Flyers Promote John Snowden To AHL Head Coach, Hire Two Assistants
The Philadelphia Flyers have promoted John Snowden to the role of Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach. He will fill a hole opened when Ian Laperrière was appointed an advisor to NHL general manager Daniel Briere in June. The Flyers also announced they’ve hired Nick Schultz and Terrence Wallin as AHL assistant coaches.
Lehigh Valley will move forward under the charge of Snowden, who served as an assistant coach to Lapierre through the last two seasons. He has nine years of experience in various roles throughout ECHL and AHL hockey. That includes one year as the Newfoundland Growlers’ head coach, one year as the club’s Director of Hockey Operations, and two years as an assistant with the Toronto Marlies.
Snowden’s roots as a coach run as far back as his own days as a minor league player. He played through five seasons in both the ECHL and former Central Hockey League (CHL), and stepped up as a player-coach for the Bloomington PrairieThunder during their sole CHL season in 2010-11. He scored 36 points in 66 games, and supported Bloomington to a loss in the first round of the playoffs. Snowden ultimately totaled 239 points in 304 CHL games, and 210 points in 305 ECHL games.
Philidelphia will also promote Schultz into the first bench role of his professional career next season. He has spent the last two seasons as the Assistant Director of Player Development with the NHL club, and has served as a development coach for the club since 2019. Schultz also coached the Philadelphia Flyers Elite AAA club’s 2007 birth-year from 13U to 16U. He led the team to an AYHL 14U championship in 2022.
Schultz is much better known as a former stalwart defender in the NHL. He was the 33rd-overall pick in 2000, and went on to amass 1,066 NHL games across 15 seasons and four clubs. He served as captain for the Minnesota Wild in 2007-08, and an assistant captain role with the Wild and Edmonton Oilers from 2010 to 2014. Schultz closed his career with three seasons in Philadelphia, where he totaled 29 points in 189 games. He opted to stick around the club after retiring in 2017, and will now kickoff the next chapter of his career in the Flyers’ system.
Wallin will also receive his first AHL coaching role on Lehigh Valley’s turned over bench. He was formerly a rooted member of the ECHL, playing through five seasons in the league from 2015-16 to 2019-20. But his club – the Maine Mariners – opted to not participate in the 2020-21 season. When they returned in 2021-22, Wallin had moved from player to assistant coach. He was promoted to the head coach role in 2022, and added the general manager title in 2023. In four years with Wallin on the bench, the Mariners posted a 140-125-23 record and made three playoff appearances.
Penguins Acquire Arturs Silovs From Canucks
The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired goaltender Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward prospect Chase Stillman and a 2027 fourth-round pick.
Pittsburgh will move to acquire a goalie just a few weeks after trading Alex Nedeljkovic to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2028 third-round pick. In turning to Silovs, Pittsburgh finds a goalie who is both five years younger than Nedeljkovic, and more experienced in the playoffs.
Silovs stepped into the Canucks’ starting role during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs with only nine games of NHL experience under his belt, following an injury to Thatcher Demko. He posted one shutout, but otherwise managed a 5-5-0 record and .898 save percentage.
He found his way back to a split role in a crowded Abbotsford Canucks goalie room this season – but fought back into the role of playoff starter after posting a team-best .908 save percentage in 21 games. Back at the helm, Silovs drove Abbotsford to a Calder Cup Championship with a .931 save percentage and 16-7-0 record. He’s a red-hot hand with upside, who will seem to settle in between the role of AHL starter and NHL backup next season. That’s exactly the support Pittsburgh could use, allowing the team to bump Joel Blomqvist up to number-two on the depth chart while still maintaining competition for the backup role.
On the other side, Vancouver invest further into their depth forward group. Stillman was a first-round selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, after a weird draft year where eight games in Denmark’s U20 league, and seven games at the World U-18 Championship, was his only gametime. He returned to the OHL for two seasons following his draft selection, and totaled 97 points in 158 games split between the Sudbury Wolves and Peterborough Petes. He served as an assistant captain for both clubs.
Stillman turned pro with the AHL’s Utica Comets in the 2023-24 season. He recorded a modest 14 goals, 24 points, and 72 penalty minutes in 54 games as a rookie, but struggled to fight his way into a routine, top-end role in the lineup. Those challenges reached a peak on a caved-in Utica lineup this season. Stillman started the year with just nine points in 46 games with the Comets, prompting a move to the Penguins organization at the Trade Deadline. He was traded alongside Max Graham and a 2027 third-round pick in the deal that landed New Jersey Cody Glass and Jonathan Gruden.
