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Latest On Columbus Blue Jackets Coaching Search

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The first domino on the NHL’s head coaching market could fall as soon as this week. According to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has told people involved in the team’s head coaching search process “that he’d like to have a new coach in place before he heads to the IIHF World Championships in Europe on May 21.” (subscription link)

That gives Kekalainen a seven-day window, including today, to finalize his team’s next bench boss, although Kekalainen has said “It doesn’t always go on the schedule” and that he’d “rather make the right decision than the quick decision.”

In terms of possible candidates for the team’s head coaching vacancy, two days ago we covered news that the team was considering promoting former head coach Brad Larsen’s top assistant, Pascal Vincent, to the head coaching role. This would be a similar result to the Blue Jackets’ last head coaching search, when John Tortorella’s top assistant, Larsen, was promoted.

Portzline adds that while Vincent is “held in high regard across the league, especially as an Xs and Os coach,” his appointment would “no doubt rankle many in the fan base” who have been seeking more substantive change behind the bench for the organization.

One additional aspect of this head coaching search to note is about cost. According to Portzline, “there is a pervasive question across the league” about “whether the Blue Jackets are willing to pay the freight for an established coach.”

Kekalainen did say that the team would “absolutely” pay top dollar for a head coach, and that the position of the team’s ownership has always been “about finding the right coach and making sure we get a deal done” regardless of cost.

It’s difficult as outside observers to truly get a handle on the Blue Jackets’ willingness to pay top dollar for NHL head coaches, and whether the team ends up hiring a veteran name or more of an up-and-comer ultimately isn’t a clear indication either way. They could always end up simply preferring a less experienced coach, even if they are fully willing to shell out for a proven veteran, and that preference could be entirely fair.

The status of one candidate could be revealing in terms of the organization’s priorities in experience and cost in this search: Gerard Gallant. The 2017-18 Jack Adams Award winner coached the Blue Jackets for parts of three seasons starting in 2003-04, amassing a 56-77-5 record in what was his first stint as an NHL head coach.

Portzline reports that the organization has, as of yesterday afternoon, not yet requested an interview with Gallant.

As he’s under contract with his former club the New York Rangers for another season, the Blue Jackets would need to get permission from their division rival in order to interview Gallant.

Should Gallant end up being the choice, it would be a quick turnaround for the veteran bench boss and one that further signals a desire from Columbus to compete in the standings as soon as next season.

Kekalainen has already said that the organization would “100 percent” consider dealing the first-round pick they received from the Los Angeles Kings in the Vladislav Gavrikov/Joonas Korpisalo trade in a prior interview with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, assuming they are offered “the right piece.” (subscription link)

With the opportunity to select third overall at the draft and possibly land a player who could become the superstar number-one center the franchise has lacked for much of its existence, (such as Swedish pivot Leo Carlsson, Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli, or USNTDP star Will Smith) this is shaping up to be an offseason of great consequence for the future of the Blue Jackets.

If the team is indeed intent on competing quickly after such a disappointing season and giving last summer’s top free agent signing Johnny Gaudreau as good of a chance to win games as possible, this next week where the Blue Jackets will likely determine their next head coach will be a crucial one.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Brossoit, Boedker, McCabe Trade Conditions

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After helping the Vegas Golden Knights to a comfortable first-round series win over the Winnipeg Jets, the expectation was that Laurent Brossoit would be between the pipes for Vegas during their playoff run, their Stanley Cup hopes resting on his shoulders. Brossoit suffered a lower-body injury stopping an Edmonton Oilers scoring chance in Game Two of the second round, though, scuttling those plans. With Vegas now on the brink of qualifying once again for the Western Conference final, it does not seem as though Brossoit’s return is imminent.

As relayed by The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Brossoit wouldn’t be traveling with the team to Edmonton for Game Six. This has left Vegas in the hands of Adin Hill, who the team acquired from the San Jose Sharks over the summer in exchange for a fourth-round pick. While Hill is a capable goalie, one might presume that Vegas would feel more comfortable backstopped by the netminder who helped them win their series against Winnipeg. In any case, it’s looking as though Vegas will have to attempt to fend off Edmonton without Brossoit in their crease.

