The team could find potential trade partners across the top-15 per NBCS’ Sheng Peng. The St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames have already expressed interest in moving up on draft day – but Peng points out that the Chicago Blackhawks could also be an interesting candidate. Any deal would need to land San Jose a player close to the NHL – and with some upside worth looking forward to. A tinge of promise could help San Jose justify stepping back in a top-10, or top-15, filled with upside and interesting defense prospects.
Minor Transactions: Berezkin, Guskov, Hasley
It turns out that Oilers prospect Maxim Berezkin won’t be coming to North America for next season after all. Instead, the KHL announced that the 24-year-old has signed a two-year extension with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. A fifth-round pick back in 2020, Berezkin had a breakout year in 2024-25 when he posted 15 goals and 27 assists in 66 games, leading to the belief that he could come over and potentially contribute in a bottom-six role in Edmonton. Things didn’t go as well this season, however, as his output dropped to seven goals and 25 helpers in 64 contests. Edmonton will continue to hold Berezkin’s rights but at this point, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll make the jump to North America down the road.
Other minor moves with an NHL connection:
- Wild forward prospect Matvei Guskov has inked a one-year extension with HK Sochi, per a KHL announcement. The 25-year-old was a fifth-round pick in 2019 and played his junior hockey with OHL London but returned home one year later. Guskov had his best showing by far this season, collecting 32 points in 50 games but won’t be coming back to North America at this time. With no transfer agreement in place between the NHL and Russia’s federation, Minnesota will continue to hold Guskov’s rights.
- The Sharks have added some minor-league depth. Their AHL affiliate announced that they’ve signed goaltender Connor Hasley to a one-year deal. The 25-year-old wrapped up his college career with Arizona State, posting a 3.12 GAA and a .907 SV% in 24 games. He then joined ECHL Wichita for four contests to wrap up the season. San Jose liked what they saw in those outings and will now keep Hasley around for a full year.
West Notes: Pridham, Celebrini, McKenzie
The clock is winding down on the Chicago Blackhawks’ ability to retain 2024 draftee, Jack Pridham. Pridham, 20, will have to commit to an NCAA program, sign his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks, or re-enter the draft this summer, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Unfortunately, although Chicago would prefer the former two options, Powers didn’t allude to any firm decision either way. Despite committing to Boston University last year, Pridham instead decommitted from the Terriers program to continue his development with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. Including today, Pridham only has three more days to make a decision.
If he doesn’t commit to a collegiate program and doesn’t sign with the Blackhawks, Pridham would likely go higher than his 2024 billing of 92nd overall. Given his age, Pridham may not be a first-round talent, though he’d surely be a lock to go in the second round, at the very least. He’s coming off an impressive year with the Rangers, scoring 46 goals and 90 points in 65 games with a +38 rating. Additionally, he has been integral in Kitchener’s postseason run, scoring two goals and 17 points in 18 games, and will help the Rangers in the Memorial Cup Final on May 31st.
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Coming as a shock to nobody, Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported that it’s highly likely Macklin Celebrini will be named captain of the San Jose Sharks ahead of next season. Specifically, Kaplan said, “Celebrini wearing a “C” as captain next season is all but guaranteed.” Eligible for an extension this summer, Celebrini would become the 14th captain in franchise history, and the first since Logan Couture in the 2023-24 campaign.
- Despite being the subject of retirement rumors throughout the past season, Texas Stars captain Curtis McKenzie isn’t ready to hang up his skates. According to a team announcement, Texas has signed McKenzie to a one-year extension through the 2026-27 season. McKenzie has been the Stars’ captain since the 2021-22 campaign and has registered 206 goals and 510 points in 725 games throughout his 13-year AHL career.