Stillman continued to struggle in his move to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He scored just three points in 21 games with the club, and will now find himself on the move once again. Luckily, he could be headed for a golden opportunity with Abbotsford, who will be looking for a replacement for Sammy Blais‘ top-six role. Blais scored 59 points across 74 games with the AHL’s Canucks last season, and his mix of grit and finesse was a major boost in the team’s run to a league title. Stillman will look to grab hold of that important role, while Silovs tries to find enough footing to jump to the NHL.
Kieffer Bellows Signs One-Year Deal With SHL’s Brynas IF
Former Nashville Predators winger Kieffer Bellows has decided to take his talents overseas after reaching unrestricted free agency this summer. He has signed a one-year contract with Brynas IF of Sweden’s SHL, per a press release on the team’s website. This will be Bellows’ first stint in European pros after spending the last seven seasons split between the NHL and AHL.
Bellows never found more than a fourth-line role at the top level, and often served more as an injury fill-in through his stints with the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and Predators. That role often landed Bellows on the top-line of his club’s AHL roster, where his talents as a high-motor, physical scorer shined through much clearer. He recorded 19 points and a lofty 101 penalty minutes in 73 games of his rookie AHL season, all the way back in 2018-19. He swung the needle back towards scoring in his sophomore campaign – netting 22 goals, 31 points, and 49 penalty minutes in 52 AHL games during the 2019-20 season.
That swing earned Bellows a move to the NHL in 2020 – one that wouldn’t be reversed until the 2022-23 season. By then, he had amassed 95 career games and 28 points at the NHL level – with nearly half of both coming during his 2021-22 season with the Islanders, when Bellows potted 19 points in 45 games. But his game continued to seem better-suited for the minor flight, and Bellows went on to add to his resume with 90 points and 112 PIMs through 108 AHL games between 2022 and 2025. That includes 31 points and 56 PIMs with the Milwaukee Admirals this year – a performance that was intercut by Bellows also racking up four points in 19 games with the Predators.
On the heels of that surge back to AHL success, Bellows will now opt to move to Sweden. He joins a strong Brynas roster that finished first in the league, but lost to Lulea in the championship, last season. Bellows should take up the role of top-six grinder complimenting former NHL names like Jakob Silfverberg, Oskar Lindblom, and Johan Larsson. He’ll also join up with NHL prospects Michal Svrcek (Detroit), Lucas Pettersson (Anaheim), and Gustav Hillstrom (New Jersey).
Tristan Luneau Poised To Make Big Impact For Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks have quietly built an impressive stockpile of talented, young defenders. Players like Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov are beginning to prove as much on the left-hand side, but Anaheim is still searching for that same kind of breakout on the right-side. After a fantastic rookie season in the minor leagues, Tristan Luneau who seems best positioned to bring exactly that jolt as soon as next season.
There’s a steep learning curve for young defenders transitioning to the pro flight – especially for slight-framed, puck-movers who don’t engage physically like Luneau. He showed signs of those struggles in the seven NHL games, and six AHL games, he played through in the 2023-24 season. While Luneau’s three points in the NHL was an impressive jump to production, he struggled to clear out the front of the net or stop opponents from entering the defensive end. Luneau was set to mitigate those early-career learning pains with a trip to the 2024 World Junior Championship – where he surely would’ve dominated his younger peers – before an illness and eventual knee infection effectively ended his season before the tournament even began.
With that, Luneau’s first year of pro hockey – and his first chance to represent Team Canada – came to an abrupt close. It left the Victoriaville-native in a confusing spot. His nifty puck-handling and blue-line playmaking translated seamlessly to the top flight, but he showed through multiple areas of needed growth. With a long-term absence to boot, Anaheim opted for the safe approach for Luneau’s return in the 2024-25 season – defaulting him to the minor-leagues for the entire season after a brief, six-game stint in the NHL in October.
A year removed, that decision has paid dividends. Luneau finished the year with 52 points in 59 games. That scoring pace – 0.88 points-per-game – is the third-highest a U21 defender has managed in the AHL since 2000, and interestingly the highest from a defender outside of the Los Angeles Kings pipeline (Brandt Clarke, 0.92 in 2023-24; Jordan Spence, 0.91 in 2021-22). On top of reaching a tremendous scoring height, Luneau also added a heap of confidence in the gritty areas of the ice. He was diving into puck battles and scrums in the slot with the prowess his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame should provide. The result was not only an increased ability to win pucks in the corners, and hold his ground in the slot – but truly more opportunities for Luneau to win possession and command movement up the ice.