Some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • The SHL’s HV71 announced today that Mikkel Boedker, a veteran of over 700 games in the NHL, would not be returning to the club for next season. It’s a disappointing if entirely unsurprising result for the 33-year-old, as he struggled in his return to Sweden’s top flight, a league he hasn’t played in since he skated in two contests for Frolunda HC way back in 2006-07. A former 50-point scorer in the NHL, Boedker managed just 11 points in 41 games for HV71 and could not help them make noise in the league standings as the team finished 11th. Now he’ll have to look for a new opportunity to continue his pro career, and perhaps a return to the Swiss league could be in the cards as he played for Lugano from 2020-2022.
  •  While the storylines involving the franchise’s general direction might draw more attention, Maple Leafs’ elimination last night also made some more minor news. One of the conditions of the Maple Leafs’ trade for Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty was finalized as McCabe played in more than 50% of Toronto’s playoff games. As a result, all McCabe must do is play in more than 25% of the Maple Leafs’ regular-season games next year, and Toronto will receive a 2025 fifth-round pick as part of the deal. Should McCabe play in less than 25% of games, the Maple Leafs will instead receive Chicago’s 2025 third-round pick.

Latest On Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe

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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season ended last night, with the team eliminated five games into the second round thanks to an overtime goal from Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins. Their elimination from Stanley Cup contention begins what is likely to be a franchise-defining offseason.

General manager Kyle Dubas is on an expiring contract, while “core four” franchise faces such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander are eligible to receive contract extensions this summer. Those players will also see the trade restrictions tighten on their existing contracts, with Matthews and Marner receiving full no-move clauses on July 1st, while Nylander receives a 10-team no-trade list at the same time.

While past playoff disappointments did not catalyze any major organizational changes, it seems this offseason could be different. The Athletic’s James Mirtle shed some light on the challenges Toronto faces heading into their offseason, reporting that keeping Toronto’s front office together “will be far more complicated than simply coming up with a modest extension offer” for Dubas. (subscription link)

According to Mirtle, Dubas “will want to be paid handsomely,” especially if there are offers from competing franchises. Mirtle also writes that Dubas “will want greater job security and autonomy within whatever structure Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment settles on” for the future of the organization. It’s fair to wonder whether the Maple Leafs’ top decision-makers are ready to make that sort of commitment to Dubas after this disappointing playoff loss.

Tied to Dubas for the vast majority of his coaching career, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe’s future is similarly up in the air. Mirtle reports that if the Maple Leafs do end up with a new general manager, “it’s hard to see [Keefe] retained, after four consecutive playoff losses.” But even if Dubas remains in place, Mirtle reports that “there will be a lot of pressure to make a change” behind the bench, especially given some of the high-profile names currently available to be hired as a team’s new head coach.

The reasoning behind Keefe’s departure seems to stem largely from his failure to win more than one playoff series at the helm of some extremely talented Maple Leafs teams. This is likely due to the fact that excluding the postseason, Keefe’s body of work behind the bench in Toronto has been stellar.

He originally rose to the role of head coach after the firing of Mike Babcock, when Toronto was in a relatively tenuous place. He immediately stabilized the Maple Leafs’ season and guided them to a 27-15-5 record in his first campaign behind the bench.

But that regular-season success would go largely forgotten as Toronto fell in the qualifying-round series to the Columbus Blue Jackets, a loss that would serve as a sign of things to come.

Keefe went 35-14-7 the following season but saw his team blow a 3-1 series lead to their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the playoffs. Over the past two years following that series, Keefe has amassed a 104-42-18 record, and his sterling track record of regular-season success is certainly not easily dismissed given how difficult consistent contention in the NHL can be. But Maple Leafs fans surely expected more from this star-studded era, and Keefe’s teams have failed to provide much of anything after the conclusion of the regular season.

It’s a similar story for Dubas, who has made quite a few excellent moves and rightfully earned a reputation as one of the league’s better general managers over the course of his tenure in Toronto. He has made several moves that have paid off wonderfully, such as the team’s buy-low acquisitions of Jack Campbell, Michael Bunting, Ilya Samsonov, and to a lesser extent Conor Timmins. But some larger bets have backfired. Both Matt Murray and Petr Mrazek proved to be salary cap anchors rather than saviors in the crease, while some trades have not aged as well as the team might have hoped, such as deals that sent away players such as Nazem Kadri, Mason Marchment, or Alexander Barabanov.

So, like anyone else who has ever been in charge of team-building for an NHL franchise, Dubas has made his fair share of mistakes. But are his mistakes, which have been largely outnumbered by shrewd moves, enough to punch his ticket out of Toronto? Or will any Dubas departure instead be more related to the inescapable reality that his plethora of savvy moves has not yet resulted in any sort of sustained playoff success?

This is the dilemma that the Maple Leafs face right now. They will have to navigate internal and/or external demands to make a change after such a disappointing string of early playoff exits with an understanding that there aren’t a whole lot of general managers who have won as consistently as Dubas, or head coaches with as many wins as Keefe.

