Coaching Notes: Eaves, Scuderi, Rook
The Columbus Blue Jackets have made some changes to their AHL leadership, installing Chris Clark as general manager and Mike Eaves as head coach. Clark takes over for Bill Zito who was recently received a promotion with the Blue Jackets, while Eaves replaces the recently departing John Madden behind the bench for the Cleveland Monsters. Zito released a statement on the two hires:
Chris has spent a great deal of time over the past several years working with players throughout our organization, including those in the American Hockey League, and his thorough understanding of player personnel and the league make him the perfect choice to serve as the general manager of our AHL affiliate. Chris’ familiarity with our organization, combined with Mike Eaves’ long and successful history of working with young players, will provide our organization with great leadership that will benefit our players in Cleveland.
Eaves comes to the Monsters after a long coaching career including more than a decade with the University of Wisconsin. The 63-year old last coached in professional hockey back in 2000 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but does have experience at the AHL level.
- The Nashville Predators have announced a trio of coaching hires, filling out their development team with some familiar faces. Rob Scuderi, Sebastien Bordeleau and Dave Rook have been hired as defense, forward and goaltending development coaches respectively. Scuderi played more than 900 NHL games over a long NHL career and will now jump into the coaching fray for the next part in his hockey career. Bordealeau also played in the NHL—including on the first iteration of the Predators back in 1998—though spent the second half of his playing career dominating the Swiss NLA. Rook meanwhile didn’t have that sort of playing career, but has been a goaltending coach for a long time at the junior level and has experience with Juuse Saros already.
Snapshots: Flames, Draft Rankings, Penguins
The Calgary Flames have renewed their affiliation with the Kansas City Mavericks through the 2019-20 season, keeping their ECHL franchise in place for a third season. The Mavericks reached the playoffs this season for just the second time in team history, recording a 36-30-6 record under head coach John-Scott Dickson. Flames AGM Brad Pascall released a statement on the agreement:
The Calgary Flames and the Stockton Heat are pleased to continue our affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks. Kansas City is a first class franchise with quality ownership and management and they share the same principles and objectives for player development as our organization.
The ECHL is turning into an important development league for every NHL organization and is no different for Calgary, who relied on the Mavericks to provide playing time for top goaltending prospects Mason McDonald and Nick Schneider this season. A continuing partnership can only help to build stability throughout the entire three-tiered development structure, and provide a place where raw or unheralded prospects can work on their game.
- Speaking of prospects, Bob McKenzie of TSN has released his final draft ranking which is based on the opinion of ten active NHL scouts. The list has Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko at the top to no one’s surprise, but the pair of star forwards are followed by Bowen Byram, the top defender in the class. Diminutive sniper Cole Caufield and injured Peyton Krebs find themselves just sneaking into the top-10, while Spencer Knight is all the way up at No. 12. The ranking is by no means a mock draft, but can often give insight into the way teams around the NHL perceive certain players.
- The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins have signed Macoy Erkamps and Blake Siebenaler to AHL contracts for 2019-20. Both players were acquired by trade during the 2018-19 season and were scheduled to become restricted free agents this summer. Instead of issuing the pair of defensemen qualifying offers—or failing to do so and seeing them hit unrestricted free agency—the Penguins have found a sort of middle ground that keeps them in the organization while not taking up one of their NHL contract slots. 24-year old Erkamps had four points in 24 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton following the trade, while 23-year old Siebenaler saw more time with the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL.
Columbus Blue Jackets Re-Sign Markus Hannikainen
The Blue Jackets face more question marks than they would like entering this off-season, but can at least check one box on their to-do list today. Columbus has announced a one-year, one-way contract extension with forward Markus Hannikainen, who is coming off his first full season spent in the NHL. The 26-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger adds that the deal carries a $750K value, which is just $15K more than his $735K qualifying offer. As such, Hannikainen made things easy on the Blue Jackets by simply accepting close to the minimum deal that they could offer him. Hannikainen could have filed for arbitration this off-season, but the Finnish forward is still looking to truly make his mark in the NHL and was likely willing to accept a low salary in exchange for more responsibility on a Columbus team that will be looking to fill out their forward corps following several expected key departures.
Hannikainen originally signed with the Blue Jackets as an undrafted free agent in 2015, continuing a Scandinavian pipeline to Columbus under GM Jarmo Kekalainen. Hannikainen has played in at least four NHL games in each of his four season in North America, setting a new career high this past year with 44 games played. It was also the first season that he did not suit up for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, as he proved early on in his Blue Jackets tenure that he had outgrown the minor league level. Hannikainen will look to take another step forward next season, hopefully improving his production from just seven points this year. An increase in points will mean an increase in appearances and ice time and an increase in bargaining power when his contract ends next summer.