He, in many ways, returned to the end-to-end commander role he became known for in the QMJHL. Luneau was creating as many plays as he joined, and worked his way onto the AHL’s end-of-season All-Rookie team as a result. He was once an incredibly high-regarded prospect, earning first-round acclaim through points of his juniors career. Anaheim eventually landed Luneau in the middle of the 2022 second-round, and early returns seem to suggest he’s on the way to becoming a day-two steal. Luneau showed his ability to score at a top level through his first seven games in the NHL two seasons ago. Now – after vindicating that ability with a dominant year in the minors – he’s added the additional oomph needed to stretch his offense across a full season.
With a season-ending injury now well in the rearview mirror, Luneau seems poised to jump quickly back into the NHL, where his downhill-drive could pair perfectly with the all-three-zones ability of LaCombe or Mintyukov. He’ll be a favorite to make the Ducks roster directly out of training camp, and could soon be yet another young player to find his way to success on the Anaheim blue-line.
Sharks Notes: Offseason Plans, Thrun, Dickinson, Leddy
The San Jose Sharks have had yet another massively productive off-season. They’ve reeled in a special talent in second-overall pick Michael Misa, then turned around to find multiple legitimate lineup additions through the acquisition of Alex Nedeljkovic via trade, and John Klingberg, Dmitry Orlov, and Jeff Skinner via free agent contracts. The Sharks looks set to roll out a lineup much hardier than last year’s. With that, general manager Mike Grier shared that the team is likely done for the summer, unless an enticing trade comes along, in a recent media availability captured by Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group.
Grier went on to acknowledge that San Jose acquired goaltender Yaroslav Askarov late last August, after Nashville began shopping around the top Russian prospect. The Sharks pulled off that move at the cost of high-end prospect David Edstrom, goalie prospect Magnus Chrona, and a conditional 2025 first-round pick. That’s a lofty amount of assets to move out so close to the start of the season, and Grier’s acknowledgement of that fact could be proof that San Jose will be ready to make a worthwhile move happen, if the opportunity presents itself. If not, the Sharks seem set to enter the 2025-26 season as bottom-feeders once more – looking to reel in a high 2026 draft pick and provide their young stars, like Macklin Celebrini, a chance to take a stride forward.
Other notes out of San Jose:
- Grier also spoke to the team’s recent swap of young defender Henry Thrun for veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves. He shared that Thrun was the odd-man-out on the blue-line, as San Jose prepares for potential surges into the lineup from Shakir Mukhamadullin or rookie Sam Dickinson, per Max Miller of the Sharks Hockey Digest. Grier added that Dickinson seemed like a player ready to take advantage of any opportunity thrown his way. The praise for Dickinson should come as welcome news for Sharks fans eager to see how the Memorial Cup-winner can translate to the pro flights. Dickinson is still under CHL protection, meaning his only options for next season will be making the NHL roster or returning to the OHL, where he recently posted 29 goals and 91 points in 55 games en route to back-to-back league championships.
- The press conference closed with Grier claiming no comment on recent reports that the St. Louis Blues waived Nick Leddy after he refused a trade to the Sharks, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now and originally reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. San Jose had waiver priority after finishing last season in dead-last, setting them up for a guaranteed claim on Leddy once he hit waivers. That’s exactly what transpired, and now the 15-year veteran will play through the final year of his contract on a low-grade Sharks roster. Grier did share that Leddy expressed exxcitement over a chance to earn a bigger lineup role and live on the West Coast for the first time in his career. Leddy played his 1,000th NHL game in the 2023-24 season, and scored five points in 31 games through an injury-riddled year last season.
Snapshots: Drouin, Hoefenmayer, CBA
Winger Jonathan Drouin elaborated on what led him to sign with the New York Islanders in a Thursday night appearance on NHL Tonight. He shared that it was the makeup of the team’s offense, the coaching staff, and the Islanders’ all-around culture that led him to a move across the country this summer.
Drouin spoke specifically to each point, sharing that his relationships with winger Anthony Duclair and recent assistant coach hire Ray Bennett, and head coach Patrick Roy, all heavily influenced his decision. Drouin played against both Duclair and Roy many times during his days in the QMJHL, from 2011 to 2014. He was also coached by Bennett in each of his last two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.
Drouin also noted that seeing the Islanders’ honoring of Matthew Schaefer‘s mother at the NHL Draft was an additional nod to how well the club treats its players. With multiple positives laid out, New York will land a winger who managed 19 goals and 56 points in 79 games in 2023-24, and 37 points in 43 games of the 2024-25 season. He missed a significant portion of the mid-season with a lower-body injury, but worked back to full health before March. He will step into a hardy, top-nine role in New York’s increasingly crowded forward group.