As Mirtle indicates in his reporting, “ownership pressure” in Toronto “is sure to dial up to a new level, perhaps to the point they’re demanding substantive change rather than merely suggesting it,” as they may have in the past. So understanding that, could the first major change that gets made by Toronto be of the off-ice variety?

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 05/10/23

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The eyes of the hockey world are on two significant NHL contests tonight. The Toronto Maple Leafs are fighting to keep their season alive against the Florida Panthers, while the Edmonton Oilers are looking to tie their series against the Vegas Golden Knights at two games a piece.

While the NHL playoffs continue on, teams across the hockey world are getting significant offseason work done. We’ll keep track of any notable moves those teams make here:

  • Minnesota Wild 2022 first-round pick Liam Ohgren has transferred to Farjestad BK of the SHL, according to a team announcement. Ohgren spent this past season in Sweden’s second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan looking to help his longtime club Djurgardens IF achieve immediate promotion back to the SHL. While Djurgarden ultimately failed, falling in a seven-game promotion series final to MoDo, Ohgren himself had a strong season. The 19-year-old scored 19 goals and 33 points in 53 combined regular-season and postseason games. He’ll now join the 2022 SHL champions for next season, and then potentially head to North America to play in the NHL or AHL with the Wild organization in 2024-25.
  • Former NHL bottom-sixer Frederik Gauthier has signed a one-year contract extension with Swiss National League side HC Ajoie. Gauthier signed with Ajoie last summer after spending seven seasons as an NHL-AHL tweener in North America. He has nearly 200 NHL games on his resume, and scored 23 points in 52 games last season. Now 28 years old, this contract extension ensures Gauthier will spend another season in Switzerland before potentially contemplating making a return to North American ice.
  • David Warsofsky, a former NHL defenseman and AHL All-Star, has signed a one-year contract extension to remain with his current club, the DEL’s Augsburg Panthers. The 32-year-old blueliner was never quite able to overcome the disadvantage his five-foot-eight frame presented when attempting to establish himself in the NHL, though he nonetheless became a quality player at the AHL level. Warsofsky’s 2016-17 season was his best, as he scored 47 points in 58 games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, and he now two years removed from his most recent AHL game Warsofsky has become a solid DEL offensive defenseman. He scored 21 points in 36 games last season at Augsburg and represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
  • Reigning Liiga champions Tappara Tampere issued updates on the contracts of quite a few players today, including one on a quality NHL prospect. Calgary Flames 2022 second-round pick Topi Ronni has signed a two-year extension to remain with Tappara until the end of the 2024-25 season. Ronni split the season between Tappara’s main team and their U20 team, scoring 25 points in 19 U20 games and 5 points in 22 games in Liiga. In addition to the news on Ronni, Tappara also announced that they have signed a two-year deal with former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Otto Somppi, 25. He had 19 points in 59 for Lukko this past season and will now head to Tampere to join the league champions. They have also signed former Florida Panther Anton Levtchi to a three-year extension, locking him down after he scored 25 points in 29 games after returning mid-season from the Panthers organization.
  • Former Philadelphia Flyer Linus Hogberg has signed a two-year contract with the SHL’s Frolunda HC. Hogberg, a 2016 sixth-round pick, is a left-shot defenseman who spent several seasons developing his game with Vaxjo and HC Vita Hasten in his home country before crossing the pond in 2021 to play in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Hogberg’s time with the Phantoms was decent, and he even earned five NHL games, though he didn’t fully establish himself in the organization’s plans. As a result, he left in the middle of this past year to re-join the SHL, and now has his club for the next two years of his career.
  • Sergei Kostitsyn, a former 50-point scorer with the Nashville Predators, has reportedly signed a one-year extension to remain with Metallurg Zhlobin, the champions of the Belarusian Extraleague. Kostitsyn has had quite the journey since leaving the KHL after 2018-19. The 36-year-old has had stops in Romania and Ukraine before signing back in his native Belarus for this season. Now, he’ll stay with Zhlobin looking to help them defend their recent title.
  • 2015 third-round pick and former Soo Greyhounds star Blake Speers will not return to HockeyAllsvenskan’s Vasteras IK for next season. Speers’ debut in Sweden was a difficult one, as he managed only four goals and 14 points in 38 games. He did help Vasteras reach the second division’s playoffs, but ultimately now will have to look elsewhere to continue his professional career. Part of the trade that landed Taylor Hall with the Arizona Coyotes, Speers has five NHL games on his resume.
  • Arvid Henrikson, a former Montreal Canadiens and (briefly) San Jose Sharks prospect, has signed with Vasterviks IK in HockeyAllsvenskan. The 25-year-old was a 2016 seventh-round pick of the Canadiens and was part of the trade that net the team a fifth-round pick when they acted as a “cap broker” to facilitate the trade of Nick Bonino to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Henrikson only played in one game as a member of the Sharks organization, an April 15th win over the Tucson Roadrunners, and did not see his ATO converted into a full-time opportunity. Now he begins his pro career in earnest overseas.