Senators Notes: No. 19 Pick, Paajarvi, Hogberg
Perhaps excited by the extension of Anthony Duclair and the additional second-round pick added by the Erik Karlsson contract, both occurring earlier today, Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion was very positive and open when speaking with the media today. Per The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, Dorion began by discussing the team’s plans for the upcoming NHL Draft. The Senators will travel to Vancouver tomorrow to begin meetings ahead of the round one of the draft on Friday night, but Dorion has already had many conversations with rival GM’s. Dorion states that he has already spoken with multiple teams about possibly moving up in the first round from No. 19. The Senators are without their own first-rounder, owed to the Colorado Avalanche from last year’s Matt Duchene trade, but the team was fortunately able to recoup a top pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets in their own sale of Duchene. With that said, No. 19 is not exactly where a rebuilding team would like their first pick to be, even though Ottawa already has a deep, talented pipeline. Following the Karlsson news, CapFriendly reports that the Senators now have 28 picks in the next three drafts, including 16 in the top three rounds. That is plenty of ammunition if Dorion decides that he wants to move up the board on Friday. Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks have hinted at their willingness to move back, while the Colorado Avalanche may also be open to moving their second pick in the round, No. 16. If Dorion is intent on moving up, he should be able to find a taker.
- Dorion also made the somewhat surprising reveal that the Senators are not pursuing a contract extension with free agent forward Magnus Paajarvi. Paajarvi, 28, has spent the past season and half with Ottawa after coming over from the St. Louis Blues on waivers in 2017-18. Although the 2009 tenth overall pick has never been able to live up to his draft stock nor his rookie year production, Paajarvi has grown into a solid two-way player and enjoyed the best season since his first in Ottawa this past year. Paajarvi seemed like a safe bet to stay with the Senators, especially given his key role on the penalty kill, but Dorion has other plans. He did say that talks continue with fellow UFA’s Oscar Lindberg and Brian Gibbons, both of whom performed well after deadline trades, as well as RFA defenseman Cody Ceci. As for Paajarvi, he’ll likely land on his feet elsewhere in the league once free agency opens.
- Finally, Dorion announced that a contract resolution with RFA goaltender Marcus Hogberg is imminent. Hogberg is expected to sign with the team this week after rumors emerged early this off-season that he was considering a move to Europe. It remains possible that Hogberg could still be loaned elsewhere, as his signing only adds to a logjam of keepers in both Ottawa and AHL Belleville. The Senators expect to enter next season with a tandem of veteran Craig Anderson and returnee Anders Nilsson. As of now, Mike Condon will also be in the mix. In the minors, the team hopes to give top goalie prospect Filip Gustavsson, college standout Joey Daccord, and now Hogberg the time in net they need to develop properly. If that is going to be impossible, even with a likely Condon departure, Hogberg is the top candidate to be loaned away, despite his advantage in pro experience.
Anaheim Ducks Name Dallas Eakins Their Next Head Coach
Monday: As expected, the Ducks have now officially announced Eakins as head coach. Despite a more drawn-out selection process than anticipated, Murray spoke glowingly of his new hire in the team’s release, stating “Dallas is an outstanding head coach who has worked well with our players since joining the organization four years ago. He is a tremendous leader and strategist, and deserves this opportunity.” The challenge now for Eakins is in trying to replicate his success with the Gulls with a Ducks team that seemed unmotivated for much of last season. The team has an aging, injury-ridden core, but are not without talent. If Eakins can find ways to re-energize the lineup with strong play from the younger players, it’s not out of the question that Anaheim could turn things around as early as next season.
Sunday, 4:00pm: The Athletic’s Eric Stephens and Josh Cooper confirmed that Eakins will be the next coach and he will be formally announced as the Ducks’ tenth coach in franchise history on Monday.
Sunday, 2:00pm: The Anaheim Ducks look like they have finally made a decision on their head coaching job as Dallas Eakins looks to be the “last man standing” and, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, the Ducks intend to formally announce him as head coach some time next week. The Orange County Register’s Elliott Teaford adds that he expects the announcement to be made Monday or Tuesday.
Eakins, who has been coaching the San Diego Gulls, the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, for the last four years, has always been considered the lead candidate for the job. However, Anaheim general manager Bob Murray chose to undergo an extensive search to evaluate other possibilities. The process had been delayed, as Eakins led the Gulls to the AHL Western Conference Final, before eventually being eliminated by the Chicago Wolves. He finished with a 154-95-15 record over those four years with San Diego and worked with many of the team’s young players, making him a solid candidate to lead the team’s rebuilding project. He does have some NHL experience as the 52-year-old coached the Edmonton Oilers, but didn’t last long as he was fired after 18 months and a 36-63-14 record.