More notes from around the hockey world:
- After being non-tendered by Montreal last month, unrestricted free agent defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer has signed a one-year deal with HK Sochi, per an announcement on the KHL team’s Telegram page. The 26-year-old spent time with AHL Bakersfield and Laval last season, notching 21 points in 43 regular season games while also suiting up for Canada at the Spengler Cup in December.
- PuckPedia highlights a couple of changes of some significance in the recently released CBA Memorandum of Understanding that comes into effect for the 2026-27 season. There is now a 10-day in-season PTO option with the signing team getting the right of first refusal if another team tries to sign that player. Meanwhile, the post-deadline regular recall limit of four has been expanded to five, giving teams a bit more flexibility roster-wise after the trade deadline. Our Josh Erickson will be doing a Q&A about the MOU next week; you can submit your questions for that here.
Blues’ First-Rounder Justin Carbonneau Will Return To QMJHL
St. Louis Blues first-round pick Justin Carbonneau has announced he will return to the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada next season, after rumors that he was considering a move to the NCAA’s Boston College. The Armada announced the news through a post to their social media.
St. Louis recently drafted Carbonneau with the 19th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
This news will send shockwaves around Quebec’s junior league. Carbonneau was among the league’s best last season, tying for second in the league in goals (46) and outright ranking second in points (89) through 62 games. He rounded out his statline with 61 penalty minutes and just a plus-three, speaking to the incredibly high-event minutes Carbonneau earned while leading the Armada offense.
Carbonneau earned his offense with a powerful, heavy drive on the puck. He was among the QMJHL’s most explosive wingers moving down the ice, and used a strong frame and hard shot to generate dangerous chances in the offensive end. Carbonneau was also often the Armada’s pest, and routinely found himself in the middle of net-front shoving matches after the whistle. News of his return will land like a big acquisition in Blainsville-Boisbrand, as they lock up a player capable of rivaling the century mark in points or penalty minutes next season.
Carbonneau was thee standout of St. Louis’ recent development camp. He showed off all of the nasty grit, hard shooting, and determined drive that led him to the heights of the QMJHL this year. Those talents mix well with other emerging Blues, including Dylan Holloway, Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky. That match – and a right-wing role vacated by the trade of Zachary Bolduc – could ramp Carbonneau into an NHL role as soon as next year, assuming he stays hot through the 2025-26 campaign.
Wild Re-Sign Michael Milne
The Minnesota Wild have signed forward Michael Milne to a one-year, two-way contract. Milne was a restricted-free agent. He will now play through the 2025-26 season on a deal that pays out $775K at the NHL level, and $100K at the AHL level.
Milne just wrapped up his third professional season, and his third in a daily role with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He’s improved each year, ultimately working up to a career-high 15 goals and 26 points in 60 games this season. Those marks were high enough to land Milne fifth on Iowa’s roster in goals, though his minus-15 marks a new career-low, and his overall scoring pace dwindled from the 21 points he scored in 40 games last year. Even despite those fluctuations, Milne showed through enough to earn his NHL debut in November. He appeared in six minutes of action and managed no scoring in his sole game with the Minnesota roster.
Milne is still finding his footing at the pro flight. He was originally a third-round selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, after being passed over in the 2021 class. He earned that draft spot after netting 51 goals, 100 points, and a plus-74 in 83 games with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice through the 2021-22 season. The Minnesota Wild opted to turn Milne pro immediately following that campaign, though his early showings have left a bit more to be desired. A low-stakes, one-year deal will give Milne a chance to show he has what it takes to lock in a top role on the Iowa roster, after briefly flirting with top-six minutes through points last season. He could even stand to earn more NHL attention with a hot season, after stepping in as an injury fill-in last season.
Blue Jackets’ Pyotr Andreyanov Signs Five-Year Deal In Russia
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie prospect Pyotr Andreyanov has signed a five-year deal with CSKA of Russia’s KHL, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The deal will carry Andreyanov through his age-23 season in Russia’s top flight. Andreyanov was recently selected 20th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. Notably, the deal includes an NHL release clause after the fourth season, according to Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers.
This move may come as a shock to many after Columbus selected Andreyanov about 20 spots earlier than many predicted. But sources available to ProHockeyRumors have indicated that the netminder’s plan to sign long-term in Russia was arranged before the draft took place, and comes with a clear intention to move to North America when the deal concludes. That’s excellent news for the Blue Jackets, who land another Russian phenom with this selection.