An Overview Of NHL Head Coaching Candidates

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With the NHL Draft Lottery behind us and the second round fully underway, it is an appropriate time to provide an overview of the current crop of candidates for the NHL’s head coaching vacancies. The Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals are all without head coaches.

These vacancies each present their own challenges and opportunities. Washington, New York, and Calgary are teams with talented veteran cores and the desire to compete immediately, while Columbus and Anaheim are clubs with top 2023 draft picks and some exciting young players. With an eye to these vacancies and any vacancies still to come, here’s a look at the current crop of NHL head coaching candidates:

The Veteran Coaches

Gerard Gallant (Former New York Rangers head coach)

Perhaps best known for guiding the “misfit” expansion-year Vegas Golden Knights to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, Gallant finds himself again on the open market after a two-season stint with the Rangers.

The positive aspects of Gallant’s resume are clear: he’s a three-time Jack Adams trophy nominee and one-time winner, a Memorial Cup champion, and has compiled a career record of 369-262-70.

But it’s notable that Gallant has not finished a third season behind the bench of any of his stops as an NHL head coach, leading to questions over whether he is the right coach for a team looking for someone to lead a long-term project.

He’s undoubtedly one of the most qualified names on the market, but there are, as with any head coaching candidate, some question marks in his profile.

Peter Laviolette (Former Washington Capitals head coach)

Like Gallant, Laviolette is an experienced head coach with an established track record of leading winning teams. Laviolette has led two franchises to the Stanley Cup final since winning it all with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and has won the eighth-most games of any head coach in NHL history. Since the beginning of his tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2009-10, Laviolette’s teams have missed the playoffs just twice. If a team wants a capable, experienced hand to stabilize their franchise and guide them to winning, Laviolette would be an ideal candidate.

But it’s also worth noting that while Laviolette has won a lot of games, playoff success has eluded his teams in recent years. He was hired by the Capitals to bring Washington the playoff success their former coach Todd Reirden couldn’t manage, but ended his time with the Capitals having lost both playoff series they competed in. While his standout resume speaks for itself, Laviolette’s teams have won one playoff series in the last half-decade, which is definitely something for teams to consider.

Bruce Boudreau (Former Vancouver Canucks head coach)

While Boudreau’s tenure as the head coach of the Canucks ultimately ended in disappointment, the 2008 Jack Adams Award winner remains among the most accomplished head coaches still active in coaching today. Boudreau’s .626 career points percentage ranks second in NHL history among head coaches with over a decade of NHL coaching experience, behind only two-time Stanley Cup champion Jon Cooper.

Boudreau’s track record of consistent regular-season success sets him apart. But while he is an AHL and ECHL champion, his teams in the NHL have largely failed to make noise in the playoffs, save for a run to the Western Conference Final with the Anaheim Ducks in 2015. If a club wants to make the playoffs, though, installing Boudreau behind their bench could be the way to go.

Darryl Sutter (Former Calgary Flames head coach)

Among the names on this list, Sutter has the the most championship experience with two Stanley Cup championships on his resume. He has the ninth-most wins of any head coach in NHL history, but after leading his teams to the playoffs in 13 of 14 seasons behind an NHL bench, Sutter’s teams have failed to qualify for the postseason in four of his last six campaigns as an NHL head coach.

The 2022 Jack Adams Award winner is a highly demanding coach who can help win a lot of games, but also can have a corrosive effect on a team’s off-ice environment, as Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reported happened late in his second tour with the Flames.

As Francis wrote: “No coach prepares players as well as Sutter, few work a bench as brilliantly as he does,” but “his tear-em-down, build-em-back-up approach sucked the love of the game out of many players, including franchise cornerstones Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri.”

A team looking to compete immediately with their next head coach would be foolish to not consider Sutter for their vacancy, though they would have to weigh the very real positives and negatives of his resume and whether his style is compatible with modern NHL players.

Claude Julien (Former Montreal Canadiens head coach)

The 2011 Stanly Cup champion has taken on international duties for Hockey Canada as he awaits his next head coaching job. He’ll be behind the bench for the Canadians at the upcoming IIHF World Championships in Riga and Tampere, and very well could be behind an NHL bench after that.