The team interviewed a number of candidates including New York Islanders assistant Lane Lambert, Dallas Stars assistants Todd Nelson and Rick Bowness, Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent, and University of Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin. However, one by one, the candidates were told they were out of the running, with Eakins and Sandelin the last two coaching candidates standing. Sandelin recently signed an extension with Duluth, possibly taking him out of the running.
Anaheim is coming off a disappointing season that saw them not make the playoffs, finish 35-37-10, and force Randy Carlyle out of a job mid-season with many pointing the team’s lack of effort throughout the year. Murray took over the reins himself for the rest of the year in hopes of getting a better understanding of what the team would need this off-season.
Pacific Notes: Donskoi, Eakins, Phaneuf, McDavid
The San Jose Sharks and general manager Doug Wilson have a lot on their plate this offseason as they have a number of key free agents they must deal with, including Erik Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. One name that is often forgotten is free agent forward Joonas Donskoi, who has been a solid contributor as a middle-six forward the last few years.
The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that it looks like Donskoi is leaning towards going onto the open market to see what offers he might receive and could wait to see if a team comes calling when the interview period opens on June 23. Donskoi could receive quite a bit of attention as he has scored 14 goals in each of his last two seasons and had 37 points this year. While that’s hardly amazing numbers, the speedy wing is a good defender and could provide value for a lesser price tag, considering he only made $1.9MM last year.
- While it looks like the Anaheim Ducks are moving rather slowly in naming their head coach, it looks like there are only two candidates remaining in the race in Dallas Eakins and University of Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Eakins remains the favorite, but the team is doing quite a bit of research on him, including interviewing some of the veterans on his AHL squad.
- Jordan Samuels-Thomas of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that with Dion Phaneuf being bought out, the most likely destination for the veteran blueliner would be a young team that’s several years away from truly competing. The scribe writes that the decline in the 34-year-old’s play would likely have playoff teams looking elsewhere for veteran depth, but Phaneuf’s leadership and his ability to mentor young players would make him more valuable to a lottery team. On top of that Phaneuf could help team’s penalty killing and can provide a physical presence a young team might lack.
- At a gathering for 500 season ticket holders, Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said he has already met with star center Connor McDavid twice in the last 10 days, including visiting him as he was working out, according to Terry Jones of the Edmonton Journal. He reports that McDavid is doing well and is expected to ready for the start of training camp. The 22-year-old suffered a small PCL tear in his knee on the final game of the regular season, but the injury didn’t require surgery.
Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Connor Ingram
The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded prospect Connor Ingram to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a seventh round pick in 2021. Ingram has one year remaining on his entry-level contract.
It’s been a very odd year for the 22-year old goaltender, as Ingram was sent down to the ECHL almost immediately after being named an AHL All-Star. Little was explained about the decision, but Ingram spent the rest of the season with the Orlando Solar Bears. In his 22 appearances at the AHL level, Ingram recorded a 14-7 record and posted a .922 save percentage. In a bizarre situation, the trade was actually listed on NHL.com’s trade tracker before either Ingram or his agent were notified, according to Joe Smith of The Athletic.
Originally selected in the third round of the 2016 draft, Ingram was a top goaltending prospect that had competed for Canada internationally and dominated the WHL. He actually stepped into professional hockey in 2017 with no trouble, posting a 20-11 record for Syracuse in his rookie year. That kind of production is exactly what the Predators are hoping for, though obviously whatever came between him and the Lightning organization will have to be resolved if he wants to flourish with his new team.
Overseas Notes: Tomek, Johansson, Avangard
A difficult and winding developmental path will now take Philadelphia Flyers prospect Matej Tomek back to his native Slovakia. The 22-year-old goaltender, a third-round pick in 2015, has had a tough go of it in North America. Initially selected out of the NAHL, after dominating the second-tier U.S. junior league in his first season, Tomek has since struggled to find his place. Tomek first spent two seasons at the University of North Dakota, but made zero appearances as a freshman and had just two poor outings as a sophomore. He opted to leave the program in search of more opportunity, spending the following season with the USHL’s Waterloo Blackhawks, where he regained some confidence but still left scouts wanting more. Tomek made his return to the college ranks this past season, playing for the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Yet, again Tomek fell into a backup role and disappointed with an .845 save percentage and 4.73 GAA in five games. Likely the smart move, Tomek has decided to take a break from North American hockey for a while and HK Dukla Trencin of the Slovak Extraliga has announced a one-year contract with the young, local product. Although 22 already, Tomek’s rights belong to the Flyers until August of 2021, so one or two good seasons in Slovakia could keep his NHL hopes alive despite his recent struggles.