Andreyanov is lauded as one of Russia’s best goalies in recent memory. He posted a dazzling 23-6-6 record and .942 save percentage through 37 games in the MHL – Russia’s U21 league – this season. That performance gave mere decimals away from breaking the league’s save percentage record among draft-age goalies. That mark is currently held by New York’s Igor Shesterkin (.947).
Andreyanov earned that flashy season on the back of impressive athleticism. He was regarded by many as both the fastest and most controlled goaltender in the class, with an exceptional ability to track the puck and stay locked in between movements. He doesn’t get bogged down by traffic and shows the sly-grin determination to stop every chance that comes his way. Andreyanov is an exceptional goalie talent in many regards – and while his sharp and explosive movements can sometimes land him outside of his crease, there’s a shortlist of other Russians who would place above the CSKA Red Army netminder.
Columbus will add Andreyanov to an already stacked pipeline of goalie prospects. He’ll join compatriot Sergei Ivanov – a 2023 fifth-round pick – at the top of the Blue Jackets’ list. Ivanov posted a .911 save percentage with HK Sochi – often a bottom-ranked club in the KHL – this season. He had a much better save percentage of .943 in 38 KHL games last year. With Andreyanov and Ivanov in the system, the Blue Jackets could soon be relieved of their goalie concerns, once they convince top Russians to come overseas.
Golden Knights Beginning To Work Out Jack Eichel Extension
The Vegas Golden Knights have found a way to afford an eight-year, $96MM contract for incoming winger Mitch Marner. Even with shrewd cap planning, Vegas has ended up $7.64MM over the salary cap. That overage will be addressed when Alex Pietrangelo‘s $8.8MM cap hit is placed on long-term injured reserve, but the Golden Knights will face much of the same challenge next year, with star center Jack Eichel set to head to unrestricted free agency following the 2025-26 season. Vegas is already working out what Eichel’s could look like – with an expectation that it could be pricier than Marner’s new deal, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast.
Directly comparing Eichel and Marner may be a difficult task, but there’s no arguing the Massachusetts native is among the top echelon of NHL forwards. Eichel scored a career-high 94 points in 77 games this season, then added an additional 10 points in 11 postseason games. The performance was a true peak after Eichel managed strong scoring in each of his first three seasons with Vegas. That includes scoring 26 points in 22 games as the Golden Knights chased their first Stanley Cup win in 2023.
Eichel joined the Golden Knights in 2021, following a true saga of clashing relationships and trade rumors. He was in the midst of recovering from a herniated disc in his neck at the time, setting off an injury and recovery that was often undefined and confusing. Eichel sustained the herniated disc on March 7th and was declared as out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season just over one month later. But there was conflict over if he should undergo surgery to address the issue. Eichel preferred an artificial disc replacement procedure, while Buffalo preferred a fusion surgery. Eichel’s lawyers later commented on the debate, scolding the Sabres for not letting the player choose his option in July of 2021. Eichel continued forward with no surgery, and failed his team physical at the onset of the 2021-22 season – prompting Buffalo to strip him of the team’s captaincy.
That stripped ‘C’ kicked off a lucrative trade market that looped in many of the league’s top teams. Ultimately, in November of 2021, it was the Golden Knights who won out the sweepstakes – acquiring Eichel for the cost of center prospect Peyton Krebs, pro winger Alex Tuch, a first-round pick used on Noah Ostlund, and a conditional second-round pick that Buffalo flipped to the Minnesota Wild. Vegas granted Eichel the permission to undergo his desired surgery immediately following the move, and he managed to make his Vegas debut just four months later in February of 2022.
Since then, Eichel has been a perennial scorer for the Golden Knights. He scored 66 points in 67 games of his first full year with the club, then followed it up with 68 points in 63 games last season. Health remained a concern, but Eichel proved he can play well above his baseline when he plays through 70-or-more games in a season. His 94-point year this season confidently passed his previous career-high of 82 points set in 77 games of the 2018-19 season. With the strong year, Eichel has now reached 608 points in 616 NHL games.
There may still be some nerves about Eichel’s ability to repeat the 90-point year. But given a bill of good health, and a brand new superstar linemate in Marner, it seems more-and-more certain that Eichel will return to his dominant ways. He’ll be playing for a contract this season, and could surpass the cap hit of both Marner and Mikko Rantanen given his premium role as a top-line center. Eichel added a 45.6 faceoff-percentage and 55 blocked shots to his stat line this season. He finished third in Lady Byng Trophy voting, and fifth in both Hart Trophy and Selke Trophy voting. With a strong year next season, Eichel could end up a favorite to win multiple player trophies.