Julien helped steward some poor Canadiens teams to respectability and will always be beloved in Boston for winning the Bruins their first championship since the days of Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. But he also has not been behind the bench of a team winning a playoff series since 2014, and more and more teams could be opting for younger head coaches. He’s a safe choice for a team looking for a widely-respected bench boss, but maybe not the most exciting candidate given some of the other available names.

The Rising Stars

Andrew Brunette (New Jersey Devils assistant coach)

The Florida Panthers passed on Brunette, a 2022 Jack Adams Award nominee, after his team was swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Brunette was then hired by the New Jersey Devils in a move many believed to be succession planning for the eventual departure of head coach Lindy Ruff, only Ruff led the Devils on an extraordinary year that saw them exit their rebuild and defeat their arch-rival New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.

His work on Ruff’s staff this season is another feather in his cap as a head coaching candidate, and if the Devils are committed to Ruff as their leader moving forward, it’s possible another team poaches Ruff with the hope that he can help lead a third consecutive strong season behind an NHL bench.

Ryan Warsofsky (San Jose Sharks assistant coach)

While Warsofsky, 35, has just five seasons of head coaching experience on his record he’s among the most promising candidates on the market due to how successful he’s been in recent seasons. After two seasons behind the bench in the ECHL for the South Carolina Stingrays that included a run to the Kelly Cup Final, Warsofsky took the reins of the Carolina Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate, leading the Charlotte Checkers to a winning season and the Chicago Wolves to a 71-25-13 record across two seasons that included a Calder Cup championship. He was also a top assistant for the Checkers during their Calder Cup championship run in 2019.

This past season was his first behind an NHL bench, as Warsofsky took a role as an assistant on David Quinn’s San Jose Sharks staff. While the Sharks as a whole had a miserable season, Warsofsky’s work running the team’s penalty kill drew plaudits as the unit finished as the eighth-best in the NHL.

Spencer Carbery (Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach)

Like Warsofsky, Carbery is currently on his first opportunity to coach behind an NHL bench. He’s on head coach Sheldon Keefe’s Toronto Maple Leafs staff, helping the team to impressive regular-season records as well as a long-awaited playoff series victory. Before taking the job in Toronto, Carbery was the head coach for the Hershey Bears in the AHL, going 104-50-17 across three seasons.

Carbery doesn’t have championship experience yet like some of the other names on this list, although he did come close with the ECHL’s Stingrays in 2015, just as Warsofsky did two years later with the same club.

Mike Vellucci (Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach)

The longtime head coach and general manager of the Plymouth Whalers, a now-relocated OHL team, Vellucci has spent the last three seasons as an assistant on head coach Mike Sullivan’s Pittsburgh Penguins staff. He has some championship experience, winning an OHL title in Plymouth in 2007, as well as with the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL and the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors in the NAHL. Vellucci’s best work was likely in 2019 with the Checkers, as that team tore through the AHL en route to a Calder Cup.

He hasn’t yet gotten a shot as an NHL head coach yet, but he was a head coach across different levels every year from 1995-2020. Could this hiring cycle be when he gets his chance?

Mitch Love (Calgary Wranglers head coach)

While Vellucci was a head coach from 1995-2020, Love had his first season as a head coach in 2018-19, an impressive 45-15-8 season coaching Kirby Dach and the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. His time in Saskatoon was certainly respectable, to be sure, but it’s Love’s two-year run as head coach of the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliates that has drawn the most attention. The 38-year-old former minor leaguer has won an impressive 96 of 140 regular-season games in charge of the Stockton Heat and now Calgary Wranglers, and has helped oversee the development of superstar goalie prospect Dustin Wolf.

He led Stockton to the Conference Finals in the AHL last season and now has the Wranglers in the Pacific Division Finals against fellow AHL juggernauts the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Look out for Love as a future NHL head coach, and if he can manage to add a Calder Cup championship to his resume, he could very well be a possibility for the Flames’ current vacancy.

Jeff Halpern (Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach)

As a player, Halpern played in nearly 1,000 NHL games and by the time of his retirement was a widely-respected bottom-six center. The former Princeton University star began his coaching career relatively soon after his retirement, joining the Syracuse Crunch in time for their 2017 run to the Calder Cup final. After one more season in the Salt City, Halpern joined Cooper’s staff in Tampa Bay and ended up contributing to the team’s run that net the franchise two Stanley Cups and three Prince of Wales trophies in three seasons.

Cooper’s Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning staff has already been pillaged to an extent, with top assistant Derek Lalonde now the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. With the Washington D.C. native and six-season Washington Capital perhaps making particular sense for that team’s current vacancy, it’s unlikely that Cooper’s staff goes much longer without losing another name to an outside promotion.