- The Swedish Hockey League regular season champs are watching as their core is dismantled this off-season by NHL signings. Farjestad BK, who surprisingly lost in the semifinals despite dominating the regular season, have already seen their top two scoring forwards, Oskar Steen and Joakim Nygard, sign with Boston and Edmonton respectively, prospect Fabian Zetterlund join New Jersey, and goaltender Adam Werner inked with Colorado. Now, a fifth name could also depart for North America. Hockey News SE reports that two-way center Linus Johansson has been drawing NHL attention and at least one unnamed team has made a concrete offer. The big 26-year-old forward is expected to make his decision in the coming days. Johansson is actually not a stranger to North America, having played a season in the NAHL back in 2011-12. The late-blooming forward was never considered an NHL prospect coming up through junior hockey and only debuted in the SHL in 2016. However, he has impressed in three seasons as a well-rounded player and physical force and now must decide if he wants to try taking his game to the highest level.
- Give the KHL’s Avangard Omsk some credit; the team is not short on confidence as they approach this off-season. Insider Igor Eronko writes for Sport-Express that free agent targets include veteran UFA Jason Spezza, as well as RFA’s Sven Andrighetto, Teddy Blueger, and Zemgus Girgensons, and recent Calder Cup winner, Tomas Jurco. While there has been some speculation that the Colorado Avalanche may not qualify Andrighetto, it’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t be able to find an NHL opportunity if that is his priority. There has been nothing to imply that either Blueger or Girgensons are looking to leave their respective teams. Spezza, while coming off a disappointing stint with the Dallas Stars, is a former standout NHL center who easily remains top-50 free agent this summer. Jurco may be the only realistic name on the list, but kudos to Omsk for putting those names out there and being aggressive on the NHL free agent market. We’ll soon see how that works out for them.
Minor Notes: Pettersson, Glass, Porter
Emil Pettersson is heading back to the SHL after a pair of seasons in the AHL. The 25-year old big brother of Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson signed with the Nashville Predators in 2017, but was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in February of this year. Even with the change of scenery he wasn’t able to make it to the NHL, instead playing 61 total games at the AHL level and recording 38 points. Pettersson is heading back to the Vaxjo Lakers, the same club he left in 2017.
The Coyotes can retain his rights temporarily with a qualifying offer, but given the two-year contract he signed in Sweden he will likely become an unrestricted free agent before considering a return to North America.
- After a lone season in France playing for the Bordeaux Boxers, veteran NHL forward Tanner Glass has announced his retirement. The 35-year old has apparently been offered a position with his former team the New York Rangers, though the Bordeaux press release doesn’t make it clear what his title would be. Glass played 134 of his 527 career NHL games with the Rangers, racking up 472 hits and 181 penalty minutes.
- Kevin Porter is staying put after signing a one-year extension with the Rochester Americans of the AHL. The minor league deal is for the 2019-20 season, and keeps the Americans’ captain in town. The 33-year old Porter has played 249 games in the NHL over his career, but is much more well known for his years in the minor leagues where he has been a consistent producer for several teams. He recorded 39 points in 58 games last season and is a former Hobey Baker winner that can help the young Buffalo prospects navigate their first taste of professional hockey.
Edmonton Oilers Extend AHL Coach Jay Woodcroft
Though there have been many changes since Ken Holland took over as Edmonton Oilers GM, one won’t be happening behind the minor league bench. The organization announced today that Jay Woodcroft has signed a three-year extension to remain head coach of the Bakersfield Condors.
Woodcroft took the Condors to a level that they had never seen before, setting a franchise record with 42 wins and getting to the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time. The group also completed an incredible 17-game winning streak in early 2019, tying the second longest streak in AHL history. Despite a long career as an assistant in the NHL, this was Woodcroft’s first head coaching job at the professional level.
Holland is familiar with Woodcroft from his days in Detroit, where he started his coaching career as a video assistant after retiring as a player in 2005. Todd McLellan was on that staff, and is someone Woodcroft has basically followed around the league since, spending more than a decade as his assistant in San Jose and Edmonton. That led to some speculation that he might be heading to Los Angeles to rejoin him, but after experiencing so much success with the Condors and being a positive influence on the development of Edmonton’s young players, it makes sense for Holland and the Oilers to keep him around.