David Carle (University of Denver head coach)

The 33-year-old Carle has already built an impressive resume as head coach of the University of Denver, despite his relatively young age. The 2008 Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick led the Pioneers to an NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey National Championship in 2021-22, helping numerous players earn NHL contracts.

While this season ended in disappointment with a playoff loss to Cornell, Carle’s tenure as the Pioneers’ bench boss is already opening doors for his future, such as when he was last month named head coach of USA Hockey’s team for the 2024 World Junior Championships. Could a call from an NHL team be next?

The Second (or Third) Chances

Jeremy Colliton (Abbotsford Canucks head coach)

Named as the successor to Joel Quenneville with the Chicago Blackhawks, Colliton’s tenure in the Windy City didn’t exactly go to plan. He was expected to infuse some youth and energy to an aging roster, and the team had the expectation of quickly returning to Stanley Cup contention under his watch, as evidenced by the Blackhawks’ trade for Seth Jones. That didn’t happen, though, and Colliton was fired midway through 2021-22.

A former successful AHL head coach with the Rockford IceHogs, Colliton was hired to coach the Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, and has turned in solid work there, leading the team to a 40-25-7 record and a qualifying series victory over the Bakersfield Condors. He was once seen as a promising young head coaching candidate before a difficult Blackhawks tenure soured his standing in the eyes of many observers. Perhaps his strong first season in Abbotsford leads him back into “rising star” territory in the eyes of NHL teams.

Travis Green (Former Vancouver Canucks head coach)

A WHL Championship-winning head coach with the Portland Winterhawks and a respected player developer and AHL bench boss with the Utica Comets, Green had a rollercoaster run as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks that ended near the start of its fifth season. Despite the good work Green did with the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, he was ultimately a casualty of the doomed Jim Benning era, unable to separate himself from the mistakes the franchise is still working to recover from.

A team with a head coaching vacancy could look at Green and see someone who nearly took the Vancouver Canucks to the Western Conference Final and had a stellar record of balancing winning and player development in the AHL with Utica. While he might need to take another job as a stepping stone before getting another chance as an NHL bench boss, it’s possible that a club buys into Green as a talented head coach who might just need another shot.

Glen Gulutzan (Edmonton Oilers assistant coach)

Unlike Green and Colliton, Gulutzan has actually already received a second chance as an NHL coach. He got that in 2016-17, when he was hired to coach the Calgary Flames three seasons removed from when he was head coach of the Dallas Stars.

Before his tenure in Dallas went up in flames, Gulutzan worked his way up from successful ECHL head coach with the Las Vegas Wranglers to Calder Cup finalist with the Texas Stars to promising young NHL head coach.

Since being fired by the Flames, Gulutzan has been an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers and remained on staff even as the team cycled through head coaches, going from Todd McLellan to Ken Hitchcock to Dave Tippett and then to Jay Woodcroft.

Gulutzan is charged with managing Edmonton’s power play, a unit that has stolen headlines this season as by far the league’s best, scoring at a 32.4% rate. If there is a club with some talented offensive firepower but a sputtering powerplay, such as the Ducks, perhaps Gulutzan could be an intriguing option.

Todd Nelson (Hershey Bears head coach)

Nelson is an experienced minor league head coach whose only experience as an NHL head coach came in 2014-15 when the franchise’s focus was squared more intensely on their odds of winning the Connor McDavid draft lottery than immediate Stanley Cup contention. After serving on the Dallas Stars’ coaching staff and helping the franchise reach the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, Nelson this season took the job as the Hershey Bears’ head coach and currently has them in the AHL’s Atlantic Division finals.

Nelson is already a Calder Cup champion, having managed the Grand Rapids Griffins to a title in 2016-17, and could very well add another championship to his trophy cabinet by the end of this season. He has exactly the sort of resume many teams want to see out of up-and-coming head coaches, and this hiring cycle could be the time he finally gets a real shot at being an NHL head coach.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Philadelphia Flyers President Search Reportedly Down To Two Candidates

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According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Philadelphia Flyers have reportedly narrowed their search for a President of Hockey Operations to two candidates: former NHLers Keith Jones and Eddie Olczyk.

Both men currently work as analysts on regional broadcasts, with the former helping call Flyers games for NBC Sports Philadelphia and the latter paired with John Forslund for many Seattle Kraken broadcasts. They are also both analysts for Turner Sports’ national broadcasts of NHL games. Seravalli also reports that an announcement of the team’s choice is expected to come in the next few days.

The Flyers have been searching for someone to run their hockey operations department in a similar structure to what the Montreal Canadiens employ with Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes, and the Vancouver Canucks employ with Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin, to name a few. The arrangement involves pairing an experienced hockey mind as the President of Hockey Operations, typically managing general strategy and the whole of the hockey operations department, with a less experienced name to handle the day-to-day duties of general manager.

The Flyers already have former NHL star Daniel Briere installed in the general manager role, and have been widely reported to be looking for an experienced hand to help guide him, as Briere does not have extensive experience in the role of GM. Jones, 54, does not have any prior executive experience but has deep ties to the Flyers’ organization and is a highly recognizable face for the team’s vast fanbase.

As evidenced by his long career as a broadcaster, Jones’ abilities as a communicator could be something the Flyers value. Given that they plucked their current head coach out of the television ranks (John Tortorella was working for ESPN before he was hired as the Flyers’ bench boss) it is not wholly surprising that they could now fill another major front-facing organizational role with someone with television experience.

Olcyzk has similar experience, having served as a color commentator for U.S. national broadcasts for both NBC and now Turner Sports. Olczyk does also have some non-broadcasting experience on his resume since retiring from the NHL, having served as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach from 2003-04 until being let go midway through 2005-06.

Like Jones, Olczyk is a familiar face for many Flyers fans whose skills as a communicator would be leaned on as the Flyers continue what has been a difficult re-tooling process.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Matt Tomkins

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed netminder Matt Tomkins to a two-year, two-way contract for next season, according to a team announcement.

For Tomkins, 28, this signing serves as his return ticket to North American professional hockey after two seasons spent abroad in Sweden’s SHL. Tomkins was a 2012 seventh-round pick who spent four seasons with Ohio State in the NCAA. After his collegiate career concluded, he spent two seasons with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, turning in some decent performances that won him ECHL Goaltender of the Week honors four times as well the right to play eight AHL games with the Rockford IceHogs.

That run as a starter in the ECHL earned Tomkins the chance to be the IceHogs’ third goalie in 2019-20, and he ended up playing in 13 games and posting an .896 save percentage. The following year, the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the AHL’s season and Tomkins ended up the only IceHogs goalie to play in double-digit games, producing a .907 save percentage in 15 games. It was after that season that Tomkins chose to sign overseas, and he earned a role as the starting goalie for Froluda HC in the SHL.

His success with Frolunda (.908 save percentage in 33 games) established him in the SHL and got him a contract with Farjestad BK, the defending champions. It also earned him the chance to start for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This past season, Tomkins was Farjestad’s starter and went 20-12 with a .911 save percentage.

The Lightning only have two goalies under contract for next season, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Hugo Alnefelt. Since Alnefelt, 21, may still need some more time to develop with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning may have a need for a backup netminder, as current backup Brian Elliott, 38, could retire. It’s unlikely the Lightning have signed Tomkins with the intention of him ending up Vasilevskiy’s backup, though.

Instead, Tomkins could be the replacement for pending unrestricted free agent Maxime Legace as the veteran partner for Alnefelt in Syracuse. Legace endured a difficult season with the Crunch, producing a dismal .888 save percentage in 41 games played.

This signing of Tomkins could very well be the team acting quickly to replace Legace in Syracuse, though it is also possible, if unlikely, that Legace is re-signed and one member of the trio sees time in the ECHL.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Arvid Soderblom To Two-Year Contract Extension

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The Chicago Blackhawks have signed netminder Arvid Soderblom to a two-year contract extension, per a team announcement. The deal carries a $962.5k cap hit.

Soderblom, who turns 24 in August, was the Blackhawks’ number-three netminder this past season. As Chicago number-one goalie Petr Mrazek struggled with injuries, Soderblom ended up playing in 15 NHL games. His numbers were not strong (2-10-2 record, .894 save percentage) but it must be noted that the Blackhawks team Soderblom was playing behind gave up 299 goals in 2022-23, the fifth-most in the NHL.

In the AHL, Soderblom’s form was a bit better. In 33 games he went 15-12-5 with a .905 save percentage, helping the Rockford IceHogs reach the Calder Cup playoffs. Last season, Soderblom was an impressive AHL force, posting a .919 save percentage in 38 games played. Before signing in Chicago, he had excelled as a tandem netminder for Skelleftea AIK in his native Sweden, posting a .921 save percentage in 22 starts.

With this contract extension in hand, Soderblom has the inside track to either maintaining his status as the number-three netminder in Chicago or even winning a job as a backup goalie.

With phenom Connor Bedard widely expected to be a part of the Blackhawks’ team in the fall, their timeline to contention could be shifted forward in time a bit, meaning at 23 years old Soderblom may not have as long of a developmental runway to establish himself as an NHLer as he may have had in a more extended Blackhawks rebuild.

In any case, this contract extension gives Soderblom a two-year platform to continue his development and hopefully become an NHL option in the crease for Chicago.

Minor Transactions: 05/07/23

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It’s a busy day in the NHL, with three second-round playoff games on schedule. Both the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to avoid falling in potentially insurmountable 3-0 series deficits, while the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken are each looking to take the lead in their series.

In major junior hockey, Kraken prospect Ty Nelson and the North Bay Battalion have the chance to eliminate the Peterborough Petes aFnd reach the OHL finals tonight, possibly ending the seasons of top prospects Brennan Othmann and Owen Beck. Also in the OHL, Logan Mailloux and potential 2023 draft prospect Oliver Bonk reached the OHL finals, with a 5-1 victory over  Sarnia sSting team stocked with notable prospects such as Ethan Del Mastro, Christian Kyrou, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Sasha Pastujov, and Ty Voit.

As fans enjoy the hockey on offer today, teams across the hockey world are getting to work on offseason moves. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.

  • Former Detroit Red Wing and 221-game NHL veteran Tomas Jurco will not return to the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star for next season. Jurco scored a solid 25 points in 32 games for the KHL’s Chinese club, he was ultimately unable to help them avoid finishing as the second-worst team in the entire KHL, just ahead of HK Sochi. 2022-23 was Jurco’s second consecutive campaign in the KHL, as he spent last season in Kazakhstan with Barys Astana. Before that point, Jurco had settled in as more of an AHLer and even won his second Calder Cup in 2019 with the Charlotte Checkers, notching 18 points in 18 playoff contests.
  • Max Gerlach, a 25-year-old former WHL star, is on the move after leading the Slovakian Extraliga in both goals and points this past season. The Flower Mound, Texas native signed with HK Poprad, landing him with a mid-table side after spending last season with last-place finisher HC Presov, who were relegated from the Slovakian top division. It’s been quite the journey for Gerlach to reach the point of stardom in Slovakia, as he had stops in Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, and Italy before signing with Presov last year. He’s scored well at nearly every place he’s played, meaning it’s possible that Poprad have signed next season’s leading scorer in Gerlach.
  • Petr Jelinek, a longtime veteran of the Czech Extraliga, signed a two-year contract with HC Plzen, ending a nine-season run with Bili Tygri Liberec that included four seasons as the team’s captain. Jelinek helped the club with the 2015-16 Extraliga title and has in the past been one of the league’s top face-off takers. Jelinek, 38, has seen his offensive production decline in recent years (he scored four goals and 13 points in 49 games in 2022-23) and will now look to help Plzen reach the playoffs after a difficult season.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Czechia Releases 2023 IIHF World Championship Roster

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Following Finland who released their group earlier today, Czechia has announced the roster that will represent them at the IIHF World Championships that begin next week. Unlike Finland, Czechia will compete in Group B, meaning their games will take place at Arena Riga, in Riga, Latvia. Their group includes Canada, Switzerland, and regional rival Slovakia, among others.

This Czech roster is a bit lighter on NHL talent compared to Finland, the United States, and Canada, as one might expect. They do have a few names NHL fans would recognize, though, such as New York Rangers rising star Filip Chytil, Arizona Coyotes netminder Karel Vejmelka, Detroit Red Wings scorer Dominik Kubalik, 548-game NHL veteran Vladimir Sobotka.

The section of the Czech roster that has the fewest recognizable names from an NHL perspective is their defense, which is headlined by 2018 Stanley Cup champion Michal Kempny and Boston Bruins 2015 first-round pick Jakub Zboril. Beyond that, they’re relying on Arizona Coyotes farmhand Ronald Knot and a few talented players from European leagues, such as former Carolina Hurricane Michal Jordan.

F Ondrej Beranek
F Jiri Cernoch
F Roman Cervenka
F Jakub Flek
F Filip Chlapik
F Filip Chytil
F Martin Kaut
F Dominik Kubalik
F Lukas Sedlak
F Jiri Smejkal
F Vladimir Sobotka
F Michael Spacek
F David Tomasek
F Daniel Vozenilek

D Tomas Dvorak
D Michal Jordan
D Michal Kempny
D Ronald Knot
D Jan Kostalek
D Tomas Kundratek
D David Nemecek
D Jakub Zboril

G Karel Vejmelka
G Marek Langhamer
G Simon Hrubec

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